A/N: I definitely do not own Pride and Prejudice. I do love reviewers. And I'm sorry about how long this took to write; I was out of town from July 28 until August 18.

Chapter Seven: Can't Take It in

Lizzie's POV

"You need to get away from here," Jane told me one day late in January. "All you've done since Damien left is sit around and mope. You work all day and then come home and mope all day. You've got to get out there and do something; you need a vacation."

"Jane, I'm a teacher. I don't have any vacation time until Easter. I mean I have a couple long weekends here and there, but I don't have any real time off until April. I don't really have a problem with going on a vacation, but it has to wait until Easter."

"Then go visit Charlotte for Easter," my sister retorted. "I'm sure she'll be settled into her apartment by then and I bet she'd love to have you visit."

"She did email me and tell me that I could visit whenever I wanted," I said. "And it would be fun to go visit her. I haven't been to New York since I was thirteen."

"You two could go see a show and you could enjoy the city. You could do some serious shopping and you know you love shopping."

I smiled. Every summer I went to visit my Uncle Edward and his family in Chicago. My aunt Sophie loves shopping and she was always willing to take me shopping with her. At Christmas, she'd invited me to visit them for a month over the summer. We might go away for a week or so, but they weren't sure yet. "A week in New York with Char would be really relaxing. I should call her and ask her if I can come visit her."

Of course, Char was glad to let me come visit her for a week. When I called her to ask if I could come visit Easter week, she was glad to have me come. I was planning to fly to New York City on Good Friday morning and fly home eight days later. Eight days away from my psycho mother and sisters, plus I'd get to spend them with Char. My best friend had suddenly moved to New York right after Ethan proposed to her during the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. She had found a job as a graphic designer shortly after they moved. They'd moved after Ethan's boss transferred him to New York City. It had been sudden, but they seemed to be adjusting well.

"Ethan and I would love to have you visit us," she enthused over the phone. "He's so busy with work he has a hard time making friends and it would be good for him to see a familiar face. He has a hard time socializing with people from work because most of the people he works with are older than him and have families. They commute from Jersey and they're always busy with their families. Now maybe if we had a couple kids, the guys and their families might be more interested socializing with us."

"I'm sorry, sweetie. But aren't you meeting people at work?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "But Ethan isn't interested in hanging out with 'artsy weirdoes.'"

"Just tell him that the artsy weirdoes think that he's a business freak and they don't want to hang out with him."

She laughed. "But I want to have friends; I hang out with Ethan some nights and other times I hang out with people from work. I'd like to hang out with Ethan and some of my friends, in a group."

I sighed. "Oh Charlotte, I'm sorry. I promise I'll hang out with you as much as possible the whole week I'm in town. We'll do whatever you want to do and it'll be grand."

"Will you stay up late and watch North and South with me one night?" she asked.

I leaned back into the couch and smiled to myself. "I'd love to watch that, but only if you'll watch Beauty and the Beast with me."

She laughed. "You're in love with the Beast, aren't you?"

"Umm, have you seen his library?"

"Yes but have you seen the man he transforms into? He's the worst looking of all the Disney princes. If you're looking for someone you can spend your life with, look at Aladdin. Now that is one fabulous prince."

"But he lied to Jasmine about who he really was!" I protested. "I'd much prefer someone who is honest about his identity."

"So which Disney prince do you want to marry?"

"The Beast," I told her. "And if I can't marry him, I'll marry John Thornton from North and South."

She laughed. "You have Mr. Thornton. I'd rather have Gilbert Blythe or Teddy Laurence."

"Oh, I'll fight you for Gilbert Blythe and Teddy Laurence. You can have John Brooke or the Professor."

"You're weird," she replied.

Jane had invited Charlie and Will over for dinner the Saturday before Valentine's Day. Will had come up for the weekend and I think he and Jane were trying to set me up with him. I had been asked to make dinner but this time was going to be slightly less formal than the last. For one thing, it would just be the four of us; Mary was working late again. Jane was hoping the four of us could find a movie to watch after dinner. She was probably depending upon my amazing movie collection to help her in this endeavor. While she cataloged our movie collection, I was the one who built it. As a freshman in college, I started buying classic movies and other movies that I loved until by the age of twenty-four, I owned over a hundred movies.

"I wonder if they'll watch The Philadelphia Story with us," Jane asked me while I was making dinner. We were in the kitchen listening to the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack; that's pretty much my cooking soundtrack.

I smiled her. "I'm not sure we can convince them that it's not a chick flick. I know it's not but most people don't. Plus, the only reason you want to watch it is because of Jimmy Stewart. Now personally I have higher concerns, such as Cary Grant. He's pretty darn amazing. It would be cooler if it was Gregory Peck playing C.K. Dexter Haven, but I can live with Grant."

"I really don't see why you prefer Gregory Peck to Cary Grant. British accents are just so amazing."

"Oh, I agree, but don't you remember Roman Holiday?" I asked. "His face, his eyes, he was such a sweetheart. He was so respectful of her."

"Yes, but what about the scene when Tracy and Mike are drunk in The Philadelphia Story? That scene is both hysterically funny and beauteous because of the man."

I grinned. "That's an amazing scene. People really do not understand that James Stewart really is God's gift to women."

Just then the doorbell rang and Jane ran to answer it. I could hear her soft steady voice welcoming Will and Charlie into the house and offering to take their coats. I was reminded of Char's comment that if Jane wanted to keep Charlie, she would make sure he knew how she felt about him. I'd rejected the idea at the time saying that I knew Jane's feelings and Charlie was an idiot if he didn't. I still persevered in that belief but maybe she shouldn't talk to him in such soft, mild tones. She ought to show some sort of affection at some point in time. Of course maybe Will's imposing presence might be intimidating her and making her shy.

The two guys walked into the kitchen and I turned to greet them. Charlie was wearing blue jeans and a burgundy button-down shirt over a black undershirt. Will was wearing blue jeans and a light blue button-down shirt. I had to admit he looked really nice. Okay so Will Darcy was a good-looking guy but he was so snobbish. And after everything he'd done to Damien, I couldn't look at him in a good light. He was such a proud, unfeeling man; I could never enjoy his company or form any sort of attachment on him. The only emotion I could ever feel towards him was detestation.

"It's great to see you, Lizzie," Charlie enthused. "I feel like I haven't seen you in ages."

I smiled. "It's been a couple weeks. I'm a lot busier this semester than I was last semester. I'm not sure why but I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that this is the first year I've taught AP Spanish and the AP test is about two and a half months away so I really have to start prepping my students for that."

"Sounds stressful," he said. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have other people helping me with the Netherfield and with my publishing company."

Will smirked. "Both of them would fail miserably. You have a good head for business and financial stuff, but when it comes to practical everyday mundane stuff, you're useless."

"Oh and I suppose you're brilliantly talented at everything you attempt," I retorted harshly, even though he wasn't even talking to me.

"Oh no," he replied. "I have faults and plenty of them. For example, my good opinion of a person once lost is lost forever."

"So basically you judge books by their covers," I replied.

"No, not at all, but once someone loses my respect, they have lost it forever. I do wait until I actually feel that I know a person before I determine my opinion of them." As he said this, he gave me a very pointed look and shook his head. I took this to mean that that the conversation was over and he was done with me. In my opinion, he was far too judgmental of others. He was nowhere near perfect and yet when others lost his respect, he stopped respecting them forever. That just struck me as ridiculous. Opinions of people needed to be based on time and thoughtful consideration. I never make rash judgments about people's personalities.

By the time we sat down at the dinner table, I was pretty much convinced I never wanted to speak to Will and I might not even want to see him ever again. He was arrogant, conceited, and totally fixated on his own needs and wants. His little sister called him and he immediately ran out of the room to talk to her. What could his sister be calling about that would be so much more important than spending time with his best friend, Charlie's girlfriend and me? From what I heard, he was about ten years older than his silly little sister. And Caroline Bingley had told me that Georgiana Darcy was a little bit of a slut. Damien had told me she was a slut and even more self-centered than her brother. He had once enjoyed her company but now he thought she was a spoiled brat who needed to be slapped.

Darcy's POV

Charlie and I had gone over to Lizzie and Jane's condo for dinner the weekend before Valentine's Day. I was visiting Charlie due to stress and a need to get away from my aunt Catherine. My aunt wanted me to focus more on the law firm and less on the hotel chain while I either wanted to leave the law firm and strike out on my own or just work with Pemberley. My aunt was driving me nuts but I couldn't leave her. She was my mother's sister. And I felt a strong loyalty to family. Yes, she made my life miserable but she was still my aunt. She was one of the few connections I had to my beloved mother. I was also very close to my cousins, George and Richard, and their parents, but George and their parents lived in Seattle.

Rick's wife, Evelyn, had called me on Georgie's cell phone to let me know that my little sister had gone into premature labor. I knew I had to get back to Chicago as soon as possible. My baby sister was having her first baby and I needed to be there. "Will, you have to come home. Your sister needs you," Evelyn told me. "She doesn't have her mother or any sisters and Aunt Catherine isn't exactly the most feminine, consoling presence."

"I'll talk to Charlie and see what he says," I told her. "I want to be there when my niece is born. I just need to figure out how and when I can fly back."

"You've got a few hours," she reassured me. "The doctor says she probably won't deliver for at least another six or seven hours, possibly close to ten or eleven."

"Well, we'll hope it's for more time so I can be there when the baby comes." I sighed. Charlie was not going to want to leave Jane now, even I was pretty sure she didn't feel nearly as strongly about him as he did about her. She seemed pretty restrained around him. At times, I thought maybe that was just the way she was around everyone, but I couldn't be sure. I'd seen her around town with her sisters and friends a couple times, and she seemed to be much more outgoing when she was away from Charlie than she was around him.

"Just let me talk to Charlie," I told her. "And I'll call you back as soon as I know what the plan is. So tell Georgie I'm rooting for her, I love her, and I'll be there very soon."

"Great," she replied. "I hope we see you soon."

"So do I," I said before hanging up and heading back into the dining room. I sat down next to Charlie and grimaced. "Look, I hate to tell you guys this, but I really have to take off now. That wasn't my sister who called; it was my cousin's wife calling to tell me that my sister is in the hospital right now and she needs me to be with her. So if someone could drive me back to Charlie's place, so I can get to the airport and get home."

"Georgie's in the hospital?" Charlie squeaked. "I'm going back to Chicago with you."

"Will she be all right?" Jane asked. Concern was pervading her face while her sister was looking at me like I'd probably made up the whole thing about my sister being sick. Of course who knew what lies Damien Wickham told her about my sister? He'd probably told her that Georgie was a drunk, easy slut. Or maybe he told her that she was an uptight bitch. I'd heard him say both things about her. I think he just liked to lie about her so as to make himself look and feel better. He really cared a lot about how other people perceived him; he was such a fraud.

Twelve hours later, I was standing in my sister's hospital room holding my newborn niece. Charlie and I had driven back to his house, packed up our things quickly, and flown home. We'd managed to arrive at the hospital four hours before my niece was born. And she was gorgeous. She had dark brown hair, and a lot of it too. She had big brown eyes and long gorgeous lashes. She was small, but that was to be expected considering that she was born three weeks early. And her name was Emily Anne Darcy.

A/N: I know it's short and I know it took forever to get up, but I'm trying. I've been really busy. I just hope you guys enjoy it and review it.