AN: Well, one of the references was to the TV show, just for me the movie is a stronger connections, since the show wasn't shown in my country all that much. Aunt Catherine will get her comeuppance soon :)

It was a slow weekend.

Correction.

It was supposed to be a slow weekend.

It had started innocently enough - or "innocently", depending on one's opinion. The girls allowed them to sleep in - well, stay in bed - until eleven but then they have been nagged to get up, get out and join the land of the living. Once their breakfast was done, girls accosted her and explained their pressing need to spiffy up their princess dresses in preparation for a school ball. On Friday.

She sighed, yawned and sipped her coffee.

"I can only see the option to add the capes. Also, I could, if I was asked very nicely, make handbags. But only under one condition."

Two pairs of bright eyes blinked in sync and then narrowed.

"I don't want you two disturbing your father for the whole weekend. Unless the house is on fire, he is off limits. Last week was an absolute disaster and he still has to deal with the charity documents. So, please, go downstairs and help Mrs Reynolds. She is looking for someone to wash the preserve jars. And then..."

"I will take them to town" Georgiana piped up. "The Halloween fair is opening today. Maybe we will find some fun accessories to add. A crown or something. And there are always some games and a shooting booth and probably a haunted ride... Lottery, too, I suppose. And Lucy said there is going to be a lollipop workshop."

"Ah, Lucy said" Elizabeth managed to stop the smile.

"Yes, Lucy. Her sister is super involved in all the community stuff and she is in the committee that organised this."

"Very well. You two still have some allowance left?"

The girls shrugged and nodded.

Well, London it wasn't, so they were probably saving most of it - not that many places to spend money on their way home and they had been rather busy recently.

"I'll add a little something to that, but only when Mrs Reynolds reports all jars and pots washed properly."

The eyeroll was Lydia-class.

"Ah, Mom?"

"Yes, Mina?"

"Well... Considering the rules and all that, if I should, hypothetically, see Teddy on the Fair, am I supposed to ignore him like totally, or am I allowed to talk to him? Because I wouldn't want to break the rules, seeing how important they are to you two."

Ah-ha. She will be sarcastic like hell about it. Not sure if it's just Mina being Mina, or it's the two of them...

Because Rose was watching her with narrowed eyes.

"You don't have to ignore him. Just keep to the limits Dad explained and it will be fine."

"Sure, but you said no dates, like, so would that be a date or not? I mean, I have no experience so I can't say, really."

They were growing up. Also, Mina was up in arms and defending Teddy of all people. I wonder what that boy has to say about all this.

"If you meet in a public place, with a lot of people around, and Rose and aunt Georgiana, I would not count this as a date. As long as you don't try to escape to where they can't see you."

Mina scrunched her nose.

"Why would we?"

Indeed, why would you. My lovely, innocent daughters.

"Just remember, OK?"

An eyeroll.

"Fine. Fine. I'll go downstairs and see what the slavemaster can find for us."

Rose only shrugged and followed her, barely two steps behind.

"This is going to be a pain, isn't it?"

"She is going to be testing us, if that's what you are asking about."

He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his face into the hair.

"She is going to try to make us feel guilty for setting these rules. We just have to stay strong."

"At least it's cold outside now" he murmured into her neck. "Imagine how bad it's going to be in summer."

"Stop it right here, Mr Darcy. Or I will have nightmares for the rest of the winter."

####

The kitchen was covered in jars. Dozens and dozens of jars. And jar lids.

Jars with clip tops.

Little rubber rounds.

And Mrs Reynolds was rubbing her hands like a second-rate villainess.

"Very easy task, my dears" she smiled widely. "Check the jars. Blue marker for ones that are fine, red marker for ones that have chipped rim."

Mina frowned, picking her markers.

"What for?"

"Would you rather have a jar that has sharp edge inside? Your mother asked for the slightly faulty ones to be put aside for painting" the housekeeper shrugged. "So make the mark somewhere at the bottom, please."

Next two hours were spent on companionable conversation and devouring of sandwiches Mrs Reynolds had prepared for her kitchen aides, until aunt Georgiana joined them with a notepad in hand. She closed the door behind her and looked carefully around the room.

"Ladies, I need your help" she stole a piece of bread from the main plate and sat at the side table, face solemn. "We have to work out music for their wedding. I will play, Mina will be singing. We have two weeks, so we need to focus. And we need to pick stuff you already know, to cut down on practising. So, what do you know?"

Mina placed the last jar she was handling (chipped) on the board and grimaced.

"Apart from 'Loch Lomond', you mean?"

"Well, that is not really a very wedding-ly kind of song, is it?"

"Not particularly, no..." Mina trailed off. "Well, I know carols, of course, but this is a bit early. And I know a lot of Disney songs..."

"That would work, actually" Rose marked the jar she had been holding with a blue dot. "Mom likes Disney, so..."

"We could pick some stuff that would kind of maybe fit, but we need it to be solos and fitting thematically. Let's just..."

Mina was already scrolling through her phone.

"I can do 'A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes', the first part of course, and that could kind of fit, I suppose. No, Pocahontas no... Also, Mum hates Pocahontas. 'Once Upon a Dream" is a duet..."

"Can you sing 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight'?" Rose leaned closer. "Because that would be just fine, I think."

"I'd have to practise a bit..." Mina scrolled the list further. "Snow White... well... That would apply Mom is waiting for her prince to come, and..."

"No, better not this" aunt Georgiana scrunched her nose.

"'Beauty and the Beast'?"

"Dad will have a fit."

"'Mother Knows Best'?"

"Rose!"

They fell silent for a moment, as Mina scrolled the long list of songs and Mrs Reynolds removed some of the checked jars to make more space on the table.

"Ah. I think I can do Merida's song. Nothing to do with a wedding, but sounds nice."

"Mhm" aunt Georgiana made a note of that and sighed. "A bit limited..."

"Well, nothing from Tangled... And no, not 'Love is an open door', definitely..."

"Ah. Maybe just 'Let It Go'?" aunt Georgiana suggested. "I mean, they were separated, and they both kind of isolated themselves from stuff..."

"Do you children actually watch older Disney movies?" the housekeeper enquired suddenly. "Because I can see 'A Spoonful of Sugar' may fit here."

Mina bit her lip.

"I can do that one, too..."

"I know!" Rose suddenly piped up. "Have you ever watched 'Finian's Rainbow'?"

Aunt Georgiana whistled silently.

"'Look To The Rainbow'? That may work!"

Mina blinked slowly.

"Is it this? 'Look, look, look to the rainbow, follow it over the hill and stream'?"

"Yes" aunt Georgiana smiled widely. "And we can skip the first verse, because that doesn't fit, but we can just start with the chorus and use the other two..."

"So, what do we have?"

"'Can You Feel", 'Rainbow', 'A Dream' and 'Let it go'? And 'Touch the Sky'... I suppose that should be enough, because the whole ceremony is forty-five minutes."

"And you could play something from one of these musicals Mom likes" Mina clicked something on her phone. "This one. She loves this one. Can you get the score?"

The tinny speaker wasn't really up to the challenge, but the melody was clear.

Herrgott, was ist denn heut los?

Herrgott, was hab ich denn blos?

Dass ich so selig bin,

dass ich so fröhlich bin,

"This is 'Countess Mariza'?" aunt Georgiana frowned. "I have the score, actually, but I would need to work on this one... But, well" she smiled crookedly. "Anything for Lizzy."

"And maybe something from ABBA?" Rose suggested. "Mom is having an ABBA phase, Mina says, right now."

"Soo..." aunt Georgiana squinted at the screen. "What? Let's make it simple - 'I do, I do'? Sounds pretty obvious..."

"Can you play it, dearie?" Mrs Reynolds cut through the dithering.

"Well, yes. I do, actually."

"So I think the choice is made?"

Aunt Georgiana frowned at the notepad "I suppose so. Very well. we'll start today evening, checking first the key in which it will work for us. And now, ladies, are you done here?" she glanced up at Mrs Reynolds.

"They are. Just make sure you bundle up warm and you can go to town. Buy me some awful candy. Toffees or caramels."

#

The fair was focused mostly on masks, accessories and, in general, aimed at making people lose as much money as possible. Mina surveyed each booth carefully, looking for an appropriate tiara for Rose and for a fan for herself, while Rose and aunt Georgiana focused on the sweet treats part of the equation. The amount of booths presenting various games of chance was staggering and Mina skirted carefully around all of them, most certainly not wishing to be seen as interested in some lottery or other.

####

"Sis, stop dawdling! Come on, there is a shooting range, they say you can win something!"

Mina grimaced, but followed Rose obediently through the crowd to where aunt Georgiana was waiting for them.

"Try not to get separated, please. Your parents will have my head if I manage to lose one of you in this crowd."

"We are not babies, aunt G," Mina sighed. "I've been getting myself home from school for like ages already, and I used to live in a big city."

"Do not disrespect little towns and their potential for trouble. You can get lost in Lambton quite easily, you should know."

Well, not that aunt G was wrong, but Mina did have her phone in her pocket and money enough for the bus fare. Still, she found it easier to just acquiesce to the request.

"What are we looking for?" she asked with resignation.

"The candy floss machine, first," Rose answered with a 'duh, obviously' eyeroll. "And then there is a shooting game with cans and targets."

Mina shrugged, a bit underwhelmed.

"And the prizes?"

"Plushies, but really, does it matter? Just winning something for once would be nice," Rose was... grumbling?

"What are you talking about?" Mina looked at her suspiciously.

"Last year Rose bought ten lottery tickets and the only thing she won was 'another ticket for free' on two of them. She is a bit cynical about lotteries ever since."

"I'd rather try my hand at a game of skill instead of a game of chance," Rose explained in quite a distinguished, snotty voice.

"There is only the little problem that you can't really shoot. I mean, I admit I haven't seen you with anything resembling a gun, but I suppose if they had a bow and arrow competition and the condition was to hit the broad side of a barn, well, you would have like fifty-fifty chance... Auntie Georgiana! Tell her to stop hitting me!"

"Ladies" someone coughed just behind them and they disengaged immediately, putting Very Innocent Smiles onto their faces.

"Headmaster Farlane" Mina piped up first. "Ah, we were... Um."

"Sibling rivalry, I suppose" he cocked an eyebrow at them.

"Yeah" Rose confirmed a bit sheepishly. "I, um."

"In case you were wondering, there actually is an archery contest, happening in" he glanced at his watch "twenty minutes. I will be heading that way soon, if you wish for company. Miss Darcy?" he smiled at Georgiana as she clasped the shoulders of both girls.

"Well, I was looking forward to it, actually. If you could look after these two for fifteen minutes..."

There was something new in aunt Georgiana's voice and Mina saw Rose frowning slightly.

#

Yeah, that was weird.

For one, the person managing the archery contest looked so much like Miss Yang that Mina had to look twice before noticing certain differences in stature - making her Susan Yang.

For another, aunt Georgiana looked suddenly eager and unusually self-assured. Something they were used to seeing when she was sitting at the piano or talking about her research. Not when she was handling a potentially lethal weapon!

"Did you know she could shoot with a bow?" Mina hissed at Rose, who was watching it all with round eyes.

"No way in hell" was a simple, soft answer she received.

"Ah, well" the headmaster sounded amused. "Your aunt probably still has the trophies she won when she was at school. Ask her one day, hm? I remember her P.E. teacher going to our then-headmaster, complaining about 'little Darcy' being a complete incompetent in any kind of team sports but outshooting anyone, including the boys, on the archery field."

"What?" Mina looked up at the towering man.

"Why don't we have an archery field?"

He snorted.

"Safety regulations. Can't have one between buildings these days. Anyway, she finally passed P.E. despite being unable to score anything in basketball or to even serve properly in volleyball. She did perfectly well in badminton, though. And she could run and jump... and, well, this."

Aunt Georgiana was putting on some kind of arm guard and a pair of fingerless gloves.

"...haven't done it in a long time" her voice reached them as she smiled at Susan. "I will have to check if I still can!"

"Just like riding a bike, Georgie" suddenly Susan Yang kind of... doubled?

"Lucy! I thought you were working today!"

"Last minute cancellation. With a fee, so I am free and loaded this weekend. Now, show me some of these wicked archery skills you've been bragging about to Susan and then let me buy you a drink."

Rose looked away and Mina hid a smirk as aunt Georgiana shot them a look over her shoulder.

"I'm here with some of your students, Lucy" she warned.

"It can be hot chocolate, girl. Doesn't need to be mulled wine or anything... risky."

Mina felt her face warming up.

Grownups flirting. Good thing Mom and Dad are keeping this part to themselves. I mean, I...

Aunt Georgiana was now straightening and checking the bow - pinging the bowstring and looking along the length for... something. Whatever it was, she knew what she was doing, obviously.

"She used to shoot both a recurve bow and a longbow" the headmaster remarked lightly. "She was the tallest girl in her year, so she was the first to practise with a proper, full-sized longbow. She was the tallest kid in her year, in fact. That really made some boys pretty annoyed at her."

"And this one is?" Mina asked finally. "Doesn't look very long."

"Just a simple bow, probably four feet long. Cheap as dirt, I suppose, in case someone damaged one during the competition. Now, look."

Yeah, aunt Georgiana definitely knew what she was doing. Her first arrow was maybe an inch off-centre, the second dead in the bullseye.

"Will you go all Merida on us, or should I take these two out?" Susan Yang asked as they stepped closer to see the target.

"Take it out, absolutely. No arrow-splitting today."

This was not their aunt Georgiana. This was someone else.

They exchanged glances.

Someone who shoot bloody long arrows accurately. Someone who smiled, joked and - the moment Lucy Yang appeared - flirted.

Wow.

Rose made a face and shrugged.

Yeah. Same here.

"Aunt Georgiana..."

"In a moment, kitten" the icy blue Darcy eyes were narrowed in concentration.

Another perfect shot.

"Hm? Do you need anything?"

Mina slowly shook her head.

"If someone was breaking in to the house, could you shoot them, like, dead?" Rose piped up unexpectedly.

All the adults snorted with laughter and aunt Georgiana smiled widely.

"As long as they waited in one place long enough for me to go to the attic, dig up my old bow, string it, find the arrows, come back downstairs and shoot them. Absolutely, yes."

"And then only a warning shot, remember, Georgie" Lucy poked her arm. "Or it would be overdoing on self-defense. We are not an uncivilised country, unlike some. Now, two last shots and then we can head for the hot chocolate stand."

The next two shots were obviously good. Not as perfect as the second and third one, but no more than an inch away from the centre, and that put aunt Georgiana on top of the list of archers, with a "3" next to her name. "We count how off-centre someone shot, so it's easy to compare, the best ones should be in single digits. For now it's only Georgiana, everyone else is eleven or more" Susan Yang explained. "Now, go, let others try. Although after that performance, I won't be counting on many people trying... Georgie's results are a bit depressing to a normal human being!"

#

The hot chocolate was good. Creamy, heavy, with a hint of ginger and chilli, a blob of whipped cream on top and some cake sprinkles on top of that.

They parted with the headmaster there and headed for other games. Rose quickly developed a white spot of cream at the tip of her nose and aunt Georgiana developed a severe case of lack of attention as Lucy Yang joined them on the slow amble across the great fair ground, which allowed Mina to slow down and watch some more competitions along the way - someone hitting a button with a huge hammer and boys with long sticks fishing items out of a huge tub (all wet up to their elbows).

"Look, the shooting booth" Rose prodded her forward. "I have to at least try, right? How complicated can that be?"

Turned out to be pretty complicated. Rose paid for her six attempts and managed to miss all the targets completely, which made her less than happy with herself and the world in general. Fortunately (as Mina had been readying herself for a quick grab and pull, if her older sister decided to blow the rest of her allowance on repeated attempts) she managed to control her annoyance and stepped back from the counter.

"Must be fixed somehow, I was aiming perfectly" she mumbled.

"Ah. Maybe I could make an attempt? Good evening, Miss Yang, Miss Darcy. Rose. Mina."

Teddy's voice sounded completely innocent as he passed his payment to the booth operator. Having received the loaded gun, he turned to them with a shy smile.

"What would be your prize?" he asked, stepping closer to Mina. "I won't promise I can get it, but I will definitely try."

"Ah..." she looked up at the rafters of the booth to survey the offered items. "Promise you won't laugh?"

His mouth wobbled, but finally he nodded.

"Sven," she pointed out a plush reindeer at the back.

"Hmm... a reindeer?" he scrunched his nose. "Reindeers are better than people..."

"You..."

He shrugged, winked and turned towards the targets, a set of differently-sized cans and little round black signs stuck in swiveling bases.

"What do I have to shoot to get the reindeer?" he asked the bored cashier.

"Five out of six, of anything," the curly-headed, pimply teen answered.

"OK. Wish me luck, Wilhelmina."

"Break a leg, Theodore."

She did notice Rose making a derisive sound next to her, but focused fully on her whatever-he-was.

Teddy casually leaned towards the counter, set the gun on a provided rest and aimed for a moment.

Six not-very-quick and measured bangs later the cashier was forced to hand the plush Sven over with a grudging face.

Teddy was not preening at all. Not a lot anyway.

"I could show you how to do this, I suppose," he offered lightly, glancing - with worry? - at aunt Georgiana. Who smiled and nodded.

#

And this was how Mina found herself at the counter of the shooting booth, her stance being corrected by Teddy and instructions being imparted with a nervous "ah" from time to time when he caught aunt Georgiana's amused glance.

"Now, calm and slow," he directed. "Align this and this," he pointed out the pieces of the flimsy-looking weapon "with the thing you want to hit. Try the big can on the left. Slow and steady. Pull the trigger, it does stick a bit..."

BANG.

The can toppled to the side.

Mina found herself shaking just slightly.

"Ah," she managed to utter. "And now?"

"The blue plaque next to it. Carefully, but don't hesitate."

BANG.

The plaque wobbled and tilted obediently.

#

The cashier was watching them with distaste as Mina collected her prize (3 targets down, third-tier plushie) - not the same size as the reindeer bagged by Teddy, but the flat blue and silver plush pillow embroidered with a pattern of snowflakes was still nice.

Rose took a long, audible breath.

"Strickland," she coughed and cleared her throat. "I understand that you may not be... ah, willing, but do you suppose I..."

The sentence failed to finish, but Mina caught her sister's meaning.

"To translate from Rose to English - would you show my sister how to do this, too?"

Teddy rolled his eyes good-naturedly and helped Rose to take her place in front of the new set of targets.

#

The cashier was most unhappy with them. Especially since Rose managed to knock down four cans and earn herself the right to choose a second-tier prize. He was eyeing Teddy with something very far from the passivity he displayed when they started. If someone asked Mina, it was closer to seething hate, but they had won their toys fair and square and had grownups for witnesses, so he couldn't raise any kind of fuss.

"They will be making an announcement about the carol competition from the main scene in a moment," Miss Yang pointed in the right direction. "Shall we?"

Mina's eyes met Teddy's focused gaze.

"I think so. Theodore?"

"Oh, absolutely. I want to compete on equal footing this time, so don't go around catching any colds, Wilhelmina."

"And on that note, a cup of tea for everyone" aunt Georgiana brandished a carrier with five paper cups like a prize of her own. "Yes, Teddy, you too. No coughs for you either. It's with lemon, honey and raspberry syrup, so drink up. All of you," she poked Rose in the shoulder. "And let's go hear the announcement."

#

The main stage was surrounded by people, five persons deep, but with Teddy's smile and effective technique of shouldering his way through, they soon found themselves right at the barrier, watching the mayor of Lambton as he fumbled with his notepad. Finally some assistant (looking barely older than Teddy) brought what was apparently the needed page and pointed to something on it.

"Ah, thank you, Norbert. Yes, hello, everyone. I hope you are having fun..."

A chorus of "yeah's" answered, so he smiled dutifully.

"Our very musically-oriented event activists asked me to announce the new initiative for this year town Christmas celebration. Everyone is invited to participate, but there are certain conditions.

Now, to make the whole proceedings a bit more bearable to the audience than last year, we ask the participants to adhere to these rules. They have to prepare a carol or a winter-holiday-themed song, which is obviously the main point. The second is, keep the performance down to no more than two verses. We know that there are many lovely traditional carols that have multiple verses and can take long minutes to complete. You can pick one of these, but you have to cut the content down to two verses and no more than three chorus repetitions. And the last one, that will make it a bit of a challenge, but will maybe infuse the contest with a bit of excitement... Everyone has to pick a different song. There will be a list of titles kept and so the later you sign up for it, the higher the chance that most popular ones will be taken. To make it a bit easier on everyone the list will be kept separately for each age group and the youngest ones will not have to actually adhere to that particular rule."

He checked the page again and turned it in his hands, squinting against the lights.

"Ah. Age groups. So, first, the under-sevens, second group is seven to twelve, then twelve to sixteen, sixteen to nineteen... and then an open competition for all grownups. The general rule to avoid overcrowding the event - you can sing a capella or with one instrument of accompaniment. You can play for yourself or have someone join you, but no more than two persons apiece. So no family von Trapp groups, please.

The entries can be submitted for the whole duration of the Christmas marker, starting second of December, eleven o'clock in the morning."

Mina bit the inside of her cheek and took a long look at Teddy. Teddy, however, was studiously looking at his phone.

"Soo..." she started softly. "Same place, second of December, ten past eleven?"

His eyes narrowed and he bit his lower lip, glancing at her.

"I'd say it's a date, but I'm not going to risk my internet privileges."

"Oh, so access to the social media is more important than..."

"Than phrasing it in an incorrect fashion" he frowned, but brightened the moment she smiled. "Ah. A little tease, are you?"

"Well, she can't be a big tease" Rose mumbled. "She is too short for this."

"Seriously, as if you were any taller" Mina elbowed her in the ribs. "By the way, did you say 'thank you' to the nice boy, you savage? Without his help you wouldn't have had a chance to get your snowman."

"Thank you, Strickland."

"Don't mention it. Darcy."

"You two are quite serious about continuing like this?" Mina found herself querying them plaintively.

"Absolutely" Teddy assured her, Rose followed him with barely a fraction of a second of delay.

She could only roll her eyes and clasp his hand more tightly in hers.

#

They parted an hour or so later, when aunt Georgiana ordered them to the car, so Mina had to leave him there, but not before she stole a kiss (carefully timing it to the exact moment when aunt G and miss Yang were saying their goodbyes) and pressed the snowflake pillow into his mittened hands with a quiet "in exchange for my lesson".

#

*ping*

From: Teddy

28-10-2017 22:12

Goodnight, Starlight. xx

To: Teddy

28-10-2017 22:15

Goodnight, Teddy. :*

"Seriously, put this phone away or I'll hurt you" Rose groused from her bed. "And wipe that silly grin from your face!"

She just rolled her eyes and plugged the phone in.

"Hug your Olaf, sister, and go to sleep" she advised sweetly.

"Hmpf" was the only comment she received from Rose.

Because a soft, plush Olaf was, in fact, tucked away by her pillow.

####

"Aren't you... I don't know, disturbed?"

She shrugged.

"I managed to shoot myself a plushie or two at some fairs myself. I won't forbid them from trying. At least they managed to skip all the stupider stuff, like all the totally-random-but-absolutely-fixed games of chance. I wasn't that smart at their age. Blew my entire monthly allowance one year on some dice rolling thing, because I was so sure I could roll two sixes. Dad explained to me later what the probability means and how statistics works... and also how people who run these things weight down their dice. It was a rather painful lesson that turned out to have real-life applications later on. Anyway... No worries. I think they had an example of what can happen if someone idolises the gun as the idea with that idiot, Davison. As for Teddy... I find I'm not very worried about it, if he was the one who gave them a practical lesson then and there. Which was nice of him, I think. Especially including Rose."

"I could ask Richard to give them some more detailed instructions, if they wanted. Not that I'm a gun-toting survivalist, like some, but if they were interested, why not? At least it would be a proper military training and not some Wild West craziness."

Her face was pressed into his arm, rubbing her forehead on his shoulder.

"Well, only if they express more than a passing interest in it. I don't want to force it on them. They have enough to do, what with the wedding and then the carol competition and then preparing the house for Christmas... And my family probably descending on us at some point, you know. Not to mention school. I don't want them to lose valuable 'together' time to some activity they are not going to enjoy."

"Absolutely agree" he inhaled the scent of her hair. "I will call him tomorrow anyway, so I can ask for the lessons, just as a preparation if they do decide they want to do it."

"I wish..." she paused and shook her head. "I wish I had some idea what to do that would involve both of them equally. Twins, not clones, yes. But it seems I automatically gravitate towards doing things with Mina, just like we used to, and you do more with Rose, like things around the stables, because that's what you two do."

He moved behind her and pulled her closer.

"I will think about it" he promised. "I mean, we can definitely get them involved in planning of the new house. Mina had some input already, but now we all have to add our parts, or someone will be left unhappy. And I want this to be the exact house we want to have, instead of just a house we have to live in due to lack of choices."

"Ah. Indeed. Well, they did mention they were planning to ask you for a sauna room..." she stretched a bit and relaxed again, melding herself closer to his body. "And I can kind of see how nice it would be to have one..."

"My little hedonist."

"Well, you are trying to spoil me rotten. I dare say I should go outside and do some gardening just to remind myself that hard work still exists" she felt him grow still, his hands tight around her waist. "Or wash some windows, you know. Or maybe scrub some old dusty pans... Just to get in touch with reality."

"No way" he mumbled into the back of her neck. "You are not going anywhere, no heavy lifting, no... no dirty farm work, no scrubbing any pans. You are a lovely, creative and intellectual person and I thing we have enough money to pay for someone else to do the dirty stuff for us."

"You are going to be absolutely overblown and protective about me doing anything more strenuous than picking up a piece of fabric, right? And I'm not even..."

His warm huff of breath landed exactly in the right spot to make her shiver a bit.

"Yes. Absolutely. But now I'd much rather end this discussion and show you what kind of physical activity I hope to focus on in the coming days."

She rolled her eyes and groaned in embarrassment.

"We have to work on your pun skills, Mr Darcy."

####

Sunday morning was unreasonably warm. Elizabeth checked the thermometer twice before leaving the house, but it seemed to be telling the truth. Almost end of October and it was still rather nice outside. Her slacks and light jacket were quite sufficient for a walk. Thin sunlight coming through the clouds was not harsh enough to cause much pain, but she put on her glasses anyway, just as a preventative measure.

Two weeks. In two weeks she would be married, she would be Mrs Darcy, she would be... She would be, in a way, leaving Elizabeth Bennet behind.

On one hand, it sounded freaky. Like some kind of embezzlement scheme, stolen identity or maybe a con job.

On the other... She didn't really find being a Bennet all that funny. Jane had changed her name after marriage, despite all the diplomas she had collected with her maiden name. Kitty did the same. Mary didn't, only because changing one's name legally without getting married seemed too much of a hassle. Fortunately for her, she never moved, academically, in the same society as their father did, so she was free of the association with him. Also, he barely acknowledged her work anyway, so why should she bother.

Why does a woman always have to belong to someone? she thought rebelliously. I discard 'Bennet' because that is the connection to dad that I want to lose, but I have to accept something else, in this case 'Darcy', because I go from my father to my husband. It is most thoroughly vexing!

Of course she wanted to be a Darcy, but sometimes, just sometimes, she wished she could take an artistic pseudonym and stick with it in her daily life.

One thing for sure - whatever she did, her parents would have no say in her life anymore. They already didn't, but sometimes they seemed to ignore the fact that she was a legal adult with a kid (two kids!) and a degree and reasonable career.

Yeah. Elizabeth Darcy.

"Elizabeth Darcy" she tried it out, softly. "Elizabeth Bennet-Darcy? No. Elizabeth Darcy, definitely. Lizzy Darcy. Lizbeth Darcy. No, Lizbeth is just Lizbeth..."

An animal burrowing in the hedgerow and shaking the bushes drew her attention away from her musings and she smiled to herself.

"Elizabeth Darcy. Yep. That sounds quite right."

So? :) Any comments about Teddy? The choice of songs? :)