FROM REGRET TO JOY-6
Hello everyone. After a long break, I'm here again to continue the story. As you recall, in the last chapter, Elsie found out that she is pregnant and now she intends to give that message to Charles. How will he react? Let's find out.
Don't shoot the messenger
When Elsie entered the Abbey, she decided to give the message to Charles immediately, without any delay. She had to know what he thinks about that situation. As soon as the back door of the downstairs hall closed, she paced towards his pantry, thanking God, that she hasn't met anyone in the hall. She opened his door, not knocking, entered and closed the door behind her decisively.
"Elsie you are back. I was so worried about you. How are you? What did the doctor tell you?"
Elsie wanted to speak, to tell him what she has just learned, but there was a big lump in her throat and she simply couldn't say a word. Her heart was racing, her legs were shaky and there were tears in her eyes.. Charles notice her reactions and he was really concerned...
"Elsie my love, what is the matter, have you found out something bad? Oh Elsie, it's ok, it's going to be ok..."-He took her in his arms and hugged her closely, trying to calm her down...
Elsie put her head on his shoulder and she closed her eyes for a moment, wanting to calm her nerves a bit, before she will announce the news, that will change Charles's life forever.
After a minute or so, she withdrew from his embrace and looked him straight in the eyes, she didn't want to miss any of his reaction for that news, as she was aware, that first reactions are the ones that show true emotions. Without further hesitation she said:
"I'm pregnant Charles. The doctor has just confirmed it. We are going to have a baby."
Elsie was watching Charles's face intently, wanting to know his true emotions, she observed him and she saw, that the first shock and disbelief, has quickly transferred into enormous joy, into a state of such extasy, as she has never seen before in him, even in their most intimate moments...
"Elsie...Pregnant? Baby? We are going to have a baby? Oh my God, I can't believe it and you thought that you are too old, that we can't no more.."
"Apparently I was wrong...We are going ot be parents and I want to know..."
Before she could finish that sentence, Charles took her in his arms and cuddled her so closely, kissing her temples, with such tenderness, that caused tears appearing in her eyes again...The question that she wanted to ask him, if he was happy about this news, was no longer necessary, because his reactions left no doubts, of how he felt about it...
He was cuddling her and kissing her, mumbling how happy he is...He wiped the tears from her face and to her amazement, she noticed, that he was crying too...That was the first time, when she saw big, magnificent and aloof Charles Carson crying, shaken so deeply, that his emotions just had to find their way out...
"I'm so happy Elsie, so incredibly happy...This is a miracle...I could never dream that one day, I will have a baby, but to have it with you...It's the most beautiful thing that could happen to us, to both of us...How are you feeling my love? You need to sit down..."
"Calm down Charlie..I'm pregnant, not gravely ill...I'm so relived that you are happy, I was afraid that you will not want that..."
"How could I not want it? I always wanted this...Always, especially from the moment that I saw you.. I knew, that I want you to be a mother of my child, but I thought, that our time has passed...And we have such a lovely surprise..."
"Charles I'm thrilled too...I also wanted to be a mother of your child...Always...But what are we going to do now? You know what it means for us? Huge change and our future at the Abbey can be endangered now..."
"Leave that to me Elsie...I am the man..First of all, we will get married, as soon as possible..I will speak to the vicar and if things go well, we can marry within two weeks, we will ask his Lordship for a cottage and you will stop working...I will support both of us..."
"Why am I suppose to stop working? What's wrong with my work?"
"Elsie honey, there is nothing wrong with that, you need to take a good care of yourself..I will make sure, that you will have everything you need...I will support you and our child..Come on, sit down, you must be tired..."
Elsie sat next to Charles and let him spoil her, with his delicate touches...He was so sweet and loving, just like she always predicted him to be...Her wonderful man...She touched his face gently and they both looked at each other with love, but Elsie came back to reality quickly..
"Charles...How wll you explain it to His Lordship? He will be shocked enough to know, that we wish to get married, it's not common, in case of two servants from the same house. He will probably accept the idea, but I'm sure, that he will want to know why we are in such hurry..."
"Oh, I haven't really thought about that yet...It is all so sudden...I barely managed to get use to the idea of being the father...Do you think that we should tell him the truth?"
"Well, I always believed, that the truth is the best option...However don't you think, that it's a little bit risky? He may be mad at us for..You know..Living in sin under his roof..."
"That's true...But from the other hand, he is not a vicar, he probably won't mind that...I think that he will be more concerned about our jobs..."
"I guess there is only one way to find out Charlie...Do you want me to be there with you during this conversation?"
"Certainly not Elsie...You can't be put to any kind of stress..It could damage the baby...Our baby...He put his hand on her belly and stroke it tenderly, like he wanted to protect their unborn child...They were both smiling in a soppy way, wishing, that this moment would never end..."
A conversation with Robert...
"You? Getting married? I have to tell you Carson, that I'm in shock...How little do I know you...I wasn't even aware, that you are having a lady friend. You never leave the Abbey, even on your days off..How is it possible?"
"Erm...Your Lordship, that's the thing...The lady that I wish to marry works here..."
"Is she? Oh, you mean Mrs Hughes, don't you? I knew it! I told Cora, that I think that there is something between you two...This is not a new concept...I'm still a little shocked Carson, but I will not be against the idea...I heard about some cases like that in other mansions. As my dear wife would say, this is the sign of changing times...I will do my best to help you both...We will find some suitable cottage, so you can have a little bit of privacy and a chance to consummate your marriage..."- Robert was grinning and Charles felt like he wanted to hid himself in a deep hole...
"Ehm...Er...There is one more thing Your Lordship...We would like to get marry as soon as possible, depending from my arrangements with the vicar, preferably within two weeks..."
"Why the rush? I don't understand?"
"Well the thing is that we...We have...We are going to..."-Charles felt, that his face was in a color of purple at the moment and in spite of reassuring Elsie, that he will handle this, he just wasn't able to find the right words for his employer...
"Carson? Is this what I'm thinking? Did you get Mrs Hughes in hot water? Is she expecting your child?"
"I'm afraid so My Lord, but that's not why we are getting married, we would have done it anyway, it's just that today we found out, that we are going to have a baby..."
"Carson! You old dog! Still waters run deep! So you and Mrs Hughes were having some fun after dark?"
"I'm very sorry My Lord...I know that I put your family name in danger, by those infamous actions, I would like to cordially apologize for this...I hope that you can fogive me and Mrs Hughes...We would never do anything to insult you..."
"It's all right Carson..This is life...Things like that happen...Just try to arrange the wedding as soon as possible and we will pretend, that the baby is premature...Congratulations to both of you...I will not say a word, we just need to talk with Mrs Hughes and settled how to handle the question of her job in this situation. We will need to make amends.."
"Thank you very much, I'm so grateful...I promise that this is the last time, when I let you down this way..."
"I believe you Carson...Now leave this Scotch here and go check if the mother of your child needs something...The expecting women need extra care, I've been there three times, so I know something about it.."
"Thank you once more and goodnight Your Lordship..."
Charles left the room and sighed with relief...It was much better than he could ever imagine..His Lordship showed him understanding and kindness, which he did not expect. He came back to his pantry and he saw a note from Elsie, that she is waiting for him in his bedroom...It was rather late, so making sure once more, that everything was done for today, he hurried upstairs and told Elsie all about the conversation. She was as pleasantly surprised, as he was and they cherished the moment of their happiness, lying in bed together...
"I'm so relieved, that he didn't make a fuss about it. I was a little afraid that he might do that...Now we have to organize the wedding..."
"I will speak with the vicar tomorrow Elsie...We don't need to make a huge wedding, do we?"
"Of course, we don't. The most important thing is that we will be together officially..No more hiding, sneaking around, etc..."
"That's true and that we will have our baby...Our sweet, little baby...How does it feel Elsie?"- Charles touched her belly with reverence...
"So far I don't feel it that much...I mean I know that the baby is there, but I don't feel that yet...But that will swiftly change...I will expand and my belly will grom from week to week.."
"I can't wait for that Elsie...I want to be a part of all this, of every stage of your pregnancy, of the birth, we will do it all together.."
"We will sweetheart...My only hope is, that in my age, I will be able to carry our baby safely to the end.."
"You will Elsie...I will make sure that you will..."
"This is are only chance Charles..The doctor told me, that it's a real miracle to get pregnant my age, so it has to work...It's now or never..."
"It will work my dearest...In a few months, we will meet our precious baby...I will take care of you all the time, I promise...All the time, until the day the baby will be born..."
I know that Charlie, why do you think I chose you as a father for my child?"
Charles smiled warmly to Elsie and let her put her head in the crook of his neck...He encircled her in his arms tightly, like he wanted to protect her and the baby from all bad things...The enclave of safety, for the baby Carson, who was growing inside Elsie...
That's all for today my lovelies...I know, I know, this chapter was too sweet and a little bit unrealistic, because if that happened for real, I suppose that they would both loose their jobs. Plus I always thought that Robert wasn't too bright, so he probably wouldn't guess the reason of a fast wedding. But fanfiction exists for the purpose of making things better, than they really are, so let's forget reality and let Chelsie enjoy the news about the baby. Thanks for reading and if you have time, you can always tell me what you think. Have a fantastic weekend!
