Hi everyone, just wanted to thank you all so so much for reading and to all those who took the time to leave me a wonderful review :) I appreciate the support greatly and can't thank you all enough.

Here's the next chapter for you all :)

Saturday 27th October 2007.

Putting his scarf around the back of his neck, Pierre looked up and watched as his mother made her way down the stairs. "Good morning," he smiled cheerfully.

"Good morning, darling," Clarisse smiled as she continued to make her way down the stairs. "Are you off out?"

"I am, I'm just heading into town to get a newspaper and a few other bits that I'm running out of," he smiled as she stepped from the last step and walked over to him, "if you don't mind me using your car again that is?" He smiled.

"Of course I don't mind," Clarisse smiled back, "but I will need it back by noon today as me and Isabella are going out to lunch."

"Thank you, and okay, I won't be long at all," he smiled as she reached up to kiss his cheek.

"That's alright then," she smiled and stepped back.

"Do you need anything while I'm out?" He asked as she walked over to the sideboard by the front door.

"No, I don't think so," she answered and shook her head.

"Alright, well I'll have my phone with me if you do think of anything," he said and slipped on his coat as she picked up the previous day's post from the sideboard before turning back to him.

"Ok, darling," Clarisse smiled up at him and began to make her way towards the kitchen door while checking through the stack of letters she held in her hands. "See you when you get back?" She said as she went.

"You will," he said, watching her disappear into the kitchen before letting out a small chuckle. Grabbing the keys for her car from the sideboard drawer, he smiled and opened the front door to make his way down to her car on the drive.

Sitting in the car a moment later, he started the engine and thought back over the last week while buckling up his seatbelt. He had taken a couple weeks leave to come and stay with her, to make sure she was alright and to keep her company after her breakup from Joseph, and he was glad that he had. The breakup had hit her hard, but now as he looked up at the house a long moment before finally driving out of the drive, he was relieved that she was getting stronger with each passing day.

After making herself a cup of tea, Clarisse sat down at the kitchen table and began sorting through the post when she opened a letter from her cousin, Bethany, but just as she started to read it the doorbell rang. So standing to her feet, she made her way through into the hallway to answer it.

"Good morning, grandma," Mia beamed as the door opened.

"Mia? What a lovely surprise, I didn't expect to see you until later," Clarisse said as Mia made her way inside and kissed her cheek in passing.

"I know, but the wedding albums arrived last night and I wanted to bring yours over for you," she smiled and looked down at the albums in her arms grasp as Clarisse closed the front door.

"Oh lovely, I can't wait to see them," Clarisse smiled as they made their way through into the kitchen, "would you like a cup of tea?"

"Oh not this morning, grandma," Mia smiled as she placed the albums and her handbag down on the kitchen table, "but I will have a glass of water." She said and walked over to the cupboard to get a glass. "Where's uncle Pierre?"

"He's gone to the shop to get a few bits," she smiled and sat down at the table and pulled one of the albums in front of her to look through as Mia poured herself a glass of water. But just as she was about to look at the photos she had brought over for her, something caught Clarisse's eye. As Mia stood taking a sip of her water, Clarisse noticed that there was a 'glow' about her, so folding her arms on the table in front of her, she asked, "how are you feeling, darling? Are you okay?"

Looking down at the glass in her hand, Mia thought about her answer a moment before answering. "Not really, Nick's coffee made me feel sick this morning," Mia said and slowly looked up at her grandmother.

"Ahh, I see," she nodded knowingly, "and are you..."

"Late? Yes, a week," Mia answered and put her glass down on the counter before looking back over at her grandmother while putting her hands on the edge of the counter behind her.

"Well," Clarisse said and took a deep breath. "I think you need to get a test then."

"I already have some,"

"You do?" Clarisse asked in surprise and slumped back in her chair.

"Yes, I had Charlotte get me some while me and Nick were away on honeymoon," Mia said and watched as her grandmother nodded a little.

"Well it makes sense, you are a married woman now," Clarisse said and watched as Mia covered her face with her hands, "and have you already done a test?"

"No, not yet," Mia said and shook her head while putting her hands together and let her arms fall down in front of her. "I know you're going through a lot right now, but I wondered if I could do one with you while I'm here?" She asked and looked across at her grandmother.

"Of course you can," Clarisse said while standing to her feet and walked around the table to her, "we will go up to my ensuite though, just in case your uncle comes back."

"Thank you, grandma," Mia said, feeling relieved as Clarisse stepped closer and hugged her, "I'm glad I have you."

"Oh don't be silly, you know I'll be here for you whenever you need me," Clarisse said as she stepped back and took hold of her granddaughters hand, "now come on, let's go upstairs and do this test."

Sitting on the edge of her bed, Clarisse waited patiently for her granddaughter to come out of the bathroom, when suddenly the door opened and she slowly emerged. "All done?" She asked.

"Yes, we just need to wait five minutes for the results," Mia said as she sat down on the bed beside her grandmother and checked her watch, "well actually no, it's four minutes now."

"Okay," Clarisse nodded and looked at her granddaughter, "how do you feel about the possibility that you might be pregnant?"

"Scared, but happy at the same time," Mia said and looked at her grandmother, "me and Nick talked about starting a family as soon as we were married but I naively thought it wouldn't happen this quickly, we have only been married a month after all."

"Well darling, it only takes one time," Clarisse said.

"Yeah," Mia blushed as she laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling a long moment. "Could I really do this, could I really be a Queen and a mummy at the same time?"

"Of course you can," Clarisse exclaimed, "you're a strong woman, Mia, you can do anything you put your mind too and just remember you have a wonderful husband by your side, who'll be there with you every step of the way and a loving grandma who will be happy to help whenever you need her," she said and smiled down at her granddaughter lying beside her.

"Thanks grandma," Mia smiled up at her.

"You're welcome, darling," Clarisse smiled and stood to her feet, "should be about time now, shouldn't it?"

Checking the time on her watch, Mia nodded and closed her eyes. "Yes it is, but can you look for me?"

"Sure, but what exactly am I looking for?" Clarisse asked while turning back to her granddaughter.

"Oh grandma, really?" Mia exclaimed with a smirk while lifting her head to look at her.

"What? It's been a long time since I needed to find out if I was pregnant, and even then we didn't have any of these fancy tests like you do now. If we wanted to find out we had to visit the doctor and wait weeks for the results," Clarisse said and disappeared into the bathroom to retrieve the test as Mia laughed and put her head back down on the bed.

"Okay, so, if there is just one line in the little windows on the front of the test then I'm not pregnant, but if there are two lines, one line in each window then I'm pregnant," Mia answered and covered her face with her hands as Clarisse came back into the bedroom with the test in her hands.

"Are you ready to find out?" Clarisse asked.

"Yes... No..." Shaking her head, she pushed herself up onto her elbows and looked at her grandmother standing with the test. "Go on, how many lines are there?" She asked.

"Two, there are two lines," Clarisse smiled with tears in her eyes, "you're going to have a baby, darling."

Later That Morning.

Walking into the kitchen, Clarisse placed her handbag down on the kitchen table and looked up at her son as he stood at the counter, pouring himself another cup of tea. "I'm just about to leave, but wanted to let you know that we are going shopping after lunch so I'm not sure what time I will be back." She said as she took her coat and scarf from over her arm and slipped them on.

"Okay," he smiled and placed the teapot back down on the counter. "Is everything okay with Mia?" He asked while looking over at her.

"Yes, why?" She asked and looked over at him before looking down at her bag.

"Just wondered," he smiled and took a sip of his tea while watching her rummage through her handbag, "she was over early this morning, wasn't she?"

"Yes she was, because she wanted to talk to me about something," Clarisse said and averted her gaze from her handbag to one of the photo albums that lay open on the table. "Oh," she said softly and moved around to get a better look.

Walking over to her, Pierre saw what photo had distracted his mother. It was one of her sitting in Joseph's lap at the wedding reception. "I'm sorry I didn't realise I had left it open on that page," he said and watched as she turned her head to the side to look up at him.

"It's okay," she said and turned her head to look back down at the photo a long moment as she placed her hand down and ran the tips of her fingers along the bottom of the page.

"Mom?" Pierre said softly a moment later and watched as she inhaled a breath and turned her head to look back at him.

"It's a lovely photo," she nodded and moved back around the table to where she had been stood a few moments before.

"It is," he said and watched as she picked up her handbag from the table, "are you okay?"

"Of course," she nodded and stepped closer to kiss his cheek, "anyway, I'll see you later."

"You will," he nodded and watched as she turned to walk out of the kitchen, "hope you and Isabella have fun today."

"Thank you, I'm sure we will," she said as she walked out the door.

Letting out a sigh, Pierre looked back down at the photo and reached his hand out to close the album before sitting down at the table, silently cursing himself for looking through them while she was home.

Arriving at the restaurant a short time later, Clarisse made her way towards their reserved table as her sister stood to her feet to greet her. "Hello," Isabella smiled.

"Hello, sorry I'm late," she said when she reached her and kissed her cheek.

"You're not late," Isabella smiled and sat back down as Clarisse slipped off her coat and scarf and put them over the back of her chair. "Is everything okay, you look a little flustered?"

"Mia brought the wedding albums over this morning," Clarisse said as she picked up her handbag from her chair and sat down, "I hadn't had a chance to look through them yet but Pierre was when I went to let him know I was leaving and there was a lovely photo in there of me and Joseph."

"Oh," Isabella said as she watched her lean to the side to put her bag under the table.

"You know I have spent the last month trying to deal with what happened the best I can, I've cried and I'm slowly accepting it but seeing that photo reminded me that Mia's wedding day was the last day when everything was alright between us, we were happy and in love," Clarisse said sadly as she looked at her sister, "and then the next day it all went wrong."

"Oh Clarisse," Isabella said softly as she reached her hand out and placed it on her sisters arm, "it'll get easier, I know it seems impossible right now because it's only been a month, but you will feel better soon."

"I hope so," Clarisse said as Isabella smoothed her hand down her arm to take hold of her hand and lifted it from the table.

"Maybe you'd feel better if you removed this," Isabella said as she smoothed her thumb over her sisters wedding ring and watched as she looked down at it. "I know I did after me and Charles broke up."

"Maybe," Clarisse said as she pulled her hand back and studied the ring a long moment as Isabella watched her.

"Have you even heard from him since he collected some of his things two weeks ago?" Isabella asked.

"Once, to let me know when he was next coming to get some more stuff," Clarisse answered and sipped her water.

"Are you ready to order?" Asked the waiter as he stood at their table and watched as both women looked up at him.

"Yes, I think so," Clarisse said as she took the menu and had a quick look before looking back up at him and giving him her order.

Later.

"Okay, are we ready to go shopping?" Clarisse asked as she signed the cheque, "or did you want another cup of tea first?"

"Nope, I'm ready to go shopping," Isabella said as she stood to her feet, "but I'll just pop to the ladies before we leave."

"Okay," Clarisse laughed and put her pen back in her handbag as Isabella walked away. Checking her phone, Clarisse noticed she had several missed calls from Mia and Beatrice. So calling Mia back first, she put the phone to her ear and waited for her to answer.

"Grandma," Mia said as she soon as she answered, "has Beatrice got hold of you or aunt Isabella yet?"

"No, not yet," Clarisse said, "I see she's been trying to call me too, but I wanted to check in with you first. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay but she's not. She's been trying to call her mom but she's not answering her phone, are you still with aunt Isabella?" Mia asked.

"Yes, she's just popped to the ladies then we are going shopping, what's going on?" Clarisse asked.

"You need to take her to the hospital instead, it's uncle Charles he's been rushed in and it's not looking good." Mia said.

"Oh god, okay," Clarisse said as she stood to her feet, "can you let Bea know we are on our way?"

"Will do, call me later," Mia said.

"I will, bye darling," Clarisse said and hung up the phone.

Arriving at the hospital a while later, they were shown into the family room where Bea and her brother Charlie were sat waiting for them. But as soon as Isabella and Clarisse saw them, they knew they were too late.

Standing to her feet as her brother remained sat in the chair with his head in his hands, Bea turned to her mom as tears streamed down her face, "he's gone, mom."

"No," Isabella said as she shook her head, "he can't have, he was fine this morning."

"What happened?" Clarisse asked sadly as Bea hugged her mom.

"Bea found him collapsed in the living room," Charlie said as they all looked at him.

"He had this in his hand," Bea sobbed as she stepped back and pulled a small box from her pocket and handed it to her mom.

Looking down at the box in her hands, Isabella took a deep breath and slowly opened it to find a beautiful rose gold diamond ring inside. "Oh," she cried and put one of her hands up to cover her mouth.

Later That Night.

After having a shower and getting ready for bed, Clarisse got herself a glass of wine and headed back up to her suite when a thought struck her. So grabbing the house phone from her bedside table, she turned and sat down on the bed and dialled a number. Putting the phone to her ear, she took a sip of her drink and waited for them to answer.

"Hello beautiful lady, are you okay?" Came the voice on the end of the phone.

"How did you know it was me?" Clarisse asked.

"Caller ID," he laughed.

"You have my number saved in your contacts?" She asked and took another sip of her drink.

"We do, of course," he laughed, "anyway, what can I do for you?"

"Is Joseph there?" She asked and took a deep breath.

"He is somewhere, is everything okay?" Gino asked.

"Not really, no," Clarisse answered and closed her eyes.

"Okay, let me see if I can find him, give me a few moments," Gino said.

"Of course," Clarisse nodded and listened as she was put on hold.

Moments later, Joseph came on the line. "Hello, is everything okay?" He asked.

"Hello and no, it's not. I'm sorry to call you at the restaurant, I know that you're busy with the Halloween party tonight but I wanted to let you know before you found out from somebody else that Charles passed away today." Clarisse said sadly.

"What?" He exclaimed in shock, "how?"

"We're not sure yet, Bea found him collapsed on the floor at the house and called an ambulance but it was too late," Clarisse said.

"Oh god, I... I don't know what to say," Joseph said sadly, "how is Isabella and the kids, Bea and Charlie?"

"They've all taken it quite hard, especially Bea with finding him but they are staying here with me for a few nights," Clarisse said.

"Good, at least they aren't on their own," he said, "do you need me to come over, is there anything I can do to help?"

"No I don't think so, not at the moment anyway. I was just calling to let you know because you and Charles were good friends," she said and closed her eyes.

"Yes, yes we were," he nodded to himself, "so thank you for letting me know, I appreciate that you thought of telling me."

"You're welcome," she said and looked down at her glass resting on her thigh.

"Are you okay?" He asked after a moments silence.

"I think so, I'm just trying to remain strong for my sister and her children on top of everything else that's going on," she said honestly.

"I know, but listen if you need me I'll be on the next flight, you know that," Joseph said and heard her sigh.

"No, I don't think that's a good idea, do you?" Clarisse said and shook her head.

"No, I suppose not," he said and let out a sigh.

"Anyway, I should go..."

"Okay, well thanks again for letting me know and please pass on my condolences to Isabella, Bea and Charlie for me and please let them know I'm thinking of them." Joseph said.

"I will, take care," Clarisse said as she put her glass on her bedside table.

"You too," he said and hung up the phone.

Tossing the phone onto her bed, Clarisse put her hands up and covered her face as she let out a frustrated sigh when a knock came to her bedroom door. "Come in," she called and lowered her hands as Isabella opened the door and slowly stepped inside the room.

"Can I come in?" She asked.

"Of course you can," Clarisse nodded and watched as she made her way over to the bed, "are you okay?"

"No, I didn't wanna be on my own," Isabella said as she climbed into bed beside Clarisse.

"Okay, you can stay in here with me if you want to," she said and watched as Isabella nodded.

"Thank you," she said and laid down.

"It's okay," Clarisse said, "I checked on Charlie and Bea earlier."

"We're they okay?" Isabella asked and looked at her sister as she settled down beside her.

"Yes, Bea was talking to her boyfriend and Charlie was fast asleep," Clarisse said as she pulled the sheets up over her.

"Okay," Isabella said and stared up at the ceiling a long moment, "can I tell you something?"

"Of course you can, you can tell me anything you want too," Clarisse said and watched as Isabella raised her hands above her and opened the small box that Bea had given her earlier on at the hospital.

"Yesterday, Charles said to me, if he asked me to marry him again, would I say yes," Isabella said while looking up at the ring that sat in the box as tears filled her eyes, "I said I would, of course, not really thinking anything off it, but then this morning he said he was going ring shopping and that was the last I saw him. He walked out our front door with the biggest smile on his face and a spring in his step and I can't help thinking that if I had said no, he wouldn't have gone out this morning. He would have stayed at the house with me and I might have noticed something wasn't right, he might have told me if he didn't feel well and I would have been able to get the doctor for him, if I had he might be still here now." She cried.

"Oh Isabella," Clarisse said sadly and moved closer to wrap her arm around her as she cried beside her.