Author's Note: Wrapping it up soon. Let me know what you think, and again, if anyone is familiar with the Scottish dialogue and wants to offer some advice on how to fix William's dialogue, it would be much appreciated.

Chapter 23

Though they were quite a bit further north in Scotland than Elizabeth had been when she lived in Tennessee, the winter in and around Inverness was still fairly mild and not that much colder than what Elizabeth was used to, though it had been significantly less warm in the summer months. It was, perhaps, quite a bit wetter than she was used to, and there was a little more snow than she typically saw. Elizabeth grew used to thinking of the temperature in terms of Celsius rather than Fahrenheit and made other adjustments—pounds rather than dollars, kilometers rather than miles, among other nuances that differed slightly from what she was used to.

As her due date was at the end of the month, she was now visiting the obstetrician weekly. William accompanied her to all of these appointments, supporting her as she grew more uncomfortable and suffered through the various aches and pains common to women in their last month of pregnancy.

Midway through the month, during one of their appointments, the doctor shared this news: "The baby has dropped," as she pointed out the apparent change in Elizabeth's figure. With a calm and reassuring tone, the doctor continued, discussing the progress of Elizabeth's cervix—mentioning words like dilation and effacement, markers that signaled the approaching moment of childbirth.

William listened attentively, his hand gently resting on Elizabeth's shoulder. The realization that their little one would soon be joining their lives added a new layer of excitement and anticipation to their journey. "Keep in mind, the first baby is often late. While there are signs that the baby is closer, you can remain this way for several more weeks before you actually give birth." She went on to explain other signs to look out for before the nurse came in to give additional instructions about when to go to the hospital and when to call the doctor.

They left the doctor's office and went to lunch—William had begun to take the rest of the day off after each of these appointments, so Elizabeth attempted to schedule them as close to the lunch hour as she could. "Ahh, before I forget, mo ghràdh, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday. Had you forgotten what today was?"

She grinned. "I had not, but as we had not really spoken of it often, I wasn't sure what you would want to do. We celebrated your birthday in October, when you turned twenty-eight, by going to the cabin in the Cairngorms. Since we cannot do that now, and we are fairly limited in what we can do, I was not sure how you would wish to celebrate."

"We may not be able to go anywhere to celebrate, mo ghràdh, but there is still much we can do. First," he stopped speaking as he reached into a pocket and withdrew a long jewelry box.

"No, William, we said no more jewelry. I do not wear it that often as it is, and the Darcy estate already owns so much, most of which I will never be able to wear as it is."

"Despite its appearance, mo ghràdh, it is not jewelry, or at least, it's not what you are thinking it is." He opened the box, revealing a delicate silver locket. He held it up for Elizabeth to see, and her eyes widened with surprise.

"It's not a traditional piece or at least not one just for special occasion, Elizabeth. It's a locket containing a small compartment. You can place a tiny photo of us inside, perhaps a picture of our little one once he or she arrives," William explained, a tender expression in his eyes. "You can wear it every day."

Elizabeth's objections softened as she admired the thoughtful gift. "It's beautiful, William, truly. A perfect way to carry a piece of us close to my heart."

He nodded, relieved that she appreciated the sentiment. "There's more. Tonight, I've arranged for a quiet dinner at home, just the two of us. I thought we could enjoy a cozy evening together, with an already prepared meal so you do not have to cook or clean up, and then we will relax on the couch, and I will give you a massage.

Elizabeth's eyes sparkled with gratitude. "That sounds perfect, William. I would love to spend the evening with you in that manner. Not that it varies all that much from our typical evening plans, but I do appreciate you attempting to make it special."

As they enjoyed their lunch, the conversation between William and Elizabeth flowed seamlessly as it usually did. Despite the constraints imposed by Elizabeth's advanced pregnancy, they discovered profound joy in the simplicity of celebrating together.

In the afternoon, they ventured to a few stores to pick up a few additional items for the baby. While their child would undoubtedly want for very little, they enjoyed the process of selecting a few extra things to make their home even more welcoming for the bairn. The couple marveled at the generosity of friends and colleagues, especially Mrs. Reynolds, who had hosted a thoughtful baby shower just after the new year.

"The shower Mrs. Reynolds organized for us was lovely. We received so much stuff, some we needed, but some might be a bit ridicuous. The wipe warmer is totally an unnecessary luxury," Elizabeth teased her husband, though her eyes twinkled and showed her gratitude.

Their home was now filled with a surplus of diapers—nappies, as Elizabeth had learned to call them—in various sizes, a wardrobe spanning from newborn to twelve months, an assortment of toys that could entertain a small army, a growing library of books, and practically everything their child would need for the foreseeable future.

"Mrs. Reynolds and the others from the office were incredibly generous. We're more than prepared for the little one's arrival," William remarked, a smile playing on his lips.

They walked through the stores hand in hand as they looked for anything that might catch their eye. There was nothing they truly needed, but they wanted the chance to be out for a little while longer before returning home for their dinner. William wanted to keep her away from the house for a while longer as the chef he had hired for the evening was there setting up for their special dinner that night, and the cleaning service he had hired was doing a deep clean of the entire house. Though the couple generally maintained a tidy home, some tasks were more challenging for Elizabeth with her pregnant belly. William, eager to surprise her, wanted to ensure these responsibilities were handled so Elizabeth did not need to think about them. He inteded for the service to continue to come after the baby was born, though he intended to ask his wife about the frequency.

As was fairly typical for January in the Highlands, it was drizzling when they exited the shops and made for their car. Elizabeth suddenly gasped as an intense pain hit her. It lasted only a moment, and they continued walking, which eased the pain.

"I wonder if that was one of the false labor pains the doctor mentioned," Elizabeth finally said. "I have not had another one, and the pain seemed to ease as we walked to the car. There is still another fortnight before my due date, and the doctor said it was likely this one will make us wait a bit on him or her to arrive."

William agreed but was still determined to get her home and comfortable as soon as he could. Since she had only experienced one pain, he was not ready to call the doctor just yet, though he had considered it.

Elizabeth was surprised to come home to the smells of dinner cooking and of the cleaners the service had used. She turned to look at her husband. "My, aren't you full of surprises today?" she said with a look at her husband.

"I know it has been difficult for you to get to a few tasks of late, and while I have tried to help, I know that there have been some things left undone. I thought getting a service to do a deep clean would be benefical before the baby came. I was thinking of having them come monthly, but wondered if you would prefer them to come every other week. Even after the baby is born, you may still find it difficult to get to everything, and I know eventually you want to go to work."

"You had a service before we married, did you not?"

He nodded, and they discussed the pros and cons for several minutes before she agreed that having a service come in every other week for a while would benefit everyone.

Dinner was delicious and included many of the couple's favorites. Dessert was a chocolate souffle, and Elizabeth was so thankful that someone else had cooked their meal and she had not had to spend the time in the kitchen required to cook it or to help William with the cleanup. While he was usually willing to clean the kitchen after she had cooked a meal, she hated feeling lazy and generally worked alongside him to hurry through the cleanup.

The days between Elizabeth's birthday on the fifteenth of January and her due date on the 29th were filled with similar days. William and Elizabeth spent as much time together as they could, which was no change from their usual behavior, but they were spent much more quietly. Elizabeth stopped going to the office with William, and he frequently worked from home or went to work later and for a much shorter period of time. Mrs. Reynolds was conscious of his need to be with his wife and ensured he was able to work remotely as often as possible and helped him delegate some of his nonessential tasks to others.

Their doctor's appointment on the due date was something of a disappointment, as Elizabeth had not made any significant progress. She offered suggestions for inducing labor, several of which were employed vigorously over the next several days, and a date was set to induce if the baby did not come on its own within the next week or so.