A/N: This is a follow-up to the last chapter, requested by allabouttheabbey on tumblr :)
At Mary's fifth yawn, even Cora, still reading, realised that the girls should go to bed, so, smiling coyly at her husband, who she knew had been looking forward to some time together, she closed the book and said, 'come on, girls, go to bed and we'll finish the rest tomorrow, I promise.'
Mary and Edith nodded, kissing their parents goodnight before making their way up to bed, so only Sybil remained, shaking her head, which surprised Robert – Sybil could be stubborn sometimes, but never about something so small, and he was about to speak sharply to her when he caught Cora's eye and she shook her head almost imperceptibly.
He watched curiously as she drew Sybil onto her lap and spoke to her soothingly, stroking her hair – what they spoke about, he had no idea, because they both whispered, but after a while Sybil seemed to calm down, and even kissed Cora on the cheek before leaving quietly.
'Oh, I'm sorry,' Cora murmured, coming to sit next to him and realising how long he had been waiting, 'you see, since you've been gone, Sybil's being having awful nightmares, which is why she doesn't want to go to bed – and she doesn't want to tell you, that's why we were whispering, but I just thought you should know, since they're getting better anyway.'
The words died on her tongue as Robert kissed her gently, then, pulling back, he said softly, 'never apologise for being a wonderful mother to our children, Cora.'
She smiled, that lovely, wide smile he had missed, and kissed him passionately, leaning into the kiss so that her back was to the settee and pulling him on top of her - and as he laughed at her spontaneity and she giggled, her cerulean eyes sparkling, he realised that he had never been more entranced by the woman he had married thirteen years ago.