If Only In His Dreams (30 page)

Darcy leaned over and placed a kiss on his wife’s head before moving down to kiss her lips.  “I should never have taken the trip, Lizzy.  Please forgive me for not being here when your pains began.”

“Your mother was at my side the entire time, as was Mrs Reynolds and Cook.  They were such comfort to me through the event.”

Darcy lifted his child from the bed and placed the infant on his chest as he reclined on the bed beside his wife.  It was not long before fatigue overtook him and Darcy was fast asleep.  A smile
graced Elizabeth’s lips as she watched her beloved husband as he slumbered.  Now she felt complete and soon, she joined Darcy as he slept.  Mrs Reynolds and Lady Anne peaked into the room an hour later and carefully lifted the infants from their parents, placing the tiny bundles in the bassinets near the bed and covering the parents with a nearby blanket.  Then the two elder women made their way from the rooms to allow the young family to rest.

Chapter 31

Hearing a strange noise, Darcy opened his eyes a crack to see where the noise was coming from.  The sight before him was priceless.  Elizabeth was awake and the sound was one of their babes nursing from her.  Seeing his eyes were somewhat open, Elizabeth laughed.  “Welcome home, William.  I believe that our earlier welcome was delayed due to lack of sleep the past few days.”

“Indeed.  I do not believe I slept more than an hour at a time during the entire trip. 
Remind me
later
that I owe
our staff a great deal of praise and some bonuses for all they have done this week.”

“I could not agree with you more.  If it were not for Mrs Reynolds and Cook, your mother would have had her hands full.”

Confused, Darcy looked at his wife.  “What do you mean?  What happened?”

“William, I was at the pond with your mother and Georgiana when the labor became overwhelming.  I could not make my way back to the house and there was no time to send for the midwife, so Cook delivered the babes with assistance of Mrs Reynolds.  Mother held my hand and spoke with me, attempting to calming me and telling me when to push.”

“Lizzy, you all could have died.  Outdoors, no midwife or physician, I am amazed at your surviving such an ordeal.”

Laughing, Elizabeth gently caressed her husband’s cheek before he took hold of her hand and placed it against his lips gingerly.  “William, women have had babes outdoors for generations.  I was well taken care of.  Have no fear of that.  Mother made sure that everything that could be done was done.  The midwife came later, and she assured us that all was well and that she could have done no better herself.  As a matter of fact, Cook has helped birth a good many children, including Mrs Reynold’s son.
  The physician came that evening, and has come each day since the delivery as he knew you would wish such attention.  He has found nothing wrong with me or the babes.”

“I cannot tell you how relieved I am to hear this.  I have been frantic since I received Mother’s message.  The staff has worked a miracle in getting me here so quickly.  I know that they must think I was a madman in my insistence that we arrive here as quick
ly
as possible.”

“I am certain that they all knew how concerned you were for me and our little ones.”  Elizabeth looked down at the tiny bundle of joy that was nearly finished nursing.  “Would you like to meet your children, Mr Darcy?”

Darcy nodded his head.  “This, Sir, is your daughter.  A very beautiful young lady if I do say so myself.  And the young man over there, sleeping soundly, is your son.”

“You have not named them?” Darcy asked.

“It would not be right for me to name them before you arrived and were able to assist me in choosing the names.”  Elizabeth looked at her daughter and her husband
with a sense
of fulfillment in her heart.  “What name do you find would be fitting
for
this young lady?”

“Amelia Jane Darcy.  If I remember correctly, Amelia was your grandmother.” Darcy looked up into his wife’s eyes.

“Thank you, William;
it was my Grandmother Bennet’s name.  And what of our handsome young son?” Elizabeth lifted her son from his bassinet and carried him to meet his father.

“He
appears to be a Thomas.  Thomas Gerald Darcy.”  Elizabeth had tears welling up in her eyes at the generosity that her husband showed in naming their children after her side of the family.

“I believe that my father would be honored to have this child be his namesake.  I pray that your family will not be offended by this.”

“No, they will not be.  As Richard and Anne will most likely use Fitzwilliam family names, there will be no difficulty from us choosing the same family names.”

Little Thomas began to fuss and his father took him in his arms.  “My dear boy, you gave me such a fright, coming so early.
  You must never do so again.” Lifting the infant to his face, Darcy placed a gentle kiss on his son’s forehead.  He then turned to his wife and daughter.  “And that goes for the two of you as well.  No more making my heart stop beating as I worry for your welfare.  I cannot begin to think about what life would be like without you.”  Tears were pouring down his cheek.

“We love you, William.  It was not intentional.  I was quite surprised when they arrived early and even more surprised that there were two children rather than a single infant. 
Though
I believe your mother had a
nticipated the dual birth
.  And it appears to run in the family as Anne and Richard suspect that she is carrying twins.”

“I believe that my mother’s mother was a twin, and there were other twins on the Fitzwilliam’s side as well.”

Lady Anne had just opened the door and looked inside.  “Indeed, twins are not uncommon in my family, though the only twin in my generation was
Catie’s twin who died when they were a year old and she took a fever.”  She walked over to the side of the bed.  “Well, my dear son, what do you think of your children?  Are they not the sweetest little cherubs?”

“I have not taken much time to examine them, though I find that their being here, cradled in my arms, to be a great pleasure.  I cannot thank you enough for being at Lizzy’s side through the delivery.”

“It was an honor, William.  And I must tell you that your wife was brave through the entire ordeal and hardly even cri
ed out.  The birthing was quick;
we did not have time enough to send for the midwife.  Cook has birthed babes before as well as tended to many types of injuries over the years, so I was confident that she would be able to manage.”

“I will be sure to
give Cook a bonus for her work.  I cannot tell you how relieved I am that they are all safe.” Darcy stated as he pulled his wife and children close to him.  “All the way here I imagined the worst and blamed myself for not being here when they needed me most.”

Elizabeth squeezed her husband’s hand.  “William, do not be foolish.  Even if you had been here, there was nothing you could have done.  You came as soon as possible, and that is all that is necessary.  The babes are thriving, I am regaining my strength, and all is well.”

Lady Anne held out a letter.  “This express just arrived from Rosings.  Anne gave birth to twin daughters two days after your children.  Anne and the children are well and Richard is recovering after he fainted from hearing his wife’s cries during the birth.  He received a cut on his forehead from the fall, as there was a table near where he had been standing.”

Laughter began as a small chuckle from Elizabe
th and grew into full fledge laughing by all three of the adults in the room.  Thomas squirmed and his eyes opened with all the noise while his sister slept soundly in their mother’s arms.  Finally Elizabeth stopped laughing enough to ask if the Fitzwilliam girls had been named.

“Clara Elizabeth and Catherine Anne are their names.   Clara was my mother’s name.” Lady Anne stated.
  “And what of my grandchildren,
have you named them?”

“Amelia Jane and Thomas Gerald are the names we have blessed our children with.” Darcy stated proudly.  “Do you approve of our choices?”

Peering at her grandson, Lady Anne smiled.  “I believe that both of his grandfathers would agree with having a handsome young namesake.  And Amelia; I assume that it is a Bennet family name.”

Elizabeth nodded.  “My grandmother was Amelia, and I was very fond of her when I was a child.  She died before my ninth birthday and was the only grandparent I ever knew.”

“And of course Jane for your sister; it is very fitting for this youngster.”

“Jane was also my mother’s middle name.” Elizabeth stated. “Francine Jane Gardiner Bennet was my mother’s full name.”

Lady Anne smiled.  “Well, I just wished to share the news with you.  I will leave you all to rest some more.  Shall I have trays sent up for you or will you dine downstairs tonight?  Georgiana and I have been dining with Elizabeth each evening, but now that you are home, William, we will return to the cottage.”

“That is not necessary, Mother.  I am certain that
my wife and I would enjoy having you and Georgiana to dine with us tonight.  Perhaps we should have dinner served to us up here, as I believe that Elizabeth should not move too far from her bed.”

“We could have the dinner set up in your private sitting room.” Lady Anne stated.  “I will notify the staff if you approve.”

Both Elizabeth and Darcy agreed, and Lady Anne went to speak to the staff of the preparations.  A light knock on the door announced Georgiana had arrived.  Squealing softly, she came towards her brother.  “Are they not precious, William?  Can you believe how tiny they are to begin with and then grow to be adults?  Mother said that you were larger as a baby, though you were only one infant compared to these two.  It has been amazing to me
to watch them.”

Elizabeth smiled as Darcy looked totally confused at his quiet sister being so transformed into this chatterbox.  “Georgiana has become completely taken by your children, as she has spent a great deal of time with me and the babes since they were born.”

“I love them, William.” Georgiana said as she blushed.  “They have
made me laugh as I watch them wiggling.  Mother says that I was a very peaceful baby, not at all like Amelia and Thomas.  They are very…active.”

This brought Elizabeth to laughter.  “In other words, they are outspoken in their way of letting us know their needs?”

Blushing, Georgiana nodded her head once.  “But that is not a bad thing, Lizzy.  It is just different from what Mother says I was as a babe.”

“Georgie, it only means that they take after their mother rather than our side of the family.  As we all know, Lizzy is…outspoken…in letting us know of her needs and feelings.” Darcy was attempting to keep from laughing aloud.

“FITZWILLIAM DARCY, how can you say such a thing in front of our children?” Elizabeth said in mock dismay as she tried desperately not to giggle.

“I am speaking the truth, my love, and it is not like our children will never discover this trait in their mother.”  Now both husband and wife began to laugh aloud.

Lady Anne came into the room and she inquired as to what was so humorous.  As she learned, she began to laugh as well.  “I came bearing more news.
” She said as she held out the express which had arrived for Elizabeth.

Quickly accepting the letter from Lady Anne and opening it, Elizabeth read it quickly.  “It is from my brother.
  Alex and Charlotte are on th
eir way, and should be here in 3
days’ time, as they w
ere to stop at Charlotte’s aunt’s house on their way here. Her aunt wished to meet Alex and they will stay overnight at her home one night.”

Noticing Elizabeth’s eyes light up as she continued to read, Darcy inquired as to what else was written.  “It seems that my brother and his wife had a bet on our child, or should I say children.  Charlotte was of the opinion that we would have twins and Alex stated no, only a single child.  The bet was that if Charlotte won, Alex had to
take her to a sea side city for a month.  Oh, my goodness, Alex will detest such a trip.  If he had won, Charlotte would have had to
make his favorite meals for a week.  Some of my brother’s favorites can be difficult to make, as they take a great deal of time to prepare them.”