DIFFERENT SHADES OF LOVE-2
Hello my dear people. One of my very dedicated readers asked me to make a proper ending of this story, that I wrote over a year ago and I realized, that indeed I should do that. Some of my stories are not finished like they should be and this is one of them. Hopefully you will like the ending. Rssantos72 this is especially for you.
Charles was hugging Elsie so tightly that night and she slept so peacefully in his arms, that without even knowing when, he fell asleep, with her in his arms. Even though the sofa in her sitting room was not the most comfortable one, they both felt so warm, secure and happy being so close to each other..
When Charles opened his eyes lazily in the morning, when rays of light were peeping shyly through the window, first thing he saw, was Elsie's beautiful smile...That made him so happy, as he never felt before in his life...
"Good morning my love...Is there any reason that I'm waking, seeing such a wide smile on your face today?"
"Good morning. Of course there is...The fact that I finally had some sleep and that I never felt so warm, so loved and so secure as this night..."
"I'm glad to hear that...You had a good sleep?"
"The best...It wasn't the most comfortable one, but it didn't matter, as long as I was in your arms..."
"You better get use to that my dearest, because soon, you will spent every night that way..."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I intend to marry you as soon as possible and I promise, that we will sleep that way every night..."
Elsie's smile fade away suddenly and Charles felt really unsure when he saw that...He couldn't understand what caused such a sudden change of mood in Elsie...
"Elsie...Is there something wrong? Don't you want to marry me?"
"How can you even ask?...There is nothing more that I want to do, than to marry you...But until I will get my results, we shouldn't make any decisions regarding our future..."
"I do not agree...I want to make decisions regarding our future and I want to make them as soon as possible...We wasted so much time already...We could have had this so much earlier..."
"Possibly...If you weren't such an old, set in his ways curmudgeon..."-Elsie said with a straight face, but her eyes were smiling...
"Fortunately, even an old curmudgeon has flashes of common sense sometimes and this is one of those times...Elsie May Hughes...I'm going to marry you in spite of everything...Whether you are ill or not, whether the family accepts it or not, etc..."
"I can see that you are really beginning to think reasonably now..."
"Someone helped me understand my priorities..."
"And who was that?"
"Our dear friend Mrs Patmore...She made me realize, what a fool I have been until now...Fortunately that's over...I will never let you down Elsie...Never...From now on, you are the centre of my life, the most important person in the world...I mean you have been before too, but I was too stubborn to admit it, even to myself..."
"Charles...My sweet, old fool...You were the centre of my world too...Always...But I do not want to doom you to a life with a person who is not healthy..."
"Elsie my decision is final...Besides, I'm more than sure, that you are healthy...And that there is a wonderful future for both of us...I can't see any other way..."
"So what do you suggest?"
"Until you will get your results, I will take care of you all the time...Me and Mrs Patmore will take over most of your duties and later, regardless of the results, we will get married and we will live with each other happily, to the end of our lives...What do you say Elsie?"
"All I can say, is that this is impossible to resist that offer..."
"I knew it...I love you my sweet flower...Very much...And I will be here all the time..."
"I love you too my darling...And I want you to be close to me all the time...But please...Until the results will be back, let's not say anything to anyone about our engagement...Who knows how they will react and I don't want to have an additional stress..."
"You are right sweetie...At the moment you should live quietly and peacefully...We will announce our engagement as soon as you will get the results...
One month later...
Elsie was sure, that this month will last forever and that she will think of that period as too long, but to her amazement it was not like that at all...Charles kept his word fully...He and Beryl made some sort of agreement and in the result of this agreement, Elsie felt like she had nothing to do...They both took care of her so well...
From one side, they acted so effectively, that she didn't have any stress and there was nothing going on, what could negatively effect her health and as if this wasn't enough, they both kept her health scare in secret, to the upstairs family, so it all looked like nothing has changed...
Elsie was exceptionally grateful to both of them...To Beryl, because she had so many duties of her own and even though, she still found time to help with hers and made sure, that Elsie had everything she needed. She was feeding her with the best food, keeping in mind, that all her requests were immediately fulfilled.
She was even more grateful to Charles, because as much as she adored Beryl and her care, he was the one who turned all his orderly world upside down, just to help her go through those tough moments... Not only did he took most of her duties to himself, but also, he gave her strength that she needed, in the moments of crisis...
When she began to be sad, uncertain or scared, he was there with her...Hugging her, kissing her, pouring all his love to her...Elsie couldn't remember any other time in her life, when she felt loved so unconditionally like now...Whatever meant to happen, she knew, that he will be right there, with her..
After receiving the results...
Elsie and Charles were standing in the middle of her sitting room, with locked doors, separated from everyone else, kissing tenderly...They just couldn't stop...Ever since Elsie came back from the doctor, who told her that the lump was benign and that it was certainly not cancer and she gave that message to Charles, no force could separate them...He was holding her in his arms and kissing her with such love, over and over again and it already lasted more than half an hour...
"Oh my sweetheart...My most darling Elsie...I knew it...I knew that everything will be ok...Oh God, how much I love you..."
Elsie had tears in her eyes, not only because she got her life back, but also because her beloved man was showing her his love in such manner, that totally melted her heart...
"I love you too Charles...So much...Everything is going to be all right now...We will be very happy..I will take care of you, like you had taken care of me all this time..."
"Elsie you were taking care of me ever since I can remember...Probably from day one, when you walked into this house...My life would be so empty without you...I can't even imagine if...Oh Elsie...I..."
"Shhh...It's all right Charles...It's all right..."-she wiped the tears, that unexpectedly appeared in his eyes and were flowing on his face..."I'm here and I'm healthy...Now we can be happy..That is if you still want to marry me..."
"If I want? Elsie...I would have marry you today if it was possible..."
"Even if the family won't approve it?"
"Even if they won't...But you will see Elsie, that they will...I make sure that they will.."
"What about Lady Mary? She may not like it very much...After all, I'm taking away her favorite butler..."
"She will have to accept it...Because Lady Mary is no longer the most important person in my life...You are Elsie and that's how it always will be..."
"Charles...I never thought that I will say that, but in a way, I'm glad that I had to go through this, because now, I have something that I always wanted-a healthy and happy life with you...And your heart..."
"You always had my heart Elsie, but I was too blind to see that...Your health scare brought much stress and pain to you and me, but it also gave us the most wonderful gift...The realization of our love..."
"Amen...I love you Charles..."
"And I love you Elsie...Till the last breath in my body..."
So that's my happy ending of AU version of Elsie's health scare...It would have been great, if they got together back then, instead of waiting to almost the end of the show...Uncle Julian saw it differently, but fortunately, I don't always have to agree with his ideas...;-) Hope you liked this happy ending...Stay safe and see you soon!