A/N: See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer. I also want to say to all you brave souls who have come with me all the way to the end of this emotional journey, thank you and God bless you for your bravery, lol. ((HUGS)) to everyone out there who needs one, and again, God bless you all.

Chapter 8: The Last Move

The weeks following Mia's death were very hard on me and on all of us. Every Genovian citizen mourned the loss of their beloved Queen, and naturally, Andrew mourned the loss of his wife and Joseph and I mourned the loss of our precious little girl. But we didn't have too much time to mourn, because in mid-January of 2020, even in their old age, the von Trokens had begun circling the Genovian throne like the vultures that they were. During the first Parliament session of 2020, Baron and Baroness von Troken officially declared their intentions to take the crown now that Mia had passed away without a royal heir. Supposedly. I was sitting on the throne in Parliament that day beside Prime Minister Motaz, and Joseph had been permitted by Andrew to observe the session as well, and he was sitting with all the Parliament members. We were all expecting Andrew to arrive soon because he'd informed Sebastian and Parliament that he had a very important announcement to make. He also informed them that he would be bringing two very special guests with him to Parliament that day.

Soon after the session had begun and the von Trokens had said their piece, Andrew came into the Parliament chambers, holding the door open for Lilly, who was pushing a double stroller with two babies in it. Andrew was carrying a stack of files and folders and papers under his arm, and after he and Lilly came inside, he walked up to Sebastian and me and set it all down in front of Sebastian.

Moments later, Prince Andrew looked at all of us with a big smile on his face, and he said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Motaz, Baron and Baroness von Troken, esteemed members of Parliament, Joseph, it is my incredibly great pleasure to present to all of you for the very first time, Her Royal Highness, Helen Josephine Clarisse Jacoby-Renaldi, Princess of Genovia, and Her Royal Highness, Lilly Andrea Charlotte Jacoby-Renaldi, Princess of Genovia."

"I don't understand!" Baroness von Troken protested in an outrage.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Baron von Troken.

I then stood, looked the von Trokens in the eye, and proudly told them, "Baron and Baroness von Troken, these are the fraternal twin daughters of my granddaughter, Queen Amelia, and her husband, Prince Andrew. The Princesses of Genovia and the rightful heiresses to the Genovian throne."

"But this is impossible! Queen Amelia was never pregnant!" Baron von Troken fussed.

"Haven't you ever heard of a little thing called IVF, you fool?!" Lilly snapped back, and I quietly smirked at her sarcasm in the background.

"Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to explain," said Andrew. "A little while after my late wife, Queen Amelia, returned to the palace, we began discussing our concerns about Genovia's future. Given her poor health, we were deeply concerned about what would happen to Genovia should she die without a royal heir to succeed her. We shared our concerns with our dear friend, Mrs. Lilly Moscovitz-Kelly, and she very kindly and generously offered to attempt to get pregnant with our child through in vitro fertilization. Given the fact that previous successors to the Genovian throne had put my late wife's life in danger, she, Lilly, and I decided to attempt to conceive a baby with Lilly carrying it to term for us as our surrogate and to keep it a secret from everyone, with the exception of Queen Clarisse and Joseph. Four embryos were created using my late wife's eggs and my sperm, and they were transferred into Lilly's uterus, and two of the embryos implanted. As soon as we learned that Lilly had conceived, we had her relocated to Viscount Mabrey's vacation home in France where she and our unborn daughters would be safe. Throughout her pregnancy, Lilly remained there with her husband, Captain Kip Kelly, and with their son and daughter, and with her own personal team of guards handpicked by Joseph and Shades to keep them protected at all times."

"I was seven months pregnant with the twins when Mia passed away," Lilly explained.

"It looks as though you two have declared victory in this chess game of ours a little prematurely, Baron and Baroness von Troken," I said, just barely hiding another smirk. Mia and Andrew had just made the last move in this chess game, and they'd won, and I was absolutely thrilled. But to be perfectly honest, I was even more thrilled that I finally had my great-granddaughters with me for the first time.

"If you'll be so kind as to look through all the files and papers I've just set down before you, Prime Minister Motaz, you'll find that they contain proof of everything that Lilly and I are saying," Andrew informed him.

Sebastian then looked through it all, and several moments later, he said, "His Royal Highness is correct. These baby girls are indeed the biological daughters of Her Majesty, Queen Amelia, and His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew. They are the next Princesses of Genovia, and they are the legal and biological heiresses to the Genovian throne. Princess Helen was born ten minutes before Princess Lilly, so Princess Helen is now first in the royal line of succession, followed by her younger twin sister, Princess Lilly. Since His Royal Highness has produced proof that these babies are the biological daughters of Her Majesty, Queen Amelia, I hereby decree, according to the statutes of this body, that His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew, will rule Genovia as regent until his and Queen Amelia's daughters turn twenty-one and one of them ascends the Genovian throne." He then hit his gavel, making his declaration final – much to my delight and the von Trokens' dismay.

"Oh Lilly, I can't even begin to thank you enough for what you've done," I told her later on that afternoon as we stood together in the twins' new royal nursery, staring down at them sleeping peacefully in their cribs. "You, Mia, and Andrew…you've all saved Genovia," I said. "And you've given me the two most gorgeous great-grandchildren a woman ever had." And it was absolutely true. Helen had Andrew's dark blonde hair, but she had Mia's brown eyes and her entire face was all Mia. And Lilly looked even more like her mother than Helen did, with Mia's brown eyes and face and a head full of her mother's brunette hair. These were undoubtedly Mia's daughters, and they were just as beautiful as she was.

"Carrying Mia's daughters and bringing them into this world was never a sacrifice, Your Majesty," Lilly said with a smile. "It was one of the greatest privileges of my life. I want you to know that."

"Oh, Lilly," I whispered, and then I pulled her into my arms and gave her the biggest hug.

"You know, Your Majesty, Mia and Andrew and I had many long talks about these babies. And I just want you to know that I am not going to walk out of the palace today and just go back to my life with Kip and the kids and forget all about Princess Helen and Princess Lilly. After Mia had her heart attack and she was so afraid that she wouldn't be here for the babies, I gave her my word that if she couldn't be here, I would. Since their own mother can't be here with them now, I'll be their mother for her until they can be reunited with her in heaven. I'll love them and care for them and be there for them, just as I would if they were Eli and Samantha. That's a promise."

"Thank you," I said softly. "You know Lilly, I must say, you've changed and grown so much over the years. I certainly never imagined when you were younger that you of all women would ever end up becoming a stay-at-home mother. Much less a born-again Christian."

"When I watched Mia through the years, not just claiming to be a Christian but actually living it out, even after suffering third degree burns all over her face and body, I realized that Christianity wasn't a lie and it wasn't a crutch for weak people to lean on. It was real. Jesus was real. And I finally began to see that. And when Kip and I began to understand the Truth for ourselves, we couldn't help but get saved."

"And good for you. Not just for getting saved, but for putting the needs of your children ahead of your career. Not many parents are willing to do that these days."

"Back when I was a kid, the thought of being a full-time wife and mother made me want to puke. But when you become a parent for the first time, your whole perspective changes. Your whole world changes. When you hold your baby in your arms for the first time, you realize that you would do anything, go through anything, give up anything if it's in their best interests. It's then that you wake up and grow up and realize what's really important in life."

"Oh, that's so true. I wasn't able to spend nearly as much time with Pierre and Philippe as I wanted to when they were growing up, and it's one of my greatest regrets. And Lord knows how much I hate it to this day that I missed out on Mia's childhood."

"Mia hated it that you and Prince Philippe weren't able to be there, too, obviously."

"I know that our absence hurt her terribly. Especially her father's absence."

Lilly nodded and said, "You're so right, Queen Clarisse. Not having her father in her life was agonizing for her. Now, in the days of the LGBTQ movement, it's not very popular to say this, but I know it's a cold, hard fact that children really do need both a mother and a father in their lives."

"You're quite right. Children absolutely do need both a mother and a father in their everyday lives. It's essential."

"I don't know if you know this or not, but Kip's father was gay and he was raised by him and his partner. Kip's admitted to me many times, in tears, how badly it hurt him to never have a mother in his life. And as we both know, not being able to have Prince Philippe in her life did a great deal of damage to Mia on the inside. I used to cry and scream and holler about gay marriage and gay rights at the top of my lungs, but now, I have to ask: what about the children being raised by two moms, who are hurting because they don't have a father in their lives? And what about the children like Kip who are being raised by two dads and are hurting because they don't have a mother in their lives? What about their rights? What about them?"

"They don't have any. They're silenced and suppressed because hearing their pain, hearing their cries, doesn't fit the overall agenda of the day," I said truthfully. "I know that Christians are so very hated in this world, as Jesus warned we would be. We're seen as hateful and intolerant. God is seen as hateful and intolerant because He created marriage to be between one man and one woman for life. But nobody stops to ask the question, 'Why?' Nobody asks themselves, 'Why did God make marriage that way?' Was God trying to be hurtful and cruel? No, of course not. Marriage is the foundation that the family is built upon, and like it or not, children need a mother and a father. Preferably a mother and a father who are born again and devoted to each other for life in marriage. Sometimes things happen in life and a person ends up being a single parent through no fault of their own and cannot be blamed. But waiting until marriage to have sex and having children in an environment where there's one mother and one father who are devoted to God and to each other in a Christ-honoring marriage is the ideal everyone should strive for. And I know that Mia tried to do that. She tried so hard. But that poor little body of hers was just worn out."

"That's why we talked so many times about what would happen if Mia died and couldn't be here for her daughters. That's why I gave her my word that I would step in and be their mother for her if she couldn't do it herself. Mia felt horrible about having to bring her children into a situation like this, knowing that they would likely be deprived of her presence growing up. Knowing that she couldn't do everything for them that she wanted to do. But as she told me herself, she did not suffer third degree burns on sixty-five percent of her body just so that she could hand Genovia over to the von Trokens on a silver platter when she died. And even though she had no choice but to allow her daughters to be born into a world where they wouldn't be able to have her with them, she made sure that no matter what happened to her, they would always have a mother in their lives. And they will always have a mother in their lives, Your Majesty. They will."

"I know they will, Lilly. And they are so very blessed by God to have you," I said, and then again, we hugged. After our embrace ended, I said to her, "I've never told you this before, Lilly, but I love you, sweetheart. I really do. And I want you to know that you are just as much my granddaughter as Mia is, and you always have been."

Tears came to her eyes in that moment, and she told me, "Thank you so much for saying that, Clarisse. I love you, too."

And once again, we hugged, and we just stood there clinging to each other for the longest time.

It wasn't too much longer after that that the coronavirus began spreading all over the world, and everyone's lives changed. And in 2021 when America began rolling out its experimental vaccine, Genovia did the same. And the pressure on everyone in both countries to take the experimental vaccine greatly intensified. None of us in the palace wanted to play Russian roulette with our long-term health by taking a vaccine that hadn't even been in testing for a whole year, and for that, we were often accused of being ignorant conspiracy theorists. Sometimes, we were even called murderers. But no matter how unpopular it made us with our political opponents, we all stood our ground.

But then one day in December of 2021, I came into Andrew's office and we got to talking about all of this, and I soon realized that things were getting very rough for him.

"It's getting to you, isn't it, Andrew?" I asked him, and he nodded as we sat down on the loveseat together.

"Yes, Queen Clarisse. It's definitely getting to me. Yesterday, Lady Johnston said that because I was refusing to take this thing, I would expose Helen and Lilly to covid, and that I was guilty of child abuse." Andrew was taking some terrible heat from all his political opponents and from the Genovian press for his refusal to take the experimental vaccine and for his refusal to enforce any kind of vaccine mandates that would endanger Genovians' jobs for not taking it.

"I know it's hard, Andrew, but stand firm and stay strong. You're doing the right thing and we both know it. And you are not abusing Helen and Lilly by refusing to take what some believers are now calling, 'the snake bite.' You're protecting them by taking a stand for the truth and refusing to fall for the world's lies."

"I know that. I know."

"You know, I never will forget what that Internet pastor I was watching said the other day. He was talking about how it says in the book of Revelation that all nations would be deceived through sorcery, and he said that the word translated as 'sorcery' is pharmakeia, which can be translated as 'sorcery' or 'magical arts'...or as 'the use or administering of drugs.' It's the word where we get our words 'pharmacy' and 'pharmaceuticals' from. And then he got to talking about how the time was fast approaching when people would no longer be able to buy and sell unless they had some kind of mark in their right hand or in their forehead…a mark that could possibly serve as some kind of confirmation of having received a certain vaccine. People all over the world are already losing their jobs for refusing this thing. They're already being banned from going most places. How long will it be before people will no longer be able to buy and sell at all because they refuse this vaccine and the mark of confirmation that will come with it?"

"The way things are looking, it won't be long at all in my opinion."

"I'm not saying that anyone who has taken 'the snake bite' has taken the Mark of the Beast. The Rapture of the church hasn't happened yet and the Anti-Christ hasn't risen to power yet. And the Mark of the Beast is something that's taken in the right hand or in the forehead, not in the arm, so I don't see how this vaccine could be it. Furthermore, we're in the Church Age, in the Age of Grace, and until Jesus returns for us in the Rapture, no born-again believer can ever lose their salvation."

"Thinking about the Rapture keeps me sane every day."

"It keeps me sane as well, in a world where insanity is completely off the charts. I just can't get over it. Everything has changed so quickly. When I look at what's happening all around me in this world, it astonishes me that there are people who don't take end times Bible prophecy seriously. And thinking about that word in Revelation, pharmakeia, just sends chills down my spine. I'm not one hundred percent certain that that pastor's interpretation is accurate, but if it is, just think of the implications of it. All nations deceived through pharmaceuticals."

"I know," Andrew gasped. "The book of Revelation talks about how there will be a one world economy, a one world religion, and a one world government during the seven-year Tribulation, and that's being set up right before our eyes right now. And Jesus said that there would be wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes in diverse places. He said that nation would rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom."

"China versus Taiwan. Iran versus Israel. Russia versus Ukraine."

"And America just waiting in the wings to get her filthy hands involved in all of it," Andrew said correctly.

"People are always talking about 'going back to normal.' Going back to normal, my foot! 'Normal' is never coming back."

"It certainly isn't. But mercifully, Jesus is."

"Indeed, He is," I agreed. "Oh, my dear, sweet Andrew," I said then as I touched his cheek. "I know it's hard, love. I know it's so very hard, especially since we lost Mia. But you're doing so very well. You're doing such a wonderful job, and I am so proud of you, and I know Mia's just as proud of you as I am."

"Thank you, Clarisse," Andrew said in an emotional whisper, and then we hugged for the longest time. And when our embrace ended, he looked at me and said, "Thank you so much for saying that."

"It's the truth. Just keep holding on. Keep holding onto Jesus and keep holding onto Joseph and Lilly and Charlotte and me. You know we're all in your corner. Always."

Andrew nodded and we both smiled for a few moments, and then I said goodbye and left.

On the night of the eleventh of January in 2022, the most unexpected thing happened to Joseph and me. All of the sudden, as we were standing around in our pajamas, about to go to bed for the night, we both felt the Holy Spirit moving in our hearts very strongly. He impressed it upon our hearts that that was going to be the very last night of our earthly lives. We were told that we would go to sleep in the bedchamber of our suite that night, just like we always did, and the next morning, we would wake up in heaven, where we would be with all our loved ones, and most importantly, with Jesus.

We weren't sad or sorry to learn that our earthly lives were going to come to an end that night. We had no regrets. Our earthly journey together had been beyond beautiful, and we couldn't wait to see what our heavenly journey together was going to be like. As Joseph and I began to sense from the Holy Spirit what was going to happen to us in those moments, we did become a little emotional, and we started to cry a bit, and we hugged. But more than anything, we were crying because we couldn't wait to be with the good Lord and with Mia and Philippe and with all our loved ones who had gone on to our true home ahead of us.

"Are you okay, Clarisse?" Joseph quietly asked me while we hugged, and I nodded. And a few moments later, our long embrace ended and we dried our eyes.

"I'm fine, Joseph. I'm perfectly fine. In fact, I'm much better than fine. I'm happy, Joseph. I'm so happy. I've been waiting for this for so long."

"I know you have, my dear. So have I," Joseph told me truthfully. Then in the following moment, we gave each other the longest, most passionate kiss we'd ever given to one another.

"I love you, dear, sweet Joseph. I love you so much," I whispered.

He then whispered in my ear, "I love you too, my darling. I wouldn't trade my earthly journey with you for anything in the world. But it's coming to an end now, and that's okay. Our Lord is calling us home."

After a long pause, I said to my husband, "Well…as Bilbo Baggins said before he got onto one of the Elven ships to cross over into the Undying Lands, I believe I'm quite ready for another adventure."

"So am I, my love. So am I," said Joseph, and then after one more long, passionate kiss, we got into bed, turned off the lights, and went to sleep in each other's arms.

When Joseph and I opened our eyes the next morning, we were surrounded by indescribable beauty and glory, and we could see the Pearly Gates off in the distance.

And then my eyes were permitted to feast on something that was possibly even more beautiful than the entrance to heaven: the sight of Mia, my precious, gorgeous little Mia, running up to me shouting, "GRANDMA!"

"MIA!" Joseph and I cried out, and we just raced up to her and she raced up to us, and for the first time in so long, we held our little girl in our arms once again. And we relished in the fact that we could touch Mia again and hold her again and hug her again and kiss her again, and that she had all of her previous beauty restored to her and was completely free from the prison her earthly body had become. And just when we were convinced it couldn't possibly get any better, she suddenly began pouring so much love into us telepathically through her thoughts, and we discovered that we could do the same thing with her.

And just as we became convinced for the second time that there was no way it could get any better, we were suddenly surrounded by Philippe and Helen and Rupert and by so many others we'd lost on earth, and we all were just pouring immeasurable amounts of love into each other as we walked together through those Pearly Gates on our way to see Jesus.

Hearing the truth is hard, but in my story, I have told the truth. The unexpected deaths of my loved ones really drove home the point for me that we could be called home by the Lord at any given moment. Life on earth is far more fragile than most people realize, despite the fact that most people foolishly behave as though they're going to live forever. End times Bible prophecy is coming alive like never before, and the Rapture can happen anytime now, and Jesus will return for His church soon, and He will remove His church from this world before the seven-year Tribulation begins. Whether through dying unexpectedly or through the Rapture, your whole world can change at any given moment. That is why nothing is more vital than knowing where you're going to spend eternity. Since Jesus gave His followers the Great Commission, so many professing Christians have made the tragic error of combining salvation and discipleship when preaching the gospel, thus perverting it into a false gospel of faith plus works. Salvation from Jesus Christ is a free, undeserved gift, not an earned reward. We are saved from going to hell when we die only by trusting in Jesus, in His shed blood on the cross to pay the eternal penalty for all our sins. After coming to faith in Christ, we have a choice to make. We can either choose to spend the rest of our lives serving Jesus as one of His disciples, which involves carrying our crosses and following Him, or we can choose to waste the rest of our lives selfishly serving ourselves. If we choose the latter, we will lose all eternal rewards we could have earned, but we will not go to hell when we die because, again, salvation is a free, undeserved gift from God and not an earned reward. If, however, we choose to spend our lives serving Christ as one of His disciples out of gratitude for everything He's done for us, we will reap the benefits of that choice for all eternity. That is the Truth. The Bible talks about people who reject Christ because they have no love of the Truth in their hearts. When you love someone, you tell them the truth, no matter how hard it may be or how much they may be offended by it. I tell you the truth, not to offend you, but because I love you. Love doesn't tell lies for the sake of comfort; that's what selfishness does. Love tells the truth. The Truth that is so despised by the world is in fact a priceless gift that God, Himself wants you to have. What you decide to do with that gift, bearing in mind that your decision will have eternal consequences, is entirely up to you.