A/N : Well, we've made it to chapter 12 and I'm thinking just two more before we reach the end of this epic! I hope by the end of this chapter eeryone is happy about where the story is going. I think you will all approve of the ending to the story as a whole, but we will have to see when we get there. Thanx as always to my reviewers; ndblue123, little-princess, swimcc, jackie, Meg*, max4cast and my one anon reviewer - there would not be a story without the readers and reviewers.

Now, on with the story...

Disclaimer : As usual, Phillippe is my creation, all the other characters belong to Meg Cabot.

Mia placed the receiver of the phone back in it's cradle.

"It's all arranged" she breathed, "The interview will be live tonight"

Michael took hold of her hand.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her. She nodded and squeezed his hand.

"Yes, I'm sure. I know what I'm doing is right, I want to marry you - I love you"

"I love you too" he assured her.

"And I love both of you" Phillippe chimed in.

A noise came from Lilly who sat in the corner on her own.

"Lil, are you crying?" Mia asked, smiling. It was very rare for Lily to get emotional but all the love must have got to her.

"No, I'm fine!" Lilly insisted, rubbing her eyes. Mia just smiled, she didn't want to embarrass her friend anymore than was necessary, besides it was down to her that she and Michael had sorted everything out. They were getting married, at last, but it remained to be seen what the general public of Genovia thought about it.

"Queen Amelia" the interviewer began, "I believe you have an announcement you would like to make to the people of Genovia"

"Yes" Mia took a deep breath and glanced across the room. The interview was taking place in the main parlour of her castle, she had requested it that way, and across the room, Phillippe, Lilly and of course, Michael sat, watching everything and feeling almost as nervous as the woman in front of the camera.

"I wish to announce my engagement" she smiled as she said it, she couldn't help herself. Even though she was as nervous as was humanely possible, the very thought of marrying Michael gave her such a warm feeling.

"Your engagement?" the interviewer sounded confused. "May we know to whom you are engaged, your majesty"

This was it. This was where the truth came out. Michael, Phillippe and Lilly, all smiled across the room at her, giving the strength she needed.

"I am marrying the father of my son, Prince Phillippe," she began and noted the interviewers confused expression, she continued "Kenny Showalter, my late husband, was not Phillippe's father. He was a good friend whom I was honoured to know and who I did love very much, but my heart belonged to another man. Phillippe's father, Michael Moscovitz, is the man I am going to marry. When I was with child over sixteen years ago, Michael and I were very young and the prospect of being a consort to a future queen as well as a father was too much for my now fiancé. Now, things are different and a wedding will take place later this year that should have taken place before our son was ever born"

For a moment there was silence as the interviewer, who was known for having an answer to everything sat stunned by the queens revelation.

"The Prince consort, Kenneth Showalter Renaldo, was not the father of Phillippe, the Crown Prince of Genovia?"

Mia felt sick. She wasn't sure if she could say anymore. The room was spinning and her head felt light as if she would faint at any moment.

"No, he was not. I am Phillippe's father" Michael's voice cut through Mia's confusion and she noticed that the father of her child was kneeling beside her and talking into the microphone that the interviewer was actually holding for her.

"You are the queens fiancé?"

"Yes" Michael answered, "Your queen does not wish to cause an outrage in this country of Genovia" he addressed the camera now, "but we are in love, as we have been for many years. I only hope that the people of this fine country will understand that although Amelia is a queen, she is first a foremost a woman, a wonderful woman, who deserves to be happy, just like every other woman, and man, in this country, and in this world" Mia couldn't believe Michael was saying all this, on live TV that was being shown all over the country and the world that he was talking about, but she was not in any fit state to stop him.

"I ask you all to consider very carefully what I have said before you make any rash decisions about your opinion of your Queen, the prince or me. In the end we are all human beings who deserve respect and love, and I think given all that this woman has done in the name of this country for you, the people of Genovia, that you might do her the courtesy of accepting that she is in love, as I am, and that we wish to be married and to be happy. I think everyone should have that right, don't you?"

Michael turned his attention back to Mia, who just sat and smiled at him, with tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe what had just happened, but she was so happy that it had. If nothing else had convinced her of Michael's love for her, this had. Neither Mia nor Michael heard what the interviewer said as she rounded off the interview and handed back to the stunned reporters in the news studio. They were captured in each others eyes. They were in love, they were at last going to be married and no matter what happened with the people of Genovia, Michael and Mia were going to be happy, because they had each other.

The support of the Genovians, however, would be a great bonus for everyone concerned and even though the queen, her son, her fiancé and her future sister in law, knew they would all be happy whatever happened they still hoped the people would accept the marriage of their ruler to the real father of her son, Phillippe, the heir to the throne of Genovia.

A/N : Please review and let me know if you're still enjoying the story and I will try and keep up my pace for the final chapters.