A/N: Hi all, I just wanna say a quick thank you to everyone for reading the latest chapter of this story (and all previous chapters if you've only just discovered it) and an even bigger thank you to the Guest, bee-327 and Chelsietx for taking the time to leave me such lovely reviews for chapter 10. I really do appreciate them and your continued support! It means the world to me. Thank you so very much.
Here's the next chapter for you all, I hope you enjoy it. Please do let me know at the end if you do ;) it's much appreciated.
"Whoa," both Pierre and Philippe exclaimed in unison when they saw Joseph's black eye.
"Oh my goodness, Joseph," Béatrice exclaimed when she too saw Joseph's black eye and put her hands up together in front of her face. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"Oh yes, I'm okay, but it's a long story, and one for another time," Joseph said, looking at her and the boys before looking back across the room at Clarisse. "Can we talk, please?" He asked, his gaze remaining on her a moment as her mother and sons looked back at her, too.
"Right boys, come with me," Béatrice said as she raised her hands up to them and gestured for them to follow her as they both looked at her. "Let's give them some privacy so that they can talk."
"Actually, can you stay. There's something that I would like to ask you," Joseph said and watched Pierre and Philippe both move to now stand closer to their grandmother before he turned to close the door behind himself. "It'll only take a moment."
"What are you doing here?" Clarisse asked and loosely folded her arms as she watched him now slowly making his way over to stand in front of her. The same woman he adored and loved more than anything in this world and would do absolutely anything to be with. The same woman he, just a short time ago, got to hold in his arms. The same woman that he got to share the most magical kiss with, a kiss so sweet, so powerful, it left him wanting more. The same woman who he, even though he thought it wouldn't be possible, fell in love with that little bit more.
"Clarisse," he began, now looking down into her gorgeous blue eyes. "I thought about what you said to me earlier in my suite, and I wanted to prove to you just how serious I am about what I asked you. I want this, Clarisse, and I would like to ask your mother and your incredibly wonderful sons for their blessing."
"Joseph," Clarisse said and unfolded her arms. Now placing her hands together up on her chest with a small shake of her head as her mother and sons looked on. "Don't do this, please."
"What does he mean, grandma?" Philippe asked as he turned to look at his grandmother standing behind him and his brother. "He wants to ask for our blessing?"
"It means that," Joseph said, before Béatrice had chance to answer her grandson, and turned to face them as Clarisse raised her hands up from her chest to cover her face in them for a brief moment before lowering them back down and looking back up at him. "Béatrice, Pierre, and Philippe, I am madly in love with your daughter and your mother. I have been for such a long, long time, and I would love it if I could please have your blessing to ask for her hand in marriage?" He said, looking from Béatrice to Pierre and Philippe.
"Are you serious?" Pierre exclaimed in surprise. "Yes, you have my blessing to marry our mother."
"And you have mine too," Philippe nodded excitedly, and both he and his brother turned to look at their grandmother standing behind them. The both of them hoping and praying that she would give her blessing also.
"I know that you will look after her and my grandsons, you have already proved that over the years," Béatrice said, giving him a small smile, "and I also know that my husband, Clarisse's father, really liked you and would most certainly approve of you marrying our daughter if he were here," she said as she glanced over at her daughter, now standing with her hands pressed together against her stomach, before looking back at Joseph standing in front of her and her grandsons, "so yes, Joseph, you most definitely do have my blessing," she nodded.
"Oh thank you, thank you so very much, all of you," Joseph nodded, nervously smoothing his hands down the tops of his legs before slipping one hand into his pants pocket and pulling out a small velvet box while turning back to Clarisse, who was stood staring at him in complete and utter shock with her hands still pressed together against her stomach.
"Um…" Clarisse said in a daze, trying to get her head around what Joseph had just done, and looked at her mother and sons as she lowered her hands and moved to stand in front of them. "Can you please leave us? I need to speak to Joseph alone."
"Of course," Béatrice nodded and reached out for her daughter's hands, giving them a gentle squeeze as she leant in closer to her. "Sometimes, you have to stop being scared and just go for it," she whispered and pulled back, to give her a small nod and smile before turning and walking across the suite and into Clarisse's bedroom with her grandsons.
Once the bedroom door was safely closed behind them, Clarisse slowly turned to Joseph and studied him intently for a moment. "I can't believe that you just did that," she said quietly and shook her head while putting her hands back up together on her chest, "what about what we talked about in your suite?"
"If marrying you means that I'll never have the chance to have a child of my own, then so be it. I'll be stepfather to Pierre and Philippe, and you three are all I need. All I want, and I can't imagine my life without you," Joseph said softly as he stepped closer to her. To close the distance between them and briefly put his free hand out onto her side. "You are the one I want to be with, and I can't just stand back and let you go, Clarisse. I can't watch you fall into another unhappy marriage with someone who doesn't deserve you."
"Do you really mean all of that?" Clarisse asked, her heart pounding in her chest as she tilted her head a little to one side and gazed up into his eyes.
"Yes, I do. I mean every word," Joseph nodded and took a step back while looking down at the velvet box he now held in both of his hands for the briefest of moments. His stomach was in his mouth as he took a deep breath and got down on one knee in front of her while removing the ring from the box and held onto it with one hand while slipping the box back in his pants pocket with his other hand. To say he was nervous was an understatement. But he wouldn't have it any other way. He just prayed that she would say yes.
"Clarisse, I want you. On your good days, and on your bad days. I want all of you. I want to be the one you come up here and bury yourself into after a long day doing paperwork and having back to back meetings. I want us to spend the rest of our lives together, happy and in love," he said while looking up into her gorgeous blue eyes and reached out for her hand. "So please, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"
"Yes," Clarisse said and put her free hand up to cover her mouth as she nodded happily. "I will marry you."
"Really?" Joseph exclaimed with tears in his eyes and watched as Clarisse nodded once again while putting her hand down now from her mouth to cup his face and brush her thumb over his cheek. "Oh, Clarisse, you have made me the happiest man alive," he said, looking down at her hand, to slip the ring on her finger before quickly standing up in front of her and pressing his lips to hers while wrapping his arms around her waist, holding her close and lifting her off her feet as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you," he whispered against her lips a moment later and pulled his head back just enough to look into her gorgeous eyes.
"I love you, too," she whispered, one of her hands grasping the back of his head, and reached in to kiss him once again. A deep, slow kiss. Until they had to break away for air.
"I am literally on cloud nine right now," Joseph smiled, standing her back on her feet and smoothing his hands to rest on her sides as he looked down into her eyes. "Honestly Clarisse, you have made me so very happy."
"I am too," she smiled and bit her bottom lip as they studied each others faces.
"Can we come back in yet?" Philippe called out from the bedroom.
"Yes, you can come back in now," Joseph called back and turned his head to look at her sons and mother as they all made their way back into the suite to join them. "We're getting married!" He exclaimed, unable to keep the smile from his face as Clarisse buried her face under his chin and held up her hand to show them the ring.
"YES!" Both Pierre and Philippe exclaimed excitedly and punched the air as Clarisse took a step back from Joseph and turned to them with a laugh.
"Congratulations," Béatrice beamed as she made her way towards Joseph, kissing each others cheeks before embracing in a quick hug, as Clarisse embraced both her sons in a hug. "I'm so happy for you both."
"We are too, we are very, very happy that you are getting married to Joseph," Pierre smiled as he and his brother stepped back from their mother.
"Thank you, all of you," Clarisse smiled happily and looked up at her mother, making her way towards her, with her hands held out to her, as Pierre and Philippe moved towards Joseph. To high-five and congratulate him.
"I'm so very proud of you," Béatrice whispered with a smile as she embraced her daughter in a hug for a long moment before taking a step back and taking her hand in hers, to check out the ring that Joseph had just proposed with.
"Thank you, mother," Clarisse smiled and took her bottom lip between her teeth as she glanced over at Joseph and her sons. Watched them together a brief moment before looking back at her mother as she studied the ring on her finger.
"Oh this ring is gorgeous, Clarisse," Béatrice exclaimed and put one hand up onto her chest as Joseph turned his head to look over at them with a smile. "Wait a minute, how did you get a ring so fast, Joseph?" She asked, and both she and Clarisse turned their heads to look over at Joseph.
"Well, it's actually a family heirloom that has been tucked away in the back of my safe for years after my mother and father gave it to me, in case I ever found the one. My father used it to propose to my mother, as did my grandfather and great grandfather before him," he said while moving to stand beside Clarisse and placed his hand on her back with a smile. "I know that it might not be to your taste, and we can change it if you don't like it, but it was all I had at such short notice."
"No, we aren't changing anything. I love this ring and will be keeping it right there on my finger," Clarisse said as she held up her hand to look at the ring before turning to him. "It's beautiful, and since it's been in your family for years it's only right we use it."
"Mhmm, I quite agree," Béatrice smiled as she watched her daughter raise her hands up to cup Joseph's face in them before reaching up to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "It's very Clarisse too, I think."
"Yes it is," Clarisse smiled as she turned back to her mother and sighed contentedly when she felt Joseph slip his arm around her back.
"Oh man, I just remembered something," Philippe suddenly exclaimed, and everyone looked over at him and his brother.
"What have you remembered?" Béatrice asked.
"Well, while you were out at dinner this evening, mother, Pierre and I made a file on Joseph and tucked it in the folder with the others. In the hope that you would change your mind and pick him," Philippe said and made his way over to the table where the folder was kept and opened it up in front of him as Clarisse and Joseph glanced at one another before looking back over at him.
"Can we have a look?" Clarisse asked as Philippe removed the file from the folder and looked back over at her.
"Of course," Philippe said as he walked over to them and handed the file to Joseph. "We wrote pros and cons too."
"Oh, you're privileged, Joseph," Béatrice smirked as everyone looked at her, "none of the others had pros and cons."
"We wanted to make sure that we covered everything," Pierre said as his brother moved to stand back beside him.
"Let's have a look, shall we?" Joseph said as he looked over at them, then at Clarisse with a mischievous smile on his lips before they both looked at the file in his hand. "Name: Joseph Elizondo. From: Genovia. Age: thirty-eight (nearly thirty-nine)." He smirked and looked up at them. "Well I am impressed that you got my age right."
"Oh, my dear, I didn't think you wanted to marry anyone younger than you?" Béatrice teased upon hearing his age and bit her lip to stop herself from laughing as Clarisse glared over at her.
"Actually mother, I said that I didn't want to marry anyone who was a lot younger than me. I didn't want a toy boy," Clarisse said and turned to Joseph, snaking her arms around his waist as she tipped her head back and gazed up into his eyes. "I'm quite content with this age."
"Mm, I sure am pleased to hear that," Joseph smiled and lowered his head, pressing his lips to hers.
"Eww, already?" Both Pierre and Philippe exclaimed teasingly and covered their eyes as Clarisse and Joseph laughed before turning their heads to look over at them.
"Yes quite right too, already? Now come on you two, you have plenty of time to do that after we have left you alone," Béatrice chuckled and gestured to the file in Joseph's hand as everyone looked at her, "what else does the file say?"
"Oh yes, of course. Sorry," Joseph smirked down at Clarisse before looking back at the file. "Okay, hobbies include: horse riding. Playing football/basketball with us. Taking us for long bike rides around the countryside. Swimming and running."
"Pros: he'll make mother happy. He'll be happy. He'll become our stepfather," Clarisse said and smiled up at her sons before looking back at the file and continuing. "Cons: he will no longer be our bodyguard and won't be able to protect us."
"Is that what you think? If we got married that he won't protect us anymore?" Clarisse asked softly and watched as both her sons nodded in reply.
"Aww," Béatrice replied sadly and put her hands up together in front of her face, resting her forefingers against her lips as she watched her daughter and Joseph both look at her grandsons.
"Boys, just because your mother and I will be married, it doesn't mean I'm going to stop protecting you all," Joseph said as he walked over to them and put a hand up onto the side of Philippe's neck. "I'll always protect you and your mother, I promise you that right now."
"Thank you," Pierre nodded as Philippe gave Joseph a quick hug.
"You don't need to thank me," Joseph said and held out his hand to Pierre as Philippe gave their mother a hug. "It'll be my honour to keep you all safe."
Smiling, Pierre took hold of Joseph's hand and shook it as Clarisse and Philippe looked back over at them. "Are you still going to take us to school occasionally?"
"You bet I am," Joseph smiled and nodded.
"Cool," Philippe replied, and everyone laughed.
"Now boys," Béatrice said as everyone looked at her, "what's say we get off to bed and leave these two to talk?"
"Yeah, I am feeling pretty tired," Philippe nodded and turned to kiss his mother goodnight. "I just hope I don't wake up in the morning to find it was all just one big dream."
"Oh I can assure you that it's not a dream," Clarisse smiled and looked up at Pierre as he walked over to kiss her goodnight. "Goodnight to you both. I love you."
"Goodnight," both Pierre and Philippe smiled as they walked over to the door. "We love you, too."
"Goodnight, my dear," Béatrice said, giving Clarisse a quick kiss on her cheek before doing the same to Joseph. "And goodnight to you, too."
"Goodnight," Joseph smiled and watched her walk over to the door. "See you all in the morning."
"That you will," Béatrice smiled and glanced back over at them as Pierre and Philippe walked out of the suite. "Night."
"Night," Clarisse smiled, watching her leave and close the door behind them before turning to Joseph.
"I should probably go too and let you get some sleep," Joseph smiled as he made his way over to stand in front of her and placed his hands onto her sides. "Hopefully you'll be able to sleep better tonight."
"Oh I think I will," Clarisse smiled and bit her bottom lip as she raised her arms to snake them around his neck. "You do realise that we now have, what, twenty-nine days to plan our wedding, right?"
"Oh I do, yes," Joseph smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist, to hold her close as they gazed into each others eyes, "and I can't wait for that day."
"Neither can I," Clarisse said, glancing down to his lips with a smile and closed her eyes as he pressed his lips to hers.