A/N: My apologies that it has been a long time since I last updated. I had a very difficult (and final) pregnancy with my fourth baby. I hope to update on a regular basis now that things are settling down for me. Enjoy!

Chapter Four

Friday came around rather quickly, much to Elizabeth's satisfaction. She had spent the entire week trying to focus on helping Jane out with the twins, helping out around the house and had even popped into the bakery to arrange a catch-up with Charlotte to celebrate being offered the childminder job. During the week, she had managed to get a first-hand look at just how much her older sister was juggling. Lucy had suffered a seizure during a trip to the park one afternoon after preschool and Jane had managed to show her how to handle it due to her upcoming role in caring for a child with epilepsy. She'd also accompanied Jane to Lucy's weekly physio appointment, quarterly speech therapy review and had signed up to learn Makaton sign language as a way to try and communicate with her niece.

Slowly, Lucy had stopped being hostile towards her and Elizabeth had never felt more thrilled. In the short time that she had moved back home, Lucy had been hostile towards her, often biting or hitting when she preferred to have her needs met by Jane, Lydia or Thomas. And after spending as much time as possible with her niece and nephew, Lucy was starting to warm up to her when she randomly sat in Elizabeth's lap and made a cooing sort of noise which Jane stated was her content noise. Elizabeth only hoped that it would continue.

And now she was stood outside the house she had interviewed at for the childminding job and took a deep breath before rapping her closed fist lightly on the front door. It was a new start for her. The chance to find a purpose and rebuild her life. She had already made silent plans in her head that once she had enough money saved for a rainy day and for private renting expenses, she would be moving out of her parent's home; having grown tired of her parents constant bickering and her mother's constant criticism. It was like she could do nothing right in her mother's eyes.

The front door opened, and she was greeted with the reassuring and warm smile of Alice Reynolds.

"Come on in, William is waiting for you in the living room." Alice informed her quietly, stepping to one side.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and stepped inside the house. She watched as Alice closed the door behind her and led her through to the living room where she met the gaze of her employer. It was clear from the photograph she had seen of Mia at her interview, who the little girl looked like. William Darcy was a tall man, at least a head taller than Elizabeth. With matching dark brown curly hair and eyes just like she had seen in the photograph of Mia. He smiled warmly at her, slowly walking towards her as if welcoming her to his home. Elizabeth returned his smile nervously, her eyes trailing over him and noting how he could wear shirt and trousers in such a casual manner.

"Hello, I'm William Darcy. You must be Elizabeth Bennet?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"I am." Elizabeth confirmed in reply and shook his hand lightly.

She couldn't help but notice how soft his hand was. She had never known a man's hand could be that soft. Her father's had always been covered in flour and ingredients from his time at the bakery.

"Thank you, Alice, for showing her in." William said, acknowledging his housekeeper.

"Shall I bring you both a cup of tea?" Alice asked.

She met William's gaze, noting the softness in his voice as he asked her if she'd like a drink. Elizabeth nervously squeaked out a 'yes please' before following William Darcy to the sofa and took a seat.

"Today we'll be going over the contract and discussing any details in there. I thought it would be best to meet you in person and then you could meet Mia before we decide on an official start date. Nothing to worry about." William informed her.

"I thought as much. From what Alice told me, Mia seems like a delightful girl." Elizabeth said brightly.

She watched as he smiled fondly and nodded his agreement.

"She is. But I'm a bit biased." William admitted with a chuckle.

"You're her father, of course you are." Elizabeth replied.

"Do you have any questions?" Will asked.

So, Elizabeth asked him the questions she wanted to ask, and William answered each one, putting her mind and nerves at ease at the prospect of starting anew. While she had experienced excitement at being offered a job, it also had made her nervous and scared. It wasn't like she'd had a choice in having to start again, David had made that decision for the both of them. But in two weeks since she had left her life in London, she had already managed to find herself a job and that was an accomplishment. The more she chatted to William, the more she felt relaxed that this was going to be just what she needed. He seemed to like him more each second that passed as they talked. One thing she could tell, was that he was a devoted father from the way he spoke about his daughter.

As they finished talking about the details of the contract, William checked his watch.

"Would you like to come with me to collect Mia from school? She has a half day today due to staff training. That way, you can see where her school is and we can inform the staff who you are so they know that you'll be the one collecting her from your start date." William suggested.

Elizabeth took a mouthful of her tea that Alice had brought in for the two of them and swallowed.

"Yes, I think that would be nice." She replied.

They talked some more about the job role, about Mia a little bit more and what she liked and what she didn't like. And then it was time that William looked at his watch and the two of them left the house and began walking the short distance to the school that Mia attended. She listened to William tell her about the school, why he had chosen it for his daughter. She was surprised to learn that the school wasn't a private one. If one thing was clear, William Darcy could afford to send his child to a private school if he wanted to.

"Public schools are quite good, I rather liked the ones I attended." Elizabeth mused.

"Private education is an advantage, don't get me wrong," William said, "I went to private schools during my childhood but it was always important to my late wife that Mia attend a public school for her primary education. Natalie believed public schools funded by the government would give Mia more life changing experiences and more experience with the real world. She would mix with children not from the same background as her, Natalie thought it would make Mia more appreciative of the world and others."

"Does Mia remember her mother?" Elizabeth asked.

William smiled sadly and shook his head.

"No, she was rather young when Natalie died. But she asks questions about her mother and she has a lot of pictures that she likes to look at." He replied.

Elizabeth noted the look of sadness in William's eyes at the brief talk about his wife. It was clear from the look in his eyes that he had felt the loss of someone he loved deeply and she found herself feeling a little strange. Although she hadn't been widowed, she had still lost her husband because David was seeking a divorce. And while she felt devastated that her marriage had ended, she had silently decided the minute that she had to swallow her pride and ask her father to come home, that perhaps it was for the best. The David that she had been madly in love with five years ago wasn't the man she was divorcing. She had loved David once and over the last few weeks, since she had swallowed her pride and called her dad asking to move back home, that her love for her husband which had once been which had burned so brightly like a flame, was slowly fading away. Now she was determined to make her fresh start and figure out who she was as a person instead of being someone's wife and putting their needs ahead of her own for once. It was a loss, but a loss which allowed her to close that chapter of her life. Being widowed like William Darcy was, it wasn't as if he had a choice when it came to his loss. But neither did she.

"I'm sorry that you both had to lose someone you loved." Elizabeth said sadly.

"Thank you." William replied softly.

They carried on walking, crossing the road and turning corners until they eventually came to the school that Mia attended. Walking through the open gates to the main entrance, they pressed the buzzer before pulling open the front door and stepping inside. Elizabeth noted the look of the school reception, filled with bright coloured noticeboards which informed parents of upcoming school events and reminders of school policies. On one noticeboard there were pictures of staff members whilst another informed visitors of the school's ethics and values and how those were achieved. She was handed over paperwork which she quickly filled in as the receptionist went off to go and collect Mia from her classroom.

Minutes later and the paperwork filled out and signed, Elizabeth handed it back over to the receptionist as she saw the little girl staring at her curiously for the first time. Her heart pounded with nerves as she waited to be introduced.

"Mia, this is Elizabeth, she's going to be looking after you when I'm at work." William said warmly.

As Elizabeth bent down to Mia's level, she held out her hand and the little girl instantly shook it with a welcoming grin. Her heart rate slowed as she suddenly felt that this was definitely the fresh start that she needed.

ooOoo

Jane sat in the small little office space at the back of the bakery, her fingers tapping away fast as she typed up the following months staff rotas. Her eyes kept darting back to the filled in diary, taking into account who on the payroll had requested certain time off and then back to the computer screen to ensure she could honour everyone's requests. As she pressed the save button, Charlotte came rushing into the office, wearing a flour covered apron and looking stressed.

"Jane…I wouldn't normally ask…but can you cover out front? Massive queue build up…" Charlotte panted.

Pushing her chair away from the desk, Jane gave Charlotte a warm and reassuring smile and left the office. She pulled an apron off the coat rack and tied it around her waist before stepping out on to the front counter. Charlotte had been right, the queue had built up back to the front door of the bakery and all the tables were filled with customers eating their pastries and sandwiches on the dining area. She took a position behind the till and started to serve the customers, instructing her staff members to prepare the orders while she served and another staff member took orders on another till. Slowly, the queue began to reduce and the pace of the staff wasn't as manic as it had been when she had first stepped out onto the front counter. All of a sudden, she was greeted by a friendly smile, bright blue eyes and bright red hair.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch what you said?" Jane said politely and apologetically.

"I was asking if you had a cloth I could wipe a table with?" the man repeated, still smiling and gesturing to an empty table.

"Oh…I'll be over in a minute…" Jane mumbled.

"Let me, you're busy on your feet." The man smiled.

"You really don't have to do that…"

But the man smiled widely at her, leaning over the till and picked up a cloth in his hand and walked over to the table he had gestured to. Jane moved from the till and out to the dining area, standing in front of the man as he wiped over the table and handed her the cloth back.

"I would have cleaned that for you." Jane said politely.

"It's no trouble, I can see you're rushed off your feet."

"Well…thanks…I guess…"

The man continued to smile at her. Jane stared back and felt herself returning his smile, feeling her heart skip a beat as the man held his hand out to her.

"I'm Charles." The man said softly.

She shook his hand.

"Jane." She replied.

But before they could have more of a conversation, the man's mobile phone began to ring. Charles sighed and pulled it out, making a grim face as he stared at the screen.

"I have to go, but it was nice meeting you, Jane." Charles smiled brightly.

She watched as if in a haze as this kind stranger left the bakery and turned left on the street outside. When she came out of the haze a moment later, she noticed the busy queue was now non-existent and went back to the office to finish her paperwork; wondering just how a stranger, a thoughtful stranger it seemed, could have that type of effect on her in a few brief moments their eyes had met