Up All Night Getting Lucky
By: Miss Phyllis Baxter (knockedoveralamp)
Ship: Cora x Robert; implied Edith x Gregson
Word Count: 909
Summary: For countess-of-slytherin on tumblr. The night of Robert and Cora's anniversary, when Edith almost burns down Downton, she experiences a sleepless night in her father's dressing room, due to their anniversary celebrations. T- bordering on M rating, there's nothing explicit!
Edith slowly made her way upstairs to her father's dressing room, since she would be unable to sleep in her own room, due to the fact that the fire had just been put out and they would have to go through it in the morning for what needed to be thrown out and what could be saved. She didn't want to sleep in her dressing room, not on her parent's anniversary. They were bound to spend their time making love and it would make her miserable, hearing them being so in love when she had lost the man that she loved. Not that she hated their parents for their love, she rather envied them their undying love with one another.
As she went to open the door to her father's dressing room, she heard her mother giggle from behind her. "Oh Robert, you were so brave to do that though. Making sure all of our guests were out of the house without a single worry about your own safety," Cora was saying and when Edith turned around, she saw her mother leaning on her father, who had his arm wrapped around her.
"Well, I am a good host and it's the duty of a good host to take care of not only his family, but his guests," he said, dropping his gaze to his wife who sighed lightly. "But my number one priority is, and always will be, my wife."
She saw her mother nudge her father, and nod towards her as they got closer. "Edith darling," her mother said, smiling lightly. "Are you alright?" Edith nodded slowly. "Well get some rest and it'll all be better in the morning. Perhaps you could visit that sweet young girl of the Drewes? Marigold, I think her name is."
"Yes, I'll do that mama," she said, half faking the smile she gave her mother. Cora and Robert smiled as they passed her, Cora touching her hand gently. Before the two of them went into her mother's room, Cora turned to her daughter again.
"Sleep tight, my dear," she said.
"And you too mama," Edith replied, going into her father's dressing room and sitting down on the cold bed. Her father almost never slept in here and she actually did wonder how often his bed clothes were changed? Probably only when the bed actually gets some use out of it. She stood again and pulled the covers back and laid down in the bed, trying to get comfortable. She looked at the ceiling and was about to shut her eyes when she heard the first squeak of the mattress in her mother's room.
She blinked and assumed for a moment that one of them had just climbed into bed with the other and that the noises wouldn't be continuing. Edith shut her eyes for a few moments before there was a soft thump from the next room, followed by a groan and a giggle. Her eyes flew open and she sighed audibly. This is going to be a long night, she thought, pulling the pillow over her ears. It blocked out the noises until the thumping got louder and louder, and their cries became more and more erratic. She dropped the pillow to the bed as she realized that it wasn't going to help her fall asleep. She tried to think of other things, like Michael, to get her mind off of what was happening in the next room. "Oh Robert," she heard her mama exclaim from the bedroom. "Do that again, just like that."
"You liked that?" her papa asked in reply, sounding rather pleased with himself.
"Oh yes!" her mother cried out, a loud moan following it. Edith wrinkled her nose in disgust at her parents. Did they have to be this loud when their daughter (whom they both thought was a maiden, even though she wasn't) was in the next room? Edith figured her papa had done whatever it was her mama wanted again, because more of her moans were heard by her as she lay in her father's relatively unused bed.
She shut her eyes, trying to ignore the whole situation, but it was nearly impossible. After a while, her parents cried out, almost in unison and after that, all Edith could hear for a while was the two of them catching their breath. She scoffed lightly and finally dozed off to sleep after seeing that the clock read 5:00.
About 4 hours later, as Edith made her way downstairs for breakfast, she almost ran into Tom. "So, how did you sleep?" Tom asked.
"I got less than 4 hours, to be honest," Edith replied. "I couldn't get to sleep until 5:00 and I woke about half an hour ago to dress."
Tom chuckled. "Well, it was their anniversary. Though you wouldn't know what that's like, you've not been married," he said.
"I suppose your right," she said. "Though why they needed to be so loud with me in the next room is beyond me."
"Perhaps they were too into what they were doing to even notice how loud they were," he offered, the two of them laughing slightly as they went downstairs to an empty dining room. "Perhaps he was waiting until you were out so that he could get dressed."
"Maybe," Edith replied. Tom and Edith enjoyed their breakfasts, talking idly to one another, with no sign of Robert until long after their breakfasts were finished.
Author's Note: I know it's not as sexy as I would usually make things, but at the same time, I did have to remind myself that Edith wasn't trying to hear what she was hearing. I hope I did well, I've never been in a situation where I'm trying to sleep and the people in the next room are having loud sex, so if I screwed up or didn't capture it accurately, please let me know. Reviews would be lovely, if you have the time.