August 1920
Lottie bounced excitedly on her heels as the car pulled into the driveway.
"Mama! Mama! Mama!" The three year old tugged on her mother's skirt and grinned up at her. "Aunt Sybil!"
"Yes Princess, it's Aunt Sybil and Uncle Tom and your new cousin." Mary smiled, tucking a stray curl behind the little girl's ear.
"Cousin?" George asked as Tom stepped out of the car.
"Yes Georgie." Matthew smiled down at his son's wide eyes.
When Sybil stepped out, holding the little bundle in her arms, Lottie took off with her little legs carrying her as fast as she could go. "Aunt Sybil!"
The brunette looked up at the noise and smiled as Lottie came careering towards her. "Hello pretty girl." She grinned and bent down carefully to caress the three year old's blonde curls.
"Cousin?" Lottie asked, peering at the little body wrapped in blankets.
"Yes, this is your cousin Siobhan." Sybil smiled and beckoned George over. The five year old dropped his mother's hand and ran towards his aunt, gasping as he saw the little girl in her arms.
"She's so tiny." He stated looking at her. "Why isn't she crying?"
Tom chuckled. "She's sleeping."
"Oh." Lottie drawled turning towards her parents. "Mama! Papa! Look!"
Mary and Matthew chuckled before making their way over to the others.
"I can see darling." Mary smiled before looking up at her sister. "Oh Sybil, she's just adorable."
"Isn't she just, I can't seem to take my eyes off of her." Sybil replied.
"Well come on inside, I'm sure you'll want to rest after your journey." Matthew smiled and led the small family inside.
Later on, everyone was settled in the library.
"Milady. There's a letter for you." Barrow entered, setting the letter tray down next to Mary.
"Thank you Barrow." Mary quickly tore open the letter. "Oh, it's from Grandmamma."
"Really?" Matthew asked. "What does she say?"
"Oh my goodness! She says that she's coming to England to see her great-grandchildren and that she'll be here on the 15th!" Mary exclaimed, reading the letter over.
"But it's the 13th today!" Sybil replied, tearing the letter from her sister's hand.
"Oh dear lord!" Mary sighed and rested her head in her hands.
"What's so bad about your Grandmamma?" Matthew asked, chuckling slightly as Lottie pretended to be a train.
"Hello?" Matthew's question was not answered as Edith and Cora entered the room, smiles on their faces as they saw Sybil.
"Oh Darling!" Cora exclaimed and rushed over, hugging her daughter and turning to coo at the baby in her arms.
Edith followed suit before both took their seats.
"What have you got there Mary?" Cora asked, sipping from her cup.
"A letter from Grandmamma, actually she says that she'll be here on the 15th." Mary replied, giggling as Lottie clambered onto Edith's lap, the woman offering no help to the little girl except a small smile.
"Here as in, at Downton? In two days?" Edith asked, holding her niece tightly on her lap so as to stop her from wriggling.
"Apparently so." Sybil replied, crinkling her nose. "I'm sure Granny will be delighted."
Edith chuckled and reached for her tea.
Lottie cried out as the hot liquid split over her dress and a large part of it fell on her arm. Tears sprung to her eyes and she jumped off her aunt's lap, running to her mother. Mary passed Matthew her tea and the letter before swinging Lottie onto her lap. Edith ran out the room, explaining on her way that she was going to get a cloth and some cold water.
"Mama! It hurts!" She cried, showing her mother her arm.
"I know Princess, I know." Mary held her daughter close and kissed her curls, rocking her back and forth on her lap slightly in an attempt to sooth the toddler. Lottie's crying had set off Siobhan so Sybil was stood swaying from side to side, both sisters attempting to lessen the crying in the room.
Edith came rushing back in and settled the bowl and cloth on the table next to Mary, placing a bandage down as well.
"Oh goodness Mary, I'm so sorry!" Edith exclaimed, her head in her hands.
"Nonsense, it was only a matter of time before she dropped her own hot chocolate down herself." Mary smiled at her sister, they'd become closer since Mary became a mother and Edith credited it to the fact that her elder sister was more understanding of silly mistakes that Edith always found herself making. "There we go darling."
She finished wiping the mark before wrapping it with the bandage. She lifted the spot to her lips and smothered it in kissing, smiling as her little girl giggled.
Hearing Lottie's laughs seemed to calm Siobhan down as well and Sybil settled down with the baby in her lap.
"Well then, that was dramatic." Matthew smiled, watching Mary smooth over Lottie's curls.
His wife gave a laugh and rolled her eyes. "With Grandmamma coming, drama is something we'll all have to get used to."
She couldn't have been more right. A few days later, the family gathered outside the house to greet Cora's mother.
Mary held Lottie on her hip and her other hand was grasping one of George's tightly. Matthew felt rather uncomfortable stood at the head of the house but Cora had assured him that she would take charge once her mother arrived.
Sybil held little Siobhan with Tom stood next to her, Edith on her other side. The servants spread out alongside the other side of the house, all standing tall and proud.
The car drove up and Lottie began to wriggle, causing Matthew to chuckle. "Hush, princess."
Alfred opened the door to the car and out stepped Mrs Levinson, fur rimmed coat and all. Cora stepped forward to greet her mother.
"Come war and peace, Downton still stands and the Crawleys are still in it." She announced grandly and Matthew and Mary willed themselves not to look at each other for they knew they would start to giggle. "Cora."
Cora approached her mother, embracing her. "Mother, it's lovely to see you."
"Yes it is, I was terribly sorry to hear about Robert." The older woman stated in a tone that didn't seem at all sympathetic. "You must be Matthew. I wished to make the wedding but it was all done in such great haste."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Matthew smiled, kissing her hand.
"Mrs Hughes, well where is Carson?" She asked, sweeping towards the servants.
"He passed away at the end of last year madam." Mrs Hughes stated. "This is Barrow."
"Pleasure to see you again madam." Thomas nodded.
"Ah yes, you were a footman. Well, the world has moved on since last we met."
"And Downton has moved on with it madam."
"Really? Seems so strange to think of the English embracing change. Mrs Hughes, this is my maid, Reed." The young girl joined the line of servants as her mistress swept across to the other side of the door. "Sybil, you must tell me all about this little darling. We do these things so much better in the States."
She briefly cooed at Siobhan before embracing Sybil and then moving down the line. "You must be Branson, causing uproars within English society? I believe we'll get on just fine."
"I hope so madam." Tom replied, kissing her hand.
"Edith, still no one special?" The middle daughter's face fell as her Grandmother addressed her. "Oh well never mind, you must take a tip from the modern American girl."
As she moved onto Mary, Edith and Sybil shared an incredulous look.
"Ah Mary, dearest Mary." She kissed her eldest granddaughter. "Now you tell me all of your plans for the estate and I'll see what I can do to improve them. This must be George."
She leant down to coo over George, who moved behind his mother's skirts and stuck his thumb in his mouth. "Well, you must be Charlotte." She moved to the other child who buried her head in Mary's shoulder and whimpered slightly.
"I'm sorry Grandmamma, George is a little shy and Lottie thinks she's in trouble if we call her Charlotte." Mary explained with a smile as they headed into the house.
A few hours later and Lottie had warmed considerably to her great-grandmother.
"Oh what's this?" The woman asked, pointing to the bandage on her arm.
"Aunt Edith drop hot." Lottie explained, looking down at her arm and frowning. "Mama? It better now?"
"Not quite yet darling, you must keep it on and remember what we said yesterday." Mary replied with a smile to her daughter.
"No fiddle."
"Good girl."
"She talks so well." Mrs Levinson remarked before turning to Matthew. "So tell me again just how you are related to us?"
"Rather distantly I'm afraid. My great-great-grandfather was a younger son of the 3rd Earl." Matthew explained as George climbed around his frame.
"My, I'm going to have to write that down so I can study it."
"Not that it matters now Mother, now that Mary and Matthew are married." Cora jumped in.
"Good because before that I have to admit I didn't understand why he got to inherit my late husband's money." Her voice was cold and Lottie shied away from her, crawling into Mary's lap.
"It was all rather funny wasn't it?" Matthew replied, extracting George from where he was trying to climb on his head.
"No everyone shared your sense of humour. Well, it doesn't matter now." She smiled as Lottie yawned. "Someone's tired."
"I think it might be naptime." Mary smiled and giggled slightly as Lottie struggled to keep her eyes open.
Matthew checked his watch and stood up, picking George up under his arm as he did so. "Right you are darling."
He headed out with George giggling all the way. Mary stood and held out her hand for Lottie to take. Everyone laughed as the toddler raised her arms above her head in desperation. "Carry?"
The mother appeased and lifted the girl into her arms, leaving the room as her daughter began to loll against her shoulder. By the time they were upstairs, Lottie was asleep.
The next day, the family were settled around the table for breakfast.
"So, what have I arrived in time for?" Mrs Levinson asked, looking to Matthew who was sat at the head of the table.
"In actual fact, you're just in time for the cricket match." Edith smiled.
"Yes the village thrashed us last year and I get the feeling that they'll do the same again on Saturday." Matthew remarked. "Have we got the team assembled Barrow?"
"Yes milord but I've had to ask some of the outside staff as we are still short on a footman." Thomas replied, placing the post down next to Matthew.
He opened the first letter and smiled before turning to Barrow. "That's perfectly alright and why don't you place an advertisement? If you'll excuse me, I must go speak to Mary."
He headed upstairs with a smile and knocked on their door.
"Yes?" Mary's voice sounded from inside. She grinned as he entered the room. "Shouldn't you be at breakfast?"
"I was but then the post arrived." Matthew replied, settling down on the bed next to her, carefully so as to not knock her breakfast tray.
"Oh?" She asked, biting into a slice of toast.
"Do you remember last year when I was concerned about the investments that your father had made?"
"Yes. You were up until the early hours of the morning until it was resolved, I felt like I didn't see anything of you." She gave a slight pout and Matthew chuckled, kissing it away quickly.
"I'm sorry darling but it seemed to pay off. That is to say that the company your father had all the money invested in has crashed and so would've this estate."
"My goodness! Well thank heavens you sorted it!" Mary exclaimed, brushing his hair out of his face.
"Hmm, I was discussing the cricket match before the post arrived."
"And?"
"We are going to be thrashed again."
They both laughed and smiled, awaiting Saturday.
It was true, three hours into the game and the village were soaring ahead of the house in terms of points. The ladies were sat under the canopy. Cora and her mother took the two chairs and Edith reclined on the sofa. Mary and Sybil sat on the floor with the children.
"It was good of Tom to play." Mary said, watching Matthew run back and forth.
"T'was, he was rather embarrassed to say he didn't know how at first." Sybil smiled, also watching her husband. "Ah, hello Isobel."
"Granny Iz!" The children exclaimed and jumped up to embrace her.
"Darlings be careful or you'll hurt dear Granny Iz." Mary smiled, standing to greet her mother-in-law.
"Mary sweetheart, how are you?" Isobel smiled, embracing her son's wife.
"Good, how are you? How's your new job going?" Mary asked, settling back down on the blanket with Lottie in her lap.
"Good, I feel we are really making progress." Isobel smiled and Mary grinned back. "How is Matthew?"
"Drowning in work I'm afraid, we were just discussing how well he plays." Mary replied, looking out at her blonde husband.
"He's always had a profanity for cricket, he played at university quite a bit."
"Really?" Sybil asked, leaning towards Isobel.
"Yes, he did rather well."
Another mark was awarded to the village team before Matthew called for a break for lunch, the players all rushing off the field.
"Well done darling, you played quite marvellously." Mary smiled, brushing his blonde hair out of his eyes.
"Thank you darling, I meant to ask you last night, how was the doctor's yesterday?" Mary had been feeling under the weather recently and Matthew had insisted that she go and see Carson.
"I have some news actually." Mary smiled, taking one of Matthew's hands into both of hers. "I wasn't ill, the nausea was caused by something else entirely."
"And that was?"
"We may need to expand the nursery darling." Mary smiled as Matthew's face lit up.
"Truly?" He asked, in a complete state of disbelief.
"Truly." Mary laughed as she was swept into his arms and spun around.
"Oh Mary, you have made me so incandescently happy." He leant down and kissed her, carefully dodging the brim of her hat.
"My, perhaps the English are moving forwards. Public displays of affection." The voice of Mary's grandmother sounded from behind the couple and they turned to see her.
"Sorry Grandmamma." Mary smiled, but made to move to leave her husband's arms.
"Oh I'm all for it but your Aunt is shooting daggers."
Sure enough, Rosamund was glaring at the couple and the minute they looked over she turned up her nose and stalked off in the opposite direction.
"Well then, shall we eat?"