A.N. I edited the paragraph for Lady Catherine and Mr Bennet to include what happened to Lydia's first daughter, Victoria. I had originally planned something else for her, but deleted it and forgot to put her back in.

I don't own Pride and Prejudice.

Elizabeth smiled at her husband as he spread the picnic blanket out in her favorite meadow. The two had snuck away from Longbourn to have a little private time away from the family, feeling like it had been forever since they had been alone.

"I can't wait to be back at Pemberley." She sighed with a smile. "I can't help but feel that we are all on top of each other here." She had never thought that Longbourn felt cramped growing up, but now that is all she felt. Even with Jane gone on her wedding trip, the home still felt cramped.

"We will be there soon enough. Just one brief stop over at Rosings, and then we will have the rest of the summer to ourselves at Pemberley." Lady Catherine and Anne had already left for Rosings to prepare for their weddings, the two planning to marry a week apart from each other with Anne's being first.

"As much as we can while preparing for the girls' coming out." She reminded her husband with a smile.

"Just remember, we have invited our aunts so that they can do some of the work and you can take it easy." Her husband reminded her. She was due to have the baby right around the end of summer, and her husband worried that she would over do it with everything going on.

"Even if I wanted to over do it, do you think any of the ladies we surround ourselves with would allow it?" She asked his with a raised eyebrow.

"I wouldn't put it passed Aunt Catherine to tie you down should you try." William said with a chuckle, and she couldn't help but blush, remembering something she had heard Lydia speak about when they had first arrived. Her sister had been very adamant to talk about the intimacies shared with her husband, and she got the impression, to compare them with her own experiences. When Elizabeth refused to speak of it, she started talking about all that she had done, throughly scandalizing her older sister.

She had tried to put what she had heard out of her mind, but she had noticed she had been more easily excitable these days. A midwife she had spoken with said this was normal with pregnancy, and to try and enjoy it. Fortunately for her, she had a husband to was happy and eager to comply.

Fortunately for her, she was distracted from those thoughts before she could act on them. A young woman came running through the meadow at that moment, a couple of farm boys chasing after her. Elizabeth and William both stood up, and brushed themselves off, the movement catching the young woman's attention, as she turned and ran toward them in clear distress. It was when the woman's body plowed into her own that she realized it was in fact Lydia who had been running, and now she was sobbing in her arms.

Seeing the state of her sister, William ordered the footmen they had brought with them to follow him, and took off after the boys. His long legs and athletic build easily catching them before they could leave the meadow.

"Lydia...Lydia, please try to calm down and tell me what has happened." She tried to calm her sister, but the girl only cried harder. Even from here she could see the thunderous look on her husband's face, and had an idea as to what it could be. Slowly but surely she was able to calm the girl down, and she was eventually able to get the story out of her.

"Oh Lizzy, how utterly dreadful it all was." She spoke between sobs. "Mama told me to go to town for some flour, as we were out, and it is too long of a walk for her. Well, as I was passing the haberdasher, a beautiful pink ribbon caught my eye. Well, you know it has been ever so long since I had been able to buy a ribbon, ever since Papa, though I don't know if I can still call him that as he is not my Papa really, but I don't know any other." here she broke down sobbing again, and Elizabeth couldn't help but realize that loss of her father, even one that neglected her and couldn't bring himself to love her, was still hard on the young girl. For the first time in a long while, she saw her sister as a frightened little girl, rather than the silly facade she hid behind.

"Anyways," she began again once she had composed herself, "The boys had offered to combine their money and buy it for me since I was the prettiest girl they had ever seen." The Lydia she knew would have preened at the comment, but this Lydia just trembled. "They continued on with me to purchase the flour, and then offered to walk me home. I told them they couldn't walk the entire way with me as Mama would never allow me to socialize with farmer boys, and they seemed to understand."

"Oh Lizzy, they were so nice at first, but they changed when we were out of town. They forced me off the road, and told me that I owed them for the ribbon." Here she started crying again. "It told them to take it back, that I didn't want it anymore, but they told me that I gave it to the officers for free, I had to give it to them since they paid for it."

"But Lizzy, if I had known, I would have never accepted the ribbon." The girl sobbed again.

"Hush now, I know you wouldn't, and just because those boys bought it for you does not mean you owe them anything." She reassured her sister.

"And Lizzy, I didn't give it out to all of the officers as they say, only to Wickham, and because he loves me. He had to leave with his regiment, but he said he would come back for me when he has enough money to marry me."

"Oh Lydia," she sighed as she held her sister even tighter, "I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you this, but Wickham is no more coming back for you, that he is the other women he fooled into thinking he loved them."

"No, he is, he told me he would." Lydia shook her head, not wanting to believe her sister.

"And he has told many before you the same thing, and all of them are still waiting for his return, many of them with children he fathered on them." She spoke gently.

"But how do you know?" Lydia's eyes begged her to tell her it wasn't true.

"Because I have given all of them jobs on my estates or townhome." William spoke from where he was standing behind them. "Many of their families turned them out, or couldn't afford to keep them and the child, this was the only way to possibly help them."

"But I know he loves me, he swore he did most passionately." Lydia's hope was hanging by a thread, and she new William was about to cut it.

"Even were that true, he would never be able to marry you, as he is already married to another." He said gently, and Lydia dissolved into tears.

"Oh, I really am the stupidest girl in all of England. I wanted to believe Mama when she said you and Jane were just being cruel to us, but after those boys and now the truth about Wickham..." Her tears were so strong by this point that she couldn't stem them.

"Miss Lydia, I meant what I said, if you desire to go school that caters to young women like yourself I will happily pay for it." William offered once more, and Lydia nodded her head in acceptance.

Epilogue

That summer would be one they all spoke of for years to come. Lydia went off to school within a week, with much screaming and fluttering of nerves from her mother. It was quite shocking, the young lady that returned, for she was very much a lady now. After everything that happened she swore she would never marry, but rather be the fun aunt who all her nieces and nephews got excited when she would come to visit. She never reconciled with her father, so instead looked to Fitzwilliam for approval, living with them on a permanent basis, until meeting a widower with a baby girl when she was 27. She fell in love with the child instantly, and seeing the care the father had for his daughter, love for him soon followed. The two were married, and she gave him a son the following year, and another daughter two years after that.

Georgiana married the son of their father's friend two years after her coming out. The two unfortunately lost their first child before it had a chance to be born, but four healthy children came after. Their oldest was a boy who was soon followed by a brother and two sisters. She was the one to move the farthest away, but was close to Rosings.

Maria lived with Charlotte until she was 22 when she married a General who had just retired from the army due to an injury. The two had two girls, and everyone loved watching how protective the man was of his girls as he called his wife and daughters.

Kitty married a gentleman from an estate neighboring the Bingley's. The two had three sons, followed by a daughter that Kitty and her husband couldn't help but dote on.

Mary and Richard had two boys and a girl of their own, the daughter being the youngest and the apple of her father's eye. The children were just as close to the Darcy children as their parents had been growing up. It was not uncommon to find a child at the other estate, sometimes causing a panic as they didn't tell their parents they were going.

Jane and Mr Bingley had two daughters of their own, and while Jane would never admit it to anyone but her sister, she quite despaired at her lack of a son. Then, when their youngest turned 12, she fell pregnant again, and brought two boys into the world. While Charles had always adored his daughters, he was over the moon when he had boys to raise.

Charlotte and Andrew had two sons and three daughters. Her father adored all the children, but Charlotte refused to let her mother around her children. Charlotte only ever told Lizzy the relief she felt as each of her children grew more and more handsome every year. With their looks and mother's intelligence, they were highly sought after once they came out.

Anne and Vincent had only two children, both girls, though that was not an issue as Rosings was not entailed away. Her mother, retired away to Longbourn with her husband, finding she preferred the more intimate home. This left Anne and Vincent to be the masters of the estate, and they thrived at it.

Lady Catherine and Mr Bennett had a long life together at Longbourn raising Victoria as if she were their own. Both were sad to see her leave them when she married the man that eventually purchased Netherfield, but were happy to have her settled so close. The two were often found in the study reading together, or discussing what they had just read. With her help, the estate became much more profitable, and was passed on to Mary's second son, as he was the oldest male born without an estate to inherit.

Mr Collins had died of mysterious circumstances, but no one knew who orchestrated it. At first it had been Richard and Fitzwilliam everyone suspected, then Lady Catherine and Mr Bennet, the Lucas Brothets, and even Andrew and his father and brother were accused for a while. Elizabeth personally suspected it was Sir William Lucas, as he was always quick to point suspicion elsewhere, even when it was not directed at him.

As for Elizabeth and William, the two welcomed at beautiful baby girl, Julianna, just before the season was set to start. William set off with their sisters so he could be there for them, and welcomed Elizabeth when she was able to join him once the baby was old enough to travel. Lady Catherine had cried the first time they referred to her as grandmama, while passing the baby over to her. They would go on to have four more daughters and two sons. The Ton was scandalized at the number of offspring the family had, but they could care less what others thought.

As for Mrs Bennet...well, they hardly had time to spare a thought for her.