A/N- I wanted to do this little one shot forever, so here it is.

It was a rainy day, and every lady and gentleman in Britain knows how disagreeable they are. But every child, especially the five little Bennet girls know that when the outdoors cannot be attacked, it is time to wreak havoc at home. This is precisely what they did do to relieve their restless spirits, and when Mrs Bennet walked into her eldest daughters' room, she was reminded of the magnitude of damage a few little girls can cause.

The five sisters had, upon realising that they could not have a picnic as previously planned, taken upon themselves to make all the pillows in the household feel their misery, and were engaging in a pillow fight in the bedroom shared by the oldest two, Jane and Elizabeth. The youngest Lydia and Kitty were only five and six and had such ideas all the time and their elders usually agreed, they themselves being only eight, nine and ten. On this occasion, the pillow fight idea had been met with great approval, and much to Mrs Bennet's dismay, the little room was as messy as a battlefield.

She had entered the room an hour after the rain started, recalling that she needed to check on her little girls to ensure that their limbs as well the furniture was intact, and then promptly wished that she had checked on them sooner, when she saw the miserable condition of the pillows.

'Jane! Elizabeth! What is this?'

'A pillow fight, Mama. Would you like to join us?', asked Jane innocently.

'This is unacceptable!''

'You don't have to play if you don't like it, Mama', said Elizabeth.

'Nobody is supposed to have pillow fights! Haven't I told you that before?'

'But they are fun, Mama', said Kitty.

Mrs Bennet fought the urge to smile.

'Be as that may, they are not a suitable pass time for a lady, or a little girl either.'

'Would it be all right if we were boys, Mama?', asked Mary.

Mrs Bennet threw her hands up in frustration.

'I give up! Lord, these girls! Go, wait in your father's study till I have dealt with this mess. AND I EXPECT YOU TO WAIT QUIETLY!', Mrs Bennet yelled the last part and the girls scampered off, rather frightened by the outburst. The girls sat silently in the study for a while, but this good behavior could hardly be expected to last, and Lydia at last broke the silence.

'Where is Papa?'

'At the Lucases.', replied Jane.

'If only we were there too!', said Lydia mournfully.

'Lady Lucas wouldn't stop Lottie from playing a little game.', said Lizzy.

'I didn't know Papa had a diary!', observed Mary.

'What?', asked Lizzy.

Mary merely pointed to a diary that lay innocently on the table. The girls stared at it for a few minutes as if expecting it to explode.

'We shouldn't read his diary.', started Jane tentatively.

Mary nodded.

'So that's that?', asked Lydia.

'Yes.', said Lizzy before reaching out and grabbing the diary, causing her sisters to grin at her antics.

'Open it quickly!', squealed Kitty.

Lizzy gave her sisters a cheeky grin and then flipped through the diary leisurely. She read a few pages, smiled to herself, then read a little more. She was very much aware of her curious sisters who were trying to peep at it from behind back, but chose to ignore them till Lydia rather loudly demanded that Lizzy should read out the entries.

'Be quiet, Lydia, do you want Mama to come here?'

'I want to know what's written!', she grumbled.

'Read out, Lizzy.', said Jane calmly, and Elizabeth complied for she deeply respected her sister.

'All right, but let me tell you first that this entry is about Papa meeting Mama. It isn't a new diary, but a very old one. Listen now.

Had to attend a ball today, don't really like them but one doesn't have much of a choice in this society. This one wasn't so boring. Met Francis Gardiner. She's pretty and cheerful company. Danced two dances with her. Looks like she has many suitors clamoring for her hand. Well, I'm not joining the list anytime soon. Mrs White, White's young widow keeps trying to entice me into matrimony with her. She's so obvious that its quite pathetic. One would think she would be more faithful to White's memory, he doted on her so.'

The girls giggled to themselves ad then Lizzy turned the page and remarked,

'It doesn't look like Papa wrote in his diary very often.'

'Why?', queried Kitty.

'Hear this entry

I will be engaged to Miss Gardiner by this time tomorrow if she will have me, which she probably will because the match is most advantageous to her, she being a tradesman's daughter and I being a gentleman. I am sick of single life, for all sorts of women seem too eager to marry the money I own, something that Francis doesn't do to anyone, perhaps because she doesn't need to. Anyhow, she is good looking, has a good dowry, and seems to be great company, for why else would men flock around her so. I hope we will be married soon, I don't want a long engagement.'

The girls looked at each other, till Mary broke the silence.

'That didn't tell us very much.'

'No, it didn't.', agreed Jane.

'Should we ask Mama about it?', wondered Lydia.

'Be quiet, Lydia! We can't tell anyone that we read Papa's diary without his permission!', said Kitty.

'We don't need to mention that to Mama.', mused Lizzy.

'Don't need to mention what to me?', asked a voice behind them, starting them.

The girls turned around to see their mother looking at them sternly, then glanced at the incriminating evidence still in Elizabeth's hands. Lizzy sighed.

This was going to be a long day.

A/N- I rather like this one shot. Would anyone like to hear Mrs Bennet's version of the tale? Do review.