A/N: I don't own Pride and Prejudice although there are numerous characters scattered throughout this story that I do own. And now, here it is: the chapter that you've all been waiting for so anxiously. It's also one of the last chapters of this story. I'll probably do a couple "moments in time" chapters after this and then wrap the story up.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: When You Say You Love Me

Lizzie's POV

"And the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate."

-Mark 10:8-9

Christopher and Marybeth Bennett request the pleasure of your presence at the wedding of their daughter,

Elizabeth Anne

To

William Richard Darcy

At one o'clock on the afternoon of

Saturday, June 26, 2010

At St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church

In Meryton, Michigan.

The favor of a response is requested by May 30, 2010.

The morning of June 26, 2010 dawned cool and breezy. I woke up around seven-fifteen and after waking Jenny up, I jumped in the shower. We needed to be at the hair salon at nine-forty-five and then we were getting our make-up done at eleven-fifteen. My goal was to be at the church by noon so we could eat and get dressed. The wedding was scheduled for one o'clock. I was hoping it would start on time but you never knew. Jane's wedding started fifteen minutes late. Alex and Hannah's wedding had barely started on time. Char and Ethan's wedding had started twenty-five minutes late. I wanted my wedding to start on time. And I was pretty sure Will would agree with me. He has to be one of the most punctual people I know. I think that's a result of working in business and being a lawyer.

We made it to the hair salon on time and things seemed to be going really well. Jane wasn't feeling very well but that was to be expected as par for the course of being two months pregnant. Char had left Jackson with her mother to maker her life simpler although she was venting frustration over that the fact that she couldn't leave him alone with Ethan the way Becca could leave Mary with Steve. I felt bad for Char, but I also knew that Ethan and Steve had very different parenting styles. Ethan was nowhere near as hands-on as Steve is. Steve just loves to spend time with his daughter. Ethan, on the other hand, liked his son but he wasn't as comfortable holding the chubby ten-month-old lad. The night before I'd watched Steve with Mary and I knew that he was an amazing father. He was just a natural with children.

But I digress; my hair was beautiful. I had my mom's friend, Kathleen, do my hair for the wedding. She'd also done Jane's hair for her wedding as well as our hair for numerous occasions like prom when we were younger. She did our hair for Becca's wedding and she was going to do the hair for Jenny's wedding as well. Kathleen straightened my hair and pinned it up in a French twist with little pearl pins holding my hair and curls overflowing at the top. With this, she paired a pearl headband to watch the pearl earrings and necklace I was wearing that day.

My bridesmaids were all wearing different hairstyles. Jane was wearing her light brown hair loose in simple curls. Becca's hair was held back by a simple pearl barrette while her dark brown curls cascaded over her shoulders. Char had her hair in a bun with pins that matched the jewelry she was wearing that day. Hannah and Jenny both had their hair in simple French twists minus all the cascading curls in mine. It was almost the same style as my hair but much more simple. Gianna was wearing her hair in almost the same style as Becca but she was using two barrettes instead of just one. My bridesmaids looked amazing.

After getting our hair done, we headed over to Becca and Steve's house where Becca's sisters, Ava and Sarah, were going to be doing our make-up. I just wanted us all to have simple, natural looks. I wanted to look like myself on my wedding day. Will was marrying me, not some doll, and I wanted him to see the woman he was marrying. I wanted to look like a human being. And the good thing about having Ava and Sarah do our make-up was that it was free and they were good about helping us get to the church on time. We got to St. Thomas about five minutes past noon. I could tell by the cars in the parking lot that the guys were already there but that was to be expected. They didn't need to have their hair and make-up done.

St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in Meryton, Michigan is about one hundred years old. The church was built when Meryton was a small farming community. There were no hotels or resorts there then. It was just a small farming community of German and Irish farmers who were sick of trying to make it to Traverse City for Mass every Sunday especially in the winter. So in the early 1900s, they got a priest and every week, Fr. McDonough said Mass in the Logan family's barn. In 1920, Alexander Bennett moved to Meryton from Chicago and opened the Longbourn Hotel. Along with being wealthy, Alexander and his wife, Elizabeth, were also devoutly Catholic and the parents of seven children, including a son named Timothy. Alexander and Elizabeth worked heroically alongside people like Stephen Logan, Nathaniel Gardiner, and Patrick Fleming to build a real church in which the Catholics in Meryton and the surrounding farm communities could worship.

In September of 1925, Fr. Daniel O'Reilly celebrated Mass in St. Thomas the Apostle's new church for the first time. Three weeks later, he performed the wedding of Timothy Alexander Bennett and Mary Priscilla Logan. Timothy and Mary are my great-grandparents and Mary is also Steve Logan's great-great-great-aunt; her brother Nicholas is Steve's grandfather. Two years later, Fr. Daniel baptized Benjamin and Mary's first-born son, Alan Timothy Bennett. Twenty-seven years after that, in 1954, Alan Bennett married Elinor Jane Gilbert in a ceremony performed by Elinor's oldest brother, Fr. Richard Gilbert. In late November of 1956, Fr. Patrick Evans baptized Christopher Alan Bennett, the first baby Fr. Patrick baptized after his ordination the previous June. Five and a half years later, Fr. Evans baptized Marybeth Louise Gardiner, the second of Peter and Louise Gardiner's three children. In August of 1967, Fr. Thomas Mulroney buried Alexander Bennett and then did the same for Elizabeth three months later.

Then in August of 1980, Fr. Roger McClintock celebrated the marriage of Christopher Alan Bennett, manager of Longbourn Estates, to Marybeth Louise Gardiner, recent graduate of Meryton High School. In February of 1982, shortly before Lent began, Fr. Roger baptized Christopher and Marybeth's first child, Jane Priscilla. In September of 1983, he baptized what he would later refer to as "the louder screamer in the history of St. Thomas." Apparently, all I did from the minute water touched my two-month-old body was scream bloody murder and I didn't stop until I was safely back in my mother's arms and warmly dressed. Mary, Katie, and Lydia were also baptized at St. Thomas. We all received our First Communion there. We were confirmed there. All three of my deceased grandparents were buried from St. Tom's. St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church on Main Street in Meryton, Michigan isn't the most beautiful church in the world, or even in Michigan. But it's where every important major event in the Bennett family has taken place since my great-great grandfather Alexander Bennett moved to Meryton in 1920. And my mother's family has been involved in the St. Thomas since Day One. When people talk about having a home parish, St. Thomas was mine. And on Saturday, June 26, 2010, I was going to marry William Richard Darcy in the parish that had seen the marriages and baptisms and funerals of more Bennetts and Gardiners than I could count.

I was dressed and ready to go by 12:45. Becca laughed at me as I paced the old tile floor of the bride's room. "Can I just marry him already?" I asked her. "Were you this nervous and excited and scared when you married Steve?"

She hugged me and adjusted my veil slightly. "I was terrified," she replied. "But look at me now. I've been married for almost two years, I have the most amazing husband ever, and I have the most beautiful baby daughter ever born."

"You can do it, sweetheart," my mother told me. "He's a wonderful man even if I don't understand him."

I looked at my mom. I didn't completely understand her, but she was coming around about Will. She was starting to understand that Damien wasn't the prince she had believed him to be and there might be some good to Will Darcy. She invited him over for dinner a few times and even bothered to learn what some of his favorite dishes were. Mom was starting to make an effort to like Will and to learn about the things he did with his life. And I was starting to learn about my mother. I remember being a teenager who couldn't understand why anyone would want to get married at the age of eighteen and spend the rest of her life just being someone's wife and a mother. And while I still don't understand why she got married at the age of eighteen, I'm pretty sure love had something to do with it. I may not know why she chose to forgo college and all the opportunities that were available there, but she has been a good mother. Maybe that was just what she was supposed to do with her life.

And while my mom had made some really, no make that incredibly, stupid parenting decisions, especially regarding raising Katie and Lydia but she is a good woman at heart. She is ditzy and flighty but she loves her family and she really does love my dad. I've had a hard time coming to terms with a lot of things about her but the thing that I realized is that at least Mary is in therapy now and Katie is studying nursing at Michigan State University. She'll be done in about two years but she's happier now than she's ever been before. It's weird but Lydia and Damien's marriage and subsequent divorce did wonders for our family. The divorce helped Mom realize that Damien wasn't the saint that she'd imagined him to be and that Will, my Will, wasn't the devil she believed him to be. The whole process had brought a sense of gravity and reality to Katie's life and had helped give her direction for her life.

At 12:55, my aunt Sophie and my aunt Grace came into the bride's room. "Everything is ready to go," Aunt Grace said. "The men are all lined up in the narthex. So we need the flower girl and the bridesmaids."

"And the mother of the bride," Aunt Sophie added, as she took Elana by the hand to lead her out into the narthex to meet up with the ring-bearer, Connor Fitzwilliam. Before leaving, she kissed my cheek. "You look absolutely resplendent, Elizabeth. I just hope William understands how lucky he is."

I hugged my aunt. Over her shoulder, I saw tears sparkling in the corners of my mother's eyes and I smiled at her. After hugging Elana, my mom, and each of my bridesmaids, I was left alone in the bride's room with Aunt Grace. She smiled at me. "Sophie is right," she said. "You look amazing. Jane looked radiant on her wedding day but you look positively glowing. You are an amazingly gorgeous young woman, Elizabeth."

A minute later, Evelyn came into the room to tell us that Will had started walking down the aisle and the three of us walked out into the narthex where my father stood waiting for me. He kissed me on the cheek and sighed. "Elizabeth Anne, you've grown up far too quickly. But I love you and I am so proud of you."

We stepped inside the church and I watched as Gianna and Kyle walked down the aisle to the sounds of Pie Jesu. Then Char and Jake followed them. Next went Hannah and Greg, and then Becca and Jonathan. I took a deep breath as I watched Rick and Jenny walk down the aisle. Then Jane and Charlie walked down the aisle. And then Elana and Connor made their way down the aisle as Pie Jesu ended. As the pianist began playing Pachelbel's Canon in D and the choir started singing the words of the first two verses of Psalm 103, I looked up over the altar to see the familiar Latin words there that translated to "This is nothing else but the house of God and the gateway to heaven" from Genesis 28:17. Then as my father and I started walking down the aisle, I looked at William Darcy; I bit my lip as I smiled with delight. He looked so happy and so eager; and we were getting married. We were going to be husband and wife. When we reached the end of the aisle where Will and Fr. Bob were waiting for us, my dad kissed my cheek and gave Will my right hand. "Be good to her," he said and then went to sit next to my mother in the next row of pews.

Will's POV

After Mr. Bennett gave me Lizzie's hand, Fr. Bob began the Mass. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the sight of God to witness the joining of this man and this woman. This is a sacred contract, not to be entered into lightly. Who gives this woman to be married?"

Mr. Bennett stepped forward. "Her mother and I do."

The Mass then continued as it normally does. The readings were about marriage and family. Lizzie and I wanted the Mass to focus on the ways that God has blessed the ideas of marriage and family. After the Gospel, which was the wedding at Cana, it was finally time for the exchange of vows. As I took Elizabeth's hands in mine, I looked at her. She was so beautiful. She was wearing a simple strapless white dress that hit the floor delicately. There was pearl beading on the neckline, waist, and the hem. She was wearing a strand of pearls with matching earrings and a bracelet that her grandmother Gardiner, her only living grandparent, had given her the night before. They were the pieces that her grandmother had worn at her wedding over fifty years earlier. She had a simple pearl headband in her hair and her veil was flowing out of the twist her hair was in. She looked beautiful and I couldn't stop smiling; we were getting married.

"William, repeat after me," the priest said. "I, William Richard, take you, Elizabeth Anne."

"I, William Richard, take you, Elizabeth Anne," I said, watching as one lone diamond of a tear slid down my beloved's face.

"To be my lawfully wedded wife," Fr. Bob prompted.

"To be my lawfully

"For richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sickness and in health forsaking all others and clinging only to you from this day forth until death do us part,for as long as we both shall live," the priest prompted.

I repeated the words to Lizzie and squeezed her hand with a smile that grew when her smile just lit up her face. Then it was her turn to promise forever to me. "I, Elizabeth Anne, take you, William Richard, to be my lawfully wedded husband for richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sickness and in health forsaking all others and clinging only to you from this day forth until death do us part, for as long as we both shall live," she said as Fr. Bob prompted her along. Over her shoulder, I could see her mother crying and her aunt Sophie and her aunt Grace were both dabbing at tears.

Then Charlie handed me the slender white gold band that matched Lizzie's engagement ring. "I, William Richard, give you, Elizabeth Anne, this ring as a token of my undying love, affection, and fidelity all the days of my life," I said as I slid the ring onto my bride's left ring finger.

And then she slid a larger matching white gold band onto my left ring finger as she said, "I, Elizabeth Anne, give you, William Richard, this ring as a token of my undying love, affection, and fidelity all the days of my life."

The priest prayed a few prayers and soon he said the words I'd been waiting months to hear; "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."

The Mass continued from there but at the end of the Mass, Fr. Bob said, "The Mass is ended. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord." He paused and then smiled. "It is my great pleasure to present to you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. William and Elizabeth Darcy."

As the congregation erupted in applause, I kissed my wife. Then we linked arms and walked out of the church to the sounds of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. "Te amo mas de palabras," I whispered in my wife's ear.

"Te amo también," she replied. "Y ahora, eres mi esposo."

After we went outside, we stood outside and greeted all of our guests before we took our wedding pictures. I had to smile and shake hands with three hundred people, half of whom I didn't know or barely knew. But they were all very happy that Lizzie and I were now married, except for one person. Caroline Bingley's first words when she reached me were "Why the hell did you marry her? I'm so much prettier than her and I would have worn Vera Wang at the wedding, not something from David's Bridal."

I sighed. "But you wouldn't be marrying me because you love me. You would be marrying me for my money."

"You have got to get over that," she sighed, slamming her shoe, which was probably Gucci, down next to my foot.

I looked over at my bride who was talking animatedly with Kathy Kilpatrick. Lizzie looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back at her and then pursed my lips at Caroline. "That woman is my wife and I plan on spending the rest of my life with her."

"Over fifty percent of marriages end in divorce," Caroline replied as she walked away from me.

"Yeah, all four of her marriages will end in divorce," Alex said walking up to me. He shook my hand and clapped me on the back. "Congratulations, Will; I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks," I said. "And congrats on the baby; that's great news."

He beamed. "We're really excited. But today's your day."

I laughed. "It's Lizzie's day," I told him. "Everybody knows that the wedding is all about the bride."

"Yeah, but the marriage is about both of you," he replied. "And it's an even greater thing than the wedding. The wedding is one amazing day but the marriage is one amazing life."

Alex's words rang in my head while the photographer took millions of pictures of us. I looked at my wife and I couldn't stop smiling. After months of loving her, she was finally mine. We were standing on the steps in front of the altar. I had my arms around her and I kissed the top of her head. "That was perfect," the photographer said. "Can we get another one like that?"

I smiled and held my wife close. "You're wonderful and I love you forever," I whispered in her ear.

She looked up at me and I saw a look of what seemed to be sheer adoration in her eyes. "I love you, Will," Lizzie said with a smile. "You are the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Cut the sweet nothings," Jenny said from the front pew where she was sitting, leaning against Kyle and holding Elana in her lap. "Let's finish this crap up and go play miniature golf."

"We are not playing mini-golf," Kyle told her. "We're going to play Risk."

"No," she barked back firmly. "We are not going to play Risk."

"Okay, let's play Axis and Allies," he said.

"How about this idea," Lizzie inserted. "Let's play Clue."

"I like Go Fish!" Connor announced from his seat next to his father.

"I'm good at Go Fish," Elana said.

"Funny thing, so am I," Kyle told her.

"Really?" she asked.

He nodded. "I used to kick my brother's butt all the time when we were younger. We should play together sometime."

I watched as the little seven-year-old beamed. "Will you play with me soon?"

"Of course," he said. "If you want, we can play after they're done with the pictures."

"Okay!" she said. "That'll be fun."

We took dozens more pictures in the church and even more outside. There were some really cute shots of Lizzie with Elana and innumerable shots of Lizzie and me kissing or hugging or about to do one of the above. One of my favorite shots was of my left hand resting on something with her left hand on top of mine such that you could see our rings. It was an amazing shot. Another similar one was of the two of us standing in the garden outside the church; I had my arms wrapped around Lizzie and the shot was focused on our intertwined hands and our rings. I loved looking at our hands and our wedding rings. I loved looking at my wife. And I loved thinking that phrase "my wife." We'd conquered so much to get to where we were that day. We still had a long way to go but we had come so far from where we were that horrible night when we met.

When the photographer was finally done taking pictures of all of us, we went down the beach to hang out for a while. True to his word, Kyle was playing Go Fish with Elana. They were sitting at a picnic table with Jenny playing the little girl's favorite card game. Meanwhile, Lizzie, Connor, and Becca were busy building a sand castle. Char was playing with Jackson, who apparently could not be left with his father for more than twenty minutes. Mary Logan, on the other hand, was off someplace with her father, quite content, and probably quite asleep. Mary was quite talented at sleeping anywhere, at anytime. Her mother loved it.

After an hour and a half at the beach, we headed up to the Netherfield for the reception. I was excited about this part of the evening, if only because it meant spending time dancing with my new bride. Steve was the MC for our wedding, which I thought was fitting since one of my first dates with Lizzie had been to Steve and Becca's wedding. He was being his usual ridiculous self, but doing it all while balancing a baby on his hip. "It just makes him that much more amazing," Lizzie joked as we were standing in the hallway outside the banquet room waiting for our grand entrance.

"No it doesn't," Kyle retorted. "He just likes to think that it does."

"You're saying that our goddaughter doesn't make her father look better?" Jenny asked her fiancé.

He looked at Steve and Mary again and then laughed. "She's so beautiful that she can make even Steve look good."

Becca playfully smacked him on the arm. "Be careful buddy. Remember; you are talking about my husband there."

"And I'm sure he's a wonderful husband and father."

Looking at Becca, I saw a smile of peace and contentment that I knew came from just a complete and utter satisfaction with her life. She loved her husband, she loved her daughter, and she was perfectly happy being a stay-at-home mom to Mary. She had made choices and she was happy with her life. I looked at the other women standing around as we prepared to enter the banquet hall. There was Charlotte Lucas-Collins, a young wife and mother who while she wasn't trapped in a loveless marriage, she didn't seem to be as happy as Hannah or Jane or Becca were in their own marriages. Char and Ethan had a rocky marriage and things weren't as happy as they might have liked. But I don't think that either one of them would ever file for divorce because Ethan didn't want to raise a child the way he'd been raised or Charlotte was just not the type of person who would ever get divorced. They would find ways to make their marriage work for as long as they could.

Then I looked at my younger sister, Gianna. She was as beautiful as ever and very happy. She was going to be graduating from Loyola the following April. She and Emily were genuinely doing well in their lives. She had found a small apartment for the two of them near campus. And she was dating Kyle's younger brother, Connor. Connor was good for both mother and daughter. He made my sister happier than she'd been in ages and Emily adored him.

Hannah King-Kilpatrick was standing next to Gianna. She was going have a baby in about five months and she looked amazing. Hannah was another person who was just very content with their life and where they were at that moment in time. She was married to the man she loved, living in Ann Arbor, and doing a job that she loved. Hannah was working as a physical therapist at the same hospital where Alex was doing his residency. They seemed to be so happy with their lives.

Jane was standing next to Hannah, leaning her head on Charlie's shoulder. They were so happy, so young and in love. The past six months had been amazing for them. They had a baby due at the end of January and they were really excited about it. Jane was keeping busy at the library and Charlie had his hands full with marriage, the publishing company, and the hotel. But they were happy. They were busy but they were happy.

And then there was Jenny, leaning against Kyle. She looked so happy. They were getting married in two weeks, two days after Lizzie and I got back from our honeymoon. Lizzie and I were flying back to Meryton from Europe on a Thursday and the wedding was on Saturday. They were so happy together and it was great to see them so close to marriage. They stood amazing odds of being happy together for a very long time. And they were so good together and for each other. "They look so natural together," Lizzie said, nodding at the way Jenny fit perfectly against Kyle's body.

I smiled and held my wife closer. "You're amazing," I told her. "And I'm so glad I married you."

A few minutes later, I heard Steve say, "And it is my great pleasure to present to you, for the first time as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. William and Elizabeth Darcy!"

We walked across the room to take our seats at the head table as people applauded and whistled and banged silverware against glasses. I couldn't believe this was all real, finally. When we reached our seats, we kissed and then took our seats. Soon, it was time for Charlie and Jane to make their toasts. "Will, you've been my best friend since kindergarten," Charlie began. "And I've seen you through a lot of things over the years. I remember high school when you took your chemistry book to senior prom because you thought the AP Chemistry test was more important than 'some stupid dance.' I remember your ridiculous all-nighters in college and I heard about the ones you pulled in law school. I've seen you as the devoted older brother, the loyal son, the determined lawyer, the practical business man, and the caring friend. But over the past two years I've seen you in a role that I never imagined you in before. Lizzie, you make him a better man. And when Will is with you, he is happier than I've seen him in years. If Will's parents could see the two of you together, they would be so proud of both of you. George and Anne would love you. You really are the best thing that's happened to him in years. If you two can keep one-fifth of the happiness that you have now, you will be the happiest couple I know, except for Jane and myself." He paused for a moment as the room erupted in laughter. Then he raised his glass. "Good luck and may you have many long, happy, and healthy years together!"

Then it was Jane's turn. "She's going to start crying and then make me cry," Lizzie whispered in my ear just before her sister began.

"Lizzie, I've known you for as long as I can remember. You've been the best sister anyone could have ever asked for. You've been more than a sister to me; you've been my best friend and I don't know what I would have done without you. I've seen you have crushes on various guys over the years. I remember when you wanted to marry Peter Macgregor in first grade. And then there was the day you told me that you were dating Will." Jane paused to take a deep breath and wipe away a tear from her eye. "You two are amazing together and I'm so happy for you. You two have such a strong relationship. If I could have picked a guy for you, I couldn't have picked a better guy for you. You two really and truly are a match made in heaven, two people who were honestly made for each other." Jane was crying and I could see tears sparkling in the corners of my bride's eyes. "I know that you guys are going to have an amazing, truly blessed marriage. I'm so happy for you and I can only wish you the best. Take good care of her, Will; she's a priceless jewel. Love her, keep her happy, and listen to her opinions. She's a great girl. I can only hope that you two will be happy for a very long time. I'm so happy for you," the matron of honor said before breaking down in tears.

I kissed Lizzie again and then wrapped my arm around her as she leaned against my shoulder. "You really are wonderful," she said. "I'm so glad that I have you in my life."

"You're stuck with me forever," I told her.

"I think I can handle that," she replied before kissing me.

After dinner, we had our first dance as husband and wife. We had decided to dance to "When You Say You Love Me" by Josh Groban. We'd been debating between that and "The Whole World and You" by Tally Hall, a band from Ann Arbor. But we chose "When You Say You Love Me" because it would be easier to dance to. Also, Lizzie loved this song and to her, it symbolized the fact that this marriage was built on love. This marriage was going to last until death did us part. And then I watched Lizzie dance with her dad to "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof. Mr. Bennett looked so proud of his daughter. I knew that while parents were not supposed to have favorites, but at the same time, it was a known fact that Lizzie was her father's favorite child. And I also knew that her father really was wondering where all the years had gone. The night before I'd heard him say that it seemed like she was his little girl with pigtails just yesterday. I wondered if it would be like that with my own children. I was looking forward to the day when I would be a dad. Lizzie and I had decided we wanted to have between five and seven children. "We need to have at least one son," she had told me. "You don't want to spend the rest of your life the way my dad did. You'll need at least one son for sanity's sake."

"And you don't want to end up like Mrs. Kilpatrick without any daughters."

"Yeah, she adopted me to make her life better."

I smiled as I watched Lizzie and her dad dancing. After they danced, the floor was open. We had decided against having a wedding party dance. If people wanted to dance, they could do as they pleased. We'd asked Mark Lucas to DJ the wedding because he'd been the DJ at his sister's birthday party the night that Lizzie and I met. Besides dancing with my wife, I also made a point of dancing with my sister and the flower girl. I also danced around with my two-year-old niece in my arms. Emily was a beautiful little girl. She was willing to "dance" with anyone who would hold her. When she was with Lizzie, she insisted on spinning around in circles and hopping around my bride. At one point while she was doing this, Connor Kilpatrick walked past her and scooped her up in his arms. He walked off with her, tickling her as he went while she screeched and giggled. I came up behind my wife and wrapped my arms around her. "I must say that you were right about Connor and Gianna," I whispered in her ear.

She turned around and wrapped her arms around me. "I knew you'd come around to my way of thinking."

"You knew Connor much better than I did."

She shrugged. "I've known him since he was fourteen and he's been like a little brother to me for most of that time. So I know him pretty well. And I think I understand him."

"And me?" I asked. "Do you understand me?"

She smiled and wrapped her arm around my neck. "Oh, William Darcy, do you need to ask that question? I'm your wife now. I love you," she breathed against my neck.

I captured her lips in a kiss and held her close for as long as I could. "I love you, Elizabeth Darcy."

Her smile lit her face up in a way that I loved more than I could ever explain. "I love that name. I could hear you call me that for the rest of my life."

"You're in luck, Mrs. Darcy. I plan on calling you that name every day for the rest of my life."

"I'll be looking forward to it, Mr. Darcy."

Gianna caught Lizzie's bouquet and we didn't bother with throwing the garter; Lizzie thought it was crass and "just plain wrong." We danced around a bit more and talked to more people. We'd cut our chocolate cake earlier in the evening and we slipped out around midnight and headed off to a hotel in Traverse City. The next morning, we were flying to Rome, but we just wanted to spend our wedding night away from our friends and family.

A/N: Here you go. They're finally married. Please review!