A/N: Hey everyone, thank you to you all for reading the latest chapter and to the guest, bee-327, ClarisseMarie, Chelsietx, and to the other guest, for taking time to leave me wonderful reviews. Thank you so so much, I really appreciate it!
Just a heads up, there's a small M-rated scene in this chapter.
Hearing footsteps coming across the landing towards one of the other bedrooms where he was packing up their clothes, Joseph raised his brow and turned his head to look over at the door as Clarisse slowly appeared in the doorway. "Hello you, are you okay?" He asked softly and looked down at the suitcase he had set on the bed in front of him as he placed a folded pair of trousers inside of it before fully turning to her. "I thought you were having a lie down?"
"I was, well, that was the plan anyway," she nodded and looked down at his phone in her hands grasp as she held it up in front of her a brief moment before looking back up at him, "until a message popped up on your phone from Charlotte, asking for me to contact Alizée as soon as I could. So, I hope you don't mind but I called her from your phone?"
"Of course I don't mind," he said and averted his gaze briefly down to the phone in her hands as she made her way slowly over to him standing beside the bed. "Is everything okay?"
Shaking her head, she watched as he looked back up at her standing now in front of him. "No, it's not okay." She replied, her brows furrowed with worry as she studied her husbands face.
How the hell was she going to tell him what her sister had told her just a short time ago? She knew she had too, of course. But how? She also knew that she had to find the right words to tell him, to try and break it to him gently. Especially since she didn't know how he was going to react over the fact that he might potentially be a father.
"Clarisse, my love, what is it?" He said softly, raising one hand up and watching as she closed her eyes at the feel of his hand now cupping her cheek. "You can tell me, you know that."
Opening her eyes, she bent her arm up between them, her hand grasping hold of his wrist. "I really wish I didn't have to do this. But you need to know that Esmée… she, um, she has a," she hesitated and looked up into his eyes for the briefest of moments before tipping her head forward and looking down between them while taking a deep breath. She had to find the strength, the courage, to tell him what she needed too.
"What about Esmée?" Joseph asked, and she lifted her head to look back up at him. Her eyes now pooling with tears. "Clarisse, what is it? Please tell me."
"She has a child, Joseph, and has told Alizée this morning that you're the father and that she's going to the papers about how you haven't been there for her," she whispered and whimpered just a little as he abruptly pulled his hand away from her cheek and took a step back from her.
"She what?" He exclaimed, his heart hammering in his chest as he shook his head in disbelief and raised his hands up in the air either side of him. "Clarisse, the child can't be mine. I swear I haven't been with her since that night ten years ago."
"I know you haven't, I know you wouldn't do that to me. Not while we have been together," Clarisse nodded, slipping his phone in her robe pocket as she stepped closer to him and put her hands up to cup his jaw in them. "She's nine, so it would have been from that night you did spend with her."
"She? You mean I might have a daughter?" He replied quietly, his voice suddenly broken and strained, and watched as Clarisse nodded before he lifted his gaze from her and looked across the room in complete and utter shock. The reality of what she had told him slowly began to sink in.
She knew him standing there frozen on the spot was because of the shock. But it unnerved her. Seeing him stood with a blank expression on his face. "Joseph," Clarisse said a moment later and stroked his face with her thumbs as her hands remained cupping his jaw.
Hearing the quaver in her voice snapped him out of the shock he had been in. Looking back at her, he studied her a moment before finally speaking. "Esmée lied to me." He said, his voice barely a whisper.
"What do you mean, she lied to you?" Clarisse asked, her hands still cupping his face as she shook her head slightly in confusion and looked up into his eyes.
"I told her that we needed to use…" he said, trailing off with a small shake of his head and closed his eyes at the memory of that night he spent with her sister. What was, and always will be, one of the biggest mistakes of his life. "But she told me that it didn't matter, we didn't need one, because she couldn't have children."
Moving to kneel on the bed, Esmée helped him out of his boxers and began to stroke his manhood a few times to make sure he was ready for her. The moment she touched him, wrapped her hand around him, his hips instinctively thrust off the bed, and he started to turn toward her. "Ah ah, not so fast you," she said wickedly, her voice slurred from the alcohol they had both consumed that evening, while placing her hand on his chest, pushing him back onto his back before slipping one leg over his body until she was straddling his lap on her bed.
"We need a…" his words trailed off as he watched her remove her bra and toss it to one side before placing her hands flat on his torso and looking down at him. "Before this goes any further, Esmée, we need to get-,"
"No we don't," Esmée interrupted with a shake of her head and slowly leant forward, her body resting down on his as she moved her hands up to cup his face in them and kissed him. "We don't need one. I can't have children." She said and kissed him once again before pushing herself back up into a sitting position.
Smiling down at him, his hands now on her thighs, she raised herself and moved up the bed a little. Slowly sinking down on him, a moan escaping her lips as he filled her completely.
"How could I have been so damn stupid?" He said a moment later, his voice quavering, his eyes remaining closed.
"Oh, Joseph," Clarisse whispered and reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck. Embracing him in a hug as the tears now came for the both of them. "I'm so sorry." She cried.
"Why now, why all of a sudden tell us this now?" Joseph asked sadly and wrapped his arms around his wife's waist. Clinging to her as he buried his face in her shoulder. "The child is nine, for goodness sake. She should have told us years ago."
"Yes I agree. She should have told us years ago. But why else do you think she's doing this now?" Clarisse said tearfully as she pulled her head back and looked up into his tear filled eyes. A rare, but heartbreaking sight. "We got married didn't we and she can't stand it. She just can't stand the thought of me, us, finally being together and happy. She knew how I felt about you years ago. That I longed to be with you. I mean that's the only reason why she slept with you in the first place, isn't it?" She said and studied his face. "There was no attraction there between you, was there?"
"What? No," Joseph exclaimed and shook his head as his hands now moved to her sides. "Like I told you the day after it happened, when we were in your office, it was just a drunken mistake. Nothing more. And there was definitely no attraction there between us. Well, not on my part anyway."
"Okay," Clarisse nodded as she continued to study his face a moment more before lowering her arms from around his neck, her hands going back to cup his face in them once again.
"Did she think that by sleeping with me that night would stop us from being together?" Joseph asked.
"I think that was her plan, yes, she tried to ruin our relationship back then by sleeping with you and now that we are finally together, she's trying to ruin it again by coming forward and telling us about this now," Clarisse nodded as a couple tears escaped her eyes and rolled down over her cheeks. "I'm so sorry that I told her how I felt about you. Had I not, then none of this would be happening."
"Hey don't be silly. She's your sister. It's natural that you would trust her," Joseph said, raising his hands from her sides to cup her face in them and brushing her tears away with his thumbs as he looked into her eyes. "You weren't to know what she was going to do. Neither of us did."
"I did trust her, yes. I trusted her immensely and I regret that I did, so so much," Clarisse nodded and turned her head, resting it against his shoulder as one of his hands remained cupping her face, while his other hand wrapped around her shoulders. Holding her close to him. "I just didn't think she would ever do something like this."
"I know, neither did I. Especially denying her child the right to know her father," he said softly and closed his eyes as he held her. The thought of being a father was very overwhelming. Not just for him, but he knew that it would be for Clarisse, too. Especially after the numerous conversations they'd had over the last few weeks on how he missed out on having a family because he wanted to be with her instead. But he knew what he had to do. No matter how hard it got. He had to do the right thing.
"Had I known about her, I would have been there for her right from the moment I found out. But if I am her father, obviously I will need to have a paternity test done to find out for sure if she is mine, and then depending on what the results are of course, she won't ever have to worry again. I will be there for her, and she will never go without."
Lifting her head, Clarisse looked up into his eyes. But she couldn't speak. Her heart was breaking into two, and she felt torn. Not only because if he was the girls father, it meant that the poor girl and Joseph had both missed out on building that father daughter relationship and special bond together all at the hands of her sister, but also because it meant he'd had a child with her sister of all people. Something she wasn't able to give him herself, but would have loved to have been able to. Had they had the chance all those years ago.
"Are you going to be alright while I go and call Mia about contacting our lawyer to get an emergency injunction in place stopping Esmée's story from being published, if she does take it to the papers?" Clarisse finally said after a moments silence and took a step back from him as she raised both her hands up, brushing them over her face before folding her arms.
"What story?" Joseph asked in confusion and studied her face.
"The story she's taking to the papers, about how you, as the former Queen of Genovia's new husband, haven't been there for your child," Clarisse said, and Joseph gasped.
"What?" He exclaimed, a little louder than he intended too. "You never told me that bit."
"I did," Clarisse exclaimed in exasperation and unfolded her arms, letting them fall down to her sides.
"You did not," Joseph snapped and shook his head.
"I told you that she was doing this when I told you that she had a child, and that she told Alizée this morning that you're the father," Clarisse replied calmly and watched as he glanced across the room. Trying to remember.
"I remember you telling me that bit, but I don't remember you telling me about her taking it to the papers," Joseph said with a shake of his head and looked back at her.
"Well I did," Clarisse said. "You probably don't remember because it was a bit of a bombshell finding out that you might have a child, and that is a lot to take in all at once."
"You can say that again," Joseph said sadly. "But yes I'll be fine. It needs to be stopped. However, what are you going to say to Mia? She can't know about this, not yet, at least. Not until we know for sure."
"Nothing, she doesn't need to know all the details, just that a story needs to be stopped," Clarisse said as she stepped closer to him and raised her hands up to cup his face in them once again. "It'll be okay."
"Let's hope so and that she doesn't ask too many questions," Joseph said, placing his hands on her sides.
"She won't," she said and reached up to press her lips to his for the briefest of moments before pulling back to look into his eyes and kissing him again. That kiss quicker than the first. Pulling back, she removed her hands from his face and brushed the tip of her forefinger on one hand down over his chin as she lowered her hand. "I'll be back."
Nodding, Joseph slipped his hands in his shorts pockets and watched as she turned to make her way over to the door to leave while pulling his phone from her robe pocket. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to the suitcase on the bed and just stood there a moment, staring at it. With so many emotions and thoughts now going around his head, he didn't know what to do.
Stopping on the landing, Clarisse found Mia's number in his phone's contacts and pressed the call button before putting the phone up to her ear and continuing on to the master bedroom. "Hey grandpa," Mia said cheerfully as she answered the phone. "What are you doing calling me when you are flying home tonight. You should be enjoying your last few hours there with grandma."
"It's actually grandma, and I need you to do something for me sweetheart," Clarisse said as she stepped into the bedroom and closed the door up behind her before slowly making her way over to the bed. A wave of nausea and dizziness washing over her once again, like it had on and off all night, and ever since she had been up.
"Of course, grandma. Is everything okay?" Mia asked and sat up in her chair.
"Not really no, but I can't talk about it right now, or go into any details about why, but I need you to get in touch with Lawrence for me to get an emergency injunction order in place to stop an untrue story from being printed in the newspapers," Clarisse said, sitting on the edge of the bed and closing her eyes as she put her free hand up onto her forehead.
"Umm, okay," Mia replied. "I can do that, but can you just promise me one thing?"
"What's that?" Clarisse asked as she opened her eyes and reached out for her fan from where she had left it on the bed earlier on, and started fanning herself profusely in an attempt to cool down.
"You and grandpa are okay, aren't you?" Mia asked. "You're not in any kind of trouble?"
"Oh goodness, sweetheart, we are okay, and no, we aren't in any kind of trouble, I promise." Clarisse said and closed her eyes once again. She would have laughed if she didn't feel so rough. "We will explain everything once we are home tomorrow."
"That's okay, grandma, you don't have to tell me anything," Mia replied. "I just needed to know that you are okay."
"I know, but I will have to tell you, in case it does end up getting out somewhere. You may well need to make a statement." Clarisse said, still fanning herself.
"Oh, right. Of course," Mia nodded knowingly. "Okay, well, I'll go now and get that done for you. I will text once it's done so you and grandpa can hopefully relax a little before heading home?"
"Yes, maybe," Clarisse said. "We will see you tomorrow morning, sweetheart, and thank you."
"It's no trouble, grandma. I love you both," Mia said softly.
"We love you too, bye sweetheart," Clarisse replied and once she had hung up, she set the phone down on the bedside table before placing her fan back down on the bed beside her and raised her hands up to momentarily cover her face in them.
"Clarisse, my love," Joseph said softly as he slowly pushed open the bedroom door and stepped inside the room to find Clarisse sitting on the edge of the bed with her hands covering her face. "I've come to apologise."
"For what?" She asked, slowly lowering her hands down to rest on her knees as she looked over at him standing by the door.
"For the way I spoke to you earlier, I was out of order and should never have spoken to you that way," he said sombrely and slipped his hands in his shorts pockets as he made his way slowly over to stand in front of her. "And for that I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologise, Joseph, I know you were in shock and that's only natural, especially when you find out something like that," Clarisse said as she tipped her head back to look up at him standing in front of her. "Anyway, I have just spoken to Mia. She's going to talk to Lawrence and will text once she has."
"Okay," he said, removing his hands from his pockets and moved to sit on the edge of the bed next to her. "Thank you."
"It's fine," Clarisse replied while lifting one hand from her knee to grab her fan from the bed beside her and started to fan herself once again as she turned her head to look at him. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, well, apart from the shock," he replied and nodded as he watched her fanning herself. "Are you feeling hot and dizzy again?"
"Yes," Clarisse nodded as he turned to her on the bed and placed his hand on her back. "It'll pass in a minute."
"Once it has, you need to try and get some rest," he said softly as he began smoothing his hand back and forth across her lower back.
"How can I rest with all this going on? I won't be able to get a wink of sleep in fear of what I might wake up too," Clarisse said as she turned her head to look at him a moment before looking across towards the door and shook her head. "No, I will be fine. I'll go jump in the shower. It'll be fine."
"Clarisse," Joseph said sternly and watched as she turned her head to look back at him. "I insist you are not well and need to rest."
"But what if Mia calls, or something else happens?" Clarisse said as she closed her fan and turned on the bed to face him.
"I can take the call from Mia, my love, that's not a problem," Joseph said and reached out for her hands. Holding them close to him. "And everything else will be fine, okay? Just please lie down and get some much needed rest. You need to be well so that we are okay to fly home later."
"You're right, I will try and rest," Clarisse nodded, suddenly realising just how much she wanted to go home now, not just because she wasn't feeling well, but from the earlier shock from her sister too, and looked down at their hands a moment before looking back up into his eyes. "Will you promise to wake me if something does happen?"
"I promise, but it won't," he said with a small shake of his head and watched as she let go of his hands and raised her hands up to cup his face in them before leaning forward. Pressing her lips to his for a moment before pulling back just enough to gaze into his eyes.
"No matter what happens, you won't have to face this alone," she whispered and kissed him once again before embracing him in a hug. "I promise."
"Thank you," he said as she pulled back, and they both got to their feet before turning to one another. "I will leave you now so that you can get to bed."
"Okay," she said and gestured across the room to the bathroom door as he reached his hand out onto her side. "I'm going to go and get another glass of water first."
"Alright, I will come and check on you in a little while," he said while leaning closer to her, to kiss her cheek before turning to the bedside table and picking up his phone.
"Okay," she said and folded her arms as he turned back to her. "See you in a little while."
"You will," he nodded and made his way out of the master bedroom, to leave her to get some rest, while he made his way back to the other bedroom to continue packing. In an attempt to take his mind off everything that had happened.