Thank you so much; Della Stree-Mason, Captain Weirdo and CJmynixMG for your wonderful reviews. I think it fits them to have a little girl. I was thinking a lot about how this labour should start, coz I think it would be cool to let it happen a "weird" or at least a public place. I'm glad you liked it!!!
Oh one little thing I don't know if I've said this before, but I'm positive that Clarisse and Rupert at one point was in love, maybe not on the highest level but still very much in love and that love grew into the fondness she mentions in the movie.
Well on to the story….
And everything in between.
It is unbelievable how much we've changed in the past eight months. Rupert's father has gotten better so he has decided to remain as the ruling monarch of Genovia. My mother has gotten no better and no worse. The Queen, as well, remains the same; I only feel her being kind when I'm in terrible pain. Rupert and I have grown as well; having Christelle has really matured us. Of course the children have changed. It is amazing to watch Pierre with Christelle and seeing her responding to him. Seeing them together is so sweet; I could just watch them all day.
There were, of course, a few traditions we had to follow surrounding the christening of our little girl. The upcoming event attracted almost more attention than Pierre's did; and that, of course, upset the Queen. Obviously it annoys her that I did things in what is considered the "right" way; first a boy and then a girl. She did, however, soften up a bit at the christening - especially when she heard the name.
"What is the name of the child?" The bishop asked.
"Maud Theresa Christelle Gerard Renaldi!" I proudly said and eyed both my mother and the Queen. I enjoyed seeing them both beam with pride. Rupert, too, was beaming as he held Pierre on his arm through out the entire ceremony. Once the ceremony was complete, Pierre couldn't hold out any longer and feel asleep on his father's shoulder. Once we arrived back at the palace for a lunch with our closest friends and family, the nannies took both Pierre and Christelle to their rooms for a nap so we could enjoy a nice day with our guests. They had been given, of course, instructions to let us both know when the children woke up.
About half way through the informal lunch, my mother came and took my hand. "My sweets, I must say you surprise me. You've grown so since you moved to live with their Majesties." She softly said.
"Oh Mother, it is all thanks to you. If I hadn't seen you bring up six children to perfection, I don't think I would ever have wanted children." I said and placed my hand on top of hers.
"What does that have to do with the fact that you've grown?" She asked.
"I've grown because I've had children, Mother!" I said as I tilted my head.
"There is something else; I just can't put my finger on it!" She said as she cupped my cheek.
At that moment Rupert came over to the table and began talking softly with his father. They talked for a few moments before they turned to address us. The King patted Rupert on the shoulder and turned towards us. "Ladies, are you enjoying this fine warm April day?" He asked, smiling.
"Yes thank you, your Majesty. I hope you are as well. What a fine day to celebrate our granddaughter!" My mother answered and looked over at Rupert and I. "There it is; you are in love!" She added smiling and started to get up. She began to follow the path the King had just taken, moving towards my father when Rupert spoke.
"Yes Mother; yes we are. But then how could any man not help to fall in love with your daughter? Maybe this would be a good time to thank you for her!" Rupert said as he put his arms around me and kissed my cheek.
"No need to thank me; you just treat her right!" My mother said and squeezed Rupert's hand.
"I will mother. I promise to treat her like a true queen!" Rupert said and smiled.
"No - do not treat her like a true queen; treat her like a woman…like the woman she is." She said and walked away.
"What did she mean by that?" Rupert questioned.
"I'm not sure; but I think its something like; keep your feet on the ground and stay real. Rupert I've been taught, ever since I was a little girl, how to act, support and pleasure my husband, the future king. I think when you said that about a true queen, my mother just wanted you to know that I'm not born into royalty, but married into it." I said softly.
"I understand. Now let's go get something to drink. I love you!" He said and leaned in and gave me a sweet and tender kiss.
In May, we attended the wedding of Prince Juan Carlo, heir to the Spanish throne, and Princess Sofia of Greece. They both attended our wedding separately. It was somewhat odd to attend this wedding. I have adored Sofia ever since I met her; but here I was two years younger than her and I have already been married for a long time and have two children. Of course, I wouldn't trade it for anything…well maybe some more privacy!
The wedding was beautiful and this time we didn't interrupt anything. We really enjoyed ourselves. I had reluctantly agreed to let Pierre stay home and only bring Christelle and her nanny for the wedding. We talked, danced, and laughed with friends and family. There is, of course, always one person who ruins the fun for awhile. This wedding was no exception. This time it was Rupert's cousin, Theodore. It was his wedding that we were accused of interrupting before. It all started with him spilling his drink all over Countess Mathilda's dress and starting to wipe it off himself before she slapped him across the face for touching her bosom.
He continued by offending his young, pretty, naïve and very pregnant wife. He then walked from table to table getting even drunker. He then came back to the large group where I was standing. He grabbed my hand and started dragging me towards the dance floor. I tried very diplomatically to tell him that I needed to go feed my daughter, I had promised this dance to my husband, and any other number of different excuses to try to get away from him. It wasn't until I was pulled hard against him that I caught Rupert's eye. At my request, he had been upstairs to check on Christelle. I could see Rupert starting to press his way towards me through the crowd. He reached me just as Theodore grabbed my behind and was about to fondle me. I tried to wriggle myself out of his grip; but it was Rupert's fist to Theodore's nose that broke him of off me.
"Don't you EVER touch my wife again!" Rupert stated in a warning tone as he put a protective arm around me.
"Just because you got the best woman there is – why not share her with the rest of us?" Theodore tried while holding his nose.
"First of all, because you are not Clarisse worthy; second, we live in a monogamous law bound country…and thank God for that; and, finally, she is all mine!" He said and kissed my shocked expression. We walked away from the dance floor, leaving someone else to pick up Theodore.
Once out in the hall, I turned and looked at Rupert. "Promise me you will never get that way when you reach his age, and never again leave me alone with him in the room!" I said.
"Never my dear – never; as I said you are mine and only mine. I will never let another man have and hold you for as long as I live!" He spoke softly and stepped closer until his lips again touched mine.
Theodore was nowhere to be found for the rest of the party. I learned later that his wife left alone the next morning…the poor woman. I am happy that my marriage is not like hers. I have married a sweet, tender and loving man that cares about me and my point of views. To many Genovians, I'm nothing more than a birthing machine that has the sole purpose to secure the continuation of the Renaldi bloodline. To Rupert, however, I'm his wife, his lover, his equal, his confidant and his friend. I love all of the challenges I meet and I welcome them all with open arms. Well, almost all of the challenges. Those that includes Rupert's drunken cousins, I could easily do without!
About two months ago, a large number of different newspapers started debating about us and our children. It all started from one little situation a couple of reporters witnessed: Pierre had been running around a fountain when he fell and scraped his knee. He kept crying and crying and crying. The nanny was upstairs, so the only person with me at the moment was Joseph. So without asking, I simply handed him Christelle and went to Pierre to kiss his knee to make the pain go away. When I had finally gotten him to stop crying and drinking some lemonade, we walked up to the terrace I had abandoned a short while ago.
Joseph was just standing there with my baby girl in his arms; holding her like he would a pile of wood for the fireplace. I simply had to laugh at him. "You are not a baby man, are you?" I asked as I got Pierre some more lemonade.
"No Madame, not at all!" Joseph answered.
"You don't have children yourself? Or do you wish to have children yourself?" I questioned him.
"I do not have any at the moment; but I do wish to have children – someday." He softened with his answer.
"Then practice now; you cannot hold a child like that - hold her closer to your body." I told him and motioned for him to pull Christelle closer.
"I cannot do that with the little princess!" He said, shocked.
"Of course you can! I won't mind and she definitely won't." I said.
Joseph nestled my little girl and held her closer to his chest. The moment she looked up at him, I saw his cool façade slip away like butter on a hot summer day. After a few minutes, though, my tiny girl screamed loudly. I was sure the entire country could hear her. She certainly scared Joseph, but luckily for him Rupert emerged from the hall and walked straight over to him and took our daughter in his arms.
"Oh sweetheart, you cannot scare Joseph like that. You should just tell him nicely that you want to go to Mama or that you are hungry." He told Christelle.
"Thank you, though Joseph and thank you darling. I will just take her over here and feed her." I said softly and walked over to the chair behind the small wall to feed our daughter.
Based on those few moments, they started debating about the fact that I had just handed the little princess to a guard, making it impossible for him to do his job without harming Christelle or not being able to get to me in time. This had Rupert boiling because he felt the press was giving potential intruders ideas. Many of the newspapers were also shocked by the fact that I was still breastfeeding or just that I was breastfeeding at all. Apparently they didn't find it appropriate when I had the chance to use a wet nurse. Additionally, Renaldi women had never before breastfeed their children themselves. Of course, this is not the first thing I've or we've done that the Renaldi family normally hasn't done.
They are also debating whether or not we are going to do the same with Christelle as we did with Pierre and get pregnant again before Christelle rounds her first year. Their source is apparently a maid that's no longer employed at the palace. She has told stories to the press that mostly reveals that we can't keep our hands of off each other. Neither Rupert nor I care about this and we are trying to let this slide. We are, however, loaded with ammunition for the press in case they won't.
Actually we are taking precaution on this subject. A few months ago, Rupert and I were relaxing outside discussion the possibility for another pregnancy. Rupert turned the conversation around a bit and it ended up being very awkward for Joseph, Eric and me…but mostly me.
"Gentlemen help us out here." Rupert requested and motioned for them to take a seat. They refused, of course, as they were working.
"Rupert please, this is a private matter between you and me. I do not see the need to draw our security into this!" I said horrified.
"Clarisse they are two young, vibrant men who probably have bedded many women and still have managed to not put the noose around their own neck and gotten the girls pregnant! But if you want to discuss this with the royal physician, who you know will tell my mother, then fine we will do it your way." Rupert said as a matter of factly
"No! Fine, Rupert - ask away." I blushed.
"Gentlemen, am I right? You do have a girl or two, correct?" Rupert questioned the two men who nodded their answer. "So how do you prevent impregnating these fine women?" Rupert inquired.
"Well, unfortunately, I can't say that I've succeeded in that department." Eric complained.
"Eric, how do you think that girl feels? I hope you were man enough to make her an honest woman!" I exclaimed.
"Well, I don't really know about that; I mean it's not solely my fault." Eric tried.
"Exactly! It takes two to make a child. Rupert, don't you have anything to say to this?" I asked him.
"Well, uhm…. Eric, I suggest you get it sorted out or we will have to look at the future of you employment here at the Palace." Rupert advised.
"I'm sorry, your Highness; I will do my best." Eric apologised.
"Yes you will. Joseph, what about you?" Rupert turned his attention to Joseph.
"Well actually I have a childhood friend that is a medical scientist in the United States of America. A few years back they released a pharmaceutical to prevent pregnancies. It has not yet been available in Europe; but he wanted us, meaning Donna and I, to try it. We are using these oral contraceptives, which are a pharmaceutical birth controlling device. Before those came along, however, I must say that I was less than careful. This is terrible I know; but I was hoping nothing would happen. Donna was the one that thought we should be more responsible." Joseph shared.
"So it's a pill?" I questioned him.
"Yes, one little pill you take everyday. When you want to have a child, you simply just stop taking them. It has been on the American market for a few years and has proven very efficient." Joseph said.
"It sounds so easy. Would you be able to help us to obtain some of these pills? You will, of course, be paid for your service as will your friend." Rupert asked.
"It will be my pleasure, your Highnesses. Please remember there is, of course, more to the usage than what I just told; I only gave you the short version. If you can spare me for a little while, I will arrange it right away." Joseph offered.
Joseph's childhood friend, Dr. Rameriaze, made sure we could use these contraceptives and has done it more discretely than we thought would be possible. So the press can continue to speculate on whether or not we are going to start on child number three now that Christelle is eight months old. They think they can calculate this as it was about this time in Pierre's first year that we got pregnant again; but not this time. We will wait a few years before adding to our family again. It is a true blessing that we don't have to worry about getting pregnant. We have been told that this is only 99 percent safe, so there is always a slight chance that it will fail. It is our sincere hope that we do not fall into that remaining one percent! We would like to enjoy our two children to the fullest right now.
Of course, we will want more children; there are no doubts about that; however we want to wait a few years, at least until Christelle turns two, before we even start thinking about it. Even though the press is already thinking about this…I think Rupert is to blame for that, though, as he has told them that we want lots of children! So while the press may think that we need to hurry,
I know everything will happen in just the right time – our time.
Thank you for reading to the end once again, please give a little review – and if you have ANY ideas or anything please say so, coz I'm kinda stuck…..So thank you and HELP!!!!