Author's Note: In this story, Darcy and Bingley do not exist in Regency times. If you look at the beginning of chapter 2, Elizabeth states that she and Jane had befriended the Howards, who had come to Hertfordshire as the new tenants of Netherfield. Darcy and Bingley only exist in the Stone Age in this story.

Chapter 9

Elizabeth had at first been filled with joy when she found out she was with child, but then the fear set in. How would she safely give birth with no physician or medical care, without even the aid of a proper midwife? But Darcy's words helped to reassure her. He would be there with her no matter what happened.

She had given up on wondering if her father would ever find her. Surely, if Mr. Bennet knew where she was, he would have come for her. Besides, now that she loved Darcy, she knew she could never leave him. And there would be no place for him in England. What kind of life would he be able to live in her native country? He did not belong there. And she belonged wherever he was.

As her belly began to swell, her nausea gradually faded, and her appetite for lovemaking grew voracious. She wondered if it was normal, how much she always wanted her husband, even before she became pregnant, but then decided that she did not care. Nothing in this strange and alien land was normal to her. As winter passed, she and Darcy spent most of their time in the furs, relaxing and talking or making love. She delighted in his intelligent mind, and started to teach him some English words that he had no term for in his tongue, such as freedom, tyranny, peace, and restitution. She told him all about Longbourn and her family. He found it hard to comprehend how there were so many people in her village. But she knew he did believe her. He knew she was not mad or a liar. She told him how she had simply appeared in his pit trap, and they spoke together of how she could possibly have got there, but neither could come up with a viable solution to the problem.

As winter faded into spring, Elizabeth's stomach had rounded beneath the animal skins she wore. She and Darcy sat in the valley by the cave and ate the tender clover shoots as they bloomed. Elizabeth bathed in the lake, but this time Darcy came in to bathe with her; although this often ended with them engaged in more amorous activities.

As the weather grew hotter and Elizabeth grew bigger, she became more and more uncomfortable. Darcy would rub her back every night, and she would rest her swollen ankles in the cool water during the day. It was in the middle of the night during mid-summer that she at last felt the first pangs of labour.

Elizabeth had been there for the birth of Georgiana's child, as well as that of another woman, so she knew the procedure here. Reynolds checked her state, then told her there were some hours to wait yet. She did not want to wake the rest of the cave, so she tried to remain quiet in her furs with Darcy holding her.

"It will be all right, Elizabeth," he comforted her. "I will be there with you the whole time."

Elizabeth did feel better at his words.

When dawn came, her pangs had come quicker and more severely. The tribe got up for breakfast, and Elizabeth insisted on joining them by the fire outside. Then she walked about, Darcy by her side, to try to speed up labour as much as she could.

It was noon by the time she was in too much pain to stand. Darcy and Reynolds led her inside to her furs, and once she lay down, the old woman checked Elizabeth's progress.

"Just in time," Reynolds said. "It's time to push."

Elizabeth had felt the urge to bear down for some time, and did so now with a scream, gritting her teeth together. She had never imagined that pain so agonizing could be real.

"You're doing so well, Elizabeth," Darcy encouraged, smoothing her dark curls back from her sweaty forehead. She could tell by the tightness in his voice, however, that he was worried for her.

She tried not to think on it, however, instead focusing on bringing their child into the world. She had wanted to give Darcy many sons and daughters, although with the way things were going, she was in doubt that she would ever want to do this again.

Again and again she pushed, until the haze of pain surrounding her almost made her lose her grip on reality. The agony was all around her, seeming to be everything. At last Reynolds cried, "I can see the head! You're almost there, Elizabeth! Just a few more pushes."

Elizabeth followed her direction, and screamed her way through six or seven more agonizing pushes until she felt the child emerge from her womb into the world. She let out a groan of relief as the pain disappeared, then was filled with joy as she heard the cry of her child.

"It's a boy!" Reynolds said, wiping the baby clean of blood and fluids, and placing him on Elizabeth's chest. The new mother held him close, tears coming to her eyes at the sight of her beautiful son. She counted his ten tiny fingers and toes, and ran her hand over his curly black hair, so like his father's.

"He is beautiful," she heard Darcy say, and she looked up to see that her husband had tears in his eyes too.

"Do you want to hold him?" Elizabeth asked.

He nodded quickly, and she handed the baby over. "What shall we name him?" Darcy asked, as he gazed at their child in wonder.

"Could we name him Thomas after my father?" Elizabeth asked.

Darcy nodded. "Of course. Thomas," he looked down at his son with a smile. "Welcome to the world, little one."

Reynolds cut and tied the cord, then helped Elizabeth deliver the placenta. Darcy wrapped the afterbirth in an old fur and went outside to find a place to dig a hole and bury it in the ground so that wild animals would not find it.

Once he came back, Thomas had already latched onto Elizabeth's nipple and begun to nurse. It was the strangest thing Elizabeth had ever felt, much different than when Darcy sucked on her during lovemaking; but it was an experience she cherished all the same. There was nothing to compare to the bond between mother and child. She decided in that moment that she needed to have several more.


Thomas grew quickly on his mother's milk. It was several weeks before Elizabeth and Darcy (or anyone else in the cave) were able to sleep longer than two hours at a time. Thomas woke them throughout the night begging for food, and since it was the busy time of the year, when everyone was preparing for winter, both parents were exhausted by the time they collapsed into the furs every night. Elizabeth brought Thomas with her wherever Darcy went, unless he was out on a hunt with the other men. They went almost daily to the lake, and Elizabeth would sit and feed Thomas while Darcy chopped firewood, checked his traps, or sharpened his weapons. Elizabeth had become more knowledgeable about edible plants here, and was able to aid the tribe by digging up roots, or picking berries and herbs that would add to their winter stores.

It was as the three of them were engaged in this activity toward the beginning of fall that Elizabeth heard a strange buzzing sound, as of insects that grew louder and louder. It took Elizabeth a moment to realize what the noise was, and then she remembered: it was the same sound she had heard when she pressed the green light and was transported to this strange land. There was a bright flash of light, then the landscape before them shimmered, and then faded, until it all coalesced into the form of a man. A moment late, all phenomenon ceased, and Elizabeth found Mr. Bennet standing before them, dressed in a black suit with a dark green waistcoat and cravat, the chain of his fob watch gleaming in the sunlight. He looked around him in wonder and curiosity, and Elizabeth started to dart toward him. "Papa!" she cried.

Mr. Bennet looked over at her immediately, and surprise and happiness suffused his face at the sight of her.

"Lizzy, my girl!"

But Darcy tried to call her back. "Elizabeth, what are you doing? Stay away from him!"

"It's all right, Darcy, it's my father!" she cried.

He advanced with his spear in hand, however, ready to strike.

"Darcy, no! Don't hurt him!" she exhorted.

Darcy stopped before Mr. Bennet with a growl in his throat, but to Elizabeth's great relief, did not cast the spear.

"Where did he come from?" Darcy asked.

"I have no idea. Let me talk to him, Darcy."

Begrudgingly, Darcy nodded his head, and Elizabeth stepped forward to throw herself into her father's arms, careful not to crush little Thomas between them.

"Oh, Lizzy, how glad I am to see you!" Mr. Bennet cried. "I have been searching for you for weeks!"

"Only weeks?" she asked. "You only just discovered that I was gone?"

"It has only been weeks since you disappeared," he said, and looked down at little Thomas. "Although if that is your child, and the sign of your foreign language skills, indicate it has been much longer for you."

Elizabeth did not understand, and told her father so. "I do not understand, Papa. How did I get here? Where am I?"

Mr. Bennet sighed. "For some time I have been tinkering with a device that can travel through time. I had not tested it on people yet, so when you came up into the attic and triggered it, you were flown into the past, and I did not know where or when you had been sent."

Elizabeth was shocked and almost speechless. "You mean, I am not in another country, I am in – the past?"

"You are in another country," he said, "as well as in the past. You are somewhere in the north east of what is modern-day Europe, many many years before the birth of Christ."

"I do not understand. I am in the past?"

He nodded. "I was able to find where you were, but not when. I arrived in this place before you came here, and then many years after, but could not find you. This is the closest to your arrival I could get."

Elizabeth hugged him again, tears coming into her eyes. "I am so glad to see you again, papa. This is my son, Thomas."

She pulled back so that he could see the baby. Mr. Bennet's face softened with joy and wonder as he stroked Thomas's cheek with a knuckle. "He is a beautiful boy," he said.

"Thank you," she said. "And this is my husband, Darcy," she motioned to the large hunter standing beside her, who looked bewildered at the incomprehensible conversation going on around him.

Mr. Bennet looked over at him. "He does not speak English?"

"No. It took me some time, but I was able to learn his language. There is a whole tribe here. Come, you must eat supper with us."

"I cannot stay, Lizzy. There is only a short window open for me to remain before it closes again, trapping me here. But you must come back with me. Bring Thomas with you."

Elizabeth felt tears fill her eyes. She missed Jane and the Gardiners, and even her mother and younger sisters, but she knew she could not leave Darcy, and there was no way he could go back to modern-day England with her. He would never be happy there. So, even as a pang centered in her heart, she shook her head. "I cannot, Papa. I am going to stay with Darcy. I love him."

"You cannot be serious, Elizabeth. Do you not want to be back in civilization, where you can find a proper husband and be happy?"

"Darcy is a proper husband, and he makes me deliriously happy. I am sorry, Papa." Then she had a thought. "Perhaps you can come back to visit sometimes?"

Mr. Bennet shook his head. "It was difficult enough for me to get to this time. I have no guarantee that I would find it again."

Elizabeth felt tears fill her eyes. "I love you, papa. Give my love to my mother and sisters, and to Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner."

Mr. Bennet could not accept her answer, and attempted to argue with her, but she remained firm. They went back and forth until, at last, he nodded his head sadly, the sheen of tears in his eyes. "I love you, my little Lizzy. I will tell the rest of the family that you are safe and happy."

They shared a long hug.

There was a beeping sound from a small, black device Mr. Bennet held, and Elizabeth could see the green light she had touched so long ago.

"I must go," Mr. Bennet said quickly. "Be well, my dear Lizzy, and know that I love you. I will keep you in my prayers."

"And you will remain in mine." Mr. Bennet turned to Darcy, sticking out his hand for the other man to shake. But Darcy just looked at it, confused.

"They do not shake hands here, Papa," she said.

Mr. Bennet lowered his hand. "Take care of my little girl, sir," he said. Then, he pressed his device, and the world shimmered before them. The sound of buzzing insects grew louder, and then with a flash of light, Mr. Bennet disappeared.


Elizabeth fell into Darcy's arms, sobbing, and he held her close. He had no idea what had just happened. Elizabeth had said it was her father. Why was the man wearing such strange clothes, and where had he come from? How he appeared and then disappeared so rapidly?

"Elizabeth? Are you all right?"

She nodded, sniffling. "That was my father, Darcy. He has been searching for me, and just now found me. He said that I had been transported back in time."

Darcy listened incredulously as Elizabeth repeated what her father had told her. But he could not refute the evidence of his own eyes, and the strange phenomenon when her father had appeared and then disappeared he could not deny. He would not yet admit that he believed her story, but he did not think Elizabeth was mad or a liar.

She was still weeping, however, and so he picked her and Thomas up in his arms, speaking soothing words as he carried them back into the cave. He lay them in his bed of furs and then followed them down. He held Elizabeth in his arms, and, as she cried, he kissed her tears away.