A/N: I'm sorry if this chapter isn't what many of you were expecting. I did plan to write a long one and cover the six weeks summer holiday within this chapter but with so many plot lines, I decided to split it over the course of a few chapters. We still have some Charles and Jane to come and more of Elizabeth and Will and of course, Mia. And the dreaded Caroline in future chapters. Timing still isn't great at the moment, homeschooling has taught me that I'm no qualified teacher and I can't do it full-time. Praying you are all safe and well wherever you all are in the world, I'm hoping this virus F's off soon so we can slowly return to normal, I'm missing hugging my family.
Enjoy!
Chapter Fifteen
The third week of July had come and with it the start of the summer holidays. Six weeks of children not attending school and spending quality time with their families. Perhaps they would go on holiday, perhaps make memories at different places they visited. For Elizabeth, she was determined to make Mia's summer holiday as memorable as possible. Her workday routine had changed from early starts to take Mia to school to now starting at nine-thirty in the morning and consisted of getting Mia ready for the day and keeping her occupied with activities or visits to different places.
During the first official week of the summer holidays, Elizabeth had used one of her holiday days to attend Lydia's graduation ceremony from university. She felt a surge of pride watching her sister officially graduate with her friends and afterwards they had gone to a local restaurant in Meryton to celebrate and the happy mood had soon soured. They had to wait to be seated at their booked table upon arrival which wouldn't have been an issue – Lucy, who didn't deal with change very well, was given her tablet as a distraction while Peter was happily colouring on a notepad that Jane had brought along to keep the twins amused. They had taken a seat in the bar area of the restaurant while they waited for their table to be available to them, but Fran had decided to kick up a stink. Elizabeth could only roll her eyes and mouth silent apologies to the disgruntled customers who had their meal interrupted by Fran's shrill shrieking at the restaurant manager. Lucy was quickly distressed by all the shouting and launched her tablet across the restaurant before diving under the tiny table with her hands over her ears and tucked her arms around her body and rocked as she wailed at the top of her lungs.
"Jane! Shut the girl up will you!" Fran snarled across the bar.
Jane had stood up whilst Thomas sat on the floor to soothe Lucy and marched up to her mother and said: "You're the one that needs to shut up!"
After that, the restaurant manager had asked that they leave the restaurant and Jane had had to carry her daughter kicking and screaming out of the building and wrestle Lucy into her car seat. Lydia felt disappointed that her day was now ruined, and Fran and Thomas continued to argue about the former's embarrassing behaviour the whole ride home. When they had arrived home, Elizabeth had called her sister to check on the twins and her sister's state before suggesting to Lydia that the two of them have a takeaway – Elizabeth's treat. All the while their parents continued to argue before Thomas stormed out the house to go for a walk. It wasn't all bad though, for the time being Lydia had moved back home whilst she looked around for postgraduate positions in banks, trying to use the degree she gained in financial management. For Elizabeth, it felt nice having her little sister back at home again.
Aside from parental arguments, Elizabeth was rather enjoying the time she spent outside the home. During the first week of the summer holidays Will had given her a debit card to a bank account with funds for Elizabeth to use to pay for Mia's activities and days out over the six-week summer holiday. She was required to give him receipts at the end of each day, but she was able to use the money for meals, museums, theme parks, trips to the seaside or tourist spots – wherever the day took them. The first few days of that first week Elizabeth had stayed local. She and Mia had packed a picnic and taken it the local park by the community centre. They had spent the entire afternoon playing on the swings and eating fresh fruit, sausage rolls, crisps, and biscuits in the park. Another day they had gone to the local public swimming pool for an afternoon and took a long walk over the country hill near to the side of town that Elizabeth lived on. That first week had finished off with a barbecue at the Darcy residence, eating burgers and hot dogs while basking in the hot sun, topped off with a water fight that ended up with Elizabeth drenched in a bucket of water that Will had poured over her head in revenge for her soaking him with her water gun.
After sending Mia upstairs for a quick wash and to change into her pyjamas, Will came into the living room holding some clothes and handed them to Elizabeth.
"What's this?" Elizabeth asked.
"Just some clothes that Georgie left here, I thought you could put them on and wear them home, it's not like your clothes are dry." Wil replied.
"Are you sure Georgie won't mind you lending them to me?" she asked.
Will shook his head.
"No, she's probably forgotten she left them here. Take them. Wear them home and wash them. Then bring them back here when you're done."
So, she had done just that. She had bid Mia goodnight and had taken Alice up on her offer to use her toiletries to freshen herself up and after dressing in her borrowed clothes and using Alice's hairdryer to dry her hair, Elizabeth walked back downstairs to see Will waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.
"I just wanted to let you know that I have some time off occurring in the last week of August for Mia's birthday. You won't be required to work but you'll be given your own holiday pay, so you won't lose out on your wages." Will informed her.
"Thank you. Can I buy Mia a birthday present?" Elizabeth questioned.
"If you wish. But you don't have to."
"I want to." Elizabeth smiled, "I feel very fortunate to have you both in my life."
Bidding each other goodnight, Elizabeth got into her car and drove away, the ending of that first week of the summer holidays a lot better than it had started.
The second week of the summer holidays took them to the end of July and the start of August. Elizabeth had arrived on Monday morning to learn from Alice that Will would not be home for dinners this week due to a large caseload that required a lot of input. Mia was missing her father terribly, having not seen him since Sunday dinner so for two days, Elizabeth tried her best to distract Mia from her father's absence. But despite her best efforts, Mia was down in the dumps and nothing could bring her out of her misery. On the Wednesday, Elizabeth had decided to be spontaneous and cheer both Mia up and surprise Will – after all, he had to be missing Mia as much as she was missing him. Elizabeth had arrived at the Darcy residence earlier than she usually would have and instructed Mia to ready herself for the day and pack a backpack as quick as she could with some things she might need. Alice made them both a lunchbox for the train and by nine o'clock, Mia and Elizabeth had arrived at Meryton train station taking the train into London. It was a short journey before they took the tube through London and spent the day at the Tower of London, the London Eye and took the tube all over to see Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden and Buckingham Palace before they took one final tube journey to the part of central London that Will's firm offices were located.
They had entered the offices and waited by the reception desk as Will came out to see who was waiting for him. The moment that he stepped into the reception area, Mia ran to him and threw her arms around him tightly. Will looked pleasantly surprised as he hugged his daughter tightly, lifting her off her feet for a few moments before placing her back on the ground.
"I wasn't expecting this." Will breathed with a smile.
"I thought you both might need a little cheering up because you're missing each other." Elizabeth replied.
"Wow…this is…so thoughtful. Thank you." Will smiled.
They spent a few minutes chatting in the reception before Will went to his boss' office to ask for an early leave. Minutes later, Will greeted them once again carrying his briefcase and they left the office together.
That evening, they got a late evening train back to Meryton. Their bellies were filled with the McDonald's that Mia had requested they eat for dinner and after leaving the fast food restaurant near to Will's offices, they were now sat on the train headed home. Mia was tired, her little head was propped up against her father's chest, with Will's left arm wrapped around her tightly. As she sat opposite father and daughter, Elizabeth found herself observing them both. She noticed how Mia slept and Will tapped away on his phone replying to a work email that they both shared the same little nose twitch on a deep breath. Since the beginning she had watched the bond between Will and Mia, and it was in their presence she found herself feeling calm during the ongoing storm around her. Now she realised that father and daughter didn't just make her feel calm, they made her feel blessed to be part of their little bubble of happiness.
Being with the Darcys everyday had made her realise that just because she could not conceive a child didn't mean that a child couldn't fulfil her life in other ways. For one thing, she thoroughly enjoyed looking after Mia everyday and she enjoyed spending time with Lucy and Peter on the weekends. The end of her marriage and her sister's supportive suggestion of starting a childminding business was something she had also been contemplating over the weeks. Starting her own business, looking after children and helping them to develop and learn was something that could fulfil her even more.
Just as she was lost in thought over the positives in her life, she found herself meeting Will's amused gaze. His brown eyes were bright and the corners of his lips twitched into a slight smirk.
That bloody smirk. It made her flush in the cheeks.
"See something you like?" Will teased quietly.
"Maybe."
No more words were said during their train journey home. Even when they got off the train and Mia had been gently shaken awake by her father, they walked home in sleepy silence, at one point Mia had her arms wrapped around her father's left arm and was walking sleepily next to him, yawning loudly as they walked through the streets. Elizabeth walked next to Will, her heart skipping a beat as she felt him take hold of her hand with his and gave it a light squeeze. She smiled at him as she squeezed his hand back and together the three walked back to the Darcy's house and stepped inside the hallway as Will opened the front door.
"How was your day out?" Alice asked, greeting them warmly.
"Good." Mia yawned, "Thank you, Lizzy."
"Come on love, let's get you ready for bed."
Alice led a sleepy Mia up the stairs and disappeared, leaving Elizabeth alone with Will in the hallway.
"Well…I should head home…" Elizabeth said quietly.
As she turned to head out the still open front door, she felt Will grasp her wrist gently and whisper 'Wait' as he closed the gap between them.
"Thank you for what you did today, it truly meant a lot to me." Will said warmly.
"I just wanted to make you both happy. Mia really missed you and I thought it would be a nice way the two of you could see each other this week." Elizabeth explained.
Will entangled a hand into her wavy loose locks and Elizabeth felt her cheeks reddening as he held her gaze.
"It's been so long since I met someone who would do something that nice for me and my daughter. Thank you for the gesture, it means more than I can say." Will whispered.
"You don't need to say anything." Elizabeth muttered.
Leaning up, Elizabeth pressed her lips to his and kissed him sweetly, her lips moving softly over his own. Will groaned as their tongues met, wrapping his arms around her tightly, holding her close. Their lips move together in perfect rhythm, her arms wrapped around his neck, his trailed up her back as he continued to hold her close. Elizabeth smiled against his lips as he broke the kiss to catch his breath. It only lasted a second before he kissed her heatedly.
"I wish…you could…stay…" he murmured between heated kisses.
"Mmmm," Elizabeth moaned, breaking the kiss, "I would but I have work tomorrow."
Will grinned mischievously at her.
"I can always allow a late start." He hinted.
Elizabeth let out a low laugh, keeping her arms around his neck.
"We can't." she whispered seriously.
Will sighed, kissing her nose before cupping her cheek. He brought his lips to hers and kissed her once more before moving away from her.
"Goodnight Elizabeth." Will said softly.
Elizabeth smiled at him and bade him goodnight before stepping out on to the driveway and got in her car to drive home.
ooOoo
The past three weeks had been anxious for Lindsay Younge. Her first scan had gone exceedingly well, she got to watch as the sonographer showed her how her baby was developing, and they were sent home with scan pictures and smiles. She and George had discussed baby names, whose last name the baby was going to take and where they were going to live. George had been in the middle of telling her that he was going to look for a better paid job when she got the phone call from the midwife.
"Your test results have come back. We need you to come in to discuss the results."
They had immediately made an appointment and went to the hospital to discuss the results of the test. The consultant confirmed that Lindsay was at a higher risk of the baby having Down's Syndrome. The consultant had talked them through their options, and both walked away from the appointment with the agreement of going ahead with an amniocentesis to determine if their child had Down's syndrome.
Today had been two weeks since her amniocentesis procedure and they were once again back in the consultant office trying to process the news that they had just received.
"Miss Younge, Mr Wickham, I know this must be difficult for you…" The consultant said calmly.
"Our baby….it has Down's?" George asked, his voice full of concern.
The consultant nodded sympathetically.
"The results also picked up a chromosomal abnormality. A deletion on the long arm of the…"
Lindsay tried to process the news that her unborn child not only had an extra chromosome but was missing the DNA on a part of another. What would this mean? Would her child be okay? Would her child be healthy and able to live a happy life?
"I'm confused…this chromosome deletion thingy…how do these happen?" George asked.
"Well…sometimes they happen spontaneously, these are referred to as de novo deletions but sometimes they can be inherited." The consultant replied.
"And what does this deletion mean on top of the Down's?" Lindsay asked tearfully.
"There isn't a lot of information out there because it's rare, it doesn't have an official name because it hasn't been researched by scientists. But what we can do is refer you to a geneticist and a counsellor should you wish to continue with the pregnancy." The consultant said softly.
"I do…I can't have an abortion." Lindsay said firmly.
The consultant nodded, thanking them for coming in and handed them some leaflets on Down's syndrome and some contact information for local support services that could advise them further if they wanted to get in touch. She and George left the hospital feeling numb from the news.
The bus ride home was made in utter silence from the two of them. The only sounds that Lindsay paid attention to were the mother and toddler at the front of the bus, singing songs quietly but happily together as they both shared laughter and smiles. It broke her heart to think that she might not have that with her own child.
When they got off the bus they continued to walk back to her flat in silence. George did hold her hand though, so it gave her hope that they could talk when they got home. Getting through the front door to her flat was a blur, sitting down didn't even cross her mind as she paced her living room.
"Linds-"
"I can't terminate the pregnancy." She said firmly but quietly.
"I know…but our baby is…it's gonna be…"
"I know."
George cleared his throat.
"Linds, I need to go away for a few days." He said weakly.
"Away? Where?" Lindsay questioned; her voice filled with panic.
She could not believe what she was hearing. How could George just abandon her at a time like this? On the day they found out their child had not one, but two conditions and they did not have any guarantees on how healthy their child would be once born. All Lindsay knew was that she already loved their unborn baby.
"I need…to get some answers…and to do that I need to visit someone." George replied shadily.
She frowned, her heart beating faster as she felt a knot form in her throat.
"What answers? George…you can't leave me now."
The news from the consultant was something they both needed to work through together and now here he was telling her that he needed to get some answers from someone she didn't know and she was suddenly feeling fear fill her heart, the sinking feeling of dread in her chest that he was going away and leaving her to process the news on her own.
George walked to her and kissed her on the forehead, a gesture which would usually soothe her along with the times he would usually give her a little cuddle or a pat on the back as he had done so many times after throwing her guts up in the toilet due to morning sickness. But now, there wasn't any other gesture of reassurance. And it scared her.
"This other chromosome thingy, I know someone…someone who has a kid with something similar…I just need to get some information on it and then I'll be back." George said dismissively.
Before she could ask any more questions, George pecked her cheek quickly and went into her bedroom to pack some clothes into a bag and once he was done, he shouted his goodbyes and slammed the door to a close behind him. Whatever her boyfriend was doing, Lindsay knew that she would have to do some long thinking about the baby by herself.