A/N: See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.
Chapter 2: Majoring in Minors
Two days after the reviewing ceremony, Mia did the unthinkable. She did something I truly never imagined she would do. While claiming that she was going to our family's beach house in Mertz for a couple of days for a mini-vacation, she and Andrew actually sneaked off together with her best friend, Lilly Moscovitz-Kelly, and with her Royal Chief of Security, Scott, or "Shades" as he is affectionately called in the palace, and Mia and Andrew got married in secret. Yes, I'd heard the rumors two days earlier from Lady Pallimore, and I did intend to talk with Mia and get to the bottom of those rumors, but I honestly didn't believe that they were true. I'd believed there was plenty of time for me to discuss the rumors with Mia after she returned from Mertz, but clearly, I was wrong. News of Mia's elopement with Andrew broke less than an hour after they were wed in Mertz, and naturally, it spread like wildfire. Many Genovians were truly happy for Mia, especially younger people, while many older people and many of our political rivals got offended and complained that she had failed in her royal duties as a queen by not permitting the public to watch and participate in her wedding. And frankly, I agreed with them.
"When are you ever going to start acting responsibly, Mia?! I cannot believe what you've done!" I yelled at Mia right after she returned to the palace. Mia, Andrew, Joseph, and I were all standing around in the lounge of my suite; I'd asked Mia to meet me there when she and Andrew got back.
"Your Majesty, if may I ask, why are you against my being married to Mia?" Andrew cautiously inquired.
"I'm not against you two being married, Andrew; you're a fine young man and I think you're exactly the kind of man Mia needs in her life," I assured him. "What I am against is the way you two got married." I then turned my gaze towards Mia and asked her, "How many times do I have to remind you that you are not just Mia Thermopolis anymore? You are now the Queen of Genovia. You are not an ordinary woman who can just go about her business, living her life, doing whatever she pleases. You are a ruler who is responsible for our entire nation. As the Queen of Genovia, you have very important responsibilities on your shoulders. Whenever a Genovian royal weds, it's always been a very important event in the lives of our people. It's important to your subjects to witness your wedding; to get to be a part of it. This crazy, spur-of-the-moment decision of yours to run off and elope has offended many people, Mia. When you decided to elope, did you give one single thought to all the people you would hurt?"
"I didn't mean to hurt anybody, Grandma. I really didn't," Mia insisted. "But with all due respect to the Genovian people, I really didn't want to have to get married in front of a bunch of cameras with millions of people watching every move I made. All of that international attention would have made me so nervous and scared, and when I get really frightened like that, it makes my clumsiness so much worse. It was a miracle I didn't trip and fall during the almost-wedding Andrew and I had two years ago. I didn't want to trip and fall and make a worldwide fool of myself at my own wedding. I wanted my wedding to be something special. I wanted to be able to enjoy it. I knew some people would probably be a little offended, but I didn't think it would be that big a deal at the end of the day."
"Well it is a big deal, Mia," I told her angrily. "And you didn't just offend a great number of your subjects. You offended me as well. I'm your grandmother, and you shut me out of your own wedding."
"Well I didn't mean to offend you or shut you out, Grandma. It's just that I knew you wouldn't understand, and I knew that if I told you in advance, you would try to force me to have a big royal wedding in front of cameras, with the whole world watching me and making me anxious, regardless of how I felt about it."
"Everything isn't all about you, Mia," I said to my granddaughter in a furious tone. "When Lady Pallimore spoke to me about you the other day, she said that the culture of America is spoiled and selfish and weak, and even though she isn't my most favorite person in the world, I think she's right. I think that your childhood and teenage years in America have been a terrible influence on you overall. You are far too selfish, my dear. You are constantly thinking about what you want and not enough about what's best for our people."
"I don't think about what's best for our people, Grandma? Really?"
"Really. Just the other day, you made a complete mess of the reviewing ceremony," I complained while Mia scoffed. "Every state dinner we have, every big royal function we have, you spill things, break things, make a mess. You never make any real effort to be careful, and to be perfectly honest, your carelessness can be a big embarrassment to our whole country. But you never think about that. You never think about all the potential consequences of your behavior. You're always foolishly living in the moment. You never think long-term.
"And the same thing goes for your choices in love. With only days to go to your almost-wedding to Andrew two years ago, you were caught sleeping on the ground beside another man. You certainly weren't thinking about Genovia's welfare when you did that! You were only thinking about yourself. And when it comes to this elopement, once again, you are only thinking about yourself. Have you even once thought of the possibility of what your opponents might say about this sudden elopement with Andrew? It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't start spreading false rumors that you and Andrew suddenly eloped because you were pregnant. And just how would that make our country look?"
"Genovia has one of the lowest homeless populations in the world, and that's largely due to legislation Sebastian and I worked our butts off to get passed in Parliament to give as much aid to homeless Genovian citizens, as much aid to homeless Genovian veterans, as possible. Many foster children and orphans in Genovia now have a permanent home in our former castle in the mountains of Libbet, and I don't mean to honk my own horn, but I am largely responsible for that. Whose idea do you think it was to spend millions of euros from her own royal trust fund to set up support groups and hotlines and resources all throughout Genovia for children in this country who are being bullied and children who are suicidal? Mine. Who worked endless hours with Sebastian to help create and pass bills in Parliament to help prevent elder abuse in nursing homes? I did. Who worked her butt off to help get legislation passed to set up more shelters for abused women and children throughout this country? I did. If you ask me, I'd say Genovia's looking pretty darned good, and to be perfectly fair and honest, I am partly responsible for that. I don't think the rest of the world really cares if I have clumsy moments and spill drinks at the dinner table or fall off horses occasionally. And I don't think the rest of the world cares that I chose to elope with the man I love. And quite frankly, for all the people in Genovia and throughout the world who do choose to get their lace panties in a wad over those minor things, I think they obviously don't have enough to do with their time, and I think they need to stop majoring in minors and start caring about the things that really matter. I may get the minor things wrong, but I honestly believe that every person standing in this room can agree with me when I say that I get the major things right. And as for your accusation that I was being selfish by choosing to get married the way I wanted to get married, I think it's fair to say that after the way I have been working my butt off for Genovia over these past two years, it wouldn't hurt the Genovian people a bit to do me a small favor every now and then. After all I've done for them, the least they can do for me is let me have the kind of wedding I want and let me get married in peace."
Mia then walked out of the room, leaving me standing there with Joseph and Andrew in stunned silence.
After I came out of the shower in my silk pajamas and robe and slippers that evening and walked through my bedchamber, I saw that Joseph, Mia, and Andrew were sitting down together talking. I knew it was wrong of me to eavesdrop, of course, but I couldn't help but want to hear what they were saying, so I stayed hidden away in the bedchamber and quietly listened.
"I'm sorry about the way I blew up earlier, Joe," Mia said with such kindness in her voice as Andrew wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Mia and Joseph had always had a very close relationship. And to be perfectly honest, there were times when I envied the closeness Joseph had with Mia. Even though Mia and I had become closer ever since we were reunited when she was sixteen, she was nowhere near as close to me as she was to Joseph, and that did hurt my heart.
Joseph then shook his head and said in a loving tone, "I'm the last person you need to apologize to, my dear. You were right about everything you said."
Mia seemed a bit shocked in that moment as she said, "I was?"
"Absolutely. I'm quite proud of you for standing up for yourself the way you did today. You've grown a very great deal over the past two years, and believe me; your grandmother has noticed it, just as I have, and she is impressed with all the progress you've made since your ascension to the throne. Unfortunately, Clarisse isn't always very good at expressing what's really in her heart."
"I think I have a pretty good idea of what's really in Grandma's heart: contempt for me because I didn't toe the royal line and do everything perfectly."
Again, Joseph shook his head, and then he gently told Mia, "Oh no, my dear. That's not it. That's not it at all. That was just a cover. She was using your royal position as an excuse to lash out at you because she was deeply hurt that you didn't allow her to be there to see you get married."
As soon as Joseph said that, I was truly stunned at how my husband seemed to know me far better than I knew myself at times. Joseph really was a natural psychologist.
In the next moment, Mia sighed and leaned into Andrew's embrace and rested her head on his shoulder, and she said, "No matter how hard I try, it seems I just can't do anything right."
"That isn't true at all, sweetheart," Joseph said so kindly. "You do many, many things right every single day. You have been such a great blessing to our country and any Genovian with sense is proud to have you for their queen."
Mia then raised her head and told Joseph, "Thank you so much for saying that, Joe."
"It's the truth."
"I never wanted to hurt Grandma. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I wanted Grandma to be there to see me get married as much as she wanted to be there, but I knew that if I told her how I felt about wanting a small, private ceremony, she wouldn't listen to me. I knew that she would probably talk me into having a big royal wedding with tons of people and cameras broadcasting it all over the world. And when it came to my own wedding, I simply did not want to be coerced into 'doing my royal duty.' Not this time. Everyone should be able to have the kind of wedding they want to have, regardless if they're a royal or not."
"I understand where you're coming from, sweetheart. I really do. Even though so many people dream of being royal, they truly have no idea about how hard this life can actually be. Your entire country wants to own every piece of your public life and every piece of your private life. Clarisse and all Genovian royals before her and King Rupert, may he rest in peace, allowed all their subjects to get away with that, considering it to be 'their royal duty.' I think it's probably a very good thing for Genovia to now have a queen who insists on having some personal boundaries that she doesn't allow the public to cross. Yes, you should put God and other people ahead of yourself. You should put God and your country ahead of yourself. But even so, you cannot fulfill the calling Christ has placed on your life to be our queen, you cannot serve Genovia well, if you do not take care of yourself. If you're going to spend your whole live serving this country as its queen, you've got to take good care of yourself so you can always be healthy and strong for us, not just physically, but psychologically. And allowing yourself to have some parts of your life that only belong to you and not to the public is good and healthy."
"If only Grandma could understand that," Mia said with a sigh.
"I know how hurtful your grandmother's attitude can be sometimes, but I promise you, she does not ever mean to hurt you. I know she doesn't express it nearly enough, but she does love you so much, and she is so proud of you. Try to be patient with your grandmother, my dear. You've got to remember that she's been brainwashed her entire life into believing that royal duty matters more than the air she breathes." It wasn't easy to hear Joseph say that, but I knew deep down how right he was.
"I know," Mia said quietly.
"I do feel for Her Majesty," said Andrew. "I've been exposed to a similar kind of brainwashing my whole life as well. As you know, Joseph, both of my biological parents were killed in a car crash just ten days after I was born, and I was raised by Susan and Arnold Worthington, a very high-society couple in England who adopted me. After my biological mother and father were killed, my father's title passed to me, and I think it was my title that was the only thing my adoptive parents ever really cared about. Being the adoptive parents of the Duke of Kenilworth certainly raised their status in high society a great deal. And all my life, everything always centered around my title. Everything was always about living up to the expectations that my late parents would have had of me. I had to do everything right all the time. There couldn't be a hair out of place. Everything was all about living up to the legacy of my title. I do love my adoptive parents, but to be perfectly honest, I do believe they've always cared far more about using me to enhance their own social status than they have about me.
"And I think that deep down, part of me expected Mia to be like that because that's how so many other people in my life have been. I figured that after she managed to become Queen of Genovia without my help, I'd return to my life in England and she'd rule here in Genovia and that would be that. Since she clearly didn't need me anymore, I never expected that she would actually keep in touch with me. I never expected that she would continue our friendship. And when she did keep in touch with me, I was very pleasantly surprised. And then after Mia and Nicholas broke up and she and I started to get closer, Mia actually became more like family to me than my own parents, and I decided to move to Genovia simply because I wanted to be with the people who are my true family in my heart."
"And when Andrew moved to Genovia and became an anthropology professor at Pyrus University, all just so he could be near me, it melted my heart so much. After I caught Nicholas cheating on me with one of his girlfriends – for the third time – I really felt like garbage. And having Andrew in my life again has just given me so much healing. It was basically impossible for Andrew and me to build a relationship the first time because it was forced upon us. Deep down, neither of us really wanted to go through with an arranged marriage. I know my having an emotional affair with Nicholas at the time wasn't my finest moment as a royal – or as a person."
"And the emotional affair I was having at the time with Lady Elissa wasn't my best moment, either," said Andrew.
"But I think that for both of us, it was our way of rebelling against something that was being shoved down our throats by others that we didn't want."
"And that's understandable," said Joseph. "Not right, of course. But understandable."
"But now, we're together because we want to be together, not because other people with agendas are shoving it down our throats," said Mia.
"And that's how it should be, my dear," Joseph assured her. "And don't worry about your grandmother. I know that Clarisse is upset about all this right now, but she'll come around."
"I hope it happens soon," said Andrew.
"Me too," Mia agreed.
"I don't think it'll take her that long. Clarisse thinks very highly of you, Andrew, and so do I. You are a very fine young man, and I have no doubts that you will be both an excellent husband to Mia and an excellent Prince of Genovia. And permit me to take this moment to say, welcome to the family," Joseph told Andrew while holding out his hand, and Andrew smiled and shook hands with him.
"Thank you, sir. Thank you so, so much," Andrew told Joseph sincerely.
"And permit me to say to you, my dear girl, that I couldn't be happier for you two."
"Thank you so much, Joe," said Mia, and then she leaned over and kissed his cheek. In the next moment, she asked, "Joe, when you first heard that Andrew and I had eloped…did it hurt your feelings?"
Joseph shook his head and answered, "No. I know your grandmother and other people were offended, but I wasn't. I've been watching you two together over the past year that you've been dating. I know love when I see it. And when I heard the rumors that you two were talking about eloping, I wasn't surprised. And even though I didn't know your exact reasons for wanting to elope, I strongly suspected that it was like you said. I know that even today, you still get very anxious when having to deal with large crowds. It did hurt my heart that I wasn't able to be there in person to see you get married. I won't lie. But there's no hard feelings, my dear, because I understand why you did what you did. I get it. I truly do."
Mia smiled then and said, "You always understand, Joe. You always get it."
After a few more moments of small talk amongst them, Mia gave Joseph a big hug and another kiss on the cheek, and he and Andrew hugged as well, and then they said goodnight and went into their own suite. Meanwhile, I sat down on the side of mine and Joseph's bed in our bedchamber and sighed. Joseph had been quite right when he'd said that I had been using royal duty as an excuse to lash out at Mia because I was hurt. That was precisely what I'd done. But after listening in on that conversation, even someone as stubborn as I am had no choice but to admit that it was understandable why Mia chose to get married the way she did. And I knew in those moments that despite the complaints of others, her decision to elope with Andrew had not been a selfish one. In other words, I knew that Mia and Joseph were right and I was wrong. And I knew that, whether my pride liked it or not, I had to stop majoring in minors, as my granddaughter truthfully said, and I knew that I had to stop being angry at her and accept the happy couple and move on with my life.