AN: OK, I don't like long author's notes usually, but. Last chapter, someone commented, writing about quagmire of unnecessary detail and being unable to cope. Dear Anonymous Guest: Please do not, under any circumstances, continue reading this story. Especially this chapter. I don't want to be responsible for your future suffering. Or, if you do, be so kind as to log in, so I can discuss this with you. Because, sorry to say, comments like that are neither kind, nor concrete. And I'm all for criticism, as long as it's specific. If you have something to say, there's a PM in this site, there is AO3 where you can write a comment and we can discuss it, and there is my blog (fanfik - wordpress - com), you're welcome to contact me in any manner possible.

Everyone else: Thank you for your enthusiasm :) Here's another LONG chapter (longest yet - almost 27k words, the characters simply did whatever the h... whatever they wanted)

Next chapter will take probably just as long - it's mostly written, but it needs a lot of correction and tweaking.

Now. Who do you think will win the singing contest? :)

10-10-2017 06:20

From: Mama
Elizabeth, where are you? What does your father mean by saying we need new lodgers for your flat?

10-10-2017 06:22
From: Mama
ELizabeth!

10-10-2017 06:24
From: Mama
What is wrong with you, girl?

10-10-2017 06:30
From: Elizabeth
I was asleep. No time now. I moved out. Look for new tenants. Flat is empty and clean. Try Lydia.

10-10-2017 06:34
From: Mama
Lydia is much too young for that sort of thing!

10-10-2017 06:36
From: Elizabeth
She is five years older than I was when I started living on my own.

10-10-2017 06:38
From: Mama
Where are you, you wretched girl!?

10-10-2017 06:41
From: Elizabeth
Home, Mama. I'm home.

1 Unanswered call: Mama, 06:43

10-10-2017 06:50
From: Mama
Pick up, Elizabeth

10-10-2017 06:55
From: Elizabeth
Mama, I have more important things to do today. I am fine, Mina is fine, everything is fine. We've moved. You are all welcome to visit for Christmas. William says Lambton is spectacular at that time of the year.

10-10-2017 06:57
From: Mama
Don't tell me you went back to HIM.

10-10-2017 06:59
From: Elizabeth
OK, fine. I'm not telling you. But now I have to go downstairs and make sure both of my daughters are ready for the next school day.

10-10-2017 10:11
From: William
Unfortunately, it seems like someone is trying to make it hard for me to be home on time tonight. The Historical Society should be called the Hysterical Society. They are shouting.

10-10-2017 10:15
From: Elizabeth
Would my presence help, or quite to the contrary? I could be there if you wished, just send me the address.

10-10-2017 10:20
From: William
I would welcome it, but the workers are rather crude today. I'm making sure they know we're not reducing their pay. Not their fault, and they were on time both yesterday and today. I'm just taking the list to ensure they are all paid appropriately and I'm off to the society again. Need to find out who got them so fired up.

10-10-2017 10:21
From: William
There is a full protest line of little old ladies in front of the gate. Terrifying.

10-10-2017 10:25
From: Elizabeth
If you feel at any moment that my presence would help, let me know immediately. I'm picking the girls up anyway today, they need some shopping done. I could bring you coffee and lunch?

10-10-2017 10:30
From: William
That *does* sound tempting. I'll text you if the things start getting too hard. Thank you, love.

10-10-2017 10:32
From: Elizabeth

10-10-2017 10:34
From: William
Kissy emoticons, Elizabeth? I didn't think serious computer programmers like you used these.

10-10-2017 10:38
From: Elizabeth
Oh, sometimes we hide them in the code just to be annoying. Now, go, pacify the hysterical society. I'm off to discuss placement of our stuff with Mrs R. It's a good thing she likes me, I will be seeing her a lot in the next days.

10-10-2017 10:40
From: William
Should I prepare myself for periods of abandonment?

10-10-2017 10:45
From: Elizabeth
I will always come back to you at the end, love.

They managed to muddle through the next several periods with the enthusiastic support of their main group, who took delight in hearing their explanation (and seeing the dumbfounded faces of the teachers, who had apparently treated the headmaster's warning less than seriously). After the third round, the role of the storyteller was taken over by Marika, who self-deprecatingly described how Mina had had them all fooled, even people who had known Rose since the pre-school days.
"And including her dad and aunt," she added. "So, basically, the theatre club is waiting for you, Miss Darcy."
"I think I'll have enough on my shoulders for now," Mina rolled her eyes. "I mean, we have to undo all these grades, take all the tests..."
"...make the poster..."
"...take our physicals, get to know my Italian group..."
"...start my riding practice, my horse is, like, fat..."
"...practice my singing..."
"OK, OK, fine!" Marika threw her hands up. "Fine. No theatre for you this year. But please, consider it, both of you. You managed to keep this up that long, you'll be OK for a play or two."
"Now, if you are all done, can we start the actual lesson?" the teacher sounded more amused than anything else, but everyone hurried to their places, leaving the twins by the desk used by Mina until now.
"Mr Farlane warned me about the situation. I am not happy with the fact that you had been put in the same group, but I accept his reasoning. It would have been tough and unfair to one of you to do it differently. Mina, sit at the desk you had been using, and Rose, here, in front of me. Just take the notes today. Next week, I'll have some tests ready for you, same as other teachers, I suppose, so you will have a chance to prepare and pass them successfully. I will write a letter to your father..."
"Our parents," Rose interrupted her softly, but clearly. That particular teacher had been one of the women who had tried to pass her contact information through her to Dad.
"Oh," the lady frowned and pursed her lips.
Hah. Finally, all these cats will see that Dad is so taken.
The lesson continued with small hiccups, as the teacher was watching them with suspicion every time she noticed one of them even moving. Still, even the longest hour ends and so all the nervous tension was broken by the bell. In the company of Marika and Tatiana, they quickly walked into the courtyard, to sit in shade and finally check what Mrs Reynolds had managed to prepare for them. Before they reached the bench, however, Mina tripped over her own feet and went crashing down on the grass.
"Are you OK?" Rose picked her up and started dusting her off. "Did you skin your knees? God, your knees are green. You have to wash that grass off, to see if the skin isn't broken."
Mina breathed deeply and shook her head.
"No, I'm fine. Fine. I just hope I can avoid having huge bruises on my elbows for the contest. God, I was so nervous about this whole day, I barely slept and now I'm feeling... woozy."
"Come on, let's eat something. Or you'll faint and Mom will be angry with me."
"Darcy?"
"Oh God," Mina managed to whisper before they turned slowly. "Hi, Teddy."
He blinked, in a rather adorably confused way.
"I've heard some blokes talking about, but..." he shook his head. "What the hell, Darcy?"
"Which one are you asking?" Rose stepped closer and in front of her sister. "Hi, Strickland."
"So it's true," he swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing furiously. "Wow. There are... two of you. Wow."
"Oh, come on, Rose," Mina managed to shove her out of the way. "Teddy, can we talk? Like, somewhere more private? After school today?"
"How do I know which one I'd be talking to?" he asked and they looked at each other in trepidation.

Oh, God. Actually two of them. Real life twins. The Darcy twins.
He breathed deeply and tried to calm his thoughts, looking a bit away from them. School fence, so fascinatingly… rusty.
"And which one are you interested in?" one of them asked. "Because maybe you always fancied me, with my horses and long hair and basketball? Or maybe you just woke up to the new reality after the vacation and you prefer my sister - the one who sings, plays the piano and hits bullies?"
For a moment, he felt as if he had stepped onto a peak, a precipice, a...
"Strickland, what the hell are you doing here?" Davison, the rugby team captain, pulled him around. "Ah. I see. Your girlfriend and... your girlfriend. You dog. Wow. But, if I may advise - pick the cleaner one. On the other hand, the dirty one will know how to get rid of grass stains. I suppose she has a lot of experience washing her clothes after kneeling in various places, so she will be of more use washing your unif..."
The students gathered around were very enthusiastic witnesses to the fact that Darcy girls did, in fact, hit. And that even rugby captains bled if hit hard enough.
Three seconds later, Davison was sitting flat on his arse on the grass, holding his mouth and wailing (albeit not very clearly), Teddy was cradling one Darcy's bruised fist in his both hands and Marika and Tatiana were holding the second one to stop her from adding something to what her sister had already done.
In half a minute, an oncoming storm of grown-ups darkened the schoolyard and the previously enthusiastic witnesses quickly decided that they had, in fact, been checking their snapchat, sending someone a text, picking lettuce out of their sandwich, looking for a lost contact lens or snogging behind a tree. There was nobody to explain what had happened except for Davison (now blubbering and babbling something and dripping crimson all over his rugby shirt), Teddy (now slightly grinning at the Darcy in front of him, like an idiot), her (very carefully not looking up at him) and the other three girls (standing petrified three steps behind the pair).
"Now can anyone explain to me why our rugby captain had been injured outside of the field? We are more used to rugby players being damaged in the limitations set by the rules of the game."
"I..."
"I'm afraid it's my fault, sir" Teddy straightened, cutting her off quickly. "Davison was being disrespectful towards other students, and my experience with him told me that nothing less than a physical argument would work in that case."
Headmaster Farlane shot him a squinty-eyed look and Teddy steeled his spine a bit more.
"What exactly had happened here?"
"Davison suggested I'm unable to wash my uniforms properly by myself and directed me to apply to Darcy for help, suggesting she must have a lot of experience getting rid of grass stains. He was referring to the fact that she had tripped just a moment before and had landed on her knees in the grass. He had suggested she had done this numerous times before and so she would be able to help me, with her extensive knowledge on the subject."
Teddy felt the headmaster's heavy gaze on his face but only stared resolutely ahead.
"Strickland," he heard the man say. "I hope it was worth it."
"I suppose so, sir."
"Please have one of your parents contact me today evening. Tomorrow you will have detention - and the next two days, too. You will write a four-page explanation of the role of non-violent conflict resolution in the relationships in the school and explain various ways this situation could have been managed better. Davison," he turned to the team captain "go to the nurse, get this face looked at and get your parents to call me today. You have three-day detention, the same as Strickland. You will write a two-pager regarding the definition of sexual harassment, lewd language and improper advances and why such behaviour is not allowed in this school. With references to the relevant entries in the school charter. You will both hand them in on Monday to your form tutor. Ladies," he nodded at the three, and then raised his eyebrows at the fourth one, still standing next to Teddy, hiding her hand behind her back. "Darcy, get this hand attended to. By the way," he turned to the man next to him "do we have plans for a girl rugby team, coach?"

+-+-+-+

The moment the headmaster entered the school, followed by the P.E. teacher and the rugby coach, the schoolyard exploded. There were people running around, sharing recordings of the whole altercation, pointing out Teddy and the girls, pointing out Davison (who had just noticed that his whole front had been liberally splashed with blood and was making noises about that) or trying to sneak in closer to listen in on the small, quiet exchange in the eye of the storm.

"Teddy, I..." she swallowed and looked away from him. "You shouldn't have done that."
"It would have been the second offence for you. Davison's parents would be calling for a suspension. His mother is that crazy kind of mama-bear, never mind she is half a head shorter than that idiot. He is her perfect Jamie and no person should dare touch him, no matter the reason. She even managed to complain once when he had been tackled on the field. The coach had a very bad afternoon."
"But, Teddy, that doesn't make sense! It should have been me...! I can take a little punishment, and this isn't fair!" her frustration was obvious and a bit surprising.
"I would have hit him, too, but you were just a tiny bit faster. That was mostly because I was mainly paying attention to you and kind of thinking about the question that your sister had asked me."
"Oh," she looked at him - these golden eyes! - and then down again. "And?"
He stretched her bruised fingers in his palm.
"I will have an answer for you - for her - but I just have one little question of my own," he said, with just a hint of tease in his voice, which was probably what made her look up so sharply. "What is your name? Because that," he nodded towards the other twin "is most definitely Rose Darcy. Considering I had no idea she had a sister..."
"Neither had I, until July," Rose mumbled.
"...I'd like to learn your name."
She blinked. Blushed. Stammered.
"She's Mina," Rose finally sighed. "Wilhelmina Darcy, but she will hit you if you call her that, yadda, yadda. Can we please eat that lunch finally?! I'm starving!"
Mina. OK, Mina. Wilhelmina.
He smiled and nodded, not looking at Rose at all, but rather at the girl whose hand was still somehow engulfed in his.
"So, Wilhelmina Darcy. What would you say if I asked if I can walk you to the bus today after school?"
Mina shook her head and sighed.
"I'd say that our mother is picking us up today. She says we need to go shopping. And we need to go home without any delays because we have all these grades to correct."
Of course. Probably all teachers will be pretty hard on them now...
He smiled and threaded her fingers between his, squeezing them lightly.
"I could tutor you if you need help with something specific. I am a year older, after all. I've already done whatever it is that you're taking now and I am in top three of my class."
"Teddy," she pursed her lips, looking away from him and snatching her hand away. "I'm sorry. No, not until the competition at least. I've been stuck in a strange place for the last month, sick for the last week and I didn't sleep very well tonight. I will be happy to continue this conversation in two weeks' time."
He frowned, looking at her in surprise.
"But I thought you wanted to talk today..."
"Yes, but now I see it will require a bit more time than I expected. At least we did the basic civilised thing - you know my name now. So," she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "After the competition, Teddy. I promise. And thank you."
She turned on her heel and joined her sister on the bench by the back wall, quickly digging out her lunch box and bottle of water.
The spot where her lips were pressed just a moment before now tingled faintly.
Oh.
He touched it with his fingertips.
So this is what it feels like.

"Anything interesting happened today?"
Both girls seemed strangely pensive as they seated themselves and buckled the seatbelts.
Mina shrugged and looked out of the window. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at Rose.
If it's a secret, she won't say, but...
"She told Teddy she isn't going to talk to him until after the competition," her older daughter provided.
"Rose!"
"What? Half of the yard heard it."
"Well, maybe, but...!"
"Mina, was it really in public?"
A suffering sigh was the answer.
"About forty people in total," Rose explained. "And then she kissed him."
Mina groaned.
"Just on the cheek!"
"Well, he looked very happy..."
"Rose, stop," Elizabeth snapped. "Mina is embarrassed. Whatever it was, it is complicated, right?"
Mina grunted a confirmation.
"Teddy couldn't work out which one of us he fancies," Rose explained. "Then he made up his mind, but an idiot from his rugby team had to try to intervene and ended up with a bloody lip. Teddy and the idiot got three days of detention and Mina told Teddy she wants to talk to him, but only after the competition. Then she kissed him and avoided him for the rest of the day, but now she is having an attack of regrets that she had treated him too harshly."
Elizabeth parked in front of the mall and turned back to them.
"What do you mean? Mina, what happe..."
Mina's knuckles, exposed by Rose in front of Elizabeth's nose, were covered by a wide plaster.
"Oh, kitten!"
"And Teddy took it on himself," Rose added as Mina watched the world outside through the tinted windows stubbornly. "He said that Mina has already had one problem this year so she can't have another so soon, and mother of that boy is a nightmare."
"I thought this school was better," Mina whispered suddenly. "And nobody is really better. They just hide better."
"Davison is an exception. Everyone else would have reacted to what he said, somehow. Well, not everyone would have bloodied his mouth, but they'd have silenced him. And Teddy is OK, isn't he?"
Mina shrugged and looked determinedly out of the window.
"What did said Davison actually say?" Elizabeth looked at each in turn.
"He said Teddy had now two girlfriends, but he should choose me because I probably know better how to get rid of grass stains, so I could wash his rugby uniforms. And only because I tripped and got my socks all green and dirty."
"Well, what he actually said was that he was sure Mina has had a lot of experience in kneeling. If you know what I mean."
Elizabeth swallowed a curse.
"Yh. That's nasty. How old is that boy exactly?"
"Teddy's age, so maybe a year or so older than us."
"I'll discuss it with your father, but I think I'd like to speak to his parents. Just to head off potential explanations of 'it was only a joke'. Because I see some risk of that kind of 'justification'. He didn't come out and say that Mina is somehow bad, or immoral. He more like tested what was acceptable to say, right?"
Rose nodded.
"He saw that she had green spots on her knees from where she tripped, and just..." she gestured. "He used to be more like a human being, but his father took him somewhere for a 'dad-son trip' and now he is like that. His ex told Marika and Marika told me that he used to be quite OK, but after that trip it's like someone flipped some switches and he's become insufferable. Sheila told him to leave her alone after he had spouted some stupidity about her not needing to go to college because it's enough that she is pretty. And he was rather insistent about it, but then his parents turned it all into a joke, so, yeah, there is that joke thing. Well, Sheila's mom says it's not funny at all and she is going to be coming to school pretty soon."
"Good for Sheila. I wish there had been someone like this in our family at the right time. Anyway, let's go inside and check if we can buy a reasonable amount of clothes for you in the minimum of time. And, Mina?"
"Yes, Mom" she sighed.
"Please do try not to hit anyone else before Christmas?"
"Fine, fine" she grumbled, turning towards the window again. "I'll just bite the next one."

####

The afternoon was spent split between unpacking (mostly covered by Mom, but sometimes requiring their attention), preparing all school supplies for Mina, signing the notebooks and filling in the Italian exercise book up to the point assigned by the teacher, which marked the progress the class had made since the beginning of the year.
Rose was happily filling in her French book - new and fresh one, instead of using the one that Mina had started.
Mom was... Mom was humming. And dancing between rooms.
They exchanged a few glances when she dropped into their rooms, leaving a random possession of Mina's that had been packed among her things every now and then and then leaving. With a pirouette.
"Break!" she announced finally and they stood up with twin groans of relief. "Now, Mina's boxes. They may contain some of my stuff - considering there were so many of your things in my boxes... so just leave it on my bed, OK? I'll go downstairs and negotiate with Mrs Reynolds for access to the kitchen."
They both looked up in interest.
"Cookies," she said succinctly. "How many people do you have in your class?"
Rose frowned.
"Thirty in our homeroom, which is more or less the class that we see for the whole day - except for languages and P.E."
"OK, so I suppose the batch should be bigger..." Mom smiled and pulled out her tablet. "Come on, get to work. I'll call you once everything is set up."
As she danced away, towards the stairs, Rose looked at her younger sister questioningly.
"It's your birthday tomorrow, you ninny" Mina pointed out kindly. "Mom wants us to bake cookies for you. Now, come on, let's move. We have stuff to unpack."
"Cookies...?" Rose shook her head. "But..."
"I told you. That's what Mom does for my birthday. So she will be doing it for yours, too."
"But nobody brings cookies to class...!"
Mina rolled her eyes.
"I would. I'm going to ask Mom for the really chewy, caramel ones. This will make everyone shut up."
"But..."
"No buts. Darcy girls may not have had a tradition of bringing cookies to class until now, but from this summer, you're also a Bennet girl. Or, to be more specific, you are Elizabeth Bennet's daughter and that's how we roll."

Elizabeth knew they were suspicious, but simply couldn't make herself stop. It was a feeling that wanted to burst out in song, but she couldn't find the right one to express what she was so overwhelmed with.
Einmal möcht ich wieder tanzen
so wie damals im Mai
einen rechten, süßen Walzer,
wo das Herz ist dabei.
She twirled in another waltz pas and run downstairs.
"Ah, you look like someone who had won the lottery" Mrs Reynolds greeted her when she burst into the kitchen, all jittery and smiling. "What did that boy do? I suppose it was something done right this time?"
"Well..." she reached for the box holding her big mixer. "We may be needing a bit of a help with certain preparations for the eleventh of November."
"Like what kind of preparations?"
They opened the box and pulled out the gleaming machine.
"Like maybe a lot of space in the fridge to cool a wedding cake...?" Elizabeth smiled slyly and ducked her head when the older woman rushed in to hug her.
"Oh, darling! But, so quickly?"
"Quickly? It's been over fourteen years since he proposed!"
"Elizabeth!"
"Well, yes. A bit quickly, maybe. But none of us is a silly kid anymore and we know what we want."
"Oh, I dare say you do, definitely" Mrs Reynolds snorted. "Just make sure nobody tells the little ones anything stupid, like that you had to hurry because of, you know. Things."
"We are definitely not hurrying because of things. We just want this over with, I want to change my surname, I want to finally do what I wanted to all that time..." Elizabeth trailed off and blushed hotly. "Um."
"I'm older than you, girl. I've had my share of romance, even if Mr Reynolds had been taken away from me too early. Now, what is it that you wanted to do here?"
"Cookies. Rose's birthday is tomorrow, so I need to prepare a batch for her to take to school. We'll make more for Mina tomorrow..." she clicked through her recipe book. "Ah. Here. Lemon sables. Quick, easy and I can only hope nobody at school is wildly allergic to anything in here."

#

"Now, crack four eggs and pour them into this container. Then take the butter and put it in the mixer with the sugar, and mix it at top speed until it's all light and fluffy. I'll sift the flour and Mina will grate the lemon rind. Just try to not make it 'the bloody lemon rind', kitten, hm?"
"Mom! It was, like, six years ago!"
"And I hope you still remember how it stings."
"How did you manage to do this?"
"She scraped her knuckles on the grater. There was a huge amount of screaming and a tiny amount of blood involved."
"Mom!"
"I'm sure Dad will find equally silly stories of Rose to tell us" she kissed her younger daughter's cheek. "Now, once you are done with the rind, squeeze the lemons and fish out any pips, we'll make the icing."
The whirl of the mixer filled the kitchen with weird echoes as they worked around the grand table so they never heard the footsteps approaching them until Mina squeaked in surprise at William's fingers catching her carefully dressed hand.
"I thought I told you how to do it properly," he remarked mildly.
"I did. I didn't tuck in my thumb, so it isn't like it's broken. But the guy was too tall and I hit his teeth instead of his nose."
"Mina! You never told me…"
"It's fine! The nurse at school cleaned it and she said the skin isn't broken."
William sighed and ruffled her hair a bit.
"And what about your knight on a white horse? Should I be concerned?"
"Dad!"
"She told Teddy she will talk to him after the competition" Rose licked her fingers clean of sugar. "Is this fluffy enough?"
"No, darling, take the bowl out, take the spatula and scrape the sides, fold it all together and then start mixing again, like for three minutes. Repeat until you can't see any sugar crystals."
"Why do you want to wait until after the competition?" William patted Mina's hand and leaned over her to kiss Elizabeth's cheek.
Mina made a frustrated sound.
"Because. OK? It's like… I don't want to make any…" she threw her hands up. "I mean, it's like Rose said. I shouldn't just, well, make a decision, just because almost every bloke in my London school was a massive jerk and Teddy is just being nice. And then he seemed much better than them, in contrast. And now he is kind of more than nice and then I don't want to make any stupid decision just because I think I owe him. But I like him."
Elizabeth dusted her hands off and finally looked very carefully at her younger child.
"So you like him, but you don't want to owe him…?"
"No! I mean, no, I didn't want him to do what he did today - I never asked him, or anything. But it's like…" Mina twisted her hands together. "Like I want to be sure I like him even if he is not being all kind and attentive and taking a three-day detention for me. I want to like him because I like him and not because I feel I should be grateful."
"My darling, reasonable girl" Elizabeth hugged her. "I understand, definitely. But, may I remind you, this very morning, at breakfast, you were worried about his feelings even before you saw him again after over a week. So I'd say we can be pretty sure whatever it is, it's not affected by his intervention today - or at least not caused by it, hm?"
Mina nodded, leaning on her shoulder.
"So, if you really wish to test yourself, by all means, take your two weeks and think about it. There is no reason to rush into stuff you don't feel very certain about. However, don't be cruel and don't string him along. If you make up your mind and you don't want to… whatever it is, tell him kindly. And quickly."
William cleared his throat and she sighed.
"Come here" she pulled him closer.

The cookie cutters were found, washed, dried and dusted with flour, three workstations were set on the table, covered with large, smooth cutting boards and three aprons were tied carefully.
"Now, I've rolled the dough flat, but…" Elizabeth pulled out a plastic container. "Rose? Your choice of patterns."
Her older daughter frowned, not understanding.
"Patterns?"
"Look" Mina pulled out a patterned rolling pin. "See? It has patterns. Mom has like two dozen of them…"
"Eighteen!"
"...a dozen and a half, I stand corrected. So you can choose doggies, little skulls, flowers, cats, fish, stars, more flowers… some more flowers… birds, Moomins and Little My's, balloons… whatever."
Rose was pulling the rollers one by one and carefully placing them in a row on the table.
"May I have more than one pattern?" she asked worriedly.
"As many as we have batches of cookies, kitten" Elizabeth ruffled her hair. "That means at least six. And you can choose the cutters to match them - I think I have a box of Moomin ones somewhere. You could have cookies shaped like a Little My and patterned with Little My if you want. Or cat-shaped and patterned with dogs."
William's arms went around her waist and she leaned back into his embrace.
"And what kind of cookies will I get for my birthday, to take to work with me?" he whispered, sending a little shiver down her spine with his breath brushing her ear.
"William!"
"Well, I want to know if it will be worth being good until January."
"Oh, you will be good until January, don't you worry," she said sternly. "Or you will be sorry."
"Oh? Will you betray your holy vow to never bake bad cookies?"
"I will bake some with anise. Ani liquorice."
She felt him shudder with revulsion.
"You wouldn't! You hate liquorice just as I do!"
"They would be perfectly good cookies - for someone who likes liquorice, that is."
"I will be good! I promise!"
She turned in his arms and gave him a small kiss.
"Then you'll have chocolate shortbread cut up into little houses" she smiled. "Deal?"
He sighed, putting all his suffering in that sigh.
"Fine" he grumbled, burying his face in the crook of her neck. "Deal."
"Now…" she shoved him a bit. "Cut the cookies, children. Wash your hands again and I will roll the dough in that time. Rose? Did you make your choice? Yes, William, you too. No idea what you were doing with them, we don't want that to transfer to the cookies. Wash your hands, William Darcy!"

A phone rang in the hall as Elizabeth was hurrying past with the last batch of things destined to the attic, so she propped the box on her hip, leaned it on the wall and picked the receiver.
"Pemberley House, how can I help you?"
"Ah" a male voice stammered at her introduction. "I'm sorry. I was… No, wait. I wanted to talk to William. Sorry, for a moment I thought I got the wrong house, but then you said…"
"Rick" she swallowed, hard.
"Liz? Lizbeth? Is that you?"
"Yeah. I'm… It's me."
She heard him laugh softly into the receiver.
"Good, good. Oh, Lord, Lizbeth, I mean… How long has it been?"
"Thirteen years this weekend, Rick. I'm so sorry."
"Come on. Half of this is on William being a prick."
"Richard Fitzwilliam!"
"...and halt on aunt Catherine for being a witch. I'd blame you for, like, ten percent of this. Hell, I take some on me, for not making William behave like a proper human being."
"You had your problems, Richard. I can't allow…"
"Everyone had problems, all the time. That doesn't excuse any of us. Now, two ques… no, three."
She sighed and smiled.
"Ask away."
"Are you staying? Did you bring Mina? When can I come to visit?"
"Oh, Richard. If it didn't make William so unreasonably jealous…" she trailed off, seeing William standing at the top of the stairs, his arms folded on his chest, smirking slightly. "Yh."
"He is there, listening to you, isn't he?"
"Yep."
"Answer with one word then."
"Yes, Yes, Soon?"
"Will be there. When are you two tying the knot?"
"Rick!"
"OK, when do you want me there?"
"Mina has a singing competition next weekend, on Saturday. Would that be OK for you?"
"Will be there, no doubt. Text me the place and the exact time. Now, can I talk to my cousin and congratulate him on regaining his senses?"
"Richard! You will do no such…"
The receiver was snatched from her hand and William's kiss muffled her next words.
"Now, go and help them to not burn the house down," he said, breathlessly. "And please, leave the heavy lifting to me and please, stop flirting with my most annoying cousin."
"...I heard that!" the receiver squeaked.
"You were meant to" William pulled her in again and deposited another kiss on her lips. "Go. Leave that bloody box here! I will take it upstairs! Now, Richard, why are you bothering my Lizzy?"

The large Tupperware container was met with signs of disbelief.

"You baked this?" Sebastien poked a round cookie suspiciously.

"Yes, for the tenth time. Mom, Dad, Mina and me. It's one of Mom's favourite recipes. Seriously, people, hadn't you ever seen a cookie?"

Tatiana bit into one cautiously (biting off the head of one Little My) and licked the crumbs off her fingers.

"Gosh, this is actually pretty good," she mumbled around a mouthful of pastry. "Really, Rosie, your mother has some wicked skills. I wish my mom could bake like this" she finished the rest of the cookie. "On the other hand, I get fat by simply breathing in the general vicinity of a pastry shop, so I'd be as big as a house if mom ever took up baking."

"So, this is what, the new regime, introduced by your mother? I, for one, welcome our new cookie overlords," Damien snatched a star and saluted them with it.

"Yeah. If she needs someone to, like, wash the windows, or mow the lawn…" one of the boys mused, licking the icing off his palm.

"Idiot," Damien said amiably. "Haven't you seen their house? Their dad hires a whole team to deal with the greenery, and I suppose washing the windows in that old pile requires one to have a degree in wood conservation or something."

"Mostly it requires having much longer arms," Mina remarked idly. "Even opening the stupid things is a challenge if someone is too short."

"Um," Maire wiped her hand with a wet wipe and was now looking at Mina curiously. "I mean. Not that I complain, these are some fine cookies, but why are they only Rose's cookies?"

Mina sighed.

"Because she was born fifteen minutes earlier, which was before midnight" she explained, poking her sister in the shoulder. "Old woman."

"Feckless youngster!" Rose poked her back.

"So, are you bringing another batch of cookies tomorrow?" Damien was the first to understand the implication.

"I hope so," Mina smiled. "Mom was already preparing chocolate to be chopped when we were leaving."

"Chocolate," Tatiana shuddered. "I'll have to live on lettuce for a month because of the two of you."

"Nobody forces you to eat them," Rose pointed out loftily.

"Reality forces me! The smell forces me! The icing... the cute little cutout shapes!"

"You simply have the hidden dirty need to bite off Little My's leg, admit it."

"Absolutely!"

They never noticed someone taking a step back and retreating to hide behind the nearest corner.

The music classroom was empty when Mina sneaked into it. She felt a twinge of guilt - Teddy should have been here, too, waiting for Miss Yang to check on his breathing technique - or whatever it was that he was getting corrected now - but the schedule on the door pronounced him as being moved to a later hour. She was alone then, as no other student had been moved to replace him. She quickly dumped her backpack on one of the desks and, using the opportunity, sat down at the piano. There were some music sheets spread on the stand, but it wasn't anything she knew. Still, it looked reasonably simple, so she started picking her way through it. As she paused to turn the page, she heard slow, soft clapping from the door and turned, surprised, to see Miss Yang standing there.

"Ah, I'm... I'm sorry, Miss. But I..."

"No, no. Don't worry. I suppose you are not Rose Darcy then?"

She stood up quickly, straightening her skirt.

"No, Miss. Mina Darcy. Well, it will be Darcy soon, so Dad just asked for us to be enrolled like this..."

"Very well, Mina. Can you explain the situation to me? I mean, in the context of the competition mainly, I don't really care for any complex family machinations, just tell me - which one of you will be singing for real?"

"That would be me."

"And it will still be Loch Lomond?

"I suppose so."

"Fine, fine. Rose wouldn't be willing to join you?"

"Not sure, but I don't think she would. This I'm doing on my own."

"Very well. Single, traditional... a capella, as everyone," Miss Yang sighed.

"Why aren't we going to have accompaniment?"

"The piano in the auditorium is broken - the soundboard got warped due to over... Never mind. The thing is, we can't move any of these pianos from here, because there is no lift available to take them downstairs."

Mina frowned.

"Wouldn't it be better to have accompaniment?" she asked finally.

"A lot! But until we fix the main pianoforte, there will be either playback from the CDs or a capella singing, and we don't have the instrumental for everyone, so to remove unfair advantage..."

Mina frowned.

"I..."

No, she couldn't promise Miss Yang anything before she asked Mom for it.

"Never mind, we'll make do. I know you were sick, but maybe just one time?"

"Mom said exactly that. She made me sing scales yesterday for just five minutes and she said I still have some mucus in my throat, so I'm supposed to not overdo it, but I can sing once, to see if I still remember how to do it properly."

"So, your mother is your singing teacher?" Miss Yang sat next to the pianoforte but didn't touch the keys. "And here comes the explanation of the sudden influx of talent in Rose, who had until now avoided music with rarely seen dedication."

"I've been having lessons since I was eight. Piano, too," Mina admitted. "Mom sings, plays the piano and the guitar. I was supposed to start the guitar this year, but because of that whole thing with us switching..."

"But you will be doing it, at some point?" Miss Yang's eyes narrowed. "Or is your mother too busy with... whatever it is that is happening?"

"I suppose once we settle in, I will" she sighed. "But there is so much to do! We still have to correct our grades and write so many assignments my hands hurt at the thought of it!"

The teacher smiled.

"When you do try, please let me know if there is anything you need. I have some songbooks that you could choose from if you wish to practise. And you can come here in your free periods if there is nobody else on the roster and practise."

Mina nodded.

"Now, let's have one run through, to check how bad it is" Miss Yang smiled.

When they were done and Miss Yang had pointed out a place or two where she could have sung a bit more fluidly, she put Mina to practising on one of the pianos - "You shouldn't sing any more, but your fingers aren't coughing" - and busied herself with re-ordering the mess of music sheets that had been spilt out of their binding and were now an untidy heap on one of the desks.

"Very nice, Mina. Would you consider taking part in the Christmas concert? We should have the main piano repaired by that time - or have one of the others moved. There would be some singing, a choir maybe, some of the smaller kids with a short Nativity play... having someone just play one of the carols on the piano may be a nice addition."

Mina frowned.

"I'd rather sing," she said slowly. "I mean, I can learn - I know how to play a few carols already, Mom started with them, in fact - but if I had to choose, I'd prefer to sing."

"You could do both," aunt Georgiana's voice from the door interrupted them. "You don't have to limit yourself and hide your talents, Mina. It's not like we'll have you choose, you know."

Miss Yang turned towards the intruder and froze.

"Ah, so, this is your mother, Mina?"

Georgiana giggled.

"No way. I'm her aunt. Going home from the town right now, so I am the designated driver, as otherwise, they'd have to wait for the bus for an additional half hour. And who knows what these two would manage to do in half an hour."

"Aunt G!" Rose's voice rang from the corridor.

"You know that I know that you know you'd be up to something in no time at all. Georgiana Darcy" she extended her hand to the teacher.

"Lucy... Lucy Yang," the shorter woman found her voice. "Music teacher."

Their hands clasped and they smiled at the same time.

"Thank you for taking care of Mina," Georgiana managed to say finally. "It is a bit of a challenge to find the new normal with these two."

"I will have to change the competition entry now – all the paperwork!" Miss Yang joked. "Or force Rose to step up!"

"What?!"

"Calm down, Rosie," Mina scoffed. "I want to sing. You don't have to."

"Good."

Rose was a first-class grumbler if she wanted.

"I've heard the part about the Christmas concert," aunt Georgiana explained. "Would you need any help with that?"

"There is always some part that the parents - or caregivers - can help with, costumes..." Miss Yang busied herself with the scores she had been trying to put in order.

"No, I mean, with the concert itself. I have musical training, you see. And I do have a harp," Aunt Georgiana smiled slightly when Miss Yang turned quickly.

"A harp?"

"And I can play it. I could practise with Mina and we could play something instrumental together. I can't promise more than one or two pieces, as we won't have time to practise properly for more, but maybe you'd be happy with the novelty?"

Miss Yang looked... flustered.

"A harp, really," she said in a very surprised voice. "I tried to learn, once, but I gave up after half a year - I couldn't relax and my fingers were too short. Somehow they are just fine for the piano, but..." she turned her hand palm up.

"Ah, I see," aunt Georgiana made a sympathetic sound. "They always told me I had pianist's hands," she put her long-fingered palm next to the teacher's shorter ones "so they put me on the harp, too, saying it would be much easier for me than for other children."

Miss Yang turned their aunt's hand palm down and nodded, smiling.

"That is what I call unfair advantage" she sighed. "I can barely play a guitar comfortably! And here you are, with hands like that...!"

Mina waited for a moment as the two stood there in silence, but finally she coughed softly.

"Ah, sorry," Miss Yang shook her head. "Long day, I'm woolgathering. Thank you for the offer - please make some choice with Mina, if you wish to play together - maybe more than two pieces, and we'll choose together from these so that you don't repeat whatever the choir would be singing. I will be coordinating with the choir mistress, to make sure we have it all correctly aligned."

"Of course" aunt Georgiana smiled and nodded to Mina. "Come on. You two have a lot to do today."

Between homework, catching up with missed assignments, the poster (finished, with Dad's input the day before and Mom's oversight now), the stable work (which was more fun with two, but still rather disgusting), some more unpacking and running up to the attic with stuff to be stored until spring, they barely noticed when the evening had set and aunt Georgiana came upstairs to collect them for supper. Having finished the meal (Dad was still absent, apparently dealing now with a drainage problem on a site near Matlock), they gathered their plates and went downstairs, where the whole setup was already waiting for them.

"Your choice, kitten" Mom handed her the boxes of pins and Mina deftly fished out her favourites - the cats, the umbrellas and the paisleys.

"And round cutters" she added immediately. "No shapes, I just want the patterns and round cookies."

"Very well. Just rounds. I hope they will keep the shape because they are seriously chocolate-y. I replaced part of the butter with baking chocolate."

Mina swallowed hungrily, despite being quite full.

"No eating the raw dough" Mom raised her finger. "Now, put the plates in the dishwasher, wash your hands, put the aprons on and let's start cutting!"

Aunt Georgiana was placed at the board next to Mina and Rose on the other side, with Mom.

"I've rolled the dough already flat, and chilled it a bit more, because it tends to go sticky" Mom explained, brandishing the pattern roller. "And the pattern wouldn't stay if I let it go too soft. Georgiana, you'll be doing umbrellas" she ran the roller carefully over the large expanse of dark paste in front of their aunt. "Rose and Mina, cats, and I'll do paisleys. Just cut as closely as possible, so we have less reworks later because we'll have to re-chill the dough each time."

She switched the oven on and they started cutting their cookies in silence, broken from time to time by a grunt or a quiet expletive when the cookie didn't want to leave the cutter obediently.

They carefully placed the first batch in the oven and watched as the cookies thankfully stayed in shape and kept the pretty raised pattern put on them by the pins.

"Very nice. Next two batches together and we'll switch the trays around after five minutes. And let me roll that chilled dough... It's not much, so I think you two can take care of it" she moved around the table, distributing the dough on two boards and rolling the pattern pins over the flat slabs. Mina came back to her station and looked at her piece in surprise. Instead of the cats, her piece was patterned with little hearts. She frowned, looking up at Mom, who shrugged with an innocent expression.

Mina picked up the cutter and noticed that the round shape was switched for...

"Mom" she whispered furiously. "Really?"

Rose peeked over her shoulder and snorted softly.

"He is all bone and muscle" she poked Mina in the ribs. "I suppose a few cookies won't hurt."

"Rose!"

"At least now he bulked up a bit. In the preschool, he was a bit pudgy, but then in the primary, he suddenly grew up and was something of a scarecrow. Kids used to make fun of him, saying that he was too skinny for a proper Teddy."

Mina huffed in annoyance and set to cutting the little hearts with precision, using the dough as economically as it was possible. It was Mom's good cutter, which allowed her to cut a row of alternating up-and-down hearts without much wastage between the shapes.

"I'll find you another, smaller box, kitten."

"But, Mom..."

"You don't have to talk to him" Mom shook her head. "And you can eat all the cookies yourself if you'd rather. But won't it be nice to have options, hm?"

Rose made a small sound of choking.

"And that will be enough from you, Miss Rose" Mom raised a finger at her. "If I hear one more remark from you about either Mina or Teddy, I will find a way to make you miserable for a week."

"But, Mom..." Rose whined. "It's just... so..." she gave a frustrated puff. "I just don't get it! It's Teddy! He's... so... so normal. Nothing interesting about him!"

"Well, thank God!" Mom took the cutting board to the sink to rinse it. "Imagine what kind of problems we'd have if the two of you fancied the same boy."

There was a momentary silence in the kitchen, as both Mina's and Rose's thoughts screeched to a halt.

"Uh" was the only thing Rose managed to say.

"Ick."

"Yeah. No. Definitely."

"Yuck."

Aunt Georgie snorted.

"You have broken them, Lizzy."

"But..." Rose scrunched her nose, bowing over her work. "It's not like I want a boyfriend. But..." she waved, as Mina watched her from over her own board, frowning. "I mean, we... I thought we'd be doing stuff together, now that you are living here! And if Teddy..."

Oh.

Mina's cutter clattered to the floor.

Oh, oh.

She was around the table before she even noticed, and hugging her sister ferociously.

"I'm not leaving you alone, stupid," she said into Rose's flour-dusted hair. "Stop being stupid, stupid."

Mom was asking something in the background, but they ignored her as Rose's hands went around Mina's back.

"Good" the older sister answered finally. "I... I never had anyone and then you and then..."

####

The last batch - including the tray of hearts - was in the oven, under Georgiana's guard, the girls were shepherded upstairs to take a shower and pack for the next day and Elizabeth finally had a moment to sit down and think.

That could have gone much, much worse.

Of course Rose was jealous. That was what she had suspected, just a bit, ever since her older daughter had made the very first remark about Teddy. It just wasn't the direction Elizabeth had been suspecting. Considering, however, the whole situation, it was not really that much of a surprise that it wasn't that Rose wanted Teddy for herself - or was jealous of the general idea of Mina having a boy... whatever (Lizzy shied away from that thought). As a single kid, raised with no cousins, she wanted to have her sister to herself! Her younger sister, as Rose tended to stress. Her younger sister, who had moved finally "back home", one she could teach stuff - horses, everything about the house, the town, the school. Rose had had only a month of sporadic contacts with her younger cousins (and that month had been spent in the state of considerable stress) so she had never experienced the normal, everyday presence of a younger relative. She wanted it, and she got a promise of it with Mina.

Only for Mina to be suddenly forming some other kind of human connection.

And for Rose to be suddenly left a bit behind.

She sighed.

Balancing that pair would never ever become easy.

Her phone buzzed.

WILLIAM

"Hi," she said softly.

"I'm on my way home" his voice was rough and tired, and there were sounds of a crowd around him. "Is there anything I should buy at the last minute? Anything the girls need for tomorrow that they only learnt about today?"

"Not to my knowledge, so just get yourself here as quickly as safely possible."

He waited for a moment in silence.

"Something wrong?"

Ah. Love him.

"No. Just had a little blow-up in the kitchen. It cleared the atmosphere and I'm rather thankful for it, and for the fact that it happened sooner rather than later. It's just..." she was tangling her hand in her hair now. "There are aspects of having twins that I've never suspected."

"You have to tell me the whole story when I'm there. Twenty minutes."

"Do you need anything to eat? I'm sure..."

"I am ravenous" he admitted. "They kept me so angry for the whole day I couldn't eat, and now that the adrenaline is down..."

"Just come home before you fall asleep. Let me worry about everything else."

Come home.

She licked her lips, trying the taste of it.

Mmm.

"Will do" his voice went just a bit deeper - or was it her imagination?

"Waiting then."

After putting the leftover pasta, covered liberally with grated cheese and some butter, in the oven, she ran upstairs to check on the girls. Rose was brushing her teeth and Mina had already changed into her nightdress and was stuffing some books in her backpack.

"Five minutes exercise?" she asked and Mina's face brightened. "Position. Relax your jaw. Yawn. Relax your shoulders. And... Legato - Nya-nya-nyaaa..."

Rose stood in the door, watching them with her eyes wide, as she walked Mina through a small equivalent of vocal stretching.

"I still hear you have something stuck in your throat, mind you" she pointed out as Mina finished with the staccato round. "Good thing that song you picked doesn't have a lot of big intervals. You should do OK. Just, please, remember your limits..."

"No singing, no shouting, just one song tomorrow for Miss Yang."

"Quite so."

Rose was already sitting down on her bed and Elizabeth was by the door when Mina's "Ah, Mom?" stopped her.

"Mom, would it be possible to lend your piano to the school?"

She turned, not understanding.

"We're having the whole contest a capella, because the pianoforte in the auditorium is broken, and they can't get any of the school pianos downstairs. But your electric piano, it just requires to be carried in a bag, and you have that foldable stand, right...?"

She nodded.

"Ah, so for the competition? Sure, of course? Did someone ask for it?"

"They don't know you have it, and I didn't tell - you know, in case you didn't want to volunteer it. Maybe you could come tomorrow with aunt Georgiana and talk to Miss Yang? She seemed interested in meeting you anyway, and aunt Georgie kind of promised we'd be in the Christmas concert, so I'd need you to help me prepare..."

She shook her head.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow and talk to Miss Yang, sure. Anything else?"

"Can you make our birthday cake with blackberry preserve?"

"We'll discuss your birthday cake tomorrow, young lady. Now, come here" she gathered Rose in her arms. "Happy birthday, again, kitten. And I'm glad you told us before it became worse."

"Me too" admitted her quieter daughter. "Also, I feel like an idiot."

"Don't. Feel like you're fourteen."

"Not yet, really."

"In three hours, give or take five minutes. Now, bed. Both of you! And don't even try to wait until midnight."

She was sitting in the kitchen, head on her folded arms on the table, hair falling out of the messy bun.

"Lizzy?" he shook her shoulder. "Liz? This is not a good place to sleep."

She looked absolutely adorable, freshly awoken and slightly dazed for her short nap.

"I didn't mean to-" she blinked a few times. "There is some pasta in the oven, should be nice and hot by now."

"Do you want some, too?"

She just shook her head and sniffed a bit.

"I'll just make tea. You want some?"

He pushed her back down, making her sit.

"Yes, and despite my other domestic failings, I do know how to prepare a pot. Sit. You've been on your feet for the whole day, judging by the stack of empty boxes in the hallway and the huge container of cookies waiting by the door for Mina."

"Cookies are mostly the girls' doing, but, yes, I'd love to just sit and let things happen to me. Like a cup of tea."

He brushed his fingers across her neck and listened to the adorable little sigh she gave.

Note to self: stop using 'adorable' in my thoughts or I'll slip, say it aloud and then she'll hit me.

The kettle was burbling, his plate was full of penne, vegetables and cheese and there was a tiny, sleepy and tired woman sitting at his table. For a split second, he dithered whether it would be better to sit in front of her and watch her drink her tea or to sit next to her and...

Definitely next to her.

He pulled out the chair to her right and brought the tea tray to the table. Her quiet murmur of thanks as he poured a "more milk than tea" cup for her and her immediate closeness when he sat next to her with his plate made him a tiny bit warmer inside.

"So, what happened?" he asked, after spearing a few pieces of pasta with his fork.

"We found out what was bugging Rose," she said with a sigh. "I hope she will be able to just let Mina be after this. These two..."

He chewed for a moment.

"So, what was it?"

"Abandonment. She wants to play the big sister and she felt Mina was leaving her behind, what with her having that sudden interest in Teddy."

"Ah. I see."

"It was so surprising, over the cookies down here, it just went... kaboom. Small kaboom, but still."

"Are they OK now?"

She nodded and sipped her tea.

"But we should pay attention to make sure they are both taken care of in a proportionate way. We've been maybe a bit too focused on Mina - her illness, her finally officially moving here, school transfer, singing competition and Teddy. Which is a new thing for me, by the way."

"Well, Rose hadn't noticed boys until now, not above discussing the shortcomings of her fellow riders or being snarky about some rugby players."

"This may be one of the reasons... and kind of also what Mina said at some point - she sees the local boys as much better than her old classmates, and Teddy is even more... interesting. And they have some things in common - singing, at least. But Rose grew up with these boys, and, well, familiarity breeds contempt."

"So she is spoilt, because she had always known boys that are actual thinking human beings?"

"And so she didn't understand why Mina would be suddenly interested in one of them. And she felt abandoned by her little sister, just when she could have been playing The Big Sister and Take Care and everything. Suddenly Mina in having an experience Rose can't relate to."

"Complicated. Have you eaten any supper? You look ready to fall asleep where you sit."

"A toast. I was in the kitchen for the whole afternoon, trying to force the dough into submission."

"And how did it work?"

She snorted.

"I used up all the baking chocolate I had and we have two more rolls of dough in the freezer, for later. I wanted Mina to have cookies that would keep the shape and the first two batches went a bit wrong. I'll find some use for them, no worries. But I'm just so, so tired..."

"But it means you didn't eat?"

She grimaced.

"Too warm down here. It's only now becoming cool enough."

He caught a bit of a carrot and a piece of pasta with his fork.

"Open wide" he ordered and she looked up in confusion. "Do I have to make this an aeroplane, or will you just eat?"

She blinked slowly and opened her mouth obediently.

I wish I had a bowl of fruit here, I could feed her...

Stop it, William.

Another bite.

She was warm, sleepy and close.

Another bite.

Good enough for now.

Another bite.

"If two weeks ago someone told you we'd be sitting here, like this, what would you say?"

Another bite.

"That unless he's a bloody djinn who can grant me three wishes, he should get out of my way and stop being an annoying git."

Another bite.

"Mhm," she murmured, her head on his shoulder.

"And you?"

"I'd call emergency services and tell them to collect a dangerous raving madman."

"And yet..."

"And yet, here we are."

"Complete nonsense."

"Absolutely crazy."

"I love you, just as you are. Nonsense and crazy included."

He felt her stiffen, just a bit.

"Elizabeth?"

She raised her head from his shoulder and looked up at him.

"I love you, too," she said quietly.

"Ah, Liz..."

"Mmm. It feels good to finally say it."

"It feels nice to hear it, but I'm sure we've said it already, several times..." he frowned.

"No. We've used 'love' as an endearment, but never, well, said 'the three words'. Well, not in the last week, at least."

"Really?" he raised his brows at her.

"I'm reasonably sure, yes."

"We have some catching up to do, then..."

The group gathered around Mina was making significant inroads into her container of cookies and she felt just a tiny bit of relief at the thought of small box in her backpack, where several handfuls of heart-shaped cookies were waiting safely until the afternoon.
"So, what's the deal?" one of the girls from her Italian class asked. "Rose was handing the cookies out yesterday, and I thought it was for both of you."
"She's a day younger" Rose patted Mina's shoulder. "Or, rather, fifteen minutes, but over the midnight divide."
"We're not the weirdest ones" Mina shrugged. "Dad told me today that there are people born in different months, when a mother went into labour on, like, thirtieth of April or something."
"I wonder if there are people who are born in different years" Damien popped another chocolatey round in his mouth. "This. Is. Divine. I honestly worship your mother and I haven't really seen the woman yet!"
"Well, it is technically possible, if someone went into labour during the New Year Party and the first kid was born just before midnight..."
"Oh, wow, more useless sweets. I wonder how many of your classmates will make it into the team this year, Darcy, if you keep feeding them this crap."
Mina stiffened.
"These are my birthday cookies, and it's none of your business" she answered as calmly as she could, not turning around.
"What? Your mother can't be arsed to bake some for your actual birthday? She really must love Rose more. What a shame."
"Today actually is Mina's birthday" one of the girls piped up.
Oh, God, no.
Davison chortled and Mina felt Rose's hands catch and hold her own around the rim of the box.
"You two are even more freaky than I expected. How can you even call yourselves actual twins, if you weren't born on the same day? I wonder, is this some problem with you two, or is your mother so useless she can't properly have kids on time?"
Rose's hold on the container and Mina's hands tightened, and Mina's cheeks blanched as Davison's lumpy, bruised visage came into her view.
"Oh, were you trained to obedience since Tuesday? I wonder, if you are so quick to learn..."
"Ekhm."

####

Teddy was quite fed up with a lot of things.
Rugby practice, for one. Early mornings, team of jocks, locker room humour... And Davison's ugly mug.
His parents' slight disappointment. He had explained as much as he could - including quoting the slur James had used, which mollified his father a bit - but it was still a dark blot on his otherwise pristine school record.
Mina's weirdness. She was being skittish. Yes, she had been playing Rose for the whole bloody September and she had been sick for a week, and probably overworked now... But it was like a country dance with her, close up and away, cold and hot, present and absent. She kissed him and then told him they can't talk for two weeks. TWO BLOODY WEEKS.
He was thoroughly fed up with Davison's shit, too, so hearing him insulting someone... OK, that was easy, and it was Mina, of course. Davison seemed fixated on the twins and for some reason homed in on Mina unerringly.
Careful, Theodore. You got yourself a detention for Mina's sake, don't clock the idiot now.
"Considering you are supposed to write a two-pager on how not to be a dick at school," he said slowly "I'm guessing this is you, making a thorough research on the topic."
"Strickland, for your own good, you will turn around and leave," the team captain drawled. "Because I will ensure you will not be playing in any games this season, otherwise."
Really? He's trying to blackmail me with that?
"Unlike some, I do not require a sports scholarship to pay for my university" Teddy remarked calmly. "My grades are good enough and I have more options... Not really your business, anyway. Now, I think that unless you want me to report this whole thing to the headmaster, you will leave and, in fact, you will not approach either Darcy in the foreseeable future."
"You think you can make me?" Davison stood straighter, presenting all his five-feet-eight of height. Exactly an inch more than Teddy. And about a stone of muscle more.
"No, I am going to report you to the headmaster. This is in that paper I am supposed to work on. There are procedures on this, you know. I've read them. In a case of a person bullying younger or weaker students..."
"I'll give you weaker," he heard Rose's grumble.
"Younger or weaker students, the ones present on the scene should ascertain the safety of students bullied by isolating them from their aggressor and report the incident to the nearest school authority. Which, in this case, would be either the coach, who had been looking at us from the window for the last several minutes, or the headmaster, who is just a loud shout away. Now, do you want the coach to see two teammates parting peacefully after a kind exchange of friendly remarks, or would you rather have me call him down here and point out the unethical behaviour of the captain?"
"I think that army camp made you a wuss, Strickland."
"I think that whatever it was your father took you on made you even more of a dick than you used to be, Davison."
"A hunting vacation, Strickland. You should try it sometimes. United States - a wonderful, if slightly barbaric country, where a real man can be a real man without paying attention to the authorities. And they have these fabulous forests, unlike our own, semi-bald island. You can shoot a real bear there. Or, well, you could, if you had balls to do that. Not every so-called man does in fact have these. I suppose you'd have problems even raising a rifle properly, not to mention pulling a trigger."
Oh bloody hell.
"I sincerely doubt killing an unarmed creature is a measure of manliness these days, in our country" he said scathingly. "And I did carry a gun during my training, in fact. I got very good results in the range."
"Range. Phew. Because when the time comes, of course, there will be paper shapes attacking you."
Now he was honestly intrigued.
"What the hell are you talking about, Davison?"
"About survival, Strickland. This is what the endgame is. Survival of the man and his family. Making sure you stay alive when others perish..."
"Ah..." Rose coughed delicately. "Headmaster?"
"Cookies?" Mr Farlane smiled at Mina, who was still holding the container of sweets.
"Chocolate, headmaster" came a quiet answer.
"And what is the occasion?" he carefully picked a cookie from the box.
"My birthday" she looked down at the box and her lower lip trembled.
"Ah, many happy returns, then. Rose... Wait a minute, but Rose's birthday was yes... Ah. Right. I thought it was a clerical error."
"N-no" Mina shook her head, eyes still on the cookies. "Mom says- I mean, we were born on both sides of midnight. My birthday istoday."
"Aah! That's why! So, your classmates should rejoice - they get a double batch of your Mom's biscuits, instead of just one. Now, I see that the situation is becoming rather unpleasant - and on someone's birthday, too. Does anyone wish to volunteer... No, Strickland, not you. Your particular brand of honesty is not what I'm looking for today. Mina? You didn't have a chance to talk to me on Tuesday. Can you tell me what is going on here?"
She shot Teddy a weird look.
"Sir, I..." she stuttered. "I, we were just sitting there, and someone asked the same question and then I explained, and Davison started making fun of me - saying things about our mother..."
"Saying that Mom doesn't love Mina enough to bake for her actual birthday, because he knows better and he said we are supposed to have birthday on the same date and that our mother is too stupid to even have us properly on the same day."
The tall man sighed and turned to the rugby captain.
"You will wait for me in front of my office. We are calling your parents in immediately."
"But..."
"I have heard enough of your exchange with Strickland to make me apprehensive. Hearing this..." he shook his head.
"They are lying!"
"We have witnesses," Rose pointed out. "Guys? Was Davison saying stupid crap about our Mom?"
Tatiana and Damien quickly confirmed and the rugby captain left, making a face at them behind the headmaster's back.
"And he said something about Mina needing proper training, I think," Tatiana added.
"And that is when I heard him and told him to lay off," Teddy sighed. "I hadn't heard any of the stuff he said before, but when I asked him to leave the girls alone, he started spouting some idiocy about being a real man and hunting bears."
The headmaster very, very slowly rubbed his face with his large hand.
"And here was I, hoping for a quiet, calm week," he said to nobody in particular. "I think I need another cookie. May I?" he smiled at Mina.
"Here, sir," she raised the container. "Take a few."
"I'll take two then, thank you. I'm very sorry you had to hear this, Mina. I will deal with Davison and his parents, and he shouldn't be bothering you again. Any of you" he nodded towards the others. "I really hope you won't see the whole school as bad just because people like James sometimes make it look a bit less than perfect."
Suddenly her eyes met Teddy's and she blushed.
"No, sir" she said quietly. "I think I'm OK with the school in general. As long as I never have to talk to Davison ever again!"
He patted her shoulder.
"I will certainly try to make it so. Now, the two of you, and Theodore, please have your parents come talk to me on Monday morning. I don't want them to feel the situation is not being handled properly. What happened two days ago was, in fact, James' first offence in his whole school career, so I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and some time to cool off. I see now that he is set on his course and very much convinced of the validity of his ideas, and these are not compatible with the way I wish this school to be run."
"Ask Sheila, too," Mina blurted out.
"Who?"
"Sheila is James' ex," Rose explained. "She told him to leave her alone after he said some stupid stuff to her... What was it?"
"You said she said it was about her not needing to go to college?"
"Yeah, because she is pretty enough."
The headmaster bit into one of his cookies and chewed for a moment, thinking.
"That would be Sheila McNamara?"
"I suppose so" Rose shrugged. "Only one Sheila in the whole school, I think."
"Very well. Now, Theodore" he turned to Teddy, who startled. "I think we can safely say you don't have to hand in your essay. You have demonstrated your ability to resolve conflict without violence to my satisfaction. How was that military training you have attended, by the way? I meant to ask you before, but it slipped my mind..."
"It was informative, sir" he saw Mina's eyes trained on him, but immediately looked back at the headmaster. "There was a lot of very early mornings, which is never a very pleasant thing, but I dare say I'm better for it, sir."
"Very well. I expect we can have a few more students admitted next summer. It definitely shapes proper young men."
He felt himself flushing with warmth.
"I... Thank you, sir."
"I hope you will manage to lose that crisp attention stance sometime before Christmas, because it makes me recall my Army days, and I know I will never again be as young as I was then, which makes me just a bit sad."
"I'll try, sir," he heard himself say "but I can't promise it will work."
"Very well. As long as you do try. Now, I think I'll take... one more cookie" he winked "and go call James' parents. Please keep the gossipping to the minimum, if possible. If someone starts bothering you about James, refer them to me."
He made a few steps towards the building, but the he stopped, as if considering something.
"And, Teddy?"
He looked up in trepidation.
"Yes, sir?"
"Your detention is cancelled. Please report to Miss Yang for your competition practice immediately after lessons."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mina straighten.
"Thank you, sir."

Quite contrary to what Mina had told him she wanted, he had been, in fact, planning to talk to her. Davison's idiotic act simply made them meet earlier than he expected. He didn't manage to say or do what he had been planning to, and the tiny gift box in the pocket of his trousers was still burning its way out of there. But now it could wait. He was going to meet Mina in Miss Yang's classroom in three more hours. He could relax.
More or less.
He kept thinking about the truly epic amount of crap that was going to bury him the moment the next rugby practise came and the rest of the team learnt of their conflict.
If Davison was expelled, they'd be without a captain, and the coach would have to pick a new one. That was always a mess.
If Davison wasn't expelled, they'd be in deep doo, because the stupid prick would be out for blood, especially Teddy's.
He sighed and tried to focus on the chemical experiment being performed by one of the girls at the main table. Something something and potassium. He really hoped one of his mates would lend him the notes, or his boast of being in top three in his class would become much weaker.
Even if Davison was expelled, he'd anyway have to meet that prick every time he went for a run, because he was unfortunate enough to live a street over. Gah.
If Davison wasn't expelled, the prick's self-congratulatory tendencies would lead Teddy to beating him into pulp one of these days at school.
Biology wasn't much better, but at least they were watching a movie and he was awake enough to make a note of the title and so gave himself a chance to watch it later at home.
If Davison was expelled, his parents would make Teddy's parents' life difficult at the homeowners club.
If Davison wasn't expelled, he would make Teddy's life hell at school. And Mina's. And whoever had witnessed today's humiliation.
English. He had to focus. He had read the assigned book and had, at least that very morning, considered himself to be ready to answer any question. Now it seemed less and less probable.
If Davison was exp...
"Strickland! Are you listening?"
The English teacher was looking at him expectantly.
"I'm sorry, Miss. I think I'm not at my best today."
"He's in love, Miss Brandon" one of the other guys drawled in that special "this is so hilarious" tone.
"That doesn't excuse inattentiveness. Strickland, explain to me the main characters' relationship."
He sighed. One more lesson.

By the time they were let go, he had almost bitten his thumbnail to the quick and was slightly jittery due to the missed lunch and a candy bar eaten on a sly instead. Still, he tried to be dignified - not too eager, not too obvious - and so he calmly sauntered towards the music room.
Someone was playing the piano. It definitely wasn't Miss Yang, because she was standing in the doorway and waved to him when she saw him, putting a finger on her lips. Obediently silent, he peeked over her shoulder to look inside the room.
The piano was placed in a fortunate spot - almost directly in front of the big window, well illuminated by the afternoon sun. Mina was sitting facing away from them, steadily working her way through a piece he vaguely recalled having heard multiple times, full of sharp strokes and long passages. The triumphant parts in the higher register were interspersed with more sombre, but still lively sections in lower tones, which quickly escalated into something almost martial-like, more audacious, ending with a long passage up, again more triumphant tones and a strong finish of several accented notes. They stood in silence as she leaned away from the keyboard, then shook her head and sighed 'hopeless'.
He waited for a breath, but as Miss Yang made her way inside, he followed quietly.
"Rafal Blechacz you are not, darling" the teacher said softly. "I'm afraid there are some natural limitations that you have that can only be overcame by extensive practice, and I'm not sure you have enough hours in your day for that amount of playing time."
"I was aiming more at Marta Argerich" the girl remarked morosely. "But I'm still not up to it - especially after my whole summer spent at a camp and a month without any practice at all."
"Mina, may I remind you, you told me yourself you'd started learning piano when you were eight? Marta Argerich performed her first concert at that age. You can't compare yourself at fourteen to her as a grownup."
"I..." Mina's fingers went up into her hair and grasped, pulling them up. "She had that smile. Ever since Mom showed me that recording, I though I could one day smile like this. To know that I had conquered this... this..."
"Polonaise" he surprised them both by saying. "Right?"
Mina dropped her hands immediately and she looked at the keyboard, not raising her eyes him.
"Yeah" she said finally. "'Heroic'. Chopin."
"That was... good" he ventured. "I've never heard it played, like, live."
"Well, you two can discuss it later. Now, Mina, take a small break. Teddy? Ready?"
He smiled, trying to still the nervous shiver. Mina moved to where her bag was hanging on one of the chairs and started looking through it, rather intently.
Uh.
"Breathing, posture, relax..." Miss Yang prompted and he adjusted the way he was standing, brought his head up and inhaled.
It was fine. It was going well. It was actually quite quite good. Until the very end of the second verse.

He smiled at me, and he said, said he,
"She's the gem of Ireland's crown,
Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann,
She's the Star of the County Down."

His voice died at some point and he never even noticed Miss Yang's surprised question. He had only eyes for Mina, who was now sitting ramrod-straight and very, very carefully not looking at him.
"Mina..." he started and saw her shook her head. "Miss Yang, is it too late to change the song to something else?"
The teacher glanced at him in surprise, but then followed his stare to Mina and, apparently, added two and two together.
"Ah" she said, slowly. "It's only a week and a half to the competition, Teddy."
"But..."
"No" suddenly, Mina was standing in front of him, looking up sternly. "No. You have practised this and prepared and you're not going to change now just because some people are going to be stupid about it. I am singing a song written from the point of view of a soldier waiting to be executed! The songs are not the reality. And if someone is crazy enough to bother you about it, send them to me."
"Mina..."
"Sing. This. Song."
"...I kind of wanted it to be."
"W-what?" he saw her honest confusion.
"I had that grand plan, to do something on the stage and sing it..." he swallowed "...for you. To you. And it was OK, and your hair is kind of nut-brown, and everything, but now..."
"The name doesn't fit, I know. That's OK. As long as you don't call me Rose, I'm fine."
He shivered suddenly.
"I wouldn't!"
"Ekhm."
"Sorry, Miss."
Mina smiled, reached up to pat his cheek and went to sit again at the back of the room.
"Come on. From the beginning."
He breathed deeply and nodded.
"In Banbridge Town near the County Down..."

When Teddy was done, and quite lightheaded from all the "proper breathing", "giving it a little more push" and "more dynamically!", he sat down on the floor, leaned on the wall and watched Mina preparing to go through the same.
"Ready?"
He saw the girl drawing her shoulders up and then relaxing, rolling her head around and yawning forcibly a few times.
"Yes" she said finally, coughed and drew a breath.
By yon bonnie banks, and by yon bonnie braes...
Miss Yang allowed her to finish, despite certain small imperfections even he had heard and only then gave her feedback.
"I hope your throat will be fine by the next weekend. It would be a shame if all that exercise was wasted because of one small infection."
"Not that small, I'm afraid" someone commented and Teddy scrambled to stand up from where he had sat, cross-legged, relaxing finally. "But I'll make sure she doesn't strain herself."
"Mrs Darcy, I presume?" Miss Yang smiled at the tiny woman - barely taller than Mina and Rose.
"Elizabeth Bennet, Mina and Rose's mother" the newcomer smiled widely. "Miss Bennet is fine. And I have a proposition for you."
Another, much taller woman followed her and Miss Yang's focus immediately shifted.
"Ah... hello again."
"Hi. Elizabeth? Your offer?"
"Well, yes. I've heard from Mina that you are missing accompaniment at the competition because there is no way to get a working instrument into the main auditorium."
"That's sadly correct. The grand piano that was in the auditorium was tuned too tightly by someone I'm not going to name, and now it's warped beyond all use," both newcomers winced "and we can't get any of the classroom pianos downstairs, because that would require... well, can't."
"What about an electric piano?" Miss Bennet - Mina's mother - grinned. "Would that be OK?"
"Well, that depends on the piano..." Miss Yang seemed unsure. "Why?"
"I have, you see, a very nice Yamaha at my disposal. If you'd care to have a look?"
"What, here?"
The taller of the two made a step back and then noticed him.
"Come on, young man. Help me with this."
He followed her obediently, and there, in the corridor, was Rose, guarding a large, long, black bag.
"It's a bit cumbersome" the woman said. "Pick up one end, just don't drop it. Rose, the stand."
In minutes, the stand was opened and locked in position, the piano as secured on top of it and plugged in and the tiny woman was turning it on. Miss Yang sat at the instrument and tried out the keys - he didn't have enough experience with pianos to say what it was that she was looking for, but she definitely looked satisfied.
"We could also take some pressure off of you" Miss Bennet added, smiling at Miss Yang. "Georgie and me, we both play, quite well, if I say so myself. And we can both assist at school for the next week and a half, to help with all the students who would need it."
"Uh, Mom..." Mina frowned and he felt a bit of a tension.
"...ah. Well," Miss Yang bit her lip. "With Mina taking part, I think it would be the best for me to be the only one to accompany everyone, so that there was no suspicion of manipulation, you see. But if you wish to help at any later occasion, we'll be preparing for the Christmas concert - Mina had probably mentioned that, correct?"
"Georgiana too."
"Well, G-Miss Darcy suggested she could help and play the harp, and I must admit, having another person on the piano will help immensely if I'm supposed to be the director of the whole evening, and that is what it's shaping up to be. If there were two of you andMiss Darcy would be switching to the harp at some point, I'd say the concert would benefit significantly."
"I can lead a smaller group on a guitar, too, if there would be a need. Up to five, maybe six? Younger kids, too, no problem here. I could practise with them at school."
"I would welcome any kind of help for the concert, absolutely. Still, I'm afraid I'll have to cope with the contest by myself. Just to make sure there is no suspicion of partiality."
Miss Darcy - probably Mina's aunt then - and Miss Bennet exchanged glances.
"Sure, I see your point about the conflict of interest, I kind of missed that angle. But the offer of the piano still stands - we can bring it in on Saturday and set it up long before the event. If you prefer any specific tuning, it can be adjusted, too."
"That would be perfect. Absolutely perfect. That will... Well, children singing a cappella are always nice, but still..."
"That would lack a certain something that a proper performance needs, wouldn't it?" Miss Darcy interjected.
"Exactly!"
They smiled at each other and Teddy saw Mina and Rose looking at them speculatively and then glancing at each other.
Ah. I see.
"So," Miss Bennet tapped the piano. "We'll bring it on Saturday... Unless you have a place we could lock it up at school? Less fuss and it does take a lot of space in the car..."
"Well, we could put it in my room," Miss Yang walked to the back of the classroom and opened the internal door. "It locks, it has no window and there is enough space to store it safely, especially if it's in the cover."
"Fine by me. I'd much rather not have to haul it downstairs right now."
They placed the instrument in the padded bag, zipped it closed carefully and he helped Miss Darcy carry it to be secured in the small room. The stand was added and the door locked - two locks - keys going to Miss Yang's purse.
"And on Saturday I'll ask the janitor - or one of the bigger boys, like Teddy here - to help me carry it to the auditorium."
Suddenly there were two pairs of eyes trained on him and he squirmed under the scrutiny of both Mina's mother and aunt.
"Ah, so this is Teddy," the shorter one said, a smile dancing on her lips.
"Mom," Mina hissed, blushing.
He looked at the floor, drawing a deep breath.
"Theodore Strickland, yes, ma'am."
"Elizabeth Bennet" there was a fine-boned hand in his field of view, so he grasped it carefully, looking up at the woman. "Nice to finally meet you, Theodore."
He was waiting for something like 'Mina told us a lot about you' 'we've heard about you' or, basically, whatever else! She however simply squeezed his hand lightly, grinned at him in a slightly conspiratorial manner and nodded.
"Good" she finally said and stepped back. "Georgiana? You coming?"
"Nah, I'll catch the bus" was the answer from where 'Georgiana' was conferring about something with Miss Yang.
"Rose, come on. I need you to help me with the seats we had to move to fit the piano in."
And suddenly they were gone. Miss Yang and Miss Darcy were in the corner, completely absorbed in each other. And Mina and him by their backpacks.
"I," she coughed and looked away. "I have something for you."
He frowned and found himself being handed a small, cardboard box.
"But, Mina, it's your birthday..."
"And these are my birthday cookies," she pressed his fingers around the box. "I brought the big box for the class, but I... I mean, my Mom, she... I mean..." she let go of his hands. "Here. I hope you like chocolate."
He loved chocolate. Hell, had these turned out to be spinach cookies, he would have probably loved spinach, too.
"I," he felt the same tightness in his throat that she was apparently experiencing. "I, uh, got you something."
"Teddy...!" there was a soft scolding in her voice.
"Just, I saw this in the market last weekend, and I kind of thought..." he put the cookies aside was digging out the flat box in panic now that she was taking a step back. "It reminded me of you, and I didn't even know your birthday was so soon, I was thinking more about, well, Christmas, or something..." he caught her hands and wrapped them around the tiny piece of plastic. "Please?"
She finally opened her fingers and looked at the clear flat package. The single eight note with a tiny topaz-coloured glass in the place of the note body had been something that made him think of her immediately when he saw it on Saturday, and once he heard the day before the explanation she and Rose provided, he dug it out of its hiding place in his desk and made sure to have it in his pocket in the morning. He hadn't foreseen, on buying it, that he'd be making use of it that soon, so he had no time to prepare his grand speech to explain how her eyes were as lumi...
Mina was kissing his cheek. Again. And then she picked up the box of cookies and put it securely in his hands.
"Thank you" she whispered and twirled in place. And she was gone before he could react.
Cautiously, he poked the flaps of the box up. A rich smell of chocolate reached him and he sighed. He really, really loved chocolate. It had been one of the reasons he had signed up for that military camp. He wanted to avoid going back to the way he used to look before his growth spurt, and so a summer spent on daily exercise and a lot of challenging training had seemed like just the way to do this. Being isolated from his Mum's cooking and only eating according to the base doctor's advice helped, too.
And he had already used up his "one piece of candy a day" limit for the candybar that had played the role of his lunch. Now he would be paying the price for not eating properly.
He swallowed, hard, and closed the box again.
Tomorrow.
But...
He opened the box again, this time pulling the flaps fully away and allowing the light to illuminate the contents properly.
Little hearts.
Oh.

Mina had such a weird face when she came down from the music room that Rose checked if she hadn't lost her backpack or the box. No, both were there, present and accounted for.
"You OK?"
Mina nodded, looking away.
"He OK?"
"Rose..." her sister mumbled in protest.
"No, I mean, really. Just worried. You look..." she shrugged. "Never mind."
"He gave me something" her sister finally said.
Mom sat in the front and sighed.
"Home, or do you need anything? Supplies, notebooks, pencils, whatevers?"
"No, nothing. Mina, what did..."
Her sister shoved a tiny pendant in front of her nose.
"Wow."
"Girls?"
She shot Mina a look, but her sister was focused on the piece of metal she was holding.
"No, nothing. We don't need anything. Can we go home?"
"Sure. And, Rose, do you have a lot of homework for tomorrow?"
She frowned, but shook her head.
"Just two maths problems. Ten minutes, tops."
"OK, so when we are home, get started on them immediately. Dad will be waiting for you in the stables. He just texted for us to hurry up a bit."
"Can Mina come, too?"
She glanced at her sister, who was still holding the tiny copper note with a silly smile.
"I'd say no, not for a few more days. She has to stop coughing after every move. Maybe after the competition, hm?"
Rose sat back, thinking morosely of all the things they could do, but that Mina was still not well enough to actually do.
"In two weeks, it will be Halloween" Mina volunteered suddenly, as if reading her thoughts. "We could dress up?"
"Is there trick-or-treating in Lambton?" Mom asked at the next red light.
"No, it's more of a street fair thing. There is stuff set up on the squares, stands with food, toys, masks, pieces of clothing and some games - a shooting range, last year, but it's always fake, because nobody managed to shoot the marker for the plushie unicorn."
"So, everything aimed towards milking the last penny out of unsuspecting kids?"
"Yeah."
"Sounds promising" Mom snorted. "We should absolutely go. Everyone dresses up?"
"Yeah. And the schools sometimes make an afternoon dance, too."
They sat in silence until the car turned from the main road towards the house.
"Think about what costumes you want and tell me, so we can plan them carefully."
"We could dress as Rapunzel" Mina giggled. "We'd just need to find a blonde wig, and one of us would be Rapunzel before the haircut, and the other, after the haircut."
"Or we could be Snow White. One in the pretty princess dress and the other in the dress from the forest."
"No, not Snow White. Mulan!"
"Mulan had longer hair."
"We could dress as something generic, but one as a girl and the other as a boy. And we could switch places. To see if anyone notices."
"Or..."
"Or we could find two red wigs and I'd be the Ariel with the tail, who could sing, and you'd be the one with the legs, because you can't."
There was a moment of silence in the car, as Rose reeled from the mental punch her sister had just delivered.
"Mina" Mom's voice from the front seat was rather calm. "Apologise to Rose, now."
"But, Mom, she can't."
"That doesn't mean you are allowed to say it this way. Now, Mina."
Rose saw her sister's grimace and rolled her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Rose" Mina sighed. "That was a wrong thing to say."
"Now go upstairs and start working on your Italian essay. Rose, come on. Let's find your father."
"But, maths...?"
"I'll wake you up earlier and we'll deal with this before breakfast. Now, go. Stables."

There was that elation that came only with a physical exertion and a lot of fresh air. How much more chance they'd have to do that depended on the weather, but for now, it kept, so they were turning back to the house only once the both of them and horses were just a bit tired, making use of as much of afternoon light as was available.
"How are you doing?" Dad asked finally, after an hour of silence.
She cocked her head to one side and considered the question.
In general?
Right now?
In the saddle?
Health-wise?
School?
"It's good to be back home" she finally said.
"Mhm. And what about other stuff? School?"
"School is..." she would have shrugged, but she didn't want to disrupt Star's steps. "Acceptable. Ah. We kind of forgot one thing. Headmaster asks for you to come meet him on Monday."
"Kind of forgot, or were you planning another escape?"
"Forgot, because he only asked today, really. He wants to see you and Teddy's parents, in fact. There was..." she considered. "An incident. The same boy that Mina had punched, he started today again. He insulted Mom. We didn't do anything - and Teddy helped to rein him in a bit, but finally the headmaster heard half of the argument anyway, and then he asked Mina for the rest... so she told him. No punches were thrown, so nobody - none of us - got suspended or anything, and even Teddy's detention got cancelled."
"I see" Dad looked quite ready to bite someone. "And Monday? Why?"
"The headmaster will be talking to the parents of that guy today, and then he wants to talk to you and to Teddy's parents, to explain what will be happening from now on. He almost kind of promised Mina he'd be kicking the idiot out of the school. No idea really if he is allowed to do it, but..." she rolled her eyes. "As long as Davison stays away from us, I'm OK."
"I hope Mr Farlane can ensure that. If that boy had actually, physically attacked one of you..."
"I'm not sure he would have. He is, like, more mouth than anything else. Ugly mouth, especially since Mina punched him, but just loud. I'm not sure actually beating up a girl half his size would have fitted his macho image."
"After a while, I suppose it would. Finally it would have been "her fault" for doing something that he had to stop her from doing" Dad shook his head. "I wonder what happened to the boy. From what you said, last year he seemed rather... normal?"
"His father took him to the States and they went hunting in the wild. He came back with all these crazy notions about only the best surviving and crap like that. The way he was speaking to Strickland, I thought he would start foaming at the mouth any moment."
"His father took him hunting in the USA?"
"Yeah. Stupid, isn't it? I suppose I prefer the way Teddy had spent his vacation - whatever happens at the military camp, he seems much more like a civilised human being than Davison."
"A military camp? Hm. Did he say what he was doing there?"
"He just mentioned early mornings and exercise. He did gain a lot of muscle, I suppose. But he plays rugby and all of these guys are a bit bulky anyway. And he said he was training on a shooting range and getting good results."
"Hmm. I wonder where that training actually was... Army Cadets have a lot of camps and centres all over the country, I suppose."

Rose dropped on her bed, looking at Mina, falling asleep over her Italian textbook.
"I was thinking."
"It's dangerous."
"I mean it."
"Me too."
"Seriously, we have to call Joana."
Mina frowned.
"J... Ah, Joana? Cool but why?"
"Because we maybe, like, you know. Maybe she needs someone to talk to?"
"And you are going to call a girl whose parents got divorced in secret and tell her what, ours got together again?"
Rose grimaced.
"Not cool."
"Completely."
"We can text her and ask if she wants to talk."
"Ok. Text should be fine."
"Tomorrow."
"In the morning."
"In the morning."
"Sorry for being such an idiot."
Rose sighed.
"No worries. I'm... I was, too, you know. We can call it even, I suppose."

####

Friday at school was suspiciously quiet. There was no Davison, no rugby practice, no singing practice, no club meetings. And no Teddy. Almost no Teddy. Mina was getting a bit worried after the whole day spent hurrying from one end of the school to another and not even a glimpse of the boy. She cautiously fingered the copper note hanging on a black string around her neck.
"Whassrong?" Rose glared at her suspiciously.
"Nothing" she looked down and then to the side.
"Strickland? Is he giving you grief, or something?"
"Rose! No, just..." she shrugged. "Haven't seen him all day. I'm kind of worried."
For the sake of Mina's nerves, it was good that Teddy was, in fact, at school, but rather busy dodging his classmates and avoiding the necessity to explain The Whole Deal With Davison to everyone. As she and Rose were leaving through the main exit, suddenly someone held the door open for them. Mina turned her head up and smiled.
"Thank you for the cookies" he said softly.
"Thank you for..." her hand went up to her throat again and she could see his eyes widening.
"Good" he breathed.
"Good."
"See you on Monday then. Are your parents coming?"
"I suppose they are. See you."
It was suddenly a much better Friday.

"Mom! Dad's saying... he's saying things to his computer."
"Dad! Mom says stop swearing at the computer, they get shy."
"Dad says the computer is not shy, it's stupid."
"Mom says the computer is as stupid as the person in fr..."
"Dad says thanks, love."
"Mom says if you have a problem, please tell her."
"Dad says they had sent him a simulation of the software that the House will have and he can't work it out. He managed to shut down the fireplace, but it didn't switch automatically to the other heating."
"Mom asks if the background is yellow."
"Dad asks what in the blazes..."
"Mom asks if the background is yellow and please check if there is a small red flag in the upper left corner."
"Dad says yes, and how on Earth did you know."
"Mom says to click the flag, see the message, then click it and turn on the needed options."
Silence.
He buried his face in her hair, arms sneaking around her waist as he kissed down her neck and up to her ear.
"My smart, perfect Elizabeth" he nuzzled her ear with his nose. "My marvellous girl. How did you..."
"Next time if you want my help with new software, please wait until I'm done with the dough, hm? I couldn't just leave it like this in the middle of kneading."
"Good thing you're simply a genius" he pressed his lips to her cheek.
"Good thing I wrote the thing" she smiled and waited.
One.
Two.
Three.
"Seriously" he groaned. "It... Wait a moment! You were writing it! All that time when Mina was sick, it was this. Whenever Jonathan sent back another remark to be corrected..."
"Yep" she pulled at the dough some more, then started tearing off equally-sized chunks.
"So... Oh" he frowned and his arms went tighter around her. "But that means if they want to change something..."
"They will come to me and I will then talk to a lawyer - not theirs, yours - how to resolve this correctly. But the last time they asked I told them 'no' anyway. And my part of the software is up to specification, so they shouldn't be needing my help any time soon."
"What? Why?"
"I have my rules" she started rolling one of the smaller pieces flat. "One of them is 'I make no cutesy mobile interfaces'" she sprinkled the piece with cinnamon and dark sugar.
"Oh" he hid his face in the crook of her neck. "Mmm, you smell heavenly. Butter, sugar, spices."
"Yes, and if you don't move right now, so will you, William."
"Good" he smiled, pulling himself closer and watching her fingers working steadily on another piece of dough. "What is this?"
"Cinnamon bread. In the form of little buns that can be torn off from the rest. Now, if you insist on immobilising me, please hand me that big tin from the table."
"I absolutely insist" he reached for the tin and placed it in front of Elizabeth. "I... hmpf... absolutely... insist."
She sighed and reached back with a flour-dusted hand, bringing him closer for a kiss.
"I need twenty minutes and it will be much faster if I have my full range of movement" she informed him sternly. "This" she pressed a longer kiss to his mouth "should tide you over. Now, back off, Mr Darcy, or the guests will be eating raw dough."
"Mmm... If you say so, Miss Bennet" he tightened his hold. "But I would have thought I'd have a higher priority on your list than some yeast cultures."
"You will survive twenty minutes wait. They won't."
He took another minute to kiss her most thoroughly.
"Now I'll survive twenty minutes."
"William!"

"I have a question" Mina asked as they stretched on their beds after the stable cleaning and a shower.

"Fire away."

"If I saw something yesterday - and the day before, too - then, well, aunt Georgiana..."

"Yep. Looks like it. Fancy that."

"OK, so what do we do about it? I mean, do we... I don't know. I don't really know if there is a special thing we should... I mean, I don't know about Dad. Mom is OK with... things. Stuff. But I don't know what Dad would say."

Rose rolled her eyes and flopped back on her bed.

"Dad is absolutely fine with this kind of things. Don't worry."

Mina opened her mouth to ask a question, but suddenly there was a sound of an engine going up the drive. Considering everyone was at the house - and Brian and the estate workers were taking a longer weekend off, after their hard work in the gardens - there was no reason for any cars to be coming to the mansion. Unless...

Rose was first out of the door, Mina on her heels.

In the downstairs hall, they almost crashed into their father, who reached out and stabilised them.

"Dad, who can be coming at such an hour?"

"Your birthday guests" Mom answered and threw the main door open in a wide gesture. "Come on, let's help them with all the luggage!"

Two cars were disgorging adults and children. Mina counted six little cousins - including Jimmy, holding aunt Mary's hand and watching everything curiously. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, holding Rose's hand, waiting for the inevitable...

"Mommy!"

Ah-ha. Yola.

"Yes, darling?" Mina saw aunt Jane winking at her.

"Mommy, why Mina is twice?"

Everyone turned, first to look at Yola, then to where she was pointing.

While Yola was the most perceptive one, Jackie, as the eldest, was the bravest. She walked up to the twins and poked Mina in the shoulder.

"Real" she pronounced, then poked Rose. "Also real."

The twins snorted.

"Yes, we are both real."

"OK, so Mommy wasn't having hal-lu-si-na-sion in the car when she was explaining this to us, right?" Isabelle joined her older sister. "There actually are two of you."

"Yes" Rose nodded.

"So... Which one is Mina and which is not Mina?" Jackie demanded, hands on her hips. "Because..."

"I'm Rose."

"And I am Mina."

Jackie nodded slowly.

"So where did you come from? Because Mina is aunt Lizzy's."

Rose and Mina looked at each other.

"Rose is my sister" Mina said slowly. "We just... didn't know each other for a long time."

"How can she be your sister without you knowing? This doesn't make sense."

Rose sighed.

Like a lot of things around here, little cousin.

"Rose has been living here, in Derbyshire, with our father. And I've been living in London with our Mom."

Bella scrunched up her nose.

"This doesn't make sense. You don't have a daddy. Aunt Lizzy had you on her own."

Aunt Jane blushed.

"Bella, this isn't so" she said quickly. "Mina and Rose have a father, see? This one here? This is your uncle William. He is your daddy's best friend."

Jackie frowned.

"If he is Daddy's best friend, how come we've never met before?"

The adults winced.

"Let's get this party inside?" Mom suggested, voice oh-so-bright that Mina grimaced a bit. "Girls? Pick something up? Jane, these boxes, to the fridge? Georgiana, take this down to the kitchen, please. Will, pick up these bags and take them upstairs. Everyone, follow uncle William!"

Aunt Mary, one hand on Jimmy's shoulder and another dragging their weekend bag, moved first.

Elizabeth sighed, putting another container into the secondary fridge.

Georgiana looked at her, brows raised.

"That's... a lot of people at once?" she remarked hesitantly.

"Just Jane, Charles, Mary and their little troop."

"Mary, yes" Georgiana frowned a bit. "Jimmy...?"

"Adopted. Almost four years ago. Yes, small for his age. Expected to have development problems. FAS, low body mass at birth. Mary decided to adopt him after she had volunteered as baby-hugger in one of the small-child care centres. You wouldn't believe the amount of fuss our parents raised when she said she doesn't want a guy, she just wants a kid...! For a while, Jane and I were the only ones she wanted to talk to. If you want to know more, you can ask her, she's fine with telling the story now."

Georgiana nodded and busied herself with the tea tray, pulling pre-prepared repast from the fridge.

"I'll call everyone to the dining room, I suppose" Elizabeth rubbed her temples. "I hope this works. I wouldn't want for this to go too badly for the girls. It is their birthday weekend, after all."

Upstairs, little Bingleys were watching curiously as their father and their new uncle tried to divide the luggage between the rooms.

"Ah, Lizzy" William sounded worried. "It seems we have miscalculated. Or, rather, underprepared. One of the windows in the last room has a substantial leak and the room isn't heating up..." he untangled another bag from his shoulder. "I was thinking, how to rearrange everyone in the rooms that are already heated..."

She looked around and sighed, counting quickly.

"We have aunt Catherine's old room, Mary can take it, with Jimmy in his cot. Then Anne's old room, Jane, Charles and Jonathan in histravel cot. This is connected with the internal door to the room I sleep in now. I'll just collect my things and Evelyn, Yola and Bella can sleep there - the bed is big enough. And then we have the field bed ready for Jackie and she will either sleep with her sisters or with Rose and Mina, which was anyway the plan."

Jane frowned, trying to follow, but she nodded finally.

"But where will you..."

"No worries, Jane. I will set up a place for myself easily, and this way you'll have the kids almost with you, no need to get out of the rooms if they need something. Now, better try to get your merry band downstairs for the tea and light supper. There are sandwiches and toast, some boiled eggs, a little bit of everything, cold and hot."

"Are there any carrot sticks?" Yola asked with sudden interest.

"Yes, and I've put them far away from the pepper slices and the little onions, so you can eat them safely. Wash your hands!"

Jackie snagged Yola's and Isabelle's hands and pulled them with her, leaving the grownups to deal with little Evelyn, who was still standing in the middle of the corridor, studying the patterned rug under her feet.

Jonathan had started fussing, despite his generally calm nature, so Charles unwound the sling from his chest and eased his son to the floor.

"Pa!" the boy said happily.

"Yes, Johnny. Pa. And we're at uncle Will's house and we're going to eat. Are you hungry?"

"Pa!"

"Come on. Downstairs. Evelyn, supper is waiting for us."

"M-hm" his youngest daughter mumbled, looking at the carpet pattern again. "Look, Daddy. Flowers."

He leaned in and followed her pointing finger.

"Flowers, definitely. I think this is some kind of rose, and this is a lily. Now, can we go and have something to eat? Evelynosaur, do you wish to hunt for your supper?"

"Yes!" the cute, round-faced tiny elf stretched her arms in front of her, bared her teeth, giving an almighty roar and running after her sisters, forcing Charles to pick up little Johnny and follow her.

Elizabeth, Jane, Mary and Jimmy joined them downstairs in a much more sedate fashion, allowing fascinated Jimmy to walk slowly, touching the flowers decorating the staircase wall.

The main table was quite big enough to accommodate everyone, fortunately, so once the Evelynosaur was satisfied with her prey (a grilled cheese sandwich prepared by William in the tabletop grill), Yola had located the bowl of carrots and celery, Jimmy had explained which sandwich looked the most interesting and Johnny was happily stuffing himself with a crepe filled with cottage cheese and a dribble of honey, the grownups could relax. Jackie, under Mina's and Rose's care, was managing quite well, warming up to Rose with every second.

"I think we should put her up in the girls' room" Elizabeth suggested quietly. "I will take another field bed and put it in their study. They won't need it in the morning anyway, so nobody will disturb me there."

"Their study?" Jane raised an eyebrow.

"Well, one bedroom is the bedroom and the other is a workroom. They want to share, but they wouldn't be able to fit two beds and two desks in one room. So, we split it by function."

"I don't feel very well about displacing you..." Mary began cautiously.

"Don't worry. I've slept on one of these when Mina was sick" Elizabeth patted her hand. "I'll be fine for two more days."

"If you say so" Mary shook her head.

William snagged a bit of the cinnamon bread for himself, before children identified the treat, and was watching her intently. She tried not to look up too obviously, but, as he licked the sugar and tiny traces of cinnamon from his lower lip, she had to control a small shiver.

The bathing time was a bit challenging, but the appropriate usage of older cousins as guards for potential half (or completely) naked runaways had let them manage the smallest set and get them into Elizabeth's big bed in short time. They were a bit surprised with the idea of sleeping all together, but the side door that opened to their parents' room and the light coming from that direction - and the sounds of Johnny being put to his bed - calmed them down quickly. Elizabeth stayed for a moment longer, watching them, but the trio had actually fallen asleep by the time she had collected her things and crept out.

As she was coming back from the girls' "study", having dropped her things off there, she stopped by William's door to ask him for the other field bed, but two male voices from inside gave her a pause. There was no way she was going to intrude when he was talking to Charles. They had to have a lot to discuss.

Shrugging, she turned to the staircase.

Time to start baking, now that there was finally nobody around.

In the kitchen, she loaded the dishwasher and filled in one half of the sink with soapy water, in which she had deposited the dirtiest dishes that couldn't be put in the dishwasher.

Then, having cleared the working area and freed the shelf in the fridge, she pulled out the flour, sugar, eggs, the freshly-bought cocoa, the promised blackberry preserve and all the necessary tools, including her big mixer and a series of bowls.

"So, are we making this by the book, or are we counting on our luck?" she asked the kitchen range. "Luck? OK. I suppose that's the best way. Just let me check the general direction..." she glanced at the proportions for her favourite chocolate cake base.

Three whites, into the mixer bowl. Put on high speed. Add sugar, single spoons...

Soon there was a rising cake base in the oven and Elizabeth was whipping the cream and pureeing the blackberry preserve.

"Hi" Mary said softly and Lizzy nearly jumped.

"Lord, Mary. You are quiet."

"No, you were loud. Fortunately not loud enough to wake anyone, but..."

"Tea?"

"Only if you're making for yourself, but the way you drink it. I just woke up and came down here to see if there is anything that could help me go back to sleep. Charles was driving my car, so I slept through most of the way, too..."

"I need a break anyway. Sit, sit."

Mary placed a small baby monitor next to her on the table.

"He is still not sleeping through the night?"

Mary shrugged.

"It's just in case. At home, he's fine four nights out of five. Here, well. We shall see. What are you doing at this barbaric hour?"

"Birthday cake" she smiled and stretched. "I promised them blackberry jam in it, and so shall it be. And some frozen blackberries, and dulce de leche..."

"Naked, or covered?"

Elizabeth shrugged.

"Naked, probably. I don't have the patience to fiddle with buttercream and the icing only for it to be thrown away the minute we cut the cake."

"I'd much rather have the cake naked or in just good old whipped cream."

"Or chocolate!"

"Definitely."

The oven pinged softly, so Elizabeth had to get up and pull out the cake, transferring it onto a cooling rack.

"Ok, the second round now" she quickly made another batch of batter and poured it into a second, identical tin. "I bought a new brand of cream for whipping and I need to check it... rather nice, actually, hmm. And it stays up. OK, now, I need to mix the fruit puree with this and we'll see..."

Mary sat at the table, watching her as she puttered around the kitchen.

The cake was growing.

"First round, cut in two" she mumbled, pouring tea and raspberry juice into a cup and then sprinkling the cake base with the mixture. "Soak the edges, nah nah... Dulce de leche, the fruit...And the cream. No, cream last. First, prepare all the layers. So, soaking, dulce de leche, fruit. Repeat. Aaand for the top... The rest of dulce de leche for now. The decoration can wait for the morning. Now, construction" she pulled one of the tins closer and placed the pre-prepared piece inside. Ladling out the third of the pink cream, she covered the fruit in the middle of the piece. "I hope this will hold up... Can you check if I didn't put the rest of the cream smack in the middle of the shelf I had emptied before? I just might have, knowing myself."

Mary confirmed the free space availability on the middle shelf, so Elizabeth could finish the cake quickly and relocate it to where it would not lose its shape.

"Once we pull it out, all icy cold, I'll add chocolate dribbles all over it, the cream and some more fruit. This way-" yawn "-it will not get too wet."

"Upstairs, and go to sleep, Lizzy" Mary patted her back. "If you oversleep, I think we will manage with Jane - and with our gentlemen."

"Everything you'd need is in the pantry" Elizabeth yawned. "I hope I won't fall asleep on the stairs. That would be inconvenient."

"Only the civil ceremony?" Charles cocked his head to the side. "Does make sense, I absolutely agree with Lizzy. Mrs Bennet would be on you in seconds, and reading of the banns is one of the chief entertainments of such small communities. It makes them feel powerful - like nobody can do anything unless "the elders" allow them to."

William nodded.

"Last thing we want is Mrs Bennet invading the venue trying to overrule our plans. No, I wouldn't do that to Lizzy. We'll get married at the office and then we can discuss with the parson what we can do next. I just... I just want us to be properly, lawfully married, so that nobody can bother either of us, or Rose, or Mina" he sighed. "I just want the whole world to buzz off."

"Riiiight. So, would there be anyone else attending? Us, I'm guessing Mary?"

"Richard. You'll have to share the dubious honour of being my best man with him."

Charles snorted and shook his head.

"At least some entertainment is guaranteed then. Is he coming alone or...?"

"That depends, you know, getting a leave at short notice."

"It would be nice to see them both. Still, even Richard by himself is a bright spot. And it may inspire the stupid git to finally make a move. Anyone else?"

"Georgiana will play something, the girls will bring the rings and then we'll all come back here and have a small party. Elizabeth is already researching cake options."

"Don't tell me she's baking it herself."

"Of course she is. How could she let someone else bake it and so risk them making a mess of it?"

Charles nodded.

"If you put it like this... Absolutely. And she knows best what would suit everyone."

"I kind of suggested the Black Forest" William smirked, seeing his friend purse his lips in a silent whistle. "Yeah, I still remember that one she made for Jane's birthday 'as an experiment, you know, just checking if I can'. The worst part was, she was honest - she all made it in that awful tiny kitchen they had, with an old gas oven and next to no working space. And she did it while programming something for a project."

"I was terrified of her" Charles admitted suddenly. "She was so different from Jane, and so surprising. And she had next to no sensitivity to some social ideas, like not walking around in her t-shirt and pyjama shorts all day, or not calling one out on their walk of shame... The first time I spent the night, I was trying to sneak out and she simply sat me down at the table, put a plate of toast in front of me, poured some tea and went on to kick Jane out of her bed. Then she suggested we wash up and threatened us with bodily harm if we wake her up before noon."

"That... that doesn't sound like Elizabeth" William blinked.

"She was tired, sleepy and we might have been a bit loud...?" Charles cringed.

"So she..."

"She fed us and, more or less, told us to keep quiet, or else. I think there was a tyre iron being presented."

"OK, that does sound a bit like Elizabeth."

"She was in her flat, her own safe space, that's what Jane said later. Out of the door - Lizzy in the safe mode. Inside - Lizzy in 'protect the herd' mode."

William snorted softly at the imagery.

"OK, Will. I'll be honoured to stand up with you - and Jane and Elizabeth had probably already agreed on the same in the first ten seconds after we arrived, so they will be taking over the control of most of the preparations and we will simply defer to their better understanding of the subject."

"To the ladies of our lives" William raised his teacup and met his friend's cup with a quiet 'chink'. "May they have mercy on our failings and stay with us long enough for us to prove we're not completely hopeless."

"And, to paraphrase a certain musical..." Charles winked. "May heavens bless Mr and Mrs Bennet and keep them... far away from that wedding."

"You're a bad man, Charles."

"You wouldn't have loved me so if I was any different. Have you already set everything up? The date, the venue?"

"It was, in a way, rather... easy. We didn't even check for the exact rules of how, when and who can get married. Particularly thoughtless of us, but fortune favours not only the brave, but the stupid, too."

His friend leaned back in his seat.

"How so?"

"In order to give notice at the office, that you're planning to marry, one has to live in the area for at least seven days. Me, it's not a problem..."

"Elizabeth?"

"She's been here since last Friday. That makes ten days."

"But how do you prove it? I remember some absolute idiocy was required - like utility bills. How can one have a utility bill if they had just moved a week earlier?"

William snorted.

"Apparently a letter from the owner of the place where the person has been staying is perfectly fine, too. I didn't want to discuss the point with the very stern young lady that had received us, because we really wanted to make sure there will be an appointment for us on the 11th of November."

"Perfect" Charles raised his cup. "Are you two sure? I mean, this is both very quick and very..."

"Yes" he answered curtly. "We've discussed this, we want to do it, we don't want to wait for something to happen again. Considering how our last two weeks went, I feel like it's been months, not just days, since she came here..." he shook his head. "It's been a pure adrenaline rollercoaster, starting with aunt Catherine admitting she had been burning all correspondence between Elizabeth and me..."

"What?!"

He sat back and looked at his shocked friend in silence.

"She's been..." Charles carefully set the cup on the table next to him. "She..."

"Yes. She stole Lizzy's letters and gifts for Rose and burnt them."

"But... Good Lord, she had burnt all the..."

"Yes. And she did the same with my mother's jewellery and other family mementoes which I had been sending to Mina."

Charles raked his fingers through his sandy blonde curls.

"It was one of the reasons I could finally kick her and Anne out" William explained, letting his friend gather his thoughts. "You see, the whole thing started two weeks ago, on Friday afternoon..."

When Charles left, his head reeling with the story, William collected the cups and the tea service and brought them downstairs. He was a bit surprised to see Mary scrubbing one of the cake tins.

"Lizzy has baked a cake" she answered his unvoiced question. "But she was falling on her nose, so I told her to go upstairs. Jimmy is still asleep, so I can wash this and I really need something to do before I feel sleepy enough."

"Thanks" he emptied the teapot and set the cups in the dishwasher. "I... Is there anything you'd need, Mary?"

She frowned, looking up at him.

He sighed, trying to find the right words.

"Is there anything that Jimmy needs that you can't find, or get, or... or whatever. Anything I could help with."

She turned to look at him fully, leaning back on the sink.

"Why?"

"Because I run a charity that has more contacts that a standard human being can" he said simply. "If there is any kind of... help. Medicine, therapy, books - even specific food that could make a difference - and you can't get it, I suppose the foundation could."

She shook her head, smiling.

"No, William. There is no magic wand that could fix him. He is just as he is - and I have accepted the fact that he may never be 'healed'."

He poured himself a glass of water, to kill the time and gather his thoughts.

"I didn't mean it like this" he said, finally. "I know that there is no cure for certain problems. But I also know that there are easier and harder ways of resolving problems, and sometimes it's hard to gain access to the easier methods. Maybe he would need a speech therapist who won't just try to punch in the hours, or maybe additional swimming lessons with a trainer specialising in kids with development issues? Or maybe crayons that don't contain certain ingredients? One of my employees has a kid who is allergic to certain dyes, so she can't draw with normal coloured pencils. It turned out there is a company in Sweden that produces ones with alternative dyes. They wouldn't sell to a private person, but when we made an order as a foundation..." he shrugged. "So, you know. Stuff like this. Doesn't have to be revolutionary, but hey, if it helps, why not use it?"

She nodded slowly and turned back to the sink.

"Take a towel and dry these" she ordered simply. "Jimmy is fine, mostly. Just a bit... late, in some aspects. Mostly it's enough if I buy more shape recognition toys, plush animals with varying surfaces, jigsaw puzzles, this kind of thing. He doesn't need specific food, doesn't have allergies, is not bothered by tags on his clothes or similar stuff."

"Still, the offer stands" he said, taking a glass bowl and wiping it carefully. "I... I know it's hard to be a single parent of a child with no development problems. I can't imagine bringing up one that does need special consideration."

She handed him the last piece of the cake tin.

"I wasn't exactly a single parent in this" she said, unblocking the drain. "Elizabeth was much more than an aunt for Jimmy. The amount of time she and Mina spent with him when I needed a breath..."

"You did the same for Elizabeth and Mina at the time, right?"

"Mina was a year old and she didn't require being carried around with full body contact 24/7."

"But at the time neither of you had experience. When Jimmy appeared, you both already had the needed knowledge and you were both steadily employed."

She nodded, grimacing.

"We were both terrified that she would cry and we wouldn't hear her, or that she would wander away... Fortunately half of that wing had kids or were expecting, so they were pretty tolerant. They were more surprised with me living there as the only non-parent than with Lizzy moving in with Mina for that half year. I always explained that I prefer wailing babies to constant partying - and that was the reasoning that had worked for the Dean, too."

He looked at her hands, wiping the sink dry.

"I'm glad you were there" he said finally. "I..."

"I hated you" she interrupted him sharply. "I hated you for hurting her, for throwing away the chance you had. I hope it will work out this time, because if you fuck this up, William Darcy..."

"They won't find my body, yes, I know. Stand in a line. Georgiana is first."

"I knew I liked that girl. Now, go upstairs and please, check on my sister to make sure she didn't fall asleep in some weird place? I'll be along in a moment, just need to make myself some tea and sit for a moment in silence."

"Sure. Thank you, Mary."

"It... no problem. William."

Elizabeth had fallen asleep somewhere, to be sure, because there was no sign of movement from anywhere, but she wasn't in the girls' working room - and there was no trace of the bed that was supposed to be set up there. He stood still for a moment before he recalled that they had, in fact, only prepared the bed for Jackie in the girls' room, but never got around to making one up for Elizabeth, and the field beds were in the closet in his room, which she had not entered... Ah.

His study was dark, barely illuminated by a small desk lamp and the dying fire in the fireplace, but the bundle of blankets on the couch had some very Lizzy-like characteristics. A mop of hair on one end and a small, thin foot on the other, for example.

"Lizzy?" he touched the foot carefully, but she only pulled it in under the blankets, escaping from his touch. "Lizzy, do you want me to set up the bed for you here?"

No answer. She was probably so tired she fell asleep waiting for him and Charles to finish talking.

There were several options.

He could take the bed out and set it up in the working room. That would require some effort and would necessitate collecting warmer blankets and another duvet, because Elizabeth had left her bed to the children just as it was.

He could set it up out here, in his study, which was a bit warmer, due to the fireplace. Also, move private than the girls' room.

Or...

He bit the inside of his cheek for a moment.

Yeah. Why not.

He picked her up, blankets and everything, and walked into his bedroom. Setting her down, removing the blankets - she had changed into her pyjamas, good - and covering her with the duvet (not "his" duvet - that was the one that was still in her bed) was a matter of seconds. Still, it almost woke her up.

"Will?" she mumbled, burrowing deeper under the covers.

"Sleep" he touched her cheek. "I need to work on something, you can sleep here."

"Wh're?"

"My bedroom. It's cold in the girls' room, you'll be better off here."

"Mhm" she opened her eyes for a moment, smiled at him and immediately fell asleep again.

"OK" he whispered, patting her shoulder. "I'll be just next door if you need something."

"Mm."

#

He was trying to make heads or tails of the budget proposal for yet another initiative that the foundation was supposed to support when he heard her stir. A quick glance at the clock told him he had been working for two and a half hours, so she had probably been asleep for more or less three. She'd either go back to sleep, or...

"Will?" she looked a bit lost, standing in the doorway, looking at him. "What am I...?"

"You fell asleep on the sofa" he explained. "I moved you to the bed, it's a bit more comfortable."

"But... I was supposed to sleep..." she frowned.

"Yes, but that room is cold. And you looked so tired I didn't want to move you there, anyway. My bed is a bit better than that foldable monstrosity, too."

"Yes, but, Will, we didn't discuss..."

He took off his glasses and pulled her closer, seating her on the chair's stuffed armrest.

"That's why I'm here and you were there" he said simply. "Also, I needed to look over these documents and that seemed like a perfect moment."

She sighed and leaned closer, putting her head on his shoulder and turning her face up at him.

"What are we going to do?"

"Well, you will go back to sleep" he punctuated this with a small kiss. "And I will try to conquer the budget calculation that had apparently been made with a crayon on a piece of packing paper, because it makes that little sense."

"Or..." she turned a bit and peered at the columns of numbers. "I could help you with that and we could both catch some sleep before our guests require our attention?"

"El..."

"This" she pointed out. "This doesn't make sense. Or someone doesn't know how VAT is calculated. See? The way they add and then... see? The number here should be the multiplication of this one, times seventeen" she marked the places with small pieces of a torn post-it note. "And because they don't know what the rules are..."

"Blimey" he whispered. "You're a bloody genius, love. And I've been looking at the whole sum for the last ten minutes, trying to track back... How did you see it?"

She shook her head.

"You would have found it the moment you stopped focusing on the big numbers at the end. I just saw the pattern that was wrong..." she frowned. "Now that you know they can't really count how VAT is applied, you can go back to the beginning and check all the tax and percentage calculations. Or I could help you, I'll just need a spreadsheet to make 100% sure I'm not making a mistake myself. But definitely, first adding VAT, multiplying the number of items, and then removing VAT should give you..."

"The basic before-VAT number, multiplied. At this isn't it."

"I wonder if this was done by accident or on purpose" she yawned, nestling closer to him now. "Because if they had... just used twenty items... You'd have seen it much sooner" she shivered with another, suppressed yawn.

"By making it seventeen they obfuscated the outcome" he frowned and closed the folder decisively, slapping a new post-it on top and writing "CHECK THE NUMBERS" on it. "Because normally noone can calculate easily if there are no round numbers involved."

"Or even ones. Even if it was sixteen, it would have been much more obvious."

"For you" he pointed out, but she shrugged.

"You don't have to see it consciously, but you'd have noticed it sooner, I'm sure. All the computer stuff is... eights and sixteens..." she shuddered again. "Can we go to bed now?"

"Sure" he started raising, but she hopped off and stretched.

"I need something to drink" she grimaced. "Not enough water during the day. I'll be right back, you..." she paused. "I'll be right back."

It was one of the fastest showers he had ever taken and still it included shaving.

He looked at himself in the mirror over the sink, trying to stare down his reflection.

Come on, Will. Just sleeping. Hold her, make her feel safe. She...

She was there when he entered the bedroom. A glass of water, a pitcher with some lemon slices in it, on the nightstand, and Elizabeth, again completely under the covers. He slipped in on the other side and immediately there was a small ball of warmth buried into his side.

"Will" she breathed and reached out, stabilising herself against him.

"Um. Lizzy?"

She adjusted herself again, head on his shoulder, nose pressed into his t-shirt, one hand curled up under her, the other thrown across his body.

"Sleep" she said softly. "We can talk about this tomorrow."

"I just..." he sighed. "Will you be moving back to... to the other room, when they leave?"

He felt her give something akin to a shrug.

"We can talk about this tomorrow?" she suggested. "I... It's nice like this, hm?"

More than bloody nice.

But he was a grown man and this was Elizabeth, trusting him.

"Nice" he confirmed, gathering her closer, pulling her into a slightly better position, which she accepted with a small, warm sigh.

She woke up with a start.

The bed was large and empty, and she was not only fully dressed in her long sleeved shirt and yoga trousers, but carefully wrapped in a blanket and covered with a duvet. She was warm.
It wasn't purely physical warmth, either.
She smiled to herself and fell back on the bed a bit.
There was a piece of paper propped on the pitcher of water she had brought, with "E" written on top. She pulled it towards her and unfolded it.

Lizzy,

We're taking the kids for a walk.
Rose and Mina are managing Jackie and Isabelle.
Jane and Mary will take care of breakfast
I'll come to fetch you once everything is ready.
Sleep in.

W.

"Oh."
There were sounds all around her, but nothing close by. She could hear the girls outside, apparently playing on the lawn - she worried fleetingly whether the grass wouldn't be too wet, but... She shrugged. There were enough clothes in the house to change Jackie and Bella into if they got soaked.
She relaxed into the pillow and closed her eyes.
Just for a moment.

"Lizzy? There is a breakfast ready... Elizabeth?"
She curled up, seeking the warmth that had been there for the whole...
...night. Argh.
She sat up, wiping her eyes and looked as William, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"What time is it?"
"Nine-ish" he smiled. "Come on, get up. Everything is almost ready and the kids are getting washed after the walk - I must admit, I forgot how much energy children have at that age."
"Will..."
"And there is a plan for a small walk after breakfast, to let everyone see the gardens when there is still something to be seen here, before it all goes grey and empty..."
"William!"
He stopped, looking at her curiously.
"All my things are in 'my' room" she explained, looking away. "And there are kids there now..."
"Actually" he bit his lip. "I brought them over here."'
She stared mutely for a moment.
"Not everything!" he corrected quickly. "Just... a few things, so that you didn't have to..."
Oh, God. They were now both bright red.
"Ah" she cleared her throat. "Thanks. I suppose."
He huffed softly.
"Come on. Get dressed and come downstairs, or the kids will start gnawing on the table legs."

#

The breakfast was lavish. Jane and Mary had prepared enough to accommodate all the varied needs and appetites, which with eight children and six grownups wasn't that obvious. Fortunately most of the children (except for Jimmy, who preferred cereal) were happy to stuff themselves with scrambled eggs and toast, taking the pressure off their parents, except for the part of what was supposed to go on whose toast. Jackie managed by herself and Rose helped Isabelle to achieve the required level of butter on her slice. Charles was holding little Johnny away from his own fried bacon and trying to feed him something more appropriate (which meant that a sudden attack by a hungry Evelynosaur took him by surprise and deprived him of said bacon). Mary, assisted by Mina, was letting Jimmy work his way steadily, if a little sloppily, through a bowl of cornflakes.
Everyone looked at her as she entered, trying to look as unruffled as she possibly could.
"Mom, are you feeling better now?" Rose patted the chair next to her. "Dad said you needed to sleep in and we were not to make a sound upstairs."
"Yes, thank you for this, kitten. I was up too long yesterday, I think."
Georgiana hid her face in her oversized tea mug.

"And what were you doing so long, aunt Lizzy?" Isabelle piped up, rubbing the butter off her face with her sleeve and making Jane and Mary snicker.

"I was in the kitchen, taking care of certain preparations for today evening" she said mysteriously, sitting down next to Rose. "Now, any eggs left? And maybe a few bits of sausage?"

"Mom, can we go back outside? We were playing badminton with Jackie and Bella."

"I think Dad had some grand plan for a general walk outside, but you can go, just stay on the lawn. And take your rubber boots!"

She quickly turned and ran downstairs to check the fridge. The cake looked perfect. And it was time to decorate it, as the girls were outside. She pulled out the rest of the cream and set up the mixer yet again, as Mary had cleaned a bit too thoroughly the night before.

Mary.

She froze for a moment with her hands on the jar, feeling of guilt catching up with her. They had let her sleep in, even though she was supposed to be their hostess. On the other hand, her sisters were surely more than able to tell William to piss off if he tried to make them do something they didn't wish to. Which meant they had all conspired to let her sleep longer. She felt the heat in her cheeks raising, so she rested her face on the cool container.

"Whip this cream, Lizzy, before it goes warm" she scolded herself.

She opened the freezer and took out the box of blackberries that had been waiting there.

Pour the cream, add some proper vanilla sugar. Run the whisk. Test. Scrape the bowl, another round.

She never liked beating the whole amount at once - usually something went wrong when she was in a hurry and put the whole litre in the mixing bowl. Doing it a cup at a time let her avoid overwhipping and getting a bowl full of sweetened butter.

A small pan and bowl on the range were already heating up, melting the chocolate.

She checked around to avoid any stray children she could step on and picked the cake from the fridge. Securing it on the rotating stand went quickly and she could remove the band and start decorating.

A large, flat knife was stored in the same box as the stand, the decorating triangle and a box of piping tips next to it.

First, some more dulce de leche. Just because. And a dribble of the melted chocolate. Well, more than a dribble. More like a whole rain of it. A moment in the fridge, she had time to clean up the table. Then a big blob of whipped cream. Always decorate from the top, Lizzy. The flat knife in her right hand, she turned the stand with her left.

Ah. Bliss. No thinking, just muscle memory.

She got the top even and smooth, bringing the cream over the edges and keeping them crisp. A bit more cream at the bottom, but this didn't have to be perfect. The piping bag, fitted with a star tip, was filled with cream and she started piping perfect little rosettes of stiff whiteness along the bottom of the cake, covering all the imperfections of the cream covering on that part. The thawed blackberries were next, so she picked the prettiest ones to put on top of the cake, in a round, and then surrounded them with another ring of cream rosettes.

"Ah" she said, throat suddenly dry.

The first cake for both of her daughters at the same time.

Very carefully, she put the piping bag in its stand and removed the cake to the fridge.

Then she took a moment to quietly break down at the table.

The lunch was easy - there were more than enough ingredients for a variety of tortilla fillings in the boxes brought by Jane and Mary, and even the most suspicious children were tired and hungry enough to let themselves be fed a bit of everything, including guacamole and several kinds of bean paste. Rose and Mina had to be stopped from an attempt at a Scoville scale competition and Lizzy controlled the level of spiciness of their combinations from that moment.
"You" she poked Mina in the shoulder "are supposed to sing in a week. And you know your throat is not yet up to the challenge. Actually, I shouldn't allow you to even leave the house or eat anything spicier than a toast with cheese."
"But, Mom!"
"I know" she kissed her younger daughter's temple. "Still, you better pay attention to what you're eating. And you, don't encourage her" she mussed up Rose's hair.
"Aunt Lizzy, how big is the garden? We were walking for hours and hours and I still didn't see any kind of wall?" Isabelle asked around her tortilla.
"Well, that would be the question to your uncle William" she demurred. "But from what I remember, it's at least half a mile of formal flower gardens, then another of orchards... No, orchards make a mile, I think. Then there are the vegetable gardens a bit to the left, and these change every year, and on the right there is the orangery and the glass hothouse. And there was the blackberry bramble that I've started... I think it is still there... Will?"
"It is" Rose confirmed. "I always liked it, and aunt Catherine always complained I'm messing up my clothes with them."
Elizabeth grinned a bit.
"And there should be the raspberry patch, too, unless the gardeners didn't maintain it. And the hazels, next to it, I think."
"And the currant bushes, too" William joined her. "And we have a small foil tunnel to grow strawberries, but it's taken down at this time of the year."
"You have, like, your own strawberries?" Yola's eyes widened. "Wow. Wow."
"If you ever come here in June, you can see it" William offered, glancing at Charles.
"Mummy!?"
Jane sighed.
"Yes, well. Now we will have to, or they won't stop reminding us! Terrible, we were planning to never come here again."
"Mummy!"

"Mary, what are you doing?"
Mary was, in fact, flat on her back in the middle of the corridor.
"Have you ever checked the ceiling here, Liz?"
Elizabeth raised her head, trying to understand...
...ah.
She blushed.
"Seriously."
"Yep."
"Do you think it was commissioned...?"
"No, I rather think painter was bored to death."
"So he drew... this man, and..."
"This is definitely not human, if you were looking for this confirmation. Neither is that" Mary pointed out another piece. "Looks like a stylised mermaid. With two tails."
"Dear... Oh. I hope the girls didn't see that."
Mary snorted.
"Who do you think showed me these?"
Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

Mom's surprise was the cake - not a very surprising surprise, but the girls were not expecting anything of that size. Dad's surprise was much less expected, but received by everyone with cheer. A great bonfire, set in the remote corner of the gardens, far from both the trees and the house, was waiting for the girls to lit it when everyone made their way down there after the nap (for the younger ones) and some board games. Uncle Charles had been tasked with bringing all kinds of snacks and candy, driving the small electric car the gardeners used to transport their tools, and the cake was secured in the backseat and tended to by Mom on the way.
They set it up on a stone table installed there by some enterprising great-great-grand-father and lit four candles - two "1's" and two "4's", making two "14's" on the opposite sides of the cake, one for each of them. They eyed each other over the cream-and-berries concoction.
"Come on, girls. Each on her side, now, aaand..."
And Mom pulled a guitar from somewhere, and everyone was singing "Happy Birthday", and then they were blowing out the candles, never breaking their gaze.
In a year, here, all of us.
In a year, here, more of us.
The candles were taken out, the cake was being cut, the slices were distributes, the groans of appreciation were voiced, the little cousins were milling around and wishing them "evelyfink beft" (Evelynosaur) "cookies!" (Jimmy) "lots of candy" (Yola) very stiff "all the best" (Jackie) and "whatever you wish, but I'd want a kitten!" (Isabelle). Johnny limited himself to hugging their knees at uncle Charles' prompting.
And then there were the presents.

####

"And now I know why Mom had been so sleepy recently. What I don't know is how she managed to take our sizes and make that."
That were two dresses, identically cut, but varying in colour. Mina's was all green, black and copper, with dark gold inserts in the skirt and an overlay of metallic green crocheted lace. Rose couldn't decide whether to salivate over her own gown or be a bit angry at Mom for the "older sister" jibe, but the first option won. It was an Elsa dress that was better than any Elsa dress she had ever seen. Steel blue, with silver shimmer from a layer of tulle, silver bodice with blue metallic lace on the front and a blue string to lace it on the back.
"This is a gown to end all princess gowns" aunt Jane said in a worshipful tone. "This... Nobody can top *that*."
"Next year I'll dress them in grass skirts and we'll claim it's supposed to be Moana" Mom said tiredly and stretched on the bench, her head on some strategically placed cushions, allowing herself to be hugged by both of them at the same time.
"Now, from us" aunt Jane handed them two sturdy cardboard boxes. "Let's call this... completing the set. Also, a little bird had informed me that my previous gift had been confiscated, so here's a replacement."
Rose's box contained the whole set - the pliers, identical with ones that aunt Anne had taken away - the hammer and an equally outrageously pink screwdriver. Mina's box, obviously, didn't hold the hammer.
"Where did you get this abomination, Janey?" Mom raised her head from her place on the bench.
"There is a small shop near our place that stocks these, and a few more items like this. I saw a set of home improvement tools in fabulous purples, actually. Proper rubber handles and all. I was considering buying something for you, too."
"I have a measuring tape with a flower pattern, nothing can beat that."
"A purple hammer."
"Nah."
"Purple-handled pliers."
"Meh."
"Purple box-knife."
"Double meh."
"Purple spirit level."
"M... ok, that's one I haven't seen."
"You mean you've seen a purple hammer?"
"More like lilac, but yes, I have. Girl, I've seen a pink-handled axe."
Dad had a weird expression on his face as he rose with two more boxes and they exchanged worried glances.
"Now, I think one gift..." he smirked. "Will be freeing you of the stable chores. I think Rose will remember from now on that she is supposed to take care of Star properly and, Mina" he gathered his younger daughter closer. "I admire your willingness to accompany Rose in this punishment, but don't think that you had fooled me for a moment. You are perfectly petrified by being in close quarters with animals that much taller than you and you were carefully keeping away from any direct contact with them, weren't you, ducky?"
Mina sighed and nodded.
"I..." she shrugged. "I tried, because, you know..." she shot a glance at Rose who rolled her eyes. "I didn't want you to feel like I'm leaving you alone in there!"
Rose bumped her shoulder affectionately.
"You can still come. I mean, throwing the hay down from the loft won't bring you in contact with Star. Or taking the wheelbarrow out. Or bringing the water in."
"Yeah, well. I could, I suppose. As long as you don't expect me to come any closer to Dad's horse. Star is fine. Star is nice and she isn't that tall. But I'd rather not get any closer to..." she made an uncertain gesture "...ah, Hector. Than necessary. Sorry, Dad."
"Not an issue, Mina. You two don't have to be identical. In fact, we'd rather you weren't. Right, Lizzy?"
Mom waved a hand from her spot on the bench.
"They are annoying enough as they are. We need to have some way to tell them apart."
"Well, then. There is a separate gift for each of you. This" he handed a box to Rose "is both for you and for Star. And this, well" he winked at Mina "I suppose your mother will want to borrow it, but stay firm. Come on. Open them."
"Thank you, Dad" Mina frowned at the well-wrapped box and started methodically removing paper. "What..."
"A gel saddle pad! Wow, Dad! And the gloves! Perfect!"
Rose's enthusiasm made her peek into the package, but she could only see a mass of something... dark?
"It's a gel... pad" her sister explained, not really bringing more meaning to the previous exclamation. "This goes under the saddle. Makes it more comfortable for the horse. And grooming gloves, so I can, like, brush her without an actual brush."
"Ah!" Mina could only nod in appreciation. Anything that made the horse more comfortable would be probably a nice thing.
"And what did you get?" Rose poked at her box.
"Ah, this..." she finally found the piece of tape Dad had secured the paper with and uncovered a gleaming blue and aluminium box with letters DREMEL printed on a side. "Dad! I... Wow. I mean... Mom, look!"
"Mina, what... Ah, a minidrill! Fabulous!"
Everyone was suddenly focused on Mina.
"Dad, how did you know?!"
"I... kind of guessed?" the box was left on the grass and Mina was hugging Dad in a crushing grip. "I suppose I got this one correctly, too?"
Rose plastered herself on his other side.
"Yeah, Dad. I suppose you have. She had been mooning over this thing more than over Teddy, I think."
"Rose!" she had to duck an attempt at a hit from Mina.
"Well, you did! And you keep their catalogue under your bed!"
"...ff!"
"Mina! Language!"
"I didn't say anything!" Mina stuck out her tongue at Rose.
"Now, ladies, if you don't calm down, you won't see my gift" aunt Mary was holding something small and... tickets?
"Um" Mina coughed.
"Right" Rose straightened herself. "We're, like, totally serious."
"Yeah."
"Very well. William, cover your eyes. Ladies, this is an IOU for tomorrow. You two, your mother, aunt Jane and me, we are going to Matlock, for some shopping" and with that, aunt Mary dropped a small business card with "2 perfectly fitted bras" printed on it into each of their hands.

So, what do you think about Teddy? Little Bingleys? The birthday party?

For the music Mina is playing, go to Youtube and find this clip: 'Martha Argerich play Chopin "Polonaise N°6 l'heroique"' (can't link it here...) and pay attention at 5:30, here's that smile.

I'm posting the recipes for the things Lizzy is baking on my blog (fanfik-wordpress-com, replace - with dots), and I've also posted a picture of what Rose would have looked like before the haircut :) on srebrnafh-tumblr-com - go and have a look :)