AN: Thanks a million for the reviews on the previous chapter! Here's another one for you!
(PS, in case you didn't know, I still don't own downton abbey)
"There's my brave brave little prince!" Mary cooed delightedly as she watched her son carefully pull himself up using her shoulder as a brace. "Such a good handsome boy."
"Ma! Ma!" He crooned, and gently bounced on his chubby legs. Mary gasped and tears filled her eyes.
"Yes, Me." She said, pointing to herself. "Mama."
"Mama!" William slurred out, much to his mother's delight. Though the twins were now sixteen months old, William had yet to utter anything resembling a real word, until now. And when he had finally opened up his lips to speak, what had he said, but Mama!
"Yes! My darling boy, Mama, I am your mama!" Mary laughed as she lifted him off of his feet to plant kisses on his round cheeks. "And I am so terribly proud of you! If only your father were here right now! He'd be even more delighted!"
"Mama?" Crooned a little voice from behind her. Mary turned to see her daughter crawling towards her with an inquisitive look on her face. "Mama!" The soft baby voice demanded, and tugged on her navy skirt.
"You too, Darling? Are you jealous of the attention I was giving your brother? There's no need to be precious, because Mama loves both of you the same." Mary promised her and placed kisses all over her golden curls.
"La loo, Mama!" The little girl giggled, and snuggled into her mother's chest. Mary made a humming sound deep in her chest, and closed her eyes for a moment. Catherine had proved already that she was very bright, having added copious amounts of words and phrases to her vocabulary since that night she had first opened up her shell pink lips and said papa. She now could say things like "Mama" "I love you" "Hungry" "Sleepy" or at least she could say them in her own precious way. She had even started asking questions, simple one word questions, like "Who?" "What?" and "Why?"
"Mama loves you too, my darling little Catherine!" Mary whispered, kissing her hair once more.
"As does Papa." Mary jumped and craned her neck to see the door.
"Papa!" Catherine called, and instantly squirmed free of her mother's arms to crawl to her beloved Papa. "Up! Up!" She demanded when she was at his feet. Mary carefully rose from the floor, and reached to take Reginald from Matthew's arms, at which point Matthew was only too glad to lift his daughter up in the air.
"How is our little prince?" Mary asked, looking down at her son's pale face. "He cannot be too bad, or you wouldn't have brought him to the nursery?"
"Gregory says that he is on the mend, and in no time at all will be in tip top shape." Matthew guaranteed, and pretended to eat Catherine's chubby fingers, much to the baby's delight.
"And he's not contagious? I couldn't bear it if the twins caught his cold!" Mary sighed.
"He isn't, Mary, I wouldn't have brought him back here if it wasn't safe for him to be around William and Kit." Matthew insisted.
"Kit?" Mary asked, raising her eyebrow at him. He smiled sheepishly and looked at his daughter.
"Yes, Kit. You know, like the marching song? Pack up your troubles in your old Kit bag and smile, Smile, Smile!" He sang, and twirled his girl around, making her giggles fill the air like peals of church bells.
"I'm not certain that Kit is a proper nick name to be given to a lady." Mary said skeptically as she settled Reggie in his cradle
"Kit. Kit Kit Kit! Me!" Catherine insisted as she hit her chest over and over again to illustrate her point.
"And now we're stuck with it I suppose." Mary sighed. "I'll never hear the end of it from Mama."
"Well, perhaps it isn't the most dignified name for a lady, or the daughter of an earl, but what about for the daughter of a country solicitor?" Matthew asked, extending the olive branch cautiously.
"I suppose, for a country solicitor's daughter, it will have to- Matthew! Matthew, look!" Mary gasped, suddenly crouching down so that she was on the same level as her son. She waved for Matthew to join her, and watched delightedly as William pulled himself up by the bars of his crib, and took a few steadying steps with his arms braced, and then with a wide smile, he took three steps towards his parent's before falling onto his bum and crying out. Matthew quickly handed their daughter to Mary, and swept their oldest son up into his arms.
"There there little chap, it isn't so bad. Everyone falls sometimes you know. The key is to get right back up again." Matthew said gently, and William nodded back as if he truly understood. Matthew very carefully set him back on the floor, and held his chubby little hands as he took a few more little steps before falling into his father's arms. "There we go my boy! Mama and Papa are so proud of you! The first one to walk! Mary, did you see him, our boy is walking!" Matthew nearly shouted. Mary nodded as she laughed and smiled. In this moment, Matthew was the epitome of a proud father.
"Mama!" William called, and reached for Mary. Matthew stared at their son, positively in awe.
"Did he just- Mary, did he say what I think he said?" Matthew stammered.
"Yes, Yes William! Mama, Mama is very proud of you!" Mary nodded, and scooted on her knees to scoop both of her twins into her arms at once. "Of both of you! My sweet ones!"
"May I join you?" Matthew asked, and Mary gave him a sweet smile. He smiled back and in an instant wrapped his long, muscular arms around the three of them.
"Wait, wait, a family moment like this almost feels wrong without Reggie!" Mary protested, and Matthew was up in a flash lifting his little son from his bed, before he joined his family on the floor. In an instant Catherine was at her baby brother's side, as she loved him immensely and thought him to be the most brilliant toy in the entire world, even if she was not to hold him, or throw him, or squeeze him too hard.
"Kit, Papa, Mama." She observed in turn, pointing to each one. Then she pointed one little hand at each of her brothers. "Who?"
"William." Mary said slowly, and placed Williams hand on his own chest. "William."
"Wam." Catherine repeated slowly, and nodded. "Wam."
"Yes, William! Oh you are a bright girl!" Mary laughed.
"Who?" She insisted again, pointing at the little bundle her Papa held.
"Reginald." Matthew said "Reggie."
"Reggie?" Catherine repeated, as if the word tasted sour on her lips.
"Reggie." Matthew repeated back with a loving smile. "Brothers."
"Bothers." She said, crossing her arms, and pouting. Mary and Matthew both burst out laughing, for her mispronunciation of the word was quite amusing!
"Seems like she is a bit cross about being the only girl." Mary laughed.
"Yes, it would seem her brothers are bothers!" Matthew laughed back. But as the laughter faded, Matthew stared at Mary quite seriously. "How about a weekend away? Just the two of us."
"Sure Matthew, let's just leave the children behind and go on a wild romantic trip!" Mary laughed with a shake of her head.
"And why not? Mother is entirely capable of watching them for two days, and if not then they can stay with Robert and Cora at the abbey, you know they love it when the children are over!" Matthew insisted.
"I just feel guilty leaving them alone, their our babies." Mary sighed. "I feel as if I'd be abandoning them, or neglecting them or something."
"Would you rather neglect your husband?" Matthew teased, gently, but his words stung like a thorn in Mary's palm.
"Neglecting you? Have I been?" Mary asked, thinking over the last few months. They had been busy, very busy. Matthew at work, and she helping plan Lavinia's wedding, helping Edith with the new baby's room, helping Sybil find a proper doctor to care for her...little malfunction. And then they'd both devoted copious hours of the day and night to their children.
"No! Mary, I was only teasing, I'm sorry I even suggested it." Matthew sighed, but Mary shook her head and set William loose on the floor, allowing him to crawl after his favorite animal toys. Then it struck her that she hadn't made love to her husband in weeks- perhaps not for an entire month! She had just been so busy, and they were both so exhausted by days end...
"Why only two days then? Why not an entire week?" Mary suggested, licking her lips.
"Really? An entire week?" Matthew asked, his eyes lighting up.
"Well, we never did have a true honey moon, just the two of us going on a trip together. And we've been married two years now. I'd say it's about time!" Mary laughed, and leaned forward to kiss him gently on the lips.
"I'll make all the arrangements." Matthew promised.
"Good. And put the children to bed as quickly as you can tonight, darling." Mary said.
"You're leaving me to do all the hard work by myself then?" Matthew asked, with his jaw agape.
"I need a bit of extra time to prepare for bed myself darling. And I promise It'll be worth all of the extra work." Mary whispered seductively, and pressed a soft kiss behind his ear before she sashayed out of the nursery, but before closing the door she whispered "Don't be too long though, darling."
...(Two weeks later)...
"And the doctor gave you the all clear then?" Mary asked excitedly as Sybil gripped her hand.
"Yes! He said that I should come back to visit him in six months time, but if I'm not pregnant by then, I must've had a falling out with my husband!" Sybil giggled, with tears of joy streaming down her face.
"Oh darling, I'm so happy for you!" Mary said earnestly, and reached up her hands to wipe away her sister's tears. "I told you that it couldn't have been anything too terrible. That tiny surgery seems like nothing now, doesn't it?" Sybil nodded, and clutched her hands over her heart as she tried to calm her breathing.
"You should have seen the look on Tom's face when I told him that we could fix the problem and start our family- he was so very excited!" Sybil said, smiling fondly at the memory. "And he's been so good and patient with the whole thing! Oh, Mary, I love him so very much!"
"I know you do darling. I'm a bit fond of him myself now." Mary said.
"Knock Knock." Edith's voice sounded softly from behind the door.
"Come in Edith!" Mary called, happily inviting her sister into her home. "Hello dear, you look so lovely today!" Edith rolled her eyes and ran her hand over her distended belly.
"I don't feel lovely. I feel like a hippopotamus." Edith groaned.
"Well you certainly don't look it. At the very least you have better teeth." Sybil giggled, unable to control her joy even when Mosley brought in the tray of tea.
"That will be all, thank you Mosley." Mary said with a friendly nod.
"Now, are you and Matthew all set for your trip?" Edith asked.
"Yes, for the most part. Just a few little things left to pack. But there's plenty of time for all that." Mary said.
"You leave in the morning, I'd hardly call that "plenty" of time!" Sybil said, still ecstatic. "I can't understand how you can seem so reluctant to go away, a trip to Paris with your husband! Oh how wonderful!"
"Don't worry your pretty head about it Sybil, I'll be ready in time. You just focus on your own affairs, and get immediately to work on creating your own child, so that you can understand that it isn't easy to leave your children behind!" Mary said, this time knowing it was alright to tease Sybil as such, since her dark time was over.
"Oh, I intend to. I'd start on it right now if Tom wasn't out with Matthew." Sybil said with a mischievous grin.
"I take that to mean that all is well and good?" Edith asked, and Sybil nodded, tears forming in her eyes again. "Oh Darling! Congratulations!"
"Thank you, thank you very much! I'm so terribly happy. You can have no idea how happy I am." Sybil sighed.
"Now if you two would get on it, we could finally have all three Crawley sister's pregnant at the same time!" Edith laughed. There had been a time when such a remark would've mortified her beyond all belief, but now she found it rather funny.
"To be fair it would be one Crawley, One Lowe, And one Branson." Mary said.
"Yes, but Crawley by blood." Edith said, and the three sisters exchanged joyful smiles. "Think of how happy Mama would be. She'd be as proud as a peacock."
"I can only imagine how much she'll brag if Mary has another boy. "Oh yes, My daughter, Lady Mary Crawley, has provided our line with three male heirs, what has your daughter been doing Lady Chillingsworth?"" Sybil said, in perfect imitation of her mother's american accent.
"As if the prattling on she did after Reggie's birth wasn't bad enough!" Mary laughed. "And if I have another boy and don't name him Robert, I'm afraid I'll never hear the end of it!"
"Well, If I have a boy, I'll use the name first, so that she wont make you." Edith promised. "Gregory and I have discussed calling a son Robert George, after both of our fathers."
"That's a good, strong name I think, especially for a first son." Mary nodded in approval.
"My oh my. It's funny, I can remember days when the two of you were at each other's over things like this, and now you laugh about them." Sybil sighed contentedly.
"Well, We've done a lot of growing up." Mary said and leaned over to take her sister's hand.
"Sometimes I miss the days when all three of us were under the same roof, and we'd fall asleep in the back yard together. But I know things are better now than they ever used to be." Edith laughed.
"I'll drink to that." Sybil teased, and took a sip of her tea even though it was still steaming hot. "Oof! I'd suggest everyone else wait, it may not be suitable for drinking yet!"
...(Two days later)...
"Hmm." Mary sighed as sunlight found it's way into her eyes, even through the closed curtains.
"Good morning Darling." Matthew whispered, running his large hands over the bare skin of her back.
"Good morning." Mary replied, and propped herself up by the elbow on his chest. "What time is it?"
"Only about eight o'clock." Matthew said.
"It's too early." Mary groaned and buried her face in his chest. She could feel his laughter against her cheek, and she had to smile. "How long have you been awake?"
"Oh, I'd say about an hour and a half." Matthew said.
"Really? And you've just laid here this entire time with me pinning you down?" Mary gasped, slightly embarrassed.
"You were hardly pinning me down Mary, you weigh next to nothing, I could've easily moved you if I desired to. But I didn't." Matthew said, with a sly smile. "I like to watch you sleep. You look so beautiful."
"Am I not beautiful in my waking hours?" Mary quipped.
"Oh, darling, you're very beautiful at any moment of the day, or night. But when you're asleep on my chest, I'm the only one who gets to admire you. And that is why you're the most beautiful in my arms." Matthew explained and pressed his lips against the hand that was resting at his neck.
"Now then. I believe that someone has been feeling a bit neglected." Mary yawned as she sat up, letting the blanket pool around her waist.
"I can hardly say I was neglected last night." Matthew laughed.
"I never want you to be able to say that ever again!" Mary insisted, and carefully pulled him up so that she could kiss him. "What do you say that we don't leave this room all day long?"
"What about food?" Matthew teased.
"Well, you may leave to fetch us food, but I'll stay here, just like this, all day." Mary said, blinking so her long eye lashes brushed her cheeks. Matthew swallowed nervously and reached a hand to brush a wayward lock of hair out of Mary's face. "Now, I'd say I wont need anything to eat for at least an hour, maybe two...if only there was another way to occupy the time." Mary said, her voice husky and soft all at the same time.
"Oh, I can think of one or two things." Matthew said, moving slowly so that she was beneath him.
"I'm all ears." Mary sighed as his lips met with the flesh of her neck.
"Maybe it's better if I just...Showed you." Matthew said, his eyes twinkling.
"Be my guest." Mary laughed as his lips made feverish contact with her own.
...
(Mostly just a family fluff chapter. My second one today to make up for the long amount of time when I didnt post! I hope to post the next one soon, so stay tuned! There aren't many chapters left now!)