Chapter 1
BLUBBLUBBLUBBLUBBLUBBLUBBLUBBLUB
Crash, and one alarm clock hits the wall. Liz Bennet was not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, in fact she had lost count of the many times she was late to lectures when she was at College. It cramped her style to have to be up and at 'em at 6:30am in the morning, but now she lived in the 'real world' where time clocks had no mercy and Babies came regardless. Liz Bennet was an Obstetrician at Derbyshire County Hospital.
"Jane!!, Jane, are you eating with me or not?"
Liz sat down to a hearty breakfast of Bagels and Coffee, knowing that it was probably the last time she would eat for the next 48 hours. Jane, her sister and best friend was toweling off her hair as she entered the kitchen.
"Thanks Liz, I think I will just have a coffee this morning, I have a date for brunch."
"Charlie?"
"Yes, I think he is going to ask me today!"
Jane danced around the room in one of her rare occasions of acting the clown, she was usually the quiet one of the two, well until she meet with Charles Bringle, now these occasions were becoming less rare and more of a usual thing for Jane. Liz smiled at her sister, Jane was sweetness personified, nobody disliked her.
"Jane that is so exciting, I am so pleased for you, page me when you get back to the office and give me a full report."
Jane hurried off to her room with her coffee, she needed to put on her finishing touches before she headed to the office early to get some work done before the big date. Jane was a property lawyer, that was how she meet Charles, she handled a few of his purchases.
Liz finished off her bagel and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth,
Bleep, Bleep
' I am coming, gee my shift doesn't start for another hour'
Liz pulled her pager out of her jacket pocket.
Please ring Derbyshire urgently
" Hello, This is Doctor Bennet ... oK ... how long? ...OK ... I will be right there."
Liz hastily brushed her teeth and grabbed her bag, as she dashed out the door she yelled
"Bye Jane!! Babies wait for no man."
Liz hurried to her Blue BMW (a graduation present from her parents) and turned the key. The engine purred to life like a content kitten and off she went.
Luckily there were very few people on the road and Liz was able to make it in record time (of course never breaking the speed limit), it was times like this that she was thankful for her own car park at the hospital.
The automatic doors opened and Liz entered her second home (well maybe her first as she seemed to spend so much time there), people were everywhere.
"Hold the lift!"
Liz ran to the lift where an obliging Med student held the doors for her,
"Thanks, I need floor 4."
Making use of the few moments she had in the lift Liz took several deep breaths, this was going to be a yucky delivery. Genna was 15 years old and was swept off her feet and then dumped at the first sign of pregnancy by a man 10 years her senior. Liz wasn't sure how she would cope with it all, she was so sweet and innocent, but also she was petite not much bigger that your average 12 year old. This had been a terrible pregnancy for her both emotionally and physically, Liz had been with her every step of the way, Genna had refused an abortion when she was offered one by her GP and chose to have her baby, Liz respected her for that and did all she could to help her. The one thing she had not managed was to convince her to go home to her brother and let him help her as well.
Ding
"Ummm ... Doctor, I think this is your stop."
"Oh ... um ... thanks."
Liz liked the smell of the birthing unit, it smelt of ammonia and hope, it smelt of new life and fresh flowers, it had that new baby smell.
"Good morning Liz, your patient is in room 3, she is not doing to good, she has a gentleman with her."
Liz nodded and picked Genna's chart, she was puzzled as to who was with her. "Hello Genna, How are you doing?"
Genna looked frightened and so small, her eyes glistened with tears as she grimaced with the pain of a contraction beginning. As the pain intensified the tears that she had been keeping a lid on poured down her cheeks, the grimaced look became a cry of pain, terror and helplessness. On the other side of her bed sat an equally frightened looking man who appeared to be in his late twenties, he held her hand and stroked her forehead.
The pain eased and Genna gave Liz a watery smile, she sat up in her bed and brushed her hair from her face. Even in labour this girl was pretty.
"Liz, this is my brother Will, I had to tell him last night when ... oh no ... I can't do this, please help me."
Genna curled into a ball as another pain ripped through her body, Will looked up and in answer to his unspoken question Liz walked over to eyeball Genna
"Genna, listen to me ... Genna, I need you to straighten out, curling up like that won't help, breathe with me and then when this one is finished I want to examine you. OK. Genna breathe, come on!"
Liz and Genna breathed together and as soon as the pain had subsided Liz examined Genna while Will sensitively left the room to fetch himself a cup of coffee.
"Genna you are half way there, I can give you some pain relief if you want?"
Liz looked at her patient and knew that she needed it, lying on this bed was a child giving birth to a child. Liz always found these teenage deliveries the worst, but this one she found particularly hard, she had formed quite a strong attachment to Genna.
Will returned to the room just in time to hold his sisters hand through another contraction, Liz gave him a reassuring look and went to organise pain relief.
Once the pain relief had kicked in Genna was able to finish her story,
"I was home alone last night when these pains started, I was scared and didn't know who to ring so I rung Will, who came and got me no questions asked. He took me to his flat and looked after me through the night, I told him Liz, I told him everything."
Will looked at Liz and nodded in affirmation of what was just said, his eyes were so deep you could drown in them, he was obviously a man of financial means, Liz knew he was as Genna had told her, but you could tell by the clothes he was wearing. His dark curly locks fell in a dishevel mass onto his forehead and the hand that continued to hold Genna's was bronzed and neatly manicured. This man was drop-dead gorgeous.
"Thank you Doctor Bennet for all you have done for Genna, I am so appreciative."
Will also appeared to be a man of little words.
Genna progressed well and after a bit of help from some forceps, Anne Elizabeth Darcy was born into the world. Liz was pleased at the outcome, Genna was ecstatic and Will was in awe of this child.
Liz smiled as she left the happy family enjoying this moment, she walked down the corridor.
"Doctor Bennet!"
There were steps coming up behind her, she turned to see Will Darcy following her, at that vital moment her pager beeped. She quickly read pulled in out of her pocket to read it before Will caught up to her
Lizzy, Yes he did! Jane
With a smile on her face she turned to Will who had stopped by her side,
"I am going for a coffee, would you like to join me, Genna will sleep for a bit now."
"That would be great, I need it, and how do you do that everyday?"
"What?"
"Deliver Babies."
"Oh I love it, the excitement of the parents, the thrill of new life..."
Liz led Will of to the staff coffee lounge, they both ordered and sat down with their drinks.
"Excuse me while I ring my sister, I believe she has some good news for me."
She rummaged in her bag and produced a cell phone, quickly she found the number she wanted and pressed send. Will watched her every move in awe, she was truly beautiful.
"Hi Jane ... yes it went well ... tell me ... no ... Oh Jane I am so excited for you, so when ... Of course ... Ok ... see ya tonight."
"Sorry about that, my sister has just gotten engaged."
"That's great, well I guess I'd better get back to Genna ... um again Thank you so much for all you did for us ... um would you be interested in joining me for a meal? "
And so began the romance of Elizabeth Bennet and Will Darcy.
Chapter 2
Two years later:
After two years of waiting Liz finally walked down the aisle to her beloved Will, 18 months ago she walked down the same aisle as a bridesmaid to her sister Jane, but this was so different. The wedding and following festivities went well and finally the happy couple found themselves alone in their hotel room. This is where we pick up the story.
After a quiet meal courtesy of room service Liz and Will retired to the bedroom, they had waited for this moment for so long, both of them determined to wait until they were married and even tho' at times this was difficult, they succeeded.
The morning sun beamed into the window as Will watched his beautiful wife sleep, she was peaceful and innocent. Liz had amazed him with her strength and love for life, they had in the 2 years before they got married done so many things, skiing, and parachuting, Liz even taught young Anne how to waltz(well she spun her around the room anyway, two year old don't waltz well). Will remembered the day he meet her, she was fantastic in dealing with Genna, he was devastated to find out what had happened to his baby sister, but was so grateful for Liz who helped her through that awful time and has been a close friend to Genna and Anne ever since.
Liz sleepily opened her eyes, to be greeted by the deep eyes she had so fallen for on their first meeting.
"Good morning sleepy head, I was wondering when you would greet the land of the living."
Will ducked to avoid the hurled pillow, "Hey I told you on our second date that I was not a morning person, what time is it anyway?"