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Life at Pemberley for the residents was very pleasant until after midnight on a Wednesday just a sennight later. The first sign something was happening was when Darcy yelled for one of the footmen stationed in the hall near the master suite and instructed him to wake Sir Fredrick, his nurses, and the midwife. It was a matter of minutes before everyone was wide awake except for the Gardiner children, who were all asleep and blissfully unaware in the nursery.
Fanny Bennet entered her daughter’s bedchamber where she was already being attended by the midwife and the accoucheur, with his nurses assisting as needed. She looked at her daughter and could immediately tell that she was in labour. Fanny was followed in by Elaine and Marie Fitzwilliam, and minutes after them Jane entered the room.
“Oh my, what is all this wetness?” Elizabeth demanded, holding tightly to William’s hand while he looked on nervously.
“Those, my dear Mrs. Darcy, were your waters.” said Sir Frederick with authority. “Mr. Darcy, it is time for you to go join the men downstairs, in the library I assume.”
“Unless my Elizabeth wants me to leave, I am not going anywhere,” Darcy stated emphatically.
“But sir, it is not done,” the midwife frowned.
“Unless mywifedoes not want my presence, it will be done!” he countered. Anyone who knew Darcy could tell from the firmness and tone of his voice; he would brook no opposition.
“I want William to stay with me. Propriety be damned! I am giving birth to two or three babes, andI WILL HAVEWilliam here!” Lizzy yelled out, hers being the final say.
“William will stay, Lizzy. No one will ask him to leave for as long as you want him here with you.” Fanny soothed her daughter with a cool cloth to her face and a gentle promise.
“Thank you, Mama.” Lizzy relaxed as much as she could.
For the next three hours, Darcy felt helpless, other than allowing his wife to squeeze his hand with all of her might as each contraction hit her. When she felt the need, she yelled out in pain using words no one who knew her had any idea were in her vocabulary. It was just after the three-hour mark when the midwife said she could see a head crowning. Lizzy was instructed to push, and five minutes later there was a healthy wail of an indignant baby boy who had been expelled from his warm home.
The babe was cleaned, and a blue ribbon was tied to both his wrist and his ankle before he was swaddled. The heir to Pemberley had been born. His parents were in wonder of the babe with his scrunched-up face as he informed the world of his displeasure when Lizzy’s pains began again. The babe was given over to his grandma to be admired as the first grandchild for Fanny.
Soon the room filled with the plaintive wail of the heir’s brother. After he was cleaned, a green ribbon was tied to his wrist and ankle so that the order of birth would be preserved in case there was a third son. He was swaddled and passed to his Great Aunt Elaine. Just like before the pains recommenced, and within ten minutes a baby girl entered the world with a head full of dark curls. Although smaller than her brothers, she was much louder, causing Fanny Bennet to smile.
“There she is, Lizzy. You have been blessed with a babe just like you.” Her mother kissed her daughter’s forehead.
Everyone thought all that was to be delivered was the afterbirth, but it was soon evident there was another babe on the way. Worry for his wife peaked as Darcy was silently praying she would survive the ordeal.
The fourth babe was very much smaller than her sister who had been born ahead of her. She was born blue and was silent unlike her three siblings. Sir Fredrick attempted to help her breathe by gently breathing into her nose and mouth, but it was for naught. The young Miss Darcy passed from the mortal coil without ever making a sound or opening her eyes.
The afterbirth was finally delivered. Darcy was inconsolable when his wife lapsed into unconsciousness. “Nooooo, my Lizzy,” he wailed, “I will not be able to live without you.”
“Do not talk nonsense, William! We all pray Lizzy will recover, but do you think my daughter will want you to give up if God calls her home?” Fanny demanded hotly.
“William, you do not want to repeat the mistakes your father made withdrawing from the world after my sister Anne passed. You know how hard that was on both you and Georgie. Would you wish for your children to have to live that way?” Elaine soothed his brow as he knelt by his wife’s bed.
“You are both correct, and I know that, but I cannot imagine living in a world without my Lizzy,” William replied quietly, unable to take his eyes off his wife.
“I do not believe that you will have to, Mr. Darcy,” Sir Frederick thought it was now finally the right time to intervene, now that the wisdom of his patient’s aids on earth had helped the new father return from the brink.
“W-w-w-what d-did you say, Sir Frederick?” Darcy looked at him in hopeful fear.
“I said I do not believe you will have to. There has not been any excess of bleeding. I think your wife just needs time to recover a little from the ordeal her body just experienced. I have seen this with births of two or more before and without other factors, none of which are present in your wife, the patient normally wakes up within four and twenty hours and is no worse for wear. You employed two wet nurses as I suggested?” Sir Frederick asked calmly.
“We did, Sir Fredrick, and I will take what you said and use that as the basis for my hopes and prayers,” Darcy promised.
“Do. There is a reason women bear the children, Mr. Darcy. Underneath it all, we are the weaker sex, and your wife has just birthed four. You would have passed out after the first,” Sir Frederick reminded him.
“Thank you.” Darcy saw the truth in Sir Frederick’s eyes and took a few deep breaths before turning to face the rest of the room.
The last baby girl born had been cleaned and wrapped in a shroud and was quietly removed by Mrs. Reynolds. She would be kept in the cold room so her mother could meet her if she wished before the babe was buried.
“Come meet your children, William.” Fanny beckoned him to her.
Darcy gently took his firstborn son from his mother-in-law. He had a tuft of dark hair similar to his parents and crystal-clear cerulean eyes just like his father. After passing his first son back to Mother Bennet, he took his second son from Aunt Elaine.
