A / N: Apologies that this is being posted outside of my two-week window, I've been ill with glandular fever which caused a few complications. But here's chapter twenty-six so please enjoy.
Just a heads up, there's a sex scene. I've written it how I was comfortable writing it so I hope you like it. Please let me know your thoughts. So you've been warned, usual warnings apply.
The new year came as a quiet celebration for Elizabeth. She had planned on going to the Lucas's party that her family had been invited to but instead she shared a quiet night at Longbourn with Will and Rose. What should have been a good start for them, was now turning into an uncertainty for her. Her boyfriend was feeling the pressures of looking after Netherfield like he had promised Charles as well as taking care of his sick father. Alice had been a help, having asked the deputy housekeeper to keep things running at Pemberley smoothly whilst she continued to stay at Netherfield; taking it in turns with Will to keep Charles's estate running and doing trips to the hospital in order to care for Reginald when Will was feeling too tired or too stressed.
On the 2nd January, they had had a disagreement. Will mentioned that the liver specialist at the hospital in Watford where Reginald was currently being treated was referring him to a liver treatment centre at a hospital in London and would be moving Reginald into Netherfield for the foreseeable future. Elizabeth had refused to move back into Charles's estate with Rose for two reasons: the first being that the next time she wanted to move Rose was when they were choosing their first home together as a family of three because she was worried about how unsettling it would be for their daughter. The second being that, despite feeling a little pity for Will's father, there was no way that she would live under the same roof as Reginald, not after what had happened when she had stayed at the Darcy home in Chelsea all those years ago.
Will thought she was being stubborn, insisting that his father would make amends and that Reginald just needed time to get sorted with his health. Elizabeth said that while she would like to receive a genuine apology from Reginald, she didn't trust the man and stated that he didn't deserve to be a grandfather after his actions. Her boyfriend had left Longbourn in a huff and hadn't spoken to her since.
It had been two days since their argument and with her texts and calls going unanswered, she was starting to worry that she was being unreasonable in regards to Reginald. The man was depending on a liver transplant in order to live longer than his current predicted life span of a few more months but yet, she wasn't ready to forgive Will's father for separating them and causing so much hurt to them both.
When the bell rang that wet and cold January lunch time on the fourth, Lizzy made her way to the staff room to eat lunch alone; not feeling in the mood to share cheery conversation with her work colleagues. Getting her lunch out of her bag, she sat down in one of the empty chairs and started to eat her sandwiches, checking her phone in the process.
Why didn't you tell me your dad was picking Rose up from pre-school? W.
Elizabeth sighed, knowing full well that Will hadn't bothered to listen to her voicemails.
I left you a message. You've been busy with your father and Netherfield that I didn't want to stress you further.
She had thought that by asking her father to help with the pre-school pickups, it would ease the pressure off of Will a little. In her mind, he was always backwards and forwards to the hospital whilst overseeing the running of Netherfield whilst Charles and Jane were on their honeymoon that she thought that if he felt that he had to stick to their normal routine of picking Rose up most days of the week, it would add to his stress levels.
She's my kid too or is it for some other reason?
Like what, exactly?
She could feel herself getting a little annoyed, it was like he was accusing her of something; at least, that's what it felt like he was doing.
You tell me. Maybe you don't trust me ever since I asked you to move back to Netherfield and you found out that Charles was letting my father stay there with me.
Shoving the rest of her half-eaten sandwich into her mouth, she chewed furiously and swallowed the sandwich almost whole. Her anger levels were rising and this really wasn't the way she wanted to sort things with Will. Taking a deep breath, she decided to try to not argue with him via a text message.
I do trust you, idiot.
He buzzed back his sulky reply a few minutes later.
I'm not an idiot.
We need to talk.
About what?
Everything. You didn't say what the specialist said, aside from the transfer to the treatment centre, and I think it's bothering you. We need to talk about the future. We need to talk about us.
His next reply didn't come for a few minutes and by the time his reply did come, it was as she was finishing off her pot of grapes.
Can I come over tonight?
Sure. Mum and Dad are taking Lydia out for an early birthday meal before a family movie at the cinema. Kitty and Mary are back at uni. We'll have the place to ourselves so our talk won't be interrupted unless Rose has an uneasy sleep.
Can I pick you up from work? I want to spend some quality time with the two of you, I've missed you both.
Staff meeting until 4.30. Pick me up then?
Sure, see you then.
Putting her phone back inside her bag, Lizzy smiled to herself; happy that she and William would have a chance to talk.
ooOoo
At four-thirty that afternoon, William waited patiently outside the primary school and watched as his girlfriend's colleagues exited the building via the reception. His heart was pounding nervously, he knew that he had been a bit of a prick over the last two days where he hadn't messaged her and he was worried that with her asking that they talk about everything, she might change her mind about that future he had pictured for the two of them.
He saw her a minute later, walking out of the building in deep conversation with Matthew. When she saw him waiting for her, she bade her friend goodbye and walked over to him; stopping just in front of him and giving him an awkward smile. Deciding to stop his nerves from getting to him and to stop the air getting too awkward between him and Lizzy, he bent his head down and pecked her lips lightly. Feeling her return the light kiss made him feel a little reassured; if she was going to end their relationship, she wouldn't have kissed him in return.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
"Me too, but we'll talk properly once Rose is in bed." Elizabeth replied softly.
Will nodded in agreement and held her hand tightly in his own as the two began to walk down the slope and headed back in the direction for Longbourn. Conversation took place, mostly about Elizabeth's job to now get her year six class prepared for their SATS that were due to take place in May and how she would have to spend most of her time after the school day ended holding booster sessions in Maths and English for the children who were a little behind the others.
"I don't ever remember them being that hard." Will commented.
"You took them like fourteen years ago, they were a lot easier back in our day. I have a group of ten in my own class of thirty who are struggling with their Maths and English and in the other year six class, there's at least another ten. So twenty kids between me and my colleague alternating each afternoon, I'll doubt I'll have a lot of free time during the weekday evenings." Elizabeth replied.
"I'm sure you'll do a great job getting them through their exams."
"It's only been two days since I've been back at work and with all the meetings I've had so far this week, I haven't had time to book my GP appointment."
"Are you unwell?" Will asked, concerned.
"No, nothing like that. My injection was supposed to be done over Christmas but with everything that was going on, I forgot to get it done. I was hoping to be seen this week but it's near on impossible." Elizabeth slightly complained.
"Your injection?" Will asked, a little confused.
"The contraceptive injection." Elizabeth clarified quietly.
"Oh…."
The thought hadn't really occurred to him that his girlfriend was also being safe when it came to their physical relationship. Ever since they had started having sex, they had always been careful with him being responsible and using condoms.
"Do you want to get it done?" he asked her.
Elizabeth frowned, "Well I can't say I enjoy the side effects, whenever I have the injection it makes me feel nauseous and I have period like pain for a few days after." She answered.
"Why don't you stop taking it?" Will suggested.
"And just use condoms?" Elizabeth asked quietly.
Will nodded, thanking himself that nobody was around to overhear their conversation.
"I was thinking more of maybe… seeing if we could give Rose a little brother or sister." He muttered into her ear.
Her eyes widened at his answer to her question and, although he never claimed to be psychic, he knew what was going through her head. The timing wasn't great, his father was ill and needed an operation, she had her job that she had only had for the last two years, Rose would be starting at Meryton Primary in September so having a baby brother or sister as well as starting school were big transitions for their almost four-year-old daughter. But before the whole mess with his father had happened, or at least before he had been aware of said mess with his father, he had told her what he wanted their future to be. Will wanted them to settle into a house with both their names on the deeds, he wanted another two or three children with Lizzy, he wanted a life with her and although he knew that they were going to be doing a lot of talking tonight, he wanted her to know that he still envisioned everything they had discussed over the Christmas period.
"Can we talk about this in more depth later?" Elizabeth asked quietly.
Will nodded his reply as they walked on to the gravel driveway and into the house, with Lizzy announcing their arrival as they took off their coats. Rose came running out of her grandfather's study, covered in paint as she lunged her arms around his neck and hugged her father tightly, before giggling her little head off as some of the wet, green paint that were on her hands got on to Will's face as she placed her hands on his cheeks.
"Have you been painting with grandad?" Lizzy asked with a warm smile.
"Yeah, we did handprints." Rose replied, rather proudly.
They followed Rose into the study to see various pieces of paper around the desk with Mr. Bennet's large handprints on the paper in the colour of red whilst Rose's were next to his in the colour of green.
"Well done Rosie." Will said warmly, ruffling his daughter's curly hair.
Mr. Bennet smiled as he left the three of them alone in the room, heading towards the staircase to shout for Lydia to finish getting ready for their quality time out of the house.
"Grandad says Auntie Jane's gonna have a baby soon." Rose stated.
"She is. In the summer." Lizzy replied.
"After my birthday?"
Will nodded, "After your birthday Rosie. How do you feel about babies?" he asked his daughter.
Rose smiled, "They're okay. Bella's got a boy baby, he's sicky a lot." She replied.
"You mean she has a little brother?" Will asked.
Rose nodded.
"Yeah. Bella says it cries all the time and is stinky."
"Would you like a little brother or sister one day?" Will asked, flashing a grin at Elizabeth.
"Maybe. Will it wear my princess dresses?"
Will laughed, "No, it won't." he answered.
"But you have to marry Mummy first." Rose stated to her father.
"Why's that, Rose?" Elizabeth asked, clearly curious to her daughter's answer.
"'Cause I wanna wear a dress like I wored at Auntie Jane's wedding." Rose replied with a grin.
Both the adults laughed as Mr. Bennet called Rose to go and wash her hands. Rose ran out of the study and they both heard her footsteps on the wooden floorboards as she headed to the kitchen, leaving Will alone with Elizabeth in the study.
"So, I think we'll have Rose on board." Will whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.
"We'll talk more about it later when we don't have anyone to overhear us." She replied softly.
Will released his hold on her and followed her out into the hall, saying goodbye to Elizabeth's parents and a rather sulky Lydia. When the other three Bennets had left Longbourn, he asked why Lydia was so grumpy considering it was nearly her birthday, to which Lizzy replied that Lydia was still grounded over everything that had happened with Wickham and how her sister had threatened Rose, therefore her plans of having a party at a friend's house were now cancelled.
They ate a lasagna for dinner that Mrs. Hill had cooked for them, with Rose talking more about the wedding and asking questions about the man who had fallen over on the dance floor.
"Who was he?" Rose asked, just as the three of them finished their dinner.
Both William and Elizabeth froze, looking at each other before Elizabeth nodded that it was okay for him to answer their daughter's question about Reginald.
"He's my dad."
Rose frowned, "Is he poorly?" she asked.
"A little bit, yeah." Will replied.
"What do I call him?"
Will hesitated, he wasn't sure how to answer Rose's last question. He knew that Elizabeth would never allow Rose to call his father 'Grandad' like their daughter called Mr. Bennet and he agreed with her; his father had caused too much hurt to automatically be called Grandad.
"Well his name is Reginald."
Rose frowned, "That's a long name."
"Well you could shorten it if you want, like you did when you first met me?" Will suggested, smiling as Elizabeth nodded that she was okay with that.
"Reggie?" asked Rose.
"Maybe Reg."
Rose started laughing, "Reggie Veggie!"
Will chuckled as Elizabeth smiled in amusement, their daughter certainly had a thing with nicknames.
"I think we'll stick with Reg, okay?"
Rose rolled her eyes, "Okay." His daughter sighed.
The plates were cleared and Rose went upstairs to wash and change into her pyjamas. Will sat in the living room as Elizabeth headed upstairs to tuck Rose in and read her a bedtime story whilst he waited, thinking over everything he had been told by the liver specialist.
Having been in the hospital for a week now, his father was now cleared of the infection and was recovering well from the procedure that he had done. The liver specialist had told them that his father would be treated at the liver treatment centre at one of the two centres in a London hospital and would be put on the transplant waiting list once Reginald had been sober for three months.
Exhaling slightly loudly, he heard Elizabeth enter the room and sit beside him on the sofa.
"She's out like a light." Elizabeth said softly.
"So, where shall we start?" William asked.
"Start by telling me what's going on with your father. I know that the situation is stressing you out." Elizabeth replied.
"Well he's better in the sense that the infection has cleared and he's recovered from the procedure that he had to have done as well. He has to sober up for the next three months and then go to the treatment centre for an assessment and tests to see if he's eligible to go on the transplant waiting list." Will started.
"I assume that he has to meet the criteria to go on the waiting list?" Elizabeth asked.
Will nodded, "They won't put him on there if he's not sober. The thing is, the average waiting time for an adult on this waiting list is one hundred and forty-five days but it could be longer. According to the liver specialist, my father's best option to live longer would be to have a family member donate a part of their liver."
"I didn't know that was possible."
"Yeah, it's not done often apparently as they usually prefer a donated liver from a donor who has passed away because the liver can be split into two to donate to a child and an adult who are in need of a liver transplant. But in my father's case, me or Georgie would be the best option." Will explained.
She paused for a minute before looking at him with a concerned expression.
"So what are you going to do?" Elizabeth asked.
"I'm going to talk to Georgie when she comes to Netherfield this weekend and we'll go from there."
"Are you going to get tested to see if you're a match?" she asked.
"I haven't thought about it yet. My father said that it's my decision and he'll respect whatever choice I make."
Elizabeth was evidently surprised at this revelation.
"Your father said that? Do you think he meant it?"
Will shrugged, "It's going to take a lot of work to get to a good relationship with my father, he's caused a lot of hurt."
"Maybe he's had a lot of thinking to do?"
"I think that's all he's done since he's been in hospital. On the plus side, he's been sober for a whole week."
"Well you said it's going to take a long time for your father to make an improvement, one week sober is a start." Elizabeth mused quietly.
Will took hold of her hand and squeezed it lightly.
"What's bothering you?" he asked.
Elizabeth hesitated for a few seconds before exhaling sharply.
"I'm just worried that everything with your father will get in the way of our future. He's already forced me away once and while I'm determined to not lose you a second time, I'm worried that he might use his illness as a way of getting between us. I've already told you that me and Rose aren't going to live at Netherfield with you and your father and you already know my reasons for that, so I won't repeat that part." Elizabeth admitted quietly.
Will cupped her cheek and pressed his forehead to her own.
"Lizzy, I love you. I would never allow my father to manipulate me and scheme and hurt us the way he did last time. If he was ever rude to you, I would refuse to help him get better. I've told him that if he wants to rebuild a good relationship with me then he needs to accept that you and Rose are my life, that you will always come first," Will said to her in a heartfelt whisper, "I still want that house with the back garden, with the large fireplace that we can cozy up in front of on cold winter nights. I want you to not get the injection so that we can maybe have a baby soon. I want us to have everything that we should have had four years ago."
When she gave a relieved sigh, Will closed the gap between them and kissed her fiercely, having missed her in the days following their disagreement. He had meant everything he had just said to her and wanted to show her with more than words just how much he said was true. Elizabeth closed her eyes and kissed him back, just as fiercely, with her arms wrapping around his neck tightly and her legs maneuvering so that she was placed into his lap.
Her hair was untied from its now messy ponytail state so that a mess of brown locks fell around her shoulders. Tongues caressed the other, William's hands moved to unbutton the top buttons of her work shirt, exposing the rest of her neck and her collar bone once he broke away from her mouth and laid a trail of wet, open mouthed kisses along her jaw, down her neck and the part of the collar bone he had exposed to himself. Elizabeth sighed in happiness, closing her eyes and enjoying the light headed sensation she always felt when Will kissed her this way.
Elizabeth's hands wandered from their position around his neck and down his t-shirt, feeling the hardened chest beneath that she loved to see uncovered. But her hands didn't trail to remove the shirt, instead her hands went to the zip on his jeans, pulling it down slowly before she made quick work of undoing the button. Will groaned with desire as her hands moved over his boxers, stroking him and cupping him until they both felt him getting harder from her gentle touches and caresses. His lips broke away from her neck, and he didn't notice the red patches he had left, but he did notice the green eyes that were now aflame with need for him, the pink patches on her cheekbones from her raised temperature and the slight grinding of her in his lap that made him gain a tight grasp on her thighs, with a small whisper of him requesting that she wrap her legs around his waist.
Doing as he asked, Lizzy wrapped her legs around him and moved her hands from his boxers and placed him around her neck to ensure that she stayed up. Will stood from the sofa, returning his lips to Lizzy's for a brief kiss, before carrying her out of the living room and up the stairs as quietly as they could without disturbing Rose. When they reached her bedroom and the door was locked, he placed Lizzy down on her feet where she turned on the bedside lamp. Returning her lips to his, they continued to kiss passionately as clothes were slowly removed from their bodies and lay strewn across the floor.
Will gently moved his girlfriend backwards until she was in the middle of the bed, his eyes locking with hers as he asked her if she wanted him to use protection. When she shook her head and grasped him in her left hand, he hissed with desire; claiming her lips again and using his fingers to further her arousal. Elizabeth whimpered and rocked from side to side, up and down as his fingers continued to drive her crazy as they worked their magic, making her feel safe and secure with him and him alone, making her squirm as the waves of pleasure ran through her body.
"Oh…Will….don't….stop…more…please." she requested, leaning her head to the side to try and bite as best as she could into the pillow.
Will smiled down at her, keeping eye contact as he slipped another finger into her wetness. He bent over her, his lips at her ear.
"Come for me, Lizzy." He whispered.
Just the hot breath and the throaty sound of his voice, along with the movement and pace his fingers worked inside of her were enough for her to buck against his hand and moan into the pillow, until the waves settled and she was panting to catch her breath once she released the pillow from her bite.
As Elizabeth smiled up at her boyfriend, she parted her legs wider and moaned with pleasure as he joined with her. They melded together as closely as they could get, with both unsure of where their own bodies began and ended, with William thrusting slowly in and out of her, keeping his eyes locked with those green ones that showed him how much she loved him, how much she had always loved him. Her hands played with the sweaty curls in his hair, gripping lightly as she wrapped her legs around his body and urged him to get deeper, faster and a little bit harder as he kissed her deeply. Her moans were swallowed by his mouth, Will gripped her thighs harder as he released a groan and pulled away from her lips. Elizabeth had begun to thrust her hips into his, her inner muscles tightening as she continued to gasp that he knew she wasn't going to last much longer. Picking up the pace, William moved faster and harder.
"Lizzy…I….love….you…." he managed to gasp out.
"Mmmm…love….you too…" came her reply.
Seconds later, they came together; with William spilling into her and collapsing into her waiting arms. Minutes passed where no words were spoken and the only sounds that filled the room was their ragged breath as they breathed in unison. When both had eventually calmed down after their lovemaking, they fell underneath the covers and curled up together, their body heat being shared and the last whispers of 'I love you' and 'Goodnight' were shared. William turned off the bedside lamp and listened to the heavy inhales and exhales of his girlfriend, telling him that Elizabeth had drifted off to sleep in his arms.
Closing his eyes, Will rested his head just above hers on the pillow and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.