Happy Saturday, people! I am back here to present the 16th chapter of this never-ending story. My writing has been delayed by full week of school, a covid-19 vaccine and a terrible back pain…I do apologize for that. I hope this chapter manages to please you and you have the little time to leave me a review! Stay safe everyone. I'll be back to writing soon! Enjoy!

Friday 3rd, late night, the Carsons' cottage

He found her sitting in the big armchair, which was usually occupied by him, next to the blooming fire of the fireplace, reading a magazine (which surprised him a little, as she normally wasn't one for such things). Her hair was let down and her legs on the small stool from the kitchen. Charles had to smile at the sight before him, his darling wife sitting so content in their own cottage.

"Will you come sit with me, or would rather lurk in the dark corners, darling?"

Her voice caught him off guard, and he raised his eyebrows back at her in question.

"Come sit with me."

Charles obediently made his way to her, stopping to take the magazine from her and placed it on the mantelpiece. Scooting over so he would fit right beside her, before lifting herself to sit on his knee. She fit on his there perfectly…

"I never thought you were one to read magazines?", Charles said, his voice questioning, even teasing.

"I was curious of what they think of this whole Royal business. What they think of a new princess, I suppose."

"And?"

"They magazines, well, the editors, are excited of course. It means they'll have something to write about, and writing makes them money."

"Ah, I am sure they're a bit more than that.", he laughed slightly, pulling her closer to his side."Didn't they write that everyone is thrilled to have a new princess to dote on?"

"I think they might have, love.", she joined his joking.

"I'm glad."

She snuggled against his broad chest, wanting to feel his warmth and love radiant from his body. It had been a long day, that was for sure. And he always managed to make her feel safe and loved when he was near. Her eyes slowly started to get heavy and her body ache from the day behind them…

"I'm so glad his lordship agreed to your plan…", she mumbled against his chest.

"Me too, although it's not only my plan. Our plan.", Charles whispered."He was more than happy to agree."

"Hmm…"

"You're tired, I should get you to be-", he said after a moment, but she cut him middle his sentence.

"No, please. Could we stay here for a bit more? Please."

Kissing her hair, Charles replied lovingly;

"Of course. We are in no hurry."

They fell into a comfortable silence. It had always been like that, a silence wasn't torture, but a relaxing moment for both of them.

His right hand traced slow circles around her nightgown covered back, while his left held her hand. The tremor had been better lately, but now, it was visible. She kissed it off, never letting go off his hand.

"I'm not sure if I've asked this before, but when did you knew you wanted to marry me?"

"Hmm?", Charles pushed a bit further away from his to look into her eyes, slowly and reluctantly so."Why do you ask?"

"I just want to know."

There was a long silence, Elsie thought he might have fallen asleep when he suddenly spoke up again.

"Through the years I had come to think of you more as a friend than the housekeeper. We were equals in more than one way, I think. When you had the…Your scare a few years back in time, I was so relieved to find out you would be fine after all. And then when you took my hand at the beach, I knew we could make a go of it. You had always been there for me and the thought of not having you by my side when we moved on with life started to seem frightening.", he paused there, taking a deep breath and pulling her closer to his chest."You'd think those were the things that made me want to marry you, but now that think of it…I think the feeling you gave me when you smiled at me, or when you rolled your eyes at me, was why I said to myself 'I am going to marry that girl, would the world go upside down or not, I would make her my wife.'"

"And you did…", she whispered, tears in her eyes."Thank you for that Mr. Carson."

With those words, she leaned to kiss his lips. It was not a wanton or seducing kiss, but one of full admiration and love. Smiling as they parted, she laid her head back on his chest, listening to his steadily beating heart. He held there for a great while and when he was sure she had fallen asleep, he rose and carried her upstairs to their bedroom. Tucking her in bed and planting a small kiss to her forehead, he snuggled against her warm body, joining her in her sleep. He hoped these moments would stay with them even when life changed them…

Saturday 4th, morning, the Carsons' cottage

She greeted him with a smile when he made his way into the kitchen of their cottage, still dressed in his nightgown. He had woken up, not finding her next to him in bed, and made his way downstairs to look for her; he had heart the kettle going off and knew she must be making them breakfast.

He crept behind her in to the kitchen, making her jump at his touch, his cold hands wandering against the dark fabric of her housekeeper's outfit.

"Good morning.", Charles beamed, catching her lips in a loving kiss, and swayed her into his arms.

After a moment, out of breath, she replied;

"Good morning, darling. What have I done to deserve such a good morning's kiss?"

"You married this old curmudgeon."

"Hmm. Fair enough.", she teased him, gently patting his arm with her right hand.

Turning to pour them both a cup of fresh tea, she smiled at him. Her smile telling her such good morning's kisses would be most welcome in the future too.

Charles settled himself at the small table in the kitchen, looking through the morning papers. They had formed a solid routine for the mornings after a while of married life, and now both enjoyed the quiet mornings, in the warmth of their own home. Just as he turned to the next page, she came and placed a cup of tea and a toast before him.

"Here you go. I hope I managed to make the toast crunchy enough today."

"Oh, it's alright. You won't hear a word about any kind of displeasure.", he told her, taking a bite of the just made toast.

Her laughter rang through their little kitchen as she sat down on the other side of the table, facing him.

"I promised I'd go things through with her Ladyship again today. And I am to tell Ms. Baxter that she is indeed, decidedly, to become my successor."

"Do you think she'll accept the post?", Charles asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't see why she wouldn't. She'd shown great interest in her work, and she'd done everything splendidly. I think she'll be a wonderful housekeeper."

He heard the doubt in her words and said;

"But not nearly as good as you have been, my darling.", he smiled reassuringly.

"Thank you."

They ate their breakfast in a warm, comfortable silence with occasional glances at each other's directions. After that, they cleaned up together and Charles walked his wife to work. By the time they got to the Abbey, it had started to rain. And of course, he had forgotten to bring an umbrella and both their coats were completely soaked. Charles ushered her inside through the servants' entrance, following her through and closing the door behind them.

"It wasn't supposed to rain today, was it?", Elsie asked, reluctantly pulling her coat off of her shoulders.

"No. I would have brought an umbrella otherwise."

"Well, we survived.", she gave him a small smile to reassure it didn't matter."Luckily my coat protected me from getting soaked to the core."

She hanged her coat on the coat hanger and made it to remove her hat. She glanced at him, in time to see him standing in his coat, which was dripping from water.

"You should take your coat off and come sit in my sitting room by the fire. I wouldn't want you to catch a cold."

"No, no. I'll be on my way, I wouldn't want to be in your way here."

"Don't be silly.", she scolded and leaned to take his hat off of his head.

A puddle of water fell from it on the floor.

"Well, that's it then. You're staying here until your clothes have dried, and the rain has eased off a bit."

"Yes mother.", he sighed at her won argument and took off his coat.

He had no chances for victory when he was fighting against his wife.

"You wouldn't dare.", Elsie laughed heartily before disappearing into the kitchen to greet Mrs. Patmore.

Behind the corner were Anna and Ms. Baxter, planning the surprise party for the housekeeper and the retired butler. They had informed the family of their plans and agreed that they would be coming down this very evening. It was just like planned, they had counted for the rain to get Mr. Carson to come to the Abbey for sure and Mrs. Hughes would make sure he'd stay there long enough for it to make it impractical to leave and come back to get her home. Now they just had to manage to keep the party a secret from the very aware housekeeper…

Saturday 4th, later on, Downton Abbey, the library

"Are you going to make an appearance today?"

Tom's question made Lady Mary lift her gaze to meet his.

"What do you mean?"

"I was only wondering if you are planning to apologize to them before they leave, it might as well be your last chance.", Tom said gently, not wanting to anger his sister-in-law.

"I know that, Tom, you don't need to make me feel even worse than I am already.", she replied with a resigned sigh."I doubt they'll want me there."

"You've outdone yourself with helping Anna and Ms. Baxter with the preparations, surely you can't think that?"

Mary didn't say anything for a moment.

"It's a funny thing she said to me at their wedding…", Mary thought out loud.

"Mrs. Hughes you mean?"

Realizing she had said that out loud, Mary replied;

"Yes. When we arrived at the reception, I made it to apologize to Carson of the way I've acted, concerning their plans. He gave me a smile, but Mrs. Hughes didn't give him a chance to reply, when she said something like, 'Milady, Mr. Carson would forgive you even if you attacked him with a brick.'…"

Tom let out a laugh at that and prompted her to continue.

"You see…She was so desperately happy that day, that she forgave me, even though I had been a jerk, almost ruining their special day."

He softened at her words.

"I'm sure neither of them are angry at you, Mary. But you need to apologize to both, Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes."

"I know. I just don't have any idea how. I've overstepped the mark and now I fear I'm losing him forever."

"Show them you are ready to accept her new status. He'll forgive you; you know that. You have to kneel before the princess to win over the prince."

She lifted her head to look at his eyes, determined for the first time in a long time.

"Then I better do just that."