CHARLES'S CHRISTMAS CAROL-32
Hello all. Thanks for all your kind words and reviews. I was debating with myself whether I should end or continue the story and this other option won. So far I really like to write Chelsie with children and till I'm out of ideas, I will continue. If you will ever feel bored with the story, let me know. In this one, I will focus on the family interactions, especially on Elsie and little Charlie. Hope you will like it.
February 1906
Mrs Brown and Elsie made some last arrangements for the big party that was suppose to take place next week and Elsie decided that it was enough for her today. Even though she was feeling fine, in spite of her enormous size and nearing due date, she knew that few more minutes and Charles or Beryl, or both of them, will probably storm into her sitting room and make her go home...It was so nice to have loving people around, but Elsie was such an independent woman, that all that fussing was too much to bear for her at times.
Recently even the children were taking a special care of her, trying to help her at the cottage as much as they could, which often had an opposite effect. The girls couldn't wait for their new sibling to arrive and even when Elsie was trying to calm their enthusiasm, saying that the baby will cry at night, waking them all up, the girls stated that the are ready to give up their night sleep, just to take care of the baby, they were fighting all the time between each other about the baby's gender. Victoria was convinced that it was going to be a girl and she insisted on buying a pink blanket to the crib, which Charles brought from the attic, whilst Charlotte claimed, that it is going to be a boy and she gave Elsie ideas about a possible name for him.
Charlie junior was the least enthusiastic of all three, but he told Elsie that he also hoped for a little girl, because he was afraid that his position of the only boy will be endangered, he was especially concerned about lossing the feelings of his father. Charlie was big enough to understand, that he was the oldest son and that his father, who treated him sternly sometimes, was also extremely proud of him and he already saw him as someone who will take over one day. Charlie spent a lot of times at the Abbey, he did his homework there, he helped Charles and they often went back together, to the cottage, late evenings. Elsie was not pleased about that. She told Charles that Charlie was still a little boy and he should have some fun, instead of being engaged in the duties of the Abbey, but Charles assured her that their beloved son indeed has an equal amount of fun and the duties, as he spends a lot of time in Lady Sybil's presence.
Charles was still overworked, but he took care of Elsie all the time...Even during the day, between all his usual tasks, he never forget about visiting her in her sitting room, bringing her tea, biscuits and making sure that she was all right, that she wasn't hungry or cold. Even though it sometimes annoyed her a bit, most of the time Elsie was grateful to have such a wonderful husband, who was still as much in love with her as he was almost ten years ago, when they got married. On those few, rare moments in the evenings, that they had for each other, they still tried to cut out those moments in their daily routine, just to have a few minutes to talk to each other and show themselves some love and tenderness. Charles kept on stroking and kissing her pregnant belly, as he did every time Elsie was pregnant and she was becoming more and more emotional every time he did that.
Elsie visited Dr Clarkson on regular basis and he kept on reassuring her, that everything was fine. Her weight has exceeded a norm, but that was not an alarming thing. Elsie was joking with Dr Clarkson, that both-her husband and Mrs Patmore were the one to be blamed for that, as they made her eat too much, caring about the well being of the youngest Carson.
On this day, Elsie was coming home alone, because the girls were attending a birthday party of their school friend and Charles was suppose to pick them on his way back from the Abbey. She wasn't sure where Charlie was, but she supposed that he was probably either doing homework somewhere around the Abbey or playing with Lady Sybil. All the downstairs team were used to the fact, that Charlie was there for the most of the time and they had absolutely nothing against it, on the contrary, they were more than pleased with his presence.
Elsie paced to the cottage faster than usual, because the weather was really cold and she sighed with relief as she entered. This winter was exceptionally heavy. But her relief has soon transferred into concern, when she saw little Charlie sitting on the sofa and crying...
"Charlie, what's the matter? Why are you crying?"
"It's nothing mommy..I thought you were still at the Abbey..."
"I finished work for today...What's the matter lad? Come on, tell your mommy everything..."
Elsie took off her coat and she sat on the sofa, hugging her little boy...He was such a brave little lad, she didn't often see him crying. It was obvious that something terrible must have brought him to the state in which he was..She kissed her boy's hair and she stroke his head...
"What's wrong darling? Has someone been unkind to you?"
"Mommy...I shouldn't tell you...Daddy would be mad at me if he knew..."
"Daddy doesn't have to know..It will be our little secret..Who has upset you so much?"
"It was Lady Mary..."
"Lady Mary? What has she done?"-Elsie's blood was on fire instantly, as she heard this..She hated that little minx, who was getting more and more cruel as she grew up, convinced that she was the centre of the universe and unfortunately her parents seemed to support her in that conviction...Ever since they understood, that they won't probably have a son, Lady Mary became their first priority...She was rude, unkind and she never missed an occasion to say some harsh things. Unfortunately, in spite of all these things, Charles adored her and constantly put her on the pedestal, as the future custodian of Downton.
"She...She told me awful things when we were playing with Sybil..."
"What things? Tell me sonny?"
Charlie's eyes were still full of tears, when he decided that he should confide in mommy.
"We were at Sybil's room and we were building a tower of blocks and talking about how it is going to be when we grow up...I told Sybil that when we will grow up, I will marry her and take care of her.."
"Charlie...Why did you say that?"
"Because it's true...I want to marry Sybil when I grow up, but Lady Mary was behind us and she heard what I said and she told me, that I should forget about marrying Sybil, because I'm only the butler and the housekeeper's son and that I don't deserve Lady Sybil..And then..."
"And then what?"
"And then she told me that I should go back downstairs where I belong...She told me to get out of the room and leave Sybil alone..."
"And what did Sybil do?"
"She told Mary that it is her room and she can't speak to me like this and Lady Mary said that she will tell her parents all about it and Sybil started to cry and Lady Mary pushed me out of the room..."
"Oh my sweetheart...It must have been awful for you...My dear boy..."
"Why did she do that mommy? Why was she so mean to me?"
"Lady Mary is not a kind person...Don't tell daddy that I said it..."
"I won't..Daddy likes her..."
"You musn't feel sad for what she said...But you also shouldn't think about things like marrying Lady Sybil.."
"But why mommy? I love her..."
"Honey...You are much too young to think about things like love and marriage...You need to learn now, finish school, get education and find a job. Then you can think about marriage..."
"But why can't I marry Sybil?"
"Because she is Lady Charlie and we are servants...It's not possible...I know that it's difficult for you to understand that. I would like things to be different, but they are not...You are from the different classes and it's not possible..."
"I don't understand mommy...You told me once that all people are equal...Were you lying?"
"No sweetheart...I wasn't lying...All people should be equal, but unfortunately that's not how it always works..."
"So I won't marry Sybil when I grow up?"
"Probably not my love...Unless the world changes till that time..We will never know...When you will grow up, your dad will want you to work with him and then take over his job one day..."
"I know...Daddy wants me to be the butler one day..."
"He does...He is so proud of you...And I'm sure that one day you will meet a girl as lovely as Lady Sybil and you will fall in love with her..."
"No mommy...There isn't any other girl like Sybil...She is the prettiest and and kindest girl that I know and you see that I will marry her one day!"
"My dear, stubborn boy...How about I will give you something that will help you forget this harsh moment? A piece of chocolate cake?"
"Yes mommy! But a big one, ok?"
"A big one...You've earned it..."-Elsie hugged her little boy, still contemplating her son's words...
She was suppose to stay silent about that, but she wasn't able...At night time, when she and Charles were preparing to sleep, she told him the whole story...
"I can't believe what's going on in our boy's head...I told you Elsie..I warned you, that it was dangerous...He is spending too much time with Lady Sybil...It was acceptable when they were toddlers but now? We need to separate them.."
"We will do no such thing and if you will ever try to do it, I will divorce you, I promise...I told you that, to let you know what a horrible person Lady Mary is..You adore her so much and she is turning into a monster..."
"But she was right, saying what she said to Charlie...He shouldn't think about..."
"Whether she was right or not, you really think that she should address that way to a little boy? Making him and her own sister cry? That cruel minx...If this will happen one more time, I will tell her something harsh too...I'm really sorry for her future husband...He will have a difficult life..."
"Elsie...Please.."-Charles was terrified, knowing his wife's wild temperament by now..."You can't say anything to her..This can cost us our jobs..."
"I think not...I can't see how this family could handle without us...We are the ones who run the Abbey..."
"We are, but please Elsie, don't mention this to anyone...I don't want any trouble and I will speak to Charlie about it.."
"All right, but if she will keep on picking on our son, I won't stay silent, I will go straight to Her Ladyship and tell her how awfully her daughter behaves...Luckily, thanks to her American heritage, she has much more common sense than the rest of this family and she will know what to do..."
"I think that we shouldn't worry that much...Charlie is still a little boy...He doesn't know what he is saying...In two or three years he will forget about those nonsense ideas..."
Elsie didn't answer to Charles, because she didn't want to argue with him, but she suspected, that he wasn't right...She reminded herself when she was a little girl and she announced to her family, during her 10th birthday, that one day she will work in the great house or a castle...She still remembered how she amused her whole family with that statement and how nobody took this seriously at that time...
If Charlie had some of her character and he certainly did, she thought that they should take into serious consideration what he was saying to them, with such certainity about his plans for the future... Elsie's musings were interrupted, when she felt Charles's hands on her belly...She smiled, seeing that it was time for a daily portion of tenderness from her husband...
"How are you feeling love? How is our little one? I've been thinking that maybe it's time for you to stop working now...Mrs Brown can easily manage...It's not far away from your due date..."
"Charles...It's almost two months...I can't just sit on the sofa all day and eat cookies...Look at my size..Even the doctor told me that I have already exceeded the weight norm..."
"Is it dangerous? Is something wrong?"
"No sweetie, everything is fine, it's just that I'm the size of the house..."
"I don't care if you are the size of the house or a castle...I still love you very much...And our little one..."-Charles showered her belly with kisses..."I can't wait to see him...I would so want to hold our little one in my arms already..."
"Just wait till he starts to scream at night, you will miss the times when he was safely hidden in my belly..."
"Elsie...We've manged to go through this twice..It won't be different this time..."
"Luckily it's the last time when we have to go through that...Don't get me wrong..I Love our babies more than my life...But before they will grow up a bit, it's the worst period..."
"It's difficult, I won't deny...But on the other hand..Just think...A small, precious baby to hold and to love...How cute is that?"
"You are a softie...A real softie and I love you for that Charles Carson..."-Elsie kissed Charles sweetly and she touched his mussed hair..."Just please be kind to Charlie when you will talk to him...Can you promise me that?"
"I can...Don't worry...I will explain everything to our boy...We should get some sleep now Elsie...Tomorrow we have to start all over again...Come her my love...I want to have you close..."-He drew Elsie near him, holding her impossibly closer and kissing her forehead lovingly...He put his one hand on her back, gliding along her spine slowly and giving her a soothing massage and he put his other hand on her belly, making circular motions and letting their youngest child know, how much awaited and desired it is...Very soon they both drifted to a peaceful land of sleep...
That's all for today...I love the idea of little Charlie still being with his father at the Abbey. Of course in reality it would not be seen well, because they would probably think that the child is disturbing their work, but I like to think of Charlie as Charles's copy-a mini butler, working for the glory of the Abbey from his youngest years. I can easily imagine Lady Mary saying such harsh things to a child-she liked servants to be in their place. Hope you liked this parental chapter...Take care of yourselves and your families and thank you for everything.