Two hours later:

Nicholas didn't have the heart to wake Mia. She looked so peaceful sleeping that he quietly walked out of his suite, planning on telling Joe and Clarisse that they wouldn't be at dinner. But, he never made it to the suite because Joe was walking down the corridor towards him. "Ah, Nicholas. How was your visit with Mia's family?"

"Very nice. They will be here this weekend."

"Yes, I'm sure they will be."

Nicholas looked down. "Sorry, Joe. We were going to tell you about the ball. It must've slipped our minds."

Joe sighed. "It's alright. No harm done."

"Also, I wanted to tell you that Mia and I won't be at dinner tonight. She is very tired, been sleeping the past two hours."

Joe smiled. "Good. She needs to sleep. She's been working very hard the past few months."

"I know. I can't get her to slow down."

"Well, then this vacation will be good for her, won't it?"

Nicholas nodded. "For both of us!" Joe and he both laughed. "Please, tell Grandma Clarisse we're very sorry."

"Oh, she won't even care. I was just coming to tell you that we wouldn't be making dinner either. She has also been sleeping for some time now."

Nicholas grew worried. He knew that Clarisse hadn't been feeling well the past few weeks. "She alright?"

"I think she'll be fine. These headaches have just been keeping her up. I've called her Doctor here in San Francisco. She had an appointment tomorrow morning, which she doesn't know about yet."

Nicholas clapped Joe on the back. "Well, sir, good luck with that!"

"Yea, thanks. Alright, then I guess we'll see you both tomorrow at breakfast?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Give our love to Mia."

"And our's to Grandma." They both said goodbye and walked down to their rooms and their sleeping wives.

An hour later:

Mia stretched, feeling much better since her long nap. She smiled as she fell back into the pillows. She was happy to be home in her San Francisco. She had missed her family and Lily was going to be flying in from college in a few days for the ball. She sat up again and saw Nicholas smiling at her from the end of the bed. "Well, good morning, Your Majesty."

Mia smiled. "How long was I asleep?"

"Oh…over three hours."

"Three hours?!?! We were supposed to meet Grandma and Grandpa for dinner!"

She started to rush out of bed but Nicholas caught her arm and sat her down. "Don't worry. Joe and I both decided that you two needed some sleep so we cancelled dinner for tonight. But Charlotte sent us up something for whenever you want to eat."

"Grandma's sleeping too?"

"She was last time I checked."

"I hope she's ok."

Nicholas kissed the side of her head. "I'm sure she's fine. You need to stop worrying about her, Mia. She can take care of herself."

Mia sighed. "I know. It's just…ever since that gunshot…I don't like to take things for granted."

"None of us do, but that's why she has Joe."

Mia smiled. "Yes, I guess you're right. You think she's awake yet?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"We were supposed to get together tonight after dinner to talk about some things and she was going to help me with my languages…"

"Mia, why don't you take the night off from work? You need to rest."

"I know, but I just want to see her. You think Grandpa would mind?"

"No, I don't think he would mind. Even if he did, he would never say so." He saw how anxious she was to get out of bed. "Go on…just come back soon so you can eat something!"

She kissed him lightly and hopped out of bed. She fixed her hair into a ponytail and made her way down to her Grandmother's suite.

Charlotte was walking down the hallway when she saw Mia walk out of her suite.

"Your Majesty! It's good to see you. How was your nap?"

"Very good, thanks. Thanks for sending up dinner too."

"You're welcome. Is there anything else I can get you?"

"No, I was just going to see Grandma for a little."

"As was I. I wanted to tell her that they have cleaned all the broken plants and trees out of the garden."

Mia smiled and took Charlotte's hand. "Good. She will be so happy. Come on."

She led Charlotte into Joe and Clarisse's suite, only to find both of them sleeping on the couch. Joe's protective arms encircled Clarisse who was resting her head on his chest. Mia turned to Charlotte. "Why don't you let me tell them later. I don't want to wake her now."

Charlotte nodded and bid Mia goodnight. Mia quietly went over and covered both of them up with an afghan she found on the loveseat. Kissing both of them on the cheek, she backed out of the room and closed the door softly. She turned around and found she was in someone's arms, comforting arms.

"Charlotte came by to see if I needed anything and told me Grandma and Joe were sleeping. I think it's about time you get something in that stomach of yours."

Mia smiled up at Nicholas and nodded. "Fine with me. I'm starving." Taking his hand, they began to walk down towards their room. She looked over her shoulder at the door to her Grandmother's suite, hoping she was ok.

The next morning:

Clarisse woke up and tried to stretch out, only to find she was not in bed. She must have fallen asleep on the couch again. She saw no sign of Joe, so she decided to get a shower before going down to breakfast. She got ready for the day and was about to go downstairs when the door opened.

"Good morning." Joe walked over and kissed her lightly before taking her hands. "And how was your sleep?"

"Fine, thank you. Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because you looked so peaceful. And besides, you needed your rest for your appointment this morning."

"What appointment? Charlotte didn't tell me about any appointment."

"That's because Charlotte doesn't know about this appointment." He went over to the closet and grabbed her coat, helping her put it on. "I made this appointment."

"Do I at least get to know where I'm going?" She turned to him, suspicion in her eyes.

"If you promise that you will go and not get angry with me."

She took a step closer to him. "That means I will get angry."

"Clarisse…I needed to do it."

She sighed. "Fine…I won't get angry…well, I'll try not to. Just tell me."

"We're going to the Doctors." He saw the change immediately. Her mood had switched from contentment to frustration in a matter of seconds. She took a few deep breaths and then looked down.

"Fine. Well…let's go then." Without waiting, she left the room, headed for the front door. He knew he was in trouble now. He followed her quickly and put his hand on her back, guiding her down the steps.

"Clarisse, I'm just worried about you. Your headaches have been getting steadily worse. It's time something is done about it. Please, forgive me, but I felt it needed to be done."

She nodded but did not speak another word. He helped her into the limo and took her hand as he slid in next to her. It was cold and shaking.

"Clarisse? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, why?"

"You're shaking."

"I'm fine. I just don't like the Doctor, you know that."

"Everything will be fine. I'll be right there with you. And I won't let go." For the first time in awhile, she smiled.

"Thank you. You have always been there. I'm sorry I was upset."

"I knew you would be. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." She kissed his cheek.

"It's alright. I do love you."

"I love you too. Come here." He put his arm around her as she leaned into his embrace. He kissed the side of her head and sighed. It was going to be a long morning.