Lizzy POV

I walked across the hall to my room and checked my phone timer. It was just 8:37. Figuring I might as well get the chlorine out, I showered, changed, brushed my teeth, flossed, and put my retainers in my mouth.

I can't wait for when I'm married and have an excuse not to wear these dang retainers all night. But that will probably be a long time coming since I have no marriage material prospects.

I can serve God with my singleness since I don't have to care for a husband or family, but I want to someday.

I looked at the discoloration on my hands and the already bruised scrapes on my face. I sighed once again, thinking about the crazy day, then applied moisturizer on my cuts, put my hair up in a bun, and read my Bible for about twenty minutes in one of the chairs.

Deciding I would stay up till Gee FaceTimed at about 11:30ish, I looked online for a movie and settled on one of my all-time favorites, The Scarlet Pimpernel. I put headphones in and giggled and quoted lines during the movie.

What's not to like about finding out the guy you married is the disguised savior of innocent people who were to be killed? It is set in England and France... Sigh and swoon all at the same time.

When it was over, I left the light on and settled into bed, preparing for the call.

Gee and I FaceTimed each other at least once a week. The six-hour difference between Texas and England made it hard to find time to FaceTime between our schedules. Her private school tutoring began at eight in the morning her time, so we FaceTimed before that or after she was done with activities for the day at about six her time.

After waiting a few minutes and snuggling under the covers, my phone lit up with her picture.

I smiled as I clicked the answer button.

"Hey, girl!"

Gee smiled at me, a sad, tired smile. She should have appeared well-rested and refreshed, like her normal self. Well, her normal self before what he did to her.

"Hi, Bess. How are you?"

I tried to keep a cheerful face for her. "I'm alright, I've had a crazy day, but I do not need to be the focus here."

"Who said anything about me being the focus? You have a life."

"I'll go later. You are first." I rolled onto my side and propped the phone on a pillow.

Gee sighed, and my heart broke for her.

"Well, morning sickness has been rough, but I haven't thrown up yet this morning. I guess that's something to be thankful for." She laughed bitterly, "Who would have thought I would be saying that as a sixteen-year-old? Not me."

She shrugged at me, and tears welled up in my eyes. "Do your instructors know?"

Gee shook her head. "No. I'm telling them tomorrow. My brother said it was time to tell them. He is sending over a paper for them all to sign in addition to the normal privacy papers and clauses they signed to ensure there aren't any loopholes and to ensure they don't spill anything to the paparazzi."

"Mkay." I nodded against the pillow. "And he went to Harvard for law, so whatever he makes them sign will be foolproof."

She nodded empathetically as she fixed her hair. "Yep. He's been the best brother in this situation."

"Really?" I asked, slightly intrigued. There was a big age difference between the two siblings.

"Yes. Of course, he wanted to fly here immediately after I told him the news, but I... didn't want him here. I needed to sort some of this out on my own. He has respected that, but I can tell he wants to be here with me."

"Aww, that's sweet of him. Is he based out of London right now, like usual?"

"No, he's currently in the states."

"Oh okay," I nodded my head again. "Back to telling your tutors and teachers... What are you going to say?"

"Well, I'm not sure, I wanted your opinion. You always know how to handle things well."

I smirked, "You might not say that if you knew how I handled some things yesterday and today. But," I said in seriousness, "you have to tell them you are pregnant somehow. Are you thinking of coming straight out and saying, 'I'm pregnant, and here is this extra form you need to fill out saying you won't tell anyone.'? Or do you just hand them the form and not say a word and wait until they look at you in surprise? Or do you go, 'I have something I need to tell you?' And wait for their attention and then spill the news? What are you thinking?"

She put on another swipe of mascara and then looked down at her phone. "Bess, I do not know! I am still so embarrassed about it. But I can't not tell them, especially with all my morning sessions, it would become too obvious, and then when I start to show..."

"Yeah, you do have to tell them. Remember, this is not your fault. He drugged you."

"I know." She sighed again, then picked up her phone, "Sorry, my brother just texted."

"Don't worry about it."

A short while later, she set the phone back down, and I asked, "If you don't have this figured out yet, that's okay, but what are you thinking of—"

"Of doing with the baby?" she broke in, her eyes welled with tears and her voice choked up, "My brother," she took a deep breath, "says that whatever I want to do with the baby, he will support. Whether that is keeping it or giving it up for adoption. I know if I keep the baby, it will bring shame to the family. Abortion is out of the option. I could never live with myself having killed a baby. If I give it up for adoption, I don't know what will happen to the kid. What if they ever wanted to meet their birth mom and ask why I gave them up? Would I say, 'Because it would look bad on my family?' If I keep the baby, I will be seventeen when it is born. That's hardly old enough to, 'be a mom.' I'm still learning sixth form school stuff. Would I not go to university if I have a baby to keep up with?"

She sniffled again, "I know I could hire a nanny or a wet nurse easily. But if I keep the baby, who will want to marry me eventually? I'd be a girl that let herself get raped and had that man's baby and kept it. Nobody wants to raise someone else's kid as their own. If I kept the baby, it might be four to ten years old when- and if I got married. Bess, I also have this fear-not only of someone not wanting to marry me because of the kid, if I kept them, but how do I know the guy is different? I... I thought that Gregory was perfect and would never do anything like he did. He said he was a Christian." Her face went flat. "But then he drugged and raped me. How do I know not all men are like that?"

The tone of her voice was enough to break a heart of stone.

"Gee." I expelled a breath.

"Bess, I know you do not have all the answers. Neither does my brother."

I flipped over again, some of my hair coming out of the bun I had put it in, and tried to figure out what to say.

"I know there are men that aren't like Gregory. There will be an amazing guy that the Lord has in store for you that will not only marry you for your money,' Gee snorted, and I rolled my eyes, glad to have gotten the reaction out of her, 'It's a huge plus, I had to say it. But in seriousness, the main reason he's going to marry you is for you. For your love of God, your personality, your interests, how you serve the Lord, and your looks." I finished with a smirk.

She smirked back at me, "My looks, eh? I'll have a post-partum body."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Hey, you weren't supposed to respond with that."

Gee picked up her phone again, "Ha, my brother is also trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the baby. I told him I was facetiming you, and that I would text him back on that later."

I smiled at her, "My, I feel special, putting me over your brother?"

"Mhmm. He is great and all, offering to come back to England, but I don't want him here, seeing me like this. I know he already wants to kill Gregory. Both from his protectiveness of me, and apparently Gregory has done something to him in the past, but he won't tell me what it is."

She sighed, "Besides, he's not a girl. He wouldn't understand some of it. Although, seeing me like this would prepare him for whenever he gets married, and his wife gets pregnant and has to go through all this."

Gee eyed me with speculation, "As I've said before, I think you two would be great together."

I glared at her. "Yes, you have mentioned that idea, and yes, your brother sounds like an amazing person, but imagine the awkwardness that would come between you and me if it didn't work out with us."

"Or..." she countered, "at the very least, you would have another acquaintance who could pull some strings for you if need be. I know he wouldn't dislike you. He already appreciates you for what you did with me and the mentorship you provide. Anyways," Gee continued, "enough about me. I'll be like this for months longer. What is going on with you?"

"I'm trapped in a mansion with a billionaire jerk and his girlfriend. Plus, the girlfriend's brother that Jane is currently falling for."

Gee raised her eyebrows, "And you are trapped there because...?"

"Oh yes," I rushed to explain, "Trapped here because Caroline, the billionaire's girlfriend, convinced me to climb a wall to avoid getting shot. Jane was food poisoned the night before while having dinner at the mansion, so she stayed overnight since she kept throwing up."

Gee cut in, "I sympathize with her."

I nodded against my pillow, "I'm sure you do!"

I shared the story from when Caroline called me this morning to when she demanded my phone after I'd made it over the wall.

While I was taking a breath, Gee asked, "What is Caroline's last name?"

"Bingley. Why? Do you know her?"

She cocked her head, a surprised look coming onto her face, "And you said her brother was there along with... a billionaire?"

"Yes, Charles Bingley, and," I muttered the next name in a prissy accent, "William Darcy."

Gee looked down at me, "William Darcy, Charles Bingley, and Caroline Bingley? Are you serious? Crickey!"

I nodded, "Mhmm. How do you know them?"

"I... I've met all three of them, and they are all famous. But continue your story and tell me what you think of each of them."

"The only one I can vouch for is Charles Bingley; he has been so nice. The other two? Darcy is rude, and Caroline thinks I'm out to get Darcy. Therefore, she is threatening me and is legitimately meaner than a snake."

I sighed, "Last night, I ran into Darcy at a restaurant accidentally, and I do mean, ran into him. I spilled wine down both of us, he grabbed me to keep from falling over, and somebody snapped a picture of the two of us and made it seem like we were an item. Now that picture is all over the world. When I got into the mansion, Darcy showed me websites the story is on. People and Harper's Bazaar. Can you believe it? And a ton of other ones. There are paparazzi at the front of the mansion, which is why I'm stuck here. Caroline and Darcy won't let me out, nor do I want to leave, because Darcy explained how the paparazzi can make your life a living hell. I've also had several spats and very odd talks with Darcy. Caroline has threatened me because apparently, I'm trying to get Darcy's affection or into his bed- not that she needs to worry about that. Charles has been taking care of Jane and she is on the mend!"

Gee picked up her phone, "Hold on. Pause the story, I need to look up this picture."

"No, you really don't." 

Her face lit up when she saw the picture, "Girllll. That is one hot-looking picture. Are you quite certain the two of you are not into each other?" 

I glared at her, "Most certainly."

 "Cute outfit." She shook her head in disbelief, "I can't believe you are in the company of those three people."

"Me neither. Who would have thought? I won't bore you with all the events that occurred after I got here. It would take an hour to recap all of them. Just know I have had a quite lively and ridiculous day." I paused, remembering something, "what side of Caroline do you know? Because she can be nice to people if she wants to be."

Gee raised an eyebrow at me. "Oh, I have been a recipient of her fake nice on quite a few occasions. I'm just surprised," she continued, "that William Darcy," she said his name with a bit of awe in her voice, "Darcy, as you call him, is even talking to you. He normally doesn't really 'take' to strangers."

"Oh, he is an introvert, alright. No doubt about that. It was weird earlier though..." I tried to figure out what to say. "Never mind."

"Na ah," she waggled a finger at me. "You finish telling me what you were going to say."

I rubbed my forehead. "He ignored Caroline for most of the day but randomly stared at me. And I mean stared as in, 'not taking his eyes off me for a very extended amount of time,' staring. I don't understand it. There is no way I could be an object of interest to 'so great a man,' not that that is my definition of him, but him staring at me because he dislikes me makes even less sense. The night we met, he strongly criticized me without ever seeing me. It was the same night you called to tell me you were pregnant. So, he was probably just staring at me to mark what he finds wrong with me."

Shrugging, I continued, "I don't know, and it doesn't matter. The man has managed to press most of my buttons and get some of my smart talk back, which I had been trying to keep in since it isn't honoring God. It is a good thing I'm not trying to impress him."

Gee looked away from the camera, "Maybe he was having a bad day when you met him. Anyways, he's from England, right?"

I nodded, "Mhmm, posh British accent and all."

"Hey, I thought you liked our accents." She pouted.

"I do. I mean, hello, they are so fun to listen to, but his sounds so haughty."

"Ah gotcha," she came closer to the screen again, "sorry it is... Andrew, he's wanting my thoughts since it's late... wherever he is."

I waited until she gave me a thumbs up and focused on me, "I know how much you look up to your brother, and love and admire him..."

"For sure."

"Do you really think that he would be okay with you keeping the baby?"

Gee bit her lip and nodded, "I do. I will still be a minor regardless, so he would probably get partial custody of it for the time being. I need to research the laws here in England for that. As you know, Andrew's raised me since my mom and dad died. Of course, when you came and helped me out, you became my honorary big sister and mentor. The two of you have shaped me the most over the past few years."

"Awww. I wish I had met him." I saw her expression brighten, and I quickly amended what I said, "So I could thank the man that has raised you for the past few years, but he wasn't ever home except on holidays during college when I came back to the US and he flew back to England."

She nodded, "True, I think law school was his way to cope with losing mom and dad. Since he finished, we have been around each other all the time, and he spoils me with things I don't need, but it's a way he shows love. I think it is also his way to apologize for not being here when my parents died."

"Hang on, he gets you stuff from Sotheby's, doesn't he?"

"Yes, why?"

"Oh, it's nothing, just today Darcy was looking online at Sotheby's, and I couldn't place who I knew that was gifted stuff from there."

She looked at me intently. "Yep, Andrew gets me jewelry from them. Who was Darcy getting stuff for?"

"His sister, Georgianna. Caroline raved about how nice of a brother he is." I looked at her, "Have you ever met her, Georgianna?"

She looked away, an odd look on her face, "Um, maybe. Can I call you in the next couple of days? I want to text Andrew before I get going for the day."

"Oh, of course! What do you want me to be praying for you for? Besides wisdom on how to tell everyone in your daily life you are pregnant."

"That this morning sickness doesn't last for as long as it can for others, and that I figure out what to do with the baby that will be best for it and me and Andrew. And that you would find a guy."

I stared at her. "Sorry, what was that ending?"

Gee giggled. "You heard me. That you would find a guy. Come on, Lizzy, you are twenty-seven."

Sighing, I said, "Don't remind me; my mom does it enough."

"Just saying, that's all."

"Goofball. I will be praying for you, and I'm still so sorry about this whole thing."

"Don't say that..."

"Really? You aren't sorry?"

"At first, I was, but now I realize this is a great growth opportunity. Maybe I will be a voice for some if I decide to go into the public eye. I could easily advocate for raped girls and share that you can file and charge on date rape claims. Although, we haven't done that for Gregory. If someone has been raped, it isn't something that needs to be hidden. It has so much emotional baggage. Besides, when Mary got pregnant with Jesus, she could have been worried about carrying and raising the Son of God. Instead, she chose to be joyful about the opportunity, and I'm working to do the same. Whether or not I keep this little munchkin," she put her hand on her flat belly, "I know it will be a blessing to whoever raises it, so I need to be joyful that I get to help someone, despite however much pain it has and will bring me."

By the end of her little speech, I had tears in my eyes again. "I am so proud of you for taking that approach. So proud. Go you!"

She smiled, "Aww, thanks. Love you!"

"Love you!! Muah!"

We both signed "I love you," and ended the call.