(Untitled)

[bennet_beauty]

When the month of February arrived, Jane began it worried a terrible deal. Her illness had, as expected, cleared and she was left feeling far more refreshed than she had been in the duration of the cold months. What troubled her, however, was her weight. She had been raised by her Mama's concerns and knew that she must keep her girlish figure

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[niceofyoutoask]

He happened to come into the hall as she was removing her shoes, absently wiping the remains of sawdust off his hands, and noted the preoccupied look on her face. "Welcome back," he said lightly, hand slipping to her lower back as she straitened up and pressing a kiss to her cheek. "News?"

[bennet_beauty]

She gave a thoughtful sound, allowing him to kiss her as she leaned into his arms. "Yes," she agreed, staring at him and knowing that she wished to tell him of the news, but that she could not manage to make her mind work. She simply froze, though it was in happiness.

[niceofyoutoask]

She looked at him, speechless, and something in his chest stuttered. He grasped her hands, pulling them against his chest and looking her in the eyes. "Is something wrong?" His voice was always steady in a crisis, even when he brow creased with worry.

[bennet_beauty]

She shook her head, the news settling in her mind and she opened her mouth to speak, but found only a surprised laugh bubbled out. "Oh!" she gasped, easing in and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I do not mean to worry you, Carwood," she insisted. "It is simply a shock. Dr. House says that the weight is nothing to worry of."

[niceofyoutoask]

His face and demeanor softened at the laugh, the worry leaving his shoulders and his arms wrapping around her, pulling her against him in the entryway. "I shouldn't think so," he said, smiling. "Just more of your curves for me to enjoy."

[bennet_beauty]

Jane laughed, as well, letting out a small sound of happy delight as she was pulled with him. "Then you shall have many more in the coming months, though I do not think they will be quite so visually appealing."

[niceofyoutoask]

"Months?" He repeated, his mind quick enough to put two and two together. He pulled back a little, just enough to see her shining face. "You mean...?" A full smile broke out on his face.

[bennet_beauty]

Jane was laughing fully now, not holding back any emotion as she pressed an impulsive kiss to his lips. "Dr. House confirmed that I am several weeks pregnant," she confirmed. "He says eight weeks, now. We do have seven months more of growing."

[niceofyoutoask]

He kissed her back, despite his smiling, then grasped her hands in his to gently twirl her around so that her back was to his front, so that his hands could slip down to lie softly over her abdomen. He leaned his head against hers, over her shoulder, looking down. "Our baby." He said, delighted and slightly mystified by the reality of it.

[bennet_beauty]

Jane curled into his touch, not wishing to depart from it for a single moment. "I believe our baby is terribly small at the moment," she murmured, but she was still absolutely enraptured and in love with that terribly small object. "Oh! To think that Liddy will finally have a sibling!"

[niceofyoutoask]

He laughed, cradling her and their child against him, his mind overwhelmed with joy at the new life and their little growing family. "I'm so happy, Jane." He murmurred into her ear, then indulgently pressed a few kisses along her jaw line. "Should we tell Lydia right away?" He uncharacteristically wanted to shout if from the rooftops, but also almost wanted to keep it just between them, at least for a little while, treasuring the knowledge.

[bennet_beauty]

"Do you think she'll understand?" At her age, Jane had been given another sister in Mary, but she had barely understood with Lizzy. To have yet another in her life was almost strange. "I do wish to tell her, but of course! It is happy news that must be shared."

[niceofyoutoask]

"I think it'll take some getting used to, but that's pretty normal. As long as we assure her we'll love her just as much as the new baby, it should be alright." He only really remembered the birth of his youngest sister when he'd been six, and that had consisted more of tending to the other two than any conversations about it with his parents.

"I'm worried, though," and here his own anxieties about being a step-father came into play. "That she'll feel left out." This being their child, and Stuart being Lydia's father.

[bennet_beauty]

"Worried?" Jane asked, not wishing to stop touching Carwood, especially since they were still celebrating their good news. "But she will be loved just as our youngest will be," she said, a hint of confusion on her face. "Will she not?" As though she worried, perhaps, that they would be treated differently.

[niceofyoutoask]

"Of course," He assured her immediately and genuinely, and there was no doubt in his mind that he cared for Lydia as if she were his own. "But surely she'll wonder, despite our assurances." And while the little girl mostly called him Papa these days, he worried that as she grew older that she'd think less of him for not being her real father. He shook his head, kissing her hair line. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have bothered you, especially when we've just gotten such good news!"

[bennet_beauty]

"Perhaps she will wonder, but then we must assuage ourselves with convincing her twiceover," Jane said, sure of herself in that much. She was not the brightest mind in the world, but she knew that where she had her failings, she more than made up for it in her mothering. "She will be loved, Carwood. I know that much."