IF YOU WANT ME YOU CAN HAVE ME-PART 22
Hi guys. Thanks for the reviews after the last chapter. Today, as I promised, Charles and Elsie will give the news to the family and to their colleagues. Some of them will be happy, some of them will not (Lady Mary won't be delighted, but who cares-I don't like her anyway) ;-) In the beginning of the chapter Charles and Elsie will talk a little about their current situation.
I have a request for you-as I mentioned after the last chapter, I'm not sure how to continue the story further. I will definitely end it with the birth of the baby, but till then, should I write few more chapters with Charles and Elsie being pregnant? (I haven't forgotten that they were suppose to leave to Scarborough for their proper honeymoon). Please advise me if you would like me to be creative or should I just skip it to the birth? I will be grateful for any ideas. Many thanks for everything!
Charles woke up the next day, not being sure where he is and what's going on, the previous day abounding in great surprises have taken it's toll. He needed a moment to wake up and realize that he is in the bed, in his house and that it is his day off. But the most striking thought was that he will be a father soon. He still hasn't got a chance to fully realize it. He turned around, wanting to look at his beloved wife, but she wasn't by his side. He felt a sudden afflux of panic.
"Elsie, honey where are you?"
"I'm in a bathroom Charles. I will be right back" Elsie responded with faint voice.
Charles felt uneasy, he recognized that there must be something wrong with Elsie, usually her voice was full of energy in the morning. He was about to get up and check, but Elsie stood in the door of their bedroom in this very moment. Charles felt terrified when he saw her. She was very pale, there were dark circles under her eyes and she looked tremendously tired. He immediately got out of bed and ran towards her.
"Elsie, sweetie, is everything all right? You are very pale and you look tired."
"It's all right Charles. It's just my morning sickness. That's normal at this stage of pregnancy. Dr Clarkson told me that they may last until third or fourth month."
"Oh my love, is there any way I can help you? Can I do something?"
"You can't Charles. That is something that I have to go through on my own. That's how nature decided."
"Oh Els, I wish there was something I could do.." There was a trace of terror on Charles's face.
'You can hold your pregnant wife, who missed you very much, but be careful, not too tight. We have to protect our little one."
"Elsie...My sweetheart...You are suffering and I can't do anything...That is really awful" Charles held Elsie in his arms delicately, placing sweet kisses into her hair. "I feel that it's all my fault..."
"It's not entirely your fault Charles..I was also there when we produced our little miracle"
"I still can't believe that this is happening. That we are going to be parents. This is a miracle indeed."
"I couldn't believe it either. In the beginning I thought that I was ill, that something is wrong with my body. I didn't believe that I was pregnant till I got the results from the doctor. Beryl was wiser than me, she told me that I was pregnant all along."
"Beryl knows?!"
"Yes Charles. She knows. She is the only one who knows. I didn't tell anyone else. Beryl was with me all the time, when I experienced first symptoms and you were away-she detected that I might be pregnant and she send me to the doctor."
"I'm going to have to thank her for taking such a good care of my wife."
"Well if you do, prepare yourself for a portion of naughty jokes. You know what she is like."
"Unfortunately I do, but even so, she was with you when you needed that, while I wasn't. I should have been. Elsie you could have told me something over the phone, I would have come back from London."
"Charles, give it up now. I wasn't sure. And when I got the results it was like a week before you were to come back, so I didn't want to make a fuss. Besides, it's not the kind of information that you would want to share with your husband over the phone."
"You didn't have to tell me about the pregnancy, you could have told me that you are unwell and I would have come back at once."
"And left your precious Lady Mary in London, when she needed you so much in there?" Elsie was clearly teasing Charles...
"I don't care if she needed me. She can have any other butler she wants. But my wife can't do without me, at least I hope she can't.."
"Of course she can't..." They kissed softly.
"Elsie...I've never been so happy. I never thought that I will be a father. I always wanted to, but it took me so long to ask you to marry me, I thought that we have wasted a chance for being parents and now.. This is a miracle..Our, own precious miracle.." He put his hand on Elsie's belly and stroke it gently.. "How are you feeling my love. Do you want something? I will take such good care of you now Elsie, of you and our baby.."
"Charles...I'm extremely happy too, but also terrified..."
"Are you afraid of being pregnant? Of all the unpleasantness? Or the labor? "
"No! I'm not worry about that. Women are doing it for centuries. If everyone else could handle that, so can I. I'm just worried that given my age, I won't be able to...If I will be able to go through the whole process succesfully? If I will able to deliver a healthy baby..I wouldn't want to disappoint you if something was meant to happen, I.." Elsie stopped talking and tears appeared on her face...
"Oh my darling...How can you think that you disappoint me? Elsie.. You have given me everything that I could ever dream of and so much more...Elsie I never thought that I could have so much happiness in my life, as I have now. Everything will be all right, I promise. I will take care of you. You won't have to even move a little finger till the end of pregnancy. We can afford to live with my salary only, anyway I will ask his Lordship for a raise, I have never done it before, but now the circumstances are different, I'm sure that he will understand. You will just sit in the cottage and relax and..."
"Hold your horses Charles! What do you mean by that? That I should give up my job?"
"Isn't that obvious Elsie? Of course you should! You can't work being pregnant!"
"What about Anna? She worked when she was pregnant and she gave birth to a healthy baby boy!"
"That was different!"
"Different? How?"
"She was not a housekeeper. Just a Lady's maid, besides she is younger than you."
"Charles Carson! That is the most dreadful thing that you could have said to me! I know that she is younger, I can count, but do you have to throw it to my face like that? So she could have managed it, but I won't, right? Is that what you are trying to tell me?!" Elsie was furious and her anger has mingled with a new stream of tears that appeared on her face. She was sobbing, without having any control over that and Charles was truly scared.
"Elsie, my love, please calm down, oh sweetie I didn't mean to offend you in any way, of course that you can manage that too." He held her close again, kissing her face. "You will do fine Elsie and in a few months we will welcome a healthy baby to this world. Our baby. Our little prince."
"Why the prince? You think it's going to be a boy?" Elsie's face has brightened gradually, when Charles mentioned about a healthy baby.
"I don't know, I guess I always wanted a son. Like any other man, I want someone to bear my family name."
"I'm bearing your family name, isn't that enough?"
"Of course it is honey. But a son would be nice, don't you think?"
"It would be. On one condition-that he will be as handsome as his father." Charles beamed with joy, hearing this words. "I always dreamt about having a little girl. Sweet, little girl, you would have go crazy about a girl, remember how you adore your Lady Mary and how you adored her when she was little."
"I remember. A girl would be wonderful too. It doesn't really matter what the sex of the baby will be, just as long as it's healthy and everything goes well. I couldn't bear the thought of loosing you Elsie...You are the most important person in my life. That's why you need to take care of yourself, especially now."
"I know Charles..But please, try to understand me...I do not wish to spent those few, next months all alone in the cottage. I would have go mad if I was to sit here all day long, by myself, with nothing to do. I want to be close to you, I want to be with you, with our colleagues and with the family even. I would have missed them as well, all of them, well maybe except Lady Mary"
"You are cruel my love..But you needn't be worried about Lady Mary. You are high above her."
"I hope so! You might have been her second father, but now you are going to be a first father for our daughter!"
"There's my Scottish dragon back. You already decided that it's a daughter and I have nothing to say in the matter"
"Why should you? I'm the one who is carrying her, am I not? I'm the one who will suffer for the next seven moths and go through an enormous pain, so I will decide if she is a girl or not!"
"Elsie...I love you my scrappy woman! I love you madly! I agree. Daughter it is."
"I love you too my docile teddy bear!"
They've kissed sweetly and looked each other in the eyes affectionately.
"Charles, before we talk about our future for the next few months, don't you think that we should tell the family about it? They have to decide if they can have a pregnant housekeeper."
"You are right. We are depending from their decision anyway. I think that we should tell them today."
"Today? It's our day off."
"I know lass, but why wait? We have to know where we stand. There are changes ahead of us and it's time that everyone get use to it."
Charles Carson who is not afraid of changes, I never thought that I will live to see that!"
"I'm not afraid of anything Elsie, as long as I'm with you. I can face the worst things, but I need to have you by my side.."
"You have me Charles..You will always have me and our daughter" Elsie smiled wickedly, kissing Charles's forehead.
"Poor lad. If he hears you right know, he will have complexes and he will think that you didn't want him!" Charles chuckled and duck away, when he saw that Elsie was about to punch him in the stomach. They both laughed joyously and kissed, being eternally grateful for the changes that were to take place soon.
Afternoon-The Abbey
They've arrived to the Abbey during tea time. Charles and Elsie figured that it was the best moment of the day to break the news. Charles went upstairs and asked his Lordship for a talk. Robert, Cora and Mary were in the library, having their tea. Charles asked Robert if they could talk without any of the staff being present, he wanted to make sure that the family will know first, besides he wasn't entirely sure what their reaction will be. It was better to save himself and Elsie any kind of humiliation in the presence of any member of the downstairs group. Soon Elsie came up and they were now both standing in the library, feeling a little shy, as the situation was quite an unusual one.
"Carson, Mrs Hug..Carson..Is everything all right? You look a little abashed"- Robert was curious what might brought this sudden need of talk with the family.
"We are all right my Lord. Thank you. It's just that there are some new circumstances, that appeared and we wished to inform you and the family about it My Lord, as soon as possible."
"Oh golly! I hope that you are not planning on leaving us Carson, you know that we couldn't handle without you here. You are an essential part of the house, so if Mrs Hughes decided to take you away from us, I will be displeased"-said Lady Mary with a malicious smile on her lips.
Elsie's Scottish blood was on fire at this moment. She decided to show this little uppity minx where her place is
"No My Lady. Mr Carson is not going anywhere. He knows that this house or you couldn't have functioned properly without him. The thing is that recently, I have found out that in a few months Mr Carson and I are going to be parents and that is the joyful news that we wanted to share with you today" Elsie said that proudly, looking straight at Lady Mary, to see her reaction.
There was a moment of brief silence in the room, after Elsie's announcement but it was soon followed by the eruption of joy.
"Oh crikey! What an unexpected, yet wonderful news! Who would have thought! Carson my dear champ, congratulations! It's seems you were not idle since you got married!" Robert's wide smile express his genuine joy of the fact.
"Robert! Really! Control yourself!"Cora was a little ashamed with her husband's words. "I'm so very happy for both of you, surprised, but genuinely happy." Cora shook hands with both of the Carsons, smiling warmly.
Elsie and Charles looked at Lady Mary, who was not even trying to hide her true emotions. The initial shock on her face, when she heard the news, has turned into an expression of disgust, soon followed by anger, which she could hardly conceal.
"Congratulations Mrs Hughes. You have managed to ensnare Carson entirely. No way out now Carson, you are hitched!"
"Thank you My Lady. I'm glad that you are happy about the news. Mr Carson is over the moon about it, ever since he heard it. He is already picking names for our little one. Oh and by the way, if you don't mind, I would prefer to be addressed as Mrs Carson now. I'm not Mrs Hughes anymore."* Elsie's triumph was written on her face clearly.
"My Lord, we would like to know how this change influence my wife's position. Would you like to find a new housekeeper or would it be possible if Mrs Carson could still work here?" Charles was really impatient to know the decision.
"Mrs Carson, do you want to quit now? Because I have nothing against you still working for us, don't you agree Cora?"
"Of course. I couldn't think of a better housekeeper than Mrs Carson. If you feel up to it, then I have absolutely nothing against it!"
"I'm very happy My Lady. I think I can manage. With a help of Mrs Baxter, Mrs Patmore and Anna, I believe that we can maintain the standards to which you are used to."
"I'm sure you can Mrs Carson. Have you informed your colleagues about this happy news yet?"
"No we haven't yet. We wanted to talk to you first. If you will excuse us now, we will go downstairs and pass the message to the staff."
"Housekeeper being pregnant. That is something that you won't see very often. Very modern perspective for Downton I would say." Lady Mary decided to make another snipe remark towards Elsie.
"We could easily say that Downton is catching up the modern times My Lady. Another reason to be happy about. Thank you for your time and understanding. We will leave you in peace now."
Charles and Elsie got out of the library, closing the door behind them. They didn't even manage to take one step, when they heard Lady Mary's voice inside:
"This is disgusting. How dare she to come here with such news and ask us to accept it as something natural? I don't believe that you have agreed to it.."
"Mary, stop it at once! Your behavior was disgraceful. I do not wish to here any more of such nasty remarks towards Carson or Mrs Hugh..Carson!" Robert's voice was sharp and loud.**
They walked slowly towards the stairs. Charles lowered his sight, feeling rather ashamed, while Elsie was raging with anger, they were on their way downstairs, when she erupted:
"There is your precious Lady Mary! I told you that girl has got no shame!"
"Well, she behaved badly I have to admit. Not the way that I expected.."
"She is furious, because she lost her total control over you and she knows that she will never have it back. Now that you are married and you will be a father."
"It's all right Elsie. Don't worry about it anymore. The most important thing is that His Lordship and Her Ladyship didn't have anything against you still being a housekeeper. We must enjoy that. Come on down honey, we will pass the message to our colleagues."
When they got down, everyone were in the servants hall, enjoying their tea. They all got up, as soon as they entered the room. Charles and Elsie stood at the corner of the table.
"Everyone. I have some news that I would like to share with all of you. Just wish to emphasize that we have just shared this news with the family and they were very pleased, therefore now I'm giving this message to you. Mrs Carson and I are going to have a baby in a few months. Mrs Carson will still continue her work here, as a housekeeper and I trust that you will all have in mind her condition and you will do everything you can to help her."
Likewise upstairs, the downstairs team held their breaths when they heard the news, but this moment of silence was soon replaced by joy and heartfelt congratulations.
"Congratulations Mr and Mrs Carson. Great news"-Daisy was very happy and she was smiling coyly.
"Mr Carson, Mrs Carson this is marvelous. The best gift that you can ever get from life, trust me when I say it."-Mr Bates said nicely.
"Mrs Carson, this is wonderful" Miss Baxter and Anna said simultaneously and laughed, realizing this.
"You needn't worry about anything, we will help you to run the house and if you need any advice about pregnancy, just come and ask me. I know all the tricks, that will help you to get through the most tiring symptoms"-Anna was an angel, as usual.
"Mr Carson, let me pass you my congratulations. You have managed to taken us all by surprise and I suppose yourself as well." Thomas smiled in a wicked way.
"Thank you Mr Barrow. I'm really glad that you approve" Charles decided that in this happy day, even Thomas won't be able to get on his nerves.
But the last word was always with Mrs Patmore, as usual. Nearing Charles and Elsie, so nobody else could hear them, she said quietly to both of them:
"I can see that the honeymoon was not wasted for our love birds. You have certainly managed to fill your love nest sooner than I have expected."
"Thank you Mr Patmore. We knew we could count on your witty remarks." Charles smiled widely.
"Always. You can be quite sure, that Elsie will have the best care during her pregnancy. Auntie Beryl will have that in mind."
"Thank you Beryl. You are a real treasure" Elsie smiled to Beryl and they held hands, smiling warmly to each other, while Charles was standing next to them, being the proudest man on earth.
That was a longer chapter that I have expected. I hope you weren't bored with it. I got so caught up in writing, that I forgot to feed my cat ;-) Anyway, the family and the downstairs team know now. Uppity minx wasn't pleased and I believe that she hasn't completely given up her efforts to regain Charles's attention. As always-sorry for any mistakes. I'm doing the best I can. If you like it please leave a review and tell me-does this story is worth continuing or should I just skip to the part when Elsie gives birth. Thanks for everything and see you soon!
*As many of you, I'm also pissed off by the fact that Elsie couldn't use her married name after the weeding. It was silly that a family had so much trouble with calling her Mrs Carson, as they should. So I decided to use it here, as a way for Elsie to annoy Lady Mary a bit.
**I always thought that Robert and Cora should have scolded Lady Mary for her behavior, more then once during the series, yet they never did, so I made them. After all it's my fiction ;-)