The Whole World and You

Rating: T

Summary: High school teacher, Lizzie Bennett, meets Will Darcy, partner in a large law firm and owner of Pemberley Resort and Spa. Will immediately makes a bad impression and Lizzie continues to judge him based on that one incident.

Chapter One: You Probably Shouldn't Move Here

Lizzie's POV

It is a truth universally acknowledged that root canals are one of the most evil procedures ever invented. Unfortunately for me, I happened to have my third root canal the same day as my best friend's birthday party. My sister, Jane, drove me to the dentist and then once we were done there, we went home and changed before heading over to Charlotte's party.

Charlotte Lucas's father was the wealthiest man in Meryton, Michigan. Meryton is a small resort town on Lake Michigan. There are three main hotels in Meryton. Lucas Lodge is owned by Charlotte's father, William Lucas, my father, Christopher Bennett, owns Longbourn Estates, and Netherfield Suites was just purchased by Charles Bingley, the CEO of Bingley Publishing International. Longbourn Estates isn't just a hotel, although there is a large hotel there. In addition to the hotel, we also have about one hundred condominiums that are occupied either by year-round residents of Meryton or by seasonal residents. My family has lived in the penthouse on the top floor of Longbourn Estates for as long as I can remember.

I'm just a lowly Spanish teacher at Lakeview Private Academy for the Gifted and Talented, home of the Flying Loons. I currently live in a condo that I share with my sisters, Jane and Mary, at Longbourn Estates. Jane works at the reference desk at the Meryton Public Library; all Jane has ever wanted to do is work at a library. She loves libraries and books more than almost anything else on earth. Mary is working for our parents and trying to figure her life out. She has a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Michigan, but now she doesn't know what to do with it. Charlotte once said, “And what does a philosophy major say? `Welcome to McDonald's; would you like fries with that?”

So it's the day after Thanksgiving and instead of spending it at the Meryton Mall with my youngest sister, Lydia and Katie, I spent it having a root canal. But after my root canal, Jane and I headed over to the Grand Ballroom at Lucas Lodge where Charlotte was having her twenty-fifth birthday party. She'd invited all of her friends and dozens of other people. Among the guests would be Charles Bingley, the new owner of Netherfield, and a few of his friends. Bingley was the talk of the town ever since word had reached us that Bingley was buying Netherfield from its previous owner, Ethan Jacobs. Ethan had once owned Netherfield as well as several hotels in other towns in northern Michigan, but ever since the death of his wife, Fran, five years earlier, his hotels had fallen into decline. Now, Charles H. Bingley, president and CEO of Chicago based Bingley Publishing International, was buying Netherfield and moving into the Penthouse suite.

We arrived at Lucas Lodge around 7:30 and found Charlotte in a regular tizzy. “Where have you two been?” were the first words out of her mouth when we walked into the ballroom.

“I'm sorry, Char,” Jane said. “It's just that Lizzie had her root canal today and that took longer than expected because Dr. Ash wanted to do pulp test and other crap like that to figure out what teeth he'll do root canals on over Christmas break.”

Charlotte hugged me. “Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry. You really need to stop having root canals like this.”

I laughed. “It's all right. It's not like they're killing me or anything.”

“Do they know why you keep needing root canals?”

I nodded. “Yep, do you remember in middle school when Trevor Stevenson hit me in the face with a dodge ball? I was wearing braces and because my teeth were anchored to each other and so instead of one of them taking the impact of the blow, all of them did.”

“So how long is this going to go on?”

I shrugged. “They know they need to do two more root canals over Christmas and there's probably going to be one more after that, but that might be the end of it.”

“Oh thank goodness,” she said. “Now come in and mix and mingle. Your younger sisters are already here and flirting with every man in sight.”

“Goodness gracious,” Jane sighed. “What's Mary doing?”

“She's off in the corner reading Kierkegaard or something like that. Nate Caldwell has tried to talk to her at least three times and she keeps telling him to leave her alone so she can get back to her reading.”

“I'll go take care of her,” I told her.

“Just make sure that she doesn't start playing the piano,” Jane called after me. Jane is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, but she does know that Mary shouldn't play piano in public. Mary likes to play the piano and she's been playing for years, but she isn't very good. I guess she just doesn't have much natural talent or something.

“Hey, Mary,” I said sitting down next to her at a corner table. “How's Kierkegaard?”

“Oh, he's fine.”

“And how's Nate?”

“I don't know. He keeps coming and bothering me. He wants to dance with me or something, which is stupid. Dancing is so dumb; I don't know why you and Jane enjoy it so much. Books are so much more interesting than boys and dancing.”

“Speak for yourself,” I told her. “Personally, I'd spend the whole night on the dance floor if it weren't for the stupid root canal I just had.”

“Oh, I wish I had an excuse like that to avoid the dance floor. I don't know what I'm going to do if Nate doesn't stop asking me to dance.”

Just then, Jane and Charlotte came over with three men and two women following them. “Lizzie, Mary, we have some people we'd like you to meet,” Charlotte said.

I stood up and looked at the new arrivals. Two of the gentlemen were taller and had dark brown hair; the other was heavyset and looked like he'd already had a few drinks. The two ladies were both blondes and heavily made-up; they both looked like they thought they were far too good for Lucas Lodge and Meryton in general.

The shorter of the two dark haired gentlemen extended his hand with a friendly smile. “I'm Charles Bingley, good to meet you.”

I shook his hand and smiled back. “I'm Elizabeth Bennett, but you can call me Lizzie.”

“Well, then in that case, you can call me Charlie; all my friends do.”

“Charlie it is then,” I told him.

“And I'd like you to meet my good friend, William Darcy,” Charlie told me.

I smiled at William and we shook hands. “Nice to meet you,” I said.

“The same to you,” he said, seeming a bit distracted.

“These are my sisters, Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst,” Charlie continued. “And this is my brother-in-law, Jeff Hurst.”

Jeff was clutching an open bottle of beer so tightly I couldn't even see the label; all I know was that it wasn't Heineken because the bottle wasn't green. Caroline and Louisa both nodded at me and then resumed ignoring me. I could easily see that we were not going to be fast friends…or friends at all for that matter.

“So what do you do for a living?” Charlie asked me as his sisters and his brother-in-law drifted away leaving me standing there with Mary, Jane, Charlie, and William Darcy.

“I teach Spanish at the local private school for gifted and talented children,” I replied.

“What's that like?” Charlie asked.

“Oh, it's fine. The students are all brilliant and most of them are pretty nice, decent kids.”

“I studied philosophy in college but right now I'm working for my dad while I try to figure out my life,” Mary interjected awkwardly. Most of us had sort of forgotten that she was even there anymore and she seemed to have noticed.

We all nodded at her and Charlie said, “Oh, that's nice.”

William Darcy was looking at Mary like she was some kind of mutant. And while my sister is a little weird, I don't like it when other people treat her like she's mentally retarded or something. She is socially awkward and she doesn't realize it, but people should be nice to her. Mary is the middle child and she doesn't quite fit in very well. Jane and I are eighteen months apart in age and then Mary is four years younger than me. Katie is another three years younger than Mary, but Lydia is only fifteen months younger than Katie. Mary was always the most studious member of our family and she graduated from college in only three years, after finishing high school in three years. She's only twenty now and it's hard for her to make friends since most of her life has been devoted to books and her piano.

After dinner, Charlotte's favorite part of the evening began. Charlotte's younger brother, Mark, had set up his laptop with some speakers to play the music of his sister's choice all evening. Charlotte danced the first dance with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Ethan Collins. Ethan is my cousin and the son of my father's dead business partner and brother-in-law. Ethan is one of those people who find themselves excessively entertaining and good-looking. He also believes himself to be very popular. He's actually quite boring to talk to because he mostly blathers about himself. He isn't ugly but he's no Orlando Bloom; he's not even as good looking as Charlie Bingley or William Darcy. Darcy might be a bit snooty but I will admit that he is one good looking man. Oh, and Ethan isn't very popular either. He has a few close friends, but he isn't exceptionally popular or anything.

Jane was out on the dance floor with Charlie Bingley. Nate Caldwell had given up on Mary and was now dancing with Charlotte's younger sister, Maria. Maria was better suited for Nate anyway; she lived in a world of people and colors, not dead philosophers and black and white pages. On the other hand, Mary far preferred the company of dead philosophers to living men.

I found myself sitting by the wall watching the dancing with Charlotte's younger siblings. Charlotte was the oldest of eight children and she had three younger sisters and four younger brothers. Aside from Mark and Maria, all of Char's younger siblings were standing near the wall watching the dancing.

William's POV

I wasn't quite sure why Charles wanted me to come up to Meryton with him in the first place. It was the day after Thanksgiving and he had just purchased a hotel that desperately needed remodeling. From what I understood, the hotel had once been the fanciest, most exclusive hotel in Meryton, Michigan, but in recent year Netherfield Suites had fallen into disrepair and the owner had been forced to sell the place. Charlie was planning to remodel the hotel and have a grand reopening in January. He'd bought the place in September and had been working on it since then, but this was the first time he'd brought any of his friends or family to see it. My question was simply why we had to visit Thanksgiving weekend.

Then I went to Charlotte Lucas's birthday party and saw Jane Bennett; things became much clearer then. Charlie had seen the pretty reference librarian during his first visit to Meryton. Now we were at Jane's friend's birthday party and Charlie was dancing with Jane. I was still sitting at our table listening to Caroline and Louisa prattle while Jeff drank copious amounts of booze.

“Everyone keeps saying that Lizzie Bennett is the prettiest girl here,” Caroline moaned. “But I can't see why. She's so plain. I mean look at her; she could try so much harder and look so much better.”

I looked over at Lizzie Bennett who was currently dancing with Charlotte Lucas's younger brother, Mark, to Glen Miller's “In the Mood.” It's an old swing favorite and the pair seemed to be enjoying themselves to no end; they also made a very good looking pair. Mark Lucas was a tall, handsome young man; he was currently working at the Meryton Daily News as a sportswriter, which he had assured me earlier in the evening was not a very hard job. Lizzie, though, almost seemed to be using Mark more as a prop or an accessory than as a dance partner. She was small and slender and wearing a black dress that fell a little below her knees. Her dark brown hair was in some sort of fancy style a woman could describe far better than I, but I will tell you this. Lizzie was not looking plain at all. She was positively stunning.

A few minutes later, Charlie and Jane came over to our table dragging Lizzie along with them. Mark had returned to running the music on a laptop in the corner. This was another of Caroline's complaints. “And they can't even afford to hire a real DJ,” she'd sniped earlier in the evening. “They just bring in the owner's son to fiddle around with his laptop. This would never happen in Chicago.”

I wasn't sure how I felt although the party was for the owner's daughter, so maybe she had asked her brother to be the DJ for the evening. After all, I have been to weddings where the DJ was paid a thousand dollars or more, but couldn't remember to bring the salsa music that the bride had specially requested with him. Part of me thought that Caroline needed to get over herself and stop flirting me all the time. A few years ago, she went so far as to tell my younger sister, Georgiana, that she would “be acquiring a new sister-in-law shortly and then I will give this house a real remodel.” Well, she's not marrying me and she's definitely not remodeling my house. My house in Chicago is one hundred years old and my parents remodeled to the styles of the era in which it was built. I won't have her come into my house and “bring this place into the twenty-first century.” I happen to enjoy Victorian architecture, thank you very much.

But anyway, Charlie, Jane, and Lizzie came over to our table to see how we were doing. Lizzie looked bored as Caroline complained about the food and “there just wasn't a large enough selection of deserts. They should have had at least two more items.”

“Would you rather that we had added petit fours or crème puffs?” Lizzie asked.

Caroline sniffed. “Preferably both, although there should have also been a fruit bowl or something similar for those of us who are watching our figures; we can't all eat whatever we please.”

“I'll try to remember that,” Lizzie replied. “I would have supplied a few more deserts for the evening, but unfortunately I had a root canal already scheduled for this afternoon and I just can't do anything.”

“You made the deserts?” Charlie asked, stunned.

She shook her head. “No, that was the job of the pastry chefs here at Lucas Lodge; however I have my associate's degree in culinary arts with a specialty in pastries. Char wanted me to cook for the party, but Dr. Ash said I need to have the root canal more than I needed to cook for the party.”

“But she does cook for weddings at Longbourn Estates sometimes,” Jane said. “She makes the most amazing wedding cakes.”

“How nice,” Caroline sneered. “You have something to fall back on if teaching doesn't work for you.”

“Yes, I suppose I do,” Lizzie replied, looking away like she would rather be anywhere else.

“Will,” Charlie said suddenly. “You should ask Lizzie to dance with you. She's quite the dancer”

“Oh, that's all right,” I said quickly. “I'm not much of a dancer.”

“That's not true,” he protested but stopped when I shot him a look telling him to just stop.

“It's all right,” Lizzie said. “I'll go find Nicholas and play with him for a while.” She shot me a withering glare. “I'll be fine.”

The next time I saw Lizzie she was dancing with a little boy who looked to be about five or six. “That's Nick Lucas,” Jane said as she walked by me. “He's Lizzie's date to every formal occasion when she's dateless.”

“There must be a lot of those events,” Caroline muttered before I walked over to Charlie, who was standing at the bar talking to Mr. Lucas.

When I arrived, Mr. Lucas shook my hand told me to enjoy myself before going to talk to his younger daughters. “How are you enjoying yourself?” Charlie asked me.

I shrugged. “It's all right. There aren't very many pretty girls here though.”

“Oh I disagree. Did you see the Bennett girls?”

“Charlie, you were dancing with the only pretty girl in the room. The rest of them were quite plain and dull.”

“What about Lizzie Bennett? I thought she looked quite lovely this evening.”

“She was fine, barely tolerable. She wasn't someone you could look at every day.”

“Well neither are you,” a voice behind me said. I turned around to see Lizzie Bennett standing behind me with a glass of red wine in her hand. “I could throw this all over you but I'd rather not. That shirt probably has to be dry-cleaned and I wouldn't want to force you to associate with anymore of these plain, dull people than necessary.”

As she walked away, Charlie shook his head. “I don't think you just made a new friend.”

I didn't either, but I'd been lying when I'd described Lizzie to Charlie. I actually found her unbelievably beautiful.

Chapter 2: Lazy Day

Lizzie's POV

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of my ringing cell phone. A quick glance at the clock told me it was eight in the morning, so I was not surprised when I picked up my cell phone and saw that my mother was calling. “Hello?” I mumbled into the phone.

“Lizzie, darling!” my mother chirped into the phone. “How was your night last night? Did you have a good time at Charlotte's party?”

“Yeah, it was fine,” I sighed. My mouth was in serious pain and I wanted nothing more than to stumble down the hall to the bathroom where my prescription strength Motrin was sitting on the counter.

“Were there any cute boys there?” My mother, Marybeth Bennett, wanted nothing more out of life than to see her five daughters married to handsome wealthy men. Mom had gotten married when she was eighteen and saw no reason why Jane and I didn't follow her lead. I had told her that I wasn't as mature at eighteen as my mother was at that age, which was actually true.

“There weren't any who were my type,” I told her. “Listen, Mom, I don't mind talking to you, but I need to grab some Motrin really quickly.”

“Why? Are you hung-over?”

“No, Mom, I'm not hung-over. However, I did have a root canal yesterday, if you'll recall, and my mouth really hurts right now. So let me take some Motrin and then I'll call you right back.”

“Oh, Lizzie, that's just ridiculous. I'll just stay on the phone with you while you take your pill.”

I sighed as I crawled out of bed. When I got to the bathroom, my eyes found the bright orange bottles easily even amid the clutter of make-up and toothbrushes and cleansers. I filled a cup with water and quickly swallowed my Motrin and then the amoxicillin. “All right, Mom, I'm all drugged up again.”

“Oh Lizzie, don't make jokes about drugs. It's not funny. Didn't you learn anything from Megan Collins's mistakes?” Megan Collins was Ethan's older sister who had gotten involved in some fairly sketchy behaviors when she was in high school; Ethan of course always looked down on her and treated her with a “holier than thou” attitude.

“Yes, Mother, I learned a lot from her,” I sighed. “But technically the pills I'm taking are called prescription drugs.”

“Elizabeth Anne, please stop being so ridiculous. I simply called to ask you how your evening was and to invite you and your sisters to come over for dinner tonight.”

I wanted to remind her that we had been over for dinner only two days ago for a huge Thanksgiving dinner, but then she'd probably tell me that was an extended family dinner and she just wanted to have a private immediate family dinner. “What time do you want us to come?”

“Would seven o'clock work for you girls?”

“Let me talk to Mary and Jane when they wake up and I'll give you a call, but for right now, I'll just tell you we'll be there.”

“Good, good, then I'll see you this evening.”

“See you then.” I hung up before she could come up with anymore crazy schemes.

I spent most of the rest of the morning ensconced on the couch grading my Spanish II students' tests and watching movies with Jane. Mary was in her room reading Nietzsche while Jane and I watched While You Were Sleeping. Mary's use of her time might have been more sophisticated, but some days you really just need time to relax. Plus you need some kind of distraction while you're reading a fifteen-year-old trying to describe the Holy Week festivals in Seville but you have to correct their grammar or spelling every other word.

Jane wanted to talk about Charlie who had asked her on a date for that evening. So after she called Mom to tell her that only Mary and I would be coming to dinner, I listened to her describe Charlie to me. “He's so handsome,” she sighed. “And he's an amazing dancer. He doesn't do that sweaty boy slow dance thing, but he takes your left hand in his right hand and then he puts his left hand on your waist.”

I smiled to myself but I knew Jane was gone. She had told me when we were in college that she was going to fall in love with the first guy who ever danced with her the “real way.” Since Charlie seemed to know how to dance the “real way”, I figured, she would be head over heels for him in the next two days.

“And he loves reading,” she told me. “He actually knew who Graham Greene is. And he loves Hemingway.”

“Jane dear, you hate Hemingway,” I told her. “He's not happy enough for your standards.”

“I know, but he's at least aware of Hemingway. I've read Hemingway plenty of times; I just don't like him. However, he rereads The Lord of the Rings every year.”

“What about music?” I asked. “What are his tastes in music?”

“He likes swing music and classical music.”

“Does he know who Salieri is?”

“Lizzie, you ask that about every guy I meet. Heck, you even asked that about Matt Perkins at the library and he's forty-five years old.”

“But he's single,” I protested. “And he's handsome in a dignified way.”

“His hair is going gray.”

“He knows who Salieri is and he didn't learn that from Amadeus.”

My sister shook her head and smiled. “Lizzie, you're a music snob. Granted you listen to fifty different genres of music, but you know too much about music.”

I shrugged. “Says you, but you're a literary snob. You dumped Ben Price purely because he didn't know who Jasper Fforde was.”

“Not only did he not know who Jasper Fforde was, but when I loaned him my copy of The Eyre Affair, he told me the book was complete garbage. Then he tried to get me to read some book on accounting.”

“Oh, but I always thought you wanted to be an accountant.”

“Right after I take the bar exam,” she snorted.

Jane as a lawyer was one thing I could never see. She was born to be a librarian; when she was eight years old, she reorganized all the books in our house by fiction and nonfiction and then by alphabetical order by author's last name. The nonfiction books were also sorted by category. When I started teaching at Lakeview, she came in and organized all the books on my bookshelves. She has our entire movie collection cataloged and alphabetized; her music collection is basically the same way. My favorite part is the binders. One sits with her music; the other is with our movies, and they are labeled “JANE'S MUSIC COLLECTION” and “THE BENNETT SISTERS' MOVIES”. Lydia and Katie are always making fun of her for it, but trust me, if you're looking for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the Bennett sisters' movie guide really helps you find the movie.

Darcy's POV

I found myself watching CNN, drinking coffee, and eating blueberry muffins the next morning. I was also checking my email and keeping up with business while out of town. In addition to being a partner in the law firm of Darcy, DeBourgh, and DeBourgh, I also inherited my father's chain of resorts called Pemberley Resorts and Spas. We currently have resorts in Miami, Virginia, Santa Barbara, New York, and Chicago, but we're looking into launching two new resorts, probably in North Carolina and somewhere along the Great Lakes in Michigan.

In the middle of all of this, I was also thinking about Lizzie Bennett from last night. I was glad she hadn't thrown the wine at me, but I was also mad at myself for talking about her like that. I don't know why I do things like that except for the little known fact that I am very shy; that's not one of the facts about me listed on Darcy, DeBourgh, and DeBourgh's website.

Name: William Richard Darcy

Date of Birth: March 5, 1978

College: University of Chicago

Law School: The University of Michigan

William is the son of founding partner Anne Fitzwilliam-Darcy; Ms. Fitzwilliam Darcy passed away after a long battle with cancer in 1999. William graduated from the University of Chicago that same year before receiving his juris doctoris from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 2003. Following this, he took the bar in Illinois and Michigan.

He joined the Darcy and DeBourgh practice in the fall of 2003 and was named a partner in the fall of 2004. He works primarily in Chicago; however he is interested in taking the bar in New York State, due to the amount of time he spends there working with his other business interest, Pemberley Resorts and Spas.

In his free time, Darcy enjoys wine tasting, foreign films, and skiing in Vail. If you are interested in contacting Mr. Darcy you may email him at last bit is a complete load of bullshit invented by my Aunt Catherine DeBourgh. My email address really is but my favorite hobbies are not wine tasting, foreign films, or skiing in Vail. I enjoy those activities, but they are not my favorites. I much prefer reading, listening to music, dancing, and spending time with my close friends and my little sister, Georgiana. But these events are not as cultured or sophisticated as Aunt Catherine wants me to sound, so they are not allowed to be my favorites.

I know I told Lizzie Bennett that I hate dancing but that was a lie. I love dancing, but I was terrified of her. She's beautiful and so sure of herself; I didn't know what to do with her. I was used to women throwing themselves at me so I didn't have to do any work. But I wasn't interested in women like Caroline Bingley. They weren't interested in a serious relationship; they were interested in my money and what could be gained from an associated with William Darcy, successful lawyer, owner of the Pemberley Resort and Spa chain, and heir to the Darcy fortune. I wanted a woman who was interested in me as a person and wanted me for more than my name and my money. Lizzie Bennett could be that girl.

As I was thinking all of this, a new message popped up in my inbox; it was from my little sister, Georgie. She's nineteen and she hasn't had an easy life. Our mother died when she was twelve and her father followed eighteen months later. It was then that I adopted her. I didn't want to leave her alone at Thanksgiving, especially considering everything she's gone through during the past year. But Charlie really wanted me to see his new hotel and Georgie told me she'd be fine if I went with him. She's spending the weekend with our cousin, Richard Fitzwilliam, and his family. Rick and his wife, Evelyn, live on the north side of Chicago with their two little boys, Connor and Logan. Georgie likes spending time with Rick and Evelyn because they treat her like she's a real adult, not like Aunt Catherine or our cousin, Anne DeBourgh. Plus she loves playing with Connor and Logan.

To: “William Darcy” “Georgiana Darcy” November 24, 2007

Subject: (none)

Will,

Life at Rick's is going pretty well. He actually shut the restaurant down on Thursday and spent the whole day at home with us. Aunt Catherine called us from Fiji to wish us a happy Thanksgiving and tell us that she and Anne are enjoying the sun and they wish we were there with them. But you and I both know they don't wish we were there with them. Aunt Catherine and Anne are perfectly happy vacationing away from the rest of us.

I'm doing pretty well. I've been spending most of my time with Evelyn and the boys. Yesterday, we left the boys with their nanny while we went shopping for Christmas presents. We found some great presents and we also did a little shopping for the baby. We figured with all the great day after Thanksgiving sales, it would be a good time to pick up a couple things the baby will need.

Will, I know you're apprehensive about the baby and maybe you don't think I'm making the best decision but you have to realize this is my decision. It was my decision to sleep with Damien and I will bear those consequences myself. I'm keeping this baby. I'm not killing her and I'm not giving her up for adoption. I'm keeping this baby and that's my final decision.

Willie, I'm not saying I don't respect you or your opinion. I'm just saying that there are better ways to do this than what you suggested. I'm going to have this baby and you can't stop me. Just trust me; I'm an adult and I can make my own decisions.

Your loving sister,

Georgie

I smiled. My sister was a brave girl. Her ex-boyfriend, Damien Wickham, had gotten her pregnant shortly before they broke up in June. The baby, a girl, was due in early March. Georgie was taking this year off from school. I wanted her to go back to school in the fall but she wasn't sure she wanted to do that. She wanted to be involved in her baby's life and if school got in her way, then school was going to have to wait.

I honestly don't understand my little sister. Actually, I'm not sure how much I understand about women in general. Of course then there is the fact that I tend to insult women by accident. Like last night, I called an incredibly beautiful woman “barely tolerable” and said it wasn't worth looking at her. All of that was part of my stupid defense mechanisms and my shyness. But the thing was that most people didn't know I was shy; they thought I was arrogant and self-centered.

“Hey, Will, are you planning to have any contact with humanity today?” Charlie asked as he walked into the study. I was using the study of Charlie's penthouse as an office while I was staying in Meryton.

“I'm checking my email. Georgie emailed me and I also need to look over some things for a case Aunt Catherine has that's going to court a week from Monday.”

“Caroline is asking for you. She wants to talk to you about something; she said it was important.”

“With her it's always important, but with me, it's always the same. I'm not interested in her.”

Charlie sighed. “I know you think she comes on too strongly, but once you get past her rather crass exterior she's really a nice person.”

“Charlie, listen to yourself. I've known Caroline since she was four years old. This isn't a rough, crass exterior. Your sister is a gold digger looking for a husband with a well-known name and a large bank account. There's no huge difference between her interior or exterior; she is what she is. She does put on an act in public, but her snootiness is not the act; it's the simpering sweetheart bit that's an act.”

“Darcy, how can you say these things about my sister? Caroline has never been anything but kind to you.”

“That might be true, but she doesn't treat other people with the same kindness and sweet nature.”

“Give me one example.”

“She is exceptionally rude to Georgie. She was downright insulting to Lizzie and Jane last night.”

“I thought you didn't like Lizzie; I thought she was plain, dull, and barely tolerable. Or at least, that's what you told me last night.”

“Maybe I lied,” I snapped back. “Maybe I was just saying that because…because, oh I don't know why I said that. I said it because I was being stupid.”

Charlie stood there staring at me for a few minutes. He looked like he was going to say something when Caroline pranced through the door. “Oh there you are, Willie. I've been looking for you everywhere. I checked in the bathroom and your bedroom. I even looked around the hotel and the place is a pit. I don't know how you can handle the mess the construction workers are making.”

“It's a necessary evil,” Charlie told her. “I need to spruce this place up a bit before I can have the grand reopening. And you have to live with the dust during the remodel.”

“Well, I don't like the dust and I think I might just fly back to Chicago today. I really can't stand this place and I don't get why you dragged us up here.”

“I brought you up here because I wanted you to see my new hotel. If you want to leave, I'll arrange for you to leave. With you gone, it'll be easier for me to start dating Jane Bennett.”

I don't know why Charlie said that because the minute those words were out of his mouth, Caroline was suddenly completely committed to staying in Meryton no matter how much of a “backward hick town” it was. She told me later that day that she felt a strong need to protect her brother from any “money grubbing whores” that might be in Meryton. Caroline didn't want to protect Charlie just from “money grubbing whores” but also from any women who might have any interest in marrying him. With Charlie single, she and Louisa stood to inherit his entire fortune when he died, but if he married then his wife (and children if he had any) would inherit the bulk of his fortune on his death.

Unfortunately, Charlie didn't see his sister's actions as selfish; he saw them as her wanting to build a relationship with Jane. From the little bit I knew of her, Jane was everything Caroline wasn't. Instead of being selfish and focused on material goods, Jane was gentle and loving and she always looking for the best in other people. She was a lot like Charlie in that respect. Jane was very mild-mannered while Caroline was very high-strung and expressive with her emotions.

So while Charlie was out with Jane that night, I did a little work and watched a movie with Charlie's dog, Felix. Caroline and Louisa kept trying to “help me” or rather, interrupt the movie, but since I was watching Braveheart, they kept leaving the room because the movie was “too full of icky gross blood stuff,” to quote Caroline. Too bad for her, I really like Braveheart and I don't really care what she thinks for the movies I watch. She can go blow it out her ear.

Chapter 3: So Far, So Bad

Lizzie's POV

Jane is so lucky she had an excuse to miss our family's Saturday night dinner. I was helping Mom in the kitchen when Mary started yelling at Lydia and Katie about dressing like “hoochie mamas.” Lydia and Katie were planning to go to a party after dinner and they were scantily clad. I didn't care what my sisters wore; I wasn't their mother. But Mary seemed convinced that it was her purpose in life was to reform Lydia and Katie and prepare them for the life they would live in the convent with the twelve-foot-wall she would be sending them off to shortly.

Lydia walked into the kitchen and grabbed me just as I was dipping raspberries in chocolate. As she wrapped her arms around my neck, I dropped four raspberries into the dipping chocolate. As I yelped, she said, “Lizzie, bean, I'm so pleased you're here. It's an absolute privilege to have you here.”

I looked at Mom and Lydia. “What the heck is going on here?”

“I'm in my British phase right now,” Lydia announced in a horrible fake British accent. “I watched this lovely picture about life across the puddle and it inspired me to start getting in touch with my inner Brit.”

Lydia is constantly reinventing herself. It's always to impress someone although exactly who she wants to impress really depends on the situation. Some days it's people at school, other days it's some boy, and other days, I think it's just the world in general. Lydia is very superficial and consumed with what other people think of her. Right now I was pretty sure she was trying to impress the new transfer student. She's listened to my mother rant and rave about how we Bennett girls need to marry rich successful men who can assure our place in the world.

I patted Lydia on the head and smiled. “I think you mean `across the pond.''

“That's an Americanism,” she replied haughtily. “In my country, we speak of the Atlantic as a puddle. After all, it's a mere drop in the bucket when you compare it with the mighty Artic Ocean.”

“Lydia, dear, the Artic Ocean is considerably smaller than the Pacific Ocean,” my mother said slowly.

“Then which ocean is bigger than the Atlantic Ocean?”

“That would be the Pacific Ocean, sweetie.”

She looked really distressed as she looked at Mom and me. “But I thought that was the smallest ocean.”

“No, the Pacific Ocean is between California and Japan,” I told her.

“Isn't Japan in Africa?”

I sighed as I took six plates out of the cupboard. “I'm going to set the table. I'll leave you two to figure out geography.”

“I think I'll just send her to your father's study and have her study the globe for a while,” Mom said as I headed into the dining room.

My dad was sitting in the living room watching the evening news and reading the newspaper. He looked up when I stuck my head through the door. “Oh, hello, Lizzie-belle, where's Mary?”

“She's off chasing Katie around and calling her a whore,” I replied.

He raised his bushy eyebrows. “Oh, now that's just wonderful. So where's my Janie Mae?”

“She has a date with that Charlie Bingley from last night,” I told him as I started setting the table.

He nodded and smiled. “I met him when he first bought the Netherfield in September; he seemed like a good sort of young man. Did they meet at the party?”

I nodded. “They danced together most of the night.”

“Janie deserves a good man,” he said with a sigh. “She's had a few too many run-ins with the wrong sort of boys. I didn't like that last boy she was seeing; he just had no respect for anyone.”

I nodded. “We'll see how this thing with this Charlie Bingley goes. He seems a decent fellow.”

My father smiled. “Lizzie-belle, someday you're going to have to accept that there are good men out there and let one into your heart.”

I scowled at him. “Dad, I'm not some sort of man-hating feminist. I've just had a couple bad experiences, but I've moved on with my life. I just don't love everyone immediately like Jane does.”

“But you also rely very much on your first impressions of people, and that's not always the best idea. Some perfectly wonderful people make horrible first impressions.”

Thinking of William Darcy's behavior the night before, I demanded, “Name one.”

“William Lucas,” he replied referring to Charlotte's father and his best friend. “The first time I met Bill he was twenty-seven and seemed like a fish out of water. He didn't talk very much and he acted like everyone who talked to him was a problem. But later I learned he was just really uncomfortable meeting new people. Not everyone is as outgoing as you are, Lizzie.”

I sighed. My dad was always reminding me that not everyone was like me. I knew he was right, but I figured that other people needed to accept me the way I am. I don't plan on changing just to satisfy other people. I'm very outgoing and I don't get why other people have to be shy. I'm perfectly fine talking to anyone. Once when I was four I got lost in the supermarket and I just spent the whole time following a grandmotherly looking woman around the store babbling to her about my life with my big sister, Janie, and my new baby sister, Mary. She helped me find my mother who had been frantically searching for me the whole time I was missing. I just figured my mom wouldn't leave without me, so I'd be fine. My mother was heartbroken that her beloved daughter hadn't really missed her.

Dinner was one of those family dinners where no one really wants to be there but everyone is there because they think that someone else wants them to be there. Mom held biweekly family dinners to make sure that she saw all her children on regular basis, but no one else really derived much pleasure from these events. Lydia very vocally opposed the events because, being that they were mandatory, they cut into her social calendar. Katie hated the events because Lydia told her to hate them. Mary disliked them because she disliked spending time around Katie and Lydia. I enjoyed spending time with my dad, but I didn't really enjoy the dinner table conversation. That night the conversation included sixteen-year-old Lydia's announcement of her plans to pierce her nose, tongue, and lip on her eighteenth birthday.

“Lydia, might I remind you that your eighteenth birthday is still a year and a half away?” my mother said.

“Yeah, but that's okay. I can totally make plans now. I mean Mary started college when she was seventeen and I'm only a year under that.”

“While that is true,” my father began. “You will not be starting college until you are eighteen. Furthermore, you will not be acquiring any more piercings until you have graduated from high school.”

“Oh, Daddy, you're so quaint,” Lydia sighed. “Seriously, no one cares about that stuff anymore. Aunt Grace is letting Jenna get her Marilyn pierced and Jenna is a whole year and a half younger than me.”

“Yes, and that's fine for Aunt Grace. But I am not Aunt Grace and I will not be having my sixteen-year-old daughter get all pierced up just to impress other people.”

“Oh, but Chris,” my mother protested. “If Grace let Jenna do it, maybe it's not so bad.”

“No, Marybeth,” Dad replied firmly. “Grace can do what she likes, but we will keep to our rules.”

“Also,” I inserted. “Jenna goes to Meryton High School, which allows their students to have whatever piercings they like, but that's not true at Lakeview. At Lakeview, students are only allowed two ear piercings and after that, no more piercings. If Lydia were to pierce her nose, tongue, or lip while at Lakeview, she would be suspended.”

“Oh, Liz, you're so lame,” Lydia moaned. “Do you think anyone actually follows those stupid rules?”

“Lydia, I happen to know that Mira Albertson was suspended for her piercings last spring, so don't go around saying that no one follows the rules anymore.”

Lydia rolled her eyes at me. “Well, Headmaster Mueller would never dare suspend me. I'm Miss Bennett's little sister.”

“Nepotism is not going to protect you here,” my father cautioned her.

“I don't have nepotism!” my youngest sister yelped. “That's a dreadful disease to contract and I'd never put myself in a situation to contract it.”

“Nepotism is, literally, the love of nephews,” Mary said pompously.

“Well, I don't have any nephews, so I can't have nepotism.”

“It can also refer to gaining things just by being related to someone. It doesn't necessarily have to involve nephews,” Dad explained slowly.

“Well, they should give me special privileges for being Lizzie's sister. It totally sucks having your older sister work at your school; teachers actually expect you to do your homework.”

“Your father also expects you to do your homework.”

“Which is also stupid,” Lydia snorted. “People think that just because Mary was a bookworm, and Lizzie and Jane are dorks, I'm smart and I might actually like school. That's just retarded. I'm just not cut out for school; I'm more of a social animal.”

The rest of dinner went pretty much the same way as that one conversation. At one point, Mary tried to start a conversation about the differences between Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, but Lydia immediately cut her off to discuss the current trends in skirts. “The miniskirt seems to be making a real comeback,” she said although I wasn't aware that the miniskirt had ever really gone out of fashion.

“It's coming in so many more fabrics this season,” Katie added. “Yesterday I bought three miniskirts and none of them looked like the other one. One was plaid, one was denim, and the other one was red leather.”

“And they're all the absolute latest rage,” Lydia added. “Of course, I bought five because I needed to have red leather and black leather as well as something green. Jenna and I read in Cosmo that green is this season's pink.”

“Well, if that's true then I really need to update my wardrobe,” Mrs. Bennett announced.

“Yes, you should, Mother dearest. And Lizzie, dear, it wouldn't hurt you to update your wardrobe a bit. Buying a miniskirt or two wouldn't be the worst thing on earth, now would it?”

“And where would I wear a miniskirt?” I asked.

“You could wear it to work! I bet Mr. Jacobs would think you were so totally hot.”

I stared at my sister, trying to figure out if she had recently had a stroke or something. “Lydia, I do not wear miniskirts for one thing. Secondly, Headmaster Mueller would fire me if I wore a miniskirt to work. And thirdly, Mr. Jacobs and I are not going to start dating-ever. He's not my type.”

“Headmaster Mueller needs to get that stick out of his ass,” was Lydia's response.

After dinner, I helped Mom with the dishes and then I headed to the study to talk to my dad. Lydia and Katie had left for their party right after dinner and Mary was locked up in her old bedroom reading a book. That was Mary for you; she didn't even like sitting around talking with Mom and Dad or with Jane or I. Mary was a true loner. She was working for my dad these days, helping out at the front desk, but the other employees were starting to complain about her and Dad was starting to consider moving her to a position where she didn't have to deal with other people.

“Mary would make a great hermit,” my dad said as I sat down on the sofa.

“Father!” I protested. “She is your daughter.”

“She is, but I don't know what's wrong with her. She loves being alone. She ignores customers at the front desk for her silly books. Your books are silly and neither are Jane's, but her books are ridiculous. It's like she doesn't care a bit about the way your mother and I raised her. She runs around quoting Nietzsche who said, `God is dead.' Well, Lizzie-belle, your mother and I raised our girls to believe in God. While I want you lasses to make your own decisions, I don't want you to forget the way you were raised.”

I walked over to him and kissed his cheek. “Oh, Daddy, I'm not going to forget the way I was raised. Lydia and Katie might and maybe Mary has, but I promise you that I won't.”

He squeezed my hand. “Have a lovely night, my girl. I know I'm an old-fashioned man, but I love my girls and I want you to be happy.”

Darcy's POV

“I'm fit as a fiddle and ready for love,” Charlie sang as he danced into my room the next morning.

“I take it your date went well,” I said looking up from the Wall Street Journal.

He smiled at me. “Will, I'm as free as a schoolboy. Jane is wonderful. We talked and talked until the restaurant closed. And then we went to her condo and talked until three in the morning. The only reason we stopped then was because her sister came downstairs and told us to shut up so I left. Then I came back here and went to sleep.”

I looked at the clock on my bedside table. “Charles Winston, you are aware that it is 8am in the morning. How much sleep have you gotten?”

He shrugged. “Probably about four or four and a half, I'm not sure.”

I smiled at him. “So do you have another date coming up soon?”

“Yeah, we're going out again on Friday. Also, she invited me to bring you and my sisters over to her condo on Saturday for dinner and a movie.”

“Are her sisters going to be there?”

He smiled. “She said Lizzie would probably be there, but she wasn't sure about Mary. Apparently, Mary isn't very good at socializing.”

“I noticed that the other night.”

“But don't worry, Will; she promised that Lizzie would be there, and I know you want to see her.” He smiled at me. “I know you're not interested in my sister and I must admit that maybe Caroline isn't the girl for you.”

“Charlie, it's not that she might not be the girl for me; it's that she is most definitely not the girl for me. We may have both grown up in Chicago's high society and we may both be members of extremely wealthy families. Yes we both went to the finest schools money could afford, but we're not the same sort of people. We have different personalities and it just wouldn't work.”

“Suit yourself,” he replied. “I'm off to have breakfast with my sisters. Would you like to join us? We're going to this little breakfast joint that Jane recommended. She said they have a really great brunch menu and it opens around 10am. You really should come with us.”

“I'm not really sure,” I replied.

“Jane said she and Lizzie would be stopping there after church this morning.”

“Doesn't their father's hotel have a restaurant? Why wouldn't they just go there?” Then I looked at his smiling face. “Charlie, are we going to the restaurant at the Longbourn?”

He nodded and grinned. “I met Mr. Bennett once earlier in the fall and he told me that he would be willing to give me any advice I wanted about running a hotel up here.”

“Why would he do that? Once you reopen Netherfield, you'll be the competition.”

“Yes, but Mr. Bennett doesn't like all these chain hotels coming in with their rewards clubs and VIP groups. The locally owned resorts do better if their owners band together.”

I nodded, but then something occurred to me. “Didn't the guy you bought this place from own a bunch of hotels?”

“Yeah, but he was based out of Meryton; the Netherfield was his biggest success. It was the last hotel that he sold; it was his darling. It was where he lived with his family. He named the ballrooms after his daughters and he planned for his son to inherit the hotel business after he died or when he was ready to retire.”

“What happened?”

“I'm not sure. Jane said Lizzie knows the story and I should ask her.”

Chapter 4: Once Upon a December

Lizzie's POV

Sunday morning, Jane told me that we were having Charlie, his sisters, and Will Darcy over on Friday night. She wanted to just have dinner and watch a movie, but she was wondering if I would make dinner. “You're just such a good cook,” she had said. Jane knew that the way to get me to help her was flattery. And so that was why I left Lakeview almost as soon as the school day ended and found myself in the kitchen cooking dinner for seven people, and I wasn't even very fond of most of them. But Jane wanted to make a good impression on Charlie and his family, and I wanted her to be happy, so I was making dinner. Dinner was going to be a menu of Jane's favorites. First I was making hummus and toasted pita bread for hors d'oeuvres along with canapés. Then I was making a salad with lettuce, spinach, feta cheese, pine nuts, and tomatoes, all topped with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The main course was going to be pork roast topped with a chipotle raspberry sauce along with two side dishes, linguini and winter squash with brown sugar and cinnamon; and for dessert, we were having a homemade rice pudding with cinnamon and raisins.

I liked the spread. Granted there were desserts I like more than rice pudding, but Janie loves it and I have to make something she likes. Jane loves pork roast especially with raspberry chipotle sauce. I prefer it with a nice topping of sautéed or fried mushrooms, but Jane has never liked mushrooms. One time I cooked them up in olive oil and used them as a topping over grilled chicken; she ate them willingly but later told me she hated them.

So I was making dinner and singing along with the original Broadway recording of the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack. I love the Disney movie, but I adore the musical. So I sang along with Lumiere on “Be Our Guest” while fixing the squash and I joined Mrs. Potts on “Beauty and the Beast” as I made the rice pudding.

Jane came home just as I was setting the table. “How is everything?” she asked as she put her coat in the closet and deposited her messenger bag in her bedroom.

“The food is coming along nicely. I just put the rice pudding in the microwave to keep warm until it's time, the salad is in the refrigerator, the pork is in the oven with the squash, and the pasta is on stove. So all we need is our guests.”

“And for you to get changed,” Jane told me. “Will you please wear a different top? And put on some shoes. I don't want Charlie and his sisters to think you're completely classless.”

I was wearing dark wash jeans with a bright pink sweatshirt that had “Grand Valley State University” embroidered in white letters. I knew I needed to change, but I really want to mess with Jane tonight. I just like pushing her buttons. “But what's wrong with my sweatshirt?” I asked. “Is there something wrong with the fact that I went to a Division II school?”

She smiled and shook her head. “Just go get change. I'm going to make sure that Jack Lewis is in the basement if you'll make sure that Audrey and Gene will stay upstairs all night.”

“Why?” I asked. Jack Lewis is our dog, named after C.S. “Jack” Lewis. Audrey and Gene are our cats. Audrey is a friendly calico cat I named after Audrey Hepburn while Gene is an independent-minded gray tabby named after Gene Kelly.

“Charlie said that his sisters don't like animals. He wants to meet the animals, but his sisters will leave and complain if they see any evidence of our pets.”

I sighed. “Fine, if we must, I'll put up the gate.”

“Thank you, Lizzie,” she called as I hurried upstairs. “I'll pay you back for this later.”

“She'd better pay me back,” I said to Audrey and Gene who were lying on my bed. I'd discarded my sweatshirt in favor of a black cowl neck angora sweater I'd bought at H&M when I was in Chicago last Christmas. My uncle Edward Gardiner, his wife Sophie, and their five children live in Chicago; Jane and I go visit them every year around Christmastime.

Audrey yawned as Gene contemplated me very seriously. I smiled as I pulled a pair of pointy-toed kitten heeled shoes on my feet. “You cats have it so easy. You do as you please and you don't have to worry about your sister bossing you around so she can impress some silly boy.”

I put on a pair of blue earrings and applied a light coat of clear lip gloss. Then I inspected myself in the mirror. “I suppose I'll do for dinner with my sister's new beau and his snooty sisters and his ridiculously snobbish friend.” I turned to face the cats. “What do you think, my loves? Will I do passably well?”

Gene meowed and Audrey sneezed. I smiled at them and then kissed the tops of their heads. “You two will have to stay up here until after our guests leave. Apparently the esteemed Mrs. Hurst and the charming Miss Bingley do not care for animals, cats or dogs. So you two will stay up here and Jack Lewis is going to stay in the basement. I wish I didn't have to do this to you two, but we must make our guests happy.”

I put the baby gate up at the top of the stairs and then headed downstairs. Jane's room was right at the bottom of the stairs and I observed that the door was still shut, meaning my sister was in there primping and preening still. So I went back in the kitchen and turned on the CD player again. As the sounds of “If I Can't Love Her” filled the room, the doorbell rang. I opened the door to reveal Charlie, Will, Louisa, and Caroline. “Welcome, welcome,” I said. “Please do come in. I hope you found the place all right.”

“Oh yes, Jane's directions were perfect,” Charlie told me.

“It was easy to find, but this place is so far from our place,” Caroline sighed. “Couldn't your father have built his hotel and these condominiums closer to the Netherfield?”

I smiled at her; I suppose I was trying to kill her with kindness. “Actually, Caroline, my great-grandfather, Alexander Bennett moved up to Meryton and built the Longbourn in the mid-1920s before Mr. Jacobs even thought of the Netherfield. Ethan Jacobs was only two years old when Longbourn Estates opened.” I smiled at them all again. “Now please do let me take your coats and put them in the closet for you. Was Mr. Hurst unable to come this evening?”

Louisa Hurst shook her head with a condescending smile. “Jeffery flew back to Chicago on Tuesday. He just couldn't leave his job for more than a day or two.”

I put their coats, two wool pea coats for the ladies and two leather jackets for the gentlemen, in the closet. “Jane will be out in a minute. She got home from work a little late and she wanted to change into something a little more comfortable.”

“It's perfectly fine,” Will said with a smile, and he had quite a nice smile, too. The thing was that I didn't want him to have a nice smile. He was supposed to be a bad guy and easy to ate, not good looking with a fantastic smile.

Jane came out of her bedroom just as Jack Lewis started barking down in the basement. I smiled and Jane cringed. “Do you have a dog?” Louisa yelped. “I'm allergic to dogs.”

“I hate dogs!” Caroline shrieked. “They are load and vile and disgusting and they always have fleas. And they are mangy.”

“I love dogs,” came Will. “What kind of dog do you have?”

“He's a black lab,” I replied.

“I cannot stay if there is a dog in the house!” Louisa yelled. “Charlie, come along; we are leaving. Come along, Will. Don't stand there talking. We must get out of here now.”

“You and Caroline may leave if you like,” Charlie told his sister. “I don't think the dog is a reason for Will or me to leave. We both quite enjoy dogs.”

She sniffed. “Fine, then, Caroline and I will be leaving. I am allergic to dogs and I see no reason for Caroline to stay here alone with you and two girls she barely knows.”

“Fine, leave,” her brother told her. “But you're not taking my car.”

“If you need, you can use our phone to call a cab,” I offered, trying to be helpful.

“Charlie, give me your car keys!” Caroline yelled. “You and Will can find your own way home. I will not be forced to ride around in some small-town taxi service. I want to drive your car.”

“Too bad,” Charlie replied. “I don't trust you with the Mercedes. If you and Louisa want to leave, you can call a cab. Or you can stay here and be happy with the fact that the dog is in the basement.”

His sisters were both staring at him, glowering when Jane inserted, “Or I could drive you two. It's no trouble for me.”

I sighed. “Jane, this is your dinner party.”

“I know, but Jack Lewis is my dog and I feel like this is my fault. Just let me grab my coat and I can take Louisa and Caroline home.”

The bratty Bingley sisters immediately jumped on this idea and within five minutes, they were leading my older sister out the door. As Jane left, she told Charlie, Will, and I to feel free to start dinner without her.

Will's POV

I looked at Lizzie as the door shut behind her older sister. She seemed stunned and more than a little frustrated; then she turned to Charlie and me. “Would either of you like anything to drink?”

“Do you have any wine?” Charlie asked.

She nodded. “I believe we have both red and white. Will, would you like anything?”

“I'll have the same as Charlie.”

“Then come into the kitchen with me and I'll pour us all some wine. And while we're at it, we'll let Jack Lewis up from the basement.”

“I'll go get him, if you like,” I told her.

She nodded and we followed her into the kitchen. She pointed to the basement door and I opened the door to find a very excited black lab bounding up the stairs toward me. After he sniffed Charlie and me, he went into the living room and settled himself on a dog bed in front of the fireplace. “That's Jack Lewis for you,” Lizzie said with a smile.

“How'd he get named Jack Lewis?” Charlie asked as she passed each of us glasses of white Zinfandel.

“Jane named him after C.S. Lewis who nicknamed himself Jack after his dog. When Lewis was a child, he had a beloved dog named Jacksie who died and young Lewis nicknamed himself `Jack' in honor of the dog. So since the nickname had originated with a dog, Jane felt Jack Lewis was the perfect name for her dog.”

I smiled as Charlie said, “That seems like Jane.”

Charlie and Jane had gone on a date Saturday night, had brunch together Sunday, gone on a date on Tuesday night, and gone to the movies together on Thursday night. He seemed to be over the moon every time he came home from a date with her. I hadn't seen them together yet, so I didn't know how she felt around him. I had been invited to brunch with them on Sunday and had been planning to go when Georgie called me suddenly. So I stayed home and talked to my little sister. I missed Georgie and I wanted to see her. The only thing that was keeping me in Meryton was spending time with Charlie and my small crush on Lizzie.

Lizzie looked wonderful tonight. She was wearing a black turtleneck sweater, which really flattered her. Her dark brown hair was up in a bun and she was wearing some dangly blue earrings. She was so pretty. She wasn't like Caroline, constantly demanding attention. She was just a normal unassuming person.

“If you like, we have some hors d'oeuvres,” she offered, pulling a bowl and a few dishes out of the fridge. “It's just some hummus and pita bread and some vegetable canapés, nothing too fancy.”

I took one bite of her hummus and pita bread, and was in love. Maybe not with Lizzie herself, but I was definitely in love with her cooking. “How did you end up becoming a chef?” I asked her.

She looked surprised by my question but recovered with a quick smile. “When I was in high school, I was dual-enrolled at Lakeview, the school where I now teach, and Meryton Community College. I graduated from high school at the same time as I finished my associate's degree in culinary arts. I went into college with about 60 credits already done, so I graduated from college a year early.”

“I guess I'm more wondering why you picked culinary arts,” I said.

She smiled. “Ethan Jacobs, who used to own the Netherfield, had four children, three daughters and a son. His oldest daughter, Claire-Marie, had trained in France as a chef and then come to work at the Longbourn. I grew up watching Claire-Marie cook and eating her cooking. I fell in love with cooking and I wanted to do what she did. But while I was in school, I also started studying Spanish and I fell in love with the language. So cooking was my hobby, my side job. Spanish is my passion.”

She seemed so happy and then Charlie spoke up. “Jane said you know the story about why Ethan Jacobs's son didn't inherit the Netherfield when Mr. Jacobs died.”

The three of us settled ourselves in the living room with our wine and hors d'oeuvres and Lizzie sighed. She leaned back in her chair. “Ethan Jacobs owned seventeen hotels throughout northern Michigan. He was based out of Meryton and he and Fran raised their family in the penthouse suite at the top of the Netherfield, but he was very rarely actually in Meryton. He was always traveling around the area, visiting his other hotels and making sure they were doing well. Now, Ethan was about my grandfather's age and Fran was about fifteen or twenty years younger than him. He hadn't married until later in life; up until then, he'd been too busy with work to have a serious relationship with a woman.”

“Were his kids about your age then?” Charlie asked.

She shook her head. “No, Fran was twenty when she married Ethan and he was forty, and that was about forty years ago. Claire-Marie is about forty now and she still works for my father at the Longbourn.”

“Why did she start working for your father?”

“It's actually simple,” she replied, taking a sip of her wine. “Her father told her that no daughter of his was ever going to be `one of the help' and told her to go get a real job. She took her credentials to my father, or maybe it was my grandfather, and he hired her in a heartbeat. She practically runs the place now.”

“What about the other children?” I asked. “What happened to them?”

“After Claire-Marie, there was Ted. Ted was supposed to be the next Ethan, except for one little hitch. Ted saw how the business consumed his father and how little time or energy his father had for his family; he decided he wanted a normal nine-to-five job where he could be there for his family. Then when Ted was eighteen, he went off to college and studied engineering. Ethan accused him of abandoning the family and leaving his mother and sisters `out to the wolves' but Ted didn't care; he wanted to be an engineer. He graduated from college, came home and married his high school sweetheart, and then moved to Houston. He used to come and visit at Christmas every year but then Fran died and he just didn't care anymore. He still pops in every now and then to see his sisters but he's never cared much for his father, especially after he was disinherited. But of course, he was the one who paid for his father's funeral and the one who took care of everything when the old man died. But Ethan never forgave Ted for not being the good loyal son like my father was.”

I looked at her and shook my head. I never wanted to be like, so consumed by business that I had nothing left for my family. Ethan sounded a lot like my Aunt Catherine who wanted everyone to be absolutely perfect for the same of the law firm. If one single area of my personal life was off, she'd give me hell about it. I had to date the right women and be seen with the right friends, or I wasn't good enough to be her nephew or her law partner. I think she even wanted me to marry my cousin, Anne, because Anne was a good decent human being. Of course the fact that Anne was a simpering idiot meant nothing to her mother. She had passed the bar and that was good enough for her. But Anne was also a hypochondriac, and she'd been secretly carrying on an affair with her mother's pool boy since she was sixteen years old. Anne had two very Hispanic looking children she claimed were the result of a sperm donor but everyone, except Aunt Catherine, was well aware of how much the boy looked like Enrique.

I was brought back to earth by Lizzie's announcement that it was almost eight-thirty and maybe we should have dinner. She promised to tell us about the youngest two Jacobs girls over dinner, so Charlie and I followed her into the dining room. The table had been set for seven, so we removed three plates and settled ourselves around the table. The food looked beautiful and it tasted even better than it looked. And as we ate, Lizzie told us about the youngest two Jacobs girls.

“They were two peas in a pod,” she said. “And they looked like twins. Norah-Francine was the older one. She was a good student and a great girl. Everyone had high expectations for her. But she had one weakness in life and that was the porters in her father's hotel. She was in love with a different one every day it seemed. Right after she graduated from high school, she started publicly dating one of them; his name was Jake Norris and he was not acceptable to her father. So Ethan fired Jake, so Jake went and got a job working at Lucas Lodge while taking classes at Meryton Community College. Then Norah-Francine, who had shortened her name to just plain Norah by then, got pregnant, so her father went out and demanded Mr. Lucas fire Jake. But Mr. Lucas wouldn't do it. He said it wasn't right and there was nothing wrong with Jake as a porter. So then Ethan told Norah to have an abortion, but she wouldn't do it. So he disinherited her and she went off and married Jake. Eighteen years later, Norah and Jake live just outside of Meryton with their three kids. Norah works at the dentist's office and Jake is now the assistant manager of Lucas Lodge; they aren't rich or anything, but they do pretty well for themselves.”

She sighed, ate a little food, and took a sip of water. “And then there was Olivia-Therese. She looked like Norah and she acted like her too. Everything Norah did, her little sister did too. When Norah became a cheerleader, Olivia became one too. When Norah fell in love with a porter, Olivia did too. This would have been fine if Norah had done what her parents wanted but when she got pregnant, her parents locked Olivia up; she was going to be their `good child', the one who did what they wanted. So Olivia-Therese graduated from high school and then went to college and became a nurse. Then she married a doctor and had a baby. Ethan and Fran were thrilled. They finally had their perfect child. Olivia had her family with a dog, two-point-five children, and a white picket fence. And then, five years ago, Fran died. Olivia had been married for about five years and she had two young children. But with her mother out of the way, she could finally tell her father what she thought of him and what he'd put her through all those years. And she did; she told him she thought he was worse than the devil and he could burn in hell for all she cared. She told him he'd been a horrible father and had never been around when she was growing up. Then she dropped the real bomb on him and told him that if he was looking for perfect children to go look at Claire-Marie who was thirty-five and head pastry chef at the Longbourn. And then she reminded him that Ted had his PhD in aerospace engineering and was working for NASA. She told him that perfection doesn't mean doing exactly what your parents tell you to do; it means becoming the best possible person you can be.”

“What did he do then?” Charlie asked.

“He started drinking and stopped caring about the business. Now some of that had to do with losing Fran but some of it came from what Olivia said to him. He realized how alone he really was and he became scared. He tried to improve things with Olivia, but he still kept Norah, Ted, and Claire at a distance. He was a real idiot about that stuff and not many people in this town were sad to see him pass away. They like his children around here. People are proud of the fact that Ted Jacobs works at NASA.” She shook her head and took another sip of water. “My goodness, it's after nine o'clock. Where is Jane?”

Just then, as if in answer to Lizzie's question, the phone rang. She talked mostly in monosyllables for a few minutes and then hung up the phone. “That was my dad. The snow is really coming down out there so he's keeping Mary at their place tonight, doesn't want her out in this snow. He got a call from Jane a couple minutes ago saying she was going to stay at the Netherfield tonight; she doesn't want to chance the roads and they both recommend that you guys stay here tonight. One of you can stay in Jane's room and the other can stay in Mary's room. Hopefully, the roads will be better in the morning.”

Charlie and I readily agreed to her offer. Then we finished dinner and ate her amazing rice pudding. After that we all watched The Muppet Christmas Carol and then went to bed. And I was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, Lizzie Bennett might not hate me so much anymore.

But unfortunately, unbeknownst us that night, the wind that brought in the snowstorm had also brought in Damien Wickham, charmer extraordinaire.

Chapter 5: Nothing Wrong

Lizzie's POV

After Mass on Sunday, Jane and I had brunch at the Longbourn with our family. Claire-Marie had made a wonderful quiche Lorraine and brunch was going beautifully when Lydia dragged a tall, slender man over to our table. “Jane, Lizzie, this is our guest and new friend, Damien Wickham. Damien, this is my sister, Lizzie, and my other sister, Jane.”

“It's lovely to meet you, Jane, Lizzie,” he said, shaking our hands. “Lydia and Katie have been such delightful hostesses since I arrived Friday evening. But they did not mention that they had such lovely older sisters.”

“Smooth operator,” Jane mumbled in my ear before saying aloud, “It's lovely to meet you, Damien. I'm going to freshen up in the ladies' room. I'll see you both later.”

Jane left me standing there with Damien Wickham who was smiling at me. I noticed that he was wearing large wireframe glasses, but they seemed to suit him in an odd way. He was wearing blue jeans and a black turtleneck sweater. He was handsome in an old-fashioned way. “So your mother tells me you're a teacher,” he replied.

I nodded as we sat down at a small table a short distance from my family's table. “I teach high school Spanish at the local private school.”

“Oh really?” he said revealing a charming smile, which was much more charming than Will Darcy's smile. “I have spent a great deal of time in various educational institutions over the past several years. I've become what you might call a professional student.”

“So what brings you to Meryton? The only educational institution we have that goes above high school is Meryton Community College. Are you planning to teach there?”

He smiled. “No, I'm actually not here to teach. I'm here to visit a friend of mine who is working at the Army recruiting office; we were in the army together.”

“Oh, you're in the army?”

“I was in the National Guard,” Damien replied with his charming smile. “I never actually fought overseas, thankfully, but I believe that one has a duty to one's country.”

“Of course, of course, so what is the name of this friend of yours?”

“Sean Denny, you might know him actually; he grew up around here.”

Oh I knew Sean Denny all right. Sean Denny and I had gone to school together and he could have won an award for the most time spent in detention. But then, Damien seemed like a lovely, charming fellow; the army must have reformed Sean. I couldn't see Damien being friends with the sort of con man Sean was back in high school. This man sitting across the table from me seemed to be such a sweetheart.

By the time I went back to the condo later that afternoon, I had a date with Damien Wickham for the following Friday. I was excited, partially because Damien seemed like a great guy and partially because I hadn't been on a date in a year and a half. Now you may be wondering how a girl like me can go a whole year and a half without a date; yes I am aware that a year and a half is eighteen whole months. I'm also aware that I've been alone for the past eighteen months. My sisters are constantly reminding me of these delightful facts. When I told my sisters about my date, they started relentlessly harassing me about my lack of dating experience. I didn't go on a real date until three months before my eighteenth birthday. I dated that guy for about six weeks and then was single again for two and a half years. That was when I started dating Andrew Caldwell; Andrew was a great guy and I almost married him; we were even engaged, but then one day we realized that we weren't in love with each other. We suited each other better as siblings and friends than as a married couple. Andrew and I had broken up eighteen months earlier, right after we had graduated from college.

I'm terribly pathetic when it comes to relationships. I'm incredibly picky and I have a list of standards and morals that Char says is longer than Santa's naughty and nice list. Maybe she's right but I will have my standards; I want to marry the right man. I know I was a dues-paying member of the Never Been Kissed Club until my twenty-first birthday when Andy kissed me right before I started drinking my first beer. I've spent much of my life making jokes about spending my future living alone in an apartment with twenty-five cats. Right now I'm living in a condo with my sisters, two cats, and a dog. Oh, and I haven't been on a date since I broke up with the only serious boyfriend I've ever had. The more I think about this, the more depressed I become. I need a beer.

I went downstairs and grabbed a Guinness out of the fridge. Mary was sitting at the kitchen table fiddling in her sketchbook. “You shouldn't drink that stuff,” she said barely looking up from her drawing. “Alcohol kills your brain cells and you can get addicted to it so easily.”

“Thanks for the advice,” I said. “And how would you know anything seeing as you've never touched a drop of the stuff?” I mumbled to myself as I headed back up to my room.

“And you should never drink alone!” she yelled after me.

I went back downstairs and stuck my head in the kitchen. “Yeah, well, Jane isn't home and you're not old enough to drink. So unless you have any other drinking partners for me up your sleeve, I'll be drinking alone.”

Just then the doorbell rang. When I opened it, Damien Wickham was leaning against the doorframe with a six pack of Miller Lite in his hand. “Care to let me in, Miss Bennett?” he asked. “I see you're sampling the Irish beer, but I've brought you something better.”

“I can put this away for later,” I told him. Normally, I would never put away a good Irish beer in favor of a cheap American beer, but Damien was just too cute and sweet to pass up his offer.

As he followed me into the kitchen, Damien asked, “What's a girl like you doing at home on a perfectly good Thursday night?”

“Some of us have to go to work in the morning. Also just the school day may end at three but my work doesn't stop when my last class ends. I have homework to check and papers to grade. Hence I am sitting home grading homework in my sweatpants.”

“Well, they're very sexy sweatpants.”

I grinned, slightly embarrassed. I wasn't used to being called sexy. I'd been compared to Audrey Hepburn and my father always called me gorgeous. Andrew had always said I was beautiful; I'd always told him he was biased, but he insisted that he was just being honest. My sisters and my friends all seemed to agree that I was good-looking. But Will had said I was plain and not working a second glance.

“Personally, I think those sweatpants are hideous,” Mary announced. “Besides, it's ten o'clock on a weeknight and Lizzie really ought to be in bed by eleven. She does have to go to work tomorrow morning. Also you two already have a date scheduled for tomorrow night so there's no reason for you to predate at ten o'clock. And just for your information, Damien, Lizzie never drinks American beer unless she is desperate. She would much rather drink a good German beer or an Irish beer or an English beer. Gracious, she'd rather drink a Mexican beer than an American beer.”

“Hey now,” I said. “First of all, I love these sweatpants. And secondly, Dos Equis is good beer.”

I was wearing my black sweatpants from Jane's career in high school track. They may not be the newest sweatpants or the best fitting, but they work when you're just being lazy, grading homework, watching old movies, and wallowing in the pathetic nature of your own life. Wickham didn't seem to mind seeing me in my sweats, but I felt really pathetic standing there talking to a gorgeous man while wearing my sweatpants and an old t-shirt. My hair was in the pigtail braids I did up every night when I was getting ready for bed. Okay, so I had been getting ready for bed when I realized how pathetic my life is and I realized I needed a beer.

If Damien Wickham had shown up a few minutes later, I would have been in bed and I wouldn't have been able to see him. My desire for a beer had been fate; I was meant to see Damien tonight. In fact, based on how we'd met, I was starting to think our being together was fate; we were destined to be together. I'd been waiting to meet the man of my dreams since I first started watching chick flicks and discovered such princes of men such as Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. I had been waiting for Gilbert Blythe to spring out of the pages of Anne of Green Gables since I was nine years old and I kept waiting for C.K. Dexter Haven to jump out of The Philadelphia Story and sweep me out off my feet. But Gilbert Blythe always married Anne in book five and then went on to have seven kids with her. And Dexter always married Tracy Lord, although I guess that was a good thing since they were married before and they're just getting remarried-to each other. Maybe Damien was my modern-day Dexter Haven or Gilbert Blythe.

“Earth to Ellie,” my modern-day Dexter Haven whispered in my ear. “Where were you?”

“Visiting Dorothy in Oz,” I replied.

“You know she went back to Kansas at the end of the movie,” he told me. “And you're still here in Michigan with me, so you can't be in Kansas or Oz. I want you to be here with me. And when you're with me, I want you to be completely with me, mind, body, and soul.”

Okay, that sounded a little controlling, but some guys just like to feel in charge. I wasn't crazy about male supremacy, but maybe Damien was just bad at putting things into words. I smiled up at him. “Yes, sir, when I'm with you, I'm with you a hundred percent.”

Jane came home a little later when Damien and I were sitting in the living room, drinking beer. “Are you two aware that it is after eleven o'clock at night?” she said as she threw her purse on the couch.

“Yeah,” Damien said putting his beer on the coffee table. I could see Jane cringe at the thought of getting watermarks on her coffee table. Jane is a neat freak. She cleans compulsively, especially when she's PMS. I think it has to do with growing up in a hotel and having maids rushing around cleaning everything all day long.

“Oh okay,” she said. “I'm going to head up to bed. Don't stay up too late, kids.” She walked into the kitchen. “Mary Louise, go to bed, now.”

“She's bossy,” Damien said.

I sighed. “No, it's more you have to tell Mary to go to bed or she'll never do it. Once Jane thought I told her to go to bed and I thought Jane had, so we both went to bed and when we got up the next morning, she'd stayed up the whole night reading. You have to make sure she doesn't do that especially when she has to go to work at seven or eight in the morning.”

He nodded. “So, do you want another beer?”

I shook my head. “Jane's right. I have to be at work around seven-thirty and we do have a dinner date tomorrow night. So I'm going to wish you a good-night and go to bed. Drinking beer only makes me sleepy and I need to be awake for work tomorrow morning.”

“Does this mean you want me to leave?”

“Yes,” I replied. “And take your beer with you. For the record, I prefer Leinenkugel is one of my favorite beers and the only American-made beer I really like is Sam Adams.”

“You're weird; American beer is amazing and it's cheap.”

“We can debate this later,” I told him. “You need to leave so I can get some sleep and be fully functional for work tomorrow morning.”

He sighed but was gone fifteen minutes later.

Darcy's POV

Friday night, I went out to dinner with Charlie, Jane, and Jane's friend Charlotte Lucas. Charlotte's boyfriend was supposed to come with us but they'd had some sort of fight and he'd left town that morning. “He's probably back in Chicago,” Jane said when Charlotte was in the bathroom. “Ethan works for a real estate corporation called Rosings Properties Unlimited.”

“Rosings Unlimited?” I repeated. “My aunt and cousin own Rosings Unlimited.”

“Your aunt must be Catherine DeBourgh,” Jane said. “Ethan never stops raving about her. To hear him talk you'd think she was God's little sister.”

“She's no saint,” I replied. We were sitting in a small Italian restaurant called La Riviera; Charlotte and Jane had recommended it saying it was small enough to be a peaceful place to eat but big enough to have great food.

“Yeah well Ethan's no saint either,” Jane replied. “He'd like you to believe he's one, but he's not.”

Charlotte came back to the table just then with news for Jane. “Did you know that Lizzie's here on a date with some guy? He looks pretty classy but he reminds of Sean Denny. He just has the air of being too good to be true about him.”

Jane nodded. “I've met him and I'm not sure what she sees in him other than the fact that she's desperate for a man and he preys on desperate women.”

“What's his name?” Charlie asked.

“Damien something,” Jane replied. “It starts with a W and it has a slightly malicious ring to it.”

“Damien Wickham?” I guessed. I didn't want it to be true, but I suspected that it was. Damien just isn't that common a name and Wickham did have a slightly malicious ring to it if you thought about it. I however was just personally biased against the bastard so the name “Damien Wickham” just sounded like an asshole's name to me.

“That's it!” Jane exclaimed. “They met at the Longbourn on Sunday. I guess he's made friends with Katie and Lydia, which is just a little perverted if you ask me. They're still in high school.”

“But that's what he's like,” I told her. “Unfortunately, Damien has a thing for younger women. I've known him since childhood and he's always preyed on younger women, especially those who might be able to benefit him financially.”

Jane sighed. “Of course, and I won't be able to tell Lizzie that because she'll be convinced that I'm just trying to sabotage her relationships.”

“Isn't that your job?” Charlotte asked. “Emma told me yesterday that she is now convinced the only reason I was born is ruin her life, especially her social life.”

I was confused. “Why would you only be here to ruin her social life?”

“Char is my friend,” Jane replied. “And Emma is in the same class as my younger sister, Katie, who does not have the most wholesome character. Emma's problem is that Katie seems to think that since Char and I are friends, she and Emma should be friends.”

“But Emma doesn't want to be friends with Katie because she thinks that Katie is a little too much of a slut.”

And then Jane sighed. “Why, God, didn't you make me an only child?”

I smiled at her but I thought she was being a bit dramatic. Sure her three younger sisters were twits but surely Lizzie couldn't be that bad. She didn't seem to be overly fond of me, but she had been really nice when Charlie and I were snowed in at her place the weekend before. She'd watched The Muppet Christmas Carol with Charlie and me and then the next morning, she'd made us blueberry pancakes. It had been a good weekend.

I didn't understand why she was suddenly hanging all over Damien Wickham though. Damien was the kind of man who preyed on innocent women. I would know; he had conned my little sister Georgie into dating him. Then when they'd only been together for a few months, he got her pregnant and then ran off to chase a young woman named Ashley King. Ashley was the heiress to a considerable fortune, but also the child of a very protective father. From what I understood, Damien's relationship with Ashley hadn't lasted very long. Her father had found out about the relationship and forced her to end things. I just hoped that someone in Lizzie's life would be sensible enough to show her the truth about Damien Wickham.

Lizzie's POV

Damien was fascinating, absolutely fascinating. We were sitting in La Riviera enjoying a good dinner and having a great time. He had traveled a long when he was younger and he was telling me all about his travels. “And when I was sixteen, my dad's job allowed us to spend the whole summer traveling through Europe.”

“Oh, that must have been amazing,” I said. “What was your favorite country?”

“Probably either the Netherlands or England,” was his reply. “I really hate it when people can't speak English; it's so stupid. It's not like it's a hard language to learn. And the Netherlands was really cool. You know you can go into coffee shops and spoke pot there? It's great. And I love how you can drink when you'd be considered underage back home.”

“I thought the drinking age in the Netherlands was eighteen.”

“Oh yeah, it is, but you know you can get away with stuff if you have a fake ID.”

“And that works here too,” I told him. “I had plenty of friends who got booze with fake IDs during high school and college.” And even now, I know some of my students use fake IDs. I don't entirely approve of it, but it's just a fact of life. They're my students and I can try to influence them as much as possible but I can never be their parents.

“Yeah, but it's more exciting to try that stuff in a foreign country.”

I shrugged. He seemed a little kooky, but sometimes kooky was good. A friend of mine had once describable as “attractively insane, crazy in a good way.” So it was fine with me if Damien was a little weird. Everyone has their own quirks and you should just accept them the way they are. “So what did you think of Spain?”

“It stunk; it was worse than France,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”

“I lived in Spain for almost five months about four years ago,” I told him. “I loved it there and I want to go back again as soon as I can.”

“My dad's boss's son loved Spain, but I hated it. I guess it was just more Will's type of place than it was mine. There were just so many old buildings and the food wasn't that good. Plus the country reeked.”

“Personally, I loved it, but it's all a matter of taste.”

“Yeah, Will is the kind of person who likes old churches and seafood. I'm more of a red meat kind of guy.”

Just then Will Darcy walked behind Damien's chair. Will was eating in another part of the restaurant with Jane, Charlie, and Charlotte. Somehow seeing the two of them so close to each other made me compare them mentally. Damien was tall and slender with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. Will was tall, probably taller than Damien, and well-built; he probably worked out regularly. He had dark brown hair and big brown eyes, with what Jane called “luscious lashes.” Damien had a perfectly constructed nose while Will's was big and kind of stuck out from his face. And then there were their ears; Damien's were small and fit snugly against his head; Will's were big and stuck out from his head. Will also had an extremely unattractive look on his face at the moment. I could tell he was unhappy to see Damien Wickham. I had heard from Jane that Damien's father had managed one of Will's father's resorts and Damien had told me that he had been very close to the Darcy family, especially old Mr. Darcy, before old Mr. Darcy's death.

As Will returned from the bathroom, Damien noticed him. “I hate that guy. His father left me a ton of money, but Will wouldn't let me have it because all he wants is to have more money. He's so obsessed with money; he wants his sister to die single so he can inherit all the money that their parents left her. When his dad died and left me a huge chunk of money, he took that money away from me because he said I didn't deserve it. He is always looking for ways to make more money. It's not enough for him that he's the CEO of a national resort chain; he also has to become a lawyer. He did all of that for the money. He doesn't really care about the resorts or the law. He's just trying impress his rich aunt and her fancy friends.”

I found myself readily believing everything Damien was saying. Granted the only thing that Will had ever done to me was say that I wasn't very good looking. He had been nothing but sweet to me since that day and I was starting to believe that he might not have meant what he told Charlie that night at Charlotte's party, until Damien started telling me about Will's obsession with money. I wanted to believe everything he was saying because I wanted to dislike Will. So all night I listened to Damien bash Will. He told me about how he had tried to date Georgie Darcy but then Will made her dump him because “I just wasn't good enough for his precious little princess of a sister. He probably won't let her marry anyone short of Prince William or something like that.”

“He sounds like a real control freak,” I replied.

“Oh he is,” he said with a smile. “He always has been. I've known Will Darcy his entire life and he's always been like this. The most important things in his life are school, family, and work. He has no time for fun or anything social.”

“That's kind of stupid. You'd think that he'd need to find some way to de-stress, you know kick back and relax.”

“Kick back and relax?” he said with a laugh. “That is so not Will Darcy's style. He has a stick up his ass and he just is incapable of relaxing. He always has to be in control and know what's happening.”

At that moment I happened to glance across the restaurant and see Will, Charlie, Jane, and Charlotte. They were all laughing and they looked like they were having a good time. Will had a glass of red wine in his hand and a broad grin on his face. He didn't look like any sort of tightwad, but maybe it was just the alcohol loosening him up.

All of this conjecture was, of course, ignoring the fact that I'd already had two glasses of wine. It was also completely avoiding the fact that when he wasn't looking at me, Damien was checking out other women around the restaurant. I knew all of this was going on, but I was avoiding it. I was lonely and here was a man perfectly willing to pay attention to me. I missed the feeling of knowing that someone was absolutely head over heels in love with you. Somehow all of this loneliness had evolved into a desire just to be admired and touched. In short, I had become desperate and that desperation wove a tangled web through my life over the next few weeks.

Chapter Six: It's not Unusual

Lizzie's POV

Damien had rapidly taken over my life. By New Year's Eve, all I was doing was spending time with Damien and working. Christmas Eve, I had gone to Mass with my family and then gone out with Damien until three in the morning. I was becoming the kind of woman who existed only for her boyfriend. Now that probably sounds pathetic, but it is true. It's pathetic and true. But that was what I had become.

He was pushing me to go all the way, but I wasn't ready. I'd always wanted to remain a virgin until I got married. I wasn't always completely sure about Damien and I had my days when I was pretty darn sure this wasn't the guy I wanted to learn my virginity to. Yes he'd been treated horribly by Will Darcy but he also seemed to have a wandering eye, which had been known to land Katie and Lydia on more than one occasion. Katie had just turned eighteen a few weeks earlier and Lydia would be seventeen in March; something about Damien's interest in them unnerved me. But he was my boyfriend; he was mostly devoted to me.

Charlie Bingley was opening the Netherfield on New Year's Eve with a big party and he'd invited everyone he knew. My sisters and I were going even though we usually spent New Year's Eve at the Longbourn party. But my sister was dating Charlie and she wanted to show her support for him. I was going because she wanted me there. Mary wasn't going but Katie and Lydia wouldn't miss up the chance to make a scene in front of handsome men. Damien had told me he was coming. “I'll meet you there, babe,” he told me the night before the party.

“But Will's going to be there,” I reminded him.

“It's okay. If he doesn't want to be around me, he's going to leave. I'm not going to let him stand in the way of me having a good time with my girl.”

Knowing that Damien would be there, I put a great deal of thought and effort into my outfit for the evening. The party was black-tie, so I opted for the plum colored evening gown I'd worn in a wedding the previous Christmas. I even went through the trouble of having my mom's hairstylist, Cindy, do my hair for the occasion. And I wore my grandmother Gardiner's wedding pearls, which she'd left me when she died three years earlier.

Jane was wearing a burgundy dress she had from her best friend's wedding. Contrary to popular belief, Charlotte is not Jane's best friend. That honor has been filled by Sarah Fleming since kindergarten. Jane was Sarah's maid of honor last July; she'd been gorgeous. Burgundy was a wonderful color for my older sister. Jane has light brown hair and blue eyes; we don't really look that much a like aside from our facial structure. We have the exact same facial structure, and we're similar heights and builds but that's about where the similarities end.

When we left our condo, Mary told us that we both looked “absolutely spectacular, and make sure that you don't drink too much. Men are likely to try to take advantage of two such gorgeous women.” Then she told us to get out of there so she could enjoy her New Year's Eve in peace.

We arrived at the Netherfield at 8:07 precisely. Lydia and Katie were already there and dancing. Charlie and Caroline were greeting guests at the doors and Caroline even condescended so far as to compliment both Jane and me on our dresses. The esteemed Miss Bingley was wearing a yellow number that was far too revealing for a cold Michigan New Year's Eve. But she seemed more interested in showing off her boob job than the temperature in the room. Charlie was wearing a black three-piece suit that really looked wonderful on him. His brown hair was getting a little long and had a bit of curl to it. “It's getting to the point where Will calls me `Mr. Fluffy',” he told me when I commented on his hair.

I smiled. “Don't stress it; it's a good look for you.”

“Oh, I'm sure Will agrees; he himself is headed into the Mr. Fluffy zone. He'll never admit it but he inherited his mother's curly hair.”

“And his father's hideous ears,” Caroline commented, butting into the conversation. “Oh, and his mother's monster nose, he really should look into plastic surgery. I can't imagine what it must be like to live with those ears or that nose.”

I glanced around the room until my eyes fell on Will Darcy who was talking to Charlotte Lucas and Ethan Collins. Will's ears did stick out from his head a little bit but it wasn't the end of the world. And I happened to like his nose; it gave his face character. I had to admit that he was handsome. But he was also horrible. How could anyone treat my sweet Damien the way he had? Damien was due the money old Mr. Darcy had left him; how could Will withhold that money from him?

My brief scan of the room had not revealed Damien to me and as I walked away from Charlie and Caroline, Sean Denny approached me. “Damien wanted me to give this to you,” he said, handing me a piece of paper. “He was called out of town at the last moment and he wanted me to tell you how sorry he is that you can't spend New Year's Eve together.”

I thanked him and walked over to a quiet corner where I opened my note.

Liz,

I'm sorry I can't come to the party this evening. A friend of mine called me and invited me to spend the New Year with him in Chicago and I just couldn't pass up his offer. I'm not sure when I'll be back, but I'll probably see you when I get back.

-Damien

I sighed and tore up the note. This was the end of our relationship; I knew it. He was moving on to someone else who would give him what he wanted. I wasn't that kind of girl. And now I didn't have a date to the Netherfield New Year's Eve Grand Opening. The only person who would be willing to dance with me now was Ethan Collins and that was only because Char made him dance with all the dateless girls at dances like this. I wasn't looking forward to this party anymore. Ethan wasn't much of a dancer. Now if Mark Lucas was around, I could dance with him; he was a pretty decent dancer. But looking around the room, my eyes didn't catch Mark's light brown hair. I was standing by the wall all through the first dance. It was fun to watch Char dance with Ethan; neither of them was an amazingly talented dancer, but they didn't care. They were just enjoying themselves and ignoring people who were staring at them.

Char came over to me after the first dance ended. “So where's Damien? I really wanted Ethan to meet him tonight.”

I handed her the note. “He's not coming. He went back to Chicago for the New Year, but I have a feeling he's not going to be coming back to Meryton anytime soon.”

“He liked you,” she told me. “I saw the two of you together. Trust me, hon; he'll be back.”

I shook my head. “No I don't think he'll be back, at least not for me. Char, he needs someone who can live his lifestyle. I can't just pick up and go places whenever I want. Damien's a great guy, but I'm just not right for him.”

She gave me a quick hug. “I'm sorry. I'm sure you'll meet the right guy soon. I mean I met Ethan right after I broke up with Neil. After Neil dumped me, I never thought I'd meet anyone worthwhile. But then a couple months later, you invited Ethan to your birthday party and now look at us. We've been together for two and half years.”

I looked over at Ethan who was standing by the refreshment table piling his plate with various hors d'oeuvres. He wasn't very tall, but he sort of resembled Wolverine from X-Men except for the fact that his hair was more sandy blonde than dark brown. And he's no Hugh Jackman. But he's a good guy, when he's not running off to Chicago after he fights with Char. They're not fighting anymore though and maybe they'll actually get engaged this time. After all, they're both out of college and have stable jobs. They can support themselves and a family. What are they waiting for?

I smiled at her. “I'm just sick of being a lonely, desperate woman.”

“You're not lonely or desperate,” she replied with a smile.

“Oh yes I am,” I protested. “Damien was the first guy I'd dated since I graduated from college. That was well over a year and a half ago. Face it, Char; I'm lonely and desperate. I just hate being alone. I want to get kissed at midnight; I'm sick of my carriage turning into a pumpkin at midnight every single time.”

“Oh, Cinderella,” she sighed. “Prince Charming will come along eventually. Look, Will Darcy is coming over here right now.”

I turned and saw Will approaching us. “Oh, crap,” I moaned. “What does he want?”

“Maybe he wants to talk to you,” she said. “Oh, he could want to dance with you.”

“Why me?” I moaned. “What did I do to deserve Will Darcy's attention?”

“He's a good guy, Lizzie,” she said. “I know Damien told you some really nasty stories about him, but maybe you should give him a chance to defend himself, to explain. Maybe there's a reason why he didn't want Damien to have the money his father left him.”

“Why would that be? Damien is a great guy; he's far more responsible and level-headed than Will Darcy could ever be.”

“Oh really? He is? I'm sorry, Lizzie, but are we talking about the same Damien Wickham who dumped you because you wouldn't sleep with him? Because if we are, that's not a guy I want my best friend to be dating. You need to be with someone who will respect your morals, not dump you because he doesn't like them.”

I snorted but before I could say anything, Will was standing next to me. “Excuse me, Lizzie; I was wondering if you would like to dance with me.”

Before I could say anything, Char pushed me toward him and said, “She'd love to dance with you.”

I followed him out onto the dance floor, determined to not have a good time. This was Will Darcy, who had ruined Damien's life. How could I ever have a good time with this man?

Then we got out on the dance floor and I discovered something about Will Darcy. That man can dance. We were dancing to an old swing tune and I've never danced with anyone who could dance like that before. Mark Lucas is a good dancer; Will Darcy is an amazing dancer. “Where did you learn to dance like that?” I asked him during a slower part of the dance.

“I took a ballroom dance class my junior year of high school,” he replied. “I did it partially because I actually like dancing and partially because I was trying to impress a girl.”

“Oh really, did it work?” I asked, only slightly intrigued. After all, this was the idiot who had made Damien's life a living hell.

He shrugged. “We dated for a while but then we broke up; it just wasn't meant to be. She was one of those girls who just lived to have a boyfriend; she didn't know what it really meant to have a relationship.”

“I've met guys like that. They're just interested in one thing and once they're got it, they're gone.”

“You really have a negative view of men,” he remarked.

“No I don't,” I snapped back. “I'm just a realist. Men hurt women and most men are only interested in one thing.”

“Oh really?” he replied. “I suppose you have plenty of experience and research to back that statement up.”

“Oh I do,” I told him. “I have a lifetime of experience. And furthermore, I've also discovered that the rare male who is not hell-bent on having sex with everything that moves is bound and determined to make more money than was ever dreamed humanly possible. All men are interested in is sex and money.”

“What on earth happened to you to make you such a cynical man-hater?” he asked, looking into my eyes. “You know, Elizabeth Bennett, I feel sorry for you.”

“Why should you feel sorry for me?” I snapped back as he spun me around. “Is it because I'm poor or because I'm ugly?”

He sighed. “It's for neither reason. I don't know whether or not you're poor; personally wealth matters little to me. And you're not ugly; I'm sorry if anyone has ever told you that you are, but that's a downright lie. You're gorgeous and you deserve to be treated with respect.”

“You're just saying that to get on my good side.”

“I'm not sure you have a good side. You were all kindness to me until you met Damien Wickham and then suddenly you started treating me like I was lower than dirt. I'm sorry if wicked little Wickham doesn't like me, but that's his issue, not mine. I've grown up over the past five or six years; now maybe he should follow suit.”

“Damien Wickham is far more mature than you'll ever be,” I snapped back, spinning away from him. “You'd do well to take a lesson from him and learn how to treat women.”

“Oh, so you do prefer the `love her and leave her' style of love?” he snapped back. Then he pulled me close to his chest and stared into my eyes. “Listen to me well Miss Elizabeth because I'll only tell you this once. Don't always judge people based on your first impressions because some people make wonderful first impressions but then turn out to be horribly loathsome people. Don't jump into things just because you're desperate, but actually wait and find someone who will respect you and love you just the way you are.” As he said that, the music ended and he released me. “Thank you for the dance; I hope you have a lovely evening,” was all he said before walking away from me.

I watched him across the room for the rest of the evening. He was an amazing dancer and he looked peaceful; he was actually smiling as he danced. He took the time to dance with Jane and Char as well as various other women who were introduced to him throughout the evening. His words kept running through my head no matter how hard I tried to push them away. He was wrong; Damien was a great guy and it was William who was the louse.

It was getting near midnight and the only guys I'd danced with since my “discussion” with Will were Charlie and Ethan who were obviously only dancing with me out of duty to their girlfriends. Couples were gathering all over the room. Even people who had come without dates had found someone with whom they could share midnight. But I had no one, so I slipped out of the ballroom and went and sat in the lobby. It was cooler there and I could collect my thoughts. I could forget just how amazing Will Darcy looked when he took off his suit coat and tie. The lobby was quiet and abandoned except for one man working the reception desk and a dark-haired man sitting quietly in an easy chair. He was huddled over some sort of Black Berry-type phone; he looked like he was reading something on the phone. It was probably an email from his sweetheart he'd been separated from by a business trip.

I settled myself on the couch with a glass of wine. I was miserable, again. Damien wasn't the guy for me; he wasn't a horrible guy, but he wasn't right for me. He and I had different opinions on sex and that was that. I just needed to find a different guy. And he needed to find a different girl. We could be great friends, just never anything more.

Will's POV

It was almost midnight and I was sitting in the lobby reading an email from Georgie. I had gone back to Chicago for Christmas, but now I was back in Meryton to help Charlie with the grand opening of his hotel. The place was booked solid for a month, due to people who wanted to go skiing and ice fishing in the area. Things were looking great for Charlie and the Netherfield. But I was feeling pretty lousy after the tongue-lashing I'd given Lizzie Bennett that night. Granted she deserved what I'd said, but still. My father always taught me to treat women with respect no matter how they treated me.

Now I was sitting in the lobby with Lizzie who seemed not to have noticed me. She was curled up in the couch nursing a glass of wine and reading a note that she'd been clutching in her hands all evening. I knew how miserable it was to spend New Year's Eve alone; this was my fourth New Year's Eve I'd spent alone. But I knew she hated me; Damien had filled her head with all sorts of lies about me. I didn't know what he'd told her, but I could guess. He'd told my own sister that I wanted her trust fund and that I'd withheld his inheritance from him. The truth couldn't have been further from Wickham's lie. I had willingly given him everything my father had left him in his will. Then he came back and asked me for more money, twice. He also asked me for more money when Georgie dumped him. I suspect that if he knew about Georgie's baby he would find a way to use it to milk money out of me. The baby was due in early March and I was determined to keep Wickham from knowing about this child's existence.

Lizzie was sniffling now and I knew I should probably go comfort her. But I also knew she'd probably take offense at my actions and tell me to go take a flying leap off a cliff. So I just stood up and smiled at her. “Are you all right, Miss Bennett?”

She looked up at me. “Oh, yes, I'm fine.” She wiped her eyes quickly and glared at me. “Don't worry about me, Will Darcy; I'm not some pathetic loser who will fall for your fancy clothes and big bank account. I'm looking for a real man, not some wimp like you.”

I sighed. “Well then this wimp will be leaving your presence. I hope you have a lovely New Year. And you don't need to be worried about me troubling you anymore; I'm going back to Chicago on the second and I'm not sure when I'll be back in Meryton.”

“Thank goodness for small favors,” was all she said as I walked away.

I spent the first minutes of 2008 with Caroline Bingley trying to get me to kiss her. I had gone to the lobby hoping to avoid such an incident, but my decision to attempt to comfort Lizzie had ruined that plan. Now I had no choice but to watch Charlie and Jane enjoy the benefits of being in a relationship at the New Year. Caroline was pawing at me, but I didn't want to kiss her. The only girl I wanted to kiss at midnight was sitting out in the lobby hating my guts. I really didn't know what I'd done to offend Lizzie Bennett so severely, but I now knew I'd better steer clear of her for the time being. Going back to Chicago seemed to be the best possible decision.

So I left for Chicago on January 2, 2008 with Caroline and Louisa. We had tried to convince Charlie to come back with us but he wasn't ready to abandon the Netherfield only a few days after it opened. We'd tried to tell him that it seemed like Jane didn't really care about him, but he refused to believe us. He told us that he knew that she cared about him and that he was pretty sure he loved her. Caroline and Louisa were convinced she was nothing better than a “money-grubbing whore.” I didn't think Jane was a gold-digger, but I wasn't entirely sure her motives were as pure as Charlie's were. Charlie was genuinely falling in love with Jane, but she still seemed very reserved around him. I wasn't sure if she was just naturally shy or she wasn't as interested in Charlie as he was.

A few days later, I received an email from Charlie with an update on things with in Meryton, especially things with the Netherfield and Jane. He seemed really interested in Jane and excited about the way things were going with her.

To: “William Darcy” “Charles Bingley” January 8, 2008

Subject: life, the universe, and everything.

Will,

How's Chicago? Is the law business treating you well? How is the Pemberley resort chain doing these days? Have you seen my sisters very much? And speaking of sisters how is Georgie?

Things in Meryton are going well. The Netherfield is booked solid through September, which is great considering that we've barely been open a week. The guests seem to love the place and I'm falling more in love with the charms of the hotel and the town day by day. I'm hoping you can come up and visit me again soon. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get away next, but I'm hoping to come visit my sisters for Easter, if nothing sooner. I really want to be as hands-on as possible for the first few months of business. But I'd love for you to come up for a few days and just check the place out. It looks better than ever with all the guests milling around. Plus the penthouse is pretty lonely all by myself.

However, I'm not lonely really. I've been seeing quite a bit of Jane lately. We're together at least three or four nights a week. I know we've only been together for about five weeks, but I have a really good feeling about this. She's not the most demonstrative girl I've ever been with and I don't always know what she's thinking, but that's fine with me. I like it when a girl isn't all showy with her emotions and always throwing herself at me. Jane is really refreshing.

And don't get like my sisters and try to convince me that Jane isn't interested in me. I know she is. She wouldn't spend time with me if she wasn't interested in me. She's not after me for my money; you guys need to just get over yourselves and stop thinking that everyone is obsessed with having our money. Also that fact that my sisters are gold diggers doesn't mean that every woman ever born is a gold-digger. Just trust me, Will; things with Jane are going wonderfully. I think she might be the one for me. And yes I mean like The One. I know I've only known her since around Thanksgiving, but I have a really good feeling about her. The next time you're here, maybe we can do a double date with you and one of your friends, or something like that. Let me know what you think

Oh and you might be interested to know that Charlotte Lucas and Ethan Collins are now engaged. They got engaged on New Year's Day while watching football. Your Aunt Catherine is transferring him to the New York branch of Rosings Unlimited. They're planning on getting married in September, but they're both moving to New York so she can find a new job. I don't know much more than that but I thought I'd let you know since you and Char got along pretty well while you were up here.

See you around,

Charlie

To: “Charles Bingley” “William Darcy” January 8, 2008

Subject: RE: life, the universe, and everything

Charlie,

Chicago is great. The Windy City is pretty darn windy. It's a usual Chicago winter, pretty cold and windy, but not horrible. It's actually pretty nice. The law business is also pretty nice. Aunt Catherine is out of town for a month, so it's just Anne and me in the office. But you know what Anne is like; she fakes sick every other day. So the office is pretty peaceful and I'm actually getting a lot of work on my new case. It's another really stupid paternity case, but you know how those go. It'll end soon and then some poor kid will be more screwed up than he would have been if no one had ever started to wonder who the poor kid's father is. That might not make a lot of sense to you, but it makes sense to me.

The resort chain is also doing well. After Georgie has the baby, I'm planning on going on a tour of all our resorts. I want to see how the managers are handling them. I'll probably do that in April and May. Georgie asked me to stay in Chicago until after she has the baby, which I'm more than glad to do. Georgie is doing pretty well for being seven-months pregnant. She's looking forward to having the baby, but dealing with all the physical and emotional ramifications of being pregnant. She's decorating the baby's room in our house in all sorts of girly colors and decorations. She's really into shopping for baby clothes. She seems really happy and she seems to be pretty much forgetting about Damien.

I haven't seen your sisters recently; Louisa is busy with something for Jeffrey's business and Caroline is busy being a socialite and a gold-digger. She's looking for a loaded husband who is over the age of seventy. It's really ridiculous, from what I hear. I haven't seen her since we got back. But I hear enough about her in the society pages of the newspaper. There are also plenty of pictures; it's kind of embarrassing.

I'm glad things are going well for you with the Netherfield. I don't know if I can come see you before June or so. I'm busy but I'll definitely try to get up there for a weekend at some point; I'd like to come up there in February for a weekend. But if you could get down here for Easter, that'd be great. I'll try to be in town for Easter. I know I also need to check up on some stuff in New York at some point soon. Aunt Catherine is going there right after Easter and she wants me to come with her. So I'll probably go there with her and check up on Pemberley.

Jane is a great girl and your sisters are ridiculous. Just be careful and don't move to fast. Don't do anything stupid or rash. And who knows? It might do you some good to get away from her for a little while. It would just be to give you some perspective. But I'll back you whatever you decide to do. Just be careful.

See you on the flip side,

Will

Chapter Seven: Can't Take It in

Lizzie's POV

“You need to get away from here,” Jane told me one day late in January. “All you've done since Damien left is sit around and mope. You work all day and then come home and mope all day. You've got to get out there and do something; you need a vacation.”

“Jane, I'm a teacher. I don't have any vacation time until Easter. I mean I have a couple long weekends here and there, but I don't have any real time off until April. I don't really have a problem with going on a vacation, but it has to wait until Easter.”

“Then go visit Charlotte for Easter,” my sister retorted. “I'm sure she'll be settled into her apartment by then and I bet she'd love to have you visit.”

“She did email me and tell me that I could visit whenever I wanted,” I said. “And it would be fun to go visit her. I haven't been to New York since I was thirteen.”

“You two could go see a show and you could enjoy the city. You could do some serious shopping and you know you love shopping.”

I smiled. Every summer I went to visit my Uncle Edward and his family in Chicago. My aunt Sophie loves shopping and she was always willing to take me shopping with her. At Christmas, she'd invited me to visit them for a month over the summer. We might go away for a week or so, but they weren't sure yet. “A week in New York with Char would be really relaxing. I should call her and ask her if I can come visit her.”

Of course, Char was glad to let me come visit her for a week. When I called her to ask if I could come visit Easter week, she was glad to have me come. I was planning to fly to New York City on Good Friday morning and fly home eight days later. Eight days away from my psycho mother and sisters, plus I'd get to spend them with Char. My best friend had suddenly moved to New York right after Ethan proposed to her during the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. She had found a job as a graphic designer shortly after they moved. They'd moved after Ethan's boss transferred him to New York City. It had been sudden, but they seemed to be adjusting well.

“Ethan and I would love to have you visit us,” she enthused over the phone. “He's so busy with work he has a hard time making friends and it would be good for him to see a familiar face. He has a hard time socializing with people from work because most of the people he works with are older than him and have families. They commute from Jersey and they're always busy with their families. Now maybe if we had a couple kids, the guys and their families might be more interested socializing with us.”

“I'm sorry, sweetie. But aren't you meeting people at work?”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “But Ethan isn't interested in hanging out with `artsy weirdoes.'”

“Just tell him that the artsy weirdoes think that he's a business freak and they don't want to hang out with him.”

She laughed. “But I want to have friends; I hang out with Ethan some nights and other times I hang out with people from work. I'd like to hang out with Ethan and some of my friends, in a group.”

I sighed. “Oh Charlotte, I'm sorry. I promise I'll hang out with you as much as possible the whole week I'm in town. We'll do whatever you want to do and it'll be grand.”

“Will you stay up late and watch North and South with me one night?” she asked.

I leaned back into the couch and smiled to myself. “I'd love to watch that, but only if you'll watch Beauty and the Beast with me.”

She laughed. “You're in love with the Beast, aren't you?”

“Umm, have you seen his library?”

“Yes but have you seen the man he transforms into? He's the worst looking of all the Disney princes. If you're looking for someone you can spend your life with, look at Aladdin. Now that is one fabulous prince.”

“But he lied to Jasmine about who he really was!” I protested. “I'd much prefer someone who is honest about his identity.”

“So which Disney prince do you want to marry?”

“The Beast,” I told her. “And if I can't marry him, I'll marry John Thornton from North and South.”

She laughed. “You have Mr. Thornton. I'd rather have Gilbert Blythe or Teddy Laurence.”

“Oh, I'll fight you for Gilbert Blythe and Teddy Laurence. You can have John Brooke or the Professor.”

“You're weird,” she replied.

Jane had invited Charlie and Will over for dinner the Saturday before Valentine's Day. Will had come up for the weekend and I think he and Jane were trying to set me up with him. I had been asked to make dinner but this time was going to be slightly less formal than the last. For one thing, it would just be the four of us; Mary was working late again. Jane was hoping the four of us could find a movie to watch after dinner. She was probably depending upon my amazing movie collection to help her in this endeavor. While she cataloged our movie collection, I was the one who built it. As a freshman in college, I started buying classic movies and other movies that I loved until by the age of twenty-four, I owned over a hundred movies.

“I wonder if they'll watch The Philadelphia Story with us,” Jane asked me while I was making dinner. We were in the kitchen listening to the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack; that's pretty much my cooking soundtrack.

I smiled her. “I'm not sure we can convince them that it's not a chick flick. I know it's not but most people don't. Plus, the only reason you want to watch it is because of Jimmy Stewart. Now personally I have higher concerns, such as Cary Grant. He's pretty darn amazing. It would be cooler if it was Gregory Peck playing C.K. Dexter Haven, but I can live with Grant.”

“I really don't see why you prefer Gregory Peck to Cary Grant. British accents are just so amazing.”

“Oh, I agree, but don't you remember Roman Holiday?” I asked. “His face, his eyes, he was such a sweetheart. He was so respectful of her.”

“Yes, but what about the scene when Tracy and Mike are drunk in The Philadelphia Story? That scene is both hysterically funny and beauteous because of the man.”

I grinned. “That's an amazing scene. People really do not understand that James Stewart really is God's gift to women.”

Just then the doorbell rang and Jane ran to answer it. I could hear her soft steady voice welcoming Will and Charlie into the house and offering to take their coats. I was reminded of Char's comment that if Jane wanted to keep Charlie, she would make sure he knew how she felt about him. I'd rejected the idea at the time saying that I knew Jane's feelings and Charlie was an idiot if he didn't. I still persevered in that belief but maybe she shouldn't talk to him in such soft, mild tones. She ought to show some sort of affection at some point in time. Of course maybe Will's imposing presence might be intimidating her and making her shy.

The two guys walked into the kitchen and I turned to greet them. Charlie was wearing blue jeans and a burgundy button-down shirt over a black undershirt. Will was wearing blue jeans and a light blue button-down shirt. I had to admit he looked really nice. Okay so Will Darcy was a good-looking guy but he was so snobbish. And after everything he'd done to Damien, I couldn't look at him in a good light. He was such a proud, unfeeling man; I could never enjoy his company or form any sort of attachment on him. The only emotion I could ever feel towards him was detestation.

“It's great to see you, Lizzie,” Charlie enthused. “I feel like I haven't seen you in ages.”

I smiled. “It's been a couple weeks. I'm a lot busier this semester than I was last semester. I'm not sure why but I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that this is the first year I've taught AP Spanish and the AP test is about two and a half months away so I really have to start prepping my students for that.”

“Sounds stressful,” he said. “I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have other people helping me with the Netherfield and with my publishing company.”

Will smirked. “Both of them would fail miserably. You have a good head for business and financial stuff, but when it comes to practical everyday mundane stuff, you're useless.”

“Oh and I suppose you're brilliantly talented at everything you attempt,” I retorted harshly, even though he wasn't even talking to me.

“Oh no,” he replied. “I have faults and plenty of them. For example, my good opinion of a person once lost is lost forever.”

“So basically you judge books by their covers,” I replied.

“No, not at all, but once someone loses my respect, they have lost it forever. I do wait until I actually feel that I know a person before I determine my opinion of them.” As he said this, he gave me a very pointed look and shook his head. I took this to mean that that the conversation was over and he was done with me. In my opinion, he was far too judgmental of others. He was nowhere near perfect and yet when others lost his respect, he stopped respecting them forever. That just struck me as ridiculous. Opinions of people needed to be based on time and thoughtful consideration. I never make rash judgments about people's personalities.

By the time we sat down at the dinner table, I was pretty much convinced I never wanted to speak to Will and I might not even want to see him ever again. He was arrogant, conceited, and totally fixated on his own needs and wants. His little sister called him and he immediately ran out of the room to talk to her. What could his sister be calling about that would be so much more important than spending time with his best friend, Charlie's girlfriend and me? From what I heard, he was about ten years older than his silly little sister. And Caroline Bingley had told me that Georgiana Darcy was a little bit of a slut. Damien had told me she was a slut and even more self-centered than her brother. He had once enjoyed her company but now he thought she was a spoiled brat who needed to be slapped.

Darcy's POV

Charlie and I had gone over to Lizzie and Jane's condo for dinner the weekend before Valentine's Day. I was visiting Charlie due to stress and a need to get away from my aunt Catherine. My aunt wanted me to focus more on the law firm and less on the hotel chain while I either wanted to leave the law firm and strike out on my own or just work with Pemberley. My aunt was driving me nuts but I couldn't leave her. She was my mother's sister. And I felt a strong loyalty to family. Yes, she made my life miserable but she was still my aunt. She was one of the few connections I had to my beloved mother. I was also very close to my cousins, George and Richard, and their parents, but George and their parents lived in Seattle.

Rick's wife, Evelyn, had called me on Georgie's cell phone to let me know that my little sister had gone into premature labor. I knew I had to get back to Chicago as soon as possible. My baby sister was having her first baby and I needed to be there. “Will, you have to come home. Your sister needs you,” Evelyn told me. “She doesn't have her mother or any sisters and Aunt Catherine isn't exactly the most feminine, consoling presence.”

“I'll talk to Charlie and see what he says,” I told her. “I want to be there when my niece is born. I just need to figure out how and when I can fly back.”

“You've got a few hours,” she reassured me. “The doctor says she probably won't deliver for at least another six or seven hours, possibly close to ten or eleven.”

“Well, we'll hope it's for more time so I can be there when the baby comes.” I sighed. Charlie was not going to want to leave Jane now, even I was pretty sure she didn't feel nearly as strongly about him as he did about her. She seemed pretty restrained around him. At times, I thought maybe that was just the way she was around everyone, but I couldn't be sure. I'd seen her around town with her sisters and friends a couple times, and she seemed to be much more outgoing when she was away from Charlie than she was around him.

“Just let me talk to Charlie,” I told her. “And I'll call you back as soon as I know what the plan is. So tell Georgie I'm rooting for her, I love her, and I'll be there very soon.”

“Great,” she replied. “I hope we see you soon.”

“So do I,” I said before hanging up and heading back into the dining room. I sat down next to Charlie and grimaced. “Look, I hate to tell you guys this, but I really have to take off now. That wasn't my sister who called; it was my cousin's wife calling to tell me that my sister is in the hospital right now and she needs me to be with her. So if someone could drive me back to Charlie's place, so I can get to the airport and get home.”

“Georgie's in the hospital?” Charlie squeaked. “I'm going back to Chicago with you.”

“Will she be all right?” Jane asked. Concern was pervading her face while her sister was looking at me like I'd probably made up the whole thing about my sister being sick. Of course who knew what lies Damien Wickham told her about my sister? He'd probably told her that Georgie was a drunk, easy slut. Or maybe he told her that she was an uptight bitch. I'd heard him say both things about her. I think he just liked to lie about her so as to make himself look and feel better. He really cared a lot about how other people perceived him; he was such a fraud.

Twelve hours later, I was standing in my sister's hospital room holding my newborn niece. Charlie and I had driven back to his house, packed up our things quickly, and flown home. We'd managed to arrive at the hospital four hours before my niece was born. And she was gorgeous. She had dark brown hair, and a lot of it too. She had big brown eyes and long gorgeous lashes. She was small, but that was to be expected considering that she was born three weeks early. And her name was Emily Anne Darcy.

Chapter Eight: For the Life of Me

Lizzie's POV

Two days after Charlie and Will went back to Chicago, Charlie emailed Jane telling her that he would not be returning to Meryton for a while and he felt that it would be best for all involved parties if they ended their relationship. She replied to him that would be fine and then spent the next week in her bed crying. She wouldn't eat unless you absolutely forced her and Mary and I were both becoming afraid for our older sister's life. I was also developing a strong desire to kill Charlie Bingley. He was such a wimp for refusing to even try to make a long-distance relationship work. And he was destroying my sister. She hadn't gone to work or even left our condo in days. And then came Saturday night.

Saturday night I had gone out for dinner with a few close friends. There were just four of us; we'd gone to high school together and all ended up in the Meryton area after college. We'd been having a great time when Mary called me to tell me that Jane was drunk out of her mind. “I don't know what happened. I just ran out to CVS after you left to pick up something and when I got home, I found her sitting on your bed drinking rum and tequila. You need to get home right now and tell me what to do.”

“Call 911,” I replied. “We have to get her stomach pumped as soon as possible. But I'm on my way home.”

Jane wasn't the type of person who would get drunk. She didn't drink much for starters and she was a little bit of a light weight when she did start drinking. In short, she was the last person who should be sitting around chugging rum or tequila. I also hoped that Charlie never found out about this. His sisters would destroy Jane over this, and he didn't need to know how badly he had hurt my sister emotionally. He was a jerk and I wanted him dead. But I was also praying frantically for my sister. I loved her and I didn't want her to die over some stupid guy who didn't even deserve her.

Jane was calm, cool, and collected. But she took things much more personally than people ever knew. She didn't let you see her emotions and she was always a sweetheart to everyone. But she really does have a darker side. And she really tends to keep things to herself. And I knew she'd really been bottling up things related to Charlie. She had really liked him and I think she was seriously considering having a future with him. And then he just ended things out of the blue. I really wanted to know what his reasoning was. What right did he have to just dump my wonderful, gorgeous sister? Maybe Jane was just too good for him.

I spent my whole night in the emergency room with my sister. She'd had her stomach pumped and then they had to monitor her to make sure she didn't get alcohol poisoning. I was terrified for her. It seemed like she was going crazy or something; she had so much energy and she kept just randomly screaming at me and cussing out nurses. The nurses promised me that was just an effect of the amount of alcohol in her system but I was still scared. I didn't want to tell my parents but I knew I had to let them know; she was their daughter after all. They had a right to know; her insurance would cover most of the costs, but Mom and Dad still needed to know. Oh and telling her bosses was going to be murder too. I had called them every morning this week and told them that she was sick and I hoped she'd be better soon. But I knew that excuse wasn't going to work much longer and I needed to keep her from getting fired. In short, I really needed to protect my big sister. All my life Jane had been protecting me, but now some stupid boy came along and messed up my sister. I felt like her life was in my hands. In my head, I knew it was really in the doctors' hands and in God's hands, but I still felt in my heart that I was the only one responsible for Jane right now. And I really needed my mommy.

Now that was really weird. I love my mom; she's a good person and all, but she and I are not very close. She does much better with Lydia and Katie; they're more like her while Jane and I are more like our dad. Don't ask who Mary is like; we don't really know. Mom and I don't really understand each other; about all I inherited from her is good taste in clothes and even that might just be growing up with four sisters rather than my mother's influence. But even though I'm not very close to her and I don't always like her, I knew I needed my mommy just then. So I called my parents and told them what was happening. And of course my mother immediately promised me that she and Dad were on their way over.

It seemed like forever that I sat there by myself waiting for my parents. In reality it was probably just the twenty or thirty minutes it takes to get from the Longbourn to the hospital. But it seemed like forever, sitting there by Jane's bedside all alone. Time seems to pass much more slowly when you're alone and afraid. Plus I really wanted to call Charlie Bingley and cuss him out, but I knew that wouldn't really help Jane at all. Hurting Charlie might make me feel good but it wasn't going to help my sister get better or even help him cope with what had happened to her. Charlie might not feel bad about what he'd done to my sister but he would feel bad if he knew that she'd try to kill herself because of him.

And then my drama queen of a mother walked into the room practically screaming. “Where is she? What happened? Where's the doctor? Is she going to live?”

If I had been anyone else in the hospital I probably would have burst out laughing at her. But I completely understood how she felt. Yes you read that right; for the first time in my life, I actually understood exactly how my mother, Marybeth Louise Bennett felt. I rarely understand anything about my mother but that night I understood her thoughts and feelings. This was her firstborn child lying there motionless after drinking herself into oblivion. Mom was terrified. And so was Dad.

He was standing there white and motionless, looking like he'd seen a ghost. Unlike Mom, he wasn't overreacting; he was just standing there. “Where's the doctor?” he asked in a firm, cold voice. “I want to talk to him right away. Tell him not to spare any expense; I want my daughter back.”

I nodded as the doctor came in the room and started talking to my parents. As he explained what they had already done to Jane and what they still needed to do, I slipped out of the room to call Char. I walked past Mary who was talking to our Aunt Grace on the phone. Aunt Grace was probably prying into our business, which was one of my least favorite things about that particular aunt. I'd much rather talk to Aunt Sophie but it was two in the morning and I didn't want to wake her up. She had a bunch of little kids relying on her and she needed her sleep. I'd talk to her in the morning. I guess the only reason I'd call Char at this hour of the night was that she didn't have to work the next morning and I knew she'd want to hear about Jane. Char and Jane were good friends and I knew she'd be worried about my sister.

The night was long and awful. I talked to an extremely groggy Char for a few minutes and filled her in the situation. She promised me that she'd be praying for Jane and she expected me to keep her posted on the situation. I promised her that I would and went back to join my parents in our vigil at Jane's bedside. The doctors were doing everything they could and they assured us that she was going to be fine. “We are almost one-hundred percent certain we will be able to release Ms. Bennett in the morning,” her doctor told us. “She's very lucky her sisters got her in so quickly. They probably saved her life.”

Most parents probably would have thanked their daughters for saving their sister's life, which is what my dad did. But my mother had to yell at me for “abandoning your poor suffering sister in her hour of need. Jane needed you and where were you? You were out partying like some bimbo.”

I decided to completely ignore the charge of partying like a bimbo and just point out the truth to her. “Mom, I left her at home with Mary. I was out at dinner with Jenny, Hannah, and Becca. I came home as soon as Mary called me. Do you realize that I've been with Jane as much as has been humanly possible the past week? You've barely given her a minute of your attention despite the fact that Charlie broke her heart. She's been desolate and you've been ignoring her while gossiping to everyone you know about how your poor darling daughter had her heart broken by that rich bastard, Charlie Bingley.”

Mom sighed at me and said, “Don't you go trying to tell me how to live my life. I'm an adult, Miss Elizabeth and I can talk about my daughters to whomever I please.”

I probably would have retorted then but my father silenced both of us by stating “That right now is not the best time for this sort of debate. Jane needs all our support and love, not ridiculous bickering over nonsense. Please try to keep calm and away from each other's throats.”

Mom glared at him. “Fine, Christopher, we'll let you have your way. But, just remember, Elizabeth; I'm not done with you. I'm going to make you more responsible for your sister if it kills me.”

All I could wonder was why on earth my mother was blaming me for all of this when Mary was the one who had actually been supposed to stay home with Jane. Mary had been home when I left for dinner but then she must have left for a little while after I left. She'd told me she'd run to CVS to pick something up, but why she had done that was beyond me. She knew that someone had to be with Jane as much as possible; she was crushed over the way Charlie had dumped her. Mary had always seemed to be oblivious when it came to emotions but surely even she could understand the misery Jane was enduring. I just wanted to shove a knife through Charlie Bingley's heart.

Darcy's POV

Charlie was absolutely miserable after we made him dump Jane. First we made him dump her via email because his sisters and I knew that if we let him talk to her, he would never be able to go through with it. He really did care about Jane, but I didn't think she cared for him very much. Also, her family was horrible. Lizzie was a lovely girl, very much so, but the rest of the family was a little off. Her two youngest sisters were sluts and always trying to make themselves the center of attention. Then there was her middle sister, Mary, who I suspected of being mentally disturbed, a least slightly. And then there were her parents. Her mother was always announcing how her daughter was commanding the attentions of such a wealthy man and wouldn't it be wonderful for their family? Even Mr. Bennett had his quirks that worried me. I had seen him publicly humiliate Mary at a party because she was playing the piano, rather badly, and people were starting to comment. I just didn't want to see my friend associated with a family like that. The Longbourn was an excellent hotel and the attached condominiums are also great, but the owner's family is a bit odd.

I hated causing my best, closest, oldest friend pain, but I had to. (And man, I sounded like a woman just then. I really need to go punch something or watch Myth Busters or shoot some hoops; I need to do something manly.)

Anyway, I really didn't like interfering in other people's relationships, but by God, this was for Charlie's good. He needed to get away from that girl. She wasn't good enough for him and she didn't care for him very much. Personally, I think love is like shooting fish in a barrel and the sooner we give it up, the better off we'll all be. Why the rest of the world disagrees with me, I don't know, but I know I'm right. Hollywood is completely off the mark with “love at first sight” and “there is a perfect someone for you out there.” Dude, get real. Love is something that happens once in a lifetime-if you're lucky. And I was not one of the lucky few. I was one of those idiot men doomed to be alone forever, because I just wasn't willing to play all the ridiculous games that women today want men to play.

I'm not going to lie; Lizzie Bennett was a great girl. But her family made any sort of relationship with her completely out of the question. My reasons why I can't be in a relationship with her are almost the exact same as my reasons why Charlie couldn't be with Jane. It was just not appropriate for someone like me to be involved with someone from a family like that. Plus my aunt would throw a fit and my publicist would be forever doing damage control because of Lizzie's family. Yeah, I needed to stick to women from good families. Or I could just be bachelor for life; that was starting to look really good.

And then in mid-March, my Aunt Catherine dropped a bomb on me. “We're having the family Easter celebration at my estate in New York this year. I know we usually do it here, but I so rarely get the opportunity to share the New York house with my family, so I'm inviting you, Rick, George, and their families to spend Easter with me in New York. It will give us a great opportunity to spend time as a family and afterwards you can go check up on the Pemberley resort in the Hamptons.”

“What about Georgie and Emily? Are you inviting them?”

“I don't want her traveling so soon after Emily's birth. It isn't good for either one of them. Also, I've invited Ethan Collins, his fiancé, her sister, and a friend of theirs to spend Easter with us and it just wouldn't be seemly for me to be showing off my niece who happens to be an unwed mother to important employees such as Ethan.”

“Will Anne be having her children at the Easter celebration?”

“Why yes of course, but that's different. Anne used a sperm donor; your sister was acting like a loose whore and got herself raped. The situations are completely different and Anne's is far more respectable.”

I sighed. “All right, well, I think I'd rather stay in Chicago with Georgie and Emily but if you really need me to go to New York with you, I can.”

“I need you in New York; someone has to talk to Rick and George and Ethan.”

“Fine,” I replied. “I'll go.” That was my aunt for you. She expected the world to revolve around her. You had to drop everything to suit her fancy. She didn't want anyone to know that Georgie was her niece now that my sister was an unwed mother. Apparently if you had your children with a sperm donor it was one thing, but having them with a real live man or being raped was just not allowed. My aunt needed serious psychiatric help.

That evening, I broke the news to my sister. She actually seemed pretty calm about the fact that she wasn't invited to our family's Easter dinner. “I can stay here and take care of Emily; it's better for her to be with me than to have to put up with all the strangers she'd run into at Aunt Catherine's house. Plus she wouldn't be welcome there and I don't want to have to deal with that. She's only five weeks old and I'm not ready to be dragging her around the country for ridiculous family functions.”

“But who will you spend Easter with?” I asked. “Rick and Evelyn are taking Connor and Logan to New York.”

She shrugged. “I can spend it with some of my friends. I've been dying to see Meghan and Teresa and I'm sure they'd love to spend some time with Emily. They think she's such a darling.”

I looked at my niece who was happily snuggled up in her mother's arms. “Of course they think she's darling. It's only because she is. She's the cutest, sweetest baby ever born.”

“You're biased,” she said. “You only think that because she's your niece.”

“I have a right to be biased. She's gorgeous and she looked just like her lovely mother.”

Georgie blushed but smiled. “Will, you're a good brother. You're the very best kind of brother. You actually care about the people around you and you'd do anything and everything in your power to make sure they're happy. It's like what you did for Charlie, protecting him from that gold-digger. That was so sweet of you. I know he's sad about it now but someday I'm sure he'll thank you for it.”

I smiled at her half-heartedly. I was starting to regret making Charlie dump Jane. He was eating, sleeping, working, and in all other ways functioning as a normal person but he wasn't as happy as he had been. Once I'd wondered if a day would ever pass when I wouldn't see his broad smile, but now I was starting to wonder if a day would come when I would see that smile. Sure it was toothy and a little white, but it was a charming smile and I was starting to miss it. Jane had made him so happy and I had completely missed that. But I was standing by my decision, purely based on the fact that she just wasn't right for him. He needed someone from a better family. He needed someone solid who actually cared about him.

I was confused and frustrated and really hoping that Charlotte's friend was Elizabeth. After all, she was a teacher, so she wouldn't be working the week after Easter, so of course she'd probably go up to visit Charlotte if she had the chance. I was really hoping I would see Lizzie again. Oh I knew all the reasons why a relationship between the two of us was dangerous but I didn't care; I really liked her and admired her. She was a strong, independent woman and she reminded me of my mother. She was the sort of woman I hoped Georgie would become someday. I didn't want Georgie to some sort of militant feminist or man-hater like Anne or my Aunt Catherine. I wanted her to think for herself and be an independent woman, but at the same time be open to other people's ideas and I guess, be open to the possibility of marrying a good man at some point in the future. But that good man has to meet with my approval and be willing to love Emily as if she were his own daughter.

Lizzie's POV

By mid-March, Jane was starting to perk up. Her night in the hospital had been a real wake-up call for her. She had actually started seeing a therapist to help her figure out why she'd chugged rum and tequila that fateful night. She also wanted to know why breaking up with Charlie had hurt her so badly. She wanted to make sure she wasn't going to become dependent on men. “I don't want to be one of those girls who need to have a guy in their life at all times. I want to be independent and not need men; Lizzie, I want to be like you.”

Okay, so I guess I've never really needed men. In some ways I guess I've really never needed anyone. Damien taught me that. He kind of screwed me over, but it never really bothered me. Am I cold-hearted? Or am I just really resilient?

Chapter Nine: Somewhere Out There

Lizzie's POV

I was worried about leaving Jane alone with Mary while I went to visit Char in NYC. Thankfully, Aunt Sophie and Uncle Ed were coming to Meryton for Easter and Aunt Sophie promised to keep an eye on Jane while I was gone. So Holy Thursday night, I went to Mass with my family, which Lydia and Katie complained about the whole way to church and the whole way home; apparently we were ruining their lives, or something like that. Uncle Ed, Aunt Sophie, and their kids all came as well. After Mass, we all went back to Longbourn for coffee and conversation. I love my younger cousins. Ben, Emma, Karl, John Michael, and Elana were all there as well as Jenna, Dylan, and Kristina. Ben, Emma, Karl, John Michael, and Elana are great kids; I love them. But more importantly, they love Jane and she loves them; they were really lifting her spirits.

My aunt Grace and Uncle Ken were there with their kids, Jenna, Dylan, and Kristina. Jenna is way too young to do all the stupid things that Aunt Grace lets her get away with but Uncle Ken is rich and doesn't care what his kids do. So Jenna pierced her cartilage at 13 while I had to wait until I was 18 and out of my parents' house before I could pierce mine. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. But they let their kids get away with murder compared to the tight leash my dad kept Jane and me on. Heck, my own little sisters get away with murder compared to Jane and me. But that's the way life goes. Your parents get less strict with each kid.

“So Lizzie-belle,” Uncle Ed said. “Are you still planning to visit us this summer?”

“Of course,” I replied; I love visiting them. The kids are great fun, the parents always take me to see a show, and Aunt Sophie and I always spend one day just shopping together. “I'm really looking forward to it. I was thinking I would come down on July 5 and stay until the 19 or 20. Does that work for you?”

“Actually, we were wondering if you would like to join us on our family vacation this summer and stay with us until the 30th,” Aunt Sophie explained. “Ed and I would like to take you to see Wicked as a birthday present. And of course, you and I will go shopping together. Would you like that?”

I smiled. “I'd love that. It sounds delightful.”

“Then we look forward to your visit,” she replied.

The next morning, Katie and Lydia drove Maria Lucas and me to the airport. The whole way there, which was over an hour, Maria slept while I had to listen to a discussion of which guy in Katie's class was the hottest. Apparently, it was a toss-up between Paul Smith, the golden boy, and Nick Logan “who has the most gorgeous eyes you've ever seen,” Katie sighed. “He's tall, dark, and handsome. Basically, he's the ideal guy.”

I wanted to laugh partially because Paul and Nick are my students and partially because I went to high school and college with Nick's older brother, Steve Logan. Steve is about 6'4”, skinny, dark-haired, olive skin, and soft, dreamy brown eyes with long, luscious brown lashes. Oh, and he's engaged to Becca Gilbert, one of my closest friends. I'm actually going to be in their wedding this coming September and I'm pretty excited about it. Becca and Steve have known each other pretty much forever, but they didn't start dating until our senior year at Grand Valley. But they're a really great couple and I'm glad they're together. Oh and I'm really exited about being in the wedding.

“But Paul has that amazing curly hair,” Lydia protested. “And it's just so gorgeous; it's like a halo on him or something.”

“Yeah, but I really just prefer guys who are tall, dark, and handsome. Like, do you remember Charlie Bingley's friend, Will Darcy?”

“You mean that really rich guy who tended to be a complete jerk to treated people like they were lower than dirt just because they weren't as rich as he is?”

For once in her life, Lydia had described something perfectly. She had just encompassed Will Darcy in a nutshell. If you weren't rich and snobby like him, you were subhuman. This was why he was going to marry Caroline Bingley, or maybe he'd marry his cousin. I think Damien told me that Will's aunt want him to marry his cousin. Now I know that's illegal, but I bet when you're really ridiculously rich you can make things like that happen with just the wave of your finger.

“Okay so he was rich and snobby, but that's not my point. My point is that he was really good looking. He was tall and well-built.”

“Yeah, he would have looking yummy with his shirt off,” Lydia sighed.

“Oh he would have, but you're still missing the point. He didn't really have dark skin but he had really dark hair and these amazing dark eyes.” She turned and looked at me in the backseat. “Lizzie, don't you think that Will Darcy was a great piece of meat?”

I sighed. “Katie, will you please stop objectifying men? I know Will was a jerk and all, but you don't have to treat him like a piece of meat.”

“She's in love with him,” Lydia pronounced. “She's secretly in love with him and she doesn't want anyone to know so she's refusing to do anything other than criticize us.”

Oh how I couldn't wait to get away from these two. My one comfort was that Katie would be graduating from high school in May and then would be going on to college; okay so she was going to Meryton Community College for a year, but then hopefully she could go to someplace further from home and Lydia. Lydia has a stronger personality than Katie does so therefore Katie always does whatever Lydia tells her to do. It's really a sick, sick cycle.

“Lizzie, do you think Paul Smith is hot?” was the next thing I heard out of Lydia's mouth.

“Katie, first of all, no, I happen to think that Paul is actually kind of ugly and secondly, he is seven years younger than me. That's illegal and disgusting.” I sighed; I really wanted to kill someone. Why couldn't someone else have driven me to the airport? I knew Mom wanted to talk to Aunt Sophie without these two around, but they were on spring break; it wouldn't be that hard to get them to shut up and bug out, would it? I guess I haven't lived with my parents' for a while.

“You're dumb,” my youngest sister replied. “Paul is so dreamy.”

When I die, God had better have a good explanation for my sisters. Maybe they're adopted. I've wondered about that for a few years now. I think I started wondering that when they both became obsessed with Malibu Fashion Barbie at the exact same moment in time; it was Christmas thirteen years ago. Lydia was almost four, Katie was five, Mary was eight, I was eleven, and Jane was twelve. Mary's big present from Grandma Gardiner that year was a dictionary. Mine was a gift-card to the local bookstore. Jane's was a gift-card to the mall. And Lydia and Katie were each given a matching Malibu Fashion Barbie. And that was the end of it. While I was thinking of all the books I could buy, they were talking about the fashions their dolls were going to wear. And I knew someday they were going to need some very expensive psychiatric help.

My sisters kept babbling about boys the rest of the way to the airport. I'm not sure they noticed when Maria and I got out of the car and left them. But I got out of the airport, took my suitcase out of the truck, and headed into the airport. I was flying from the Meryton County Airport to Chicago O'Hare. From there, I was flying from Chicago to New York's Kennedy Airport where Char and Ethan were going to pick me up and take me to St. Patrick's Cathedral for the Good Friday service. And after that, we were heading back to Char's apartment. She and I were going to hang around there until Sunday when we were heading out to Ethan's boss's compound in the Hamptons. We'd been invited to her family Easter dinner and apparently it was going to be very exciting.

When the plane landed in New York, I was exhausted. I'd woken up at five-thirty that morning and it was barely noon, but I'd still been up for over six hours. Okay so my life is actually like that most days, but most days I drive twenty minutes to Lakeview Academy instead of driving an hour to an airport and then spending about three hours on airplanes and another two hours waiting for flights. Yeah I was tired and I really wanted to relax on a couch. I did not want to have to deal with anyone shrill or obnoxious for the next week. I just wanted to relax and not think about anything. I needed a week free from the drama of my life in Meryton.

So I was pleased to see Char without Ethan when Maria and I got to baggage claim. “Where's the boy?” Maria asked. “You told us he'd be here.”

She sighed. “He wanted to get to church early to impress Mrs. DeBourgh. Apparently she believes that piety and religious devotion are a very important part of life, so he's doing everything in his power to show her how devoted he is to his Catholic faith. Apparently, she will be there with her daughter and three of her nephews. One of her nephews is bringing his family and her daughter also has two children who will be there. So you'll probably meet them today; Ethan is saving us seats with them.”

“Oh, goodie,” I said as Maria sighed. I knew we were both thinking the same thing. So much for a relaxing week…

Darcy's POV

Aunt Catherine dragged us all into Manhattan to go to the Good Friday service at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Never mind that we could have gone to church some place much closer to her house; she wanted to go to St. Patrick's because it's so famous. Yep, that's my aunt for you; she likes attention. So that's how I ended up sitting by the three empty spaces Ethan Collins wanted us to save for his fiancée and her friends. I was also holding my one-year-old godson, Logan. Logan is my cousin's younger son and he's one, almost two; his older brother, Connor, is almost four. Evelyn, their mom, is expecting their third child in May and she's really hoping for a girl this time. She loves her boys but I think she wants a female presence in her house. Connor and Logan are great kids, but I could understand wanting a daughter in the house; I think Rick wants a son almost as much as Evelyn does. I love Logan and Connor and I'm always glad to visit their house, even if just four a few hours. The boys are so lively and a breath of fresh air after being around Aunt Catherine or when I'm too caught up in the business affairs related to Pemberley. After the insanity of my visits to Meryton, especially after the whole messed-up affair with Charlie and Jane, I spent most of the following Saturday playing with Connor and Logan.

I was slightly stunned to see Charlotte Lucas, Maria Lucas, and Elizabeth Bennett come up beside me and sit down. I moved so Charlotte could sit next to Ethan who was seated to my right and Maria followed her, leaving Logan and me sitting next to Elizabeth. She didn't complain about sitting next to me but I could see by her face that she wasn't happy about it either. I didn't particularly care. I enjoyed her company and more importantly, I was enjoying the company of my godchild. Lizzie looked stunned to see me holding Logan; I suppose she wasn't aware that I knew how to relate to small children. But she was as civil as she could be; I suppose you can't really be rude and insulting in the middle of an extremely solemn church service.

After the service, Aunt Catherine invited us all to her house, but Charlotte said that Lizzie and Maria needed to rest at her apartment for a while. At this proposal Aunt Catherine invited herself and all of her family guests over to Charlotte's apartment. I felt embarrassed on my aunt's behalf, but found myself being dragged there against my will. I didn't think it was appropriate for us to go to the apartment when Maria and Lizzie were probably exhausted from traveling. But Aunt Catherine was insistent that we drag our large group over to the small apartment.

When we arrived, I was convinced that we really shouldn't have come. Maria fell asleep two minutes after sitting down on the couch and Lizzie looked positively beat. She was curled up in an easy chair holding with Anne DeBourgh's baby daughter. She was a natural with the small child. Isabella doesn't generally take to people holding her, but she just fell asleep in Lizzie's arms and that was that. The baby was sleeping and Lizzie was actually peaceful. “How was your flight, Miss Bennett?” my aunt asked. “Did you enjoy it?”

“As much as one can enjoy flying,” she replied. “Take-offs and landings make my ears pop and the flights give me motion sickness. I usually take Dramamine when I travel but I discovered last night that I had run out of my supply. So while I'm not exhausted like Maria, I don't feel very well.”

“Would you like some Sprite to calm your stomach?” Charlotte asked her.

As Lizzie nodded, I realized that her face was a bit gray and she didn't look very well at all. She was very peaceful and serene, but she also looked a little dazed. Her long dark brown hair was hanging loose over her face, as if it were a veil. She brushed it away from her face, but it simply fell back as it was before and she sighed, leaning back into her chair. But no one seemed to be noticing this. Rick and Evelyn were busy trying to keep their children from destroying Charlotte's apartment. My aunt and Anne were inspecting the apartment and Ethan was trying to please them about every little detail. Lizzie was holding Anne's daughter, Isabella, and her son, Ryan, was sleeping on the couch next to Maria.

And I decided that no matter what my aunt wanted, I was going to give Maria and Lizzie some much needed peace and quiet. “All right, if you folks don't mind, I'm going to take Alfalfa and Spanky back home now. The little rascals look like they're getting pretty tired.”

“Dear Darla, I hate your stinking guts. You make me vomit. You're scum between my toes. Love, Alfalfa,” Lizzie recited from her nest.

I smiled at her. “Yeah, well, Logan and Connor are a little young for girls, so we'll have to wait on a Darla for a while yet.”

“You can't leave, William,” my aunt protested. “We're enjoying Charlotte's lovely apartment. It could use a bit of sprucing up but I suppose since you're getting married next Christmas, it's not worth putting that much work into your place.”

Charlotte smiled grimly. “It is only a temporary home and I don't really spend that much time here. But I do like this place; it has a few homey touches.”

“Who are all these people in this portrait? Are these your cousins or your nieces and nephews?”

Our hostess blushed under my aunt's inquisition. “No, actually, I'm the oldest of eight children. That's a picture of my family that was taken last Christmas.”

“Oh dear, eight children, that certainly is a large family. How could your father afford such a family?”

“My father owns a large hotel resort near Lake Michigan and he's done very well for himself. We've all been able to attend private schools and we're always well-dressed, well-fed, and never neglected. Our lives have actually been pretty wonderful. I've never felt at a disadvantage just because I'm from a large family.”

“What about you, Miss Bennett, how large is your family?”

“My parents have five daughters, five children, in all,” she replied.

“Including you?” my aunt queried.

“Yes, Mrs. DeBourgh,” Lizzie replied. “I have one older sister and three younger sisters.”

My aunt looked like she was about to say something else when I repeated my earlier desire to leave. “I know you're enjoying the apartment, but I don't mind getting a taxi and taking the boys home.”

Anne sighed. “Will, if you're going to take Connor and Logan home with you, would you mind taking Ryan and Isabella with you as well?”

“Not at all,” I replied. Within ten minutes, I had two children in car seats, two diaper bags, and four small children ready to return to the Hamptons. Thankfully, my cousin, George, offered to go back with me and help me. Then Rick and Evelyn decided to come back with me as well. This left only my aunt and Anne at Charlotte's apartment. I'm not sure why they were insisting on staying, but they were. So I said good-bye to Ethan, Charlotte, Maria, and Lizzie knowing that I'd see them all on Sunday at my aunt's house for dinner. What I didn't know was that my crazy aunt had rented a place in the Hamptons for Charlotte, Maria, and Lizzie just for the next week while Maria and Lizzie were in town.

The next day and a half was filled with family time. I spent most of that time with Logan and Connor. I spent a little time with Isabella and Ryan, but they were with their nanny most of the time. Anne was busy socializing with various friends of hers who were in town. She was such a socialite; she had two great kids but she seemed to be busy to actually care about them. I really didn't understand Anne; I worked with her but I still didn't get what was with her. She was in love with the pool boy, she was a hypochondriac, she had two children, and she was a socialite. She always wanted to help me with high profile cases, but she didn't actually want to do any real work. I think she wanted money and attention. Beyond that I couldn't figure her out. I had no clue why she'd gone to law school.

I really liked Logan and Connor though; they're great kids. Logan is a little blonde-haired kid with big brown eyes while Connor has brown hair and bright blue eyes. Half the people who meet them don't believe they're siblings, but they are. Logan looks like his mother while Connor looks like his father; if you know Rick and Evelyn, it's actually quite believable.

Spending time with my two nephews mostly consisted of watching Disney movies and other cartoons. Logan wasn't really into TV yet; Evelyn didn't want him watching it yet. But Connor loved Thomas the Tank Engine; we watched it together every time I was at his house. Because of Rick's kids, I knew all about Thomas and his friends. Because of Anne's kids, I had started to learn Spanish. Isabella and Ryan were great kids. Their mother loved them but didn't know what to do with them. Many times they ended up at Rick and Evelyn's house because Anne was always leaving them with the nanny but then she was also forever firing nannies. It was weird. Basically, she didn't really trust anyone except Evelyn with her kids but she'd never admit that. She was learning that I could handle her children, especially Ryan, but I doubted that she'd admit that one either. Enrique wasn't really interested in his children, but I actually cared about those two little kids. I figured someone had to. Their father didn't care about them, their grandmother rarely acknowledged their existence except when it benefited her to do so, and their mother didn't know what to do with them. I was planning to spend as much time as possible with Logan, Connor, Ryan, and Isabella this week. They're all great kids and I wanted make sure that someone paid attention to them in the middle of all this chaos.

Chapter Ten: At Least I'm not Like All Those Other Old Guys

Lizzie's POV

We went to the Easter vigil at a small Catholic church near Char's apartment. We got home around midnight and made crepes while watching a movie; this is an old Lucas family tradition and no one really knows how it started. We decided to watch She's the Man because it's light-hearted, amusing, and requires little thought at one in the morning. It was the perfect movie for three exhausted girls. The next morning, we were all leaving to go stay in a house Mrs. DeBourgh had rented for us out in the Hamptons. Ethan was already staying with his boss and her family, and apparently they just could not wait for our arrival. I had a feeling her nephew could wait to see me again and I could definitely wait to see Will again, but I wasn't going pass up a chance to spend a week in the Hamptons. This could possibly be the best week of my life and I was not going to let a self-centered asshole like Will Darcy ruin that for me.

And yet, I couldn't reconcile the asshole that Damien had described to me with the man I had seen on Friday. The man I had seen then was playful with his nephews. I never would have chalked Will Darcy up as someone who was good with children. But there he'd been holding that little boy and entertaining him when he was bored. He'd been so gentle with baby Isabella; I hadn't imagined that Will could ever be like that. I figured he was the kind of guy who ignored children at all possible costs and would rather flirt with heiresses and socialites than spend time playing on a playground with a four-year-old. But maybe he was just acting like that because these were his cousins' children. Maybe if those four kids had been strangers to him he wouldn't have given them a second glance. But I supposed that I'd see enough of him in the ensuing week to determine his character in relation to small children.

Maria was very nervous about Easter dinner at Mrs. DeBourgh's house. “She's so rich and she inspects everything. She'll probably inspect my clothes and ask me where I bought them and they're all from the mall. You're lucky, Lizzie; you've at least been to Chicago and bought nice clothes from H&M there. I bought my dress at Juliana's and even though that's a nice store, there's only one in the whole world and Mrs. DeBourgh has probably never heard of it and she'll look down on me for shopping at small local stores instead of wearing Prada and Ralph Lauren.”

I smiled. “Maria, darling, take a deep breathe and relax. Your dress is gorgeous; I like it better than half the designer dresses out there. Yes my clothes are from H&M, but I'm out of college; people expect me to spend more money on my clothes. You're a poor college student, struggling to make ends meet; people will understand if your clothes aren't top of the line.” Or at least, sensible people will understand that fact.

Maria Lucas was twenty-years-old and she should have been a junior in college. Unfortunately, she'd been in a bad car accident during the second semester of her sophomore year of college. She'd broken her back and had needed several surgeries and a lot of physical therapy to recuperate. She was now doing much better and only needed crutches once in a very rare while. She was planning on returning to school, Michigan State University, in the fall. She was a little discouraged because she would be twenty-one and only a second semester sophomore but I knew things would work out for her. She's very smart and has a lot going for her.

Maria scurried back to her bedroom to change into her supposedly simple dress while I changed into my outfit, which was indeed bought at H&M. I was wearing a knee-length black and white floral print skirt with a white v-neck cardigan over a black camisole and a pair of black peep-toe pumps that Steve Logan calls my “sexy salsa-dancer shoes.” I was wearing a silver necklace with pearls and pearl drop earrings that I'd bought at Target a few weeks earlier and I'd just put some mousse in my hair and let it hang free in curls. I wasn't really trying to impress anyone at this dinner. I figured I'd met all of these people once and if they were going to judge me based on the way I was dressed and where I bought my clothing, these people weren't worth knowing anyway.

We were supposed to arrive at the DeBourgh residence at one in the afternoon and since the house was a five minute walk from our house we decided to leave at ten to one. Maria was wearing a knee-length white wrap dress with navy blue flowers sprinkled liberally around the fabric; it had a fabulous v-neck that she was emphasizing with a white pendant hanging from a silver chain. She had a pair of strappy white sandals on her feet, her light brown hair was pulled back with a silver clip, and she looked amazing. “Maria, no one will ever care where you bought your dress,” I told her. “You look wonderful.”

She smiled at me. “Charlotte's prettier. Everyone agrees that Char's prettier than I am.”

“Well, I beg to differ,” I replied. “Char looks great, but so do you.'

Char was wearing a dark green halter-dress that fell to her knees. Her shoulder-length brown hair was pulled back with a silver clip that matched her sister's; she was wearing a simple string of pearls with matching earrings. She looked very sophisticated, not like the crazy graphic designer who would lie on my couch wearing sweatpants and drinking beer while watching chick flicks. I smiled at her. “Charlotte Rosalie, when exactly did you grow up?”

She shrugged and spun around in a circle. “It was somewhere between first grade and two minutes ago.”

I laughed. “I remember first grade. You wore your cat dress every chance you got and you always wore it with your pink turtleneck.”

“Yeah, I loved that dress and turtleneck. They were so cute.”

“Okay girls,” Maria said. “Let's hit the road. I don't want to be late for dinner.”

I nodded. “The kid's right; let's get going.”

We arrived at Mrs. DeBourgh's house at 12:58pm to find everyone else waiting around for us in the living room. Ethan was sitting in a chair near Mrs. DeBourgh listening to every word she was saying; despite the fact that I'm not sure she knew he was sitting by her. Anne DeBourgh was lounging on a couch in a designer dress while holding her infant daughter. Her son was sitting nearby playing with some toy trucks. Rick and Evelyn Fitzwilliam were talking to Mrs. DeBourgh about her brother, George Fitzwilliam Sr., who was living in Seattle and had been unable to join his family in New York. George Fitzwilliam Jr. was apparently in another room playing with Rick and Evelyn's sons and Will Darcy. “Will is so devoted to those dear children,” his aunt commented. “I'm not sure how he has the patience for them or the energy to keep up with them, but I'm glad someone enjoys those children.”

“Speaking of children, why is Ryan still out here?” Anne asked. “I thought I told William to take him into the playroom when he took Logan and Connor.”

I could see that she was very frustrated and no one seemed willing to deal with her little boy. “I'll take him back there,” I offered. “I don't mind.”

“Oh thank heavens,” his mother sighed as I picked up her little boy and his toy trucks.

I carried the willing little boy over to the playroom where I found Will and his cousin, George, playing with two of the cutest little boys I've ever met. “Anne wanted me to bring Ryan in here because he was being ignored,” I told them.

“Of course he was being ignored,” George remarked. “His own mother doesn't pay attention to him; why would anyone else?”

I set the little boy down and looked around. “Do you guys need me in here or should I go back to the living room?”

“What are they talking about in there?” George asked. George was tall, like Will and Rick. He had very short light brown hair and blue eyes. His face was long, like Will's, but he didn't have Will's long nose and large ears.

“They're talking about your parents,” I replied. I was stunned by George's good looks. Unfortunately, he was probably as much of a stuck-up snob as his cousin and therefore, not worth knowing.

He sighed. “Of course they are. Aunt Catherine is probably ranting about how her idiot brother and his ridiculous wife wouldn't come to her fancy Easter vacation because they were too busy spending time with their newborn granddaughter. Never mind that Hannah is their first granddaughter and only their third grandchild; Catherine thinks my parents are selfish for preferring to spend the week with my sister and her new baby.”

“Someone should mention to Aunt Catherine that I'm planning to fly out to Seattle early next week to go visit Rob, Alicia, and the new baby,” Will remarked as he pulled Ryan into his lap; he then turned his attention to the two-year-old. “So Ryan, where are your trucks? Did you bring me your dump truck?”

I looked at the trucks in my hand and smiled. “Here you go,” I said, handing Will the toys. “Sorry, I forgot I had them.”

Will nodded and thanked me. “These are Ryan's favorite toys; he loves trucks of all kinds, but his favorites are garbage trucks.”

“Miss Bennett, you can sit down and play with us,” Connor said, looking up at me. “You can play with my trains, and I'm sure Logan will let you play with one of his dinosaurs.”

I smiled at the three-year-old as I sat down between Logan and Connor. “Do you like trains, Miss Bennett?” Connor asked me. I noticed that he had unusually clear diction for a little boy who wasn't even four years old yet. “My favorite train is Thomas the Tank Engine. Uncle Will bought him for me for my birthday last year.”

“That was very nice of him,” I replied, not really sure of what else to say.

“Oh it was nothing,” Will Darcy remarked softly. “Connor loves trains and he seemed to like the Thomas the Tank Engine videos, so I thought I'd buy him a couple of the trains from the show.”

Before I could think of any reply to that, Connor had another question for Will. “Uncle Will, when do Logan and I get to see Aunt Georgie's baby again? She's so pretty and I think she's really cute. She looks like a doll. Can we go visit her again when we get home?”

He smiled at the little boy. “I'll have to ask Aunt Georgie how she feels about it, but I'm sure she'd be glad to let you visit Emily.”

Connor's face lit up with a bright smile and his uncle was smiling too. I looked at Will Darcy, shocked at the way I was seeing him now. He was playing with his cousins' children, like he had been on Friday. He seemed genuinely happy to see the little boys and play with them. And he had a niece; his younger sister had a baby recently. His face lit up when he was talking about his niece; apparently her name was Emily. I was confused as to where Emily and her mother were this weekend; maybe they were spending Easter with Emily's father.

Darcy's POV

Easter at my aunt's house was ridiculous. I really wished Georgie and Emily could have been there. It was great to see Lizzie; she was as beautiful as she'd ever been, especially all dressed up for Easter dinner. She was also taking an interest in all the little kids around my aunt's house. I was glad to see someone take an interest in Ryan; so few people did. It was also fun to watch her play with these little boys. She and Connor were off in their own corner of the world playing with the trains I'd bought Connor for his birthday last year. I think she was a little stunned by the amount of attention I paid to my cousins' kids, but I love kids. Maybe I'm not the first person you'd chalk up as someone who loves little kids and wants to be a dad someday soon, but that's the truth about me. I want to be a dad.

Dinner that afternoon bore an unusual resemblance to the Spanish Inquisition-without the burning corpses. My aunt was asking Lizzie dozens of questions about her family, career, and other aspects of her personal life. She was also intensely interested in Charlotte's plans for her August wedding to Ethan Collins. “And you're getting married in your parents' church in Meryton? Whatever for? There are so many lovely churches right here in New York; surely that would be more convenient for you and Ethan.”

“It would be better for us, but not for anyone else in the wedding. Our entire wedding party is from Michigan and most of our guests are from Michigan,” Charlotte replied.

“Yes, but isn't Ethan's father from Chicago?”

“He lives there now, but that's not where he's originally from. Most of his family still lives in Michigan,” Ethan replied. “It's actually less expensive for us and for our guests if we have the wedding in Meryton. For example, we can have the reception for free if we have it at Lucas Lodge.”

“And who are you having in your wedding party?” my aunt inquired. “How large will it be?”

“It won't be huge, but it won't be small either,” Charlotte replied. “Two of my three sisters will be in bridesmaids as well as Ethan's two younger sisters and my cousin, Carolyn, and then Lizzie will be my maid of honor; also my youngest sister and my youngest brother will be the flower girl and ring-bearer.”

“And then I've asked my friend, Philip Lowell, to be my best man,” Ethan added. “Char's younger brothers, Mark and Paul, will be groomsmen as well as my half-brother, Michael, my college roommate, Tom Blake, and my friend, Andy Haas. I also asked Char's brother, Isaac, to be the head usher.”

“So in total there are fifteen people, plus the two of us, and our parents in the wedding party,” Charlotte finished.

“And what are your wedding colors?”

“We decided on a dark red and silver,” Char said. “We also decided to have each bridesmaid pick her own dress because we have girls of different heights and sizes and what looks good on Maria might not look good on Lizzie.”

“That's an unusual but good idea,” my aunt said, very condescendingly. “What sort of flowers are you having in your bouquets?”

“My bouquet will be red roses with their stems wrapped in a white ribbon and the bridesmaids' will carry white roses with their stems wrapped in a red ribbon. The groomsmen's' boutonnières will be white roses and Ethan's will be a red rose.”

“Will your flower girl throw petals?”

The bride-to-be shook her head. “No, the priest asked that we refrain from that tradition. However, she is going to carry a basket of red and white roses down the aisle.”

“Nick and Elinor will be really cute,” Lizzie remarked. I smiled listening to all this wedding planning; Lizzie would be a gorgeous maid of honor, even if I never got to see it or any evidence of it. I'd seen her wearing dark red tops before and I knew she looked wonderful in red.

“Actually, Lizzie's going to be a maid of honor twice in the next six months,” Ethan inserted.

“Oh really?” my aunt said, her interested obviously piqued. “And who else has asked you to be in their wedding, Miss Bennett?”

“Another of my really close friends from forever, Rebecca Gilbert is marrying my friend, Stephen Logan, over Labor Day weekend,” Lizzie explained. “Rebecca asked me to be her maid of honor about two weeks before Char did, but Becca's wedding is almost a month after Char's.”

“That's because Steve and Becca don't love each other as much as much as Char and I do so they don't need to get married as desperately as we do,” Ethan commented pompously, batting his eyelashes and his lady love.

Lizzie, who was sitting directly across the table from me, cringed and covered her face with a napkin as she laughed. I understood the temptation. Who could quantify love or say that one couple loved each other more than another couple did? Also, Ethan was constantly sucking up to my ridiculously condescending aunt. He seemed to view her condescension as an honor while I viewed it as disgusting and repulsive.

“So Miss Bennett,” my aunt said, eyeing Lizzie like a lioness eyes a piece of meat. “What is your current relationship status? Are you single?”

Lizzie sighed. “I'm currently single,” she replied, looking downcast.

“Oh,” my aunt said, raising her eyebrows. “You're single. So, what's wrong with all the men out there? Are they all ugly? Or are they not rich enough?”

The victim of my aunt's insane ranting had become unusually interested in the pattern on her napkin and her cheeks were tomato red. I shot her a sympathetic look, but she seemed not to have noticed. She did, however, look very sad and distressed and I felt for her. She was a guest in my aunt's home and she had done nothing to deserve my aunt's treatment of her. Just as I slammed my fist down on the table, my cousin George jumped to Lizzie's defense. “Perhaps, Aunt Catherine, the problem is not that the men are not rich enough or good-looking enough for Elizabeth, but rather she has not met a man of good moral fiber who respects women and can care for her in the way she deserves.”

Lizzie shot George, who was sitting to her left, a grateful look and he smiled back at her. Was my cousin falling for the charms of Miss Elizabeth Bennett? I wouldn't put it past him. Lizzie was a great girl; smart, good-looking, and not afraid to speak her mind. I could see her making George very happy, but I didn't want that to happen. I was interested in Lizzie and I wasn't about to surrender and stand by while my cousin wooed her. George may be charming and all, but he's not good at making relationships work and that would be ten times harder for him considering that he lives in Seattle and Lizzie lives in northern Michigan. It would be extremely hard for him.

By the time dinner ended, I became sure that George was interested in Lizzie, but I also started to note that she didn't seem interested in anything more than friendship. I was starting to think that she wasn't extremely interested in finding a guy right now. She seemed to be busy with work, friends, and some unexplained family drama. I hadn't heard any details but apparently someone in her family had been in the hospital recently. I wanted to ask her about it, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. She still seemed very intent on hating me for whatever evils Damien Wickham had accused me of.

On Tuesday, I found myself playing with my niece and nephews and Lizzie. We had taken them to a local park at Evelyn's request; she needed some time to herself. I had been planning to take the kids by myself when Connor went and found his new friend “Miss Lizzie” and asked her to join us at the park. Even though she wasn't crazy about spending time with me, she still agreed to play with us because she knew how important it was to Connor. I was still curious about which member of her family had been in the hospital recently but I knew now wasn't the time to ask. She had talked to Jane on the phone the night before and she had been more upset when she got off the phone than she'd been before her sister called her. I was starting to worry that my interference in Jane and Charlie's relationship had actually hurt someone. But then maybe it was just her grandma was sick and in the hospital; plenty of people have grandmothers who get sick and end up in the hospital. When I was five years old, my grandmother Fitzwilliam became very ill and went to the hospital. Maybe that's what happened to Lizzie; her grandmother must be in the hospital. There's no way my meddling could have messed things up THAT badly. Jane's just too level-headed and normal for that.

“So,” I asked as the children ran around us. “Are you on Easter vacation this week?”

She nodded. “Yep, they insist on calling it `Spring Break' to pacify those parents who expect political correctness at all times. But it's basically an Easter break; it corresponds with Easter and I think that's the real reason for it. Plus we teachers really need a break from those kids by mid-April. Let me tell you; high school students, especially seniors, are really annoying by the time Easter break rolls around.”

“Oh I'd believe it; this may amaze you but I was in high school once. Granted, it was about a hundred years ago but I was in high school.”

She laughed; she still had an amazing laugh. “Oh, I bet it's been less than a hundred years since you were in high school.”

I smiled at her. “Well, I graduated from high school about twelve years ago. That's a little less than a hundred, but I bet you most high school kids today would think I was pretty ancient. I might not be eating bran muffins daily and drinking prune juice with every meal, but I don't wear my pants low enough to show off my boxers anymore either.”

She smiled and I was glad she found my jokes amusing. “You aren't so old that you can't play with Legos and dump trucks in the sandbox,” she said in a teasing tone.

“Very true,” I replied. “But you must admit I am mature in certain ways. I'm not taking fashion tips from MTV or trying to stick it to the man with my every move.”

Lizzie shrugged. “Yes but have you become the man that you were once trying to stick it to?”

Why did she have to go and say things like that and ruin a perfectly good afternoon? I was just having a friendly chat with her and then she goes and insults me for no real reason. It's been like this since I met her and I'm not sure why I bother with her. I'm not even really sure what attracts me to her anymore. Maybe it's the fact that she's unattainable or that she's not throwing herself at me constantly. I don't know what it is but I'm pretty sure I love her against my better judgment.

Chapter Eleven: Once in Every Lifetime

Lizzie's POV

The more I thought about it the more I couldn't believe what I'd said to Will Darcy that afternoon. He may have been money obsessed like Damien said, but he wasn't as much a part of “the man” as I was making him out to be. He did do good things on occasion. He was great with his cousins' kids. The other thing that was starting to bother me was that I was starting to notice how good-looking Will really was. For months I'd been focusing on the fact that his ears stuck out and that he had a large nose, but now I was starting to realize that those imperfections only added to his perfection. His long nose fit his long face and his fluffy hair that was always threatening to curl covered his ears pretty well. He was a scumbag, but he was a good-looking scumbag.

Part of the reason I was thinking about all of this was two emails I'd found in my inbox that afternoon when we got back from the park. One was from Lydia informing me that Damien Wickham was back in town and he was the hottest thing on earth. I never really thought of Damien as Lydia's type, but she seemed very interested in him, especially since he had found his way into the favors of Mr. Forrester, the father of Lydia's closest friend, Kristi Forrester. Kristi was quite possibly one of most ridiculous girls I've ever met and her father was undoubtedly the most indulgent father I'd ever met, but Lydia seemed to adore their family. And now Damien was in their inner circle; I'd probably never have a chance with the guy again.

The second email was from Damien himself who wanted to tell me that he was back in Meryton and he was hoping to see me in the near future. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I was still attracted to him, but after the way he dumped me on New Year's Eve and I was pretty certain his reasoning was entirely based on the fact that I wouldn't put out for him, I wasn't sure I wanted to date him anymore. In his email he mentioned that he felt sorry for me to be spending so much time with Will and his family, stating that he knew I must be suffering but now I could understand why Will was such a horrible person. Apparently, it was genetic.

The thing of it was that not everyone in Will's family was evil; Will himself wasn't even Satan come to earth. He could be an okay guy when he wanted to. I wasn't really sure I understood Damien at all anymore. Actually, I'm not sure I ever understood him to begin with. I think I just liked him because he was willing to tell me horrible things about Will. And while those horrible things might be true, I really didn't need to hear all of them constantly. Jane and Lydia both mentioned things about Will that only Damien would have known in their most recent emails to me, so I knew he was spreading his anti-Will Darcy propaganda again. I didn't really mind that except it's unlikely that Will is going to return to Meryton anytime soon, so why would people there care about his personality?

That night after dinner, I wandered into a quiet room looking for a place to read. I was tired and I really was looking forward to reading The Princess Bride; I've read the book a million times and I never tire of it. So I settled myself down in a seemingly empty room in the back of the house and curled up with my book. I'd been there for a few minute when I realize that I actually wasn't alone. Will Darcy was sitting in the other corner of the room with his laptop. I stood up to leave and he smiled. “You don't have to go; I don't mind. I'm just reading an email from my younger sister.”

I nodded and sat back down again. Then something occurred to me, so I asked him a question. “Will, how old is your sister?”

“She'll be twenty in about two weeks,” he replied without looking up. “Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering. I'd always heard that you had a younger sister, but then someone was talking about your niece. Do you have two sisters?”

He shook his head. “Nope, Georgie is the only sister I've got, but she did have a baby in the middle of February. Do remember that night when I had to leave dinner at your condo to rush home because my sister was in the hospital?”

“I think so,” I replied with a nod.

“That was the night she went into labor and then Emily was born the next day; she was about three or four weeks early, but she's doing pretty well now.” He looked at his laptop and then up at me. “Do you want to see a picture of Emily?”

I shrugged. “Sure, I guess so.”

I walked over to him and he showed me a picture of a little baby girl with light brown hair sleeping in her crib. She was clutching a pink blanket and wearing pink pajamas. “She's going to be a girly girl the way Georgie's going with her,” Will said with a smile.

“She's gorgeous,” was all I could say. “Why isn't she up here this week?”

“My aunt doesn't like the fact that Georgie had a baby out of wedlock,” he replied frankly. “Never mind the fact that her own daughter has two children out of wedlock or that the circumstances surrounding Emily's birth are a little more complicated than my sister went out and got herself knocked up; my aunt doesn't want to be reminded that Emily exists.”

“That's so stupid,” I told him. Will's niece was adorable; he showed me other pictures of her, including a couple with her mother and I had to admit she looked just like Georgie must have looked at that age. She had big brown eyes and wavy brown hair. She was also really small but Will told me she was born three or four weeks early so that explained a lot. “I want nieces and nephews,” I found myself admitting. “But I don't see Jane getting married anytime soon.”

“You've got three younger sisters,” he remarked. “Maybe one of them will help you.”

“Ha!” I snorted. “Mary doesn't know guys exist and while Katie and Lydia are all too aware of the existence of men, I don't want nieces and nephews from them anytime in the near future.”

“Do you not like your sisters?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

I sighed; I couldn't believe I was admitting all of this to Will Darcy of all people. “I love them dearly, but I don't understand them at all. The whole concept of throwing yourself at men in every area of your life is ridiculous to me. There's more to life than dressing to please the hottest guy in class. I mean when I got dressed this morning, I didn't pick out my darkest pair of blue jeans, my lacy hunter green camisole, and my black hooded cable-knit sweater because I was trying to impress you or George.”

He smiled. “But at the same time you did put effort into your appearance. You showered, washed your hair, and then styled your hair. You chose to put that green ribbon headband-thing in your hair. You chose to put on earrings, some eye shadow, mascara, and lip gloss. You may not have been thinking about George or me when you got dressed this morning, but you did put effort into your appearance. You're not wearing sackcloth, so you dressed to impress society at large.”

I stared at him; I'd never thought about life like that before. I just liked to look nice and appear like a nice, normal human being. “I guess I do dress to please society but don't most people? I mean you're sitting there wearing khakis and a navy blue zip-up pullover sweater; isn't that conforming to societal norms?”

“Yeah it is, but I accept that. I shave and keep my hair neat and clean-cut because people expect a lawyer to look a certain way. People probably wouldn't want me to represent them in court if I looked like a hairy Neanderthal all the time.”

I smiled at the idea of Will looking like Evan Baxter in Evan Almighty. “You win,” I conceded. Then I looked at him. “Where do you get ideas like that from?”

He shrugged. “I studied a lot of philosophy in college; I actually minored in it. I like questioning things and actually thinking about why people do things and why things are they way they are.”

“But you seem so conservative, so restrained.”

“You think I have a stick up my ass, don't you? Oh you can admit it, Lizzie. I know you think I'm a tight-wad. But I've actually explored my beliefs and I know why I believe what I believe. I chose to be Catholic because I explored the faith and I realized I really did believe the teachings. I'm a Republican because I agree with most of the party's ideologies. I'm against the death penalty but I do agree with a lot of other Republican beliefs.”

I just looked at him. Okay so I'm pretty conservative politically and I definitely am Catholic but I'm not sure I've ever put as much thought into all that as Will seems to have done. Yeah I'm against the death penalty and abortion, but beyond that I'm not as politically aware as Will. Why is it that every time I talk to this guy I end up feeling like an idiot? That day he made me realize how little time I spend thinking about issues and just making snap judgments or doing things because they're simple and they're what other people want me to me to do. Will Darcy confuses me on so many levels; he's incredibly attractive, he makes me think about really deep ideas, but Damien said he was an asshole and a cocky jerk. And I'm pretty sure he's the one who made Charlie dump Jane; Charlie never would have dumped my sister unless someone made him.

Later that evening, Rick Fitzwilliam was walking me back to the house where Char, Maria, and I were staying. Maria had gone home earlier in the evening and Char was on a date with Ethan. Somehow we ended up talking about Will. “He's one of the best guys I know,” Rick told me. “He takes good care of the people he cares about. You've never met a more devoted older brother. He cares more about Georgie than I do about Alicia. Maybe it's because it's only the two of them or something but she is his highest priority, the most important person in his life.”

I nodded; this all contradicted what Damien had said about Will, but who knew? Rick was Will's cousin and bound to know more about his cousin than Damien. “He seems to love her a lot,” I commented.

“Oh he does,” Rick replied. “Will is very careful about who he lets into his heart, especially after his parents both died so close together. But the people he does let in, he guards and protects as fiercely as humanly possible. A few months ago, one of his very close friends became involved with a woman whom Will felt wasn't right for him and he did everything in his power to end their relationship.”

“But what was wrong with the woman?”

“Her family was well-off but very crass and made things very awkward, from what I understood. Will liked her and her sister, but he felt that it just wouldn't be appropriate for his friend to marry this woman. Also he felt that this woman was not nearly as fond of his friend as his friend was of the woman.”

I gasped. “How could he be sure of what the woman felt for this friend?”

He shrugged. “I don't know all the details; Will generally plays his cards very close to his chest.”

“I've noticed; he seems like a pretty private person.”

“He is, but he wasn't always like that. Before his parents died, he was one of the most open people you'd ever met. He would talk about his thoughts and stuff like that if you asked him. But then his mom died about eight years ago and his dad died like three years later; that destroyed him for a long time. He has a really hard time trusting people and opening up because of everything that happened.”

“Why?”

“His mom died of breast cancer really suddenly; she was diagnosed with a really advanced case of breast cancer that spread really quickly to other parts of her body. Her death was slow and painful. It was really hard on Will and Georgie.”

I nodded. “What happened to his dad?”

“He was killed by a drunk driver,” Rick said slowly. “It was a huge shock to Will and he became his little sister's guardian when that happened. It was really hard for him. He was twenty-five years old and suddenly he was responsible for his fifteen-year-old sister.” We were drawing close to the door of my house and he turned to look me in the eye. “People think they know Will Darcy but they don't. He's a very deep person; he has a lot of layers.”

“Like an onion?” I asked.

He smiled. “Yes, exactly; Will is like an onion. He's a great guy, Lizzie; don't judge him based on first impressions.”

Will's POV

Lizzie Bennett is an extremely complex woman. Sometimes she is open and friendly and other times she treats me like I'm the scum of the earth. I don't understand her at all. But then I rarely understand women at all. I think I understand my sister but behind that, nope; I'm lost when it comes to women. They're emotional and confusing. I was sitting on the couch in my aunt's living room listening to her argue with Ethan Collins about the morality of female priests. She was opposed; he was in favor. For all of the feminist beliefs I had heard her espouse over the past several months, I was surprised to hear her defend the Roman Catholic Church's position on the role of women in the Church. And it was moments like this that confused me; some days I thought she was really liberal and other days she seemed really conservative. I didn't get it at all. But I was still attracted to her. I wanted to ask her out; I knew she'd probably say no but I couldn't let this chance pass by me. I liked the girl and I wanted to date her.

It rained all day on Wednesday. Lizzie, Charlotte, and Maria had come over before the rain started and then they found themselves stuck at our house for the rest of the day. I think my aunt was giving Lizzie a very strong desire to kill herself with all her questions about her life. My aunt couldn't seem to understand why on earth Lizzie had become a teacher. “There's no money in teaching,” she told Lizzie over lunch. “And you have to put up with emotional brats all day long. How on earth can you do it?”

“I don't know,” Lizzie replied. “Maybe it's because I love those emotional brats and I want what's best for them.”

“But there's no money in teaching. With a degree in Spanish and in English literature there are so many more productive things you could be doing with yourself. Surely you're bright enough to do something besides teaching. Look at Charlotte; she has a degree in graphic design and she's able to work in New York City. Wouldn't you rather live in New York City than in some small Podunk town in the middle of nowhere?”

Lizzie looked extremely affronted. “Meryton might be a small town in the middle of nowhere but it's my hometown and I love it. It might not seem that important to some people, but it's a big part of my heart. I love Lake Michigan and I can't imagine living without being able to walk along the lakeshore or go swimming in freezing cold water with my sisters.” Her eyes grew bright with passion as she talked about her hometown. “I love living near three hotels that serve people who want to visit the lake or go skiing. I'm not sure I could explain it to someone who isn't from Meryton. But it's my hometown and I'm happier there than I am anywhere else.”

“But didn't you go away to college?” my aunt inquired.

“Yeah, I went to Grand Valley State University, which is near Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids is the second-biggest city in Michigan and it was great. It was like a manageable Chicago for me; I love visiting my aunt who lives in Chicago but I couldn't imagine living there long-term. But I was very happy in Grand Rapids, but as happy as I was there and as comfortable as I was there, it wasn't home.”

Having visited Meryton, I could understand how she felt. I loved Chicago but there was something sweet and homey about Meryton that appealed to the part of me that loved family life. It was a very peaceful, quiet town. Yes there were three large hotels that catered to tourists but somehow the town managed to maintain a small-town feel. There were town festivals and a park with an ice-skating rink. I could see why Lizzie loved it. I felt that she could grow to love Chicago; Chicago was my hometown and I was in love with the city. I loved the feeling of it being a hub of constant activity. I loved the liveliness of Chicago. Meryton had its own sort of liveliness but it wasn't the same thing.

My aunt looked like Lizzie like she was an alien or some newly discovered species. “Chicago is one of the greatest cities on earth. New York City and Paris are more wonderful, but how can any person not consider Chicago to be one of the greatest cities on earth?”

Lizzie shrugged. “I suppose we merely have different taste. You enjoy a large city full of bustle and noise while I prefer a small place where everyone knows my name. It's merely a matter of taste.”

The Grand Inquisitor decided to switch to a new topic. “Do you play any musical instruments?”

“I play the piano and a bit of the mandolin. I'm not great musical talent but I enjoy playing. I find music a good outlet for stress and good way to entertain myself.”

“You play the piano? You must play for us after lunch. I am a great lover of music and have superb taste in music. My nephews can tell you that I have the best ear for music in Chicago; I have season tickets to the Chicago Symphony and can always tell you whether or not music is worthwhile.”

Lizzie sighed and smiled. “I'm not very good at the piano but I'll play for you. Just remember that it's been several years since I last played, but I will make an effort for you.”

“Thank you. Now you play the mandolin? That is an interesting talent. I did not know the many people were interested in that skill.”

“I don't believe it's a commonly acquired skill,” Lizzie replied. “I became interested in it because it is a beautiful interest both in the sound it makes and in its appearance. My aunt and uncle bought me one for my sixteenth birthday and I taught myself to play it. It helps that I have several family members and friends who play the guitar.”

My aunt nodded stiffly. I could tell she was perplexed by Lizzie's demeanor towards her. Aunt Catherine depends upon people being afraid of her, but Lizzie wasn't afraid of her and my aunt didn't know what to do with her. Sometimes I think my aunt literally feeds off of other people's fear of her. I'm not afraid of her and I don't think Rick or George is but I know that Evelyn and Georgie are both afraid of her. I think people like Lizzie are good for Aunt Catherine but she'd probably disagree with me about that from here to eternity.

After lunch, Lizzie obliged my aunt and played the piano for a bit. She really is better than she says she is, but I won't press that with her. She'd either get mad at me or be embarrassed and neither of those sounds very pleasant to me. I love the fact that Lizzie has a fiery temper but at times that really works against me. She loses her temper when she's stressed and considering the way my aunt's been pestering her, I think leaving her alone might be the best idea. She was playing a song called Ashokan Farewell on the piano and it was beautiful. My aunt thought it was a weird piece, but I liked it. Lizzie told us it was from the Ken Burns documentary about the Civil War. Then she started playing another piece that she really likes, The Kiss from the movie The Last of the Mohicans. I actually happen to really like that movie myself and I was stunned to meet a girl who liked it. She told me that it was mostly because of “that one scene under the waterfall with Hawkeye and Cora. I mean I love the whole movie but that scene is my favorite part. I love it when he tells her, `I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far, I will find you.' When I was in college, Becca and I were watching the movie together and I just looked at her and told her that I wanted to be `finded' by Hawkeye. Unfortunately, that was almost seven years ago and no one has found me yet. But Becca got lucky; Steve found her. Maybe I'm Alice to her Cora.”

“Umm, Lizzie,” I commented from my seat next to the piano. “Alice falls in love with a great guy; unfortunately he is killed and she is forced to marry the man who killed her father and wants to kill her, so then she kills herself. I really don't think you're Alice.”

“You're right; I don't know of anyone who wants to kill my father,” she replied dryly.

I smiled at her and for some reason her face lit up when I smiled. “Lizzie, you're a great girl,” I told her. “Some day this perfect guy will come along and sweep you off your feet and in the end it'll be better than all of your wildest dreams and every relationship you've ever watched longingly.”

She looked at me and shook her head. “I don't understand you,” she said. “Actually I don't understand guys in general, but I really feel like I don't understand you. I can't understand a single thing you do or say; I feel like you're completely contradictory.”

I shrugged. “I'm sorry about that. Maybe as we get to know each other more that will change.”

The next day I knew I had to bite the bullet and ask her if she would go on a date with me. I was falling in love with her and I had the opportunity to do it. Somehow we'd ended up going to the beach together. She'd wanted to go and I was the only one willing to go with her. So we were walking along the shoreline when the words burst out of my mouth. “Elizabeth, would you ever consider a more serious relationship with me?”

She stopped walked, spun around and just stared at me. “What did you just say?” she asked.

“I was…I want to…I've been meaning to ask you out for a while now. I have this sense like I'm falling in love with you and I know it doesn't make sense and it's not something I'd normally do and I'm sure my aunt would kill me if she knew I was doing this and it's completely irrational, but would you consider me?”

She smacked me across the face. “Why would I ever consider going out with you, William Darcy? You're a louse and the scum of the earth; you make me sick by your actions. The only reason I'm here with you now was that I had no other option if I wanted to go the beach. My God, you are so egotistical. You tell me that loving me doesn't make sense and it's not something you'd do. Well isn't that the compliment every girl dreams of? You are so arrogant that I would never consider going out with you even if you hadn't done all that shit to Wickham and then broken up Jane and Charlie for your own jollies. Your stupid prejudice against anyone who isn't exactly like you almost killed my sister. She ended up in the hospital BECAUSE YOU MADE CHARLIE DUMP HER. And don't try to lie to me about that. George told me the truth about how you made Charlie dump Jane because you don't think she's good enough for your stupid society friends. You don't think that my family and our one measly hotel in some stupid hick-town in Northern Michigan is good enough for you and your resort chain and law firm and ridiculous obsession with money. Get over yourself, asshole.”

Now I was the one staring at her. “I don't know what shit Wickham has been telling you, but he's a liar. I'll explain it all to you when I have a chance and you'll actually listen to me logically. And as for Jane and Charlie, I thought I was doing what was best. I'm sorry if I hurt Jane; I'm truly sorry.”

“You'd better be,” she screamed. The wind was picking up and it looked like a storm was coming, but there was a storm coming out of her mouth at that point. “Will, Jane ended up in the hospital after she tried to drink herself to death. She lived, but she'll never be the same. She spent a week in her room moping, not eating, crying, and just doing all the normal things heart-broken girls do. And then one night when she was home alone, she tried to drink herself to death. Thank God we found her and were able to get her to the hospital and they pumped her stomach. I'm going to blame you for that for the rest of my natural life. And don't worry about driving me home; I'll find my own way home.”

And with that she stormed away from me. I stood there for what seemed like an eternity with my mouth just hanging open. I couldn't believe everything she'd just thrown at me. What the heck had Wickham told her about me? I was horribly sorry about everything that had happened to Jane, but at the time, I thought I was doing the right thing. When I'd finally pulled myself together, I drove back to my aunt's house and started composing an email to Lizzie; I figured I need to explain a few things to her.

Chapter Twelve: When Darkness Blinds You

Lizzie's POV

Friday morning, I woke up to find out that George, Will, Rick, Evelyn, Logan, and Connor had all left town the night before. I was sad to see George, Rick, Evelyn, and their kids gone, but I was glad Will was gone. I couldn't believe he'd asked me out the night before. Why on earth would I ever want to go out with him after everything he'd done to Damien? I just wanted to forget about the bastard. Unfortunately, he had sent me an email in an apparent attempt to convince me that he wasn't as evil as I knew he was.

To: “Elizabeth Bennett”

From: “William Darcy”

Date: Thursday, March 27, 2008

Subject: Give this email a chance

Lizzie,

Before you delete this, be aware that I am not going to repeat those things that you found so repulsive yesterday. I will not ask you out ever again; I can promise you that. However, I do want to defend myself against the charges you have levied against me. I will start with the accusations of attempting to end the relationship between my good friend, Charlie Bingley, and your sister, Jane.

Did I try to end their relationship? Yes, I did. I honestly believed your sister to be in different with Charlie. She always seemed so laid back and as if she didn't care whether or not he was around. Apparently this is not true and I'm very sorry about that. I'm also sorry about everything that happened to Jane after Charlie dumped her. I'll be honest with you. I'm very protective of the people I care about and sometimes I refuse to see the world around me. I honestly believed that your sister was indifferent to Charlie and now I know I was wrong. I wish there was some way I could make up all the pain I caused your sister. I'm terribly sorry about that. I really am. I know saying “I'm sorry” sounds horribly empty and it means nothing to you, but I am really and truly sorry. If there is ever anything I can do for you or your sister, please let me know. I'm horribly sorry, as I keep repeating, and I feel like a complete and total jerk for what I did to your sister and to Charlie. I am going to apologize to Charlie and maybe someday I'll have the guts to really and truly fix things between those two. In all honesty I happen to believe that they are perfect for each other and I screwed up a really great thing.

Now on the charges leveled about destroying Damien Wickham's life. I'm not sure what Damien told you, but I have a few guesses. I will attempt to tell you as much of the truth as I know. Damien was the son of my father's most trusted employee, advisor, and friend, Andrew Wickham. When Damien was born, my father was named his godfather and he took this role very seriously. Fourteen years ago, when Damien was sixteen, his father died very suddenly. And the once good-natured, friendly, respectful boy who had been my father's darling and pet, the joy of his life, and one of my closest friends turned into a monster. He started drinking, skipping school, dabbling in drugs, and womanizing. He slept with every girl he could get his hands on. He would seduce girls who were several years younger than he without caring about the legality or the consequences. Basically, he destroyed himself and he broke my father's heart. He also upset more than a few protective older brothers and fathers.

Eight years ago, my mother died and then my father's heart was broken once and for all. His health started to deteriorate and worse still, he wouldn't believe that Damien wasn't the wonder child anymore. Every time Damien asked him for money, he gave him twice what he had asked for. And then he left 10 of his money to Damien in his will provided that the executor of my father's will (my Uncle George; George and Rick's dad) felt that he deserved it. (The other 90 was to be split between my sister Georgiana and myself.) And then five years ago my father died and my uncle refused to give Damien a penny. Immediately, he blamed me and started taking legal action against me. Unfortunately for him, all of this failed completely and utterly about a year and a half ago. At this point, he found a new way to attack me. He started dating my little sister, Georgiana who had nothing but positive memories of him. Their relationship progressed rapidly and against my advice. In early June of last year, Damien date raped my sister, who trusted him completely and totally. She thought he was the greatest guy on the face of the earth. And then one night at a party, she got drunk and he raped her. She would tell you that it was consensual; I believe he took advantage of her. Then when she confronted him about it, he dumped her saying that she “wasn't even any good anyway.” In August, Georgie found out she was pregnant.

My sister was nineteen years old and a student in the honors college at Loyola University in Chicago; she was studying cellular molecular biology with the intent of attending medical school. Suddenly, she was pregnant and alone. She took a year off from college to deal with having a baby. In February, Emily Anne Darcy was born. She was born early for various reasons, all of which my sister's OB-GBYN explained to me the night my baby niece was born. I have no intention of ever letting Damien know that his daughter exists. He has no right to see her or contact her ever. Emily has done nothing to deserve Damien and I intend to protect her from him in all possible ways.

If you doubt anything I state in this email, you can ask either of my Fitzwilliam cousins to verify it and they would do it gladly. Rick was one of Georgiana's legal guardians until she turned 18 and George has just been one of my closest confidantes over the past few years. Rick's email address is George's email address is They would both be willing to answer any and all questions you have.

I'm very sorry to have offended you so severely. I hope that some day you can forgive me for all the offenses I've committed against you. I will never renew my professions of love and admiration for you again. And I never would have spoken at all if I had known how you felt about me. Please accept my heartfelt apologies and know that if you so desire, I will leave your life forever.

Sincerely yours,

William Darcy

I was shocked as I read his email. The first time I read it I thought he was lying about Damien and I wanted to ask his cousins to tell me the truth. But then I realized that he wouldn't have given me the opportunity to disprove him if he was lying. People just don't do things like that. If you're going to lie to someone, you wouldn't give them an opportunity to prove you wrong. I couldn't believe all that about Damien Wickham. Okay granted the guy did seem to be terrified of Will Darcy, but I'd just chalked that up to all the horrible crap he'd told me that Will had done. And then he had told me that he would never tell anyone except me about all the things Will had done to him, but now I was finding out in emails from my sisters and other people back in Meryton that he was telling them horrible stories about Will. Jane had told me in her email yesterday that “there is no way that the Will Darcy I remember from this past winter could be capable of all the things of which Damien is accusing him.”

I had to agree with Jane and I was starting to believe Will more and more. I was thinking about it and I knew that Will was right. Damien had lied to me and manipulated me for too long. I'd only dated the guy for a month and he was still manipulating me three months after he dumped me. Damien may have been more aesthetically beautiful, but internally Will was the better one. He was more honest; his long nose did not come from a lifetime of lying and manipulating people.

Now you have to understand that I didn't draw these conclusions over the course of an hour or two. After I opened Will's email, I spent the rest of the day in my room reading and rereading the email. Maria and Char both kept checking up on me, very worried that I was sick or something. I wasn't physically sick, but I was emotionally distressed. I was so confused and I didn't know what to think anymore. I completely understood why Jane had chugged rum and tequila after Charlie dumped her. When someone messes with your mind, they can mess with your heart too and vice versa. Will introduced a whole slew of thoughts and emotions into my mind that I'd never even considered for a second. Damien had manipulated me and twisted my thoughts so badly that I'd looked down on every member of Will's family as self-absorbed and arrogant. But now that I thought about I realized how wrong that was. Will, Rick, Evelyn, and George were some of the most giving people I'd ever met in my life. Mrs. DeBourgh and her daughter were a little weird, but the rest of them were really nice people.

I didn't know what to do with myself anymore. I'd always thought of myself as a nice reasonable person who gave people chances and didn't make snap judgments about people. Then I found out the truth about Will and Damien. I was really going to need to reevaluate my life. And I wanted to do that back in Meryton; I wanted to go home and talk to my wise older sister. Jane had always been smarter than me; why should that change now? Granted Charlie had broken her heart less than two months earlier, but she was still a fount of wisdom on so many topics.

Saturday morning, Maria and I flew home. Thankfully, God showed mercy to us and Jane picked us up from the airport. “Katie and Lydia were going to come, but then Mark called and said his dad needed two extra waitresses for a wedding reception this afternoon and he couldn't get anyone on this short of notice and could we please send Katie and Lydia to him? Dad said yes, of course. Mr. Lucas has loaned us waitresses in the past, so why shouldn't we show him the same kindness. Plus I knew you wouldn't want to listen to them babble about boys the whole way home.”

I smiled; I'd told her about our drive to the airport and she'd been very sympathetic. “Thank you so much,” Maria told her. “Lizzie and I both really just need some peace and quiet right now.”

“Of course,” Jane replied sweetly. “Don't worry about it. Just fall asleep and I'll wake you up when we get home.”

She was too kind; we definitely hadn't gotten such a kind offer from Ethan on the drive to the airport this morning. He'd babbled the whole drive about his upcoming wedding. Char had been in the car, trying to get a few words in edgewise, but mostly it was just her deranged fiancé. Maria and I had both been hoping to talk to her about our bridesmaid dresses, but we'd never gotten a chance. All we knew was that she was coming to Meryton for Memorial Day weekend and we'd handle dresses then. She had picked out a few styles on David's Bridal's website and she'd email us the link to look at them. She wanted us to pick the dress we liked best and let her know which dress that was. The wedding date was set for August 16; Char was coming home August 7 to arrange everything for the wedding. She knew that was short notice but she could only take so much time off from work. If and when I ever get married, I'm having my wedding in the summer. Since I'm a teacher, I'm free from mid-June to mid-August, so therefore early July would be the perfect time to get married.

In all honesty, after this past week I was more excited for Steve and Becca's wedding than I was for Char and Ethan's wedding. I love Char; she's like a sister to me, but Ethan isn't good enough for her. He's so pompous and self-centered; he doesn't seem to understand how important Char's job is to her or how much her family and friends mean to her. I couldn't explain my dislike for him. He's my cousin and I should love him, but I've always found that to be incredibly hard. He doesn't look at marriage in quite the same way that I do or that Char does; maybe that's because his parents are divorced, but still. He didn't understand why Becca's parents were uncomfortable with the idea that their pastor wanted their marriage vows to say “for as long as we both shall love” instead of “for as long as we both shall live.” I understand this completely; marriage is a commitment for life, not for as long as some feeling lasts.

My other problem with Ethan was the fact that he was taking my best friend away from me. I know his job was taking him to New York and I know he used to commute back and forth between Chicago and Meryton on a weekly basis, but still. I love Char and I have a feeling our relationship will change drastically now that she's going to be so far away from me.

Monday morning, I was back in the classroom teaching and I was thrilled to be there. There were two months left in the school year and the seniors were definitely full of the dread senioritis, but at least this was something routine that could distract me from thinking about Will. Teaching sophomores about Spanish weather vocabulary and the difference between the preterit and imperfect verb tenses is always easy than trying to figure out your own mind or that of anyone else for that matter. Damien Wickham was also around complicating my life, again. He was living in the Longbourn and Katie and Lydia were throwing themselves at him. When I'd seen them around him the day before, all I could think of was the fact that he was thirty years old and that he was the father of Will's baby niece.

Will's POV

I was thrilled when George and Rick agreed to leave Aunt Catherine's house when I left Thursday night. My reasons for leaving were partially because of Elizabeth but also due to the fact that I couldn't listen to my psycho aunt for another minute. So while Rick and Evelyn flew to Chicago and George went back to Seattle, I merely went to the Pemberley Resort and Spa in New York. I stayed there for a week and then went back to Chicago for three days to see Georgie and Emily. It was during this visit that Georgie told me she didn't want to be called “Georgie” anymore. “It's too immature, little girly.”

“What do you want to be called now?” I asked.

She shrugged. “You could call me Gianna; it's the other half of my name.”

I smiled. “All right then, Gianna it is.”

It might seem like a simple, pointless conversation to most people but to me it was a sign that my sister was growing up. She'd changed so much in the past year and now that Emily was actually here, present in our lives, she was becoming a woman. I was proud of her but also a little sad to see the little Georgie I'd grown up with vanishing.

After my three days with Gianna and Emily, I went to Seattle to visit my cousin, Alicia, and her family. Alicia is George and Rick's younger sister and she got married about a year ago to Robert Egan. She had her first child, a baby girl named Hannah Clarissa Egan, the Monday before Easter. I grew up being very close to George, Rick, and Alicia; they were almost like siblings to me and I was very excited to see Alicia's new baby. Contrary to what many people believe, I actually really like babies and small children in general. I love spending time with Connor and Logan; I think they're great kids. Hannah looks so much like Alicia that it's almost scary. She has dark brown hair and bright blue eyes and porcelain skin, but who knows how long that skin will last? It might get darker or something with age and exposure to sun.

During my whole trip, I couldn't stop thinking about Lizzie. I spent time with my cousins and my aunt and uncle; it was great, but I couldn't get her out of my head. She hadn't contacted Rick or George as far as I knew. But I couldn't help wondering what her response to my email was. I figured she probably wanted me out of her life; after that speech she'd given me at the beach, what else could I ever presume to believe? I was pretty sure she wouldn't be happy unless I went to hell or something like that.

Charlie was going up to Meryton on a biweekly basis to check up on the Netherfield. He would only stay for a day or two and he never saw Jane; he didn't make any effort to do so either. He told me that he saw no point in seeking her out. It would only cause him more pain. “I loved Jane once,” he told me over the phone one night. “But she clearly doesn't feel the same way about me so why should I bother pursuing her or anything like that? I've given up on her, Will; I'm done with her.”

But I could tell by his voice that he'd given up on Jane in the same way I gave up on Lizzie. If there was ever any possibility she'd be interested in me again, I would totally pursue her again. Whoever said that “love is a many-splendored thing” was clearly delusional. Love is many-faceted. It has its highs and its lows; its ups and downs. Love can be very painful. My heart hurt because the girl I loved was in no way, shape, or form interested in me. I smiled. “Charlie, what a pair of fools we make. We've fallen for a pair of sisters who don't care for us.”

He snorted. “Will, you're in a completely situation from me. Jane was interested in me. It's just that apparently she didn't care about me in the same way I did. You're dealing with completely and utterly unreciprocated love. Jane didn't hate me or anything like that.”

“Whereas Lizzie thinks I should go to hell,” I replied quietly.

“I'm sorry, man,” he said. “But maybe you just need to find a different girl. My sister is interested in you.”

“Hell no,” I exclaimed without a second thought. “Charlie, you're a great guy and all, but Caroline is not my type. I can't stand her.”

“I know she's a little ditzy and really into the social scene, but she does have a good heart. She is very loyal to the people she scares about. Even though she's dated around a lot, she's really saving herself for you. She wants to be with you.”

Yeah, in bed and with my money I thought but didn't say. Charlie didn't seem to understand that while Caroline had tried to paint a picture of Jane as a “money-grubbing whore”, it was his own little sister who was the “money-grubbing whore.” I sighed again and finally spoke. “Look, Charlie, it just would never work between the two of us. Caroline is attracted to my bank account, my stock portfolio, and the fact that I'm handsome enough that no one would accuse her of marrying an ugly man. She's not actually interested in me as a person. She and I could never sit down together and watch Braveheart or Gladiator. She's just not that kind of person.”

“Oh and Lizzie is?” he asked.

“Yeah she is,” I told him. “I've actually talked to her about it. She loves those two movies. She also loves Disney movies and action movies; she's pretty versatile when it comes to movies.”

“She also likes old movies and chick flicks,” Charlie said. “I'm saying that before you do. I get the picture that you know her really well. The thing is that she doesn't know you very well. Now maybe she never really let herself get to know you; maybe she only judged you based on first impressions and preconceived notions. Maybe all of that is true, but the thing is that she really just need to an opportunity to get to know you.”

I nodded. “I wish she would just give me that chance. It would make life that much easier. And it's not even that I want her to fall in love with me; I just don't want her to hate me.”

The first night I was back in Chicago after my return from Seattle, I went out to a bar with Charlie and three other good friends of ours. We were meeting up with Greg Williamson, Jake English, and Jonathan Gilbert. We had all been at the University of Chicago around the same time and had become good friends. The five of us had all lived in a house together our last two years at U of C. These were some of my closest friends and the people I wanted to keep close to me for the rest of my life. These were the men for whom I'd jump in front of a speeding bullet. They were the only guys other than Rick and George with whom I'd ever talk about my relationship with Lizzie.

“You know it's been a really long time since all five of us actually sat down at the same table and talked,” Greg remarked.

“Yeah, that's because Will and Charlie running off to deal with their business empires,” Jake remarked. “Some of us have to be content to stay in the Windy City and lead our petty little lives in one place.”

“Because your life is so boring and stationary,” Charlie teased. “Where's your next business trip to? Are you going to Prague or Paris?”

He laughed. “I'm leaving on Friday to spend two weeks in Dusseldorf.” Jake works for an international banking and brokerage firm that sends him traveling around the world on a monthly basis. He's a perpetual bachelor, a fact which is probably due to the fact that he's always on the road and he spends more time in hotels than he does in his own apartment.

Charlie shook his head. “You complain about the amount of traveling Will and I do, but at least we stay in the US. I'm only going up to Northern Michigan and while Will does visit places like Seattle and South Carolina, we're staying in the US. You can see the world on GlobaTrade's ticket.”

Jake shrugged. “I guess so, but I mean our jobs just bring different things into our lives. Look at Greg and Jon; their jobs keep them rooted in Chicago and they rarely ever travel for business. Will's job lets him travel some, but that's only to cities where Pemberley has hotels. Charlie travels to meet with authors he wants to sign with Bingley Publishing or to check up on his hotel.”

I nodded. “It's just that Jon's married, Greg's in a serious relationship, and Charlie and I are both looking for someone with whom we could have a serious relationship. And you're single with no relationship prospects.”

“Actually, I'm engaged now,” Greg inserted.

“What?” Jake gasped.

“When did this happen?” I asked.

“Two days ago,” he replied. “Melissa and I went to visit her parents in Columbus and Saturday night, we were at her parents' house for dinner. After dinner she and I went out in the backyard and I proposed. Then we all celebrated over one of her mom's amazing desserts.”

I smiled. “Congratulations. I'm so happy for you; you guys are finally getting married.”

Greg had started dating Melissa Baker three years ago after they met when he was working in Minneapolis and she was working on her master's degree in business. We'd all been waiting for him to propose for the past year. Melissa was the third of eleven kids in a large Irish Catholic family from Columbus, Ohio. She had gotten her bachelor's degree from the Ohio State University and I'd gone to law school at the University of Michigan so we were always picking on each other the week of the UofM-OSU game. She was always telling me that her wedding colors were going to be scarlet and gray. My perpetual response was “Then I'll find a woman who will let our wedding colors be maize and blue.”

“Why is everyone getting married?” Jake asked. “Jon's married and Greg's getting married. Charlie and Will are both looking for marriageable women. Am I the only one of us who isn't looking for a wife?'

I laughed as Charlie shook his head. “It's part of life,” Jon remarked. “Most of us all grow up and find women we want to marry at some point in our lives.”

“But I'm not sure that's what I want,” the globe-trotting banker protested. “Maybe I'm okay with being a perpetual bachelor. Maybe I don't want to get married and have two point five kids in a house in the suburbs with a dog and a white picket fence.”

“Then stay single,” Greg told him. “No one is forcing you to get married. And it's not like Will or Charlie is going to get married anytime soon.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” Charlie said, taking a large swallow of beer. “Man, I should just spend all my time around guys who remind me that I have no prospects.”

“Hey at least your pregnant girlfriend didn't run off with your car,” Jon teased. This was sort of a running joke although it really did happen to Jon's wife's cousin. He had gone away on a business trip for the weekend, and when he got back, his pregnant girlfriend had taken off for Florida with his car. It pretty much sucked for him until she got arrested for stealing his car and he ended up with custody of his kid.

By the end of the night, I was convinced that I wanted to get married within in the next five years. And I still wanted to marry Lizzie Bennett. I knew she probably hated me but I was praying that God would bring us together again under better circumstances so we could make things work. I wanted a second chance with her. She was a great girl and I wanted to show her the good guy I could be.

Chapter Thirteen: Times Like These

Lizzie's POV

It was the middle of May and we only had three weeks left in school. The seniors only had week left and they wouldn't stop reminding the underclassmen of that fact. My third hour Spanish IV class was the absolute worst. There was one sophomore in the class, ten juniors, and eight seniors. My seniors were awful to that poor sophomore. “You know what, Eduardo,” Kevin Riggs said to him one Wednesday morning. “You're going to be stuck in high school for another two years and I never have to go to school again.”

“And yet you're going to be in college for four more years,” Eduardo replied.

“Yeah, but I chose that,” Kevin retorted quickly.

I sighed. “Silencio, clase, si pudieron hablar en español, sería muy alegre. Sí, es el fin del semestre, pero necesito su atención para el resto del semestre. No tengo paciencia para una clase ridícula hoy.” Silence, class, if you spoke in Spanish, I would be very happy. Yes, it's the end of the semester, but I need your attention of the rest of the semester. I don't have patience for a ridiculous class today.

“Pero Señorita Bennett,” another senior, Meghan Moore, protested. “It's the end of our senior year. Can't you go easy on us?”

“En español, por favor; necesitas hablar en español en mi clase. Están en su cuatro año de español y si no pueden hablar en español, no deben estar en mi cuarto. Ahora, Señorita Moore, ¿puedes repetirme en español?” In Spanish, please; you need to speak in Spanish in my class. You are in your fourth year of Spanish and if you can't speak in Spanish, you shouldn't be in my room. Now, Miss Moore, can you repeat that for me in Spanish.”

“Si es necesario. Es el fin de nuestro último año de la escuela secundaria. ¿Puede hacer la clase mas fácil?” If it's necessary, it's the end of our last year of high school. Can't you make the class easier?

“Puedo, pero no creo que quieren tomar Español I otro tiempo.” I could, but I don't think you want to take Spanish I again.

I knew I was frustrating my students but I'd hit that amazing point where I just didn't care anymore. They were looking forward to summer but so was I. I was really excited about Char's wedding in August and Becca's wedding in September. Char was coming home for Memorial Day weekend and I was excited to look at dresses with her. She was going to show me her wedding dress while she was home. I couldn't believe she was finally going to marry Ethan; they'd been together for ages. Ethan's my cousin and I've known him since I was born, but I'm not very close to him. When he was five, his parents divorced and he moved to Chicago with his dad. But then when he was fourteen, he moved back to Meryton to live with his mom. He's a lot more like his dad than he is like his mom. And he's going to inherit the Longbourn from my dad when my dad retires or dies, which ever happens first.

“Senorita Bennett,” Lucy August spoke up. “Queremos hacer algo interesente o divertido. No nos gustan tarea y ejercicios del libro. Queremos relajar y divertirnos.” Miss Bennett, we want to do something interesting or fun. We don't like homework and book exercises. We want to relax and have fun.

“Queremos tener una fiesta,” came from Meghan Moore. We want to have a party.

And I sighed. The only “fiesta” they could really have was if they did another food project for me. But it was so close to the end of the year and we'd really moved past food vocabulary and restaurant dialogue. “¿Pero por que tenemos una fiesta?” But why would we have a party?

They looked at me and shrugged. “Porque es el fin del semestre,” Elijah, a junior offered. “Podremos tener una fiesta para el fin del año. Podré ser el día final para Meghan, Teresa, Kaitlyn, Alex, Mike, y Chris.” Because it's the end of the semestre. We can have a party for the end of the year. It will be the last day for Meghan, Teresa, Kaitlyn, Alex, Mike, and Chris.

“¿Y yo?” Kevin asked. And me?

“No es para tu,” I told him. “A Elijah no le gustas.” No, it's not for you. Elijah doesn't like you.

As Kevin sighed, Elijah repeated his earlier question. “¿Puedes tener una fiesta? Por favor?” Can we have a party? Please?

“Es posible,” I consented. “Me dices mas, por favor.” It's possible. Tell me more, please.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted. I needed it to be Friday. Actually I needed it to be summer so I could be in Chicago with my aunt and uncle. I just needed to get away from my family. I had Lydia in my fifth hour class and Katie in my sixth hour class. And there really is such a thing as too much of my sisters. They're both still madly in love with Damien Wickham and now Lydia is going on vacation to Fiji with the Forrester family and Damien Wickham will also be there. Katie was ridiculously jealous, and Lydia was lording it over her at every possible moment. They'd passed each other for two seconds when Lydia was leaving my classroom while Katie was entering and Lydia had managed to upset her in those two seconds. I was sick of it. I'd told my parents not to let Lydia go, but my parents insisted that since it was a free vacation, it was fine with them. I knew my little sister was going to find some way to screw up something through this trip, but my parents weren't listening to me. My mother was thrilled that one of her daughters was going to Fiji. My father just wanted to get Lydia out of his hair for the summer.

At the end of the day I had both of my little sisters in my classroom bickering. It was at moments like this that I really wished my parents had stopped having kids after Mary was born. Not that Mary was much better than these two, but I could put up with her more than I could handle the two of them at this point. I was really ready to just get out a shotgun and start firing at them. I really didn't think it was appropriate to take two seventeen-year-old girls to Fiji, especially two irresponsible girls who didn't have a lick of sense between them. But Mr. Forrester was offering to take them and pay for everything, so my parents were letting Lydia go.

“Lizzie, you've got to understand that it's just not fair,” Katie whined. “I've always wanted to go to Fiji. At least I know where Fiji is; I bet Lydia doesn't even know where Fiji is.”

“I do too!” Lydia protested. “It's right next to Mongolia.”

“And where is Mongolia?” I asked.

“It's in Africa!”

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Katie, do you know where Fiji is?”

“It's an island in the South Pacific and it's sort of near Australia.”

“That's close enough,” I sighed. “Are you two ready to go home now? Or do you have another debate I need to arbitrate before we leave?”

“She stole my skirt,” Lydia said quickly pointing at Katie.

“Which skirt?” I asked. I swear these two were going to kill me before my time and I was way too young to die.

“My black leather skirt,” my youngest sister whined. “I was going to wear it to Kristi's party this weekend but now Katie has it so I can't wear it and I look so hot in it and Kristi said that Nick might come to the party.”

I sighed as Katie said, “But I don't have her skirt. I have my own black leather skirt so there's no reason why I would bother stealing hers. She probably just lost it someplace and doesn't remember where so she's blaming me.”

“No I didn't!” Lydia shot back immediately and I sighed. It was on days like this that I wished I had accepted Will Darcy when he asked me out. If I had started dating him, maybe I would have learned the truth about Damien and I could have learned to like and respect Will. Then I could have married him and escaped from my family. If there was anything Will was right about, it was that my family was ridiculous. Jane was wonderful and lovable, but the rest of them were so screwed up. Char was escaping Meryton and I was jealous. I didn't want to move to New York City and I definitely didn't want to marry Ethan Collins; even if he wasn't my cousin I wouldn't have wanted to marry him.

Saturday, I had a dress fitting for Becca Gilbert's wedding. Becca was going to have five bridesmaids, Hannah King, Jenny Putnam, her two sisters, and me. Steve's groomsmen were Becca's brother, his three younger brothers, and his best friend, Adam Caldwell. Then they were also having Becca's niece and nephew be the flower girl and ring bearer. All in all, it was going to be a good-sized wedding party. Thankfully, Becca's wedding colors looked good on everyone in the wedding party. She'd picked black and dark green as her wedding colors. We were all wearing black knee-length dresses with green sashes. Her dress was white with a green sash. The guys were wearing black suits with white shirts and green vests and ties except for Steve. Steve was going to wear a black suit with a black shirt and a green vest and tie; he was also wearing green suspenders. The suspenders were his idea and he was really excited about it. It was at moments like this that I knew he was insane and he was perfect for Becca.

The following weekend I had dress fittings for Char's wedding and I had a feeling that it wouldn't be as fun as Becca's dress fittings. For one thing, Char's sisters are not nearly as much fun as Becca, Hannah, Jenny, Ava, and Sarah. Becca has one older sister, a younger sister, and a younger brother and all the Gilbert kids are insane. The guys were dealing with their tuxes while we were getting fitted for dresses and then after our fittings we all went out for lunch together and then we were talking about who was walking down the aisle with whom. The Logans are a tall family and the Gilberts have a fair bit of height themselves. Steve is the tallest Logan, but his three younger brothers aren't short. Steve is 6'5”, Josh is 6'3”, Nick is 6'4”, and Jack is 6'2”; the height order is almost the age order, except that Nick is taller than Josh, but Josh is older. (Steve's 25, Josh is 21, Nick is 18, and Jack is 16.) Noah Gilbert is 6'2” and Adam Caldwell is 6'1”; there are no short guys in this wedding.

And then there are the girls. Jenny is 5'9” and she's pretty much the tallest girl in the wedding. Hannah and Sarah are 5'3”, Becca is 5'6', Ava is 5'4”, and I'm 5'5”. So we're all short and we're all wearing heels in this wedding. As maid of honor, my escort down the aisle is predetermined, but the rest of the wedding party needed to figure out who they were walking down the aisle with. We ended up deciding that Jenny and Nick would walk down the aisle together. That put Ava with Josh, Sarah with Jack, and Hannah with Josh.

Planning weddings is so much fun. Okay, I think the group of people I was with made it fun. The Logan brothers pick on each other so much; you wouldn't believe the things they say to each other and get away with it. Steve flat out said to his brother, “Nick, just listen to me. I'm completely serious with you; girls may think you're hot but they're just dumb high school girls. You're nothing special; you're just like the rest of the guys in this family.”

Now that might sound mean, but you have to realize that all of the Logan boys are gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. Pretty much every girl I know who has ever met a Logan boy has fallen in love with him on sight. They're tall, dark-haired, dark-eyed, and olive-skinned; they're half-Irish, half-Italian and they look it. My younger sisters both think that Nick Logan is the hottest guy on earth. He's seven years younger than me and one of my students. When I was in high school, I really wanted to date Steve but he wasn't really into girls at that point in time. On the positive side, Steve and I did go to our senior prom together. But that was mostly because no one wanted to ask me out and Steve was too scared to ask anyone out so one night while discussing this, we somehow decided to just make our lives easier and went together.

Nick looked at Steve and shook his head. “You know some people might actually think that you hate me.”

His brother smiled at him. “Nah, who would ever think I hated you? Besides, how could I ever hate you? You're like the miniature version of me.”

Spending time with the Logan brothers made me wish I had some brothers of my own. I was seriously lacking in good guys in my life. I had Steve, Mark Lucas, and that pretty much felt like that was it. I had plenty of boys who weren't extraordinary like Ethan and Damien, but I needed some more guys like Steve and his brothers in my life. Maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to push Will out of my life.

Will's POV

May and June were peaceful months. I didn't do any traveling except for a week in South Carolina checking out the location for the newest branch of Pemberley Resorts and Spas. But other than that, I did plenty of lawyerly work and spent time with my two favorite women, Gianna and Emily. Emily was growing daily and she was the world's cutest baby. I loved my little niece. We had her baptized at the beginning of May and Evelyn and I were her godparents. At the beginning of June, Evelyn gave birth to her first daughter; she had brown hair and bright blue eyes and they named her Caitlin Maire. She was wonderfully cute and her older brothers adored her.

Evelyn is from a very Irish family and so she wanted to name all her children Irish names. Her maiden name was Connor and her oldest brother's name was Logan Seamus, so she named her son after her brother. Connor's middle name was Patrick, which is her second oldest brother's name. Caitlin Maire is her younger sister's name. Basically, Evelyn is really into family names.

The last Saturday in June I ended up babysitting Logan, Connor, Caitlin, and Emily for seven hours and it was the experience of a lifetime. It was pretty much amazing and horrifying at the same time. It was the first time Evelyn had ever left Caitlin alone and I was a little worried about Caitlin. Evelyn would be fine; this was her third child and she'd gradually gotten used to the idea of leaving her babies with me, but the first time away from the mother is always hard for an infant.

I was also not looking forward about the fact that there were two young babies in the house. I was afraid that they were both going to be hungry at the same time or need a diaper change or something. Basically, I was a little nervous about this. I knew Logan and Connor would be pretty good for me, but I was still concerned about the babies. I'd never taken care of two young babies at the same time before. This was going to be an adventure.

Two hours later, I had to admit that things were not nearly as bad as they could have been. Caitlin was sleeping and Emily was just lying in her playpen staring at a mobile. Logan and Connor were watching Thomas the Tank Engine again; those two really loved that train. They were so cute and it was so peaceful. I really loved Logan, Connor, and Caitlin; and, of course, Emily was the princess in my world. I realized that in comparison with most of my friends, I was leading a pretty lame life. Rick was out having dinner with his wife. Jon was probably spending the evening with his wife, Jessica, and their new baby, Jackson. Greg was in Columbus celebrating Melissa's younger sister's birthday. Jake was in Cairo on business. Charlie was in Meryton on business and while Meryton wasn't as exotic as Cairo, it also wasn't watching Thomas the Tank Engine with two boys under the age of five.

But I was taking July off from business trips and going to the Virginia Pemberley with Gianna and Emily. We were going to be there for four weeks. Charlie and Caroline were going to be there for part of time, which would be interesting. I enjoyed spending time with Charlie and it would be nice to have two solid weeks of him with no distractions. But Caroline never fails to drive me nuts. She is convinced that we were meant for each other, that we must marry each other and have babies together. Never mind that I hate her like she was the plague and wish she would just go back to whatever rock she had crawled out from under. Basically, I wanted her to leave me alone. Unfortunately for me, Caroline could not take a hint.

The next day, I was having brunch with Charlie, Caroline, Gianna, and Emily when Caroline started telling me about the new bikini she bought especially for the upcoming trip. “And I had to have it sent from Italy but it's all right. It's worth paying a little bit more money to have the right name on you. I mean, which would you rather wear? I'm sure you'd be much happier wearing an Armani suit than you would be in some suit you picked up off the rack at Macy's. First you have to have something quality and then there's just something great about knowing that you're wearing Carolina Herrera or Giorgio Armani; there's something just so special about those names. Do you remember Lizzie Bennett? I bet she buys all her clothes off the rack at the mall. Being poor must suck!”

“Can we cut up your credit cards so you can try it?” Gianna snapped.

“Don't be ridiculous, Georgie. I couldn't live without my credit cards. That would be like removing life support from some poor vegetable person someplace. That's just cruel. You wouldn't stop feeding your little baby over there. So why would you want to take my credit cards away? They are how I survive.”

Caroline was pretty much just a socialite dependent on a trust fund her grandfather had set up for her shortly before his death three years ago. She had a title and an office in the headquarters of Bingley Publishing in downtown Chicago, but I've spent more time in that office than she has in the past five years and I've only been in there two or three times. Basically, she gets paid because she reads the books that Bingley Publishing publishes, and I'm not actually sure she really does that. She probably has somebody else read them and then they tell her what they say.

“You live off your credit cards?” my sister said. “That is just plain pathetic. Why not work for your money? That's what my brother and your brother do. That's what I'm doing. Try it; a lot of people in this world have to work for a living. I'd bet money that this Lizzie Bennett has to work for a living and can't afford to have clothes shipped to her from Milan. And sometimes it's easier to just be able to run over to a nearby store and pick up whatever you need.”

“I know I do that all the time,” I said.

“Yes, and you really should look into hiring a personal shopper,” the rich elitist in residence told me. “I know I don't know what I'd do without Cherie. She's such a gem. For example, the other day she found this amazing little black dress by Oscar de la Renta and she made sure I got it. And she's come through with things like that for me a million times. Also, Bloomie's in New York always has a personal shopper available for me whenever I'm in there. Really though, Willie, I think that you could really go places if you would just put a little more effort into your wardrobe.”

“My name isn't Willie,” I said firmly. “My name is `Will' or `William', but never `Willie.' How would you like it if I started calling you `Carrie' all the time?” She hated the name “Carrie” for some reason and you always had to call her “Caroline.” Also, never sing the song “Sweet Caroline” to her; she hates it. So I plan on doing it at least once when she's visiting us in Virginia.

“Whatever, the thing is that you need a personal shopper. Where do you buy your clothes anyway?”

“What does it matter to you? They're my clothes and I'm the one who has to wear them.”

“Because I'm going to have to live with your cheapskate wardrobe when we get married,” she snapped. “God, Willie, you are so dense. We are going to get married someday; it's destiny. And when we get married, I'm going to get Vera Wang to design my wedding dress and you're going to wear an Armani suit.”

We were sitting in the dining room at my house. I slammed my knife down on the table and sighed. “Look, Caroline; we are NOT going to get married-EVER! I do not love you and I have absolutely no desire to ever marry someone like you. You're a gold-digger and self-centered. You never think about anyone except yourself. And you're not important enough that Vera Wang would design you a dress for free. You'd have to pay through the nose. Do you really want to spend 10,000 on a wedding dress? That's just stupid. It's a dress, not a down payment on a house. People in third-world countries make less than that in a lifetime.”

“You're so stupid, Will. We were meant to be together. I don't know how you can't see it. Come on, Charlie. We're leaving now.”

Unfortunately, Charlie didn't want to leave so Caroline had to sit there and suffer while we quickly finished brunch and then she was allowed to flee my “stupid” presence.

Chapter Fourteen: A New Hope

Lizzie's POV

My twenty-fifth birthday was July 1, 2008 and my friends decided to make it the “greatest birthday of my life.” My birthday was on a Tuesday and I was living town the following Friday, so the Saturday before my birthday, they threw me a surprise birthday party at La Mesa, a Spanish restaurant near Becca's apartment. They lured me there by telling me that we were going to get the wedding party together for a nice dinner to talk about things and to get dressed up a little bit. So I put on a nice summer dress and headed over to the restaurant at seven o'clock, the appointed time. I walked into the restaurant and told the hostess I was there to meet the Logan-Gilbert party. A minute later, Steve and Adam Caldwell appeared next to me. “Please come with us,” Adam said, taking my right arm. He was wearing black pants and a navy blue dress shirt with a black tie.

They led me into La Mesa's private party room where I found my friends and family all waiting for me. When I walked in, they all yelled “SURPRISE!” I was stunned. I threw my hands on my face and screamed.

Becca came up to me and hugged me. “Happy birthday, gorgeous! We wanted to give you the best birthday possible.”

I smiled and leaned against her shoulder. “Thank you. This is not what I was expecting.”

“Well, Char had a huge party for her birthday so we decided to do something special for you. You do so much for the rest of us.”

I looked around the room, stunned at the number of people they'd gathered together. My parents were there as were Jane, Katie, and Mary; Lydia had left for Fiji with the Forresters and Damien a few days earlier. Hannah and Jenny were there as was Maria Lucas with her new boyfriend, Nate Caldwell. “Char wanted to come, but she just can't keep taking time off of work right now,” she told me.

“Well, I'll see her in about a month for her wedding,” I replied. “And I'm glad you two could come. It's really great to see you doing so well.”

“I'm glad I was invited and I was able to come.”

They'd also invited the three girls Becca and I had lived with during college. From our sophomore to our senior years, we'd lived in a house in downtown Grand Rapids with Meg Hale, Mary Gibson, and Beth March. Meg was now living in Ecuador doing mission work, but she was back in Michigan for the summer, so Becca had managed to convince her to come visit us for a week, the week of my surprise birthday party. Mary was working for Chrysler in the Detroit area and was becoming consumed by her job. She flew back and forth between the US and Germany on a regular basis and I'm pretty sure she didn't know which country she was in half of the time. Beth was a quiet soul. She taught music to all the elementary schools in Pinckney, a small town north of Ann Arbor. It was a busy job and kept her insane, but it left her with plenty of free time in the summer and I think she enjoyed that.

A few minutes later, I was talking to Paul Jacobs, one of the algebra and geometry teachers at Lakeview. He's a couple years older than I am and we've become good friends over the past couple years. A lot of the girls think he's “absolutely gorgeous” and my younger sisters think I should “hook up” with him. “I was surprised when I heard they were throwing you a surprise party. I didn't think they'd do anything big since you're going to visit your aunt and uncle next week.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I wasn't sure they'd do anything this year. We've already got so many things going on within our group of friends with weddings and everything, but I guess they did remember.”

“I'm sure they wouldn't let you slip between the cracks,” he told me with a reassuring smile. Paul is pretty darn good-looking and he has a great smile; it's not Will Darcy's smile, but it's still a good smile. Paul is taller and has light brown hair and blue eyes. He's a really good teacher and a pretty great guy.

Paul looked at me and smiled. “Lizzie, you're a great person and you matter to a lot of people. Your students adore you and you have so many friends. You're a really lucky girl.”

And that was my only problem with Paul; he's only a couple years older than me, but he always treats me like I'm twenty years younger than him and just a little kid. I doubt he knew how much I hated it when he called me “girl” but it drove me nuts. I was almost twenty-five but Paul treated me like I was fifteen. But here he was at my birthday party. I didn't get it at all. Life would be easier if I had brothers to help me with all of this crap. They could explain the way boys think to me. I really don't understand the male mind.

The rest of the party was great. Katie only spent the whole night complaining about how she wished she was in Fiji with Lydia. Mary thought the whole thing was a stupid joke and there were so many better things she could be doing with her time. Apparently celebrating your older sister's birthday was a waste of time; now granted, my parents were having a small family birthday dinner for me on Tuesday night. But it's a party, not a funeral. People are allowed to be happy and celebrate events every once in a while. And I was happy that my friends had thrown me a surprise party despite Mary's moralizing about how humiliating it must be. My antisocial sister hated being the center of attention and she couldn't seem to understand how I could enjoy having someone throw a party in my honor.

But I loved it. I loved having all these people celebrating my birthday and giving me presents. And people gave me some really nice things. Hannah gave me a pair of earrings that she claimed matched my personality perfectly. They were dangling earrings with dark blue beads; I love dark blue. It's one of my favorite colors and it really does suit my personality. Jenny bought me a white pashmina wrap-scarf because she knows how much I love those scarves. I have what seems like a million but I'll always take more, especially in colors I don't already have. Steve and Becca bought me the best gift of all, though.

At some point during my sophomore year of college, I developed a particularly nasty case of pneumonia and spent the better part of a week lying on the couch, coughing my lungs up and watching various movies ranging from Beauty and the Beast and Mulan to Wives and Daughters and other such long movies. I also spent the entire week under a seven foot long pink blanket I'd crocheted for myself earlier that year and I ate soup and other canned or boxed foods that Becca or another one of my roommates could easily prepare for me. This had been a particularly horrible week, but I'd never forgotten it, mostly because Steve spent that whole weekend hanging out with me and suffering through listening to five girls singing “I'll Make a Man Out of You” at the top of their lungs. (Okay, Becca, Mary, Meg, and Beth were singing at the top of their lungs; I could barely speak but I was still trying to sing along.)

The note with my gift explained that it was in honor of that weekend. They gave me a basket with five skeins of yarn to crochet “whatever your heart desires”, copies of Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, Little Women, and North and South on DVD, two bags of goldfish crackers, and two dozen pink roses “just because we love you.” I knew it had cost them a lot of money but I also knew that it came from the bottom of their hearts. That's the thing I love about those two; she finds the gift that's perfect for the sentimental side of you and then he throws in the goldfish crackers to make you smile. He's great like that. Once when she was really stressed out, he sent her a basket of play-doh, a slinky, and various other children's toys. It was the best thing he could have done for her that week.

Tuesday night, Claire-Marie made my favorite dinner and everyone in the family except Lydia was there. Lydia had emailed me to wish me a happy birthday and tell me how amazing Fiji is, especially compared with Michigan. I was glad of the email but I knew what she was really thinking about all the fun she was having with Kristi. Her daily emails to Katie were filled with details of cute boys met on beaches and secret consumption of alcohol. Katie didn't know I knew this, but she made it way to easy for me to find out. That day I had been doing something for my mom on her computer when I found my little sister's MySpace account, Facebook account, and email all open. So I happened to find out that my seventeen-year-old sister is putting pictures of herself on MySpace and Facebook; and she's drunk in half the pictures. Oh, and she's always with a different guy. Yep, my parents did the right thing when they let Lydia go to Fiji.

But I digress…for dinner that night, Claire Marie made spaghetti with a pesto sauce, garlic bread, salad with Vidalia onions, feta cheese, big chunks of tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce, and her homemade olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing. And for dessert, she made tiramisu. It was divine, absolutely divine. My parents gave me a pearl necklace with matching earrings that they'd been promising to give me for my wedding or my twenty-fifth birthday, which ever came first. It was slightly depressing to realize that I was twenty-five and single.

However, my sisters still loved me. Jane bought me all of the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde. Mary gave me an unabridged dictionary; I love words and it's actually pretty much one of the greatest gifts I've ever been given. Katie bought me a gift card to the mall, which was actually from her and Lydia. It wasn't the most useful gift on earth, but it showed me that my sister actually did love me and try to do nice things for me at times. Sometimes I had a hard time believing that Katie and Lydia actually had emotions towards me, that they could actually care for me. And I'm still not sure about Lydia, but I know that at times Katie isn't really as dense as she seems to be.

Friday morning, I flew to Chicago to spend three glorious weeks with Uncle Ed, Aunt Sophie, and my adorable cousins. The first week we were all going to hang around Chicago and have fun. Code for Uncle Ed and Aunt Sophie take me to see Wicked on Saturday night and one other day during the week, Aunt Sophie and I go shopping together, just the two of us. One day, I was going to go to the zoo or the Shed with Ben, Emma, Karl, Johnny, and Elana. I love my little cousins and I was really looking forward to spending time with them, especially with Elana; she's four, almost five, and she's my goddaughter. And I love her.

We were going to be spending the second and third weeks in Virginia at some resort that a friend of Aunt Sophie's recommended to them. It's supposed to be family-friendly and a great place to stay. It's on the Atlantic coast and it sounds like a really nice place. I can't remember the name of the place but it's a resort-spa and it sounds like a really nice place. My aunt was really impressed by the website and I trust my aunt's judgment. Plus I'm really looking forward to spending a couple weeks with sane people.

My aunt picked me up from the airport without any of her children. Ben, my twelve-year-old cousin, was babysitting his younger siblings. “He actually almost enjoys it some of the time,” Aunt Sophie told me. “He isn't very fond of spending time with Emma, Karl, or Johnny; he thinks they're all annoying. But he likes Elana. He said she's too cute to be annoying.”

I smiled. Ben and Elana probably would be closer to each other than to any of their other siblings simply because of their age gap. Karl and Johnny were two years apart in age and always playing together. Emma would play with Ben sometimes but not much because he was a “dumb boy. See, Lizzie, not all boys are stupid, just some of them,” she'd told me at Christmas. “Ben is dumb, and so are Johnny and Karl, but Dad isn't dumb.”

Being at my aunt and uncle's house just filled me with a great sense of peace. Their house is a very homey place; it seems like people really live there. My parents' apartment is the top floor of a luxury hotel and it's always perfectly clean. Everything looks like it's from a magazine or the set of a TV show and it's just not homey. There are no pictures of our family and no toys or anything; it's sterile. But I love the Gardiners' house; people live there. There are toys lying around the living room and they have pictures of family members hanging on the walls. My mom is always complaining that their house is in complete and utter chaos, but I love it there. It's a home; a family lives there and you can tell it by looking around the house.

When we walked into the living room, my five cousins were sitting there watching Mulan. I had to laugh because Steve and Becca had just given me that movie less than a week earlier. “Lizzie!” Elana screamed as I walked in. “You're here! We're watching a movie; you can watch it with us.”

She jumped on me, so I picked her up and swung her around. “How are you, sweetie? I've missed you.”

“I'm starting kindergarten in September,” she said. “That's the school for five year olds. Johnny was in that school when he was five.”

“I know,” I told her. “I remember. I also remember when Ben was in kindergarten and when Emma was there and when Karl was there.”

“Wow, you remember a long time.”

I smiled. “I even remember when I was in kindergarten.”

“Are you older than the dinosaurs?”

That night, we all had dinner together. It was fun to spend time with my cousins and my aunt and uncle. My cousins are all officially nuts. Not only am I apparently older than the dinosaurs but according to Johnny and Karl, I need to join the circus. I'm not quite sure why but I think it had something to do with the number of Gardiner children climbing all over me like I was a jungle gym or something. I loved it though. I really don't spend enough time around little kids. I might see high school students all day, every day during the school year, but I miss the joy my little cousins bring into my life. Elana and Johnny are my darlings. They just love snuggling and talking and playing. I could spend the rest of my life playing with them.

The week in Chicago went by so fast. Wicked was amazing; it was pretty much the greatest birthday present I've gotten in a long time. My shopping expedition with my aunt was also fantastic. And my day with the munchkins was wonderful. We went to the aquarium and they loved it. My cousins were so cute about the animals. Johnny asked me if we could take the sharks with us; Elana wanted the penguins. I remember when I wanted a pony. I asked for a pony for my birthday and for Christmas every single year until I was twenty-two. Then I gave up; I was never getting a pony. I would have settled for a stuffed pony or a plastic one; a toy would have been fine. I just wanted a positive response to my demands for a pony. My youngest two sisters got everything they wanted; what was so hard about giving me a toy pony?

But a week in Chicago and two weeks on the Atlantic coast of Virginia with the Gardiners was a pretty amazing birthday present. Saturday, July 12, we flew to Virginia. Around noon, we arrived at the airport and it was about two o'clock when we checked in at Pemberley Resorts and Spas. Yes, this would be the same Pemberley Resort and Spas that is owned by one William Darcy who is also a lawyer and a very good friend of one Charles W. Bingley. The receptionist, Laura Reynolds, told us that we might see the owner during our stay but she wasn't sure. She knew Will, his sister and niece were planning to be spending some time at that particular resort during the summer but she wasn't quite sure of the dates.

That made me nervous, really nervous. I was afraid of seeing Will Darcy again. What if he was still in love with me? What if he hated me? I was really starting to like him. He was a good person; sure he'd destroyed the whole “Jane and Charlie” thing, but I could understand his motives. My family was quirky, to say the least. And Damien Wickham really was a sleaze.

The first four days we were there, I saw nothing of Will or his family. Pemberley is made up of a large hotel with a restaurant, lounge, and a bar and smaller cottage/villa type buildings as well as the spa building. We were staying in a four bedroom villa called Isabelle. All of the villas were named; they had names like Anne, William, Georgiana, Isabelle, Emily, Alexander, Nicholas and Sophia. I knew that Will's younger sister was named Georgiana and Anne was their mother's name, but I wasn't sure were Isabelle, Emily, Alexander, Nicholas, and Sophia had come from. I explored the place a lot with my cousins, but the Darcy family wasn't there, so I didn't see them.

Wednesday, I took Emma, Johnny, and Elana to the pool because it was raining and they were bored. My aunt was napping and my uncle was playing tennis with Ben and Karl on the indoor tennis courts; Johnny wasn't really very good at tennis yet and he preferred to play with my uncle when his older brothers weren't there. There weren't many people in the pool and we were really enjoying ourselves. We'd been the only ones in the pool for about fifteen or twenty minutes when a tall, dark-haired young man came into the pool room wearing swim trunks and a dark blue t-shirt that said “MICHIGAN LAW” in white letters. I had Elana on my back when I first caught sight of his face and my body immediately grew stiff. “Come on, Lizzie!” she yelled. “We've got to beat Emma to the other side of the pool.”

Will Darcy just looked into my eyes as she said that and I could feel all the blood draining out of my face as he looked at me. And then he smiled.

Will's POV

Gianna, Emily, and I had just arrived at Pemberley Resort in Virginia. The girls were relaxing up in our private cottage while I went to the main hotel to go swimming. I really wanted to go swim in the ocean, but it was raining, so that was out of the question. So I put on my black swimming trunks and a navy blue “MICHIGAN LAW” t-shirt from my years in law school at the University of Michigan. With that, I was off to the pool where I found a young woman with dark brown hair with two little girls and a little boy. The young woman's hair was in a ponytail and she was wearing a black one-piece bathing suit. The younger of the two girls was on her back while the older girl was trying to swim the width of the pool. The boy was sitting on the side watching all of this and kicking his legs with an entertained smile. The little girl on her back yelled, “Come on, Lizzie! We've got to beat Emma to the other side of the pool!”

And then the dark-haired woman turned around so I could see her face; it was Lizzie Bennett. I stared at her in shock for a moment, wondering what she was doing there, but then I smiled. I was genuinely pleased to see her. She might have crushed my pride and damaged my heart, but I still liked her.

Her face was as white as snow to see me. “Come on, Lizzie,” the older girl, Emma, called. “Are we going to race or not? You promised me we'd race.”

“Just a minute, Emma,” Lizzie said. “I just need a minute.”

“Lizzie, you look sick,” the little boy said. “Are you sure you don't want Emma and me to go get Mommy to take care of you?”

She shook her head and looked at me. “No, Johnny, thank you, but I'm fine. Elana, I need you to get off my back for just a second. I need a drink of water and I'll be fine.”

The little girl on her back climbed off and Lizzie helped her out of the pool before climbing out herself. “Do you need any help?” I asked her as she approached me.

Her eyes looked tired and overwhelmed and I knew that was my fault. My presence was causing her pain. She shook her head and smiled. “If you wouldn't mind, could you keep on eye on them for a moment? I need a drink of water; I'm feeling a little lightheaded.”

I nodded and she turned to the children. “Kiddos, this is Mr. Darcy. He's a friend of mine and he'll keep an eye on you for just a second. Will, Emma is the oldest, then there's Johnny, and the little fairy munchkin over there is Elana.”

The kids all smiled at me and then Lizzie left the room. She was barely gone for a minute and the kids didn't really pay any attention to me. When she came back, the little “fairy munchkin” ran up to her. “Can we race Emma yet?”

She smiled and picked her up. “I just want to talk to Mr. Darcy for a minute. I haven't seen him since Easter.”

“Only if I get to stay,” the little girl with dark brown pigtails said. “I like you and I don't get to see you ever.”

Lizzie kissed the little girl's cheek. “You can stay.” Then she looked at me. “Hi,” she said slowly. “How are you?”

I shrugged. “I'm doing pretty well. I'm glad to be on vacation for the next couple weeks. How are you?”

“I'm good,” she said with a slow smile. “I'm on vacation with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. This is my youngest cousin, Elana.”

“She's my godmother, too!” Elana announced with a smile. “And I love her.”

“You should,” I replied. “Lizzie is great.”

“Are you here with your sister and her daughter?” the great girl in question asked.

I nodded. “The two most beautiful women in my life are here.”

She grinned. “That's great.”

“And I'd like you to meet them sometime,” I said on impulse. “You and your family should have dinner with us some night this week. Charlie and Caroline are coming out on Friday, and I bet Charlie would love to see you. But I would like it if we had dinner together before the Bingleys show up.”

I don't know why I was making all these offers, but I really did want to spend time with Lizzie and her family. I liked these cute little kids that I'd only met five minutes earlier.

“That sounds like a great idea. You'll like my aunt and uncle; they're from Chicago. And they have five kids, these three and then two more boys.”

“Ben is thirteen and he's my best friend,” Elana announced. “Do you know how to play Go Fish?”

“I do,” he replied.

“Okay,” she said. “We can be friends if you'll play Go Fish with me tonight.”

And somehow out of that extremely awkward conversation, Gianna and I ended up having dinner with Lizzie and the Gardiner family. Sophie and Ed Gardiner were such amazingly nice people and their five kids are great. We all had dinner in the restaurant in the hotel and then after dinner, we went back to my cottage for coffee and dessert. Gianna and Lizzie got along wonderfully; they had a lot of interests in common and it was great to see them bonding. And Lizzie loved my baby niece; she was holding her most of the night and it was adorable. That woman is a natural with babies.

Of course, I played Go Fish with Elana, Lizzie, and Elana's thirteen-year-old brother, Ben. Ben was a stitch; he had a really good natural sense of humor and he actually really did like his little sister. They were just playing together and talking, having a good time and it was great. They were really cute and they kind of reminded me of Gianna and me when we were little. But we didn't have three siblings in between us. Well, okay, we have five siblings who are between us, but none of them lived. My mom had two stillborn babies between having me and having Gianna as well as three miscarriages; she and my dad named all those babies and some of the cottages at every Pemberley Resort are named after those five children. Emily and Nicholas were the stillborn babies; they both died about five and a half months into gestation. Alexander, Sophia, and Isabelle were what she named the babies she miscarried. Gianna named Emily after the stillborn baby and after our mom. I really like the names Nicholas, Alexander, Sophia, and Isabelle and I think I might like to use them for my own children someday. That is, of course, provided I get married.

Watching Lizzie with my niece made me want children of my own and it made me want to marry her. I was amazed with how friendly she was being towards me. I was starting to wonder if my email had actually impacted her. I was kind of hoping to get to talk to her at some point that week.

Chapter Fifteen: She Moves in Such a Way

Lizzie's POV

You might wonder how I could be friendly towards Will Darcy after what happened to Jane in February. And I actually have an answer for you. It's all Steve Logan's fault. The night before I left for Chicago I was talking to Steve and Becca and we started talking about that fateful night in February. At one point, I said that I couldn't understand how or why Will had forced Charlie to dump Jane. Steve's response stunned me.

Flashback

“You think that this guy forced Charlie to dump your sister? Lizzie, I've met Charlie before; he's not that dumb. In order for Will or anyone else to have talked Charlie into breaking up with Jane, he had to have doubts about her to before he talked to Will. To break up with someone just because someone else told you to is a sign of idiocy and inability to think for yourself. That's not Charlie.”

I looked at him. “But Will said that he told him all about how Jane didn't really like him and that stuff.”

He sighed. “Elizabeth Anne, if Adam told me that Becca didn't love me, I wouldn't believe him. Adam is my best friend, but Becca is my soul mate, my other half, my better half,” he said with a smile as he squeezed her fingers and she smiled back at him. “Now I know that what happened to Jane was terrible and I feel sorry about that, but maybe we need to realize that Charlie might not be `the one' for your sister. If a man doesn't have enough balls to tell his friends that they're jackasses and ask his girl if she actually cares about him, then he doesn't deserve her. You don't just go dump a girl because your best friend says she doesn't care about you. That's just stupid.”

I looked at Steve. “Are you saying that what happened isn't Will's fault?”

He nodded. “Bingo was his name-oh! Just because he told Charlie that being in a relationship with Jane was a bad idea doesn't make it Will's fault. That means that Charlie is a moron who listened to his friends instead of asking Jane if what he had heard from his friends and sisters was the truth.”

End Flashback

Steve was right. Jane made some stupid decisions but those were her decisions. Will didn't put bottles of liquor to her lips and make her drink them. He also didn't put a gun to Charlie's head and make him dump Jane. People make their own decisions and sometimes those are some pretty dumb decisions, but that doesn't mean that those dumb decisions are someone else's fault. Did Will Darcy influence other people's stupid decisions? Yes, he did; but he didn't force anyone to do anything. Will had told Charlie his honest opinion of my sister and Charlie had acted on Will's advice. That was hard to face but that didn't mean that what had happened was Will's fault.

And Will was turning out to be a good guy. He was good with my cousins and with his niece. Emily was such a cute baby and her mom, Gianna, was a great girl herself. She was energetic and a great mom to her daughter. She was planning on going back to school in September, but that was going to require a lot of help and support from her brother and other family members. “But Evelyn has promised to baby-sit Emily while I'm in classes and I know that my brother will find ways to help out. He always does.”

“He sounds like a great big brother,” I replied. Gianna and I were at the beach with Emily and my younger cousins while my uncle was off playing tennis with Will.

“He's a wonderful brother,” Gianna said. “He takes care of the people he loves. I think it has a lot to do with his childhood. Our mother lost five babies between Will and me. That was hard on her and my father, but it was also hard on Will. He was a little boy who kept watching his mother get pregnant and then lose the baby.”

“Your mother lost five babies?” I asked. Five children…my mother gave birth to five babies; all of whom are still living. I can't imagine what it would be like to have younger siblings die.

“Emily is named after the first baby who died,” Gianna told me. “When Will was two, our mother had a baby named Emily Christina who was stillborn. I named my daughter Emily Anne, after the first baby Emily and after my mother.”

I nodded. I was starting to really get the idea that growing up as William Darcy had not been easy. Just because you're rich doesn't necessarily mean that life is handed to you on a silver platter. “What was Will like as a kid?” I asked her.

“He was loving, caring, and nuts. He loves sports, especially football and he's also a good distance runner. He took care of me a lot when I was younger; you do realize that he's ten years older than me, don't you?”

“Yeah, I do,” I told her quickly. “He told me about it when we were both in New York at Easter time.”

“Oh, he told me about that,” she said quickly. I could tell by the look on her face that he'd also told her about how he asked me out and I said no. this was going to be a little bit awkward. Based on the information I had at the time, it made sense to refuse Will, but now, it doesn't. If he were to ask me out again, I would say yes in a heartbeat. I know that the whole Jane and Charlie thing would complicate things, but I like him and I think I might like to date him. Call me crazy or say it's just hormones or pheromones or some other chemicals if you like, but I think this might be real. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure he hates me now.

The Bingleys arrived on Friday and we all had dinner together again. It was really good to see Charlie again and no one was really happy to see Caroline but such is life. It took Charlie barely two minutes to ask me how Jane was doing. He asked after my whole family but his focus was especially on Janie. He wanted to know how she was doing and how work was treating her. I told him that she was doing well and keeping busy. I told him that the rest of family was well. “Lydia is in Fiji with a friend's family,” I said. “Katie and Mary are both working for my dad, and Jane is still working at the library.”

“How is the library?” he asked. We were sitting on the patio of the hotel restaurant talking. Will, Gianna, Emily, Charlie, Caroline, Uncle Edward, Aunt Sophie, my cousins, and I were sitting around enjoying drinks before dinner.

I smiled, but decided to avoid actually telling him how my dear, darling older sister was doing. “There are still a million books there and there are still a bunch of librarians working there.”

“And how's Jane doing? Is she seeing anyone right now?” He looked slightly nervous as if I might tell him that she was, indeed, dating someone else.

I could have been mean and lied to him but that was just cruel. It might kill him if I did that. “No, she's still single,” I told him. “Literally the only interesting thing that's happened to her lately would be the fact that she locked herself in the bathroom about a month or so ago.”

He looked at me, confused and probably a little amused. “What happened?”

“She was taking a shower before work one day and she accidentally locked the door to the bathroom. I needed to get into the bathroom since I was leaving for work before she was. So I tried to open the door and it wouldn't open. So I make her come try to open the door and it turns out that it's jammed. So we're sitting there shaking the door back and forth frantically. And finally it opens up. But for about two minutes we thought we were going to have to take the door off its hinges and we were both freaking out. Thankfully, I was able to get in and she was able to get out.”

He smiled. “I'm glad to hear that.” I could tell he wanted to ask more about my sister but he wasn't sure how to do it without it being awkward. Jane was doing better now than she'd been in ages. She wasn't dating anyone right now, but the last she called me, which was Monday, she'd told me that she had a date with Matt Perkins. He is nineteen years older than her and all, but he's also pretty good-looking in a dignified older man way. I think that they could actually have a pretty solid relationship if they tried. He's a really great guy and a sweetheart.

“So, Liza, how is Michigan treating you?” Caroline asked me in a snooty tone. “Have you had lunch with anyone famous recently?”

“No, but I haven't been in Michigan for about two weeks now. It is possible that someone interesting might have visited. Jeff Daniels and his family stayed at the Longbourn once when I was younger.”

“Jeff Daniels is a pathetic C-list wanna-be.”

I rolled my eyes. This was coming from the woman who was the biggest poser I knew. She acted like she knew everything and everyone, but she really wasn't as important as she thought she was. She was just a normal person. Her family was wealthy but she wasn't a Rockefeller or a Hilton or anything. But Caroline Bingley wanted to be something special. She was hanging all over Will all night and for the first time ever, I realized how much he really did detest her behavior. Will Darcy actually was a genuine person who cared about others. He loved his sister and his niece fiercely and I admired him for that. I really wanted him in my life.

The next day my aunt and uncle were out for a walk when I decided to check my email. Lo and behold, I had two new emails from Jane that had been sent in the past twenty-four hours.

To: “Elizabeth Bennett” “Jane Bennett” July 19, 2008

Subject: Bad News

Lizzie,

We got a phone call from Mr. Forrester today with some bad news. Lydia has run off with Damien Wickham. They took off on Tuesday or Wednesday; we're not sure when and they don't know where they went. All we know is that Lydia told Kristi that she was going to marry Wickham.

If it is convenient, please come home soon.

Love,

Jane

As the shock of the first email filled me, I opened the second, only to find more bad news.

To: “Elizabeth Bennett” “Jane Bennett” July 19, 2008

Subject: More…

Lizzie,

Lydia and Wickham are together in Chicago. Dad is flying down there to find them and bring them home. Mother wants him to force them to get married; I'm not sure how he feels about this. But that's what Mother wants. I think she'd just be happy if one of her daughters would get married.

Tuesday night, Lydia snuck out of her hotel room and ran off with Damien. The next morning they found the note she'd left them and discovered her absence. They believed that this was just a joke and they could easily find Damien so they didn't alert Mother and Dad until today. But they couldn't find them and then they discovered that they'd flown to Chicago together. They're probably hiding out together someplace there. I don't understand all of this. But I trust Dad and Uncle Ed to figure things out. Oh, don't tell anyone outside the family; this all is so embarrassing. I cancelled my date with Matt Perkins because I don't want him to know about this. It's so messy and I just want this all to blow over. Why did Mother and Dad ever let Lydia go to Fiji with the Forresters?

Dad wants Uncle Ed to join him in Chicago. He thinks he'll need his assistance. Please ask Uncle Ed to help; I'm sure he will. Please come home. We need you. Everything is in an uproar. Mother has gone to bed claiming to be having a nervous breakdown and won't see anyone. You must come home. You're the only one who can bring order to this house, to this family. We need you. I know you must be having a wonderful vacation and I'm sure it's great to spend time with Aunt Sophie and Uncle Ed and the kids, but if it's at all possible, please do come home. I need you.

Love,

Jane

Just then, there was a knock at the door. I jumped up, leaving my laptop open on the couch and ran to open it. Will Darcy was standing there with two cups of coffee in his hands. “Lizzie,” he began. “I came over to see if you and your family would like to…oh dear God, Lizzie, are you all right? You're as white as sheet. Did something happen? Are you sure you're all right?”

I felt faint and I grabbed the doorframe to steady myself. “I just got an email from Jane with the most horrible news. I need to go tell my aunt and uncle; we need to leave immediately.”

He set the cups of coffee on the porch and taking my arm, he led me over to the couch. Once I was seated, he said, “Let me go after them or we could send one of your cousins. But you don't look very well.”

I nodded and sighed. “Fine, send Ben or Emma to get them.”

He dispatched both Ben and Emma before coming back and sitting down next to me. “Are you all right?”

I shook my head and picked up my laptop. “Read Janie's two emails,” I told him before biting my lip. “Lydia ran off with Damien Wickham and my mother is probably going to make her marry him. But he's not the kind of person you want your seventeen-year-old daughter marrying. He's a womanizer and a scumbag.”

“I know,” he said, looking up from my laptop that I'd long ago named “John Thornton” after the hero of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South.

“I don't want my sister with him. I want him as far away from her as I can keep him. He's self-centered and he basically raped your sister. He deserves to die.”

Will put my laptop on the nearby coffee table and awkwardly put his arm around my shoulder. “Lizzie, Jane said you shouldn't tell anyone outside the family about this.”

“I know,” I told him, leaning against his solid frame. “But you understand this better than anyone. You know what Damien is. You don't think he's weird and sick purely because he convinced a seventeen-year-old girl to run way with him. You know that he's a sex-crazed maniac. And we need to go hunt him down so he doesn't hurt my sister.”

He took a deep breath and rubbed my shoulder. “Lizzie, slow down. Take a deep breath and look me in the eye. Just take a minute and breathe.”

I looked into his big brown eyes and tears started rolling down my cheeks. “My baby sister is destroying herself and her family. She's going to kill my father. He's no spring chicken and he can't handle this. And my mother will just die from this. It's horrible for her socially. She lives off her social life. This is going to end their marriage. What am I going to do?”

I looked Will over from head to toe and started crying. He was so strong, so handsome. Why hadn't I seen all this when we first met? I could be dating him, possibly engaged to him right now. But no, I had been stupid. Now I was single and he would never be interested in me. My little sister had run off his arch-enemy and soon I would be connected to that man for the rest of my life. This was the closest I'd ever been to him and I'd never be so close to him again.

Will's POV

Lizzie and her family left on Saturday afternoon. My heart was breaking for her. The last thing she'd told me before leaving was “Don't tell Gianna about this. I don't want to hurt her.”

I gave her my word and I wouldn't tell my sister unless it was absolutely necessary. Then I told Gianna and Charlie that urgent business demanded my immediate return to Chicago and I flew back home that evening. I went to Mass with Rick and Evelyn the next morning and then I set out on a hunt to find Damien Wickham. I wasn't sure where the snake was hiding with his newest prey but I had a few guesses and I knew of a few people who might be able to tell me where they were.

So I began searching. I knew Mr. Bennett and Edward Gardiner were conducting their own search but I knew I needed to help. This was for Lizzie. I loved her so much and I wanted to protect her and her family from the pain that my family had endured. I love Emily; she is a wonderful niece. But I don't want anyone to rape my sister ever again. She deserves better than that. Women in today's society really do deserve better than the way the men around them treat them.

It took me a great deal of time (almost a week) and a ridiculous amount of money (let's not go there) but I found Damien and Lydia. They were hiding in Chicago, as we all suspected. They were staying with one of Damien's friends who lived in a large house north of the city. I took Damien and Lydia to the Gardiners' house where they were faced with her aunt and uncle's wrath. As Lizzie had predicted, her parents forced the pair to marry despite the fact that Damien was thirteen years older than Lydia. I thought it was a disgusting idea. I was thirty and I couldn't imagine marrying a seventeen-year-old girl. But her parents wanted them to get married and she seemed to think he wanted to marry her, so on Saturday, August 3, I stood up as Damien's best man as they married. The only people in the church besides the bride and groom were the priest, the bride's father, her aunt and uncle, and me.

The ceremony was brief and simple. The bride wore a dress that they'd picked up at a department store a few days earlier and the groom wore one of my old suits that I did not want back. He could keep it. It might sound snobbish and rude but I don't want one of my suits back after that man wore it. I hated him. I couldn't understand what girls like Lydia saw in him. She might be Lizzie's sister but she wasn't cut from the same cloth as her oldest two sisters.

Seeing Lydia at the front of that church professing to “love, honor, and cherish” Damien “all the days of her life” broke my heart. I wasn't sure that either one of them understood the meaning of those words. And Lydia Bennett was so different from her sister. Lizzie was so proud of her dark brown curls while Lydia dyed her hair blonde and straightened it. I knew that all the Bennett girls had naturally curly brown hair and I loved the way those curls looked on Jane and Lizzie. I just wished that Lydia could learn to accept herself as she was and stop hiding under skimpy clothing, make-up, and chemically treated hair. When I saw Lydia in her wedding dress, I wished that things were such that I could marry her older sister.

Lizzie was old enough to get married. Her life was stable. She wasn't going off to Fiji and getting drunk with random older men. She was hard-working and happy where she was. She had a job and was in a place in her life where she could possibly start dating.

After the wedding, we all went out for a quick luncheon and then Damien and Lydia drove to Meryton with her father to see her family. Lydia had been legally emancipated from her parents and was moving to California with Damien. I didn't approve of this at all and I suspected that Lizzie was also opposed but I couldn't do anything about it. The Bennett family had not taken my advice. In fact they didn't even know what I had done in relation to this marriage. Of course, I had asked that they not know. I told Mr. Gardiner that I was merely acting as a friend of the family and I wished to do so anonymously. I had done this for Lizzie and I was not going to let anyone know what I had done unless it was absolutely necessary. My chances with Lizzie were over. She had made her feelings perfectly clear to me in April and everything was over. We could be friends; her short stay at Pemberley had taught me that much. But beyond that, nothing would ever happen. At lunch, I overheard her father tell her aunt that she was taking a date with her to Charlotte Lucas and Ethan Collins's wedding.

Chapter Sixteen: It Just Takes Some Time, Little Girl

Lizzie's POV

My youngest sister and her new husband were back in Meryton for their wedding dinner at the Longbourn. Wow, that really does look as weird as it sounds. After all, we are talking about my sister who is only seventeen-years-old. Dude, I'm twenty-five and Jane is twenty-six. We're old enough to get married. Mary is even old enough to get married. But Lydia isn't even eighteen; she shouldn't be getting married. I want to get married. I'm old enough to get married, unlike Lydia. Why on earth did I screw everything up with Will? He's a great guy.

Dinner was interesting, to say the least. The bride was trying to drink alcohol despite the fact that she was not old enough. We were all seated around a table in the dining room trying to enjoy a nice family dinner with my youngest sister and her new husband. “I don't understand why you won't let me have one glass of wine. I just got married,” Lydia whined. “This is my big, special day.”

“You're seventeen years old,” my father replied sternly. “If the health inspector finds out that I've allowed you to be served alcohol in my restaurant, I will lose my liquor license.”

“Oh no, you won't,” she told him in her “I know everything” voice. “I'm your daughter. They'll understand if it's your daughter. It'd be another thing if it were some random girl we don't know but it's me. I'm your daughter. They won't care.”

“Tell us about the ceremony,” Jane said, trying to distract Lydia from the wine that wasn't even on the table because none of us were drinking.

“It was so small,” she said. “But Damien wore this gorgeous suit that Will Darcy had loaned him. He looked stunning in it; I'm sure he looked much better than that Darcy would. My Damien is much more handsome than Will Darcy anyway. And my dress was absolutely stunning. It was off the rack, which was horrible, but we had so little notice so we couldn't do things properly and have one custom-made for me. Well, we could have but it would have been too expensive. Or at least that's what Aunt Sophie said. She is such a stick in the mud. I don't know how you girls can stand her.”

“Why did Will Darcy loan Damien a suit?” Jane asked. This was the same question I was thinking but I was afraid to ask it. And I bet Will probably looks much better in it than Damien did but I'd never say that out loud, especially not with Damien there.

“Because he was the one who made all the arrangements for the wedding,” Lydia said in a very nonchalant tone. “He was also the best man, which was just horrible. I would have rather had one of our friends there, like Sean. But Uncle Ed said that we had to do it this way. I don't see why they were being so ridiculous. We should have had a big, fancy wedding, like Charlotte is going to have. Our wedding was so bland and boring. The only people there were Dad, Uncle Ed, Aunt Sophie, and Will Darcy. Aunt Sophie wouldn't even bring the cousins, which was stupid. The whole thing was a joke.”

“Will Darcy was the best man?” I asked.

“It had to be that way,” Damien said quickly. “He's known me forever and he was the only person I could get on such short notice. But anyway, I hear he's dating Caroline Bingley now. I'm not sure it's true but I heard it from a pretty reliable source.”

I nodded. Those words were like a knife to my heart. I did NOT want him to be involved with that witch, but I also couldn't see him being involved with her. He couldn't stand her; he'd made that crystal clear at Pemberley just a few weeks earlier. But I also knew that I couldn't marry him. Lydia had destroyed every chance I might have ever had with him. Even if he had been somehow involved in arranging my sister's wedding, he still wouldn't want to marry me.

But I wanted to know what all of this meant. I wanted to know what Lydia meant when she said Will “was the one who made all the arrangements for the wedding.” So I did the only thing I could think of. The next morning, I called my aunt Sophie who explained everything to me. “It was Will Darcy who found your sister and Damien. He did all the work in all of this. Then he brought them to your uncle and me afterwards. He told your uncle to take all the credit; he wanted none of it. He was just happy to have been able to help.”

“But why?” I asked. “This is such a scandalous situation. Why would he want to associate himself with this? I know he doesn't want anyone to know about it but he was the best man in the wedding. People are going to find out about that. Does he not care?'

“I think he does care very much, but he cares about something you wouldn't think of immediately,” she replied cryptically.

Charlotte returned to Michigan the day after Lydia's wedding. It was time for my best friend's long-awaited wedding. I couldn't believe this was finally happening. I remember when we were five and we played house with our dolls. I remember when we stayed up until three in the morning talking about the guys we had crushes on. I remember when she totaled my car our sophomore year of college. I remember when she told me that she was dating Ethan. And I remember when she told me they were engaged. My best friend was marrying my cousin in a few short weeks. And within the next week or so, all my Bennett relatives would be rolling into town. My dad's family is pretty sane although the Collins family is pretty wild. Ethan's parents divorced when he was about four and his dad remarried a couple years later. Now his dad has a whole other family. Ethan is really close to his dad and his younger half-siblings. He has one full-sister, Norah, and two half siblings; his brother, Michael, is nineteen, and his sister, Felicity, is seventeen. And all these people and their family members would be flooding Meryton for the wedding. Both the bride and groom are from large, very involved families. And then Mrs. Catherine DeBourgh would be coming to town.

I was so glad to have Charlotte around but at the same time this meant the wedding was for real. My best friend really was getting married. She was going to get married and they were going to have babies and things were never going to be the same. I remembered when we were seven and Charlotte was a bride for Halloween. Now she really was going to be a bride and a wife. She had grown up; she was old enough for all of this, unlike my little sister. It was hard to believe that we were old enough to get married. I wanted to get married but I had no prospects; I'd taken care of that for myself. I was one the one who had pushed Will Darcy out the door; he'd never been anything but kind to me except for the first time I met him.

Charlotte and Ethan had met in high school and things had always been easy for them. He'd liked her from the minute he walked into Mrs. King's first hour AP Biology class junior year of high school and Mrs. King told him to go sit next to Charlotte because she was “smart and she pays attention in class. She'll help you get settled into the way things work around here.” At the time, Char had been head over heels for Steve Logan but he hadn't been interested in dating anyone. Then, a year and a half later, he asked me to go to senior prom with him and so Char agreed to go with Ethan. And everything is history from there. They started dating their junior year of college after over two years of “pseudo-dating.”

Planning the wedding was insane. We were having the bridal shower about two weeks before the wedding, which was ridiculous but it was the way Char wanted to do things. She didn't want to fly back and forth between New York and Meryton anymore than she had to. Truth be told, Jane and I had done most of the wedding planning that summer because Char only wanted to come home for Memorial Day and dress fittings and then for her wedding. I think she was really starting to fall in love with New York City.

The day after Charlotte's return, I was at the grocery store picking up some essentials when I literally ran into Charlie Bingley. We were in produce by the lettuce and we just crashed into each other. I just stared at him for two solid minutes while he apologized profusely. “I feel so awful,” he kept repeating. “I'm so sorry.” Then he looked up at my face and gasped. “Lizzie Bennett, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean do hit you and I wasn't expecting to see you.”

“Well, I do live here in Meryton,” I replied. “I am, however, surprised to see you here. I thought you were done with Meryton except for the occasional weekend visit.”

“I was,” he said slowly. “But I had a long talk with Will recently in which he suggested I move back to Meryton for a while. He thought the slower pace of life would be good for me. My dad died of a stress-induced heart attack a few years ago and Will is afraid I might suffer a similar fate if I don't slow down. And I'm only thirty years old. So I'm taking a more hands-off role in Bingley Publishing and becoming more involved with the hotel. I think it'll be good for me.”

“This was Will's idea? I thought he hated Meryton.”

Charlie shook his head. “He did at first but with time he grew to realize how charming and wonderful this town is. I wouldn't be surprised if he came to visit me for a week or so some time in the near future.”

“That would be nice. Our stay in Virginia was unfortunately cut short and I would have liked to have spent a bit more time with Gianna, Emily, and Will.”

“How are all your sisters doing?”

I sighed. “Well enough, I guess. Lydia got married on Saturday and moved to California this morning. Jane is keeping busy with work and I never know what Mary and Katie are doing, so yeah, life is pretty much normal. How are you doing?”

“I'm keeping busy,” he replied simply. “Running a hotel and a large publishing company don't exactly leave a guy much time for a social life.”

I nodded. “Try being a teacher; then you'll never have a life except in the summer and even then you're still doing school-related work. I don't know why I do this except for the fact that I love the kids. Plus right now I'm helping get ready for my best friend's wedding and somewhere along the lines she decided that I needed a date to the wedding so I had to go out and find one.”

“Were you successful?

“Yeah, I asked a friend of mine from work if he'd go with me and he agreed. His name is Kyle and we met in college and somehow he ended up working in Lakeview the year before I did. It's weird because he's not from this part of Michigan but he ended up living here.”

“Is he just a friend or is he something more?”

I smiled. “No, he's just a friend. We're good friends and I don't know that I could ever date him. He's one of those friends you jokingly flirt with and stuff, but you couldn't be more serious.”

He nodded. “I have friends like that.”

Charlotte had called me up two days after I returned home from Virginia informing me that I needed a date to her wedding and my mind immediately jumped in longing to Will Darcy. Unfortunately, I knew he'd never even consider the idea; my sister had run off with his worst enemy and he wouldn't want anything to do with me ever again. So I called Kyle Kilpatrick, a friend from college and a coworker at Lakeview, and found myself a date to the wedding. Kyle and I had met at Mass one Sunday when we were in college and had become friends. We'd never been more than friends; we were just really good friends. He teaches chemistry and biology at Lakeview and a lot of his students really like him. Lydia thinks he's hideously ugly but I think she's just ridiculous. In my opinion, Kyle is very attractive; the thing is that his personality and mine would never work long-term. He's tall and skinny, being very athletic, of course; he plays tennis and ultimate Frisbee. Actually, he also coaches both men's and women's tennis at Lakeview. He has wavy dark brown hair and piercing blue-green eyes; his skin makes most people think he's Italian but he's actually Irish, as evidenced by the last name “Kilpatrick”. He and his twin brother, Alex, were born on St. Patrick's Day in 1982; once while having an unusually stupid moment I asked them why neither of them was named “Patrick” being that they were born on St. Patrick's Day and they are from a good Irish-Catholic family. Kyle just looked at me and said, “Our last name is Kilpatrick; Patrick Kilpatrick would just sound stupid.”

But anyway, I called Kyle up and he happened to be free the day of Charlotte's wedding. So we were going to the wedding together. Kyle is a reasonably good dancer and he won't get drunk; plus he'll be entertaining. And he can drive me home. While Jane is driving to the wedding and all, she won't be driving me home because she's planning on drinking at the wedding and just spending the night in a room at Lucas Lodge. That's my sister for you. She seems all calm, cute, quiet, and docile, but if you give her the opportunity and she will drink. She doesn't do it as much as she did before her break-up with Charlie, but she'll still get a little tipsy when she has the opportunity. And she's already warned me that she will be doing this at Charlotte's wedding. “After all, I'm twenty-six and single with no prospects in sight. Give me one good reason when I shouldn't imbibe heavily at my friend's wedding.”

I mentioned the incident in February but she said that was different. “This time I know what I'm doing. I'm not doing this over some stupid boy. This time would be about celebrating my friend's marriage. There will be a few glasses of wine and a couple of beers involved; it won't be nearly as serious.”

Will's POV

Charlie moved back to Meryton the first Monday of August and I arrived in the sleepy Northern Michigan town three days later. Charlie's hotel, the Netherfield, was full of tourists because Lucas Lodge and the Longbourn were both booked full of people in town for Charlotte Lucas's wedding to Ethan Collins. My own aunt was coming to Meryton the day before the wedding to witness her employee's wedding. But for now, I was just in town to relax and spend time with Charlie. The day he arrived in Meryton, Charlie ran into Lizzie Bennett and had found out who the mysterious wedding date her father had alluded to in Chicago was; his name was Kyle Kilpatrick and he was a teacher at the same school as Lizzie. My friend had met this Kyle fellow the night before I arrived when he went out to dinner with Jane, Lizzie, and Kyle.

Charlie was back at it again, trying to win Jane's heart. The night before he left for Meryton, I had told him the truth about Jane, including the information about the night she'd landed herself in the hospital. He was stunned that I'd lied to him but more stunned at his sister's lies. For the first time in his life he actually saw her for what she was. And he also saw Jane for what she really was. She was one of the more amazing women on the face of the earth. I had to rank her sister, Elizabeth, above her. My mother was also obviously above her and being the good Catholic boy that I am, I also put people like the Virgin Mary above Jane, but I'm not sure that Charlie did. I think in his mind she was some sort of Madonna with light brown hair.

This time Charlie was going to win Jane's heart; after seeing them together once, I was predicting an extremely sappy Valentine's Day proposal and a wedding probably around Christmas the next year, just to complete the sappiness of the relationship. I was not one to propose on Valentine's Day and I knew Lizzie wouldn't want a Valentine's Day proposal. She announced that at dinner on Saturday when I was having dinner with Charlie, Jane, Lizzie, Kyle, and Lizzie's friend, Jenny Putnam. “I want to get proposed to on a special day,” Lizzie announced. “New Year's Day was lame; Ethan could have been so much more imaginative. I don't want to get proposed to on Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, my birthday, or any day that already has significance in my life. I want it to be a singularly important day in my life.”

“I like the idea of a Valentine's Day proposal,” Jane replied. “It's romantic.”

Her darker-haired sister shook her head. “It's too cute for me. I want something original; I want my proposal and my wedding to be something that no one else has ever had ever before.”

“Well, I'll tell you that no one has ever married a girl like you before,” Jane teased her sister.

“The Bennett sisters always have been the most affectionate sisters known to man,” Kyle commented. “The first time I met Jane she and Lizzie were trying to see who could insult the other one more within ten minutes.”

“I've never really seen them get like that,” Charlie said. “Jane always comes off as an angel or something.”

“Ha!” Jenny said with a laugh. “That's an act. I would have to say that in some ways, Jane is worse than Lizzie because you never see what's coming next. She looks and acts all innocent but really she's a little troublemaker. She's great when it comes to practical jokes and mind games.”

“Oh my gosh,” Lizzie gasped. “Kyle, do you remember when we had you convinced that Austin was dating some girl who lived in California?”

“You lied to me for so long. I can't believe I actually bought that crap, especially considering the source,” Kyle shot back.

“Hey, it was your own fault. We invited you to come over to our house for dinner and then we were going to watch Last of the Mohicans. During the movie, we were going to have Jane call Austin pretending to be Victoria and everything was going to go over perfectly. We'd have duped you and then we'd apologize and it would all be great. But then you couldn't be bothered to show up at our house because you were too tired from your Frisbee game and then you were watching the Michigan game.”

“Hey now, no insults, that was a great game. But yeah, I was stupid to believe you guys for that long.”

She just smiled at him and he laughed at her. “You two have known each other for too long,” Jenny said. “Lizzie, you have too many surrogate brothers in your life.”

“Yeah, I'm never going to get married,” she sighed. “I let Steve slip through my fingers and now he's going to marry Becca and I decided that this hunk of manliness was too much for me and let him go free.”

“Hey, I'm still single,” he replied.

“Yeah, but Alex is more my type,” she replied.

“Alex is Kyle's almost identical but actually fraternal twin brother,” Jane explained to Charlie and me.

“We look a lot alike,” Kyle told us. “And when we were in college, he would come visit me pretty regularly and a lot of our friends had problems telling us apart. Lizzie has never had a problem with that although she always seems to want to call me Colin or Connor.”

“You have a brother named Connor!” she protested.

“He was fourteen when you met him and he doesn't really look like me,” was his response.

“Kyle, she still gets Jane and I confused,” Jenny said. “Face the facts, bud; she's just bad with remembering names.”

“She doesn't have any problems with Will's name,” Jane pointed out.

Lizzie blushed and said, “That's because he has the same name as Shakespeare. If any of you had a name in common with the Bard, I'd remember it more easily.”

“Do you remember your students' names?” Charlie asked her.

“After they sit in their assigned seats for a month, yes,” she replied hotly. “My problem isn't really remembering names as much as it is the number of people I know with similar names. I know a Kyle, a Carl, a Colin, and a Connor; I'm bound to get confused at some point.”

“But what's really bad is when you have four kids with the same name in one of your classes,” Kyle said. “Last year, I had four girls named Nicole in my class and I think all of them wanted to be called Nikki.”

“Umm, that wasn't as bad as when you had a female student whose name was Kyle,” Lizzie pointed out.

“There was a girl named Kyle?” Charlie asked.

Kyle nodded. “She was a really nice girl but her name was Kyle and it was pronounced the same way I pronounce my name. To make matters worse, some of the other students in her class thought it would be funny if she and I were to get married and be Mr. and Mrs. Kyle and Kyle Kilpatrick.”

“That sounds a little scary,” I commented.

“Yeah, marrying someone who has the same first name as you is a little weird.”

“Don't marry anyone named Wilhelmina,” Lizzie told me.

“Yeah, so don't marry any characters from Ugly Betty,” Jenny told me.

I smiled. This group of friends was all over the place with their literary and cultural references. One minute they'd be talking about the art of the Italian Renaissance and the next minute, they would be arguing over which character on Heroes had the coolest powers. And in books they could easily go from discussing literary classics like Oliver Twist and North and South to The Devil Wears Prada or the newest Jasper Fforde book. They were really into Jasper Fforde; he wrote basically mockeries of famous literary works like Shakespeare, Dickens, and others. They enjoyed discussing the quality of Kenneth Branaugh's interpretations of Shakespeare's works but they also liked to argue about the poor man's personal life. These were the kind of people I wanted in my life; they were smart but down to earth.

Later that night, we ended up at Lizzie and Jane's condo watching The Producers. Apparently, Lizzie loves the movie but Jane only thinks it's “okay”. But Kyle, Jenny, Charlie, and I all like it, so Jane had to put up with Will Farrell, Matthew Broderick, and Nathan Lane. And in the end, she was rolling around laughing her head off as much as the rest of us. Of course, she was also snuggling with Charlie most of the movie too. I was amazed at how quickly she'd taken him back after everything that had happened earlier in the year. And so after Kyle and Jenny left, I asked Lizzie about it while we did the dishes. “I don't know how she can do this after everything,” she told me honestly. “Will, if I were her, I would have killed him before I would have ever let him back in my life and in my heart. She told me just a few weeks ago that if she ever saw him again, there would be no chances of her falling in love with him ever again. She told me she was done with him.”

“And he never stopped loving her,” I told her. “So when he came back into her life, he still loved her.”

“And she probably still loved him despite what she told me so she had no problems taking him back.”

I nodded. “I get the impression you're a little harder on this kind of thing than your sister is.”

She smiled. “My dad says I'm a man-hating feminist but I think really I'm just a very bitter and cynical woman. And no, those don't mean the same thing.”

I laughed. “I believe you. I don't think you hate men or that you're feminist. But I would guess that you've been treated badly by some guys in your life and your reaction has been to build up defensive walls around yourself and close out most guys. That would also explain why your closest guy friends are two guys you knew in college, which was probably before you were hurt too badly.”

I could tell by the expression on her face that I'd hit the mark a little too closely. She looked at me and I could see tears in her eyes. “What has Jane been telling people about my life? Does she go around revealing all my secrets to people?”

I shook my head. “No, Lizzie, no one told me any of those things. But I've known you since November, which really isn't that much time in the grand scheme of things but it has been enough to realize that someone hurt you very badly and you recoiled inside yourself. You let certain people in to your heart and you show certain emotions and feelings but for the most part you play your cards close to your vest. I just wish I could prove to you that not all men are jerks. There is a difference between boys and men.”

She just stood there staring at me. I wanted to hug her and make everything better. I wanted to undo all hurts that had been inflicted on her and tell her truths to all the lies she'd heard. I wanted to take her pain away and make her life better. But I wasn't sure she was ready to let me in that far, especially when I'd just made her think that I could read her like a book. I couldn't really, but I'd observed her long enough to make a few pretty good guesses about her life. And I wanted to improve her life. I wouldn't tell her this just yet, but I would seriously consider moving to Meryton if that would make her happier. But we weren't dating; we were friends and that was a good place to be for now.

Chapter Seventeen: It Had Better Be Tonight

Lizzie's POV

I was standing in the bride's room of my home parish in Meryton wearing a floor-length dark red dress. I really couldn't believe this day was finally here. My best friend was getting married at noon and it was ten-thirty. In an hour and a half, she was going to become Mrs. Ethan Collins; okay actually it was going to be Charlotte Lucas-Collins. She felt that for professional reasons she should merely hyphenate her last name, but I suspected that when they had kids she would probably change her last name. But that wasn't the point. The point was that I needed to help her put on her wedding dress.

Char was standing on the other side of the room eating a bagel and talking to her mother. Finally Maria and Emma came in with the dress. As Kyle often told his students, it was “go time.” Maria, Emma, and I helped their mom slide the dress over Charlotte's head. The dress had so many petticoats and layers of crinoline it could have stood up on its own. It was the kind of dress you would expect a princess to wear or something like that. But it suited her perfectly. It was the best dress she could have picked out in a million years. She looked amazing. Her hair was styled perfectly and her make-up was exquisite in that subtle and natural way; it complimented her natural beauty. She was a radiant, glowing bride. “Lizzie, can you believe this is all real?” she asked as we walked up the stairs from the basement to the church's vestibule where her dad, the groomsmen, and the ring bearer stood waiting.

I smiled at her and shook my head. I still had trouble believing we weren't thirteen years olds gossiping over how outrageously gorgeous our latest crushes were. Now we were twenty-five and my best friend was getting married. And Will Darcy was in Chicago. He'd flown back three days earlier saying he'd be gone for ten days due to urgent business with a case he was handling.

According to Jane, his aunt, Mrs. DeBourgh, had arrived at the Netherfield the night before and was reigning from the Presidential Suite. My parents' hotel was overrun with Bennetts and Collinses, and at times it was difficult to keep my aunt Patricia and her ex-husband, Thomas Collins, away from each other. Their divorce nineteen years earlier had been messy with allegations of infidelity on both sides. His infidelity was proven with Michael's birth and Tom's subsequent marriage to Mike's mom. Nothing was ever proven about Aunt Patty although she's been married to her divorce attorney for the past seventeen years. And they have three kids together: Mina was fifteen, Adelaide was thirteen, and Josie was eleven. Ethan wasn't very close to his mom's daughters so he didn't want them in his wedding. Of course, he wanted his mother and his stepmother in the role of “Mother of the Groom” so it may be obvious of how oblivious he was to how Aunt Patty and Kimberley felt about each other.

Before I knew it we were ready to walk down the aisle. I was standing next to Philip Lowell watching as the other bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down the aisle. First went Norah Collins and Michael Collins, followed by Felicity Collins and Mark Lucas. Next were Emma Lucas and Paul Lucas and then went Maria Lucas and Andy Haas. When Carolyn Murphy and Tom Blake walked down the aisle, Philip and I knew we were next. When we reached the end of the aisle, Elinor and Nick walked down the aisle. And thankfully, they made it to the end at approximately the same time.

And then the organ began the wedding march. As Charlotte began walking down the aisle, tears started sliding down her mother's cheeks and my aunt wasn't far behind with the whole crying thing. The wedding ceremony was beautiful. Charlotte did start crying halfway through her vows, as Maria and I had predicted the night before. Mrs. DeBourgh had the most impassive face during the whole service. I couldn't tell if she was mad but she didn't look happy. But then she was probably annoyed at having to travel to Michigan for Ethan's wedding. She seemed to look down her nose on us in Michigan. But I didn't care. The wedding was beautiful. And afterwards, I would be able to spend time with Kyle.

But first I had to get through wedding party photos. They were annoying beyond words. “Turn this way, turn that way, and then spin around fifty-three times in an oval,” was all the photographer would say. Okay so he never actually said anything about turning around but you get the idea. We might as well have been doing ballet or something like that for all the exercise I was getting. It was ridiculous. And Kyle was being a saint through all of it entertaining the younger Lucas children when they weren't needed for pictures. Isaac wasn't in the wedding at all, so Kyle was playing cards with him the whole time but he was also playing with Elinor and Nick when they needed someone to be their friend.

“Kyle, you're such a lifesaver,” Mrs. Lucas enthused to him as he spun Elinor around in a circle on the church lawn for the millionth time. She grabbed my arm. “He's a keeper, dear; you won't want to let him go.”

I watched him standing there in his black suit and silver tie spinning a seven-year-old girl around in circles on a hot August day and I knew she was right. Kyle Kilpatrick was a keeper; the thing was that I wasn't going to be the one keeping him. He wasn't my type and at moments like this that fact made me want to cry. He was perfect; he was good with kids and he was Catholic and he was everything I wanted in life, except for the fact that we weren't compatible. I couldn't explain it but I knew that we were meant to be brother and sister, not a couple. He was a great big brother but that was all he could ever be to me. It was just one of those things you know in life. Kyle was my brother, not someone I could marry and be with for the rest of my life.

He smiled at me and walked towards me. “Are you free yet?”

“Yep, finally,” I replied. “No more pictures until the reception, but for now I just want to go sit down and get these stupid shoes off my feet.”

“I've told you that heels are evil for years,” he teased as he led me to a bench and helped me out of my “evil” shoes. “Are you finally learning to believe the Kilpatrick twins? Are you learning the all important lesson that we're always right?”

“I could have sworn that you, Alex, and Connor tried to teach me that years ago when we were all young and in college.”

“Liza-Mae, Connor is in college now. He's twenty now; he was like fourteen when we were supposedly teaching you.”

“And your point is?”

He started laughing. “You're my favorite Bennett sister and I think you're gorgeous.”

“Well, you're my favorite Kilpatrick,” I replied. “And you're not hideously ugly.”

He smiled. “I know you always say I'm not your type but maybe we should go on a date sometime and test that theory out. Now, I know I'm no Will Darcy or anything, but I think we should at least make sure I'm not your type.”

I smiled. Since I'd pretty much destroyed my chances with Will and I didn't see any other guys in my future, I guess it wouldn't kill me to go on a date with Kyle. I know I'd always insisted that he wasn't my type, but I was twenty-five, single, and lonely. “I guess that'd be cool. When were you thinking?”

“Next weekend,” he replied. “It wouldn't be anything major. We'd just like do dinner and a movie; it'll be fun and normal, pretty much just like hanging out normally.”

“That could be fun,” I replied, massaging my aching feet. “Let's talk about it more after the wedding. But just to warn you: I've only dated one guy since college, so I'm kind of bad at the whole dating thing.”

“You can't be,” he told me with a smile. “I'm sure you'll be just fine. And even if things don't work out with us, I'm pretty sure I know someone else who wants to date you.”

I was about to ask him who when Maria came running over to tell me it was time for the wedding party to head over to the reception hall. I hugged Kyle and told him we'd talk more later in the day. I really wanted to know who else would want to date me.

The reception was at Lucas Lodge and it was phenomenal. Jane and I had made the wedding cake together and it was my greatest masterpiece to date, if I do say so myself. It had three tiers, one was chocolate, one was vanilla cake, and the top was chocolate and cherry. Charlotte loved cherries so I used it in the cake and the frosting was just a simple vanilla frosting but I had also bought some Traverse City cherries and put them on the cake in the shape of rose bouquets. And then there were cherries lining the circumference of each tier of the cake and there were three red roses resting on the top of the cake.

“It's perfect,” Charlotte had told me the night before. Now it was sitting on a table in the corner of Lucas Lodge's biggest ballroom with a spotlight shining on it and surrounded by red rose petals scattered over the table.

The whole ballroom was perfect. The lights were dimmed and there were candles in the centerpieces on every table. The candles were in glass globes surrounded by red roses and more rose petals resting on white tablecloths. Every guest was going to receive a little silver wire basket filled with various flavors of red jelly beans. It was so cute and exciting. I was glad they were married.

Steve Logan was the Master of Ceremonies for the reception. And he was amazing. First he introduced every member of the wedding party with an interesting title. The “flower girl” became the “little kid who runs throw meadows strewing peace and love everywhere she goes” and the ring bearer was the “guy who wants to be like Frodo from The Lord of the Rings.” The bridesmaids and groomsmen were all referred to as the “ladies in waiting who are almost as pretty as the bride” and the “dudes who look awesome in their tuxes but that's just their natural excellence shining through the fine feathers.”

And then Philip and I were the “best man, but he's not really best man because if Phil were really the best man, Charlotte would be marrying him instead of Ethan” with the “maid of honor, but I'm not really sure what that the means exactly. I know she's a maid because she's not married or anything but I'm not sure what the `honor' bit means. Does that mean that Lizzie is really honorable or something?”

He had the whole room laughing and it was wonderful. After Phil and I were seated, it was time for the bride and groom's entrance. “Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to present to you the newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Ethan and Charlotte Collins!”

At this the room burst into applause as the bride and groom entered the room. Char was blushing and Ethan was looking around the room proudly as if to say “Look what I did today.”

I still wasn't crazy about my cousin, but I was glad to see my best friend looking so happy. The wedding was beautiful and now the reception was fantastic. The food was good, the music was perfect; they actually played everything Char and Ethan wanted. And dancing with Philip wasn't horrible. I don't know him very well, and he isn't the greatest dancer but it was still a lot of fun. And then I got to dance with Kyle who knows his way around a dance floor pretty well. Jane was there with Charlie and they were dancing together. And she wasn't drinking the way she'd planned. I guess having a date for a wedding changes your plans, especially when that date is your boyfriend.

My date wasn't my boyfriend but he was still fun to dance with. And I did have a date with him the next weekend. I never did get up the courage to find out who he thought wanted to date me. But when I tried to ask him, he put his finger on my lips and told me to “live and learn. If he really does want to date you, you'll know soon enough.”

I also had to give a toast; I actually did that before dancing and all, but whatever. Phil's toast was first and he just talked about how happy he was for his two friends and then took a huge gulp of champagne. My toast was overly sentimental and focused on my many memories of Charlotte ranging from kindergarten and cupcakes to college and car accidents. I carefully avoided ex-boyfriends and late night gossip sessions but I made it clear that I loved Charlotte and Ethan and I was extremely happy for the two of them. I did mention their delightful meeting in eleventh grade but I left out the whole bit about her huge crush on Steve Logan; I figured that just wasn't an issue to bring up on their wedding day especially since Steve and Becca were getting married in a few short weeks.

I didn't cry, thankfully, but Char did cry. And then she hugged me saying, “I can't believe you remember all that stuff. I completely forgot about half of it. I forgot about the time I beheaded all your Barbie dolls because you said that brunettes were prettier than blondes.”

I'd never forgotten that day. I still had all my headless Barbies in the closet of my old bedroom in my parents' apartment. I had told the then blonde ten-year-old Charlotte that brunettes like me were prettier than blondes like her. These days Char had light brown hair and she was gorgeous. I had apologized before for saying that she wasn't as pretty as me, but she'd committed the greater sin in beheading all my Barbies, including the Ken dolls and everything. Oh, and did I mention that I shared those Barbies with Jane and Mary? Yeah, she wasn't just hurting me; she was hurting all the Bennett girls.

But that was fifteen years ago. Now she was married to my cousin and I was dancing the night away with one of my closest guy friends. And I might be going on a date with that same guy at some point in the next week or so. Life was changing so fast.

At one point around ten o'clock, Kyle was off in the bathroom when Mrs. DeBourgh cornered me and asked in a horrible raspy voice, “Are you dating my nephew, William?”

“Why would you think that?” I replied, incredibly confused. As far as I could tell all he was interested in from me was friendship.

“I heard about you two went out on a double date with Charles Bingley and your sister last weekend. And I know how you two were spending time alone together in the kitchen,” she said all this while wagging her finger in my face accusingly.

“I didn't go on a date with him. A bunch of us went out to dinner and he was in the group, but it was just people hanging out; it wasn't a date for anyone except maybe Charlie and Jane.”

“Well, I've heard differently from Ethan and I believe him to be a much more reliable source than you. And I want you to stay away from my nephew; you're not good enough for him. Who is your family anyway? You are from Michigan. Yes your father's family has been in the hotel business for close to one hundred years but your mother's family is nothing. And then we could talk about your sisters. Your parents had to force your youngest sister to marry at the age of seventeen to protect the family from scandal. You are not worthy to be involved with any member of the Darcy family. Will's name is worth so much more than yours. You are inferior to us.”

“Where are we? In the Indian caste system or Victorian England, those were places where name and social status mattered more than love. If your nephew wanted to date me, then I hope he would care more about how much he liked me rather than what social class I belonged to. Social classes might still exist but we don't live in the days of Napoleon or anything. This is the twenty-first century; love matters more than your last name.”

“I will tell my nephew to stay away from you; you're nothing more than an insolent brat who wants Will's money and name. You're a gold-digger and a social climber. You are not worthy of a man like William.”

“That is his decision not yours.”

“Oh you are a little bitch,” she said, slapping me across the face. “You need to learn your place in the world. And stay the hell away from William.”

I stared at her in disbelief as she walked away from me. Kyle came running up to me a minute later and looked at my face. “That's going to need some ice, girlie. That old witch hit you pretty soundly.”

“She told me I wasn't worthy to marry Will Darcy because I'm socially inferior to him.”

He laughed. “Where does she live, Camelot?”

I smiled and leaned my head against his shoulder. “She said I needed to learn my place in the world.”

“I think you know your place in the world pretty darn well,” he said with a smile. “And I don't think you're unworthy of Will Darcy; I think his aunt is unworthy of knowing you.”

Jane caught Char's bouquet; it was great. She was so happy and I had a suspicion that she probably would be the next one to get married especially after talking to Will last weekend. He was pretty certain that they both actually loved each other and that they were going to make things work this time. He was also committed to supporting and encouraging their relationship this time.

Will's POV

Monday morning, my aunt stormed into my office to inform me that “the insolent little bitch, Lizzie Bennett” seemed to think that she was important enough to marry me. “She thinks that social status and class don't matter anymore. And she thinks that her youngest sister's scandalous actions will not damage her potential when marrying into a family as prestigious as the Darcy family. I, of course, set her straight and made it clear to her as to the real role women like her play in the world. She could marry some person from her little hick town or something like that. But she could never marry into a family with a name and a reputation like the Darcy family. It's pathetic; I think she might actually be in love with you. Isn't that sad?”

I looked at my aunt and sighed. “You are not a Darcy and you have no reason to try to protect our last name from scandal. If I want to be involved in a relationship with Lizzie Bennett, that is my business and not yours. I'm not going to marry my cousin, Anne; that's disgusting. Stay out of my personal life,” I told her firmly. “You are my boss and my aunt, but that doesn't mean you can tell me who to associate with or who to marry. Please just bug out and leave me alone.”

I had decided I was going to drive up to Meryton and talk to Elizabeth. I needed to talk to her and find out what had happened in her conversation with my aunt. I had to stay in Chicago until Friday but Friday afternoon, as soon as I was done with work, I was going to drive up to Meryton and talk to Lizzie. I wanted to go now but I had a job to do and this court case was actually a huge deal. I was working on a custody case that had come out of a messy divorce. In my opinion, neither parent really wanted their three sons, but they were looking for any excuse to one-up the other one. I was representing the mother who would probably shove the kids off on a nanny but I didn't trust the father anymore.

The court case ended on Thursday around two o'clock and the mom won. I congratulated her and headed home to pack. I called Charlie and told him I'd be in Meryton by eight or nine o'clock. He told me I could stay with him for as long as necessary. I wasn't sure how long I would be staying. All I knew was that I needed to get up to Meryton and find out the truth behind everything. Based on my aunt's reporting of her discussion of Elizabeth, I was beginning to hope that I could have a future with the lovely Lizzie Bennett. I was just hoping that I wasn't too late to win the heart of the fair lady.

I pulled my car into the parking lot of the Netherfield around eight-thirty in the evening. I hadn't stopped since leaving my house around three o'clock that evening and we won't discuss the speeds that I drove to reach Meryton. I parked next to a black Chevy Impala that looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't remember where I had seen it before. It had a Michigan license plate but there were no other clues to suggest who might own the car. I grabbed my suitcase and headed into the hotel, calling Charlie as I headed in, hoping to just meet him in the lobby and not have to deal with receptionists or anything. He answered his phone and said that he or a friend would meet me in the lobby and take me up to his apartment, after which we would be joining a few people in the restaurant for drinks and dessert.

“Hey, Will! How are you?” Jane said enthusiastically as she walked towards me. “Charlie is talking to some customers so he asked me to show you to his apartment to take care of his stuff and then we'll come back downstairs and relax.”

“Who all is here?” I asked her as we headed towards the elevator.

Just then, Lizzie came running over to us and said, “Jane, Charlie's looking for you. I'll take Will upstairs and you can go talk to your man.”

Her sister made an indecipherable face at her and walked away. Lizzie pushed the elevator button and smiled at me. We got in the elevator in silence and then she pushed the button labeled “PH”. I realized that we were alone and it was now or never; I had to seize the opportunity and ask her what I wanted to ask. “So I hear you ran into my aunt at Charlotte and Ethan's wedding last weekend,” I said quickly.

“Yeah,” she said rolling her eyes but refusing to look at me. “She gave me an earful.”

I smiled grimly. “I heard about it and I'm sorry; you didn't deserve what she said.” I turned so I was facing her. “You didn't deserve it and I'm really sorry. I don't agree that you aren't worthy to date a Darcy or be involved with a Darcy. You are a great person. Your social status doesn't matter to me nor do your sister's actions. Just because your sister does stupid things that I don't agree with doesn't mean that you are like her. I think you're a great person the way you are and I'm horribly sorry about what my aunt said to you.”

She gasped and stared at me. “I don't know what to say.”

“Lizzie Bennett, if your feelings towards me still are what they were last April, then tell me now and you will never hear from me again. My feelings have not changed in the slightest except for gain more respect for you with the passing of time.” I paused for a moment to take a deep breath and make sure I could keep my composure. Then I began speaking again. “However, if your feelings have changed as I think they have since April, tell me now and you will make me the happiest man alive.”

A bright smile lit up her face and I began to hope more than ever before that the next words that came out of her mouth would be the words that gave flight to my dreams and aspirations. “Will, how can you still like me after all this time?” she asked. “I treated you like absolute shit and everything that happened with my sister and with Damien and there have been so many horrible things that have happened between you and me and involving us. How can you still like me?”

I spoke the honest, completely clichéd truth. “Hope springs eternal.”

She looked down at her light pink toenails and then back at me. “You've been so patient with me. My feelings towards you have changed and if you were to ask me to go out on a date with you again, this time I would accept with all of my heart.”

A smile that could have lit up New York City hit my face and I couldn't help it at all. “How does tomorrow night sound to you?”

The smile on her face must have matched the one on my own face. “It sounds wonderful, William.”

A few minutes later, we can back downstairs and our faces must have told the others waiting for us what had transpired in the elevator because Kyle Kilpatrick said, “Lizzie, don't worry about it. You figured out what I was trying to tell you last weekend.”

After we sat down next to each other, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and she leaned against my chest. “What was Kyle talking about?” I whispered in her ear.

She smiled. “I'll explain it later, but basically he'd like to think that he had a hunch about the two of us.”

“Well then we'll let him think that,” I replied as I slid a few strands of her dark brown hair behind her ear. Then I smiled as I rested my cheek against her soft curls; I was finally where I'd wanted to be since the day after Thanksgiving.

Chapter Eighteen: Un Giorno Por Noi

Lizzie's POV

I had to go into work on Friday morning. Classes were starting Monday morning and I needed to do a ton of prep work. Plus we had a million obnoxious staff meetings that day. Kyle wasn't mad at all about the fact that we wouldn't be going on a date that weekend. “You finally found the guy you're supposed to be with,” he told me before the Friday morning staff meeting. “I'm so happy for you guys and I'm sure I'll find the girl I'm supposed to be with very soon.”

I smiled at him. “Kyle, you're a great guy and any girl would be lucky to be with you.”

“Just invite me to your wedding,” he said. “Oh, don't give me that look, Elizabeth Anne Bennett; you know that you're going to marry him and it's just a matter of time before I'm proven correct.”

Jane and Charlie were both convinced that they had brought Will and me together. I didn't think they had; I think that was a combination of God and Will's crazy aunt, but we weren't about to burst their bubble. I was just happy that after all these months everything had been set to rights. I had screwed things up badly back in April, but now Will and I were going on our first date. I couldn't believe it; I was going on a date with William Darcy. A few weeks, heck even days, earlier I wouldn't have believed this possible. But his aunt had helped things along instead of making them worse. I guess my defense of myself to her had proven to Will that I was interested in him. The night before he had said she had given him hope instead of destroying his opinion of me.

It was so hard to get through the day. Will was going to pick me up around six-thirty and then we were going to have dinner at my favorite restaurant, La Riviera. Damien and I had gone there on our first date but I had a feeling things would be different this time. For one thing, Will wasn't a player and for another, I just had a good feeling about this one. Will is a good guy and I like him. Plus Jane approved of him and so did Kyle. The only other opinions I really needed were my dad's, Becca's, Steve's, Jenny's, and Hannah's. I was pretty sure my dad would approve of him; it was Steve who I was worried about. Steve Logan seems to think that he's my big brother and that his purpose in life is to protect me from men who want to hurt me. He's also of the impression that most guys out there want to hurt me.

As I did final preparations for the first day of school, I thought about the situation with Kyle and Steve and the way they treat the guys I like or who like me. I'm glad I have people who love me and care about my safety like that in my life. They're real sweethearts. Becca is very lucky to have Steve in her life and someday, hopefully soon, Kyle is going to make some girl very, very happy. He deserves a girl he can treat like a princess.

At six-thirty, I was standing in my bathroom with Jane and Mary trying to put the finishing touches on my outfit. I was wearing a black strapless lace eyelet dress with a white sweater on top to protect me from the restaurant's air conditioning. My dark brown curls were hanging loose around my shoulders and Jane was doing my make-up. My sisters were determined to make me look like a princess. I was wearing a thin silver necklace with a white stone hanging from it and matching earrings. “You look so pretty,” Mary said. “Will is going to fall in love with you when he sees you.”

I smiled at her. “I just hope the date goes well. I really like Will and I want things to work out for us.”

“You're all set,” Jane said. “You look gorgeous, Lizzie-belle, and I promise you that everything is going to work out for you two. Will has been waiting for you for months; he's going to keep fighting to make a relationship with you work.” She hugged me and kissed my cheek as the doorbell rang. “I'll answer that while you put on your shoes. Knock him dead, Lizzie-belle.”

“Yes, ma'am,” I said with a mock salute. Then as she ran done the stairs, I put on my black stiletto peep-toe shoes that I love more than a great many things; they're my favorite shoes. Plus I can actually wear heels around Will because he's over six feet tall. I like being able to wear heels but you can't do that with all guys. Not that I'm really tall or anything; I'm 5'5”, which is pretty much average for American women. I knew Will was over six-foot but I wasn't sure how tall he was until we'd been dating for a while. But that's another story for another time.

I hurried downstairs after I put my shoes and found Will standing there wearing a black suit with a dark blue shirt and a black tie. He looked so unbelievably nice; it was insane. Will Darcy really is a gorgeous man. His ears might stick out a little and his nose might not quite fit his face but he's still very good-looking. He smiled at me and handed me a single white rose. “A little bird told me that you like white roses,” he told me.

I nodded and smiled. “I love them. Just let me put this in some water and then we can get going.”

“Of course,” he replied, following me into the kitchen. I grabbed a thin glass vase from a cupboard and filled it with water so I could put my rose in it.

“Who told you that I like white roses?” I asked looking at him over the rose.

He smiled. “You won't let me leave it at a little birdie?”

His face was so adorable I had to tell him it was fine and let it go. I'd find out who ratted me out about white roses soon enough.

Dinner was amazing. We just talked about everything for hours. We started talking about his niece and ended up talking about why he became a lawyer. We talked about why I was a teacher and sports teams that we liked. We talked about our families and he explained more about what Gianna had told me in Virginia about his younger siblings. “My mom had two stillbirths and three miscarriages between having me and having Gianna. It was really hard on her and my dad; it put a huge strain on their marriage and I'm not sure how things would have gone if Gianna hadn't survived. It could have destroyed their marriage.”

“That's so sad,” I said. “I can't imagine what it would be like to lose five babies, one after another.”

“It broke my mother's heart,” he replied. “She grew attached to those babies; she loved them. But she never got to keep them. Gianna and I were all she had.”

“What about your dad?” I asked.

He shrugged. “My dad was a good guy. He worked hard to provide for his family and make sure we had everything we could ever want in life but I think that sometimes business and money were also an escape for him. He needed an escape from the struggles in his personal life so he poured himself into the Pemberley chain, letting it consume his life. I don't want to be like him. I know I'm a workaholic a lot of the time but I'm trying to work on that. I mean I didn't bring any work to dinner tonight.”

I smiled. “I appreciate that. This might sound weird but you're a lot easier to talk to than I used to think you were. I know that sounds awful but for a long time I was terrified of you.”

“I thought you just hated me.”

“I did,” I replied. “But you said I wasn't attractive.”

“I lied,” he said solemnly. “I said that because I didn't know what else to do. I didn't want people to know that I found you attractive. So I told Charlie that I wasn't attracted to you. But I lied and I never should have done that.”

“Yeah well, I shouldn't have hated you just because of that one comment and everything Damien told me. I don't know why I believed him even after he dumped me. I think I just wanted to hate you.”

He smiled. “That comment inspires confidence.”

“I don't want to hate you anymore. After what you did for Lydia and for our family, I could never hate you. But it was actually when we were all in Virginia that I realized who you really were.”

“And who am I?”

I blushed. “You're a good guy and you care about people. You take such good care of your sister and your niece. And you were so nice to my cousins.”

“They were good kids and I like kids. Plus they were a great distraction from all the work I had to take care of that week. You have no idea how much stress is involved in running a hotel chain. One hotel is hard but eight or nine can get ridiculous.”

I smiled. I had grown up listening to my father talk about difficulties of running a hotel and I could only imagine that running a chain of hotel-resorts while working as a lawyer could make life complicated. “How do you live like that?” I asked. “You have to keep traveling for Pemberley and you have your job as a lawyer and now if we're going to start dating that's going to be even more traveling for you.”

He smiled. “I can do this. It's not as bad as you think it is. I only visit the hotels a couple times a year and my case load probably won't be that bad for the rest of the year. So I can come visit you and stay with Charlie. And we can talk on the phone. And when you have a long weekends and holiday breaks you could go stay with your aunt and uncle and visit me. I know being a teacher doesn't give you the best vacation time from September to June, but we can make this work.”

“You've thought about this before, haven't you?” I asked.

“A little,” he replied. “I also know what my life is like. I do travel a least one week a month and I'm usually in court about two weeks a month but that still leaves me with one free week every month. I usually spend that working and I want to spend more time with Emily especially now that Gianna is going back to school but I also want to make an effort to spend time with you.”

I bit my lip; I almost felt like crying. I'd never had any guy tell me that he really wanted to make an effort to spend time with me. I looked up into his warm brown eyes and smiled. “You really want to make this relationship work, don't you?”

He nodded. “Lizzie, I'm thirty years old and I finally found a woman I care about who isn't related to me. I want to make this work. I know this is only our first date and I know this might scare you but I'm determined.”

“You've been waiting for me, haven't you?” I asked. “You knew that I would eventually change my mind and want to be with you. I know that makes you sound really egotistical but I think you're the type of person who could decide that they want to marry a girl even if he was pretty sure she hated him.”

Will's POV

“That really makes me sound like an asshole,” I said with a laugh and a smile. “You're making me sound like I'm so self-confident that I know girls will fall in love with me. I don't actually know that at all. I never would have guessed that I would be sitting here tonight until a few days ago.”

She smiled at me. “Well I guess things worked out better than expected.”

“Much better,” I replied with a smile. I looked around the restaurant and then down at my watch. “It's about ten; we should get going.”

“But I don't want this to be over,” she said. “I'm not ready for tonight to be over. I want to do something else.”

I looked at her. “You're from this town. What do you want to do?”

“We should watch a movie at my place,” she replied enthusiastically. “Mary has to work until two and Jane is out with Charlie.”

“Why does Mary always work until all hours of the night?” I asked as we were walking out to the car.

“She doesn't have the best social skills and so it's better to schedule her when the lobby isn't very busy. She's efficient and stuff but she's just not that good with people. And that's hard.”

“How so?” I asked. We were in my car now, driving back to her condo.

“It's weird. I don't know if you've ever really noticed this but Jane, Katie, Lydia, and I are all pretty social beings, but Mary really prefers to keep to herself. I'm not really sure why. Both of my parents are pretty social. I really don't understand her; I love her but I don't get her at all.”

“That stinks,” I said.

“When we were younger, Dad wanted her to see a therapist but Mom didn't want to air our dirty laundry in front of a stranger. Now Jane and I are pretty sure that airing family laundry in front of one stranger would have been preferable to trying to deal with Mary and her problems now.” She sighed. “I don't know why I'm telling you about this except for the fact that she's driving me nuts. She won't talk to Jane or me except when we force her to and she's eating really weirdly and I'm pretty sure she hates us. And don't tell me that's impossible because she's our sister. She does hate us. And I don't know why I'm telling you this. I'm probably scaring the crap out of you and completely running everything and this is only our first date. You probably never want to see me again.”

“Lizzie, we all have families and we all have eccentric family members. Have you met my aunt recently? Or we could talk about Charlie's sisters. So you have four sisters but you only really get along well with one of them. At least you have Jane. Can you imagine what my life would be like if I didn't get along well with Gianna? You're lucky that you're so close to Jane. At least you have one sister you're close to.”

Lizzie was silent the rest of the drive back to her condo and I was wondering if she was mad at me. She didn't look mad but she wasn't talking so I was a little concerned. She just looked really concerned, like she was lost in deep thought about something. I had just turned on Longbourn Estates Boulevard when she spoke for the first time in ten or fifteen minutes. “I think I'm a very lucky person,” she said.

I looked at her. “What makes you say that?”

“I've always been pretty healthy, my family could afford to give me a good education, and I've always had everything I need. Sure I've had some struggles in various areas of my life, but I have a good life for the most part. I have a good job that I love and I live in a pretty nice condo with two of my sisters. I have a lot going for me.”

I smiled at her. “I'm not trying to guilt-trip you when I talk about my family.”

“It's all right,” she replied. “I wasn't feeling guilt-tripped. I was just thinking about how many things in my life I take for granted. You've lost five siblings and I'm always complaining about the siblings I have. But they aren't that bad. Sure Lydia doesn't things that are ridiculously stupid and Katie is a ditz who doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. Mary might have absolutely no social skills, but she's still my sister. They're all still my sisters no matter what they do and I love them.” Then she smiled before adding, “And Jane's just fantastic. She's the best sister a girl could ever want.”

“She seems pretty great,” I told her. “I feel horrible about screwing things up for her and Charlie. I was wrong and I know that now. I'm just glad that they were able to get together after all.”

“You told Charlie the truth, didn't you?” she asked me with a sly smile.

I nodded. “I had to tell him; I couldn't keep lying to him. If he likes her and she likes him, then who am I to stand in their way? I think he's her match in a way.”

“They were sort of meant for each other,” she said with a smile. “I think Jane is one of those people who were born with one and only one man she could ever marry. She believes that there's only one perfect person for every person in the world.”

“Do you believe that?”

She shrugged. “I'm not really sure. It is the basis of the movie, Serendipity. And maybe it's true for some people but I'm not so sure about how it fits in my life. I think that if I had married Steve Logan, I would have been very happy with my life. And I think that I could be happy with you or with Kyle. I think that there are multiple guys who could make me happy but I think that one of them could be better for me than others could. Like Kyle and I have more of a sibling relationship than a romantic relationship. But I don't know. Maybe there really is only one perfect match for everyone. Wouldn't that suck if that was true and your perfect match became a priest or a nun or something like that?”

I smiled at her. She was so adorable and I didn't want to lose her. “I'm not sure that we each have a perfect match but I think it is possible for one person to be the best possible match out of multiple options. I kind of get what you're saying about how things could have worked out for you to be with Steve or Kyle. I'm not sure I've ever really known someone who I knew right away that I could be happy with them forever, but I think I understand how you feel about Steve and Kyle in that context.”

We ended up watching The Last of the Mohicans because it's one of Lizzie's favorite movies and I like the movie too. Lizzie can play the movie's great love them, “The Kiss” on the piano, so I made her prove it after the movie ended. She is really talented on the piano. I told her that the next time she was in Chicago she was going to have to hear Gianna play because my sister is also pretty fantastic on the piano. “I'd love that,” she replied. “I love listening to other people play. I don't think I'm very good, but I like to fiddle around and listen to other people playing.”

“You're much better than you give yourself credit for,” I replied sitting down next to her on the piano bench. “I took lessons for a while when I was younger and I could get all the technique but you just have pure talent. You bring something special to the music when you're playing.” I shrugged and smiled. “I don't know how to explain it but you give it a different fire and joy. You enjoy what you're doing and you pour your excitement and passion into the music. I love that about talented pianists.”

She blushed and leaned her head against my shoulder. “You're too nice to me.”

“I beg to differ,” I replied. “I once told you that I liked you against my better judgment.”

“That was shortly before I told you to go to hell. I think we're even.”

“I once said you weren't pretty.”

“You were lying.”

“That's so true,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “You're absolutely gorgeous.”

“Now you are lying.”

“No, I'm not and I don't want to argue with you. I don't care what other people say; I think you're gorgeous.”

Chapter Nineteen: Let Love In

Lizzie's POV

School had started again and Steve and Becca's wedding was the Saturday before Labor Day. Trying to maintain a long-distance relationship with Will while teaching and helping Becca plan the wedding, my life was ridiculously insane. Charlie was in Meryton pretty much 24/7 and he and Jane were pretty much madly in love. They saw each other daily while Will and I were lucky if we could talk on the phone daily. We did email daily but we were both so busy that sometimes actually vocal conversation had to take a backseat to our careers. He was in the midst of a court case and I was dealing with the drama of starting a new school year. For the first time in my teaching career, I wasn't teaching any of my sisters and I didn't even have any sisters attending Lakeview. It was a weird feeling but my life was changing a lot this year.

I was working more than I had the past few years because more students wanted to take Spanish than in the past especially now that they needed three years of foreign language to graduate. The state of Michigan was requiring public school students to have at least two years of education in a foreign language. I was working more than usual and with the wedding coming up soon, I was busy and I wasn't sleeping much. Thankfully, due to a law in the state of Michigan, we didn't have school the Friday before Labor Day so I would be able to spend that day working on grading homework, helping Becca with her wedding, and sleeping. Also, Will was arriving in Meryton Thursday night and we were planning to spend time together on Friday. I'd be busy with everything wedding-related, including the rehearsal dinner that night, but I'd have him around. I missed him and I was looking forward to seeing him.

My lack of sleep was giving me dark circles under my eyes and while my students didn't seem to notice my exhaustion, my friends and family were. Thursday afternoon when I got back from eating my lunch with some students in the cafeteria, I found an envelope on my desk. When I opened it, I found a picture that Kyle had taken of me during my sophomore year of college. I'd been having a rough week and my health hadn't been the greatest that year. One Sunday afternoon, I had fallen asleep while sitting in my living room with my laptop doing homework. Kyle had been in the house at the time with a camera and had taken a picture of me sleeping on top of my books and laptop. He'd given me that picture with a note that said, “Don't push yourself too far” and some chocolate. I laughed and smiled. Kyle was a great brother; if he'd had any sisters they would have known how much they were loved. But he didn't have any sisters and I didn't have any brothers, so we filled that role in each other's lives.

I knew that Will wasn't jealous of the things that Kyle did for me. While Kyle might have asked me out a few weeks earlier, we weren't meant to be together. There were another girl out there for him and I had a few ideas as to that lucky lady might be. I wanted to see him happy.

“Senorita Bennett, I need to talk to you,” a freshman in my Spanish II class said to me after my last class on Thursday afternoon.

I looked at the girl and nodded. Her name was Grace Taylor and she seemed to a bit shy. “What's up, Grace?”

“How did you know that you wanted to be a teacher?”

“What do you mean?”

“How did you know that you were supposed to be a teacher? Did you decide when you were in high school or did you always know or what?”

“Sit down,” I told her. After we were seated next to each other, I began to explain to her. “I knew that I wanted to help people and I love the Spanish language. When I was a sophomore I started taking extension classes at Meryton Community College and exploring what I wanted to do with my life.”

“So how did you realize that you wanted to teach?”

I paused for a minute. She was fourteen years old and she had just started high school a few days earlier. I hadn't decided that I wanted to be a teacher until I was seventeen or eighteen, but I wasn't really thinking about that. I was thinking about why she was asking me all of this. “Grace,” I said slowly. “Why are you so worried about your career? You're only a freshman; you have plenty of time to make these decisions.”

“My dad says I have to figure all of this out now,” she said. “He wants me to go to Harvard or Yale, so I have to get figure out what I want to do with my life so I can start taking the right classes and get my life on the right track.”

“Does your father realize that you are fourteen years old and you just started your freshman year of high school?”

She shrugged. “I'm not sure. I think he just wants me to get out of Michigan and be a better person than he is.”

“Pushing you like this is not going to help either one of you,” I told her. I was sick of parents trying to push their children into Ivy League schools when that wasn't actually what their children wanted. I also didn't like it when parents made up their children's minds for them. People need to let kids have time to be kids and grow up normally. Not everyone is meant for Harvard or Yale. Some of us are meant for places like Grand Valley State University. It might never be on par with the Ivy League but it's a good school.

“Where did you go to school, Miss Bennett?”

“Grand Valley,” I replied.

“Why did you go there?”

“I loved the campus, they have a good education program, and they gave me a scholarship.” Between scholarships and the money my grandparents gave me, I didn't have to pay for college at all.

“That's cool. Where else did you apply?”

“Places with good education programs,” I replied. “So I applied to GVSU, Michigan State, and Eastern Michigan. And all of them accepted them and I liked GVSU the best.”

“My dad says that GVSU is a school for people who aren't smart enough to get into Michigan.”

“He's wrong,” Kyle said walking into the room. “I hate to interrupt but I need to give something to Miss Bennett.”

He handed me a file folder full of things for National Honor Society; we were co-moderators of the club. As I took it from him, Grace asked, “Why do you say that my dad is wrong?”

“I went to Grand Valley but I was also accepted to the University of Michigan. I chose Grand Valley over Michigan because I wanted to be a teacher and in my opinion, GV had the better education program.”

“Oh, that's a good point,” she said. “I never thought about that kind of stuff.”

“You're a freshman,” Kyle told her. “It's too early for you to really start worrying about that stuff. Oh and Miss Bennett, there's a Mr. Darcy waiting for you in the main office.”

I smiled and based on the look on Kyle's face, I was probably grinning from ear to ear. “Do you need to get going?” Grace asked me.

“I should probably go see this Mr. Darcy that Mr. Kilpatrick mentioned. And you should probably go get ready for cross country practice. Richard will be mad if you're late. And Mr. Kilpatrick should get himself off to tennis practice. It would look bad if the coach were late.”

“Thanks for talking to me, Miss Bennett,” Grace said as she ran out of the room.

“And I have to go to practice too?” Kyle said.

“Yep, you have to leave so I can go see this Mr. Darcy character.”

“He makes you so happy,” he said. “I'm glad you guys finally got your timing right.”

“I hope you find that someone special sometime soon,” I told him.

“Don't worry about me, Lizzie-belle; I can take care of myself.”

“I know,” I replied. “I just want to see you happy.”

“I'm happy,” he said. “I really am happy being single.”

I hurried upstairs to the main office from my basement classroom. Will was standing by the secretary's desk and I just jumped into his arms on impulse. He kissed my cheek and swung me around. “I've missed you, Lizzie-Lou,” he said after putting me down.

“I've missed you too,” I said. “Do you want to see my classroom?”

“Of course I do,” he replied. “Is Kyle still around?”

“You just missed him. He's off to tennis practice. But I'm sure you'll see him around this weekend. And you'll get to meet his twin brother at the wedding. Kyle is going to be one of the lectors at the Mass and they're going to be co-Masters of Ceremonies at the reception.”

“Will they be entertaining?”

I smiled. “Of course, have you met Kyle?”

“Yeah, is his brother like him?”

“Pretty much, they're both insane and they're both good friends with Steve.” We walked into my classroom. “And this is my classroom. Mis estudiantes creen que estoy loca pero sabes que no estoy loca.”

He smiled. “You're nuts, but I still think you're fantastic.”

“Aw, thanks, Will; I think you're pretty great yourself.”

He sat down on my desk and looked around the room. “So this is where the magic happens?”

I nodded. “This is where I try to influence the future.”

He looked at the whiteboard and read, “If you could talk to any three people, living or dead, who would you pick? Also, what would you ask them?” He turned back to me. “So what's that about?”

“I have a database of questions like that and I ask my Spanish 3 and 4 students those questions every day. They write the answers in their journals and my goal to get them to develop their vocabulary and their writing skills.”

“What's your answer?” he asked.

“To the question?” I asked and he nodded. I shrugged. “I'd probably say Jesus Christ, my great-grandmother who died before I was born, and someone like St. Augustine or Martin Luther King Jr.”

“Good choices,” he replied. “What kind of answers do you get from the kids?”

“All over the map,” I told him as I gathered up my things so we could head back to my place. “I've had kids say Brad Pitt and Tyra Banks and I've had kids pick people like Socrates and Martin Luther King Jr.”

He shook his head. “Ready to go?”

I nodded. “Did you drive here or do you want to come with me?”

“Jane dropped me off,” he replied. “She figured that we'd want some alone time.”

I laughed. “She's such a romantic.”

“Let's just go spend some time together. I have a feeling you're going to be pretty busy this weekend.”

Will's POV

Lizzie did have a busy weekend. She spent Friday morning grading papers and relaxing while we watched Beauty and the Beast and Friday afternoon, she was helping Becca get ready for the wedding. Friday night, we went to the rehearsal dinner. After everyone practiced walking down the aisle and all of that wedding stuff, we went to La Riviera for the rehearsal dinner. Lizzie looked wonderful. She was wearing a white sundress with black flowers and black straps. She was wearing her hair up in the same fancy style it had been in the night I met her. She did this thing where she would take her when it was wet and put mousse in it and then she'd pin it all to her head to create this cascading curl look. It was fantastic.

Becca and Steve were great together. She was a calm, sweet girl and he was always energetic, never sitting still. He was a kindergarten teacher, which might have struck some people as odd, but if you ask me, Steve would be a great kindergarten teacher. At one point during the dinner, he was playing with Becca's niece and nephew who were going to be the flower girl and ring bearer. Abby was five and Jonathan was four and they loved the attention they were getting from their aunt's fiancé. But they were such cute kids and Steve loved little kids, so it was perfect for him. He was in his element and it made me look forward to the days when my niece would old enough to play games like that. “Steve is ready to be a dad,” Lizzie whispered in my ear as he swung Abby around in circles.

“I think you might have to wait about nine months for that happen.”

She smiled. “I can wait; I just want to be the godmother.”

“Like a fairy godmother?” I teased.

She nodded and spun around in a circle. Her skirt was perfect for spinning and twirling and she knew it. “I'm going to be Cinderella's fairy godmother. All I need is a crazy hood and an ugly cloak. Then I'll be the perfect frumpy fairy godmother.”

“You could never be frumpy, darling girl. You're my bella principesca.”

Lizzie's smile could have lit up the room. I knew she'd had some really tough experiences with guys in the past and I really just wanted her to know that she was loved and beautiful. I thought she was amazing but I knew she'd had a lot of guys tell her otherwise. She leaned against me and I wrapped my arm around her. She was my girlfriend. It was so weird to think about that. I'd fallen for her back in November or December and I'd waited for her until now. And now I had her.

“Do you know that you're irresistible?” she whispered in my ear.

“What do you want to do?”

She grinned. “I'm a good Catholic girl so we're going to keep all of this G-rated. Plus there are little kids around here and I have a feeling we'd get in trouble if we didn't anything in front of Jonathan and Abby.”

“So you're being a bad girl?” I teased.

She laughed. “Mr. Darcy, we are in public; we must behave.”

I had my arms around her and she was pressed up against my chest. I was looking down into her deep brown eyes and I was drowning. “If you insist, Miss Bennett, we shall be the perfect picture of decorum.”

Her face lit up and she laughed. “Dude, you're ridiculous.”

“I have to keep up with you,” I replied.

The next day, I got to the church around twelve-thirty. I was sitting with Jane and Charlie. As it happened, we ended up sitting with Kyle and his brother, Alex as well. Alex looked almost exactly like Kyle except they had very different noses. “He broke his back when he broke the car in college,” Kyle explained to me.

“We resurrected the truck,” Alex snapped. “It wasn't like when Char completely totaled Lizzie's car. That was just bad.”

Jane shook her head and Kyle smiled. “Will, I'll tell you the story after the wedding. It's a great story.”

“I can't believe Lizzie mentioned it in her toast at Char's wedding.”

“I'm not surprised,” Alex remarked. “Lizzie was really pissed at Char about that one.”

“You had better explain this to me after the wedding,” I said. I really wanted to know what had happened, but I knew I had to wait until after the wedding to find out.

The wedding was amazing. Lizzie was a gorgeous maid of honor in her black dress with the dark green sash. Her dress was what Jane described as tea-length; it had spaghetti straps and a full skirt. “She was probably twirling around in the bride's room before the wedding,” Kyle whispered in my ear.

I nodded. “I can almost guarantee you she was.”

Her hair was professionally styled; it had been pulled up and was hanging in cascading curls. She was wearing strappy dark green stilettos and she looked wonderful. And the emerald pendant and matching earrings completed everything. She looked amazing. And she was my gorgeous girlfriend.

Jonathan and Abby followed Adam Caldwell and Lizzie down the aisle. They were so adorable. He was wearing a tux with a green vest and tie like the groomsmen and she was wearing a white dress with a green sash. And then Becca started walking down the aisle with her dad. She was gorgeous. Her dark brown hair was in some sort of braided bun and then she was wearing a strapless white dress with a hunter green sash that flowed down to the end of the train. She looked amazing but I happened to think that the maid of honor was prettier. But that was my personal opinion and I'm positive that Steve would have fought me to the death over that one. He was looking at Becca like she was the most beautiful woman ever born and he'd never seen anything that looked like her before his life.

She was gorgeous and the whole wedding was wonderful. It was a very formal Catholic wedding service complete with a Mass and everything. Becca started crying during the service. And Lizzie didn't quite look like her eyes were going to stay dry either. Steve couldn't stop smiling. I didn't blame him. If I was finally marrying the girl of my dreams, I would smile like an idiot and not care what other people thought of me.

After the ceremony was over and the photographers had taken a million pictures, I finally got to spend a few minutes alone with Lizzie. The first thing she did was to take off her shoes and lean her head against my shoulder. “I'm tired, my feet hurt, and my back aches. This takes me back to when I was a waitress in college. I would work these insanely long shifts and come home completely dead.”

“And now you teach high school.”

“Where I'm still on my feet all day long and come home completely dead at the end of the day.”

“But you don't have to deal with stupid customers you secretly hate anymore.”

She smiled. “I knew I graduated from college for a reason.”

As I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, she leaned into me and I rested my head on hers. “You look beautiful today.”

“Thank you,” she replied. “You look pretty nice yourself.”

I was wearing a black suit with a light blue dress shirt and a black tie. Lizzie and I didn't match very well but I didn't mind. She was gorgeous and she thought I looked good too. Of course I was no match for her in that department. She was naturally gorgeous and I was a guy who had a big nose and ears that stuck out from his head. But Lizzie didn't seem to mind those things about me. She seemed to like me, warts and all.

Some women were interested in me because of the size of my bank account, but I knew that wasn't Lizzie. She just wasn't that kind of a girl. She didn't care about money or material possessions the way girls like Caroline do. She's much more herself.

The reception was at Lizzie's dad's hotel, The Longbourn. The place was decorated in white, black, and shades of green. The tables had black tablecloths and green glass vases with white roses inside. “Why did they pick MSU's colors as their wedding colors?” Kyle moaned as we sat down at our table. I was sitting with Jane, Charlie, Kyle, Alex, and a few of their other friends. Alex was dating Hannah King and Kyle was Jenny Putnam's date to the wedding. They weren't dating but they were both single and they figured it would be fun to spend time together dancing.

“Steve is a Michigan fan and he wasn't crazy about the color scheme but black and green are Becca's favorite colors,” Jane said. “And her mom thought that would be too dark so she made them add white in to break things up a little and put some light on the subject.”

“When I get married, we're just not going to have green in the color scheme to avoid such an atrocity,” Alex remarked. “And there will definitely also be no mixing of scarlet and gray in my wedding.”

“Same here,” Kyle said. “Blue and gold, we can do that, but there will be no mentions of the Ohio State University or of Michigan State in my wedding.”

“And the wedding party will be small,” Alex added. “None of this having ten or twelve people; we're going to keep it simple. When I get married, I just want to have Kyle and Connor on my side and then she can have a maid of honor and one bridesmaid.”

“And you wonder why you aren't married yet,” Jane sighed.

“No, I know why I'm not married yet,” Alex replied. “It's this little thing called medical school. It kind of takes a lot out of you, especially out of the wallet area of your life. I can't afford a wife or a family right now.”

“But you're almost done,” Jane pointed out. “And then you can go out on a search for the new Mrs. Alex Michael Kilpatrick.”

“The new Mrs. Alex Kilpatrick?” Kyle repeated. “Are you saying that there was an old one? Did my brother get married without me knowing about it?”

“No,” she said slowly as she realized what she had said.

“So, who wants to help me tell Will about the time when Char totaled Lizzie's car?” Alex inserted.

“That's a great story,” Kyle said. “And I think I should tell it since I was actually there.”

“Go for it,” his twin replied. “After all, it just means I get to tell the story about when I totaled the purple pick-up.”

“Okay, so the story about Char and Lizzie's car is one of the greatest comedic tragedies of our time,” began the storyteller. “The summer before her sophomore year of college, Lizzie bought a new car; it was a blue Saturn of some sort. And it was her baby; its name was Rodrigo.”

“She was in her `Rodrigo' phase that year,” Jane inserted. “She named everything and anything that needed a name `Rodrigo' or `Rodriguez.'”

“So she had this blue Saturn named Rodrigo and she loved it. The first semester of her junior year of college, she was studying in Spain and so the purple pick-up truck moved to Ann Arbor to be with Alex while I had Lizzie's Saturn. So I drove Rodrigo for a semester and then the plan had been for me to reclaim the purple truck when Lizzie came back stateside but then, the incident occurred. Char somehow thought that I had just gotten a new car over the summer and didn't recognize Rodrigo, the poor car. So one day she comes over to my apartment while I was taking a shower and yells something at the bathroom and apparently I replied positively, so she grabbed `my' car keys off the kitchen table and left with `my' car. An hour later, I'm wondering where my car is when I get a phone call from Char saying that she was driving my car back to my apartment when she crashed into the car in front of her. So I called Steve who drove me out to where she was and I had to break the bad news to her. She had totaled Lizzie's car, not mine.”

“What did she do?” I asked.

“Char cried,” Kyle replied. “Lizzie swore up a storm when I told her what had happened. I had to email her and tell her. She was one mad girl that day.”

I smiled. “She and Char seem to have survived that one and are still friends.”

“Yeah, well that one took work,” Jane said. “When Lizzie got back from Spain, Char was afraid of her and Lizzie wanted to kill Char.”

“But it all worked out in the end and no one was seriously injured other than Rodrigo,” Kyle said. “That was much better than when my genius brother broke his nose and the purple pick-up truck.”

“It was an accident and it wasn't even my fault,” Alex protested.

“Sure it wasn't,” Kyle retaliated. “Next you're going to tell me that it was just because old women are crappy drivers.”

Just then, Lizzie came up behind them to tell them that their services as Masters of Ceremonies. And then they took off towards the microphone set up next to the head table and began their bantering about the incoming wedding party.

After an amazing dinner and watching my girlfriend dance with her ex-boyfriend's younger brother, I finally got to dance with my Lizzie. Steve's best man, Adam Caldwell, was the younger brother of a guy Lizzie had dated late in her college career. Andrew Caldwell, whom I'd heard about from Steve, Alex, Jane, and Kyle, was supposed to be a great guy but not the one for Lizzie. “She has that with a lot of guys,” Kyle told me as we watched the girls dance together later in the evening. “We can be her friends, her brothers, anything except her lovers.” He looked at me sternly and then out at Jenny, Hannah, Lizzie, Jane, Becca, and a few other girls including Char on the dance floor. “Don't hurt her. We'll kill you.”

I nodded. “I understand.” Lizzie had a few very close male friends who didn't have any biological sisters so they'd adopted her. These guys would protect their sister/princess to the death and I knew she loved them for it.

“Do you love her?” Steve asked as he came up next to me.

I looked at him. “What do you want to hear?”

“That you'll love her and protect her forever,” he replied.

“I'll do that to the best of my ability,” I told him firmly as I watched her spinning around the dance floor to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”

“Don't let us down,” Steve said, firmly grasping my arm. “And more importantly, don't let her down.”

“I won't,” I promised him. For one thing, I really respected Lizzie and for another thing, Steve was bigger than me and the Kilpatrick twins just plain scared me.

Chapter Twenty: Welcome to Paradise

Lizzie's POV

Will and I spent Sunday and Monday together. It was amazing. We just talked and talked for hours on end. And then Monday night he had to go back to Chicago. He was planning to visit for a weekend later in the month and then I had a work conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan in mid-October. He was going to meet me there and I was going to show him around the city in which I'd spent my college years. Then in November, I was going to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with Will and his family as well as Uncle Ed and Aunt Sophie. And then if things continued to go well, I'd be spending part of my Christmas holidays in Chicago with Will. He was going to come to Meryton for the first week of the holidays and spend Christmas Day with me, and then we'd go back to Chicago afterwards and stay there until I had to be back for work. We would spend Christmas with the Bennett family and New Years with the Darcy family. I was enjoying getting to know this amazing guy.

I know I hadn't liked Will when we first met but that had completely flipped. He was such a good guy. He was a good friend and brother and uncle. My friends and family liked him too, and that meant a lot to me. On Labor Day, Will and I went to Traverse City with Jenny, Hannah, Kyle, Alex, Jane, and Charlie. While we were there, Kyle and Alex told me that they approved of Will. “He's a good guy with a strong personality. He won't let you walk all over him. He'll love you and respect you,” Kyle told me. “And he won't mess with you.”

“He'll take good care of you,” Alex added. “But he won't belittle you or make you submit to him like you don't matter. You're important to him and he's going to fight to keep you in his life.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” I replied. “Thanks for always looking out for me.”

“We have to,” Alex said. “We don't have any sisters and you don't have any brothers, so we have to look out for you.”

I hugged each of them and then walked over to my boyfriend. I hugged him and kissed his cheek. “What was that for?” he asked.

“They approve of you. You have no idea how rare that is,” I said. He wrapped his arm around me and I leaned against him; this was rapidly becoming the position in which I was most comfortable.

“You're very important to them,” he told me. “They treat you like you're their sister.”

“It's because all they have is each other and their younger brother, Connor. They needed a sister and they found me.”

“Steve also thinks you're his sister.”

“Again, no sisters,” I explained. “Steve doesn't have any sisters, just younger brothers, so he likes having someone he can baby and protect from the big, bad world that's filled with evil men who hurt women. I think it actually really helps them in their romantic relationships to have the experience of protecting a woman from hurt and suffering. I don't understand it but I think it's wonderful for them. And I love it. I know that I can trust them to be there for me if they ever need me. Once when I was really having a tough time in college, Kyle drove to Ann Arbor and brought Alex back so they could entertain me and keep me sane.”

“You've really managed to find some good friends.”

I nodded. “I think so. You have good friends too.”

“Who else have you met besides Charlie?”

“I've met your cousins,” I replied firmly. “And when I come visit you in Chicago, I want to meet more of your friends.”

“You will,” he replied. “I promise.”

In mid-October, I had to go to Grand Rapids for the tri-annual meeting of the Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools. The meeting was on the third Thursday and Friday of the month. It was interesting, as always, and it was great to be back in Grand Rapids. I'd spent much of my college career in that city and I loved it. Char called it a “manageable Chicago.” There are some great restaurants and other really cool places to see in the city. And Will had never been there before, so I was going to show him around the city a little bit. Plus, I was getting to spend time with my man.

While I was in Grand Rapids, I was staying with a family that I'd known pretty well during my college career. Jim and Beth had been good friends and helped me out with a variety of things, like transportation after Char totaled my car. They were a great family and I didn't see them much now that I was living over two hours away. So I wanted to spend some time with them Thursday. The conference ended around three on Friday and then Will was planning on getting into town around four.

I missed Will. Seeing him once a month was hard especially when I knew he was stressed with work and his aunt who had decided to hate him forever. Apparently I wasn't the sort of person a Darcy should have been consorting with. But it wasn't my fault that a Darcy had fallen for me. And since I liked him back, I saw no reason to spurn his advances just to make his psycho aunt happy. She was his aunt and she didn't speak for him. If he wanted to be with me, then that was great. I wanted to be with him too.

At four o'clock, I met Will in the lobby of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel at the corner of Pearl Street and Monroe Street. It's a huge hotel and one of the best in Grand Rapids. It used to be the undisputed best but then the 26-floor J.W. Marriot was built right across the street. But one wing of the Amway has 28 floors and it is an amazing hotel. Will had just arrived and was checking in when he called me and told me he was there. I met him in the lobby and after saying “hello,” he picked me up and kissed me. “I've missed you, Lizzie,” he told me as he put my feet back on solid ground.

“I've missed you too,” I replied, hugging him. “How are you?”

“I'm good,” he replied. “The car ride was a bit long and I don't want to sit down in a car again for a while but I'm here and I get to see my beautiful girl.”

“It's good to see you too,” I said. “Do you want to go put your stuff in your room before we go exploring?”

“That'd be great.”

His room was extremely nice. It was on the fourteenth floor and it had two beds, two very nice beds. There was a television, a desk with a chair, a table with chairs, a good-sized closet, and a large bathroom. There was a book filled with information about room service and local restaurants. “All this place needs is a kitchen and you could live here,” I remarked.

“This is from the woman who lives in a four-bedroom condominium that has three bathrooms and is owned by her father,” was Will's reply.

I laughed. “Hey, I pay rent to live there.”

He smiled at me. “I know you do. I just think it's funny that you guys rent that place from your dad.”

“We're not going to take hand-outs. We're adults with real jobs and real lives.”

“I know you girls are adults. It's just fun to tease you and Jane.”

“Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say. I think we should go eat.”

“Where do you recommend?”

“Well, there's a TGI Friday's on Monroe; that's okay. And then there's the BOB, which has a couple of restaurants in it. There's the Dog Pit on Monroe Center. There's the Mezze and San Chez.”

“What would you recommend?”

“The Dog Pit is pretty low-key; it's just hot dogs. The BOB has a steakhouse and fancier restaurant and a more burger-joint type place. The Mezze is Mediterranean food and San Chez is a tapas place. They actually are in the same building and kind of share a menu. It's a pretty calm, quiet place early in the evening. We can just walk around downtown afterwards. And if you're interested, there's a coffee shop nearby that sells gelato.”

“We'll go to this Mezze place,” he said, smiling at me. “And then, we'll see about the gelato. It depends on what we want later on.”

“You're going to behave yourself, Mr. Darcy,” I teased as we left his room and headed to the elevator. “I'm the sort of girl who won't do that kind of thing until after she's married.”

“Of course, Miss Bennett,” he replied. “We will remain the perfect picture of propriety and modesty.”

“And we actually will behave appropriately. We will have a good, solid relationship that won't overstep any boundaries that we aren't ready to cross. And to be frank with you, I don't plan on sleeping with anyone until I'm married. I only want to be with one guy in my life and that will be the guy I marry. I'm not opposed to pre-marital kissing, but I'm not into all of that physical stuff. For one thing, I'm not much on physicality to begin with and for another, I just want to do this the right way. I have my morals and principles, and I plan on sticking to them.”

A speech like that would drive some men away, but that didn't really bother me. I was pretty sure that Will would stick by me no matter what. And I was pretty sure that he actually agreed with my moral decisions. He looked at me and smiled. “Lizzie, I'm with you on this. I want to keep this relationship PG. I don't want to mess around or just go looking for a good time.”

I nodded. “All right, I just want us both to be on the same page. I want to take things slowly and do them the right way. I don't want to end up like Lydia or something like that.”

Lydia had recently informed our family that she was pregnant. No one other than my mother was really surprised. Mary had used this announcement to pronounce judgment on Lydia and her loose morals even after we reminded her that Lydia was actually a married woman now. The fact that the baby might have been conceived before the wedding didn't really matter. They're married now and that's that. I might not approve of my sister's life choices but that doesn't mean we should judge her. I think we should love her and try to help her in any ways we can. I love Lydia even though I don't agree with her life.

Dinner was amazing. We sampled foods ranging from Spanish empanadas to tabbouli; we tried Moroccan foods and Spanish foods and Lebanese foods. It was wonderful and I didn't want to eat another bite when we were done. The food was so good and it was great to just spend time with Will. We also sampled some Sangria, which he wanted to know my honest opinion of because I lived in Spain for five months during college. “You've had real Sangria, made by the Spaniards. What do you think of San Chez's?”

I smiled. “It's good. The real stuff made in Spain might be a tiny bit better but their stuff is pretty darn close to the original. Actually, we went to San Chez for my twenty-first birthday because the guys knew I wanted to drink Sangria.”

“Who did you celebrate with?” he asked. We were walking towards the Grand River so I could show him various interesting locations nearby.

“Jane, Char, Jenny, Hannah, Meg, Mary, Beth, Becca, Steve, Kyle, Andrew, Adam, and a couple other people, it was actually pretty small. It was much easier to deal with than Meg's twenty-first.”

“What did she do?”

“She had a big party with drinking, dancing, and other stuff like that in our house. It was insane and not very intimate. I really preferred my small celebration with only the people who were most important to me there. What did you do?”

“Watched my idiot cousin and Caroline Bingley try to drink each other under the table,” he replied with a wry smile. “A bunch of us went to a bar and Anne and Caroline just got drunk while the rest of us watched. It was pretty awful. Thankfully, a couple days later, Charlie, Rick, George, Greg, Jake, and Jonathan took me out for drinks. It was a much better experience on the whole.”

“I want to meet Greg, Jake, and Jonathan. I hear so much about them and I want to actually meet them.”

“Well, then when you visit for Thanksgiving, we'll all go out for dinner together on Friday night. Greg's fiancée will be in town and you can meet Jon and his wife. Jake's perpetually single, so he probably won't have a girl with him. But he'll be in town; he always makes sure to be in Chicago for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think his mother would die if he didn't.”

“I know the feeling. I think if I ever missed Christmas dinner, my mom would have a heart attack. She wants all of her babies at home for Christmas.”

“I always want to spend Christmas with Gianna,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “She's the only family I have.”

“But you volunteered to spend Christmas with me in Meryton.”

“I never said I wasn't going to bring my sister and my niece along,” he replied. “After all, Charlie will be up in Meryton and I think this year George and Rick will be in Seattle for Christmas so I'll have to bring Gianna and Emily to Meryton with me.”

“Fine, be that way,” I replied. “Bring your family to my hometown and see if I care what you do.”

He cocked his head and smiled. “I think I will. I think you like my sister and my niece more than you'd admit.”

All I could do was smile as he kissed me. I was in extreme danger of falling in love with this boy.

Will's POV

The weekend in Grand Rapids was perfect. I got to hold my girlfriend and talk to her and spend time with her and kiss her. We explored downtown Grand Rapids and ate at some really good restaurants. She showed me the campus of her alma mater, Grand Valley State University, and we even hit the mall to cure boredom. And on Sunday, we went to Mass at St. Isidore's, a beautiful old church that Lizzie loves because of the beauty of the building. The church was gorgeous and it was really nice to go to Mass with Lizzie.

After Mass, we went to Big Boy's for brunch and then wandered around talking to each other for the last little bit before we each went home. I was driving back to Chicago alone, but Lizzie was driving with Kyle. “We drove down for the conference together,” she'd explained. “And he's been staying at his parents' house all weekend. So I'm going to drive out to Coopersville and pick him up and we'll head back to Meryton. I hate driving back to Meryton from Grand Rapids alone.”

“How long of a drive is it?”

She shrugged. “I'm not quite sure, probably about two and a half hours. It's about two and a half or three hours from Kyle's parents' house. It depends on who is driving.”

I smiled. “Who is more likely to speed?”

“Alex,” she replied with a laugh.

“I was wondering about between you and Kyle,” I teased.

“Well, Kyle probably drives faster than I do, but Alex is the fastest of the three of us.”

“Why is that?”

“I'm not sure, but he drives the fastest. Mrs. Kilpatrick thinks it's really funny because he's the one who drives the fastest and he's a doctor.”

“Well, obviously, you and Kyle have to be a good example for your students and Alex has to be able to make it to the hospital on time during emergencies.”

“Good explanation,” she smiled. “I think you might have something there.”

It was hard saying good-bye to her. “We'll see each other again at Thanksgiving,” she reminded me as I checked out of my hotel. “That's only five weeks away. And if you ever get really bored, you can visit Charlie for a weekend.”

“Why can't you come visit me?”

“Because I'm coming to you for Thanksgiving,” she replied with a teasing smile.

“Well, you've never come to Chicago to see me before.”

“I have a job that requires me to be in Meryton five days a week. I only get breaks a few times a year. And when the students get days off, I usually still have to work because of something like parent-teacher conferences or a conference like this one. I rarely get just a day off for now reason.”

“Whereas I can almost come and go as I please,” I said sadly. “I only have to be at work when I have meetings or court dates.”

“And you have go around and check up on all your hotels,” she reminded me.

“Technically, they are resorts and spas,” I teased her.

“Whatever you say, Mr. Darcy,” she said before looking at her watch. “Will, it's about two o'clock and I told Kyle I'd pick him up by three. We really need to get going.”

I nodded. “All right, well, this has been one of the best weekends of my life. Thanks for spending time with me. And I'll see you again soon.”

“I'll see you in Chicago for Thanksgiving,” she replied. “And until then, call often and email more often.”

“And think of you constantly,” I told her. I hugged and then we kissed. “I'll see you at Thanksgiving.”

“Thanksgiving,” she replied before walking to her car.

The drive home seemed longer knowing that I was driving away from Lizzie. Long distance relationships suck. I couldn't wait until I saw her at Thanksgiving. I was jealous of Charlie who lived in Meryton and could see Jane whenever he wanted. Greg could see Melissa at his leisure; they lived in same city. And of course, Jon had his wife; he didn't have to wait weeks or months to see her because they lived in different states or their jobs kept them both so busy that they didn't have time for anything more than monthly visits. I wished that Lizzie lived in Chicago or that I was in Meryton. Then we could see each other more. I thought of the Beach Boys' song “Wouldn't it Be Nice?” I knew how that feeling felt. I wanted to spend my life with this woman. But we weren't ready to marry each other yet. We still had more work to do in our relationship.

When I got home, I had dinner with Gianna and Emily. My sister was busy with school but she was making her life work. I was proud of her and I loved her so much. Gianna and Emily were so important to me and I was glad that Lizzie had accepted them. They were the princesses in my life. Lizzie was the queen but they were a close second. “How is Lizzie?” my sister asked.

“Beautiful and wonderful,” I replied without a second thought. “She's amazing.”

“I'm really looking forward to seeing her at Thanksgiving. I like her and I want to get to know her better.”

“I'm glad. She's a good person.”

“She seems like it,” my sister replied. “She really liked Emily when we were in Virginia. She's good with little kids. She'll make a great wife and mother someday.”

I nodded. I wanted to keep her. She was a great person and she was what my grandmother would call a “keeper.”

Chapter Twenty-One: I Thank You

Lizzie's POV

Thanksgiving was excessively late that year but it had been really early the year before so I guess it all evened out. But by the time lunchtime rolled around on Tuesday afternoon, I just wanted the day to end so I could go home and get ready to fly down to Chicago; my flight was leaving at five-thirty and I'd be in Chicago around six o'clock their time. But I still had to get through three more classes. Kyle looked at me as we sat in the teachers' lounge eating lunch and laughed. “I've never seen a teacher more ready for Thanksgiving break.”

I smiled. “I'm going to Chicago to see Will.”

“I know,” he replied. “You've told me at least ten times and you told Hannah who told Alex who told me and you told Jenny who told me. I also know that you're flying to Chicago tonight but Will is in South Carolina until tomorrow evening so you won't see him until then. But when he gets back he and his niece will be coming over to your aunt and uncle's house for dinner.”

I sighed. “So I say one thing to one person and suddenly, I become the topic of the gossip chain.”

He laughed. “That's the truth.” Kyle and Jenny Putnam had started dating shortly after Steve and Becca's wedding and it looked like Kyle had finally found the girl for him. Jenny was willing to put up with all of Kyle's ridiculousness or tell him he was stupid when he started driving her up the wall.

“So do you have any big Thanksgiving plans?” I asked.

“I'm heading down to Coopersville tomorrow and spending the weekend with the family. Alex is bringing Hannah, of course. Jenny is spending Thanksgiving with her family in town but she's planning on coming down to Coopersville for Saturday and Sunday.”

“That'll be fun.”

He nodded. “But Connor is going to have a field day when he has both of his older brothers around with girlfriends. He's been waiting twenty years to torture us about our love lives.”

“He's only twenty,” I said.

“Exactly,” he said with that gorgeous Kilpatrick smile; he and Alex have the same smile that's like someone turning on a light bulb in their faces. “That boy has been waiting his entire life for one of his big brothers to fall in love so he can tease us about something. We've been teasing him since he was born and he's always wanted to tease us. And this weekend he'll have a perfect reason.”

I smiled. “I guess sisters don't really do that kind of stuff to each other. The only people who really tease me are you and your brothers and the Logans.”

He laughed. “The Logans will tease anyone within a hundred miles who looks like it might be even remotely possible to tease them.”

“So true,” I replied. “I was at Steve and Becca's for Becca's birthday party and all night, the brothers were sitting there picking on each other and anyone who went anywhere close to them.”

“I can see that. Once, a while ago, I was at their parents' house and the four of them just stood around insulting each other for most of the day. But then at the end of the day, you realize that they're just kidding and they really do care about each other. Not one of them thinks that one of his brothers is ugly or stupid or whatever. They can be so sarcastic at times but when they need to be serious, they're serious. They know how to be mature adults but they also have realized that they shouldn't take themselves too seriously.”

“Most people never realize that. They take themselves seriously until they die and they never take a moment to relax and smell the daisies.”

“You don't like daisies,” Kyle remarked.

I laughed. “Nope, not at all, but some people do and they should take time to stop and smell them. Me? I'll stop and smell the roses or the lilies or the irises while they're off smelling the daisies.”

“You do that,” he replied.

I made it through my last three classes of the day without too much trouble. Granted my students wanted to be enjoying the break as much as I did but I still had to get them to stay focused for the rest of the day, or at least for as long as they were in my classroom. “Senorita Bennett, why is it that Thanksgiving is mostly an American holiday?” one of the boys in my sixth hour Spanish II class asked.

“Do you know the story of the first Thanksgiving?” I asked.

He nodded. “Of course, you learn it in kindergarten and hear it every year of your life until you die.”

“Then think about that story. Why would the Spanish-speaking world celebrate that day?”

“Well, they wouldn't have to celebrate the Pilgrims surviving their first year in North America but they could celebrate all the things that they're thankful. Isn't the real point of Thanksgiving to give thanks for all the things we have to be thankful for? If that's true, shouldn't all people in every country celebrate Thanksgiving?”

I smiled. “That's a good question, Tommy. And I honestly don't have a good answer for you about that. But at the same time, shouldn't we spend every day of our lives giving thanks for all the things we have? Why is it that we Americans need the government to give us a special day so we can give thanks? And how many of us actually spend that day giving thanks for what we have? Or do we just sit there and stuff our faces with turkey and watch football? And if we do actually recognize the point and purpose of Thanksgiving, do we carry it beyond the actual day of Thanksgiving or do we just leave it behind and move on with our lives? How many of us get up the day after Thanksgiving so we can be at the mall or at Kohl's or wherever when they open at 5am so we can get the best deals? Do we really realize what Thanksgiving actually is? Or do we just use it as a great extra day or two off from school and work and then go indulge in the ridiculous consumerism and materialism that has taken over our society?”

I stopped and took a deep breath. I couldn't believe that I'd gone off on that rant and looking at my students' faces, I don't think they could either. When the bell rang in ten minutes, they'd probably go out into the hallway and tell their friends that Ms. Bennett had flipped out and gone mental on them. And maybe I had, but Tommy's question had started me thinking and I had to tell someone what I was thinking. I realized that I really believed what I told them and I needed to tell them that. I couldn't let my students go out into the world without telling them that. It might not have stuck in their brains, but if one bit of it stuck in one of their minds, it would have been worth it. That was the real reason I had become a teacher. I wanted to change the world and touch the future. This was the only way I could do that.

Silence reigned in the room for a few moments and then one lone, soft voice arose from the back of the room and broke through the quiet. “Senorita Bennett, do you believe what you just said?”

I nodded. “I do believe that. I think that Americans have forgotten what the purpose of Thanksgiving is and I want you to think about that for your homework this weekend. When you get back on Monday, I want a list-in Spanish-of fifteen things you're thankful for. And be prepared to discuss them in class. Muchachos, take this seriously. I don't want you to just throw down fifteen random old things. I want you to think seriously about what you're thankful for. Now I know you probably won't take this seriously. I wasn't born yesterday and I was in high school once myself, but for my sake, please try to take it seriously.”

I heard a few groans and I knew that they didn't like it that I was giving them homework over Thanksgiving, but I didn't care. I wanted them to think seriously about life. That was why I asked my students questions about things like who they wanted to meet and what they wanted to change about the world. I wanted them to think, and maybe someday, they'd look back on my class and realize that there was more to life than getting a good job and making money to create a nice life. I wanted people to realize that there is more to life than things. Financial success is great but in the end, we're all going to die and you can't take it with you. We can't live forever physically, but if we do good things, we can leave our footprints on the world. I looked at the classroom filled with fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen-year-olds. I was only nine years older than the oldest of these kids, but I had so many dreams for these kids.

“I want you to think about something while you're making your list this weekend. We remember the name of Andrew Carnegie not because of how he earned his money but because of what he did with his money to help other people. If you really want to be remembered in this world, you have to do something memorable. I'll admit that we do remember people for things like robbing banks and blowing up buildings but that's not what I'm thinking of. I want you to do great things in this world. I want you to try to change the world, one person at a time. Leave your fingerprints on the glass of this world. Don't go down silently. People will always remember William Wallace because he fought to make a difference.” I looked at them. “People will tell you that you're too young to make a difference, but you're not. Joan of Arc was a teenager.”

“Yeah, and they killed her,” one of the boys who sat near the back of the room said.

“They did, but her efforts did make a difference, and people remember her for that. The people who work for justice and try to do the right thing will leave an impact on the world. People remember Mother Teresa; she was someone who was always trying to do the right thing.”

I knew I was fighting a losing battle considering that these kids only had one more class before a five-day weekend. What did they care about some teacher who was ranting about her problems with a materialistic society? And then the bell rang and they all rushed out. I knew I had just wasted those last ten minutes of class. I could have taught them more Spanish vocabulary or something. I wanted to change the world but they just wanted to get to the weekend. Oh I wanted the weekend too, but I also wanted to teach them something that really mattered. I think it was St. Catherine of Siena who said “If you were as you were meant to be, you would set the world aflame.” I wanted to be the person I was born to be. I wanted to start a fire in these kids' minds and make them think about things. But I knew all they were thinking about was their Thanksgiving break.

I was still slightly depressed about my efforts to make my students more socially aware when my plane landed in Chicago. My seventh hour class had gone smoothly; we'd stuck to the material in the lesson plan. They were my AP Spanish class and I was making them write essays about what they were thankful, making use of certain vocabulary and certain verb tenses. It had gone well and no one had to listen to my frustrated ranting. And then my plane landed in Chicago. When I arrived at baggage claim, my Uncle Edward was standing there waiting for me. I hugged him and he smiled. “How are you, Lizzie-belle? It's good to see you again.”

I nodded. “It's good to see you too. How is everyone at home?”

“They're looking forward to you. Elana is insistent that you have to get back to our house before she goes to bed.”

I laughed. “I think I should make it there on time.” It was a little after six and I knew Aunt Sophie was keeping dinner until I showed up.

“I think your little cousin misses you,” my uncle told me. “This morning when she got up, the first thing she did was ask if you were here yet.”

I smiled as we started walking out to his car. My wonderful uncle was carrying my heavier bag for me so I only had my carry-on and my purse. “All the kids are looking forward to seeing you,” Uncle Ed said as we walked. “Ben and Emma demanded that they be allowed to stay up later tomorrow night so they can spend time with you and Will.”

“So they remember him?” I asked.

“Oh they remember him and they like him. Ben said he thinks you should keep Will around for a while.”

“I'm planning on that,” I told him. “I like Will and I think he's a good guy. I'd like to keep him around for a while.”

“That's good,” he said. We had reached his car and we stopped talking while we put my things in the car and got inside. “Sophie and I want to see you happy, Lizzie. Will Darcy has a great talent for making you smile and that's something that we haven't seen much in the past few years. So keep him around for a while; it's nice to see a smile on your face every now and then.”

“I'll see what I can do about that,” I told him. I was planning on keeping Will in my life. My cousins approved of him which meant more than you might think it would. Sure they were little kids but they were perceptive and if they liked a guy, well then that was a good thing.

Will's POV

My plane landed at O'Hare airport around two in the afternoon the day before Thanksgiving. I had enjoyed spending the past week and a half in South Carolina but now it was good to be home. I was looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my sister, my niece, and Lizzie. Lizzie's aunt and uncle had invited Gianna, Emily, and I to join them for Thanksgiving dinner. I'd heard that Mrs. Gardiner was a good cook and anything sounded better than my aunt's horribly formal catered Thanksgiving dinners. Aunt Catherine banned me from attending because if I came, I wanted to bring Lizzie with me. Aunt Catherine didn't want Lizzie at her Thanksgiving now that she was my girlfriend. Apparently, my girlfriend was below me socially and all that, so I shouldn't be dating her or being involved with her at all.

Walking into my house and finding my sister just relaxing with her baby girl was wonderful. I'd missed Gianna and Emily while I was gone and I was looking forward to having Emily that night. Gianna was going out with some friends and Emily was going to join me in heading to the Gardiners' for dinner. I knew that Lizzie's cousins would like to see the baby and I also knew that my girlfriend loved babies. While she'd never really talked about it in my presence, I knew from talking to her sister and other people who knew her well that she really wanted to be a mother. One of the things I enjoyed most about my girlfriend was her natural maternal instincts.

“We've missed you,” Gianna said when we were in my room talking. I was unpacking and she was playing with her daughter who was now nine and a half months old. I really couldn't believe Emily was that old already. It seemed like just yesterday she was born. “Right Emily?” my sister asked her baby who was busy crawling around my bedroom floor. “We missed Uncle Will, didn't we?”

Emily stopped at my feet and cooed at me. I reached down and picked my niece up. She had big brown eyes like her mother and light brown hair that had been influenced by her father's lighter hair color mixing with the trademark dark brown Darcy hair. I settled her on my hip and she smiled up at me. “You're so pretty,” I told her.

She grabbed my nose and beamed. Gianna laughed. “Will, I think she likes you.”

“She's my niece; she'd better like me,” I told her before kissing the baby's head. “Emily, you're perfect.”

“Trust me; you won't be saying that about her in a couple years. Pretty soon she'll be getting into everything and you'll be yelling at me to get her out of your bedroom.”

“Are you going to let your daughter break things and ruin our furniture?”

Gianna sighed. “She's not a dog, Will.”

That evening, I bundled my niece who is not a dog up in her puffy pink winter coat and put her in her car seat and then we headed off to the Gardiners' house for dinner. I was bringing a bottle of Italian red wine; it had been the house wine at the Virginia Pemberley when the Gardiners were there in July and I remembered that Mrs. Gardiner had really enjoyed it. I was looking forward to seeing my girlfriend. I loved being able to call her that after everything we'd been through. It was weird to think that we'd met almost a year ago and think about all the things we'd been through in the past year. She'd hated me and had been involved with my arch-enemy. My niece was born in February, a moment that had transformed my world. Lizzie had rejected me in April when we were both in New York for Easter. My cousin's daughter, Caitlin, was born in June. In July, I'd had helped arrange the marriage of my arch-enemy, Damien Wickham, to Lizzie's sister, but that was only after spending a few days with Lizzie and the Gardiners in Virginia. Then in August, Lizzie and I started dating. Last month, Lydia and Damien had announced that they were expecting a baby due in late March. I didn't really want to think about that one because it ended up meaning that a thirty-year-old man had sex with a seventeen-year-old.

The Gardiner family was as energetic and vibrant as I remembered from our brief encounter in July. Lizzie and her aunt were in the kitchen when I arrived and her uncle was in the living room playing with his five kids. Ben and Karl were playing with a miniature air hockey while their little brother looked on eagerly, probably waiting for his turn to play. Meanwhile, their dad was playing Go Fish with Emma and Elana. “It's the only game Elana can really play very well,” Lizzie told me as she came up next to me. “But she loves it and she thinks it's the greatest game on earth. So Uncle Ed plays it with her every now and then.”

“Is Emma playing voluntarily or as some form of punishment?”

“She volunteered,” my girlfriend replied. “It was either that or helping out in the kitchen. The table still needs to be set, but Elana is quiet and out of the way so it's not as big of a deal.”

“Do you want me to set the table?” I asked. “You can play with Emily for a couple minutes and I'll set the table. I'm very good at setting tables; my mother said I could be a professional.”

She smiled, took the baby from me, and kissed my cheek. “Go knock my socks off, buddy-boy.”

As I set the table for ten of us, Lizzie was entertaining Emily. She'd taken my niece out of her coat and was playing with her. Emily was wearing a pink corduroy dress with white tights and little black shoes; she was darling. Lizzie was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a dark pink sweater; her long brown hair was pulled back by two brown barrettes. She looked so beautiful and natural. She and my niece were playing with wooden blocks. Lizzie would build up a little stack or tower of blocks and Emily would look at it for a moment or two before knocking it over.

After a few times, she got bored of that and started sucking on blocks. She was in that phase of infancy where she stuck everything she could get in her mouth. She'd suck on her fingers, on my fingers, and on people's shoes. I know my niece isn't a dog but sometimes the things you stuck in her mouth could make a man wonder about his darling little niece.

Later that evening, Lizzie and I were watching Robin Hood with her cousins when I noticed that Emily had my girlfriend's hair in her mouth. “Lizzie,” I whispered. “Emily is trying to eat your hair.”

She looked down at the baby and pulled her hair out of Emily's slobbery fist. Then she handed my niece to me. “It's your turn. She's tried to eat my hair and my clothes. You can let her eat your buttons or something now.”

I took my niece and let her snuggle up against my chest. “She's just going through a phase, Lizzie-belle. Pretty soon she'll be done sucking things and she'll have found a new hobby.”

“Oh good,” she replied. “Otherwise I might have to cut my hair.”

I looked at her long curls and smiled. “I like your hair. You can cut it if you want, but I like it long.”

“She used to have short hair,” Emma announced from the other side of Lizzie; she was leaning against her cousin's shoulder. “Back when she was in college, she had short hair. I don't really remember it but I've seen pictures of it.”

“How short was it?”

She shrugged. “I had it bobbed during my sophomore year of college, so it was like chin-length right after it had been cut. But I started growing it out again during my junior year of college, so it's pretty much long in the past. I've had long hair ever since I got back from Spain.”

“I like you with longer hair,” Emma said. “You have such pretty hair.”

Lizzie ran her fingers through her cousin's chestnut brown hair. “You have pretty hair too, Emma-Lou. I love your hair.”

“I wish I had your hair. You have curly hair and I love it.”

“I wish you wouldn't talk during the movie,” Karl inserted. “It's really annoying and I hate it.”

My girlfriend reached into the popcorn bowl that was resting on Emma's lap and threw some at Karl who in turn decided to throw M&Ms at her. But just then, Lizzie decided to take a more mature, adult role in the situation. “First off, no more throwing food in the living room; it's messy and irresponsible. And secondly, Karl, don't throw popcorn at me when it was Will who threw it at you in the first place.”

“I didn't do anything,” I protested but before I could say anything further, I found myself being barraged with food by Ben, Karl, and Johnny while Emma and Lizzie hid under blankets and pillows and laughed at us males. My girlfriend rescued my niece from the attack and handed me a bowl of popcorn with which I was to defend myself before she and her female cousins moved to a different couch that happened to be closer to the TV and ignored us males except to laugh at us occasionally. I spent the rest of the night rough-housing with the boys until it was time for them to go to bed. It was actually one of the best nights I've spent in a long time even though it was also one of the weirdest. I liked Lizzie's family, crazy cousins and all.

The next day, I was back at the Gardiners' house, this time with Gianna and Emily. We had a great Thanksgiving Day. It was interesting listening to the little kids say what they were thankful for that year. Elana was grateful for Lizzie's visit while Ben was grateful for the time off from school. Lizzie was thankful for the opportunity to spend time with friends and family, “with people I love dearly and for living in a free country.” Gianna was grateful for her “wonderful brother, beautiful daughter, and the opportunity to be here today.” And what was William Darcy thankful for? Well, I was thankful for many things such as “a great sister, a beautiful niece, a gorgeous girlfriend, good friends and good company today and all the blessings God has given me in my life, of which there are many.”

It was true; I have been blessed a thousand times over in my life. I have a wonderful sister, a beautiful niece, a fantastic girlfriend, wonderful friends, a successful business and a good career as a lawyer and many material blessings. I have a huge house that I don't really need but I never bothered to get rid of after my parents' deaths. I was keeping it in the hopes that someday I would find a bride to share the house with and then we would start a family to fill the large house to the rafters. Now it was just Gianna, Emily, and I rattling around in the old house, but maybe someday soon, I would have a wife and a family of my own living there. Don't get me wrong; I love my sister and my niece, but I'm thirty-years-old. I want to get married and start my own family. I was ready for that in my life. I understood what Greg and Jonathan saw in marriage and family life. It wasn't an escape from something; it was a completion and a source of freedom. I wanted that completion; I wanted to have someone who was my other half and who was always there for me.

The next evening, Lizzie and I went out for dinner with Jake, Jonathan, Gretchen, Greg, and Melissa. Jake was dateless as usual, which made our seating arrangements a little awkward, but we survived. We'd ended up at Applebee's because we all liked it and it was a convenient meeting place for all of us. Jonathan and Gretchen had also brought their baby, Marcus, with them. Greg and Melissa had spent Wednesday and Thursday in Columbus with her family and were now in Chicago to spend the rest of the weekend with his family. They were planning to get married at the beginning of May and they were so excited about their wedding, but they were also busy planning the wedding.

They were all very excited about meeting Lizzie. “We've been hearing about you for ages,” Jonathan said. “You're Will's favorite conversation besides his niece, his court cases, and Pemberley. You must be a very special lady.”

She smiled. “I've heard all about you too. He likes to talk about you three guys as some of his closest friends.”

“We'd better be his closest friends other than Charlie,” Greg remarked. “We all went to college together and we've spent a lot of time together over the past several years.”

“We're even nice to each other when certain ones of us move away for long periods of time and when they come back, they announce that they're dating someone who graduated from the Ohio State University,” Will teased.

“I don't know what you're complaining about,” Greg replied. “Melissa is a great girl. You're the one who had to go study at the University of Michigan purely because you wanted to go to some fancy, hoity-toity law school.”

“And you're one to talk,” I said. “Both your bachelor's and your master's degrees are from private universities.”

“Hey now, you got your bachelor's degree at a private school,” his friend retorted.

“Yes, but my law degree is from a public university.”

“And you are both ridiculous,” Jake said. “On Sunday, I'm leaving for two weeks in Hong-Kong and all you two can do is argue about schools. No one actually cares about this crap; just get over it and have a good time.”

Lizzie seemed to enjoy herself. She got along with everyone, especially Gretchen and Melissa. I had to admit Melissa was really amazing, despite all the crap I gave her about going to the Ohio State University. And they were nice to my girlfriend, which was what I wanted. Lizzie was so important to me and these guys were my best friends except for Charlie and Rick. The fact that they accepted and liked Lizzie meant the world to me. And Lizzie liked them too, which was amazing. I really wanted her to get along with my friends. I wanted them to all accept each other especially if Lizzie and I were going to have any kind of future together.

And more amazingly, within twenty-four hours of our Friday night dinner, all three of the guys had emailed me to tell me how much they liked Lizzie. “You really need to keep that one around,” Greg told me. “She has a good heart and a great sense of humor. She's good for you.”

I had to agree. Lizzie Bennett was very good for me.

Chapter Twenty-Two: And I Will Never Let You Down

Lizzie's POV

The next several months flew by. Will and I spent Christmas together in Meryton and it was on Christmas Eve after Mass that we had our first real kiss. I know that calling it a “magical moment” is cliché and retarded but it was a magical moment. We were walking back to his car after Mass and he opened the car door for me but before I climbed in, he told me that he loved me and then he kissed me. A week later, we were in Chicago for the New Year and it was amazing. I had someone to kiss at midnight, unlike last year when I'd spent midnight fuming over the fact that Damien had dumped me because I wouldn't sleep with him and being mad at Will for some perceived slight. I know he insulted me at Char's birthday party but after that awful beginning, he'd been nothing but sweet to me. I also remembered the tongue-lashing he'd given me the year before. Looking back, I know I deserved the way he'd talked to me about my relationships with men. He was right and I'd been stupid; there was no other way to put it. But now things were working out for us and I was thrilled. I was so glad that he had been persistent enough to break through my walls and barriers. He had won through all my stupidity and he'd won my heart.

I was happy with where I was in my life at that point. And I was amazed watching the changes in my friends' lives. Becca and Steve were expecting a baby in mid-June, a honeymoon baby. Char and Ethan were going to have their first child in August, around their first anniversary. Alex had asked Hannah to marry him in early December and I was going to be in their wedding in November of 2009. And then on Valentine's Day of 2009, Charlie proposed to my sister. I really wasn't surprised by that at all. It fit their relationship and they were ready for marriage. They were getting married the Saturday after Christmas and I was going to be her maid of honor. With being in Hannah's wedding and my sister's wedding, I would have been in five weddings by the end of 2009 and I wasn't even engaged. When I was twenty-three, I was in Beth March's wedding when she married Ted Baker and then I'd been in Char's wedding and Becca's wedding. And Jane's wedding would be the third wedding I'd been the maid of honor in. If it's “three times a bridesmaid, never a bride,” what do they say about being a maid of honor three times?

But I don't think I'm going to be single forever. Will and I were getting pretty serious in our relationship. I was going to spend my spring/Easter break in Chicago; I'd be staying with my aunt and uncle but I knew I'd be spending most of my time with Will. Will also spent at least one weekend a month in Meryton and we talked on the phone as much as possible. I'd also gone to Chicago one weekend in February for Emily's first birthday party and it was wonderful. I loved that little girl; she didn't deserve her father and I understood Will and Gianna's decision to keep her existence a secret from her father, or at least to avoid telling him who her father was.

And discussing Emily's father brings me to another important event that occurred that year. On March 11, 2009, my youngest sister, Lydia Rose Bennett-Wickham, celebrated her eighteenth birthday. A week later, on March 17, 2009, my niece Madison Marie Wickham was born. From the pictures Lydia and Damien emailed to everyone they could think of, she looked like a pretty cute kid. She had blonde hair and blue eyes; the hair might get darker with time, but both her parents had blue eyes, so I wasn't surprised to see that she had blue eyes. The pictures reminded me a lot of Jane's baby pictures and now Jane has light brown hair. I showed Will pictures of Madison and he commented that he thought Emily was prettier than her half-sister. Even though Madison was genetically related to me, I had to admit that liked Emily more.

I saw Madison for the first time when Lydia and Damien came to visit my parents the week before Easter. I was busy with things for work that weekend due to a National Honors Society service project that Kyle and I were coordinating and I was also trying to make sure my life was in order before I left for Chicago. But I still made sure to be at my parents' place for the family dinner on Saturday night. I hated leaving Kyle alone in charge of the event during dinner, but he had other teachers helping him and Jenny was also chaperoning with him. The “event” was a weekend-long lock-in to raise awareness of what life is like when you live below the poverty line. The kids come to the school Friday night and leave Sunday night and the entire weekend is spent in poverty education and in living the way people live when they are below the poverty line. The food they eat, the conditions in which they sleep, and the activities they engage in are geared towards showing what life is like below the poverty line. The event, called “Below the Line”, was pretty successful and always had a large attendance. It also raised a good amount of money to donate to local groups that worked with the poor.

But I took a couple hours off to have what my mother called “a nice family dinner.” Jane was bringing Charlie, which could prove interesting consider that he was Will's best friend and Damien hates Will. Of course, the fact that I was dating Will could also prove a contentious issue. My mother was nervous about all of this and had begged Jane, Charlie, and me to behave ourselves and not provoke Damien. I wanted to point out that she really needed to worry about Damien provoking us but I decided to behave myself and not provoke my mother.

I showed up at my parents' place around six o'clock, pulling into the parking lot right next to Charlie's car. He got out of his car just as I did and so I asked him where Jane was since she wasn't in his car.

“She came over with Mary,” he replied. “We're going out after dinner and we figured it'd be easier with only one car.”

“Makes sense,” I said. “Shall we head on in?”

He nodded. “I'm as ready as I'll ever be.” As we walked towards the hotel, he turned to me. “Are you ready for your break next week?”

I laughed. “Of course, the school day gets out at three o'clock on Thursday and I'm flying to Chicago on a flight leaving around 10pm.”

“So you're leaving for the airport from Mass?”

“Yep, Kyle and Jenny are dropping me off at the Traverse City airport and then I'll fly to Chicago and they'll drive to Grand Rapids. Will is picking me up from the airport and taking me to my aunt and uncle's house.”

“That'll be a long day for you,” he said as we walked inside the lobby and headed towards the elevators.

“Yeah, it'll be a long day but I've got a week off after that. I can rest and relax. It'll be amazingly beautiful.”

“Do your cousins have the week off from school while you're there?”

I nodded. “Yep, they go to Catholic schools. Actually, Will and I are taking them to the aquarium one day while I'm down there and just spend the whole day with them and Emily.”

“That'll be fun,” Charlie said with a smile. “Emily is such a cutie. It's hard to believe that she's fourteen months old already. It seems like she was just born yesterday or something. But she's getting so big so fast.”

“I know; I just met her in July but it is weird. Will said she's already learning to walk.”

“Kids these days grow up too fast.”

Dinner was horrible, absolutely horrible. The food was wonderful; my mother made a pot roast with carrots, potatoes, and other great vegetables as well as a salad and homemade whole-wheat bread. Dessert was an apple cake with vanilla ice cream; the food was amazing. Mom really did outdo herself that night. But unfortunately, Damien just had to make things difficult. First off, he had to keep making snide remarks about and to Charlie the entire meal. And then he found time to ask me this fabulous question. “Why in the hell would you ever even think of dating an asshole like Will Darcy? Are you stupid or something? Or do you just like having some asshole take advantage of you?”

I shrugged. “I don't know. I guess I actually really like being with a man who respects me and whom I can respect. Also, it's great to be with a guy I'm attracted to and I love. It's a really great feeling to be with someone who respects you and whom you respect.”

“And you see that in Will Darcy? Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you? He's so uptight and all he wants to do is control people. He'll take your money from you and manipulate you into the grave?”

“Is this true, Elizabeth?” my mother asked. “Is Will a controlling person? Will he try to take your money away from you and suck the life out of you?”

“Yes, he will,” Damien answered her before I could even utter a word. My mother was already skeptical of Will despite the number of wonderful things he'd done for our family and how nice and respectful he always was whenever he was near our family. But she still distrusted him because of our initial dealings with him. And now Damien was playing on her fears about my relationship with him. If he had his way, he would destroy my happiness and Will's happiness just because he was a bitter asshole.

“Really, Damien?” I snapped. “So my boyfriend is going to take my life away from me? He isn't dating me because he loves me or anything; he's just trying to get his hands on my money because we all know that teachers in private schools make so much money. He's only interested in controlling me because Elizabeth Anne Bennett is a very easy person to control. We all know that I do whatever people tell me to do, just like my little sister. I'll sleep with any guy who asks me and I'm always oh so willing to get drunk with whatever guy I can find and then sleep with him. Never mind that he might be twelve or thirteen years older than me; I'll still sleep with him because he flatters me and I think he's hot. Yeah, Damien, that's exactly the kind of girl I am.” I paused for breath and stared at my brother-in-law. “Get over yourself, asshole. I'm not some kind of easy slut who will sleep with whoever. I have morals and I actually think seriously about things before I get involved in a relationship.” I pushed my chair back from the table and stood up. “Excuse me, Mother; I'll be leaving now. I don't like being insulted and if that's all that's going to happen while I'm here, then I might as well leave.”

I left the dining room and went to get my jacket out of the coat closet. Unfortunately my mother followed me out of the dining room. “Elizabeth, what is your problem? I invite your sister and her family over for a nice family dinner and all you can do is insult dear Damien. You know that I'm not very comfortable with your relationship with William Darcy. And the things that Damien tells us about William make me even more suspicious of his character. You have to remember that Damien has known William much longer than you have. You only met him last year around Thanksgiving whereas Damien and William grew up together. I think Damien might be better acquainted with William's character. And secondly, I don't approve of the way you're speaking about your dear, darling younger sister. Your father and I are supporting Damien and Lydia in their relationship. I don't want to hear you speaking negatively of them.”

I sighed. “Mom, he is thirteen years older than her. When they got married, she was seventeen and he was thirty. That's a huge age gap. When I was seventeen, you never would have let me marry a thirty-year-old man. And now, you believe everything that pervert says about my boyfriend. He's lying to you. He hates Will for some reason and he's always attacking him. You know what? It's not worth arguing with you about it. If you're not going to support me in my relationship with Will, that's fine. I love Will and that's all that matters to me.” I put my black wool pea-coat on and opened the door to the penthouse. “I'm leaving, Mother. Call me when you come to your senses.”

On my way back to the school, I called Kyle and told him I was going to need a couple minutes of alone time when I got back so I could call Will. When I walked into the school building, Kyle was waiting for me. “I'm not going to say anything until you're ready to talk. You can go talk to Will in your office and just let me know when you're ready.”

I nodded and headed to my office. I talked to Will for almost an hour about what Damien had said and about my conversation with my mother. He was very supportive of me and he suggested that I might want to consider moving out of the condo I was renting from my dad. We discussed the possibility of me moving to Chicago and getting an Illinois teacher certificate. “You don't have to do it right away,” he told me. “But if we ever get married, we're probably going to want to live in the same state.”

I smiled at the suggestion of a possible marriage. “That's true. We'll have to figure out where we would want to live,” I replied. “Of course you have more ties to Chicago than I do to Meryton. You have the Pemberley headquarters there as well as your job. And Gianna and Emily are there.”

“You have so many friends in the Meryton area,” he pointed out. “And then Jane and the rest of your family are there.”

“And the Gardiners live in Chicago. I could go either way, really,” I told him. “Honestly, I probably shouldn't make this decision right now seeing as I'm upset with my mother right now.”

“You're probably right about that,” he pointed out. “Just remember, Lizzie-Lou; just remember that I love you and you get to see me in less than a week.”

“And we'll be together for over a week,” I added, smiling to myself; I couldn't wait to see him. “Will, I really miss you. I can't wait to see you on Thursday night.”

“I miss you too.”

By Thursday, my mother was still avoiding me, Mary was giving me the silent treatment for disrespecting Mom, and Jane was “severely disappointed in me but I understand how you feel.” My dad approved of what I said but it wasn't politically safe for him to say so. I just wanted to go to Chicago and be with Will. Damien, Lydia, and Madison were still staying with my parents and I never knew where they were going to turn up next. The idea of moving to Chicago permanently was starting to sound perfect. Will was there and so were Uncle Ed, Aunt Sophie, and their family. I could probably find a job there pretty easily. And I could be with Will. I wanted to be with my man.

I was so tired when I got off the plane in Chicago. I'd worked all day, then gone home and packed, then gone to Mass with Kyle and Jenny, and then driven an hour to the airport. And now I was in Chicago, Will's city. And he was waiting for me at baggage claim. I literally jumped into his arms and kissed him, practically crying. He hugged me and whispered, “I've missed you too,” in my ear. Then I really did break down crying.

Will's POV

She was finally here in Chicago, here in my arms. Lizzie had flown in the night before and I'd picked her up from the airport. On our way back to her aunt and uncle's house, she fell asleep in the car, so we didn't really get to have much conversation then. But we went to church together on Good Friday and after the service ended, Emily and I headed over the Gardiners' house so Gianna could have a quiet house to study in. Emma Gardiner was currently curled up in her mom's rocking chair with Emily Darcy in her lap, talking to her about the importance of being named Emily and all the rights and privileges and responsibilities that went along with that name. They were so cute together and my niece was actually calm enough to sit still in Emma's lap and listen to her.

Meanwhile I got to sit on the couch and talk to Lizzie. I knew that she was the one for me and I was actually planning on asking her to marry me while she was in Chicago. More specifically, I was planning on proposing the next evening after Mass. We were going to the Easter Vigil with my Fitzwilliam relatives, the Gardiners, Gianna, and Emily. After Mass, I was hoping that the two of us could stay in the church and pray together for a few minutes while the church emptied out and then, there in the church, I was going to ask Elizabeth Anne Bennett to do me the great honor of becoming my wife. I had the ring and everything. And I'd asked her father for permission. Her mother didn't want us to get married and had flat-out told her husband that she wouldn't come to our wedding if he gave me permission to marry Lizzie. Mr. Bennett had told his wife to get over herself because I was the best thing that had happened to Lizzie in ages. I was glad that one of the Bennett parents approved of their daughter's relationship with me because I was so ready to get married and start a family. At this point two years in the future, I could be married and a father. It was so crazy to think about that. I had found a woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and I wanted to ask her to marry me.

I was really looking forward to asking her to marry me. It was so hard being around her and not just breaking down and saying, “Okay, Lizzie Bennett, I love you and I want to marry you. I left the ring at my place but whatever; who really cares? Say you'll marry me and I'll be the happiest man in the world.”

But I couldn't do that. I had a romantic idea in my head and I was going to stick to it. I was a little worried about proposing around Easter because I knew that she didn't want a proposal on her birthday, Valentine's Day, or Christmas but I wasn't sure how she would feel about Easter. My thing was that this would surprise her and she was in town this weekend. And I wanted to propose to her in a church. I'm not sure why but it feels right. Maybe it's because she's Catholic and I'm Catholic and so it just fits. I want to propose to her in a church and we both really love my home parish in Chicago. It's a beautiful older church and I love the priest and the people. It's just a really good, solid place. And it's an important part of my life. Faith and God are really important for both Lizzie and me. And I want to do this the right way. And I want her to move to Chicago.

Saturday evening, Lizzie and I went over to Rick and Evelyn's house for dinner before the Easter Vigil. We had so much fun during dinner and it was great to see Lizzie with Connor, Logan, and Caitlin. Caitlin was ten months old and she was growing so quickly. She was a very smiley baby too. At one point before dinner, Lizzie was bouncing Caitlin on her hip and she kept smiling her big, goofy baby tooth with only two teeth. She looked so happy and Lizzie looked happy and peaceful. It was at moments like this, when Lizzie was with Caitlin or Emily or her cousins that I knew she was meant to be a mother. She looked at peace and at home when she was with little kids. She would play Legos with Logan and Connor or dolls with Elana; she was content, happy, and peaceful. I had vivid visions of a future where we were married and had a baby or two.

Lizzie was all dressed up for Mass but she still looked natural with a baby on her hip. She was wearing a lacy black skirt with a long-sleeved dark red sweater and simple black shoes, and a strand of pearls her parents had given her a few years back. She looked so beautiful. I wanted to keep her forever. And somehow despite the fanciness of her clothes, the baby just fit with it all.

Dinner was great. The food was delicious and the people were pretty fabulous too. It was just nice to be in a warm family environment. During one of my recent visits to Meryton, I learned that for Lizzie and many of her friends family dinners hadn't been a regular occurrence growing up. Their families had been too busy for family dinners. I'd learned over the past several months that family dinners were reserved for special occasions in the Bennett family. Otherwise, people fended for themselves. Lizzie was a great cook but she hadn't grown up eating dinner with her family because it just took to much time. People had other things to do besides eating dinner as a family. I know my family was weird but we still found time for dinner together. Dad wasn't there that much but my mom almost always found time to make dinner for herself and Gianna and me. It mattered to her. But that's what my mom was like; family mattered to her. That's probably why I'm so close to Rick and George. I know how much family meant to my mom and it helps keep her alive for me. And maybe that's part of why I want to have a family; I want to keep my mom's spirit alive as much as I can.

After dinner, we went to Mass. Somehow, Logan and Connor convinced me that Lizzie and I should take them with us to church. I'm not sure how or why we agreed to that, but we took them with us. Normally, they would have gone with their parents but they talked their way into a car ride with us. So we listened to the two of them chatter the whole way to church. But it helped me. I didn't burst out in a proposal halfway to church because there were two silly little boys in the car.

Lizzie's POV

I was almost positive that Will was up to something that night before Easter. There wasn't one thing in his behavior that was a dead giveaway or anything. He just seemed like there was something on his mind. I knew we'd been talking more about marriage than normal of late. But I didn't think he'd propose this weekend. I wasn't opposed to an Easter proposal the way I was opposed to Christmas, Valentine's Day, and my birthday. Easter was different; it was primarily a religious holiday for me. But it had also been around Easter last year that I'd told him to go to hell. We'd had a huge fight during Easter break last year. I couldn't see him proposing around that time of the year. In fact, I was pretty sure that he'd never do that.

I had been so sure that Will would never propose to me and then we were sitting there after the Easter Vigil ended while people left. He'd told me he wanted to pray for a few minutes after Mass and I was always willing to do that. Praying was great and praying with Will was even more wonderful. And then I looked around and realized that the church was empty except for the two of us. About two seconds later, he turned to me and said, “Elizabeth, I have a question for you.”

I gasped as I realized that he was fumbling with something in his coat pocket. So much for my expectations that he'd wait until the summer; I'd really thought he'd wait until that summer when we were at Pemberley again. This year we were going to South Carolina but that doesn't really change things. Pemberley was what had helped us start dating and I just figured that would be the most natural place for him to propose. But maybe our conversation last weekend had changed things. I looked up into his dark brown eyes. “Will, is this going to be what I think it is?”

He smiled at me and then he held out a small black jewelry box towards me. “Elizabeth Anne Bennett, will you do me the honor of making me the happiest man on earth and becoming my wife? I love you and I want you to be there for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”

Tears began sliding down my cheeks and I covered my face with my hands. I was shocked and I knew what I wanted to say but I couldn't force the words from my lips. I bit my lower lip and nodded slowly. He peeled my left hand away from my face and slowly slid the most beautiful ring I've ever seen in my life unto my finger. “Speak now or forever hold your peace, Lizzie-lou,” he said with a smile on his face. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I whispered. “And I can't imagine my life without you.” I looked down at the beautifully simple white gold ring with a single diamond on my finger and then I threw my arms around his neck. “Oh, Will, I love you; of course I'll marry you.”

He kissed my cheek and then led me out of the church. Once we were standing in the vestibule, he picked me up and spun me around. Then he kissed me on the lips. “You're wonderful, Elizabeth, absolutely wonderful. I'm the luckiest man alive.”

“Well then I'm the luckiest girl in the world,” I told him. “I get to marry the most amazing man I know and I don't care what my sister and husband say about you.”

He kissed me again. “I don't care either. All I care about is the fact that I finally have you.”

As we walked to his car, I realized how absolutely happy I was. I was going to marry William Richard Darcy. I wanted to tell the whole world. But I'd have to start with my family, Char, Becca, Jenny, Hannah, and people like that.

Chapter Twenty-Three: A Whole New World

Lizzie's POV

The hardest part about getting engaged was all the phone calls I had to make. There was calling my mother, who didn't answer her cell phone so I just left her a message and told her that I hoped that she might understand what I saw in Will someday. I knew she'd probably threaten to not come to the wedding but I also really hoped she'd see sense about the whole thing. Jane was thrilled to death and immediately asked if she could be my maid of honor since I was going to be hers. I told her I'd think about it because under that logic, Becca and Char might also want to be my maids of honor although they're actually both matrons but that's not really the point. The point is that they would have good reason to ask to be my maid/matron of honor. Of course, Jane is my sister, so that does give her points. But I still wasn't quite positive on who I was going to pick. I needed to think about it and figure out who the best person would be. I knew I'd definitely have Jane, Becca, Char, Jenny, and Hannah in my wedding party but I wasn't quite sure on who I wanted to be my maid of honor. Hannah immediately warned me that she might be pregnant during my wedding if I got married the summer after her wedding but I assured her that was fine with me.

Within a week of getting engaged, we'd booked St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Meryton for the last weekend of June 2010. My dad wanted us to have the reception at the Longbourn but my mom told him there was no way in hell that was happening. So we were opting for the Netherfield instead. Charlie was willing to give us a discount as a wedding gift. If we'd had the reception at the Longbourn, it would have been free, but now, with the way things stood after my fight with my mom, there was no way that would ever happen. My mom was still refusing to speak to me. Mary was giving me the silent treatment and Katie never had anything nice to say to me. These days, my only allies in my family were my dad and Jane. Mary was being so rude to me that I finally gave up and was staying with Jenny Putnam for a while. I'd only been planning on staying there for a day or two at first but Mary wouldn't grow up and it was just easier to stay with Jenny. Plus I was welcome to stay there as long as I liked. I had to pay rent and all if I stayed for more than a few days but I was still welcome to be there.

I also got to see Will more and I was definitely going to see him more once school let out for the summer. We had a wedding to plan and there were so many details we still needed to work out. I needed a dress. We needed to pick wedding colors and our bridal party and flowers and all those kinds of things. Of course I'd probably end up taking care of most of those decisions. I could see our wedding plan involving Will picking his groomsmen and me taking care of everything else. I knew he just wouldn't care; as The Wedding Planner says “Most grooms are NID…not into details.” I was pretty sure that as long as I wore a white dress and we got married in a Catholic church, Will would be happy. Oh and he was very specific that our wedding colors could not be silver and red or green ad white. Yes, my fiancé might be a fan of the University of Michigan's football team. I did tell him our wedding colors would also not be maize and blue or any variation of a blue and yellow combination. The second color of our wedding colors needs to be more neutral and subtle; it needs to be an accent color, not something that will immediately grab people's attention. But men don't always seem to understand these seemingly insignificant details of wedding planning. This is why women plan weddings and men don't.

When the school year ended in June, I was still living with Jenny. She had a two-bedroom apartment and she hadn't had a roommate for a couple months because she'd been living with Becca until Becca and Steve's wedding. But I stayed with her on a temporary basis after my fight with my mother at the end of March. And after living with her for a month or so, we decided that it would just be easier for all involved parties if I moved in with her and paid rent. It was weird moving, especially knowing that I'd be moving again in a little over a year, but it was necessary. Jane was sad to see me move out but she knew that she was getting married in December and I would have needed to find a new place to live then anyway. After Jane got married, Mary was probably going to have to move back in with our parents, which was unfortunate, but she'd be happier there than I would. It was actually pretty fun living with Jenny. She and Kyle had been dating for about nine months or so; they were so happy together. It was great.

Becca Logan gave birth to her first child on June 11, 2009. They had a beautiful baby girl whom they named Mary Rebecca Logan. Both of their mothers were named Mary and Steve really thought the name “Mary Rebecca” was beautiful and poetic. And Mary Rebecca Logan was a gorgeous baby. She had Steve's insanely dark brown hair and big blue eyes. I was pretty sure the eyes came from Becca but she had a lot of the Logan looks. If things kept going the way they were looking, Mary Logan was going to be an Irish-Italian beauty. She was more Irish than Italian, but she was still beautiful. And Kyle and Jenny were going to be her godparents, which basically cemented their relationship in my mind. They were pretty serious about each other and I was expecting him to propose any day now.

About a week after Mary Rebecca was born, I found myself sitting in the living room of my new apartment holding the little darling in my arms while talking to Becca, Steve, Jenny, Kyle, and Will. It was great seeing the guys with the baby and it was great just hanging out the six of us. “She's so precious,” I told Becca. “I love her eyelashes.”

“Those are all Steve,” she replied with a proud smile. “You have to remember that Steve was voted `Best Eyes' from our senior class.”

“Yeah, and Lizzie had the best eyes for the girls that year,” Steve said. “I think our class just had a think for brown eyes with long lashes that year.”

“Well, she does have a pair of fine brown eyes,” Will remarked, looking at me with a smile.

“Lizzie or the baby?” Kyle teased.

“Well, they both have nice eyes,” my fiancé replied. “But I tend to prefer Lizzie's eyes to Mary's.”

“That's good,” Steve said. “No men are coming within a hundred feet of my daughter until she's at least thirty years old.”

“Umm, darling, you married me when I was twenty-five,” Becca told her husband.

“That's nice,” he replied. “I know what guys are like and I don't want men near my daughter until she's at least thirty. Heck, I might just lock her up in a convent for the rest of her life to make sure she stays safe.”

I smiled as I looked at the baby in my arms. “Just remember, Steve,” I said. “She is only a week old.”

“And she's my baby girl. I have to protect her.”

“Are all guys like this?” I asked. “Or is this only a gene you acquire when you have sisters or daughters?”

Kyle nodded. “You've probably never realized it but a lot of us have that gene in us to some extent. It exists more in guys who have sisters but we all have it in us to an extent. Steve, Alex, and I usually exhibit it to protect you and your sisters. In case you haven't noticed, we really try to protect you like you're our own sister.”

I smiled. “Did you guys ever try to threaten a guy I was dating or something?”

“Umm, well Andrew Caldwell was a little scared of Kyle and Alex,” Steve said.

“And they offered to kill me if I didn't behave myself,” Will admitted. “And they can be pretty intimidating when they want to be.”

“Why are you guys so protective of me?” I asked.

“We've seen you get hurt and we don't want it to happen again,” Kyle replied. “We love you and we want to protect you; you're our baby sister.”

I smiled and leaned against Will. “So you guys do approve of this one?”

“He'll do,” Steve said simply. “He isn't perfect but at the same time, he's no Damien Wickham; that's for sure.”

“Did you guys meet Damien?” my fiancé asked.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Kyle said with an annoyed glint in his eye. “There are some guys who just shouldn't be allowed to date your friends, especially your girl friends who really matter to you, and Damien was one of those guys. I mean the fact that he's now married to Lydia should give you a clue as to his character. He's not exactly a savory character from what I saw of him.”

“He's disgusting,” Steve remarked with his classic raised eyebrows that I knew signaled disapproval. Steve has a very distinctive eyebrow raise that means he's angry or he just plain doesn't approve of something. It's kind of quirky, like Steve, but it really suits him. I love Steve; he's a great guy and a real sweetheart. And now he's a daddy, which is always exciting. It's amazing to watch your friends grow and mature. Steve and Becca have a new wonder of life in their family and Char and Ethan are going to have their first baby in August. While Becca and Steve didn't know if they were having a boy or a girl until Mary was born, Ethan demanded that they know their baby's gender and they were expecting a baby boy. In fact, despite the fact that Char wasn't due for another two months, Ethan knew exactly what he wanted to name the baby. Actually he was debating between Ethan Thomas Collins, Jr. and Dylan Isaac Collins. I wasn't much for the whole naming your first born son after yourself thing, but at the same time, I wanted the baby's name to have meaning for Ethan and Char. I knew that Mary Rebecca's name had meaning for Steve and Becca. I also didn't want Ethan to force anything on Char, which I was really afraid that he would. I wanted them to choose their son's name together.

As I planned my wedding that summer, I learned a lot about myself and my relationship with Will. I began to realize that the whole reason I'd hated him for so long was because I was attracted to him. He had insulted me and I'd gotten angry because the guy I liked was basically rejecting me so I decided to hate him. Now to most people, especially guys, that probably didn't make much sense but when you're me, it made perfect sense. But that was all in the past. I loved Will and I knew that I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. This was the guy I wanted to marry and have kids with. I wanted to grow old with him. I loved Will Darcy. And I knew that he loved me. Knowing that you loved someone and they loved you in return had to be one of the greatest feelings ever.

In September, I started thinking about who I wanted in my wedding party. I knew I was going to ask Jane, Becca, Jenny, Char, and Hannah. I wanted to ask Gianna as well but I knew that Will was just planning on asking Charlie, Rick, Greg, Jake, and Jonathan n his side and that would bring my side up to six people and he'd only have five and I didn't want our sides to be uneven. Then one night we got talking about it. “I really want Gianna in the wedding; she's your sister and I love her. But I don't want the wedding party to get too big. We already have ten people plus Connor and Elana.”

Rick's son, Connor, and my cousin, Elana, were going to be our ring bearer and flower girl. We had asked Gianna if Emily could be one of our flower girls but since Gianna would be a little over two years old at our wedding, Gianna was worried about her getting distracted. Elana, on the other hand, would be seven at the wedding and Connor would be five. We figured they wouldn't have too much trouble walking down the aisle in unison.

“But at the same time, Gianna is your sister and I really want her in my wedding,” I continued.

Will smiled. “What if you asked Gianna to be a bridesmaid and I asked Kyle to be one of my groomsmen? He's like a brother to you and I've come to really like him and respect him. If you want to have Gianna in the wedding, I'd be willing to ask Kyle to be one of my groomsmen.”

I nodded. “I like that idea. Kyle has been like a brother to me since college and it would be really nice to have him in my wedding.”

Will kissed the top of my head and smiled. “Okay, we can have a little bit bigger of a wedding party if that will make you happy.”

“You spoil me,” I teased. “First you make me dinner and give me roses, then you let me have my way with planning the wedding, and I don't know what's going to happen next.”

“Well, we could have dessert,” he said with his amazing smile. “I might have made one of your favorite desserts.”

“Did you make me cheesecake?”

“Nope,” he replied. “I know that you're lactose intolerant. Okay, so I did make something with dairy but it's something you like more than cheesecake. Plus, you can make cheesecake but I can't. Actually, generally, you're the better cook of the two of us.”

“Well I do have my associate's degree in culinary arts,” I told him, pulling away from him so I could look at him better. “It's not my fault that I'm a good cook.”

This made Will laugh. “Well, I still made the effort to make you a nice dessert. Stay here while I go get it.”

We were in Charlie's apartment that we'd taken over for the evening while Jane and Charlie were off doing “other things.” They were actually having a family dinner at my parents' house to which I was not invited. I was still on my mom's bad list. It had been almost six months since that dinner with Damien and Lydia and I'd been engaged for most of those six months but my mother was still mad at me; she hadn't spoken to me since that fateful dinner. Jane and Dad were always telling her that she was ridiculous but she was insistent that it was entirely my fault; I was the screw-up in the family. I was now the bad daughter and the one who was failing at everything. I just wasn't good enough for her standards. Except not really…

A few minutes later, Will came back into the room and handed me a plate of tiramisu and I looked up at him. “Did you really make this yourself?”

He nodded. “It took a lot of time and I had to consult the cookbook and the Internet on multiple occasions but I did it by myself.”

“Well, then you should try it first to make sure it tastes as good as it looks.”

He laughed. “It's my treat for you; you should try it first.”

I smiled at him, popped some Lactaid in my mouth, and took a bite of the tiramisu; it was amazing, absolutely amazing. “It's fantastic,” I told him with a smile.

“See?” he said. “I told you I could cook.”

I kissed him. “Yes, William, you're wonderful. I love you.”

“And the tiramisu?” he asked with a teasing smile.

I nodded and laughed. “And of course the tiramisu.”

By the end of the month, I had my wedding party finalized. I'd also settled on a wedding dress and bridesmaids' dresses. We'd ended up deciding that our wedding colors were going to be black, white, and red. Will had finally decided that those colors weren't really Ohio State's colors so we could use them. My bridesmaids were going to wear black dresses with red sashes and carry bouquets of red roses while I wore a white dress (obviously) and carried a bouquet of red roses. Will and his groomsmen were going to wear black suits with black vests and shirts and red ties. Will was going to wear a red rose in his boutonnière and the groomsmen would have white roses; they were going to look amazing.

Will's POV

I loved moments like this, moments when Lizzie was completely and entirely mine. She was snuggled up against me while we watched a movie. It was mid-October and I was in Meryton for our monthly meeting for marriage prep and we were also dealing with other wedding related things. Plus, Lizzie's friend, Charlotte Lucas-Collins, was having her son, Jackson Stephen Lucas-Collins, baptized the next day. Lizzie wasn't entirely enthusiastic about Jackson's birth or his name; I know she disapproved of the hyphenated last name, but I think she was more frustrated with Charlotte in general. I knew that she didn't like Ethan Collins and I think it was hard to see Char living so far away and in a relationship with a guy who didn't like Lizzie and who she didn't really like him either. I think she was also frustrated because Charlotte was being difficult about our wedding. She was willing to be in the wedding party but Lizzie had asked Jane to be her maid/matron of honor and Char felt that since Lizzie had been her maid of honor, she should be Lizzie's. But by that logic, Jane and Becca Logan should also be Lizzie's matrons of honor. Jane is Lizzie's sister and one of her dearest friends. It makes sense to me that Lizzie would pick Jane as her matron of honor. If nothing else, she's been around our relationship much more than Char has. In fact, I didn't even really know Char that well. I knew Jane, Becca, Jenny, and Hannah, but not Charlotte.

Lizzie looked up at me and smiled a sleepy smile; we were watching a movie at the apartment she shared with Jenny. The two of them actually had a really good arrangement. Lizzie was moving out when we got married at the end of June and then Jenny and Kyle were getting married in July so he'd be moving in shortly after Lizzie moved out.

“I like you a lot,” my fiancée whispered. “You're a great guy.”

I smiled and kissed the top of her forehead. “You're wonderful, Lizzie, absolutely wonderful. How'd I get so lucky?”

“You insulted some girl and she fell in love with you.”

“I think it was slightly more complicated than that,” I told her. “I think I had to prove to the damsel that I was worthy of her attention and that I wasn't a louse.”

She smiled. “Well, you turned out to be a great guy and totally worthwhile.” She sighed and then smiled. “I'm glad we finally got everything to work out for us. You're the best thing that has happened to me in a long time.”

“Even if being with me is screwing things up in your family?”

“Will, you're worth it,” she said. “My mom is an idiot and Lydia and Mary aren't far behind her. Don't even get me started on Katie.” She paused and smiled at me. “Some members of my family are ridiculous. My mom is undoubtedly the worst of the bunch but my younger sisters aren't far behind her.”

Something occurred to me just then. “Elizabeth, has your mom pulled a stunt like this before?”

She nodded and I frowned. “My junior year of college she decided that she didn't want to see me when I got back from Spain. I'm not sure she told me why but she didn't want to see me.”

“What did you do?”

“I spent my winter break with Kyle and Alex's family; I didn't really have any other choice. If I'd stayed with the Lucases, Mrs. Lucas would have meddled in family problems and that would have just created more issues and I could have lost a lot more than a couple weeks with my family. It wasn't all horrible; Jane came down to visit there for a few days and I did drive up to Meryton to see Jenny, Hannah, and Char for a couple days over my break. But I spent most of my time in Coopersville with the Kilpatricks.”

I frowned; the more I learned about Mrs. Bennett the less I liked her. “She didn't let you come home for Christmas?”

“Nope, she didn't want me around. She said that if I was going to go jetting off to Spain for months at a time and I couldn't be bothered to fly home for Thanksgiving then she didn't want to see me for Christmas.”

“She does understand that it would have been insanely for you to fly home just for four or five days? It wouldn't have been worth it at all.”

“My mother is not rational,” she said calmly as if having a mother who treated some of her daughters like princesses and others like they were lower than dirt was perfectly normal and acceptable. “She likes everything to be exactly the way she wants it to be and she doesn't understand how anyone could ever look at life differently than she does. Sure it's irritating and all, but you get used to it after a while. You learn that Christmas with the Kilpatricks or Thanksgiving with Putnams or Easter with the Logans, things like that aren't so bad. At least when you're with them, things are more normal. Do you know that most of what I know about family traditions for holidays either came from my aunt Sophie or from my friends' families? Mrs. Kilpatrick taught me how to make Christmas cookies while listening to the Messiah and that you don't need to hire professionals to decorate a Christmas tree. The first time I ever really decorated a Christmas tree was with Kathy and her sons; my parents had always hired somebody to do it for us.”

“Is she a single mom?” I asked; I was confused by the lack of references to any Mr. Kilpatrick in the story.

Lizzie shook her head. “Nope, it's just that we decorated the tree while Mike was at work. Kyle and Alex were out of school for break and Connor had a snow day. It was so weird, Will; they have family dinners together. Like Kathy makes dinner and when Mike gets home from work, they all sit down at the table and Mike makes one of the boys say grace and then they eat dinner together. It was so weird to me.”

I smiled; we'd talked about this before. Her family only had “family dinners” on special occasions whereas I'd grown up with almost nightly family dinners. “Well, at least they cared about you.”

She nodded. “They're great people and they made that part of my life that much better. It was from that Christmas that I decided I wanted to raise my children with regular family dinners and family prayer times. I want my kids to really know what family means. I want them to know that they're loved and I don't want them to feel that you and I have favorite children. I want them to know that each child is loved equally. I know that my mom has her favorites and my dad has his; that's a part of life in the Bennett family. I don't want my kids to feel the way I did growing up. I don't want them to know that you love them more than I do or vice versa. I want them to know that we both love them.”

I ran my fingers through her hair and nodded. “I know, sweetheart, I know. I want us to be a strong, healthy family. I don't want absentee parenting or favoritism. I want our kids to know that they matter to us.”

Conversations like that one were hard for me sometimes. I had a lot of problems with Lizzie's parents and I really wanted to confront them about things like this. I wanted to ask her mother where she got off telling her daughter that she couldn't come home for Christmas. I was grateful to people like Mike and Kathy Kilpatrick, who I was going to meet the next month at their son's wedding, for teaching her about what families were supposed to be like. I was looking forward to having a family with her. We were getting married in eight months, which at times seemed really far away but then I knew that time would fly by. But I was ready to get married and have a family. I was ready and I was looking forward to the future.

The next day, Lizzie's godson was baptized. Jackson Stephen Lucas-Collins was an adorable baby even if his name was a mouthful. I think if your kid is going to have a last name, they need a manageable first name. I guess he could go by Jack or something but his name was long. I was really hoping that Lizzie wasn't planning on hyphenating last names for our kids. Bennett-Darcy sounds like someone's name; actually, while we're on the subject, I'm pretty sure I know someone named Lucas Collins. Either that or it's a publishing company. Lucas-Collins really sounds like the name of a publishing company. But I didn't think that idea up on my own. Steve Logan remarked that while listening to Ethan babble about how he thought it would be “simply splendid” if Jackson Lucas-Collins were to marry Mary Logan. That actually sounds like a bad idea to me. I really don't approve of planning babies' lives while they're still babies.

I was actually holding Mary Logan during this discussion. She'd randomly been handed to me when I was talking to Lizzie and Becca, and I just kept holding her; she actually seemed really content and happy in my arms. “She is a doll,” Kyle said. “She really makes me want kids.”

“Jackson is better behaved,” Ethan inserted. “She is so fussy and she's always squirming. It's annoying.”

“She's four months old,” I said. “She's more mobile than Jackson is. Wait a couple months and he'll be fussy and squirming too.”

“And right now she's a peaceful little angel,” Kyle added, stroking the baby's head. “She's not making noises right now. She's almost asleep and she looks so sweet.”

“You're biased because she's your goddaughter,” the proud papa of Jackson protested.

“Maybe,” Mary Rebecca's godfather said. “But that's allowed.”

Chapter Twenty-Four: Something's Coming

Lizzie's POV

Alex and Hannah got married in November; the wedding was beautiful and I acquired yet another bridesmaid dress. I had no clue what I was going to do with all of these dress; maybe I could sell them on eBay. My dress for Hannah's wedding was admittedly beautiful. Her wedding colors were navy blue and silver and my dress was a navy blue “Audrey-style” dress with a silver sash. Hannah loves old movies and Audrey Hepburn is her favorite actress, so there were a lot of Audrey-esque elements to her wedding. Hopefully, this wedding would not include the element that was included in both of Audrey's real life weddings; both of her off-screen marriages ended in divorce. But I had slightly more faith in this marriage. The wedding party was as small as Alex had decided it was going to be. I remember the night he announced that when he got married, he was only having his brothers in his wedding party. I had quickly retorted to tell him that no girl would ever let him get away with that. Well, I was wrong. The entire wedding party consisted of the bride and groom, Kyle Kilpatrick as best man, Connor Kilpatrick as groomsman, yours truly as maid of honor, and Jenny Putnam as bridesmaid. Hannah didn't have any sisters, only a slightly loopy older brother named Christian whom she did not want in her wedding party. Don't get me wrong; Hannah and Christian are actually pretty close but he'd offered to kill Alex a few too many times for his sister's taste and now she was perfectly content to leave him out of her wedding party.

My maid of honor toast was good, but Kyle's best man toast had me in stitches and in tears. He told amusing anecdotes about his brother and teased him more than a little, but he also honored him, especially towards the end of the toast. “Many of you here today have met my brother at least once or twice in your lives and if you've met him once, you've become acquainted with his sarcastic sense of humor and his genuine love for his fellow human beings. Oh sure, Alex was once quoted as saying `I hate people!' and I know he's told me that he hates me at least once or twice in his life. But these are merely signs of frustration or ridiculousness. There have been many moments in my life during which I have realized how proud I am to tell people that Alex Kilpatrick is my brother. A few years ago, a classmate of Alex's was telling me about what a hard-worker my brother was and how impressed he was with his work and then he remarked that `but the best thing about Alex is his loyalty and his fidelity. He is honestly the best friend a guy could ever ask for. He's there for you no matter what and he's just so good.' That's a great explanation of my brother. He's just a good person. He's a loyal friend and he is just a good person. He's not perfect; I still remember the time he threw me down the stairs and beat me over the head with a rock when we were nine years old. And I'm still wondering why he did that, but normally, he's a good brother. Alex protects the people he loves very fiercely and it's great; it's good to know that your brother does love you. A few years ago, I found a photo of Alex and me sitting on the couch acting like picture perfect cute twins, at the age of twenty or so. We look so innocent and peaceful; I showed it to my mother and she wondered how tired we were to look that innocent.” He smiled. “Having a twin is wonderful; I always had someone to play with, a constant best friend. We might have been a bit troublesome at times and maybe we still are, but in all seriousness, Alex, I have so much respect for you. You're a great brother, a loyal friend, and you have such a great heart for people. You're honest with me and with other people; you're not afraid to tell the truth. You're open with your faith and your relationship with God. You bring so much to your relationships and your friendships. It's a privilege and an honor to me that I can call you my brother, but more than that I can call you my friend. Hannah, it's been an honor getting to know you the past several years, even if I did meet you first and I'm very glad to be able to welcome you to the Kilpatrick family. We're more than a little ridiculous, but I think you'll find we're a very loving, fun bunch to be around. Congratulations on your marriage and I wish you the best in the years to come. Remember that we all love you and we only want the best for you. I hope to share in the joys of your future and in the famous words of a movie that Lizzie once forced Alex to watch many years ago, l'chiam and mazel tov! Now raise your glasses to Alex and Hannah!”

I smiled as we all toasted the newlyweds. I remembered the night I'd made Alex watch Fiddler on the Roof with me. My first cat, also named Alex, had just died of cancer and so Alex the person came to keep me company and watch one of my favorite movies with me. It had really helped me to have someone watch that movie with me; plus it gave me an excuse to cry in front of Alex and Kyle. They were good friends, loyal friends as Kyle had said. I honestly had days when I wished I could marry one of them but I found a guy who is more amazing than they are, at least for me. Will Darcy was an amazing man; that's not to say that Alex and Kyle Kilpatrick aren't amazing. I think if you've been listening to me at all over the past several months you'd understand that I have a great deal of love and respect for the Kilpatrick twins. I even considered dating one of them for a time. But then I found Will. And I guess he's my Prince Charming….or something like that. He probably wouldn't describe himself like that, but maybe things like that make me love him more than ever.

Watching Alex dance with his mother made me wish I could fix things with my mother but the only way to do that was to dump Will and to start worshiping at the altar of Damien Wickham. I didn't trust Damien one bit, but my mother seemed to think he was the greatest thing on earth. Even my dad wondered why I didn't like Damien. He didn't have a problem with Will but he did admit to liking Wickham more. I looked at Will who was sitting with Jane, Charlie, and other friends of ours. Sometimes it seemed weird that Jane and I had so many mutual friends but we are only a year and a half apart in age so we had gone to school with a lot of the same people. And Will and Charlie were best friends which also meant we spent more time together. But I love my sister and I'm glad I have her. It's always nice to have one ally in your own family.

Thanksgiving was a few weeks later and it was a difficult time for me. I wasn't going to beg my mother's forgiveness but I wanted to be with my family. The Gardiners were coming to Meryton for Thanksgiving and I knew that unless I kow-towed before my mother and her whims, I wouldn't be welcome at the dinner table that holiday season for either Thanksgiving or Christmas. By the Friday before Thanksgiving, it looked like Will and I would be spending Thanksgiving alone. And then I happened to mention our predicament while talking to Kyle that afternoon. An hour and a half later, I was on the phone with Kyle's mom, Kathy, and I found myself and my fiancé invited to Thanksgiving dinner in Coopersville. I called Will and asked him if he would be willing to spend Thanksgiving with the Kilpatrick family. “This does include grandparents and aunts, uncles, and cousins, but it's a good time.”

“Have you spent Thanksgiving with them before?” he asked.

“Once, but that was the year my parents took Katie and Lydia to the Bahamas for Thanksgiving when Mary said it was a stupid holiday and we didn't need to celebrate it as a family.”

“I thought you spent a Thanksgiving with Jenny's family?” he asked, sounding a bit bewildered.

“That was my sophomore year of college; Lydia was eleven and spoiled rotten. She decided that we should spend Thanksgiving skiing in Colorado but the family left the Saturday before Thanksgiving and I had classes on Monday and Tuesday so I just went home with Jenny and spent Thanksgiving with her. And then my senior year I spent Thanksgiving with the Kilpatricks because my family was in the Bahamas.”

“Okay, so when and why did you spend Easter with Steve's family?”

I smiled. “So, Lydia really likes going on trips and during my junior year of college, she decided that our family needed to spend her spring break, which coincided with Easter, in Paris.”

“And your parents agreed to this? How old was she?”

“If I was almost twenty-one, then she was thirteen.”

“And your parents just let her go to Paris?”

“They went with her,” I explained. “And so did Katie and Mary. But Jane and I had classes during our sisters' spring break, so she spent Easter with some friends of hers in Ann Arbor, and I went home with Steve and spent Easter with the Logans. It was weird, especially since they have no daughters but it was worth it. It was better than staying in Grand Rapids and celebrating Easter alone.”

“I bet it was,” my fiancé replied. “Well, if she's sure that we won't be intruding on family time, tell Mrs. Kilpatrick that we'd love to come for Thanksgiving, but we're not staying at her house. I'd feel like we were really infringing on family time if we did that.”

I smiled. “Actually, Mrs. Kilpatrick said that she'd be willing to let me stay at her house and you'd be welcome to stay with her brother's family.”

“Are you serious? She put that much thought into all of this? Lizzie, she does realize that we're not her children or anything.”

“Will, you have to remember that this woman wants to take care of me. My mother currently thinks of me as the daughter she never had while Kathy thinks of me as the daughter she never had.”

“Fine, tell her we're coming. Should I just fly to Grand Rapids now?”

“Yeah, and I'll pick you up from the airport.”

“All right then, I'll see you Wednesday,” he said. “I love you, Lizzie-lou.”

“I love you too, Will.”

Telling my dad was a little bit harder. My dad was having a hard time dealing with my exile from the family. On Saturday, we had lunch at the Panera near my apartment. “Lizzie, I don't like the way this spat between you and your mother is playing out. I know that you don't like Damien very much although I don't understand why. But this is Thanksgiving; this is a family holiday. How can you spend this with the Kilpatricks? They're not your family; we are your family.”

“We're a family?” I asked looking into my father's tired brown eyes; I'd always been told I had my father's eyes. My mother has blue eyes, so it was always slightly obvious to me that I must have my dad's eyes. I looked at those tired brown eyes and sighed. He'd worked so hard at the hotel for so many years that he'd never really put much time into his family until it was too late. Family vacations to Paris or the Bahamas were unheard of when I was growing up. We went on trips occasionally but Dad was still too busy for family time during those functions. And I'm pretty sure that he's still that way during family trips.

I sighed and looked at my dad. “Dad, think about this. While I was in college, I can think of at least four or five occasions during which I spent a major holiday away from home either because you had taken Mary, Katie, and Lydia on some vacation that's purpose was strictly to shut Lydia up and make her stop whining. Six years ago, I spent Christmas with the Kilpatricks and as far as I know, you had no problem with the fact that your wife flat out told me she didn't want me around for the holidays.”

“That's not true, Lizzie. I wanted you to come home; I was sad that your mother told you not to come home. I wanted to see you especially when I hadn't seen you since August.”

“I was in Meryton for a couple days over break and I saw Jane but I never saw you.”

He set his cup of coffee down on the table in between us and sighed. “Elizabeth, you have to understand that your mother is a very difficult woman to live with. If I had gone to see you, she would have divorced me; she told me that much.”

“So it's more important to you that you don't test mom's threats of divorce despite the fact that she is well-known for being a drama queen.”

“I am a partner in this marriage; I cannot take threats of divorce idly. I'm not sure what I would do if your mother filed for divorce.”

I sighed and looked down at the sandwich on the tray in front of me. I love Panera's food but right now, my dad was making me lose my appetite. I love my dad very dearly but I don't enjoy sitting around watching him give in to my mother's every demand. I know he doesn't want to get divorced and I know that he still loves my mom, but he also needs to look at what's best for him. Is it really healthy for a man to stay with a woman who emotionally manipulates him? My mom uses her “nervous condition” to get whatever she wants. She whines and cries her way into everything she wants. And she trained Katie and Lydia to be the exact same way. And my dad had become blinded to that.

“Do you realize what Mom has become?” I asked him slowly. “She has basically disowned me because I don't like Damien and because of my relationship with Will. I know she doesn't like Will, but that's because Damien keeps telling her stories about horrible things that Will supposedly did to him. Has it ever occurred to you Damien has no one to back up his stories or prove his stories besides Lydia and she only defends the stories because they're what her husband spouts to her?”

“You're just bitter,” my father protested quickly but the look in his eye told me that I was getting somewhere with him and to keep pushing.

“I'm bitter. Dad, you forget that I dated Damien for a while a few years ago. I know what he's like; I've heard all the lies he tells about the Darcy family. But you know what? I've allowed the Darcys to present their side of the story and I've learned some interesting things about your precious Damien. But if you don't want to listen, I'm not going to talk about it. I know how you and Mom feel about Will and his family.”

“Lizzie-belle,” he said with a slow sigh; there it was his pet name for me. I hadn't heard it from his lips in months; Kyle called me that name when he was being more big-brotherly than normal and Will calls me Lizzie-lou, but my daddy hasn't called me by his favorite pet name for me in ages.

“Lizzie-belle,” Christopher Bennett repeated, as if for effect. “I love you and I value your opinion. But your mother and I just do not understand what you see in Will Darcy besides his bank account.”

I looked at my father and sighed. “Do you really think that I would stoop that low? Yes, Will Darcy is loaded, but I'm not marrying him for his bank account. I'm marrying him because I love him. He treats me like a princess and he genuinely cares about me. He's loving and faithful. And you know what? I'm sick and tired of defending Will to my family. If you can't accept the man I love, then I'm sorry but I can't choose the family over Will. I love him and I'm not going to reject him because of what Damien says about him.”

My dad took a deep breath. “I'm going to respect your decision to marry Will, but I want you to work on making the peace with your mother soon. I want to have the whole family together for Christmas.”

“I'll try, Daddy,” I told him. “I can't promise you anything, but I'll see what I can do.”

By the end of our lunch, Dad and I were on amicable terms. I promised him I'd talk to Mom after Thanksgiving and that I wouldn't let the Kilpatricks completely adopt me. “I know they love you and you love them, but we are your family.”

I hugged him. “I know you're my family and I love you; I just like feeling at home.” I know the last bit was a dig at him, but I couldn't resist.

Wednesday morning, I woke up around nine o'clock to the sound of my ringing cell phone. Jenny, Kyle, and I were leaving for Coopersville around one after Jenny got off work, so I couldn't figure out who would be calling me. I opened my phone to see that it was my mother. “Hello?” I mumbled.

“Elizabeth?” my mother almost yelled. “Are you there?”

“Yes, Mom,” I said turning on my bedside lamp and sitting up in bed. “I'm here. What's going on?”

“Why aren't you at work, Elizabeth? I tried calling you there, but all I got was your voicemail.”

I sighed and looked at my clock which told me in bright, glowing green numbers that it was 9:03 AM. “Mom, it's the day before Thanksgiving. We don't have school today.”

“Oh,” was all she said.

“So why did you call me, Marybeth?” I asked. I know I'm not supposed to call her by her first name but she hasn't exactly been acting like Mommy Dearest of late and I didn't feel like being Miss Respectful of My Mother.

“Well, you know that Lydia, Damien, and Madison were supposed to arrive last night for Thanksgiving,” she began. Actually, I didn't know this because no one had bothered to tell, which actually didn't really bother me since I wasn't planning on celebrating Thanksgiving with them. But my mother kept talking. “But then, when I went to the airport to pick them up, Damien wasn't with them. At first, I thought it was just due to his job or something but it wasn't. Yesterday, Damien told Lydia that he didn't love her anymore and he didn't want her or Madison in his life anymore. He packed up all their clothes and promised to send the rest of their things to us when he got a chance. Lizzie, the poor girl; you've got to help your poor sister. Lydia is six months pregnant and her husband kicked her out and she needs to recuperate but she has to take care of Madison and she just doesn't have time for everything she has to do.”

I was about to get asked to do my mother some sort of favor; I could sense it. Mom always built up the horribly pathetic nature of Lydia's situation before she asked me to do something for her “dearest baby.” I sighed. “What do you need me to do, Mother?”

“Lydia needs someone to take care of Madison for a while,” my mother replied. “And I figured that since you're not doing anything for Thanksgiving, you and That Man could take care of your niece over the weekend while your sister relaxes and catches her breath.”

“Mother, William and I are spending Thanksgiving with Alex and Kyle's family in Grand Rapids.”

“Surely their mother wouldn't mind if you brought Madison along. She's a good baby, or at least I'm sure she'll be good for you.”

“Let me call Mrs. Kilpatrick and see how she feels about this,” I replied. “I'll get back to you in about half an hour.”

Kathy Kilpatrick told me that it was fine if I brought my baby niece with me. Kyle told me I could even bring her in the car with me if I promised that she'd behave. So that was how I found myself spending my Thanksgiving with my eight-month old niece who wasn't really in the mood to travel or spend time with strangers. She wanted a warm bottle and someplace cozy to sleep. But first, I had to take her from her playpen in my parents' living room. When I picked her up, Katie gave me all of Maddie's things that had been left in the living room. “Mom and Lydia are at the mall getting Lyds some `retail therapy' or something,” my twenty-year-old sister told me. “But Lydia said to tell you she's very grateful you can take her kid off her hands for a while.”

I frowned. “I'll put it on her tab. Can you give me a hand getting all this stuff down to my car?”

“Oh sure,” Katie replied. “Just let me throw on some shoes.”

I smiled as my sister walked out of the room. Katie was a cute girl who was starting to liberate herself from Lydia's influence. She was studying nursing at Meryton Community College but she was going to transfer to Michigan State in January. Oh sure she still dyed her hair blonde and wore trendy clothes, but she was also happier than she'd been when she was merely Lydia's puppet. She might have been running around the house in outfits that included pieces from stores like Victoria's Secret PINK but she was so cute. I loved my little sister even if she was mad at me for not liking Damien. But I was doing what they all wanted and getting Maddie off their hands while Mom helped Lydia “recover” from the Damien situation. And if recovering took retail therapy, I wasn't going to ask. I always thought my sister was too young to be getting married especially to someone who was thirteen years older than her. But no one had ever asked for my opinion and when I'd tried to give it, I was ignored or told that I was stupid. I wasn't expecting to be told that I was right now and I had no intentions of saying “I told you so” to anyone no matter how much I might want to.

Katie helped me put all of Maddie's things in my car and then helped me settle our niece into her car seat. After I shut the car door, my little sister hugged me. “Have a good Thanksgiving. Dad, Jane, Charlie, and I will miss you.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Katie. Have a great weekend and give my love to everyone.”

We hugged again and I was about to climb in the car when she grabbed my arm and looked me dead in the eye. “Lizzie, listen to me. I'm sorry about this whole mess with Mom and Lydia about Damien and I'm sorry about my part in it. For what it's worth, I'm sorry and I believe you now. You were right about him and the next time Will Darcy is in town, I'd like to give him a second chance.”

I hugged my little sister and told her that I'd try to give her that opportunity. “And tell Dad to call me when he gets a chance.”

“I will,” she told me. “And don't let Kyle's family steal you from us.”

So I spent Thanksgiving with Will, Maddie, and the Kilpatrick clan. I'm not sure how much Mrs. Kilpatrick liked it when I took Maddie back to Meryton with me, but she has one married son and Kyle and Jenny are getting married in July, so she's bound to become a grandmother within the next few years. I told Will about Katie's offer to give him a second chance and he said that he was more than willing to take her up on it at Christmas. “I don't know if my mom will ever give you a second chance,” I told him. “And I doubt that Lydia will. She'll find a way to hate you for your role in her marriage to Damien.”

“Don't worry,” he said, kissing my forehead. We were saying good-bye in the Kilpatricks' living room before Alex and Hannah dropped him off at the airport on their way back to Ann Arbor and Kyle, Jenny, and I drove back to Meryton. “I can live if your mother and Lydia won't forgive me. I'm just glad that one of your sisters is willing to extend an olive branch to me.”

Chapter Twenty-Five: Grown-Up Christmas List

Lizzie's POV

The plan for Christmas was simple. My whole family, plus my Aunt Grace and her family were going to celebrate Christmas at the Longbourn. Aunt Sophie and Uncle Ed's family were coming up from Chicago to celebrate with us and then stay on for Jane and Charlie's wedding the following weekend. And Will's whole extended family was also going to be coming to Meryton for Christmas dinner. There were going to be at least forty people at this dinner. There were three Darcys, eight Bennetts, five Philipses, seven Gardiners, four Egans, five DeBourghs, eight Fitzwilliams, and various significant others. Will's cousin Alicia had a new baby boy named Nathan Paul Egan who was born about a week after Thanksgiving. I was looking forward to meeting Will's Uncle George and Aunt Helena as well as Alicia, her husband Rob, and their children Hannah and Nathan. Charlie Bingley would be there, of course Oh, and George was going to be bringing his girlfriend, Ellen, with him. I was excited about meeting more of Will's relatives. I knew Rick and Evelyn's family pretty well from my semi-frequent visits to Chicago and I knew George and Ellen, but I'd somehow never met Will's Aunt Helena and Uncle George.

“I can't believe Catherine and Anne are coming,” I told Will when we were talking on the phone about a week before Christmas. “I thought your aunt hated me.”

“Honestly, darling, I think the main reason that they're coming is that Aunt Catherine doesn't want to look stupid for refusing to spend Christmas with her relatives,” he replied. “I mean my aunt and uncle from Seattle are coming to visit and all of my other cousins will be there, so she feels like she has to come too. She doesn't want to look like an idiot for skipping Christmas with her family.”

I smiled. “I'm just glad I get to spend Christmas with you, your family and my family.”

“And then there's the wedding the following Saturday,” he said. Christmas was on a Friday, but Jane and Charlie were getting married the day after New Year's Day; Jane had wanted to get married at Christmastime and this was the best she could do. But her wedding colors were still going to be dark green and white.

“They're finally getting married,” I said. “I can't believe this is all finally happening. Janie is so excited.”

“She loves him a lot, doesn't she?” he asked.

I nodded, thinking of my sister who might as well have been one of my students who would still doodle things like “Mrs. Charlie Bingley” and “Jane+CharlieLove” all over their notebooks, in pink pen of course. “She's gone,” I told him. “Will, my sister is head over heels in love with him. And I don't think she cares who knows it anymore.”

“Well, they are getting married in a few weeks,” he said. “I think she's allowed to let people know how much she loves him.”

“My big sister is getting married,” I said.

“And you're getting married in June,” he replied. “And you get to marry me.”

“I must be the luckiest girl in the world,” was all I said in reply.

“Did I sense a note of sarcasm in that statement, Miss Bennett?” he teased.

“There might have been a little bit in my voice, but I am serious. I think I really might be the luckiest girl alive. I get to marry the man of my dreams.”

“Well, I get to marry you, so I think I'm pretty darn lucky myself.”

“You're just saying that,” I teased.

“Oh Lizzie-lou, you know me. I wouldn't joke about the fact that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me and I love you. You're one of the most important people in my life.”

“I love you too, Will.” I had to admit that he was probably one of the best things that had ever happened to me. Since I met Will, a whole new dimension of my life has opened up and I feel like I'm a better person when I'm with him. And now he's bringing more changes into my life. I'm getting married this summer and then I'm moving to Chicago. Right now I'm working on getting certified to teach in Chicago so I can keep working after I get married.

Will, Gianna, and Emily arrived in Meryton the Monday before Christmas. They came over to my apartment for dinner with Jenny, Kyle, and me that evening. Jenny and I had made veal parmesan with pasta and Kyle had made a salad with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing. “And just think,” he said while he was making the dressing. “I didn't even know how to make salad or dressing until I was twenty years old.”

I smiled. “See what knowing girls will do for you?”

He laughed. “Liz, Grand Valley is like seventy percent female. The only people I knew were girls.”

Jenny shook her head. “I doubt that's true. What about the guys you lived with? Or I've met Ben and Mark; they're guys, aren't they?”

“So far, we're at five guys,” he replied. “And I probably knew twenty girls for each one of those guys.” He turned to me. “How many guys did you know when you were at GV? I mean it wasn't exactly a school filled with men was it?”

I shook my head. “And to make things harder for a poor single girl like me, most of the guys who were there were either taken or gay.”

“I was there!” Kyle protested. “I'm not gay and I wasn't taken at any point during my college career.”

“Except that one time when you were pseudo-dating Jackie's roommate,” I reminded him.

“That only went on for a few weeks,” he replied quickly. “And besides, I could remind you about the fact that you came very close to dating several guys before you and Andrew actually started dating.”

“But I came to my senses every single time. And I waited for something better.”

“Thank goodness,” he replied.

Jenny smiled. She was a nurse and had done her undergrad at the University of Michigan. She'd grown up in Meryton and then gone to UofM. In college, she'd spent a lot of time with my sister Jane and with Kyle's twin brother, Alex. In fact once, she and Alex had come to GVSU to visit Kyle and me, but Kyle didn't remember meeting her when asked about it a few months later. And now, they're getting married; it's funny how life works out. They met when she was nineteen and he was twenty but he forgot all about her until my twenty-first birthday. Then they met again and got to be friends when they both were living and working in Meryton.

“I think Will is a much better choice than some of those guys who asked you out when you were in college,” she said.

Just then, there was a knock and the door and Kyle opened it to reveal Will, Gianna, and Emily. The minute Gianna set Emily down, the little girl made a beeline for me. I picked her up and looked at her. “So how are you doing today, Miss Emily?”

“I missed you!” she announced, throwing her chubby little arms around my neck and planting a sloppy kiss on my cheek.

I smiled and held her close; I loved her. “I've missed you too.”

“Christmas is soon!” she announced. “Mama said tomorrow we go see Santa.”

She spoke so well for only being twenty-two months old. Her language was by no means perfect but she had amazing pronunciation. Most little kids I know couldn't speak as well as she could. She didn't lisp or anything. And she was an affectionate little girl, which I loved. While we were waiting for dinner, I found myself sitting on the couch with Emily curled up in my lap. She was so cute wearing blue jeans and brown top with pink polka-dots and she had a pink ribbon in her light brown curls. “Does your niece look anything like Emily?” Gianna asked me.

I shrugged. “Maddie has blonde hair and blue eyes; they both really take after their mothers more than their fathers. They're very cute little girls but they look almost nothing like each other. Maddie has more of Damien in her while Emily has almost nothing of Damien in her.”

“She's too pretty to be his daughter,” Will commented, tickling his niece's foot. “She's much too pretty, and anyways, this little girl is all Darcy.”

“She is,” I agreed. “She definitely has the same eyes as you two.”

“Mom's eyes,” Gianna said. “Mom had these amazingly gorgeous brown eyes that Dad said reminded him of coffee without a drop of mix or a grain of sugar.”

“Dad had hazel eyes,” Will put in. “He had specks of green and gold in his eyes; it was pretty amazing.”

“But those eyes were really creepy when he was mad at you. Once when I was about ten or so he got really mad at me about something and his eyes were glowing or something; it was freaky.”

My fiancé nodded. “I had that experience so many times when I was in high school and I was being rebellious because it was cool.”

“You were a bad rebel,” his sister told him bluntly. “It's too obvious that on the inside you really do want to be good. You're a good guy and you're never going to escape that.”

“She's right,” I told him. “It's not a bad thing but you're just one of the good guys. You can try to rebel, but it rarely works for you.”

He smiled and shook his head. “Kyle, help me out in here. These women are trying to tell me that I can't be rebellious.”

“Oh don't ask Kyle for help,” I sighed. “He's even worse at being rebellious than you are. I mean his parents should have just named him St. Kyle and given him a halo at birth.”

Kyle walked into the living room and shook his head. “You're all ridiculous. Who cares about being rebellious? Yes, I was a good kid growing up but I had to be. Do you know what Alex was like growing up?”

I laughed. “Alex was even more perfect than you were.”

“Oh, what do you know, Elizabeth?” he retorted quickly.

“I know that you were the mischievous twin growing up; I've seen your eyes.” Kyle's green-gray eyes have an aura of dark mystique to them that makes you think he's up to something even when he's being perfectly innocent. Alex's eyes, meanwhile, are hazel and open. Eyes really are windows to the soul. Will's eyes are open and honest pools of swirling brown; I love his eyes. Kyle's eyes are more exotic and mysterious but there's something that feels just right about Will's eyes. I realized over Thanksgiving that when I look into Will's eyes, I feel like I'm home again. I feel safe and comfortable and wanted, desired when I'm with Will. Kyle's eyes are just those of a friend.

Will's POV

I arrived in Meryton with my sister and my niece the Monday before Christmas and we spent the evening with Lizzie, Jenny, and Kyle. Lizzie, Jenny, and Kyle are a riot. The three of them had Gianna and me laughing until two in the morning. Emily had been sleeping in Lizzie's bed since around ten, so we just moved the sleeping beauty when her mother and I were finally ready to go home. The next day, Lizzie and Gianna were taking Emily to see Santa at the mall and do a little shopping. At noon, I was meeting them and taking Lizzie with me to go have lunch with her dad and her sister, Katie. I was a little nervous but I knew this was all for the best. I wanted to get along with Lizzie's family. I knew her mother and Lydia would never like me, but if I could win the approval of some family members, that would be nice. Mary would probably never like me but Lizzie was always reminding me that Mary didn't like most people. Mary was moving in with her parents at the beginning of January and apparently she was taking her anger over this out on the rest of the Bennett family. She couldn't understand why her father wouldn't give her a discount on the condo that she and Jane were currently sharing or at least force Lizzie to move back into the condo. I was entirely opposed to the idea of forcing Lizzie back into the condo. For one thing, our wedding was in June so that was only a temporary solution for Mary, but the other thing for me was that Lizzie was happier living with Jenny than she was when she lived in the condo. She wasn't worrying about Mary's sanity all the time, or constantly feeling a need to fix family problems.

I called Lizzie when I got to the mall and she told me to meet her by Baby Gap. She and Gianna had been looking at clothes for Emily there. My little niece was turning into quite the fashionista due to Gianna's and Lizzie's sense of style. When I got to the store, I found my three favorite girls standing there waiting for me. Emily was all bundled up in her pink winter coat while Lizzie was wearing her gray pea-coat and Gianna was wearing a black pea-coat that I'd bought her for Christmas the previous year. Well, Lizzie had picked it out for her but I'd paid for it. My fiancée had amazing taste in clothes and my sister is almost guaranteed to like anything Lizzie picks out for her. “How was Santa?” I asked after hugging Gianna and kissing Lizzie and Emily.

“She gave him a funny look and cried the whole time he was holding her,” Gianna replied. “I think she's still a bit young for him.”

“Oh well,” I replied. “Maybe she'll be interested next year. Did you girls have any luck shopping?”

“We were mostly just looking at things,” Lizzie replied. “Although I finally found a Christmas present for Miss Emily, and it was something that she picked out for herself.”

“Then I bet she'll love it. Are you ready to go meet Katie and your dad?”

She nodded before hugging Gianna and Emily. “I'll see you ladies later today.”

“Are we still on for dinner at Charlie's tonight?”

“Yep,” I told my sister. “Be there by seven at the latest.”

“We'll be there,” she said. “Who all is coming?”

“You and Emily, Lizzie and me, Jane, Charlie, Caroline, Jeff, and Louisa,” I said. “It should be an interesting gathering.”

“To say the least,” Lizzie said. “We'll see you there.”

We met Mr. Bennett and Katie at the restaurant in the Longbourn. “Mom isn't very happy about this, but she can get over herself,” Katie told me. “I want to hear your version of the story.”

We talked for close to three hours about my life especially my relationship and that of my family with Damien Wickham. Lizzie told him the truth about the role I'd played in finding Damien and Lydia in Chicago. I even told him some of the details of Damien's relationship with my little sister although I tried to make it clear that I wanted that information kept private due to my desire to protect my sister and my niece. As more information about Damien's philandering ways came out, I watched some shock and a lot of confusion overwhelm Mr. Bennett's face. “Why didn't anyone tell me about this earlier? Lizzie, did you know?”

She nodded her face drawn and tight. “I knew; I've known about this for close to two years now. It was April of 2008 when Will first told me about Damien.”

“And you never told your mother or me? Elizabeth, your youngest sister married this man when she was seventeen years old and you did nothing to stop this.”

“Actually, I think I told you not to let her go to Fiji with the Foresters,” she reminded him. “In fact, I know I told you not to go but you said that Lydia needed to get out and experience life. Well, Lydia experienced life.”

“She's eighteen, almost nineteen, and she's a mother and about to get divorced,” her father said tersely. “I could have stopped that from happening.”

“So could I,” Lizzie said. “A lot of people could have done that. But Dad, let's be honest here; would you have really listened to Will or me if we had tried to tell you the truth about Damien?”

Mr. Bennett looked at me and then at Lizzie. He sighed and shook his head. “I'm sorry, Lizzie-belle. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you about Damien and Will.” He looked at me. “Will, I'm so sorry that I distrusted you and pushed you away from the family. I'm very grateful to you for all the help you gave my family and I wish you the best of luck with my daughter. She's somewhat of a handful.”

I smiled as Katie added, “Dad used to say that Lizzie was a spitfire.”

Lizzie shook her head and threatened to spit in her younger sister's face. “I bet I can still spit fire,” she told her sister.

“You never could spit fire. That was just a lie you told me so I wouldn't bother you when you were trying to do your homework or read a book or whatever.”

Mr. Bennett and his older daughter burst out laughing. “There must be a story behind this,” I said.

“Oh there is,” Lizzie said. “When I was about fourteen or so, Katie was about eight, and she overhead Dad telling Mom that I was spitfire and Mom replied that I was uncontrollable.”

“So I went and asked Jane what a spitfire was,” Katie put in. “But Lizzie was in the room and she told me that it meant she could spit fire.”

“Hey, you were the one who believed me,” the older sister replied. “I've never forced you to believe a single word I say.”

“No, you just told a young, innocent mind all kinds of stories and made sure I believed them.”

“Well, okay, I did that, but it wasn't like you couldn't have asked Mom or Dad or Jane to disprove my stories for you.”

Katie shrugged. “You were my big sister and I was a little girl; why wouldn't I believe you?”

Lizzie shook her head and smiled. “There are times when I wished that your innocent willingness to believe me had passed over into adulthood.”

“Well, I believe you now.”

Christmas Eve, we all went to Mass together, Lizzie's family, Charlie's family, and my family. Many of our friends were also there. Kyle and Jenny were spending Christmas in Meryton with her family and Ethan and Charlotte Collins had come to Meryton with Jackson. Steve and Becca had baby Mary with them; she was so cute, much cuter than Jackson who was unfortunately taking after his father in the looks department. He had Ethan's mousy brown hair and blue eyes, none of Char's gorgeous brown hair. But maybe that would come later. Sometimes hair color changes as children age. After Mass, we were all planning on heading back to Jenny and Lizzie's apartment for drinks, edibles, and assorted entertainments. Before Mass, Lizzie and I had dinner with her family; Jane and Charlie were also there, but Gianna and Emily had dinner with the DeBourghs and the Fitzwilliams. I'm not sure which one of us was more miserable. Mrs. Bennett still hates me and decided that she needed to make my dinner miserable. Unfortunately for her, Maddie was fussing all through dinner and I was the only person who could calm her down. This infuriated Lydia and her mother to no end, but Lizzie seemed to think this was one of the more amazing moments in life. Her niece loved me and her mother and youngest sister were hating it but there was nothing they could do about it. Maddie was a baby and you couldn't change what made her happy. Actually, could you change what makes anyone happy at any age?

Mass was at eight o'clock, so at seven-forty-five, I was sitting in a pew at St. Thomas the Apostle in Meryton. Lizzie was on my right holding Maddie and Gianna was on my left holding Emily. The irony of the fact that the little girls were sisters wasn't lost on me. Their mothers were so different and the situations into which they'd been born were so different. I rarely saw Lydia with her daughter and I occasionally heard her remark that she was too busy to take care of her daughter. Maddie spent a lot of time with her aunts and her grandparents because Lydia was “struggling emotionally” and needed to spend a lot of time shopping or with friends to help her as she started the process of divorcing Damien. Lydia was seven months pregnant but that was no excuse for abandoning her older child. She wasn't in church with us because she told her parents she was too tired and besides she didn't “buy into all that God crap.” But she sent Maddie with her parents because she just wanted “a couple hours of peace and quiet away from that damn screaming kid. Just shut her up and get her away from me.” Lucky for Lydia, her older sisters didn't mind taking care of her baby. In fact, Jane readily admitted that Maddie and Lydia's unborn baby were probably going to end up being raised by their grandparents or one of their aunts.

Mass was beautiful and afterwards, Lizzie and I went to her apartment for a traditional post-Christmas Eve Mass that she and her friends have been having since college. “So are Jenny and Kyle going down to Coopersville tomorrow?” I asked while we were driving to her apartment.

“Nope,” she replied. “They're spending this Christmas with her family. They're going to Coopersville for Christmas with the Kilpatricks the day after Christmas but since the entire Putnam family is in Meryton, they're not going to pass this opportunity up.”

“It's hard to get Jenny's family together?”

Lizzie closed her eyes and sighed. “It's almost impossible. Her oldest brother, Greg, and his wife Michelle have lived in London for about ten years now and they only come home every other Christmas. Tim and Jessica live in Chicago with their kids, so they make it home pretty regularly. Kathy and Brian live in New Mexico. Barbara and Matt live in Germany, and Mike and his Jessica live in Florida. Mike and Jess rarely make it home since she's not a huge fan of his family and, to be honest, the Putnams aren't big fans of Jess either. She's kind of a rich snotty brat.”

“They have somewhat of an international family.”

She nodded. “Matt and Barb should be moving back stateside sometime soon, but when they do, they'll be going to Houston.” I must have looked confused because she continued, “Matt's an aerospace engineer, basically a rocket scientist, and his master's degree is in space systems and rocketry or something like that, so he can only really work for places like NASA.”

“Rocket scientists…man, I'm not that smart.”

She smiled that amazing smile that tells me that I did something right and she thinks more of me than I do of myself. I love that feeling that our relationship is secure and she thinks I did something right. I know she's quietly laughing at me, but in moments like this, she's allowed to laugh at me. “Will, you're not stupid. You got through law school and you run a successful business with very little training in how to do so.”

“Yeah, but you know what they say about lawyers,” I told her. “We're scum suckers out to take advantage of the world.”

“That's not you,” she replied calmly. “You're not in it for the money; you actually care about your clients and their lives. And you love Pemberley; you don't do it for the money but because of the fact that it gives people opportunities for family vacations and quality family time.”

“You'll admit that I do make a really good salary doing what I do.”

“But you're not in it for the money,” she replied, frustrated. “You're doing what you want to do, what you love. It just happens that you got lucky and that profession happens to be one that pays really well. I am not so lucky and entered the teaching profession, a profession that is known for its low pay. But that's okay. I didn't become a teacher for the money; I do it for the kids. You reap more material rewards of your career choice but you're in it for more than the money.”

I looked at her and smiled. “You're great. You make me feel better about myself.”

“It's my job,” she said with a confident smirk. We had just pulled into the parking lot at her apartment and she smiled. “Have I ever told you how much I love this apartment?”

I smiled as we got out of the car. “I think you might have mentioned it before.”

“I love it and I love living with Jenny. It's much less stressful than the condo.”

When we were inside the apartment, I could see why it was less stressful than the condo. It was smaller and therefore easier to clean. Plus she wasn't as involved in the minute details of Jane's wedding planning. Being the maid of honor and Jane's sister, she was still involved in a lot of things but she was a little removed from it not living with her sister. Lizzie had enough on her plate considering that she was working full-time, working on getting certified to teach in Chicago, and planning our wedding. She was busy and she didn't need anymore stress in her life at this stage in the game. When we walked into the apartment, we found Jenny and Kyle there setting out food and drinks. “Everyone else should be here soon,” Jenny said.

“It's going to be weird doing this without Alex and Hannah,” Kyle said.

“You still can't live without your twin, can you?” Lizzie asked.

He shook his head. “I think we explained this to you in college. We shared our mom's uterus for nine months and then a bedroom for eighteen years after that. We've shared our entire lives.”

“And now he's married; he's gone somewhere you can't follow.”

“Well, I can get married,” he protested. “But we're never going to be able to live together and share our lives completely and totally like that again.”

“But you'll be able to share your life with Jenny and your family,” Lizzie replied with a smile. “And that will be wonderful; Jenny is a great girl.”

“Aww, thanks for the recommendation,” Jenny said, wrapping her arm around my fiancée's shoulders and leaning her head of light brown hair on Lizzie's darker one.

“Anytime,” the darker-haired woman said. “You deserve all the happiness you can get.”

I smiled as Kyle laughed as Jenny said, “If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife.”

“Then I guess I won't be happy for the rest of my life,” Kyle said, taking her hand and spinning her around the kitchen. “Because I'm definitely making the prettiest woman in the world my wife, and I wouldn't change that for anything.”

She kissed him and leaned against his chest. “They're so cute,” Lizzie told me. “And they will be happy for the rest of their lives.”

“What about us?” I asked her. “Will we be happy for the rest of our lives?”

“As long as I don't turn into my mother, we're safe,” she replied.

I kissed her nose. “I'll keep an eye out just to make sure that you don't turn into your darling mother. And if you do, I'll just have to shoot you and blame it on self-defense.”

“Oh shut up, you fool,” she said before kissing me.

“Okay, okay, okay, enough with the kissing, there are young, innocent eyes in the room,” came a loud booming voice from the doorway.

I pulled away from Lizzie and turned to see Steve Logan standing in the doorway with a tired-looking Mary in his arms and Becca at his side. Steve had really fallen into the role of fatherhood; I realized this looking at the black diaper bag hanging from his left shoulder and the tender way in which he held his daughter. “Okay, give me my gorgeous goddaughter,” Kyle announced.

“Only if you promise that you won't kiss anyone while you're holding her,” Mary's father replied. “She's young and I don't want her innocent mind exposed to your romantic notions or the fancy things you and your fiancée do when the audience is all over the age of thirteen.”

“Oh just shut up and give me the baby. I won't break any of the Ten Commandments while I'm holding her or for as long as she is in this apartment,” Kyle said walking over to Steve and taking Mary from her father. I was always amazed at what a natural Kyle was with Mary. I was good with little kids but Kyle was a natural. I could handle my niece and Maddie and occasionally, I could hold Jackson Collins or Mary Logan for a while but you could give Kyle any baby and he could keep the baby calm and collected. He was better with Maddie than I was; I could keep her calm most of the time, and that Christmas Eve I'd been one of her favorite people, but Kyle could always keep her calm and make her happy. Over Thanksgiving, I'd seen him bounce her around and tickle her and make her smile in a way that I never could. Lizzie says that Kyle's just a natural with girls and babies alike. “You're good with Emily and Maddie usually likes you,” she'd told me a few days earlier. “And your own children will love you.”

The Christmas Eve party was wonderful and Christmas Day was fantastic. The family dinner was loud and a little overwhelming at times but I got to spend it with people I love. Lizzie spent much of Christmas with the many infants and toddlers and I had a monopoly of Caitlin and Maddie while Emily wouldn't leave Lizzie's lap all day. Maddie might like Kyle more than she likes me but he wasn't there; he was off winning the hearts of Jenny's nieces and nephews and I didn't have to worry about him stealing one of these babies from me. I'm not jealous of Kyle; I just wish that babies liked me as much as they like him.

I got some amazing Christmas presents including a new dress shirt and tie from Gianna and Emily and a set of books by C.S. Lewis from Lizzie, something that I'd been begging her for since August or September; she also gave me a new watch but I never told her I needed one. I gave her three books by G.K. Chesterton and a pearl necklace with matching earrings. She gave Emily a new outfit that my niece ad my sister had picked out at Baby Gap. It was a pair of blue jeans with white embroidery on the cuffs and a brown and red “tartan” top; it was amazingly adorable.

I ended my Christmas Day by watching The Muppet Christmas Carol with Gianna, Lizzie, Charlie, and Jane in Charlie's apartment. Caroline, Louisa, and Jeff were in another room watching something “more mature” as Caroline said. Some people can't accept the simple things in life.

Chapter Twenty-Six: More I Cannot Wish You

Lizzie's POV

It was finally here, the day before Jane's wedding. They were getting married on January 2, 2010, so they were having their rehearsal dinner on New Year's Day. Of course most of us had stayed out late welcoming the New Year and the new decade, so when my cell phone started ringing at 8:30 in the morning on January 1, I did what any logical person who had been up until three in the morning would do; I threw my cell phone across the room. Of course, my sister wouldn't stop calling and the phone wouldn't stop ringing, so Jenny started yelling at me. “Elizabeth, just answer that damn phone and make the noise go away.”

So I dragged myself out of my warm bed and picked up “that damn phone” and answered it. “What?” I barked into the phone.

“Did I wake you up?” Jane asked in a voice that was entirely too sweet for eight-thirty on New Year's Day morning.

“Yes,” I replied. “You woke me up; thank you.”

“Oh, I'm sorry,” she said; my sister is way too sweet for her own good. Someday I'm going to kill her for that sugary sweet voice. I love her to death but that voice is too sweet, especially when I've just woken up. “I didn't mean to wake you up but the thing is that I need some help getting things ready for the rehearsal dinner and I was wondering if you could come over and help me.”

“Where are you right now?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

“Is that Bridezilla?” Jenny said as she wandered into the hallway between our bedrooms.

“It's Jane, if that's what you mean,” I replied. “She needs help with the wedding.”

“I'm at Mom and Dad's.” Jane's voice came through my cell phone. “Remember, I moved out of my condo so Dad could lease it to someone else.”

“I forgot about that,” I said.

“So can you come on over?”

“Just give me a chance to take a shower and get dressed and then I'll be over,” I told her.

“Ask her if she wants me to come; I'm awake now and I've got nothing better to do,” Jenny said.

“My darling roommate says that since you woke her up, she'd be willing to come over and help. We'd be a little later if she came but we could get more done.”

“Bring her along,” Jane replied. “Sarah and Char are coming over at some point and Mom's willing to help me but she's busy with Lydia, so if Jenny could come that'd be great. And I want Mary and Katie to help but I don't know if they will because Mary worked late and Katie stayed out late with friends. I'm not even sure that Katie is even home yet.”

“We'll shower and head on over,” I said. “And please stop rambling. Play with Maddie until we get there, but we'll be there within an hour.”

An hour later, Jenny and I were standing outside the door to my parents' penthouse. I had a cup of decaf peppermint mocha for Jane in one hand and a bag filled with the various objects that she'd called me and asked me to bring with me. I had a hair straightener, a curling iron, chocolate, four scented candles, and the clothes I was wearing to the rehearsal dinner. As I opened the door, I could hear Jane blaring Queen throughout the apartment. “She's officially lost it,” I told Jenny. “If I get like this before my wedding, please shoot me.”

“Why do you think she's lost it?”

“She hates Queen. I love them but she hates them. If I hear Backstreet Boys, then I'll know she's done for.”

Jenny smiled as we walked towards Jane's bedroom. When we walked in, I found her sitting on the floor surrounded by our parents' wedding album, tissues, various photo albums of the Bennett girls' childhood, and at least half of her clothes. I could hear my niece screaming but I couldn't see her anywhere in the room. “Where's Maddie?” I asked as I handed my sister her mocha.

She shrugged. “Maybe she ran away to join the circus.”

“Stay with her,” I told my roommate. “I'm going to find the baby.”

I found my niece lying on the couch screaming. I changed her diaper and gave her a bottle; that seemed to make her much happier. Then I brought her into Jane's room, where Jenny seemed to have instilled some sanity and order in my absence. There weren't as many clothes on the floor; now they were packed up in a suitcase on the bed. The photo albums were neatly stacked on the desk; and instead of blaring Queen, the CD player was now playing the much more soothing sounds of Enya's “A Day without Rain” album. The tissues were not strewn around the room anymore but now they were all in the trash can. “If you can get her to wash her face,” Jenny said. “I'll clean up the room a bit more and keep an eye on Maddie.”

“When Sarah and Char get here, I'll put them to work on things that actually relate to the wedding,” I told her.

“Good idea, I think she's just stressed out. Just don't give her any wine to calm her down.”

I sighed and shook my head. At some point towards the end of Jane's college career, one of her roommates gave her some wine to calm her down during finals week and then left her alone in the apartment with the wine. Alex called me about an hour to tell me that he had come over to her apartment to borrow something and found my sister lying on the floor drunk. He was unsure of how to handle the situation, so he called me wondering what to do. When I was done laughing, I told him that Jane was a lightweight and just to put her to bed. Apparently she tried to hit on him several times and even asked him once why he wasn't in love with her but she kept calling him “Tom” so I don't think she was ever really in love with Alex. Jenny knew the story because Alex had called her and asked her to help him put Janie to bed. He didn't feel comfortable doing that, so he asked a girl who knew Jane well to take care of that. That was eight, almost nine years ago now. Janie was getting married the next day and Alex was married. I was getting married in June and Jenny in July. It was crazy; we were all growing up.

I ended up forcing my sister into the shower upon the discovery that she hadn't showered since waking up. All she'd done since waking up was call me and have a panic attack about her wedding. She was afraid that things were going to go wrong during the wedding. What if she wasn't pretty enough or the wedding party didn't get along? She had a thousand and one questions that she asked me while I undressed her and shoved her in the shower. She kept shouting questions when I left the bathroom to go get her some clean clothes. By the time Charlotte and Sarah Fleming arrived, I had my sister dressed and sitting at the kitchen table wrapping presents for her bridesmaids. Meanwhile, Jenny was cleaning and organizing Jane's room. Jane was so organized that there wasn't that much she actually needed to do. Tomorrow we'd have to help her get ready and go have our hair done, but today we mostly just needed to handle a few things that could only be done at the last minute.

We needed to finish taking care of the seating chart and making the favors. My mom wanted us to give our Jordan almonds, but Jane and Charlie wanted to give people something more personal and long-lasting than almonds or matchbooks. They ended up deciding on shot glasses engraved with “Charles and Jane January 2, 2010” and then there would be pink and green Jordan almonds inside. Their wedding colors were red, green, and white. She had eight bridesmaids; four of us were wearing red dresses and the other four were wearing green dresses. The groomsmen were all wearing black suits with either green or red vests and ties, depending on the color of the dress of their respective bridesmaid. For example, Will was going to wear a red vest and tie to match my red dress while Caroline wore a green dress and Jonathan wore a green vest and tie to match.

“Can I just say that I think that twelve people make a really big wedding party?” Sarah remarked as we made bags of Jordan almonds. Jane was downstairs talking to Claire-Marie about the dinner menu for the reception. The rehearsal dinner that evening would be held at the Netherfield and the reception the next day was at the Longbourn.

“You think having twelve people in total is bad?” Jenny said. “Kyle's brother, Alex, went to a wedding were there were twelve bridesmaids and twelve groomsmen.”

“Who was this?” I asked.

“Did you ever meet Alex's roommate Ben?”

I thought for a minute. “The tall guy with light brown hair who was a year behind Alex and wanted to be a doctor? That was at his wedding? His girlfriend seemed so reasonable when I met her.”

“It wasn't at Ben and Cecilia's wedding although they were both in this wedding. It was Cecilia's brother's wedding; her brother married this girl who had a bunch of siblings and a lot of friends and she wanted them all in her wedding. Alex and Hannah said it was a nice wedding but the wedding party seemed kind of overwhelming. Alex said Ben and Cecilia thought it was way too big.”

“I can't imagine being in a wedding party that big,” Char said. “I mean I know I had a big wedding party but that's just insane.”

I shrugged. “I guess if she was from a big family, that all makes sense.”

“Yeah, but twelve bridesmaids!” Jenny exclaimed. “I have two sisters and three sisters-in-law and I know that I couldn't have them all in my wedding. And they know that too. Cecilia has four sisters but they all accepted that they couldn't be in her wedding.”

“My sisters understand that I can't have all of them in my wedding,” I said. “Jane is having Mary, Katie, and me in the wedding, but Lydia doesn't even want to be in the wedding.”

Lydia had decided that she would be too fat to be in the wedding, among other things. Jane didn't really want her in the wedding because she was disappointed in our youngest sister and her behavior. Lydia had announced that she wasn't coming to the rehearsal dinner because she didn't feel like but she also didn't feel like taking care of Maddie. Thankfully, Gianna Darcy was willing to watch Maddie during the dinner that night. It was my responsibility to get my niece over to the Netherfield before the rehearsal dinner. I knew my best bet would be to drop her off on my way to the church although I was also determined to keep her from spitting up on my nice dress. I was getting changed and doing my hair at my parents' place and then Jenny and I were driving Maddie over to the Netherfield. After that, we were heading to the church for the rehearsal. Rehearsing all of this was going to make it real; my big sister was getting married.

At five-thirty sharp, Jenny and I pulled out of the Longbourn's parking lot in my black Chevy Impala with my niece in the backseat. “Are you ready for this?” my roommate asked as I made a right turn unto Longbourn Boulevard heading into Meryton.

I shook my head. “My big sister is getting marred; this is so weird. How did you feel when your older siblings got married?”

“When Tim and Greg got married, it was weird because they're so much older than me and I didn't really know them. When Mike got married, it was also weird but that was because the family doesn't really like Jessica that much. But it was hard watching Barb and then Kathy get married. We're really close. And then they got married and moved in with their husbands and it was weird. Barb at least lived nearby for a couple years but then she and Matt took off for Germany. And they took Teresa with them!”

I smiled. Jenny was extremely close to her older sister, Barbara, who had married a guy named Matt about seven years ago. Their oldest child, Teresa, was born about a year after they got married and shortly before they moved to Germany; they've lived in Germany since Teresa was born. “And then they went and had three more kids!” Jenny added. “I barely get to see them. They're my nieces and nephews and I miss them.”

“What about with Kathy, what was that like?” I asked, trying to distract her from missing people who were actually at her parents' house right now.

“That was hard, but not as hard. Kathy hadn't lived at home for ages, but I still love her and miss her. But you get used to it. And in this case, you're the one doing the leaving, not them.”

I smiled. “True story and it's weird. Our family has been in Meryton for ages. Uncle Edward is the only one who has ever left.”

“Yeah and he went to Chicago, just like you're going to do. I think Chicago has some sort of magnetic pull on your heart.”

“What?” I asked, completely confused. “What are you talking about?”

“You're obsessed with that city. You love the size and the stores and the theatres and everything about it; you love that city. Now, granted, your uncle is your godfather and you're insanely close to your Aunt Sophie and their kids, but you love Chicago more than anyone else I know. You were destined to live there.”

Just then, I pulled into the parking lot of the Netherfield and had to take my niece to see Gianna, so that was the end of Jenny's ruminations over my love for Chicago. She was probably right that I was weirdly destined for that city but it was weird to hear someone say it out loud.

Fifteen minutes later, I was standing in the back of St. Thomas listening to Fr. Bob explain what we were going to do that evening. “I'm sure the bride knows what order she wants all of you walking down the aisle in, so I'll leave that to her discretion. After you all make it down the aisle, I'll just go over the basic structure of the ceremony tomorrow.”

I got to walk down the aisle with Will. “Just think,” I whispered in his ear. “In less than six months, we'll be doing this again.”

“Yeah, but the end result will be so much more satisfying to me,” he said. “I get the girl at the end of that one. This time it's just my best friend marrying your sister.”

I smiled and squeezed his hand. “Yes and we're happy for them.”

“That we are,” he replied. “Oh, and you look amazing, darling. I love that skirt on you. I can't wait to see you in your dress tomorrow.”

After the rehearsal, we went to the Netherfield for dinner. The food was amazing and it was wonderful spending time with everyone. After dinner, Charlie and his groomsmen sang “I'm Gonna Make You Love Me” to Jane. Then, following up on a promise made many years ago to my dad, Kyle, Jenny, and I sang “Sunrise, Sunset” to my parents. My mom started crying when we got to the line “I don't remember growing older; when did they?” Even my dad was crying by the end of the song especially at the line “What words of wisdom can I give them?” I think my parents were really realizing that their oldest daughter was getting married. I really wanted to dance with my dad to that song at my wedding. Jane was going to dance to “Butterfly Kisses” with Dad the next day but that song actually fit her relationship with him; “Sunrise, Sunset” was much more my relationship with Dad.

Before the end of the evening, my mom made sure that someone took a picture of Jane, Charlie, Will, and me; she wanted one last picture of the four of us before the wedding. Then she took a picture of Jane and me and we were both practically crying when she took the picture. “My first daughter is getting married,” Mom sobbed.

I was crying because I realized that what Kyle had said a few days earlier was true. Jane wasn't my twin, so we probably aren't as close as Kyle and Alex are, but we are really close. We're about a year and a half apart in age and we've always been close. We played together as children, talked until obscene hours of the night/early morning as teenagers, made determined efforts to see each other during college, and lived together until last April. We'd been closer than any other sisters I knew. And now my sister was getting married. Jenny had once remarked that she thought that in some ways, Kyle and Alex shared a mind, a heart, and a soul. “They would never agree to it themselves,” she'd said. “But they can sense when the other one is near and I think they can almost read each other's minds.”

Will's POV

The morning of January 2, I woke up to Charlie shaking me awake and saying something about it being the most important day of his life. I opened one eye and tried to glare at him as best as I could in my state of exhaustion. “What time is it?” I mumbled.

“It's seven-thirty, Will,” he replied excitedly. “We need to get ready if we're going to be at the church in time for my wedding.”

“Your wedding is at one and we're getting dressed. Leave me alone until around ten,” I told him before pulling my blankets up over my head.

“There are things we need to do before the wedding besides get dressed,” the groom said, yanking my blankets off of me.

“Okay, so I need to take a shower,” I said. “Wake me up at nine-thirty.”

“You're ridiculous,” he told me before dropping my blankets on the floor and walking out of the room. I thought I was home free and the crazy man was gone, so I retrieved my blankets and attempted to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, I'd been asleep for maybe two or three minutes when I heard my door open again and then I began to hear the sounds of the Spice Girls singing “If You Want to be my Lover.” I moaned and threw my pillow at him but to no avail. Charles Winston Bennett was determined to get me out of bed.

I sighed and climbed out of bed. When I got married, I wasn't going to wake any of my groomsmen up before it was absolutely necessary for them to be awake. Of course, unlike Charlie, I happened to be the type of person who wouldn't wake everyone else in the house up because I was excited. When I was a kid, I used to go sit and stare at the Christmas tree until my parents and Gianna woke up on their own, or until Gianna woke Mom and Dad up. But I never really felt a huge need to wake other people up just because I was excited about something. Am I weird? Maybe, Lizzie would give that question a very definitive and resounding yes but then who was she to talk anyway? She was the one who once set her toenail clippings on fire to see what color the flames would be. By the way, apparently the flames were normal colors; I wasn't there for this event but I heard about it from Steve and Becca who witnessed it at some point during their years in college.

At ten-thirty, I found myself standing in Charlie's room while he paced back and forth debating whether or not he was worthy of Jane. I didn't think I was worthy of Lizzie but she seemed to love me anyway, so I wasn't going to explore that one too deeply. She loved me and that was all that mattered. I'd been trying to eat my breakfast but he wouldn't leave me alone long enough to eat. Finally, when he was wondering if she liked his haircut or not, I walked out of the room and went to find my breakfast. I found Louisa eating the food that I had left in the dining room but decided not to broach the issue with her. Instead, I went into the kitchen and found a new bowl and poured myself more cereal. After washing that down with a glass of orange juice, I looked at the clock to see that it was eleven o'clock. I decided to check on Charlie and then give Lizzie a call to see who things were going for the girls.

Charlie was still pacing the room but I made sure he understood that we were leaving for the church in thirty minutes. Then I went to my room and called Lizzie. “Jane is practically having a nervous breakdown and we haven't even left my parents' place yet. She's convinced that Charlie is going to leave her at the altar.”

I sighed. “They're a match made in heaven. He's convinced he doesn't deserve her and is sitting around wondering why she wants to marry him.”

I heard her laugh and I smiled. “You do realize that it'll be our turn in less than six months?” she asked, her tone suddenly becoming serious. “Will, we're getting married in less than six months.”

“Does that scare you?”

“No, but I just hope I'm not acting like Jane is now when that day comes. When we were getting out hair done, she was so ditzy and out of it. She's so worried that Charlie is going to stand her up or something. It's ridiculous, Will,” she sighed. “They love each and this is all going to work out perfectly.”

“You're right, but they're nervous. They're getting married and I guess on your wedding day that must be a scary thing. I don't know, but I bet it must be. You've been in weddings before; was Charlotte nervous? Or what about Becca or Hannah, didn't they get nervous?”

She laughed, and I'm sure she was remembering some great moment with Becca or Hannah or Charlotte before their wedding. “All right, Miss Bennett,” I said. “What's so funny?”

She kept laughing and said, “You know something, Will? I'm better at doing The Serious Teacher Voice than you are.”

“That's because you're a serious teacher. I'm a lawyer and no one expects us to have a Serious Teacher Voice.”

“Yeah, but I've heard you use your Serious Lawyer Voice.”

“Oh, the one I use when I'm trying to get people to stop arguing or when I'm in court? Gianna says that voice scares her.”

“Sometimes it scares me too,” she admitted. “Maybe you should try using it on Charlie.”

“And you use your teacher voice on Jane. Then the wedding will start on time.”

“Will, darling, we're talking about Charlie and Jane; this wedding will not start on time. But if you work on Charlie and I work on Jane, I'll see you at the church very soon.”

Forty-five minutes later, we got to the church. The girls were already there; I laughed out loud when I realized that the girls had beaten us to the church. But Charlie had taken forever to get out to the car, even using my best Serious Lawyer Voice. In all honesty, Lizzie's Serious Teacher Voice is better than my Serious Lawyer Voice. Of course, I have to use mine to persuade lawyers and judges while she has to convince high school students to do things that they don't want to do. I imagine it also works well with nervous brides or silly sisters.

I didn't see Lizzie until a few minutes before the wedding. And I have to say that she has never looked so beautiful in her entire life. Jane looked gorgeous but Lizzie outshone the bride, at least in my opinion. I'm sure no one else thought that way but I did. Her hair looked beautiful but it was the dress that made her shine. It was red and it had thicker straps but then a bit of a v-shape to the neckline and there was beading at the waist; I'm horrible at describing dresses but she looked wonderful, absolutely wonderful. I couldn't stop smiling as we walked down the aisle. She was smiling herself, but I knew that she was probably realizing that in less than six months her dad would be walking her down this very same aisle while I stood where Charlie was standing and waiting. But the day wasn't about Lizzie or me. It was about my best friend and Lizzie's sister; it was Jane and Charlie's day.

When Lizzie and I reached the end of the aisle and took our respective places, the string quartet began playing Pachelbel's Canon in D and Mr. Bennett and Jane began walking down the aisle. Jane looked amazing and she looked so happy; it seemed like she was glowing with delight. Her dress was beautiful and she looked like a princess; no, she looked like a queen, the queen of the day. Charlie's face had been lit up like someone had turned on a new light inside of him. His eyes were bright with joy; I'd never seen him look that happy in his life and I've known him since kindergarten. Those two were perfect for each other and I was so glad they were finally getting married. I know there was a time when I worked to end their relationship but that's behind me now. I'm behind them as much as I can be. I want things to work out for them, if only because I'm engaged to Jane's sister. And Charlie is my best friend.

The wedding was beautiful. The music was great and their vows were wonderful; the whole Mass was great. Tears were running down Jane's cheeks during the vows but it was so obvious how happy she was. “I've waited for someone like you since I was a little girl,” Jane said during their vows. “When I was little I used to dream about my prince charming that would come and sweep me off my feet. As I grew older, I realized that what I really wanted was a man who would put God above all else, a man who would love God more than he loved me. And I found that in you. You are my knight in shining armor but more than that, you are a reminder of the presence of God in my life.”

“I've waited for a woman like you all my life and when I finally found you it was a dream come true, the fulfillment of a thousand dreams and wishes. I'd been praying for a woman like you for years and then one day, there you were, standing there in front of me,” Charlie said. He sighed and continued. “You are God's greatest gift to me. I don't know what I would do without you. You're the light in my life and you mean so much to me.” My best friend was pledging forever; we were growing up. This realization that we were adults, really and truly adults, had been flowing over me during the past few weeks. As Charlie and Jane's wedding day drew closer, this had become more and more evident to me. Oh sure, I'd watched Greg and Melissa get married the previous summer and I'd been at Jon and Gretchen's wedding a few years earlier. I'd been in Rick and Evelyn's wedding a while back but this was different. I was getting married soon.

All day my mind kept returning to the fact that in less than six months I would be the one standing there promising “until death do us part” to Lizzie. I was going to make Miss Elizabeth Anne Bennett into Mrs. Elizabeth Anne Darcy. There hadn't been a Mrs. Darcy for years now. My mother died when I was twenty-two and now I was thirty-one, almost thirty-two. Anne Fitzwilliam-Darcy had died almost ten years earlier and now I was going to get married.

At the end of the Mass, Charlie and Jane walked down the aisle together as Mr. and Mrs. Charles Winston Bingley. Then I took Lizzie's arm and we followed Mr. and Mrs. Bingley out of the church. “Just think,” Lizzie whispered in my ear. “In less than six months, we'll be the ones walking down the aisle first.”

“Lizzie-lou, that's all I've been able to think about all day,” I whispered back.

“After watching the two of them get married, I've realized I can't wait for our wedding. There's so much work that still needs to be done and we need to wait until the school year is over, but I just can't wait to get married. I can't wait to be Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy.”

When she said those three magical words, I could feel chills running down my spine. “You're going to be Mrs. Darcy,” I whispered in her ear.

She smiled as we exited the church. “And I can't wait. But today is Jane and Charlie's day. Let's keep the focus on them.”

I kissed her cheek. “It would be my pleasure, my lady.”

We spent at least two hours posing for wedding pictures. My favorite of the wedding pictures was one of Lizzie, Jane, Charlie, and I standing in front of the Christmas tree in the church. The reds and greens of the Christmas tree really fit in well with the colors of Lizzie's dress and the girls' flowers. And it was a great shot of the four of us. I also really liked the pictures that were taken of just the Bennett sisters. Lizzie, Mary, and Katie had been bridesmaids and Lydia just got to wear a pretty dress even if she was convinced she was hideously ugly. But they all looked gorgeous.

After all the picture taking ended, we headed over the Longbourn for the reception. We got there around five although the reception didn't start until six. Most of the bridal party ended up in the VIP lounge playing cards. Lizzie, Jenny, Jane, and Charlie were playing euchre while most of us guys played poker. Lizzie had tried to teach me to play euchre a thousand and one times but for some reason I just couldn't grasp the strategy behind the game. According to Kyle, euchre is a Michigan thing and the only people who can understand it are people from Michigan, Ontario, and people who should be from Michigan can understand. I guess this means I'm not supposed to be from Michigan. Well, Lizzie did agree to move to Chicago so that must be a sign that I'm not meant to live in Michigan.

Shortly after six o'clock, we made our way into the reception. Jane and Charlie had asked Steve to introduce the wedding party but to be more proper than he usually was when he was the master of ceremonies at a wedding. So, he was good and proper and appropriate, like we all knew he could be. The whole reception was beautiful. Jane and Charlie danced their first dance as Mr. and Mrs. Charles Winston and Jane Priscilla Bingley to Nat King Cole's “Unforgettable.” It was adorable and very much them. They had a very cutesy and romantic relationship. Now they are mature, responsible adults and their relationship reflects that. But they're both more into doing things that Lizzie calls “chick flick stuff.” Apparently, this category includes Valentine's Day proposals, Christmas weddings, and having “Unforgettable” as your wedding song.

After Charlie and Jane's dance, Jane danced with her dad to “More I Cannot Wish You” from Guys and Dolls. “That's another chick flick moment,” Lizzie whispered in my ear.

“I think it's kind of sweet,” I replied.

She shrugged. “Of course it's sweet. Chick flick moments are always sweet and amazingly sappy. They're so sweet and sappy that they'll give you cavities just from smelling them.”

“What kind of romance do you want?”

A faraway look fell over her eyes and she smiled her secret smile that she only smiles when she doesn't realize that she's smiling or that anyone is paying attention to her. It's her happiest and most sincere smile. “I want a warrior prince who will fight by my side no matter what happens. Jane always preferred Prince Charming from Snow White while I want to marry Maximus Decimus Meridius.”

“My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next,” I teased.

She shook her head and laughed. “I love that movie.”

A few minutes later, we had to dance together for the wedding party dance. So dancing with Lizzie isn't exactly a painful experience. But Jane had made us all practice dancing to the song like five times. We were dancing to the song “I've Had the Time of my Life” from Dirty Dancing. I'm not sure what the significance of that song to the wedding party was but Jane liked it so we went with it. And after that song, we could dance when we wanted and with whomever we pleased. Okay, so I only wanted to dance with my fiancée and my sister, but I still had my options open as far as the bride and groom were concerned. At one point in the evening, I was dancing with Gianna and when I came back to Lizzie, she was sitting with Steve, Becca, Kyle, Jenny, Alex, Hannah, and a couple I'd never met before. Jenny had Mary Logan in her lap and Lizzie had a baby girl I didn't recognize in her lap. The adults were all talking animatedly and seemed to know each other well. I was about to go talk to some friends of mine from college who I could see when Alex called me over. “Will, come here! I want you to meet some friends of Jane's and mine from college.”

I came over the table and sat down in an empty chair between Lizzie and the unknown woman. “Will Darcy,” Alex continued. “I'd like to introduce you to Ben and Cecilia Gobetti and their daughter Sophia. Ben and I lived together from my junior year of college until he got married about a year and a half ago.”

“Now he lives with me,” the woman seated to my right, who apparently was named Cecilia, said.

“And this little girl, don't forget that he lives with darling little Sophia,” Lizzie added, stroking the cheek of the baby in her lap. The baby had dark brown curls and big brown eyes.

Ben, who was sitting on his wife's other side, laughed. “I live with the two most beautiful women I know.”

“It's because we're both Italian,” his wife told him.

“And they both have beautiful Italian names,” Steve said.

“Steve loves anything and everything Italian,” Becca remarked.

“Especially Italian food,” her incorrigible husband replied. “We went to Italy on our honeymoon and the food there was so amazing. Becca tried to learn some of their recipes and now she's learning Italian cooking from my mother and grandmother.”

“Where are Charlie and Jane going for their honeymoon?” Hannah asked, brilliantly stopping Steve's rant that could be perceived as insulting to his wife.

“Paris,” Lizzie replied. “They want to visit the City of Love to celebrate the beginning of their marriage born out of their boundless love for each other.”

I smiled. I knew Lizzie thought this was another “chick flick moment” aspect of Charlie and Jane's relationship. I thought she was overreacting, but I also knew that Lizzie liked things to be real and peaceful. She didn't like playing games and messing around about things. She would watch chick flicks on occasion and she'd been known to read the occasional book of the chick-lit variety. But Lizzie wasn't an overly girly girl and she was happier doing things to create her own memories rather doing things the way other people did them.

Over the course of the evening, I learned that Cecilia Gobetti had lived with Jane during college. “They were really close during college,” Lizzie told me. “They lived together for two years. Jenny and Hannah lived with them too. They had this great house near campus and near St. Thomas in Ann Arbor. Sometimes, Becca, Char, Kyle, Steve, and I would drive down for a weekend to visit them and Becca, Char, and I loved staying in their house. It was just a really nice, homey house.”

“And Ben lived with Alex?” I asked.

She nodded. “Ben, Alex, and Kyle are basically the same person with different physical features. There are a few differences but those boys have so much in common.”

Lizzie caught Jane's bouquet of red roses shortly before the newlyweds left for Charlie's apartment atop the Netherfield. I was spending the last few days before I went back to Chicago at Kyle's apartment so I didn't have to deal with what Jenny referred to as “wedding night lovey-dovey-ness and things that go bump in the dark.” I was actually glad to be spending time with Kyle because he's one of Lizzie's closest friends and someone who she really looks up to and respects. His opinion really matters to her and he's basically the brother she never had. That was why I had asked him to be one of my groomsmen; it was the closest I could come to putting her brother in the wedding.

The next morning, Lizzie and I went to Mass together. Afterwards, we went out for brunch with the Logans, the Collinses, Kyle and Jenny, Alex and Hannah, and the Gobettis. The babies were so cute and sweet. Jackson was a chubby baby who was looking more and more like his father every time I saw him while Mary was looking more and more like her mother. Sophia Gobetti also bore a strong resemblance to her own mother. Lizzie loved playing with her friends' children and I knew she was eagerly looking forward to playing with the children Jane and Charlie would someday have as well as Lydia's children and someday, our children.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Come What May

Lizzie's POV

My bridal shower was in mid-May around the same time that Hannah King-Kilpatrick announced that she was pregnant and due in December. I was thrilled for Hannah, but Jane wasn't. Jane and Charlie had really been hoping for a honeymoon baby but after four months of marriage, she still wasn't pregnant. She was starting to get discouraged especially after Hannah announced her pregnancy, but her doctor told her that she needed to wait a few more months before he would actually consider this as a problem. My personal opinion was that Jane was just too stressed out about the whole thing. She just needed to relax and stop worrying. That really would help her in trying to get pregnant. But my sister liked to remind me that I wasn't married yet and therefore didn't really know anything about the specific details of getting pregnant. Umm, dream on, dearest sister. I am a woman after all.

Planning for the wedding in general was going really well. Will was in Meryton almost every weekend helping me with details. And when he wasn't there, I was in Chicago making adjustments to his house to prepare for our married life there. Mostly I was trying to put a few feminine touches on a house that had mostly been Will's bachelor pad since his dad died. And before that, his dad had lived there as a widower with two children for five years after his wife died. Sure Gianna had lived there but she was younger and didn't want to change the way her mom had the house or argue with her dad or her brother. But now that I was going to be living there as Will's wife, I planned on bringing some life and life into the cold, dark house. I wanted to use brighter, happier colors than had been found in the Darcy house in years.

But most of my focus was on the wedding. I had to deal with a million and one minute details of wedding planning that no one actually thinks about until they themselves are getting married. I was also spending too much of my free time babysitting my nieces. Lydia's second daughter, Hayley Anne, was born at the beginning of February and her mother was still shrugging her maternal duties off on the little girls' grandparents and aunts. I found myself responsible for the two little blonde angels far more than was typically expected of any child's aunt. But I knew that Lydia had no clue how to be a mother. She was nineteen years old and no one had been planning on her becoming a mother at the age of 18. And growing up in our parents' house hadn't trained her to handle guys like Damien. Most of my training in male-female relating came from other people's parents and older siblings. My younger sisters were basically raised by TV shows. I think I've learned a lot from my mom's parenting mistakes and I hope that I can show my daughters what it really means to be a woman in this world.

The day before my bridal shower, I found myself eating lunch in the faculty lounge with Kyle. “When you were a kid, did you ever think that the teachers sat around and talked about you in here?” he asked.

I nodded. “I'm pretty sure every teacher sat in here and wondered why I couldn't be like Jane.”

“Why?” he asked. “You were smart; dude, you took classes at a community college and got your associate's degree while you were in high school.”

“Yeah, but I was also more headstrong and obstinate than Jane. I had an opinion about everything.”

“You still do,” he quipped.

I shook my head and smiled. “I also did crazy things like getting into a car accident my senior year of high school. Jane never would have done anything like that.”

“That's only because Jane wouldn't have been working during high school, especially not until one or two in the morning. Lizzie-belle, you did too much during high school.”

“You don't know that for a fact; you've just heard that,” I retorted.

Kyle sighed. “You Bennett girls will never just accept a compliment. What are you going to do when your husband wants to show his affection for you with a compliment? Are you going to argue with him?”

“You know that I only argue with you,” I snapped back.

“What about Will? Do you guys argue?”

“Yeah, but not in the same way we do; with us, it's more of a sibling thing than a person you're about to marry thing.”

“Are you calling me your brother?”

I nodded and smiled. “You are my brother.”

He grinned. “Not by blood though, my daddy only makes the best kind of babies, boys.”

I laughed. “What are you going to do when you have daughters?”

“Blame Jenny,” he replied frankly.

I shook my head. “You do realize that you're the one who can shoot an X or a Y; she can only contribute X-chromosomes.”

“It's still her fault; it will just mean that her womb is a hostile environment to Y-chromosomes.”

“That's some really sound science there, Mr. Biology Major and Chemistry Minor.”

Kyle stuck his tongue out at me and I laughed. Paul Jacobs walked by just then and said, “You two are almost as mature as some of the freshman boys on the baseball team.”

“Paul, when are you going to realize that neither Lizzie nor I actually care what you think about the two of us?” I got along with Paul pretty well, but Kyle and Paul always had somewhat of a rivalry. It was pretty one-sided; basically, Paul hated Kyle because the students liked him more and because he had a fiancée. Apparently, it was nice being the heartthrob to high school students but Paul was getting sick of being alone and watching Kyle's personal success with women and just in life in general.

That evening, Will and I were having dinner at La Mesa talking about Gianna and Emily when a brilliant idea popped into my head. “Will, we should introduce Gianna to Kyle's younger brother, Connor. They're about the same age and if nothing else, it would give her someone her age she could talk to at our wedding.”

He smiled. “Where did you get that idea from?”

“I was talking to Kyle at lunch today about how there are only boys in his family and then Paul Jacobs came over and started talking about how Kyle and I are pathetic for settling when we're so young. He sounded so jealous and frustrated, not like he actually thought we were being stupid for being in serious relationships but like he wanted to be in one and was annoyed that he wasn't.”

“So how does that lead to wanting to set my younger sister up with Kyle's younger brother?”

I smiled. “Gianna is your darling little sister and Connor might as well be my little brother. I want to see both of them happy.”

“We'll think about it, Lizzie,” he said. “Maybe the next time Connor and Gianna are both in Meryton we can introduce them and see how things go.”

“Okay, well, Connor is in Meryton now visiting Kyle. He figured that since Alex and Hannah would be in town this weekend, he'd come up for the weekend and spend some time with his brothers tomorrow during the bridal shower.”

“Wow,” my fiancé gasped. “You really have this all planned out, don't you? So when are we all going out for dinner to set them up? Is it going to just be Alex, Hannah, Kyle, Jenny, Gianna, Connor, you, and me? Or will the entire Kilpatrick family be there to witness this exciting juncture in their son's life?”

I shook my head. “You know what? Just forget I said anything. Maybe it's a bad idea. I mean Gianna has Emily to take care of and Connor is just your average twenty-two-year-old guy who just graduated from college and is heading off to law school in the fall.”

“Connor wants to be a lawyer?”

“Yeah, he majored in history and British literature in college. He studied in London for a summer and spent a year at Trinity College in Dublin.”

“So he's in touch with his Irish heritage?”

I nodded. “You could say that.”

“How about we try this one? I get to meet Connor first and if I like him, we can introduce him to Gianna. But the whole thing has to be very casual. I don't want this to feel like a set-up to either one of them and I definitely don't want Gianna to feel like this is a pity date or something.”

“Okay, but just for the record, Will, this is not a pity date. I really think that Gianna and Connor would go well together. He's good with little kids.”

“How do you know that one?”

“Easy, I've spent way too much time at Mike and Kathy's house. That means that I've watched Alex, Kyle, and Connor playing with their younger cousins a million and one times over the past several years.”

He smiled but then it seemed as if a shadow had fallen over his face. “Lizzie, I have a question that is going to sound really weird to you, especially considering that we're getting married in six weeks and your bridal shower is tomorrow.”

I nodded, guessing that this question would probably have something to do with my relationship with Kyle. “What's on your mind?”

“If you never knew about what I did for Lydia and things had never worked out for us, do you think that you would have ended up marrying Kyle next month?”

My breath caught in my throat and I didn't know what to say. That was such a complicated question. Yes, Kyle and I had been supposed to go on a date the night that Will and I went on our first date. But things had worked out for Will and me. Jenny and Kyle ended up being a better match than anyone ever would have guessed. “There are so many `what-ifs' wrapped up in that question. Yes, Kyle and I had a an agreement to go on a date the week after Charlotte and Ethan's wedding, but who knows if that relationship would have worked out? Think about how similar Kyle and I are. We work better as friends or siblings than we ever would as a couple. And don't worry about it; I'm never going to leave you for Kyle. Don't worry about what might have been; let's live with what we have. We love each other and we're getting married in six weeks. This is real.”

I know why my relationship with Kyle scares Will. Kyle and I are close in a way rarely seen outside of the bond between siblings. The bond between us was forged by years of friendship and a need, at least on my part, for a sibling of the opposite sex. We could have tried dating, but in all likelihood, things would never have worked out for us. We would have dated for a while before fighting miserably and ending things, destroying not just our hypothetical dating relationship but also our friendship. We were much better off as friends, just very good friends who were almost siblings, and who were involved with other people. That was the best possible relationship for Kyle Kilpatrick and Elizabeth Bennett. We could never make it work any other way. And he and Jenny are perfect for each other.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of Jane frantically barking orders at Jenny. Most of her orders revolved around trying to wake me up, feed me a nutritious breakfast, and making me shower and look like a “normal human being.” When I heard Jenny scream, “Jane Bingley, it is seven-thirty in the morning and the shower isn't until one. The only people who need to be at the Longbourn setting up for the shower are you, Gianna, Char, Hannah, Jenny, and me. Lizzie doesn't need to be there until things get started. Just leave her alone and let her sleep.”

“I just want my sister to look perfect for her bridal shower,” my older sister protested.

I heard Jenny sigh as I walked into the living room. “I just want her to be well-rested. This is the only day of the week she gets to sleep in and you're yelling, which isn't going to help her sleep.”

“Well, I'm not asleep anymore,” I said, putting my glasses on. “So what does Jane want from me?”

“I want to make sure you wear the best possible outfit today. I want you to look your best for your bridal shower.”

“Well, why wouldn't I do that?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I don't know. I just don't want you to show up in jeans and a sweatshirt.”

“And I won't,” I sighed. “I was planning on wearing that green dress that Aunt Sophie bought me when I was in Chicago a couple weeks ago, unless you disapprove.”

My sister seemed to wither a little under my Strict Teacher Face, which had been perfected after years of practice both in the classroom and at home on my younger sisters. “Fine, I approve of that dress, but wear it with a nice pair of heels and your pearls. Will's family is going to be there; you don't want to embarrass yourself.”

I took a deep breath and smiled at Jane. “I'm well aware that Will's aunts and cousins will be at the shower. And I've also spent time with them before. I know how to dress and behave around them.”

“I'm just making sure,” she snapped. “I don't want you to embarrass yourself at your own bridal shower.”

By the time Jane left two hours later, I was starting lose my mind. It was fine that Jane had been a Bridezilla when it was her own wedding but now she was trying to hijack my wedding and make sure it was perfect, the way she wanted it to be perfect. But I wanted my wedding to fit my relationship with Will, not my sister's relationship with her husband. Jane and Charlie were married; now it was time for Will and me to get married. I was going to do things my way. Yes, we were having red in our color scheme but it was different. Our colors were red and black while hers had been the traditional Christmas colors. I also wanted things to be simpler than Jane's wedding. I just wanted to marry the man I love in front of the people who matter to me. I don't want it to be a big deal. I'll wear my pretty dress and have my fancy reception and all that jazz to make people happy and satisfy the five-year-old girl who still wants to be a princess that hides inside of me. But the most important thing to me is that in front of God and the people I love the most, I promise to love, honor, and cherish William Richard Darcy for as long as we both shall live. That was the point of getting married, at least for me.

I left my apartment for my bridal shower the Longbourn around twelve-thirty. It would take me about ten minutes to get there and then I could play with my godson, Jackson, and help my bridesmaids finish setting up for the shower. I know Char, Jenny, Becca, Gianna, and Hannah wanted the whole thing to be a surprise for me, but I also knew that Jane was stressing out about the whole thing. My sister had planned her own wedding and been in a few weddings herself but for some reason, she was stressing herself out over my wedding. It wasn't even her wedding or anything. She was more concerned about the minute details of my wedding, like who was sitting where at my reception, than I was. She was worried about so many minute details that might bother me at some point before my wedding but I wasn't stressing out about them now.

When I got to the Longbourn, I found Jackson shoved into my arms as Char ordered me to take him someplace and “just keep him quiet and entertained for a while.” So I took my godson to play in what was one of my favorite places in the hotel when I was a child. I took him to the wading pool that had played host to many of my best moments until the age of ten. The wading pool was in a greenhouse-like room filled with plants of all kinds. It was like perpetual summer or something. And it was also home to the hotel's “wishing well” that was really a wading pool with a fountain in the middle. My parents probably have hundreds of their five daughters splashing around in this little pool. And now I was taking my godson there. When we arrived there, Jackson and I found Katie there with my nieces, Maddie and the now three month old, Hayley. “Lydia dismissed her children because she's too stressed out getting dressed for the bridal shower.”

I laughed. “Have Mom and Dad decided what they're going to do with Hayley and Maddie?”

“Adopt them,” she said. “They're not certain but they don't know what else to do. Lydia has no intention of caring for them and they always end up with you or Jane or Mom or me. So Mom wants to adopt them and Lydia doesn't really care; she says she doesn't want them. And I doubt that Damien will really care; he's not even listed as Hayley's dad on her birth certificate.”

I nodded. Lydia wasn't very fond of her children or her ex-husband. Ever since Hayley was born, she'd been shoved off on my mother and I think Mom was sick of it. Yes, Lydia was undoubtedly her favorite child but that sentiment didn't mean that she appreciated it when her granddaughters were shoved off on her. So my mom had decided to adopt her granddaughters to make their lives and hers simpler.

My bridal shower was amazing. The food was wonderful and so many people I love were there. My aunts and my cousins were there as well as Will's aunts and cousins. And all of my mom's friends and my friends were there. Becca Logan had once said that you have to invite your mom's friends to your bridal shower so they can buy you all kind of really expensive things from your wedding registry. That theory worked wonderfully for me. From what Bed, Bath, and Beyond's website was telling me, people had bought me most of the stuff that we'd registered for. My aunt Sophie and my aunt Grace bought me the dishes I wanted, which made me so happy.

When we packed up our wedding shower gifts to take to his house over Memorial Day weekend, I realized that in a month, we would be promising each other forever. We were taking some things that were his and some that were mine and some that were new to both of us. And that was what was happening with our lives. We were joining two separate lives to create one new life. We were getting married on June 26 and then after a two week honeymoon across Europe, we were going to start our married life in Chicago.

Will's POV

Before I knew it, it was Friday, June 25, 2010 and I was standing in Kyle's kitchen getting ready to go to my rehearsal dinner. You might be wondering why I wasn't at the Netherfield with Jane and Charlie. Well, Jane was finally pregnant, after almost six months of trying, and she was going through horrible morning sickness and didn't want anyone seeing her except her husband. She was determined to still be matron of honor in our wedding but she wasn't doing anything else besides helping us get ready for the wedding. So, I was staying Kyle who was busy getting ready for his own wedding that was a mere three weeks away. “Are you ready for this?” he asked me as he walked into the kitchen tying his navy blue tie.

I looked at him. “Kyle, be honest with me. Do I deserve her?”

“Hell no,” he replied without pause or hestiation. “But for some reason, she seems to love you and apparently she wants to spend the rest of her life with you. So tomorrow at one o'clock, you'll walk down the aisle and then a few minutes later her dad will walk her down the aisle. And then, in front of God and Man, you'll profess your love for her; you'll promise her forever and then, it'll be real. You'll be man and wife. I might not think you deserve you but she seems pretty ready to spend forever with you. She loves you, Will. If nothing else, she loves you and she wants to marry you. And if she thinks you're good enough, then who am I to stop you? Go for it and marry the girl.”

I smiled at him and then a horrible, jealous thought jumped into my head and out of my mouth before I could stop myself. “If you could have married her, would you have done it?”

Kyle's blue eyes turned a strange shade of gray that I'd never seen before and he shook his head. “She is yours. I knew that the first time I saw you with her. You two belong together. Lizzie is my baby sister and I love her but we could never be anything other than siblings.”

“Funny thing,” I said. “That's almost exactly what she told me when I asked her the same question.”

“It's true,” he stated calmly and simply. “Will, that girl loves you passionately and will always love you. Just don't screw it up.”

“I know,” I told him. “If I screw it up, you and Steve will screw me up.”

“So badly you won't know what hit you,” he replied calmly as we walked out of the apartment.

The rehearsal was almost painful as I realized how close we were to getting married. In less than twenty-four hours we would become man and wife, Mr. and Mrs. William and Elizabeth Darcy. I could wait. Our entire lives were about to change, but it was going to be for the better. Lizzie and I had been joking that our wedding song should have been “For Good” from Wicked. Charlie said that the problem with that we knew that we'd been changed for the better. Lizzie laughed and asked him how he knew that.

“You've changed Will,” he replied. “You've made him a better man.”

It was true, what Charlie said. She had made me a better person. I was stronger and more open with my feelings than I'd been before meeting her. And I was happier than I'd been in years, possibly since my mother's death nearly twelve years earlier. And I knew that was because of Lizzie's influence in my life. She brought light into my life and she filled me with so much happiness and love, for her, for others. She was a beautiful, amazing woman filled with life and energy. She cared so much about the people around her.

Even now, a few minutes before our wedding rehearsal, she was playing with Connor and Elana. Connor, my cousin's six-year-old son, and Elana, Lizzie's seven-year-old cousin, were our ring-bearer and flower girl. They were so cute watching all the adults getting ready for the rehearsal. Connor was sitting on Lizzie's lap while Elana leaned against her arm and my fiancée made them little animals out of colored play-dough that just happened to be in her purse. It was amazingly adorable. And speaking of adorable, Connor Kilpatrick was bouncing my two-year-old niece, Emily, on his hip while we all waited for Jane, Hannah, Becca, Gianna, Jenny, and Char to finish up their “secret bridesmaids' meeting.” Connor and Gianna had met at brunch after Mass the day after Lizzie's bridal shower. They'd been on a couple of dates over the next few weeks while Gianna and Emily were in Meryton helping Lizzie with some wedding things. Connor was in Meryton a lot helping his brother out with various things especially leading up to Kyle and Jenny's wedding.

And then came Memorial Day weekend. It was the first time Connor met Emily and if my younger sister had been interested in him before that weekend, Emily's unabashed adoration of her mother's beau had cemented the mother's love for said beau. At a Saturday barbeque on the beach near Netherfield, Emily had followed Connor everywhere and he'd been amazing with her. Now, a month later, he was carrying her around and showing her the fatherly affection and devotion she'd always needed but had never received. In one month, Connor had been able to give my beautiful little niece more love and affection than her biological father would have been able to give her in a lifetime. I didn't know if Connor and Gianna would ever get married but they had an amazing chemistry. And he was wonderful with Emily. I smiled as I saw him singing softly to her. “Just as long as he doesn't sing the `Believe it or not, George isn't at home' song,” Lizzie remarked to me.

“I think that's more Kyle's thing than it is Connor's. I've kind of picked up the impression that Connor doesn't want to be Kyle or Alex,” I replied.

“He doesn't have to be his brother but that doesn't mean that the whole making a stupid song your voicemail isn't just genetic.”

Thankfully, the bridesmaids finally emerged from the church basement just then and we were finally able to start the rehearsal. In some ways, it was simple, just making sure we all knew when to do what but it meant so much for me. The next day at one o'clock in the afternoon, we would be here again but in different, fancier clothes and it would just be a practice or a rehearsal. It would be real. I was finally going to marry Lizzie.

We had the actual dinner at the Longbourn. It was amazing to see who was there and remember the roles they'd played in our relationship. Char and Ethan Collins were there with their son, Jackson; Lizzie and I had gone to Char and Ethan's wedding together only a few short weeks after we started dating. Steve and Becca Logan were also there with their little girl, Mary. Steve and Becca had never done one specific thing that could be pinpointed as helping our relationship, but their friendship had helped us. And Steve was one of Lizzie's surrogate “overprotective big brothers.” Then there were Jane and Charlie; none of this would have ever happened if Charlie hadn't bought the Netherfield and dragged me to Meryton to see the hotel. That trip was when we were invited to Char's birthday party, which was where we first met Lizzie and Jane. And then he fell for Jane, which forced me to spend time around Lizzie. And then Char and Ethan were spending Easter with my aunt Catherine and Char invited her sister, Maria, and Lizzie, to spend Easter with her. That was when I asked Lizzie out for the first time and found out about all the lies Damien Wickham had told her about me. Then in July, her aunt and uncle brought her to Pemberley in Virginia while Gianna, Emily, and I happened to be there. And it was then that things really got on the road to where we might possibly start dating. But that was before Damien ran off with Lizzie's younger sister, Lydia. Seeing how upset that made Lizzie, I became determined to make things better and went in search of them. When I found them, I let Ed Gardiner take control of the situation and they were quickly married. And then, Lizzie found out what I had done.

I have been told that it was when Lizzie discovered my role in tracking down Damien and Lydia that she realized what her feelings for me really were. She saw me a few times after that before things really came out in the open, but by the end of August of 2008, we were dating. We dated for about eight months before I proposed. That was about fourteen months earlier. And our wedding was the next day. I was finally going to marry the girl I'd seen a birthday party and while I thought she was beautiful, I'd referred to her as “fine, barely tolerable. She wasn't someone you could look at every day.” I was wrong about that. Lizzie is someone I could look at every single day for the rest of my life and still never get enough. She is, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I know. I looked at her across the room. I was standing and talking with Steve, Kyle, and Alex while she was talking to her aunt Sophie, Hannah Kilpatrick, and her sister, Katie. She was laughing and moving her hands expressively. She looked so happy and so peaceful. And she was gorgeous in her royal blue v-neck dress; she was wearing a simple strand of pearls and she'd pinned her hair up in a simple chignon. She didn't look at all “barely tolerable.” She looked absolutely ravishing, simply stunning.

A few minutes later, I was still talking to Steve, Kyle, and Alex when I felt a pair of arms slip around my waist. “Hey there, handsome,” I heard whispered in my ear and I felt soft breath on my neck.

“That had been better be Lizzie,” I said as the other three laughed.

“Don't worry,” Kyle said as he adjusted little Mary Logan on his hip. “That is definitely your Elizabeth.”

“If you like, we can leave you two lovebirds alone for a while,” Alex told us as Lizzie came to stand next to me.

I wrapped my arm around the woman I was going to marry the next morning and pressed my cheek into her hair. “You can stay,” I told him. “We don't mind you, do we Lizzie-lou?”

She smiled. “You three guys are the best brothers a girl could ever ask for. But if you want to leave and let Will and I goof off, you can.”

“We're not going anywhere,” Steve said quickly. “As long as we have Mary here, you have to behave yourselves.”

“Just be good until you get married,” Kyle added. “After the reception tomorrow night, you two can do whatever you please.”

“Do you hear that, Will?” Lizzie said. “We can do whatever we want.”

“I knew there was a reason we were getting married.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight: When You Say You Love Me

Lizzie's POV

“And the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

-Mark 10:8-9

Christopher and Marybeth Bennett request the pleasure of your presence at the wedding of their daughter,

Elizabeth Anne

To

William Richard Darcy

At one o'clock on the afternoon of

Saturday, June 26, 2010

At St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church

In Meryton, Michigan.

The favor of a response is requested by May 30, 2010.

The morning of June 26, 2010 dawned cool and breezy. I woke up around seven-fifteen and after waking Jenny up, I jumped in the shower. We needed to be at the hair salon at nine-forty-five and then we were getting our make-up done at eleven-fifteen. My goal was to be at the church by noon so we could eat and get dressed. The wedding was scheduled for one o'clock. I was hoping it would start on time but you never knew. Jane's wedding started fifteen minutes late. Alex and Hannah's wedding had barely started on time. Char and Ethan's wedding had started twenty-five minutes late. I wanted my wedding to start on time. And I was pretty sure Will would agree with me. He has to be one of the most punctual people I know. I think that's a result of working in business and being a lawyer.

We made it to the hair salon on time and things seemed to be going really well. Jane wasn't feeling very well but that was to be expected as par for the course of being two months pregnant. Char had left Jackson with her mother to maker her life simpler although she was venting frustration over that the fact that she couldn't leave him alone with Ethan the way Becca could leave Mary with Steve. I felt bad for Char, but I also knew that Ethan and Steve had very different parenting styles. Ethan was nowhere near as hands-on as Steve is. Steve just loves to spend time with his daughter. Ethan, on the other hand, liked his son but he wasn't as comfortable holding the chubby ten-month-old lad. The night before I'd watched Steve with Mary and I knew that he was an amazing father. He was just a natural with children.

But I digress; my hair was beautiful. I had my mom's friend, Kathleen, do my hair for the wedding. She'd also done Jane's hair for her wedding as well as our hair for numerous occasions like prom when we were younger. She did our hair for Becca's wedding and she was going to do the hair for Jenny's wedding as well. Kathleen straightened my hair and pinned it up in a French twist with little pearl pins holding my hair and curls overflowing at the top. With this, she paired a pearl headband to watch the pearl earrings and necklace I was wearing that day.

My bridesmaids were all wearing different hairstyles. Jane was wearing her light brown hair loose in simple curls. Becca's hair was held back by a simple pearl barrette while her dark brown curls cascaded over her shoulders. Char had her hair in a bun with pins that matched the jewelry she was wearing that day. Hannah and Jenny both had their hair in simple French twists minus all the cascading curls in mine. It was almost the same style as my hair but much more simple. Gianna was wearing her hair in almost the same style as Becca but she was using two barrettes instead of just one. My bridesmaids looked amazing.

After getting our hair done, we headed over to Becca and Steve's house where Becca's sisters, Ava and Sarah, were going to be doing our make-up. I just wanted us all to have simple, natural looks. I wanted to look like myself on my wedding day. Will was marrying me, not some doll, and I wanted him to see the woman he was marrying. I wanted to look like a human being. And the good thing about having Ava and Sarah do our make-up was that it was free and they were good about helping us get to the church on time. We got to St. Thomas about five minutes past noon. I could tell by the cars in the parking lot that the guys were already there but that was to be expected. They didn't need to have their hair and make-up done.

St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in Meryton, Michigan is about one hundred years old. The church was built when Meryton was a small farming community. There were no hotels or resorts there then. It was just a small farming community of German and Irish farmers who were sick of trying to make it to Traverse City for Mass every Sunday especially in the winter. So in the early 1900s, they got a priest and every week, Fr. McDonough said Mass in the Logan family's barn. In 1920, Alexander Bennett moved to Meryton from Chicago and opened the Longbourn Hotel. Along with being wealthy, Alexander and his wife, Elizabeth, were also devoutly Catholic and the parents of seven children, including a son named Timothy. Alexander and Elizabeth worked heroically alongside people like Stephen Logan, Nathaniel Gardiner, and Patrick Fleming to build a real church in which the Catholics in Meryton and the surrounding farm communities could worship.

In September of 1925, Fr. Daniel O'Reilly celebrated Mass in St. Thomas the Apostle's new church for the first time. Three weeks later, he performed the wedding of Timothy Alexander Bennett and Mary Priscilla Logan. Timothy and Mary are my great-grandparents and Mary is also Steve Logan's great-great-great-aunt; her brother Nicholas is Steve's grandfather. Two years later, Fr. Daniel baptized Benjamin and Mary's first-born son, Alan Timothy Bennett. Twenty-seven years after that, in 1954, Alan Bennett married Elinor Jane Gilbert in a ceremony performed by Elinor's oldest brother, Fr. Richard Gilbert. In late November of 1956, Fr. Patrick Evans baptized Christopher Alan Bennett, the first baby Fr. Patrick baptized after his ordination the previous June. Five and a half years later, Fr. Evans baptized Marybeth Louise Gardiner, the second of Peter and Louise Gardiner's three children. In August of 1967, Fr. Thomas Mulroney buried Alexander Bennett and then did the same for Elizabeth three months later.

Then in August of 1980, Fr. Roger McClintock celebrated the marriage of Christopher Alan Bennett, manager of Longbourn Estates, to Marybeth Louise Gardiner, recent graduate of Meryton High School. In February of 1982, shortly before Lent began, Fr. Roger baptized Christopher and Marybeth's first child, Jane Priscilla. In September of 1983, he baptized what he would later refer to as “the louder screamer in the history of St. Thomas.” Apparently, all I did from the minute water touched my two-month-old body was scream bloody murder and I didn't stop until I was safely back in my mother's arms and warmly dressed. Mary, Katie, and Lydia were also baptized at St. Thomas. We all received our First Communion there. We were confirmed there. All three of my deceased grandparents were buried from St. Tom's. St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church on Main Street in Meryton, Michigan isn't the most beautiful church in the world, or even in Michigan. But it's where every important major event in the Bennett family has taken place since my great-great grandfather Alexander Bennett moved to Meryton in 1920. And my mother's family has been involved in the St. Thomas since Day One. When people talk about having a home parish, St. Thomas was mine. And on Saturday, June 26, 2010, I was going to marry William Richard Darcy in the parish that had seen the marriages and baptisms and funerals of more Bennetts and Gardiners than I could count.

I was dressed and ready to go by 12:45. Becca laughed at me as I paced the old tile floor of the bride's room. “Can I just marry him already?” I asked her. “Were you this nervous and excited and scared when you married Steve?”

She hugged me and adjusted my veil slightly. “I was terrified,” she replied. “But look at me now. I've been married for almost two years, I have the most amazing husband ever, and I have the most beautiful baby daughter ever born.”

“You can do it, sweetheart,” my mother told me. “He's a wonderful man even if I don't understand him.”

I looked at my mom. I didn't completely understand her, but she was coming around about Will. She was starting to understand that Damien wasn't the prince she had believed him to be and there might be some good to Will Darcy. She invited him over for dinner a few times and even bothered to learn what some of his favorite dishes were. Mom was starting to make an effort to like Will and to learn about the things he did with his life. And I was starting to learn about my mother. I remember being a teenager who couldn't understand why anyone would want to get married at the age of eighteen and spend the rest of her life just being someone's wife and a mother. And while I still don't understand why she got married at the age of eighteen, I'm pretty sure love had something to do with it. I may not know why she chose to forgo college and all the opportunities that were available there, but she has been a good mother. Maybe that was just what she was supposed to do with her life.

And while my mom had made some really, no make that incredibly, stupid parenting decisions, especially regarding raising Katie and Lydia but she is a good woman at heart. She is ditzy and flighty but she loves her family and she really does love my dad. I've had a hard time coming to terms with a lot of things about her but the thing that I realized is that at least Mary is in therapy now and Katie is studying nursing at Michigan State University. She'll be done in about two years but she's happier now than she's ever been before. It's weird but Lydia and Damien's marriage and subsequent divorce did wonders for our family. The divorce helped Mom realize that Damien wasn't the saint that she'd imagined him to be and that Will, my Will, wasn't the devil she believed him to be. The whole process had brought a sense of gravity and reality to Katie's life and had helped give her direction for her life.

At 12:55, my aunt Sophie and my aunt Grace came into the bride's room. “Everything is ready to go,” Aunt Grace said. “The men are all lined up in the narthex. So we need the flower girl and the bridesmaids.”

“And the mother of the bride,” Aunt Sophie added, as she took Elana by the hand to lead her out into the narthex to meet up with the ring-bearer, Connor Fitzwilliam. Before leaving, she kissed my cheek. “You look absolutely resplendent, Elizabeth. I just hope William understands how lucky he is.”

I hugged my aunt. Over her shoulder, I saw tears sparkling in the corners of my mother's eyes and I smiled at her. After hugging Elana, my mom, and each of my bridesmaids, I was left alone in the bride's room with Aunt Grace. She smiled at me. “Sophie is right,” she said. “You look amazing. Jane looked radiant on her wedding day but you look positively glowing. You are an amazingly gorgeous young woman, Elizabeth.”

A minute later, Evelyn came into the room to tell us that Will had started walking down the aisle and the three of us walked out into the narthex where my father stood waiting for me. He kissed me on the cheek and sighed. “Elizabeth Anne, you've grown up far too quickly. But I love you and I am so proud of you.”

We stepped inside the church and I watched as Gianna and Kyle walked down the aisle to the sounds of Pie Jesu. Then Char and Jake followed them. Next went Hannah and Greg, and then Becca and Jonathan. I took a deep breath as I watched Rick and Jenny walk down the aisle. Then Jane and Charlie walked down the aisle. And then Elana and Connor made their way down the aisle as Pie Jesu ended. As the pianist began playing Pachelbel's Canon in D and the choir started singing the words of the first two verses of Psalm 103, I looked up over the altar to see the familiar Latin words there that translated to “This is nothing else but the house of God and the gateway to heaven” from Genesis 28:17. Then as my father and I started walking down the aisle, I looked at William Darcy; I bit my lip as I smiled with delight. He looked so happy and so eager; and we were getting married. We were going to be husband and wife. When we reached the end of the aisle where Will and Fr. Bob were waiting for us, my dad kissed my cheek and gave Will my right hand. “Be good to her,” he said and then went to sit next to my mother in the next row of pews.

Will's POV

After Mr. Bennett gave me Lizzie's hand, Fr. Bob began the Mass. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the sight of God to witness the joining of this man and this woman. This is a sacred contract, not to be entered into lightly. Who gives this woman to be married?”

Mr. Bennett stepped forward. “Her mother and I do.”

The Mass then continued as it normally does. The readings were about marriage and family. Lizzie and I wanted the Mass to focus on the ways that God has blessed the ideas of marriage and family. After the Gospel, which was the wedding at Cana, it was finally time for the exchange of vows. As I took Elizabeth's hands in mine, I looked at her. She was so beautiful. She was wearing a simple strapless white dress that hit the floor delicately. There was pearl beading on the neckline, waist, and the hem. She was wearing a strand of pearls with matching earrings and a bracelet that her grandmother Gardiner, her only living grandparent, had given her the night before. They were the pieces that her grandmother had worn at her wedding over fifty years earlier. She had a simple pearl headband in her hair and her veil was flowing out of the twist her hair was in. She looked beautiful and I couldn't stop smiling; we were getting married.

“William, repeat after me,” the priest said. “I, William Richard, take you, Elizabeth Anne.”

“I, William Richard, take you, Elizabeth Anne,” I said, watching as one lone diamond of a tear slid down my beloved's face.

“To be my lawfully wedded wife,” Fr. Bob prompted.

“To be my lawfully

“For richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sickness and in health forsaking all others and clinging only to you from this day forth until death do us part,for as long as we both shall live,” the priest prompted.

I repeated the words to Lizzie and squeezed her hand with a smile that grew when her smile just lit up her face. Then it was her turn to promise forever to me. “I, Elizabeth Anne, take you, William Richard, to be my lawfully wedded husband for richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sickness and in health forsaking all others and clinging only to you from this day forth until death do us part, for as long as we both shall live,” she said as Fr. Bob prompted her along. Over her shoulder, I could see her mother crying and her aunt Sophie and her aunt Grace were both dabbing at tears.

Then Charlie handed me the slender white gold band that matched Lizzie's engagement ring. “I, William Richard, give you, Elizabeth Anne, this ring as a token of my undying love, affection, and fidelity all the days of my life,” I said as I slid the ring onto my bride's left ring finger.

And then she slid a larger matching white gold band onto my left ring finger as she said, “I, Elizabeth Anne, give you, William Richard, this ring as a token of my undying love, affection, and fidelity all the days of my life.”

The priest prayed a few prayers and soon he said the words I'd been waiting months to hear; “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

The Mass continued from there but at the end of the Mass, Fr. Bob said, “The Mass is ended. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” He paused and then smiled. “It is my great pleasure to present to you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. William and Elizabeth Darcy.”

As the congregation erupted in applause, I kissed my wife. Then we linked arms and walked out of the church to the sounds of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. “Te amo mas de palabras,” I whispered in my wife's ear.

“Te amo también,” she replied. “Y ahora, eres mi esposo.”

After we went outside, we stood outside and greeted all of our guests before we took our wedding pictures. I had to smile and shake hands with three hundred people, half of whom I didn't know or barely knew. But they were all very happy that Lizzie and I were now married, except for one person. Caroline Bingley's first words when she reached me were “Why the hell did you marry her? I'm so much prettier than her and I would have worn Vera Wang at the wedding, not something from David's Bridal.”

I sighed. “But you wouldn't be marrying me because you love me. You would be marrying me for my money.”

“You have got to get over that,” she sighed, slamming her shoe, which was probably Gucci, down next to my foot.

I looked over at my bride who was talking animatedly with Kathy Kilpatrick. Lizzie looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back at her and then pursed my lips at Caroline. “That woman is my wife and I plan on spending the rest of my life with her.”

“Over fifty percent of marriages end in divorce,” Caroline replied as she walked away from me.

“Yeah, all four of her marriages will end in divorce,” Alex said walking up to me. He shook my hand and clapped me on the back. “Congratulations, Will; I'm really happy for you.”

“Thanks,” I said. “And congrats on the baby; that's great news.”

He beamed. “We're really excited. But today's your day.”

I laughed. “It's Lizzie's day,” I told him. “Everybody knows that the wedding is all about the bride.”

“Yeah, but the marriage is about both of you,” he replied. “And it's an even greater thing than the wedding. The wedding is one amazing day but the marriage is one amazing life.”

Alex's words rang in my head while the photographer took millions of pictures of us. I looked at my wife and I couldn't stop smiling. After months of loving her, she was finally mine. We were standing on the steps in front of the altar. I had my arms around her and I kissed the top of her head. “That was perfect,” the photographer said. “Can we get another one like that?”

I smiled and held my wife close. “You're wonderful and I love you forever,” I whispered in her ear.

She looked up at me and I saw a look of what seemed to be sheer adoration in her eyes. “I love you, Will,” Lizzie said with a smile. “You are the best thing that's ever happened to me.”

“Cut the sweet nothings,” Jenny said from the front pew where she was sitting, leaning against Kyle and holding Elana in her lap. “Let's finish this crap up and go play miniature golf.”

“We are not playing mini-golf,” Kyle told her. “We're going to play Risk.”

“No,” she barked back firmly. “We are not going to play Risk.”

“Okay, let's play Axis and Allies,” he said.

“How about this idea,” Lizzie inserted. “Let's play Clue.”

“I like Go Fish!” Connor announced from his seat next to his father.

“I'm good at Go Fish,” Elana said.

“Funny thing, so am I,” Kyle told her.

“Really?” she asked.

He nodded. “I used to kick my brother's butt all the time when we were younger. We should play together sometime.”

I watched as the little seven-year-old beamed. “Will you play with me soon?”

“Of course,” he said. “If you want, we can play after they're done with the pictures.”

“Okay!” she said. “That'll be fun.”

We took dozens more pictures in the church and even more outside. There were some really cute shots of Lizzie with Elana and innumerable shots of Lizzie and me kissing or hugging or about to do one of the above. One of my favorite shots was of my left hand resting on something with her left hand on top of mine such that you could see our rings. It was an amazing shot. Another similar one was of the two of us standing in the garden outside the church; I had my arms wrapped around Lizzie and the shot was focused on our intertwined hands and our rings. I loved looking at our hands and our wedding rings. I loved looking at my wife. And I loved thinking that phrase “my wife.” We'd conquered so much to get to where we were that day. We still had a long way to go but we had come so far from where we were that horrible night when we met.

When the photographer was finally done taking pictures of all of us, we went down the beach to hang out for a while. True to his word, Kyle was playing Go Fish with Elana. They were sitting at a picnic table with Jenny playing the little girl's favorite card game. Meanwhile, Lizzie, Connor, and Becca were busy building a sand castle. Char was playing with Jackson, who apparently could not be left with his father for more than twenty minutes. Mary Logan, on the other hand, was off someplace with her father, quite content, and probably quite asleep. Mary was quite talented at sleeping anywhere, at anytime. Her mother loved it.

After an hour and a half at the beach, we headed up to the Netherfield for the reception. I was excited about this part of the evening, if only because it meant spending time dancing with my new bride. Steve was the MC for our wedding, which I thought was fitting since one of my first dates with Lizzie had been to Steve and Becca's wedding. He was being his usual ridiculous self, but doing it all while balancing a baby on his hip. “It just makes him that much more amazing,” Lizzie joked as we were standing in the hallway outside the banquet room waiting for our grand entrance.

“No it doesn't,” Kyle retorted. “He just likes to think that it does.”

“You're saying that our goddaughter doesn't make her father look better?” Jenny asked her fiancé.

He looked at Steve and Mary again and then laughed. “She's so beautiful that she can make even Steve look good.”

Becca playfully smacked him on the arm. “Be careful buddy. Remember; you are talking about my husband there.”

“And I'm sure he's a wonderful husband and father.”

Looking at Becca, I saw a smile of peace and contentment that I knew came from just a complete and utter satisfaction with her life. She loved her husband, she loved her daughter, and she was perfectly happy being a stay-at-home mom to Mary. She had made choices and she was happy with her life. I looked at the other women standing around as we prepared to enter the banquet hall. There was Charlotte Lucas-Collins, a young wife and mother who while she wasn't trapped in a loveless marriage, she didn't seem to be as happy as Hannah or Jane or Becca were in their own marriages. Char and Ethan had a rocky marriage and things weren't as happy as they might have liked. But I don't think that either one of them would ever file for divorce because Ethan didn't want to raise a child the way he'd been raised or Charlotte was just not the type of person who would ever get divorced. They would find ways to make their marriage work for as long as they could.

Then I looked at my younger sister, Gianna. She was as beautiful as ever and very happy. She was going to be graduating from Loyola the following April. She and Emily were genuinely doing well in their lives. She had found a small apartment for the two of them near campus. And she was dating Kyle's younger brother, Connor. Connor was good for both mother and daughter. He made my sister happier than she'd been in ages and Emily adored him.

Hannah King-Kilpatrick was standing next to Gianna. She was going have a baby in about five months and she looked amazing. Hannah was another person who was just very content with their life and where they were at that moment in time. She was married to the man she loved, living in Ann Arbor, and doing a job that she loved. Hannah was working as a physical therapist at the same hospital where Alex was doing his residency. They seemed to be so happy with their lives.

Jane was standing next to Hannah, leaning her head on Charlie's shoulder. They were so happy, so young and in love. The past six months had been amazing for them. They had a baby due at the end of January and they were really excited about it. Jane was keeping busy at the library and Charlie had his hands full with marriage, the publishing company, and the hotel. But they were happy. They were busy but they were happy.

And then there was Jenny, leaning against Kyle. She looked so happy. They were getting married in two weeks, two days after Lizzie and I got back from our honeymoon. Lizzie and I were flying back to Meryton from Europe on a Thursday and the wedding was on Saturday. They were so happy together and it was great to see them so close to marriage. They stood amazing odds of being happy together for a very long time. And they were so good together and for each other. “They look so natural together,” Lizzie said, nodding at the way Jenny fit perfectly against Kyle's body.

I smiled and held my wife closer. “You're amazing,” I told her. “And I'm so glad I married you.”

A few minutes later, I heard Steve say, “And it is my great pleasure to present to you, for the first time as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. William and Elizabeth Darcy!”

We walked across the room to take our seats at the head table as people applauded and whistled and banged silverware against glasses. I couldn't believe this was all real, finally. When we reached our seats, we kissed and then took our seats. Soon, it was time for Charlie and Jane to make their toasts. “Will, you've been my best friend since kindergarten,” Charlie began. “And I've seen you through a lot of things over the years. I remember high school when you took your chemistry book to senior prom because you thought the AP Chemistry test was more important than `some stupid dance.' I remember your ridiculous all-nighters in college and I heard about the ones you pulled in law school. I've seen you as the devoted older brother, the loyal son, the determined lawyer, the practical business man, and the caring friend. But over the past two years I've seen you in a role that I never imagined you in before. Lizzie, you make him a better man. And when Will is with you, he is happier than I've seen him in years. If Will's parents could see the two of you together, they would be so proud of both of you. George and Anne would love you. You really are the best thing that's happened to him in years. If you two can keep one-fifth of the happiness that you have now, you will be the happiest couple I know, except for Jane and myself.” He paused for a moment as the room erupted in laughter. Then he raised his glass. “Good luck and may you have many long, happy, and healthy years together!”

Then it was Jane's turn. “She's going to start crying and then make me cry,” Lizzie whispered in my ear just before her sister began.

“Lizzie, I've known you for as long as I can remember. You've been the best sister anyone could have ever asked for. You've been more than a sister to me; you've been my best friend and I don't know what I would have done without you. I've seen you have crushes on various guys over the years. I remember when you wanted to marry Peter Macgregor in first grade. And then there was the day you told me that you were dating Will.” Jane paused to take a deep breath and wipe away a tear from her eye. “You two are amazing together and I'm so happy for you. You two have such a strong relationship. If I could have picked a guy for you, I couldn't have picked a better guy for you. You two really and truly are a match made in heaven, two people who were honestly made for each other.” Jane was crying and I could see tears sparkling in the corners of my bride's eyes. “I know that you guys are going to have an amazing, truly blessed marriage. I'm so happy for you and I can only wish you the best. Take good care of her, Will; she's a priceless jewel. Love her, keep her happy, and listen to her opinions. She's a great girl. I can only hope that you two will be happy for a very long time. I'm so happy for you,” the matron of honor said before breaking down in tears.

I kissed Lizzie again and then wrapped my arm around her as she leaned against my shoulder. “You really are wonderful,” she said. “I'm so glad that I have you in my life.”

“You're stuck with me forever,” I told her.

“I think I can handle that,” she replied before kissing me.

After dinner, we had our first dance as husband and wife. We had decided to dance to “When You Say You Love Me” by Josh Groban. We'd been debating between that and “The Whole World and You” by Tally Hall, a band from Ann Arbor. But we chose “When You Say You Love Me” because it would be easier to dance to. Also, Lizzie loved this song and to her, it symbolized the fact that this marriage was built on love. This marriage was going to last until death did us part. And then I watched Lizzie dance with her dad to “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof. Mr. Bennett looked so proud of his daughter. I knew that while parents were not supposed to have favorites, but at the same time, it was a known fact that Lizzie was her father's favorite child. And I also knew that her father really was wondering where all the years had gone. The night before I'd heard him say that it seemed like she was his little girl with pigtails just yesterday. I wondered if it would be like that with my own children. I was looking forward to the day when I would be a dad. Lizzie and I had decided we wanted to have between five and seven children. “We need to have at least one son,” she had told me. “You don't want to spend the rest of your life the way my dad did. You'll need at least one son for sanity's sake.”

“And you don't want to end up like Mrs. Kilpatrick without any daughters.”

“Yeah, she adopted me to make her life better.”

I smiled as I watched Lizzie and her dad dancing. After they danced, the floor was open. We had decided against having a wedding party dance. If people wanted to dance, they could do as they pleased. We'd asked Mark Lucas to DJ the wedding because he'd been the DJ at his sister's birthday party the night that Lizzie and I met. Besides dancing with my wife, I also made a point of dancing with my sister and the flower girl. I also danced around with my two-year-old niece in my arms. Emily was a beautiful little girl. She was willing to “dance” with anyone who would hold her. When she was with Lizzie, she insisted on spinning around in circles and hopping around my bride. At one point while she was doing this, Connor Kilpatrick walked past her and scooped her up in his arms. He walked off with her, tickling her as he went while she screeched and giggled. I came up behind my wife and wrapped my arms around her. “I must say that you were right about Connor and Gianna,” I whispered in her ear.

She turned around and wrapped her arms around me. “I knew you'd come around to my way of thinking.”

“You knew Connor much better than I did.”

She shrugged. “I've known him since he was fourteen and he's been like a little brother to me for most of that time. So I know him pretty well. And I think I understand him.”

“And me?” I asked. “Do you understand me?”

She smiled and wrapped her arm around my neck. “Oh, William Darcy, do you need to ask that question? I'm your wife now. I love you,” she breathed against my neck.

I captured her lips in a kiss and held her close for as long as I could. “I love you, Elizabeth Darcy.”

Her smile lit her face up in a way that I loved more than I could ever explain. “I love that name. I could hear you call me that for the rest of my life.”

“You're in luck, Mrs. Darcy. I plan on calling you that name every day for the rest of my life.”

“I'll be looking forward to it, Mr. Darcy.”

Gianna caught Lizzie's bouquet and we didn't bother with throwing the garter; Lizzie thought it was crass and “just plain wrong.” We danced around a bit more and talked to more people. We'd cut our chocolate cake earlier in the evening and we slipped out around midnight and headed off to a hotel in Traverse City. The next morning, we were flying to Rome, but we just wanted to spend our wedding night away from our friends and family.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: For Sentimental Reasons

Will's POV

It was three days after Christmas and we were in Meryton visiting Lizzie's family and our friends. Lizzie and I had spent our first Christmas as a married couple in Chicago with my family. The day after Christmas, we had flown up to Meryton to spend time with the Bennetts and our other friends in the area. On December 28, we were having dinner in the Netherfield's restaurant with Kyle and Jenny Kilpatrick; Steve, Becca, and Mary Logan; Alex, Hannah, and Gabriel Kilpatrick, Charlie and Jane Bingley; and Ethan, Charlotte, and Jackson Collins. Gabriel James Kilpatrick was about three and a half weeks old, having been born on December 3. This was the first time Lizzie and I had seen Gabriel since he was born. Several couples were also expanding their families. Charlie and Jane were expecting their first child at the end of January. Ethan and Charlotte had baby number two coming in March and Mary Logan would be getting a younger sibling in early April. The first addition to our family was due on April 15, tax day. Jenny and Kyle were also expecting a baby, twins actually; theirs were due at the beginning of May. “There are going to be so many babies crawling around this time next year,” Kyle said, holding his eighteen-month-old goddaughter on his lap.

“That one knows how to walk,” Steve replied.

“The next step is potty-training her,” his wife added.

“Oh my God,” Ethan said. “I don't even want to think about trying to potty-train Jack.”

“We're going to have to do it someday,” Charlotte replied. “I'm not changing his diapers when he's fourteen.”

Lizzie was holding the chubby sixteen-month-old blond baby boy in her lap. “Speaking of diaper changes, he could use one now.”

Charlotte took her son from his godmother and headed off to the bathroom with him. It was still weird to me that we were going to have our own baby in less than four months. We didn't know the baby's gender but I wanted a son. Lizzie said that she just wanted a baby and didn't care about the baby's gender. Jane and Charlie, on the other hand, knew they were having a son. Jane had wanted the baby's sex to be a surprise but Charlie had decided back in August that he couldn't wait five months to find out if he was having a son or a daughter. So, they found out. And now the baby's nursery was all decorated for the impending birth of the child that Lizzie jokingly referred to as Baby Boy Bingley. Jane and Charlie were actually planning on naming the child “Dominic Bennett Bingley.” Steve and Becca didn't know if they were having a boy or a girl, but most people had their money on the child being a boy. The Collins family was expecting another son for sure. The upcoming year, 2011, could well end up being the year of the boy.

There was a lull in the conversation when suddenly, Steve looked at Alex and said, “Alex and Jenny, we're going to start a dog and pony show this weekend and the first stop is Grand Rapids.”

Most of the table erupted in laughter while Charlie and I looked around in confusion. Realizing that we weren't in on the joke, Alex quickly explained. “My junior year of college, Ben Gobetti and our roommate, David, wanted to go out to Grand Rapids for a weekend. David's brother lives out there and Ben's older sister lives out there. So, since Jenny would want to go visit Lizzie and Becca and I would want to go visit Kyle, they proposed their idea to us at dinner one Wednesday night. The four of us were eating dinner with a few other friends when all of a sudden Ben says `Alex, David, and Jenny, we're going to start a dog and pony show this weekend and the first stop is Grand Rapids.'”

“The great thing was that Ben said this while I was on my cell phone with Lizzie,” Jenny added. “So she heard what Ben said.”

“And I couldn't figure out why they were starting a dog and pony show,” my gorgeous wife said. Lizzie was the most beautiful pregnant woman I'd ever met. Her skin was glowing and she looked amazing. That night she was wearing a long-sleeved navy blue t-shirt that didn't emphasize her belly but rather just looked simple and comfortable. She was gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.

“Why were they starting a dog and pony show?” Charlie asked.

Alex shrugged. “Ben was bored and he'd heard someone say `dog and pony show' earlier that day. He's just a random guy; he likes to just randomly tell you things.”

“Like when he called me just to tell me he was getting a haircut,” Jane said. “That just made no sense.”

“You'd been telling him to get a haircut for three months,” Jenny reminded my sister-in-law. “Why wouldn't he tell you that he'd finally done what you wanted?”

“He needed it,” she replied. “He hadn't gotten a haircut in six months.”

“What are you talking about?” Lizzie said. “I did that all the time in college.

“Same here,” Jenny added.

“In college, I would get my hair cut every two months,” Kyle said. “I'm a good kid.”

“Go blow it out your ear,” his wife replied.

Being married was wonderful. I loved waking up to see Lizzie next to me in bed. I loved coming home at the end of a long day at the office to find my wife in the kitchen making dinner. She was an amazing cook and she was my wife. I loved being able to come home and find her there, waiting for me with a warm meal and glass of wine. We talked about anything and everything. She would tell me about her day at work and I would tell her about mine. We would go to her doctor's appointments together and we spent numerous weekends looking at cribs, strollers, changing tables, and a million other baby accessories. We were looking at baby clothes but we also knew that all of our friends and family members would give us more clothes than the baby would ever be able to wear in ten lifetimes. That, according to Lizzie, was one of many reasons we needed to have many children; we needed to use up all the baby clothes we would acquire.

Having my wife in Chicago was amazing. I didn't seen people in Meryton as much as I had before the wedding, but most of the time, I was fine with that. The primary reason for my trips to Meryton had been to see Lizzie; now, I lived in the same house as my beautiful wife. It was hard not seeing Charlie as much but he still came to Chicago at least once a month to oversee things with Bingley Publishing. It was weird not seeing Kyle and Steve and their families every few weeks but I saw them every couple months. It was different and it was hard at times, but I had friends in Chicago. I had family and I was starting my own family. Lizzie was working at a small Catholic high school near our house. The principal loved my wife and was more than willing to consider allowing her to cut back to part-time if she wanted after the baby was born. She also had the option of quitting entirely if she wanted, but Lizzie wasn't completely sure whether or not she would want to be a stay-at-home mother. “I'll figure it out when the baby comes,” she told me that night when we were all talking about it. “I'm going to take maternity leave until the end of the school year after the baby comes and then we'll see how the summer goes.”

“If you take that approach, you're going to end up staying at home with the baby,” Becca told her. “I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back or not after Mary was born but then I was home with her for a couple weeks and that was it. I was hooked on her.”

“And then she decided she wanted more babies,” Steve added. “One wasn't enough but we had to have more.”

“I suppose you don't want to have another baby?” his wife asked, resting her hands on her belly. “You seemed pretty eager at the time.”

He smiled and rubbed his wife's belly. “Oh, I was. And I'm very eager to meet this baby.”

“Do you want a boy or a girl?” Ethan asked him from further down the table.

“Whichever,” Steve replied. “Mary has been an amazing blessing but I'm sure a son would also be marvelous.”

“Sons are the best things on earth. I'm so glad we're having another son; it makes life so much easier.”

Just then, we all heard delighted squeals of “More, more!” coming from little Mary Logan who was being bounced up and down on her godfather's lap. “I don't know,” Steve said slowly. “Mary is an amazing little girl and she's brought so much joy to our lives. I think we did pretty well with having a girl.”

“But boys are so much better,” Ethan persisted.

“Your wife was once a baby girl,” Jane remarked firmly.

“Well, women are necessary for the survival of the species but in general, males are preferable to females.”

I glanced at his wife out of the corner of my eye. Charlotte Lucas-Collins pursed her lips firmly and bounced little Jackson in her lap; when she was younger, Char had fancied herself something of a feminist. Now here she was married to a man who didn't want any daughters and said that males were preferable to females. I knew that Lizzy would welcome a son or a daughter but she did want both sons and daughters. And I wanted sons and daughters as well. The idea of only wanting children of one gender was ridiculous to me. I wanted a well-rounded family with sons and daughters. Sure Jackson is a cute kid but I'm sure that Ethan and Char would also have adorable daughters. As Lizzie would say, I'm not about to go start the Ethan Collins Fan Club. Ethan drove me nuts. He was obnoxious and pretentious and self-centered. I couldn't see what Char saw in him. I've heard Lizzie mumble something once or twice about Char just marrying to avoid being single and alone for the rest of her life. I wouldn't have taken it seriously except for the fact that the morning of Kyle and Jenny's wedding I'd been walking around the church with Jackson while his father dithered over something and his mother helped the bridesmaids get ready for the wedding. I'd come across Charlotte's youngest brother, Nicholas, who was eight at the time. Nick and I had gotten talking as I walked with his little nephew. And he'd told me something that shocked me.

“Did you know that Charlotte used to have a crush on Steve Logan?” the little boy said, swinging his stick at some nearby rosebushes.

“No, I didn't,” I replied, adjusting Jackson on my hip. The eleven-month-old boy was getting heavy after walking around the church four or five times.

“Yeah, when they were younger; I'm not supposed to know about it but I've heard Maria and Emma talk about it sometimes. They were talking about it before Char and Ethan's wedding. Emma doesn't like Ethan at all and Maria doesn't like him much either. They think he's annoying and obnoxious, even if he is Lizzie's cousin. But they also think that Char still likes Steve Logan.”

“Nick, Steve married Becca almost two years ago and they have a baby now,” I said, thinking of little Mary Logan who was somewhere with one of her aunts or uncles. Both Becca and Steve were in the wedding.

“I know, but back when they were in high school, Char had a big crush on Steve. But he went to prom with Lizzie, so my sister went to prom with Ethan. And then later, Steve started dating Becca. And shortly after that, Char started dating Ethan. And I'm pretty sure that Char wanted to marry Steve. But she can't. So she settled for Ethan. But Emma and Maria don't like Ethan.”

This was a little eight-year-old boy. How did he pick up on all of this? Granted, he was the youngest of eight children; he probably heard and saw more than anyone ever realized. He had probably heard things that he was never intended to hear and he probably understood things much better than anyone ever expected of a little eight-year-old boy who had swordfights with rosebushes.

“Do you love Miss Lizzie?” he asked abruptly.

I smiled. “More than you can imagine,” I replied.

“Good, because I used to want to marry her, so I have to make sure that she marries the right man.”

“I married her two weeks ago, Nick.”

“I know, but I have to check up on you now. I'm also worried about Miss Jenny and Mr. Kyle. I wanted to marry her too. I think Mr. Kyle is a good guy but I'm just not quite sure about him. He seems nice and he's good with babies but I'm just not sure that he deserves the love of my life.”

Looking at Kyle and Jenny now, I was pretty sure that Kyle did deserve her. They were a great couple. He loved her and he really made her happy. I was pretty sure that Nick would approve of the man the love of his life was married to. I also loved how Nick had called Jenny the love of his life. His childish love of his oldest sister's friends was both endearing and slightly scary. But then Nick was twenty years younger than Charlotte and his relationships with her friends were bound to be a little more complicated than most sibling relationships.

Lizzie's POV

Our first child was due on April 15. On Valentine's Day, I realized just how close that day was. My nephew, Dominic Bennett Bingley, had been born on January 20, 2011. He was a healthy 22 inches long, 8lb, 9oz baby boy with light brown hair and blue eyes. Will and I had gone up to Meryton to meet the new baby the weekend after his birth; he was an adorable little baby boy. He looked so much like Charlie but with Jane's eyes. Watching Will with the little baby was wonderful. He was going to be an amazing father to our little baby. I was looking forward to the baby's birth. For one thing, I would be lovely to see my feet again. And not feeling like a whale would be another plus. And being able to hold my baby in my arms would be wonderful. I've wanted to be a mother since I was five years old and now I was pregnant with my first baby. I was eagerly awaiting the baby's birth. And that wasn't just because I was sick of going to the bathroom every fifteen minutes… Although when I told Jane that, she cheerfully reassured me that as my due date approached that would increase to needing to pee every five minutes. Then she had readjusted Dominic in her arms and kissed his cheek. “But in the end, it's all worth it. This little guy was completely worth twenty-two hours of labor.”

Will and I were celebrating Valentine's Day with dinner and a movie at home. We'd discussed going out but I was afraid that I'd fall asleep if we went to the movies or the theatre. So my husband was making me dinner and then we were going to watch Strictly Ballroom. While it wasn't the most romantic story of all time, it was a movie that we both loved especially for the comedic value. I was looking forward to a quiet evening at home with my husband. The following Saturday, we were going to be babysitting Emily while Gianna and Connor went celebrated Valentine's Day. Connor was in law school at the University of Michigan and Will was so proud of him. Gianna was finishing up her last year at Loyola and then she was planning on going to medical school at the University of Michigan. I'm really not sure why I know so many doctors, or people who want to be doctors, but I love all of them and they're great people.

After dinner, Will gave me my present. He made me a photo album filled with pictures of my friends and family over the years. The cover of the photo album had a picture of the two of us laughing and hugging at our wedding. The first picture inside the album was a candid shot of my sisters and me at Lake Michigan a few summers earlier. We were sitting on the beach talking and the picture just froze an amazing moment in time. We were all laughing and smiling and we looked so peaceful. It was before Lydia's life became a downward spiral. Jane had an arm around Katie's shoulders and I was leaning my head against Jane's shoulder. Mary's head was in my lap and Lydia was leaning against Katie. We had been talking about something and we were all laughing and smiling. We looked so happy. Another page had a picture of baby Dominic and pictures of Maddie and Hayley.

And there were dozens of pictures of my friends that he'd gotten from Jenny and Hannah and Becca and Jane. One of my favorites was a picture of a bunch of us sitting on the couch at Alex and Ben's house during my junior of college. Cecilia was leaning against Ben Gobetti's shoulder and he had his arm slung around his girlfriend. I was leaning against Jenny who was curled up with her back propped up against Alex's shoulder. And then Kyle was sitting in front of us with his head in my lap. We were so peaceful and we looked really content. “Where did you get this one?” I asked him.

“I asked Jenny for pictures and she talked to Cecilia about getting it for me.”

“I thought I saw something from her in the mail the other day but then I didn't see it again when I checked back later so I didn't know if it was just something from pregnancy brain or if I'd actually seen it.”

He kissed the top of my head. “You didn't have pregnancy brain then, darling.”

“Are you implying that I've had pregnancy brain at other times?”

He smiled at me. “I'm not saying that you're always forgetting things or getting confused. All I'm saying is that you didn't have pregnancy brain the day you saw the envelope from Cecilia.”

“Thanks,” I said, with what must have been a thin smile. He kissed me again and I leaned my head against his chest. “It must be hard living with me when I'm pregnant like this. I'm fat and I forget everything. And you don't get as much space in the bed. This whole thing just isn't fair to you.”

“Elizabeth, darling, you're having my child. I love you and I love our baby. I don't think you're fat or that you forget everything.” He kissed me. “I love you and I think you're amazing. I'm so glad I married you and I can't wait until our baby is born.”

His hands moved over my belly and I could feel his fingers massaging it. The baby kicked and I smiled. “You feel that?” I asked. “That's our baby.”

He smiled and kissed me. “And I love him or her.”

Three weeks later, on March 2, 2011, Griffin Andrew Lucas-Collins was born in New York City. I'm not quite sure where Char and Ethan were pulling their baby names from but that's their business not mine. They posted a picture of baby Griffin with his older brother, Jackson, on their blog a few days later. The two little boys were adorable little chubby blonde cherubs, according to the caption Ethan had put under the blog post. There was a cute picture of Char holding newborn Griffin in her arms and another one of Char holding Griffin while Jackson sat next to his mother looking eagerly at his baby brother. Char looked so peaceful and happy. And Ethan wrote on their blog “Lucas-Collins Updates” that the whole family was doing well, “Mommy is gorgeous even with jiggle in her belly and the two little guys are just the cutest things ever.”

“Will,” I said while we were reading that post. “Please don't ever say something like that and then just let it float out into cyberspace. You can think I'm a little chubby post-baby, but you don't have to tell people.”

He smiled. “I hope I'm not that stupid.”

I looked at the pictures of Char. Sure, she was a little heavier from being pregnant, but she wasn't fat. She just looked like a woman who had just had a baby and had been eating a little more than usual during her pregnancy. Ethan really didn't have to say anything about the extra weight she was carrying around. She'd just had a baby for crying out loud. My cousin sure knew how to make a woman feel good about how she looked. I knew I'd gained weight since getting pregnant but it wasn't like Will sat around telling me about it.

I wanted to go to New York and visit Char and Ethan and meet baby Griffin but that wasn't a good idea being that I was about eight months pregnant. So we decided to wait until summer when the baby would here and I would be more interested in traveling. The only things I was interested in were sleeping and lying on the couch watching movies while feeling like a whale. Unfortunately, I also had to go to work every day. And that meant that when I got home at night I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep. But I couldn't find a comfortable position to sleep in and everything was just so complicated. I couldn't wait for the baby to be born.

Almost a week after Griffin's birth, Becca Logan went into preterm labor and gave birth to a baby girl, Abigail Rose Logan. She was about a month early. Her due date had been April 8 and instead, she was born on March 7. “Thirty-two days early,” Steve had told me on the phone when he called to tell me about his new daughter. “But she's a strong one; she's a fighter.”

She had a cardiac arrhythmia, but the doctors said she would be fine. They were keeping her in the hospital for a week, probably. But they were sure she would be fine. When I talked to Becca two days after Abigail was born, she said that while Abby was smaller than a full-term baby, she was a fighter and she was healthy aside from the arrhythmia. The night after she was born, Steve emailed me a picture of his newborn daughter. She was beautiful. She had a fluffy smattering of dark brown hair and what looked to be dark brown eyes. “They won't let us bring Mary in to see Abby yet,” Steve had written. “But I brought her in to see her sister behind the nursery glass. I'm not completely sure that she understands that Abby isn't a new doll for her to play with, but we'll see how things go when we bring Abby home, hopefully within the next week. All I can say is that I really hope Mary reacts better to Abby than El Greco reacted to Mary.”

El Greco is Steve and Becca's dog who wasn't exactly happy when they brought the then-newborn Mary home and he didn't get as much attention from his “parents” as he had before Mary's arrival. He'd taken to chewing shoes and shredding random household objects until he got attention. Unfortunately, this had landed him living with Steve's grandparents. In fact, El Greco is still living with his grandparents and his younger brothers, Nick and Jack. Steve and his younger brothers, Josh, Nick, and Jack, moved in with their grandparents when their dad walked out shortly after Jack was born. Nick is twenty-one and Jack is nineteen, so they're away at school most of the year. But regardless, the dog lives with Steve's grandparents because he can't handle competition from kids.

Abigail Rose Logan came home from the hospital on March 18, eleven days after she was born and twenty-eight days before my due date. That night at dinner, I told Will that I was nervous about having the baby early, like Becca had. He smiled and hugged me. “We'll be fine. You're three days closer to your due date than Becca was when she went into labor and you haven't gone into labor yet. And if the baby comes early, we'll be fine. Abby is fine.”

He was right. Abby Logan was a very healthy baby despite having been born a month early. And at this point in the pregnancy, every day, every week counted. The baby would be fine whenever he or she was born.

Chapter Thirty: The Whole World and You

Lizzie's POV

I didn't need to worry about the baby being premature. My due date, April 15, came and went and I was still pregnant. However, Jenny did go into labor on my due date. Around 8:30 that night, I got a phone call from a breathless Kyle. “Lizzie, you're never going to believe who's here!”

“Did Jenny have the babies?” I asked. Hannah had emailed me that morning to tell me that Jenny had gone into labor around midnight the night before. She and Alex had driven up to Meryton with Gabriel that morning to be there when his cousins were born.

“Remember how Alex used to say that he was going to have ten sons starting off with twin sons?”

“All too well,” I laughed, remembering when Alex used to tell me he was going to have ten sons and I would also retort that if he did that, I was going to have eleven daughters and send them over to flirt with his boys. “But he didn't start out with twins.”

“No, but I did!” he exclaimed. I could practically hear the smile on his face. “We have twin boys! Jenny gave birth to twin boys about forty-five minutes ago. And they're both healthy and everything even though they were born early.”

I grinned, thrilled for them. I was pretty sure that these two little boys were absolutely adorable. “What are their names?”

“Noah Joseph and James Andrew,” he replied. “Jenny says you have to see them because they're beautiful. Personally, I think they're handsome and manly little guys, but you know how my wife is.”

Finally, on April 19, 2011, four days after my due date and after Noah and James's birth, I went into labor during dinner. Will and I had just sat down to eat dinner when my water broke. My back had been bothering me all day but at that point in the pregnancy, that was par for the course. But then my water broke and Will took me to the hospital. Twelve hours of grueling labor later, Will and I welcomed Benjamin Michael Darcy into the world. He was a beautiful baby with big brown eyes and tufts of dark brown hair. He was a big baby at nine pounds, twelve ounces and twenty-two and a half inches long. But he was worth every minute of labor and every minute of pregnancy. He looked just like his father. He really did have Will's eyes and his ears. We named him Benjamin because it's a family name in my family and Michael is a family name in the Darcy family.

“He's perfect,” Will whispered as he held little Benjamin in his arms. “Lizzie, he's absolutely perfect.”

“And he's ours,” I told my husband. “We have our very own little baby.”

We took Benjamin home when he was three days old. His bedroom would eventually be Will's childhood bedroom but for now little Ben Darcy was going to be sleeping in his bassinet in his parents' room. My mom flew down from Meryton to help out with the baby although she spent more time doing things like cleaning the house, cooking meals, and keeping Emily out of my way than actually bonding with her grandson. Of course, I appreciated whatever help she was willing to give me. I got to spend more time taking care of my new baby and I didn't have to worry about where dinner was going to come from or anything like that. I also quickly learned to sleep whenever I could get a chance because Ben had absolutely no interest whatsoever in letting his mother get more than two hours of sleep at time.

But he was loved. Jane, Charlie, and Dominic came to visit Ben for a week bringing him plenty of clothes. His Aunt Katie stopped in for a weekend bringing the baby books and toys. Gianna gave me some of Emily's old toys and books. And many of our other friends and relatives sent the new baby clothes and toys. Ben had more blue and green clothes than he could ever hope to wear unless we changed his clothes five times a day.

Ben was born four days before Easter 2011 so we weren't able to go home and spend Easter with my family. We did, however, get to see Gianna, Emily, and most of the Fitzwilliam family for dinner on Easter Sunday. Mrs. DeBourgh and her family were still ignoring us but his Uncle George and Aunt Helena came out from Seattle along with his cousin Alicia, her husband, Rob, and their two kids, Hannah and Nathan. And George was there with his fiancée, Jessica. George was about thirty-seven and was finally engaged after all these years. Rick and Evelyn brought their four children, Connor, Logan, Caitlin, and their son, Aidan Conan, who was about seven months old. Evelyn, Helena, and Alicia made dinner so all I had to do was lie on the couch and hold sleeping Ben in my arms. I was a little overwhelmed by having so many people around but this was what Will's family wanted and had been planning on before Ben decided he wanted to be born five days after his due date. They were expecting him to be nine days old, not four days old. My mom was there, having arrived the day before, and for the first time in my life, she was really being my sanity.

And then there was Will. I love my husband and he was great about making sure that I had my space. But he was also being very protective of Ben and me. After dinner, Will and I were sitting on the couch together; I was holding Ben in my arms and Will had his arm around my shoulders. He was just staring, mesmerized, at our son. “He's so amazing,” he said. “He's so tiny and perfect.”

“And he's ours,” I said. “We get to keep him.”

Little Benjamin Michael Darcy paid his first visit to Meryton in mid-June of 2011. Will and I wanted to have Ben baptized in the church where we got married. So we were having him baptized on Father's Day on the same Sunday that Jenny and Kyle were having James and Noah baptized. Will and I had asked Charlie and Jane to be Ben's godparents, since they had asked us to be Dominic's godparents when he was baptized in late February. Kyle and Jenny had asked Alex and Hannah to be Noah's godparents and then they asked Jenny's older sister and husband, Barbara and Matt Hughes, to be James's godparents. It was also going to be the first time that I got to see Abby Logan and Griffin Lucas-Collins in person. Griffin looked, from the pictures I had seen, just like his older brother. He was a chubby little blonde baby.

Abby Logan probably looked like her big sister but all I could tell was that Abby was absolutely gorgeous. She had beautiful dark brown curls and big brown eyes that were always watching something nearby. Ben was a watcher too, but not as much as Abby was. Ben's favorite thing to watch was his dad. Ben was mesmerized by Will but then Will was also mesmerized by his son. I couldn't count the number of nights I'd walked into Ben's nursery to find my husband watching our sleeping son. “Charlie's the exact same way,” Jane told me when we were talking at her apartment on Saturday morning while our husbands were off talking shop and our sons were sleeping. “I don't think Charlie has been as fascinated by anything else in his life as he is by Dominic.”

“It's so unbelievably amazing,” I said. “We're married and we have children. When did that happen?”

My sister smiled shrugged. “Somewhere between kindergarten and now, I guess.”

Saturday night, we all went over to Kyle and Jenny's for dinner. Ben and Cecilia Gobetti were in town with their two-year-old, Sophia, and their three-month-old daughter, Eva. Steve and Becca were there with Mary and Abby. Ethan and Char had Jack and Griffin; Charlie and Jane had Dominic. Will and I had Benjamin with us. Hannah and Alex had Gabriel with them. And of course, Kyle and Jenny had Noah and James. There were babies being passed around constantly. And the slightly older little ones were always looking for attention. With plenty more adults than babies, Sophia, Jack, and Mary could always find a lap to sit in or someone to play with them. I loved watching my husband play with the little ones; it filled my heart with warm, mushy feelings. I loved seeing him with our son. But it was also great watching him play more active, involved games with Mary and Sophia. Jack was very shy and wouldn't really play with Will or Alex or Kyle. But Mary and Sophia were both warm and bubbly and outgoing. And they were both spending the majority of time with anyone who would hold them. Kyle is her godfather and she adores him. But she was getting a lot of competition for his arms from Noah and James. So she had started seeking out attention from Will and Alex.

And they were both picking her up and spinning her around. Watching Alex with both little girls made me smile because when he was younger, he always said that he wanted ten sons, no daughters. And watching him playing with two little girls made me think of what I'd always thought about him. He would be a wonderful father to daughters. And I hoped that someday he and Hannah would give Gabriel a few younger sisters. But we'll see what happens. Kyle told me that Kilpatrick men can only make boy babies. I highly doubt that, having met his many female cousins who bear the last name “Kilpatrick.”

“Are you happy with Will?” Char asked me later in the evening when we found ourselves alone in the kitchen. She had Griffin on her hip; Ben was outside with his dad.

I looked out over the back patio at my husband who was bouncing our son on his lap and I nodded. “Very much so,” I told her. “I'm happier than I've ever been. And what about you? Are you happy with Ethan and your boys?”

She bit her lip and shrugged. That moment of hesitation told me far more than the words that came after it did. “I love my boys, and most of the time I think Ethan is a good husband, a good father. But I worry about him and I'm not sure I trust him. I think I love him but I'm not always sure. Do you remember that crush I had on Steve Logan in high school and early college?”

How could I ever forget that crush? She'd been head over heels for him for ages and it had been so obvious, painfully obvious. Everyone had known about it, including Steve. I looked back out at the patio and saw Steve spinning Mary around in circles. She was giggling and his face was bright with delight. Then I glanced at Ethan who was quietly sitting in a corner by himself while Kyle and Alex were playing with Jackson. Then my eyes flicked back to Steve who now had his arm around Becca's shoulder. Mary was still on his hip and he was gazing at little Abby in his wife's arms with pure adoration and delight. “Char, he's married to Becca now,” I said slowly.

“Don't remind me,” she said. “She got so lucky. I'm stuck with the guy who sits in the corner by himself while she gets the guy who adores his wife and children. Nobody ever writes on the Logans' blog to remark that Becca is looking fat.”

Inside I was laughing at the idea of Steve ever calling his tiny wife fat. Becca was insanely tiny, even after giving birth to two children. “I'll admit that Steve has more tact that Ethan,” I told her. “But there must be some good points to your husband.”

“Elizabeth, look at me. I've probably gained thirty pounds since I got married; there's no way in hell I would ever fit into my wedding dress ever again. I'm not like you or Becca or Jenny or Hannah; I haven't stayed in shape since I got married. I'm fat compared to you. Ethan's right to call me fat. What I don't understand is why he had to do it on our blog. Sometimes I think he doesn't love me anymore.”

I hugged her, partly out of sympathy and partly because I didn't know what else to do. I knew she's always had self-esteem issues and the only think I could really say to her was “But you're beautiful no matter what.” But I didn't know what to say about her fears that Ethan didn't love her. “I could reassure you and tell you that he loves you,” I told her. “But I don't understand my cousin. All I can tell you is that I love you and I'm here for you whatever happens.”

“I don't know what I want to do. I don't think he'd ever leave me but I don't think he loves me anymore. I think I repulse him. And I don't think he really likes the boys.”

Looking back out the window, I observed that Kyle was now swinging Jackson around. “Look at that,” Char said, stepping closer to the window. “Ethan is ignoring our son while Kyle, who has his own kids, plays with Jack. You guys all married these great guys and I married a slouch.”

I rubbed her shoulder. “Char, what you need is a day off.”

She snorted. “Yeah, right, I can't get Ethan to watch Jack for a couple minutes while I go to the bathroom or change Griffin's diaper. How the hell am I supposed to get him to be a responsible parent so I can take a day off?”

“Maybe your mom would want to come visit the kids and keep any eye on them for you,” I suggested.

“Then she'd have to leave the little kids,” she replied. “She'll never go for that.”

“Honey,” I sighed. “Nick is nine; your mom can leave him with your dad and Elinor and Isaac for a couple days.”

“Maybe,” she shrugged. “I hate to impose on her like that though. You could never get Ethan's mom to come up and stay with us; he told me that.”

I was pretty sure that my aunt would be more than willing to come spend time with her grandchildren. But I also suspected that the mother Ethan was referring to was actually his stepmother, Kimberley. And I couldn't see her taking a week off from her life to visit Ethan and his family despite his devotion to her.

The next morning Benjamin Michael Darcy was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church along with James Andrew and Noah Joseph Kilpatrick. It was an amazing moment for me to see my baby boy baptized alongside the sons of two of my best friends, one of whom I'd known since kindergarten. And through it all, I was amazed to think that I was a married woman with a baby. As I'd discussed with Jane two days earlier, I wasn't sure when all this had happened. I was an adult, I was married, and I was the incredibly blessed mother of a beautiful baby boy. Life couldn't have been better.

Will's POV

In June of 2021, we found ourselves in Meryton for a sad occasion. My father-in-law, Christopher Bennett, had just died of cancer. So Elizabeth and I gathered up our children and went to Meryton for the funeral and to help her family, especially her mother, out. Our oldest, Benjamin, was now ten years old and the oldest of six children. Nicholas was eight, Anna was six, Stephen was four, Mark was two, and Isabella was two months old. This was going to be a difficult trip for all of us. My children had adored their Grandpa Bennett and they were going to miss him.

Another complicated issue would be Ethan Collins's arrival. Two years ago, when Christopher was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he had sold the Longbourn to me. He didn't want Ethan to own it and the only way he could prevent that was to sell it to me and make it look like it was all my doing, make it look like I had forced him using the power of the Pemberley name and the fact that I was married to his favorite daughter. But Ethan's father, former part-owner of the Longbourn, had intended for his oldest son to inherit the hotel. Ethan's presence at the funeral and in Meryton afterwards was bound to complicate things.

“Especially when you factor in the divorce,” Steve Logan pointed out. He and I were in the grocery store looking for food to stock up Mrs. Bennett's cupboards while her daughters and their families were in town.

I put a hand to my forehead and sighed. “I think I should just take a hint from my own father and have a heart attack right about now.”

“Did he die while planning his father in law's funeral?” Steve asked.

I shook my head and glared at him. “You know what I mean. I'm not prepared to handle whatever drama may ensue from having Charlotte and Ethan in the same church or restaurant.”

“Just be glad that Charlie is having the luncheon at the Netherfield.”

“Oh, believe me; I am. This way I won't have to pay to have the carpet repaired and buy new dishes after those two are done.”

Charlotte and Ethan's divorce eight years earlier had been anything but amicable. Of course any divorce that started with the wife informing the husband that she wanted a divorce while in the delivery room giving birth to their third child could not be amicable. Ethan had thought that Charlotte was joking until he found himself being served with divorce papers as he was about to inform the nurse that his newborn son's name would be Watson Reuben Collins. Instead, the little boy's name was Caleb Logan Lucas, no mention of his father's surname whatsoever. Within the year, Charlotte had acquired her divorce that give Ethan only occasional visitation privileges and had moved back to Meryton with her three boys.

“What I don't get is why she won't let Ethan see the boys,” I said as we walked down the World Foods aisle.

“With Char, it's really more a matter of principle than anything else,” Steve said as he put a few boxes of pasta in our cart. “She's pissed off at Ethan for the way he treated her and the kids during the marriage. And can you honestly see Ethan being a good father to his kids if you ever left them alone with him overnight?”

I shrugged, thinking back to numerous memories of watching Ethan sit in the corner of some gathering sipping on a beer while his children were in the hands of someone like Kyle or Steve or me. “Okay, I'll give you that one. But the whole divorce thing is a little bit weird.”

“Not really,” he replied. “The bit that was weird was the marriage.” I must have looked surprised because he sighed and continued. “If you really want details on this, talk to my wife, Jenny Kilpatrick, or your wife. They're women; they understand this better.”

“Okay,” I said, waiting for the big spill. Damn, I was pathetic; I was forty-three years old, happily married with six children, and standing in a grocery store waiting for my wife's longtime friend to explain the inner workings of a relationship that had gone bottoms up eight years earlier.

Steve shook his head. “This might sound a little egocentric but whatever. You might have heard that Char had a huge crush on me in high school.”

“That was almost twenty years ago,” I replied.

“Granted, but here's the thing. Ethan had been interested in Char since the first day of junior year but she didn't show any interest in him until she needed a prom date for senior prom. And that only came after I'd already asked Elizabeth to go with me. Then she kind of strung him along for two or three years until I got my act together and asked Becca out. Once Becca and I were dating seriously, suddenly Ethan was a hot commodity for Char. They got engaged a couple months after Becca and me. They got married three weeks before us. Are you picking up on what I'm saying?”

“She was only interested in him when she couldn't have you?”

“Bingo and I'm pretty sure that he viewed me as competition. He was trying to one-up me. He wanted to prove to me that I couldn't steal her away from him.”

“But you didn't want to.”

“Elementary, my dear Darcy,” he replied before putting two gallon jugs of milk in the cart. He sighed. “Honestly, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense but that's the way Ethan works. He's not logical.”

“You don't have to remind me. I'm just afraid that he's going to look for some way to try to take over the Longbourn.”

“But his dad sold his share in the place years ago. And then you bought the whole thing from Mr. Bennett a couple years ago. You made him a member of the board of directors for Pemberley Corporate and things were fine. You even let him keep living in the penthouse.”

“And I plan to keep Mrs. Bennett and Maddie and Hayley there as long as necessary,” I added.

“But you're worried that Ethan is going to screw with things.”

“I know he'll want to make trouble. He's banked his whole life on someday being able to get out from under my aunt's thumb and being able to control something great like the Longbourn. And then I come in and snatch the Longbourn up before he can get his paws on it.”

“And it's just one more thing that someone else has grabbed up before he can get it.”

I nodded. “I'm not going to make the Longbourn part of Pemberley. That wouldn't be right. There are people who live there year-round. I can't just throw them out on the streets so I can add more hotels to my glamorous chain. But at the same time this means I'll never open a Pemberley resort up in Meryton.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“It's fine; I have a way of making money up here now and I'm satisfied.”

“You are a businessman,” Steve remarked. “You think about things in ways that I'd never dare approach. I'm not saying that it's bad thing but it's something I've noticed over the years. I don't see it as much as I used to but every now and then I see some reminder that you really are a lawyer and the head of a large corporation.”

Elizabeth told me that every now and then herself. She let me know when she thought I was getting too focused on business and ignoring her and the kids too much. One of her favorite ways to do that was to just silently hand me whoever the smallest child was and then walk away. One recent Saturday when I'd been sitting in my office while she'd been outside with the kids, she'd simply walked into my office with little Isabella on her hip and handed the baby over to me. “I've got the rest of them outside but I think Bella wanted Daddy,” she'd said.

I took my tiny daughter in my arms and held her with sheer delight. She was so tiny and perfect; all of my kids were amazing. I looked out the window at the backyard where Ben and Nick were playing catch while Anna and Stevie were playing in the sandbox and their mother was pushing Mark in his toddler swing. They were mine, my amazing children and my wonderful, beautiful wife. I looked at my baby in my arms. She had her mother's dark brown curls and gorgeous dark brown eyes. Thankfully, of our sons, only Stevie had inherited his mother's curls. Ben, Nick, and Mark all had my straight, manly hair. Anna and Isabella both had their mother's curly hair, but then I've always thought that curly hair looks better on girls than it does on boys.

The funeral went off without a hitch. Mrs. Bennett definitely bawled her way through the whole thing but I understood how she felt. Her husband was dead and now all she had at home were Lydia's two daughters. Mary was living by herself in an apartment in downtown Meryton while still working at the front desk of the Longbourn. Katie had married Nick Logan, to everyone's shock, a few years earlier and now they were happily living in Denver. Lydia was off in California most of the time and rarely paid any attention to her family. But she'd deigned to come home for her father's funeral after numerous loud, emotional, threatening phone calls from her mother. Lizzie was living in Chicago with me. And Jane and Charlie were still living in the penthouse of the Netherfield albeit with a five children. Dominic had four younger siblings; Mary was eight, John was six, Norah was four, and Christopher was two.

Looking around Banquet Hall #3 of the Netherfield I saw numerous familiar faces. Steve and Becca now had six children, four girls and two boys; the Logans were a brilliantly good-looking family but more than that they were good-hearted people. They were still happily living in Meryton as were Kyle and Jenny Kilpatrick and their large brood of seven children. I was amazed by their family; I knew that they only had one more child than us but at the same time, I knew I made far more money than they did. I knew how I could support six children without making Lizzie work. But there were time when I wondered how Kyle and Jenny made ends meet.

One couple who I knew had no trouble making ends meet was Alex and Hannah Kilpatrick. Six years earlier, Alex had gotten a job at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles working for Dr. Alex Wentworth, a young pediatric neurologist who had made quite the name for himself and had taken Alex Kilpatrick along for the ride. Now, Alex was the assistant head of pediatric neurology at the age of thirty-nine and more than capable of providing his wife and six children with a comfortable lifestyle. Looking at Alex bouncing his infant daughter, Stella, on his lap, I knew that life was treating him well. And as I talked with Kyle after lunch, I knew that regardless of how much money he made every year, this was a man who was truly happy with his life, who truly believed that he was living his life the way he was supposed to be.

Charlotte Lucas and her three sons were there. Ethan was there too, of course but that didn't really seem to bother Charlotte too much. She'd been dating David Poynter-Hull, a British business associate of Charlie's and mine for the past several months and seemed to be quite happy with him. For once in her life, Charlotte wasn't settling for mediocre or selling herself short. I could see Ethan simmering each time he saw his ex-wife with David but what could he do? It was her life. We all make our own decisions and sometimes you just have to live with the decisions that other people make. That was a lesson that Ethan Collins could really stand to learn.

Ethan was sitting with his mother, his stepfather, and his half-sisters looking rather uncomfortable as his ex-wife and his three sons sat with Char's boyfriend and various members of her family. In the years since the divorce, Ethan had never remarried or even dated anyone seriously. Char, on the other hand, had dated a few guys before settling down with David about a year ago. Elizabeth didn't think they'd get married anytime soon but she wasn't sure. Looking at the other couples among our close friends, I saw far more of a tendency towards “until death do us part.” Looking at Kyle Kilpatrick with one arm lovingly draped around his wife's shoulders and the other holding his little daughter, Katharine, in his lap. They looked like a peaceful family. This picture, of course, did not include Katharine's older brothers, Noah, James, Matthew, and Isaac. These four Kilpatrick boys, along with their cousins, Gabriel, Lucas, and Daniel, were running around like the Energizer bunny. They were chasing each other around, much to their mothers' chagrin. It was giving me a window into what raising Kyle and Alex must have been like for Kathy and Mike Kilpatrick. They had to be the two hardest children in the world. They were energetic and they seemed like they'd been the children who were always in trouble.

That night, I was putting Stevie and Mark to bed when Anna came up and attached herself to my ankle. I looked down at my six-year-old in her pink Cinderella nightgown. “What's up Annabelle?” I asked as I put two-year-old Mark in his bed.

“I love you,” she said, still clinging to my ankle. “You're the best daddy ever.”

Once I'd tucked her little brothers into their beds and kissed them on their foreheads, I picked her up in my lap. “I have to help Stevie and Mark say their prayers.”

“I'll help too!” she said, leaning against my chest.

After an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and the little boys' petitions that ranged from Grandpa's soul to our pet dog back in Chicago, I shifted Anna onto my back for a piggyback ride and headed towards her mother's old bedroom that Anna, Isabella, Elizabeth, and I were sharing that week. “Daddy, I love you so much. I love you more than Uncle Charlie or Uncle Nick or Uncle Steve or anyone else except Mommy and Jesus.”

Lizzie was sitting on the queen-sized bed we were sharing breast-feeding Isabella and Anna bounded up on the bed. “Mommy, I love you and Isabella. You're the best mommy ever.”

My wife kissed the top of our older daughter's head. “And you're the best Annabelle ever.”

“I knew she loved me the most,” Anna said as she made herself a little nest in the bed next to her mother.

“What are you doing, Miss Anna?” I asked, picking up my daughter. “That's my spot on my bed.”

“But I get to sit by Mommy.”

“I want to sit by Mommy,” I told her.

“But she's not your mommy; she's just your friend, Elizabeth.”

I sighed as my wife laughed. “Actually, Anna,” Elizabeth said. “Daddy is my husband and I am his wife.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that we love each other very much and we will spend the rest of our lives together and have children together.”

“That sounds fun,” my daughter announced, bouncing on the bed. “When can I get a husband?”

“When you're old like me,” I told her.

“That's boring but it's better than having to wait until you're as old as Grandma.”

Later that evening, I was walking around the apartment making sure that all of my offspring were safely asleep in their beds. As I adjusted the blankets over eight-year-old Nicholas and smoothed ten-year-old Benjamin's hair, I understood the look of sadness I'd seen in Ethan Collins's eyes earlier that day. He could never have moments like this with his sons. He could never tuck his children into their beds or watch his wife tenderly hold their baby. But then he'd pushed his wife away. He'd insulted her and offended her. Maybe he hadn't known what he was doing but he'd done enough to offend her and drive her away. And not only had he lost his family but he would never inherit the Longbourn. Maybe he'd deserved what had happened to him. But it was still sad to see a man who had once had to much fall so far.

Three years later we were in Meryton again for a funeral but this was a funeral that I had not been at all expecting. Becca Logan had died at the age of forty-one after a hit and run driver had hit her car one night when she was driving home from visiting her mother who was in the hospital with pneumonia. Becca left behind six children. Mary Logan, the little baby I'd watched grow up, was now fifteen; Abby, the premature baby who had worried so many people, was now thirteen and a budding soccer star. Their brother, Michael, was eleven and the spitting image of his father. Jacob was nine and bore more of a resemblance to his mother. Elizabeth was seven and their youngest, Julianne was five and inconsolable over her mother's death.

I looked at my eighteen-month-old daughter, Elinor, who was ensconced in my wife's arms and I was filled with an overwhelming sense of compassion for Steve. He was a single father now. I didn't know what I would do if Lizzie died and left me alone with our kids. I loved my wife and our children but I couldn't raise them without her. Granted Steve had his and Becca's families nearby to help out but things would never be the same without her. My heart went out to their poor children who would never get to see their mother again in this life. But a very selfish part of me was glad that it was Steve who lost his wife and not me. I wasn't sure I would be able to survive without my Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Anne Bennett-Darcy and I had come a long way. When we met in November of 2007, I was attracted to her at first sight and she hated me. Okay so I insulted her but whatever; I think we moved beyond that. We married in June of 2010 and our first child was born in April of 2011. She's had seven root canals in her life, three of which have been since our wedding. And after seven children, she was more beautiful than ever. And she also introduced my sister to the man she married nine years ago. Gianna and her husband, Connor Kilpatrick, were sitting in front of us at Becca's funeral and seeing them standing there with my absolutely gorgeous sixteen-year-old niece, Emily Darcy-Kilpatrick, was a reminder of how thinking of others and caring about the world around you can change lives. Gianna's decision to keep Emily despite the circumstances of her conception was selfless. Connor had to sacrifice his desires a thousand times to make his relationship with Gianna work. And as parents to Emily and to their three other children, they both had to make daily sacrifices, as all parents do.

The past seventeen years have been a roller coaster but they've been totally worth it. And after the funeral, I heard Alex singing the song “The Whole World and You” by Tally Hall to his three-year-old daughter, Stella, and I smiled. As he sang to his daughter “No one's better than you,” I knew that for him, nothing was better than being a father. He made at least six figures a year, but the most important things for him were the happiness of his wife and children.

And the same was true for me. Sometimes I get too caught up in work but all Lizzie has to do is hand me one of our beautiful children or just yell at me and everything clicks into place. The best thing about all of this was that your children really sincerely thought that no one in the world was better than you, their parent. But Lizzie is a better person than I will ever be-if only because she has forgiven me for a being a jackass a thousand and one times.

“And that, my dear,” I said kissing her behind her left ear. “That is why I will always love you. You make me a better person and I can't live without you.”

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