prompt: good morning kiss when they're still half-asleep

(post-canon)

In the last months, Robert's sleeping habits had changed. He slept much worse. There was this constant unease, and he was alert all the time, which he preferred. He wanted to be alert. He didn't want to miss the tiniest hint. He didn't want to take a chance with her, and he had missed much too many hints already.

His sleep was marked by many disruptions where he suddenly lay awake, pulled from sleep by his own restless rolling. He tried to keep it at bay because he didn't want to add to Cora's already existing hindrances from sleep. So, he often ended up laying still with open eyes, unable to find back to sleep. He listened to Cora's breathing and it calmed him when she adopted a breathing pattern that seemed deep and untroubled.

After the few hours of sleep, he still gained every night, Robert now always woke up earlier than usual. It wasn't at all odd that he was awake before Cora – it had been like this most of the time – but now he woke up too early to wake her immediately. He always had to wait to give her his customary good morning kiss. But he didn't mind. He turned to rest on his side and watch his wife sleep for a while. The early morning hours were the time when Cora finally found some restful sleep. She tossed and turned in bed a lot throughout the night, troubled by dyspnoea and pain in her stomach and chest. Most of it got a little better during the early hours of the new day. It gave Robert some sense of relief to see her like this. So serene and relaxed. Pain-free and at ease.

He did the same this morning. His head propped up lightly by his hand while he lay on his right side, Robert wandered across her outline beside him in bed with his eyes. Her head lay deep in the pillows. Her dark curls spread on the white cotton. When his eyes followed the meandering tracks of the curls, he could already anticipate the way Cora would brush through her hair with her fingers nearly first thing when she awoke. First, she would rub her eyes groggily. And secondly, she would try to bring order into her head of dishevelled curls. All of it was accompanied by a furrowed brow and a soft smile taking turns on her face.

His eyes then found the curve of her forehead. It was considerably smoother than when she was awake. No worries troubled her mind and no pain pulled at her muscles. The tender slope of her straight nose followed. Sometimes when she was dreaming, the tip of her nose twitched ever so lightly. It put a soft smile on Robert's face. There were only a few things he found more adorable.

Her lips were the part of her face where his eyes rested a bit longer. They were the object of his admiration for longer than Cora's love herself had been. The way her full and gently curved lips pulled up into a smile so very often had fascinated him since she had first caught his attention in a London ballroom. His fascination only amplified with every day of courting and especially marriage.

He would like to kiss her more often than he could.

She stirred in the sheets. Robert watched closely to see if she was just changing into a more comfortable position or if she was waking up. How she lifted her fist to rub her eyes was an indication of the latter.

Even though he was relieved when she slept many hours in the morning and filled up with more energy to battle the day, he grew impatient as soon as she showed the first sign of awakening. He was impatient to see the blue of her eyes and hear the sound of her voice. He wanted to see her smile at the things he said and did.

A groan slipped from Cora's lips. Robert could see her wince when she tried to turn and roll onto her side. He could see that it was physically hard for her to move the heavy limbs. More out of instinct, he reached forward and smoothed his hand over her shoulder joint and upper arm.

It wasn't only the illness that took a toll on her. Of course, Robert was happy beyond measure that Dr Clarkson had found that there was a treatment for Cora's frightening ailment, but he also witnessed how strenuous it was on Cora. When she had been in London for the main part of her treatment, Robert had accompanied and visited her as often as possible. When she had to stay overnight for the procedure, Robert sat by her bed until the nurses shooed him away and then he waited at Grantham House during the night. He often came home to their London residence worn down and a bit demoralised after witnessing the draining effect the procedure had on Cora. Sometimes it looked as if Cora aged thrice as much in a single day and to Robert, it seemed as if the treatment only intensified the symptoms of her anaemia. There were moments when he was on the verge of calling this whole ordeal off. It was Cora's strength and optimism that made him aware that this was her only possibility to flee the fateful sentence of death. The panic in his chest, of fearing that the procedure could seal her fate even faster, was calmed down a bit when he found her sitting upright in her bed with a wide smile on her face. These were the days he tried to hold on to. The days, when he felt the energy emanating from her just as it always had been. When she asked him for a short walk in the small garden of the backyard of the doctor's practice. When her cheeks had a slightly rosy hue to them. That were the days when he was able to tell himself that it would get better.

And now she was back home. Thank God! Cora was home and she already was a bit better. At least that was what the doctors often repeated and what Cora assured. Robert still saw her struggle. Mostly at night, he witnessed her suffer. But he couldn't – and didn't want to – deny that she was on the right track. There were still a few steps to be taken in her treatment and there would always be regular check-ups. But she endured the worst already.

Cora's groan turned into a hum at Robert's touch. She buried herself a bit deeper into the mattress, and Robert took his hand from her shoulder to brush his knuckle over her cheek.

"Good morning," he whispered.

Cora simply emitted a, "Mhm."

Robert wriggled closer. His hand slipped under her blanket and came to rest on her hip. Her warm scent filled his nose and he recognised traces of last night's perfume. He brought his lips to her forehead and planted a light kiss there. Cora didn't move but she acknowledged his affection with another hum. Robert moved a bit lower and placed his lips on hers so that they were merely touching. It took a few seconds until Cora responded. She returned the peck faintly.

"Good morning, dearest," Robert repeated.

Cora smiled into the kiss. "Morning," she slurred, her voice still tinged with sleep.

She still seemed very tired and didn't open her eyes yet. So, Robert settled under the blankets close to her. He held onto her hip and rested his forehead against hers. The two of them were slumbering a bit more in this position.