Sunday afternoon, the day after the ball-

"One, two, three, four, six, five-"

"No! Five then six! Silly Henrietta! Try again." Clara had peaked from her hidding place in the garden to correct Madame Prévoit's 6 year old daughter Henrietta as they were playing hide and seek.

"Right. Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! I'm coming Clara!" The tiny brunette squealed as she began the exciting chase of finding her cousin. Her legs scampered up the stone pathway into the rose garden. Clara tried her hardest not to make a sound, but soon burst into laughter as Henrietta's head poked out from behind a hedge.

"I found you grande soeur! It's your turn now to look for me when I hide!" Henrietta giggled as her chocolate pigtails bounced in sync with her bobbing head.

"Ok, ok!" Clara laughed as her cousin dragged her to their "counting bench."

"One, two, three, four-"

She continued counting as their game went on.

-Tuesday the next week-

"Sit!" The Saint Lécuyer bell tower in front of thePalais du Roi struck four as QueenMia handled one of the most difficult yet nessecary items of business- ordering her beloved yet rambunctious daughter to sink into the chair infront of her.

"Yes ma'am. " Clara for once decided to obey.

In the corner of the sitting room sat her father, hiding his pride behind a newspaper and a cup of Genovian pear tea.

"Is it true that you pulled a lock of Claude Sauveterre's hair at recess in school today?"

"He was calling me names and wolf whistling! I only did what was necessary!" A poorly stifled laugh eminated from behind the daily Genovian newspaper caused Mia to give her husband the evil eye. Despite the fact that he couldn't see it, she knew he felt the stare because of his uncomfortable shift in the red chair. Feeling a touch of satisfaction, she turned back to her daughter who was occupied with observing the new maid as she quietly dusted a large vase.

"Hand it over Clara."

"What?"

"I shall not have you keeping his hair like some prize that you won at a carnival or something like that!" She held her hand out as Clara dared to look her in the eye.

"No." She frowned and kept her hands behind her back. She stood firm while looking up at her tall mother. Refusing the urge to blink, brown clashed with brown as their eyes never left each other. Hearing the eerie silence that had spread over the room, Nicholas slowly lowered his newspaper to see what was the cause of this sudden blanket of silence. The sight of his two favorite girls resorting to a stare war was enough to get him to break up the tension.

"Okay okay! Both of you calm down! Mia, let Clara explain her deed and Clara, hand the hair to your mother, without throwing it. " He separated the two and Mia sighed. Clara reluctantly handed over the clump of mouse brown hair to her mother as her father involuntarily squirmed at the mass of the hair.

"Okay, explain." He told his daughter.

"He called me a brat, then called me a Salope which really hurt. I tried to ask nicely for him not to say that but then he ignored me and wolf whistled! It was then that I grabbed a bit of his hair and collected some for myself." She finished by crossing her arms and frowning.

"Well, I see your point in all this, but that gives you no right to pull his hair. Next time, tell headmistress LaFonte and she will diplomatically handle the situation. " Nicholas explained to Clara calmly.

"What do you mean next time?!" The eight year old's voice nearly rose in direct porpotion with her level of surprise. Her mother's demeanor softened as she lightly laughed.

"Of course sweetie! It's bound to happen again! Boys naturally do that when they see a pretty girl like you. Now, they should know better than to wolf whistle but yes, it's somewhat normal." Her mother said before hugging her.

"Did you do that to mommy when you saw her daddy?" Clara's question caught the Prince Consort off gaurd as he sputtered gibberish. Luckily, his wife had a reasonable answer. "Clara, your father was and is, a very nice man. That's the only reason why I married him. Run along now, Grandmere is expecting you in the kitchen, right about now."

"Oh yes! I almost forgot! She's going to teach me to make double chocolate cupcakes! Finally, something without pears!" Clara hurried out of the room and down the stairs.

Nicholas turned to face his wife. "Thank you so much." He hugged her.

"No problem." She smiled.

"But, did you really marry me just because I am nice?"

"Among other qualities."

"Like?"

"For example, you're handsome, loving, a great cook, and grande dans le lit." He smirked at the last one.

They drew close to kiss when all of a sudden, from some corner of the palace they heard a voice, "Ouch! I'm okay!"

The pair sighed before completing what they started.

A/N- I'm back from the dead! Jk, I wasnt actually dead, but I left on a music tour to Australia and the United States, and am now back. I am soooooo sorry for temporarily leaving but I will finish this story and post chapters more often. I apologize also for any grammatical errors and spelling issues as I am typing on my mobile.

Ciao for now,

Cate