Chapter 17

William walked into the backyard and saw Lizzie and Jane staring up at the sky.

"That one looks like a flower." Jane pointed up at the sky.

"You mean that one?" Lizzie pointed in the same direction. "Well this one," she moved her hand, "this one looks like its a sailboat."

William leaned against one of the wooden pillars that supported the balcony above him. Lizzie and he used to cloud-gaze when they were becoming friends. The things they saw weren't as sunshine and rainbows as what Lizzie and Jane were seeing. They were more along the lines of swords, lightsabers, and spaceships. They changed when they became better friends to become friendlier things.

He also remembered what this house was like before, when it was just him. It was so empty and lifeless. He didn't want an apartment. He actually hated living in the dorms and apartments when he was in school. He realized early on that he only ever wanted a house. But then Lizzie came in and hung paintings, and added pictures she had found of the two of them, changed the furniture. She came in and made it a home. And with Jane in the backyard, he saw how much he had been missing before. And he realized how much he wanted in the future.

"You know, William and I used to do this." Lizzie looked at Jane, both seemingly unaware of his presence.

"Really?" Jane rolled onto her side so her back was completely to him.
"Yeah." Lizzie rolled to see Jane's face. "When we were having a rough time, we would go out on the weekends, into this field behind our houses, and just lay there for hours. Even when we didn't like each other very much, we somehow always ended up in that field at the same time. Isn't that right, William?" She smiled and looked over Jane's shoulder. Jane jumped up and ran to him as he stepped off the patio into the backyard.

"William, guess what!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards where the two of them had been laying.

"Must be something amazing! Please share!" He sat down next to Lizzie.

"I'm going to be Baby's godmother!" That didn't surprise William at all.

"Really! Are you excited?" He humored her anyways.

"Yes!" She ran and gave Lizzie a hug.

"But remember, you'll also be a big sister, in a way." She touched Jane's shoulder softly.

"And I am going to be the best big sister, EVER!" She finally decided to settle herself right between the two of them.

"Do you mind cloud gazing with William for a second? I need to go talk to your mom." Lizzie stood up slowly. Jane nodded and the two of them settled back on the grass.
"You start." Jane commanded.

"Okay." He searched the sky. This was so much easier as a kid... "Well, that one." He pointed at one of the shapes, "looks like a turtle."

Lizzie smiled as she walked into the house. Charlie had fallen asleep with his head on Charlotte's knee and she was holding her laptop awkwardly with her other leg.

"Charlotte, can I talk to you?" She stood at one end of the sofa.
"Of course, Lizzie." Charlotte put down her laptop and turned to face Lizzie as she sat down.

"Its about why I was in the hospital." She shifted.

"He did it. Didn't he?" Lizzie didn't look at her.

"Yeah. He changed his name, his face, his hair. The first time I met him, saw him, re-met him..." She sighed. "I thought he looked familiar. I knew I had met him before. When I shook his hand, something just didn't feel right. A bad feeling passed through me. Not like the one I have when William has my hand." She blushed, but it faded quickly when she started again. "And the eyes, I knew I had seen them before. And as we were talking, he kept saying things that he had said in high school, things I should have picked up on. Like with Mr. Collins. He was at school for one year. And my mother, she threw me at him. I knew him for a grand total of 137 days. And when I saw him ten years later, he was exactly the same. He just knew how to use his hormones to make me feel even more uncomfortable. You know, he has a firm that competes with William's?" Now she looked at Charlotte. "He had the nerve to say I worked in some sort of club or something as an escort. By that time, I had known, and seem him 140 times. I just call him my ex so people that I go to diner with William will keep him away from me. I've met some pretty cool people, too. But with," she looked back at her hands, "with him... He fooled me again. How could I be so stupid, Charlotte?" She looked back at her friend. "How could I be so stupid?"

"Lizzie, you were not stupid. He changed as much about himself as he could. But you fought back, which means you weren't stupid. You went to college. You teach art. You are in no ways, any sort of idiot." Her voice was firm and her eyes held Lizzie's on her face. Complete sincerity and truth filled Charlotte's eyes.

"Can you teach me?" She smiled.

"Teach you what?" Charlotte breathed a laugh.

"How to be a mother?" Lizzie was completely serious.

"Just do what you do with Jane. Do what you do with the kids you teach. You know what to do." She took Lizzie's hand, and they sat in silence. Charlotte's phone buzzed and she saw the time.

"Jane and I have to go. We'll see you Wednesday?" She stood and packed away her laptop.

"Yeah. I hope Jane likes the class." They walked to the patio and saw William and Jane sitting cross legged in the grass, wrapped in deep conversation.

"As long as you're teaching the class and keep a firm hand, she'll love it." She smiled again before calling to Jane. "Jane! Time to go!"

Jane said something to William, jumped up, and ran to the two of them.

"Bye, Lizzie. I had so much fun. Your house is really pretty."

"I think so too. Next time you come over, I'll tell you a story about this house." Jane hugged her and left with Charlotte. "See you guys soon."
They both waved and walked out the door. She stood there and watched the door in silence until she felt a hand on her back. She turned and kissed William.

"Hi." She kissed him again. "Will." She smiled as she said his name.

"Hello." He kissed her again. "Lizzie." He held her to him.
She pulled away and went to the couch to sit down. He followed and joined her. They both sat much closer to the other than when they sat down to have impromptu therapy with Charlotte.

"What were you two talking about?" She leaned against the back.

"A lot of stuff." He mirrored her.

"What stuff?" She leaned forward.

"Jealous?" He smirked. She loved his smirk.

"Well, she is a like me when I was younger. I know I'm a year older than when we married, but still..." She smirked back when his jaw dropped.

"Lizzie!" They both laughed lightly. He sighed. "If you must know, she was informing me of ways to make the backyard 'child friendly'. I have a very long to-do list."

"And what is on that to-do list?" She pulled her feet under her.

"Well, two mandatory things. A swing and a treehouse." He sighed. "Besides that, I need to add a pool, a clubhouse, a tree swing, and basically add anything that could be found in a children's playground." They both laughed.

"Well, I agree. Baby needs a swing and a treehouse. You could just combine the clubhouse and the treehouse, and instead of a regular swing we could add a porch swing, so that Baby just has a tree swing. Forget about the pool and the playground, we actually need a backyard."

He over-exaggerated a face palm. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you think like an adult." She kissed his cheek and put her head on his shoulder.

"What does that mean?" Will sounded a little offended.

"Well, you're around adults all day. You have to deal with numbers and business people that have no creativity, unlike yourself. I've seen your drawings, Will. They're amazing."

He blushed. "Thank you."

"I on the other hand, spend all day around artists. I have to think like a child, because a lot of the people have ideas in their head, but can only express them through media. I'm around creative people, like us, all day."

He pulled her into his lap and she let out a little squeal. "I love you."

"I love you too." She got off his lap and stood, pulling him with her. "Now come on. I have to show you something."

AN:
There were some comments about confusion with Wickham and Collins, so I tried to clear it up here. Tell me if it helped at all.