Disclaimer: I do not own Downton Abbey. But Belle and Anna are all mine. :D

He found her sitting alone on the couch, neither girl out and about, the house mysteriously and almost alarmingly quiet.

"What's wrong?' Matthew questioned, searching the room for any other signs of life. "Is everyone alright?"

Mary looked back at him, rubbing the top of her forehead as she extended a piece of paper in his direction. He took it and glanced it over, his brow creasing in a frown.

"From Belle and Anna's teacher," he noted, reading it again more thoroughly. "Belle is having problems in school?"

Her disbelief mirrored his, and she pulled her knees into her body, giving him room to sit down beside her.

"That's what the note says," she answered, shaking her head. "She's always been such a good student. This makes no sense."

"No," Matthew agreed, looking in the direction of the girl's rooms. "Is she in hiding?"

"She burst into tears the moment we walked in the front door," Mary answered. "And practically ran to her room. Anna tried to get in but finally gave up and locked herself in her own." She tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, looking back at him in concern. "Don't get me wrong—l like the peace and quiet, but not like this."

"No," he agreed with an audible sigh. "Not like this."

"Will you go and talk to her?" Mary questioned. "Maybe she'll listen to you."

He noticed her hand stray to her still flat stomach, unable to stop the small smile that tugged on his mouth at the mere thought of what grew inside her.

"I'll try," he stated, touching her knee, leaning in for a kiss. "She's far too hard on herself, you know. She always has been."

"Oh, I know," Mary agreed, biting her lower lip. "And it hurts to see her so upset."

He prepared to rise, only to stop at the look of fatigue that flittered across her face.

"Are you alright?" he questioned. "Both of you?"

She smiled softly, nodding in return as he pressed his hand over hers.

"I'm fine," Mary mused. "She's been fairly agreeable today, actually. I haven't thrown up at all, and I even ate pasta for lunch."

"Living dangerously, are you?" he grinned, stroking her fingers. "And I'm glad he's been behaving himself. A boy should take care of his mother."

"I agree, but this baby is a girl, as I've told you before," she insisted with a small smile. "You won't convince me otherwise."

His heart squeezed at the memories of what she had told him, how Charles had said something very similar about Anna before he had died, knowing the same thoughts had to be swirling in her own mind. He took her hand within his and kissed it, tugging her into his side, reveling in the warm life he held in his arms.

"Will you be convinced if the ultrasound shows an extra appendage?" he teased, feeling her slight chuckle in his ribs.

"I suppose I'll have to be," she conceded. "But if there's not one, I expect to be treated to dinner at Giuseppi's."

"And if there is?" he asked playfully.

"Then you'll treat me to Bella Notte," she stated, making him grin. "Either way, I win."

"You're on," he agreed without hesitation. "Craving Italian now, are you?"

"Like crazy," she smiled, her eyes then creasing again in concern. "Go talk to her, Matthew. Please."

"I will," he stated, standing and staring at the note on the table. "And why don't you call Mrs. Coston and set up a conference. We'll get to the bottom of this. For Belle."

She nodded, and he moved away from her, his gut cinching in a painful knot. God no, he prayed to himself more insistently with each step he took, hoping with every fiber of his being that his daughter wasn't showing signs of the dyslexia that had plagued him mercilessly as a child.