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Chapter Fifty-Six

It was perhaps fortunate that St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital was only blocks from Planet Earth Pizza, because as nervous as Charlie was, she couldn't have driven much farther without serious trouble. She almost plowed into the back of a UPS truck.

"He's not going to be here," Elisabeth wept. "He swore he'd always stand by me, the lying son of a..." Her voice rose in pain and anger as another contraction hit.

"Elisabeth, you swore you weren't going to scream obscenities at him the entire time," Charlie reminded her, her voice calmer than it should've been. "It's not his fault, remember?"

"I lied!" Elisabeth yelled as the pain reached its' worst point before slowly fading. When it was gone, she burst into tears. "Oh, God, Charlie, you're right. I'm turning into some bad movie cliché about when a woman goes into labor."

"Don't cry," Charlie said as she pulled into the emergency parking at top speed. "Darcy's going to be here, Elisabeth."

"No, no. Catherine was just waiting for the right time to tell him about George. She had to have known ever since that day she called when I was there. She's been sitting on this all along, just biding her time until she could spring it on him and ruin everything. She knew just what she was doing," Elisabeth said with fury in her voice. "And now he thinks..."

"He's upset," Charlie tried to assure her as she parked the car. "He doesn't believe that you were involved in George's plan to steal the money. Like I told you, I heard him telling that Anne Ripley over and over that he knew she was lying about you. What drove him away was seeing Ginger's reaction to George."

"With the added implication that George came back, we went through it quickly, and then waited for him to show up so we could lure him into giving us more."

"Which he's going to dismiss as stupid if he hasn't already. You couldn't know that Catherine de Bourgh was going to send him here. I doubt Catherine herself knew where George was from, since she had no idea who he was. Ginger never told anyone his identity, and that includes her. It was just blind luck that brought Darcy to Effingham. Now, are you going to get out of my car or did you intend to have the baby here?"

Elisabeth opened her door and got herself out of the car. Charlie offered her assistance into the building, but upon reaching the doors, Elisabeth balked.

"What?" Charlie asked when Elisabeth came to a stop in front of the sliding doors to the emergency room.

"I can't go in there. I can't do this. I just can't."

"Your body's telling you otherwise. You've been wanting to have the baby all week, now is the time, so come on."

"You don't understand! If I go in there, it'll be like...like it's official, that I'm having the baby without Darcy. If I go in there without him..."

"Do you want to give birth out here? Aside from the fact that it's freezing, it's not exactly healthy or sterile enough for the baby."

"I want Darcy," Elisabeth whimpered. "I don't want to go through this without him."

Charlie sighed. "I know," she said quietly.

"What if this is permanent? What if he doesn't come to his senses and continues to believe that I had something to do with George and the money and everything? I can't raise the baby on my own, Charlie. I'm so scared right now and I don't know what I'm going to do."

Charlie put an arm around her cousin. "Darcy, for the most part, isn't stupid. In fact, next to Jack, he's one of the smartest guys I know. Right now, that redheaded witch has managed to plant enough of a bug in his ear that all he hears are the echoes which indicate your guilt. Give him a little time to think it over, and he'll realize the truth."

"Before I have this baby or months from now?"

"I can't answer that. Let's hope sooner than later. Let's hope he gets in touch with someone who loves him to talk it over, because I suspect hearing you're in labor might make the difference."

"I don't want him here if he's just here to hold my hand," Elisabeth said angrily. "If he's going into the delivery room with me, it'll be because he's convinced I had nothing to do with whatever George did." Elisabeth paused. "What do you mean, you hope he gets in touch with someone who loves him? I'm here. Ginger's at your apartment, or maybe it's our apartment again, changing the message on the answering machine."

"Ginger's also calling every single one of their relatives to let them know what's happened in case he calls them. While they're getting you set up in a room, I'm going to call Chazz and Jenna in case he calls one of them. Everyone at the store knows you're in labor. He'll find out from someone." Charlie smiled. "We've got everything covered, but you've got to get inside, now, before I turn into an icicle."

Elisabeth nodded slowly and let Charlie guide her into the hospital.

Darcy didn't know where he was headed when he left the store. He drove down the streets of Effingham in a manner which would've made J.P. proud. He thought of going home, but he knew that would be the first place someone would try to find him. Home was out. So was the Bookworm, since it would mean talking to Mary Ann about his plans to buy the place, which would now have to be put on hold.

Darcy wound up going to the mall, paying six bucks for a ticket to see some brainless movie he could care less about. As he sat in the dark, he replayed everything over in his mind. The rage was starting to dull somewhat, but what had fueled it still remained.

With bitterness, Darcy replayed the last year of his life over and over in his mind, starting with Ginger's frantic phone call the day she'd been abandoned and betrayed by her unnamed boyfriend. That had been followed by Ginger's dismissal from the company and Catherine's order for him never to see her again.

Maybe things would've been better if I had obeyed her, he thought for about two seconds. Then the rational part of his mind took over and reminded him of everything good that had happened because he hadn't. He'd lost his job, yes, but he'd found something more important than work. He'd found his family, happiness, himself.

And he had Elisabeth Bennet to thank for all of that.

Elisabeth.

Darcy felt bile rising in his throat. Yes, Elisabeth had done some nice things in the time they'd been together, but every single thing she'd done had been cold and calculating. She'd done it in order to get a wedding band, connections to the Darcy family, and his money.

Listen to you. What money? You're not exactly rolling in it, you know.

But for a small-town girl who probably didn't make twenty-five thousand dollars a year, what he had was probably worth going after. If he needed any further proof of that, all he had to do was look at Caroline Benson. Nothing had deterred her. Nothing had deterred Elisabeth, either. She'd just gone about getting him a completely different way than Caroline had, and by God, it had almost worked.

He laughed coldly, causing several people to stare at him. Darcy ignored them. Elisabeth had been a damn good actress, he would give her that. She'd managed to make him believe she loved him and wanted him to be the father to her child. He had a feeling that if he'd brought up the subject of a prenuptial agreement, as Anne had suggested he do, that she would've been outraged and refused to sign it.

Maybe that's what I should do. Maybe I should go back to the store, where she's undoubtedly trying to make herself look like the victim, and tell her that I'll still marry her as long as she signs a prenup outlining what her life with me will be like. And if we divorce, she'll get nothing and the baby...

Well, he could hardly refuse to help out a defenseless baby, even if it was George Wickham's child. He'd give her a little money to help her out with it.

George's child. You're seriously sitting here considering being the father of George Wickham's child? Are you mad?

Darcy shook his head. No. It was better to just make a clean break of it. He'd go back to the store, where Charlie was probably waiting to deck him the way he'd heard she'd decked George back in March, and tell Elisabeth that it was over. He'd let her keep the ring. It wasn't like it was a family heirloom----thank God he'd turned down Ginger's offer to give it to her! And it would net her a couple thousand dollars, which would help out with the baby.

She'll probably turn her back on the kid as soon as it's born. That's what she was planning to do in the first place, wasn't it? That should've told you something, genius. She only decided to keep it the minute you stepped into the picture. One of the first things she announced was that she was giving it up for adoption. Maybe she'll do the sensible thing and give it to Sean and Rachel. They'd love to have a baby to raise.

Darcy had almost convinced himself that he'd make that suggestion to Elisabeth when he remembered overhearing a conversation she'd had with Charlie before he'd started dating her. Elisabeth hadn't been convinced that adoption was the answer for her as far back as July. Just because he wasn't around didn't mean she wouldn't keep the baby.

What do you care? It's no concern of yours anymore.

Darcy sat in the theater for a few minutes in an effort to clear his mind of everything that was bothering him. He tried to focus on more positive things. For instance, now that he was free of all his obligations, what was he going to do with his life? He would want to leave town, for a start. That would mean telling Mary Ann that he wasn't going to buy the Bookworm after all. It would be disappointing to her, since she'd been so excited with what he'd planned to do with the place, but maybe he'd stick around long enough to find her a new buyer.

Then he could...what? Start drifting the world for the rest of his life? Go through the money he had within a few months? What happened then? He couldn't get a job back in New York unless he did some serious kowtowing to Catherine, or went to work for one of her competitors. Neither option appealed to him. He still liked the idea of owning a used bookstore. Maybe he could go somewhere else and start it up. He could buy Mary Ann's inventory and start with that. The only thing that would change would be the location.

Now that he thought of it, the idea struck him as being a good one. He could maybe move to Evanston and be with his family. Darcy was sure they'd be delighted with having him nearby, and he'd be away from Effingham, which was all he wanted right then.

In short order, Elisabeth found herself in a room wearing a hospital gown, hooked up to a monitor which was either keeping track of the baby or keeping track of her contractions, she wasn't sure which, and Charlie had returned with a cup of ice chips. Just as Charlie walked in, Elisabeth had another contraction, causing her to gasp.

"Is this where you're supposed to do that breathing thing?" Charlie asked.

"How should I know?" Elisabeth muttered. "I've never had a baby before."

"Yes, but you've been through Lamaze classes. I've only watched movies. Therefore, it is to be assumed that you know more about the miracle of childbirth than I do." Charlie glanced at the monitor. "I have no idea how to read this monitor, but I think you're about through the worst of it," Charlie commented as Elisabeth huffed and puffed her way through it.

"Have...have you heard from Ginger?" Elisabeth asked, greedily taking the cup of ice chips Charlie had offered.

Charlie nodded. "He hasn't called anyone yet. I called Jack, and he hasn't returned to work. Chazz and Jenna haven't heard anything. No one's seen him. Ginger's on her way here. I called the house to make sure she'd done okay with the answering service, and it's fine."

"I hope the words 'Darcy, you're a moron' appeared in there somewhere."

"Oddly enough, I think they were."

Elisabeth smiled briefly. Charlie was lying through her teeth, but it was sweet of her to do it. Elisabeth let another ice chip melt in her mouth before setting the cup aside and saying, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Charlie shrugged.

"No, Charlie, not about checking with Ginger, not just that. Thank you for everything." Elisabeth took a deep, cleansing breath. "I don't think I've ever thanked you for all the things you've done for me. I don't even remember if I thanked you for saving my life when Herbie pushed me into the lake when we were kids."

"You did."

"Well, that's one thing at least." Elisabeth shifted slightly in the bed, trying to get comfortable when comfort was impossible. "You've always been there to lend an ear when I've needed to talk to someone. You've supported me through this whole thing. I don't know how I would've gotten here without you. Not just today, but...the whole time. This whole pregnancy mess. I even kept the truth about me and Darcy a secret from you for a long time, and you forgave me."

"There was nothing to forgive. If our roles had been reversed, I probably wouldn't have said anything to you at first, either." Charlie's expression grew wistful. "If you'll recall, I actually didn't say anything when Jack and I started going out. He practically had to scare you to death one morning before you found out."

"This is true," Elisabeth admitted. "That was funny. You have no idea..." She started giggling. "...how funny he looked in your robe!"

"Yes, I do, but I didn't think it was all that funny."

"Of course you wouldn't. You're still looking back on it with embarrassment. One day, when you and Jack have been together for years and years, you're going to think of the day I found out and laugh your head off."

"I somehow doubt that." Charlie glanced around the room. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine compared to how I'll be in the next couple of minutes." Elisabeth ate another ice chip. "I wonder if what they say about labor not being as bad as gallstones is true."

"I wouldn't be able to tell you," Charlie said. "I've never been through labor and you've never had gallstones. If we continue the discussion, we'd probably start screaming at each other that we had the worse experience."

"Yeah, probably."

The two sat in silence until Elisabeth's next contraction. Elisabeth tried her best to remember what she'd been taught in Lamaze classes, but all she wanted to focus on was the pain. "Oh, God!" she cried out. "I don't want to think about what the end of this is going to be like, if it's this bad now."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. How about drugs?"

"I don't do them," Elisabeth said, slightly out of breath.

"Very funny. Can't they give you something to dull the pain or get rid of it completely or something? I can have a doctor in here within a few minutes. Jack taught me a few techniques."

"Jack nearly got thrown out of the hospital using his techniques, from what Darcy said after the fact. And no, I don't want any drugs. My mother said they helped, your mother said they were pointless since it just made her dopey by the end of the delivery..."

"My mother always has a bad reaction to anesthetics of any kind. You can't take her opinion seriously." Charlie glanced in the doorway.

"Charlie, I meant to ask earlier. Is Dr. Knightley in town, or am I going to have to go through this with that jerk I saw earlier this week?"

"Dr. Knightley is not only in town, he's in the room. He does, however, have an objection to one of his colleagues being called a jerk. Dr. Arnold is an excellent obstetrician."

Elisabeth turned to see her obstetrician smiling at her as he walked into the room with a medical chart in his hand. "Thank God," she said, as Charlie darted out of the room. "No offense, Dr. Knightley, but Dr. Arnold isn't you. Since they paged you, am I about to have this baby?"

"Well, that's what we're about to find out," he said. "I was on my way out the door, actually, when they told me you were here. Another of my patients gave birth earlier today. Beautiful little boy."

"Did everything go well?" Elisabeth asked nervously.

The doctor nodded. "As well as everything's going to go with you, Elisabeth, don't worry."

The movie looked like it might be over. Darcy had no idea what was going on, not having watched it. It reminded him of one his early dates with Elisabeth, when they'd started making out during A Room with a View and had to figure out later on why three guys were running around the woods stark naked. He almost smiled in memory.

He'd been sitting there, stewing over his plans. He probably should've left the theater the minute he'd decided to leave town, but something had kept him sitting there, staring blankly at the screen. Darcy wasn't sure he'd thought of anything for a while, but now that some of his anger seemed to have gone away, there was a sane voice creeping back inside his head and it wasn't happy with him.

You jerk. You walked out on her without her saying anything on the matter. You just assumed she was guilty because you saw Ginger's reaction to George. The fact that George Wickham was Ginger's lover had nothing to do with Elisabeth's guilt or innocence.

Darcy told himself that it had everything to do with whether or not the woman he'd loved was a gold digger. She'd been George's lover.

Gold digger? Did she ever ask you for a dime? Has she asked you to pay for a thing concerning herself or the baby?

No, but she had insurance for that. The money requests would come eventually, he knew it.

You didn't ask her anything sensible. How was she to know what you were going on about when you didn't tell her what Anne had told you? And don't you think this is a little suspicious, coming from Anne? For all you know, Anne and Catherine could've doctored the phone records to make it look like George had called Elisabeth twice.

Darcy had a little trouble dealing with that one. While he doubted they'd faked the phone records, he couldn't say for sure that they hadn't. And now that he was a little calmer, he knew that he hadn't given her a proper chance to defend herself. He was feeling bad about that.

For God's sake, the poor girl is past her due date and in a fragile emotional state, and you went and yelled at her!

Given a toehold on his conscience, guilt flooded him as he remembered, at last, the stricken look in Elisabeth's eyes when he'd leveled his accusation. Not only hadn't he given Elisabeth a chance to defend herself, he'd accused her of a lot of things she probably hadn't done. And on what evidence? Two phone calls and a tennis bracelet.

Othello killed Desdemona because of evidence like that.

"You idiot. You complete, utter idiot!" Darcy hissed at himself as he stood up and ran out of the movie theater. He found the pay phones right by the entrance and frantically dialed his phone number.

"Hi. You've reached the residence of Darcy Williamson and his love slave, Elisabeth Bennet. Neither of us are around to take your call, although we're sure your filthy mind has given some thought as to why. Leave a message at the beep and when we're through..."

"Elisabeth, WHAT are you saying in that message?"

Darcy snickered. He really should've gone back to listen to that message again, but if he recalled correctly, Elisabeth had managed to distract him before he could do so and he'd forgotten to do it later. He could only imagine what Catherine would've said if she'd ever heard that message. Then again, Elisabeth had been giving her name and his on the answering service for quite a while. If Elisabeth hadn't started doing that, Catherine wouldn't have known for certain who she was, so maybe it wasn't so funny.

But it also meant that Elisabeth wasn't in his apartment. Guilt pounded at him again as he heard the beep. "Elisabeth, are you there? Please, pick up if you're there. If you're listening...I know I'm the scum of the universe right now. I know I said some horrible things today, but I was angry and I wasn't thinking right. But I'm thinking right now and I want us to talk as soon as I get home...if you're still there. I wouldn't blame you if you weren't..." Darcy stayed on the line for another moment, hoping she'd pick up, but he gave up.

It occurred to him that she might be with Charlie in the downstairs apartment. Darcy dug through his apron and pulled out more change before dialing the number. He wanted to yell when the phone rang...and rang...and rang. After the fourth ring, the machine picked up. Darcy nearly dropped the phone when he heard his sister's voice instead of Charlie's.

"Hi, you've reached Charlie Lucas's house. If this is Darcy Williamson, King of the Morons, you'd better haul ass to St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital because Elisabeth is in labor. If you're someone else, leave a message and Charlie will get back to you when she can."

"Oh, no," Darcy groaned. He gave in to the urge to yell as he slammed the phone back down and left the mall.

"I can't believe I'm only dilated seven centimeters," Elisabeth muttered as Charlie walked back into the room. Ginger was hovering in the doorway. "I'm ready to have this baby. I'm sick of being in pain." She glared at her swollen stomach. "Come on, brat. Let's go."

"I thought you didn't want to be ready to go until Darcy got here," Charlie said, taking a seat on Elisabeth's left.

"To hell with him. He hasn't even bothered to call anyone to let them know he's alive. The way he zoomed out of the store, he's probably managed to wreck that stupid black convertible of his."

"He hasn't been admitted to the hospital and there haven't been any serious accidents. And none of the accidents there has been involved Darcy," Ginger said from the doorway.

"How do you know this?" Elisabeth asked.

"We called Danie," Charlie answered. "It was one of the scenarios we had to think of."

Elisabeth frowned at Ginger. "Why are you standing there? Come in or get out."

"Dr. Knightley won't let anyone other than me or Darcy in the room. I told him Ginger was his sister, but that didn't get her in here. I think they're afraid of overcrowding or something silly like that."

"As the doctor isn't here at the moment, I think you should come in. What's the worst that can happen?"

"I could be thrown out," Ginger said wryly. "Then if Darcy does show up, I won't be able to tell him exactly where you are. They've got several delivery rooms on this floor, you know. He might go into the wrong one and come face-to-face with some furious boyfriend or husband."

Elisabeth decided not to argue, since she supposed Ginger had a point. Besides, another contraction gripped her just then, and speaking was next to impossible.

"They're getting closer together," Charlie murmured. "How close this time?"

"Four minutes, I think." Elisabeth's eyes filled with tears. "He's not going to make it. I swear to God, Catherine must have someone following me who realized I was going into labor."

"El, you've said a lot of stupid things, but that one's close to the top of the list."

"I'm in massive amounts of pain and you're insulting me?!" Elisabeth shrieked. "Where's the sympathy?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Charlie said contritely. "It's just in my nature to comment on things like that. I wasn't thinking."

"There's a lot of that going around today." Elisabeth crunched another ice chip. "So, since we're sitting around here with nothing to do other than crack wise and watch me go through hell, should we discuss whether or not I'm going to forgive Darcy and take him back?"

"Do you think the relationship is over just because you've had a fight?" Charlie asked.

"Didn't you think the same thing earlier this week?" Elisabeth accused.

"No. I thought Jack and I had a rough patch and that things might not work out, but I didn't necessarily think it was over."

"This situation's a little different than yours was. In your case, it was just his family who disliked you. In mine, it's Darcy himself. I think a relationship is in trouble when one party doesn't like the other, don't you?"

"Darcy loves you," Ginger said from the doorway. She took a couple of hesitant steps into the room. "I know he does."

"I'm glad one of us knows this, because the last time I talked to him, he certainly seemed to hate me." Elisabeth sniffled. "This is where you should give me wonderful advice, Charlie."

"I don't have wonderful advice to give," Charlie said. "You know you're going to forgive him. You love him. Just don't make it too easy, okay? There's definitely got to be groveling, maybe a big bouquet of flowers and candy..."

"A Dr. Pepper would do for me. Well, maybe a Dr. Pepper and some very expensive chocolates. And groveling, on his knees and with lots of apologies. There will have to be some of that."

"What, no cigarette?" Charlie asked.

Elisabeth shook her head. "I've given it up for good," she said with a resigned sigh. "I think you knew that, though."

"No, I didn't. You've talked about it at least once a day since I took your last cigarette away from you."

"Yeah, well, I don't want to set a bad example for the baby. I don't to be some hypocrite who tells her she can't smoke when I go through two packs a day."

"You never went through two packs a day. You never even went through one pack," Charlie said.

"That was an example. So, no more smoking."

"I'm glad to hear that," Ginger said. "Charlie's right not to give you advice. As I understand it, there was a serious misunderstanding because of some advice Darcy gave a friend of yours."

"And oddly enough, the advice sounded a lot like what I just told her," Charlie added. "Only I was more specific than your brother. So we're agreed----lots of groveling, some good chocolate, and apologies will suffice."

"Sounds good to me."

The conversation continued until Elisabeth had another contraction. She wondered if she was going crazy, because it seemed like this one lasted longer than the others which had preceded it. When she was finally through it, she noticed that Ginger was looking pale while Charlie looked pained.

"I'm...um, I think I heard someone heading this way, so I'd better duck out," Ginger said, looking very pale. "I'll see if Dare's made his way here and...check back with you in a bit."

"Okay," Elisabeth said weakly. After Ginger was gone, Elisabeth said, "I think she gets a little more scared with every contraction. It's probably a good thing she's gone."

"You think I'm not getting more nervous with every contraction? This is seriously making me reconsider having children of my own." Charlie flexed her right hand. "Ow." She was silent for a minute. "What's the pain like?"

Elisabeth paused. "I'm not sure how to describe it," she said. "I guess I'd say it's like my stomach's being squeezed in a vise. What was the pain of gallstones like for you?"

"Like someone was stabbing me with a dull knife. I was dizzy, nauseous at times, hot, and in pain." Charlie smiled. "I think you'd win any debate about which experience is worse----gallstones or childbirth. Then again, I only had the one attack. I'm sure it gets worse with time."

"You're a wimp, Charlotte Lucas," Elisabeth said with a brief chuckle.

"You got that right. I'll tell you one thing. If I ever have children, I'm damn sure going to have drugs."

The closer he got to the hospital, the more convinced Darcy became of Elisabeth's innocence. Rational thinking had managed to make a complete return, and any lingering fury he had was directed at George for everything he'd done and at Anne and Catherine for the pain they'd inflicted.

With a squeal of tires, Darcy narrowly avoided getting hit by an SUV as he turned into the hospital's emergency parking lot. Then he just missed hitting a parked car as he turned into an empty space. He got out of the car, not bothering to lock it, and ran into the building.

He nearly got lost twice looking for the elevators, but made his way without bursting in on someone's surgery or whatever was going on in the corridors marked "Personnel Only." Maternity was on the second floor, and he was nearly three steps toward the front desk before the doors had fully opened.

"I'm looking for Elisabeth Bennet," he said breathlessly.

"Dare!"

Darcy turned away from the desk to see Ginger stomping toward him. She hadn't shouted, but her voice had been commanding enough for him to know that she was not happy.

"I got your message, and yes, I agree that I'm the king of the morons," he said.

"That's nice. Great timing, by the way. Didn't you realize she was in labor?"

"How the hell would I have known that? She didn't tell me."

"She didn't get the chance to tell you. And as for her being in league with George in order to extort money, I'm going to use one of Charlie's sayings when I tell you that I've heard some stupid things out of you, but that ranks as one of the top five dumbest things you've ever said."

"Excuse me," one of the nurses said in a hushed tone. "Could you two keep it down or go somewhere else? This is hardly the place for the two of you to be having this conversation."

"Butt out," Darcy said rudely. "Has she had the baby yet?"

"No. She's getting close, though." Ginger exhaled loudly. "The nurse was right. This isn't the time or the place to have this conversation. Elisabeth needs you, and I'm not going to stand in your way just so we can yell at each other. We'll do plenty of that later."

Darcy nodded. "Agreed. Where is she?"

Ginger took him by the arm----her grip being none too gentle----and led him to Elisabeth's room just as Elisabeth had another contraction. Her cry of pain pierced his heart as he took two steps into the room.

He said nothing as Elisabeth, eyes closed, did her Lamaze breathing to get through the contraction. Charlie held her hand and talked her through the worst of the pain, her words painting a picture of serenity. After a minute, Elisabeth was breathing easier and her body seemed to relax somewhat.

"I don't care what they say, visualizing a quiet place doesn't help one damn bit," Elisabeth muttered. "Ice chips."

"I think they've melted," Charlie said, letting go of Elisabeth and flexing her hand with a slight grimace.

"Then go get me some more."

Darcy saw Charlie struggle not to say something sarcastic, as she normally would. She picked up a Styrofoam cup and started to walk to the door. She stopped when she saw him.

"Why are you standing there?" Elisabeth demanded in a shrill voice. She turned her head to see what Charlie was staring at. "Darcy!" she cried joyfully. "You're here. You're finally here!"

Darcy rushed over to her, taking her in his arms and hugging her fiercely. He didn't notice when Charlie left the room. "I'm here," he said soothingly. "Everything's going to be all right, Elisabeth."

"I was so scared," Elisabeth said through tears. "You weren't here and the contractions are really getting close together and the doctor's going to be back soon and I'm probably going to be moved to the delivery room and you weren't here and I didn't want to have the baby alone and I kept thinking of what would happen if you never showed up and then I was afraid you might have an accident and you weren't here and..."

She stiffened. At first, Darcy thought she was having another contraction, but when she pulled away from him, he knew it wasn't that.

You didn't think you were going to get away that easily, did you?

"You weren't here," she said coolly. "And the last thing you told me was..."

"I know what I said," Darcy told her. "And I'm sorry."

"Why? That's all I want to know right now. Why did you think it? What did that witch tell you that convinced you I was involved in...whatever George had done?"

"I didn't think you'd been behind the embezzlement. I knew it then. There were too many coincidences involved for that to have been deliberate. But I thought George knew who I was, which meant you knew as well. I saw where he'd called you twice."

"Yeah, I saw that," Elisabeth said. "Two phone calls, and that was all. I went to pick him up at the train station as a favor to Sean. He called to tell me when he'd be there. I don't know what the other call was about. He may have dialed the wrong number or something, but I know I never talked to him."

"Where did you two go for two days?" he asked. "And what about the tennis bracelet?"

"I don't know where he went. I was in Springfield, attending the funeral of a cousin who had died. This is information you would've had if you hadn't jumped to conclusions and made accusations. As for the tennis bracelet, I don't know who he gave that to. I never received it. The one I have was a birthday gift from my father. All you had to do was ask and I would've told you."

"I know," he said. "I'm sorry. I know that the words are not enough. They never are, especially at a time like this, but I do mean it. I am sorry for what I said."

Elisabeth cried out as Darcy realized she was having another contraction. All thoughts flew out of his head. Unlike Charlie, he could give her no mental image with which to calm herself. Just as well. As mad as she likely was with him, his voice was no doubt the last one she wanted to hear.

"Do you want me to stay?" he asked as the contraction came to an end. "Or should I go and let Charlie take over for me?"

"No," she replied, shaking her head furiously. "I want you to stay. Do you want to stay, or are you just here because you think I need you?"

"I want to stay because I love you, and I love the baby."

Tears rolled down Elisabeth's cheeks. "Even though it's George's baby?" she asked, her voice cracking.

He nodded and took her in his arms again. "I don't care what he did. Well, I do, but not when it comes to this. If you still want me, I want to be with you."

"Damn," she muttered. "Trust you to say the right thing. I was hoping to hold out for chocolates and soda after the birth."

"You'll have them as soon as this is over," he promised.

Dr. Knightley walked into the room. "Hello, Mr. Williamson," he said. "It's good to have you here. How are you doing, Elisabeth?"

"Can I have the baby now? I'm ready for this to be over," she said.

After a quick examination, the doctor nodded. "You're ready. Let's get you moved to the delivery room."

"This is it, Elisabeth! One more push and your baby will be here!" Dr. Knightley announced. "Are you ready?"

Elisabeth shook her head violently. "I can't do this anymore," she moaned. "I just can't." She felt Darcy slip his hands into hers. "No, Darcy, please...I can't." She'd been pushing for over an hour. It hadn't been until the last few pushes that she'd thought actual progress had been made.

"Too late to stop now," he said before planting a kiss at her temple.

"Here we go...push!" the doctor ordered.

Elisabeth pushed with all her might, her eyes squeezed shut, inadvertently bruising Darcy's hands by clinging to them so hard. In spite of what the doctor had said, she knew that this wouldn't be all. This labor was going to go on forever, she thought as she screamed in frustration and pain.

Then a strange thing happened. The world seemed to fall silent, except for one voice. She heard the thin, indignant squall that rapidly became a powerful yowl. She felt Darcy wrap his arms around her shoulders to hug her, but she couldn't make out his words. The doctor's eyes above his surgical mask were smiling, and then Elisabeth saw her daughter.

I did it, she thought blankly. It's over. It's finally over.

Elisabeth stared at the baby for what seemed like an eternity and a heartbeat all at the same time. She frowned as the baby was whisked away suddenly...where were they taking her? She hadn't even had a chance to get a good look at her before she was gone, it seemed. Fear clutched at her heart. Was something wrong with her baby? Was that why she'd been taken away?

Elisabeth looked at Darcy to see if he was raising a protest, but he just had a goofy look in his eyes. She then saw that he was looking off to one side. She turned her head and was barely able to see the nurse who had the baby. Nothing wrong, then, just...what? Routine tests?

"She's beautiful," she heard Darcy say right by her ear.

"How could you tell? They barely let us see her," Elisabeth murmured, but he didn't answer her and she wondered if he'd even heard. A minute later, the nurse brought the baby, now wrapped in a blanket, back over to her. She placed the baby in Elisabeth's arms and stepped away, and at last, Elisabeth got her first good look at her daughter.

Her face was still red although she'd stopped wailing. She had a few little tufts of dark brown hair on her head, and her eyes, when opened, looked to be blue at the moment. Elisabeth reached out a finger to touch one of her wrinkled little cheeks, which immediately caused the baby's forehead to pucker into a frown...as though she needed to look any more like a miniature old lady than she already did. But to Elisabeth's surprise, she didn't start crying again. It was strange.

"I don't think I've ever known you. I carried you for nine months, but I don't think I understood you from the moment you set eyes on me."

Elisabeth stared at her daughter as her mother's words came back to her again, just as they had so often in this last month. Did she understand this child? Was she supposed to at this moment? She'd been terrified that her mother's words would prove prophetic, but as Elisabeth gazed upon the tiny, wrinkled, incredibly beautiful face of her own daughter, she realized that it didn't matter. It shouldn't have mattered to Ruth, and the fact that it had was her mother's failing, not hers.

"The moment I first held her, I wanted to make sure she had the world." Who had said that to her? Elisabeth remembered----it had been Louisa. She hadn't understood what she'd meant then. She did now.

Elisabeth didn't feel the tears trickling down her cheeks as she whispered, "Hello, baby." She smiled. "I'm your mother."

She'd almost completely forgotten about Darcy until he placed his hand under the hand she had supporting the baby's neck. His other arm covered hers, trying to hold them both at the same time. She glanced up at him, then back at the newborn. "This big idiot is your father," she told her daughter. "When you get a little older, we'll talk about how all men are idiots and how you forgive them for it because you love them."

Elisabeth didn't have to look at Darcy to know his reaction. His arms tightened around her as he said, "I'm sorry, El. I'm so sorry."

She leaned into him slightly, trying to absorb a little of his strength as exhaustion started to overwhelm her, and replied, "I know."

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Elisabeth woke up in the hospital the next morning with a grimace. She'd never been more sore in her life. On the other hand, she'd never felt happier in her life, either. She'd gone to sleep soon after being moved to this private room and had awakened intermittently through the night, but upon waking up for good it hit her that she was in the hospital. She was then reminded that not only was she no longer pregnant, but also that she had a beautiful little girl asleep in the nursery down the hall.

She heard light snoring and turned to find Darcy sleeping on a roll-away bed that had been brought into the room. She smiled. Every time she'd awakened in the night, he'd been there, either holding the baby or smiling down at her. They'd talked once, to agree at last on what to name the baby. The rest of the time, he whispered to her to go back to sleep.

She wondered how they'd managed to convince him to do the same, because she'd been certain he would be staying awake all night to watch over her and the baby.

Elisabeth was debating whether or not she wanted to get more sleep when she heard the soft tap on her door. She figured it was her mother, but was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Charlie. She smiled when Charlie peeked her head in the doorway. She motioned for her to come in. Charlie was followed by a trail of balloons, each of them with "It's a Girl!" written on them.

"Hey," she croaked. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Hey."

"Hi. How are you feeling?" Charlie asked. "I was going to wait until you'd had the baby but Jack had me paged before you did. His sister Alice agreed to stay with their mother last night. I didn't want to waste the opportunity to be with him."

"Can't blame you. And to answer your question, I feel like I was tortured for hours. Although I think I was in noticeable labor for only about six or seven hours, so it's not as bad as it could've been."

"Good, then you're doing better."

Elisabeth smiled weakly. "Have you seen her?"

Charlie nodded. "She looks like your mother."

"When I'm myself again, I'm gonna kick your butt for saying that."

"I'll remind you to do it when you forget." Charlie walked over to her bed. "You have to admit that it's true, though. Squalling, red-faced, mad as hell...it's your mother to a T."

"True."

Charlie took the chair on Elisabeth's left. She glanced over at Darcy. "Isn't this typical? You did all the hard work and he's the one sleeping right now."

"Aah, he stayed up most of the night, just holding the baby. He got downright surly with the nurses when they took her away. Wasn't that sweet of him?"

"Very. I take it this means you two have kissed and made up."

"There was no kissing, at least not yet. We'll do that when we get out of here." Elisabeth raised herself to a sitting position and almost marveled at how easy it seemed, even if it was uncomfortable.

"Speaking of your mother----"

"We were speaking of my mother?"

"Has she been in to see you? I presume you guys called everyone to let them know you'd given birth."

"Um..." Elisabeth gave it a lot of thought. She hadn't called anyone because she'd been too exhausted from the birth, and Darcy had been with her almost the whole time, so she doubted if anyone...

The door opened without anyone bothering to knock, and there stood her mother. Mel trailed her by a few steps, a little floral basket in his hand. There was a balloon tied to the basket.

"I had to find out from the radio. The radio, Elisabeth Cathleen! If that's not disgraceful, I don't know what is. The least you could've done was call to let me know you were in the hospital."

"There wasn't exactly time," Elisabeth protested. "It's not like I knew in advance that I would be having the baby yesterday. And when it was over, I was too tired to call anyone."

"How are you?" Mel asked with concern.

"I'm fine." Elisabeth waited for her mother to continue scolding her, but all she did was cross her arms over her chest and glower.

"We saw her already," Ruth said. "I must say, she's a very pretty baby. She reminds me of Jenna when she was born."

"That's funny. Charlie was just saying she thinks the baby looks like you, and I must say that I think she's right." Elisabeth gave her mother as angelic a smile as she could muster, although Charlie had a hard time keeping her countenance.

"Well...naturally. I look a lot like Jenna, so naturally the baby would look like me." Ruth preened. "She is beautiful, but I was surprised that she looked nothing like George."

"Thank God," Charlie muttered under her breath.

"It's probably for the best, though, since Darcy's going to be her father and George is in a stable relationship with Lydia."

"If the words 'George,' 'stable relationship,' and 'Lydia' can all be used in a sentence together," Elisabeth commented, a little too loud because her mother heard it.

"That's not very nice, Elisabeth. Just because things didn't work out between you and George is no reason to be bashing him now. Lydia has a different temperament than you do, one more suited to George and his personality."

Elisabeth was tempted to tell her mother about what George had done but decided not to. Ginger had made the decision to forget about it as best she could, and Elisabeth would abide by that decision.

"She's certainly going to be a beauty when she grows up, Ellie," Mel commented. "I was just telling Ruth..."

"Knock, knock," a voice called as the door opened again. Jenna and Chazz stepped into the room. Chazz was holding a large stuffed pink bear with a balloon attached. "Oh, I see we're not the first ones here. Hi, Ma."

"Jenna!" Ruth abandoned her righteous indignation pose to hug her eldest daughter. "I'm glad you're here. I was just telling your sister that I think the baby looks like you."

"Funny. Chazz was just saying he thought she looked like you," Jenna replied. Charlie's laughter fit turned into a coughing spell to escape suspicion.

"Oh...Chazz. You're here as well." Ruth gave the young man a tight smile before turning her attention back to Jenna. Chazz rolled his eyes in Elisabeth and Charlie's direction. "Do you really think she looks like me?"

"Absolutely," Jenna replied. She made her way over to give Elisabeth a hug. "How are you feeling today, Mommy?"

"Much better than I was last night," Elisabeth replied. "Thanks."

"Where's Daddy?"

Elisabeth pointed to the roll-away bed. "Don't wake him, please. He was up most of the night watching over us."

Jenna smiled. She got close enough to Elisabeth to whisper in her ear, "What happened yesterday?"

"I'll tell you later," Elisabeth murmured. "Not here." What she meant to say was not now, but she knew Jenna would pick up on the hint.

Jenna nodded and stepped back from the bed.

"You should've seen work, El, when Darcy's sister called with the news. The place went crazy. Even the Gossip Sisters were telling all their regular customers that you'd had the baby. Sean offered to give Darcy his extra box of bubble gum cigars when he came back to work. By the way, Sean said to tell Darcy not to worry about the rest of the week. He's got his shifts covered." Chazz grinned. "I get to wait tables tonight. Won't that be fun?"

"God help those poor customers," Charlie teased.

"Speaking of work, aren't you supposed to be working?" Elisabeth asked, turning to her cousin. "This is Saturday, right? I wasn't actually in labor for three days and forgot about it?"

"No, it's Saturday," Charlie replied cheerfully. "I told Paula, the lady I was working with, that you were in the hospital and I hadn't seen you since before it happened. She practically pushed me out the door. We didn't have a crisis client, so it was okay."

"Good. I wouldn't want you to lose that new job as soon as you got it."

"What new job?" Jenna asked. She gasped. "You mean they finally gave you a full-time position? Charlie, why didn't you say anything?"

"This was hardly the time and place. I would've gotten around to it eventually."

"Are you going to quit Planet Earth Pizza?" Chazz asked. "Sean was sure you would."

Charlie frowned for a moment. "I'm staying for the time being," she said. "Long story."

Chazz nodded. "Right, of course. We'll talk later."

"What's going on?" Ruth asked. "I hate not knowing what everyone's talking about. Charlie, you definitely got a new job but you're not leaving the restaurant? Why not?"

"Well, it might have something to do with the fact that I can't afford to leave," Charlie replied. "I'm in piles of debt because of the skin treatments and insurance, plus I'm losing my roommate. To be honest, El should've left a long time ago, but she kept some of her stuff in the apartment and paid the rent on time so I didn't say anything."

"I thought you were already living with Darcy," Ruth said with a frown. "Do you mean to tell me all this time you...oh! Well, then it wasn't like I thought."

Elisabeth closed her eyes and willed herself to remember that her mother actually did love her...in her own way.

"But I've been leaving messages on Darcy's answering service all this time! Your name is on his answering machine...and speaking of which, I don't think that new message you have is very funny. What if someone important was calling and heard that ridiculous message?"

"I doubt anyone important is going to be calling me. As for the rest of it, I've been spending most of my time at Darcy's apartment and I did receive all those messages."

"Hello!" Lydia breezed into the room with George three steps behind her. Lydia was carrying a box of chocolates. "Hi, El. I thought you might like these."

"Chocolates!" Elisabeth gasped as she snatched the box out of her sister's hands.. "Oh, how lovely! Thank you so much, Liddy----I'm absolutely starving." She had eaten three of the candies before it hit her who had followed Lydia into the room. She glared at him. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Don't worry, I'll only be here a second." George gave Darcy a fearful glance, although Darcy was somehow managing to snore peacefully through the whole commotion. "I came to give you these." He thrust a thick envelope in her direction. Elisabeth took it with trembling hands. "They're the papers terminating my parental rights, just like you wanted. You'll need to sign them in order for them to go through."

"Give me a pen," Elisabeth ordered. Charlie was the first to come up with one. Elisabeth made sure to take extra care in writing her name so that there would be no doubt she'd signed them before handing them back to George. "You can take those back to your lawyers so we can be done with this whole thing."

"Fine." George started to walk toward the door but then he paused. "Um...congratulations, Elisabeth. She's...very pretty."

"Thank you," she replied calmly.

"Lydia, I'll be in the front lobby. Don't be long."

"I won't," she promised as he opened the door and left. She turned back to Elisabeth. "This is so exciting, El! I'm an auntie! Aunt Lydia! Just the thought of it is almost..."

"Spinsterish?" Charlie suggested with a wicked smile, drawing a vicious frown from Ruth.

"What does that mean?" Lydia asked.

"Never mind."

Lydia shrugged it off. "It's very exciting. How do you like being a mother?"

"I..."

"I'm sure you're very excited, too. And what about Darcy? Where is Darcy, anyway? I haven't seen him." Lydia looked over to the roll-away bed where Darcy was sleeping. "Oh, for heaven's sake, someone wake him up! Darcy!"

"Lydia, please keep it down. This is a hospital," Jenna admonished. "And don't wake up..."

It was too late, of course. Lydia had shoved hard at Darcy's shoulder, and with a grunt, he opened his eyes. "Did I miss somethin'?" he said in a slurred voice.

"No," Elisabeth told him. "Go back to sleep."

"Nonsense. You're up, and you went through much more than he did yesterday. Get up, Darcy," Lydia said briskly.

Darcy sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked like he had a headache, and it wouldn't surprise Elisabeth if he did. When she still lived at home, she always used to get headaches when her mother would send Lydia to wake her up in the mornings.

"They bring in the baby yet?" he asked.

"No, they haven't. But when someone does, we need to tell them what we..." Elisabeth was about to finish her sentence when she saw a flash of gold on Lydia's wrist. She frowned. "That's a pretty bracelet, Lydia. Where did you get it?"

"This old thing? Oh, I've had it for ages. Some boyfriend or other gave it to me, I think." Lydia quickly covered it with her coat.

"Do you mind if I take a look?"

Lydia shrugged. "It's just an old bracelet. Why would you be interested?"

"Why won't you show it to me?"

Lydia obviously gave it some thought before shrugging. She pushed her coat sleeve up and held her arm out for Elisabeth to look at the bracelet. Elisabeth stared at it for about twenty seconds.

"Oh my God," she said in a low voice. She raised shocked eyes to her sister's guilt-stricken but defiant face. "You were seeing George while I was seeing him!"

"No, I wasn't," Lydia said quickly.

"You were! You were the reason he was gone two days after he returned from New York! Everyone thought I was with him, but it was you all this time. I wondered why no one could find you after Matt died! You were with George!"

"Well, you weren't going out with him then, were you? No. So I don't know why you're getting all worked up about it. We had a good few days together, didn't think it would work out, decided to break up. George thought he'd give me this diamond bracelet to remember him by. But then we decided to give it another chance."

Elisabeth almost laughed. She remembered flinging that phrase at George the night they'd broken up. Once upon a time, she would've preferred the diamond bracelet. Now, she felt she'd gotten the better deal, not that she was about to tell Lydia that. But it did clear up one final mystery from the mess with George, and she was glad she knew. More importantly, she was glad Darcy knew.

"Well, I'd better not keep him waiting. We're going to Terre Haute to do some last-minute shopping. I just wanted to stop by and congratulate you on the baby." Lydia gave Elisabeth a quick kiss on the cheek. "Bye!"

"What was that about?" Ruth demanded.

"It's a long story," Elisabeth replied. "One that doesn't matter anymore."

"You know, we've been here for a while and you haven't told us her name," Charlie said. "She does have a name, right? I know the two of you were arguing over it."

"She does indeed have a name," Darcy said, then waited for everyone to calm down before he continued. "Would you like to tell them, darling?"

"I think I would," Elisabeth said. "Although Charlie's the storyteller. Maybe she'd like to tell them the story of the name."

"It's not my story to tell," Charlie replied quickly. "Besides, I don't know the whole thing. Just that you two were fighting about it."

"Well, okay then. We started off by calling her Brat Williamson----"

"You were calling her that, not me," Darcy protested.

"Then we bought a baby name book and pored through it. I almost couldn't get Darcy to let go of the name Agatha..."

"Agatha Williamson? Dear God, what were you thinking?" Jenna exclaimed.

Darcy gave her a dirty look. "Agatha is a fine and distinguished name. I have several ancestors named Agatha."

"Darcy ancestors," Elisabeth pointed out.

"It doesn't matter now, because we didn't name her Agatha," Darcy muttered. "Although I do feel obliged to point out, Ruth, that you almost had a granddaughter named Xanthia Rose. Elisabeth heard the name in some book and fell in love with it."

"Xanthia? What kind of a name is that?" Ruth demanded. "Elisabeth Cathleen, I can't believe you thought..."

"Well it doesn't matter now, because we didn't name her Xanthia, either," Elisabeth mimicked. "And if I were you, Darcy Williamson, I would stay off my bad side. You've just been forgiven, remember?"

Darcy stood up and bowed dramatically, which didn't earn him any more good-side points with Elisabeth as he sat back down on his bed. She decided to ignore that for now and continue with the story. "Anyway, as I was saying, we both had about a dozen or so names that we rejected for various reasons. We liked Victoria but hated Vicky and Tory. We liked Bridget but we just didn't think that would suit her. We really liked Katelyn until Charlie pointed out that it's a variation of Catherine, and obviously that wouldn't do."

"Why not?" Ruth asked, but Elisabeth didn't answer.

"We thought about naming her Amelia...or Erica." That brought silence to the room. "In fact, I thought going into the delivery room that I was about to give birth to little Erica or Amelia. I was looking forward to the fight with Darcy over which family member to name her after." She glanced at Darcy when she said this. He was smiling. "But after the baby was born, Darcy and I talked a little about it and decided that neither name was right for her. Thinking about it, there was only one name we both felt was the right one, because the person we would be naming her after meant a great deal to both of us."

"You named her Ruth," her mother said with delight.

"Sarepta Elisabeth," Mel guessed.

"Why would she name the baby that?" Ruth said with distaste before remembering whose name that had been. She didn't look particularly contrite afterward.

"Chazz," Chazz said with a grin. "And now that we've eliminated all the possibilities, why don't you tell us what you named her?"

Elisabeth glanced at Darcy, who nodded. "Her name is Charlotte," Elisabeth said quietly. "Charlotte Grace."

Every eye in the room turned to look at Charlie, whose mouth had dropped open. "Me?" she asked. "Why me?"

"Because you were the first friend I had when I came here," Darcy answered. "You put up with me even when I was a jerk. And where else would I find you yesterday when I was gone but here, holding Elisabeth's hand and trying to keep her focused?"

"And if I start to tell you why I chose the name, we'll be here for the baby's first birthday," Elisabeth finished. "It was the perfect choice. But to avoid confusion, we're going to call her by her middle name of Grace."

"Excuse me," an unfamiliar voice said as the door opened again. "I'm afraid that the lot of you are going to have to clear out, because it's time Mama got to spend some time with the baby." One of the maternity nurses was bringing the baby into the room.

It took nearly five minutes for everyone to leave the room, because everyone wanted to look at the newly-named baby, but finally, Darcy and Elisabeth were alone with Grace, who, in Elisabeth's opinion, looked absolutely nothing like Ruth Bennet Atchison.

Chapter Fifty-Eight

In the Bennet-Atchison family, skipping out of Christmas dinner with the family was out of the question. Despite the fact that Elisabeth and Darcy had had a much more attractive offer to spend the holiday with the Williamson family, Elisabeth had reluctantly turned it down, telling Mary that her mother insisted on having Christmas in Effingham. Mary had been quite understanding, although a bit disappointed that they would have to wait to see Grace. Elisabeth and Darcy were planning another trip up to Evanston before the new year so Grace could meet her great-grandparents.

Elisabeth, Darcy, Ginger and the baby arrived at the house by ten-thirty and were greeted by Lydia, who rolled her eyes because Elisabeth hadn't just walked into the house without ringing the doorbell before letting them inside.

"Who's she?" Lydia asked, pointing at Ginger.

"This is Darcy's sister Georgiana," Elisabeth replied. "Ma invited her to lunch when she heard she was in town, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. We're going to be a pretty big crowd today. Unfortunately, George isn't going to be able to make it."

"George was invited?" Elisabeth asked weakly.

Lydia gave her a puzzled look. "Well, you didn't think Ma was going to have Darcy over and tolerate Chazz's presence without asking George if he'd like to join us, did you? Of course not. But don't worry. George is spending Christmas with his family."

"Just as well," Ginger said. "I don't think I could stomach eating anything with him at the table."

"That's a nice attitude to take," Lydia snapped. "Elisabeth, I understand why you don't like him. I could even----maybe----understand why Darcy doesn't like him. But what's her problem?"

"Sympathy dislike," Ginger replied quickly.

Lydia gave the other woman a dismissive look before turning on her heel and walking back to the kitchen. "I shouldn't have said anything," Ginger said.

"You only said what all three of us were thinking," Darcy told her as the baby started fussing in her car seat. Darcy set the seat in a chair and removed the blanket they'd put over the top of it to protect Grace from the elements.

"My only consolation about this relationship of theirs is that one day, probably soon, it'll come to an end. Monogamy isn't George's strong suit," Elisabeth said.

"Nor are dependability, honesty, reliability..." Ginger muttered.

"Ladies, please." Darcy was holding Grace, who had quieted almost the minute she was in her father's arms. "Today is Christmas. Let's try to think of positive things and forget about all the negativity. We'll be a lot happier if we do."

"At long last, all those years of intensive psychotherapy are kicking in for the good," Ginger teased. Darcy looked like he wanted to clobber her, but it would've been difficult to do with the baby in his arms. "But seriously, I shouldn't have said anything. I'll go apologize to her."

"I wouldn't just right now," Elisabeth said, stepping in Ginger's way so she couldn't go into the kitchen. "My mother's in there, and no doubt Lydia's told her what you said by now. It could be ugly."

"Which is why I need to apologize now," Ginger said, sidestepping Elisabeth and walking into the kitchen.

Elisabeth sighed. "This isn't fair," she muttered. "The baby's birth was supposed to be the last time I would have to deal with George. It's not fair that he has to continue to be a pain in the butt."

"I know," Darcy said, handing Grace over to her. Once the baby was secure, he put his arms around Elisabeth. "But like you said, it probably won't be for much longer. Then you won't have to deal with him all that often."

"I wish I could believe that."

Dinner was served at twelve-thirty. By the time everyone had reached the table, Ginger and Lydia had made up and somehow had become fast friends, as long as neither of them brought up the subject of George. Grace had been fed and put down for a nap. Mel, Chazz, and Darcy had talked college football. Elisabeth and Jenna had talked about the upcoming Christmas party at Planet Earth Pizza, and Ruth had managed to pointedly ignore Chazz while pining for the loss of George three times.

The prayer had just been said and the food passed around the table before Ruth decided to bring up a topic she felt had been neglected for far too long. "So, now that the baby's been born, when are you two going to get married?"

Elisabeth, who had just put a spoonful of potatoes in her mouth, nearly choked. She coughed for a few moments until her throat was clear, then took a sip of water when she thought it was safe. After a few more sips of water, she felt able to say something.

"When we feel like it?" she answered.

"We haven't had a chance to talk much about it, Ruth...as I've mentioned to you several times," Darcy added. "When we get the chance to talk about it, we'll get back to you."

"Actually, I was thinking that Darcy and I would just go to a judge and get married sometime after the new year," Elisabeth continued hastily.

"Nonsense," Ruth told her. "I've already made preliminary plans for your wedding----nothing that can't be changed, depending on your tastes or when you planned to get married, of course, but definite plans."

"How can plans be definite and yet not definite?" Chazz asked, earning him a frown from Ruth, a jab in the ribs from Jenna, and chuckles from everyone else.

"It was nice of you to try and help us, Ma, but Darcy and I really haven't talked about getting married, like he said. And when we do talk about it..."

"Well, dear, Mel and I have discussed it and we don't want either of you to worry about paying for the wedding. We've got the money, as long as you don't go planning one of those New York society weddings."

"You have nothing to fear on that subject, Ruth," Darcy said. "A quiet wedding here in Effingham is more than enough for me."

"City Hall would be enough for me," Elisabeth added, which was only a partial lie.

"Have the two of you even thought of a date? A time of year when you might like to get married? April? June? October?"

"March," Elisabeth said in a loud voice, hoping to drown her mother out. Darcy gave her a surprised look.

"March? Well, that certainly gives us plenty of time to work with. Next March."

"No, Ma. This March. March...March twenty-second. That's a Saturday, isn't it? We'll get married on March twenty-second."

"This...but Elisabeth, there isn't anything available that early. You can't possibly get married then. Besides, March is really too cold a month to be getting married in, not to mention that it rains a lot and..."

"March twenty-second," Darcy said, warming to the idea. He didn't like the idea of a long engagement any more than Elisabeth did, and the date suddenly struck him as a perfect one.

"But...but the church! The preacher! Pastor Abernathy's earliest available date was in May, I think, and it's probably taken now that you two have dawdled over when to get married."

"Then we'll find someone else to marry us."

"El, are you sure you want to do that?" Jenna asked softly. She gave her sister a pleading look, as if to say, "Just go along with what she says."

Elisabeth sighed. How hard would it be to go along with her mother's plans, to get married in May or some other available date because it fit perfectly into the schedule? How hard would it be to just let her mother do everything, so that all she'd have to do was show up on the appropriate day in a wedding dress?

For Elisabeth Cathleen Bennet, it was very damned hard. But then, where her mother was concerned, it always had been.

"Yes," she replied. "Darcy and I like the twenty-second. While I like Pastor Abernathy and I would hope he could marry us, I'll understand if he's unable to do so. As for everything else, I'm..." Elisabeth saw the exasperated look on her mother's face and knew she'd have to do something to placate her. "I'm sure that you, with all your abilities, can find a place for us to get married and have a reception. This town isn't full of people all wanting to get married on March 22. There's going to be a church somewhere."

"And the reception? The K.C. Hall..."

"Isn't the only place in town. Make a few calls, put out feelers. You'll find something, I'm sure. I leave that in your hands."

"Oh." Ruth was mollified somewhat. "Well, I'll see what I can do. But as to the rest of it..."

Elisabeth had almost gotten up the courage to try to eat again, but set her fork down. "The rest of what?"

"Well, Ellie, there's more to planning a wedding than getting a church and a preacher. There's the theme, and the dress, and the reception, and the band..."

"And you're making me dizzy, and it's Christmas day. Can we leave off the wedding talk until after the holidays?" Elisabeth asked.

"But dear..."

"Ruth, I think Elisabeth has a point. We're all here together and all you've done is disagree with her about everything. How's school going, Chazz?"

Chazz, who had been busy eating everything he could before Ruth laid into him and ruined his appetite, put his fork down with a clang against the china. "Good," he answered. "One more semester to go and I'll finally have my degree."

Ruth smiled. "A degree? Really? In what?"

"Electrical engineering," Chazz replied. "I've already got a few contacts in the field and I hope to be employed the day after I get my degree."

"And here you thought he was just a worthless, good-for-nothing delivery boy," Elisabeth said sweetly, earning her a dirty look from Jenna and a muffled snicker from Lydia, who knew the truth of Elisabeth's comment.

"The only reason it's taken me so long to get a degree is because I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do," Chazz explained to Ruth. "But now I do know what I want to do, and I'm going to do it."

Ruth's smile grew warmer. "That's lovely," she said.

Elisabeth and Darcy glanced at each other. Elisabeth knew what was coming----Ruth would make a complete fool of herself saying that she had always liked Chazz but had been unsure he could take care of Jenna if they married, when it wasn't anywhere close to the truth.

"You know, Ma, I was thinking of lime green for the bridesmaids' dresses," Elisabeth said loudly, before her mother could do it. "What do you think?"

Ruth's attention was diverted back to the wedding. "Lime green? That's not very funny. Why on earth would you want such a dreadful color?"

"Well, it's a pretty color and it's springtime so it...would be appropriate?" Elisabeth actually didn't care for lime green either, it was just the first color that had come to mind that she knew her mother actively disliked. "Or maybe powder blue."

"If you make me wear powder blue at your wedding, I'll kill you," Lydia said before taking a bite of her buttered roll. "And nothing with bows, either."

When it was clear the discussion had successfully turned to wedding plans, Chazz gave Elisabeth a small wink as he continued eating his dinner. Elisabeth winked back and started eating hers.

Christmas was the only day of the year when Planet Earth Pizza was closed for the entire day. On Thanksgiving and Easter, the store opened at four in the afternoon and did surprisingly good business from people who were traveling or hoping to escape leftovers for a while. But from seven at night on Christmas Eve until the morning of December 26, the store was closed.

Sean Fitzwilliam had long ago given up any thoughts of trying to have a Christmas party on any other day than Christmas night. He'd tried the week before and the week after. He'd tried Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. Once, he'd even tried to have a party on December first, but he'd been unable to get employees from another store to work in Effingham for a night so that everyone could attend. So he'd decided that Christmas Day at 8 pm was a good time, enabling everyone to attend family functions before coming to the store to exchange gifts and have some fun.

Elisabeth and Darcy arrived first, having reluctantly left Grace with her Aunt Ginger for the night. Elisabeth had feared that Ginger wouldn't know what to do with a baby, and had left her new cell phone number, Darcy's new cell phone number, the store number, and half a dozen emergency numbers that Ginger could call if something happened while they were gone.

"I doubt we're there for three hours," Darcy had pointed out as Elisabeth had handed Ginger the list.

"Grace will be fine," Ginger assured Elisabeth. "We'll just sit here and hang out. I'll call Grandma and Grandpa Williamson so Grace can gurgle at them for a while. I might call Denny, but don't worry. I'll use my cell phone for calls to him."

"Thanks," Darcy mumbled as he picked up the gifts they were taking to the party. Elisabeth was rushing around trying to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. "El, honey, we promised Sean we'd be there a little early. I'm sure you've remembered the important stuff, so let's go."

"But I just want to make sure..." Elisabeth took a deep breath to calm herself. "Did I tell you that there's an extra copy of all the phone numbers on the fridge in case you lose the list I gave you?"

"Three times," Ginger said, amused. "Don't worry, Elisabeth. I'm not going to throw a wild party while you're gone. I don't know enough people around here."

"And the ones we'd have to worry about are the ones we're going to be seeing tonight," Darcy added. "Come on."

"Okay," Elisabeth said. She walked into the baby's room to give Grace a goodbye cuddle and kiss on the cheek before Darcy dragged her away from the apartment.

They walked into the restaurant at seven-thirty to find Sean had already turned on the lights and warmed up the oven.

"Not pizza again," Elisabeth said with a mock groan. "Sean, can't you come up with something more original for our meal than that?"

"You'd rather have my leftover ham and chicken? I can call Rachel, but I don't think she's really in the mood to trek through all this snow just to bring food when we've got plenty here. Besides, it's not just supper. We're getting to try something new."

"I was kidding, Sean. Kidding." Elisabeth took off her coat, grateful for the warmth of the restaurant. She tossed it onto a table as Darcy set their gifts on the big table in the middle of the store. "Oh, no, Darcy, don't set those there. That's where we're gonna eat. Put them on one of the back tables, okay?"

Darcy nodded. "I'm going to play some music," he said as he picked up the coats.

Elisabeth walked behind the front counter and glanced into the oven to see if Sean had put anything in yet. He hadn't, although she noticed that he had three large deep dish pizza pans out. She walked to the make table and leaned a hip against it. "So, why did you want us here early?" she asked.

Sean was smiling. "I've got some news," he said. "I'm not supposed to know this, but Thomas Palmer stopped by the store day before yesterday and gave me some paperwork. Stuck to the bottom of one of the papers was a notice to all the regional managers. We're being sold."

"Sold?" Elisabeth frowned.

Sean nodded. "The notice was from De Bourgh Enterprises. From what it said, the deal was supposedly in the works since September, although I have my doubts, but we're being sold. Sometime in January, The Knightley Corporation will own the Planet Earth Pizza chain."

Elisabeth blinked. She'd been expecting Sean to tell her that she and Darcy were being fired. Darcy had said to expect the move soon, because there was no way Catherine wouldn't do it. Instead, she was selling the stores.

"Why do you doubt that a deal's been in the works since September?" she asked. She thought of when Catherine had found out about her and Darcy, which had been at the end of August. Although Darcy hadn't quit De Bourgh Enterprises until a couple of weeks ago, it was entirely possible that Catherine had started the deal in September.

Sean shrugged. "Because we would've heard something before now. Thomas Palmer would've had the notification long before this." Sean got out three pans of bread sticks. "Don't get me wrong----I don't think this is a bad thing, but I'm going to presume that this has something to do with Darcy."

Elisabeth remembered what Ginger had said when they'd had lunch with the Williamsons. Catherine had sold a company that had picketed her office building, so it shouldn't be a great surprise to her that Planet Earth Pizza had been sold. Elisabeth nodded slowly.

"It's something she's been known to do," Elisabeth replied. "Not always because of Darcy, of course, but because something unpleasant happened. It's not the best way to do business, but I guess if you own half of New York or however much Catherine de Bourgh owns, you can get away with it."

"You realize this means I won't have to fire you, don't you?"

Elisabeth stilled. "Were you supposed to?" she asked.

Sean nodded. "The memo's been locked away in the back of one of the cabinets for a couple weeks. I was supposed to fire you immediately, but I explained to them that you'd gone on maternity leave and were out of town and I had no way of getting in touch with you. I was going to wait until after you'd had the baby, but you haven't been in since then. To tell you the truth, I was half-hoping things would be worked out between Darcy and his aunt so I wouldn't have to fire you."

"You'd get hell to freeze over before Catherine de Bourgh ever accepted the fact that Darcy prefers to be here than under her thumb," Elisabeth muttered.

"Call me an optimist."

"If you knew you'd probably have to fire me, then why did you tell me about George possibly getting fired at Newton? I don't think Catherine would've liked the idea of giving me a promotion when she wanted me fired. And what excuse did she give you for firing me, anyway? I haven't broken any rules. I could sue for wrongful termination."

"Yes, you have. Catherine doesn't consider 'service leader' to be a managerial position. 'It's not in the manual, so it's not allowed,' her flunky told me when she called. I was told that I should be lucky I still had a job for pulling such a stunt, but that Catherine had decided I was too valuable to the company, so I kept my job."

"In other words, I was getting fired because I was a manager having a relationship with an employee." Elisabeth sighed. "She would've had me dead to rights. She still does, technically. And you knew it even before you set it up back in August. Why did you do that?"

"Because I didn't think it was fair. She forced Darcy into this job, and he was supposed to be gone within the year. She said when I hired him that I was to give him all the chances in the world, because he was unfamiliar with the life. I took her at her word. Then suddenly, she was wanting to change the rules in a fit of anger and was using me----and my store----to do it. I didn't like it, so I tried to find a way around it."

"Rachel would've killed me if you'd gotten fired because of this. You do realize that, don't you?"

"I knew I wouldn't get fired."

"You mean, you hoped."

"Knew, hoped, same thing. Anyway, it doesn't matter now. Darcy's given me his two-week notice and we'll be owned by Knightley Corporation before you're back from maternity leave. If Catherine makes any special mention of it to the new owners, I'll just say that I solved the problem by making Darcy quit because you were the more valuable employee. They'll never know the difference."

Had it been anyone other than Sean, she might've hugged him, but she knew that wasn't his thing, so she smiled and said, "Thank you."

"Thanks for what?" Darcy asked as he walked into the kitchen. He stood behind Elisabeth and put his arms around her.

"We're being sold," she told him. "Have you heard of the Knightley Corporation?"

"Sure. George Knightley owns that. Is that who Catherine's selling Planet Earth Pizza to?"

"Looks like it," Sean said. "Nothing's official yet, but I've seen a notice that it's going to happen soon."

"Just like Ginger said it would," Elisabeth murmured. "Did she call it or what?"

"Don't tell her or she'll get a swelled head," Darcy said. "And here I thought I was saving Catherine the trouble of having to sell us by quitting."

"No, she just fired me."

Darcy stilled. "What?"

"I'm fired, although Sean's promised to hire me back as soon as I'm off my maternity leave. I might even get a promotion if George can't clean up his act before then, which we all know he can't."

"Speaking of George, how are...things...with him?" Sean asked. He looked at Darcy. "And with the two of you?"

"Fine," Elisabeth answered. "George signed over his rights the morning after Grace was born. It won't be too long now before he's completely out of the picture and Darcy can formally adopt her."

"Things are fine," Darcy echoed, hugging Elisabeth even closer to him. "I'm still doing penance for last Friday, but eventually she might forgive me."

"Yeah, in say, thirty or forty years." Elisabeth smiled as Sean chuckled. "How was Tasha's first Christmas with you guys?"

"Crazy. Rachel went out and bought her just about everything you could imagine. Barbie dolls, stuffed animals, a computer. She's not even in the first grade. What does she need a computer for?"

"Train 'em young, keep 'em hooked!" a voice called from the back door. Jack walked in with Charlie close behind. "That's the only way to get kids into computers these days, don't you know."

"Yeah, right," Charlie said. She was holding a large paper sack which no doubt held the gifts. "Merry Christmas, guys. I've got your gifts in the bag."

"Oh! That reminds me, we've got your stuff out in the dining room. Come on," Elisabeth said, pulling away from Darcy to dart into the dining room, where they exchanged gifts.

By eight, nearly everyone had arrived. Bubba had been unable to make it, although what his excuse would be the next morning when he had to go to work was anyone's guess. Topher was in Connecticut with his family, and Louisa had been forced to spend Christmas at Drew's family in the Ozarks, something she had been complaining about for the past month.

"Before we get started here, I'd just like to say thanks to all of you for another good year here at Planet Earth Pizza," Sean said. "I haven't always been able to say this in prior years, but I think I've got one of best crews around. You guys are a great bunch to work with, in spite of some of the problems we've had this year."

"Are you grateful enough to share your bonus with us----that's all we want to know," Charlie said.

"Sorry, Charlie."

"Damn. Passed over yet another year for that big bonus. Good thing I've got an alternative to fall back on so I don't have to worry so much."

"Me, too," Jack added. A few of the others chimed in with comments, and soon the noise was overpowering whatever else Sean might have said.

"Let's be serious here for a second," Sean said loudly, trying to regain order. "I should've brought my gavel. I know you're just dying for some pizza, but I have a couple things I need to say first. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to have ten hours a week available for whoever wants to go door-hanging. Two hours a day, Monday through Friday. You'll only get minimum wage, but I know a lot of you have been complaining about hours being cut after Christmas. This will be a good way for you to make some money."

"In this weather?" Caroline shuddered. "It's too cold to be out, Sean."

"Then we'll be getting a head start on the other pizza places in town, won't we?"

"Door hanging?" Darcy murmured.

"That's where someone goes around town and puts our coupons on doorknobs. The belief is that people will see the coupons, think pizza sounds like a good idea, and call us," Elisabeth explained.

"Does it work?"

"Sometimes."

"Is anyone interested in door-hanging?" Sean asked. J.P. raised his hand, along with Lucy. "J.P. and...and Lucy?"

Lucy shrugged. "I need the money."

"She also needs to get off of Sean's hit list," Jack mumbled under his breath. "I don't know why he didn't fire her when he had the chance earlier this month."

"For the same reason he keeps hiring them all back----they swear not to do it again, and Sean doesn't have the heart to turn them away," Charlie said. "Oh, he might say never again, but he never means it."

"Anyone else?" When no one raised their hands, Sean nodded. "Okay. The two of you can come in around two Monday afternoon and work until four. I'll let you know where I want you to go with them then. Next thing----our new pizza."

Everyone groaned. "Not another new pizza, Sean. They never stick around," Charlie said. "Zesty Pizzas, super-thin pizzas, super-cheese pizzas, stuffed pizzas...they're a novelty, but while they're around they're a serious pain in the butt."

"Why do you say that?" Darcy asked.

"Because people order them once to try them out, and that's it. Then you're making huge amounts of dough that aren't going to get used. It's a pain."

"You'd think you worked in the kitchen, complaining about excess dough," Jack said. "It's my job to complain about having to make extra dough that gets unused."

"I was just speaking on your behalf," Charlie told him sweetly. "So, what's the newest invention from the great minds who run our lives?"

Sean closed his eyes with a grimace. "They're called the Italian Specialties," he said. "The crust is going to have oregano and garlic baked into it, and there's a special seasoning..."

"It's the Zesty Pizza all over again!" Charlie exclaimed. "I swear to God, that's what it is. Is that what you've made for us tonight? I thought I smelled something unusual." Charlie got out of her chair and looked at where Sean had set the pizzas. She inhaled sharply before letting it out and smiling. "Mm. I love these things."

"Then why are you complaining?" Sean demanded. "If you like them so much, I would think you'd be happy to see them again."

"Are they going to be a permanent part of our menu?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know. That's up in the air at the moment. If they're popular enough, they might become a permanent part of the menu, so suggestive sell the hell out of them, okay?"

"I'll do that." Charlie smiled. "Can I have a piece?"

"Not yet." Sean shooed her back to her seat. "Are there going to be any other comments or suggestions about the new pizza? It's the Italian Specialty, medium for ten dollars, large for thirteen. It's only available as a pan pizza, so be sure to mention that to customers when they ask about it."

"How many toppings?" Kit asked.

"Up to three or one of the specialty pizzas."

"Get ready for the PMS Italian Special rush," Elisabeth said to some laughter. "Tell me this will be gone before I get back."

"I make no guarantees, but the promotion is supposed to last until the middle of April, depending on how well it does. It could be over as early as the end of February or could become a permanent part of our repertoire." Sean smiled. "And finally, I have some sad news. Darcy is leaving us for a fool's mission to reopen a bookstore, or something like that."

"It's not a fool's mission," Darcy said. "It's a viable business that I think I can make better and more successful. And I expect everyone to stop by and see me every once in a while."

"Well, make sure you all say goodbye to him before he goes. That's all I have, so let's eat."

He was nearly bowled over----everyone's lunch had been hours before, and they were looking forward to having something other than leftovers from Christmas lunch.

"Charlie, I've been meaning to ask you something," Elisabeth said as she took a bite of her pizza. She didn't remember Zesty Pizzas, so this was something new to her. She agreed with Charlie----they were good.

"Mm?" Charlie's mouth was full. She held up a finger, which Elisabeth knew meant Charlie wanted her to wait until she'd swallowed. Once she was done, Charlie took a drink of Mountain Dew and said, "What?"

"When my mother came to the hospital the day after Grace was born, she said she'd heard about it from the radio. Since I know they stopped announcing when people were being admitted and released from the hospital a long time ago, how did she find out from the radio?"

Charlie thought for a second before looking at Chazz. "You want to take this one, genius?" she asked him.

Chazz pretended to look very interested in his food and didn't answer. Jenna smacked him in the back of the head, causing him to yelp. "Hey!" he protested. "There was no call for that. What was the big deal?"

"Other than the fact that I intended to tell her myself and that having to hear it from the radio got me yet another black mark in her book? Nothing. How did you get them to announce it?" Elisabeth demanded.

"Well, I knew your mother listened to the radio in the mornings, and they take call-in requests and dedications on Saturdays, so I called in and dedicated Amy Grant's 'Baby, Baby' to the new grandma. I didn't mean anything by it, El, I swear."

"Liar," Elisabeth muttered. "You knew it would tick her off to hear about it from the radio."

"I honestly thought you'd told her. Why wouldn't you have told her before the following morning?"

"I don't know. Might it have been because I'd been in screaming agony for several hours and wanted nothing more than to sleep once it was over?"

"I'm sorry. I'll never tell your mother anything ever again, swear to God." Chazz took a bite of his pizza, which was probably for the best.

"How was Christmas at your house, Charlie?" Jenna asked.

"The usual madhouse," Charlie replied before taking a drink of her soda. "One of these years, we've got to go somewhere other than my house because those monsters of Aunt Jane's tear up everything in sight. My mother's threatening to make her pay for the whole thing."

"How many people were there?" Darcy asked.

Charlie paused. "Well, there was my mom and dad, Grandma and Grandpa Sawyer, Grandma and Grandpa Lucas, which is always fun because my grandmothers don't get along well and my grandfathers always wind up hiding from them in the basement den because they like each other. My mother was one of six siblings, so all of them show up with their assorted offspring. And now several of them have children as well, so we're talking about thirty or so people just on the Sawyer side. Then Dad has two brothers and a sister, and they all show up with their children. Christmas is the always the one time of the year when my house can feel claustrophobic, in spite of half the kids ending up outside playing in the snow."

"Sounds like Christmas to me," Elisabeth said. "You love it, don't you?"

"Of course I do. Wouldn't have it any other way." Charlie grinned and took a bite of pizza.

"It was wonderful," Jack added. "I don't think I've ever had so much fun on Christmas in my life, even with all the embarrassing questions."

"Sounds like Christmas to me," Chazz mimicked Elisabeth. "And it sounds a hell of a lot more fun than Christmas at Elisabeth's house. 'So, Chazz, now that you're finally going to be a productive member of society, what are you plans toward my daughter?' 'And here I thought you were going to be delivering pizzas all your life.' 'Are you really graduating from Pemberley University with honors? I had no idea.'"

"'Elisabeth, you can't possibly get married in March. It's too cold, didn't you know that? You just came up with that date on the top of your head. You're not serious about that, are you?'" Elisabeth added.

"'Darcy, I don't understand why you're opening up a bookstore when you have a perfectly good job at De Bourgh Enterprises. You don't? Well, why did you leave? Are you sure you can't get your job back?'" Darcy finished.

"You guys are terrible," Jenna said even though she was laughing. "Ma's not that bad."

"Yes she is," everyone else said at the same time.

Elisabeth finished off her slice of pizza and took a drink. She reflected on the day spent at her mother's and was surprised to find that, other than pining for George and the occasional stab at Chazz, her mother had barely said anything negative. And when was the last time that had happened? Elisabeth would have to agree with Jack----this had been one of the better Christmases she'd had.

Was it because of the holiday? Was it because Elisabeth was getting married, something Ruth had often feared she would never do? Was it because Ruth was finally, after almost twenty-seven years, getting to "know" her as she never had before? Or was it something else, something a lot scarier...that Elisabeth was getting to know her mother better?

"El? You still with us?" Charlie asked.

Elisabeth realized that she'd missed out on part of the conversation. "Sorry. I was just thinking about...Christmas," she said with a smile, turning her attention back to her friends.

Continued In Next Section