Hello everyone, I can't really believe it's over but it is: Opera Star is finished (Teardrop). I would like to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to all who read, followed, made it a favourite or reviewed this story, it means a lot. Hope you enjoy the epilogue!
Ten years later
"Mama tell George to stop teasing me!" Five year old Anne Darcy asked her mother, her nine year old brother George had been poking her in the arm for ten minutes and it was getting rather annoying.
"George leave your sister alone!" Lizzy commanded her eldest who always seemed to be causing some sort of mayhem.
"Yes mama" said the angelic voice of George Darcy who looked up at his mother with big brown eyes.
"Mama I'm hungry!" James whined. He was the second oldest and was usually right beside his brother, who was only a year older than him, when it came to causing mischief but that quickly went out the window when he was hungry.
"I know sweetheart but don't worry we will be going soon" Lizzy cooed.
"Sorry for the wait" Darcy said as he came down the stairs holding the baby of the Darcy family. Three year old Sophia; who was usually attached to one of her parents.
"It's quite alright pumpkin" Lizzy grinned.
"Can we go now?" James asked hopefully.
"Yes we can sweetheart" Lizzy said as she took Anne's hand. Her two boys walking in front whilst her husband and baby where walking beside her.
"Oh there you are, we were just about to organise a search party" Charles smiled from his spot under an oak tree where the Bennet's and Burton's where assembled for a picnic.
"Sophia couldn't find snuggles" Darcy said before pointing to the cuddly toy secured in the grip of his youngest.
"Snuggles" Sophia stated as she cuddled her stuffed puppy tightly to her chest and looked suspiciously at the adults as if they wanted to take it from her.
"Sophia!" Helena cooed as she took her great niece out of her nephew in laws hold and started smothering her cherub face with kisses. Sophia responded by giving a heart melting smile and cuddling into Helena's hold.
"Will you all sit down? Giving me a sore neck looking up at you" Nora complained before handing Samuel a plate of sandwiches.
"THANK YOU" Samuel shouting, over the years his hearing had deteriorated to the point where if you weren't shouting in his ear he just didn't hear you.
"Charlie be careful!" Jane said looking at her eldest who was currently running wild.
"Mama can I have a jam sandwich?" Jenny asked, she was the Bingley's only daughter and was the mini version of Jane.
"Of course you can have one sweetheart" Jane said giving her little girl the sandwich before she ran off to play with Anne.
"I WON!" Ben Bingley screamed jumping up and down.
"Ben stop being so loud!" Charles reprimanded but there was no real force in his voice.
"Sorry" he mouthed.
"Oh I think she wants to go to her uncle" Georgina commented as her one and a half year old daughter Alexandria Burton stretched out her arms to her uncle William who was more than willing to take her.
"Hello sweetie" Darcy smiled as she dribbled on his coat and pulled at his cheeks.
"I told you we'd be late!" Charlotte Fitzwilliam told her husband who was currently running to keep up with her as they rushed across the grass.
"Would you slow down woman?! I thought I did enough running after you during our courtship?" Richard asked before whispering something in her ear as he reached her making her blush Scarlett.
"I lost another tooth!" Rose Fitzwilliam announced as she reached the table before climbing into Thomas' lap.
"WHAT?! Another tooth?" Emilia asked with big eyes that made little Rose nod her head vigorously before opening her mouth to show her.
"Peter were playing tag wanna play?" Charlie Bingley asked his friend.
"Yep, who's it?"
"You!" Charlie poked him before laughing and running off making Peter Fitzwilliam follow him in hot pursuit.
"So did you find out what was wrong?" Darcy asked his cousin who was currently trying to feed his wife much to the disgust of the other occupants of the table.
"What?…Oh yes, a bird was in the drawing rooms chimney piece" Richard explained before rolling his eye. A year after their marriage Richard was officially retired from the army and he and Charlotte moved to an estate five miles outside the grounds of Pemberley. Wesley house was a lovely Tudor style mansion that happily homed the Fitzwilliam clan.
"The problems with being a house owner" Thomas commented.
"Tell me about it, took us two weeks to find the bloody thing!"
"Bloody thing!" Sophia repeated earning her Uncle Richard as thump on the arm from Lizzy and his wife.
"Sorry!" He apologised whilst rubbing circles on his arm.
"I can't believe I never noticed it before!" Henry commented as he walked across the lawn carefully avoiding the five running boys.
"I know I was the same! Georgie noticed it and I couldn't believe it!" Robert told his father as they joined their family. His little princess quickly clapped her little hands in glee at seeing her father who happily took her from her uncle's hold and started to kiss her cheek.
"Ciao Bello" Henry said as he held his granddaughter's hand making her smile at him with big blue eyes.
"So what where you talking about?" Nora asked as she shifted in her seat. Her hip wasn't the best these days even when sitting.
"In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar he mentions a clock striking the hour however the play as we all know take's place in Ancient Rome which we all know didn't have clocks! Georgie pointed it out to me and I couldn't believe it, had to show Henry" Robert explained to a group who all reacted with various levels of caring.
"Oh Lizzy I got a letter from Maria!" Charlotte said as she poured herself something to drink.
"What did it say?" Lizzy asked curiously, she knew that Maria and Mr Collins had twins Catherine and Jacob Collins who were eight and that they still lived in Hunsford parsonage under the ever watchful eye of Lady Catherine.
"Oh the usual but what I found most amusing was that you know how myself, my lovely other half and my little peaches were supposed to visit the parsonage for a month in august?" Lizzy nodded "Well we have been uninvited!" Charlotte told them before laughing.
"Uninvited? Whatever for?" Emilia asked curiously.
"The Noble patroness Lady Catherine De bourgh…" Richard began in a strange voice.
"Has apparently put her foot down, she didn't want me to visit as she believed that I would encourage bad behaviour in young ladies!" Charlotte told them almost shaking with mirth.
"Encourage bad behaviour? Well that's just ridiculous!" Nora stated whilst shaking her head.
"I know, she said and I quote 'you obviously have no sense in picking friends if you willingly stand the company of the known hussy and home-wrecker Ms Elizabeth Bennet' end quote!" Charlotte told a now silent table.
"Known hussy!? Oh how I would like to get my hands on that woman!" Helena seethed, outraged that someone would insult her lovely and very honourable niece.
"Home-wrecker? Ms Bennet? We've been married for ten years! Oh God! Please tell me that after ten years she still isn't hanging onto the notion of me and Anne?!" Darcy asked truly shocked.
"It would appear so" Richard agreed equally blown away.
"Maria being the simple being that she is wrote to me the speech in full, It was five pages alone about the disgrace that Mr Darcy has caused the family" Charlotte said fishing out the letter from her pocket before handing it to Darcy.
"It was highly entertaining…obviously minus the lies about Lizzy" Richard added as his cousin grunted for the fifth time on the first page alone.
"Pass that around after you!" Thomas commanded reaching for his glasses.
"Such a bitter woman" Jane stated absentmindedly.
"What do I always say?" Nora asked.
"Live to spite them!" The group said in unison.
"Exactly! Live your life; nothing drives your enemies more insane than you living happily" Nora said wisely.
"I rather dislike mad relatives…I mean I do like a little bit of harmless madness in folk like my Helena for example; she's completely harmless but in cases like Mrs de Bourgh that level of madness is good for no one" Henry murmured thoughtfully.
"I couldn't agree more" Darcy replied as he passed the letter to Thomas.
"Speaking of mad Banshee's, Charles how is your sister?" Nora enquired bluntly.
"I went to visit her a few weeks ago as I normally do and it was rather disturbing" Charles said as a shiver went down his spine and Jane put a supportive hand on his.
"Oh? How so?" Emilia asked as the letter was handed to Nora.
"Well she was…nice"
"Nice?" The group asked.
"At the beginning she was nice, I've never experienced it before, and Aunt Meredith was rather shocked as well…I thought she was finally coming round, even after all this time but…" Charles finished before grimacing.
"Oh dear…what happened?" Georgie asked as her husband of three years winced at something in the letter.
"Well Aunt Meredith went to get more appetizers so it was just Caroline and myself in the room, before I know it she pounced on me!... Told me that I was a fool, married to a gold digger, I'm pretty sure she implied that the women here were Witches and that Lizzy stole her husband. Took Aunt Meredith and my driver five minutes to pry her off me, pretty sure she tried to gouge out my eyes at one point…needless to say I was rather disturbed by the whole thing. I wrote to Louisa and she said Caroline was the same last time she came to visit! So as you may have gathered I won't be visiting for a while" Charles told them cringing at the memory.
"What is it with women claiming I stole their husband?!" Lizzy asked curiously.
"Well my dear I am highly desirable" Darcy said before striking a pose that made Lizzy giggle.
"Yes by nutcases!" Richard teased making everyone laugh.
"Oh give over you old sod!" Darcy told his cousin.
"Old sod!" Sophia exclaimed making Helena cover her little ears and her father receive a smack on the arm from his wife.
"Why is it that they only pick up the bad words?" Emilia asked frowning.
"Good day everyone!" A voice came from the green. A tall handsome boy with messy dark brown hair and lovely blue eyes approached.
"Harry!" The table cheered as the now seventeen year old sat down.
"It's nice of you to finally join the land of the living son" Thomas teased his only son who only ever seemed to sleep.
"I'll have you know I'm a growing boy, I need as much sleep as possible" Harry said before stuffing his face with sandwiches.
"Dear God are you even taking a breath?!" Richard asked aghast as the teenager stuffed his face, oddly impressed.
"Okay so what about going to a play in London next week?" Charlotte questioned.
"Oh yes, I haven't been to a play in years!" Lizzy clapped happily.
"Is the definition for years now two months?" Darcy teased.
"What?" Lizzy asked confused.
"I took you to a play for our anniversary" Darcy reminded his wife.
"Oh well if I went with you can you blame me for not remembering?" Lizzy replied cheekily.
"Wench!" Darcy huffed dramatically before placing a hand over his now alleged bleeding heart.
"Wench!" Sophia called out as she played with Helena's beads.
"DO you see what I mean about repeating only bad things?" Emilia questioned.
Once again a massive thank you to everyone who read not only this chapter but the story! Thank you so much! Please Review!