Disclaimer:I don't think I really need to say this … but, no, I do not own the Princess Diaries (book or film), it's characters, or anything in it. I make no profit from these stories. I am merely borrowing these characters for fun.

A/N: And now for chapter 10 …

A/N2: Huge general thanks to everyone whose been reviewing: thank you!

A/N3: Some of you noticed that I had posted chapter one accidentally again as chatpter 10 ... here's teh ACTUAL chapter 10 ... sorry for the mix up

Enjoy, and please review:

Now back in her suite, Clarisse collapsed on her bed and noticed, for the first time since the whole ordeal had begun, that her back and neck were killing her.

Sighing deeply, she turned so that her head was resting on her pillow and looked up at the painted ceiling, her thoughts, once again slipping.

…"Rupert…" called Clarisse knocking on the door

"Come in…"

Motioning, with a pain deep inside her, for Joseph to wait outside, Clarisse pushed the door to her husband's study open and entered making sure it was firmly closed behind her.

"Rupert… There's something I need to talk to you about…" said Clarisse approaching his desk "uh … maybe we should sit over there…" she motioned to the two leather couches by the fireplace.

Unsure of what was going on, Rupert nodded, eyeing his wife curiously and took a seat where she told him to.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her

"Wrong?" she swallowed; yes something was definitely wrong "No, not at all. I just … uh. Rupert, do you remember that night about a month ago? When you returned from Paris?" she asked

"How could I forget…" he said with a smirk

Forcing a smile, Clarisse continued "Well … Rupert, I, uh, I'm pregnant …"

There was a short silence during which time they just stared at each other, a smile growing on Rupert's face before he lunged forwards and took her into his arms, kissing her thoroughly.

--

That night in their room, Clarisse rolled around in bed and faced away from her snoring husband. 'That's that' she thought. Rupert was going to be a father, she was going to be a mother and within the next seven to eight months, they'd have a baby to look after. But the truth is that 'that' wasn't really 'that' … it never would be, because there was just so much more to it all … so much that she'd never be allowed to say … so much he would never be allowed to know…

After a two hour sleep that Clarisse had had no intention of taking, she took a long soothing shower and, after a change of clothes, descended the steps to the main doors of the Palace where Nicholas was already, as they'd agreed, waiting for her.

Joseph wasn't quite sure how long it had been since Mia and Lili had had their talk in ICU. But he did know that, after the shock of what he'd heard settled in, pretending to be asleep had become excruciatingly difficult. After all, how do you simply lay back and listen to someone insinuate that …

'No!' Joe mentally yelled at himself 'It can't be … Clarisse would never … It can't be … It … well it can technically be … but it just …'

"Hey!" a voice pulled Joseph out of his thoughts "you're awake!"

Having woken up a few minutes earlier, Pierre had decided to check on Joseph and, pulling the curtain that separated them to the side, found him lying in bed, his eyes open, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Huh? Oh! Yes…" said Joseph looking up at the younger man. It was strange looking at him now, knowing that he might be … 'No, he can't'

"Are you alright?" asked Pierre noticing Joseph's expression

"Yes … yes I'm fine … I uh …" pushing all thoughts out of his mind, Joseph focused on what he really needed to say to Pierre "… I wanted to thank you, you know, for everything you did. I hear that if it weren't for you I'd…"

Smiling, Pierre shook his head "You don't have to thank me; it was the least I could do. You stood by me when I wanted to live my life away from the palace, it was only fair that I stand by you and do everything possible to have you live your life to its rightful end…"

Smiling, Joe nodded "well, thank you … it takes a great deal of courage and selflessness to do what you did … I … just, thank you"

"Anytime" replied Pierre with a laugh before adding "well … not really … I mean, if you ever need an organ that I have two of, you know where to find me … kidneys? I'm afraid I only have one left … and I kinda need it …"

Getting a laugh back from Joseph, Pierre took the older man's hand smiled just as the curtain was pulled apart and Clarisse appeared.

"Oh! Pierre! You're awake!" she exclaimed hugging her son

"Yes, I just thought I'd check on Joseph … make sure my kidney was working for him …" he added with a smile to Joseph who was simply staring at Clarisse.

Noticing this, Pierre decided to sink back into the shadows and allow his mother and would-be stepfather be alone.

"Uh … I'm going to see if the nurse will let me walk around a bit … I'm kind of bored of this bed" said Pierre as he walked away

After her son was quite a distance away at the other side of the room, Clarisse smiled at Joseph.

"I'm all rested as you suggested … so now don't even thing of sending me away again …" she said sitting down and taking his hand which he promptly kissed.

"Clarisse, my dear … is, uh, is everything alright?" he asked not exactly sure how to bring the subject he was being tormented by into the conversation. 'How exactly do you ask some one "hey, I was just wondering, what are the odds that your son is actually my son too?"' he thought to himself.

Slightly confused, Clarisse gave him an inquisitive look "yes of course, darling, everything is fine…"

"It's just I … I don't know … I sense that something is different … I …"

Silence

In Clarisse's mind, she began to panic. 'I don't want to lie to him! He doesn't deserve it! Not after all he's been through … but how do I …' she thought just as Joseph wondered if he should let her bring it up or not.

When it became apparent that neither of them would say anything, Joseph figured out what he could say to lead the conversation

"Well, I suppose I'm very lucky that Pierre was a match … from what I hear, not many people have blood type B …"

An 'alert' sign suddenly flashing in front of her eyes, Clarisse looked down at him "Well, we would have found you a donor … I wouldn't have rested until we did …" she replied smiling.

"I know that … I just feel very, uh, blessed to have someone like him in my life … you and Rupert raised a great kid …"

The look in his eyes was enough to tell her he knew; there was no point lying any more.

Sighing, Clarisse closed here eyes and almost whispered "you know, don't you?"

TBC

As always, I hope you enjoyed that, I'm off to write some more. Please let me know what you thought :D

Thanks,

CJS-DEPPendent