A Winter Wonderland

By Karen Ann

Prologue

Posted on Friday, 1 December 2000

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Christmas is the season to be jolly... but how in the world can William Darcy be jolly without Elizabeth Bennet by his side?

Chapter 1

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

...December 1, 2000...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev'rywhere you go;
Take a look in the five-and-ten, glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,
Toys in ev'ry store,
But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be
On your own front door.

A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney and Ben;
Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
Is the hope of Janice and Jen;
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev'rywhere you go;
There's a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,
The sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.

Elizabeth Bennet brushed some of the dust off the big wooden box of Christmas ornaments, then slid the cover off. Inside she found the ornaments her mother had put in her hope chest. Her mother had lost hope and given Elizabeth the hope chest anyway, although she wasn't married.

There were a few ornaments from the Christmas when she and her sisters had decided to make everyone an ornament. Dry gobs lobs of glue came out the sides of a red and green construction paper Christmas tree, and in big be-crayoned letters on the front it said, "I love you Lizzy from Lydia!" Elizabeth laughed at the memory of her youngest sister.

She pulled another hand made ornament from her box. It was a pinecone, covered in sparkly, transparent glitter, and hung on the tree with a fat, pink ribbon, tied in a bow. It was just like Jane, perfect in every detail. When Elizabeth held it up, it gleamed in the light of the Christmas lights, just like it had all those years ago when Jane, her oldest sister, first gave it to her. "I miss you, Janie," Elizabeth whispered softly, as she put the pinecone on one of the tree branches.

Next, Elizabeth discovered a perfectly manufactured sled, made from pop sickle sticks. When Mary had given it to her, none of her sisters believed Mary had actually made it. "You bought it!" Lydia shouted. "We were supposed to make the present!" Mary glared at her younger sister. "I did so make it. You're just jealous because your ornament looks like crap." Ah yes, Christmas at the Bennets...

Last, but not least, Elizabeth took out Kitty's ornament. Kitty had only been seven at the time, but Elizabeth had to admit Kitty had given her the best ornament of all, not because it was perfect, or because it was beautiful, but because it had so much sentimental value. It was a big, dry hunk of clay, with Kitty's hand imprinted in the middle. Inside, written on the hand, it said, "Sleigh bells ring, are you listening, in the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland." It was their song. The Bennet sisters had always loved that song, which is why Kitty put it on the hand. "I would have put the rest on," Kitty had said, crawling onto Elizabeth's lap, "But hand's to little." As Elizabeth looked back on it, though, that was the best part of the song. Life had been unhappy for the sisters, but on Christmas, The world was happy again. Mother was sober. Dad would hang a bit of holly, and drag his wife under it, and stayed with his family the whole night, and all of Christmas Day.

"A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland," Elizabeth said aloud, and walked over to her tree, and hung the clay hand in a place where she would see it every time she walked in the room.

Elizabeth hummed along with the song on the old record, as it spun around on her Grandfather's old record player. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..." This could easily be the best Christmas of her entire life. "Going home again, after all this time," she thought, with a shake of her dark head. She wondered what her sisters were like now...

Ryan Fitzwilliam sat in his glass and concrete office building, gazing out the window at the gently falling snow.

"Did you hear what I said?" His cousin and partner in his law firm, William Darcy asked. Annoyance broke through his voice.

"This is the kind of snow you see on Christmas Eve," Ryan said, suppressing the urge to press his nose up against the window, as he had when he was a child.

"Have you heard anything I've said?" William asked.

Ryan laughed. "You just said, and I quote, 'have you heard anything I've said?' Correct?"

William threw his hands up in exasperation. "You're impossible, Ryan."

"But fun. Everyone thinks I'm fun."

"...until they get to know you. Then you're just annoying. I want to finish this meeting before Christmas."

"Why? Do you have a hot date sometime within the next twenty-five days?"

"Very funny," William said rolling his eyes.

"No hot date this month, either?"

"Not if we don't finish this meeting," William said firmly.

"Okay, then," Ryan said, imitating William. "We'll finish... on one condition."

William rolled his eyes, "What now?"

"You double with Kara and me and your 'hot date' some night."

"What hot date?" William asked, confusedly .

"I knew it!" Ryan said, jumping up from his desk. "There is not girlfriend."

"It's a big secret," William said sarcastically.

"You need to get out more... date... I want you to double with Kara and me. Maybe she has some friend she can hook you up with, or something," Ryan said, thoughtfully.

"If I say yes, can we finish this meeting?"

"Hmmm... Can I watch the snow for an hour first?"

"Ryan-"

"Okay, okay. Let's finish the meeting," Ryan laughed.

"You want me to do what?" Kara asked, gawking at Ryan.

"Set William up with one of your friends."

Kara made a face. "William Darcy is the most gorgeous, handsome, attractive man I've ever met. Why would I want to give him to one of my friends."

"Because you're dating me?" Richard asked. "Come on, hon. Isn't there someone you could set William up with?"

"Well..."

"You have a million friends, Kara-"

"Shut up and let me think."

"Okay, okay," Ryan said, backing away.

"How 'bout Jen?" Kara said, finally.

"I thought she was married."

"Good point. Marsha, then."

"She has some nasty warts on her hands."

"Oh yeah. So what do you want? Not married, no warts..."

"How 'bout someone nice."

"Now you're asking for a little too much, dearie," Kara suddenly snapped her fingers. "I've got the perfect person."

"Who?"

"My sister. She's coming to town this weekend to shop for Christmas." Kara frowned. "She'll be leaving Sunday night, though."

"She'll be back, though, right?"

"Oh yeah. She's coming up again the week before Christmas."

"Good. I really hope William likes her.

Kara scowled. "It will. All men love her."

Ryan leaned in to kiss Kara, then pulled back. "Wait! You think William is better looking than me?"

Kara stopped him from any further complaining with a kiss.

Ryan pulled away again. "What if she likes me better than William?"

Kara shrugged her thin shoulders, and kissed him again. "Why would she?"

"Because I'm so good looking."

"And cocky too, I see."

Ryan grinned, hoping for another kiss. "What if I like her better than you?"

Kara moved away, slightly. "You probably will. All men love Caroline."

Chapter 2

Posted on Sunday, 10 December 2000

The Grinch's Song (a.k.a.: The story of Caroline's life)

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch
You really are a heel,
You're as cuddly as a cactus, you're as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch,
You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel!

You're a monster, Mr. Grinch,
Your heart's an empty hole,
Your brain is full of spiders, you have garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch,
I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!

You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch,
You have termites in your smile,
You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile, Mr. Grinch,
Given a choice between the two of you I'd take the seasick crocodile!

You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch,
You're the king of sinful sots,
Your heart's a dead tomato splotched with moldy purple spots, Mr. Grinch,
You're a three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce!

You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch,
With a nauseous super "naus"!,
You're a crooked dirty jockey and you drive a crooked hoss, Mr. Grinch,
Your soul is an appalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful
assortment of rubbish imaginable mangled up in tangled up knots!

You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch,
You're a nasty wasty skunk,
Your heart is full of unwashed socks, your soul is full of gunk, Mr. Grinch,
The three words that best describe you are as follows, and I quote,
"Stink, stank, stunk"!

...Flashback...

*last Saturday*

"Hello," William's voice was groggy, and dripped with sleepiness. Why did stupid people have to wake him up so early on a Saturday? Didn't they know the meaning of the word sleep?

"Hey, Will," The perky voice on the other end said.

"Ryan," Will grumbled, and fell back into his pillows. He hated morning people.

"Kara and I found you a date." Ryan was never one for breaking bad news slowly.

William yawned, and tried hard to stop the hard, fast thump-thump of his heart. "When?" he asked.

"Tonight. And don't even try to tell me you can't make it. She's expecting you."

"Who is it?"

"Kara's sister. I think her name is Corina or something."

"Lovely," William said sarcastically.

"That's what I hear from Kara. She says all me love her."

"How nice..."

Ryan ignored his cousin. "Well, Kara and I are going to build a snowman. We'll pick you up around 7, and dress nice."

"Yes, mommy."

"And nice does not mean sweats and tennis shoes."

"Good bye Ryan," William said. The annoyance crept into his voice. Before Ryan could say anything else, William hung up.

...back to the present...

Caroline sat at down gently on the couch in her living room, and picked up a magazine. Listlessly, she paged through it. Why couldn't she concentrate? The whirr of the vacuum cleaner made her head throb.

"Jane, can you shut that thing off?" she yelled. The vacuum immediately stopped, and a pretty woman in her late 20's walked into the living room, dragging the vacuum behind her.

"I'm sorry, Miss Bingley," she said.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "You're always sorry, Jane, but I pay you to do these things while I'm away, not while I'm trying to concentrate."

"Yes ma'am."

"Now. Go dust or something. Make yourself useful."

Jane walked meekly out of the living room, but stopped in the entry way.

"I told you to go, didn't I?" Caroline asked.

"Yes ma'am, but I was just wondering if I could have Christmas eve and Christmas off."

Caroline waved her hand in the air, and went back to paging through her magazine.

"I pay you to clean, Jane, and I have yet to see you do anything."

Jane frowned, and tried to keep the tears from flooding her eyes. "I'll try harder, Miss Bingley, but my sister is coming home. I haven't seen her in years, and I miss her so mu-"

Caroline glanced over the top of her magazine, and said. "Christmas is for parties, and I intend to have the best parties, but to do that, I need a clean house."

"I'll clean extra hard-"

"What about cleaning up after the parties? You can't expect me to do that."

"Well no-"

Caroline yawned and turned the page. "I'm staying here for Christmas, and I-" She glanced down at the magazine, and found herself looking into a pair of dark, handsome, and very familiar eyes.

Bachelor of the year, the heading read. In smaller print, it said, "William Darcy. He's irresistible, rich, intelligent, and available."

"He's rich?" Caroline asked herself. She shut the magazine, then turned to Jane. "Suddenly I'm in the Christmas spirit. I'll give you Christmas Eve and Christmas off, and I'll even give you this weekend off."

Jane gawked at Caroline in disbelief.

"That's right," Caroline said. "Go, Jane. Have a nice Christmas, and all that junk."

Jane grinned, and ran to Caroline and threw her arms around her. "Oh, thank you, Miss Bingley. Thank you, thank you thank you. You have no idea how happy this makes me."

Caroline pulled herself away from Jane, and brushed herself off. "I think I have a pretty good idea. Bye."

"Good bye, Miss Bingley!" Jane cried, as she grabbed her coat from the closet, and rushed outside.

In her haste she ran into a young man who was on his way to Caroline's front door.

"I'm sorry," she exclaimed, as she rushed off to her car.

When she drove away from the curb, the young man was still watching after her. Who was the blond women?

...flashback...

*last Saturday, that night*

Caroline glanced across the candle lit table at her sister and Ryan Fitzwilliam. What does she see in him? Caroline wondered.

She glanced at her date, who sat next to her. He looked very handsome. He was well dressed, and seemed interesting enough... but he was lacking one essential quality. Money. They had picked him up at a small one-bedroom apartment. In front of the apartment building was a rusty Oldsmobile, that looked like it had survived World War II, and would probably still be around for World War III.

No wonder he isn't married, she thought unhappily. What kind of women would want to live like that?

William sat back in his chair and yawned, as he listened to Caroline regale him about the fashion world. He wondered what would happen if he told her he didn't care.

"...so I bought the pink strappy shoes instead."

"Uh-huh,"

"You remember those pink Barbie shoes, Kara? Well they looked just like them."

Ryan gave Kara a look that said, "How boring can one women be?" Kara nodded, then sighed. She had forgotten how boring Caroline could be.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Kara said, getting up quickly. She grabbed Ryan's arm. "Could you come with me, hon?"

Ryan blinked his sleepy eyes, and got up. "We'll be back." He turned to Caroline, and flashed his brightest smile. "Don't talk about anything fun without us."

William suddenly found himself very alone with Caroline. Throughout the night he had been discovering new things he didn't like about her. She wore too much strong perfume, too much make-up, too much hair spray, and was too boring.

"So..." Caroline said.

"So," William repeated.

"Have you lived around here all your life?"

"Well, pretty much. My family moved here when I was little."

"Oh," Caroline sighed. Another local.

"So, um," William cleared his throat. He could never think of anything to say on the spot.

"I was born here, but I hated it so much, I just had to get away. Wisconsin is so dumb. The weather is dumb, the people are dumb."

William choked on his steak. "Well, I kind of like it here."

"Obviously." Then, she changed the subject. "What high school did you go to? I can't remember seeing you around, but your name sounds familiar."

"East," William said.

"Oh, we didn't go to the same one, then."

"I was on the hockey team," William said.

"That's probably why your name sounds so familiar," Caroline said. "Next time I come here, I'll bring my pink strappy shoes. I think you'd like them."

Thus the evening ended, leaving neither William nor Caroline in a hurry to see the other anytime soon.

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