Dr. Clarkson had left, assuring her that everything should progress nicely. It was, after all, her third child and she was most prepared for what to expect in the coming months. He knew that Robert would be coming to see her any moment, and he figured that she would want to share the news in private. Now, as she anxiously awaited his arrival, she hoisted herself up in bed so that she could at least be sitting up and look a bit less disheveled when he arrived.
The first time they'd had this conversation, it was with Dr. Clarkson present. Of course, with Mary, she hadn't the slightest idea that she was pregnant. They had, of course, been hoping that she soon would become so, but when it finally happened it had taken her a much longer time to figure it out - she was already into her second trimester. Upon hearing Dr. Clarkson's words, Robert had of course been ecstatic. Cora had been as well - but also marred by fear of the unknown, insecurity in her ability to be a mother and a real sense of homesicknesses that her own mother was so far away on such a joyous occasion in her life. Though, after that, Robert became far more protective of her. He spent more time with her and became much more affectionate toward her. Thinking she might only have been imagining it, she asked Rosamund what she thought and Robert's sister had almost immediately agreed - she'd told Cora that Robert had always loved her, of course, and been smitten with her right away. But the stress of needing her dowry to save Downton and the pressure to produce an heir had left him paralyzed. Now that they were well on their way to doing what his family expected of them, he found it far more easy to relax into their marriage- and love her the way he wanted desperately to.
Of course, when Mary arrived Cora was terrified of what he - and his family - would think. But he was so taken with Mary, so taken with fatherhood, that he couldn't have been persuaded to be disappointed. After that, his love for her was solidified, and she knew that nothing would ever come between them again.
The next year, when she became pregnant a second time, he did express a bit of concern at her announcement- lamenting that they had to wait a whole season to know if they would have an heir. The entire pregnancy she had felt dreadful - far more tired and sick than she had been the first time, and the added stress of trying to imagine what humiliation she would face if the baby was another girl landed her in bed two months before her confinement should have begun. When Edith arrived, Robert had to make a bit more of an effort to conceal his disappointed. His mother, Violet, didn't talk to her for a month. And her own mother, who had come over from America, had sat at the foot of her bed and clucked her tongue, saying that while she didn't care what the child's gender was, so long as it was healthy, she knew what Cora would be facing. For the first few weeks, Edith refused to nurse, and she required a wet nurse, which only further humiliated her.
Now, Mary and Edith were both the apples of their father's eye. Robert was especially close to Mary, who seemed to have more natural Crawley sensibilities than Edith. The girls were so close in age that they already were at odds with one another's personalities on a daily basis. For every lady's maid Cora swatted away, her daughters had also managed to off-put several nannies. If it hadn't been so embarrassing, Cora would have found it rather comical that two little girls could cause so much of a fuss. Mary may have been her father's little lady, but Edith had found a friend in Rosamund. Cora always wondered if, perhaps, Edith knew from birth that she was not the expectation of her parents, and therefore, she found it best to keep her parent's somewhat at arm's length. Cora loved both her girls, neither more so than the other, but she always felt that they were more their father's daughters than her little girls.
There was a dull rap at the door. Her heart fluttered in her chest, as she knew it was Robert. He pushed the door open and came in. As it shut carefully behind him with a soft thud, he padded across the room to her bed.
"Cora, my darling, how are you feeling? Dr. Clarkson said you should only require a few days' bed rest, but you'll be fine."
He sat down on the bed, taking her hand between his. His hands were so very much larger than hers. He could envelop them completely. She felt so safe and sound when he was near. Though his hands were mighty, they were tender.
"Robert," she began, wondering if her bright eyes were betraying her, "I've got something to tell you."
He looked at her expectantly and leaned in closer, so that there faces were nearly touching. He raised his hand, bringing it gently to one side of her face.
"Darling?"
Biting her lower lip, savoring the moment of leaving him tantalized, she watched his eyes search her face.
"We're going to have another child."
He blinked, then sputtered out the breath he had been holding in.
"Oh, Cora, my love, that is most wonderful news!" he said, leaning in to kiss her softly on the lips.
"So, you're pleased?" she asked, breaking the kiss for only a moment. Robert pulled back to look at her, laughing slightly.
"Of course I'm pleased, my darling. And you, are you happy?"
Sighing and shifting forward in her bed ever so slightly so that she could kiss his lips, Cora placed her hands upon his chest. "Yes," she said against his teeth, "Robert, I am so very happy."