Hullo! This is my first foray into Pride and Prejudice fanfiction, and I certainly hope it isn't the last. For some odd reason, I have had babies on the brain and then this appeared. :) Please, forgive my lack of Regency era language-I have done my best, but I'm still a bit rusty and don't know if I've managed to pull it off well enough. ;) This story is based off of the book and the 1995 film version of Pride and Prejudice with a hint of the 2005 film thrown in for good measure. ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Pride and Prejudice nor do I own Hamlet or Princess of Thieves. They all belong to their respective owners and any copyright infringement is completely unintentional.

From This Day Forward and Forever

by Knowing Grace

The child was round-cheeked, healthy, and perfect. I stared down at the new little person, scarcely able to believe that I was holding in my arms the product of the love shared between my wife and myself. Unwinding the swaddling clothes, I carefully counted each finger and toe, marveling over the babe's silken skin and bright blue eyes that were the exact same shade as my darling Elizabeth's.

What a miracle I have been given this morning, I thought as a smile tugged at the corners of my lips; the infant yawned, eyes blinking heavily in an attempt to remain awake if only for a moment more.

The bedclothes rustled and soon, I felt my wife snuggling up beside me—her head gently resting on my shoulder as she peered down at the child.

"Did we wake you?" I asked, dropping a light kiss onto the top of her head; she glanced up at me, a tired smile on her face.

"You did not." She replied; her fingertips caressed the blanket that I had sloppily re-wrapped about the babe's tiny form and she chuckled. "I see you have thoroughly inspected our new addition to the Darcy household. Have we passed muster?" Her eyes danced with ill-concealed mirth and my chest rose and fell with silent laughter.

"Indeed. You both have met and surpassed my greatest expectations and I am happy—beyond happy even. If we should be blessed with ten more such children together, I could scarcely be more perfectly contented than I am in this moment."

She pulled away from me slightly, and raised a sculpted brow in mock surprise. "Ten more children? Please, dearest, I have just brought our first babe into the world, and the pain of such a felicitous event has not so soon faded from my memory as it apparently has from yours. At least give me some time to come to grips with the thought of having such a large brood before acting upon it." She giggled and a flash of devilry sparkled in her fine eyes. "Oh! I can imagine the look on Lady Catherine's face at the thought of our having—to her mind—an unseemly number of children running amuck over the grounds of our home. 'Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted by such an event?¹'"

My mouth opened in surprise at her perfect imitation of my proud and ill-mannered aunt, and then a bark of laughter escaped my lips.

The cry of our hours-old infant brought our merriment to a swift end, and I reluctantly gave the child over to the loving ministrations of my wife.

"There, there. Do not cry, dear one." She murmured as she opened her nightdress and allowed the child to suckle at her breast. My heart melted at the sight, and I could not prevent the tears that winged their way down my cheeks.

At long length, Elizabeth turned her attention away from the nursing babe and noticed my distress. A look of concern darkened her features.

"Fitzwilliam, whatever is the matter?" She asked, wrapping her free hand around my own and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"You have made me the happiest man in all of England." I whispered and watched her cheeks turn a becoming shade of crimson at my words.

"I believe you said much the same thing the day I accepted your proposal."

I pressed a kiss to her temple. "Mmmhmmm."

"Also, I remember such a sentiment being mentioned on the day we wed." She added as my lips caressed her right cheek. "And when I told you I was with child."

I left a trail of kisses upon her skin until I came in contact with her soft mouth. The intimate moment was broken only when the need for air became to great for both of us. We panted, and I could not help but notice how very fetching my wife's features were now that they bore a bright flush from our brief minute of passion.

Glancing down, I noted that our child had succumbed to the irresistible siren known as slumber—the babe's rosebud mouth worked even in sleep, bringing a wide smile to my face. Ever so carefully, I reached out and touched the infant's hand and five, tiny fingers closed around one of my own as if of their own accord.

"Roxanne Elizabeth Darcy." I breathed the name and watched in fascination as our daughter slept on, oblivious of her very captive audience.

"Fitzwilliam?"

"Yes?" My gaze once again returned to my darling wife, and I noted the wild curls that framed her lovely face.

"Are you truly happy? I know you said as much, but I also am aware that an heir is needed and-"

I carefully disentangled my finger from Roxanne's grip and pressed it against her mother's lips, halting her words.

"Elizabeth, Pemberley is not entailed away like your parent's estate. Just because we have a daughter instead of a son does not mean we will lose our home; in fact, you could gift me with a whole house full of girls and I would still be just as delighted as I am now."

Her eyebrow quirked up once more. "Oh, now it's a whole house full. What will your dear Aunt Catherine say to that?"

"Something rude and rather forgettable, I would imagine." I murmured, leaning back against the headboard of the large bed.

A brief minute of silence ensued, broken only by the chiming of the ornate time piece that stood in the far corner of the bedchamber as it struck ten of the clock.

"Do you love me?" The question came out of nowhere, and I opened my eyes—which had slid shut as exhaustion set in—and glanced down at the woman I had pledged myself to in company a mere twelvemonth ago.

"Need you ask such a question?"

Her creased forehead announced to me that she was in need of assurance of my affections. I cupped her cheek in my palm, forcing her to look at me. "Doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the sun doth move, doubt truth to be a liar, but never doubt I love.²" I pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose which she promptly wrinkled, a teasing smile on her full lips.

"Fitzwilliam, you know my views on poetry...³"

I grinned lazily at her, and tugged her gently back until her head once more rested upon my shoulder. "All too well, I fear. I would write sonnets detailing your many virtues enough to fill a library or two and still I would not be able to express what a hold you have upon me, dear Wife. You have bewitched me both body and soulª; I never wish to break the spell you cast upon my heart. And I love...I love...I love you."

"Forever?"

"From this day forward and forever.*"

She gazed up at me with such an expression on her face that I feared my heart would burst with an overabundance of felicity.

"And I love you, Mr. Darcy—dearest of husbands—from this day forward and forever."

~Finis

Story Notes:

¹ Quote from Lady Catherine de Bourgh found in chapter 56 of Pride and Prejudice

² Quoted from Act II Scene II of Shakespeare's Hamlet

³ A nod to a comment Elizabeth made in chapter 9 of Pride and Prejudice about poetry driving away love.

ª Quoted from the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice. I also split up the whole phrase which originally goes like this: "You have bewitched me both body and soul, and I love...I love...I love you."

* The quote "From this day forward and forever" comes from the 2001 TV movie Princess of Thieves starring Keira Knightley.