A/N: To clear some things up:

The "real" reason Phillip and Pierre didn't go to the wedding is because they wouldn't have understood why their mother was marrying her bodyguard.

The REAL reason Phillip and Pierre didn't go to the wedding is because, as usual, I forgot about them! (giggles). But the "real" reason makes sense anyway.

I haven't been updating this story lately because I stupidly created 2 other chaptered stories, so I might leave this one for a while, because as far as I can see, it's going to go on forever. But I might decide not to leave it because I change my mind about these things often. BTW I have no intention of ending this fic. It's going to drag on until I run out of ideas (much like a television show). I do however intend to finish my other two stories. So I will hopefully finish those first and then move back to this one, however, it will probably a new fic called something like "Married life with Clarisse and Joe." Same story, just on a fresh canvas (so to speak). So, keep an eye out for it.


After they left the restaurant, Clarisse and Joseph bid Rupert and Josie goodnight and headed to their private limo.

"All I'm saying, Joseph is that I can't move to another country. Especially one I've never been to before. I don't know anything about it and I probably don't even speak the same language. And what about my children? I'd never get to see them."

"There are always holidays."

"But that's not often enough. I need to see them more often than twice a year."

"And I understand that, but look at it from my perception, for the first time in my life I am being hounded by the media and I'm not sure how to react to it. They are never going to leave us alone! Every little mistake we make will be known to the rest of the counrty."

"So? What's your point? I've had the media hounding me my whole life, but you don't see me complaining."

"You're used to it."

"Is that the only reason you want to move?"

"No, another reason is that if we stay here, I have to live in constant fear that my wife is going to run back to her ex-husband."

She was utterly shocked that he would even think something like that, "What? How dare you say that to me! I have no intention of going back to Rupert!"

"That's not what you said a week ago!"

Her mouth dropped, "I'll have you know that I was very upset at the time. I thought you were having an affair!"

"I would never have an affair, I love you too much."

She watched as he took her hand and pulled her close to him. She snuggled up against his shoulder and made a proposition, "I'll tell you what, we'll have our honeymoon in Australia and if I like it and I mean REALLY like it, I'll think about the possibility of becoming interested in moving there."

"Thankyou, darling."

Clarisse wasn't actually intending to move anywhere, especially to another country. She mainly said that she would so it wouldn't completely ruin their evening.

When they got to the hotel, Joseph opened the door for her and helped her out of the car. They then walked arm in arm inside and up to their suite for the night.

Meanwhile, Josie and Rupert had the same idea, except it wasn't the same hotel; it was the slightly flashier one down the street.

"Are you sure you don't want to marry me?"

"I told you before: I like having my freedom. Besides, you only want to marry me because I don't want to marry you. We're too much alike to be together."

He nodded his head and looked at the floor, "True."

She held his hand in hers and stroked the top of it with her thumb, "That doesn't mean we can't have some fun."

"Mmm…you know that if you did marry me, it wouldn't exactly have to be an exclusive relationship."

"I know, but all the rules and regulations I'd have to follow after becoming queen."

"Come on, you're getting on in age, I'm at the settling down stage. What's wrong with us being together?"

"It wouldn't be settling down if we're still going to be seeing other people."

"We won't then! It will be strictly exclusive."

"But I don't want that."

"What do you want?"

"I want to live my life to the full with absolutely no rules. To tell you the truth, I've never believed in marriage. Most marriages end in divorce and the couples wonder why they went to all the trouble in the first place."

"Because they thought they were in love."

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, and then kissed all the way down her neck. She couldn't help but ask him something that was on her mind, "Rupert. Who's talking care of your royals duties right now?"

"Umm…"

Another meanwhile (at the palace)…

The head of security noticed one of the maids and inquired as to the whereabouts of the king.

"He took off, sir."

"Where?"

"He's gone to his ex-wife's wedding."

"He's gone?"

"Yes."

"To his ex-wife's wedding?"

"Yes."

"And he didn't tell me because…?"

"He was in a rush."

"So who's taking care of all of this paper work?"

They looked awkwardly at each other and exited the room; after all, it wasn't their problem.


The next morning, Clarisse woke up in her new husband's arms and smiled to herself as she placed a hand on her stomach. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of child she was bearing. Would it be kind, caring, loving and gentle? Would it be a girl or a boy? She was hoping for a girl, because she had always wanted a little girl whom she could dress up in pretty clothes and make her hair look beautiful. It was a nice thought, but she was certain it would be another boy. She planned to find out at her next check-up. Joseph, for some unknown reason didn't want to know the gender until it was born. He was hoping for a boy, as most men do, because he wanted to be able to play ball with him and teach him everything a boy needs to know. It was also possible that she could be carrying opposite gender twins, which would suit both of them, but the chance of that happening would be highly unlikely. Well, whatever she was carrying would be brought into a caring and loving family and it would be the happiest kid in the world.

Snapped out of her daydream by the birds outside, Clarisse decided to get up and fill the spa with water in order to take a long soak in it before starting the day. The bottle of lavender essence that she poured into it smelt heavenly. She couldn't wait to just jump in, but it took forever for it to fill because it was very deep and very wide, much like a small swimming pool. Ten minutes later, it was basically full and waiting for her to get in. She did so and sank right under the water. It felt calm and relaxing, until she felt something rubbing against her leg. She stood up immediately only to find that Joseph had secretly slipped into the water as well.

"Joseph, you scared the life out of me!"

He shook his head and sat with his arms across the edge of the spa, "Sorry darling, I just wanted to surprise you."

"I'm surprised alright."

She sat down and stared at him. He had already managed to ruin her relaxing morning. She decided to try and ignore him by shutting her eyes, but no such luck. He moved himself over to her and put his arms around her waist, pulling her around the edge of the circled tub. Clarisse asked him what he was doing and he said he was trying to make a whirlpool. She had never heard of such a thing, but decided to go along with it to see what he was talking about. After a couple of minutes they stopped moving and Clarisse stared in utter amazement at the fact that the water was carrying them around.

"This is amazing."

"You've never done this before?"

"No, I haven't."

"I bet you haven't done a lot of things have you?"

"No, I haven't."

"I bet I've shown you many fun things that you never knew existed."

"Yes, you have."

"Are you saying I'm a good influence?"

"Yes, I am."

She gently placed her mouth on his and they were warped into their private world. A world which nobody could disturb, except of course, the room service people who were rudely knocking on the door in the bedroom. Joseph cleared his throat, "I ordered us some breakfast."

She put her head on his chest and replied, "Then you should put on a robe and answer the door."

"They have keys."

"But I don't want them to see us naked."

"I'm sure they won't mind."

"It's not them I'm worried about."

He got out and dried himself off with a towel, then dropping it on the floor, walked out the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

"Joseph, you'd better be planning to put something on before answering that door!"

"Yes, dear."


More A/N: The reason I chose Australia is because I actually know a fair bit about it, having lived there my whole life :)

Review, please!