Author's Notes
Something clever.
A Late Night Conversation
Murmuring, soothing and low, drew Elizabeth from sleep well before daybreak.
"…let us hope, for your sake, in that you take after your mother."
Darcy's head was resting on the rise of her stomach.
Eyes closed, she smiled but said not a word. He had a right to keep this exchange private if he wished.
"I have a confession," came his voice then, quite unexpectedly and almost painfully tinged with something akin to despair. "Do not think too badly of me, but…I am a little frightened." He paused, as if collecting his thoughts. "The happiness I feel…that I have felt…it seems too good to be real. I think, at times, it cannot last, and I am afraid of it all just slipping away."
Elizabeth bit her lip. She was about to break her resolve not to interfere, had all but done it, when a barrage of fierce little kicks anticipated her.
And that seemed all the reply and comfort he needed.
Darcy gave a quiet laugh, his cheek still pressed to her abdomen. "You are perfectly right."
He fell silent for a long while, and Elizabeth thought perhaps he had fallen asleep when he spoke again, the vibrations of his voice tickling her skin.
"There is something I want you to understand. Though your mother shall be better at it—far better—and I may not know the exact right thing to say or do, you can always come to me. Always, and for anything. You must promise me."
She felt the baby give another, fainter flutter.
It was shortly after this that her husband slowly moved to lie beside her. Once their soft, even breaths were the only sound to be heard, Elizabeth reached out through the dark and wrapped her fingers around the wrist of the hand Darcy had kept at her stomach.
She was only a little surprised when he gently but deliberately extricated himself from this one-sided hold so he might lace their fingers together.
End Author's Notes
This was something I originally wrote for Of Family but ended up taking out because I never could manage to word it quite right. I figured I might as well include it with these scraps as not.