A/N: I don't own the obvious/recognizable. I love my reviewers. You guys are awesome. Thank you so much.


Family affects our motivations and our actions. Darcy talks in Pride and Prejudice about how he was given good principles but left to follow them in pride and conceit. As a child, I was taught that the family was the center of life. Then my parents divorced and my definition of family changed. My definition of family changed again as my parents each remarried and I acquired stepsisters and a half-brother. I'm still the oldest child on both sides. But I have different responsibilities now than I did as a young child with married parents and one younger sister.

But I still have a family. You don't get to choose your family members. And you don't always get along with them. I'm pretty sure that Elizabeth Bennet wanted to sell Lydia and Kitty at times. I can't imagine Elinor Dashwood was always thrilled to be related to Marianne. I'm pretty sure that Anne Eliot would have paid to have Elizabeth and Sir Walter eliminated from her life. But Elinor always loved Marianne. And they were good friends. There were even positive aspects of family in the Bennet family. Elizabeth and Jane had each other. Fitzwilliam Darcy had a pretty good family with Georgia and Colonel Fitzwilliam's family…although Lady Catherine made everyone's life pretty difficult at times. But everyone has those relatives that you only see once a year at Christmas because no one can stand them unless they feel like there is some sort of celestially appointed edict requiring that they see Aunt Myrtle who always talks about her bladder infections or Aunt Catherine who always talks about how talented and brilliant she is.

-Foreword to a 2013 edition of Pride and Prejudice edited by Mark F. Williamson


To be clear, six o'clock in the morning and I are not friends. We have never been friends. We have reached a sort of truce agreement only through the mediation of caffeine. When Mark suggested that we leave for Minnesota at six o'clock in the morning-on a Saturday morning-I threw War and Peace at him. It's a paperback and he dodged it. So I settled for sticking my tongue out at him, but this only made him laugh.

So on Saturday, February 27, I woke up at five-thirty, showered quickly, finished packing, grabbed the cup of coffee that Mark made me and the bagel he'd prepared for me, and followed him out to the car. I gave him my suitcase and the dress bag that held my bridesmaid dress, which he put in the back of the car, and then climbed into the front seat with my purse and my pillow. I was asleep again before we made it to the freeway.


When I woke up again, we were driving past the Sprinkle Road exit, which meant that we were near Kalamazoo. I glanced at the clock and noticed that it was just after eight o'clock. Mark was listening to the Amelie soundtrack. "Well, good morning, Sleeping Beauty," he said when I yawned and stretched.

"Did you miss me?" I asked.

He laughed. "I knew you weren't a morning person but I didn't realize that even if I gave you coffee, you'd still go back to sleep."

"Caffeine takes like four to six hours to hit the bloodstream."

He shook his head. "You are ridiculous. But I hope you had a nice nap, Miss Ridiculous."

I smiled. "Yeah, I feel pretty great."

"Good, you're taking over the wheel when we cross over into Indiana."

"Did I mention that I never actually drank the coffee?" I said a few minutes later. "I have the thermos. I fell asleep before I could get around to drinking it."

He smiled. "It's okay. Drink it now. You're still driving once we cross over into Indiana. But for now, you're going to tell me stories."

"I don't know any stories."

He shook his head. Rolling his eyes, his usual option for mocking me, was out of the question due to the sunglasses covering his eyes. "You grew up with four sisters."

"We had a very boring childhood."

"You knew Lucas as a child."

"You know Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? That was inspired by my desire to wipe Lucas from my memory."

"Betsy, you're ridiculous. Don't you know any stories? Didn't you read any books in college or anything?

"Nope, I read Spark Notes."

Mark sighed and rolled his eyes. "You're beyond belief."

"That's what my daddy always tells me."

"I would believe that."

"Of course you would. You're Mark Williamson; you'll believe anything."

"Who told you that?"

I laughed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"There's a contradiction involved in your statements but I don't want to get too analytical before noon."

I laughed. "So do you want to hear the story about the time that Obi-Wan Kenobi saved Princess Leia because he was her only hope?"

"No," he said. "I want to hear the one about the three piggies and the wolf."

A few weeks earlier, we'd been watching bloopers from The Tudors and had heard that line and now he kept saying it to me. Mark found it hilarious. It wasn't my favorite blooper but Mark didn't want to hear about how gorgeous I found Jeremy Northam or Henry Cavill. He also didn't appreciate being told that he looked like Cavill.

"I don't like that story. I could tell you that one about the girl who loses her shoe."

"Fine, tell me the story about Cinder's Ella."


By the time we got to Mark's parents' house, it was five o'clock in the evening their time, six in our time zone. We'd spent twelve hours on the road and I was exhausted. I didn't want to be in the car anymore either. And I was pretty sure that Mark was sick of me. I'd spent the past hour telling him dumb stories about my childhood. When he pulled into the driveway, he looked at me. "Be prepared," he said. "You're about to meet my mom, my stepfather, and all of my siblings except my dad's stepdaughter. It will be chaotic."

I smiled. "Mark, I grew up with my mother. I'm used to chaos."

"You've never met my sisters. Just bring your purse in. Robert and I will bring them in for you later. You don't want to meet them with your hands full."

I nodded and grabbed my coat and purse. When we got to the front door, Mark opened it. "After you," he said.

I went in and he followed me, yelling "Hello, I'm home!" as he walked in.

Immediately, a flying blur jumped onto him and Mark laughed. "Sebastian, buddy, it's good to see you. How are you?"

"I'm good. Who's that?" the little boy asked, pointing at me.

"Sebastian, this is my friend, Betsy. Betsy, this is my younger brother, Sebastian."

"Nice to meet you," I said.

Sebastian was, from what Mark had told me, eight years old and very energetic. He was Mark's mom's only child from her second marriage. What Mark hadn't told me was how much Sebastian looked like Mark. Tall and gangly with unruly dark brown hair and blue-gray eyes, that was both of them.

"Nice to meet you too," he said. "Mommy's been cooking up a storm waiting for you guys to get here. And everyone is home."

Mark put Sebastian down and took off his coat. I took mine off; Mark took it and my purse and set them on the stairs. "Come on," he said.

I followed him into the kitchen where a tall woman with graying brown hair was stirring something at the stove. "Mark!" she said before hugging him. "Oh, it's good to see you, sweetheart. How are you? Oh and you must be Betsy. It's lovely to meet you, dear. How was your trip?"

"Long," I said. "But it was good."

"Wisconsin is still as boring as ever, Mom," Mark said. "But it's good to be here."

"Marky is home!" someone yelled from another room.

"He's very popular with his sisters," his mother said to me. "It's nice to have you here."

"Thank you, Mrs. Camden," I said.

"Please call me Natalie. I know it's confusing with Mark being a Williamson and me not being one. And Natalie is easier than trying to figure it all out." Natalie did not look like what I expected Mark's mother to look like. She was very elegantly built but she was wearing blue jeans and a white turtleneck-very classic but casual. She also had the blue-gray eyes that Sebastian and Mark shared.

"Scarlett, calm down. I'll introduce you to her," Mark was saying behind us.

I turned around to see a short brunette wearing jeans and a University of Minnesota sweatshirt bouncing up and down next to Mark. "Betsy, this Scarlett," he said. "Scarlett, meet Betsy."

"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you too," she said. "It's so cool to finally meet you. I've heard about you and how you knit."

"Scarlett wants to learn to knit," Mark told me. "And she's hoping you can teach her since Mom doesn't have a whole lot of time to teach her."

"You knit?" I asked Natalie.

She nodded. "But I don't get to do it as much as I would like. Having three kids and owning my own business doesn't exactly leave me much time to just sit and knit."

"You and your husband own a bookstore, don't you?" I asked, remembering what Mark had told me.

She nodded. "Pemberley's Shades, Robert and his first wife, Isabel, opened it together and then I got involved when I married Robert. Having our own store, we got really excited when we heard that Mark was buying into your shop."

I smiled. "He's a great addition to the shop. I love having someone else's opinion on books."

"Mark, you shaved your head! When did this happen?"

"About a month ago, Iris," he replied as a taller brunette who looked a great deal like Scarlett walked into the room.

"But why did you do it? We like your hair."

"By we, she means that she likes your hair. I like fuzzing your bald head," another voice said as a young woman who bore a great deal of resemblance of Mark walked into the room and proceeded to rub her hand over his head, which he was keeping almost bald.

Natalie turned to me. "The oldest one, the one in the red sweater, is my daughter Juliana. The other one, in the pink sweater, is Iris. And Violet is around here somewhere."

"Bedroom, doing geometry," Iris said walking over to Natalie and me. "So you're Betsy."

I nodded. "That's what I tell myself at any rate."

She smiled. "You're really pretty."

"Thank you," I said although after twelve hours in a car, I felt like crap. But I appreciated the compliment.

"And this is Jules," Mark said, with an arm around the tall brunette wearing a red sweater. She looked like a ballerina.

"I'm Betsy, nice to meet you."

She smiled shyly and shook my hand. I knew from talking to Mark about his family that Juliana was shy and introverted. But she said that it was nice to meet me.

And then a tall, slender man with silver hair walked into the kitchen. This was Robert Camden. "My stepson has told us almost nothing about you except that you own the bookstore together and you live together. In my daughters' eyes, this means you're going to marry him. I don't necessarily agree but I'm glad to meet you."

I smiled. I liked Robert instantly. "I've heard quite a bit about your family, so I guess I have a leg up on all of you."

He laughed. "My daughter Violet is still doing homework but she should be down shortly."

"Violet!" Mark yelled just then. "Get your butt down here."

I heard footsteps on the stairs and a short redhead appeared a few moments later. "Mark, what did you get me?" was the first thing she asked.

"Absolutely nothing," he replied. "You know me. Vi, this is my friend, Betsy. Betsy, this is my little sister, Violet."

"Are you going to marry her?" Violet asked before shaking my hand or anything.

"Wait," Sebastian said. "Mark is getting married?"

Natalie sighed. "Dinner is ready. Let's eat."


After dinner, Mark and his stepfather brought our luggage in and I found myself installed in the guest room, which was in between Mark's room and the room Violet and Scarlett shared. Mark was sleeping in his stepfather's office. "I could sleep in Sebastian's room but I'm thirty and I'm kind of over the whole bunk-beds thing," he told me.

I laughed. "I can't see you sleeping in a bunk-bed."

"Why?" he asked with a look of concern. "Am I too sophisticated or something?"

I shook my head. "You're too tall, silly boy."

He laughed and sat down on my bed. "So what do you think of my family?"

"They're surprisingly normal."

"My dad's side of the family isn't, just to warn you."

"Am I going to meet them?"

"They'll be at Carlye's wedding," he replied. "Justin works for my stepmother."

"Your stepmother is Claire Devereaux?"

He nodded. "Haven't I told you this?"

"Probably but I wasn't listening. As soon as I hear her name, I zone out. Justin worships her and always babbles about her."

"I know. He wrote her fan mail for years before she hired him. And educational theorists do not often get fan mail or have near-stalkers."

"He was a near-stalker? I knew about the fan mail but near-stalking? Why is Carlye marrying him?"

He shook his head. "Search me."

I yawned and instantly threw my hands over my face. "I'm sorry!"

He laughed. "It's okay. It's getting late; go to bed. I'll see you in the morning."


I spent Sunday relaxing at Robert and Natalie's house, getting to know Mark's family. They were good people. The next day, Carlye picked me up and took me to Starbucks so we could talk. "I don't want you to see the apartment. You'll mock me for centuries to come. It's so messy and chaotic with all the wedding prep crap lying around."

"It's all right. I don't mind drinking corporate coffee once in a while. But don't tell Lucas."

"I would have taken you to a local coffee shop but I don't really know any yet. I'm not drinking much coffee these days and Justin despises all caffeinated beverages."

"So you went from living with a caffeine-addict to a despiser of caffeine," I said.

She laughed. "He's a good man, Betsy. He really is. And at least I'm not living with Mark Williamson."

"Mark isn't as bad as we thought he was," I replied. "He can be sweet and funny and nice. And he's a nice balance from Lucas at times."

"My brother is beyond belief," Carlye sighed. "I wish he would have been willing to come to the wedding."

I frowned. "He's very stubborn."

"I know but I'm getting married and having a baby. And he's my brother. I want his support in this."

"I tried to talk to him."

"Let me guess. He just wrote you off."

I laughed. "He got mad at me."

"That sounds like Lucas, proud and stubborn."

"And annoying, he gave me so much crap about leaving for a week. I almost told him that Mark and I were dating and he was taking me to meet his family and your wedding was just an added bonus."

"My brother would never believe that. He knows that you and Mark would never marry. You don't get along well enough. I'm pretty sure you said you hated him after you met him the first time."

"Like Mr. Darcy, he improves on closer acquaintance."

She laughed. "Do you two sit around and talk about books at night?"

"Yeah, he doesn't like watching Grey's Anatomy."

"Neither does Justin," she said. "In fact, he mocks me for watching it."

"Mark makes sure that I get to watch Bones every week."

She sighed. "Justin says that the only reason we have a television in our apartment is so that he doesn't have to listen to me whining about not having one."

"But he loves you, yes?"

"He's marrying me and he'll provide for the baby and me."

That wasn't what I asked but I didn't want to get into an argument with her. "When is the baby due?" I asked.

"Late August," she replied. "Justin is hoping and praying for a boy. I don't care either way and I don't really want to find out because I don't want him to throw a temper tantrum for the rest of my pregnancy if we are having a girl."

I nodded. "If you have a girl, you should name her Elizabeth."

"And name you her godmother as well, I suppose?"

I laughed. "I would appreciate that but it isn't required."

After about two hours with Carlye, she returned me to Robert and Natalie's house. Her parents were arriving in town that afternoon and she and Justin needed to meet them at the airport. But the next evening, I would be going out to dinner with them.


When I walked into the house, I found Mark and Sebastian playing Clue in the dining room. "Do you want to play with us?" Sebastian asked. "You can be Mrs. White or Miss Peacock. But you can't be Miss Scarlet."

"Why ever not?" I asked sitting down at the table with them.

"Scarlett, our sister, hid the red playing piece from the game when she was about ten or eleven," Mark explained. "Apparently, she's the only one who is allowed to be Miss Scarlet."

I laughed. "I'll be Mrs. White. I like cooking even if Mark is a better cook than I am."

"Mark never cooks for me."

Mark tweaked his brother's nose. "Maybe I'll make you dinner while I'm here."

"You'd better."

"Or maybe you could come visit me sometime," Mark proposed. "Would you like to come spend some time in Ann Arbor with Betsy and me?"

"Could I?" Sebastian was almost bouncing up and down in his chair.

"I don't see why not," I said.

"We'll ask your parents about it," Mark said. "But I'm sure they'd let you come visit us."

"Does this mean you two are getting married?"

I laughed and Mark shook his head. "No, buddy, we're just good friends."

"Well, I like you, Betsy. You're nice and fun. Now let's play Clue."

In the end, I had done it in the billiard room with the lead pipe. And I solved the case myself. To Sebastian, this meant we had to play the game again so that he could solve the case. We played two more times before the rest of the family came home. Mark won once and finally, just as his parents were walking into the house, Sebastian won. It had been Colonel Mustard in the kitchen with the rope.

As soon as his mother was inside the door, Sebastian ran to her. "Can I go to Ann Arbor and visit Mark and Betsy this summer?"

His mother laughed. "Did they invite you?"

"Yes," he replied.

"We'll think about it," she said. "But I think we can make it work."

"Okay," he said happily. "I like Betsy. She's cool. Did you know that Mark can cook? Betsy told me that today."

"He never told me that," Natalie told him. "Is he going to demonstrate for us?"

"I want him to," Sebastian said.

"I can, if you want," Mark said. "I'm going to George and Claire's house for dinner on Wednesday and to Betsy's friend's wedding on Friday."

"And then you're leaving on Saturday?" Robert asked.

"Yeah, Lucas wants me to work on Sunday," I said as I rolled my eyes.

Mark laughed. "But I could make dinner tomorrow or Thursday."

"Thursday," his mother said. "And I have great expectations for it."

"You should," I said. "He's really good."

"The women are conspiring against me," Marks sighed.


A/N: Please review! I'm done with classes for the next four months and I don't start working for six more weeks, so hopefully there will be more updates in the next few months.