Author's Note: I wasn't sure whether this story was going to work, but it seems that it might! I had writer's block after the last story, but I really wanted to write... just couldn't think!
The Princess Diaries doesn't belong to me.
There was an awed silence as the newly crowned Queen of Genovia walked down through the guard of honour, sceptre in one hand and orb in the other, and she almost laughed at the awed expressions on the faces of her guests. She had never imagined she was actually be Queen of Genovia… she knew had been going to happen, but she couldn't believe it had! She vaguely wondered how her grandmother was feeling…
Meanwhile, Clarisse, now former Queen of Genovia, was watching her granddaughter's progress with a mixture of feelings- happiness, that Mia was finally on the throne, and no one would be able to take (or threaten to take) it away from her; relief, that it was no longer her on the throne; a tinge of sadness that her son, Mia's father, wasn't here to witness this; and even more nostalgia- she had been either Queen Consort or Queen for most of her adult life, and it was a little hard to believe that it was all over… suddenly she wondered what she was going to do now…
However, a smile began blossoming on her lips as someone stepped next to her, and took her hand in theirs, and she looked over at him with a radiant smile… it wouldn't be so hard to imagine what she was going to do now just as long as Joseph, her husband of a week, was involved in every way.
"How are you feeling?" he asked softly after he stepped up to join her, squeezing her hand tenderly, and she smiled radiantly over at him.
"I'm fine… I'm so happy for her," she looked again at Mia who, now that she had handed the orb and sceptre to someone, was walking over to meet the members of parliament in the corner.
"It feels a little strange, I'll admit… especially when he took the crown off… but I'm fine…" she trailed off as her eyes inexplicably filled with tears as it suddenly hit her. In a matter of a week, she had married the love of her life, and she was no longer Queen of Genovia… she was free… Joseph smiled softly at her, realising that it had all just hit her.
"Come with me," Joe murmured into her ear as he, a hand on her back, guided her discreetly out of the ballroom to no fanfare- everyone else was too busy looking at Mia.
As soon as they were outside, Clarisse leant against the wall opposite the ballroom and tried to remember if she had a handkerchief in her pocket, before Joseph silently pulled his out of his pocket, and tenderly wiped away the tears that had fallen down her cheeks. She smiled apologetically at him once he was done.
"Thank you… I don't know why I did that…."
"It's been an incredibly big week for you- first we got married, and then this…" he waved his hand back towards the closed doors of the ballroom. "It's understandable that you're a little overwhelmed with what has happened… I'm still a little bemused myself!"
"I just really haven't had the chance to process everything… I guess I'm still trying to get over that night…" Clarisse said softly as she looked at her hands for a moment, and Joseph lifted her chin to look directly into her eyes.
"You have to forget about that- we're happily married now, and what happened before was just… you playing hard to get," he teased, and she chuckled along with him, feeling better and less overwhelmed with emotion. He had always seemed to make her feel better when she was down…
"Feeling better?" he asked after a moment, his brown eyes full of concern, and she had to smile warmly at him.
"Yes, thank you… I think we'd better get back inside before someone notices we're missing!"
They were just about to turn around to back into the ballroom when Mia's clear and happy voice stopped them in their tracks.
"Too late- you two are so busted!"
"Mia!" Clarisse chided gently, but she wasn't at all upset about it, as Mia grinned at them. The girl was only 21, but she suddenly looked so grown up and radiant, particularly with the crown on her head. It took Joseph a few seconds to remember that she was now Queen of Genovia before he quickly bowed to her.
"Your Majesty," he said formally, but neither Clarisse nor Mia could mistake the fond note in his voice, and Clarisse realised that she had to curtsey to Mia. She was just about to but Mia held up her hand as Charlotte stepped out into the hallway with them.
"I don't want you to do that, Grandma… you're still a Queen as well!"
"No, I want to pay my respects you- after all, you are now the new Queen of Genovia."
Mia looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, and then gave a heavy sigh.
"Alright, but only this once… after this, I don't want either of you having to do that again," she looked from Clarisse to Joe, who both smiled at her.
Clarisse looked at Joseph for a moment, who smiled encouragingly at her, before she gave her granddaughter, and Queen, a curtsey. Mia watched her with tears in her eyes- it meant more to her than Clarisse would ever know.
"My goodness, I haven't done one of them in years! Thank goodness I don't have to do it again!" she joked lightly once she stood up again. "I don't think my knees would appreciate me doing it again!"
"Neither would mine- I would have to pick you up!" Joseph joked, and narrowly missed an affectionate swat from Clarisse. "Anyway, what are you doing out here, Mia? I'm sure that there would be a lot of people wanting to speak to you in the ballroom."
"I actually came out to find Grandma- it's time for me to go out to the balcony, and I don't think it would be the same if I didn't go out onto the balcony with you," Mia said shyly to Clarisse as Joe and Charlotte secretly applauded the decision.
Clarisse, on the other hand, looked surprised and embarrassed.
"I don't think you need me out there with you, Mia. Today is your coronation day, and it should be all about you… I had mine a long time ago…"
"You forget that you're a big part of my life, and if it hadn't been for you and Joe coming to San Francisco to meet me, and supported me like you have over the years, I doubt that I would have been ready for this…"
"Nonsense," Clarisse said briskly, trying to hide the emotions that were welling up inside her again as she looked at Mia- she was so much like Phillipe… "You would have made it, no matter what!"
"Nevertheless, I'm not going out there unless you're with me… this is your day as well as mine, and since it's my day, I'm giving the orders around here!"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Clarisse said jokingly, throwing an amused look at Joseph before following her granddaughter back inside. She herself didn't understand why Mia was so insistent, but…
Joseph waited patiently in the ballroom, chatting with young Lord Devereaux as well as Mia's mother and stepfather, before Clarisse and Mia came back in- Mia was looking rather pleased with herself, and Clarisse was looking rather flushed.
"What happened?" he asked as they joined them, and she smiled rather absently at him, still trying to get around what had happened on the balcony. While Mia had stepped up to the balcony confidently, a warm smile lighting up her features, Clarisse had stood back for a moment to allow her to receive all the attention…
After a few minutes, Mia turned and smiled encouragingly at Clarisse, a signal for her to step forward. Clarisse had almost been blown away (literally) by the amount of noise that had met her when she had stepped up to the balcony, but she had managed to hide her surprise by smiling and waving calmly. After a moment, she turned to look at Mia, but instead of standing beside her, Mia was standing a few steps back, grinning cheekily at her.
"Grandma was rather surprised at how popular she is," Mia quipped with another cheeky smile, before disappearing through the crowd to talk to more of her guests as Joe grinned at his wife.
"Really?"
"Yes… didn't you hear the noise increase from in here? That was when I was stepping up to the balcony, and I'm not being modest!" Clarisse joked, finally recovering from her surprise, before looking towards the waiting parliamentarians with a soft sigh. "Well, it's time to go and do my duty for my country…"
"Have fun… I'll stay here," Joseph volunteered with an easy grin. Clarisse could deal with all those men without him there… but he was disconcerted to see her giving him a sly grin.
"Oh no, Mr Bonnell… I'm not going to let you out of it that easily! It's time that the members met my husband officially… besides, you're supposed to be escorting me everywhere, remember?"
"That's right… alright, I'll come," Joe pretended to heave a heavy sigh, as if it bothered him, but it secretly didn't… although he didn't like most of the parliament (having seen the way they treated Clarisse over the years), he was proud to have Clarisse on his arm…
00000
There was supposed to be an informal lunch, but it was cancelled when it became clear that Mia was still busy greeting guests.
"I'll see you both later!" she managed to call out to Clarisse and Joe as they left the ballroom- Mia in one direction, and them in the other.
"So, what do you want to do now?" he asked as they headed towards the stairs, and Clarisse laughed.
"Honestly darling, I just want to get changed out of these clothes, go for a walk in the garden, and then have a nap… I'm that exhausted! What about you? I'm sure that Scott will need you to consult with over security details or the like…"
"No, I've already told Scott that I'm unavailable for the day as my wife might need me!" Clarisse laughed even harder at his response as she looped her arm through his. "Besides, I've retired from security and all that mess…!"
"But that's still not going to stop you from helping out on occasion, is it?"
"No… but only in emergencies, and that's the truth!"
"Hmmm… so, are you going to accompany me out into the garden, then?"
"Of course, where else would I be? I just need to get out of this suit…"
Less than ten minutes later, they exited out of the palace via a secret doorway, and Joseph looked back at it for a moment in amusement.
"I never knew that you had a secret entranceway from your suite to the garden!"
"It was quite perfect for me, just in case I ever wanted to sneak out of the palace and go walking in the garden without company… not that I ever did it with you," she added hastily as Joseph raised an eyebrow in her direction, but the impish smile playing on the edges of her mouth told him that she had probably tried it with him as well.
"I don't believe that… I think you may have tried it when I was on duty, didn't you?"
"No," Clarisse said lightly, but the smile was growing wider, and Joe knew her well enough to know that she was fibbing.
"Oh really…" Joe pretended to walk menacingly towards her, a teasing smile on his face, and she chuckled as he put his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck with his lips. She giggled harder as he tickled her, and he knew that he almost had her. "So… did you?"
"Alright, alright, I did try it with you a couple of times…" she finally burst out laughing, unable to resist him. "But I only did it a few times during the early years… I never did it when I realised that you didn't like it… although I was sorely tempted…" she teased, and he laughed.
"Okay, I forgive you for that… so, how many secret passages are there in the palace?" he asked as he let her go, and took her hand in his as they began walking towards the rows of roses.
"Quite a few… the boys discovered most of them, and Phillipe then showed me, but there were a few that I discovered on my own… and this was one of them…"
"Are you going to show me them?"
"Maybe…" she said coyly, giving him a sideways glance before grinning and then bending down to smell her roses.
"Mmmm… I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time out here… sometimes being inside all the time gets so tedious, and I sometimes just needed to break out… and there are some awfully special memories out here…"
She blushed as she glanced towards the pagoda, and then back at Joseph before he guided her down there, and they sat close together on the seat. She looked around her appreciatively for a moment, before turning to Joseph with a curious look.
"I've been wondering about something, Joseph… was this where you actually planned on proposing to me? I know I didn't react exactly as I should have, but was this the ideal place?"
"Yes. I know how much you love your garden, and I figured that this was the place… However, I really hadn't thought too far ahead until the words came out of my mouth, and I realised that it was a terrible time and a terrible place… you were so stressed and concerned about Mia, and you didn't have a chance to think about it at all… Although you certainly made me wait for your answer," he grinned at her, and she cringed at the thought of the two weeks she had had to mull over her answer.
"I did love you doing it here," she said softly, rubbing her hand on his cheek for a long moment. "I always wanted to be proposed to in the garden… I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to make a decision, and then I made the wrong one…"
"You didn't, my love," Joseph said intensely, taking both her hands in his and squeezing warmly. "I've had time to think about it, and I now realise that you didn't make the wrong decision- you needed to make the decision that would suit you and Mia, no one else."
"But I didn't take you into consideration, which still hurts me now thinking about it!"
"You don't need to worry about that anymore… everything worked out in the end…" he trailed off as he kissed her hand, and she smiled lovingly at him.
"I don't deserve you… you're such a kind and loving man…"
"You do deserve me," he said, looking her directly in the eyes. "You deserve so much more than you were given by His Majesty… he didn't love you as much as…"
"You love me," Clarisse finished softly, smiling at him with tears in her eyes. "I'll admit that I didn't love him as much as I love you… the love of my life," she whispered the last words, and he pulled her close to kiss her.
There was a slight pause as they held hands and looked around the garden, before Clarisse thought of something else.
"I wonder what Phillipe would have thought… I know he would have been proud of Mia today, but I wonder what he thought about us…"
"Darling, we both know what your son would have thought about us… Hey," he said with a laugh, suddenly remembering something.
"He was on my back for years trying to get me to marry you eventually! He got even worse after Rupert got sick!"
"Yes, he could be persistent," Clarisse smiled fondly, also remembering something that Phillipe had told her. "He always told me that I was crazy if I ever turned you down, and he would shake me if I had! But yes, we both know what he would have said…"
"About time!" they said in unison, before bursting into laughter.
"Phillipe was smarter than I realised," Clarisse said reflectively after a moment, thinking of the tall, brown haired, brown eyed young man who had been her baby, and the other person (after Joseph) who knew her very well.
"He was such a great boy…."
"Yes, and he also had a great sense of humour… I can't count the times I came across the pair of you laughing at something, or him teasing you…"
"I can recall that you two had some good jokes between the pair of you… the times he used to pull pranks on you… I had to tell him off several times, but he didn't care!"
"I'm glad you defended me, but it definitely didn't stop with the pranks. I think I was the only one he ever tried it on!"
"True," Clarisse smiled fondly, as memories of Phillipe suddenly flooded her, and her eyes filled with tears again. Joseph silently pulled her close to him for a moment, allowing her to calm down, and she smiled at him after a moment, wiping the few tears that had spilled onto her cheeks away. "He was always so very fond of you."
"I was very fond of your son as well… not only was he good, kind and loving- just like his mother," he added in an undertone as she blushed. "But he genuinely adored you, and he always managed to make you laugh, even when you had a bad day," Joseph finished softly.
"He did," Clarisse said with a slight smile, looking out onto her flowers for a moment, before looking back at him. "But he wasn't the only one who made me laugh, or cheered me up when I needed it… you were, and still continue to do that, including today…"
"I don't mind doing that… I hate to see you down or sad- I much prefer seeing your lovely smile…" he said bashfully, and she giggled slightly before he hugged her again.
"Well, I don't think I'll be sad too often," she whispered into his shoulder, and his arms tightened around her. "I don't have a reason to be sad anymore…"
"So," he began after they broke apart. "Are you ready for that nap now? I know I am!" he joked as he stood up and stretched, before holding out his hand to her. She laughed and took the proffered hand, standing up happily.
00000
It was several hours later when Clarisse opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, wondering why she was lying down, cuddled up next to Joseph, when it was still afternoon… She glanced over and smiled at Joseph- he looked so peaceful asleep, and she was sorely tempted to lean over and kiss him, but she didn't want to wake him. She then realised why they were having a nap- the coronation ball was that evening, and it was guaranteed to be another long evening. She squinted over Joseph's shoulder to his digital clock, sitting on his bedside cabinet, and gasped, sitting straight up on the bed- it was just after five o'clock, and they had to be ready for their entrance at 6:45, before Mia's entrance at seven.
"Joseph… Joseph?" she gently touched him on the shoulder, hating to wake him up, but it was important that they started getting ready. "Joseph sweetheart, it's time to get up…"
"Really?" he murmured sleepily as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around. "I thought it seemed like only a few minutes ago when we went to sleep… why are you panicking?" he asked as he sat up and wove his arm around her waist, pulling her towards him.
Clarisse sank back into his warm embrace for a moment, forgetting the world around them, before realising why she was panicking.
"It's after five, and we're supposed to be ready to make our entrance at 6:45!"
"Oh, that's right… and you need to have an hour long shower," he joked as she hopped off the bed and threw him a mock disgusted look as she walked towards her wardrobe to collect her shower belongings. She had thankfully already decided on what she was going to wear, but she still needed time to dress and decide what jewellery she wanted to wear.
"It's alright for you, all you need to do to look handsome is put on your tuxedo… it takes me quite a bit longer to make me look even halfway decent!"
"I think you might be exaggerating… you always look beautiful!"
"Thank you," Clarisse paused on her way to the bathroom, and smiled gently at him. "But it does take me a while to look as beautiful as you seem to think I am!"
"You are beautiful, and you look just as beautiful without all that junk," he waved to her makeup in her arms. "I don't know what you're worrying about!"
"I knew I married you for a reason," Clarisse walked over and dropped a kiss onto his head. "You give such lovely compliments…"
"Which is the truth," he patted her hand before she smiled and disappeared into the bathroom
000
An hour later, Joseph found himself dressed and waiting patiently for his wife in the living room. He glanced at his watch again and grinned- even though she had been in a panic about running out of time, they were still ahead of time (although only just), and he had to wonder what she was doing…
He walked over to her closed dressing room door, and gently tapped on the door.
"Clarisse, darling? We're going to be late… are you ever going to come out of there?" he joked and Clarisse, who was standing in front of the full length mirror, checking herself one more time, chuckled softly to herself. Joseph had yet to understand how important it was to look exactly right.
"I'll be right out!" she called in reply as she looked at herself critically one more time. She was wearing a brand new dress- a royal blue silk dress with a light material sheath covering her arms and shoulders, and the skirt flowed down onto the floor. She was wearing very little jewellery, besides her wedding ring, except pearls at her ears and throat as well as her tiara- Mia was having her own made, and she insisted that Clarisse keep hers. She was afraid that she looked a little plain- most of the women who attended these functions were literally dripping with jewels- but she preferred to remain as simple as possible.
She shyly opened the door slowly and, to her surprise, found Joseph sitting on the bed, waiting for her to emerge.
"Well?" she asked shyly, looking down at her feet for a moment, surprised at how she felt. She usually didn't feel so shy about emerging from her dressing room in a dress, but this was different… she wanted to look beautiful for Joseph…
There was a long silence before Joseph walked over to her, and gently tipped her chin up so he could look into her eyes. The dress brought out the colour of her eyes perfectly.
"Beautiful… absolutely beautiful," was all he said before he kissed her long and lovingly. She was blushing deeply when she pulled away from him.
"I don't know why I'm so shy around you now… but I just wanted to look beautiful for you… You don't think that I'm dressed too plainly?"
"No, I don't… you're the one that always seems to capture all the attention in the ballroom, and that's even when all the women are wearing expensive jewellery! You always look beautiful to me."
"Most of the outfits I've worn over the years have been for you…" she said softly, and he smiled as he touched her cheek gently.
"I know they were…" he said quietly before he kissed her hand. "Now, hadn't we be going? I'm sure that most of the guests will be there already!"
000
By the time they got downstairs, the double doors to the ballroom were closed and, in the empty silence of the hall, Clarisse could hear the faint murmur of people talking inside.
"I suppose they would all be in there by now," she said, surprised to realise that she was feeling nervous. It was ridiculous, she told herself sternly, as she had been doing this for many years, and mostly alone. But she knew that she wasn't nervous for herself, but nervous on Joseph's behalf- although most of the guests were from out of town, there were still enough parliamentarians there to make her nervous.
She knew that their first real hurdle would be the upcoming state dinner to celebrate Mia's coronation, but she wanted everything to go perfectly tonight- not only for Mia, but for Joseph as well. She trembled a little at the thought that people might not like Joseph, or understand why she loved him so much…
"Are you alright?" he asked solicitously, having felt her tremble slightly.
"I'm fine… Just a little nervous going in here… this is my first time not as Queen," she smiled over at him. She wouldn't tell him what she had been thinking, but he was looking at her through narrowed eyes.
He could tell that she had been thinking something else, but there was some movement from inside, so now wasn't the time to ask her about it.
"I know you're fibbing to me, Mrs Bonnell, but I don't have time to get it out of you now… I will later, though," he growled fondly at her.
"How fortunate for me," she returned pertly, before another thought struck her. "By the way," she said quickly as she heard the thump of the cane inside the ballroom. "You don't mind if I'm called by my title as Queen tonight, rather than as your wife? I would much prefer no entrance, and as Mrs Bonnell, but Mia's had another one of her ideas… she sprung it on me this morning, and I didn't think of it until now…"
"Not at all," Joe put his arm around her shoulders for a quick reassuring squeeze before pulling away. "Mia told me all about it yesterday, and I thoroughly approve… Shall I step back, as per usual?" he joked, and she gripped his arm tighter.
"Don't you dare… this is where you belong now, as you always should have been…"
"Announcing the arrival of Her Majesty Clarisse Renaldi, Queen of Genovia, and her husband Mr Joseph Bonnell!" came the booming voice from inside, and the doors opened reveal a big crowd of curious guests.
"Here we go," Joseph murmured under his breath as they stepped forward together, and Clarisse couldn't resist laughing at him as they walked inside, and headed towards the position next to Sebastian Motez and his wife.
"That entrance was almost as bad as our wedding reception entrance," he muttered under his breath, so only Clarisse could hear him, and she laughed again as a waiter stopped near them with a tray of champagne glasses. She took two off the tray, and handed him one of them.
"You did well, darling, and I couldn't have imagined coming in with anyone but you… oh, here's Mia!"
Clarisse had never felt as proud as she did when Mia, radiant in a pale pink dress and tiara, walked proudly into the ballroom. She literally radiated elegance and confidence, and Clarisse was, for a moment, reminded so much of Phillipe while Joseph was reminded of Clarisse herself.
"Well done," she said encouragingly as soon as Mia came near them. "You did a good job today… and you look beautiful…"
"I'm not the only one who looks beautiful, Grandma," Mia managed to slip in before the music began to play, and Sebastian arrived for his first dance ever with the new Queen.
Clarisse and Joseph watched proudly as Sebastian led Mia expertly around the dance floor in a waltz, and Mia looked very relaxed as the two of them chatted. After the dance had finished, Nicholas was there to get the next dance, and Joseph turned to Clarisse with a smile.
"Would you care to dance with me, Mrs Bonnell?"
"Yes I would, Mr Bonnell," Clarisse smiled in return, but they both felt very self conscious as he led her out onto the dance floor, well aware of the number of eyes on them.
"You would have thought that they would have had enough staring last week," Clarisse said after a moment as they got into the rhythm of the music and, as usual, Clarisse forgot about everything when she was in his arms… he was such a wonderful dancer, and she loved dancing with him…
"We're still a novelty to them… after being in hiding for over thirty years, they need a little time to get used to the fact that we're together… but, I have to admit, I'm not used to being stared at like a celebrity!"
"It won't be that often from now on… and that's a promise!"
"Really?" Joseph looked at her with raised eyebrows, and she nodded firmly
"Yes… we're going to enjoy our marriage out of the spotlight!"
000
The rest of the evening seemed to fly by in moments as both the present and past Queens were on the dance floor for most of the evening while Joseph and Nicholas looked proudly on. Whenever she didn't have several dances in a row, Clarisse gravitated towards Joseph and, much to the disgust of some of the parliamentarians who were still very fond of Viscount Mabrey, she stayed close to him as they went around chatting to guests together.
"I can see that there are some men that are annoyed that you seem literally glued to my side," Joseph joked as he led her out onto the dance floor for another dance later in the evening.
"I can't help that… you're just too irresistible, and I don't want any other woman getting their eyes on you," Clarisse joked happily in return as they began dancing, and Joe chuckled.
"Are you jealous, my darling?"
"Yes, a little… you are a very handsome man, and I know that there would be plenty of women who would love to have you escorting them anywhere!"
"Well, it's too bad for them… I wouldn't pay any attention to any of them anyway, as there's only one woman that matters to me, and I'm dancing with her right now! I should be jealous of how many men want to dance with you!"
"Now I feel better… and you don't have to be jealous- you are by the far the best dancer around, and you're the only one I want to dance with," Clarisse said with a warm smile.
After the dance was over, Clarisse looked around with pleasure as she realise that no one else was waiting to dance with her… she was free now, and she suddenly felt rather tired.
"What time is it?" she asked as they walked toward the double doors leading out onto the ballroom, and he squinted at his watch.
"11:30… why, are you a little tired?"
"Yes, but I'm hoping that the air will wake me up…"
They stepped out onto the balcony and, leaning on the rail, stared up at the star filled night sky.
"What a beautiful night," Clarisse said after a moment as he put his arm around her shoulder, and she leaned her head against him. "It's been such a perfect day, and I'm glad that Mia had such a wonderful day…"
"There you are!" came a cry from behind them, and they turned to see Mia standing in the doorway, grinning at them. "I was wondering where you were, but then Charlotte told me this was where you used to retreat when you'd had enough of dancing and socialising!"
"We'll have to find a new hiding place," Joe muttered under his breath before they turned to smile at Mia. "But why aren't you still in there, being belle of the ball? It is your night, you know."
"Co-bell of the ball… I think your wife was also the belle of the ball as well! Anyway, I just wanted to come and see you before you sneak out like you did at your wedding reception… I just wanted to thank you for everything. You guys, as well as Mom and Lily, have been such wonderful support over the years, and I don't think I could have got as far as this without your support… I just wish Dad could have been here to see this…"
"He would have been very proud of you," Joseph said gruffly as he pulled away from Clarisse for a moment to give her a hug. "We were very proud of you… I was watching you as you were being crowned, and I couldn't help but think back to what you were like when you were fifteen…"
"Gosh, how can you bring that up now?" Mia cringed slightly at the memory, but Joe only grinned before continuing.
"You were very young then, Mia, and I was just thinking about how much you've grown and matured then… you are very much like your father in a lot of ways, but you are also very much like your grandmother as well!"
He looked proudly from granddaughter to grandmother, both of whom were smiling a little tearfully at each other, and then at him.
"Thank you… but now you guys don't need to worry about me anymore, I'll be fine!"
"No matter what you say, we're still going to be here," Clarisse said warmly as she stepped forward and hugged her. "You're not going to go through this alone!"
"Thank you… but you guys deserve all the happiness in the world, and I know that you're going to get it all from each other. You know, I never realised that you had had a secret romance over the years, but when I found out about it, I thought it was wonderful… and you two are so cute together!"
"Cute?" Joe repeated, looking at Clarisse in consternation for a moment. "How can anyone find us cute?"
"Because you are… anyway, now you've got the chance to enjoy the first few weeks of your married life as newlyweds…"
Just then, there was a noise from behind her, and they turned to see Nicholas grinning bashfully from the doorway before walking slowly towards them.
"Would you care to dance?" he asked and she grinned at Clarisse and Joe for a moment, and then nodded and giggled.
"I'd love to… see you both tomorrow…" she turned back to grin at them for a moment, and was then led by the hand back into the ballroom. They silently watched them disappear, and then Clarisse looked at Joseph.
"Newlyweds… that's what we are…" she said after a moment, realising that it was true… they really were 'newly married'.
"Yes, and we're going to have some good fun settling down now that all the excitement is over…."
"There's still plenty more firsts for us…" she said softly as he took her hand in his.
"Yes, and I'm going to ask, for the first time, would you like to go home now?"
"Home," she repeated softly, almost in tears that they were going home together…. "Yes, I would love to… especially as it's with you!"
