Finally!

I've been tweaking this for so long I can only hope I didn't leave any loose unfinished sentences in it or made it lose sense.

(if you find any, PM or comment, I'll fix them ASAP)

Summary: Whole week, up to the singing contest.

Note: I had to change the scene dividers, because FFNet is being stupid and eating the hash mark.

Motherof8, Arcane Warrior 2012, BookRookie12, HarnGin and varied guests ;) Thank you for commenting! To answer:
* I will incorporate bonding when and where it fits in the story. Give them time, it's only been three weeks for them.
* I have to cut the chapters or it becomes unmanageable to post them. Sorry.
* The relationships are moving, I think, reasonably. Again: only three weeks for them :)
* Rose and Mina are becoming unbalanced due to different pressures, so stuff will have to happen to them in order to put this as it should be.
* Jack for Richard, and how is it going to work? Just FABulously, my dear ;)
* I hope William's description will provide some sense that he does, in fact, care for his appearance (he is terribly vain, in fact, and worried about his greying hair!)

####

With the girls safely in class - Elizabeth watched them for a moment as they joined their homeroom group - they walked towards the headmaster's office, hands tightly clasped together and steps aligned. Just as they were about to knock on the door, someone cleared his throat behind them.

"William Darcy?" a tall, rather thin man asked, stepping towards him. "Percy Strickland, Teddy's father."
"I remember, we've met at the auction for the daycare last year" William shook the man's hand briefly.
"This is my wife, Irene" the woman smiled at them, shrugging helplessly, as she was digging for something in her purse.
"And this is Elizabeth, my fiancee" she heard that little hitch in Will's voice when he put his arm around her shoulders.
"Ah, all of you, here. Thank you for being so prompt. Come in, come in."
Even parents fell in line when the headmaster used his special voice, so in next to no time they were all seated in his office, tea was being poured and a file of documents was placed on the table in front of Mr Farlane.
"Please allow me to start with my deepest assurances that such behaviour as displayed by James Davison is not what we ever plan to tolerate at this school. It is deeply disturbing that the boy had changed that much, just over the course of the summer months."
"What exactly had happened?" Mr Strickland frowned and put away his cup. "Teddy was rather... tight-lipped about the whole affair. The very fact that he got a detention was a surprise for us and the way he explained it made absolutely no sense."
Elizabeth flinched.
"Ah" the headmaster nodded at her. "I suppose the girls were more forthcoming?"
William shrugged, but Elizabeth nodded.
"They told me in the car that very day, actually."
"Wait a moment, Darcy. Girls? I thought you have... Ah, your daughter would be..." Mr Strickland glanced at Elizabeth.
"No, darling" his wife patted his hand. "They have twins. Teddy told me as much. James was somehow less then accepting, I suppose?"
Elizabeth snorted.
"You may call it that. On Tuesday, when we brought them both for the first time to school, some received a bit of a shock. Most reacted with simple surprise, but there was some negativity..."
In bits and pieces, both Elizabeth and the headmaster providing details they knew, the Stricklands were told the story - from the general facts about Mina and Rose switching places, through the rather shocking Tuesday and culminating on the event-rich Thursday.
"I knew it was impossible" Teddy's mother sighed when they explained the events of the girls' first day at school. "Teddy would have never hit everyone!"
"Yes, well" Elizabeth cleared her throat. "That was our younger daughter, I'm afraid."
"But why wouldn't she speak up? It is not fair for Teddy to..." the woman cringed. "I'm sorry, but Teddy's school record..."
"From what Rose told us, Mina was most displeased with Teddy" William provided. "He didn't give her a chance to confess."
"But..." the woman was searching for something, ending up with flat "but why?"
The headmaster coughed, covering a smile with his large fist and Elizabeth looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"Teddy said that Mina had already one punishment on her file this year, and that Davison's parents would be pushing for a suspension" she explained, probably not very helpfully.
"That would have been quite possible, unfortunately" Mr Farlane explained. "James' parents are... Intense."
"What did they have to say about their son's behaviour?" Elizabeth leaned forward.
"I've spoken with them, and although Mrs Davison seems dismissive of the problem in its entirety - she doesn't even acknowledge her son's behaviour as having occurred - Mr Davison admitted that the vacation in US they took must have affected their son in a way. Unfortunately it is also what the man himself seems to celebrate. Power play of the hunt and so on. He was sitting right here, extolling the way a boy can become man in an unspoiled country like the US. It was rather scary to listen a grown, serious man talk of such brutal pastimes in a romanticised way like that. You know, in those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women..." he shrugged.
"...And small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri" Elizabeth smirked at his appreciative smile and confused stares of the other three.
"Very well, Miss Bennet! You get a gold star!"
"I'd rather exchange it for an explanation of how do we make sure that boy doesn't approach our children anymore. I don't want Mina to feel threatened at this school, too. She has had enough of that in London."
"Absolutely! James had been suspended for a week - both bullying and the Thursday offence were enough for that. He will be moved to the other homeroom group in his year in order to separate him from Teddy and he will be under constant monitoring."
"I still can't believe a fifteen-year-old could behave in such a way!" Irene Strickland shook her head. "But what happened on Thursday, exactly? Teddy made it sound like James made an even worse idiot of himself than before..."
"He found it unnatural that our daughters were born on different days and started criticising me for being an incompetent mother. I think 'useless' was what Rose finally let slip when she got angry. Then Teddy showed up and and the situation got complicated. He told the Davison boy to stop it, and the captain her threatened him with removing him from the team" Elizabeth could tell that Teddy's parents hadn't heard that part from their son. "Then he started posturing some more, including fantasising about the way things could be, like on that vacation he took with his father, shooting animals and being the man who saves his family 'when the time comes'. Rose thought he was pretty crazy."
"And that is when I arrived, alerted by the rugby coach, and heard the end of it. And yes, unfortunately, the way James put it, it sounded a bit unbalanced. I talked to all of them, I had Mina and Rose describe the situation and then I separated Davison from them. He actually tried to claim he never said these things that he actually did - and that in front of multiple witnesses and me - which made me call his parents. Their reaction, as I said, was... underwhelming."
"Very well then. If the boy is going to be moved to other classes, I think we can accept this. But what about Teddy's detention? It's still, well..."
"The first ever detention he had, I know. We'll mark it in the record as assigned by a mistake. That doesn't apply to Mina's punishment, mind you" he looked at William over his glasses. "It has been corrected to apply to her and not Rose now."
"Well, it was a different case" Elizabeth sighed. "And it's definitely not her first one."
Mrs Strickland frowned.
"Teddy never told me your daughter has problems with... school discipline. I'm not sure..."
"In a way, that first case was much easier than the current problem" Mr Farlane spoke over her, seemingly ignoring her little protest. "And Ray's parents were much more empathetic to the reason why he had been punched. In a way, they seemed horrified of his behaviour."
"Ah... Ray's?" Mr Strickland looked at them uncertainly.
"Wait, wait..." his wife raised a hand. "Mina is the girl who punched the bully who was stealing money from the smaller kids? The one Theresa had been raving about?"

%%%

The story had been told again, and retold, making Teddy's parents look first much more confused and then, thankfully, much less.
"This is rather... exotic" Mrs Strickland shook her head. "But I finally understand why Teddy had been in such a strange mood for the last week. Twins. Well."
"Now, not that I'm kicking all of you out, but I will be needing my office for other things. I hope I will see you all on Saturday then. And, in case Davison approaches any of your kids - including Theresa - make sure they know they should notify me immediately. He had been given a specific order to stay away from them."
William sighed, standing up.
"I hope he stays away, for the peace of mind of my daughters. On the other hand, if he approaches them, maybe this time Rose will have a chance to punch him, to make it equal."
"William!"

-DPDT-DPDT-

The week before competition went so quickly they could barely understand where the days had gone.
Practice.
Teddy.
Horses.
Stable chores.
Homework.
Tests.
Mom and Dad.
Some more tests.
Physical tests.
Teddy.
Paperwork.
Discussions about the house.
Teddy.
Miss Yang and aunt Georgiana.
Picking the bathroom decoration.
Picking the downstairs decoration.
Picking the kitchen design.
And, on Wednesday, the crowning moment of the week, the visit of Sergeant Hanners.

%%%

There were many questions being asked, of varying levels of importance.
"Is this a cough, Mina?"
"So, this no-talking thing, are we keeping it up?"
"Have you cleaned the saddle properly?"
"Is there some more hay?"
"Have you finished these Maths problems?"
"Rose, where are my trainers?"
"Are they kissing again? In the schoolyard? Are they even supposed to do this, at their age? Grownups are disgusting."
"Do you have enough pencils?"
"Can you run another lap?"
"Do you want me to help you with that?"
"So, are you sure about that surname?"
"Maybe we'd want to have a little workout room?"
"How are you feeling about Saturday?"
"Are they... wow, and your parents are cool with it?"
"Teal or navy blue?"
"How big should the fireplace be?"
"Do we want a waffle iron?"
"How long has your cousin been smoking pot, do you have any idea?"

-DPDT-DPDT-

William choked on his tea as the sergeant posed that question in a very matter-of-fact manner and smiled at him.
"I... no idea, really. That bag we found - the cleaning crew found - was the first indication we've had..."
"I understand. However, there are certain signs you might have noticed but not connected it to the weed smoking" she flipped the notepad open. "I'm going to ask you now a few questions and you don't have to answer - or rather, you don't have to provide definite answers, but please think about them. Please note that I'm not asking about your own experience. Some people use, for example at the uni, but..."
"No, just..." he stood up. "I never tried. The way overindulgence in alcohol affects my control was a nasty enough surprise for me. Even though there had been people in my classes who dabbled and even dealt, I never felt the temptation. The idea of surrendering my brain to the random vagaries of unknown substances was ever abhorrent to me."
"Very well. Do you know any of the common symptoms of a person who uses then?"
He turned to her again.
"Never had felt the need to learn. Please, let's go through the list and we'll see what I can confirm."
They sat down, looking at each other searchingly.
"Very well. Have you noticed her ever smelling something slightly like tomatoes, or burnt tea?"
"Not that I'd ever consider trying to voluntarily smell her..."
"Quite right. Did she smoke cigarettes?"
"I think she might have, outside of the house. I did smell her once or twice stinking of that, so I suppose she smoked in her car."
"Have you ever seen her roll one herself?"
"No, I can't say I did."
"Have you ever seen her with rolling paper? Like for handmade cigarettes?"
He considered it.
"I have to honestly admit I was actively avoiding contact with her, if it was possible. Her, and her mother, living with us was more of a family obligation than anything more cordial."
"Ah. Very well. But you did have some contact?"
"Some, yes. Not enough to confirm anything related to her daily habits, outside of meals"
"Very well. So, next points. Have you or others observed her having episodes of paranoia?"
"From what my daughter said, I'd say yes."
"Sudden sharpness of mind, jumping to conclusions?"
"Not really."
"Giggling at things that weren't funny?"
"No. Not sure she knew how to giggle."
And even if she did, I'd probably put it in the "cackle" category.
"Long rambling stories making no sense?"
"Rants, yes. Sudden remarks out of the blue, too. Stories, no."
"Hand tremors? Eyelid tremors?"
"No. Maybe... I think I saw her hands shake, a bit, maybe."
"Dry mouth? Complaining about that is a common thing."
He cast about for a moment.
"No, not that I've heard her do that. But she was always drinking something."
"Displaying cravings for sweets that went outside of standard for a person her age and size?"
He snorted.
"Mostly. And discussing it with her mother every day at breakfast. I thought it was just classical case of her discussing a new diet until we were sick of it, and then overeating anyway. She's been like this ever since I remember. She always seemed to behave as if calories eaten away from the table somehow didn't count."
"Well, that is one of the common symptoms - albeit shared with multiple eating disorders. OK, so that is done. Now, the timeline. Our laboratory has estimated the bag of leaves to contain matter at last three years old. Is there anything around that date or earlier that would be in some way meaningful, different...?"
He thought for a moment.
"Three years ago... Anne had some kind of meetup with her high school year. Anniversary of one kind or another. Fifteen years, I suppose."
The police officer frowned, looking at her notes.
"By my count she should be hitting twenty-year mark this year..."
"Anne was sick a lot as a kid, she got held back two years."
She made a small note in the pad.
"I'd wager - but this is between you and me, Mr Darcy - this is when she started using. Someone from her old school would have been dealing, and she got hooked during the reunion. We've seen it happen, unfortunately. Could I speak to Rose while I'm here? I'd need, if it was possible, a specific description of what happened that afternoon."
"Rose...?" he blinked. "Ah. Well."
"She is better now, isn't she? Was it more than a cold?"
He bit his lip.
"She is, definitely. Just..." he paused for a beat. "Yeah, we'll have to get this over with at some point."
"Mr Darcy...?"
"Give me a second. I'll fetch them."
Fortunately girls were home - Mina looking slightly absent and Rose already changed into her stable outfit - so he asked them in.
"Now, sergeant. This is Rose" he pointed out his older daughter "but this is the girl you've helped."
"Oh, Sergeant Hanners!" Mina looked as if she woke up suddenly. "I thought about going to the station, but there were so many things happening!"
The police officer smiled wryly.
"OK. That is unexpected. Now, you" she pointed to Mina. "Explain."

-DPDT-DPDT-

Sergeant Hanners was listening attentively as Mina retold her the history of the Friday afternoon barely three weeks previous. She asked pertinent questions, followed up on slight inconsistencies, went back to check the timeline of events and nodded, appreciating Mina's attention to detail as she recounted the discussion she had with aunt Anne.
"I must admit, the whole order of events was rather... inopportune" she said, shaking her head. "But why didn't you go shopping directly after school then? You'd have been done before the rain and never got sick."
Mina blushed hotly.
"I..." she looked down at her feet. "I wanted to avoid a boy from school. He lives in Lambton, so when I got on the bus, he had no reason to join me, but if he noticed me going to the mall..." she shrugged.
"You never told me it was his fault!" Rose spluttered indignantly.
"Well, it's not like he made me go home or ask for aunt Georgiana to take me shopping. And he didn't break her car."
"But, if not for Teddy..."
"I wouldn't have been sick and Mom would have never stayed for so long."
They felt Dad's hands on their shoulders.
"I think I'd rather not consider this option too carefully" he said, his voice somehow thick. "Now, go, homework to be done."

%%%

"Sooo..." Rose flopped to her stomach on her bed, watching her sister avoid her gaze. "It was all because of Teddy?"
Mina shrugged.
"In a way, I suppose. I wanted to avoid him after school, and that happened."
"But don't you see? If it wasn't for you getting sick, we'd still be stuck with all the old crap!"
Mina nodded slowly.
"I suppose so" she sighed. "Anne would have never annoyed Dad that much, aunt Catherine wouldn't have spilt the beans about stealing the letters, Mom would have left right after switching us back..."
"And all of that because you were being a good sister" Rose pointed out.
"Wh-what?"
"If you just ignored what you promised me and talked with Teddy more..."
"Rose! I wouldn't... never! I mean...!"
"Yes, I know what you mean. And you didn't. And I love you for this, you know?" Rose drew closer to Mina's bed and propped her elbows on the bedspread. "I know I've given you grief about Strickland, but..." she found herself fascinated in the pattern of stars and planets. "I... I'm sorry."
She looked up at the touch and saw her sister carding her fingers through her hair.
"I liked him back then" Mina sighed. "I... He was nice and funny - he does have a sense of humour, don't make a face like this, Rose Darcy, or a cold wind will come and it will get stuck like this forever - and I remember thinking that, darn, even if I can't really, like, you know, take him up on this, at least he'll make this competition somewhat interesting..."
"Well, it's much better now, isn't it?" Rose smiled and patted her sister's shoulder. "Not that I get why you're so into him, but hey, it's your choice, little sister. If you're fine spending your time with a bloke that's like a modern-day knight - or squire, I suppose - I can only promise you I'll make his life hell if he hurts you."
"Thanks, Rose. That's... touching."
"Don't mention it. I'm just being a good sister."

-DPDT-DPDT-

The practice sessions with Miss Yang invariably ended with Mina and Teddy finding themselves on a bench by the side of the school, watching the dusk slowly creeping over the town and the lights coming on in stages.
"I once thought there is some central controlling board and some guy sitting there, flipping the switches that made the street lights turn on. I even thought it must be a terribly boring job - sitting every evening in some stupid office, never seeing the actual sunset."
"It's a good thing these are automatic then. It's saving some poor sod from going crazy from lack of sun."
He snorted and nodded, smiling at her.
"Teddy, I..." she bit her lip. "I hope you do well on Saturday."
"Oh, I definitely will" he breathed. "I hope you will, too. I wouldn't want to... You've worked so hard on this."
She shrugged.
"I'm still not as good as I could be. Not as good as I was before I got sick, actually."
"But you sound fine" he frowned. "You will be OK for the the contest. You have to be."
She rose a bit and pressed a kiss on his smooth cheek.
"Thank you, Teddy" she sighed. "I have to provide you some proper competition, don't I? The others are... welll..."
"In need of a few more singing lessons" he suggested lightly. "Not everyone has a live-in voice coach, like you."
"And what about you?" she asked, sitting down. "Who makes Theodore Strickland sing?"
She caught him looking at her with the strangest expression.
"My grandma was a child choir director when she was younger, so once it turned out that I had rather good sense of rhythm and a good ear and actually was willing to have lessons with her, she dived right in. She died when I was ten, but by then she gave me, I suppose, reasonably good basis. My parents aren't... Well, I didn't have time for structured lessons like that anymore, so I basically just sing, trying to do it as correctly as possible. When Miss Yang tells me what I should correct, I remember grandma saying similar things. It's just that since my voice broke it was kind of hard to re-learn how to use it."
"That is... wow" Mina smiled widely. "I mean, wow. You're really good, you know?"
"Nah" he shrugged. "Just plodding."
"Teddy, I..."
"Mina!"
"Blast my sister" she mumbled, picking up her backpack. "See you tomorrow then?"
"Tomorrow" he sighed.

-DPDT-DPDT-

"How was the practice today?"
Mina shrugged.
"It's... not very good. I mean, I can sing. Not like I forgot how. Just my voice, it isn't behaving like I need it to."
Rose shook her head.
"Have you considered, you know, withdrawing from this thing? You've been sick, so it's not like you'd be giving up because you're afraid of honest competition. You've already heard the others sing, right? Is there anyone there who could, and I mean, be honest here, be a proper challenge for you?"
Mina nodded, stretching on her side to face her sister.
"And who at my poor old school is good enough to make you think you'd actually lose to them?"
Her younger sister winced.
And blushed.
Rose waited for a heartbeat more and then understood.
"I thought you said he would have made it interesting, but I thought, well, not in that sense. Is that why Miss Yang put the two of you in the same practice session? So that each of you could hear their strongest competition and, what, that would make you train more or harder?"
Mina shrugged, hiding her face in the duvet.
"And he's really that good?"
Mina made a small affirmative sound.
"Hey..." Rose poked her delicately in her shoulder. "Don't worry. Mom knows what she's doing, and if she tells you..."
"Mom said I should consider withdrawing, too" Mina mumbled.
"But... I thought she always, like, encouraged you to do stuff!"
"She does, normally. She just..." Mina shrugged. "She says I've been sick too recently. If I had a week more - even better, if the competition was the weekend after Halloween - I'd have enough time, but like this... I know she is right. Two years ago I got sick in December and then I tried to sing carols and everything came out squeaky and my throat hurt... But I have to do this."
"Because if you don't, then what?"
Mina grimaced.
"From now on, I will be the Darcy twin who got scared of a contest. People always remember the stupidest things. It doesn't have to be logical. Believe me."
"So you'd rather go, sing and fail than..."
"Than not try at all. Exactly."

-DPDT-DPDT-

Elizabeth was sitting by the window, clutching a cold tea mug and watching the darkness outside.
Her usual - because she would have never called it normal - circadian rhythm had been affected (read: shot to hell) ever since she had arrived and by now, after three weeks, she felt so off-kilter that nothing worked correctly anymore. She made an attempt at putting herself back on the right track by filling her every waking hour with activity. She was at her keyboard whenever she could focus, assisted Georgiana with preparing the house for the winter, had lessons with Mina and helped Rose with her Physics presentation.
It should have been fine. It should have been a full enough day to make her feel secure, stable and organised.
Yet, she couldn't sleep. And no sleep meant no creative work getting done. She had spent the Friday afternoon staring at her screen fruitlessly for hours, trying to put together the database query that would yield the fastest outcome. She couldn't even focus enough to do that.
"Liz?" his voice was thick with sleep and somehow uncertain.
She wanted to answer him, but she couldn't find the words to explain what was wrong. She stayed silent, hunched over her mug of cold tea which was, by then, undrinkably bitter and useless.
She was unbalanced, disoriented and, for some annoying reason, suddenly missing her London flat. It wasn't as if she wanted to go back there or to be parted from William and Rose again. But there was something about it, something seductive in the thought of being independent again, with nobody to tell her she was supposed to sleep or work at defined hours.
Giving voice to that longing would have hurt William. It would have been unfair to him, after all he went through and the way he accommodated her and Mina and...
What do you really want, Lizzy? You hated that life...
"Come to bed, Elizabeth. It's... half past two?" he frowned and rubbed his face with both hands. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine" she sighed. "Just..."
"No, you're not" he was suddenly right beside her, plucking the mug from her unresisting fingers and putting it away on the small table. "I saw you trying to work earlier, but it didn't look like it was going very well. Are you worried about this? Is this some new thing, or an old customer coming back?"
She shook, just a bit.
"Old customer, wants new database. They sent in the data as they keep it in Excel, which is always messy, but I'm working on cleaning it up and making sense of it..." she rubbed her eyes, then her temples. "Just... just going slower than I predicted. Not sure I can do it, what with Mina's singing and..."
"Shh" he gathered her closer. "Come here, you're chilled. Mina will be fine, and the contest is tomorrow. She will go, sing and ace it, or fail, but it will be done" he nosed her hair away from her shoulder and pressed his mouth into the thin cotton of her t-shirt. "Come to bed and let me hold you. Even if you don't fall asleep properly, at least maybe your brain will shut down for a moment. A little nap, hmm?"
She sighed and leaned into him.
"I'm worried about her - about both of them, in fact, but right now, it is a bit more about Mina. She's not yet well enough to really sing properly, but she's so invested in this, I can't really order her to withdraw. And I'm worried what will happen when she fails."
"If she fails" he corrected her gently.
"Will... I know my stuff. Her vocal cords are not yet clear enough. If everything goes perfectly she may have a chance at singing this well, but..." she heaved a sigh. "I'm afraid what it will do to her self-esteem."
"We'll just have to make sure she knows we know it's not a usual situation and that we know she would have done better if she hadn't been sick."
She nodded slowly.
"We could give her something to sing during the wedding...?" she suggested softly. "It's not the same as asserting your place in the school pecking order by properly winning a contest in front of her de facto new schoolmates, but it will serve as a reminder that we think she is good."
"We have to think about a role for Rose, too" he tugged her a bit closer. "But first, sleep. A nap for you, miss Bennet."
"Maybe I should make myself a hot water bottle..." she yawned.
"You wound me" he gasped in mock-pain. "How could you try to replace me with... with something artificial!?"
"William...?"
"I thought you would remember that I am much better than any stupid hot water bottle."
"Well..."

%%%

Yes, he was.
Hot water bottles don't cuddle.

%%%

She woke up after her "nap" of six hours, feeling slightly better. Somehow her brain was much quieter and calmer. She took her time - there was absolutely no hurry, the contest was in the afternoon - so by the time she was actually considering sitting up, William bustled through with a tray of tea and toast.
"Uh" she made an eloquent sound. "Mh?"
Her brain was still catching up to the vision of her fiance serving her what was, essentially, breakfast in bed.
"Sit up, move closer to the headboard and make yourself comfortable" he ordered her as he placed the tray on the table. "The girls are taken care of - Georgiana made them scrambled eggs and a heap of grilled cheese sandwiches."
"Ah" she was still not up to proper words.
"Now, milady, this is your breakfast" he moved something from behind the back of the bed and unfolded a set of legs for the tray over her own legs. "Eat, drink and then you can try to get some more sleep, if you feel inclined to. I've spoken to Rose and Mina and I suppose we'll be reorganising our common day plan in order for you to get adequate amounts of sleep and the right circumstances to actually do your job. Girls say you usually work during the night, which is of course not very conductive to the 'adequate amounts of sleep' part, but I think we can work around it... What is the usual time when it's the easiest for you to code?"
She sighed and took a sip of the perfectly made hot cocoa, which helped her brain to activate the 'forming sentences' functionality.
"Unfortunately it's mostly dependent on others. With Mina it was defined as 'Anytime from an hour to two after she falls asleep, and then straight on 'til morning, or beyond'. Now, though..."
He slid under the duvet on the other side of the bed and shifted closer to her.
"Sooo... You need everyone else either to be asleep, or away?"
She sighed, picking at the piece of toast.
"I hope it isn't really necessary" she said finally. "But it might. I have no idea. I hadn't had a chance to experiment on this. When I lived with Jane, she was mostly away or asleep, so it's not comparable. And I really want to spend time with you all... I'll need to apply some more discipline to how I approach work, I'm afraid."
He nodded and reached across her, picking a piece of toast and the butter knife.
"Well" he started covering the slice in an even layer of butter. "Now we could think of making sure you have all the quiet and peace in your room. But before this happens, you need to find a stable daily routine. You've been overdoing it, Lizzy, and I know it, so this weekend we'll use the time to replan and reset. None of us is going to be doing any work, except for some light cooking and checking if the girls managed to do their homework. And now" he added a layer of creamy cheese over this "eat."
"But, Will..."
"Sh" he put a finger of his free hand on her lips. "You take care of everything, of all of us, you worry about the girls and I know you are being the best older sister possible for Georgiana. And you worry about me when I overdo it. So, now, let me take care of you, OK?"
She nodded slowly and pursed her lips a bit, kissing the forbidding finger lightly.
"Good. Eat. A nap. I will make sure the girls are too busy to get into mischief and yes, I will make sure Mina doesn't shout. We'll be in the library, if you want to find us later."

-DPDT-DPDT-

They were sitting on their respective beds, Mina wrapped in the quilt made by Mom and Rose in the afghan.
It had been very easy, actually, to divide the things.
The rugs were now perfectly in the middle of the distance between their beds, two pairs of slippers on the smaller one and the larger one conveniently placed just under the window, where the main room carpet ended and naked stone floor was waiting for unsuspecting toes, to paralyse them with cold.
Everything Mina had one of went onto the empty top shelf of the bookcase. The plate, the photo frames and the lampshade - they had no lamp it would fit on anymore - made for a quirky decoration up there. The pillow was on the windowsill, the clothes stored in the "common" part of the wardrobe and each bed was made with one of the "big pieces" on top. Rose, when Mina gave her the choice, picked the afghan immediately. It was something Mom had been holding herself. Every little inch of the yarn had gone through Mom's fingers. Rose had to admit she might have become a bit obsessed with that fact.
Now, sitting with their legs crossed, they wrapped in their respective covers even tighter and smiled at each other.
"Are you sure you want to wear your Anna dress?"
Mina nodded, glancing towards the wardrobe where the gown was already hanging, freshly cleaned and pressed under aunt Georgiana's supervision.
"I mean..." Rose bit her lip. "Well, not everyone is, like, a fan of Disney."
"I'm not a fan of Disney. As in, Silly Symphonies are for babies" Mina corrected her. "I really like the feature films. And I really like that dress. I mean, it's the best thing I have right now! I will just have to put some pretty thick tights on under it, because the auditorium is drafty."
"The fact that you're going to look like a proper princess isn't to be sneered on, either" Rose pointed out with a small smirk. "Just make sure Teddy doesn't get too overwhelmed by the way you look, or he may have problems with singing... On the other hand, you could use it as a weapon, you know. He will be so focused on you he will forget the lyrics, or something."
"Rose! That would be making use of an unfair advantage! Also, Teddy is much too reasonable to lose his focus like that!"
Rose rubbed her slightly chilly nose with her sleeve.
"Unless he does it on purpose" she said finally, straightening. "Oh. Oh, I just had the worst idea ever and I think..."
Her sister was sitting higher now.
"What...?"
"I'm just saying - just, you know, being me - but, if you were out of the competition, would you say Teddy would win?"
Mina nodded, hesitantly.
"Well, I hadn't heard any of the others, they are scheduled for different hours, but during that first meeting in September they were... less than challenging?"
"And Teddy was?"
"Yeah, I thought he could be a real competition even then."
"So if you were out, he would win?"
"If the jury has ears, yes."
"And if you, for example, managed to fumble your song for some reason, I don't know, not beginning on time, or whatever?"
"If I did something really obvious, like sing flat or forgot my lines or messed up the rhythm, then they'd be absolutely justified in giving him the first place."
Rose chewed her lip.
"And if you sang before you were totally recovered and something went wrong..."
Mina sighed heavily.
"Yeah, the same. If I mess it up, Teddy wins, hands down."
Rose nodded slowly.
"And you're singing first?"
"Second..."
"I mean, you are before him?"
"Yes. Alphabetical order."
"So Teddy will hear you singing before it's his turn, right?"
"Well, 'Strickland' is at the end of the list, definitely. I think there is just one kid after him."
Rose started picking a thread in the afghan, not looking up at her sister.
"Rose."
Rose licked her lips and finally faced Mina.
"And what would happen if you just made a minor mistake and Teddy, for example, completely failed with his song?"
Mina frowned.
"I suppose I'd have a good shot at winning, unless Vincent improved significantly since September. Rose, what the hell are you talking about? Why would Teddy fail? He's had a week more of practice than I had and he's really, really good. He knows the text, he knows when to start..."
Rose rubbed her nose again.
"Because he is a bloody knight on a white horse and he would be failing to let you win?"
"Wh... no... no way, no!"
"Chivalry and all that rot. He knows you deserve that first prize so he will make sure you get it."
Mina drew a huge breath and held it in, trying to calm herself.
Yes, it did seem like something Teddy could do.
It definitely sounded like something she'd be rather angry about.
"But... I can't just tell him not to do it, because that would seem like I'm assuming he would. Like I'm actually expecting he would do it, even as I'm telling him not to!"
Rose sniffed.
"Sit with him and pay attention. If he even... I mean, tell him something like 'wish you luck' or stuff. Like telling him you want him to win. I have no idea! I've never had a guy follow me around like that!"
Mina groaned and leaned forward.
"Now I have to think about a way to deal with this. Give me five minutes."
"At least it will be five minutes when you're not stressing out about the contest itself, right?"
Mina just slowly slumped to the side.
"Yeah" she sighed. "Let me think."

-DPDT-DPDT-

When they arrived, the school auditorium wasn't exactly full, but William had to put in a bit of an effort to get both Elizabeth and Rose places close enough to them to see the scene comfortably. The contestants had been directed backstage, so they had parted with Mina rather early on, and Georgiana was assisting Miss Yang with preparations, so she had been at the school since early morning, setting up Elizabeth's piano and checking the sound systems, thus allowing the teacher to focus on the students.
Friends and families of the participants milled around, trying to find the optimal places. Rose pointed out their classmates to Elizabeth, adding small remarks about each.
"Marika. We were in preschool together. She is still miffed Mina managed to fool her."
"Ivar. Sits behind Mina in Biology and seems a bit annoyed with Teddy for existing, actually."
"Sebastien. We have French and Maths together. Seems a bit absent most of the time."
"Tatiana, same homeroom and everything. She's still suspicious of us two."
"And Richard, who is handsome and tall and hadn't seen you in ages, girl!"
"Uncle Rick!" the calm, quiet and composed kid catapulted herself from her seat in order to hug the man who had just sneaked up to them. "When did you come? I didn't know you'd be here! Mina doesn't know...! And Mom, Mom, did you know..."
Elizabeth looked up just in time to see Richard's eyes narrow just a bit as he set Rose down on the floor.
"Lizbeth."
"Rick."
"Still pretty."
"Still an idiot."
"I was talking about myself."
"Well, so was I, as a matter of fact."
Rose made a small, choking sound.
"Oh, come here, you dreadful little woman" he reached out to her and she found herself engulfed in the roughness of his woollen coat and the scent of leather, lanolin and a small but present suggestion of gunpowder. "Oh, it's good to see you, Liz. So good to see you. All in the proper order, finally. You, him, the kids... Anything else I should know?"
She shrugged, just a little bit.
"Ah. Do you need me to scare him a bit? I have my service weapon on me, you know."
"No, I need you to take time off on the eleventh and come, nicely dressed, to the Lambton register office. Plus one encouraged."
"Whenever have you seen me less than nicely dressed? And I assure you, my plus one will be there and will be just stunning."
She laughed weakly and hugged him closer.
"Just be there. I'll text you the exact time."
"If you don't, we will just show up there at the opening time and wait for you, scaring the employees."
"Now, if you have finished flirting with my fiancee, maybe you could let her sit down and watch the performance, hm?"
William was the next to be enthusiastically hugged and Richard wasn't really putting any effort into controlling his volume as he congratulated him on stopping being an idiot.
"Shut up, Rick, or I'll ask Charles to be my only witness and make you the flower boy."
"Fate worse than death. I'd rather share the burden of supporting you with him. Oh, I think it's starting."
Lucy Yang walked up to the middle of the stage and tapped the microphone a few times to test it.
"Hello" she said. "If everyone could please sit down, we'll be starting in five minutes. I will ask everyone to turn off their mobiles and whatever else they carry that could make any noise. Please make sure you don't interrupt our participants in any way."
A murmur of phones being pulled out and disabled went through the audience and everyone started getting themselves seated. Meanwhile, the contestants filed in from the side door and were seated at the back of the stage.
Richard leaned on the wall next to William, cutting a dashing figure in his crisp dark grey waistcoat and trousers, blue shirt and huge military-style coat. The way he moved, even when supposedly relaxed and casual, still screamed 'military' and she didn't doubt for a moment that that he was, in fact, carrying.
There were quite a few stumbles as various ladies noticed first William (looking quite impressive in his 'country gentleman' getup of olive green waistcoat, light checkered shirt and wine-red tie, which all together emphasised his wide shoulders much better than any full suit) and then Richard (who smiled at everyone without discrimination to gender or age, making unsuspecting females go weak in the knees). She exchanged a glance with Rose and they both stifled a giggle when a group of last year students almost crashed into each other as they passed by.

%%%

She already knew that Lucy Yang was a good pianist, and a teacher quite well suited to the task of dinning some musical knowledge into thick skulls of teens more interested in romance and sports than in delicate pursuits of cultural development. The fact that she had managed to collect twenty contestants from the mainly sport-oriented community of that particular school, and half of them boys, was a further testament to her persuasive abilities.
As the rules of the competition were explained and the jury introduced, Elizabeth allowed her attention to wander and she finally focused on the contestants. Mina and Teddy were sitting right in the middle of the scene, setting the divide between the girls' and the boys' sides and she smiled as she noticed the boy's subtle propensity towards looming protectively.
Mina was doing breathing exercises and playing - maybe a bit nervously? - with the lace on her dress. Teddy was straightening the cuffs of his shirt, then his collar, his bow tie... and then he looked down and laid his hand, palm up, in the space between them.
Huh.
The alphabet wasn't exactly the fairest way of ordering the singers, but they didn't manage to come up with anything better after one of the fathers protested after they had already drawn the lots (she still wasn't sure why exactly, but the fact that his kid had drawn the "13" might have been the reason). That order made Mina the second, and Teddy the second to last. Statistically that placing meant Mina's chances for a good outcome were much lower than if she had been in the middle of the set.
She sighed and immediately felt William's hand on her shoulder.
"She'll do fine" he said with much more conviction than she could feel.
Miss Yang invited the last stragglers to sit or find standing places by the walls and the lights were lowered, putting the children on the stage in the centre of attention.
"The first person to sing will be Vincent Crady, and he will be performing 'Amazing Grace'."
The boy was acceptable, even better than that. Slight pronunciation issues, ones a good voice coach could help him with, but he had very good sense of rhythm and a very nice, bright tenor. Half a year of individual training and he could safely become a choir soloist.
A moderate amount of applause had him bowing and quickly moving back to his chair.
"Now, the next person is Wilhelmina Darcy, and the song is 'Loch Lomond'."
Mina stood up and sighed, relaxing her shoulders with practice. She walked out to the small "x" on the stage where all singers were supposed to stop in order to let the limelight operator's work easier. Blinking in the harsh light, she smiled, curtsied (her new dress looking appropriately dignified) and nodded to Miss Yang. The piano gave her the first few notes and she began, voice high and clear.
At first, everything sounded fine - every note was hit with precision and Mina seemed to relax slowly.
Until the first chorus.
They should have known better, but Mina had been so adamant, and Elizabeth didn't want to force her to withdraw.
Unfortunately...
The moment Mina's voice wobbled slightly at "afore ye", she had the confirmation.
Definitely, two weeks were not enough for a throat to recover properly.
She saw Mina's slightly pouty lower lip as she prepared for the second half as Miss Yang played the few bars between the verses.
"'Twas there that we parted" was a perfect octave lower than the beginning of the song and so went the rest of it, in a range much less impressive than what Mina had been training to use, but at the same time much safer for her and less straining for her vocal cords.
"Ouch" was the only thing Elizabeth managed to say when she saw her younger daughter's thinly pressed lips and restrained unhappiness as Mina curtsied again with a brave (but fake) smile and turned back to her seat. It was a nice, proper performance and Mina had correctly dealt with the problem of her still-recovering voice, but the correction was drastic enough for a truly competent jury to notice and take it into account. Audience seemed quite happy with her, however.
It wasn't much of a consolation that the next few children, despite being good for their age, were much less proficient than Mina. She could see the self-disappointment in Mina's face and knew that due to the stage lights there was no chance to signal their support. They'd have to wait until the end - probably even after the results were announced.
Oh.
Teddy was holding her hand.
Good.
Finally, after almost all the children had tortured their chosen songs to one degree or another, there were only three persons left. A girl, then Teddy and another boy, something Wilkinson. And Teddy was...
...being severely frowned upon by Mina, which actually seemed to make an impression on him, despite their height difference.
Rose groaned.
"What?" Elizabeth hissed.
"I told her in the morning to pay attention to Strickland, because he would be trying to be all noble and let her win, somehow. And I'm guessing he had just said something that made her suspicious, so she told him off."
"How do you know this?"
"That he was planning something like that? I know him a bit, and he is that kind of silly. That she had told him off? Look at her face. She had just ordered him to 'stop being stupid'. And now he doesn't know if he should do as he thinks would be noble and self-sacrificing or to do as she told him to."
"If he tries to fail on purpose, Mina will never forgive him."
"If Mina doesn't win, she will be crushed."
"Better crushed in honest fight than winning because someone had let you."
"It's not an honest fight, she was sick."
"Still, she decided she wants to do this, and she knew perfectly well her throat wouldn't be up to the task yet. I told her."
Rose humpfed.
"Sh, Teddy's turn."
Teddy patted Mina's hand and stepped forward to the microphone, squinting his eyes at the glare.
He was looking rather dapper in a charcoal shirt and slim grey waistcoat which, combined with dark grey trousers, underlined his sportsman's built. He pulled the microphone a little higher and smiled and the unseen audience.
"Theodore Strickland, and he is singing 'Star of the County Down'."
A short intro by Lucy Yang and the boy was singing.
And boy, was he singing.
She sat up, watching him stand in that perfect relaxed-and-straight way, she counted the rhythm and listened to all the little ways in which someone with good basic training and a lot of talent can deal with technical imperfections.
Rose cringed at the end of second verse.
He skipped the third verse. It was fine, the song still made sense without it.
"...when I dress in me Sunday clothes" he stood a bit straighter at that, putting his thumb in his waistcoat pocket "...with me shoes shine bright and me hat cocked right and a smile for me nut brown Rose..." Rose cringed again.
Poor kitten. Both of them.
Or rather, all three!
"...a smiling bride by me own fireside sits the Star of the County Down!"
I wonder if he would be interested in taking more lessons... But Mina will kill me if I offer to tutor him.
He stepped slightly to the side, picking the microphone out of the stand and sang the last chorus, in a relaxed pose, with his side to the audience, and holding his hand just slightly out to Mina. Who was steadfastly looking at her hands, gathered in her lap.
"No maid I've seen like the brown colleen...! That I met in the County Down!"
At the ovation, Mina finally looked up. Then she promptly blushed all red and looked down again.
They are just too cute. I really hope that boy really isas nice as he seems to be.
Teddy sat finally, all flushed, and let Adrian Wilkinson sing some insipid lullaby, more suited to preschool competition than a teenage one.
As far as she could see from around Adrian (and there was a lot of poor Adrian to look around), Mina's hand again found its way into Teddy's.
The jury (consisting of the music teachers from other schools in the area, the choir master from the Catholic church and the one from the Anglican church, the local newspaper cultural columnist and the local radio station editor) didn't have much to discuss. In ten minutes, the verdict was written down and shared with Miss Yang, who read it from her place by the piano.
"The third place, Vincent Crady. Come here, Vincent, congratulations" she was handing him a small diploma and the boy was bowing, red and flustered. "The second place, Wilhelmina Darcy-" a small storm of clapping arose from where kids from Mina's and Rose's class were sitting by the opposite wall and Mina was raising, her head high and eyes slightly reddened, to receive her diploma and stand by Vincent next to the piano. "The first place" Miss Yang held the pause for a moment, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind and when "Theodore Strickland" was called out, half of the audience went crazy.
Elizabeth sighed. Finally. It was done, it was time to take the whole set - and her piano! - home, at last.
The classmates of the winners, the families of other participants - some tearing up at the unfairness of that all and some completely fine about the outcome - the other teachers, all made for a rather sizable crowd around the microphone and the piano. She stretched and caught William's eye, nodding towards the front.
"Let's wait until the worst crush is gone" he suggested. "Mina can guard your piano for a minute or two more."
"Mom" Rose patted her arm and pointed to the side aisle, where Teddy, piloted by Mina, was carrying the bag with the piano and the folded stand, making their way through the throngs of people.
"Afternoon, Ma'am" he nodded and placed the piano safely on the chairs in front of them. "I thought it would be better to take it off the stage before someone ran into it."
"Thank you, Teddy" she shook his hand. "Congratulations! That was... very good."
"Ah" he cringed a bit. "Mina should have won..."
Mina sniffled, just a bit.
"Not true" she said, her voice slightly wobbly. "Teddy was better."
The boy fiddled with his bow tie.
"I..." he shrugged. "I wanted to win, but not because my best rival was disabled due to illness."
"I will make sure not to get sick next year" Mina answered haughtily, but still with a bit of regret showing in her tone. "I will show you proper rivalry then. Theodore."
"Oh, I think there will be an occasion sooner than that, Wilhelmina. Christmas fair always has a carol singing competition. You game?"
Lizzy watched with wonder as Mina's pouty, disappointed expression changed into one of a challenge.
"You bet!" she stared up at him with narrowed eyes.
William coughed, pulling them out of the heated, if silent, exchange.
Teddy almost jumped up.
"I'm sorry, sir. Theodore Strickland, I... well..."
"William Darcy. Nice to meet you again, Teddy. I think the last time was... the school sledge ride, five years ago?"
Teddy blushed.
"I'm afraid it might have been, yes."
"Ahm. Cadet Strickland?"
Teddy's spine became suddenly much, much straighter, and his face much, much paler.

####

Let me know what you think :)

Bad news: Next chapters will take a while to post, as their completion status is "25%" and that's only if I'm very lenient. And I'm finalising TWO other stories at the same time (yeah, sabotaging myself...) and starting on my original novel (as if I had too much free time)

"A while" means something like mid-month, no earlier, unless I get struck with a sudden attack of inspiration.

Oh, and what Richard is wearing is just what Captain Jack is dressed in for this pic: voiceoftv img / posts / 58c54c024ed41 . png
And William is wearing this: www . planetclaire . tv / quotes / sherlock / mycroft-holmes / series-three / (but no, don't try to put Gatiss as visual for William, please ;))