Author's Note: Posting it now because illness is spreading through the house! Next Chapter will be posted next week.

August 1922

Mary's eyes opened wide as she let out a pained gasp. Her hand went straight to her swollen stomach. She took a deep breath as she felt her stomach tighten sharply, the pain shooting through her abdomen and pelvis. Sitting up in her bed, she looked to her left to see her husband sleeping peacefully next to her. She pushed back the light cover and sat on the edge of the bed. The pain was spreading to her back as she took another deep breath that she exhaled slowly.

"Matthew…" Mary grunted.

But her husband slept peacefully.

The pain eased somewhat, she mostly felt uncomfortable now. But she knew what was happening to her body. She had been here eleven months ago when she had stepped off the train and had headed straight to the hospital to deliver George.

"Matthew!" Mary shrieked.

This time, her husband awoke with a jolt. His blue eyes looked confused and bleary. Mary reached behind her and sharply grasped her husband's hand and gave it a very tight squeeze.

"Ouch! Mary!" Matthew yelled.

Mary took another slow inhale of breath that she slowly exhaled, trying to focus on her breathing instead of the pain just as Isobel had instructed her during George's birth. She let out a grunt and a yell as the pain intensified before settling down again. As she tried to stand, she felt a trickle fall down her legs.

It was time.

"Matthew…send for Clarkson and your mother!" Mary instructed.

Matthew sprang from the bed in the blink of an eye as he pulled on his robe and rushed out of the bedroom. Mary managed to stand and waddle across the room to pull the bell. The next few minutes were a blur as she focused on her body preparing for the birth of her child. She sat back in her bed, trying to get comfortable against her pillow. Her mother rushed through the door, taking hold of her hand, and whispering encouraging words to her as Mary yelled and took more deep breaths that she had lost count over.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed when Dr. Clarkson and Isobel had arrived in her bedroom. The pain had grown more intense, and a pressure was building in her pelvis which only made her have the urge to push. She let out a pained shriek as Dr. Clarkson examined her.

"Lady Mary is too far gone for us to move her to the hospital as we discussed." Dr. Clarkson stated to Cora and Isobel.

"You mean she has to give birth here?" Cora asked, her voice fearful.

Dr. Clarkson nodded.

"I'm afraid so. But I'm confident that Lady Mary will deliver a healthy child and she will well after doing so." The doctor replied.

Mary knew of her mother's fears. After Sybil had died of eclampsia, she and Matthew had agreed with Dr. Clarkson that she would birth George at the hospital just to ease everyone's fears. They had made plans to do the same this time around because Sybbie was only two and the grief and fear that had followed Sybil's death was still raw for the whole family.

"Matthew!" Mary screamed, feeling another contraction.

"Lady Mary, it's quite improper for a husband to be in the delivery room." Dr. Clarkson said loudly.

But Mary didn't care about propriety at present. All she cared about was having her husband by her side as she pushed their child out into the world. Matthew had been on the train whilst she was giving birth to George, he had missed the entire thing even if Isobel had been insistent that she wouldn't want Matthew in the room. But she did. Although she might not admit it to anyone else but her husband.

"Matthew! I want Matthew!" Mary cried in agony.

She closed her eyes as she breathed deeply. The pressure in her pelvis growing until she felt that urge to push down hard. She pushed her chin into her chest, sat up from the pillows and placed her arms behind her legs and pushed down hard. She felt burning, stretching, stinging as she grunted and panted through the pain. Until it stopped and she fell back on the pillows in exhaustion.

"Keep pushing darling!" Cora urged encouragingly.

"Matthew!" Mary screamed.

oOo

From downstairs in the library, Matthew could hear his wife's screams and calls for him. He stood pacing the room as Robert and Tom made chit chat. Violet, Edith, Rose and Rosamund had started their own conversation too. But Matthew found he couldn't just join in with his relatives. His mind was solely on Mary in pain, Mary in agony, Mary giving birth to their second child.

They had had several discussions to prepare for the birth this time around. They had agreed that Mary should give birth to George at the hospital because everyone was fearful that Mary would be in danger if she gave birth at the house. Matthew had also put his foot down and insisted that Clarkson be the one in charge of Mary's care during her pregnancy and birth due to Sir Philip's mistake with Sybil. But, for whatever reason, his wife wasn't being ushered to hospital quickly in an ambulance. Dr. Clarkson was upstairs in their bedroom overseeing his wife give birth and it only made Matthew more nervous.

"Matthew!" he heard Mary scream.

He had lost count of how many times he had heard his wife call out for him. His heart wanted him to go to her. But society dictated that men weren't present at the birth of their children. Society dictated that men were to wait and celebrate the birth of any child whilst the women did their duty. But as he heard his wife's agonising scream, Matthew found himself unable to stand and wait any longer. He rushed out of the library and ran up the stairs two at a time until he stood in the doorway of their bedroom. The sight before him made him queasy.

Mary was laying back on the pillows in the middle of the bed, her chest rising and falling rapidly as sweat dripped down her face freely. Her eyes were closed, and blood was present on the bedsheets. He could see the baby's head crowning until Mary opened her eyes and looked at him pleadingly. He rushed to her side, thanking his mother quietly as his mother stepped away from Mary's side. He knelt on the floor, one hand cupping Mary's cheek and the other rubbing his fingers gently through her now loose locks that were splayed behind her on the pillows. She looked up at him, tiredness and pain filling her brown eyes.

"Matthew…I can't…" Mary whimpered.

Matthew gave her a reassuring smile, his thumb stroking her cheek as he soothed her with a shushing sound.

"Yes, you can, my darling. You've done it before, and you'll do it again. Our child is nearly here." Matthew whispered.

"I-I-" Mary muttered.

"You are strong. You are incredible, my storm braver." Matthew smiled.

"Stay with me?" Mary requested.

Matthew nodded his promise as Mary shrieked in pain again and lifted herself up. Matthew bit down on his bottom lip as his wife grasped his hand tightly and rubbed her back with his spare hand as she screamed and pushed as hard as she could.

"A little more, Lady Mary." Dr. Clarkson instructed.

"AAAAHHH." Mary screamed.

He decided silently that from this moment on he would never question just how painful and tiring childbirth was for his wife. In the future, he would give her anything she requested when it came to discussions of their family and its expansion. Mary had been right all those months ago. Witnessing the struggle his wife was going through, the pain she must be feeling – if she were willing to go through all this for him and fulfil his dreams then he would do the same for her. He loved her so much that he was willing to do anything for her. Anything she wanted that was within his power to give to her, she would have it.

"One more push, darling," Cora urged, "One more push!"

Mary let out one last, final scream of agony and fell back on to the pillows. Matthew kissed his wife's forehead before the cries of his newborn child filled his ears. Looking from his wife to Dr. Clarkson, he saw his child in the doctor's arms and he felt tears of joy fall down his face as the baby cried and wriggled in the doctor's arms.

"Congratulations, Lady Mary, you have a healthy son." Dr. Clarkson announced proudly.

A son.

He had another son.

Matthew wiped the happy tears from his face as the doctor cut the cord and placed the baby in Mary's waiting arms. Matthew sat on the edge of the bed, wrapping an arm around his wife as he stared down at the crying baby.

He was dark haired, just as George had been on the day of his birth. He had Mary's nose and chin, but his son had inherited the same eye-shape that he and George shared. His son was utterly beautiful, and he found himself wishing that his boy would grow up to look like his mother, just as George was growing up to resemble him.

"Well done, my love." Matthew whispered.

Mary looked up at him through tired eyes and hummed appreciatively. The baby fussed and cried unhappily until Mary handed the baby to him as Dr. Clarkson asked that everyone clear the room so Mary could be cleaned up and the sheets changed.

Matthew crossed the room, his son nestled in his arms as Anna handed him a thick blanket that he used to wrap the baby in. He entered his dressing room as the doctor cleared up his wife and he found himself talking to his son whose little dark blue eyes were staring at him contentedly.

"You're so dear to us, my little chap. We are so blessed to have you and I hope your big brother won't be too displeased in the morning." Matthew whispered.

The baby cooed and then started fussing again. Dr. Clarkson knocked on the dressing room door and left Matthew with some instructions and stated he would call after breakfast to check on Mary. Matthew thanked the doctor and walked back through to see his wife had changed into a fresh nightgown and her hair had been braided neatly.

"How are you, my darling?" Matthew asked.

"Tired. Sore." Mary yawned.

Anna bade them goodnight and left the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Matthew sat on his side of the bed, placing the baby boy back in his mother's waiting arms. Mary pulled down the strap to her nightgown and freed her breast, cradling their son in her arms as he latched on for his first feed. Mary shifted her body back against the pillows, trying to get comfortable as Matthew wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Do you know how much I love you?" Matthew whispered.

Mary looked at him and smiled sleepily.

"I believe you said after I birthed George that you fall more in love with me with each day that passes. Does that still stand?" Mary asked.

"Of course, it still stands. It will always stand. I find that I cannot express my gratitude and happiness to you with words." Matthew replied happily.

"Just love me in whatever way you can. That's all I want." Mary smiled.

"Always, darling." Matthew promised.

The two parents looked down at their baby suckling at Mary's breast, his little eyes fluttering that he would soon be drifting off to dreamland.

"He's perfect. Just like his brother." Mary whispered.

"That he is. I feel like I could dance with joy to have been blessed with two sons." Matthew laughed.

"Maybe in the morning when we've both had some sleep?" Mary suggested with a light laugh.

Matthew kissed the top of her head.

"I love you, so much, Mary Crawley." He whispered.

Mary leaned into him, closing her eyes slightly until the baby let out a content sigh and stopped feeding from his mother. Matthew took him so Mary could adjust her nightgown and she laid down, trying to get comfortable.

"I'll sit with him for a while before I take him to the nursery. Have we decided on a name?" Matthew asked.

"Charles Reginald." Mary yawned.

"Our own little Charlie." Matthew said approvingly.

Leaning down, he pressed his lips to hers and kissed her thoroughly. When he released her, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Matthew cradled his newborn son in his arms and found himself thinking just how wonderful life was.

He and Mary had done their duty to Downton and the title. Robert now had three heirs to the Earldom of Grantham. Their line was secure.

But George Matthew Crawley and Charles Reginald Crawley were more than just a duty to their father. For so long he had feared that his injury from the war would prevent him from being a father and even after Mary's operation, they had been ecstatic to discover they would be parents. Admittedly, he hadn't anticipated having another child so soon, George wasn't even a year old yet, but he would not change a thing.

As Mary slept peacefully by his side, little Charlie slept soundly in his father's arms for the next hour or two before he took another feed from his mother's breast.

oOo

It had been a week since Charlie had made his appearance to the world.

And in that week, the family had celebrated Sybbie's second birthday. The day had been filled with joy as they enjoyed a tea party in the grounds. Tom's parents had spent a few days at Downton before heading back to Dublin. Mary had joined them for a little while, sitting on a chair as she watched George and Sybbie play nicely together with a ball. Matthew had sat with him as Tom sat with Sybbie and Mary felt her heart swell with love as she watched how dedicated her husband was to their son.

Sadly, George wasn't too impressed with the fact he now had a little brother he had to share his parent's attentions with.

The introduction of the Crawley boys had been tense. George had prodded baby Charlie a little too hard in the cheek that had caused the little baby to let out a high-pitched cry of distress. In turn, George had been lightly told off for not being gentle by Nanny and had resorted to crying and sulking. Mary had tried to give George some cuddles as she nursed Charlie but her eldest boy wasn't having any of it. George had flung himself to the floor, pounding his little fists on the carpet until he wore himself out and fell asleep, leaving a patch of dribble in his wake.

"Papa!" George cheered happily as Tom rolled the ball toward Sybbie.

Mary smiled, enjoying the moment as she witnessed father and son bond some more.

"It's lovely that Matthew still makes time for George. Not many men find time for their family when they have so many responsibilities." Rosamund sighed.

Mary turned to her aunt and rolled her eyes.

"Matthew is a dedicated father." She stated.

"Of course, my dear. Tell me, how is little Charles? I'm surprised you didn't name him for your father."

"Well, we decided to name him for Matthew's father. We had originally wanted to name George for Matthew's father, but I ultimately decided that I wanted Matthew to be honoured. This time, Reginald would be."

"Will the next boy be honoured for your dear papa?" Rosamund asked.

Mary rolled her eyes.

Certain family members had commented that it wouldn't be long before she was pregnant with number three. It had only been a week since she had pushed Charlie out of her body, and she was still tired and sore and bleeding postpartum. It took all her energy to be outside to celebrate her niece's birthday when all she wanted to do was lie down and sleep.

"Granny tells me you're heading to Geneva?" Mary questioned, eager to change the subject.

"Yes. I need to improve my French and I've invited Edith along to keep me company." Rosamund answered.

Mary hummed in response, knowing that she needed to keep her mouth shut. Edith had been through a rough time lately. Michael, her sweetheart, had disappeared in Germany and was presumed dead. Edith's enquiries to finding out where he was had been unsuccessful. So, when Rosamund had informed her that Edith was going to Geneva with her, Mary assumed it was her aunt's attempts to take her sister's mind of the horrible events.

Her attention drifted to her husband who had handed George back to Nanny and helped her to her feet.

"Let us go and see our darling boy." Matthew suggested.

"He's over there." Mary teased, pointing behind her husband to Nanny and George's retreating forms.

Matthew chuckled and offered her his arm to which she accepted, and they followed in their son's footsteps.

"Nanny said Charles is with the nurse. Are you still planning to nurse yourself?" Matthew asked quietly.

"For a while but the nurse is there this time so I can rest during the day. Now that we've done our duty and secured the line, I want to take a rest and enjoy being a wife and mother." Mary replied.

"Don't forget an equal partner." Matthew stated.

Mary looked up and him, leaning up and placed a kiss to his cheek.

She certainly considered herself a lucky woman.