Epilogue- The Eleventh Hour

Six people were packed into a limo. Shades drove towards the palace with Charlotte in shock in the front seat beside him. Mia and Nicholas sat with their backs to the front window, holding hands and still shaking from what they had witnessed. Clarisse and Joseph sat opposite them, holding on to each other for dear life.

"Grandma, are you sure you're not hurt? I can't believe…Olivia…" Mia trailed off, shivering.

"I can't believe my uncle could do such a thing!" Nicholas' voice was filled with anger.

"I'll be all right, really." Clarisse replied, her voice coming out stronger than she felt. She looked up at Joseph, his eyes were closed. "Joseph?" she asked, softly.

"Hmmm?" he asked without opening his eyes.

"Darling are you all right?" she asked worriedly.

His arms tightened around her. "As long as you are."

"Thank you, Joseph. For always being there. I don't know what I'd do without you…no. I wouldn't even be here without you. And for that, I can never thank you enough." She concluded in a whisper.

Joseph pressed a kiss to the top of her head and the car was silent for a few long minutes. Suddenly, Joseph looked down at Clarisse who was falling to sleep in his arms.

"Clarisse?"

"Yes, darling?" she muttered, sleepily.

"Marry me?"

Mia and Nicholas gasped in unison, Charlotte seemed to come out of her trance, and even Shades took his eyes off the road for a moment to look in the rear-view mirror. Clarisse's eyes remained shut.

"Yes."

"Really?" the word came from three different people; Charlotte, Mia, and Joseph.

Opening her eyes, and sitting up, Clarisse smiled at the excited faces in the car with her.

"Yes, really." She laughed.

Joseph swept her back into his arms and kissed her. "I love you, Clarisse."

"I love you too. More than you'll ever know."

A/N: screams and jumps around! Are you as excited as I am? I want to say a HUGE thank you to allll my lovely readers, (although I'm sorry I can't remember all your names) Laura, Sue, aserene, hollywoodgal, Gracie's Mom, ClarisseandJoe, and of course anyone else I forgot. Don't take it personally please, I forget my own name on a regular basis. I'm going to go be excited some more! 3, Lizz