"Any news from the front?" Charles asked, whirling around as he passed Elsie on the servant's hall stairs.
"She's doing well — it'll be a while yet," she said, trying to catch her breath, "I've only come for fortification in the form of tea and biscuits."
"You could've rung, I'd've gladly sent up a tray," he said.
Elsie sighed, then leaned up to kiss his cheek, "I think you'd do best to avoid the hall outside Lady Mary's room, Mr Carson. At least until the worst of it has passed."
Charles furrowed his brow, "I've been here for the birth of more children than you, Mrs Hughes."
"Perhaps," she said, "But never in the thick of it."
Charles shrugged, continuing on upstairs and Elsie only shook her head at her silly man as she continued on toward the kitchen.
"If it's a girl do you think she'll name her after Lady Mary?" Daisy asked wistfully as she kneaded bread. Mrs Patmore scoffed, lifting a bread tin from the oven.
"What's it matter?" she said, tossing a rag over her shoulder.
"I dunno," Daisy mused, "I just wondered if maybe they'd go for something a little more modern, that's all."
Mrs Patmore looked up just as Elsie rounded the corner into the sweltering kitchen.
"Well, ask the midwife over here," Mrs Patmore laughed, reaching up to wipe her brow, "Daisy here's wondering if the Bates' have a name picked out."
Elsie blinked, "I — well, I'm not sure. Right now I'd say all they're worried about is getting the bairn here safely," she said, smoothing her skirt anxiously, "I wonder, Mrs Patmore, if you might prepare us a tea tray? I don't think Mr Bates has eaten in several hours and Lady Mary's beginning to look a little peckish."
"I'll send 'er up when we're done," Mrs Patmore said, gesturing to Daisy, "Then she can ask about the baby's name 'erself."
"I really think —perhaps — I ought not do this," Anna panted, gripping the post of the bed as Dr. Clarkson laid a gentle hand on her abdomen.
"You're a bit beyond changing your mind, I'm afraid," Lady Mary said, taking Anna's hand in hers, "You're in the worst of it now, but that only means that soon you'll have your baby in your arms and everything will seem perfectly marvelous."
Anna groaned, "Somehow I doubt that."
Dr. Clarkson gave Lady Mary a knowing look, "Everything's progressing nicely. She's almost fully dilated," he turned back to Anna, "You'll be able to start pushing soon."
From the other side of the bed, John made a slightly strangled sound.
"Don't tell me that after all you've been through that the thought of your wife giving birth to your child is horrifying you, Bates," Mary said, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow.
"Only insofar as I hate to see her suffering," he said quietly.
Mary sighed, looking at her hands, "Well, I do know that to be true."
Just then, Mrs Hughes came blustering back into the room, Daisy and a tea tray in tow.
"There, I've brought reinforcements," she said, clapping her hands together, "How're you feeling, Anna?"
"I'm rethinking this arrangement," Anna said, gritting her teeth, "I think perhaps I have very poor judgment and I shouldn't be a mum at all,"
Elsie sat down at the foot of the bed and settled her hand on Anna's leg beneath the bedclothes, "I shouldn't like to hear you speak that way about yourself, but since I know you aren't thinking clearly, I'll allow it to go unpunished."
Anna writhed, burying her face in the pillows.
"I'd say she feels as though she's being punished," Lady Mary said, rising from the bed and going to her vanity where she sat and admired herself a moment before reaching for a small tub of cold cream for her hands.
"Mr Bates," Daisy said meekly from the corner, "Can I make you some tea?"
"Yes, Daisy, thank you kindly," he said, not taking his eyes off Anna.
"And Mrs Patmore's sent up sandwiches for you. . ."
"That'll do, Daisy, thank you," he said, though he was far away, running a damp cloth along Anna's brow.
Mrs Hughes, suddenly feeling a bit useless, looked about the room, surveying it for a moment and was struck with a sudden realization.
"M'lady, beg my pardon but —" she looked up, cocking her head thoughtfully as she settled her hands into her lap, "Have we got a cradle for the bairn?"
The room went quiet, Lady Mary pausing in the gentle massage of her hands to look up at the housekeeper with a look of abject horror.
"Oh dear," she said quietly, "I think everyone's gone into storage in the attics — none of the children sleep in a crib anymore, certainly nothing smaller."
"We've a proper crib at our cottage," Bates said, "But of course that's there and we're. . .well, here."
Feeling repurposed, Mrs Hughes stood up, a thought hovering on her lips, "Daisy, when you're done with Mr Bates' tea please meet me in my sitting room. I've to talk to Mr Carson but I think I've just the solution."
"I do hope it doesn't involve a dresser drawer," Lady Mary laughed, returning to Anna's bedside. Mrs Hughes gave a small nod before taking her leave,
"A trough in a stable was good enough for the baby Jesus, m'lady — and I assure you that we can do better than that. Mr Carson would stand for no less."
