A/N: Just a little oneshot that follows on from We Don't Talk Anymore, I hope you all enjoy it.
Disclaimer: As said before, I'm not Jane Austen.
Grace
If there was one thing that Elizabeth and Will had difficulty with, it was deciding on a mutual name that they both liked for their unborn baby.
They hadn't told anybody about their baby until after they had had the first scan to confirm their baby was healthy. The whole experience had made their hearts skip a beat when the sonographer had shown them the little blob that was growing inside Elizabeth's stomach.
At twenty-weeks it was confirmed that their baby was a girl. Their spare bedroom was painted a pale pink, the nursery furniture bought in white, brand new clothes packed away into the little wardrobe whilst stacks of nappies in various sizes were packed away neatly beneath the changing table.
The only thing left to choose was a name for their unborn baby girl.
"Why not choose a floral name? There are lots of pretty girl names that represent a flower." Lydia had suggested.
So, they looked through the baby book. Rose, Lily, Violet, Jasmine were just some of those they liked the look of until they settled on Poppy.
Poppy Darcy.
Their baby girl was going to be called Poppy. Until three days later.
After attending her midwife check-up, the name Poppy had been thrown out of the window. As she had waited in the waiting room at the doctor's surgery, she cringed when she heard a mother screaming after her child to stop running away.
"POPPY GET YA BUM BACK 'ERE RITE NOW!"
The Portsmouth accent had always made her cringe. Especially when a mother shouted after her child.
"Ugh, we can't name her Poppy," Elizabeth complained as she returned home that evening, "Some woman was screaming at her kid today and it's put me off it."
"How about you get a trend going?" Jane suggested, watching as Will rubbed Elizabeth's aching feet, "How about choosing a name that begins with an F or an E?"
"But we're not exactly known as Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth. Most people refer to us as Will and Lizzy." Will pointed out.
"So…how about an L or W?" Charles suggested.
And so, they'd taken Charles and Jane's advice.
Laura Darcy. Lauren Darcy. Louisa Darcy. Willow Darcy. Wilma Darcy. Whitney Darcy.
Those names couldn't find a place in their hearts.
As her pregnancy continued, their name choices were chosen…and then discarded as 'maybes'.
Their baby girl had been an Amelia for three days. Isabella for five. Freya for six. And Ruby for eleven.
Nothing seemed to stick.
By thirty-weeks, Elizabeth was getting fed up with trying to choose a name. Her baby bump had now grown so much that she couldn't see her feet when she stood up. She couldn't sit comfortably behind her desk nor get to sleep very easily. Constantly she felt her baby girl move around inside her during the night.
"We're never going to have a name for her!" Elizabeth complained.
Will smiled sympathetically as they sat in bed.
"It seems impossible to find a name that we like enough to stick to." He sighed.
Elizabeth rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, breathing in the familiar set of her fiancé.
"Every single name we've picked out we've changed our minds over. We only have ten weeks of pregnancy left! And then we only have six weeks after the birth to register her otherwise we'll be fined."
"Don't worry hon, we will find a name for our baby girl."
"Anne suggested that we name her after a loved one." Elizabeth muttered.
Although she still had her eyes closed, she could tell that her fiancé had rolled his eyes that his cousin would have a suggestion.
"Who would we name her after? Aunt Catherine named Anne after my mother. Your mother left. I don't think Alice would be comfortable with us naming her step-granddaughter after her when she was adamant me and Georgie should never call her mum. And Aunt Catherine isn't the exact person I'd name my child after." Will ranted.
"If we named the baby Lydia, Janie or Georgia it may get confusing." Elizabeth laughed.
"And knowing Richard, he'd probably throw in 'Ricarda' as his suggestion."
Elizabeth chuckled lightly. Knowing Richard, he probably would like to get his suggestion considered for their baby's name.
"I do like the idea of naming her after a loved one. What was your mother's middle name? Maybe we could name her after your mother but using your mother's middle name to save confusion with your cousin." she mused.
Will smiled down at her, kissing her forehead lightly as he whispered his mother's middle name into her ear...
ooOoo
Eight Weeks Later...
After thirty-eight weeks and three days of pregnancy, Elizabeth had finally given birth to their baby girl. The labour was painful, but thankfully short and it had amazed him just how well his wife-to-be had coped with the birth. Their baby girl had been pushed into the world at five-forty-seven on a Tuesday morning, the sun shining low outside the delivery room window.
The midwives had cleaned the baby and Elizabeth up, wrapped their little bundle of joy into some towels and placed the baby into her mother's welcoming arms.
"I've never seen anything so perfect..." Elizabeth whispered happily, the exhaustion and joy present in her voice.
Will wrapped his arm around her shoulder as he sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at his newborn daughter.
"Do we have a name yet?" The midwife asked with a smile, "Just so we can put it on her tags."
Will and Elizabeth met each other's gaze and smiled at each other.
"Grace." they said in unison, "Grace Darcy."
As the midwife went away and came back minutes later with tags to place around the newborn's delicate ankles, baby Grace's eyelids fluttered as she fell asleep peacefully in the arms of her mother.