week. After I eat the entire kitchen, that is.”
Darcy kissed her brow, hugging close as fingers played through her hair while yet caressing the baby's fine locks. “As soon as Alexander is satisfied I will call for another tray and help you to freshen up. Marguerite is drawing a bath.”
Marguerite assisted a stiff and hobbling Lizzy into her bathing room while Darcy stayed with the baby. He lay with him on the bed while Lizzy bathed, Alexander enjoying a brief span of contented wakefulness after filling his stomach. Father and son studied each other, Darcy again examining each feature and marveling at how tender yet sturdy the helpless infant was. He recalled a vague memory of his mother telling him not to fear holding Georgiana as, “She will not break, Fitzwilliam. Babies are tougher than most give them credit.”
He could better perceive this in Alexander than he could as a young boy with Georgie. His legs kicked forcefully against Darcy's palms, the very bones firm inside robust muscles. He gripped Darcy's fingers or hair when it came within reach with tight fists that actually caused pain. His movements were random and uncontrolled, but strong, even lifting his head for short spells and arching his spine to the point of nearly flipping over! Of course, his stamina was transient, the hours-old infant sleeping more than anything. However, that was a delight as well. Darcy's tender crooning, arising from some internally paternal instinct he did not know he possessed, pacified Alexander, eyes drooping and limbs relaxing as his father whispered nonsense and devotion in a melodic voice.
Mrs. Hanford assumed her attendance over the sleeping infant while Darcy retreated for a thorough cleansing and a shave. He returned to discover his wife walking about the room, gently bouncing a soundly sleeping Alexander in her arms. Darcy scowled and grasped her elbows as if she were an invalid, ordering her back to bed.
Lizzy laughed, tiptoeing to kiss the creases between his brows. “If I lie in that bed a moment more, I shall scream. Sore muscles need to be exercised, as you well know.” She rubbed the slowly fading wrinkles with a happy grin, Darcy gradually matching her expression, as she continued musingly, “Alexander has your eyebrows, nearly your whole face in point of fact. Shall be an advantage for me now that I finally know how to read the moods and thoughts so dramatically detailed in your eyes and perfect brow.” She encircled his neck with one smarting arm, intent on indulging in a time of pleasurable kisses. Darcy blissfully submitted, hands flattening on her back as he tentatively pulled her close to his body, thrilling at the ability to do so. The soft bundle between their chests that was their swaddled son did not inhibit drawing her tighter than he had been able to do for the past several months.
Of course, nothing further could be accomplished so soon after giving birth even if Alexander had not decided to interrupt for another feeding. George visited several times throughout the day, but did not examine Lizzy. Rather he asked a number of pointed questions that caused her to absurdly flush considering the events of yesterday, to his great amusement. Since nothing appeared to be remiss, Lizzy actually feeling quite well aside from being extremely tired and sore, he left it at softly spoken reminders of what to watch for. And a new, foul-tasting tea concoction to ease the pain and augment her recovery.
Mrs. Hanford was stationed in the adjoining nursery. She was beckoned upon occasion, offering light assistance and words of advice, but mostly left the trio alone. The various family members paid short visits throughout the day, but they kept it brief as well. Partly this was due to the understanding that this time was special and should be spent alone. However, it was also because everyone knew that November twenty-eighth was not just the day after Alexander's birth, but it was also the Darcys' first wedding anniversary.
The Darcys' one-year anniversary was spent focusing on their baby rather than wholly on each other as they had tentatively planned, but neither minded in the least. Darcy had not arranged any wild celebration, knowing that Lizzy's condition, assuming she was still pregnant, would preclude anything extreme. Instead he had ordered the staff to prepare a lavish dinner setting in the conservatory. That was now out of the question. Even if Lizzy had felt physically capable of dressing and walking the long distance to the orangery, the thought of leaving Alexander or taking him on any excursions abroad was inconceivable. So, with a rapid shift in thinking, vases of flowers were displayed about their temporary bedchamber and a table was set for dining. Instead it was the Bingleys, also celebrating one year of wedded bliss, who would benefit from Darcy's devising!
The Darcys' commemoration of a joyous year's end was a quiet affair, the perfect cap to a busy day. Lizzy napped intermittently between nursing a demanding infant with a healthy appetite and visits with the family, but was still fatigued from her ordeal. They ate heartily of the stupendous cuisine created by Mrs. Langton for the anniversary, exchanged gifts that would be treasured, and blissfully returned to the comfort of the bed for cuddling and further staring at Alexander. Many anniversaries would be celebrated down the long years graced to them by the Almighty, some quite extraordinary for various reasons, but how could any trip to a foreign land or massive gala transcend the joy of their firstborn?
“My life has altered so dramatically this past year,” Darcy mused. “It is fantastic and I could almost be convinced I am dreaming it all if not for the tangible touch of you and our perfect son.” He leaned to bestow a kiss to Alexander's chubby fist tightly clenched around his index finger. The baby lay asleep on the bed between his mother and father, their bodies nestled as close as possible without smothering the contented infant. Lizzy's nose brushed the fine tresses as she inhaled his innocent fragrance and planted an endless amount of soft kisses. Darcy played with her lengthy hair spilling over the pillows, knuckles frequently caressing over her face.
Lizzy smiled through her weariness. Her body ached in unmentionable places and she was utterly exhausted; nevertheless, her happiness rushed through every fiber of her spirit as a surging wave. She spoke in a bare whisper, voice hoarse from the strain of birth and fatigue, “I do know what you mean. If anyone had told me fourteen months ago that I would be joyously married to the most amazing man in the world and with a child at my breast… well, I am certain I would have laughed! Now look at us, William. Together a year and blessed with a priceless gift. What was it you said once? 'A part of you and me, created by God through our union.'” She shook her head, “I still cannot believe you are mine, and now we have a baby! It
Alexander released a soft drowsy sigh, arching his head toward Darcy with petite lips sucking on an imaginary nipple. Thick lashes lay on rosy silky cheeks, his skin fair as was both his parents. The contrast of milky skin and chestnut hair was striking and so beautiful. Naturally his parents thought him lovely beyond any child alive, but the truth is Alexander was adorable. It was indisputable that he favored his father, but there was much of his mother about his features: the curly hair, diminutive nose, rounder eyes, and bent pinkie toes. His feet overall were long and broad like his father's, but the toe was a Bennet trait. Darcy was thrilled about the little digit, already delighting in ticklish nibbles; Lizzy was less than enthused, having always been embarrassed by what she considered a flaw, but her husband adored her feet—as well as everything else.
Darcy smiled at the joy elicited by the mere presence of their infant, leaned to kiss his forehead and inhaling deeply of his clean scent. “I smell the soap, but there is something indefinable about him. It is his very skin, his essence. He is so unbelievably sweet! I never imagined it possible to love someone so newly acquainted and largely unknown to this degree. He is a miracle, Elizabeth, and I cannot thank you enough.” He met her glittering eyes, leaning to now kiss her equally as tender. “I love you, my wife, beyond measure.”
“And I you, beloved. My heart is filled to overflowing. My soul is dancing a lively jig even if my body is too weary to respond!”
She yawned widely, Darcy chuckling faintly. “Close your eyes and sleep, dearest. Uncle says it vital you rest while Alexander does.”
“Fitzwilliam, will you stay here with us? Please?”
“Of course!” He was genuinely surprised at the question and the tone of pleading it was asked in. “My place is with you, no matter the bedchamber. I would not leave even if you begged me to do so. When you feel ready, we will return to our favored bed, but until then you are stuck with me in this smaller one.”
Lizzy smiled drowsily, eyes falling shut and voice a bare murmur, “Thank you. Should we move him to the cradle? I do not wish to, but I fear squishing him.”
“He will come to no harm. I do not want him so far either. Sleep, Elizabeth,” he whispered, drawing the blanket further over his wife and dreaming babe, stroking over her warm skin as she promptly succumbed to her fatigue. They slept all three together, Darcy awake long after his wife and child, watching over them as they rested with emotions unnameable alive inside of him.
The first days of parenthood were tremendous. Lizzy recuperated rapidly. Too rapidly as far as Darcy was concerned, his fears at her overextending falling on deaf ears. What she could not quite communicate to him was how marvelous she felt. Yes, her feminine regions were sore and swollen, her muscles were stiff and achy for a couple days, and it took her about a week to regain her natural vigor and no longer be stricken by fatigue, but these
