A/N: Thank you all for your continued support of this story! I'm hoping to have this story concluded in the next six chapters which will include the epilogue.

Enjoy!

Chapter Thirty-One

The past four weeks had flown by in the blink of an eye for Elizabeth. The start of April had brought her twenty weeks into her pregnancy and had celebrated her twenty-sixth birthday on the 5th April. Her latest scan had showed that the baby was growing well and was in proportion. She and Will had also had the opportunity to find out the baby's sex, but both had declined, wanting it to be a surprise when Elizabeth went into labour. Her pregnancy was going well and whilst the nausea and tiredness had gone temporarily, having been told by her midwife it could return in the third trimester, she had cramps in her legs and pelvis, as well as in her growing stomach where her body was stretching to accommodate the baby. She had also found it was now difficult to lay on her front, a position she usually found comfortable to sleep in, and was now finding it difficult to get comfortable at night.

Other than her pregnancy and life with Will and Mia, her father was making slow improvements to his health. He was due to be discharged to a community care team who would do twice weekly physiotherapy for her father as well as seeing a nutritionist once a week who would help her father to keep track of his diet and eating habits. Elizabeth was pleased to hear that her father had been referred to a cognitive behavioural therapy programme to delve deeper into the issues surrounding his heart attack. It was something she knew that her father would struggle with, but she hoped that once Thomas was used to regular therapy sessions, things would look much better for their crumbling family.

Things with her mother had been…awkwardly better than they had been in months. Her mother confiding in her about her meddling and her secrets had been a little shock for Elizabeth, her mother was never usually one to talk about feelings and experiences like that…the only feelings she was used to her mother portraying freely were disappointment and anger. Since their conversation, Fran had been trying to learn sign language with Jane to try and have a relationship with Lucy. Her mother was also giving Elizabeth her space regarding the pregnancy and not prying into it as much as she had during Jane's. Elizabeth supposed it was nice, but it felt like there were a lot of eggshells on the ground where her mother was concerned.

Her life was going to a good place, a place which she hoped would only be filled with joy and love. In a matter of months, she would be holding her newborn baby in her arms and her daughter if the adoption was finalised by then.

As she turned her car into the driveway and parked her car, she gathered up her belongings and climbed out of the car, to be greeted at the doorway by Will.

"Hello you." Will smiled.

"Hello you." Elizabeth greeted back.

He leaned down and kissed her briefly before taking her bag and paperwork out of her arms. Elizabeth closed the door behind him and took off her jacket and hung it up on the coat rack.

"How was your day?" Will asked.

"It was good thank you. I had lunch with Jane, she was asking for advice on the adoption. She and Charles are discussing him adopting the twins in the future." She replied.

The mention of Charles was a tricky one. Will's relationship with his best friend was now tense, for the first time ever, ever since Charles had confided in them about his sister, Will had been furious. Elizabeth felt it was perfectly valid for Will to be angry after everything that Caroline had been up to. But she also felt that it wasn't Charles' fault for what was going on.

Will had gone quiet as she took her bag from him and hung it up over her jacket. She turned to look at him, stepping towards him and cupped his cheek with her hand.

"It isn't his fault you know." She said softly.

Will hummed and the look in his eyes told that he didn't want to talk more about it right now.

"Dinner is ready for you. We've eaten ours. I'll be upstairs in the study with Mia, I said I would help her with a project." Will stated.

Elizabeth nodded, giving him another brief kiss before heading through to the dining room.

ooOoo

"How about that one?" Mia asked quietly, pointing at the computer screen.

Will moved the mouse over the screen and clicked on the image that Mia had pointed to and waited for the page to load. He rolled the mouse over the picture and took into detail of the ring. A while gold band with three small diamonds embedded into it. As he scrolled down, he read the description of the ring and saw that there was an option to engrave it.

"I quite like it, but we'll head out at the weekend to look at it in the store." Will replied.

"I think mum will love it." Mia smiled.

Will kissed his daughter's forehead and held her tightly on his lap as she bookmarked the page and shut down his computer. For a while now, he had been considering when would be the best time to propose to Elizabeth. He had confided in Alice, who had sneakily looked through Elizabeth's jewellery whilst cleaning the bedrooms to get confirmation on the size of ring he would need to buy, and he had asked Mia to help him plan the proposal but everyone in the house were under strict instruction to act normal and not give anything away. He had wondered if he should propose on her birthday but after much deliberation, he decided that he was going to propose a year to the day that they had met for the first time.

"You think so?" Will whispered.

Mia nodded, brushing her curly hair out of her face.

"She isn't the type of girl who wants a big and flashy ring. Something simple but pretty." Mia replied.

"I love how much you know Elizabeth." Will commented, smiling widely.

"Have you heard from the social worker yet?"

Their adoption journey had been a long one. The paperwork had been sent off a while ago and they were having regular contact with a social worker who would assess the suitability of Elizabeth becoming Mia's mother. They had interviews together and then separately to which they had to answer questions, hypothetical scenarios, and a lot about Mia. They had been asked about Natalie's family and if they would have any objections to which Will had informed their social worker that both Anthony and Irene were on board with the decision and would continue to have regular contact with their granddaughter.

"It will still be a few more months until the adoption is approved and official."

Mia nodded, fidgeting impatiently on his lap. Will moved and adjusted her body weight, giving her a hug before she got up from his lap.

"Do you think Lizzy will say yes?" Mia asked.

"I hope she does…" Will replied with a nervous laugh.

"How are you going to ask her?"

But before Will could even answer his daughter on the subject, there was a knock on the study door.

"Come in." Will replied, coughing to clear his throat.

The door opened; Elizabeth was stood in the doorway.

"Mia, your bath is ready." Elizabeth said.

Mia left the study and headed to the bathroom, leaving Elizabeth and Will in the study.

"What were you two up to?" Elizabeth asked suspiciously, an eyebrow raised.

Will grinned at her, watching as she closed the door behind her and walked over to him.

"Can't a father and daughter have a secret?"

"Of course…but that entitles a mother and daughter to have their own secrets too…"

Will raised an eyebrow as Elizabeth walked over to him and leaned against his desk. He looked up at her, placing a hand over her growing baby bump. Elizabeth sighed contentedly as the baby kicked against Will's hand.

"Baby Darcy is restless today." Elizabeth yawned.

"He's a strong boy…" Will grinned.

"We don't know if he's a boy…he might be she…" Elizabeth smiled.

"He or she, baby is strong and energetic just like their sister."

Will gazed at her lovingly as Elizabeth placed her hand over his. The two shared a quiet moment of intimacy, both feeling their child kick and turn inside Elizabeth. For Will, he had never imagined he would get to experience this for a second time. When Natalie had been pregnant with Mia, he had done it all just like he was doing with Elizabeth and their unborn baby. He talked to the baby, he felt every move, kick, and poke that he could, and he read as many baby books as he possibly could. But with Mia, it felt like a lifetime ago and in some ways, it was, she would be turning ten in four months. Meeting Elizabeth, loving her, opened him up to possibilities he had long ago closed the door on after Natalie had died. Falling in love again, it was a haven.

Their bubble burst when Will's phone rang. Seeing it was Charles, he paused and took his hand off Elizabeth's bump.

"You should answer." Elizabeth whispered encouragingly.

"I'll call him back in a minute. I need to figure out what to say." Will sighed.

Things between him and Charles had been awkward for the last month. His best friend had informed him about Caroline's declining mental health and obsession and Will had been angry that Charles hadn't informed him straight away. Will had been concerned that Caroline stalking them despite the restraining order against her and that Wes wasn't sharing equal concern that Caroline was unwell. Will had spoken to the police officer who helped him get the restraining order and was told that the police would bring Caroline in for questioning, but she had done a runner.

"It's not his fault his sister is mad." Elizabeth pointed out.

"No, it isn't. But the fact he didn't tell me from the start is his fault." Will said defensively.

"Yes, he should have told you," Elizabeth agreed, "But…you can't blame him in some ways. He has tried to speak to Wes to have her sectioned. He's tried looking down all legal routes on what he can do about the situation."

"I appreciate his efforts to try and keep us all safe. But if he had told me sooner about Caroline's obsession then we might be in a different place now."

"We can't ponder on the what ifs, Will. The police are looking for her and they've assured us that when they do, she will be sectioned under the Mental Health Act."

Will leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead, feeling the stress course through his veins. All the plans he was trying to make were supposed to help keep him focused on the good and keep him and his family happy. But he couldn't deny that the threat that Caroline could have on them all scared him. As far as he knew, Caroline didn't know that Elizabeth was pregnant with his child, and he wanted to keep it that way. Elizabeth was wearing clothing that would conceal her growing baby bump, not that it was that big just yet. She often joked that it looked like she was permanently bloated. He drove her and Mia everywhere they went so that the three of them were always together in public and were never home alone. He had installed extra locks on the doors of the house to ensure extra security as well as increased the CCTV cameras he had installed after he had found out about Caroline's attack on Alice.

"I'm just scared. Anyone as unstable as Caroline can cause so much damage." Will admitted in a whisper.

Elizabeth nodded, cupping his face in her hands, and gently bringing his face up so his eyes could meet hers.

"She will be found and when she is, we'll be safe." She whispered back.

Will nodded, leaning up to meet her lips in a sweet kiss. It was brief, but all they needed. Elizabeth released him and headed out of the study to check on Mia. Will leaned back in his chair again, picking up his phone from the desk and unlocked the screen. He scrolled through his contacts and clicked on Charles' name and pressed the phone to his ear.

"Will…thanks for calling me back." His best friend said breathily.

"What's up?" Will asked.

"I have a plan…but I need your help to carry it out…"

"A plan about what?"

There was a slight pause before Charles cleared his throat.

"A plan to deal with Caroline."

ooOoo

Elizabeth sat on the sofa, listening to Charles explain his plan on how to deal with Caroline only made her anxious. Her hand nestled on her bump, and she tried to focus on the baby kicking inside of her. But it didn't make a difference.

"It's the only way that I can think of. She's stolen every trace of money in my house and taken my credit card. As far as I know she doesn't have her passport, my dad keeps hers in the safe at his house and she doesn't know the combination to it." Charles sighed.

Elizabeth looked at him with tear filled eyes.

"You want Will to call Caroline and invite her over to our home? Where our child sleeps and eats and plays? You want Will to risk being alone with her whilst she's unstable?" she shrieked.

Will placed an arm around her shoulder and held her tightly by his side. She sobbed as Will placed a kiss to her head whilst his other hand lingered over hers on her baby bump protectively.

"It's mad." Will agreed.

"It's the only thing I can think of. She's obsessed with you, Will, so she won't think about the consequences of breaking the conditions of the restraining order." Charles said desperately.

"But the police might not charge her if it's me that's breaking it." Will pointed out.

"True. Unless I 'pocket dialled' her during a conversation we're having about going somewhere." Charles suggested.

Elizabeth exhaled heavily, taking her free hand to dry her eyes. She took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. The idea made her anxious for their safety, for the good place that she desperately wanted to be in. The place she dreamed of picturing holding her baby in one arm whilst the other cradled Mia in the other as they huddled together on the sofa seemed to vanish out of her head. It was now filled with a red-headed woman who threatened to ruin their lives.

"This is something I need to consider, Charles." Will said.

Charles nodded his head and bade them both goodnight, leaving the house with the front door closing sharply behind him. Alice had walked through from the dining room, smiled weakly at the couple, and bolted up the door before heading upstairs to turn in for the night.

"You can't seriously be thinking about doing something this reckless!" Elizabeth cried.

"I am considering it." Will admitted.

"Why on earth would you?

"Because it will be the end of living in fear of her."

Elizabeth scoffed in disbelief. Rising from the sofa, she turned on her heel and stormed up the stairs. She could hear Will follow her but she didn't stop to look at him. She opened their bedroom door and left it open for him as she crossed to her drawers and pulled out some pyjamas to wear to bed. Will entered the bedroom, closing the door behind him as Elizabeth began to undress out of her work clothes.

"Can we talk about this? Or are you going to storm off because you're angry with me?" Will demanded.

She threw her work shirt in the hamper and pulled on her pyjama top, trying to ignore the tightness she felt as she silently made a mental note to start buying maternity clothes rather than just bigger sizes of her current wardrobe. Turning around to face him, she didn't stop the tears falling down her cheeks.

"I'm allowed to be angry that you're considering Charles' plan! It's dangerous not just for you! But for Mia, the baby and myself. Not to mention Alice! And what about Jane? The twins? I already have enough things happening within my family without worrying about the safety of the ones I love!" Elizabeth yelled.

Will crossed the room, his frustration easing as he reached her. She shimmied out of her tights and skirt and pulled on her pyjama bottoms as she felt the tears run down her cheeks.

"I'm considering it because it means this will all be over with Caroline. I don't want to keep living in fear of her breaking into our home or following us wherever we go." Will said softly.

"If you agreed to it, you could get hurt and that I couldn't bear." Elizabeth cried softly.

"If I agreed to it, I would ensure my own safety. You, Mia and the baby are the strength I need to get through anything." Will vowed.

"I don't like it, Will."

"Neither do I, darling. But I need to do whatever it takes to keep you all safe."

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he pulled her to him. Will lifted her off her feet and wrapped her legs around his waist as they shared a tight hug. Elizabeth looked into his eyes, leaning into his caress as he wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Let's not think any more of it tonight. I need to comfort you, hold you and love you." Will whispered.

Nodding her agreement, Elizabeth pressed her lips to his and kissed him heatedly. A kiss she poured as much need and want for him as she could muster. Will groaned enthusiastically against her lips as he walked them over to their bed and laid her gently down on top of the duvet. The kiss continued until Will lifted her pyjama top and ran his hands gently over her belly.

"You amaze me every day, Elizabeth. Growing a life inside you, I envy you." He whispered.

Smiling up at him, she moved her hand to the back of his head and pulled him back down to her waiting lips.