A/N: So I know that Henry has a sister from the press releases, and that she probably doesn't like Elizabeth, but I couldn't figure out which one of her children was the oldest (loads of googling went into the making of this chapter) so if I got it wrong, we'll find out when 2x13 airs! Enjoy!
Over the next few weeks, Elizabeth and Henry were in the perfect, happy, new-couple bubble. They watched movies, went out to dinner, spent nights at Henry's apartment and went out for coffee. It was blissful, and they were both giddy with the novelty of it all, constantly learning new things about each other. They found out they both loved to read, old classics mostly, and delighted in the fact that they now had someone to talk about books with. Henry found out Elizabeth could beat him at Scrabble with her eyes closed, and she wouldn't pass up an opportunity to tease him when he tried playing words that definitely did not exist.
After a botched attempt by Elizabeth to make Henry breakfast, they came to the conclusion that she was the worst cook either of them had met. From then on, Henry was in charge of cooking, and the only time Elizabeth went near the kitchen was for sandwiches, cereal, or to keep Henry company. They soon developed a close circle of friends, mostly from the disastrous party (Wendy, Todd, Lisa, Julia and her new boyfriend Matt) with whom they explored the city, went out for drinks, and played elaborate games of charades. In short, it was perfect.
One Friday morning, Elizabeth rolled over in her bed, waking up to a blaring alarm. Julia was already up and clearly the morning person, because she smiled at Elizabeth brightly. "Morning sleepyhead, Henry left a message a while ago, said he wanted to meet you in front of Lewis before your first class. No idea why, but he sounded happy."
"Thanks, and morning to you too," Elizabeth replied groggily. "I'll look out for him. I bet it's something with his sister, she was due to go into labour anytime this week."
When Elizabeth arrived at Lewis, she saw Henry waiting in front of the door, smiling. "Hi babe," he called, and wrapped his arms around her when she came close, kissing her fully on the mouth.
"Hi yourself, you're very happy today," Elizabeth replied when their kiss broke.
"I know, I became an uncle this morning! How exciting is that?"
"Very, Henry. Girl or boy?"
"A boy, his name is John. My sister is still in the hospital with him, and I was going to go visit her this afternoon, since she's only a half hour away."
"That sounds like a great idea. I'm sure she'll be ecstatic to see you."
"I was wondering, Elizabeth, if you…" Henry hesitated slightly, "if you wanted to come with me. She'd be thrilled to meet you."
"Are you sure?" Elizabeth asked. Meeting Henry's sister seemed like an awfully big step, considering she'd just had a baby and Elizabeth hadn't met anyone in Henry's family yet.
"I'm sure babe," Henry reassured her, and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Meet me at my place at four?"
"Okay," she acquiesced, and slipped her hand out of his, walking inside for her first class. All day Elizabeth couldn't help but think about meeting Henry's sister, and when her last class ended, she headed over to his apartment, unsure of what was about to come.
The drive to the hospital was quiet, and Elizabeth was happy to see Henry so excited for his sister, she could tell he clearly loved her and was excited to meet his nephew. As they exited the car and walked through the hospital doors, Henry grabbed Elizabeth's hand and pulled her close. A nurse showed them the way to the delivery room Henry's sister was in, and they pushed the door open to find a young woman sitting on the bed, holding a newborn.
She looked a little like Henry, Elizabeth noted, but had blonde hair instead of Henry's dark brown locks. She was pretty though, and seemed to have taken the birth well. She was gazing down at her child, and almost didn't notice the couple enter her room. Only when Henry whispered "Hi Maureen," did she glance up and smile.
"Hi little brother," she replied. "I'm happy you came."
"Me too." Henry moved over to stand next to his sister, and Elizabeth stayed by the door to give them some space. She could see Henry and his sister talking and her boyfriend cooing at the baby. She briefly wondered how Henry would act around his own children, but pushed the thought out of her head quickly. Too soon, she thought to herself. As she watched him pick up his nephew — John, she remembered — he turned around and waved her over. She approached the three of them cautiously, and smiled at Maureen.
"Hi," she said quietly, "he's beautiful."
"Maureen, this is Elizabeth. Elizabeth, my sister Maureen."
"Hello Elizabeth," Maureen replied. "I've heard so much about you." Her greeting seemed kind, but Elizabeth couldn't help but notice an undertone to her words she didn't particularly like. It had to be from the stress of giving birth, she decided, and didn't give it a second thought.
"Anyway, we're so excited to meet John," Henry continued, not having noticed anything. He was too wrapped up in the baby to notice Maureen's husband Tom enter the room.
"Henry," he exclaimed, clearly happy to see his brother in law. "And you must be Elizabeth, the one Henry can't stop talking about." She blushed at this, and turned to Henry, who shrugged, smiling. He really was too perfect, she thought. Tom was very nice, and made Elizabeth feel right at home. The four adults started talking about the birth and pregnancy, pausing every once in a while to comment on how cute John looked in his little blue hat and onesie, snuggled up in his bassinet. It was all going well until Maureen turned to Elizabeth and began to ask questions.
"So tell me," she began, "how did you two meet?"
"Well, Henry was supposed to start TAing for a professor who called me into his office to discuss a paper I wrote. He asked Henry to stay while he talked to me, and long story short, completely chewed me out for being a woman and having an opinion. I stormed out, Henry followed me, apologized for being there and saying nothing," she gave her boyfriend a coy glance, "and asked me out to coffee. Somehow, I said yes, and now we're here."
"Well, Henry must be glad you weren't deterred by the enormous level of geekiness and dorkiness that emanates from his very soul," Tom joked, "Once he gets into quoting, I don't think he knows how to stop."
"Oh I'm aware." Elizabeth leaned in conspiratorially, "His huge crush on Thomas Aquinas is obvious. I'm not sure I can compete."
Tom laughed and turned to Henry. "Well, she's a keeper, for sure. Knows how to keep you on your toes." Henry blushed, and looked over at Elizabeth, who smiled politely. Oh she was enjoying this, she thought, looking forward to learning more about her boyfriend and his family. All the while, Maureen had kept pretty quiet, but suddenly piped up.
"Henry mentioned you were from Virginia. I was wondering from where exactly?"
"Oh, outside Charlottesville. My parents had horses there, and after, we moved to Bethesda to live with my aunt and uncle, when we weren't at Houghton Hall."
"Houghton Hall?"
"Boarding school, in Connecticut."
"Ahh," Maureen remarked, and Elizabeth could sense a bit of disdain in her voice. She brushed it off and smiled sweetly. "Anything else you'd like to know?"
Maureen shook her head, and turned to Tom. "Honey, why don't you and Henry go get some coffee and water, and Elizabeth and I can talk some more."
"Sure, hon." Left alone, Maureen turned to Elizabeth and narrowed her eyes.
"Well, well. What on earth does a horse owner's daughter from Virginia want with the son of a steel worker, who is, let me do the math, three, nearly four years older than her? Besides the fact that he's legal, obviously."
Elizabeth's suspicions had been right, Maureen was disdainful. But how much, and how badly her words could hurt, Elizabeth had not expected. It seemed as though lately, everything had been too perfect with Henry, and the bubble was waiting to burst. She couldn't seem to form words, so she just sat and looked at Henry's sister blankly.
"Well, if you must know, neither my nor Henry's upbringing has anything to do with it. I deeply respect your brother, and I could not imagine using him, or the age difference, in any way. I care too much about him, and I know you clearly can't see that. He's your little brother, and all you want is to protect him, but trust me when I say that we are both invested in this relationship. I would never do anything to hurt him, please believe that."
"I find your sincerity hard to believe," Maureen retorted. "And I'm sure you and your little freshman brain have decided he's the man of your dreams, at least for now. But when it gets serious, and you realize it's not all fun and games, you'll be bored and drop him like a dress gone out of season. So don't expect me to like you, or believe you have good intentions."
Right after she finished talking, Henry and Tom opened the door, chatting. They smiled as they handed Elizabeth a cup of coffee and Maureen a bottle of water. "Having a bit of girl talk and bonding?" Tom asked, and kissed his wife's forehead. She just glanced across the room, stopping to look at Elizabeth for a brief second.
"Henry, I think we should get going," Elizabeth began, to her boyfriend's protests. "Maureen and John need more sleep, and we wouldn't want to keep them any longer." She gathered her things quickly, saying her goodbyes, and a stunned Henry followed her to the car.
"Elizabeth, what the hell was that about?" he asked as they took their seats.
"Your sister hates me."
"Babe, I'm sure she doesn't. What happened?"
"Well, Henry, when you and Tom, who is very sweet by the way, went to get coffee, she asked me very matter-of-factly what my business was seeing you, as all I was clearly out for was the fact you are legal, and that I'd dump you as soon as it got serious, because I'll be bored. So, to recap, she hates me!"
"Are you sure you're not overreacting? Maureen did just give birth. I'm sure she's just tired" Henry asked, not believing his sister could stoop so low.
"Overreacting? Are you serious?" Elizabeth was livid, and couldn't bare to look at Henry. "Have I ever done that, or are you accusing me of framing your sister? Because that would be low, by anyone's standards."
"Elizabeth, calm down, I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding."
"Oh. My. God. I can't believe you right now. Henry, please drive me to the dorm, I can't deal with you right now."
Henry did as he was asked and the drive was completely silent, with Elizabeth staring out of the window as Henry was brooding in the driver's seat. When they got to the dorms, Elizabeth got out of the car and slammed the door without so much as a word, and Henry was left to wonder what the hell had just happened.
A/N: Trouble in paradise! Stay tuned for the next chapter, and know that your feedback makes me incredibly happy!