Joseph had gone to work for the day and Clarisse was forced to stay home with his mother. She was feeling a bit uncomfortable about spending the day with the woman who had just slept with her husband, but Josie had been telling her stories about when she was young, which took her mind off it all for a while, until she ran out of things to say.

"Clarisse, my dear, when does Joseph finish work?"

"I told you before, he finishes at five."

"PM?"

"YES."

"Oh. So…how are things?"

"Good, thankyou."

"Are there any good movies playing at the moment?"

"Not that I know of."

"Oh. So what do you do around here all day by yourself?"

"I've actually been planning my wedding."

"Oh, you're getting married?"

"YES. To your son."

"Oh, yes, my son. I never thought he'd settle down. Always a lady's man. Always sleeping around and...oh, oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't supposed to mention that."

"He used to sleep around?"

"Oh, frequently. He spent every single night with a different woman. But he told me not to tell you. So please d…"

"He told you not to tell me? Why?"

"I suppose he's embarrassed about it or something."

Clarisse stared sadly at the floor. Josie noticed this and decided to reassure her, "But I can clearly see that he loves you, so you have nothing to worry about."

"If you say so. Did he ever used to get…tired?"

Josie had trouble understanding that at first, but then it came to her, "Oh, gosh no. He was the most energetic young man I had ever seen. I tell you, if I wasn't his mother, I…ah…aha," she cleared her throat.

"Would you please not mention to Joseph that I told you these things? I swore myself to secrecy."

"You mustn't be very good at keeping secrets."

"No I'm not, your majesty."


Later…

Clarisse was feeling a bit awkward when it came to being alone in her room with Joseph. She couldn't shake off the feeling of inexperience that she had compared to him. She'd only ever been with two men and it sounded like he had been with at least 100 women. She let out a sigh and Joseph immediately thought something was wrong.

"I'm fine, honest."

"Okay."

He thought that that was a better reply than "no, something's wrong. Tell me," because that would lead to deeper conversation and possibly a fight.

"I'm not fine, I'm confused."

"Why are you confused?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Okay."

She eyed him, thinking he honestly didn't care what she was going on about, "How come you had so much energy back then and not now?"

"Back then? Back when?"

"Never mind."

"Okay."

"Stop saying okay!"

"Alright."

He started admiring her nightgown and undid some of the top buttons.

"Joseph."

"Mmm?"

"I'm trying to talk to you."

"I'm listening."

Obviously, he wasn't listening very well because he had started kissing his way down her chest.

"You're not listening."

"I am."

"Then what did I just say?"

"You said I should remove your clothes and…"

"That's not what I said! That's what you wished I had said!"

"I'm sorry."

"So?"

He lifted his head up and lay back on the pillow, "So what?"

"Why do you get so tired these days?"

"How do you mean tired?"

"Well, remember a few days ago, I wanted to be intimate with you and you were too…tired?"

"How could I forget?"

"Why didn't you ever get tired when you were young?"

"You've been talking with my mother."

"Well?"

"She just couldn't keep her mouth shut."

"Answer me."

"What did she say to you?"

"Everything, now answer my question."

"Everything?"

"Joseph."

"Isn't it obvious? The reason I never used to get tired was because I was young. I had lots of energy. Nowadays, I am a fair bit older and cannot handle as much anymore."

"Is it because you get bored of only being with the one person?"

"No, never. It's just that I work very hard at the restaurant and you want me to please you numerous times in the one night after I get home, which is something I can't handle. It's just too much."

"Oh. I see."

They lay in silence for a while.

"You know it's been almost a week since we last expressed ourselves."

"Yes and I also know that you're planning to express yourself right now."

"That would be correct."

"But I feel so inexperienced compared to you."

"Darling, when you love someone, you're supposed to forget about their past."

"Alright, sorry sorry. How do you feel about the fifth of next month?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about our wedding date. We never set one and I want to get married before I REALLY start to show."

"Why don't we just get married after the baby's born?"

"I don't want an illegitimate child."

"But you wouldn't have minded if you had stayed with Rupert."

"Don't start, Joseph."

"I'm not starting anything. Whenever you want to get married is fine by me."

More silence surrounded the room.

"Joseph, do you really want a big wedding?"

"Well, it wasn't my boy-hood dream, but if you want a big wedding, I'm happy with that."

"I don't think I want a big wedding anymore. They're so stressful. Why don't we just elope?"

"Elope? You want to elope?"

"Not really, I was just thinking about it. A small ceremony with our closest friends and relatives wouldn't be bad."

"Well, I know who's on my guest list. Let's see, there's mother and oh, mother and then there's mother."

"Is she really the only other person in the world that you're close to?"

"Yes, apart from you. So tell me, will your mother be coming to the wedding?" That was a joke. He had met her mother before, but she had turned her nose down at him because he was the help at the time and she had no idea how her daughter felt about him.

"Joseph, you know very well that I don't hold a special place in my heart for my mother and if she found out that I'm pregnant and not married to the father, she'd have a fit!"

"I can tell this will be a very short guest list."

"Very short indeed."

"So, are we clear about the date?"

"Actually…"