by Wells, Linda
Darcy felt terror sweep through him when he saw the eyes of experience looking upon his wife, and knew instantly that birthing a child of this size could easily kill the mother. He closed his eyes in prayer and was jolted back with Elizabeth crying out again. “It is almost there, love, the hard part is over, come, one more big push.” His smile looked more like a grimace, but he locked his eyes with hers. Mrs. Reynolds knelt behind Elizabeth and supported her shoulders as Millie flew in bearing blankets, followed by maids carrying water. “Come love, give our baby life.” He encouraged her and with one more push, the heir of Pemberley slipped into his hands. “ohhhh.” He whispered and forgot his duty for a moment.
“Turn him over, sir!” Mrs. Barker’s fingers were itching to grab the baby. “He must breathe! Rub his back! Wipe his face!” Startling, Darcy did as he was told and at last, the baby took his first great gulp of air and suddenly turned pink. He opened his mouth and furiously began to cry.
“A boy? He is enormous!” Elizabeth cried and laughed. “Oh Fitzwilliam! No wonder I was so big!” Darcy lifted him up and beamed at her. “Your son! Your heir!”
“Our son, dearest.” Elizabeth gasped when the slippery child wiggled and Darcy momentarily lost his grip, but his sure hands quickly had the baby under control. The parents exchanged glances. “I think that he just warned us that he will be a handful from birth.” He lay the baby down on the towel Millie had placed on Elizabeth’s belly and sat back to watch her caress the mop of wet dark hair on his head. “He is beautiful.” He laughed. “He truly is enormous! He is nearly as big as you, love!”
Elizabeth gasped and grimaced, and he recalled the rest of his duty. Mrs. Barker gave up trying to do the work and instead nudged him. “Massage her belly, sir; get the rest out of her.”
“Yes, madam.” He said calmly, and keeping his eyes on his wife and son, he massaged until the placenta was expelled. He was silently handed pieces of twine and confidently, he tied off the cord, and cut it with a clean knife. The boy was bathed by Millie and wrapped up in a fresh blanket. After Darcy washed his hands in another basin, he scooted up to sit next to them, and kissed Elizabeth’s cheek. Exhausted, she leaned into his embrace and did not hesitate to open her dress and offer the baby her breast when he was placed into her arms.
“Come now, little man.” She coaxed him, rubbing his cheek with her finger. “Come and have a drink, you must be hungry after all that work.”
Darcy chuckled and rested his cheek on her head. “Of course you did no work at all.”
“It was not so very bad.” She whispered and heard his sigh.
“He is twice the size of Rosalie. It is a miracle that he came so easily, and that you did not tear. Rosalie paved the way.” He looked up to see Mrs. Barker nodding seriously and closed his eyes, hugging his oblivious wife possessively.
Elizabeth smiled down at her hungry son. “I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
“Twelve more times?” He smiled to see her head shake. “I am so proud of you, I love you dearest Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth looked up to him and they kissed. “I love you, my Fitzwilliam. Only you will deliver our babies.” He blushed and looked down, entwining her fingers into his and supporting the baby with her. Reaching up, she caressed away the tears that flowed freely down his face. Neither of them paid any heed to the activity around them as the remains of the birth were whisked away and Millie sponged Elizabeth. Staff hovered outside of the study, ready to clean the sofa and floor, and anxious to catch a glimpse of the all-important heir. The Darcys sat embraced with their eyes closed, their temples touching, and listening to the unknowingly missed, but suddenly familiar sound of a humming baby as he fed.
“Look at the size of him!” Mrs. Reynolds sobbed. “No wonder we thought it was twins!”
“He is a Darcy.” Elizabeth whispered. “Of course he is a man from birth.” The baby at last opened his eyes and looked up to them. She smiled to see her husband’s serious blue gaze staring up at her. “He is a Fitzwilliam!”
“Will he remain that way, do you think?” Darcy asked softly and bent to kiss the baby’s cheek.
“Time will tell.” She sighed and they watched as his eyes blinked closed. “What shall we name him?”
“Hmmm.” He looked around the room. “I suppose there is no possibility of naming him after this room.”
“Study Darcy? I hope not.”
Darcy hugged her tight. “Any favourites? We have talked about so many.”
“No Fitzwilliam?”
“No.”
“Not even in the middle?”
“What about you?”
“I love your name, I always have, from the first moment I heard it spoken.” She whispered. “Please? For me?”
“How can I possibly deny that?” He laughed and hugged her. “And what is the first name?”
“Asher.” He tilted his head and she declared it definitely. “Asher Fitzwilliam Darcy.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
Chuckling, his hug tightened. “Why not.”
“He must meet his sister.”
“In time, love.” Darcy whispered. “I will bring her to you later on.”
“Mr. Darcy.” Mrs. Reynolds cleared her throat. “Perhaps we should get Mrs. Darcy up off of the floor and changed?”
“Are we on the floor?” Elizabeth whispered without opening her eyes.
“I believe we are.”
“Such an improvement over the glade.”
“Perhaps with the next we might actually be in a bed?”
“No, I propose a garden bench.”
“We would be outside again.”
“Hmm.”
“Dearest?”
“Upstairs?”
“Yes.” His voice was soft but commanding and she looked up to see his worry remained. “I will not relax for weeks, you know, but I prefer you in bed.”
“You prefer me in bed …” Darcy pressed his fingers to her lips. Elizabeth’s eyes danced. “Yes, Husband.”
“MASTER ASHER FITZWILLIAM DARCY.” Darcy sat in the rocking chair in the small nursery next to the mistress’s bedchamber. The door was open between the rooms and from his position he could watch Elizabeth peacefully sleeping while holding his slumbering son. “I have been waiting a long time to talk to you.” He caressed his finger over his baby’s cheek. “Of course I did not know that my son was coming today, I would have been joyful for a little sister for Rosalie, but now that you are here, I will not deny my delight.”
Bending to kiss his chubby cheek, he drank in the familiar scent of a newborn. “I have thought so much of what I would want to tell you, all that I want to teach you, my son. I have read my father’s journals, and he began with me almost the day I was born, and so I will with you. I will show you every corner of our home. I want you to know every stone, every beam, every painting. I want you to know the stories behind everything so that you can tell your son one day. I want you to explore the gardens and make them your private playrooms. I dream of the day when I place you on my lap and we ride together and explore the estate, and the day when I first introduce you to our tenants and begin to teach you our duty to them.”
Darcy chuckled softly when he yawned. “I look forward to you riding off alone, leaving me behind to fret and your mother to calm me while you discover your favourite places and make this land your own. This is your land, Son. It is all yours, and your mother and I will teach you to love it and value it as deeply as we do. We will teach you to care for your sister and any other siblings who join you. You will have the heaviest burden, and I pray that I have the ability to teach you how to bear it, and I pray that I will not die and leave you to face the task before you are ready. I will teach you pride, and I pray that it is pride of your home, not of your status. You have won the luck of the ages, Son. You have the most wonderful mother, she will teach you compassion and love, she will teach you to value people and not possessions. She will teach you who to look for in y
our partner for life. Mind her, Asher. She has so much to give you. Respect her, she demands it. Love her, but then how can anyone not love her?” Darcy kissed the baby and looked back to the bed and smiled. “Have you been spying on me?”
“Yes.” Elizabeth had rolled to her side and was watching him. “Will you come in here? I am afraid that walking will be a challenge for some time.”
“Of course.” Darcy rose and tried to wipe his eyes on Asher’s blanket. He handed him over to her and kicked off his slippers before climbing onto the bed and sitting up against the headboard. Elizabeth scooted back against his chest and his arms came around them. “Does this mean that you will actually remain still for an entire month as your nurse demands?” He kissed her frown and rested his head against hers, reaching to take his son’s remarkable hand and marvelling as he gripped his finger. “I cannot get over his size.”
“I am certainly reminded of it whenever I move.” She looked up to him with a sparkle in her eye. “And I thought that you were the one of great proportions.” Darcy groaned, and she laughed when he hugged her. Her smile disappeared and she spoke softly. “I heard the staff talking about how this could have ended quite differently.”
“Shhhh.” Darcy squeezed her tightly. “No need to talk about that, is there?”
“I truly did not mean to have the baby in the study, I was just teasing you. I was about to ask you to help me upstairs when everything just …” She started to cry.
“Dearest Elizabeth … shhhhhh.”
“But I was wrong to not tell you I was labouring, if I had died, the burden you would have carried for thinking it was your fault … the thought of you mourning breaks my heart, Will. I cannot bear to think of you alone. I am so sorry. I do not know what I was thinking; I seem to get ideas in my head when I am with child and …”
Darcy used his time-proven technique and silenced her with a kiss. “I knew that you were labouring, dearest. Well, perhaps not at the beginning when I was lost in a very well-earned sleep after finally satisfying my insatiable lover.” He smiled when she blushed and wiped her tears with his thumb. “But I knew of your growing discomfort. Do you seriously think that you can hide pain from me?”
“But you said nothing …”
“You did not want me to know, so I allowed you your deception. I knew.” Darcy laughed when she shook her head. “I have a reputation for staring at you, do I not? And I know you so very well.” They kissed and he caressed her cheek. “I called for the midwife at daybreak. She arrived at the same time she would have arrived no matter when I called; she was delivering another child and could not come sooner. I think that we would have managed no matter the circumstances. Somewhere in the middle of it all, I felt secure in my confidence to succeed through the trial.”
“So I am not to say another word?”
“Precisely.” Seeing her hesitation, he took her hand in his. “Next time, we will simply be honest and plan for this. You are decided that you want me to deliver our children, and rather than risk a panic, we will be sure that some knowledgeable midwife is near who knows our plans. Who can help if necessary. Agreed?” Elizabeth smiled and kissing her again, he looked at her worriedly, “Is the laudanum wearing off? Shall I ask Millie to prepare another dose for you?”
“No, I will manage, and Asher does not need to drink it from me. I remember when Rosa was nursing after I was shot, and I will not have my newborn sleeping for any other reason than because he is tired. And before you say anything, I am not about to hand him off to Mrs. Rogers to nurse when I am capable. Besides, I want to be fully awake when …” There was a knock at the door and Darcy called for the person to enter. Mrs. Robbins appeared and Rosalie bounded ahead of her. “Rosa!” Elizabeth beamed. “Come and meet your brother!”
“Baby here?” She reached her hands up and Mrs. Robbins lifted her onto the bed. Seeing Darcy’s nod she left the room and closed the door behind her. Rosalie crawled over to Darcy’s lap and snuggled against his chest. She peered suspiciously at the baby in her mother’s arms. “Who that?”
“That, little love, is your brother. His name is Asher.”
“Ash.”
“Very well, Ash.” He smiled and Elizabeth pulled back the blanket so she could see his face. “Is he not handsome?”
Rosalie studied him, and then looked at Elizabeth and down to her deflated belly. She touched her and Elizabeth gasped but kept smiling. “Yes, sweetheart, the baby was inside of me and now he is here. Will you help me to take care of him? I do not think that I can do it all by myself. I need a big girl to help.”
Beaming, Rosalie’s chin rose. Darcy hid his face in Elizabeth’s hair and his shoulders started to shake with silent laughter as he looked at his wife’s miniature rising to the challenge. “Yes! Big gril!” She crawled over and stared nose to nose with Asher. His eyes opened and his unfocussed gaze fixed on her. “Be good.” Rosalie said seriously. Asher stuck his tongue out at her. Rosalie wrinkled her nose and stuck hers back out at him. Darcy had peeked at the two of them, and then seeing the glee in Elizabeth’s eyes, hid his face again and continued to laugh. Rosalie bent and gave the baby a noisy wet kiss on his cheek, and was rewarded with his hand appearing from under the blanket and grabbing her hair. “Ow!!”
“Shhh, shhh.” Elizabeth tried not to laugh. “He was just saying hello.”
Rosalie looked at her doubtfully. “Not nice.” She pushed him away from Elizabeth’s lap. “Go.”
“No dear, he is going to stay.” She said sternly. “We love him very, very much.” Glancing at Darcy she saw his concern. “Come here sweetheart.” She adjusted the baby and patted her lap. Rosalie crawled up so that she was sitting half on Elizabeth and half on Darcy. Elizabeth held her and Darcy brought his arms around them both. “There. Is that better?”
“Yes, Mama.” Rosalie snuggled into them.
“You are still our baby girl.” Darcy whispered to her. “And we love you very, very much. We just thought that you would like a brother to play with. What do think? You were asking him to come out of your Mama’s belly and here he is. You just have to share us with him.” Rosalie frowned at that. “But you know; Asher will sleep a great deal because he is so little. When he is sleeping you will still have us all to yourself.”
“And when he is awake, you can play with him.” Elizabeth kissed her. “What a big girl you will be!”
“Agreed, my little love?”
“Yes, Papa.” Rosalie eyed her brother and seemed to set her shoulders determinedly, then bent down to give kissing him another try. Darcy and Elizabeth exchanged smiles over her head and watched as this time she kissed him without incident. Rosalie sat up and studied her sleeping brother then fixed his blanket and patted his belly. “Good boy.”
“Good girl.” Elizabeth kissed her and Darcy reached over her head to pick up a little pile of books that sat on the bedside table.
“Now, while he is sleeping, let us read.” Rosalie lit up to have her parents’ attention and choosing her story wiggled as closely between them as she could. Elizabeth rested her head on Darcy’s shoulder and closed her eyes. And Darcy, holding the book open on Rosalie’s lap, rested his chin on her head, “Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a village near the forest. Whenever she went out, the little girl wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the village called her Little Red Cap …” He glanced at Elizabeth and saw her smile, and kissed Rosalie’s hair. He smiled at his sleeping son and tightening his hold around his little family, he cleared the emotion from his voice and continued the story. “One morning, Little Red Cap asked her mother if she could go to visit her grandmother as it had been a while since they’d seen each other…”25
“BLOODY FANTASTIC!” Bingley whooped and jumped up from his chair to go searching for Abbey. “Sweeting!”
“What is it?” She laughed when he grabbed her hands and swung her around and around. “Charles!”
“A boy!” He grinned. “A beautiful baby boy!”
“What is all this noise, Charles?” Louisa asked and moved quickly to scoop up Samuel from his blanket on the floor and Robinson protected Wallace from his whirling uncle and aunt. “Charles!”
“Elizabeth.” He stopped spinning Abbey and she leaned against him, trying to regain her bearings. “Elizabeth has given birth to a son …” He consulted the letter, “A week ago.”
“I can just imagine Darcy’s reaction.” Hurst grinned and sat down beside Louisa to chuck Samuel’s chin.
“I do not have to imagine.” Robinson let Wallace go and watched him run off across the room to hug Abbey’s leg. “What wonderful news! They are both well?”
“Of course they are.” Bingley calmed and picked up the letter to read it through again. “All four of them are very well.”
MR. GARDINER ACCEPTED the post from the maid and seeing the envelope from Pemberley, set down the pile and broke open the seal. “Ah, there you go.” He stood and leaving the study, wandered towards the front sitting room where the ladies were gathered, and seeing a little trumpet one of his children had abandoned, picked it up and blew importantly as he entered the room.
“What was that?” Mrs. Gardiner laughed and set down her teacup.
“Uncle!” Kitty giggled. “Are you going to start races at the Derby?”
“He reminded me of the trumpeters at the palace making a great announcement.” Georgiana smiled. “Has something happened?”
“Ah, your instincts are correct, Aunt Georgiana.” He smiled as her eyes grew wide and she jumped up to take the letter from his hands. She read it and burst into tears. Mr. Gardiner opened his arms and embraced her. “shhhh, shhh, all is well.”
“What is it?” Kitty took the letter and read. “Lizzy had a boy!” She laughed and beamed at her aunt then turned back to see Georgiana still sobbing against Mr. Gardiner, who was becoming teary as he hugged her. “Why are you crying, Georgiana? I know that you were frightened for Lizzy, but she is well and the baby is, too.” She put her hand on Georgiana’s shoulder. “What is wrong?”
“Nothing.” She sniffed. “It is a boy.”