After leaving the kitchen, they came to a slow stop in the foyer where Clarisse took a sip of her tea and turned to her husband. "Thank you for doing that for Nicholas, and Mia too it seems," she said as she lowered her cup down between them.

"I know, I noticed how happy she was when I offered to help," Joseph said, nodding thoughtfully. "I know a few things have happened between them over the last month, but do you think there's something there? That they may end up together?"

"Mhmm I think so," Clarisse nodded.

"Hmm, well I'm gonna have to keep my eye on him if they do end up together," Joseph said, going into protective mode. "He hurts my girl, I hurt him."

"He wouldn't dare try," Clarisse said, studying his face while putting her free hand on his chest and stepping closer to him. "But I love how protective you are of her. How you always have been."

"Because of who she is," Joseph said matter of factly. "And that'll never change."

"We are so very lucky to have you in our lives," Clarisse smiled while leaning closer and reaching up to kiss him before pulling back just enough to look up into his eyes as Joseph put his free hand on her side. "I wanted to give you a quick kiss in the kitchen, but I don't think I'm quite ready to do that in front of people just yet. But I will eventually."

"Well, I will have to remember to kiss you when we are alone then, because now that we are married, I'm going to be kissing you as much as I possibly can," Joseph smiled as he smoothed his hand around to her back.

"Even in front of people?" Clarisse asked with a smile, her tummy fluttering.

"Absolutely yes, well quick kisses yes, but only when you are comfortable with it of course. The slow, passionate ones will be shared in private," Joseph replied and kissed her once more before whispering in her ear. "Now, before I get too carried away and end up pinning you against the wall, we need to go see a man about a ring."

"Yes, we do," Clarisse smiled and bit her lip, finding the idea of being pinned against the wall quite exhilarating. "But maybe you can pin me against the wall later." She said quietly.

"Who is this woman I'm married to?" Joseph laughed as he smoothed his hand up and down her back a couple of times, watching her turn her head to the side. "It's like a switch has been flipped."

"I told you this morning, she's always been in there, she just needed you to set her free, but," Clarisse laughed before taking a step back and turning to walk away, "if you don't like this new me, I can always go back to how I was before."

"Don't you dare," Joseph smirked as he grabbed her arm and gently pulled her back to stand in front of him, making her laugh. "I love you just the way you are."

"Alright then," Clarisse smiled while looking up into his eyes and reached up to kiss him. "Come on, let's go meet your friend," she said and put her hand up to cup his face, brushing her thumb over his lips to remove the remnants of her lipstick.

"You're such a tease, you know that," Joseph said as he watched her lower her hand and turn to walk away once again.

"Says the man who just said about pinning me against the wall," Clarisse laughed as she turned back to him, and watched as he laughed while walking towards her. "Hey, I never thought to ask before but what's your friend's name?"

"It's Steve," Joseph replied with a smile as they continued through the foyer to her office together.

"Okay," Clarisse smiled and turned her head to him, smiling as he briefly cupped her bottom.

After an hour of chatting and going through the selection of rings that Joseph's friend had brought for them to look at, Joseph found his perfect wedding ring but Clarisse was still undecided. "Okay, so I have it narrowed down to these three," she said, pointing to the three beautiful ring sets she had moved to the front.

"Are you sure?" Joseph asked and turned his head to look at her sitting beside him on the sofa.

"Yes, I am sure," Clarisse nodded and smiled. "Now I just need to pick one."

"I got to say I'm surprised," Joseph said as Clarisse turned her head to look at him.

"Why?" She asked with a smile and clasped her hands together in her lap.

"Well these ones you have picked all have smaller diamonds, I thought you would have gone for one of the bigger ones," Joseph said, gesturing to the tray with the bigger diamond rings.

"That's not me, yes my wedding ring from Rupert indeed had a big diamond and I had no choice but to wear it, however, if I had my way and any say in the matter, it wouldn't have been that big that's for sure," Clarisse said as she glanced to Steve sitting in the chair across the coffee table from them before looking back to her husband. "This size is more me."

Lifting his head, Joseph looked into her eyes. "As long as you're happy with one this size, then I'm happy too," he said and Clarisse nodded.

"Oh, I am very happy with the size," Clarisse smirked and turned her head to look back down at the rings as Joseph laughed and shook his head. "Now, let's pick one."

"May I make a suggestion, Your Majesty?" Steve asked with a smile.

"Absolutely," Clarisse nodded as she and Joseph looked across at him.

"Okay, so some women who come into the shop to find their wedding rings have said it's a lot like trying on their wedding dress for the first time and instantly knowing it's the 'one'. If you try on the ring and it's the one, you'll instantly know." Steve smiled. "And I know you have tried a couple on already for sizing, and we will have to change the size of whichever ring you do decide on, but why doesn't Joseph slip each of the rings onto your wedding finger, like he would have at the wedding if you had one already, and see how it feels?"

"That's a good idea," Joseph agreed and looked to Clarisse as she nodded, "we can try that if you want to?"

"Let's do it," Clarisse nodded and smiled to her husband.

"Okay, I'll leave you alone for this bit," Steve said and got to his feet as both Clarisse and Joseph looked back up at him, "it's more personal when done privately."

"Thank you," Joseph said.

"No problem. I'll be out in the foyer, so just give me a shout when you're finished," Steve said and made his way over to the door.

Watching Steve step out of the office and close the door behind him, Joseph smiled and looked back to Clarisse. "Which one would you like to try first?" He asked.

Turning her head to the rings sitting on the coffee table, Clarisse reached her hand out and picked up the first one. "Let's do them in order," she said, looking back at her husband and held out the first ring to him.

"Okay," he smiled, taking the ring from her. "Hopefully this works."

"I hope so too," Clarisse agreed as she slipped of the other wedding ring and put it in her jacket pocket before holding out her hand to him.

Looking down at their hands, Joseph put his other hand up under hers and slowly slipped the ring onto her wedding finger before looking up at her face, searching for any sign that it might be the 'one'. "Anything?"

"It's a nice enough ring," Clarisse said as she held her hand up in front of her, admiring the ring for a moment. "But now that it's on my finger, it's not the one," she said sadly and lowered her hand while looking back at her husband.

"That's okay," he smiled and reached his hand out onto her thigh as she removed the ring, "there's still two more."

"I know, but what if none of them are the one?" She asked while putting the ring back down on the tray on the coffee table and placing her hand on top of Joseph's resting on her thigh.

"Then we will look somewhere else until we find it, because I want you to have the perfect ring, Clarisse, one that you truly love. No matter how long it takes," Joseph said and reached out for the second ring. "Shall we continue?"

"Yes," Clarisse nodded and held out her hand for him once again. This one was her utmost favourite out of all of them and she prayed that this ring would be the 'one'. She prayed for the knowing feeling Steve talked about. An experience she had felt once before. Long ago.

"Ready?" Joseph asked and Clarisse nodded.

Slowly slipping the ring on her finger, Joseph studied her face and just knew from her reaction that this ring was this one. She had pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and a breath had hitched in her throat. "I can tell from your face that this is the one."

"It is, this is the one," Clarisse nodded, her voice shaky, eyes pooling with tears as she suddenly became very overwhelmed.

"Hey, it's okay," Joseph said softly and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer as she rested her head on his shoulder. "It's okay."

"I know," Clarisse nodded and put her hands down on his thigh, "I'm crying because I'm happy. I'm so so happy." She cried and sat up as Joseph leant to the side, grabbing the box of tissues from the coffee table.

"Here you go," he said, pulling two tissues out of the box and handing them to her.

"Thank you," she said and dabbed under her eyes with the tissue. "I just got a bit overwhelmed with everything, I'm sorry."

"It's okay you know, as I said earlier a lot has happened over the last few days," Joseph said softly as Clarisse nodded.

"All my life things have been picked for me, what I wore every day was picked for me. Even after Rupert died it was still the same. I had to wear a suit of some sort, every goddamn day. I couldn't wear what I wanted. Because it could be deemed too risqué for a Queen to wear. The only thing I got to pick myself was my underwear because no one could see them, and my scarves. Hence why there's so many of them," she said and they both laughed a little.

"I did wonder why you have so many," Joseph said and watched as Clarisse looked down at her hands. Her fingers toying with the tissue.

"Even when I married Rupert everything was picked for me, I had no say whatsoever. From the wedding ring to the dress. Even after I found a beautiful dress with my mother and sister, the moment I slipped it on I knew it was the one, it was gorgeous and I loved it, but when I returned to the palace and told them that I wanted this dress, I found out that I couldn't wear it. I had to wear a Royal dress that had been passed down through generations. I was so heartbroken. And yes I know yesterday wasn't anything we had picked either, because it was meant to be Mia and Andrew's day, they had picked everything, but I was wearing something that I had picked myself. What I felt comfortable in. And now today we are picking out the rings, we are picking the ones we want together."

"And that's how it's going to be from now on, we will pick things that we want together, or by yourself." Joseph said, smoothing his hand up and down her back to comfort her. "Especially with our home, with the wood beam ceilings, range cooker and island in the kitchen. Plus plenty more." He smiled.

"I can't wait," Clarisse said giving him a small smile. "It's going to be ours. I can finally pick what I want. Wear what I want and most importantly, be with who I want to be with at last. No more following rules."

"That's right, you can and you know what, we can make our own, more fun, rules," Joseph smiled and took hold of her hand, "you know rules like, saying I love you often, breakfast in bed every morning. Holding hands. Cuddle each other daily and making sure we always kiss goodnight."

"I love them all," Clarisse smiled and watched as he kissed the back of her hand before looking up into her eyes. "Can I add one?"

"Oh absolutely, you can add as many as you like," Joseph smiled happily as he smoothed his thumb over the ring on her finger.

"I would like to add, be spontaneous. Because after years of following strict rules, I'm definitely going to being doing this one," she smiled and leant closer to kiss him slowly a moment as he moved his hand from her back to her neck. "Oh and," she said pulling away, "grow old together."

"I'm definitely down for that one," Joseph smiled and moved his hand to cup her face. Brushing his thumb over her tear-stained cheek. "But for now, why don't you go and redo your makeup ready for your meeting while I speak to Steve."

"Okay, thank you," Clarisse said and looked down as she removed the ring from her finger.

"Double checking, it is definitely the one. Right?" He asked as she placed it in the palm of his hand.

"Ooh it is most definitely the one," Clarisse nodded and stood to her feet. "I won't be long."

"Okay," Joseph said and got to his feet as she turned to walk away, but stopped and turned back to him when he gently grabbed her arm. "I know that there will be a lot of changes ahead of us, but it'll be okay, you know."

"I know," Clarisse said as she moved slowly to stand in front of him and put her arms up to cup his face in her hands. "With you by my side, I know everything will be just fine."

"And I'll be there with you every step of the way baby," he whispered between kisses and wrapped his arms around her. Holding her a moment before letting her go.

"See you in a bit," Clarisse smiled up at him before leaving her office and making her way up to her suite, her tummy all aflutter. She had never been called 'baby' before. But she liked it. Especially since it came from the man she loved wholeheartedly and not the man she was with because of duty.

Thoughts? Please do let me know :) thank you.