prompts: not letting them go when hugging & terms of endearment

(pre-canon)

He had been away for over a week now. By Cora's reckoning, it was quite a long time. She knew deep down that a week was nothing but Robert and she had never been separated for this long. They were husband and wife and they ought to be in the same place normally. That was what Mama said too. But now, the days passed and Robert still was in London. He was accompanying his father to learn his right way around the estate's demands and duties. They were staying at the club, visited some associates and their lawyer, but really, Cora had little understanding of what their missions consisted of.

When they left, it was said that they would be in London for a few days. A few days was a rather broad limitation, Cora learned. Whenever she asked Mama when the men would be back, she said that Cora should take it as a lesson in patience. Really, it meant that Mama had no idea herself. And so, Cora spent her days as Mama's constant companion. Being in her vicinity almost without any breaks didn't make the time pass faster. Occasionally, Cora could flee for some minutes to the nursery and recharge on a little happiness when holding Baby Mary in her arms. This short moment marked the high point of Cora's day.

She was also in the nursery when Robert arrived back home. The carriage pulled up the wide driveway without her notice, and the two men only found Lady Grantham emerging from the drawing room to greet them as they stepped into the main hall. She wasn't pleased when she knew no answer to her son's question about his wife's whereabouts. Violet felt that it gave the impression she had no control over her daughter-in-law when in reality, she had directed and supervised Cora quite closely.

So, Robert was first called upon by his valet in his dressing room to take off his travelling attire before he could finally reunite with his wife.

Cora was lost in Mary's big dark eyes when her husband peaked curiously into the nursery. She noticed his shadow in the corner of her eye after a while. She thought it was the nanny who had come back and she only quickly threw a look over her shoulder. When it wasn't Nanny who was standing in the doorway, Cora's head snapped back and her eyes widened at the sight of her husband.

"Robert!" she breathed. He smiled at her reaction and fully entered the room, closing the door behind him. "You're back!" Cora whispered.

"I am back," he repeated. He approached her carefully. The nursery wasn't a room he had been in many times. Cora could see his uncertainty and caution in the bethought manner he carried himself. As he stood before his wife and baby, Robert gently touched Cora's elbows and planted a peck on her forehead. Cora closed her eyes at the missed and longed-for sensation. Mary gurgled in her arms. When Cora opened her eyes again, she saw Robert looking down into her arms. She followed his gaze and saw Mary staring up at him sceptically. The little brow was furrowed and the mouth pulled into a pout.

"Your Papa is here again," Cora cooed. She brushed the side of her finger lightly over Mary's chubby cheek. "Are we not happy to see him, Mary dear? We have missed him greatly, right? My little sunshine." She tickled her daughter on the belly and got lost again in the soft giggles. Her baby pulled all her attention, even surpassing the excitement about her husband's return. For the moment at least.

A little while passed until Robert dared to disrupt the lively harmony between mother and daughter. "I see you two got on perfectly without me."

Cora looked up at his words. His tone wasn't reproachful. He said it matter-of-factly. Cora looked back and forth between his eyes, checking his expression for a hint of his intention behind it.

"Oh, Robert. I did miss you," she made clear in a much more assertive voice than before. "And you couldn't have been gone a day longer or I had gone mad."

"Really?" he asked, and Cora wondered if his question was for real. If it was, she had to consider really being angry with him for wasting no thought on her when he was gone for days. Hadn't he missed her? Why was he surprised?

"Well, of course!" she emphasised. Turning to the crib, she put Mary down, after sending a pleading look Robert's way. Mary protested a bit but Cora rang for Nanny while looking at Robert to guess his thoughts. She went to stand directly in front of him again and took his hands into hers.

"Don't go away for so long again. Without warning me properly beforehand, at least."

Finally, she witnessed a change in his expression. His eyes softened, and she felt so very close to him again. "I hope it wasn't that bad," he said, but Cora just fell into his arms. After a second, his arms encircled her upper body and he held her close to him.

"I thought you would be back after two or three days," she mumbled into his collar.

"I am sorry, my dearest." Cora's insides melted at the term of endearment. It always was a moment of euphoria when he called her that. Her heart sang at the sound of these words. She was his dearest and he said it out loud. It was a reminder that she was the luckiest woman on earth. She inhaled deeply, smelling him, breathing him in as much as she could. A happy sigh left her smiling lips.

"Well, you're back now, aren't you?"

"Of course." His lips connected with the crown of her head, and she felt his warmth encompassing her completely.

The door opened behind Robert, and Cora heard it before she saw the nanny emerging and entering her field of vision. Cora felt slightly caught. She was not embarrassed about being so close to her husband and it actually always made her heart leap whenever he showed more than the customary extent of affection when others were around. But it felt inappropriate for Nanny finding them so intimate in the nursery of their baby daughter. She lifted her head and tried to step back, out of his embrace, to not embarrass Nanny more than was already the case. She hadn't anticipated Robert pulling her in even closer though. His cheek pressed into her hair and his hands covered her upper back. The last thing she saw before her face was cradled in the crook of his neck, was Nanny's eyes shooting down to the floor and her slowly backing away from the scene.

Cora didn't want to burst the bubble of this serene moment, so she didn't dare speak. She focused on the regular movement of Robert's chest and was happy to allow him this moment of peaceful intimacy.

Her voice was soft and quiet when she spoke again, "I take it you missed me too a little."

"Well, what you do think?" Robert grumbled. He squeezed her tightly before letting her go. Cora looked up at him, and she saw how he tried to put on a look of unaffectedness; being the stoic English man she married. Somehow, it endeared her how he tried to be in total control of his feelings while often being unable to handle his own romantic and sentimental spirit.

"I think we embarrassed Nanny quite a bit," Cora mentioned.

"What?" Shock crept up on his face.

"She came in but we wouldn't stop hugging," she explained. Robert touched his brow, looking quite flustered. "It's alright," Cora laughed.

"It does not surprise me that you would say so. Though, I know there is hardly a place less appropriate for showing such affection." He looked around the room before indicating for them to leave. Cora shook her head as she followed him.

The nanny waited patiently in the hallway at safe distance from the nursery. Cora sent her a friendly look of apology. Mary started whimpering with increasing loudness before the sounds were swallowed by the closing door and probably Nanny's calming words.