Lizzie and Darcy had just finished eating Mrs. Bennet's Sunday lunch. Their visit was coming to an end, and they were planning to leave later that evening.
A red light was on the camera, indicating that it was recording. They were sitting on a bench in Lizzie's room in the usual spot in front of the door.
"Are you ready?", Lizzie asked Darcy who was just staring at the camera like a deer in headlights.
He nodded yes nervously and gulped. His throat felt dry all of a sudden. "I was fine just a moment ago..."
Lizzie noticed his uncertainty and grabbed his hand reassuringly off-screen. She gave him a quick smile which made him feel a little easier.
"Well then, let's get straight to it!", she said turning to face the camera. "My name is Lizzie Bennet..."
She nudged Darcy with her elbow and he said, "And I'm William Darcy..."
"... And we've got some explaining to dooo!", Lizzie said trying to imitate the famous line from the show 'I Love Lucy'.
*Cue theme music*
"So umm... Yea! You all have Charlotte to thank for uploading the last video without my knowledge. We were gonna tell you guys- I swear- but we kind of wanted privacy for a little while, ya know?
But to answer the most asked questions in comments: Yes, William and I went on a date. Yes, he and I had a great time together-".
She and Darcy exchanged a knowing glance. It was less than a second long, but it spoke volumes. She smiled a mischievous smile and he didn't smile, but his eyes lit up briefly at the memory of their first time together.
Darcy cleared his throat and jumped in, "-And yes, Lizzie Bennet is now my girlfriend." And at that he did smile. He was glad to share it with the world. He was glad to redeem himself on camera. Those earlier videos meant nothing now because she was now his and carrying his child.
"Now, I know you're all wondering how this happened. We're gonna fill you in, don't worry! We wouldn't leave you all hanging like that, right Will?"
"That is correct, Lizzie. And if I may interrupt your monologue?"
"Mmhmm."
"If I recall correctly, in one of your question-and-answer videos you asked, 'In what universe would Darcy be in my room?' Well, I'd like to know what you have to say about that now.", he teased.
Lizzie laughed and replied, "Obviously I was wrong! No need to rub in my face!"
He smiled a self-satisfied smile and made a hand gesture for Lizzie to continue talking. She rolled her eyes at him and spoke.
"Anywayyy, Darcy and I went to go see Shakespeare that evening...". And the couple briefly summarized how they got together without getting too specific (they weren't ready to reveal the pregnancy yet). She told everyone about how it was Darcy who shut down the website (which most of the viewers already knew thanks to the Domino app videos) and how, together, they got Wickham to give them the last copy of the tape (she didn't include the fact that Darcy bought the porn company or that they beat up Wickham).
"And we've just told my parents about us! I was really nervous about that... but they love William! Mom thinks everything he does is rainbows and unicorns and Dad showed him his trains! That's a big deal!"
There was a cut and now Lizzie had on her mother's costume theater props.
"Oh Darcy, darlin'! You are just as sweet as cherry pie! You can go ahead and call me Mama! I just looove my future sons-in-law! My grandbabies are gonna be beautiful!", she said in her mother's Southern drawl.
Another cut and Lizzie had her dad's props on.
"You see these beauties right here, Darcy? These are trains I've been collecting since I was a boy. Would you like me to show you the train track? I usually only fire it up around Christmas time, but I'd make an exception for you, son.", she said in between taking fake puffs from the pipe.
Darcy chuckled and said, "I used to think you exaggerated with costume theater, but now I see that your depictions are eerily accurate."
"Tell me about it. But later on, we'll be back in San Francisco and my father will be the one to put up with my mother's excitable nature alone."
"About that... what are you planning to do after this week? I have it in my calendar that this week is the last week of your independent study..."
"Well... I was thinking about taking you up on your offer. You know, to stay with you. Dr. Gardiner's relatives are coming back in a couple of weeks and I had only been allowed to stay there for this project...
Now that it's almost over and I have a very good reason to stay in San Francisco, I was thinking of staying and setting up a plan for the future... Don't worry, I'll explain in another video, guys.
So what do you say, Will? I can stay until I have to come back home for graduation... Actually, before I leave, I should leave the measurements for my cap and gown with Mom so she can order them for me..."
The video ends here abruptly because Lizzie began wondering aloud about what size she might be by the time graduation rolls around and if that had been left in, there would be speculation about her being pregnant.
They sent what they filmed to Charlotte, who would edit the video tonight and upload the video tomorrow.
"We're ready to go, Mom and Dad! Where's Lydia?", Lizzie asked as Darcy helped Lizzie down the stairs.
"I'm not going, sis!", Lizzie yelled from the den.
"Why not? I thought you and I were gonna remain San Fran roomies. It was nice having someone at home with me."
Lydia appeared and said, "I'm thinking about taking summer classes and I'm gonna ask Mary to help me pick them out..."
Lizzie pouted but couldn't protest. That was a very good reason to stay behind.
"...but since we spent 99% of our time at Darcy's house, why don't you just move in with him? It'd be safer, too. Ya know, for the baby. If something were to happen while you were alone at your place... But at Darcy's, you'd never be home alone!"
Mrs. Bennet lit up like a Christmas tree. "Oh Lydia, baby girl, you're so smart! Elizabeth Bennet, if you think I'm gonna let you leave here so you can be alone with my grandbaby, you are out of your mind! Darcy, you wouldn't mind having Lizzie stay with you, would you? It's only right."
"Not at all, Mrs. Bennet. I actually have invited Lizzie to move in on several occasions but she never ceded.", Darcy answered while Lizzie leered menacingly at Darcy.
"What an ass!", she thought annoyed. He purposely said that because he knew her mother would bother her about it.
"Lizzie! How could you turn poor Darcy down? She can be so stubborn sometimes! Good luck with her, Darcy dear. If she acts up, you just gimme a call!"
Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Fine! I'll move in with Will! I was going to anyway! What difference does a week make?!", she replied irritatedly.
Darcy felt kind of guilty for putting her in a bad mood, so he did something unexpected. He put a hand on Lizzie's chin and brought her face toward his, stooped down, and kissed her very sweetly- in front of her parents! He wasn't one for public displays of affection (he had loathed being in a room with Bing and Jane at Netherfield for that very reason) but he honestly felt like the Bennets were family now, so he didn't even hesitate.
He felt Lizzie's brows, which were furrowed in annoyance, shift back to their normal positions.
He broke the kiss and said, "I am sorry if I upset you, Lizzie. I don't like to have you angry with me. Do you forgive me?"
The Bennets saw how Darcy treated their daughter and they saw how she acted around him, and they couldn't have picked a better man for their Lizzie. Mr. Bennet was especially proud. Lizzie always said she'd never marry for anything other than the deepest love and he was pretty sure they were on their way.
Lydia was also glad for her sister but fulfilled her duty as a bratty little sister and said, "Eww! Get a room, you two!". Her and Gigi's plan had worked. Before leaving, Lydia and Gigi tried to think of a way to make Lizzie move in with Darcy. They planned to bring the case to Mrs. Bennet. They didn't anticipate, however, that Lizzie would have decided to move in on her own.
Lydia texted Gigi the good news and she made sure she wasn't home when the couple arrived or when they got up in the morning. She wanted to give them some alone time, so she planned a girl's night with Fitz.
Lizzie and Darcy stopped by Lizzie's place to get all her stuff and then they made their way to the Darcy estate. When they got there, her things were taken to Darcy's room, which was now Lizzie's room, too. They spent the rest of the night making space and accommodating Lizzie's things into his- correction: their- drawers.
That night they slept wrapped in each other's arms, tired from traveling and happy that Lizzie didn't have to leave at night anymore. They felt good to have everyone know they were together; it felt official now. Their relationship had just gone to another level and both felt excited about the fact that they would get to do this every night for as long as they chose.
Monday morning, Lizzie woke up before Darcy. It was around 5am, and Darcy usually woke up at 6am to go for a run before getting ready for work.
She had to pee, as usual, and she was craving leftovers from her mother's cake. Before she left the room, however, she stared at her sleeping boyfriend as he often does with her.
"I don't remember if I've ever seen Will sleeping... He always wakes up first. He looks so carefree; younger even...", she thought before grabbing her phone. "I don't get to see this often, so let me just take a quick picture..."
Lizzie grabbed her phone, turned on the lamp that Darcy was facing, and snapped a quick picture. She smiled at how innocent he looked in the picture and set it as her background. She planted a soft kiss on his forehead before exiting the room.
That afternoon, Lizzie went over to Darcy's office for lunch. Lizzie was sitting comfortably on Darcy's lap while they perused the comments from the most recent video on Darcy's desktop computer.
Lizzie was laughing and shaking her head at the fact that the majority of the comments were about how she and Darcy probably had sex. Darcy was internally cringing at some of the more graphic comments.
"Look at this one; it has like a hundred thumbs up! 'Lizzie and Darcy totally 'binged'!' Ha! I guess it won't come as a huge surprise when we tell them about our baby."
"Now that you bring up the baby...", Darcy said with a smile, while rubbing Lizzie's belly "... you're ten weeks pregnant today."
"That's right!", Lizzie exclaimed. She had totally forgotten about that with all the commotion about Charlotte's unexpected upload. But Darcy had his handy, dandy calendar to remind him of things.
Darcy reached down into one of his desk drawers and pulled out one of the baby books he had ordered. He set the book down in front of them and opened it to a bookmarked page.
"At ten weeks, your baby...", he read. They spent the rest of the lunch break together, reading facts about their developing child.
Lizzie finally was able to track down Gigi and told her that she had moved in, but of course, Gigi was already aware and gave Lizzie a big hug.
Darcy held a staff meeting that evening. Before his staff went home for the day or retired to their rooms, Darcy wanted to introduce Lizzie to everyone. He gathered all the drivers, gardeners, cleaners, maintenance men, and all part-time workers in the front of the house.
"Good evening, everyone. I apologize for any inconvenience this meeting may have caused any of you-", Darcy said as he addressed all of the house employees. He was interrupted by mumbles of "It's no problem, Mr. Darcy!" or "It's perfectly fine, sir."
"-but I feel it is important that I formally introduce you all to my girlfriend, Ms. Elizabeth Bennet. She will be living here from now on and I would like you all to treat her as you would any member of the Darcy family."
Lizzie waved shyly at the staff. They all said variations of 'hello'. She then added, "Please, call me Lizzie. And don't be shy! Say hi if you see me around so I can learn your names!"
"Also, one additional piece of information that I will make you all privy to: Lizzie is carrying our future son or daughter, so I would appreciate it tremendously if you all could assist her if she looks like she's having trouble with something, even if she refuses. She happens to be very stubborn."
Before Lizzie could turn to give Darcy a playful punch on the arm, the crowd burst into congratulations for the pair and then Darcy concluded the meeting.
The next day, Darcy was swamped and couldn't meet with Lizzie for lunch. He had received an email that the location they had booked for Pemberley's third annual charity event was actually never confirmed and he had to do a video conference with the charity's board members and his Aunt Catherine so that they could figure out what to do. This was extra stressful because he and his Aunt Catherine had had a falling out since he last visited her at Collins & Collins.
Catherine DeBourgh thought that because she was older and more experienced, whatever business suggestions she made, Darcy should implement.
"I've been doing this since before you were born, darling. I know I am correct.", she would say. But Darcy wanted to expand and take risks with modernizing certain aspects of the company and he and his aunt were not in agreement. They bumped heads all the time, but this last argument left their business relationship (which had basically become their personal relationship since they only ever discussed Georgiana and business) shattered.
Darcy wanted to invest in the Domino application for mobile devices but his aunt thought it was a waste of money and time. He was one of the brains behind this idea and he was really attached to it, so he took his aunt's blunt criticisms of the project very personally. Suffice it to say they had an ugly spat and Mrs. DeBourgh left the offices pretty miffed.
"We have to move the date of the charity ball closer, Mr. Darcy. There aren't any other locales in the area spacious enough for the number of guests and they are all booked up for later on in the season.", said one of the board members.
"What dates do they have available? We would have to let the catering company and decorators and all the other people involved with this event know as soon as possible.", Darcy inquired.
"Well, they have the Saturday after next available. April 27th."
"Hmmm. That sounds familiar...", he thought while checking his calendar just to make sure.
"No, that date will not do. Is there no other date available?"
"That is the best option, sir. We want to give everyone enough time to prepare, and that is the latest available date we can host the event."
"That's the same day as Lizzie's birthday! I don't want to be working on her birthday, I want to spend time with her. I'll have to talk to her about this..."
"Fine. If there is no other more convenient date, then it will have to do. And please, reserve the date for next year's function right away. I don't want a mistake like this to happen again."
"It wouldn't have happened if I would have been head of the charity's department...", Aunt Catherine said exaggeratedly before signing off of the video conference. Those were the first and last words she had uttered during the meeting. Darcy dreaded having to see her. She may be his last living blood relative besides Gigi, but that doesn't mean he has to get along with her.
Darcy sent out a mass email to all Pemberley staff and all the people on the event's list.
'There has been a change of date for the third annual Pemberley Charity Fundraiser. The event has been moved up to the 27th of April. Official invitations will be mailed out soon. If there are any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask myself or any of the charity board members, whose contact information is posted below. Pemberley Digital apologizes for any inconveniences this change may have occasioned. Thank you.
-William F. Darcy, CEO Pemberley Digital Enterprises
Caroline was on the way to the Airport when she received this email. She had been abroad for the past couple of months, seeking inspiration for her interior remodel of Netherfield. Bing didn't agree to it yet, but he wouldn't say no to his big sister, would he? Especially when she had made up with Jane?
She had traveled to South and Central America and had a whole sub-tropical theme in mind, when her phone beeped and she had an email from Darcy.
"Darcy?!", she thought, surprised. Darcy hadn't spoken to her in months. When he discovered that Caroline had set up the kiss between Bing's friend and Jane, he wanted nothing to do with her. He felt betrayed and really gullible for falling for her scheme.
Caroline missed her friend. He was always the one she could be snooty with around Bing. She also thought that they would inevitably end up together. So when she saw his name, she immediately opened the email.
"Oh, a mass message. The date is moved up. Ugh. I have to upgrade the delivery of my Dolce dress to express if I'm planning to wear it..."
After she had checked in, Caroline had time to spare until boarding for first class to Los Angeles would begin. So, she did what she hadn't done in months, and checked YouTube.
She caught up on all of Lizzie's videos. She was appalled when she saw Darcy make a fool of himself with the wig, and she nearly had a heart attack when she saw Darcy ask Lizzie out. She had tried her best to keep them apart but she failed miserably.
Then, she saw Darcy was in the thumbnail for the next video. She assumed it would be a description of their date but she just about died of mortification when she saw the most recent video. And the most thumbed up comment implying Lizzie and Darcy and 'sex' left her feeling faint.
"Wowwww, Lizzie is really smart, I'll give her that. But no way will I allow him to be associated with the likes of her! Jane is appropriate and has actual talent when it comes to fashion, so I don't have to worry about her making my brother look bad. But Lizzie! Ughh!"
During the long flight, she was really distressed about Darcy and Lizzie being together. She wasn't sure if she was welcome at his home, so she would confront him about this at the charity event.
Thanks to FF user SOLYAHU. She's basically ghost writing this story! Lol
K, so dates. I don't want to confuse anyone so if you read this and are left wondering what the heck I just said, then forget you even read it. This is mostly for myself and anyone else who might be interested in dates.
Lizzie and Darcy's baby was conceived Monday, Jan 28 in my fic's world. She discovered she was pregnant when she was around 8/9 weeks on a Sunday in late March. This chapter takes place mid-April at about 10 weeks prego. I think she'll give birth in early November (wow that's pretty far right?). But we'll make it eventually lol. I don't plan on going week by week , or anything like that. Some days will be long (like the Saturday that spanned the last 3 chapters lol) and sometimes I may jump weeks ahead to move the story along quicker because I'm writing this story by events, not really by a calendar.
I might just incorporate dates here and there just to give you guys a feel of where in year the story is taking place. I've gone past the date LBD finished, so let's see how the rest of the year and its holidays affect Lizzie and the story. Bare with me guys!
And thank you so much for sticking to the story! I never had a clear idea of how far I wanted to take this or how long I wanted to drag it out, so I'm really happy with how it's gone so far and I would really appreciate feedback! xoxo