A/N This is sort of a filler chapter and sort of not. It's not as good as the last chapter…but I hope you enjoy it. I promise the next chapter is 10 times better!

Jacqueline and Danielle sat on the bed, papers strew all around them. "Danielle, perhaps we should take a break," Jacqueline sighed, overwhelmed by the papers surrounding her. Danielle agreed and set down the list of possible flower choices.

"Don't worry, Jacqueline. We'll get this finished."

"And you went through this with Henry?"

"No, actually, the bride isn't allowed to plan a royal wedding."

"Well, lucky for you, you get to help me with mine."

Danielle nodded in agreement.

"Danielle?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Of course not. What is it you want to know?" she asked, glancing back over the list of flowers.

Jacqueline motioned for her stepsister to come closer and then whispered in her ear. "How is Henry in bed?"

Danielle drew back with her mouth open in shock. Most courtiers would faint at the mere mention of going to bed with a man, and here, her stepsister was asking for details of her sex life with her husband! And not only a man, but the crowned prince of France! One thing was for sure, if either one of their better halves had been anywhere near the castle, Jacqueline would have kept her mouth clamped tightly shut. Luck for her, they were out checking one the gypsy tribe.

"I'm sorry. I can tell this has made you uncomfortable," Jacqueline said, shuffling some of the papers around her.

Danielle glanced nervously at the door. "Come here," she smirked as she leaned as close as she could to her sister's ear. "Wonderful." Her voice was barely audible.

Now it was Jacqueline's turn to turn to draw back shocked and Danielle's to stare, embarrassed, at her hands. She'd just willingly answered probably the most inappropriate question the princess of France could ever be asked.

"I can't believe you answered me!" Jacqueline exclaimed in total exasperation of her stepsister's forwardness.

"I can't believe you asked me that!" Danielle hissed.

Jacqueline smiled nervously.

Danielle looked inquisitively at her sister. "Why all these questions about Henry? Are you trying to steel my husband?" There was a joking quality in her voice as if she were accusing the woman before her as being Marguerite.

"No, I'm not trying to steel Henry." She suddenly seemed distant and preoccupied.

"What's wrong?" Danielle whispered, instinctively reaching out for her sister's hand.

"Nothing's wrong," Jacqueline mused, the distant look still in her eyes.

Danielle decided to rephrase the question. "Any second thoughts?"

Her stepsister slowly began to come back out of her daze. "No, no second thoughts." Danielle waited patiently, sensing that there was more to come. "It's just—I'm not exactly sure—don't get me wrong. I love John; truly, I do. But I'm comfortable with the respectful distance between us, and I don't really want that to change. I guess the reason I'm asking you all these questions is to become more comfortable with married life," Jacqueline sighed.

Danielle leaned back against the head of the bed. "Do you want to know how I felt before my wedding?" Jacqueline nodded. "Hmmm…where should I start? The week between the proposal and the wedding, Henry would walk me back to my chambers every night, and I would, of course, invite him in for various reasons. Most of the time, however, we would just end up kissing. Sometimes I would feel his heart pounding, hard, against my chest. He would have to break the kiss with a pained expression, almost like he had a head pain, recollect himself, and he would politely leave after that. 'We'll see who's speechless after we are married,' he would always say. Often on those nights, I would lay in bed thinking about sleeping with him, and truthfully, it scared me. I wasn't sure if I wanted to let that part of myself go yet. But, I knew he loved me, and I knew that if I still felt the same fear he would understand and would respect my decision. And when the moment came, I had no regrets."

Jacqueline nodded in understanding. "You have a beautiful relationship."

"You do too."

Jacqueline paused for a minute, digesting everything she had just heard. "If our friends had heard what we were talking about, they would have beaten us a long time ago."

Danielle laughed. "They'll probably hear the same speech when they get married."

"Do you know what I never understood about Marguerite and mother? How could they go through life thinking that a husband isn't there for you to love; a husband is to have? How could you spend your entire life with someone you didn't love?" Jacqueline trailed off, shaking her head in disgust.

Danielle took her hand again. "Jacqueline, you have nothing to worry about. I've watched you together. I've seen the way he looks at you. John loves you. Henry often talks of the things he says about you, about how much he loves you, about how he can't think of spending his life with anyone else. Don't worry. You'll be fine."

Jacqueline quickly wiped away a tear. "I love him too." Danielle leaned over and gave her sister a hug. They sat in silence for a moment before Jacqueline spoke again. "Perhaps we should get back to work." They spent the rest of the afternoon buried in paper work.

Henry and the captain pushed open the door to the royal bed chamber to find the bed already occupied. Danielle and Jacqueline have fallen asleep with papers strewn all over the bed.

John started to move towards them, but Henry stopped him. "Just let her stay. You'll learn quickly that it's easier to let them sleep."

"But you have no—"

Henry shook his head. "I'll sleep on the bench. There's plenty of room."

John just nodded and left.

Two hours later, Danielle got up to check on Genevieve and saw Henry asleep on the bench. She picked up all the papers and laid them on the floor. I'll organize these in the morning. She then walked to the closet and got the two extra blankets that were usually reserved for the cold winter nights when the fire and Henry's body heat weren't enough to keep her warm, and draped one over Jacqueline. She then quietly opened the crib curtains to check on her daughter, and seeing that she was okay, walked over to the sitting bench, climbed over Henry, and curled up under the other blanket with him.

"What are you doing here?" Half whispered, half moaned.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, not really," he said wrapping his arm around her shoulder as she curled up against his side. "How's Genevieve?" he asked, gently caressing her arm.

"She's sleeping peacefully," the princess whispered wearily.

Henry abruptly stopped stroking her arm and looked down at her. "Are you sure that's out child?"

Danielle let out a short chuckle. "Yes, Henry. Enjoy the silence while you can."

Henry was silent for a moment. "I love you."

Danielle raised her chin and propped it one his chest, gazing into his eyes. The moon illuminated his face, casting a blue hue over his body. He is so wonderful she thought. "I love you, too," she whispered, gently rubbing her cheek against his chest. Nothing else needed to be said to express how they felt. Soon, the rise and fall of the prince's chest put her to sleep.

Danielle woke in the same position to a crying Genevieve.

"She's started sleeping through the night, but she still gets up at an ungodly hour," Henry groaned, stretching out over the bench.

"Just stay here; I'll get her," Danielle said as she climbed over Henry's body and shuffled over to the crib. Henry watched admiringly as his wife gently lifted Genevieve out of her bed. "Oh, darling, I know, you're hungry, hold on. Henry, help me. Can you unlace my dress?"

Henry reached up and gently unlaced the cotton dress and rubbed her back, tracing the scars of her old lash marks.

Danielle let Genevieve nurse, walked over to the bed and the note from Jacqueline:

Danielle,

You and Henry were so peaceful; I couldn't wake you. I just keep telling myself that in a week, I'll have the same thing you both have. I'm so excited!

I checked on Genevieve, and she was sound asleep. I was surprised that she slept as long as she did. I'll talk to you later today.

-All my love-

Jacqueline

"What's that?" Henry yawned as he sat up on the bench.

"A note from Jacqueline."

"How is she?"

"Nervous."

"So is John."

"Really?"

"Oh, yes. He almost had a breakdown yesterday. He's just about as nervous as I was when we got married."

"Oh, really?" Danielle's curiosity perked, and her voice took on a more inquisitive tone. "How nervous were you?" she cooed, sitting down next to her husband.

"You couldn't tell? I was a wreck!" he exclaimed, staring at her in disbelief.

"You were not. You were calm and in control that night. You never let on that you were nervous. I, on the other hand, I was trembling I was so edgy."

"I thought you were trembling because I was doing a good job," Henry pouted, slightly deflated but still joking.

"I never said that you weren't," Danielle whispered, leaning over and planting a gentle kiss on his lips. "You never answered my question."

Henry gazed into her eyes. Why is it whenever I look at her time seems to stop? "I was so afraid that you would change your mind and run away, or that you would be intimidated by the royal title and cancel the wedding. Those fears even carried over until the next morning, although they diminished substantially after we said 'I do,'" he said as he helped his wife slip her arm back into hits sleeve and laced her dress. "Here, let me take her," he said, reaching for Genevieve.

Danielle moved behind Henry and wrapped her arms around his neck as she watched her daughter bounce up and down on her father's knee. "You know," she whispered, burying her face into his neck, savoring the smell, "I have the same fears about you."

Henry turned his head and looked into her eye. "Now we look back and laugh."

Danielle let out a tiny hum in reply and gave the prince a gentle kiss. "That seems like only yesterday and now we have the most beautiful daughter."

As if she recognized that she was the new subject of conversation, Genevieve giggled and waved her hands in the air. Danielle and Henry both laughed heartily as Henry began to bounce the baby on his knee again.

Jacqueline paced back and forth. "What's taking so long!?"

Danielle smoothed out her maid of honor dress and calmly walked over to her stepsister. "Jacqueline…Jacqueline…Jacqueline!" she scolded, "Calm down. Come here." She walked Jacqueline over the wash bin, sprinkled some cold water over her wrists, and pressed her pressure points with her thumbs. "There, better?"

"Much. Thank you. Where did you learn that?" Jacqueline queried, calmed dramatically.

"I had to have some way to keep Paulette from killing Marguerite."

Jacqueline nearly cried she was laughing so hard. "I wish you had showed me this the nights I felt like strangling her."

"Oh, Paulette had an elaborate plan that involved placing the bee hives in her chambers while she was sleeping."

"Are you serious?"

"Oh, yes. This always worked on her. Now, where is your veil?"

The captain paced back and forth in front of the prince.

"John, calm down."

Laurent whirled around and glared at Henry, who was lounging in the easy chaise opposite himself. "Oh, how ironic! You, the prince of panic, telling me to calm down." His words were sharp, crisp, and edged with anxiety.

Henry rolled his eyes. "I am not the 'prince of panic,'" he said, rising from his chair and making his way to the wash basin. "Come here."

The captain duly obliged. Henry began the same process of sprinkling the cold water over the back of John's wrists and pressing the pressure points. "Danielle used to do this to me when she was pregnant."

"Does it work?"

"It did for me. You think your nerves are on end now, wait until Jacqueline's pregnant. I worried so much about Danielle. Was she getting enough food, rest, exercise? Was the baby ok? Was she comfortable? Just wait, you'll get to experience this all first hand."

"You make it sound like a death sentence."

"Well, it's not. There are three simple questions I asked myself on my wedding day: One) Do you love her?"

"Yes."

"Does she love you?"

"She said 'yes' didn't she?" John challenged.

"Just answer the question."

"Yes."

"When you picture your future, is she in it?"

"Yes."

"Then you have nothing to worry about!" Henry exclaimed, drying his hands. "Now, are you calm?"

John took a deep breath. "Yes. I do believe so."

"Then go get married!" Henry laughed, mocking a kick aimed for Laurent's rear and shooed the captain out the door.

The ceremony was a beautiful one. Jacqueline was glowing, and John seemed to burst with pride as he watched her stroll down the isle.

Henry and Danielle stood as best man and maid of honor. AS the new couple took their vows, the prince and princess exchanged glances, remembering their own wedding day.

The reception was held at the manor. Paulette and Danielle sat in the parlor watching Henry play with Genevieve on the floor.

"You picked a good one. You know that right?" Paulette whispered.

Danielle cocked her head and she watched Henry. "Yes, I know. I love him so much."

"Good. You hold on to him. He's your match."

Danielle nodded slowly, mulling the thought over in her mind. Is there really such thing as a perfect match? Would I be this happy if I married someone else? AT that moment Henry laughed and glanced over at Danielle to make sure she was watching. She flashed a quick smile and returned to her thoughts. No, I wouldn't be happier. No man could ever make me as happy…ever.

Jacqueline sat down next to her, interrupting the princess's thoughts again. "Why don't you and Henry come dance?"

Danielle raised an eyebrow questioningly at her husband. Henry stood and offered her his hand. "Madame, puis-je avoir cette danse?" A/N: translation: Ma'am, may I have this dance?

"Oui, monseuier," A/N: yes, sir she said, taking his hand and allowing him to escort her into the other room.

They spent the rest of the evening dancing with each other and with the bride and bride-groom. Genevieve even got a dance with her father.

But soon the royal family had to leave due to Genevieve getting a little too fussy to bear. The new bride walked them to the door and gave her sister a kiss on each cheek.

"Congratulations," Danielle whispered in her ear, "and good luck."

"Thank you," Jacqueline whispered back and with that they returned to the castle.

A/N: Ok, I'll update two chapters tonight. I'm sorry this took me so long…but I have more time to work on this now. I want more reviews! I want to get up to at least 45 reviews before I post chapter 13!