Disclaimer: Sadly I own nothing.

Two months ago...

A chill shook Elizabeth as a brisk wind wrapped itself around Hyde Park and its inhabitants. At this time of year, the park was a beautiful respite for office workers enjoying a moment of calm in a metropolitan city, mums & dads entertaining their children during the Easter break, and tourists meandering through the famous paths to Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace and Park Lane.

Fitzwilliam unconsciously smiled to himself as he watched Elizabeth chase after William when he had scampered off to join in with a group of young lads that were playing football. Little William stood in wide-eyed amazement as the older boys kicked the football between them. The ball was passed back and forth along the luscious green, eventually brushing past William. The curious child was just about to run after it when Elizabeth – thankfully – whisked him up into her arms, much to his chagrin.

Since Elizabeth's impromptu visit that morning, Darcy had uncharacteristically cancelled all work commitments, and he had spent the remainder of the morning and all afternoon entertaining Elizabeth and William. When Darcy had excused himself from his office to speak with Mrs Reynolds, he hadn't planned on blowing off work, but then he had poked his head back in and had observed Elizabeth bending over his desk, her long brown curls cascading over her shoulder as she wrote in a notepad with William who sat on the desk examining the pencil pot. He had known he wouldn't work today.

A sleepless night had given him hours to try to digest the revelation that he had a son; and, although a small part of him hated Elizabeth for hiding the truth from him for so long, a larger part of him was just happy to have them in his life now. In ten hours he would be boarding a plane to Japan. He would be gone for two months, and the last thing he wanted to do was to leave her with the angry words that had been said last night ringing in his ears. So before he knew it, they were sipping tea in a cosy cafe off the beaten track, and then meandering through Hyde Park – while he asked every question imaginable about their son. Their son.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but the bigger boys are playing now." The moment Elizabeth picked him up, she knew Will was going to cry. With his bottom lip protruding and his eyes filled with water, he let out a fierce, high-pitched wail as he tried to wiggle away from his mother. A blush spread across Elizabeth's cheeks as she tried in vain to calm the screaming infant. Her eyes darted to Darcy to gauge his reaction. She feared he would be looking down at her with disapproval, but instead he was smiling.

Darcy stood with his hands in his pockets, a navy jacket keeping him warm as a breeze tousled his curly hair, and he watched them with his head tilted to one side. He was committing every moment of this scene to his memory; he wanted to remember the way Elizabeth's hair was tucked into his silk scarf and how William's pudgy cheeks were filled with colour as he exhausted himself crying.

"What are you smiling at, Mr Darcy?" Elizabeth bounced William in her arms, her voice full of desperation.

Darcy let out a low chuckle. "Just the situation."

Elizabeth's eyes flashed with anger, "Well I'm glad you find this all so funny, but-"

Before she knew what was happening, Darcy breached the space between them and was holding one finger to her lips, silencing her. Without asking for permission, he lifted William from her grasp, and rested him on his arms.

"Look William, do you see those ducks over there?" Darcy diverted his son's attention away from the football game to a pond a few hundred metres from them. The vegetation was overgrown, and trees shaded it from the sun; but sure enough, three Mallards were swimming in formation down the centre of it. "Quack, quack, quack."

Now it was Elizabeth's turn to watch in amazement as her screaming baby boy that normally hated anyone who tried to coax him out of a fit was actually calm and attempting to quack. Yes, that's right-quack. It was flabbergasting; he couldn't even say "mom" yet, but the minute his dad had started to quack, he listened and imitated the sound.

Enraptured, Darcy and William stood by the pond watching the family of ducks ripple through the water. It wasn't lost on Elizabeth how much this scene just felt right; Darcy entertaining his son in the great outdoors – it was a bittersweet reminder of how things might have been all along. Elizabeth's dreams in the hospital had been filled with similar scenes-complete with three children, one dog and a beautiful country cottage – her subconscious was taunting her. This...here...them: it was perfect.

Fumbling in her satchel, Elizabeth rummaged to find her camera phone. It was crappy and built for business not photography, but it would do – this moment needed to be captured. If Darcy disappeared from their lives forever, she wanted something to remember him by, something to give to William on his 18th birthday when she told him how terrible she'd been for keeping the identity of his father a secret for all those years.

The camera clicked, froze, and for the first time ever, took a clear picture, immortalising everything that needed to be captured – a man's love for his son.

A/N: Thanks to Scmema for beta-ing this chapter for me.

Sorry it's only a short one, I might update later with a larger chapter, but wanted to give you guys someting to read.

Oh! I post updates on where the stories are on my profile, so if it's been ages since a post check out my page for details.

Till next time :)

Thanks,

Kx