Christmas morning dawned with bright, wintery sunlight streaming through Ella and Henry's windows, casting beams of light onto her face as she laid in the arms of her husband who was still fast asleep behind her. As her eyes fluttered open, she glanced out of the window and watched as a flock of geese flew over the house. Although she couldn't hear them, she smiled as she thought about the sound they made, as it was one of her favourite sounds.

Henry also began to wake once he felt his wife stir beside him and he brushed back her honey coloured hair from her face and gently kissed her cheek and neck.

'Merry Christmas my darling,' he whispered and she smiled as she turned round in his hold to face him, her lips mere inches from his.

'Merry Christmas!' She replied with glee as his hand rested on their unborn baby.

'It's funny to think that this is our first Christmas together and our last on our own.' He commented and she furrowed her brow.

'What do you mean? We were together last Christmas,'

'No my darling, we were writing to each other last Christmas, when I was still trying to win your affections and you were still trying to put me off; remember?' He replied.

'Ah yes, I'm so glad those days are long behind us.' She said with a smile as he then kissed her and she cupped his cheek.

Down the hallway Elsie and Charlie were also wrapped up in each other's arms, having fallen asleep in blissful harmony. Like her daughter, Elsie was the first one to stir and as she opened her eyes, they fell on the sweet, loveable face of her new husband and it suddenly dawned on her that this would be how she would spend the rest of her life, waking up to the beautiful man beside her.

She stifled a laugh as she watched his head fall back ever so slightly and a soft snore escaped from his lips and his arms seemed to pull her closer to him. Their wonderfully intimate night together had done something so special for Elsie that she would never have imagined it possible for her to feel the way she did now; free. She had a new found confidence in herself and in him and she longed for the moment when she could experience him again as she had done the previous night.

As the light brightened outside and sounds could be heard around the house, Elsie suddenly remembered that it was Christmas Day; her first one as Mrs Carson and her first one with her daughter. Of course she knew that she and her husband would be working, as they had done for twenty-five years, but this year was going to be very different, regardless.

She gently caressed his face until he stirred and she laughed slightly as he grumpily swatted her away, unaware as to exactly what it was that was disturbing him, but as he came round from his slumber, he became more aware of his surroundings and aware of the woman that was laid beside him.

Without opening his eyes he hummed happily, a smile spreading across his face as he trailed his fingers lightly over her arm. She then turned round to face the wall and shuffled backwards and towards him. He sleepily opened one eye to watch her and he smiled even broader when he felt her lift up his arm and wrap it around her own waist, with her hand resting over his. There was a definite change in her from the way she had been the previous night; she was still a little tense and some of her movements still seemed a little forced, but she seemed to have a new found confidence or comfort that she hadn't had the night before.

He nestled his chin against her shoulder and they laid together like that, in silence, a long time before Elsie spoke.

'We ought to go down to breakfast; Mrs Patmore will be dishing it out and you'll need to get ready to serve the family.' She said but made no real effort to make a move.

For the first time in his working life, Charlie struggled with the idea of getting out of bed and going down to work. He would have given anything to have been allowed to stay there with his wife all day, just holding her in his arms, but he knew that, eventually, they would have to get up; but not just yet.

'Are you quite alright this morning? After last night I mean; I don't want you to being feeling any remorse or anything.' He whispered tenderly into her ear and he felt her shiver slightly as his breath tickled her neck.

'Last night was simply wonderful,' she whispered back and she gave his arm a loving squeeze to reassure him and nestled herself further into his side.

As the other staff began to stir, Mrs Patmore and Daisy were already hard at it, preparing the breakfast things for the staff and for the family. At first they were too busy to notice that Lady Aurelia had entered the kitchen and she gave them a fright when she spoke to them, announcing her presence.

'I do apologise for interrupting Mrs Patmore, I know that you are very busy,' she said as she stood at the doorway to the kitchens, just opposite the door to her mam's sitting room, and the cook stopped what she was doing immediately, to stand to attention in Ella's presence. 'I was just wondering if it might be possible that you could make up a tray for Mr and Mrs Carson. I don't mind taking it to them myself, if you don't mind Daisy giving me a hand, but I thought that it might be nice for them to have breakfast in bed on their first morning together.' She explained with her very formal tone.

'Of course I can do that for you Milady; I've just finished preparing our breakfast.' Mrs Patmore said as she and Daisy then set about putting items on to two plates and making a pot of tea for them. They then placed everything on to two trays, which Mrs Patmore thought would be far too heavy for Lady Aurelia to carry, but, none the less, she seemed determined to play the maid.

'Thank you Mrs Patmore that is most kind of you,' she said as she lifted the lighter of the two trays and began to walk out of the room. 'Oh and Mrs Patmore, happy Christmas.' She added with a smile.

'You've done so many nice things for Mrs Hughes and Mr Carson Milady,' Daisy said as she led Ella through the back passages and out on to the gallery corridor.

'Well Daisy, I've known Mr and Mrs Carson a very long time, well, my whole life in fact and they've always been so very kind to me; it only seems right that the one time that they deserve to be spoilt and treated, that I should be the one that does it.' Ella explained as they finally reached Charlie and Elsie's bedroom. She tapped lightly on the door and called through to them. 'Mr and Mrs Carson, it's Lady Aurelia,' she said and hoped that they took her words to mean that she wasn't alone and was unable to speak freely.

As Daisy and Ella stood waiting, they heard Elsie's voice call through to them; 'Just a minute,' she called and after a few seconds Ella heard her mam's feet padding across the room until she got to the door, which then swung open to reveal Elsie in her dressing gown, looking the epitomy of respectability.

'Milady this is a pleasant surprise.' She said formally as she stepped aside to let Ella and Daisy through with the trays.

'Well Mrs Carson, I thought you both might appreciate the treat of having breakfast in bed this morning.' Ella replied with her formal lady's tone and her back straight and her demeanour commanding the upmost respect. 'I thought it would perhaps give you more time before you are needed downstairs.' She added as she and Daisy put the trays down on the table under the window. 'Thank you for your assistance Daisy.' She said kindly to the young kitchen maid and politely dismissed her.

The family of three waited until they thought Daisy was far away from their room, before finally dropping their guard and allowed themselves to return to their normal family life.

'Sorry about that Mam, but I needed help carrying the trays up to you.' Ella said, her tone completely different to how it had been before, as she stole a piece of toast from her dad's plate and placed it in her mouth.

'Cheeky!' He laughed as he watched her mischievous grin.

As Daisy walked back into the kitchen, her brow was furrowed in concentration and Mrs Patmore noticed the change in her mood and that something was clearly playing on her mind.

'What is it?' She asked sharply.

'What's what?' Daisy replied with confusion.

'Whatever it is that's on your mind!' Mrs Patmore replied impatiently.

'Oh it's nothing; it's just that, well Lady Aurelia has always been very kind to us, but she just seems especially kind to Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes. She's done a lot for them, that's all.' Daisy explained innocently as she then carried on with her work, oblivious to the thoughts she had implanted into Mrs Patmore's head.

She'd never given it too much thought, but now that Daisy mentioned it, the arrangement between the butler, housekeeper and Lady Aurelia did seem unusual. When they thought that everyone else had gone up to bed, Mrs Patmore had occasionally seen Lady Aurelia sneaking into the housekeeper's sitting room, then she was the only guest at the wedding and sometimes Mrs Hughes would sneak off for hours on end with no word of where she had been. If asked, she would be honest and say she'd been with Lady Aurelia, but the explanation she would give was that Lady Aurelia was unwell and needed caring for. Even Mr Carson seemed to facilitate some sort of secret rendez vous between Mrs Hughes and Lady Aurelia.

If anyone came looking for the housekeeper, on occasion, Mr Carson would step in and dissuade them, before taking over whatever task it was that they needed doing. Yes, now that she thought about Daisy's words, the questions that Mrs Patmore had been pushing to the back of her mind seemed to swim to the forefront; but it was none of her business and as much as her curiosity wanted to get the better of her, it wasn't her place for it to do so.

Now that the family of three were alone, they were able to enjoy some of their Christmas morning together. They all sat on the bed finishing the lovely breakfast that Mrs Patmore had prepared and they talked openly about Ella's pregnancy and about the fact that Charlie and Elsie were to be grandparents.

'I still can't quite believe it, I can't believe I'm to be a grandmother; well, sometimes I still can't quite believe that I'm a mother, but the thought of having a grandchild is just wonderful!' Elsie said which put a large smile on the faces of her husband and daughter.

'Well you had better start believing it; you're already ready a wonderful mother and my baby is going to be so very lucky to have you both as its grandparents.' Ella replied as she instinctively placed her hand over her stomach.

'How are you feeling this morning? I hope you are taking care of yourself Ella; had I known about this yesterday then I would have made you take it easier.' Charlie said a little sternly, but with paternal concern.

'Oh Dad, stop worrying! I am perfectly fine, a little tired perhaps, but nothing unusual.' Ella replied with a smile. 'Anyway, I'd better get ready; we'll be opening our presents soon enough. I'll see you both downstairs.' She said as she kissed them on the cheek and left them to get ready themselves.

'Oh what a girl she is,' Charlie said as he shook his head lightly. 'I can see that we'll have to make sure she takes it easy.' He explained.

'Quite probably, but then again she will soon feel herself slowing down naturally; as she grows she will learn that she can't do all of things that she does now.' Elsie replied as she tidied their breakfast things onto the tray.

'Hmmm,' Charlie responded in thought as he stared lovingly at her.

'What are you looking at?' She asked with a small smile.

'You,' he said. 'I was just wondering what you looked like when you were expecting.' He sighed.

'Ah I see,' she smiled knowingly as she joined him on the bed again. 'Well Ella wasn't a particularly big baby, so I was very neat, but I did used to get very tired very easily, so I was very grateful that Lady Grantham used to allow me plenty of time to rest.' She explained happily, as she settled herself against his chest. 'Believe it or not I did actually quite enjoy being pregnant, except late at night when I was trying to get to sleep. I would just be drifting off when Ella would suddenly decide to waken; she used to dig me so hard in the ribs she would knock the wind out of me.'

Charlie gave a low chuckle deep within his chest at her comment, as he imagined what she must have looked like, but it saddened him to think of her going through it all alone, the good times and the sad.

'And was everything well, were you well, I mean?' He asked caringly. There were so many questions that he wanted to ask her about all of the elements of her life that he hadn't been part of.

'Yes everything went well; as I say, she was a bit on the small side, but she was healthy and happy and that was the most important thing. There was a moment when I thought I was going to lose her though. It was my own fault really, I shouldn't have been so stupid. It was shortly after I had found out I was expecting and I was still trying to carry on as normal. I was walking down the staircase at Levinson House, carrying far too much, and I lost my balance of course and fell down them from half way. I was sore for days afterwards and had a lovely horseshoe shaped rainbow across stomach, but the worst part was the stomach cramps I got. I truly thought that I was going to miscarry and I think it was at that moment that I realised that, despite how she came to be, my love for my baby was truly unconditional and I felt so stupid for putting her at risk.' She explained to him sadly and he instinctively wrapped his arm around her waist and placed his hand on her stomach as he thought about what had happened. Although she was a lot more relaxed in his hold than she previously had been, he could still feel her tense up in his arms at his touch, but she made no other indication she felt uncomfortable, so he remained in the position that he was in.

'Well I'm certainly glad that it all worked out in the end; she truly is a remarkable young woman, we're very lucky.' He said.

'Yes she is, isn't she? I'm very proud of her and I think she's going to be a wonderful mother and I'm delighted that we will be able to be grandparents.' She smiled happily. 'Have you decided what you are going to be called?'

'I haven't given it much thought; but I take it that you have?'

'Certainly I have; I began thinking about it as soon as the words had left Ella's lips.' She replied with a small laugh. 'I want our grandchild to call me granny and I'll even allow, Granny Elsie if we need differentiation.'

'Hmmm, it suits you Elsie; well then, I guess I better start thinking, although I did quite like it when Ella referred to me as granddaddy last night.'

'I think granddaddy would suit you nicely.' She said as she turned round in his hold to look at him, caressing his face with her free hand and looking at him with a smile, until he interrupted her.

'Elsie,' he said simply.

'Mmmm?'

'Don't you think we'd better get moving? They'll be sending out a search party for us.' He said regrettably and she sighed deeply.

'Aye, I suppose.' She said as she got up out of the bed, closely followed by him.

The family all began to gather in the entrance hall beside the big tree, each of them having opened their own presents. Ella had received a stunning new dress from her parents, a scarf from Mary and Matthew, a book from Edith and a necklace with matching earrings from Henry. She was delighted by all of her gifts, but the best one of all was the one she had received from Sybil.

Sybil had presented her twin with several photographs in stunning silver frames, but it was the contents of the photos that made the gift the most special. The photos had been taken whilst they had been away on holiday in London for Henry and Ella's honeymoon. There was a photograph of Ella and her mam together, holding onto each other tightly and smiling happily as Charlie who had taken the picture. The there was a photograph of Ella, Elsie and Sybil together, again, holding on lovingly on to each other. The next photograph was of the twins themselves, which had captured the perfect moment they had burst into fits of laughter at something Elsie had said, and then, finally, the last photograph was of Ella, Sybil, Charlie and Elsie, standing side by side, smiling happily in the perfect family picture.

Sybil had given them to her twin in private before they had gone downstairs to join the rest of their family, as she knew that Ella wouldn't truly be able to enjoy the beauty of the gift with the others watching.

'Oh Sybbie, these are stunning…I don't know what to say!' Ella had exclaimed with tears in her eyes as she looked through the photos. 'Thank you so much and thank you for always being so supportive of us and of my relationship with my mother; it does mean so much to me.'

'Of course Aurie, they're my family too!' Sybil replied which made Ella cry all the more.

Now it was the turn of the family to give the staff their gifts, which of course consisted of the usual blankets, material for dressmaking and books; but when Elsie got to Ella, she received something else as well.

Ella handed Elsie a green and white throw, which was held together with gold ribbon, but that wasn't her real present. The real present that Ella was giving her, was sat in a box underneath the blanket.

'Happy Christmas Mrs Carson. I thought you might like the throw for your bedroom in your new cottage.' She said in her normal tone, but then she dropped her voice to a mere whisper, before adding, 'I hope you like what's in the box, Sybbie helped me with it, but don't open it here. It's for yours and Mr Carson's eyes only.' She whispered and Elsie gave her a knowing look.

'Thank you Milady, that's most kind of you.' She replied as she then moved on, completely unaware that Mrs Patmore, who had been standing nearby, had overheard the exchange and with her interest in them already piqued, this just made her curiosity about her friend grow all the more.