A/N: Productive week, yay! Updated 'These endless days' and threw in this little fic for good measure :) Hope you enjoy :)

Baby Fever

Isobel was rather surprised when Ethel came into the parlour with the announcement that "Lady Mary Crawley." was there to see her. Her daughter-in-law had never set foot into Crawley House on her own before. Not since 1912.

What was more, Isobel immediately detected the air of unease about her, a shiftiness, as if she were on a secret mission or on the run from something...

"Why don't you sit? Ethel will bring us some tea...please." Isobel gestured towards the chaiselonge in the middle of the small parlour and nodded to her maid.

"Thank you." Mary said stiffly and sat down with only the slightest bit more effort than usual. She was in her second trimester and it was showing. Isobel thought of taking a seat next to her, but then chose the chair instead. She did not want to make Mary more uncomfortable than she already appeared to be. There was clearly a reason for her visit.

"Mary, is something the matter?" Isobel prodded gently. The young woman's dark eyes shot up and for an instant she had the distinct look of a deer caught in the lights of a motor.

"No." Mary replied automatically, then sighed. "Well...yes."

She seemed to deliberate for a moment, while Ethel came in with the tea set and a platter of Madeleines. Mary's hand automatically shot out for the pro-offered cake and Isobel smiled.

"I have this craving for cake all the time...I never used to fancy it much. But the baby seems to be mad for cake." Mary said, smiling apologetically as she devoured the french baked goods.

Ethel poured the tea for them and left. "Now, tell me what it is. Is it the baby, perhaps?" Isobel tried again. "Not directly...it's...it's your son." Mary finally came out with it.

"Oh?" Isobel was taken aback by this. Despite her misgivings about Mary many years ago, she had been convinced that her son's marriage was one of the happiest she had ever witnessed. "What happened?" Isobel asked worriedly, putting her own cup down.

"Nothing really. It's just...he's being absolutely ridiculous about this!" Mary burst out and pointed at the soft curve of her growing belly.

"He's constantly coming up with things I should or should not do...he keeps citing all these books...'Expert advice for expecting mothers' and some such nonesense...and he won't leave me alone for a single minute. I'm serious, he's everywhere I go...the other day he was standing guard next to the tub while I took a bath! Poor Anna didn't know what to do!"

Mary groaned in frustration and Isobel could tell that she had not talked about her thoughts on this matter to anyone else, least of all to Matthew himself.

"All I know is he's going to drive me mad by the time the baby's here." Mary finished her rant and took another bite of cake. It seemed all she had to calm herself these days.

Isobel had listened to her outburst with a knowing smile. "Every man gets anxious when his wife is expecting." she began tentatively.

"And Matthew...well, he loves you so very much. I hope you know that, because that's the reason why he's acting like this." Isobel said this quite earnestly. Sometimes she wasn't sure if Mary was entirely aware of how important she was to Matthew. She certainly hadn't been in the past.

"I know that...of course." Mary stammered, caught off guard by her mother-in-law's candour. She blushed a little.

"But, Isobel...this is getting out of hand. And it's not good for him either. He doesn't sleep properly at night. I've made him read stories to me, not so that I can nod off, but because it puts him to sleep." Mary recounted, smiling at the memory despite her anger.

"Honestly, you should see him, how he hovers and meddles into everything...I keep wishing he'd still work in Ripon, so I'd get at least a moment's respite from it all." Mary shook her head and shifted in her seat. Pregnancy was starting to make her feel heavy and tired, and she knew it would get worse.

"Of course what happened to dear Sybil must have added to his fears and...well, Matthew can't bear to be useless. You know what he's like by now. He must have an occupation, he needs to 'do' something to help matters along. And nothing makes a man feel more helpless or redundant than pregnancy." Isobel said wisely, making Mary listen properly for the first time.

"I understand that." she conceded. "But at this rate, he's going to give himself a stroke. I went to visit Diamond in the stables the other day, just to see how he was. Matthew went berserk when he found me there. I wasn't going to ride out, just to see my horse for god's sake! He actually went red as a lobster with surpressed rage. It would have been comical if I hadn't been worried he'd have a heartattack." Mary recalled, her eyes wide with worry now.

Isobel nodded again. "Hm, there have been actual cases of husbands having heartattacks when their wives went into labour."

This did nothing to calm Mary. "Great. Just imagine what he'll be like when I go into labour...they'll come and tie him up." She quipped and looked at Isobel, whose lips were twitching.

They burst out laughing. In the end, Mary was glad she had come and vented to her mother-in-law. If nothing else, it felt good to have her grievances off her chest, so she was free to endure more of Matthew's mother-hen-behaviour.

"Mary, I understand you completely and I will talk to Matthew." Isobel concluded at last. "No!" Mary gasped quite forcefully. "Don't do that. He mustn't think that he's done badly." She looked down at her hands, folded neatly in her lap.

"He's trying so hard...and it would hurt him to think that he's been the opposite of helpful. As you said...he only wants to help." Mary said with finality.

Isobel didn't know what to say. Mary Crawley had surprised her before with her care and devotion to Matthew, when she had seen her nurse him in hospital. Now she felt the same tender bond with the young woman who put Matthew's feelings over her own needs.

"Then perhaps you should talk to him about this. Tell him that you appreciate his care, but that he's overdoing it a little...or...a lot." Isobel advised her.

"Maybe I will." Mary said after a while. "He's so good, you know. And he's so excited about this..." She stroked a hand over her bump.

Somehow, all her anger had dissipated and she was instead overwhelmed with gratitude for the way Matthew cared, for the fierceness with which he wanted to protect her and baby. If only she could reassure him that he need not be so very anxious.

"I will." she decided then. Isobel smiled broadly. "Good." she picked up the platter and held it out to her daughter-in-law. „Have another cake." Mary smiled and took another Madeleine.

"Matthew had been such a fat baby." Isobel said out of nowhere, causing Mary to choke and cough on her bite of cake for laughter.

"He was! I can show you a picture." the proud mother got up to find the old picture album.

Mary didn't know whether to laugh or to cry when she beheld the old black-and-white photograph of a chubby baby boy with a tuft of light hair on his round head and the extremely blue eyes that were unmistakably Matthew's.

Again, her hand wandered to the place where their own baby was nestled and she wondered whether it would look like its father. Seeing the jolly round infant in the picture, she dearly hoped so.

"Thank you." she said at last as she handed it back to Isobel.

The clock on the mantle piece chimed. "Oh dear. I better head back or he'll organise a search party for me. He's good at that." Mary said rather darkly. Isobel helped her up from the chaiselongue.

"Tell him when he's going too far. He won't thank you for being dishonest either." The elder woman told her again and Mary agreed. They walked to the door.

"Yes, I better put a stop to it now. Who knows what he'll think of next." Mary abruptly halted in her step and turned around to look Isobel straight in the eyes. Her gaze was fierce and spoke of something truly traumatic...

"Two days ago, he was hovering in front of the lavatory door while I...relieved myself and he kept asking if everything was alright. Anna had to chase him away and I told him if he ever tried that again, I'd get a divorce!" She paused dramatically. "He hasn't done it again."

Mary had spoken quickly and took a deep breath before she turned to leave, never waiting for a response to her woeful tale.

Isobel bit her lip and tried to keep a straight face. "Talk to him." she repeated, her lips still twitching.

Perhaps she ought to have a little talk with her son after all...

Thanks for reading, reviews would be lovely! I might write more baby fic in the future (AU *cough* CS never happened *cough*) but not sure yet...we shall see ;)