Disclaimer: Not to state the obvious, but, no, I do not own the Princess Diaries (book or film), it's characters, or anything in related to it except for my two DVDs. I make no profit from this stories. I am merely borrowing these characters for a little bit of fun.
A/N: Well, hello again! I would like to thank you all for your lovely reviews over the past week! This story has now passed the 200 review mark and I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to read and review it.
On a side note, I would just like to let you all know how entertaining I find it that you are all taking different sides in this! Half of you seem to be taking a "oh, Joe, get over yourself, Clarisse didn't do it to hurt you," stance, while the other half seem to want Clarisse to suffer (in some cases painfully) for what she did.
This chapter isn't very long, and I apologise for that, but I decided to insert some new things between it and the next part that was already written, so the section after this is still under construction.
I hope you enjoy anyway, and please review:
"Welcome home, Joe," Mia said as she pulled him into a hug, surprising the guard who had intended to simply kiss her hand.
"Thank you, Princess," he smiled as he shook Nick's hand and smiled around at his friends who had gathered to welcome him home.
Just as he was greeting some of the boys from security and a couple of the maids, he paused as Pierre descended the stairs.
At first the priest hadn't known whether to welcome Joseph home or not. He wanted him to enjoy being home, wanted to spare him any stress or unpleasantness until he was better, but, at the same time, he wanted to see him – didn't want to lose any more time with his father.
Straightening his back and taking a moment to silently clear his throat, Joe understood the look in the younger man's eyes. He understood that he was letting him choose to either acknowledge him or not. It was up to him.
Realizing that he did want to greet the younger man – that he did want to get to know him as more than the prince he'd been or priest he was – Joseph walked towards him and held his hand out for Pierre to take.
Shaking his head and smiling, Pierre stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the older man, much as his niece hand done.
"Welcome home," he said as he stepped back smiling.
"Thanks, glad to be home," Joe nodded with a small, somewhat uncertain, smile on his own face, "how are you feeling?"
"Good, thanks, practically good as new," Pierre smiled, "you?"
"Better; getting there," then he turned to the others, "well, uh, thank you all for the welcome," he said to the room in general, "I really appreciate it, but I really should rest now."
"I'll walk you down," Shades said as he handed Joe's bag to a younger guard and began to make his way with his friend towards their rooms.
Over the following week, everyone at the palace was busy with preparations for the press conference which would be held on the Palace steps the following Saturday. Everyone, that is, except for Joseph.
Still on physician-ordered leave, Joe was limited to spending his days resting, working with his physiotherapist to regain some of the muscle mass he'd lost during his hospital stay, and taking walks through the grounds, sometimes accompanied by Shades.
On the first afternoon after his arrival, Pierre had worked up the courage to venture down into the servant's wing, and knocked on Joseph's bedroom door.
"Joe?" he'd called as he heard Joe's 'come in' from within the room and slowly opened the door.
Realizing who was at his door, Joe stood, as quickly as he could without bursting his stitches, and assumed his usual on-duty stance – a defence mechanism, he later realized.
"Your Highness," he nodded in acknowledgement and, at Pierre's raised eyebrow, shifted his head slightly, relaxing his shoulders a little, "Pierre," he amended.
Smiling, Pierre motioned for him to sit, asking, "how are you?"
Joe, his posture still a little stiff, took an imperceptible breath, and tried to smile, "better, thank you," then he looked down at the younger man's leg and the crutches he was placing against his desk, "and you?"
Motioning towards the desk chair to his right, Pierre silently inquired if it would be alright for him to sit and Joe nodded his head with a small smile in acquiescence. "I'm alright," Pierre nodded as he took a seat and stretched his casted leg out in front of him, "the cast is, honestly, beginning to get on my nerves. I miss the luxury of a good walk," he chuckled and was pleased to see a more genuine smile grace Joe's lips.
"I understand," Joe nodded as he shifted, feeling the tug of his stitches, "I miss simply being able to work."
Smiling, having heard the whispers that Joe was going stir-crazy at not being allowed to so much as read a security file, Pierre replied, "I can imagine. I don't recall you ever missing a day of work in your life."
Nodding, Joe agreed, "I don't believe I ever did," then he added, "except for the mandatory holiday I was forced to take every year," he smiled.
"Where did you go?" Pierre asked quickly, excited at knowing more about the man he now knew was his father. Then, realizing that he may have sounded a little too enthusiastic, he explained himself, "I'm sorry, its just— well, you know everything there is to know about me, but I know next to nothing about you, I— it just seems wrong, considering…"
Joe nodded but did not immediately reply. He understood Pierre's interest but the whole situation still felt foreign and unsettling to him. He still had difficulty processing the fact that the man before him was his son.
When the head of security didn't immediately reply, Pierre continued, "I know how you feel, I… I know this is difficult for you and, if you don't want to speak right now, then I understand," as he spoke, he reached for his crutches, ready to leave if it made Joe more comfortable, "but I would, very much, like to speak with you. To get to know you. After all, you are my…" when he saw a sudden shadow cross Joe's face, he changed track, "when you're ready, Joe," he smiled as he went to stand.
Realizing that he was about to leave, Joe held up a hand to stop him, "I understand your curiosity and…" deciding that it was easier to just plough ahead and see what happened, Joe replied to the original question, "I went to Spain."
Pierre looked momentarily confused then, understanding that Joe was trying to move past the awkwardness and answer his question, he relaxed in his chair and listened.
From that day forward, Pierre visited Joe every day after his physiotherapy session. At first the conversation was slow and sometimes awkward, but by the third day, Joe had come to look forward to Pierre's visits and their conversation flowed much as it had when the latter was a young man growing up in the palace.
TBC
I hope you enjoyed that! Please let me know what you thought! I look forward to watching you all continue to pick sides! I will continue writing and post more ASAP, but I do have a rather large exam in two weeks, so if there are any delays in posting, I apologize in advance.
Thanks,
CJS-DEPPendent
