NdA: simple what if? Cora didn't lose the baby (1x07). One-shot about the birth of the heir of Grantham. Changing POV. Family. Little drama. Happy ending.
|| Cora Crawley - Robert Crawley - Mary Crawley, Edith Crawley, Sybil Crawley - Sarah O'Brein - Violet Cralwey - Mr. Carson - dr. Clarkson (cameo) ||
This is my very first fanfiction in English, as my very first fanfiction on this site. Please help me with suggestions and corrections so I can improve my language skills!
Thanks, enjoy the reading!
«Should I call their ladyships, Milady?» Sarah O'Brein stayed stood under the door, one foot in the room, the other in the corridor. Her look was passionless as always while watching her mistress in bed, her husband beside her and the doctor with the nurse, talking close to each other about God-knows-what.
«No, thanks O'Brein. Let the girls rest.. It could still take hours.» she forced herself to smile back. Her mistress never took the liberty of worrying anybody without a real issue, even when she was about to give birth to her fourth child. She always had control over herself and over the house and its people, even in the most difficult situations.. O'Brein admired her.
«Yes, Milady.» Sarah bent a little over her knees before leaving the room. Oh she was worried. But could not show her true feeling: that wasn't her duty.
Still, how could she remain calm? Her ladyship wasn't in the perfect age to give birth and she could think about hundreds of things that could have gone wrong, although she tried to push them back in the dark place of her mind. Her Ladyship was not so old, of course, but she was not young either.
Sara O'Brein had become very protective over her mistress, since her twisted mind almost convinced her to put her in danger, around five months ago.. for no reason. She would have not forgive herself if anything would have ever happened to that baby and her mother; oh the guilt, oh the shame. It only took a moment to realized that what she had plan was wrong.. She promised herself that no one would've ever been able to harm that baby and her mistress, no one until Sarah O'Brein was drawing breath.
«You should have let O'Brein.» Robert cherished his wife's hand, smiling peacefully close to her face. He wanted so hard to give her a little relief «'Cause I have got the feeling that I'll be cast away soon.» he looked quickly in the doctor's direction as he tried to chuckle but the other one shook his head
«Not so soon, lord Grantham.» he said calmly while polishing one of his metallic tools
«See?» Cora smiled. Her eyes was closed as she tried to suffocate the pain struggling over her body.
Oh she would not scream, not now. She would have wait until she would have lost control of everything, but not now.
«I'm sorry.» Robert looked up on his wife in confusion
«Sorry for what, my dearest?» he asked, afraid something he didn't know was wrong
«If it is another girl.» Cora sighed. She wasn't smiling, nor doing anything else to suggest that she was joking
«I won't be sorry.» he tightened his hold on his wife's hand «I quite missed having a little princess running around the corridors as I wish a little prince to teach to how to hunt. I will be very pleased and happy either way. You don't worry, my darling.» Cora smiled in relief; few were the times that he called her by that name. He wouldn't mind for real.. all was well.
So thought he, as long he could give a little comfort to her wife in distress.
Lady Mary boggled in fear over her bed. It was night, her room was dark and she woke up with her heart pumping fast in her chest. What was that scream that torn her from her dreams? Maybe it was "the time"?
She shook the sleep off of her and catch her robe as she rushed in the corridor barefoot. She almost tripped into miss O'Brein
«I beg your pardon, Milady. I was coming to call you, Lady Mary, and your sisters as well.» she mumbled. Her attempt to look professional was clear on her face, although fear and concerned had taken place
«Is mama all right?» Mary swallowed and stared at the woman. Miss O'Brein was struggling between fear and duty.. she wasn't used to hear the three perfect daughters of Grantham talking so childishly over her Ladyship, although she could understand: wasn't she the first one to trembling with strain?
«Well, Milady. I suppose so, considering all..» she bubbled, Mary touched her shoulder, trying to think clear: she was the head of the house now that everyone seemed to have lost control. That was her duty of first-born of the house, even for few hours. Her mother would have been proud of her behaviour.
She dashed into her sister's room, Edith, and sat on the the girl edge of the bed.
«Come on you sleepyhead, it's time!» Mary shook her shoulder with growing spirit
«Time for what?» she mumbled, slewing under the sheets
«For the baby, you silly!» Mary took her sister's blanket away from her body and approached the door «I'm going to wake Sybil up, you get ready!»
Edith stood in the middle of the bed in shock, trying to realize how much those words were real and not part of her dreams.
«What about dad?» Sybil's voice ran through the corridors, escorting hers and her sisters' steps all way long.
«I think he's in the library with Carson. He must have left mama short ago, otherwise O'Brein wouldn't have call for us.» explained Mary with a pragmatic tone.
«It's atrocious not to be able to attend your child's birth.» mumbled the younger sister with a soft voice.
«It's a tradition, Sybil. It's how the world turns. Don't play the subversive even now, please.» it was the first time that her sister scolded her in a kind of polite way, so Sybil decided to be quiet for a little long.
By the time they were forward their parent's room, no one of them seems to had enough courage to knock on the door. What will attended them just on the other side? Sybil could just imagined what a birth was about and Mary and Edith were just too young to remember a thing from Sybil's. They just stood there, exchanging lost glances and broken grimaces until Mary sighed loud, knocking on the door like she was jumping over a too high obstacle with her horse. The feeling was the same.
«Mama?» Mary's eyes rushed into the room though the thin narrow of the door. She saw the doctor talking to the nurse, the fireplace filled with wood and miss O'Brein beside her mother's bed. Mary opened the door a little more, letting her sisters to peek over her shoulders and there she was, her mother, her beautiful and strong mother, lying in her bed overpowered by pain. Oh she looked different. Mary was almost scared. Where was her mother? Where was the countess of Downton Abbey?
«My girls.» her voice was broken. Cora felt guilty for not to notice her daughters on the door.. for how long they were been neglected by everyone in that room? She raised her arm, reaching for them, but no one seemed to be able to move. Oh they were so kind, so young and so innocent.. Their concern made her feel like she hadn't felt in years: it was like she had her three baby daughters before her, scared to death when their parents were ill, as their world was about to fall apart. «It's all right.» she whispered, trying to comfort each one of them with a sweet smile.
She chuckled when she noticed that if wasn't for Edith soft push on Mary's back, they wouldn't come in for anything in the world.
She heard her first-born cleared her troth and Cora knew she was ready to hold the reins of the family in her place for as long as it took; she trusted Mary.
Cora grasped Mary's cold hand in the very moment she sat in the chair that O'Brein had left few second earlier. Her mother duties were to ease her daughter's pain.. she had not to scare them, she had to stay strong for them, for her girls.
«Please Dr. Clarkson, let me help.» Sybil's sweet voice rose over Cora's moans but he could not think of a right answer: sure his Lordship would have not found it proper. He look in Mary's direction, but she didn't notice. To whom he could have ask permission? It was just a case that he was looking over her Ladyship at that time, maybe absent-mindedly, maybe for custom he looked always in her Ladyship direction when a decision was to be taken, but he was relieved when he saw her tiny nod.
«Could you please help the nurse, milady?» he asked with a smile, soon returned by the younger Grantham.
Edith just stood helplessly in a corner near the door. Her sister Sybil was making herself useful, her sister Mary, as well, reassuring their mother.. what was her job?
«What do I do?» she demanded with a lost glance. The silent answer she gained made her feel even more needless
«Edith, darling..» her mother soft voice called her out from the dark forest she fell into «Could you please hand me some water?» oh her mother was a salvation. She always knew how to rescue anyone from every situation. Edith rushed to the pitcher on the table, near the doctor's instruments, but when she was about to run back to her mother, he stopped her grabbing her arm
«Only few drops on the lips.» it seemed a strict recommendation and Edith forced herself not to ask for further information which could increase her worry.
«It's been three hours now.» sighed Robert, glancing at the old clock in the corner of the library. He was reading that page over and over again without remember a single word. It was "Pride and Prejudice" Cora's favourite and he thought that was the perfect time to start the reading.. soon he realized he could just not focus on anything but her wife and still unborn child.
«I must remind you, Milord, that when Lady Mary was born we stayed in the library for a night and a whole day.» he could hear distinctly a tone of delight in Carson's deep voice
«Quite true, Carson.» Robert smiled tenderly at the memory of his first born «Please, get some rest, Carson. There's no need for you to get tired.»
«I do awaited for every birth in this house, I wont loose this one in particular. I could never forgive myself, Milord. Besides, the dowager countess is coming shortly and it's my duty and pleasure to greet her.»
«My mother is coming?» Robert was shocked. He checked the clock twice to make sure he saw right «Now?»
«Yes, Milord. I sent William to Dower House as soon as the new reached my ears. Lady Grantham herself gave me this exact instruction.» Carson's voice wouldn't admit any reply. It was like to reply to his mother herself. That was just out of question.
«I see.» Robert's whisper reflected all his resignation «So when she's supposed to-» Robert couldn't finish his phrase as Thomas opened the door for the dowager.
«So, how's things going?» Violet Crawley walked into the room with a joyful voice, almost not touching the ground with her long-trusted cane. She was dressed like she was attending the Queen herself, fresh and settled perfectly for her new, unexpected, grandchild.
«I couldn't tell, maman.» Robert kissed his mother's cheek, then approached the table and poured himself a glass of whisky with no water. He surely would have need that, now.
«Well. We can do nothing but wait, I suppose.» her lips was curled in a curios smile, she appeared quite gleeful despite all the other, in the house, seemed dying with concern.
Mary let an anxious sigh escaping her lips. It appeared like she was in that room since forever. They were all exhausted when the dawn lightened the sky just a little and she was quite pleased that her mother fell asleep irregularly since the past two hours; likewise, Dr. Clarkson said that it was good for her to rest. How could he sleep when her patience was in such a distress? There was nothing he can do to ease her pain? And so her sisters, sleeping next to their mother with a peaceful face. Oh she couldn't. Not when she was so nervous she jumped on her chair every time her mother sent out the slightest sound.
Mary laid her back on the seat, allowing herself to enjoy those quiet and flat moments where everyone were dreaming but her.
She did remember something similar, but her memories were cloudy and distorted.. maybe she was little, maybe that was about her sister Sybil's birth or maybe about an illness that affected one of her parents. She remembered the same fear and the same silence, even the same loneliness: she was the bigger sister and she always had to be in charge in those kind of situation.
Sometimes she wished she was Sybil, the younger sister, just to be excused when she just wanted to let go, or nestle next to her mother like she did, even now. That baby would have taken that privilege off her younger sister.
She would prefer another girl or a boy? Mary soon realized she has never asked herself that question. Nor thinking about having another brother or sister for real.. yet there she was, assisting her mother. Yes, that was absurd.
She looked down her mother's swollen stomach. She had never done that before either. How strange must it felt with a small person floating within you. Mary could see the little movements under the cover, if she stood still enough.
She sighed again when she decided that was sufficient staring at her mother and new baby and sadly realized only few minutes has been passed since her last check.
Maybe her mother was thirsty.
She begged so much, Edith, to have something to do and now she was asleep as well.
Mary moistened Cora's lips with a cloth, fighting, for she wouldn't stay still. But when she laid it on her forehead and neck, knew immediately something was wrong. She held her mother's hand all time long and she couldn't tell the difference? Her mother was burning with fever!
«Dr. Clarkson!» she cried out. She didn't mind wake everyone up with throbbing.
«Mama's not well.» whined Edith with short breath, once entering the library unannounced. Everyone turned to her with concerned faces. Edith waited for her father to come near her and that didn't take long.
«What happened?» he demanded. He had to bite his inner cheek to maintain an impeccable behaviour
«I don't know, dad. We fell asleep after mama and Mary was the only one who didn't. Dr. Clarkson says it's nothing serious but..» she swallowed bitterly «Everything can be a big issue with mama's condition.»
«Everything will be all right, my dear.» Robert forced himself to be optimistic and smiled «Go back to your mother's room and keep us up-to-date if there are any news.» Edith nodded and walked out from the library.
«I'm sure it's nothing, my dear.» Violet's quivering voice couldn't soothe his heart.
Robert sighed as he stroked anxiously his own hair with one hand. Why must everything had to be so complicated? Why he had to be confined in the library while his wife needed him?
As time elapsed, Robert's concern grew strong: why no one, even O'Brein was sent to them? All was going well? Or the exact opposite?
«Please, Milady.» begged the maid, one hand supporting her mistress's head and the other close to her lips, trying to spill few drops of medicine into her mouth. She was always so childish when she had to take any sort of medicine, Cora always gave her the puppy look before agreeing and now Sarah felt so guilty without her permission. Though, who else could do the job? Lady Sybil already tried unsuccessfully and she was the only one Cora didn't shoo away yet.
«How much longer?» Dr. Clarkson looked helplessly to lady Mary's worried face, along with Edith, Sybil and the maid's
«Not much, luckily. Lady Grantham is exhaust due to the fever.» he was wearing a white smock with the nurse's help «But the contractions are not more than two minutes far from each other..».
Sarah O'Brein took a step back from her mistress' bed. She was looking at the three daughter surrounding her with the doctor and nurse, she was looking at Cora's pale face and suffering expression and for a moment she asked herself if she had to warn his Lordship. It was her duty, but she just couldn't leave.
She assisted Cora during every labour, she lulled her babies before her while dressing them for the first time, she held her hand and she listened to every moan and scream. Nothing was compared to that time.
Oh she was so scared: anything could have gone wrong.
Sarah jolted when Cora screamed.
It was like her fever and confusion were gone in an instant: she could see Cora's blue eyes for the first time in hours. They were wet, frightened and full of pain, but Sarah knew that was a good sign to have her mistress conscious, at least now.
Curious how the pain she would ease from her body only few seconds before, was the only thing that might have saved her and the baby.
Sarah O'Brein prayed. She wasn't quite sure why, but she prayed when the doctor urged her mistress to push. She prayed for Cora's health and for the baby as well. She felt so responsible for both of them that almost scared her.
«Dad, it's a boy!» Mary entered the library short of breath like her sister did hours before. But unlike Edith she was widely smiling, her eyes was tired but full of happiness.
Robert couldn't contain his boisterous joy and without thinking he hugged Mr. Carson with abandon. Then he straightened his back and adjusted his jacket
«Congratulations, Milord.» said Carson with a delight smile
«Thank you, Carson.» Robert cleared his throat before hugging Lady Mary as well.
«She finally did it!» Violet Crawley pretended she didn't say anything as her lips couldn't do anything but smile
«How's your mother?» Mary sighed in relief
«She's resting now. You and granny can come up in a hour.»
«An hour?» both Robert and Violet talked simultaneously. They seemed to agree on one thing at last. They gave each other an accomplish look.
«Yes. Mama's order.» answered Mary with intransigent voice «He's going to be the earl of Grantham and she wants the first meeting to be perfect.» she gave all of them a very satisfied glance.
«Your mother always needs to be so dramatic.» Violet sighed in frustration «She made us wait an entire night as always and now she wants more time!»
«We'll wait. And celebrate.» smiled Robert. He didn't mind a thing. Nothing could ever have gone wrong on that day! «Carson?»
«Yes, Milord?» he stepped forward
«I want this day to be special. Let everyone oversleep and say Mrs. Patmore to cook a Christmas banquet for every single soul in this house!» Robert reach for a cigar on the table and lighten it up with pride in his eyes
«Yes, Milord.» Carson bowed a little, then left the room with the shiniest smile on his face.
He dismissed the doctor with an energetic hand shaking. Was the right time to go upstairs? No one was giving him instruction since the last visit of Mary. Now that his mother fell finally asleep on the couch he could have a little peace.
«What should I do, Isis?» Robert petted his dog before deciding to venture on the bedrooms floor of Downton Abbey. All he could hear was an unreal silence.
Where was everyone? Not even one out of his three daughters to grant him?
He crossed the hallway until his wife's bedroom and waited few second before approach the door to see if he could hear something through the very slim chink.
Robert smiled when he saw Mary sleeping not so much sedately on one side of the bed, next to Edith who was next to Sybil. They all seemed so pacific drowsing to their mother's side. He knew he couldn't sleep in his bed for the day, but he didn't mind at all.
Robert had to stretch his neck to see his wife. She wasn't sleeping at all and, with great relief, she didn't seemed too consumed by the labour. He waited patiently, in religious silence, until he was able to see the baby resting on his mother's chest. Oh he seemed so small. So small and so beautiful. Robert knew he would have looked exactly like Cora: curly brown hair and blue eyes.
His heart skipped a beat when he heard his son's giggles and little sobbing
«Hush, my handsome boy.» his wife's voice was so soft and tender «There is no need to cry.. your papa is on his way here.»
Robert forced himself not to be the crying one. He pushed slightly the door and stared at his wife since the very moment she welcomed him with the brightest smile he had ever seen.
He sat on the chair, dumb, for he had forgotten all the speeches and sweet words he had in mind or prepared during his anxious waiting in the library.
«Every time..» he whined. They both laughed.
«You don't have to say a word, Robert.» Cora reassured him with just a glance «This is our unexpected miracle.. our salvation. He's the end of all our problems.» it was true.
For how long the hoped for an heir? For how long did they struggled over impossible solution in order to save their estate and home?
But Robert didn't agree that time.
He kissed gently his wife's forhead and Cora closed her eyes for a moment, resting her head on the soft pillow as she looked at them with deep love.
He carefully held his baby in his arms and began to walk slowly around the bed. Robert only felt overwhelmed with his emotions by the sight of his baby son.
«My boy.» he whispered «He's just that. Our longed for boy.»