Hello friends and fans of Nanny McPhee! The wonderful and talented markaleen and I have decided to team up to write this little story about the life of the Brown family, and in particular the relationship between Cedric Brown and Evangaline.

The story is set pre-Nanny McPhee. Both markaleen and I adore this sweet couple and have been having such a fantastic time collaborating on this story. We do hope you enjoy it!

Peace and love,
Renee.

...

The house had gone still the past twenty-four hours. It started with Mrs. Brown's first contraction — a cry anyone in the house over the age of five was accustomed to by now. Everything went along as normal for the first few hours. Evangeline, Mrs. Blatherwick, and the midwife tended to Agatha's every need. It was Mr. Brown's duty to keep the children occupied while they waited for their new sibling to arrive. Just as always.

As her contractions grew more frequent, changes in the mother-to-be were apparent. It was Evangeline who first noticed Agatha's color, commenting on how pale she looked compared to the last time. Evangeline had been hired shortly before Chrissie came into the world, and though her experience was limited, something felt off. She felt it in her gut.

More hours passed and the baby was on its way. That's when they discovered the baby was breech.

Evangeline was sent to discreetly tell Mr. Brown the news. Unsurprisingly, he didn't react well, pushing past the scullery maid and rushing upstairs to be by his wife's side. Under the circumstances and the apparent ease this brought to Agatha, the midwife made an allowance.

With a valiant effort by all those involved, they managed to bring a beautiful girl into the world. Though she was weak, Agatha managed to hold the baby long enough for her and Cedric to share her first moments. Evangeline and Mrs. Blatherwick stepped outside the room, each offering up a silent prayer of thanksgiving and giving the family their space. But the peace was soon broken, Cedric's cries for Agatha ripping through the silence.

She'd lost too much blood, the midwife explained. Agatha passed out, ultimately slipping into a coma.

The kids came in one by one, all of them confused by the turn of events. What should have been a celebration for their new sister turned into somber goodbyes to their beloved mother. The doctor came as soon as he could, and unfortunately, the prognosis wasn't hopeful.

. . .

"Mr. Brown?"

Cedric lifted his head from his hands. Not much — only enough to partially meet Evangeline's eye. He didn't bother to try and mask the distraught expression he knew he must be wearing. After the last few days of having to put on a brave front for the children, Evangeline was surely accustomed to his dark moods when she found him by himself.

"Forgive my intruding," she said meekly. "I thought you might like a spot of tea."

"Thank you," he said, taking the cup she was offering on a tray though he didn't want it.

"Don't you think you ought to be getting some sleep? At least try?"

Cedric scoffed, then ran his hand over his eyes. "Doesn't seem to be much point."

Evangeline nodded. "Strange how all of us got more sleep when the house was loud and bustling. It's been too quiet."

"Far too quiet," Cedric agreed.

Several seconds went by without either of them speaking. It broke Evangeline's heart to see her once charismatic employer descend into such grief in such a short period of time. Since Mrs. Brown's burial, he'd hardly left his study. Meals went untouched, tea was left cold… she longed for the right words to say to him or proper action to console him. It was a hopeless endeavor she was quickly learning.

"I'll let you be," she finally said, her voice sounding much louder than it actually was at this late hour. "I hope to see that cup half empty when I come clear it away."

"Wait, Evangeline—"

She turned around.

"Would you mind… that is, would you like to stay and pour yourself a cup as well? Since you're still up?"

"You mean it?" she questioned, astounded.

Cedric nodded, gesturing to his lounge chair, though he remained seated at his desk.

"I'm flattered, Mr. Brown… but isn't it improper? I'm your scullery maid. And at this hour…"

"Oh… right. Right. Of course."

She considered a moment longer but ultimately decided against accepting the invitation. Likely he was only trying to be gracious anyhow. He wasn't himself. Come morning he'd forget he'd asked at all. That is, she thought as much until he dropped his head down into his arms and let out a long, shaky breath, and the next thing she knew she was at his side.

"Mr. Brown, are you all right? I'll have tea with you. If it's really what you want!"

He kept his head down, mumbling, "I'm so bloody tired."

"I know you are," she soothed, rubbing his shoulder. "That's why you need to get up to bed and rest. You haven't slept in days."

Sitting up only a slight bit, he shook his head and sniffed. "I can't face that room without her. She died there in our bed. How am I supposed to lay there knowing she'll never be there beside me again?"

Evangeline bit her lip to keep a hold of her own emotions and she watched Cedric unravel before her. He'd held it in for too long. She'd been expecting something like this but never imagined it would be with her present.

Throwing propriety to the wind, she knelt down and let him hold onto her as he wept for Agatha's memory and the uncertainty of the future for him and the children. She uttered whatever notes of sympathy she could muster but it didn't do him any good. It was clear that he was now paying the price for keeping his composure at Mrs. Brown's graveside. For that, and for having to be the one to dry the tears of his seven children.

"There, there Mr. Brown", she patted his shoulder gently, her heart clenching tightly for him.

He cleared his throat as she relinquished her hold on him, quickly wiping away any traces of emotion from his cheeks with his sleeve. "I-I'm terribly sorry for that outburst, Evangeline. It was most undignified of me", he choked out.

"It's alright", she told him with quiet understanding. Straightening back up, she gave him a soft smile. "Give me a minute. I'll be right back." She dashed out of the room and while she was gone, Cedric took the opportunity to pull himself together again, straightening his collar and tidying his hair.

She returned quickly, holding another cup and saucer for herself to take her tea with him. "Here you are", she murmured, holding his up for him to take.

He took it with a nod of his head and drank a sip, the warmth of the tea soothing his dry throat but doing little to soothe the ache in his chest.

Rather awkwardly, Evangeline backed up to his lounge chair and sat down.

For a few moments it was only the sound of the two of them softly sipping their cups of tea which filled the air, until Evangeline drew in a fortifying breath and said, "I think Mrs. Brown would be awfully proud of the children and how brave they've been. Especially the older two, how they've looked after the younger ones."

She thought she could see a hint of a smile on his lips, but it then became more of a wince as thoughts of his children brought about equal feelings of both joy and sadness.

"She'd have been right proud of you too, for the way you've handled things", Evangeline said timidly but with conviction in her voice.

Cedric shook his head. "I don't feel as if I've been handling things very well at all."

She pursed her lips in contemplation. As much as she wanted to disagree with him, she understood why he would think that way. She'd seen his struggle to comfort and connect with the children over the past few days. He was trying so hard to be strong for them, but it was clear to see the pain in his eyes whenever he looked at any one of his children. The constant reminder of their Mother, so stark in each of them.

"I feel I'm letting them down, just when they need me most", he croaked, voicing the thought she'd just had.

The anguish in his voice nearly made Evangeline want to cross the room and hug him again. Instead, she tried to console him with her words. "You are not letting them down. I know they've just lost their Mother, but you've lost your wife too."

He sat silently, contemplating her words. The children of course had several people they could turn to for support, but selfishly, Cedric wondered to himself - who could he turn to? The person he would usually look to in times of struggle was the one person he could not look to now.

"I can't help but wish it'd been the other way around, you know. She would have dealt with the children far better than I have."

Evangeline didn't know how to respond to that statement. She simply looked at him sadly.

"I shall have to return to work soon. What am I to do for them then?" He asked, deep worry lines marring his handsome face,

"I'll care for those children as much as I can, Mr. Brown, but cook has me run off me feet most days. I can only do so much for them between times…I do wish I could do more", she bowed her head regrettably.

"A nanny then…we'll need a nanny", he sighed. How on Earth was he going to be able to afford that?

"I can visit the agency in the morning, if you like. Let them know what's required."

"Thank you, Evangeline, I'd appreciate that." He was sincerely immensely grateful to her, though his tone remained solemn.

"Of course, they'll have to send someone who'll spend time playing dolls with Chrissie. Who won't mind bearing witness to Eric's experiments. Who'll happily be read to by Lily. ", she smiled fondly, hoping it might elicit a similar response from her employer.

But he seemed to be far away and lost in his thoughts. Swallowing thickly, he replied, "Yes, absolutely, yes."

Evangeline's heart broke for him and his pain. She swallowed down the last sip of her tea and carefully placed the cup and saucer down on the coffee table next to the lounge chair before standing and going to light the fire. Once the flame was well stoked, she turned, wiping her hands on her apron and pulled a warm quilt down off the shelf across the room. She lay it across Mr. Brown's chair, plumping his pillow and resting it atop the blanket before walking over to where he was still sat at his desk, placing a warm hand on his upper arm. "Try and get some rest", she quietly advised him before leaving him alone again with only his troubled thoughts for company.