Chapter 10

The day of her parents' anniversary party had finally arrived, and Elizabeth felt like every nerve in her body was on end. When her brother walked through the ballroom doors of the New Madeira hotel, Elizabeth was sure that if their parents hadn't already arrived, she would have murdered him.

"Andy, you were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago!" she growled, marching up to him and Jack as they walked toward the stage that had been set up. "The party is going to start in fifteen minutes, and the only thing you had to do for this entire party was be responsible for the music and you can't even – "

Andy turned to face his fuming sister and smiled. "I'm here, right? Just give me three minutes, and everything'll be ready to go. No worries."

Elizabeth opened her mouth to continue her lecture about punctuality when she was interrupted by Emma hugging her legs. A second later, Will's hand rested on her shoulder. "The room looks great Elizabeth," he said, kissing her on the cheek.

Deciding it wasn't worth having a meltdown over her brother's tardiness, Elizabeth pointed at him menacingly. "You'd better be glad Emma and Will saved your sorry arse, or you'd be a dead man, Andrew Swann."

Will stooped to pick up Emma and followed Elizabeth as she walked away from her brother, and they sat down at the nearest table. She placed her head in her hands and took a few deep breaths. Emma reached out from her place in Will's lap and touched her mother's fingers.

"Don't be sad, Mummy."

Elizabeth looked up into her daughter's eyes and smiled. "I'm not, poppet. I'm just catching my breath from running around like a chicken this morning."

Emma laughed. "You're not a chicken, silly."

"I felt like one until you got here," she grinned. "Did you have a good time with Oliver and his family this afternoon?"

The little girl nodded enthusiastically as she played with Will's hands on the table. "At first he didn't want to play with me because he said couldn't play with me because I wasn't his girlfriend anymore, but – "

"I thought Oliver was your boyfriend," Elizabeth said.

Emma shrugged. "He only wanted to play dumb boy games, and I told him he couldn't be my boyfriend anymore. But anyway," she sighed dramatically, "Oliver said he didn't want to play with me, and that made me mad. But then Will made up a game and tricked Oliver into playing. Then he forgot that I wasn't his girlfriend anymore. And then Miss Karen helped me pick out my dress!" she finished, hopping down from Will's lap and twirling so that her skirt flared at her sides.

"And you look very pretty tonight! Grammy and Poppy will be so impressed," Elizabeth said.

"They already saw me!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down. Suddenly her attention was drawn to the ballroom's door. "Mummy, Oliver is here, can I go play?"

Elizabeth took her daughter's hands in her own to calm her down. "Emma, I want you to remember that this is a grown-ups' party, and you and Oliver need to be on your best behavior. No running around. No rough-housing. And make sure you never leave this room. Do you understand?"

Emma looked like she was about to burst from excitement at the thought of being at a social gathering with so many adults. "Yes, Mummy. I promise."

"Go on, then."

Despite having just promised that she wouldn't run, Emma sprinted towards her friend. Will laughed at her enthusiasm and took Elizabeth's hands. She smiled and thanked him for taking care of Emma that afternoon. He kissed each of her hands and leaned in to kiss her properly across the table.

"You look beautiful tonight," he said.

She shrugged and adjusted his tie. "I will be so glad when tonight is over. I feel so stressed."

"You've done a bloody brilliant job, Elizabeth. Both of your parents are very pleased, I think. Look at them."

Her eyes followed his finger as he pointed to them as they laughed along with a group of their friends. By now, most of the guests had arrived to the delight of her parents. They looked so happy. Elizabeth wondered whether she would be as happy when she reached their age. She looked back at her boyfriend and found him staring at her with a goofy smile on his face. Feeling mildly self-conscious she asked, "What?"

Will shook his head and shrugged. "I could just watch you being you all day."

Before she could respond, Andy's voice rang through the room, "Ladies and gentlemen, let me welcome you as we celebrate the marriage of Weatherby and Helen Swann."

He paused and everyone applauded the couple as they made their way to the center of the room, and Andy continued, "My name is Andy Swann, and the man to my left is the infamous Jack Sparrow. We'll be doing our best to entertain you this evening. So, without further ado, let's get this party started!"

Andy looked to Jack, and Elizabeth could see him counting off the first song of the evening. As Jack strummed his guitar, Andy played the first chords of the song on his piano, and both men began to sing. Elizabeth saw her father lean into her mother and whisper something in her ear. Helen's smile was wide as the two began to dance to the upbeat tempo. Soon, other guests joined the couple. Elizabeth wasn't familiar with the song, but it sounded old enough that she knew it had to have been popular when her parents were young. Her concentration was broken when Emma once again wrapped her small arms around Elizabeth's legs.

"Mummy, Oliver won't dance with me!"

Will leaned over and took Emma's hand. "I think I may have a solution to your problem."

Emma looked curiously at him as he raised her hand and bowed his head. "Emma, may I have this dance?"

She didn't reply. Emma started tugging Will towards the throng of people dancing. Elizabeth smiled at the sight of them and then looked around the room in search of her friend Karen. She finally spotted them across the room sitting in a few of the chairs that had been placed against the wall. As she approached Karen and her husband, Elizabeth had to suppress a laugh when she saw Oliver's pout as he sat between his mother and father.

"What's wrong, Oliver?" she asked.

The boy just tightened his arms around his chest and huffed. Felix ruffled his hair, and Karen tutted, quickly smoothing it back in place.

"He's just upset that Emma didn't want to stay over here," Felix explained.

"Honey, why don't you go out there and dance with her?" Karen asked.

"Because dancing is for girls, Mum," he explained.

"Will is out there," Elizabeth pointed out, "and there are lots of other boys having a good time."

"No. It's dumb."

"Well then," Karen said, "you can just sit here and pout while Emma has all the fun." She stood up and hugged Elizabeth. "Everything is lovely, Elizabeth. You've done such a good job."

"Thank you. And Emma looks so put together. I just want to thank you and Felix for keeping her out of my hair while I tried to throw all this together this afternoon."

"It was nothing," Felix explained. "Will did most of the baby sitting. Karen and I actually had a few hours to ourselves for a while. You wouldn't believe how quiet the house was while they were outside. He's a miracle worker, that one."

The rest of the evening continued without any problems. Elizabeth spent the first couple of hours talking to her parents' guests, most of whom she knew since she was a little girl. Will remained occupied with Emma, who refused to leave the dance floor. Eventually, however, Will finally found an amused Elizabeth who asked why Emma allowed him to leave.

"Oliver finally gave up sitting by himself, and they're out there dancing. I swear she's going a mile a minute. If I had only a fraction of her energy, I could take over the world."

Elizabeth laughed when she saw the two children wiggling to the music. When she noticed Will had loosened his tie and lost his jacket and asked, "What happened to you?"

"I'm telling you, Emma is the Energizer Bunny or something. I'm exhausted."

"Well at least I know you two won't have any trouble sleeping tonight. That's one less thing I'll have to worry about later."

Will kissed her and smirked. "I wouldn't jump to any conclusions yet. I might not be that tired when this is all over."

"Is that so?"

As the song changed, Will nodded and took Elizabeth's hand. "I want to have a least one dance with you tonight, since I am your date and all."

"By all means, Mr. Turner, I'm yours."

Both of them danced ridiculously as Andy and Jack sang their cover of Abba's Mamma Mia. Emma giggled at them, and they returned the laughter back at her. Elizabeth could see what a success the party had actually turned out to be, and she felt herself relax for the first time that evening as Will twirled her. Soon the song was over, but before Elizabeth could leave, she heard Andy start to speak again.

"I hope everyone is enjoying themselves out there. I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge someone who put this entire reception together because let's face it, those of you who know me know full well that I had nothing to do with this. All I do is show up when someone mentions food."

As everyone laughed, Elizabeth groaned and tried to shake her head at Andy, silently asking him to keep the spotlight off of her. He grinned and pointed at her as he said, "The lovely lady responsible for this amazing evening is my sister Elizabeth. Every one of you who know our family know that she is the complete opposite of me in every way, and she is the best sister anyone could hope to have. Elizabeth, you're a wonderful mother and an inspiration to me. I just want to say thank you for putting in all this hard work."

She could feel heat rising from her neck to her cheeks as everyone in the room clapped for her. Helen and Weatherby both walked towards their daughter and hugged her, gathering more applause from their guests.

Andy continued, "And even though it's not from the 70s, I'd like to dedicate this next song to Elizabeth because it's one of her favorites."

When the first chords began to play, Elizabeth met Andy's eyes, and she mouthed thank you as he nodded and began to sing Rosi Golan's Come Around. Soon everyone turned their attention away from her as they all started swaying to the soft notes from the piano. Will took Elizabeth in his arms, and the two of them joined the rest of the crowd as they slowly spun in a circle. Neither of them said a word as they danced together. Elizabeth leaned in to kiss Will softly as her brother and his friend harmonized the chorus. She laid her head against Will's shoulder and watched her parents talk quietly as they swayed to the music. As they danced, she remembered her thoughts from earlier that evening when she first saw her parents.

"Do you think it's possible to be as content as Mum and Dad when we're that old?" she asked.

Will answered as he rested his cheek against her forehead, "As long as I'm still with you, I think I'll be the happiest man alive."

Elizabeth hugged him close to her body and smiled into his neck. The two of them stayed on the dance floor for a few more songs. Elizabeth looked up and noticed Emma and Oliver's disappearance only to spot them seconds later. They were sitting with Karen against the wall she had greeted Karen and Felix beside earlier. Nudging Will to get his attention, Elizabeth motioned towards them. As they got closer, Karen held up her finger to her lips, and Elizabeth realized that the two of them were sound asleep, cuddled into each other in the large chairs.

Karen stood to meet them. "I think Felix and I are about to leave. It's getting a little too late for Oliver. He can't keep his eyes open."

"Poor things," Elizabeth whispered. "I wish I could take Emma home right now. It's well past her bedtime."

"Why don't you let us take her home? She and Oliver can have a little sleepover. It would also save us from having to transfer her car seat back to your car from this afternoon."

"Oh, Karen, I'd hate to ask you to – "

"Nonsense," Karen interrupted. "She's welcome over anytime, you know that."

Elizabeth brushed back Emma's hair, gently waking her. The girl raised her fists to rub her eyes and squinted at her mother as Elizabeth cooed, "Hey, poppet. The party's not over yet, but Miss Karen said you could spend the night with Oliver if you don't want to stay here. Would you like that?"

Still groggy from sleep, she nodded. By this time, Felix had joined his wife by her side, and after their quick goodbyes, both he and Karen carried the children through the doors and away from the party. After another hour, most of the guests had also left. Eventually, the only ones remaining besides the hotel cleaners were Elizabeth, Will, Andy, and Jack. Elizabeth walked over to her brother and hugged him.

"Thank you for all the music tonight Andy. You too, Jack. It was wonderful."

"Great job, mates," Will agreed, shaking both of their hands.

"Elizabeth, you know I never want to disappoint you. I may not be much, but I'm a decent son and brother," he said as he winked at her.

"I'm not sure if I'd call you decent," she quipped, "but at least you're not much of a tosspot."

"I love you, too."

Jack clapped Will on the shoulder and said, "We're about to head out to the usual spot and grab some drinks. You two in?"

Elizabeth groaned, "God, no, Jack. This party nearly killed me."

"All the more reason to go out," Jack insisted. "Rum might be the cause of some of the world's problems, but it's also the solution to most of them."

"I think we'll have to take a rain cheque, fellas," Will said.

Andy pointed at him and promised to hold him to it. After saying their goodbyes, Elizabeth and Will finally made it back to her car. Will slid into the driver's seat and was able to make it back to his house easily due to the lack of traffic so late in the evening. Despite feeling tired from the party, Elizabeth managed to find enough energy to drag Will up to his bedroom. Before he could throw his coat on a nearby armchair, Elizabeth was pulling him in by his tie and kissing him deeply. After a moment, Will pulled away with an amused expression.

"I thought you were exhausted," he said.

"I am," she agreed and then continued, "that's why I need you to take care of me."

Will's eyebrows rose as she smiled mischievously at him. "I think that can be arranged without a problem."

As she felt him lead her backwards towards the bed, Elizabeth slipped off her shoes. He had her sit down at the edge and knelt in front of her. When his hands slipped underneath her dress and grabbed her knickers, she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and smiled at him. Will returned her grin as he slid her knickers over her knees and tossed them across the room. His hands returned to her thighs and pushed her dress over her hips. Realizing what was about to happen, Elizabeth lifted her legs over Will's shoulders and moved her hands behind her for support. Her excitement made him laugh against the inside of her thigh as he kissed his way towards his destination.

Before he let his lips touch her where she wanted, Will looked up at Elizabeth. She was still biting hard on her lip, and he was surprised she hadn't yet drawn blood. The anticipation on her face was adorable, and Will laughed softly. When his warm breath puffed against her skin, Elizabeth's eyes involuntarily closed. Finally deciding that he'd waited long enough, Will poked out his tongue and licked a long line from her entrance to her clit. The initial contact was too much for Elizabeth and her arms collapsed. She fell onto her back and kept her fingers buried in the comforter to prevent hands from pressing his face closer against her. It was obvious that Will was trying to tease, and she was enjoying it too much to try and rush him through it.

Elizabeth moaned quietly as he delicately placed wet kisses between her thighs. It wasn't until she felt his arm moving under her leg that she opened her eyes to watch him. She almost laughed as she saw him trying to reach for his nightstand drawer without stopping his attention on her. He did pause when he finally opened the drawer and looked inside. His brows furrowed for a moment, but he was quick to resume his gentle licking. Elizabeth's head fell back when his lips closed around her clit. "What were you doing?" she asked.

Instead of responding, Will sucked lightly, and Elizabeth suddenly felt very close to her orgasm. As she moaned, he murmured against her skin, "I was looking for a condom. Apparently, we've run out."

When his tongue fluttered against her, Elizabeth finally lost control of her hands, and her fingers wound into his hair. Hoping to delay her release, she took deep breaths, but it wasn't working. She heard Will mumble something, but couldn't make it out. She didn't really care what he said as long as he never stopped, but when he did, she looked up at him incredulously.

"Why'd you stop?"

His eyes glittered with amusement. "I asked whether you were taking anything."

Once again her head fell back against the bed when she felt his tongue enter her. A low whine escaped her as he rendered her speechless for a few seconds before he let up just enough to let her answer. By now, Elizabeth was sure she was incoherent because she knew she wouldn't be able to last much longer. "You know…I can't…take that shite…it…oh…it makes me…fuck—fucking crazy."

When he laughed, the vibrations traveled along his lips and tongue. Elizabeth let out a loud, appreciative moan, snapping her head back as she gasped for air. She could feel her legs shaking, and apparently Will could too because he used his hands to gently pry her thighs away from his ears and pushed them so that they were spread wide and her feet were resting on his shoulders.

"I suppose," he said between kisses, "it doesn't matter…I'm sure everything...will be fine."

"That's what you…said last time…hnnng…and we can...see what…happened…oh my god!"

Her orgasm shook her whole body as her back bowed off the bed. Her hands gripped his hair tight, keeping his face close against her while she tried to regain control of her body. When all of her muscles finally relaxed, Elizabeth was still breathing hard, and her eyes remained closed. Will's voice brought her back to reality and she smiled at him as he spoke.

"What are you on about?" he asked.

His brows were furrowed in confusion, and Elizabeth didn't understand his question. "What?"

"You said something happened the last time. What was that?"

The smile gracing her features slid off quickly, and Elizabeth's chest suddenly became tight at the realization of what she had let slip. A flush that had nothing to do with her recent orgasm crept from her chest onto her neck, and she swallowed hard. She stuttered, trying to feign ignorance, "I don't – I mean, I didn't…What?"

Will rose to his feet and gave her a scrutinizing stare. When he spoke, his voice left no room for excuses, "Elizabeth."

Tears sprung to her eyes. Although she knew eventually this would happen, she was hoping that she could have waited a little longer. "Will, please don't be angry with me."

Comprehension slowly started clouding his eyes, and he shook his head slowly. "Say it, Elizabeth."

As she stood, she smoothed her dress back down. She tried reaching out to hold his hand, but he pulled away from her. "Will, I'm so, so sorry. You're…" she sobbed, "Emma's yours. She's yours, Will. I'm sor—"

"How could you keep that from me?" he yelled, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"You have to understand how much pressure I was under! I was days away from my wedding, and I couldn't…Will, we couldn't —"

"We couldn't what?" he demanded but didn't pause for her answer. "Did you tell Paul? Did he know I fucked you before I left? That Emma was never his?"

Tears were streaming down Elizabeth's face as she shook her head frantically, desperately wanting to wake up from the nightmare she had jumped into, but she knew it was futile. "I didn't—Will, I didn't. But I think he suspected. He just never —"

"How do you know?" he interrupted. "How do you know she's mine?"

If her heart hadn't already been shattered, the tears forming in his eyes that refused to spill would have certainly crushed it. "I – I sent in a test…without Paul knowing. It...He wasn't a match, and you're the only other —"

A frustrated cry erupted from Will as he brought his fist to the wall of his bedroom. Elizabeth jumped at the outburst, still sobbing. He kept his back to her, letting her cry in silence for a few seconds before speaking. It was so quiet, Elizabeth wasn't sure if he was actually saying something or whether she was imagining it.

"This un-fucking-believable."

"Will —"

"Elizabeth," he said, his voice so calm, it scared her. "Why did you wait so long to tell me? Would you have ever told me if you hadn't just blurted it out tonight?"

She had no excuse, and she knew there wouldn't be an excuse satisfactory enough to make up for her mistake. "I—I don't know what you want me to say."

Will turned back to her, his eyes red and still brimming with unshed tears. "If you make these choices alone…how can I trust you?"

The full implication of his question caused her sobs to begin all over. Elizabeth did her best to reign them back in. She knew all the blame rested on her shoulders and resigned herself to her punishment as she choked out, "You can't."

Without looking back, she fled from his house and into the night.

A/N: I am so sorry that it's taken me this long to update. School was pretty busy last year, and to be honest, I lost my motivation for this story for a while. I've also recently gone through some intense personal battles.

And though most of you have probably already figured it out, I knew this chapter was going to be pretty important, and I didn't want to force it out just for an update. Hopefully the last bit of this story will flow a little easier, and my next year in school won't be so crazy. If you're still around, thank you so, so much. I will do my best to keep you from waiting so long for the next update.