Vacations


William leaned back on his chair and faced the sun with closed eyes. "This is heaven."

He loved Encarnación's summer. It was hot, but wonderful. They always came during this time of the year and stayed for almost a month, in William's old house, escaping the snow after enjoying Christmas with the family in London. New Year in the country, with the Bingleys, by the pool, Elizabeth in her bikini, the children free from their winter clothes, and that homey life that they always had when they flew south. He adored both aspects of his life. England was sophistication, formality, limos, fast life, business, staff, mansions and weekends in the Stamford estate. Encarnación was sandals, fishing, asados, shorts, cooking together and simplicity, just like it was when he met his wife seven years ago.

"Indeed it is." Charles smiled. "The children are sleeping, the women are making 'mate', the water of the pool is fresh and clear. What else can a man ask for?"

"A cold beer and Elizabeth massaging my shoulders." William stretched lazily.

Charles chuckled. "You are right, I think I'm going to skip the mate and go for some freezing beers while we are still able to drink them in peace."

"Emily! Come here!" Elizabeth's voice was heard from the gallery.

"Too late." William opened one eye.

In a matter of seconds, two and a half year old Emily Darcy crossed the lawn at full speed and was by her father's side, naked, climbing on his lap.

"I believe there is something missing here, young lady." William pointed. Emily immediately buried her face on his chest, trying to hide from her mother. He stood her up on his knees and turned her back to him so he could admire her cute little buttocks. "Do you know what daddy does when he sees a bare bottom?" Emily began to giggle in anticipation. "He eats!" and he attacked noisily her dimpled-by-cellulite chubby rear.

"You wouldn't be biting that ass had you seen what I just washed from it." Elizabeth appeared by his side carrying Elisa, Emily's twin sister astride on her hip.

William gasped in horror, lifted the girl over his head, rolled her in the air and lowered her so her belly went to his mouth to continue with his tickling. Emily was kicking and giggling really hard.

When he lowered her, Elizabeth dropped a diaper onto his lap. "Will you help me with this? She really behaves much better when you change her."

He looked up at his wife and smiled. There she was, so beautiful, wearing a bikini top and half buttoned denim shorts, proudly exhibiting her more than obvious five month pregnancy.

"Love, you shouldn't be carrying her." He extended his hands to take Elisa from her arms.

Elizabeth smiled at her daughter. "Mama's princess isn't heavy, is she?"

Elisa immediately dived into her father's arms and embraced him. The twins were polar opposites, both physically and in temperament. Emily was Elizabeth's miniature, she was shorter and of stronger built, with dark curly hair, stubborn and authoritative but with the most contagious giggle. And she was quite a giggler. Elisa was slimmer, with auburn hair, she had Jane's dark green eyes, with easier personality, very independent and a great seductress. She only had to give her father a coquettish look from under her lashes and point at something and she would certainly obtain it quicker than Emily could in an outburst.

"Those two sleep the shortest naps I've ever seen." Charles laughed.

Elizabeth bent down to kiss her husband and then covered the girls' heads with little denim hats to protect them from the sun. "I'm going to help Jane with the trays. Watch the little devils."

As she straightened up, William placed his hands on each side of her belly and kissed it. "May I be of assistance?"

She laughed because he made no attempt to stand up. He was just being gallant. "Just bring a table." And she walked away with the eyes of her husband focused on her posterior.

"These two are extenuating." William observed how the twins simultaneously removed their hats. Emily went to the pool to fill hers with water and was immediately imitated by Elisa.

"You should try putting some vodka in their bottles, William, that way they will sleep a little longer." Charles laughed.

"Is that what you use with yours?" He smirked as he covered the babies' heads with the now wet hats. It seems that they liked it that way because they left them on for some time. Two seconds later they focused their attention on William's sandals and each girl took one and threw them into water. "Oh no, not this." William saved his sunglasses from the same fate.

"My children are angels. Well, except for Lucila." Charles saw how his sandals went to the pool too.

"She really has strong lungs." William observed how, one by one, the toy cars that the boys left by the pool were sinking into the water.

"Does Andrew dive?" Charles asked without moving from his extra-lazy position on the lounge. He was figuring out who would recover the cars. There were already five in the bottom of the pool.

William didn't move either when a little truck was dropped into the water. "Not this deep."

"Speak of the devil, where are the boys?" Charles looked around.

"Inside the house?"

"I don't think so. Perhaps with the horses."

"Ah." William didn't seem worried.

"The dog is with them." Charles looked even less worried.

"Huno has won his place in heaven."

"Yes." Charles laughed. "Specially after your twins arrived."

"We were so sad when we learned that Attila died last year, but he was very old. Fortunately he left lots of pups running around. Huno looks very much like him."

"He was quite the stud of the neighborhood." Charles smirked. "Though Mr. Ramirez was not so happy when he realized his purebred Collie bitch was abused by such a large dog."

"But I'm sure she enjoyed it!" William chuckled.

At that moment the gentlemen spotted the ladies carrying trays with mate, cookies, bottles for the babies and milk for the boys. They had no other choice but stand up and help them so William hurried to pick up the table and Charles took 8 months old Lucila from Jane's arms.

As if attracted by the smell of the food, the three lads appeared magically from behind the bushes. Andrew Darcy, now five and the eldest, arrived first, followed closely by his cousins, Thomas (four and a half) and Mathew (3), the Bingley heirs. Trotting after them was Huno, with a very strange collar made out of Charles' T-shirt and toy car hanging from his tail.

Andrew was William's copycat and absolutely his father's son. He was slim and tall, he stood like William, walked like William, he mimicked every one of his father's expressions and attitudes but had Elizabeth's easy and somehow very active disposition. He tolerated his destructive little sisters with equanimity and was wise as to take revenge when nobody was looking. He also adored his brother to be (they knew it was a boy) and was already planning football games with his father when he came out. Being very smart and quick, he had the ability to speak both languages fluently (with the limitations of a five year old) which was an advantage when they traveled to Encarnación as everyone there spoke mostly in Spanglish.

Each reunion of Darcys and Bingleys was very odd for anyone that would hear them. As soon as she arrived to her old home, Elizabeth would turn instantly into Spanish mode. She would chat with Jane in Spanish while the gentlemen did it in English and spouses will alternate either language (sometimes in the same sentence) when talking to each other, depending on the subject or mood.

Once the table was settled, Elizabeth lay the twins on the grass under the shade of the parasol so they could drink their bottles together with Lucila. It was so funny to watch them. Elisa would play with her toes, Emily twisted her hair around her finger and Lucila pulled her ear while they consumed their baby bottles.

Elizabeth released an exhausted sigh when she finally sat down. "What a lovely day. How I missed the sun."

William smiled and put his hand on her stomach. "How's this one behaving?" He was kicked instantly.

She looked down. "He is football player."

"You said that the twins were rumba dancers." Jane laughed as she served the boys their milk. Andrew drank a little and ran to his mother, leaning his head on her belly (after removing his father's hand) to hear what his prospect-of-brother was doing.

"Go and drink your milk, dear." Elizabeth caressed his hair. "I have to ready the mate."

"Just one more kick." Andrew insisted. He grinned when his patience was rewarded and went to finish his snack.

The next half an hour was relaxed, the adults pleasantly drinking mate with cookies, Lucila fast asleep on a blanket under the parasol, the boys playing with the toys that were saved from the girl's drowning activities. As for the twins, well, they were just ... missing.

Elizabeth suddenly sat up and looked around. "Where are the girls?"

William pointed behind her seat without turning. "Back there."

She poured Jane a mate. "They are too quiet. What are they doing?"

"I don't think you would like to know it." Charles smirked when he looked at them.

William and Elizabeth turned around instantly. Elisa was feeding Huno from her bottle and Emily was carrying a small plastic bucket full of sand from the sandbox and emptying it over the dog's head. Elizabeth gasped when Elisa pulled the bottle from the dog's mouth and introduced into hers to continue to drink.

"Elisa!" Elizabeth cried.

"Elizabeth, she eats dog food whenever she can so it is fair that she shares her bottle with him." William laughed.

"Will! Stop laughing and get that bottle now!" She scolded him. Why is that men are so lazy when on vacations?

William just extended his arm (it was quite an advantage to be that tall) and took the bottle despite of Elisa's look of surprise. "Little princesses don't share bottles with dogs. Mum is the only savage here and all those nasty things are reserved to her, all right?"

Elisa's eyes were looking desperately at her bottle and the tremble in her lower lip announced an imminent tragedy. Before the outburst began, Elizabeth took the bottle from William's hand and rinsed it with hot water from the kettle she was using for the mate.

"Don't feed the dog, señorita." Elizabeth said firmly as she gave the bottle back to her.

The little girl climbed onto her father's lap to finish her milk while looking at her mother with eyes full of contempt and resentfulness. By now Emily was emptying her fourth bucket full of sand on the dog's head.

"Dad, where are my cars?" Thomas asked.

"In the bottom of the pool, darling." Charles answered calmly.

"I want them."

Charles looked at William but he shrugged and pointed at Elisa lying on his chest.

"I'll get them later."

"I want them." Thomas repeated.

"Yes, I want them too." Andrew insisted and stood by Thomas side. Mathew came too and just pointed at the pool while pulling at his father's shorts. Mathew was so cute, with that big belly and his golden curls.

"Charles, don't be lazy and get those cars now." Jane just wanted to prevent the debacle. Three crying boys was the last thing she wanted now that the baby was asleep.

Charles sat up and smiled mischievously at the three boys aligned in front of him. "The last one that gets into the pool is a fried chicken!" And in one movement he dived into the pool, splashing everyone around him.

Screams, giggles, and one boy after the other jumped into the water. The twins did not need much encouragement to follow them so Elisa threw her bottle away, Emily dropped her bucket and they rushed towards the pool.

There was no way that William could escape the temptation of fresh water and children mischief so he dived in too and, diapers removed, caught each one of his daughters as they flew into the water.

"Jesus." Elizabeth sighed. "I hope they are not vomiting the snack right away."

"At least not inside the pool." Jane laughed. "Do you know what are you going to do about your work in Kew?"

"I told them I'll work until the seventh month. I'm really not up to it with this one."

"I understand you well, Lucy's pregnancy was much heavier than the others. Will you continue to work afterwards?"

"I don't know. Andrew is taking this well but the twins are a little jealous. Let's see what happens after the baby is born." Elizabeth rubbed her stomach. "Anyway, I talked with the boss and he offered for me to work as an external advisor in the Tropical section until I decide what I want to do."

"They are really considerate."

"They are very nice indeed. I've been working only twice a week since the birth of the twins but I think I must slow down with this one, at least until the little devils go to school. And there are also the Carnation hybrids I developed for HG in the nursery at home. They came out very nicely last season and I want to try a larger scale in the next one, if the baby allows it. I really want to dedicate more time to my lab." Elizabeth sighed. "And you?"

"I'm returning to work after the summer vacations, in February. Anyway I worked at home when we closed the annual balance. I was really bored of watching Lucila sleep all day long. The boys are so well behaved and Martha is so good with them that they don't give much trouble."

"You are so lucky. My children are tremendous, we have a permanent staff of four people at home and they still manage to get into trouble. Sometimes I fear that Hill will collapse at any moment."

"How's Georgiana?"

"Great, you must see little Portia, she is so cute. Georgiana really settled down after she was born though I must say that Christian had quite tough time putting her on her tracks, she was a very spoiled girl." Elizabeth rubbed her belly and smiled conspiratorially. "Tell me about Eduardo's girlfriend."

"You should see her, Liz, what a slut." Jane leaned over so the men wouldn't hear. That was very good gossip. "She flirted with Pablo all night during the Christmas party. I don't blame her, he is gorgeous, I would be flirting with him if he were not my cousin, but you know how possessive Edu can be. They had quite an argument, all Jurassic Park was very upset. I think he dumped her."

"Love, aren't you coming in?" William climbed out of the pool and walked to pull her up. "The water is delicious."

God, that man was gorgeous when wet. "Are you sure it isn't cold?" She asked as he came closer. "Holy cow, William!" She pushed him away when he leaned over and cold water dripped from his body on her hot skin.

"Come on, lazy." He took her hand and pulled her up. "Refresh yourself a little or you will boil that child inside of you."

"All right." She grinned and removed her denim shorts. "Aren't you coming Jane?"

"I think I'll take a splash before Lucy awakes." She stood and removed the sundress she was wearing over her swimming suit.

And both families continued to enjoy that delightful January afternoon.

---

William stopped at the bathroom door and watched his wife. He would never tire of looking at her. She was beautiful, adorable. During the course of the years she had maintained that juvenile and fresh style that made her so special. Sexy but classy attire, tight T-shirts with low cut skirts or jeans in the summer, knitted clothes in the winter, always exhibiting her perfect and very fit figure to its best advantage. Even during her pregnancies she had dressed in that fashion, sporting her maternity exuberance with that charm and grace that was her seal. And there she was, curls falling down her shoulders, belly popping under the tank top, and that spontaneity that enamoured him from the first time.

Elizabeth was bent over the sink brushing her teeth when she spotted her husband leaning on the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, wearing silk boxers and a most sensuous half smile. At the age of forty Fitzwilliam Darcy had moved from the category of handsome to breathtaking. Like good wines, he only improved with time. His physique remained intact, slim and muscled by constant jogging and tennis games, that lock always falling on his brow and a few silver strands of hair on his temples that gave him that air of maturity, distinction and self confidence that made him even more sexy.

She ADORED her husband, and she knew he ADORED her.

They smiled at each other. William gestured with his finger for her to come closer and Elizabeth walked to him with love written on her eyes. Her hands slid around his waist and, as always, rested on his buttocks as he wrapped his arms around her.

"You are so handsome and sexy, Mr. Darcy." Elizabeth looked up.

"And you are beautiful and so damn sexy, Mrs. Darcy." he smiled down.

Elizabeth chuckled and looked at her belly impeding her body to lean completely against his. "I would not consider myself very desirable in my present state."

William bent his head and began to kiss her neck very softly as he spoke. "You are the sexiest creature I have ever seen, Elizabeth, even more when you are pregnant. You have that glow of prosperity around you that makes you irresistible."

"Prosperity?" She chuckled.

"You overflow liveliness and sensuality." He was becoming aroused as he nibbled her ear and teased her sides with his fingertips.

"Is the door locked?" She sighed as his hands brushed the sides of her breasts and back. She had to admit that she always felt very womanly and excited when pregnant.

"That was the first thing I did when I walked into the bedroom." William moved his mouth to the other side of her neck.

"I love it when the children stay all day by the pool, afterwards they sleep like ... rocks." She pulled his face closer to kiss his lips.

William didn't want her to remain standing up for too long so he led the way to the bed. He undressed her and himself and helped her to lay down on her back. As he did every night, he lay by her side propped on his elbow, observing the movements of his son-to-be while tracing gentle circles on her abdomen. He really liked to see her pregnant. If it were his decision alone, he would keep her in that condition permanently.

"The football player." She smiled down at her stomach.

"Indeed." He bent over to kiss her belly as his hand went to massage her thighs.

Elizabeth sighed. It was delicious when he did this. He had such delightful lips and hands and these caresses where so relaxing that the tension produced by the extra-weight vanished instantly.

"Tired?" He asked as his lips brushed their way up to her breasts.

"Not much." She began to massage his scalp with her fingertips.

"When will these two be completely mine again?" He kissed each breast very softly. He knew that she was extremely sensitive in that area when pregnant and by no means would he touch them when she was nursing so he just had to content himself with kissing them gently.

Elizabeth laughed at his obsession with her breasts. "You still have a long way to go, so enjoy them now that they are still available."

Of course he obliged. Not too eagerly, but he really took his time at nibbling and licking as he became even more aroused. Elizabeth bent one leg so he could caress the back of her thigh and purred as he moved up towards to her body, reaching more sensitive areas. But enough of games, she needed his lips on hers and his weight over her so she pulled his face to hers. She sensed his hand searching her inner thighs and moved it away.

"No hands, sir. You." She commanded.

"As you wish, madam." William moved in between her legs. "This is getting complicated." He chuckled as he quickly measured her size, his weight and the safest position.

"Nonsense, come here." She pulled his face down with both hands.

William lowered himself carefully over her body and realizing that it wasn't uncomfortable or dangerous for her, he allowed his passion to run free reined. The contact of fleshes was slow and gentle, as the sighs of relief that escaped them spoke their desire for each other. William moved, caressed and groaned without taking his eyes from hers as her body begged to be satisfied. And satisfy he did. He saw her come once, insisted with another one, and drowned in his insatiable wife in her third quaking.

He remained there until the pulsing subsided, supporting some of his weight on his elbows and his forehead resting on top of hers. She was so sexually alive when pregnant, so easily pleased and ready for more that it took all his willpower to ignore her violent response.

He kissed her lips as he removed his weight carefully off her body. He rolled onto his back and nestled her on his shoulder as she adjusted her body around his.

"Did I tell you that you are the most wonderful, caring, handsome and sexy husband a woman can have?"

"Occasionally." He kissed her hair.

"And that you are the most perfect, loving and sexy father that ever existed?"

"A couple of times."

"And that you are the most proficient, powerful and sexy lover that could be?"

William rolled to his side and faced her. "I am all that because of you and for you. Neither of them would exist if you weren't my wife, the mother of my children and my refuge every night. I wouldn't exist without you, Elizabeth Darcy."

He always managed to disarm her when he said those things. She had taught him that feelings are made to be felt and said and being a man that almost lost the love of his life for denying his feelings, he had promised himself that he would repeat them until the day he died.

"You are the means of my existence, William Darcy." Her tears rolled down.

Her face buried in his chest as he embraced her as tightly as he could. After a long exchange of sniffs, kisses and smiles, he rose to go to the bathroom and unlocked the bedroom's door, as it was very common that one of their overactive offspring would move to their bed in the middle of the night. Being caught in fraganti a couple of times and knowing about the children's nomad nocturnal habits, they decided not to sleep undressed and to enjoy their marital life behind locked doors. By the time he returned, back in his boxers, Elizabeth was already dressed in one of his T-shirts and smoothing the bed sheets. After her turn in the bathroom -she was entering the stage in which she had to go every three hours- she slid inside the covers in that way that made him curl his body around hers, and after whispering the usual 'good nights' and 'I love yous', they fell asleep.

The first footsteps they heard were light and delicate.

"Elisa." William murmured against his wife's shoulder without opening his eyes.

The girl climbed beside her father and embraced his neck.

The next steps were quick and determined.

"Emily." Elizabeth sighed.

This time the infant in question lay across the bed at her parents' feet. They could almost see her twisting her hair around her finger in the darkness. Not ten minutes later, a confident stride was heard on the corridor.

"Andrew." The couple said in unison without turning around.

The boy climbed on his mother's side and fell asleep instantly.

William smiled. He was glad that he had bought the largest bed in the country.

It was then when they heard claws approaching the bed. The eyes of husband and wife opened wide.

"Huno?"

 

Back to Paper Jam's page

Return to Belén's page
Return to Austen Interlude
e-mail Belén