(You know the rhyme: First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes...)

Chapter 25

~Six Months Later~

He barely heard the sound of his phone over all the noise he was making at his forge. In the end, it was only when the vibrations caused it to fall out of the pocket of his jacket, which was slung over the back of a chair, that the faint sound finally registered in his mind as his ringtone. Quickly setting aside his work and crossing the room, he scooped it off the floor and checked the notifications. He had four missed calls, all from Elizabeth. Oops. He pressed 'return call,' feeling especially guilty when she answered after the first ring.

"Hi, Liz... sorry..."

She sounded slightly amused when she answered. "I married a blacksmith, William. I'm familiar with most of the problems that may arise from the, uh, decibel level. Are you working too hard for me to stop in and see you?"

He laughed sheepishly. "Um, no, I'm good. Are you coming now?"

"Yeah, if that's all right. I just need to tell you something. Something really important."

"Is everything okay?" Will asked, concerned.

Elizabeth smiled, remembering the way he had asked her the exact same question when she had called him the day after their first date. That felt so long ago now, as if she had known Will her entire life. But at the same time, it felt like it had just happened yesterday. Then she realized that Will was still waiting for her answer and hurried to reassure him.

"Everything's great, Will. I've just got some news. I'm leaving now, so I'll be there soon, okay?"

"Okay. I'll clean up a bit for you, shall I?"

She laughed. "You do that?"

Will ended the call and headed for the shop's small bathroom, fully aware that he was most likely an absolute mess. Sure enough, when he peered at his reflection in the mirror over the sink, he saw that not only was he covered in sweat, his t-shirt and face were smeared with soot. Tugging the shirt off, he splashed water on his face and ran his wet hands through his unruly hair, trying to smooth it into some semblance of order. Then, stepping back into the forge, he opened the drawer that contained a stash of clean shirts and pulled one out just as the front door opened.

"Will?" Elizabeth's voice came from the front room. "You back there?"

He stepped through the doorway. "Yep."

"Any particular reason why you don't have a shirt on?" she asked, unable to resist a small, appreciative grin.

In answer, he held up the dirty shirt before tossing it to one side and pulling on the clean one.

"You didn't have to put a new one on, necessarily," Elizabeth teased.

Will shook his head, unsuccessfully trying to hide a smile. "So what's your big news?"

Elizabeth grinned nervously, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "So, um... Well, you know how I haven't been feeling well the past few mornings?"

"Yeah. You went to see a doctor, I take it?"

"Yeah..."

Will was watching her curiously, his head tilted slightly to one side in the way that Elizabeth found irresistibly adorable. She took a deep breath, the nervous smile still on her face. "I saw the doctor and she told me... I'm pregnant."

Will, having just begun to straighten his pile of business cards, instantly dropped them all on the floor.

"Pregnant?"

"Yeah."

His eyes immediately dropped to her stomach as if she would be showing already. "You... there's a – a baby in there?"

Elizabeth nodded patiently. "There sure is."

"We're having a baby?"

"Yes, we are."

Will stared at her blankly for a long moment. And then:

"We're having a baby!" He pulled her against him, and she threw her arms around his neck, laughing. "A baby! An honest-to-goodness baby! Our baby!" He pulled away slightly and pressed a hand to her stomach. "Somewhere in here is our baby."

Elizabeth smiled brilliantly at him. "A tiny little Turner."

Will actually giggled as he pulled her back into a tight hug. Then he pulled away again to look at her. "Hey, wait! When are we going to find out if it's a boy or a girl? We need to know what color to paint the room and what color clothes to buy! And we need to start thinking about names! What are we naming him or her? You don't have twins in your family, do you? I don't think I do. I don't know, maybe I do. What if we have twins? We could have a him and a her, or a him and a him, or a her and a her, and then what do we do, because that's a lot to handle – "

"Will! Slow down!" Elizabeth laughed. "They're not going to be able to tell if it's a boy or a girl for a few months yet. And no, I don't think we're going to have twins. And we have nine whole months to worry about colors and clothes and names. Okay?"

"Okay..."

"And besides, if it's a boy, we're obviously naming him William."

"William Turner III? That's an awfully big name for a little person," Will said, laughter in his eyes.

Elizabeth smiled back at him, glad to see that he seemed to have calmed somewhat. "We could call him Liam."

"I like Liam. But if it's a girl we're calling her Elizabeth, right?"

"Not a chance," she scoffed.

"We could call her Beth."

"Not happening, Will."

He raised an eyebrow. "And it's entirely up to you, is it?"

She grinned. "Well, I'll be the one carrying him or her for the next nine months..."

"Touché," he said, smiling slightly. Then he added thoughtfully, "I suppose we need to find a way to actually tell people about this, huh?"

"I suppose we should, yes."

"Who's first, then? One of our dads?"

Elizabeth grinned again. "We could always do a test run down at the Pearl."

"Hey, Jack."

"'ey, mate. What're you two doin' 'ere in th' middle o' th' day?"

Elizabeth gripped Will's hand and he squeezed it tightly. "Is Ana here, Jack?"

"Yeah, she's in th' back. Why?"

"Well, just get her out here and then we'll tell you."

Jack rolled his eyes and got up to open the door behind the bar. "Ana! Will an' 'lizabeth're 'ere actin' all weird!"

Will raised an eyebrow. "Look who's talking."

Jack glared at him as Ana stepped out of the back room. "Hey, kids. What's going on?"

Will and Elizabeth exchanged a brief glance, then Elizabeth said, "We have some news."

She paused, and Jack said impatiently, "Well, ge' on with it, then!"

Elizabeth decided that, in this case, it simply wasn't worth beating around the bush. "We're having a baby."

Jack and Ana stared at her for a long moment, apparently shocked. And then Jack blurted out, "You, too?"

"Miss Elizabeth! Your father didn't tell me to expect you today!"

Behind her, Elizabeth heard Will mutter indignantly, "What am I, invisible?" She nudged him gently in the ribs and smiled at her father's butler.

"That's probably because he's not expecting us, Richard. He's not busy today, is he?"

Richard ushered them inside – or, more accurately, he ushered Elizabeth inside. Will slipped in behind her, muttering darkly.

"I believe he's expecting a visitor in about an hour, but he's free now. If you'd like to follow me..."

Elizabeth shook her head, smiling slightly. "I think I can find my own way to my father's office, Richard. It's okay."

Richard nodded politely. "Of course, Miss Elizabeth."

Noticing that Will was momentarily preoccupied with glaring at Richard, who was still steadfastly ignoring him, Elizabeth reached back and grabbed his hand, pulling him up the stairs behind her.

"Honestly, I don't know what your problem with Richard is. He's a nice guy one you get to know him."

"It's not that I have a problem with him; he has a problem with me! I'm telling you, the man hates me."

"He does not..."

"The last time I rode my bike here, he tried to have it towed."

Elizabeth frowned. "Okay, point. Well, if he doesn't like you then that's his problem, not yours. He's the one who can't be bothered to find out how sweet you are." She squeezed his hand and leaned over to kiss him on lightly on the cheek.

Will blushed, but grinned with pleasure nonetheless as they arrived at the door to Elizabeth's father's office, and she knocked softly.

"Come in," a voice called from inside. Will thought he detected a faint tone of surprise.

Elizabeth pushed the door open, and Will noted that her father, rather than sitting at his desk as he had been during Will's first visit, was standing in front of one of the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves nearby, holding a few volumes in one arm. There was already a sizable stack on the floor next to him.

"Well, this is certainly a pleasant surprise," Mr. Swann said, stepping forward to embrace Elizabeth and shake hands with Will. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Elizabeth glanced briefly at Will, and he nodded encouragingly. She turned back to her father, the same nervous smile on her face that she'd had when she told Will.

"We have some big news."

Mr. Swann looked up sharply, and Will could tell exactly what news he was hoping for.

Elizabeth grinned. "Are you ready to be a granddad?"

Immediately, an enormous smile spread over her father's face, telling Will that he had been exactly right about his expectations.

"You're pregnant!" Mr. Swann exclaimed, reaching out to take both of his daughter's hands in his own. She nodded, laughing, and he pulled her into another hug, smiling at Will over her head. "This is fantastic news! What do you know so far? Have you thought about names?"

Elizabeth couldn't help giggling at how similar her father's reaction was to Will's. "So many questions!" She turned to grin at her husband, and he shrugged sheepishly. Elizabeth laughed again and turned back to her father. "We don't know much yet; I only just found out. But as far as names go, we're thinking of William if it's a boy. I think we'd call him Liam."

"And if it's a girl?"

"I was pushing for Elizabeth," Will chimed in. "She wouldn't go for it."

Elizabeth shook her head. "Nope. Actually, though," she added, "I was thinking about Rachel Ann, after both of our mothers."

Will smiled. "I like it."

Mr. Swann raised an eyebrow. "Almost nine months still til the baby's born, and it's already got a name. Impressive."

Elizabeth clarified for Will. "Mum and Dad didn't decide on my name until a week before I was born."

"That's nothing," Will countered, making a face. "I was three weeks old before my parents named me after my dad. I think they ran out of ideas."

"How on earth do you even know that?" a familiar voice asked suddenly from the doorway behind them.

Will spun around in surprise. "Dad?"

Bill Turner smiled easily, shaking hands with Mr. Swann. "Wasn't expecting to see you kids here. What's the occasion?"

Will chose to ignore the question for the time being. "What are you doing here?"

Mr. Swann offered an explanation. "At your wedding, Bill and I discovered that we have a similar taste in literature. I invited him for the weekend."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Will asked his dad.

"I was going to stop in a surprise you tomorrow. I thought you'd be working today."

"I was," Will said, nodding. "But then Elizabeth came and gave me some news."

Bill turned curiously to Elizabeth, noticing Mr. Swann's smile. "I have a feeling you all know something I don't."Elizabeth decided to tell him the same way she'd told her father. "Are you ready to be a granddad?"

He stared at her for a second, and Elizabeth was reminded strongly of Will.

"Are you having a baby?"

"No, Dad, she means we're getting a cat," Will joked. "Of course it's a baby!"

Elizabeth let out a snort of laughter. "Your method of pregnancy announcement is... unconventional."

"We Turners are like that," Bill chuckled.

"And you'd best get used to it," Will added, grinning, "since you're soon going to have another one."

It's tiny Turner time! (And tiny Sparrow, too!)