London stood out before me in all its glory. Every building was lit up in preparation for the new year. In just five minutes, this year, the most beautiful year of my life would end, and the next would begin.

For the first time in a long time, I was excited and sad for the new year. I would miss this year only because it had been so wonderful, but my excitement over what was coming next made it more than bearable. With William at my side, my world would always be better each and every year.

“Come get your champagne for the toast,” Jane called to me from the kitchen. Standing with her fiancee, she had never looked more beautiful or radiant. In just two months, she would make the most beautiful bride I’d ever seen. I couldn’t wait for their year-long engagement to be over.

“Don’t spill it all over my brother’s kitchen,” Georgiana chided, coming up behind her with a dishcloth. Since the doctors had declared her in remission several months ago, her face had filled out, though she still kept her hair in that pixie cut.

She shook her head. “You Americans have no idea how to pour champagne.”

Charles laughed and added more champagne to Georgiana’s glass. She grinned at him. “That’s better.”

“I’ll get yours, Elizabeth,” Mr. Darcy told me. He grinned before heading into the kitchen and Georgiana chuckled as she handed him a glass.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Only three minutes to go.

I pulled out my cellphone out to find a message from Lydia. She was safely in California and on the set for her new movie. She sent me a selfie of her outside with the cast and crew as they prepped to start filming the follow-up to her debut film.

I texted her back that she looked great and to break a leg. I’d see her for the Oscar’s Award Ceremony in just a few months. We were going to rock the red carpet together this year.

She was favored to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her debut role.

“Are you ready, my love?” William asked me coming up and wrapping his arms around my waist.

I sighed with contentment and leaned into him as we looked out at the city together.

“I am, Mr. Darcy,” I told him. He chuckled and shook his head.

“You just love calling me that, don’t you?”

I grinned. “I only call you that because I love you. I fell in love with Mr. Darcy.”

“And what about poor William?” he asked, spinning me to face him. I loved the way his eyes lit up as he found my face.

“I love him, too,” I replied. “But, Mr. Darcy is who you are to me. And I love him with everything I have.”

He grinned as the grandfather clock in the library started to chime. It was midnight and the new year had begun. The sound of fireworks filled the air.

Mr. Darcy and I tapped our glasses together and took a sip. The bubbles tickled my nose.

“Look inside,” he whispered, his voice cracking. I frowned, looking up at him.

“What?”

“Look inside your champagne,” he repeated. I knew that look. It was the same one he wore that day in the park almost a year ago when he told me for the second time that he loved me.

I looked down at my glass. There was far more than just champagne in the flute. There was a ring.

I gasped and looked up at him to find him going to one knee before me.

“Elizabeth Bennet, will you do me the honor of making me the happiest man in the world?” he asked. His voice shook slightly, and I loved him all the more for it. “Marry me?”

I nodded, unable to find the words.

“Say ‘yes,’ or he’ll just keep kneeling,” Georgiana shouted. I looked up to see Mr. Darcy’s sister, his best friend Charles, and my best friend Jane, all grinning at me. They had all known.

“Yes,” I managed to squeak out. I was too happy to speak. I just kept nodding. “Yes, yes, yes!”

Mr. Darcy beamed a smile at me as he fished the ring out of the champagne and put it on my finger. I loved how happy he looked. I loved that smile, and I loved that light in his eyes. It was better than the fireworks outside.

The ring was lovely. A diamond bigger than anything I’d ever seen shimmered up at me from my hand.

“And, I have a smaller one for when you’re working and need to wear gloves,” Mr. Darcy whispered to me. “Because I know that’s important to you.”

He took my glass and set it to the side for our new years kiss. The others started to sing Auld Lang Syne in the background, but my world was solely focused on Mr. Darcy, my soon-to-be husband.

He took my chin between his first two fingers and his thumb, tipping my face up to look at him. Then, he gave me a rare smile that made my heart flutter and my knees go weak, even after a year of being together. It still made me tremble that he would smile that way at me.

Our lips came together, love and desire mixing in equal parts. It’s passionate and primal, yet so deep that my soul sang with his in harmony.

I brought in the New Year, and the rest of my life, with Mr. Darcy’s Kiss.