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Chapter Five

"Since my father what?" Mia questioned. She was so eager to learn anything she could about him, even the smallest of things.

"I'm sorry, Mia! I didn't mean to bring up your father. I just wasn't thinking, I guess." Pierre tried to apologize.

"Please tell me what you were going to say, Uncle Pierre." The young woman pleaded, looking up at her uncle with the same eyes as her father.

"Are you sure, Mia?" The last thing he wanted to do was upset his beautiful young niece.

"Yes! I mean, I have always, for as long as I can remember, wanted to know about my father. When I was little, though I could never remember meeting him, mom showed me pictures of him. She told me what a wonderful man he was and how much he loved me. She used to say that she knew he was thinking of us even though he couldn't be with us. When he would send me those beautiful gifts on my birthday, he made me feel so special." Mia paused to take a deep breath. "I wanted to meet him, so badly! Now, I will never get that chance!" She swiped at a tear that had made its way down her cheek.

Pierre wrapped his arm around his niece's shoulder. "Now you know if you start crying like that, you will make me cry, too. We can't have that, now can we?" He joked, trying to lighten the mood and let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"No, we can't!" Mia giggled.

"Alright then, if you truly want to know, I'll tell you what I was talking about earlier." He moved them towards the sofa and motioned for Mia to sit down.

"Thank you so much, Uncle Pierre! There are so many things I'd love to know about him. I'm glad you don't mind telling me. Joseph has told me some things, but I know there has to be more and every time I've brought it up with Grandma, I can tell that it's just so painful for her and I don't want to hurt her." Mia spoke sincerely. "I guess I'm just a really curious person by nature!"

"You mean you inherited your father's curious nature." Pierre replied grinning. That earned him a huge smile in return. "Your father was always getting into trouble because of his curiosity. If it wasn't one thing with him, it was another. That boy stayed in trouble, when he was young!"

"Really?" Mia tried to picture her father as a young mischievous little boy, running around the palace.

"Yes!" her uncle replied. "He was also the only one who could make your grandmother so mad that she'd call him by his full name, to get his attention. When she did that, he knew he was in trouble."

"Oh god! Do you think she was angry with me earlier?" The thought suddenly occurred to Mia. "I was only kidding her and Joseph!"

"Well, if she was, I'm sure Joseph will take care of it and she won't stay mad for long." Pierre remembered many times when Joseph had done just that throughout he and Philippe's childhood.

"I know what you mean." Mia revealed. "Ever since I met the two of them, Joseph has always seemed to have this calming affect on her. I think it's so sweet the way they are with each other."

"I couldn't agree more with you, Mia! There were so many times in my life that I don't know what we would have done if Joseph had not been there for us." Pierre and Philippe had idolized the man when they were boys. As the years went by, it had only grown stronger. Pierre had loved and admired his father, he really had, but there were many times in his life that he had wished his father could have been more like Joseph, quiet and understanding, yet strong and wise at the same time.

Inside the limo………………

After making love and then straightening themselves up as much as they were able, Clarisse sat in the backseat of the limo, encased within Joseph's strong arms. He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead as he heard her heavy sigh.

"I suppose we had better think about going inside now, before they send the cavalry after us again." Though her words were light, Joseph could still sense the tension in his wife's composure. He was about to respond, but was interrupted by the incessant ringing of his cell phone.

Clarisse began to move a little out of Joseph's embrace, but he quickly stopped her by tightening his grip around her and pulling her even closer. Reaching down, he grabbed the phone and held it to his ear. "Speak!" His voice boomed into the device.

"Joe?" Shades began, apologetically. "I'm sorry to disturb the two of you."

"What is it, Shades?" Joseph just wanted to get to the point, so he could get back to the more important matters at hand regarding his wife.

"We have a situation at the palace that is going to require all of us spending the night here, I'm afraid." There he had said it! Maybe he'd get lucky and his former boss wouldn't ask the reason why.

"And what situation would that be?" Joseph nearly growled into the phone.

"Damn!" Shades cursed to himself. "No such luck!"

"Well?" Joseph was growing even more impatient.

"You're not going to believe this, Joe. I swear!" Shades chuckled nervously into the receiver.

"Believe what?" Now he certainly had Joseph's full attention. The former head of security started to imagine all sorts of scenarios and none of them too pleasant as he waited for an explanation.

"It seems that a nearby games keeper was transporting a mountain lion from one place to another. There was some sort of accident and the mountain lion escaped and is believed to be running around somewhere on the palace grounds. They are attempting to capture and sedate the animal even as we speak, but apparently she has managed to attack several of the palace groundskeepers in the meantime." Shades informed the older man.

"How bad?" Joseph couldn't keep the concern out of his voice.

"Joseph?" Clarisse couldn't keep quiet any longer, wondering what had happened as she felt her husband's grip around her shoulders loosen. He was sitting straight up now, his full attention on what was being said over the phone.

"No serious injuries!" Joseph let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding at this bit of information. "Only a few bruises and scratches, as far as we can tell." Shades coughed hard into the phone to cover his bubble of laughter that seemed to rise in his throat from deep within. What was the matter with him? He wondered to himself. Joseph might not be his boss any more, but he was still a force to be reckoned with, especially when it came to protecting the royal family, now even more so, if that were possible, since he had become part of it. Besides, Joseph was his friend and he hadn't meant to laugh, it had just somehow come out that way. "Forgive me, Joe!" Shades apologized.

Joseph carefully cleared his throat, but didn't dare look at his wife. He found it hard to contain his own mirth, considering the circumstances. "Forget it, Shades!" Then forced himself back to business. "Have the Queen and Pierre been informed of the situation?"

"Charlotte is on her way to inform them both now." replied Shades.

"Good!" Joseph responded, once again clearing his throat. "And Shades?"

"Yeah Joe." Shades answered a little nervously.

"Could you let everyone know that we'll be in….in a while. We have some more things to ah…..discuss." He reached for his wife's hand and gently squeezed it.

"Sure thing, Joe." Shades replied and then hung up his phone.

To Be Continued…………………………..