Lizzieanne16 in her story Mischief Managed wrote that her story came about because she was waiting for a Christmas story on here. So I decided to write a quick short story in time for the season.
The characters are from my first fanfic, a modern HEA Lizzy and Darcy in Sydney.
For those of you who've read the entire draft, this is their first Christmas together after the twins were born. :-)
But this should be generic enough as a stand-alone.
Merry Christmas everyone!
It was Christmas Eve during the Sydney summer and Lizzy was exhausted. She had spent the entire week organising Christmas Eve dinner. They were going to spend the following day, Christmas lunch, at her parents' place as part of the Bennet family tradition.
While the Bennets - and Darcys - were not of the religious bent, they thought they'd venture into the city and attend the Christmas Eve mass at the cathedral, this being the first year with the twins and all that. Not that she thought the twins would last long and keep quiet during the mass, but Fanny assured her that children and babies were welcome and there were many hands to help them if they got fidgety.
Darcy had done the paternally noble thing and he, James, and the two six-month old twins Anne and Liam were spending most of the day at Balmoral Beach. Darcy reasoned Lizzy needed some me time.
Georgie had also decided to return to Sydney for the Christmas-New Year break and brought her boyfriend-travelling companion Wayne with her.
As promised, the first floor of their five-storey Federation home was for Georgie's use and she and Wayne were SUPping around the quieter bays of the harbour. They were going to join them for the Bennet family Christmas lunch. Afterwards, Georgie and Wayne were going to decamp to the original Darcy harbourside home at Hunters Hill for some privacy and stay there for the rest of the summer before flying to their next destination.
Darcy had also announced - just a few days ago - that two of his American uni mates were doing the Sydney to Hobart yacht race to be held on Boxing Day. They had arrived the day before and now, their magnificent racing sloop was currently moored at the bottom of their place; tied to their jetty. Their sloop was otherwise berthed in some Pacific or Atlantic port, depending on their sailing inclinations that year.
In preparation for the race, his mates had sailed from French Polynesia, Fiji, New Caledonia, then to Coffs Harbour, and now to Sydney just in time for the event. His mates had already done the Newport to Bermuda race and were keen to add this bluewater classic to their belt.
"You're not seriously thinking of joining them...are you?" Queried Lizzy when she first heard of his request to invite them for dinner.
He reddened and said, "Of course not."
Lizzy laughed. She knew him so well. Of course he wanted to. It was the macho, man vs wild oceanic Bear Grylls thing to do and she knew he wanted to do the race again.
Unfortunately, his American mates - Manhattan lawyers on sabbatical, Chris and Bill, doing the South Pacific thing this year - had not given him enough time nor notice to prepare.
They had decided to do the Sydney to Hobart on a whim. Hence, the late notice. They had a nice and idyllic sojourn around the Pacific, and their time at Bora Bora gave them a que sera sera outlook on life. Nevertheless, they had a competitive streak so they decided to venture south-west to Sydney as a good excuse to catch up with Darcy.
Their boat was called, unoriginally for a pair of lawyers, Carpe Diem.
While Lizzy knew Darcy would be a willing member of the crew, his fatherly duties were too strong a hold. Somewhere in the back of Darcy's mind, he harboured fantasies of being swept away and spending a week on a Furneaux Group island awaiting rescue. That, or he was willing to do the Hobart to Sydney return leg which would take a week or so.
Doing the Sydney to Hobart leisurely could easily take a fortnight or so. Especially if one wasn't in a hurry. Lizzy knew he wanted more leisure and pleasure if he could only find the time for them.
Chris and Bill were also planning to sail to New Zealand after Hobart, and maybe after a circumnavigation of Tasmania. So they weren't going to see the Darcys in the new year. They'll have to wait and see.
Furthermore, after their Gauguin-like sojourn, Chris and Bill were in no hurry to return to the northern winter. Nothing like throwing away the shackles of modern bourgeois life and living on a Pacific island. The dilemma was which one to choose from: English or French speakers, big or small. There was still time for all those choices that only the asset-rich, time-poor, privileged and adventurous set had at their disposal.
There were also Annapolis alumni hanging around the harbour, and Chris and Bill speculated that they might see their fellow Americans at the finish line in Hobart. The Derwent could be a good place to find crew members for the Fastnet race as well. From Chris and Bill's point of view, Darcy also had a standing invitation to join them for any northern hemisphere race if he ever decided to cross the equator again.
Darcy had a pied-a-terre at Cowes which he had not used for ages. He crewed in his 20s so Cowes and Fastnet were familiar grounds. Not so Newport to Bermuda. He kept taking a rain check with Chris and Bill. One day...
"When the twins are older, we'll put them into Sea Scouts, ok?" She suggested.
Darcy shrugged. Sure he'd miss spending time and catching up with Chris and Bill but it was the twins' first Christmas and he wouldn't miss it for the world.
Priorities.
He was a father now. Then he thought he'd train James for the yacht race during the summer and take their small skiff out on the harbour instead of the Riva.
Must re-join a yacht club, Darcy thought. Then maybe do the Sydney to San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle run. Archipelago hopping across the Pacific. Then the Transpac to Hawaii on the return. That would be a six-month journey. Or even a year's adventure. Must time it during the biennial race. Hmmm, Darcy thought, the sailing cogs turning ever so quickly in his head. This could be quite an exciting prospect. Must ask Lizzy how her sea legs are.
As for Lizzy, for the first time in a long time, she had the house all to her self. Chris and Bill had taken their rubber duckie for a re-supply but they would join them for mass and dinner later. They were also hardened sailors and refused to go back on land to sleep and declined Lizzy's offer of ensuites in the house. They had plenty of time for all that landlubbering when they returned to their claustrophobic jungle metropolis. The call of the wild seas was too strong for the two Americans.
For Lizzy, the quiet solitude was bliss. It was serenity.
People started streaming back to the house mid-afternoon, ending Lizzy's solitude.
Firstly, Darcy and the kids returned. He had tanned and he had that attractive relaxed beach bum look. He was carrying one twin in a front pack papoose and the other on his back. She smiled wickedly at him. He returned her come hither look with a sigh.
Before the twins, they shagged a lot whenever and wherever the opportunity arose. But those opportunities were increasingly rare now with the twins and with the general exhaustion he felt as a new parent.
He oscillated between looking after them as if they were fragile pieces of glass, and wearing ear muffs with frustration when they cried incessantly and Lizzy was not around to console them.
His furrowed wrinkles and increasing grey hairs were now a permanent fixture. These, he attributed to the twins. Lizzy thought he was ageing like fine wine.
However, things were getting better with the Darcy babies. The twins were now displaying some of their personalities. Even James had returned from his grandparents' place after his departure earlier that year. James couldn't handle the incessant crying of the twins in the house and the zombie like atmosphere of the first couple of months after the twins' birth.
They were a family unit again and Lizzy was pleased. She had her eldest back and he was helping them both with the twins. He was filling in the role of a caring older brother.
"Any snacks mum?" James asked by way of greeting. He was a bottomless pit when it came to food.
She pointed to the buffet table where she had already prepared some healthy options of cheese, jamon, biscuits, grapes, cherries, strawberries, mangoes, nuts, carrots, dips and the like. But she decided to prepare for more before he demolished them all and leave nothing for the rest.
After removing the twins from his person and placing them in a playpen so they can improve their tortoise like crawl, Darcy went over to Lizzy and gave her a hug and kissed her tiredly.
"That good?" She asked her husband.
Darcy nodded, "The twins behaved well for the first hour but then they got cranky, so I took them for a bit of a drive before returning to the beach."
"I love you," she said. He was a good father. A bit over-cautious and protective with the twins, but perfect for her as her husband and partner. He was thoughtful, kind and caring. Such a contrast to her first impressions of him.
"I love you too," he smiled back. The skin around his eyes wrinkling with a combination of joy and tiredness.
He gave her a quick bear hug before helping her with more food preparation. They were going to be a big party tonight. He looked out from one of the kitchen windows overlooking the bay and saw Georgie and Wayne were pulling up to the beach at the bottom of their garden with their SUP boards.
"Aunt Georgie's back!" Exclaimed James as he also noticed the couple, and he quickly went down and out to join her and Wayne. Since returning to Sydney, she and James helped set up the Christmas decorations and lights around the house, and they both practised their duets with a medley of carols on her new piano, and he on his violin.
Darcy smiled. This time of the year brought his family and friends together. He was glad Georgie had returned to Sydney to spend the twins' first Christmas with them. It helped that Christmas in Sydney was summer as she hated the cold. Georgie was ever the peripatetic aunt but whenever she was around the twins, she was the best aunt they could ever have.
Darcy was also pleased that Wayne was good to her and they complemented each other. Not that he'd ever pressure Wayne or Georgie to make their relationship more formal. But the fact that she was now in a stable relationship made him feel less guilty over what had happened to her.
And that she was now, he hoped, had recovered sufficiently from her trauma to live life again as it should be lived. With happiness, instead of darkness.
Darcy also noticed further movement along the waterfront. It was Chris and Bill. They had pulled up to the jetty and they were carrying six packs and bottles of champagne with them.
It was going to be a long night, he thought, but not as long as that awful Hogmanay with Hamish from a couple of years ago.
The door bell rang and Lizzy went over to answer it - it was her parents and her three younger siblings. Jane and Bingley were going to meet up with them at the cathedral instead of crossing the bridge.
The noise levels racketed up, the twins started making their presence known, and soon it was time to go.
The Darcys, Bennets and friends made their way to the cathedral. Out went Darcy's Jag replaced by a people mover. Darcy, Lizzy, James, the twins, Chris and Bill were in the people mover. John Bennet drove his family sedan with Fanny, Mary, Kate and Lydia. While Georgie drove Darcy's Jag with Wayne. They were a merry party and soon met up with Jane, Bingley, Charles Junior and baby Charlotte.
The Christmas Eve mass at the cathedral had the full orchestral choir and they were performing Bach's Magnificat.
The party occupied two pews. The babies were all next to each other but as their wont, when one was displeased, the rest enthusiastically joined. A lot of to-ing and fro-ing happened with, finally, Bingley and Darcy having the honours of babysitting the little creatures outside in the cathedral plaza in the balmy Sydney evening.
It could have been worse, Darcy thought. They could have faced the entire censure of the congregation had they not anticipated the noise and incessant wailing of their progeny.
"We should form a fathers' group," Bingley suggested.
"You think?" Darcy said derisively.
His mates Chris and Bill couldn't believe how much Darcy had been domesticated since they last saw him in New York. They both grinned. Fatherhood had changed Darcy for the better.
After the mass and the carolling, they all journeyed back to the Darcys' place except for the Bingleys. They were going to see them tomorrow for Christmas lunch at the Bennets.
Christmas Eve dinner was a feast of seafood, ham, and all other sorts of protein including the novelty kangaroo and emu meat for their American guests.
"There are very few countries in the world where one can eat the nation's coat of arms," Darcy pointed out.
"Too true. I don't fancy eating the bald eagle," responded Bill.
"Tastes like chicken," said Chris.
"No, that's the crocodile," corrected Lizzy.
Then she wondered, maybe Chris meant eating and tasting the eagle - but surely that's illegal? Like ortolans?
"Here, have a Sydney rock oyster," offered Lydia to Chris.
"I like mine with vodka in a shot glass," piped up Fanny.
John groaned.
Georgie and Wayne just smiled. It was good to be back in Sydney with Georgie's laidback family and the convivial atmosphere of togetherness.
After the Christmas Eve feast and much imbibing with his mates, Darcy and Lizzy staggered back to their suite. Chris and Bill wanted to be alcohol-free tomorrow as the race was the following day. Fanny and John decided they'd look after the twins and rocked them both to sleep before they left to return to Longbourn.
"It's been a good day," said Lizzy.
"Yes, it has," and he kissed her softly and tenderly. He had his woman and life was infinitely so much better.
Their bedroom clock ticked over to midnight.
"Merry Christmas, my beloved," smiled Lizzy.
"Happy Christmas, the love of my life," responded Darcy.
And the two lovers enjoyed their moment of contentment, respite and happiness in each other's arms.
THE END
Merry Christmas everyone! Buon Natale! Feliz Navidad! Frohliche Weinachten! Joyeux Noel!