It took the better part of a week before either Charlotte or Shades was in any shape to say much to the people who hovered over them so anxiously. Shades had been introduced to Catherine and Robert... and although no one said anything, he remembered his dream and wondered if the woman who looked so much like Queen Clarisse truly thought she could be his mother! HIS? Not a chance! He had grown up knowing his mother had abandoned him at birth because he had been born prematurely and had almost died! And if some miracle had occurred and this... this Catherine tried to tell him that she really WAS his mother, he would have nothing to do with her! After abandoning him, NOW she wanted to claim him? Now that he was almost middle aged and had a very, very good job in Genovia? No!

Not wanting to say anything to either Shades or Charlotte until they were both well on the road to recovery, and having made it clear to the entire hospital staff that the relationship information was not to be mentioned, Catherine, Robert, Nanny and Wilkes continued to visit as friends. At last the day came when, at Nanny's insistence, Charlotte could be taken in a wheelchair into Shades' room to see him. The two were given time to be alone.

Still extremely stiff, Charlotte could only lean forward, pick up Shades' hand and bring it to her lips. "Oh, Shades, I am so glad to see you..."

His fingers traced her lips as his eyes ran over her features lovingly. "My beautiful wife..."

"Oh, Shades," Charlotte blushed. "Hardly beautiful, especially like this!"

"Nanny informed me I had to speak with Queen Amelia about our marriage as soon as possible... that we can't wait until Christmas." Shades murmured, never ceasing his feather-like touches on her face.

"N-no, we can't," Charlotte faltered. "She... she didn't say why?"

"No."

"Shades? You're... you're going to be a father... probably before Christmas."

O o O o O o

That very afternoon, Queen Amelia paid a visit to her Head of Security while Charlotte was with him. Together they admitted to their sovereign that they had secretly been married the previous March while in New York City. Mia frowned teasingly, saying she wasn't at all sure she should sanction it, since they had been so sneaky, but she relented quickly when Charlotte's hand went protectively to her belly.

"Okay, we'll say I KNEW about it before, but couldn't announce anything until Parliament agreed to change that archaic law." Mia rolled her eyes. "We've really got to work on them even more, Charlotte!" Both Charlotte and Shades were most profuse in their gratitude, which Mia waved off as she continued talking. "Oh, by the way, I saw that orphan, Carolina, this morning. Guess what? She has been adopted! She was so proud this morning, and she told me she knows all about adoption now. She says it means that she grew in her mommy's heart instead of her tummy. Isn't that cute?"

Charlotte smiled faintly and Shades looked a little puzzled. Then Mia took her leave, saying, "I think there are six people here who have been waiting to speak with you about something that is none of MY business. I'm not sure why it's Grandma's or Joe's business either, but they're all friends and have been inseparable since our accident! Take care, you two... and for God's sake, don't even THINK about trying to get up to bow or curtsey!"

She was gone before Shades or Charlotte could move. They looked at each other for a moment, then back at the door to see Nanny almost creeping in, Wilkes right behind her, followed by Catherine then Robert... and Clarisse and Joseph bringing up the rear. Charlotte and Shades both tightened the grip they had on each other's hand. Perhaps NOW they would get the answers to some of the things that had been puzzling them since awakening in the hospital.

O o O o O o

Shades and Charlotte found the news about their true parentage every bit as incredible as the older people had. However, it didn't take long before Charlotte was being held in Wilkes' embrace while she sobbed her happiness and held on to Nanny's hands tightly. Shades eyed his wife, then his gaze slid to Catherine, supposedly his own mother. She must have read the repudiation in his eyes, because her face grew pale and tight.

"I was abandoned and left to die because I came early. What mother does that?" Shades growled.

Robert stepped up, his hands encircling Catherine's shoulders lovingly as he glared at Shades. "Damn it, have some respect! You can at least listen to her story! She suffered every bit as much as YOU did!"

Shades folded his arms carefully over the bandages on his torso, and leaned back on the pillows, saying nothing. Then Clarisse stepped up. "I know it's not my story to tell, but Catherine told me everything, Shades. She wanted children desperately... both she and her husband did."

Shades' glance flickered to Robert, who shook his head. "Not me," he said. "We've only been married a couple of months. Your mother was married for a long time to your father, Tom Howard, who died two years ago."

As Shades digested that information, Clarisse continued. "Your mother was devastated when, for the second time, she miscarried, or rather, was TOLD she had miscarried, at six months."

"If I'd known you were still alive, I..." Catherine couldn't continue.

"Shades, we have no idea why YOU were told your mother abandoned you, or why Catherine and Tom were told you had been born dead, but rest assured, I will get to the bottom of it if at all possible," Joseph spoke for the first time.

"It might NOT be possible," Shades muttered. "It was a long time ago. And the Marshs aren't around anymore to tell THEIR story."

"All I ask," Catherine said brokenly, "is a chance to get to know you... and my grandchild."

"Can I stop you?" Shades said, a trifle sarcastically.

Charlotte turned at that point and frowned at him. It hurt him to see that she was so happy to have found her biological parents, and that she wasn't even questioning why they hadn't said anything the first time they had come to Genovia. "Shades?" she said softly. "For me?"

"All right," he sighed, rather ungraciously. "But I'm tired now. Can we talk later?"

"Rest and get well before you try to do too much thinking," Joseph said, patting Shades' shoulder. He loved the other man like a son... and had almost from the first day they had met.

O o O o O o

Over the next few months, as gradually Shades and Charlotte fully recovered, Robert and Catherine kept themselves busy with their building plans of both home and hospital, and Catherine managed to keep inside all the anguish she felt at Shades' continued covert rejection of any overtures she attempted. Only at night, in Robert's arms, did she gain some semblance of complete happiness. Yes, there were happy moments, such as when they could move into their new home the same day Nanny and Wilkes could move into theirs next door and knowing that after Christmas Clarisse and Joseph would be moving into their home on the other side. Another good memory was the opening of the brand-new Genovian Children's Hospital and knowing that it was staffed with hard-working, knowledgeable professionals.

Nanny and Wilkes were supremely happy. They had told Charlotte their whole story and the three had cried on each other's shoulders. They had made a flying trip back to New York City and Wilkes had wrapped up his business there completely. Nanny had spent a week with Eloise and Kay, and had invited them to visit in Genovia the following summer, when they could meet Charlotte's baby. Eloise had been overwhelmed to hear that her friend, Charlotte, was Nanny's baby, and was having her OWN. "It's absolutely divine, divine, divine!" she had carolled.

Joseph and Clarisse were thrilled for their friends, especially since both were so close to the younger couple. Clarisse had hesitated about moving in to the smaller house, but Mia had assured her that Clarisse could think of the new home as the Dower House and would be welcome to entertain or drop in at the palace any time. "After all, Grandma, you've lived here a lot longer than I have!" Mia had grinned.

Then one day they got the call that Charlotte had gone into premature labour... and could Catherine please come immediately.

O o O o O o

"The baby's heart rate is flat." a nurse said softly.

Catherine could sense the tension in the room and she gritted her teeth. NO! This would NOT happen! Not to this baby!

The other doctor eased the tiny body out of Charlotte's womb. The baby girl was very small but perfectly formed... and dark blue. The moment the cord was severed, Catherine whisked the infant to a separate area she had already been shown. No matter how many times she had witnessed the miracle of birth, Catherine usually felt an overwhelming surge of tenderness and acute wonder at this first emergence of a human being into the world. This time, like too many others, there was gut-wrenching apprehension because she was well aware that this scrap of a girl might not make it. Her birth, indeed most of her gestation, had been traumatic in the extreme. Feeling as though she was re-living last Christmas Eve with Robert's daughter and grand-daughter, not to mention her OWN birthing experiences, Catherine now fought desperately for her limp and still grand-daughter.

The silence stretched unbearably and Catherine inwardly prayed passionately as her heart hammered with apprehension and her hands moved steadily and confidently. And then, to everyone's delight, the baby suddenly trembled violently and gave a choked, squawking cry. A ragged cheer went up from the entire team in the delivery room.

"That's my sweetheart," Catherine crowed as more short, sharp cries came from the baby.

The other doctor declared in a pleased tone, "Sounding good, young lady!"

After examining the baby thoroughly, Catherine could finally relax. "My guess is that she'll be fine."

O o O o O o

Still not comfortable intruding upon Shades and Charlotte, Catherine, Robert, Nanny, Wilkes, Clarisse and Joseph all stood in the hallway outside Charlotte's hospital room, shifting from foot to foot 'rawther uncomfortably' as Nanny whispered. Catherine was feeling both happy and sad, wishing she had a better relationship with her long-lost son.

Obviously Nanny had been heard, because Shades was at the door in an instant, smiling at Catherine with such love and gratitude in his eyes that the woman was overcome. "You've come to see your grand-daughter?" he asked her, then added softly, "Mother?"

Catherine bit her lip and couldn't speak, but she nodded and smiled through the tears that shone in her eyes. Robert supported her, and nudged her forward gently.

Shades swallowed, then stepped forward and hugged Catherine tightly. He whispered in her ear, "Thank you! Thank you, Mother, for my life, and for my daughter's life, twice over. Thank you! I'm sorry I was so rotten to you when I first found out, but know that I truly love you... and not just for what you did today!"

The silence in the hallway was deafening... then Nanny tapped Shades' shoulder. "Excuse me, Daddy... but may the OTHER grandparents come in if you're not going to usher Grandma in first? My stars, stars, stars, THIS Nanny wants to go in!"

"And the HONORARY grandparents too?" Clarisse added her voice to Nanny's. "This granny is longing to see the new baby!"

Shades released Catherine and chuckled. "Yep. All grandparents, biological and ornery, are welcome. Come on in!"

"ORNERY?" Joseph glared at the younger man. "I'll have you know..."

Without waiting to hear the end of Joseph's reprimand, and laughing at the release of tension, the others crowded in to see Charlotte sitting up in bed cradling a blanket-wrapped bundle. The tiny girl wasn't asleep. Her deep blue eyes were wide open, and one curled-up leg poked out of the wrappings and rested against Charlotte's stomach. The baby looked up at them, her brow furrowed, as if she were pondering their place in her new life.

"She's absolutely beautiful, Charlotte. I think she has her daddy's hair," Nanny said, stroking the little head with its halo of black silk. Then she held out her arms. "Here, give her to me. You've had your turn, for Lord's sake!"

Charlotte laughed and handed over the sweet bundle. The other grandparents and 'ornery' grandparents gathered around, their hearts swelling with love for this child whose journey to this point in her life had been so precarious.

"She's got her grandmother's eyes," Wilkes said.

"She has the same eyes as all THREE of her grandmothers!" grinned Shades, looking at the three faces, so similar, bending dotingly over the baby in Nanny's arms. "And they're just like Charlotte's."

"Does she have a name yet?" Robert asked, crowding in like the others to offer a finger to the infant.

"Julie. Our own precious Jools."

"She is indeed a precious jewel – to ALL of us!" Catherine said.

O o O o O o

The revelations that had come about in the last few months had turned that which previously had been only known in part into that which was now known fully. And Julie was indeed a precious jewel, uniting them all into one family.

THE END