Elizabeth was feeling horrible when she woke the next day, her mouth felt like she had swallowed sawdust and she remembered getting sick in the middle of the night and Will taking care of her.
She was in no mood to face her parents but resigned herself to the plans she had made. Elizabeth hated the horrible taste in her mouth and went to brush her teeth before she ran a hot bath. She smiled when she saw the glass of water and aspirin that Will had left for her. She took the pills, drank the water and gratefully sank into the hot bath water with a sigh.
After the bath, Elizabeth got dressed quickly and went down to find Will. She found him in his workout room running on the treadmill, he smiled when she entered.
"How do you feel this morning?" He asked with a shrug.
"I feel like I got run over by a semi-truck and left for dead on the side of the road." Elizabeth said with a groan, "When I get a hold of whoever spiked the punch, I will kill them."
"Whoever it is should be very afraid." Will grinned at her, "You could join me and that might make you feel better." He indicated the treadmill next to him.
"I was thinking that I would take a walk and get some fresh air to clear my head." Elizabeth responded.
"I would like to join you if you don't mind some company." Will turned off his treadmill and grabbed a towel.
"I would like you to join me as long as you don't expect me to be a witty conversationalist." Elizabeth laughed feebly at her attempt at a joke.
"I gave up on that a long time ago." Will's face broke into a grin as Elizabeth glared at him with deadly intensity.
"So you pick a time when I am sick and am vulnerable to get a sense of humor." Elizabeth eyed him resentfully.
"It's the only time that I have felt that my life would not be in jeopardy for doing so." Will joked as he leaned over to kiss his wife, "Just give me a few minutes to take a shower and we can go for that walk."
While Will was in the shower, Elizabeth took the opportunity to go to the kitchen to get some orange juice.
Georgie was already there having breakfast and she asked, "How are you feeling this morning?"
"Like the alien is going to explode out of my forehead at any moment."
"That's bad." Georgie sighed, "I wanted to ask you a question but maybe now isn't such a good time."
"Don't worry about it." Elizabeth grumbled as she drank her orange juice.
"I was hoping that I could invite Neal to your dinner tonight." Georgie asked quickly.
"I'm okay with that but clear it with Will first." Elizabeth said.
"Clear what with me?" Will asked as he walked into the room looking fresh and clean after his shower.
"I was just asking if I could invite Neal to join us for dinner tonight." Georgie told him quickly, "The dinner fits your criteria because it will be a group."
Will thought for a moment and smiled, "I agree but are you sure that you want to subject Neal to all of Elizabeth's family." He glanced at Elizabeth who was looking at him through narrowed eyes.
"You are very witty this morning." Elizabeth growled, "But don't expect me to let you get away with this without retribution."
"I'll be looking forward to that." Will pulled Elizabeth to her feet and into his arms as he whispered in her ear, "I expect you will thoroughly punish me for my actions."
Georgie finished her breakfast and excused herself, "I'm going to call Neal and invite him over for dinner."
Will walked Elizabeth toward the garage, "I thought we would take a walk in the park." Will said as he saw her confusion, "It will be beautiful this time of year."
The drive to the park didn't take long and Will helped Elizabeth out of the car and put her arm around her waist as they strolled along the path, "This reminds me of our first date."
Elizabeth smiled, "You had the fairy lights hung in the trees." She looked up at him through her lashes, "You went to a lot of trouble that night."
Will stopped, "This is where we kissed for the first time." He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers briefly, "I was so nervous that night."
"You were nervous? But you seemed so confident." Elizabeth tilted her head and tried to gauge his expression, "What did you have to be nervous of that night; I would never have guessed that you were."
"I've had years of practice of hiding my emotions." Will admitted, "I was nervous because you were so young and inexperienced. I had loved you for so long and I was afraid of scaring you that night with the passion I had bottled up for so many years."
"I was scared that night." Elizabeth admitted, "But it was because of the feelings you aroused in me when you kissed me." She reached up and touched his face with her fingers, "I had spent so much time being angry at you that my reaction to your kisses surprised me." She closed her eyes, "I couldn't figure out how could I enjoy your touch when I thought I hated you. It didn't make sense to me."
"Your body knew what your heart refused to admit." Will smiled indulgently down at her, "Even the night of my disastrous proposal, you were so angry but when I tried to make love to you…" His voice trailed off with emotion.
"My body betrayed me." Elizabeth sighed as she looked at the feelings on her husband's face, "I love you, Will Darcy."
"I've always loved you, Elizabeth Darcy." Will crushed her body to him and kissed with a passionate fervor that he couldn't control. Elizabeth responded to him with an ardor equal to his own.
"Young people in love." The elderly man said to his wife as they passed the couple, "Can never keep their hands off each other."
"You're one to talk." His wife said playfully, "After 40 years of marriage, 4 children and 9 grandchildren, you are still as amorous as the day we met."
"What man could help himself with a wife as beautiful as you?" The elderly man took his wife's hand and kissed her palm, "Do you want to go home for a romp in the hay?"
"I think we have some time before the kids arrive." His wife answered as they disappeared from view.
"That will be us in 40 years." Elizabeth grinned as she looked up into the face of her husband.
"That could be us in 10 minutes." Will said with a smile, "I wouldn't mind a romp in the hay with you this morning."
"Let's finish our walk and then you can take me home to play." Elizabeth said to the man who loved her as they continued their walk, "We have plenty of time."
A few hours later, Will and Elizabeth came out of their bedroom looking wet and relaxed. Will teased his wife, "I told you that taking a shower together would be fun and practical."
"Yes," Elizabeth agreed, "Good for us and good for the environment, we are saving water one shower at a time."
Georgie joined them in the kitchen a few minutes later and Elizabeth set to work making the sauce while she tasked Will and Georgie with chopping ingredients, slicing cheese, making the ricotta mixture, boiling the noodles and preparing the garlic bread.
As Elizabeth was stirring the sauce, Will came up behind her and caught her around the waist, "By the way, I invited Richard to join us."
"That's great." Elizabeth smiled back at him, "The more the merrier."
Will nibbled on her neck while she stirred, "Have you finished your tasks?"
"Not yet," Will admitted, "But you looked so tasty standing here that I couldn't help myself."
Elizabeth tried to look stern, "You get back to work or I'll have to use the whip."
"Yes Mistress." He said with a wicked smile and a wink while he said softly, "The whip might be kind of kinky but for you I'd give it a try."
Elizabeth blushed, "Will be serious and get back to work."
"I'll get back to work." Will said as he kissed her neck again, "But I was being serious."
As Elizabeth assembled the lasagna, Will and Georgie teased and played. It wasn't an efficient kitchen and dinner preparations took a lot longer than expected but the laughter was never far away.
When she finally got the lasagna in the oven, she heard the doorbell ring.
Georgie offered to get the door and Will took the opportunity to pull Elizabeth into his arms. He kissed her and Elizabeth's response was passionate.
Georgie rolled her eyes as she walked back into the room with Jane and Charlie right behind her. "Jeez guys, I was only gone for two minutes."
"I thought I would come by early and see if you needed any help." Jane said as she eyed the kitchen in amusement, "It's a good thing I did too or we not eat dinner tonight."
Elizabeth laughed, "It's not as bad as it seems; everything is almost done. I just have the lemon meringue pie left to make for desert and clean up."
"You can start the pie and I'll work on cleaning up this disaster area."
"Can I help?" Will said to his wife, "Lemon meringue pie is my favorite dessert."
"Yes, I know." Elizabeth smiled back at him, "You get the mix and start making the lemon while I work on the crust."
Charlie and Georgie helped Jane clean the kitchen and were done quickly while Elizabeth and Will finished the pie.
The doorbell rang again just as Elizabeth was taking the lasagna out of the oven to cool. Will went to get the door and Elizabeth took off her apron and joined him to greet her parents.
"Dinner is almost ready." Elizabeth said as she hugged her dad and mom.
Richard Fitzwilliam and Neal had both arrived in the next few minutes and so everyone was there.
"Lizzie, it smells great," Lydia sniffed the air appreciatively, "When are we eating?"
"We can go in now." Elizabeth smiled, "The garlic bread will just be a few more minutes and then we will be ready to eat."
She ushered everyone into the dining room which looked lovely with candles and flowers.
"My dear, Lizzie." Her mother cried, "Everything looks wonderful and you have such a beautiful home. "I've only seen it at parties and I would love to see the rest of the house."
"I will take you on a tour after we have eaten." Will offered as he looked at Elizabeth. He knew she was going to need some to have a talk with her father.
"What a dear sweet man," Mrs. Bennet cooed at Will, "Such a fine husband for our Elizabeth and rich too."
"I'm glad you approve." Will said with a smile.
Dinner was a noisy raucous affair and everyone enjoyed the meal. Afterwards Georgie offered to clear up as Mary, Kitty and Lydia got up to help.
"Leave those for the maid." Mrs. Bennet said imperiously, "There is no need to do the help's work."
"Mother," Elizabeth tried to sound calm, "Will and I don't have a maid. There is a woman who comes and cleans once a week." Elizabeth face was red with anger and Will put a hand on her arm to calm her, "We like to do things for ourselves and we like our privacy." She turned to her sisters, "I'm sure that Georgie will appreciate your help."
Mrs. Bennet was looking at Elizabeth with surprise, "But when I come for parties there are always servers and help."
"That is just when we have a large party." Will explained, "Why don't I give you that tour of the house now." He waved toward the stairs and she proceeded before him.
Elizabeth looked at her father, "Daddy, can I talk to you privately for a few minutes?"
"Of course, my dear." Mr. Bennet agreed.
"Will has offered his study so that we can have some privacy." Elizabeth said as she waved her hand toward the room.
As Elizabeth shut the door, Mr. Bennet said, "I'm so sorry for the other day, Lizzie, I didn't mean what I said."
"I know and that's not what I want to talk to you about." Elizabeth said as she looked into her father's eyes, "I want to know why you took the money from Pemberly?"
Mr. Bennet sighed, "I should have known that you would ask me that." He closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair, "You know your mother and I'm sure you know that she had no real concept of how much money it takes to run a household." He grimaced, "It wasn't much at first, just a few luxuries that we couldn't afford. The first time, she had written a check that we didn't have enough money in the bank to cover. I borrowed the money from the company but I intended to pay it back." Elizabeth could see the pain in his eyes, "Believe me, I never meant to steal the money."
"I believe you, Daddy, so what happened next?"
I always thought that I would be able to pay the money back." Tom Bennet sat down on the sofa, "But every week we got farther and farther behind. "At first it was just little amounts but as you girls got older more money seemed to be needed and my salary couldn't cover everything." He tightened his lips, "I tried to talk to your mother but she would insist that Mary needed a new book and that Kitty and Lydia needed the latest style of cloths and the latest cell phone, computer or ipod."
"I always wondered…" Elizabeth said but trailed off as her father continued.
"I know neither Jane nor you ever asked for much but your mother still would spend money on more and more things for the other girls and herself." He balled his hands into fists, "I had always intended to pay back the money but after 20 years the sum was astronomical and I couldn't even begin to repay that much money."
"Is that why you said that I had to go out with Will?" Elizabeth saw the pain in her father's face, "I always knew why mother wanted me to go. She wanted me to land a rich husband and Will Darcy was definitely the richest." Tears sparkled in the corners of Elizabeth's eyes, "I love mother and I understand her but sometimes I had that feeling the she would auction us off to the highest bidder without a second thought." The tears ran down her face, "I understood her forcing me to go out with Will but I didn't understand why you would."
Mr. Bennet stood and held his daughter in his arms to comfort her. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to hurt you." His voice cracked with the pain, "I just thought that you would distract Darcy from the truth. You see I knew that Charles Bingley was getting too close and that he would have told Darcy." His sigh was deep, "I had known the truth for years about how obsessed Darcy was with you." He released Elizabeth and stared her in the eyes, "But the horrible thing was that I knew how much you hated him and that didn't stop me from wanting you to save me."
Elizabeth said quietly, "I never really hated him, I was just angry about something he had said."
Her father's eyes lifted for a second before they fell back to his feet, "That doesn't even matter because when he came to me after he found out about the money and asked to marry you, I was stupid and weak. I pimped you out to a man you hated because he could save me from jail."
"Daddy, you didn't force me to do anything." Elizabeth looked him in the eyes to show him the truth, "I had a choice and I agreed to marry him."
"But Lizzie, you don't understand; he knew you would agree to marry him in order to save me."
"He has always known me better than I have known myself." Elizabeth admitted.
"Why don't hate me for making you marry a man you don't love."
"But I do love him, Daddy." Elizabeth said with a tenderness that practically broke her father's heart, "I admit that I didn't always love him as much as I do now." Her voice was full of feeling, "He is the best man I know and I love him so very much."
Mr. Bennet looked grateful for a moment before he said quietly not really wanting to talk about this, "But the physical side of your relationship, I'm sure that…" His voice trailed off as Elizabeth started to laugh.
Elizabeth tried to explain, "You have to understand that Will never forced me into anything." She colored slightly, "Yes he pushed the boundaries but he always stopped when I asked him to." She chuckled, "I was reminded just a short time ago of that when I talked to Georgie about this subject. I told her that anyone worthy of her would understand and accept when she told them no."
"But after you were married…"
"Daddy, I really don't want to talk to you about this but I must make you understand." She sighed, "Will never insisted on consummating our marriage. He wanted to be sure that I was ready when our relationship became physical. In fact we played poker on our wedding night." She laughed at the thought, "It wasn't until weeks after we were married and on our honeymoon that I seduced him, not the other way around."
"So who won?" Mr. Bennet asked looking slightly embarrassed.
"What?" Elizabeth stammered.
"Who won at poker on your wedding night?"
"I did, of course." She giggled, "You taught me well."
"That's my little girl." He gave her a quick hug, "I love you and I'm sorry for all of the pain I've caused you."
"I love you too; Daddy and you don't have to be sorry anymore because no matter how our relationship started, Will and I love each other with all of our hearts."
"We'd better make ourselves presentable and get back to the party." Mr. Bennet said as he wiped tears off his face.
Will was glad to see Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet come back from study and they were both smiling. He took a deep breath and said, "How about some music." He remembered that Elizabeth's parents liked fifties rock and put on a compilation album that started with "Rock around the clock".
He was surprised when Elizabeth took her father's hand and said, "Daddy would you dance with me?" Elizabeth glanced over at Will and he smiled, "I've been trying to teach Will how to do the fifties swing but he has not gotten the hang of it. Maybe if we show him how then it will become clear."
Elizabeth winked at her husband as she walked into the living room and proceeded to dance with her father and Will had to admit they were good and the dancing looked like fun.
Will smiled as the other's joined them to try also, Charlie walked Jane into the living room and danced with her as Georgie pulled Neal out there and Lydia cornered Richard and dragged him onto the floor.
Mrs. Bennet approached Will and asked, "Would you like to dance with me?"
Will shrugged his shoulders and agreed, "Sure, let's cut a rug."
"Wrong generation." Mrs. Bennet corrected him.
Will could see that Mrs. Bennet was just as good as her husband in this style of dance and he learned a lot from her but when the next song came on he insisted on switching partners with Mr. Bennet.
Elizabeth smiled at she looked up at him, "Does everything make sense in the universe again."
"Yes, my darling." He showed his wife how much he had learned by twirling her, moving with her and dipping her.
Will was happy that the next song was slow and pulled his wife into his arms as he swayed with her in time to the music. Will was just happy to have her in his arms again.
When Elizabeth looked around she saw that Kitty had caught Richard for this dance and laughed when she pointed it out to Will. She also saw at the end of the dance that Georgie whispered to Neal and the next minute he was leading Mary in the next dance.
By the time the music ended the group was exhausted and slumped onto the sofas and chairs. The merriment continued as stories were told and the conversation went on far into the night.
Jane was the first to rise and pulled Charlie to his feet. "It's been a long night and we should be going." Jane hugged Elizabeth and Will and said, "I'll see you on Monday, Will."
"See you Monday."
One by one everyone said their good-byes and told the couple how much they had enjoyed the evening. When the Bennets stood to leave Mr. Bennet whispered to Elizabeth, "I guess your husband deserves you, I wouldn't have wanted to part with you for anything less."
After their guests had gone, they made their way upstairs and Georgie said, "Thanks for letting Neal come tonight, it was so much fun, especially the dancing." She looked at Elizabeth and Will, "Can we do this again?"
"I'm sure we will." Will said with a yawn, "But we should all be in bed."
Georgie just rolled her eyes with a giggle and went into her room and shut the door.
When they got to their room and shut the door Will asked, "How did your talk with your father go?"
"It was difficult but I think we both said what we needed to." Elizabeth got changed, brushed her teeth and slipped into bed, "To get everything out in the open, I had to talk to him about things that I never wanted to talk to anybody about least of all my father."
"What did you talk about?" Will asked.
"I'll tell you in the morning." Elizabeth arched her eyebrows at him, "There is something else that I would like to do right now."
"What could that be?" Will asked in a low voice as he kissed her neck.
"I want to play poker with you again." Elizabeth giggled, "My father was very happy to find that I had beat you on our wedding night."
"You are a cruel woman." Will complained as he took her in his arms, "But there was something much different that I had in mind." He moved his hand to caress her breast, "Something we never got around to on our wedding night."
"Now whatever could you mean sir." Elizabeth giggled as she leaned over to take his lips with hers.
Will showed her exactly what he meant as they spent the next few hours proving their love to one another.