Chapter Thirty-nine
"Your majesty…" the stewardess called as she bow to the couple.
Clarisse and Joseph looked at her as she slip a neatly folded paper on the table saying, "Lady Victoria asked me to give you this after your meal."
Clarisse thanked her as she took the letter and waited for the young woman to leave before opening it.
She looked at Joseph and read it out loud.
"For my dad and my mom, I hope you enjoyed the two weeks in Paris. I'd bet you have a lovely time cause if not then mom wouldn't be reading this in front of dad or vice-versa." Clarisse smiled as she continued, "And I do also hope that you got on the plane on the planned time because once you got here, which is predictably at 2 o'clock, we have ten minutes to prepare for the double wedding. Don't need me to tell you whose weddings because Mia told me not to and you already have an idea…"
She looked at Joseph and read the last two sentences again.
"I thought you said Scott's going to propose at Christmas or something?" she asked.
Joseph shrugged, "That's what he told me."
Clarisse smiled as she continued reading the letter, "The two brides want you as a maid of honor mom, and the two grooms want you as a best man dad. Pierre will be officiating the wedding, while the rest are either bridesmaids or groomsmen. It'll be a shotgun wedding since one groom proposed three days ago and the other one did it yesterday. It'll be a small ceremony and they literally want to do it fast. I guess love is everywhere this summer. Anyways, at the closet, you'll find a summer dress mom. I've been hanging around with Jesse recently and he helped me make a dress for you. Normally I'll just give it to you but the two brides told me that they wanted to see you at that dress in their wedding so I have some kind people to have it there.- I'll just hope it fits me-" Clarisse side commented as she continued while smiling at Joseph:
"And dad, don't worry I also have one for you. And I have to remind that Jesse's helping me so he picked the color and it's white. White tux. I haven't seen you in anything but black, grey, dark blue and dark green, dad, with the exception on your wedding day when you wear a cream suit. So white will be a new color." she smiled at Joseph and kissed his hand as she continued, "It is also in the closet along with mom's dress and yes, they want you to wear it as well. And when you got to the bed, there's a box below the bed, Jesse told me to have it sneak in the plane as well. He said- quote- It'll be lovely for Clarisse to see some young pictures of my brother. And also there are some new stuffs there that they might want to use- I mean- I almost got in trouble for buying those stuffs a week ago, I should have given it to them before they fly away to Paris- unquote."
As she said it, she looked at Joseph, trying not to gape as they both stood up and head to their plane suite while Clarisse read the rest of the paper.
"I can't believe he said that in front of me but maybe that's because you're now my parents. Anyways, I won't be telling more and I'm running out of ink. Have a safe trip. I love you both, be safe and have fun! S.Y~ V.S.L romero."
They reached the suite and Joseph directly looked at the bottom of the bed, where a neat wooden box lay.
He lifted it to his lap and sat to the bed next to Clarisse.
"I can't believe he kept this." he mumbled as he looked at Clarisse, "But I don't know if my old self is worth showing."
"Oh tush- I would like see them, my darling." she admitted as they looked at each other in the eye before she added, "Please."
Joseph tried to resist her plea but she started rubbing one of her hands up and down to his arm as he groaned and opened the box.
Clarisse smiled as she remembered the times she used the same method to him years ago.
Works like magic…. she mused as he took out a picture album.
"Dios mio… this thing is older than me," he mumbled as the first few pages are filled with his parent's wedding pictures.
He took a glance at her as she look at he photos with great interest.
"You do have a very big family…" she said as she looked at the family picture.
"I used to hate having big families... mamá used to host some family reunions and I was forced to clean the dishes. But as time passed and most of my cousins became rebellious and were disowned, I missed having one and wished I spent more time when we're still… -you know- together." he said as he looked at his mother's photo with his grandfather, "Have I ever told you that I was conceived out of wedlock?"
"You are?" Clarisse asked as she observed the woman in the pictures and noticed a shadow of bump on one of the pictures with a different angle, "Well at least you're not illegitimate. Not that I have problems with illegitimacy."
Joseph smiled as he saw her expression change with every picture. As he flip through pages, it comes to the time where the pages were filled of him when he was a baby.
A certain sticky note on a certain picture caught both of their attentions as they Joseph smiled.
I don't usually look at any baby pictures but this one makes me whistle dad- I mean- You've got an ass ~Vicky
Clarisse took the other note and smiled at the photo.
"I can't believe he found his photo." Joseph said as he quickly flipped the page.
Clarisse looked at the back of the note and laughed so hard she fell on the couch.
She handed Joseph the note as he read:
PS: Jesse told me that dad plotted the murder of his 'ass pic' a lot of times on their teenage years. No wonder why it looks crumpled closed up.
Joseph shook his head as he tried to stifle his own laughter, just remembering those times made him feel so embarrassed.
Clarisse catch her breath as she stood up and looked at the photos again.
"Awe… that's you in the middle right?" she asked as she saw him standing beside other kids, Maybe his cousins.
Joseph hummed as he remembered his cousin and said, "The one on my right is Juan, last I heard from him, he and his wife are having a baby, they must be having grandchildren or something by now. The one beside him is Julia, she's in the army and still in it. She always wanted to play with me because I ran faster than her. The one on my left is Jacqueline, she used to be the princess of our generation. But she surprised us when she announced that she's a lesbian, Uncle Jommie disowned her, much to Aunt Helga's disappointment. And the last one beside her is Jimmy, he's the prankster. Always getting himself into trouble, I hope he doesn't get into trouble these days. He eloped with the Mayor's daughter when he's seventeen. I haven't heard from him since."
Clarisse nodded as she looked at the faces and pointed to young Joseph, "What about you, you seemed so sorrowful in his picture.."
"Well I-uh…" Joseph took a breath as he looked at himself, "I'm a bit rebellious then, always running around with Julia and getting myself between Jimmy's mischief. I used to hate it but I still live that way until things get a bit serious with Julia and Jesse. Then Jimmy eloped and I found myself stuck with nothing but my own life."
"What happened to Julia and Jesse?" she asked as they flip through pages, showing more pictures of Joseph with his cousins.
"Let's just say, Jesse brings out the girly essence in Julia. Aunt Jane noticed their attraction so she brought Julia to a boarding school in Russia." he sighed as he flipped another page, "Aunt Jane always brags on her fortune even if it she got it from her deceased husband."
Clarisse frowned at his words as she looked at the next pictures, "You looked like your father."
"It's funny really. I used to think that I looked like him as well but most people said I looked like mamá." he shooked his head as he looked at their family picture, "I've never that close to him because he's always at work. He's a car technician and he's the best on his workplace."
Clarisse frowned at his words. She doesn't really know Joseph's family, nor the past he have in his childhood.
God- I feel like a terrible wife… she sighed as she looked at the next photos.
"Your father must be always behind the camera… I mean- I rarely see him in these photos." she commented as she saw the next frames filled with Jesse's photos with some of Joseph on them.
Joseph frowned as he flipped and saw his photo with his father, "That's the last day I saw him." he whispered.
"What happened?" she asked as she looked at him, his eyes showing signs of sadness as he explained:
"I was sixteen then and I graduated secondary. He left for a moment to pick up something, on his way back, someone ran into him and robbed him. Then stabbed him. Mamá insisted we look for him an hour when he didn't come back and we saw him on an abandoned area of garbage.." he trailed off as he took a deep breath and looked at Clarisse who began to pat his back.
She took the box off his lap and he suddenly fell to her arms, "I'm sorry.. I never- I just can't remember the last time I-"
"Hush now, mon amour. You remember things and they can be painful at times. I lost a father too so I know the feeling." Clarisse mumble as she kissed his forehead, "If someone should apologize, it should be me because I asked. No need to apologize for remembering, my love."
Joseph looked at her and smiled, he always admired her sense of sympathy. It something that makes someone feel relief and not pitiable at the same time.
"You don't have to apologize, Clarisse… I am grateful that you ask, I never opened up to someone about my family… I'm glad that you insisted." he kissed her cheeks as they flipped through more pages, each picture showing more stories about him as Clarisse listen to every words he said.
At the last page, shows a picture of them with Jesse, Mia and Victoria, plus a small note from a different handwriting:
Don't worry Sephie, take out the funny look.. this one's a copy. I just want you to have at least a decent picture here. ~Jess
"Sephie?" Clarisse held her laughter as she imagine Jesse calling Joseph, her husband, 'Sephie' somewhere near the future.
"He used to tease me when he wanted something. Now it's a plain old unfunny joke." he mumbled as he looked at her and smiled at her attempt of not laughing.
"I can't imagine my face looking like that everytime I talked to Victoria." he said as he placed the album back to the box, trying to ignore the 'new stuffs' that nearly caused his brother on a trouble.
"Is that how she described it? Believe me Joseph, both the nickname and the funny look are funny. " Clarisse said as she placed his hands on his shoulders.
Joseph looked at her with a mocking pout as she smiled, clearly trying to stifle her laugh.
"Oh Monsignor Romero…. You're surprising me each day," she tried to said on a calm voice, "Turning from a…. dangerous carnivore…. for the past weeks and then suddenly turning into a cute and playful big thing. I never know you have this side until seconds ago."
Joseph smiled at her description of him as he leaned closer, "It is you… who's surprising me, mademoiselle. I never know that you have this…. cannibalistic side… until you…." he paused as he kissed her neck and went straight to her ear whispering, "... started riding me in every single way."
Clarisse blush as she remember the ways they made love for the past weeks. It doesn't help that he started kissing her on her sweet spots, it worsen the heat she's starting to feel below her abdomen.
She moaned at his kisses as she leaned down the bed and asked on her husky voice, "Would you like another ride, monsignor?"
She trailed her hands on his buttons as she started undoing them, smiling at the sight of his chest hair and muscular body. She looked to his eyes as she started pull the ribbon on her blouse, showing her cleavage on him. Satisfied when his eyes turned darker, she leaned into him and captured his lips.
"Why don't we try the 'new stuffs' in the box, my darling?" she said as she pulled away when he asked for entrance.
Joseph groaned as she felt her hands teasing him against the fabric of his pants.
"Why don't we." he said as he caught her lips on a blissful kiss.
A/N: ruehrjd the next chapter will be the ending. I'll decide whether to write the sequel or the prequel first… I'm planning on writing both since I'll have tons of free time after this week but I realized that maybe I should do it one story at a time. How do you feel about this chapter? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Or anything. Please leave something on the reviews. I hope you enjoy and whalaaaa!
