This is set in the Sentimental Haste universe. If you haven't read that story, just a very brief synopsis:

Cora did not lose the baby and Robert and she named the boy Nicholas. Due to something to do with Cora's pregnancy, Mary and Matthew marry in 1914 and they have four children by 1924. George was born in 1915 and is only six months younger than Nicholas. As Robert does go to war in this universe, Cora becomes the temporary head of the family and thus Sybil and Tom get married a little earlier as well.

Matthew and Sybil both live in this universe, plainly because I did not want them to die.

Isobel married Dr. Clarkson and Carson and Mrs. Hughes are married as well.

There is of course a lot of wishful thinking in the Sentimental Haste universe, but that is what fanfiction is for J

This is set in 1924 and involves Simon Bricker. It really explores the question of how Nicholas might have influenced what happened.

I am not sure how good this is, I just felt like returning to the Sentimental Haste universe and since I included nothing from Series 5 in that story I thought it might do.

I am thinking about adding a few more companion pieces over the course of time. If there is anything that you would like to see, just let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Please let me know what you think!

Thank you,

Kat

"Papa?" He turns around and sees his son standing in the library. He wonders what the boy is doing downstairs at this time of the day, he should be in the school room together with George and the other children, but something seems to occupy the boy's mind and he welcomes the interruption regardless of that. He was preparing to discuss crop rotations with Matthew and Tom, something that Mary has already mentioned to him too. He is very thankful to his sons-in-law and daughter for taking such an interest in Downton, especially to Mary and Matthew who lost both title and estate the moment that Nicholas was born.

"Shouldn't you be in the schoolroom?" Nicholas looks a little guilty and the boy reminds him of himself. He did not always enjoy his lessons either.

"I slipped away during the break." The boy looks a little worried, so he holds out his hand to him, which his son takes. He wonders how much longer Nicholas will be willing to sometimes hold his parents' hands. He doubts that it is much longer.

"Well, now that you are here, what can I do for you?"

"Why don't you get along with Mama anymore?"

"What?" He has no idea what his son is talking about.

"You don't smile at her anymore and she always looks so sad."

"That is not true." He is almost sure it isn't true. But Nicholas could be right about Cora looking sad. At least sometimes.

"Papa, it is true. Sybil says so too." He should probably talk to Sybil then, opposed to Nicholas she is an adult, married herself and thus knows what sharing one's life with someone else means.

"I'll talk to Sybil about it."

"And to Mama?" The boy is right about this.

"I'll talk to her too." Nicholas still looks quite worried and he is sure that there is more to it than his son lets on. He knows not to push him, Nicholas is much better at talking about his feelings than he is himself but he needs his time.

"I am scared that you and Mama will be like Rose's parents. That you don't want to be married anymore." He wonders how Nicholas even knows about this. Shrimpie certainly did not mention his broken marriage in front of Nicholas, but he supposes that his son just listened to Rose talking to one of the girls.

"Nicholas," he says and the boy looks at him. People always tell him how much his son looks like him and he supposes that it is true in many respect, but the expression on his son's face, an expression that signals a mixture of sadness and hope reminds him of Cora. It reminds him of her painfully so. "Your mother and I are not like Rose's parents. And I promise you that we will never get divorced."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Sometimes the boy is too inquisitive. Cora and he raise their son quite liberally, certainly far more liberally than they raised their girls, but Nicholas was such a surprise to them and he was born a few months into the Great War, so the world his son grows up in is certainly different from the world that the boy's sisters were raised in two decades ago.

"Because your mother and I love each other," he says and then Nicholas smiles but only for a second.

"You should tell Mama that you love her."

"She knows I love her."

"But you should tell her." He wonders for a second if he should tell his son that he has overstepped his boundaries, his father certainly would told him that, but he is sure that Nicholas only means well and is truly worried.

"Maybe you are right."

"I think I am." He wishes he could have captured this on camera because the resemblance between Nicholas and Cora in this moment was uncanny.

"And I think that you have to return to your lesson." Nicholas gives him something between a nod and a shrug and walks away.

He returns to his work but his thoughts keep wandering. Why does Nicholas think that he needs to tell Cora that he loves her? Why is the boy so worried? Even if he overheard Rose say something about her parents, he should know that his parents are very different. His mother keeps complaining about them showing their affections too openly constantly. Not a week goes by without it. And then he realizes that indeed several weeks have gone by without it, that his mother even asked him, very astonished, whether he never asked Cora's opinion. He tries to remember the last time he told Cora that he loved her and realizes that he can't remember it. Surely it must have been after their anniversary and if not that then on their anniversary. He can't remember telling her but there had been a fire at the Abbey that night and surely he can be excused for not telling his wife that he loved her after being afraid that their house would burn to the ground. Although by the time that Matthew raised the alarm, Cora and he had been fast asleep. But shouldn't he have told her afterwards? It had been her who had called the fire brigade and it had been her who had helped getting Nicholas and their grandchildren out of the house safely. But he only went back to bed, thanking God that nothing worse had happened than damage to one room.

Nicholas is right, he thinks, he should tell Cora that he loves her. Today. So he walks upstairs a little before the dressing gong to catch her on her own and he does but she seems to be cross with him. He asks why and she answers "Because of the way you treat and talk about Mr. Bricker," and that does away with all his good intentions. He leaves her room without another word. But not without banging the door.

He gets changed into his uniform, he has to attend that regimental dinner, and once he walks down the stairs, he sees Mr. Bricker standing next to Cora. He wonders whether he should have told Matthew or Tom to keep an eye on that art dealer but it is too late now. So he tells Bricker that he has to leave and gives Cora a perfunctory kiss on the cheek. A movement on the gallery catches his eye and when he looks up he sees his son standing there, looking at him and mouthing the words 'tell her' to him. He looks back at Cora and sees her smile at something that the art dealer must have said and then looks back up at Nicholas who looks at him expectantly. He doesn't know why he listens to a nine year old, but he does listen. He touches Cora's forearm and looks at her.

"Come outside with me. Please." She stares at him incredulously.

"Robert, we have a guest."

"I am sure that Mr. Bricker will excuse you for a minute," he says but keeps looking straight into her eyes. "Humor me. Please." Cora must have caught a movement on the gallery too, because she looks there as well now and when she sees their son she nods.

"Robert, what is this about? Is it about Nicholas? Why was he watching us?"

"He was watching us because he is afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Cora's concern for their little boy is obvious and it almost breaks his heart.

"That we'll turn into Susan and Shrimpie. I don't know how he got the idea, he probably heard Rose say something to one of the girls. He has only seen them together a very few times, I doubt he really knows what he is talking about but I told him he didn't have to worry." Cora raises her eyebrows at this as if she wasn't really convinced.

"Cora, you do know that I love you, don't you?" She looks into his eyes but does not say anything.

"Because I do. Love you. I love you." She slowly nods, her eyes brimming with tears.

"You haven't said it in a very long time."

"I am sorry," he says and gently brushes his thumb across her cheek.

"And you keep ignoring me." The moment she says it he knows it to be true and pains him quite a lot. So he takes both her hands in between his.

"I'll stop that. As soon as I am home tomorrow, I'll cancel all my appointments. We can spend the weekend in London if you like. Or stay here with the family if that is what you prefer. I'll be there for you and just for you."

"Let's go to London. I'll telephone Rosamund tomorrow morning." The excitement on Cora's face makes him wish to be able to return tonight.

"And I love you too," she adds. He knows this is his clue and despite the fact that they are in full view of both Carson and the chauffeur and quite possible their son who might be looking at them from an upstairs window, he kisses her. Full on the lips and then some. She murmurs something he can't understand but the hoarse voice she used almost makes him cancel the dinner. But that is something he can't do, not on such short notice.

"My God, Cora," he says and pulls her closer to him. The giggle that escapes her tells him that she felt the effect she just had on him.

"Your mother is coming in early tomorrow morning to discuss the church bazar," she says and he is very, very thankful for that comment.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he says and then very reluctantly lets go of her.

She walks back inside in a daze but when she sees the small smile playing around the butler's face she nods at him. She knows that the staff all route for Robert and her, they all want them to be happy and it can't have escaped their notice that the last few weeks have been difficult.

"I am sorry about this, Mr. Bricker," she says but doesn't see his reaction because Nicholas is still on the gallery looking at her questioningly. She smiles at her son and nods and he walks away.

She muddles through dinner and only decades of experience in hosting make it somewhat of a smooth sailing. Mr. Bricker as their only guest is sitting next to her and she makes the necessary small talk with him but has in fact no idea what she is saying. Mary motions for her to turn and she is now talking to Matthew who tells her something about George climbing a tree. It is also Mary who motions for her to go through and when she walks past her daughter the girl smiles at her and says "I suppose we won't see much of either Papa or you during the weekend."

"We are going to London," she replies and Mary nods at that and then grins at Sybil who looks like she did on Christmas mornings when she was still small.

She realizes throughout the evening that Simon Bricker tries to catch her attention repeatedly and because being a good hostess has been engrained in her, she eventually pays him enough attention to have an interesting conversation. She is glad however when she is in her room and Baxter has left her alone because thoughts of Robert kissing her so indecently come back to her and they make her blush. She hears a door open and thinks that it was Robert's dressing room door and when she turns around she finds her son standing in her room.

"Nicholas, what were you doing in your Papa's room?"

"I couldn't sleep." She holds her hand out to her son and he takes it and then without asking he climbs onto her lap, something he hardly ever does anymore.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yes. About all the soldiers." That is what she was afraid of. Nicholas still is not always able to deal well with the experience he made during the first few years of his life. They turned their house into a convalescent home before he was even a year old and when he turned two Robert had already been lost and did not return for several more months. She doubts that Nicholas actually remembers Robert missing, but she is sure that he knows that everyone around him had been afraid. And because he is the heir to the Earl of Grantham, some of the soldiers living in their house took a special interest in him and told him gruesome stories of the trenches. The boy has had nightmares all his life, although they have become far and few between. But seeing his father in his uniform, even if it was his regimentals, probably caused his most current nightmare.

"I am sorry my boy," she says and she does feel guilty. They did their duty, they had to help, but it has made Nicholas' young life more difficult.

"It's alright Mama," the boy says and faintly smiles at her. She sometimes wonders if he knows how guilty she feels.

"Would you like to stay for a while?"

"Yes. My book is in Papa's room. I'll get it." The boy runs of and returns with Arabian Nights. She sometimes isn't sure about Robert's choice of books that he reads with their children, when Mary was five, he read her some of the Greek classics, but all their children have enjoyed reading with their father and she doesn't want to interfere. Nicholas now settles down next to her, opens the book and begins to read out loud.

The door opens again and without looking up, she says

"Did you forget anything?" thinking that it must be her maid. When she looks up, she sees that it is in fact Mr. Bricker, in his dressing gown. She gets up and asks him to leave. Repeatedly. But he doesn't. He says something about her family not appreciating her, something that goes utterly too far and isn't his business. She keeps asking him to leave. But he doesn't.

"Mr. Bricker, my son is in this room. You cannot believe that I had any intention of doing anything other than taking care of him and going to sleep."

"You could send the boy away," he says and she wishes he would go away. Mr. Bricker in her bedroom is the last thing she wants, especially with Nicholas present.

"I won't," she says. "Quite opposed to you, he has a right to be in here." In that moment Nicholas gets up and moves to stand next to her. "Mr. Bricker," she says again. "You must leave. I have no interest"

"Cora," he interrupts her and she wants to hit him across the face for daring to call her by her first name. But in that moment several things happen at once.

The door opens again and Robert comes into the room saying something about being glad that she was still awake, Mr. Bricker tries to touch her face and Nicholas moves forward, kicking Mr. Bricker in the shins while yelling "She asked you to leave," at him.

She holds her son back and tries to calm him and when she looks up again she sees Robert hitting Bricker across the face. They stumble onto her bed and then onto the floor and make a racket that she is afraid will wake the whole house. Eventually they stop and Bricker leaves without looking at her. She hopes he isn't seen by anyone.

"Robert," she says and he looks at her, his eyes full of disappointment.

"I'll sleep in my dressing room," he says. Her heart breaks at this and she can hardly hold back her tears.

"Mama, don't cry," Nicholas says and climbs back into her bed. He begins to read again and she sits down next to him. She wants to go after Robert but she knows him well and he needs to calm down first.

"Mama?"

"Yes?"

"Why was Mr. Bricker here?" She has been waiting for that question and doesn't really know what to say.

"He wanted something he couldn't get."

"Did he want to sleep here? Like Papa always does?" She decides that honesty is the best policy and she is sure that Nicholas does not really know what Mr. Bricker actually wanted.

"I suppose so. But I did not want him in here."

"I know. You said so."

"The question is whether your Papa knows that too." She wishes she hadn't said it, Nicholas has seen and heard enough for one day and shouldn't be burdened with his parents' marital problems, at least not more than he has already burdened himself with them.

"Then you should tell him. There is still light in his room, he must still be awake." She looks at Nicholas and sees the encouraging smile on his face. He is such a good boy and wise far beyond his years and she is so very proud of him.

"Maybe you are right," she says, gives her son a kiss on the forehead and then walks towards her husband's room.

When he hears the door open he wants to tell Cora to go away but he is almost sure that Nicholas is still in her room and the poor boy has seen and heard enough for one day, so he decides to be cordial and doesn't say anything when Cora closes the door and sits down next to him.

"Thank you," she says and he wonders what she means.

"What for?"

"Beating Mr. Bricker into a pulp. That is what he deserved. I am glad you did it. Although I am afraid that you will have to talk to Nicholas about it."

"Of course I do. And I will. I don't want him to believe that hitting a man is a gentlemanly way to solve a problem." She smiles at him and then takes his hand but he jerks it away.

"No," he says. "There was another man in our bedroom. A man you have flirted with for weeks. Don't think that you pretending to be thankful for me having come in on time is helpful in any way."

"Robert, I did not invite him. I told him to leave. Several times."

"And why should I believe that?" Why should he indeed? He came home as a surprise for her and found that art dealer in her room.

"Because I am telling you. And because you should know that I never would, never could betray you."

"That is what you say." He knows he is unfair but he is also hurt.

"Do you really think that I would have let Nicholas into our room had I known that Mr. Bricker was coming there? Do you really think me capable of subjecting our son to witnessing such an act of betrayal? You should know me better than that. If you are for some reason not able to believe, after 34 years of marriage, that I could never take another man into my bed, then you should at least know me well enough to know that I would never hurt one of our children by letting them see me with a man who is not their father."

He doesn't want to answer because he would have to tell her that he knew that she was right and he isn't ready for that. He wants to be angry at her.

"Robert, please. Think about it. You heard what Nicholas said and you saw what he did when you came in."

'She asked you to leave,' Nicholas said, he is sure of it. And the boy kicked that art dealer in the shins. He is somewhere between being outraged at his son's misbehavior and pride of his son's innate desire to defend his mother.

"I don't know whether to be proud or outraged," he says and hopes that this will stir the conversation away from his own reaction. Cora chuckles at this.

"Be proud of him. He came to my defense and he reacted the same way you did."

Now he has to chuckle too. Cora gently touches his face again and looks into his eyes.

"I love you. I wish you believed that."

"I do believe it. I am just very disappointed." Cora sighs and looks at the floor. When she looks at him again, there are tears in her eyes.

"I did not ask him to my room. I did not want him in there. I wish I hadn't allowed him back here, I wish I had believed you when you said that he was interested in me and not in my opinions on Della Francesca." He nods and feels her eyes on him.

"Then why didn't you believe me?"

"Because you hurt me and ignored me." He wants to protest but he remembers Nicholas' words. 'She always looks so sad.' And he remembers that before he left for the dinner, he told her he would stop to ignore her. That was why he came home early after all.

"You said so before."

"I know. And you told me we'd go to London tomorrow. But I suppose you want to cancel that now." That is what he wants to do but when he is about to say yes he sees that again there are tears brimming in his wife's eyes.

"No. I still want to go to London with you." The smile that appears on Cora's face now melts his heart and without thinking about it, he leans forward and kisses her. He wants to go further, much further, but Cora stops him.

"Nicholas is in my room. And we should go to sleep. We can continue this in London." He nods, gets up, takes her hand and leads her back to their room where Nicholas has fallen asleep on her bed. He lifts their son up, carries him to his dressing room and puts him down on his bed.

"We'll leave the door ajar," he says when he comes back and joins his wife in their bed. "But he really is getting too old to sleep in our bed."

"Yes. And I'd much rather share my bed with just you," Cora says while she lies down. He brushes his hand across her cheek and she closes her eyes at his touch.

"I am looking forward to spending the weekend with you. Very much. Just the two of us."

"Good," he hears her mumble before she falls asleep.