A/N: I still don't own Pride and Prejudice. I'm so grateful for all the awesome reviews I've been getting.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Grown-Up Christmas List

Lizzie's POV

The plan for Christmas was simple. My whole family, plus my Aunt Grace and her family were going to celebrate Christmas at the Longbourn. Aunt Sophie and Uncle Ed's family were coming up from Chicago to celebrate with us and then stay on for Jane and Charlie's wedding the following weekend. And Will's whole extended family was also going to be coming to Meryton for Christmas dinner. There were going to be at least forty people at this dinner. There were three Darcys, eight Bennetts, five Philipses, seven Gardiners, four Egans, five DeBourghs, eight Fitzwilliams, and various significant others. Will's cousin Alicia had a new baby boy named Nathan Paul Egan who was born about a week after Thanksgiving. I was looking forward to meeting Will's Uncle George and Aunt Helena as well as Alicia, her husband Rob, and their children Hannah and Nathan. Charlie Bingley would be there, of course Oh, and George was going to be bringing his girlfriend, Ellen, with him. I was excited about meeting more of Will's relatives. I knew Rick and Evelyn's family pretty well from my semi-frequent visits to Chicago and I knew George and Ellen, but I'd somehow never met Will's Aunt Helena and Uncle George.

"I can't believe Catherine and Anne are coming," I told Will when we were talking on the phone about a week before Christmas. "I thought your aunt hated me."

"Honestly, darling, I think the main reason that they're coming is that Aunt Catherine doesn't want to look stupid for refusing to spend Christmas with her relatives," he replied. "I mean my aunt and uncle from Seattle are coming to visit and all of my other cousins will be there, so she feels like she has to come too. She doesn't want to look like an idiot for skipping Christmas with her family."

I smiled. "I'm just glad I get to spend Christmas with you, your family and my family."

"And then there's the wedding the following Saturday," he said. Christmas was on a Friday, but Jane and Charlie were getting married the day after New Year's Day; Jane had wanted to get married at Christmastime and this was the best she could do. But her wedding colors were still going to be dark green and white.

"They're finally getting married," I said. "I can't believe this is all finally happening. Janie is so excited."

"She loves him a lot, doesn't she?" he asked.

I nodded, thinking of my sister who might as well have been one of my students who would still doodle things like "Mrs. Charlie Bingley" and "Jane+CharlieLove" all over their notebooks, in pink pen of course. "She's gone," I told him. "Will, my sister is head over heels in love with him. And I don't think she cares who knows it anymore."

"Well, they are getting married in a few weeks," he said. "I think she's allowed to let people know how much she loves him."

"My big sister is getting married," I said.

"And you're getting married in June," he replied. "And you get to marry me."

"I must be the luckiest girl in the world," was all I said in reply.

"Did I sense a note of sarcasm in that statement, Miss Bennett?" he teased.

"There might have been a little bit in my voice, but I am serious. I think I really might be the luckiest girl alive. I get to marry the man of my dreams."

"Well, I get to marry you, so I think I'm pretty darn lucky myself."

"You're just saying that," I teased.

"Oh Lizzie-lou, you know me. I wouldn't joke about the fact that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me and I love you. You're one of the most important people in my life."

"I love you too, Will." I had to admit that he was probably one of the best things that had ever happened to me. Since I met Will, a whole new dimension of my life has opened up and I feel like I'm a better person when I'm with him. And now he's bringing more changes into my life. I'm getting married this summer and then I'm moving to Chicago. Right now I'm working on getting certified to teach in Chicago so I can keep working after I get married.

Will, Gianna, and Emily arrived in Meryton the Monday before Christmas. They came over to my apartment for dinner with Jenny, Kyle, and me that evening. Jenny and I had made veal parmesan with pasta and Kyle had made a salad with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing. "And just think," he said while he was making the dressing. "I didn't even know how to make salad or dressing until I was twenty years old."

I smiled. "See what knowing girls will do for you?"

He laughed. "Liz, Grand Valley is like seventy percent female. The only people I knew were girls."

Jenny shook her head. "I doubt that's true. What about the guys you lived with? Or I've met Ben and Mark; they're guys, aren't they?"

"So far, we're at five guys," he replied. "And I probably knew twenty girls for each one of those guys." He turned to me. "How many guys did you know when you were at GV? I mean it wasn't exactly a school filled with men was it?"

I shook my head. "And to make things harder for a poor single girl like me, most of the guys who were there were either taken or gay."

"I was there!" Kyle protested. "I'm not gay and I wasn't taken at any point during my college career."

"Except that one time when you were pseudo-dating Jackie's roommate," I reminded him.

"That only went on for a few weeks," he replied quickly. "And besides, I could remind you about the fact that you came very close to dating several guys before you and Andrew actually started dating."

"But I came to my senses every single time. And I waited for something better."

"Thank goodness," he replied.

Jenny smiled. She was a nurse and had done her undergrad at the University of Michigan. She'd grown up in Meryton and then gone to UofM. In college, she'd spent a lot of time with my sister Jane and with Kyle's twin brother, Alex. In fact once, she and Alex had come to GVSU to visit Kyle and me, but Kyle didn't remember meeting her when asked about it a few months later. And now, they're getting married; it's funny how life works out. They met when she was nineteen and he was twenty but he forgot all about her until my twenty-first birthday. Then they met again and got to be friends when they both were living and working in Meryton.

"I think Will is a much better choice than some of those guys who asked you out when you were in college," she said.

Just then, there was a knock and the door and Kyle opened it to reveal Will, Gianna, and Emily. The minute Gianna set Emily down, the little girl made a beeline for me. I picked her up and looked at her. "So how are you doing today, Miss Emily?"

"I missed you!" she announced, throwing her chubby little arms around my neck and planting a sloppy kiss on my cheek.

I smiled and held her close; I loved her. "I've missed you too."

"Christmas is soon!" she announced. "Mama said tomorrow we go see Santa."

She spoke so well for only being twenty-two months old. Her language was by no means perfect but she had amazing pronunciation. Most little kids I know couldn't speak as well as she could. She didn't lisp or anything. And she was an affectionate little girl, which I loved. While we were waiting for dinner, I found myself sitting on the couch with Emily curled up in my lap. She was so cute wearing blue jeans and brown top with pink polka-dots and she had a pink ribbon in her light brown curls. "Does your niece look anything like Emily?" Gianna asked me.

I shrugged. "Maddie has blonde hair and blue eyes; they both really take after their mothers more than their fathers. They're very cute little girls but they look almost nothing like each other. Maddie has more of Damien in her while Emily has almost nothing of Damien in her."

"She's too pretty to be his daughter," Will commented, tickling his niece's foot. "She's much too pretty, and anyways, this little girl is all Darcy."

"She is," I agreed. "She definitely has the same eyes as you two."

"Mom's eyes," Gianna said. "Mom had these amazingly gorgeous brown eyes that Dad said reminded him of coffee without a drop of mix or a grain of sugar."

"Dad had hazel eyes," Will put in. "He had specks of green and gold in his eyes; it was pretty amazing."

"But those eyes were really creepy when he was mad at you. Once when I was about ten or so he got really mad at me about something and his eyes were glowing or something; it was freaky."

My fiancé nodded. "I had that experience so many times when I was in high school and I was being rebellious because it was cool."

"You were a bad rebel," his sister told him bluntly. "It's too obvious that on the inside you really do want to be good. You're a good guy and you're never going to escape that."

"She's right," I told him. "It's not a bad thing but you're just one of the good guys. You can try to rebel, but it rarely works for you."

He smiled and shook his head. "Kyle, help me out in here. These women are trying to tell me that I can't be rebellious."

"Oh don't ask Kyle for help," I sighed. "He's even worse at being rebellious than you are. I mean his parents should have just named him St. Kyle and given him a halo at birth."

Kyle walked into the living room and shook his head. "You're all ridiculous. Who cares about being rebellious? Yes, I was a good kid growing up but I had to be. Do you know what Alex was like growing up?"

I laughed. "Alex was even more perfect than you were."

"Oh, what do you know, Elizabeth?" he retorted quickly.

"I know that you were the mischievous twin growing up; I've seen your eyes." Kyle's green-gray eyes have an aura of dark mystique to them that makes you think he's up to something even when he's being perfectly innocent. Alex's eyes, meanwhile, are hazel and open. Eyes really are windows to the soul. Will's eyes are open and honest pools of swirling brown; I love his eyes. Kyle's eyes are more exotic and mysterious but there's something that feels just right about Will's eyes. I realized over Thanksgiving that when I look into Will's eyes, I feel like I'm home again. I feel safe and comfortable and wanted, desired when I'm with Will. Kyle's eyes are just those of a friend.

Will's POV

I arrived in Meryton with my sister and my niece the Monday before Christmas and we spent the evening with Lizzie, Jenny, and Kyle. Lizzie, Jenny, and Kyle are a riot. The three of them had Gianna and me laughing until two in the morning. Emily had been sleeping in Lizzie's bed since around ten, so we just moved the sleeping beauty when her mother and I were finally ready to go home. The next day, Lizzie and Gianna were taking Emily to see Santa at the mall and do a little shopping. At noon, I was meeting them and taking Lizzie with me to go have lunch with her dad and her sister, Katie. I was a little nervous but I knew this was all for the best. I wanted to get along with Lizzie's family. I knew her mother and Lydia would never like me, but if I could win the approval of some family members, that would be nice. Mary would probably never like me but Lizzie was always reminding me that Mary didn't like most people. Mary was moving in with her parents at the beginning of January and apparently she was taking her anger over this out on the rest of the Bennett family. She couldn't understand why her father wouldn't give her a discount on the condo that she and Jane were currently sharing or at least force Lizzie to move back into the condo. I was entirely opposed to the idea of forcing Lizzie back into the condo. For one thing, our wedding was in June so that was only a temporary solution for Mary, but the other thing for me was that Lizzie was happier living with Jenny than she was when she lived in the condo. She wasn't worrying about Mary's sanity all the time, or constantly feeling a need to fix family problems.

I called Lizzie when I got to the mall and she told me to meet her by Baby Gap. She and Gianna had been looking at clothes for Emily there. My little niece was turning into quite the fashionista due to Gianna's and Lizzie's sense of style. When I got to the store, I found my three favorite girls standing there waiting for me. Emily was all bundled up in her pink winter coat while Lizzie was wearing her gray pea-coat and Gianna was wearing a black pea-coat that I'd bought her for Christmas the previous year. Well, Lizzie had picked it out for her but I'd paid for it. My fiancée had amazing taste in clothes and my sister is almost guaranteed to like anything Lizzie picks out for her. "How was Santa?" I asked after hugging Gianna and kissing Lizzie and Emily.

"She gave him a funny look and cried the whole time he was holding her," Gianna replied. "I think she's still a bit young for him."

"Oh well," I replied. "Maybe she'll be interested next year. Did you girls have any luck shopping?"

"We were mostly just looking at things," Lizzie replied. "Although I finally found a Christmas present for Miss Emily, and it was something that she picked out for herself."

"Then I bet she'll love it. Are you ready to go meet Katie and your dad?"

She nodded before hugging Gianna and Emily. "I'll see you ladies later today."

"Are we still on for dinner at Charlie's tonight?"

"Yep," I told my sister. "Be there by seven at the latest."

"We'll be there," she said. "Who all is coming?"

"You and Emily, Lizzie and me, Jane, Charlie, Caroline, Jeff, and Louisa," I said. "It should be an interesting gathering."

"To say the least," Lizzie said. "We'll see you there."

We met Mr. Bennett and Katie at the restaurant in the Longbourn. "Mom isn't very happy about this, but she can get over herself," Katie told me. "I want to hear your version of the story."

We talked for close to three hours about my life especially my relationship and that of my family with Damien Wickham. Lizzie told him the truth about the role I'd played in finding Damien and Lydia in Chicago. I even told him some of the details of Damien's relationship with my little sister although I tried to make it clear that I wanted that information kept private due to my desire to protect my sister and my niece. As more information about Damien's philandering ways came out, I watched some shock and a lot of confusion overwhelm Mr. Bennett's face. "Why didn't anyone tell me about this earlier? Lizzie, did you know?"

She nodded her face drawn and tight. "I knew; I've known about this for close to two years now. It was April of 2008 when Will first told me about Damien."

"And you never told your mother or me? Elizabeth, your youngest sister married this man when she was seventeen years old and you did nothing to stop this."

"Actually, I think I told you not to let her go to Fiji with the Foresters," she reminded him. "In fact, I know I told you not to go but you said that Lydia needed to get out and experience life. Well, Lydia experienced life."

"She's eighteen, almost nineteen, and she's a mother and about to get divorced," her father said tersely. "I could have stopped that from happening."

"So could I," Lizzie said. "A lot of people could have done that. But Dad, let's be honest here; would you have really listened to Will or me if we had tried to tell you the truth about Damien?"

Mr. Bennett looked at me and then at Lizzie. He sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Lizzie-belle. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you about Damien and Will." He looked at me. "Will, I'm so sorry that I distrusted you and pushed you away from the family. I'm very grateful to you for all the help you gave my family and I wish you the best of luck with my daughter. She's somewhat of a handful."

I smiled as Katie added, "Dad used to say that Lizzie was a spitfire."

Lizzie shook her head and threatened to spit in her younger sister's face. "I bet I can still spit fire," she told her sister.

"You never could spit fire. That was just a lie you told me so I wouldn't bother you when you were trying to do your homework or read a book or whatever."

Mr. Bennett and his older daughter burst out laughing. "There must be a story behind this," I said.

"Oh there is," Lizzie said. "When I was about fourteen or so, Katie was about eight, and she overhead Dad telling Mom that I was spitfire and Mom replied that I was uncontrollable."

"So I went and asked Jane what a spitfire was," Katie put in. "But Lizzie was in the room and she told me that it meant she could spit fire."

"Hey, you were the one who believed me," the older sister replied. "I've never forced you to believe a single word I say."

"No, you just told a young, innocent mind all kinds of stories and made sure I believed them."

"Well, okay, I did that, but it wasn't like you couldn't have asked Mom or Dad or Jane to disprove my stories for you."

Katie shrugged. "You were my big sister and I was a little girl; why wouldn't I believe you?"

Lizzie shook her head and smiled. "There are times when I wished that your innocent willingness to believe me had passed over into adulthood."

"Well, I believe you now."

Christmas Eve, we all went to Mass together, Lizzie's family, Charlie's family, and my family. Many of our friends were also there. Kyle and Jenny were spending Christmas in Meryton with her family and Ethan and Charlotte Collins had come to Meryton with Jackson. Steve and Becca had baby Mary with them; she was so cute, much cuter than Jackson who was unfortunately taking after his father in the looks department. He had Ethan's mousy brown hair and blue eyes, none of Char's gorgeous brown hair. But maybe that would come later. Sometimes hair color changes as children age. After Mass, we were all planning on heading back to Jenny and Lizzie's apartment for drinks, edibles, and assorted entertainments. Before Mass, Lizzie and I had dinner with her family; Jane and Charlie were also there, but Gianna and Emily had dinner with the DeBourghs and the Fitzwilliams. I'm not sure which one of us was more miserable. Mrs. Bennett still hates me and decided that she needed to make my dinner miserable. Unfortunately for her, Maddie was fussing all through dinner and I was the only person who could calm her down. This infuriated Lydia and her mother to no end, but Lizzie seemed to think this was one of the more amazing moments in life. Her niece loved me and her mother and youngest sister were hating it but there was nothing they could do about it. Maddie was a baby and you couldn't change what made her happy. Actually, could you change what makes anyone happy at any age?

Mass was at eight o'clock, so at seven-forty-five, I was sitting in a pew at St. Thomas the Apostle in Meryton. Lizzie was on my right holding Maddie and Gianna was on my left holding Emily. The irony of the fact that the little girls were sisters wasn't lost on me. Their mothers were so different and the situations into which they'd been born were so different. I rarely saw Lydia with her daughter and I occasionally heard her remark that she was too busy to take care of her daughter. Maddie spent a lot of time with her aunts and her grandparents because Lydia was "struggling emotionally" and needed to spend a lot of time shopping or with friends to help her as she started the process of divorcing Damien. Lydia was seven months pregnant but that was no excuse for abandoning her older child. She wasn't in church with us because she told her parents she was too tired and besides she didn't "buy into all that God crap." But she sent Maddie with her parents because she just wanted "a couple hours of peace and quiet away from that damn screaming kid. Just shut her up and get her away from me." Lucky for Lydia, her older sisters didn't mind taking care of her baby. In fact, Jane readily admitted that Maddie and Lydia's unborn baby were probably going to end up being raised by their grandparents or one of their aunts.

Mass was beautiful and afterwards, Lizzie and I went to her apartment for a traditional post-Christmas Eve Mass that she and her friends have been having since college. "So are Jenny and Kyle going down to Coopersville tomorrow?" I asked while we were driving to her apartment.

"Nope," she replied. "They're spending this Christmas with her family. They're going to Coopersville for Christmas with the Kilpatricks the day after Christmas but since the entire Putnam family is in Meryton, they're not going to pass this opportunity up."

"It's hard to get Jenny's family together?"

Lizzie closed her eyes and sighed. "It's almost impossible. Her oldest brother, Greg, and his wife Michelle have lived in London for about ten years now and they only come home every other Christmas. Tim and Jessica live in Chicago with their kids, so they make it home pretty regularly. Kathy and Brian live in New Mexico. Barbara and Matt live in Germany, and Mike and his Jessica live in Florida. Mike and Jess rarely make it home since she's not a huge fan of his family and, to be honest, the Putnams aren't big fans of Jess either. She's kind of a rich snotty brat."

"They have somewhat of an international family."

She nodded. "Matt and Barb should be moving back stateside sometime soon, but when they do, they'll be going to Houston." I must have looked confused because she continued, "Matt's an aerospace engineer, basically a rocket scientist, and his master's degree is in space systems and rocketry or something like that, so he can only really work for places like NASA."

"Rocket scientists…man, I'm not that smart."

She smiled that amazing smile that tells me that I did something right and she thinks more of me than I do of myself. I love that feeling that our relationship is secure and she thinks I did something right. I know she's quietly laughing at me, but in moments like this, she's allowed to laugh at me. "Will, you're not stupid. You got through law school and you run a successful business with very little training in how to do so."

"Yeah, but you know what they say about lawyers," I told her. "We're scum suckers out to take advantage of the world."

"That's not you," she replied calmly. "You're not in it for the money; you actually care about your clients and their lives. And you love Pemberley; you don't do it for the money but because of the fact that it gives people opportunities for family vacations and quality family time."

"You'll admit that I do make a really good salary doing what I do."

"But you're not in it for the money," she replied, frustrated. "You're doing what you want to do, what you love. It just happens that you got lucky and that profession happens to be one that pays really well. I am not so lucky and entered the teaching profession, a profession that is known for its low pay. But that's okay. I didn't become a teacher for the money; I do it for the kids. You reap more material rewards of your career choice but you're in it for more than the money."

I looked at her and smiled. "You're great. You make me feel better about myself."

"It's my job," she said with a confident smirk. We had just pulled into the parking lot at her apartment and she smiled. "Have I ever told you how much I love this apartment?"

I smiled as we got out of the car. "I think you might have mentioned it before."

"I love it and I love living with Jenny. It's much less stressful than the condo."

When we were inside the apartment, I could see why it was less stressful than the condo. It was smaller and therefore easier to clean. Plus she wasn't as involved in the minute details of Jane's wedding planning. Being the maid of honor and Jane's sister, she was still involved in a lot of things but she was a little removed from it not living with her sister. Lizzie had enough on her plate considering that she was working full-time, working on getting certified to teach in Chicago, and planning our wedding. She was busy and she didn't need anymore stress in her life at this stage in the game. When we walked into the apartment, we found Jenny and Kyle there setting out food and drinks. "Everyone else should be here soon," Jenny said.

"It's going to be weird doing this without Alex and Hannah," Kyle said.

"You still can't live without your twin, can you?" Lizzie asked.

He shook his head. "I think we explained this to you in college. We shared our mom's uterus for nine months and then a bedroom for eighteen years after that. We've shared our entire lives."

"And now he's married; he's gone somewhere you can't follow."

"Well, I can get married," he protested. "But we're never going to be able to live together and share our lives completely and totally like that again."

"But you'll be able to share your life with Jenny and your family," Lizzie replied with a smile. "And that will be wonderful; Jenny is a great girl."

"Aww, thanks for the recommendation," Jenny said, wrapping her arm around my fiancée's shoulders and leaning her head of light brown hair on Lizzie's darker one.

"Anytime," the darker-haired woman said. "You deserve all the happiness you can get."

I smiled as Kyle laughed as Jenny said, "If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife."

"Then I guess I won't be happy for the rest of my life," Kyle said, taking her hand and spinning her around the kitchen. "Because I'm definitely making the prettiest woman in the world my wife, and I wouldn't change that for anything."

She kissed him and leaned against his chest. "They're so cute," Lizzie told me. "And they will be happy for the rest of their lives."

"What about us?" I asked her. "Will we be happy for the rest of our lives?"

"As long as I don't turn into my mother, we're safe," she replied.

I kissed her nose. "I'll keep an eye out just to make sure that you don't turn into your darling mother. And if you do, I'll just have to shoot you and blame it on self-defense."

"Oh shut up, you fool," she said before kissing me.

"Okay, okay, okay, enough with the kissing, there are young, innocent eyes in the room," came a loud booming voice from the doorway.

I pulled away from Lizzie and turned to see Steve Logan standing in the doorway with a tired-looking Mary in his arms and Becca at his side. Steve had really fallen into the role of fatherhood; I realized this looking at the black diaper bag hanging from his left shoulder and the tender way in which he held his daughter. "Okay, give me my gorgeous goddaughter," Kyle announced.

"Only if you promise that you won't kiss anyone while you're holding her," Mary's father replied. "She's young and I don't want her innocent mind exposed to your romantic notions or the fancy things you and your fiancée do when the audience is all over the age of thirteen."

"Oh just shut up and give me the baby. I won't break any of the Ten Commandments while I'm holding her or for as long as she is in this apartment," Kyle said walking over to Steve and taking Mary from her father. I was always amazed at what a natural Kyle was with Mary. I was good with little kids but Kyle was a natural. I could handle my niece and Maddie and occasionally, I could hold Jackson Collins or Mary Logan for a while but you could give Kyle any baby and he could keep the baby calm and collected. He was better with Maddie than I was; I could keep her calm most of the time, and that Christmas Eve I'd been one of her favorite people, but Kyle could always keep her calm and make her happy. Over Thanksgiving, I'd seen him bounce her around and tickle her and make her smile in a way that I never could. Lizzie says that Kyle's just a natural with girls and babies alike. "You're good with Emily and Maddie usually likes you," she'd told me a few days earlier. "And your own children will love you."

The Christmas Eve party was wonderful and Christmas Day was fantastic. The family dinner was loud and a little overwhelming at times but I got to spend it with people I love. Lizzie spent much of Christmas with the many infants and toddlers and I had a monopoly of Caitlin and Maddie while Emily wouldn't leave Lizzie's lap all day. Maddie might like Kyle more than she likes me but he wasn't there; he was off winning the hearts of Jenny's nieces and nephews and I didn't have to worry about him stealing one of these babies from me. I'm not jealous of Kyle; I just wish that babies liked me as much as they like him.

I got some amazing Christmas presents including a new dress shirt and tie from Gianna and Emily and a set of books by C.S. Lewis from Lizzie, something that I'd been begging her for since August or September; she also gave me a new watch but I never told her I needed one. I gave her three books by G.K. Chesterton and a pearl necklace with matching earrings. She gave Emily a new outfit that my niece ad my sister had picked out at Baby Gap. It was a pair of blue jeans with white embroidery on the cuffs and a brown and red "tartan" top; it was amazingly adorable.

I ended my Christmas Day by watching The Muppet Christmas Carol with Gianna, Lizzie, Charlie, and Jane in Charlie's apartment. Caroline, Louisa, and Jeff were in another room watching something "more mature" as Caroline said. Some people can't accept the simple things in life.

A/N: Please review! I know it was long but I hope you liked it. Happy New Year! I hope 2008 is great for you all. Jane's wedding will be the next chapter.