It didn't take long for the house to return to normal. Isis was safe basking in the sunlight of the library window, whilst Lord Grantham read from a book, Lady Cora and her daughters had returned from lunch, and the staff were huddled around the common room table looking through pictures.
Anna and Bates had been married for three weeks already, and whilst their honeymoon was engulfed by household drama, they were happy. Their matrimonial home was set up and currently empty, and the married couple were sleeping alone once again. The two didn't mind, they were well rehearsed in personal sacrifice. However, when the delivery boy dropped off their wedding photos not moments ago, they couldn't help but take a selfish moment to flash them around to all their friends.
"Of course, you would look so beautiful on your wedding day," Mrs Patmore observed, staring at one of the photographs. "You could have been wearing a dustbin and still been radiant." She joked, envious of Anna's natural beauty.
Anna became bashful, "thank you." She replied.
"You two look so happy." Daisy lavished, thinking about how much of a stark contrast her own wedding had been. "This one is my favourite." She pulled out the group picture, there stood everybody close to the bride and groom. Their Downton family.
"What's this?" Mrs Hughes approached.
"We've just received our wedding photos," Anna announced.
"Oh my, these are excellent, the quality is superb." She admired the photographer's handy work. "It was such a wonderful day." She reminisced. "Aw, Anna, look at you." She inhaled in admiration when she finally flicked to the stunning picture of Anna in front of the church.
"It was a wonderful day, weren't it? I hate to admit it, but I might have enjoyed one drink too many." Mrs Patmore laughed. "It was a day for celebration after all." She defended herself.
"I think we all had a bit too much to drink, even Mr Carson was a tad merry." Anna recalled. Carson's cheeks turned a hot crimson when he drank, and an uncharacteristically bubbly personality emerged that shocked everybody.
Alfie and James glanced to each other before bursting at the seams. "Whatever you two did, I don't want to hear about it." Mrs Hughes glared. The boys continued to laugh.
"Those two chuckle heads managed to between them, drink three bottles of wine and wonder down to the lake. Being the only sober and responsible one out of the lot of you, I brought 'em back." Thomas boasted. "The two of them were stark naked just about to go for a swim." Anna gasped behind her hand, unsure whether she would be able to contain her laughter.
"You came to ruin our fun." James replied, cockily.
"This one here, could barely hold his head up, let alone swim." Thomas continued.
"Well, I don't remember the night in that much detail." James mumbled.
"I'd be surprised if you had." Thomas added. He would never forget that night, having seen the two drunkenly skipping away. Knowing they'd get into nothing good in that state, he went looking for them. He'd found James donning his birthday suit, and Alfie shirtless soon to follow suit. He coaxed them out of the water eventually, after threatening to come in and get them. He walked a whole meter into the lake before they both caved and splashed their way out. James miraculously managed to make himself presentable before Thomas lead them back. Both men could hardly walk, their adrenaline and alcohol high waring off. At some point along the beaten path, Thomas had both boy's semi draped over his shoulders. The entire way they insulted him and swore at him for being a bore. "Should have seen 'em." Thomas reiterated.
"You said you weren't going to tell anyone." Alfie argued.
"Well, I have." He smiled smugly.
"Don't you two worry, this stays between us, understood." Mrs Hughes promised. "I'd hate to think what, You-Know-Who would do if he knew."
"I would like to hope, you do not mean me?" Carson asked from the doorway.
"Of course not." She smiled. "Anna and Bates received their wedding photos today and we were just feeling nostalgic." She passed along the selection she held in her hand.
"Very nice." He glanced at the first few before placing them on top of the small pile hosted in the middle of the table. "Now, have you finished with the spare key-set?" Carson asked.
"I have, I placed the keys in the usual spot in your office." She declared.
"They aren't there now." Carson objected. He composed himself, trying to remain objective, "you might not have meant to misplace-"
"Oh, no. Your assertions are better directed elsewhere, but I'll be more than happy to help you look for them. They can't have wondered off too far." She led the way. The staff all exchanged looks of worry fearing this was not to be the last they'd hear of these missing keys.
The two searched, but no matter how much Mrs Hughes wanted to find them, she couldn't. She tutted, "you're right, heavens," a heavy sigh followed. "Not to worry, they'll be around somewhere. Can you remember where you've been today?" She suggested, mindful of Carson's fleeting memory.
"I can assure you; they were not on the hook for me to pick up and lose elsewhere." He responded proudly, his head bobbing with frustration.
"Don't you get your knickers in a bundle." She joked, trying to ease some of the tension. Judging by Carson's unyielding demeanour, he was far from ready to loosen his shoulders. "Look, if you insist, we can ask the others, but I highly doubt anyone among us is brazen enough to steal them." Any foreseeable benefits would be shadowed by the reproductions.
"A few names come to mind." He growled low.
The two dropped the issue for now promising to bring up the subject after the evening meal. That would give any potential thief, having watched the display in the kitchen, enough time to return the keys and save themselves from persecution. Until then, Carson would keep his suspicions to himself.
The staff made themselves busy all afternoon, wanting to avoid any and all reason for confrontation. At 4 Thomas finished by sweeping the servant's corridor, he couldn't help but curse as he completed the 'maid's' chores. At the same time said 'maid's' chores had him working up a sweat and resenting his awkwardly new framed body as it crumbled under such insignificant pressure. He returned to the common area hot and bothered. A perpetual state, he spent most of his life in at the moment. "Daisy, be a doll, fix me something to drink." He called across the room.
"Mrs Patmore made a jug of lemonade this morning, its proper good. Said the supplier gave her more than she ordered." She poured Thomas a tall glass, making sure to slip him a hefty lemon wedge. "I suppose it's probably healthy and all, for the baby, you know...just minus all that sugar." She smiled, passing him the glass. "Go on, try some."
Thomas' attention was occupied by a harsh kick to his bladder. He held the spot and let out a soft but uncomfortable groan. "Gis a minute, Daisy." He responded.
"Is it always painful like that? When the baby kicks, I mean." She asked curiously.
"Only recently." 'Ah, a simpler time' he thought to himself. "I's probably pretty cramped in here by now." He explained, feeling more hippo than human. "They only get worse you know." His message home wasn't well received as the kid inside revolted once more.
"Don't think me forward or nothing, but...can I feel?" Thomas looked up and through the mop of bangs that hung just below his brow. He was somewhat startled by the question. "You can say no if you're want, I don't mind."
"Daisy, I..." He trailed off. Thomas was a private person, trained to be so closed off to survive, the very last thing he would ever think would happen was to share this experience with another person. The shire innocence and delight on Daisy's face was enough today, to melt the ice walls that encased Thomas' heart. "If you must." He added shortly, trying to refrain from any and all displays of vulnerability. Daisy's body vibrated on the spot, excited.
Thomas took her by the hand and placed it over the last spot that saw action. The two sat in near silence as they anticipated a kick that would be arriving any moment. As the baby moved, Thomas guided her hand along his bump until..."Oh! I felt that one!" She cheered. "And again." Glee spread across her face.
"He's a sucker for a pretty face." Thomas replied smoothly.
In all her innocence, Daisy blushed. "It would be fun to have a baby running around down here." She cooed.
"Running around? Down here?" He scoffed. "The Abbey isn't exactly the safest of places. Just look at Isis, managed to get herself trapped in a shed across the way." He explained. Children, in the blink of an eye, can get up to the darndest of things.
"His Lordship loves that dog just the same." Daisy contended. "Little ones are supposed to get up to mischief every now and then, it's natural."
A voice cut through the conversation from the doorway, "what do we have here?" Mrs Patmore strode in. "Finished already?" She asked sarcastically, taking note that Thomas was relaxed enough to enjoy her lemonade. She threw down a heavy leg of lamb, "Don't suppose you could give us a hand dicing that thing?" She queried. "You're a strong lad." Thomas hadn't time to react before being thrown an apron. "Here, you needn't even leave your seat."
"Seeing as you asked so nicely." He retaliated, reaching over the counter to fetch a knife. "All of it?"
"Half. We'll stick the rest in that infernal refrigerator," She exaggerated, losing her common-as-muck accent in favour for something proper. Still wildly uncomfortable with technological change fueled by electricity, she hated to admit that this particular invention was a god-send. "I'll do double the vegetables and spuds and we'll have a shepherd's pie for supper." Nothing quite as fancy as the dinner planned for upstairs but no bellies were ever left empty.
"I'll get started on the carrots." Daisy added.
"It won't hurt for you to pick up a thing or two for when you're living on your own. You've got to know how to feed yourself and the little one once it's older." Mrs Patmore announced. "There's a few things Daisy and I can show you, if you like? Nothing too fancy, mind you." Thomas hadn't thought about such details as of yet. From being raised with a mother in the kitchen to Mrs Patmore's cooking, he never had to fend for himself.
"They sell that mass-produced stuff at the store now, Mrs Patmore." Daisy informed.
"That nonsense? It's all a con if you ask me. It'll cost you less to prepare it yourself. That way you'll know exactly what it's made from." Obviously passionate about the issue, she became flustered and red-faced.
"I'll figure it out when the time comes." Thomas spoke up. "His Lordship already promised that the nanny look after the kid during the day. I haven't got all that much to fret over."
"How you blagged that I'll never know...not that it matters, your little one is going to receive the best care money can buy." She scoffed.
"And I get to keep my job." Thomas reminded her. Without the support of a nanny, he would have to leave Downton and struggle to balance employment and childcare. Being a gay single father, his odds were not favourable.
Mrs Patmore knew she'd put her foot in her mouth. She felt embarrassed, not meaning for her comments to sound so resentful. While she had been distracted by his privilege, she'd overlooked how destitute his life would be had they been taken away. "Good thing that old bag is gone, thanks to you." She drew away from her mistakes, being far too stubborn a person to readily apologise. "A wicked one her."
"Must have put me in their good graces." He surmised. There was little else that he could attribute to their kindness.
The evening passed by pretty quickly, even with the looming atmosphere. Dinner was now over and Thomas felt as though his stomach had grown to twice its size, stuffed with carbs. It would seem his appetite was bigger than the allotted space he had left. His added weight was not the only uncomfortable happening around the table tonight. Mrs Hughes and Carson's incessant to-and-fro eye contact did not go unnoticed. The pair had perfected the art of nonverbal communication, she using it to yell at her college to keep his owes under-hat and him pushing back for his own way.
So soon as the plates were taken away, Carson rose to his feet and cleared his throat. Mrs Hughes had to refrain from rolling her eyes, but fought through the urge to protest. Carson had the floor, finally, "a moment of silence, please." Carson waited until all murmuring had ceased and all eyes were watching intently. "As much as it pains me to have to make these announcements, it appears I must. A pair of keys have been misplaced," he emphasised. "Should anybody happen to find them, they ought to be returned immediately." Carson didn't have to force an ultimatum; the staff were all aware of Carson's dedication.
Only, none among them were guilty. Yet, all were fearful.