Author's Note:

This is it my friends. I wanna thank everyone for reading. Including Music-My love from the/r/ boards and all those who just started reading due to the linkagefrom the Rooney boards (thanks Becksie for the post!).

So now that this, my longest story to date (yes, I have a much longer one) is done I am going to post the Christmas one this weekend. Tomorrow is the last day of classes and I have a ten page paper due that I have yet to start. AMazingthat I canpop ten pages out for this in like, an hour and it'll take me all day for this stupid paper. Well, read andenjoy.

Mia looked at me nervously. We were going to tell people, but not yet. I guess a two year old could tell doesn't care for good timing. I mean, yes, I understood this (after all she did once announce that she had pooped in her pants while we were eating dinner in a fancy restaurant with my parents) But Mia looked horror stricken. She hadn't gotten used to the fact that two year olds never thought before they spoke.

Mia and I looked around. I saw my mother make an expression of understanding. She now knew the truth.

"Should we make an announcement?" Mia asked me.

"You are the princess. You know the protocol for this."

She looked at the eyes boring into her now. "Here, take Ella and have a dance with her," she said, handing Ella to me.

She signaled to the bandto return andto play a song suitable for a father and daughter. I saw Mia take her father to the dance floor.

They were talking seriously. I didn't want our wedding to be like this. I wanted everyone to be happy. No more lies. If people asked, I'd tell the truth for the first time in years.

After the song Mia pulled me and Ella to a stage. "Ladies and gentleman," she said in her princessy voice. "It is very clear that the man I have married today is not the man you expected me to. But in all fairness, I never said I was actually marrying Evan. I couldn't have married Evan even if I wanted to. I have been married to this man, Hymen Moscovitz, better known as Michael, for the past three years. Since I turned eighteen." Gasps escaped the lips of the guests. Her grandmother started leaving the room, but her father stopped her.

"And when I was nineteen," she started, looking up at me, "I had a baby," she said lifting Ella to her hip. "Named Helen Josephine Moscovitz Grimaldi Renaldo. Better known as Ella."

I looked at her grandmother who looked completely disgusted andembarrassed by this whole situation. We had fully succeeded...well,we hadn't meant to disgust her but whatever.

There was a silence that made me want to dissolve into the floor. "And her father has been raising her along with our dear friends from America." Ella started crying at this point because she hates big crowds.

I took her and tried to quiet her down, which made some people laugh and smile. "Mia, I'm going to take her in the back, okay?" I whispered.

She nodded. "I'll take care of everything."

I walkedpast Clarisse who had a look of a stone gargoyle on. "This doens't change things, Moscovitz."

I smiled, "Of course not, your Highness. Mia has been her mother all along. And my wife all along. Things will still be the same. But we will get to live together now."

Isn'tit amazing how fatherhood changes you? I mean, growing up I would have just ignored her because I was too afraid. I hated dealing with confrontations unless I had to. Iusually let things go. But I guess that changed because of Ella. For example, one time at her day care this older boy (he was about six)broke Ella's Elmo dollthat she'dbrought in for show and tell.

The mothersimply laughed andsaid she never should have brought it in in the first place. Then I

totally went off on her and Ella got a new Elmo doll. But I digress. Back to Clarisse.

"I won't stand for this," Clarisse went on. "Mia is my granddaughter-"

"And my wife. And Ella's mother. You are Ella's great-grandmother."

That seemed to soften her expression a little. "May I?"

She tried to take Ella into her arms but then Ella started screaming bloody murder. Hell, I would too. "Sorry," I apologized. "This is all a bit much for her...too fast."

"I know exactly how she's feeling," Clarisse said taking a gulp of her sidecar, then walking away.

I survived.

I bumped into Miss Thermopolis as I went toward the private quarters. "Michael…"

I felt like I was nineteen again and had just gotten back with Mia. That I wasup for judgement."Hi," I managed.

She smiled, "Can I meet my granddaughter?"

"She's a little scared right now," I explained.

"Here," she said taking Ella, who quieted down once she was with Miss Thermopolis. "I saw you with her and I knew there was something…this isn't why you got married is it?"

I shook my head hard. I hated that everyone was going to think that."No. We got married three years ago in Las Vegas. When Mia went to California with Shameeka and Lilly. I went too and we took a car to Vegas."

She looked impressed. "You really love her huh?"

I nodded. "Yeah. More and more everyday."

Shelooked thoughtful. "Obviously if you went through three years of separation to be with her. Was that her I saw that time in the market?"

I nodded. "Yeah. She felt terrible for not being able to see you… that you couldn't meet your granddaughter….but we couldn't chance anything. Clarisse would have killed us. Her real name is Helen," I explained. I had no idea what else to say to her. I mean, Mia had just explained this to everyone. But what else was I to say?

She looked into the ball room where Mia was talking animatedly with her grandmother and some other women. "She'll get over it. Mia will make her. She's changed a lot lately…in the past few years. She's grown up. She was sad a lot…now I understand why," she said looking at Ella. "But she's so mature and…so different from when she first found out she was a princess. She's really accepted it and learned how to use it to her advantage. The people love her here."

"I hope they like me," I replied. "I know they liked Evan…"

"Yeah, well, I don't know about him…I got a weird vibe from him."

"He's uhm…with that Alex that I was always with."

She raised an eyebrow, "Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Never trust a guy that collects Backstreet Boy stuff and wears sunglasses indoors."

I laughed and looked at Mia who was talking to that Elias Downey who was wearing his damn sunglasses inside again.

"I always knew she loved you all along. She was never the same after she left you. Never came back to New York for very long. She was always asking if I had seen you. Not something you would ask if you were happy with your boyfriend."

Mia looked down the hall at us and smiled. Everything was going to be right. Just right.

I took Ella back and stared walking toward the private area again, only to be stopped by my parents this time. "So...you aren't gay?" my father asked reluctantly.

"No Dad. I'm not gay."

"I can't say that I'm not relieved. I would have rathered known about this though," he admitted.

"No one could know. Who knows what Clarisse would have done."

"I am guessing we won't be seeing much of this little girl anymore," my mother asked softly.

"We'll be here, in Genovia mostly," I admitted. "But we'll go back to New York to see you guys-"

"We're staying in California. Or that's our homebase now. We are going to be traveling around the world. Enjoy our retirement."

"YOu'll be sure to frequent Genovia, right? I don't think Ella could handle not seeing you two," I replied, smiling as Ella played peek a boo with my father.

"Always Genovia," my mother replied. "Always."

I tookMia to our suite that night. Miss Thermopolis and Mr. G were going to watch Ella for us, much to Rocky's dismay. But he was happy that she didn't marry 'That dork', Evan.

I carried her to our new bedroom, her giggling the entire way. "I'm really a bride now!" she exclaimed.

"I think you may be drunk a little bit," I teased.

"With happiness," she replied.

"Cliche," I replied. I loved saying that to her. Her English teacher sophomore year used to write that all over her papers and it drove her nuts.

We were now in our wedding suite, not saying anything. She slipped into the bathroom to change, and I poured some champagne into some glasses and walked onto the balcony. It was a perfectly clear night.

I looked over and saw guests still mingling below. I looked over at the tree by the balcony because something was in there. I saw a man with a camera. How the hell had he gotten there? "We won't be doing anything out here so I don't know what you are doing there," I said, walking toward the tree.

He snapped a photo of me. But I really couldn't care less. I didn't want him there to get a shot of Mia in any scandalous clothes. "Get out of here before I call the guard."

He scampered down the tree, and not a moment too soon because Mia came to me in a long pale blue piece of lingerie. I walked over to her and we started dancing. And no, there was no music.

We forgot about the champagne, and instead fell into bed with one another. My jet leg was catching up with me, but I ignored it. Being with Mia was way more important. And I'll tell you this much, sleeping with her this time was the best because I knew that no one could ruin what we had. If someone had caught us before we'd have been screwed. But now no one could do a damn thing about it.

We fell asleep afterwards. Or rather, she did. I stayed awake and watched her as she nuzzled into my chest. We had a lot to catch up on, but there is plenty of time for that. We were now officially husband and wife. No one could take that away from us.

And I couldn't wait to spend every night like this with her.