Disclaimer: Princess Diaries does not belong to me. And I'm not making money off of it.
As the reception wore on, Joseph had relaxed a bit, getting more comfortable with his new surroundings. He found that many of the parliamentarians respected him as Clarisse's husband, and some even admitted to wondering when he would finally snatch her up. There were always some who did not see him very favorably, those being cronies of either Arthur Mabrey or Rupert. These were the men who were always after Clarisse, and Joseph was more than happy now to put them in their place, now that his marriage made him higher on the social ladder, and the diplomatic immunity doesn't help either.
After greeting guests, dinner was announced and Joseph and Clarisse took their seats at the head table.
"Are you doing alright darling?" Clarisse asked. This was his first formal occasion as a member of the royal family and she was worried he was overwhelmed.
"I'm fine. It's a little easier now that I know most of these people like me. I must confess, I still can't wrap my mind around what has happened."
"I can't either," she admitted. "I honestly don't know if i'll ever get over it." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "And I don't think I ever want to," she whispered into his ear. A small smile graced his face and he hoped he hadn't blushed, for the other table occupants were sure to have noticed.
"I don't know how much longer I can sit her and resist taking you away from here. I'm finally allowed to have you for myself and I can't because we have a cake to cut and people to interact with" She chuckled at that last statement.
"I want more than anything for you to take me away, and I hate that we have to stay." She admitted. "I promise you my husband, as soon as we can make a run for it, we most definitely will." She brought her mouth to his ear and whispered. "Tonight we will finally be together, mind, body, and soul"
"Don't tempt me woman." He resisted the urge to kiss her as most people were watching. She let out a small chuckle, having a bit of fun watching him stay all bottled up.
Soon the first course of the meal was put in front of them and they started in. Joseph hadn't realized how hungry he was until he smelled the food. He remembered not having breakfast that morning and not eating since the previous night.
The meal portion of the evening went faster than Joseph thought. He spent much of the meal making pleasant conversation with his wife and table mates which consisted of Mia, Lilly, Pierre, Helen, Patrick, Sebastian, Sheila, and Charlotte. He was always used to standing behind Clarisse's chair or against the back wall at these types of functions. It was different and nice sitting next to her. Clarisse always insisted he walk beside her as an equal, not two steps behind like a servant.
As the waiters began to clear away the first course, Clarisse got up from her seat and took Joseph to mingle more with guests they hadn't talked to yet. As they worked to the other side of the ballroom, Mia decided to put her plan into action.
"Alright people, let's go." Mia, Lilly, Charlotte, and Sheila hopped up from the table and scurried out of the ballroom and up to the queen's suite. The group met Olivia and Pricilla at the door with carts of food, candles, and other essential items. All quickly rushed inside. "Alright people, we gotta do this fast." Mia said. Everyone chipped in to help. Olivia and Sheila quicker changed the bed linens from the standard silk cream to a romantic dark red. Pricilla started preparing the bathroom with Mia, setting candles along the edges of the large jacuzzi tub along with Clarisse's favorite bath oil and beautiful red rose petals. Charlotte and Lilly were in the living room, placing candles and trays of fruits and chocolates.
When Olivia had finished, she had gone into the dressing room and found Clarisse's fanciest silk nightgown. She placed it on the bed with the matching robe. "Here," Mia said coming from the dressing room. "I found Joe's too." His pajamas and robe were placed on the bed next to hers. Everyone gathered back in the sitting area. Pricilla had finished with her task and started working on building a fire.
"Everything looks amazing in here. Thank you all so much for helping make this special for them." Mia praised the ladies. "Ok so what about the champagne and other food?" Mia asked.
"We will have the other food shortly after dinner is done being served. They will have each a main course and a piece of cake. They will be brought up shortly before they get here, along with the champagne." Olivia said, than continued, "Charlotte will notify us when they are leaving the reception."
"And what about the candles?" Mia asked
"Joe is going to take care of that stuff when time comes." Olivia said and smiled
"Thank you all again for helping." All the ladies smiled.
"We all want them to have the best, they deserve it." Sheila said. The other ladies agreed and left the suite, making their way back downstairs.
As the four women reentered the ballroom and sat down, Clarisse and Joesph were already back at the table. "Where have you all been?" Clarisse asked, knowing well that they were up to something.
"Nowhere." Mia said nonchalantly. Clarisse looked at Charlotte, knowing full well Charlotte sucked at lying.
"Nowhere." Charlotte said, looking down at the food on her plate.
"Charlotte?" Clarisse asked, more sternly. As Charlotte opened her mouth to talk, Mia interrupted
"Charlotte don't say a word." Mia stated, Charlotte immediately closed her mouth and looked back to her plate.
"Joseph do you know what these ladies were up to?" Clarisse was fishing, and Joseph knew it.
"They were doing something for me darling. Just trust me." He kissed her gently on the cheek.
"With my life." She responded, kissing him on the lips. Not letting it go too far, she pulled back and smiled at him. Soon Sebastian stood up, acquiring the whole ballrooms attention.
"Everyone," he started. "Such a joyous day, even though it may not have gone as planned." He looked at Mia and smiled. "But today, two people that have waited many, many, years are finally together. There are many years of friendship between these two, lots of trust, comfort, and love. Both of these people have dedicated their lives to service for our great country, and deserve to have happiness at last." Sebastian paused to look at Clarisse and Joseph who were clearly blushing and slightly embarrassed at Sebastian statements. "To Queen Clarisse and Joseph. May they live forever in love and happiness." Sebastian finished and everyone toasted. After Sebastian sat down, Mia stood up.
"I know this isn't really my place to make a speech but I wanted to. I know that we all came together to celebrate a different marriage, but, in my opinion, the marriage that happened today, is a much more cause for celebration than anything else that could have happened today. As the Prime Minister stated, you two of all people deserve this happiness. So much has been sacrificed to get to where you are today." Mia turned to her grandmother. "Grandma, I admire you so much. Everything you have done for me, and everyone else has shown what a heart you do have. You have had faith in me from day one. You have continually loved me, despite what i have done and what has happened over the years. I just hope I can be even half the queen you are, because you are the absolute best." Clarisse was doing her absolute best not to burst into tears at her granddaughter's words.
"And Joe," she continued. "You are amazing, no doubt. Your loyalty to friendship has been loved by not just Grandma and myself, but by the palace staff and friends. Since the day I met you, you have stuck by my side, chasing after me, giving me advice, being a shoulder to cry on, and someone to confide in. You have looked out for me in ways no one else has. You have been as good as a father to me since I found out who I really was. And I am very proud to now be able to call you my grandfather." Joe couldn't help but smile, and Clarisse swore she saw him shed a tear at one point.
"To Clarisse and Joe," Mia raised her glass. "And toast to a long, happy, love filled, marriage." Mia couldn't help it, she immediately went over to hug her grandmother and new grandfather. As everyone got back to their meals, Joseph spoke to his wife.
"Have I really had that much impact on her life?" he asked.
"Oh yes, you were always there for her, also for me, and my boys. You once told me it was the little things that counted the most. And you must definitely did a lot of little things for all of us. There was one time I remember Phillipe telling me you were more of a father to him than Rupert ever was. You taught him so many things, how to drive, swim, sports, camping, hunting, fishing, and about girls too if I remember. He loved it and he loved you for it. And I love you for it."
"Seeing those boys happy made you happy, and in turn made me happy." he admitted. "I love you."
"I love you too." She kissed him again. She thought of how much it sucked that they were in public, she wanted more than anything right now to be alone with her husband. Then she could kiss him the way she wanted to.
Soon the cake was cut, Clarisse holding the knife in her hand with Joseph's placed on top to steady hers. Both having huge smiles on their faces as guests watched. Mia insisted that they feed each other the cake, which they did much to both Clarisse and Joe's embarrassment.
After the cake was taken away to be cut and distributed, the dancing had started. The reception consisted of a classic string quartet, which Clarisse insisted, and a DJ, which Mia insisted. The quartet started out playing a beautiful waltz for the first dance. Joseph had no problem twirling Clarisse around the ballroom and holding her around the waist like he always wanted to hold her. Her face lay gently on his chest as the song slowed to a more sedate pace. As the dance finished, Joesph gently lifted her chin and kissed her on the lips for all to see. The couple pulled away as they heard almost the whole ballroom awe in admiration at the love they shared.
Joesph led his wife back to their seats at the table. He still held both her hands in his. "Would you like to go upstairs now?" She asked smiling.
"I would love to. More than anything." He responded. He quickly scanned the room looking for the fastest exit from the ballroom. He saw the open door at the side of the ballroom that led outside to the terrace. "Come with me, we must hurry before they see us." He quickly pulled her up from the chair and all but ran out the door.
Mia, Charlotte, Sheila, and Lilly had all cast themselves as lookouts to spot the couple leaving. All four women had seen Joseph pull Clarisse from her chair and out of the ballroom.
"Charlotte." Mia said
"I'm way ahead of you." Charlotte has already had her cellphone to her ear and the call placed before the other ladies got to her. "They just left" She told Olivia and hung up with a smile on her face. All four ladies were graced with smiles as they knew what was going to happen in the palace tonight.
~Please R&R. Sorry this took me a freakishly long time. I've rewritten these scenes a number of times and I think these are the best versions. Please let me know what y'all think. I'm already working on chapter 5. Thanks -S~