"Now calling, number, 32, to window, number 4...Now calling, number, 32, to window, number 4." The mechanical women's voice announced across the windowless room, six of its plastic chairs filled with people waiting patiently for their numbers to be called. Lizzy hobbled up to the number dispenser, pulling out a pink ticket. Looking up at the electronic sign and then back to her ticket she saw she was holding number 40. So much for her 10 am appointment. It was 9:45 and she and William were likely in for a wait. Workers were talking to people at two of the windows, the others empty of government employees. They found two chairs in the front row and seated themselves, getting ready for their wait. Five minutes passed and Matthew Fitzwilliam appeared.

"Matt, we weren't expecting you this morning." William stood to shake his cousin's hand. He was glad for the support, even if it was another session of sitting, waiting, and being turned away with a request for additional information.

"I'm glad to be here and hope I can help. Lizzy, you look much better then the stories I've heard. How are you feeling?"

"I'm infinitely better then I was on New Years. Just a few braces now left to remind me to always pay attention to where I'm going." Lizzy smiled ruefully at her own poor joke. "William's insisting I see Dr. Daniels again so hopefully I'll get the all clear before school starts again, and of course to talk about the dreaded knee surgery."

"Emily can give you the whole story on ACL repair. She had the same surgery a few years ago. All I can say is PT is very important."

"I've already started, complete with my very own exercise bike. Someone, I won't say who, thought it would be too much effort for me to use the gym in our building so he purchased the same exercise bike they have at the physical therapists office."

"What if they're all being used when you need to use it for your exercises? Besides we won't always live in a building with a gym and the New York home doesn't have a bike," William exclaimed in self-defense.

Matt chuckled at the spat and decided to return their attention to the matter at hand, "So, what number do you have?"

"40. I've wondered, why do they bother to give you an appointment time if you have to take a number when you get here?"

"Probably so they don't have people queuing up as the doors open. This way they can space it out a bit. I brought a copy of the file we submitted in case you want to look through it again." Matthew offered.

Lizzy had actually never seen the full, completed file and was impressed by how thick it felt. Flipping through the documents, Lizzy laughed at the pictures they'd downloaded from Charlie. You were never safe when he had his phone with him. He'd managed to capture snapshots she'd never remembered being taken. There were pictures from their Fire and Ice dinner, the Burdick's trip for dessert, the dinner she cooked when Jane was ill, their wedding weekend and Lizzy's birthday. His prolific photo taking gave them a lot of material once added to the more formal pictures from their actual wedding, family photos from Christmas and skiing - pre-injury. Even Professor Gardiner and Richard had a few to add to the mix including the trip to Maine over Thanksgiving. To this file they'd included a newspaper clipping of their wedding announcement, a copy of their marriage license and affidavits from Senator Fitzwilliam, the head of Harvard's admissions office, Professors Gardiner and Gilpin. Lizzy's high school and college transcripts and more recently, notarized letters from her high school track coach, newspaper advisor and the volunteer coordinator at Nativity Prep had all been added to the file. At their first meeting with immigration they were told they needed additional documentation of Lizzy's character as the professors hadn't known her for very long. The Mexican embassy was able to renew Lizzy's passport. A call from the US Deputy Secretary of State was helpful there, thanks to the Senator, and was included along with her original passport with her border crossing stamp in it showing she'd entered the country legally. Her immunization records were provided along with records demonstrating William's ability to support Elizabeth financially and his legal status. Lizzy laughed at those documents. She wondered if the immigration officers would question William's tax returns for the past three years. If she had any doubt as to his wealth, his tax returns cleared that right up. The required Adjustment of Status (AOS) paperwork had been filed immediately after the wedding and were the last things in the file. "Fingers crossed that this is enough," Lizzy sighed.

It wasn't much longer before number 40 was called. The three of them approached the window. "We've reviewed your file and one of the agents would like to ask Mrs. Darcy a few questions. If you could come to the door on the left we'll buzz you in."

Looking up at William, Lizzy shot him a quick smile, kissed him on the lips and headed to the door. "I'll go with her Will. We might be awhile so you might want to settle in." Matthew informed him.

William frowned but took a sit in the yellow plastic chair he'd been waiting in and pulled out his laptop in an attempt to get some work completed.

"Habla Ingles?"

Smiling, she almost answered in Spanish, as she was wont to do whenever someone addressed her in her native language but she paused, "Yes, I do. My attorney, Matthew Fitzwilliam will be joining me for this." Lizzy had been advised not to ask, but rather to inform any member of the government, that her lawyer would be attending her in all meetings. If she asked, they might say no and that would create an awkward interaction. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Elizabeth Darcy."

"Alvero Jimenez, nice to meet you as well. I just have some questions to help me better understand your file."

"Anything you need, I'm happy to answer." Elizabeth responded with a smile. They found themselves in a small conference room, a rectangular table with blue cushioned chairs filling the room. Matthew sat down next to Elizabeth, his briefcase ooccuping a third chair.

"So how long have you and William Darcy known one another?"

"Since October."

"Not very long then?"

"No, not very." Lizzy answered. She'd also been coached not to offer anything that had been explicitly asked. It was hard and she was worried her answer was not helping her.

"What caused you to decide to marry so quickly?" Mr. Jimenez asked.

"I guess the speed is relative. My understanding is that my husband's parents wed after a mere month together. At almost two months we were laggards by comparison." Lizzy laughed.

Mr. Jimenez didn't seem to share her humor and asked, "I don't believe you've answered my question."

"Alright. I guess it was a few factors that drove our timing. First, we love one another. Second, my husband wanted certain people at our wedding and they were available on the weekend after Thanksgiving. His cousin is a green beret and is often called out of the country on very short notice. It was important to William to have Richard at our wedding given how close they are. Third, he had some family pressures to marry by a certain date in order to retain custody of his sister. Fourth, when I began to pursue my student visa, my parents left the area, essentially leaving me without a home and family. We could have lived together, solving my problem but it wouldn't have solved William's issues and may have made things harder given the potential for a custody battle. As such, we chose to get married quickly rather than wait."

Mr. Jimenez had heard many reasons in his career to explain quick marriages but this was a first. Usually, marriages occurred in an attempt to avoid deportation. Rarely was the issue on the US citizen's side. It did change the dynamic here. "Can you explain more about this custody situation?"

Matthew Fitzwilliam decided to jump in at this point. "Excuse me. I believe I can offer a good perspective here. William Darcy has sole custody of his 15-year old sister. That is, until his 28th birthday. A provision in his father's will provides that if William is not married by his birthday, March 1st, custody and control of his sister's considerable assets revert to an aunt. Once Mr. Darcy made up his mind as to who he wanted to marry, he had no desire to wait until the last moment to fulfill the provision. As such, he and Elizabeth chose a date where all of their desired guests could join them for the wedding ceremony."

Lizzy felt compelled to pipe up. "Mr. Jimenez, I know it might seem unusual to you, or possibly even suspicious, but had William not proposed, I was prepared to date him while pursuing a student visa. Once I learned of my immigration issues, I was prepared to deal with whatever consequences or issues arose. I'm fortunate that I had already met an incredible man before these issues arose. We were married, before G-d and our family and I love him very, very much."

From this point the interview turned. The questions felt like a quiz, checking to see if she really knew William and his habits. Given the time they'd spent together, one-on-one, the questions were fairly easy to answer and Lizzy had no qualms and displayed no hesitation in responding. After two hours, at almost 1:00, Lizzy was excused and William was called into the room. It was days like this for which Matthew was grateful he carried granola bars in his briefcase.

Lizzy was left in the waiting room, granola bar in hand, and a steady, throbbing headache pulsing through her head. Grateful for the water fountain in the corner of the waiting area, she took long sips of the cool water in an effort to rehydrate while nearly inhaling the bar Matthew had handed her. If they had to come back again, she'd be sure to bring snacks and a water bottle. Lizzy was exhausted and could do no more then plug in her headphones and listen to music. More than an hour passed when they found Lizzy, eyes closed, sitting in a chair against the wall. William nudged Lizzy and her eyes blinked open to see him, joined by Matthew and Mr. Jimenez.

"Oh my, I think I actually drifted off to sleep. Were you gone long?"

Matthew noted the worried look on William's face and quickly added, "It's a little after 2 and it feels like a full day has passed already. Mr. Jimenez, am I correct in saying we're done here for today?"

"Yes you are. Thank you for your time today. I'll be reviewing my findings with my supervisor. You should receive a letter in the next few weeks I suspect."

"Thank you. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to aid your deliberations." Lizzy responded. Watching the officer depart she turned to William and Matthew, "I'm starving and so thirsty. Can we go get a late lunch and talk then?"

"Of course, as long as you're up for it. We can go back home and you can nap if you'd rather," William offered.

"No I'm ravenous. Lunch is absolutely our next stop." Lizzy grabbed William's hand and they slowly made their way to the elevator. Matthew guided them to a small deli he favored in the area. Once seated with food, Matthew shared his perspective on the three hours of interrogation.

"You were both brilliant. Honest to a fault, I almost wished you didn't admit so transparently that you didn't meet until October. That said, there is nothing they can catch you out on because of it."

"We talked about that but didn't want to mess this up with lies. We are married for good reasons, the right reasons, and wouldn't want that discounted because we felt we should say we'd known one another longer," Lizzy responded.

"I'm impressed with how well you truly know one another. The questions Mr. Jimenez asked were at a level of depth that you don't find on those online lists and your answers were consistent but didn't come off rehearsed. I think it was also helpful when Lizzy simply said she didn't know something. To be honest, I wonder how Emily and I would do on some of those questions."

"What things didn't you know Lizzy?"

"The questions were so random! He asked things like, have you had your tonsils out or have you broken a bone. I was at least able to tell him you broke your collarbone in a tuba accident but I have no idea if you still have your tonsils. He also asked me the color of your toothbrush and your monthly income. I had to explain that we use an electric one and that yours is the one with the dark blue ring on it's base and mine is the one with the light blue ring. How random is that?!"

"Well, I've never had my tonsils removed. He seemed to have some sympathy for me when I told him I had yet to convince you to clean Groucho's litter box. So what did you say on the income?"

"I told him it was not something I'd made a pointed decision to know because it's likely more than I ever expect to make in a year." Lizzy sighed, "Oh, I'm so glad that's behind us. So Matthew, what's next?"

"William made such an impassioned speech about his choice of a wife. He explained, with some vehemence, how the requirement to retaining custody of his sister was merely to get married but if you had said no, he would have given up custody while waiting for you to change your mind. I think he won Mr. Jimenez over at that point. Besides, I read those letters we submitted, if you're half as good as they suggest America is a better place for having you here," Matthew said with a smile. "My guess is that you'll get the all clear once he talks to his supervisor. I'd expect a letter instructing you to go for a physical to ensure you're not carrying any communicable diseases. Once that comes back you'll be issued a temporary green card. Hopefully by the end of February or March you'll be all set. I honestly heard nothing in the interview that should give them any concern."

"From your lips to the USCIS officer's ears," Lizzy laughed.

"Lizzy where did you put that meatball sub?" William stared at her empty plate.

"I guess I was hungry," she had the courtesy to look a bit embarrassed. "My nerves got pretty riled up and my stomach was so unsettled this morning I couldn't eat a thing. Today took a lot out of me I guess. Do you think we can we go home? I'm exhausted and would love a nap."

"I should head back to the office. Do you think you could drop me on your way home?"

"Sure, I'll bring the car around. Be out front in ten." William grabbed his keys, dropping a kiss on her lips. "Let Matt help you ok? It's pretty icy out there."

"Yes dad," she retorted with a pout.

They watched him walk out and Matthew began to clear their table. Returning to help Lizzy with her coat he pondered the young woman before him. "You've had a few pretty chaotic months. It amazes me how you've managed to keep a sense of humor about it all. How are you really doing with everything?"

Lizzy looked up, surprised. She'd spent a decent amount of time with Matthew, probably more than most of the other Fitzwilliams given the combination of family events and legal issues. That said, they'd never had a real conversation like she'd have with a friend. It was nice to think she had another friend amongst the family. "I guess if I didn't laugh I'd cry, and where would that get me? I feel unbelievably lucky actually. William and so many of his family, including you, have been wonderful to me. With the Fitzwilliams it's certainly true what they say, you're not just marrying the man, you're marrying the family."

"Well you're right about that. But we're not simply William's family. We're your family now too. It's hard to believe the transformation you've wrought on my little cousin. He's a changed man with you around and the changes are all for the good. Don't ever hesitate to reach out to me or Emily if you need anything." Matthew pulled her in for a brief hug. It was a bit awkward but she appreciated the gesture.

The thought of William as someone's 'little' cousin caused Lizzy to chuckle. Their conversation was disrupted by the sight of William's car. Carefully, Lizzy made her way to the car aided by Matthew's steady presence.

"Wake up sleepyhead."

Disoriented, Lizzy stretched and looked around to find herself stretched out on their couch, her book laying on the floor next to her, and the windows dark. "What time is it? How long did I sleep?"

"I think it was a solid two hours. It's almost six and I was afraid you wouldn't be able to sleep tonight if I didn't wake you now. Are you sure you're ok Lizzy? I haven't seen you sleep like this since your accident." William asked, brushing her curls away from her eyes so he could see them clearly.

"It was an incredibly stressful day. I think it took a lot out of me. To be honest, I've been such a lump on this school holiday. I've never been this lazy in my entire life. Is Georgiana back from her volunteer work?"

"She's back. I've been working so I'm not sure what she's gotten up to. Do you want some help pulling dinner together?" William asked.

"I think I can manage. I just need to dash off a few texts to Charlotte and Jane to let them know we survived the interview."

"Oh they each called and I gave them the low down on the interviews. They were both happy to hear Matthew's positive prognosis. I cautioned them that we won't know anything until we get the next communication but I think left them cautiously optimistic."

Heading into the kitchen Lizzy was surprised to find Georgiana surrounded by mixing bowls, biting her lip as she scanned a recipe. "Hello. I'm sorry to interrupt. I didn't think anyone was in here."

"Oh! I, umm, I'm sorry. I promise I'll clean up the mess. I was trying to make something."

"This is your kitchen too Georgie. You don't need to apologize for using it. Can I help you?" Lizzy tried to reassure the girl peering into the bowls scattered around.

"I had hoped to do this on my own. I wanted to make a cake. To uhm, to celebrate your immigration interview being over, but the batter is so runny. I wonder if I should add flour or something. I can't imagine how it will actually turn into a cake."

A smile spread across her face. "Thank you. It's lovely of you to try. Have you ever baked a cake before?" Lizzy tried to ask gently, removing any sense of judgement to her voice.

"No. But I heard my aunt talking with her friends and she said The Joy of Cooking was their favorite cook book so I thought I'd try it."

"Well I won't interfere but if you've followed the recipe then I think you're going to be fine. I'm impressed you tackled something so advanced. I've never made a cake from anything other than a box mix so I'm looking forward to tasting your efforts." Lizzy wanted to encourage the girl's efforts. Regardless of the outcome she was heartened by the initiative Georgie'd taken on her behalf. Things had been thawing over the past few days and this was the latest sign that Georgiana was taking responsibility in having a good relationship with her. She wanted to encourage it as much as possible.

Taking care not to interfere she watched as Georgiana slid the two round pans into the oven and began washing the various bowls, mixing utensils and measuring cups and spoons. Lizzy didn't want to take anything from the effort but felt compelled to help put a few things away as she began to prepare a very simple dinner. "Are you ok with spaghetti and meatballs tonight? I'm afraid I didn't plan anything and having slept so late don't think I've time to make anything more complicated.

"It sounds good to me. Can I do anything to help?" Georgie asked as she put the last off the mixing bowls in the drying rack.

"That'd be great. Maybe you could start on the salad?"

Georgiana moved over to the refrigerator to begin gathering the vegetables for the salad. "My brother seemed to think the interview went well. He seemed very relieved when I got home."

"I think so. It's so hard to tell in these things. The speed of our marriage is the biggest concern I believe. But there's nothing to be done for that. It is what it is." She thought she heard something and looked over at Georgiana. The girl was holding her finger tightly and Lizzy rushed to her side. "Are you ok?"

"I think I may have cut myself but I'm not good with blood so I can't bear to look."

Lizzy was quite used to kitchen accidents and quickly took Georgie's hands to examine them closely. Bringing her over to the sink Lizzy carefully washed the cut, which was fortunately not too deep. After keeping pressure on the cut for a minute or so Lizzy made quick work of bandaging the cut ensuring Georgiana was well cared for.

"How do you always know what to do?"

Startled, Lizzy looked up at Georgiana quickly. "Excuse me?"

"You always seem to know exactly what to do. How to fix things, make people happy. Everyone likes you." Georgiana looked upset but the words weren't said in a way that was accusatory or angry. She seemed almost earnest in her inquiry.

"Do you mind if we sit?"

Georgiana nodded and followed Lizzy to the dining room.

Once seated Lizzy cleared her throat and waited for Georgiana to look up at her. "Thank you for the compliment. The fact is there are many things I don't know how to do. The most important of all of those things, the one that I'm trying desperately to figure out, is the one thing only you can help me with. Georgiana, I want us to be friends. I want to live comfortably in the same house with you. I want to trust you and be trusted by you. I know my marriage to your brother was sudden and I appreciate that it must be very disconcerting to have someone new in your intimate family. You and your brother have been alone for a long time. But I can see you're making effort here and I want you to know that I appreciate it."

"I've been horrible to you. I've done terrible things in my life. How can you be nice to me?" Georgiana's voice wavered, tears falling in fat droplets down her cheeks.

Elizabeth took a deep breath. Looking at Georgiana closely, her shoulders rounded and face downcast, Lizzy wondered if she was really equipped for this conversation. Of course, it didn't seem that she had another choice. "Come, let's go sit in your room. I'm going to turn off the stove and I'll meet you there." Georgiana quickly stood and made her way towards her room, wiping the tears from her cheeks as she hurried away.

Lizzy thought carefully about the upcoming conversation they would have. Peeking into William's office she caught his attention. "Will, I'm going to be in Georgiana's room with her. Do you mind watching the oven and continuing with dinner? We may be awhile."

"Is everything alright?" William stood and walked over to Lizzy his hands resting on her shoulders.

Lizzy could see the concern in his eyes and she rested her head against his chest for a few moments. Pulling back she continued, "Georgiana needs to talk and I need to do this. There's a cake in the oven. Just take it out when the timer goes off. You'll see I started spaghetti and meatballs. You may want to wait a bit to restart it. I have a feeling this will take some time to sort through."

Placing a kiss on her head William gave her another hug. It was going to be a very, very long day.

Lizzy stepped into Georgiana's room. The girl was lying face down on her bed clearly sobbing into her pillow. She sat gently on the edge of the bed her good hand rubbing Georgiana's back. Lizzy waited a few minutes, taking in her surroundings. She'd never really spent time in this room, trying to respect Georgiana's privacy. It was a typical room for a young girl albeit perhaps a bit too pink. It reminded her of the room Katerina and Lilia had shared, the difference being this room reflected Georgie's passion for horses rather than her sisters' obsession with Dance Moms. Lizzy shuttered at the memory of that awful show which seemed to play on a constant loop whenever she was home. She'd waited long enough and decided she needed to take control of this situation.

"When I was a little girl my papa had given me a doll, Anna. I loved Anna. I'll never forget her long black hair. She had the bluest eyes. No one had a doll who looked like Anna and it made her all the more special to me. She was one of a kind. I carried her with me every where I went. I even brought her to Sunday school and CCD every Wednesday. One day I was playing outside after classes and I'd left her on the steps of our church. I wasn't paying attention and a stray dog in the neighborhood found her and I guess thought she was a play thing. That dog had a grand ole time with his newfound chew toy. You can imagine how devastated I was when I found her. Oh I was so angry and wanted so very much to hurt this dog. Our priest found me crying and yelling at the poor dog, hitting him with my little hands with every ounce of my strength. I don't remember Father Francis ever looking so angry." Shaking her head at the memory, she stopped to see if Georgiana was listening. She was. Lizzy put herself back into the memory.

"Father Francis was a giant. At least in my 9-year old's mind. Lifting me up he carried me back into the church, sitting me down one one of the pews. You've been in our church so you can imagine the way the sound of a wailing child can carry in the near empty sanctuary. It was the surest way to get me to quiet. After a few minutes he asked me, 'why were you hurting one of G-d's creatures?' I began to protest in earnest. I'm sure you can imagine the wailings of a 9-year old girl on the unfairness of life and the horrid nature of dogs. He allowed me to bellyache for a few more minutes and then stopped me again asking, 'What do you think the dog was thinking when he saw your doll?' I'm sure you can imagine, I looked at him like he had two heads. Thinking? The dog wasn't thinking anything. He was a dog and if he thought anything it was likely nothing more then, oh look, here's a chew toy. I couldn't figure out what Father Francis was up to but he patiently kept me waiting. 'Do you think the dog meant to hurt you? I remember shaking my head no trying all the while to determine why he was asking me all of these questions. Eventually, after about five or so of these persistent questions he made me realize something. It was one of the most important lessons I ever learned, from church anyway. Animals follow their instincts but human's don't have to. A dog sees a toy lying around and he gives no thought to anything but whatever his instincts tell him to do. Especially a stray dog with no owner to put boundaries on his behavior. That dog wasn't bad and he didn't chew up my doll to spite me or hurt me. He was just a dog. Humans are different because we have the power of choice. We have the power to choose our actions and our reactions. He was unhappy with my reaction because I could have hurt that dog for doing something that was in essence only following his natural instincts. Believe me, if Father Francis is unhappy with you, you feel bad. I was ashamed. I loved that doll but she could get cleaned up and fixed up. But a dog is a living thing and I could have hurt it. He told me I would be forgiven if I asked. Even more important was that I would earn that forgiveness forever if I didn't make the same mistake again. That's the point of growing up, why it takes so long, and why its so hard. There are so many more things to learn. Usually the biggest lessons come from mistakes. You need to use your mistakes to become a better person."

"But Lizzy my mistakes are so much bigger than yours. I didn't simply hit a dog. Because of my carelessness you were gravely injured. I had to repeat 9th grade because of my mistakes at my last school. I'm a terrible person."

"Georgiana. These are very big issues. But, I know for certain that what happened to you last year was not your fault. You were taken advantage of my a truly bad man. He belongs in jail for what he did to you. And I believe that his actions are at the root cause of a lot of our problems now. Until you find a way to forgive yourself for what happened last year, I think you're going to have a very hard time trusting others. I don't believe you actually wanted me to get hurt but I do think you may have been jealous or afraid that I'd interfere with your relationship with William. But I am positive you have the capacity to be a good person. I've seen how much you care for William and your family. I know you take tremendous care for your horse. Your dedication to your volunteering is wonderful also. Build on these things."

Georgie was quiet for a full three minutes before earnestly looking at Lizzy. "I want you to know that I truly never wanted you to get hurt. I was jealous and I just wanted to show you that you weren't a good skier. That I was actually better than you at something. I'm sorry. I was petty."

Lizzy started to laugh. "There is absolutely no doubt that when it comes to mountain sports you are far better than me. There's no contest. And spend a little time with me. You'll see I'm not so perfect. It's too bad my mama isn't around. She could give you a long list of my faults."

Georgie actually began to crack a smile. They were sitting there when the door cracked open. "Anyone up for dinner?" William had been hovering outside the door. When he heard Lizzy's laugh he decided it was finally safe to try and enter.

"I'm famished. Let's eat."

"Weren't you the one who polished off a 12-inch meatball sub at just five hours ago?"

Shrugging her shoulders Lizzy laughed it off, "A girl's gotta eat. Let's hope there's a good salad. Otherwise, you'll be rolling me to campus pretty soon."

Leaning over, he whispered in her ear, "We'll just have to make sure you get lots of exercise later."

Hi there. I'm thinking that this story is getting a bit long. That said, I'm not done yet so hopefully I'll have a few folks still reading whenever we get to the end. Thoughts on Georgie? Our immigration interviews? Next up? Getting back to school. Friends are back. Jane/Charlie and Charlotte/William need to reappear. So much fun! Comments, thoughts...