The following day.

Clarisse lay in bed thinking about what happened yesterday, with her back to Joe, but her head resting on his arm, feeling him move not long after she smiled and turned onto her back and looked at him.

He said nothing, just leaned closer and kissed her while she put her hand up onto his jaw

"mmm good morning" she smiled as he buried his face her the crook of her neck

"morning" he smiled and kissed her neck as she smiled "did you sleep well?"

"I did" she nodded and looked towards the window "what about you?"

"what can I say, when sleeping with you I always sleep well" he whispered while extending his arm across her tummy

He watched her for a few minutes then lifted his head and lent on his elbow as she looked at him.

"are you going to tell me whats wrong? he asked

"no because there isn't anything wrong" she said putting her hand on his chest "actually there is something wrong" she smiled "I realized this morning that we have never actually been to New York together as a couple yet"

"we've been there together before" he said raising his eyebrow

"yes we have, but not as a couple" she smiled

"you wanna go to New York?" he asked

"maybe" she whispered

"well I will tell you what" he said laying next to her again "we will go for your birthday" he smiled while snuggling up to her "it's only a few days away, can you last that long?" he said kissing her shoulder

"mmm I am sure I can" she giggled as he wrapped his arms around her holding her close


After getting some coffee Clarisse headed to her office to find Charlotte waiting.

"Good morning Charlotte" she smiled over at her as she stood up "is everything alright?"

"of course" Charlotte nodded while walking over as Clarisse sat at her desk

"I regret agreeing to this meeting this morning" Clarisse said with a yawn while slipping her glasses on "having to much to drink last night, did not help" she chuckled

"I know, I had trouble getting up this morning too" Charlotte smiled while sitting down "was a good day though and Sofia left happy"

"indeed" Clarisse smiled with a nod "that's all that matters" she smiled and sipped some more of her coffee "I can't wait to see the photos" she said while putting her cup down

"neither can I" Charlotte smiled while looking at her

"lets get things ready now, or I shall be a sleep by the time he gets here" she chuckled

"alright" Charlotte smiled and stood up

As Charlotte helped her get ready for the meeting she couldn't help but smile as Clarisse sat humming the Italian song that they played at the wedding.

"you keep humming that wedding song" Charlotte smiled as Clarisse looked up "are you hoping for a proposal?"

"oh gosh no" Clarisse shook her head "I ain't ready for that yet" she drank some more of her coffee "it's just one of them tunes that gets stuck in your head, you know?" she smiled

"yeah" Charlotte nodded with a smile

"it's such a catchy tune, its stuck for ages" Clarisse said with a giggle and watched her walk over to the window

After a few minutes Joe came in and walked straight over to the desk.

"hey hot stuff" he smirked while leaning over and kissed her "how about a bit fun right here on this desk?" he smirked down at her while banging his hand on the desk in front of her "right here, right now" he grinned

"Joe, please knock next time" Clarisse smirked and indicated someone was in the room

he turned to see Charlotte stood smirking "oh" he chuckled as Clarisse and Charlotte smirked "sorry about that"

"not to worry" Charlotte smiled and carried on with what she was doing

"now what can I do for you?" Clarisse asked while looking up at him

"I came to see if you was serious about New York?" he asked

"of course I am, it would be nice to get away" she smiled and leaned back looking past Joe and looked at Charlotte "Charlotte" Clarisse smiled as she looked over "can you clear my diary from say tomorrow till a week after my birthday?"

"I can check" she said walking over and started going through her diary "it could be done, of course" she smiled

"great" Clarisse smiled while looking up at Joe "its a date"

"great" Joe smiled leaning over and kissed her a couple times "I will go and make the plans"

"ok" she smiled and watched him walk out then she looked at Charlotte "sorry about that"

"not to worry Mom, it's ok" Charlotte smiled

"aww darling you called me Mom?" Clarisse smiled

"indeed, I thought it was about time" Charlotte chuckled

"indeed it is" Clarisse smiled and watched her for a second

After a while the team for the meeting turned up and Charlotte left them too it. When it finished hours later Clarisse saw them of then headed to the kitchen to get some lunch, seeing though she missed it with everyone else.

When she finished Sofia and Greg was just about to leave after coming back to get their bags, before jetting of for their honeymoon. They stayed 5 minutes with Clarisse then they left. After waving them off she was just about to head up the stairs when she saw Pierre walking towards her with Lilly and James.

"Grammy" Lilly exclaimed while running over

When she reached Clarisse she spun her around then picked her up and gave her a kiss "hey you" she smiled and kissed her again "gosh I could kiss you all over"

Lilly laughed while putting her hand up onto Clarisse's jaw "love you Grammy"

"love you too darling" she smiled at her as James hugged her waist "and I love you too James" she smiled while putting her arm down onto his back while still holding Lilly with the other arm "and I love your Daddy too" she smiled at Pierre

"afternoon Mom" he smiled leaning closer and kissed her cheek then stepped back "was that Sofia and Greg I just saw leave?"

"yeah, they just left for their honeymoon" she smiled at him "which reminds me actually, Joe and I are going away for my birthday would you be able to watch Olivia? and maybe deal with any Royal business while I am away?"

"of course Mom" he smiled and watched as James ran off onto the grass "its good that you are both getting on now" he said looking back at Clarisse

"thank you Pierre" Clarisse smiled at him while putting Lilly down "go and play with your brother" she smiled and watched her run of

"what for?" Pierre asked

"for being there for me and telling me that we will be together by a certain time, because you was right" Clarisse nodded

"oh you're welcome" Pierre smiled "I just wish you never waited so long, that's all" he said putting his arm around her shoulders as she stepped closer and put her arms around him "you do realize though right?" he started as she looked up at him "if Philippe had been here you guys would never of even got divorced, he would of done anything in his power to stop it" he smirked

"I know" Clarisse chuckled while resting her head back on his chest

"he was always the tougher one" he nodded while putting his other arm up around her shoulders

"he was" Clarisse nodded in agreement then stepped back "why do you men have to be so tall" she chuckled while reaching up and cupped his cheek

"sorry Mom" he laughed and took her hand "walk with me a while, please?"

"of course" she nodded and they headed of

After an hour she returned and headed up the stairs to see Joe stood waiting in the door way for her, she stopped half way and smiled.

"hello you" she smiled and carried on "have you been waiting long?"

"I have, where did you go to?" he asked while putting his hands out to her

"I went for a walk with Pierre" she smiled while taking them and slowly stood closer to him "he's going to look after Olivia and take care of business for me while we are away"

"good" he smiled while wrapping his arms around her waist taking her hands with his "I have made all the plans and I ain't telling you a thing" he smirked

"oh that's not fair" she said looking at him

"well its your birthday trip so I am going to surprise you" he smiled "and boy your gonna be surprised" he smiled while studying her face

"I can't wait then" she pulled her hands free and put them up around his neck as she kissed him a couple times then smiled

"Charlotte was telling me that you was humming that Italian wedding song earlier" he smiled

"I was, its catchy I can't help it" she smiled "but it doesn't mean I want to get married though, I'm not ready for that yet"

"I understand" he nodded "will you ever want to get married again?" he asked while looking at her

"I don't no" she shrugged "right now, its a no, its still to early" she said shaking her head

"I understand" he nodded

"I still love you a lot though and am working on making this work" she said studying his face "and who knows maybe one day we might get married again" she smiled

he smiled back "ok, by the way I totally understand"

"thank you" she smiled and hugged him as he kissed her shoulder

They stood like that for a few minutes when Amelia appeared.

"sorry" she said as they looked at her "Grammy"

"yes Darling" Clarisse said standing back and looked at her

"I need to talk to you about something" Amelia whispered "can we go to your office?"

"of course" Clarisse nodded while looking at Joe then followed Amelia to her office


A couple hours later, Charlotte knocked on Clarisse's office door and waited for an answer.

Clarisse looked towards the door and wiped her tears away and sat up "come in" she called out while putting her glasses on

"I just came to bring your messages" Charlotte said walking over and stopped when she saw Clarisse sat crying "Mom" she exclaimed as Clarisse looked up with tears running down her cheeks

With that she quickly rushed over and shut her office door then rushed back over and hugged her.

"whats happened?" Charlotte asked

"it's Amelia" Clarisse said sitting back and grabbed another tissue "she wants to move back to America with her Mom and get a degree at university before she commits to becoming Queen" she said and started crying again

"oh I'm so sorry" Charlotte said and hugged her again

They sat hugging for a while as Clarisse cried on her shoulder, then Charlotte went to find Pierre while Clarisse went to talk with Amelia and give her, her blessing. When she was finished talking with her she went to her own suite and sat in the chair thinking for a bit before starting to clean up.

Moving Joe's jacket to hang up something fell out and dropped onto the floor, Clarisse looked down to see a small red velvet box. Putting the jacket over her arm she crouched down to pick it up and looked inside while standing up with a gasp and put her free hand up over her mouth.

"Clari" Joe whispered while watching her turn around with the box in her hands "um..."

To Be Continued...