Author's Note: This has been a really good story to write, and thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing… I really like to see what people like in the chapters! I'm enjoying writing it so much that I don't want it to end, but it will very soon…
The Princess Diaries belongs to Meg Cabot and Disney
They stayed at the river for a while longer, daring each other to swimming races and splashing each other playfully, before Joe noticed that the clouds were beginning to appear from all directions, blocking the sunlight.
"I think we might have to think about making a move back to camp," he said as they walked slowly out of the water.
"Why? Are you annoyed that I finally managed to beat you back to shore this time?" she teased as he handed her a towel, and she began drying herself off.
"No… but it looks like it might rain soon," he said, waving to the clouds overhead. Clarisse looked at them for a moment, and shrugged carelessly. She had been so amazed that something as simple as swimming had given her so much pleasure, that she didn't care.
"Are you afraid of getting rained on?" she ribbed gently as she stepped into her jeans. "I thought you didn't mind the rain…."
"I don't mind it… not when I'm chasing you through it," he teased as both of them remembered the time she had run out into the rain, fed up with parliament, and Joseph had had to follow her. "I just thought that you might not like it… but I just remembered…."
"Yes… well, that answers your query," she said with a broad smile. "But I imagine that it is getting rather late… What time is it, by the way?" she asked as he consulted his watch.
"Almost four… definitely time we were making a move" Joe declared as he finished buttoning up his shirt, and slipped his feet into his shoes, not bothering to put on socks.
"I wonder if the others have managed to catch fish," she said thoughtfully as she sat down on the rock to tie her shoes. "They would have been there at least four hours, wouldn't they?"
"About that long, if not a bit longer… but Scott can be pretty determined when he wants to be," Joe said as she stood up and looked at him expectantly.
"Can we do this again tomorrow?" she asked as he took her hand, and they began walking away. She looked back, a little regretfully, at their private swimming area, and Joe laughed.
"Of course we can, darling… you really are enjoying yourself, aren't you?"
"I am… I wanted to experience everything about camping, but I didn't imagine how much you and I would pack into the last two days- a long walk yesterday, truth or dare last night…"
"I won't forget that game," Joe interrupted with a soft chuckle.
"Going for a long hike this morning," she continued. "Fishing, and then swimming… this has been extraordinary… and I love that I've been able to experience all of this with you…"
"I've enjoyed doing it all with you too… I've especially enjoyed watching your reactions to everything… you have taken everything in your stride…."
"Haven't I always been like that?" Clarisse looked at him quizzically, and Joe laughed, realising that she usually did take everything in stride… "This is the holiday that, deep down, I've always wanted, but never had…."
"Really?" Joe looked at her, intrigued. "So, all of those times you spent your holidays at the beach house, or at the Winter Palace… you really didn't enjoy them?"
"I did, in a lot of ways, but like I've told you before, I prefer the adage 'less is more'… and this is, simply, more the way I wanted to spend my holidays… although maybe not outside all the time," she admitted with a smile.
"So, knowing that you've been around the world several times, what would have been your favourite holiday, and where did you go?" he asked curiously as they walked through the forest. Clarisse looked pensive for a moment, before smiling shyly over at him.
"Our honeymoon," she said simply, and Joe looked surprised.
"Our honeymoon!" he laughed. "That was four days away at the beach house, and we had to come back so you could sign your final papers, and prepare for Mia's coronation… I'd hardly call that a decent holiday, let alone a honeymoon! Are you sure you don't mean our week in Paris… that would be considered a honeymoon!"
"Be that as it may, the four days away were what I wanted… Paris was lovely, but the beach house was better… completely isolated from the rest of the world and the best part was- it was just you and I…" she smiled dreamily over at him before leaning over and kissing him.
"Do you remember how we actually got there?"
"Do I ever… I think you were in shock, as you tried to go to work…."
"Not that I particularly wanted to," Clarisse protested with a smile, but acknowledging that she had been in shock over her surprise marriage…
"Thankfully Mia and Charlotte took the initiative and told you to have a break… but, for a moment there, I thought you were going to get angry!"
"I was annoyed," Clarisse admitted with a slightly guilty smile, remembering what had happened that day. "But they didn't back down, did they?..."
After their trip to the roof, Clarisse and Joe walked quietly back to their suite to find Clarisse's maids setting up breakfast for them.
"Good morning Your Majesty. Good morning," Mr Bonnell," the two young women curtsied hastily to the couple, before walking hurriedly out the door, Joe looking after them in surprise.
"Mr Bonnell… that's a first! This time yesterday, they were calling me Joe… now look at me!" he joked as he held Clarisse's chair out for her, before sitting opposite her. "But they've even got my coffee and breakfast right!"
"Well, as I've heard you say to Mia several times, maids know everything," Clarisse said with a playful smile, sipping her tea, and glancing at the papers sitting beside her place.
"So, what's in the news today?" Joe asked as he buttered a piece of toast.
"We're all over the front pages, as we expected, and the quotes seem to be favourable… oh, and there's a blurb about Viscount Mabrey being forcibly removed from the building," she said with a chuckle as she perused the front page.
"I suppose Charlotte will be fielding calls all day… I suppose I had better go and see what I can do to help her…"
"Now? Aren't you supposed to be enjoying your first breakfast with your new husband?" Joe pretended to look offended before grinning, and she sat back down in her chair with a smile.
"I suppose business could wait an hour or so…"
0000
An hour and a half later, Clarisse and Joe walked into Clarisse's study to find that no one was there… not even Charlotte, who was usually waiting patiently for Clarisse to appear. Even more surprising was the fact that there were no papers spread out on her desk, waiting to be perused by the Queen. Clarisse usually liked to know what was going on in the country, and she usually glanced through newspapers before beginning work.
"That's strange… why isn't Charlotte waiting for me here?" Clarisse said, almost to herself, as she sat down in her chair with a puzzled look, while Joseph sat down on a nearby couch. He hadn't needed to accompany Clarisse to her study, but he wanted to spend as much time as possible with her, even though they were now married.
"Probably still recovering from the shocks of yesterday," he said with a laugh, as Clarisse smiled at his joke- there had been several surprises yesterday- before she pressed the button that would summon Charlotte from her nearby office. It was just seconds later when Charlotte, Mia following close behind, walked into the room, surprised to see her employer sitting patiently at her desk.
"Your Majesty…Joe…I wasn't expecting you to be here this morning!" Charlotte walked towards the desk as Mia grinned and sat down next to Joe on the couch.
"Why on earth wouldn't I be at work this morning?" Clarisse asked with a confused look. "It still is a normal working day, and I believe that there are still coronation plans to go over."
"Well…I…thought," Charlotte, normally not shy, stuttered, looking flustered, before shooting a look at Mia, who nodded and came to her rescue.
"The reason we thought that you wouldn't be in is that you just got married yesterday, and we thought that you would like to spend some time with Joe… your husband," she added pointedly.
"I realise that I got married yesterday…" Clarisse began patiently, before Mia cut her off.
"I actually have made my first royal pre-coronation decision, and cleared your schedule completely for the next four days, so you and Joe can get away and have some time to yourselves."
Mia grinned proudly as Clarisse slowly stood up, stunned at what she had just heard- her own granddaughter, Queen in waiting and still a Princess had cleared her schedule… her schedule- the Queen of Genovia!
"I checked to see what was going on in the next few days, and I'm pretty sure that I can handle it… I've already discussed it with Sebastian and Charlotte, and both of them were happy to help," Mia explained as Clarisse still seemed incapable of speaking.
"But there was one person you forgot to consult, didn't you?" Clarisse finally said, arching an eyebrow- never a good sign, Joseph thought at he watched the scene.
"Who could you have forgotten to see…oh, the person whose schedule you just cleared!" she said with a tinge of sarcasm, but Mia appeared undaunted by her grandmother's indignation as she stood up and walked towards her.
"Grandma, I didn't do this for me… I did this for you and Joseph. Until yesterday, I never realised how much you and Joe sacrificed in order to keep Genovia together, but I know this was the right thing to do. You've done so much for Genovia over the years, but you've had to deny yourself personal happiness… I know you're put out that I've done this, but this is all for you and Joe," she looked earnestly at Clarisse, who found that she hadn't the heart to be angry at Mia.
"I'm ready to become Queen of Genovia, and I want you to be happy…there isn't that much on, and I can do most of what's left anyway… This time is for you and Joseph only… and I won't take no for an answer!"
Clarisse, unable to speak for a few moments, looked towards Joseph and Charlotte, both of whom were smiling. Just looking at Joseph made her realise something more important- it wasn't just her alone anymore… there was Joseph to consider… and, although she would never admit it, she didn't really want to be working on the morning after she got married… She wanted to spend time with him, alone, not having to worry about affairs of state or other nonsense… it was time for her to move on…
"Thank you," she finally said, swallowing her tears. "It might be nice…"
"Nice?! That's an understatement- there's a car on standby, your maids are packing for both you and Joe, and you'll be on your way to the beach house for a couple of days!"
"Are you kicking us out of the palace?" Clarisse asked in amusement, touched that Mia had arranged this with her own initiative.
"Yes," Mia nodded firmly. "It's hardly a honeymoon if you're still in the palace… besides, after next week, you'll be able to go away on a decent holiday!"
"Thank you Mia," Joe said, walking over to where they stood. "We both really appreciate this," he added as he wove his arm around Clarisse's waist.
Clarisse was still staring at her granddaughter in astonishment- what she had witnessed yesterday hadn't been a dream… Mia was really ready…
"Thank you, darling," she finally managed to say as she took her into her arms for a long embrace. "But we will be back in a few days!"
"Of course you will… but for now, just enjoy your honeymoon!"
When they got back to camp, they were surprised to find the campsite deserted, no one had seemingly returned, but someone had set up the two tarps the women had brought to make a shelter, in case of rain.
"Very clever idea," Joe said as they stood and observed it for a moment, before a noise from behind them distracted them, and they turned to see Nicholas and Mia emerge from their tent.
"You're back!" all four of them in said in unison, before smiling.
"Where did you two go?" Mia inquired with a cheeky grin. "By the looks of the pair of you, you went swimming!"
"We did," Clarisse said lightly, before disappearing into the tent to change out of her bathing suit, while Joe stood and talked to the other two.
"How did the fishing go?" he asked, and Mia and Nicholas exchanged a grin.
"Pretty well… we both caught two each, but let two of them go…"
"We figured we would have enough to eat tonight," Mia said with a laugh.
"Kip and Lily are still hard at it, but they don't really care if they don't get any tonight- they've made a pack that they're going to get up very early tomorrow and go down… Sheila finally caught one, and Sebastian is as proud as punch!"
"Sheila caught one?" Clarisse, emerging from the tent, joined the conversation. "I'm glad… But what about…?"
"Charlotte doesn't care… but Scott… the air was thick with tension when we left…"
"We decided to come back early so I could have a rest," Mia said as she sat down in a nearby chair. "I now realise that you started a trend, Grandma! But, I feel much better after that… so much so, I want to go for a walk in the forest!"
"You're going to wear yourself out… I don't think I could walk another step!" Nick groaned as he collapsed into a chair beside her. Mia giggled, before patting his arm sympathetically.
"You don't have to come, baby… Joe, would you like to come for a short walk into the forest?"
"Yes, I wouldn't mind a stretch of the legs… I think we might need more firewood!"
"Don't wear yourselves out," Clarisse chided gently as Joe leaned down to where she was sitting, and kissed her. "You weren't as fortunate or as sensible as I was and had a nap!" she murmured teasingly into his face, and he chuckled before kissing her again.
"Won't be long," Mia said lightly after kissing Nick, and the pair of them disappeared into the forest….
There was a slightly awkward silence between Clarisse and Nick- Clarisse was well aware of the fact that Nicholas still felt intimidated around her- which hurt a little, but didn't surprise her- and she wanted, more than ever, for him not to feel like that. Thinking for a moment about something they could talk about, she suddenly hit on the idea of discussing Mia.
"How has Mia been feeling this afternoon?" she asked, turning her chair around so that she was facing him. He gave a slight start, having been wondering himself about what to talk about with Clarisse, before smiling ruefully at her and running a hand through his hair.
"She was feeling pretty well down at the river this afternoon… as you could tell this morning, she is suffering from some bad morning sickness but, apart from that, she's going really well… Mia would kill me if I said this, but I insisted she come back for a rest this afternoon- I didn't want her to overexert herself too much…."
"Very wise decision," Clarisse said calmly. "She can be rather energetic at the best of times, just like her father, but now… it's important that she gets all the rest she can!"
"I told her you would say that!" Nicholas said with a laugh. "She gave me a look, but then agreed that she needed the rest. But she is very energetic… that's one of the things I really love about her- her enthusiasm and energy…" he trailed off, abruptly remembering who he was talking to. Clarisse realised that he was discomforted, but she was glad that he had told her.
"I know you do… she's so spirited… but I know that you make her happy more than anything else," she said gently, as he looked up at her with a slightly shy look.
"Really?"
"Really?" Clarisse affirmed with a smile, before deciding to broach an awkward subject.
"Nicholas, I know that you're still very uncomfortable about what happened with your uncle last year, but I want you to know that I've long since forgiven and forgotten."
"I just feel a little guilty, still…" he mumbled, looking down into his lap for a moment.
"Nicholas, look at me for a moment." She waited until he was looking at her before continuing. "You redeemed yourself with me the moment you declined the throne at the church… in fact, you may have redeemed yourself earlier… I had a reliable source that told me you hadn't set Mia up with that camera at the lake, and that's when I realised you really did love her. You don't need to feel guilty anymore- you're just as much a part of the family as Joseph is."
She looked away for a moment, before looking back at the young man with a smile.
"So, now that you know I don't think you're a usurper for trying to steal Mia's throne, will you be able to relax around me a bit more… don't think I haven't noticed!" she teased as Nicholas grinned sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, it's just that with what happened with my uncle, and the fact that you're such a beloved figure in Genovia…"
"Obviously you and Joseph have been talking," she said with a chortle of laughter. "I honestly don't think I'm that in this country, but…" she sobered up. "People do see me as rather an intimidating figure, cold and distant, but I'm really not like that… you do understand that, don't you?"
"Of course… I've gotten to know you a lot better since our wedding, and the last few days have been an eye opener… you're much different to what other people see you as and, if this doesn't seem too much like flattery… they're missing out on so much…. Anyway," he changed the subject as Clarisse blinked back tears. "I won't feel guilty anymore, but you…"
"I can understand why you have been- it shows how much you care about Mia, and I appreciate that… my granddaughter's happiness means a great deal to me… I suppose, in a way, I'm trying to make up for the fact that she didn't know me for almost fifteen years of her life, and she barely knew her father…"
"I know… I barely remember my father… he died when I was six, my mother when I was seven, and my uncle raised me from then on or, rather, he sent me packing off to boarding school…."
"Your father was a fine man, and a wonderful member of parliament," Clarisse said softly. "I knew him rather well, and you take after him in so many respects…"
"Except when I was trying to steal the throne," he managed to make a joke, and Clarisse laughed.
"I can see that you're finally relaxing now," she teased as Nicholas grinned sheepishly, looking down at the ground for a moment, before looking at Clarisse again, his eyes sparkling with pleasure.
"Mia's already thinking of names for Joe… some of the ideas she has come up with… I'm not sure Joe would approve…."
"I can imagine what some of them would be… and I can't wait to see what you both come up with!"
Meanwhile, Joe and Mia were trekking almost silently through the forest, pausing only to pick up sticks to take back to camp.
"I think that might be enough for you to carry," Joe finally said when he saw that Mia had almost an armful of sticks in her arms. She looked at him mock petulantly.
"I'm much stronger than you seem to think I am," she said with a slight pout, and again Joe was struck by how much she was like her grandmother… even down to the facial expressions she used.
"I'm sure you're a strong as a horse, Your Majesty," he teased, and her eyes flashed mock angrily before she smiled. "But your grandmother would literally tear strips off me if I let her granddaughter, who is also expecting, carry heavy blocks of wood back! Besides, I don't think it would be a great idea for you to take any more!"
"It's only an armful of sticks… I can carry more than that…!" she protested, before another thought struck her. "Yes, I can see Grandma really tearing strips off you, Joe," she said teasingly as she put her pile of sticks down on the ground, and sat on a nearby rock. "Just one look at you, and any anger she has just disappears… she's literally putty in your hands!"
"That's not exactly true," Joe contradicted her as he joined her on the rock. "I imagine you can still remember the argument we had three months after we got married?"
"Do I ever," Mia rolled her eyes in horror at the memory. "I thought we might have had to release a statement saying that it was only argument, and you weren't actually getting a divorce!... But, you do realise that you haven't had a serious argument since then?"
"We still have our little squabbles, as most married couples usually do (even you and Nicholas will have them!), but no, we haven't had that many arguments…."
"Probably did all your fighting before you got married, huh?"
"Yes… we have had some fun ones over the years," Joe chuckled at the mere memory of some of their arguments. "Your grandmother usually doesn't give in without a fight!"
"That's true… but you're just as bad as her!" Mia said with a grin, and Joseph laughed along with her.
"If you weren't so charming, like your grandmother, I'd tell you off for being cheeky!" he managed to say and Mia only laughed harder.
"I guess we're hoping that trait will emerge in the next generation, will we?" she asked, looking at him with a smile, and he nodded.
"The only thing I hope is that he or she will not have the ability (or inclination) to run off before important events… your grandmother used to rile me up doing that, your father did the same thing (although not quite as often), and you have showed the same inclination…"
"I have only done it once… it was that time in San Francisco, and I think I was justified in doing it!"
"That was the particular time I had in mind," Joe said with a teasing smile. "What a nightmare that could have turned out to be…."
Joe had had a strange feeling about the Princess, on the afternoon of the ball, and he hadn't been sure about why…. It had all started when Clarisse had informed him that Helen would be bringing Mia to the ball.
"I think it's a lovely idea, Helen bringing Mia to the ball… it will be the first ball Mia's ever attended," Clarisse said with a fond smile, and Joe had smiled along with her. When Clarisse had disappeared upstairs to get ready, however, Joseph was more than a little puzzled at the feeling he was experiencing… He couldn't describe it, not even to his deputy security guard, or why he was feeling like that, but he just had the inkling that the Princess was going to do something unexpected…
His fears were confirmed when Helen had arrived without Mia, informing Charlotte that Mia was waiting for Joe to pick her up. He suddenly realised, after Charlotte told him that, what the young Princess was going to do.
"She's going to run," he said quietly, as Charlotte looked horrified, before thinking hard. "Charlotte, stay close to Clarisse…and don't tell her anything at all… I'm going to go out and find her."
"In this weather?" Charlotte looked out the window at the rain pouring down and he nodded grimly.
"In the rain."
00000
He knew, according to what Clarisse had told him, that Mia was planning on renouncing her title but after arriving at her house and finding that she had left the house with nothing, he realised that her plucky spirit wouldn't give in… He suddenly knew that, tonight, Genovia would have a new Princess.
"Can't you drive any faster?" Joe snapped at the hired driver who was driving cautiously through the water slick streets of San Francisco. He was more than anxious to find the Princess and deliver her safely to the consulate before Clarisse knew what had happened.
"I'm sorry, sir, but the streets can be quite slippery after the rain we've just had… are you sure we shouldn't go back to the consulate, and inform Her Majesty about what has happened?"
"No, we're not going to do that…" Joe paused for a moment, trying to think where the girl would go, before realising that she was probably on her way to the consulate. "What's the fastest way back to the consulate?"
"Up the hill we're just going up now… but you can't seriously…"
Joe wasn't listening- he had just spotted a familiar blue Mustang, top down, parked on the side of the road. However, he couldn't see the Princess sitting in it…
"Blow on the horn," he instructed the driver as the limo pulled alongside the car, and Joseph was almost beside himself when the Princess, who had seemed to be lying down in the car, sat up and looked at him in surprise.
"You wouldn't be happening to run away, would you?" he asked, getting out of the car as she hurried out of the car, and towards him.
"No… I'm on my way to the ball," she said with a slightly shy smile, before sliding into the front seat ahead of him…
"I'm sorry, Joe… I just got a little scared for a moment," she said as the car drove smoothly down the street, only a few kilometres away from the consulate. "But I got some courage from the most unexpected place…"
"Really- from where?" "My father wrote me a letter- I found it in my diary…" "Really?" Joe, pretending not to know what she was talking about, looked at her interestedly, and she smiled.
"Yes, and he gave me the courage to go on… I know I can do this… I just needed to believe in myself…"
Joe squeezed her hand tightly, before leaning over to whisper in her ear
"You're not alone… there are several other people who believe that you can do this."
"What do you think Grandma would have done if she'd had to make that announcement herself?" Mia grinned at him, and he looked thoughtful.
"I know she probably would have skinned me alive when she saw me next- especially about not turning up to the ball!"
"She had obviously accepted your decision, and done it herself…. But I don't think she seriously had any doubts about you not showing up… or fulfilling your destiny."
"Did you tell her about what had happened when I wasn't there on time?"
"Yes, afterwards… she was rather shocked, but I think all that really mattered was that you were there, even if you had turned down the title. To her, you are her granddaughter before anything else…"
"I'm glad I found that letter from Dad… my life may have been very different from what it is now," she said, waving around at the forest, but Joe also knew she was including the palace too. "But it might not have been quite so interesting!"
"Everything has happened as it's meant to be," Joe said wisely, before they sat there for a couple of minutes, just enjoying the peaceful silence around them.
"So, Joe… are you ready to become a great-grandpa?" Mia turned to him with an impish smile, and he smiled in return.
"It may take me a little while to get used to that…. It's an honour that you consider me a member of your family."
"Joe, when you married my grandmother, you became an official member of the royal family… but, to me, you've been part of the family since I first met you in San Francisco, six years ago."
"I never thought that I would have a family of my own… and I did accept it- my work was more important…"
"That, and my grandmother," she added slyly, and Joe only threw a leaf at her.
"I didn't think you would actually think that I would be a great…."
"Joe," Mia interrupted him, turning to look at him. "I barely knew my father, and I never knew my grandfather… You have been the main male influence (and role model) in my life for the past six years, and I think it's silly that after all of that, you don't consider yourself a member of the family…. I don't think Grandma would have got through as much as she has over the years if you hadn't been there… and you've always been there for me, trusting and believing in me… That's what family members do for one another, and you've gone above and beyond the call of duty!"
"You can be quite convincing when you want to be, can't you?" he looked at her with a warm smile, and she cocked her head to the side with a chuckle.
"I've learnt from the best… hopefully the baby gets that trait as well!"
"Just wait until they try that on you!" Joe said as they stood up again, and Mia impulsively gave him a hug.
"The bottom line is… you've made my grandmother so happy, and that's all that matters to me!"