Three months at a very posh clinic in France passed by very slowly for the former Queen of Genovia. She had been able to get through Mia's wedding and coronation, Joseph at her side, but had disappeared from public life immediately after to enter the treatment program. It had been the hardest, yet most rewarding thing she had ever done in her entire royal life, but she was more pleased with her progress than with anything else. Joseph was proud of her too, and had counted the days until he could bring her home.

There would be rough days ahead, but if anyone had the determination, drive and will to continue to recover as an alcoholic, then Clarisse Renaldi did. Her return to Genovia came slowly, as the Beach House in Mertz became home for a few weeks until she felt up to a return to the Palace in Pyrus.

The two of them stood on the terrace, overlooking the ocean, watching the sailboats returning to the marina after a day's sail. Clarisse took his hand in both of hers.

"You've stayed by me through all of this. How can I thank you?"

Joseph searched her eyes for a moment and then spoke. "No thanks necessary. You've done this yourself, and you will have to continue to do this by yourself. I'm here because I want to support you."

"Is that the only reason you've stayed?"

"You know it isn't."

"I've certainly made a mess of things, haven't I?"

Joseph put his arms around her waist and pulled her into an embrace. "The timeline is a little off, but I think we're still on track. No worries."

"I don't deserve you." She laid her head on his shoulder.

"That's what all my girlfriends say" he grinned.

She pulled back and swatted him playfully. "You tease. Seriously, I don't know why you stayed after all I put you through."

He said nothing for a moment, then decided to tell her the story.

"My mother was an alcoholic from the time I was about 10 years old. My older brother and sister saw what was happening to her but said nothing. We watched as her relationship with my father deteriorated over the years, until finally he couldn't take her drinking any more and left. It destroyed our family, and it killed my mother."

Clarisse laid a hand on his arm. "Joseph, I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

"No one ever has. I stayed with her for a few years, trying to make her better, but it was no use. The booze eventually killed her."

"It wasn't your fault."

"You're right. It wasn't my fault. But what happened to her shouldn't happen to anyone, and over the years, with many experiences, I've learned that people can get help, and can get their life back, and have the chance my mother never had."

He stopped, the hurt and loss still very evident in his mind. "Clarisse. You are the most precious person in the world to me. Seeing you that day so dependent on that drink scared the hell out of me. I was certain I was going to lose you, and I couldn't bare it."

They held on to each other tightly, letting their escape from their close call sink in; their tears mingling as they began their first tender kiss in many months.

"Joseph, does this mean you're giving me a second chance to accept your proposal of marriage?"

He smiled at her. "Hmm, no. I don't give second chances on proposals. It's now your turn to ask."

Her eyes widened, clearly she was unprepared to ask the question she was barely able to answer. Yet, somehow, she found the resolve deep within. "Joseph. Dear Joseph. Am I too late to ask you to accept my hand in marriage?"

"My darling, Clarisse. I thought you'd never ask."

The kiss sealed their promise to each other, that richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until in death they would part, they would forever bind themselves together in love and marriage.

The End.

A/N Hope you liked the story. Please let me know!