dreamer 3097: Thank you :D

Captain Weirdo: I´m SO sorry it took so long, I´m so busy at school right now- anyway, he WILL come up with some rather interesting proposition that will cause a lot of trouble of course... Please keep r&r ;)

addlogcon: Thanks- well, uhm, I´m back again- actually I keep hanging around, I´m simply too busy to write anything- so sorry for the long wait. Not yet, he still has some ideas to make her change her mind... ;)

Prettycrazy: Oh, don´t worry, you will, just not on a regular basis- but I´m trying- she won´t but she might change her mind anyway- well, you´ll find out soon :D Thanks for reading and reviewing!

bluegirl 783: Thank you- uhm yes, I know, I´m lazy- however, Rupert is not going to do anything with Josef, he´s at least smart enough to know that if he would his last chance to make Clarisse change her mind is not to mistreat Joe ;)

tabby-fanny: I just love this name... I´m sorry, well, I´m trying to be a bit quicker again- lol, nice idea, I´ll see what I can do... Oh, yes, there´ll be more Mia/Clarisse again of course, once the whole relationship mess is sorted out- and writing Pierre and Phillippe is always fun :D

Poppinswannabe: I´m sorry for keeping you waiting of course- so here´s the next part, I think the next after this one will be easier to write, I sort of had reached an impasse with this one- anyway, please keep reading and reviewing! :)

---

"With all due respect, Sir- this is between yourself and Clarisse."

Josef stated firmly, he wasn´t going to give in, no matter how the king tried to persuade him.

Rupert Renaldi threw his hands into the air, obviously exasperated.

"What do I have to do, Josef, should I go down onto my knees and beg?"

"That wouldn´t make any difference, Your Majesty, my loyalty here lies with the queen."

The king glowered at him for a long moment, then he sighed, defeated.

"I see this is no good- you may go- at least tell Clarisse to consider letting me explain."

"I can do that, Sir."

Josef answered curtly, his hand already lying on the door handle.

"You don´t think it will make a difference though" the king observed and Josef nodded.

"Yes, that is what I am thinking."

"You knew- why are you so unwaveringly on her side in this?"

"I knew, Your Majesty, that doesn´t mean I approved- quite the opposite, I can´t even begin to understand how you could ever look at anyone but her."

"When did this conversation turn against me?"

"If I may say so, actually I think it was against you from the very beginning."

"Hm- I suppose I asked you to talk to me and now I can´t hold a grudge against you, even though I know that you most likely will be sharing my wife´s bed in future nights."

Josef didn´t comment on the king´s concealed question, it wasn´t up to him to discuss his relationship with Clarisse with her husband, Clarisse would do that herself in time.

"Would that be all, Sir?"

"I suppose so."

Josef nodded to the king, then he pulled the office door shut behind himself and quickly strode down the corridor towards the staircase that would lead him towards the queen´s quarters.

He met her just outside the door with Mia on her arm, a smile spreading across her face when she saw him.

"Josef, there you are- where have you been?"

"His Majesty cornered me downstairs, he wanted to talk about you."

Clarisse´s eyes widened in surprise.

"He wanted to talk about me? He can´t honestly have thought you´d discuss this with him, can he."

"Obviously" Josef replied, grateful for her unwavering trust in him.

"I told him that he would have to work this out with you."

"I suppose he wasn´t very happy about that" Clarisse mused while opening the door to the nursery and stepping inside.

"No- that´s not exactly my problem though, is it."

Josef watched the queen put her granddaughter down into the crib and covering her with a soft blanket before straightening up and turning around to him.

"That´s what I keep telling you, you should stop thinking about Rupert at all and rather talk to me about us."

Josef sighed, he knew she wouldn´t let him off as easily as she had the night before and of course she was right, they would have to talk about their future relationship rather sooner than later.

Clarisse gently stroked Mia´s hair out of her forehead, then she motioned for Josef to follow her and walked out of the nursery and over into her private suite.

"Please sit down, I´ll ring for some tea- are you hungry?"

"Not necessarily but I wouldn´t say no to some cake anyway."

The queen walked over to the phone and Josef sat down on the sofa, trying to get comfortable but it didn´t work too well, the conversation he had had with the king was still replaying in his head and the prospect of Clarisse wanting to talk about their relationship didn´t exactly serve to calm him down.

"Don´t look so tense, I´m not planning to behead you- I just want to talk."

She sat down next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder and Josef automatically wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer against him.

"I´m sorry, it´s just all been a bit much today- I think I´ll need some time to get used to the thought that you´re not unreachable anymore."

"Is it so very bad?"

She teased him gently, her fingertips tracing small patterns on his chest.

"Of course not- just too good to be true."

"It can be true, you just have to accept it, then we can make it work."

"What are you going to tell your sons and what are you going to tell Amelia, they will all notice sooner or later."

"I honestly don´t know, Josef, all I know is that I want to be with you, no, I need to be with you, I love you."

There was silence for a while, then Josef gently kissed the queen´s temple and when she relaxed against him, a feeling of utter contentment settled upon him.

Perhaps she was right, perhaps they could make this work- he at least had every intention to do anything he could think of to do so.

---

The door to her office opened and the queen looked up, the smile vanishing from her face at the sight of her visitor.

"I thought I had told you to make an appointment" she told her husband coldly, getting up and rounding the desk.

The king nodded heavily.

"I know, Clarisse and I`m sorry- I really need to talk to you."

"I´m not interested in talking to you, havn´t I made that clear?"

"You have of course- I have a proposition to make and I´d appreciate it very much if you heard me out."

Clarisse briefly closed her eyes, praying for patience, then she glared at Rupert.

"I won´t listen to anything you have to say, I simply want you out of my office right now."

"Clarisse, I´d do anything to make you forgive me, I´ll even share you, just don´t shut me out, I love you."

"You don´t love me- what do you mean you would share me?"

Clarisse asked, despite herself, his words had taken her by surprise and she wanted to know if she had understood him correctly.

"I would- if you want to be with Josef I´ll be fine with it as long as you will spend time with me, you can even have that baby you so desperately wanted, I won´t even ask if I´m the father, just please consider, please my Darling."

Clarisse was too stunned to do anything but stare at him for a moment, had he really just said what she had thought to hear?

"Have you- have you just told me I could have a child with Josef and you wouldn´t mind?"

It sounded even more ridiculous now she said it but her husband nodded.

"That´s what I said, Clarisse, I need you, I´d do anything, please at least think about it."

The queen sank down onto the sofa, feeling overwhelmed.

"Rupert, could you leave me alone, please? I need to think."

The king looked immensely relieved.

"Of course, Clarisse, I´ll be in my office, I will see you for dinner then."

He bent down and gently kissed her cheek and Clarisse was far too confused to tell him off for touching her.

Rupert left the room and Clarisse sank back against the sofa, she couldn´t believe what had just happened, what on earth was she going to tell Josef now, she knew he had given up all hope of ever having a family of his own and chosen to love her instead, she had to tell him what Rupert had said- but what if Josef didn´t understand, what if he thought that he had been right from the start and that Clarisse was only looking for a way to reconcile with her husband?

What if he didn´t want her anymore after she had informed him about Rupert´s so called ´proposition`?

But if she didn´t tell him and he found out and he would be furious and tell her that he would have wanted the chance to be a father?

´Leave it to Rupert to somehow mess things up even more´ the queen smiled sarcastically to herself, then decided to see how Phillippe was getting along with Mia, the prince had taken his daughter to his office with him and Clarisse knew from experience how much trouble a child could be when the parent wanted to concentrate on their work.

Walking quickly down the corridor she sincerely hoped she wouldn´t bump into Josef on the way, she needed to sort out her feelings and think about a way to deal with the situation before she could face him again.