AN: Here's another chapter for ya'll! Thanks for the reviews, they always make my day!

(Time line update- Mary is Six months pregnant)

"He cannot possibly be ten months old, I won't allow it!" Mary cried when Reggie pulled himself up to stand on his own two baby feet for the very first time. "And they cannot be nearly two, they simply cannot be- Goodness, I feel old!" She gasped, and covered her face with her hands.

"Darling, you're twenty five, you're not old." Matthew chuckled. Somewhere along the line, it had become a nightly ritual for the little family to gather all inside the nursery, for at least an hour before bed time. Especially on the days when Matthew went into the office.

"You're right. I suppose I'm young. You on the other hand...twenty nine, going on thirty. What a very old man you're becoming." Mary teased. She brushed away the tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes, and reached out for Catherine who was rushing towards her.

"Mama sad? No be sad!" Catherine insisted with a stamp of her foot. She threw her arms around her mother's neck, and tried to pull herself onto her lap, but found it rather difficult with the big bulge that was on her mother's tummy. "This. No." She said, and she arched her eye brow in a way that was so very Mary, that Matthew's breath caught in his throat. His girls, his darling girls. They were so similar, even if Mary insisted that Kit had inherited his features.

"Oh my little girl. Remember what Mama told you? This is where your new baby brother or sister is growing." Mary laughed. She watched her daughters face scrunch and then light up as she placed a tiny hand on the spot where she had always felt a tiny bump against her palm.

"Oh, Yes, yes yes. Sis'ser, please, for Kit. No bother." Catherine insisted, and her parent's both laughed.

"I don't know Kit, we'll have to wait and see what it is. But I think you're right." Matthew whispered loudly, and Kit nodded as if he had told her a marvelous solemn secret.

"Kit right. Sis'ser."

"Or brother. A brother like William or Reggie, wouldn't you like another?" Mary asked. Again, Catherine thought on it, her face scrunching up, then she shook her head which made her beautiful blonde curls bounce.

"No no. On'y Sis'ser. Kit two bother." Catherine observed. Mary had to smile and nod at her daughter's wonderful logical sense.

"Of course, You're right darling. A sister would be just the thing for our family." Mary said with a grin. Catherine, very satisfied with this answer, abandoned her efforts to climb onto her mother's lap, and went back to teaching William everything she knew about bunny rabbits. And to the little boys credit, he hung enraptured on her every word.

"If nothing else, Kit is preparing him excellently for when he has a wife one day." Mary laughed. Matthew stared at her with his jaw agape, and she scrunched her brow. "What?"

"You- you just called her Kit. You never call her Kit, you've always insisted on "Catherine"." Matthew explained. Mary shrugged, and pulled Reggie up into the air.

"I suppose I hear it too often for it not to slip out now and again. That doesn't mean that she can just be plain Kit forever thought. Lady Kit doesn't sound quite right. Lady Catherine sounds much more refined." Mary said dryly.

"Imagine that, the sons and daughters of a simply country solicitor, Lords and Ladies." Matthew chuckled. Mary smiled coyly at him, and lifted their son to blow a raspberry to his belly. The room flooded with the delicious sound of his laughter, and Mary felt warmth pool in her chest, relishing in the feeling of it spreading from her heart to her toes and finger tips. For just the briefest of moments that sliver of doubt entered her mind, and she thought "Surely I don't deserve all of this, Matthew, his children. His forgiveness when I had told him about...That was more than I deserved. Becoming his wife and sharing his bed? Much more. Bearing his children? It's too much, it's far more than I deserve!" "Are you alright Mary, darling? You look a bit pale." Matthew fussed.

"Yes, Darling, I'm fine. I always look pale. It's my disposition." Mary sighed. But her heart felt as if it were caught in her throat. It was too much, too much happiness, more than she ever deserved. Suddenly she felt sick. "Actually, perhaps I'm not well. Not well at all- I'll be back in just a moment, if you'll help me up." Mary stammered, quickly realizing that it would be impossible to rise from the floor without assistance. He obliged quickly, pulling her up in one fluid motion. "Thank you." She muttered, and quickly left the nursery, and ran to their bedroom, and then did something she hadn't done in years. She threw herself on the bed, and began to weep bitterly. It was ridiculous, A mother of three and a fully grown woman of twenty five cry so, but she simply couldn't stop. She heard the door creak, and quickly tried to control her breathing."I told you to stay with the children."

"They were all tuckered out, Dearest, they're tucked in now." Matthew's voice was strained- how it killed him to see his wife this way, how he absolutely hated seeing her so worn. "My darling, what's wrong? What did I do, or say, please tell me, and I'll make it right." He begged as he sat beside her on the bed. His words only made her more guilty and she wept anew. But this time he held her tightly, and rocked back and forth as he might have done if he was putting the children to sleep. "Please, tell me what's troubling you, let me share your burdens darling. Please." He begged.

"Oh Matthew, you're so wonderful, so so very wonderful. My love, I don't deserve you! I didn't deserve your forgiveness when I told you of Pamuk, I didn't deserve your proposal, and I certainly don't deserve to be the mother of your perfect children!" Mary cried into his neck.

"Mary, how could you doubt your worthiness? After all the things you've stood by me for. Mary, How can you doubt it?" Matthew asked.

"I know, it's awfully stupid of me to blub like this, but I can't seem to stop- and it's your fault you know, you did this to me!" Mary accused lightly as she pointed to the spot where his child rested within her. He only smiled and placed his large hand over it.

"You know I think you're being very unreasonable. But you are right about one thing. The children are absolutely perfect. But they are not solely mine, Mary. They are ours." He murmured, and as he did he felt a tiny nudge against the palm of his hand. "Our Catherine is so much like you- though you tell me she is all me. But everything she does, Mary, is so like you." Mary smirked.

"Everything darling? Even when she screams bloody murder and runs about naked after her bath?" Mary asked. "I didn't think I was so undignified, even as a child. You on the other hand..."

"Has mother been telling you more stories?" He asked, and she nodded slyly. "Blast. I've got to start asking someone about you as a child, to give me something to say back to you."

"Well, the person to ask really would've been my nanny, though she passed away a few years back, rest her soul. You could ask my governess I suppose, but her opinions would be very biased- I was her least favorite. My father spent more time with me than my mother, but they weren't very involved parents, not that I blame them of course, that's just how things are done among the upper class." Mary sniffed.

"I'd bet that Carson would have some stories to tell. I know you two are very fond of each other." Matthew said.

"Really? What gave it away? Was it giving our son his name for a middle name or the fact that I danced with him twice at our wedding?" Mary asked

"I knew it when he hated me after I took back my first proposal." Matthew said, the slight sting of regret fresh in his mind. If only he hadn't been such a fool, they could've had four more years of happiness. But there was no point lingering on that, not when they were so happy now.

"He would be absolutely appalled if he knew that you knew that. He always did his very best to be civil to you." Mary laughed. "Though, I've been told by Mrs. Hughes that he made no secret of his dislike for you downstairs."

"I can hardly blame him- I was quite a fool, not fighting harder for you then. If I would've asked for a reason instead of insisting it was all black and white..."

"Matthew, no, it was my fault, I've taken the blame. If I had told you then, or if I hand't been so stupid as to allow-"

"No, I won't let you take the blame for it. It wasn't your fault, none of this, and certainly none of that, Mary. The gentleman came into your room without permission and threatened you with ruin, what else might you have done?" Matthew said, feeling such anger wash over him, that if the gentleman, who was no gentleman, had been before him then he'd have killed him with his own hands. "We cannot dwell on the past like this Mary. We must look to the here and now. To the children we have sleeping in our nursery, and the one here. To each other, as spouses, not as phantom figures of the past." Mary smiled at him, and tilted up her chin to allow him access to her lips. "Feel better?" She nodded. "Good." And he kissed her again- and again- and a good many times after.

...

"You both made pregnancy seem so easy!" Sybil whined, wincing as the baby kicked at her ribs again. Edith and Mary shared a look and then looked back to their younger sister. "And you've done this more than once, I don't see how!"

"It's a labor of love, Sybil, not a walk in the garden!" Mary laughed.

"For all the pain, this child had better be the sweetest, most adorable thing in the world! No offense to both of you of course, You know how I feel about my nieces and nephews." Sybil sighed.

"Darling, your child could look like a tiny old Mr. Molesly, and you'd still think they were the most beautiful thing in the world, trust me." Edith insisted.

"You know, it's the strangest thing, but all I ever seem to want to eat is onions. Onions in salad, on sandwiches, onions and onions and nothing but onions." Sybil said, feeling a bit disgusted talking about it. "And Mary craves chocolate, Oh I wish I craved something like chocolate!"

"When I was pregnant with Robbie, all I wanted were anchovies- and then for a few months I only wanted oranges, and then the month after even the sight of an orange made me sick." Edith laughed fondly.

"Before this pregnancy, I never had much trouble with food- this one, though, they don't like it when I eat almost anything, except chocolate and bread. They love dinner roles and buttered toast, and biscuits. I'm going to be fat before this is over, I tell you. You just wait and see. I've got to stop eating so much bread." Mary said, even as she took a bite of the dainty biscuit she had on her plate. "But I won't. It makes baby so very happy. Mm, do you suppose we could go up and take a look at how the nursery is coming along?"

"I don't see why not. Mama is making quite a fuss over it though. I think she's glad to have another grandchild living under her roof, since one hasn't since William and Catherine were tiny babies." Sybil laughed. Mary nodded, and rose slowly from the arm chair she had chosen to sit it, while Edith helped Sybil up from the sofa. "The things she's buying for it all seem rather expensive- things Tom and I could never afford. I think it makes him uncomfortable- though, living here, makes him uncomfortable."

"Well, I can't blame him. What man want's to live under his in-law's roof?" Edith laughed.

"That's just the thing. Tom want's us to move to Liverpool, where his brother runs a garage. He says he could afford to get us a flat, and provide for our little family, if he worked with cars again. But I know he's destined to do greater things than that. He's so very talented and smart. But he's too prideful, he doesn't want to live at the mercy of Mama and Papa." Sybil sighed.

"I understand both sides I suppose. I know Matthew didn't like living here when he was in his chair. It made him feel badly, not providing for us as he wanted to. But Tom will get back on his feet, and get a job somewhere, you know. He's a smart man. But cramming in all of the work of relocating when you're as pregnant as you are would be a mistake." Mary insisted. Sybil nodded.

"That's what I told him, which is why he agreed to stay until after the baby was born. Then I explained that I didn't like the idea of travel when the baby was so small, so he agreed to stay another six months after that... But I know he doesn't like it. He doesn't even like to touch me here, under our parent's roof." Sybil said sadly. "I told him it didn't matter, but he hasn't touched me since we found out I was pregnant. Even before then it made him uncomfortable."

"Just put on a lacy nightgown, he won't be able to resist you long." Mary said, and the three of them laughed heartily.

"I'd give it a try, but I don't think I'd fit in any of mine." Sybil chuckled. "I'm a bit bigger than I was on my wedding night."

"Simple, go to wherever you bought the one you bought for me when I was pregnant with Reggie. Pick one out, I'll buy it for you." Mary said. "I know how much you probably desire your husband right now. I know that I cannot get enough of Matthew in my sixth month. And he just loves that." And Mary watched in satisfaction as Sybil blushed.

"How can you say such things out in a hall where anyone might hear you?" Sybil asked, her eyes darting about.

"Because I'm not ashamed of it. And Mama and Papa are both in the village. Who will hear me? A housemaid? What do I care if a housemaid knows that I am mad about my husband." Mary laughed. Her sisters couldn't help but join in as they opened the nursery door. "My, it looks lovely in here." The walls had been painted a beautiful creamy white, the drapes were made of lace- the cradle was white, with soft yellow bedding. Toys of all shapes and size lined the room, it was in a word dreamy.

"Yes, it is. But to tell you the truth, it's almost as big as our whole Flat in Ireland. And I know that get's to Tom. But I hope that once he's got our girl in his arms, he won't feel so...Negative." Sybil sighed.

"You think it's a girl then?" Edith asked. Sybil nodded and bit her lip. "I think it is as well. Your stomach is the same shape as mine when I was carrying Belle- though not quite like when Mary was carrying Catherine, but then she was a twin."

"Have you thought what you might call her, if it is in fact a little girl?" Mary asked. She had wandered over to a shelf of wooden toys and rummaged through the absentmindedly.

"We cant seem to agree quite yet. We're stuck trying to decide between Aibhilin and Saoirse." Sybil said.

"What interesting names...Did Tom suggest them?" Edith asked, her lips forming into a small pucker.

"No, actually I suggested both of them. You see, Aibhilin means "Longed for child", which seems fitting as this one has been longed for. And Saoirse is a rather um...modern name. One of our friends from Ireland just had a daughter named Saoirse, it means Freedom, which you can imagine means a lot to Tom." Sybil explained. Her sisters nodded. "But I think she should be called Aibhilin Grace, and Tom thinks we should call her Saoirse Marie."

"Well, you needn't argue over much about it. It'll be much easier to name her when you're holding her in your arms." Mary promised with a smile.

"But you've always had the names for your children ready before the births." Sybil pointed out.

"Not truly- well, I suppose in the cases of William Patrick and Reginald Carson, but we hadn't chosen Catherine's name until she was in our arms." Mary protested.

"What about this one? What do you think it'll be?" Edith asked.

"To be honest, I've got no inkling about whether it's a girl or a boy, though Matthew tells me he knows it must be a girl." Mary laughed. "And if it is we'll call her Esther Josephine. If it's another boy, we'll call him Matthew Robert."

"Your idea?" Edith asked.

"Certainly. He protests it, but he agreed so long as the next daughter after Esther Josephine would be Mary. But who knows how long it would be before we need that name?" Mary asked.

"You just have to see it Daisy, it's so darling- OH!" The sisters turned to face the open door to see one of the housemaids- April was it?- and Daisy, the timid wide eyed kitchen maid looking as scared as ever.

"I'm so sorry Mi'ladies, we thought you were in the parlor, and the rest of the family was out, or we'd never have dreamed of coming above stairs!" Daisy apologized.

"There's no harm done, Daisy. Actually, I've been meaning to ask you about Mr. Mason. How is he?" Mary asked.

"He's doing well Ma'am." Daisy squeaked.

"Good, I'm very glad to hear it. You'll pass along my greeting?" Mary asked, and the kitchen maid nodded and turned to go, but at the last moment stopped and turned around.

"It makes him very happy, you know, that you named your first son after his own son. He says that it's an honor for a future earl to be named for a simple footman, and that it's a comfort knowing that even in some little way, his son is still remembered. If William, my Wi-His son William, had lived, he'd have been so very honored to know it." Daisy said, speaking quickly, then did a simple curtsy and vanished with the housemaid trailing behind her.

...

Mary sat very still as Dr. Clarkson held his stethoscope to her extended belly, waiting anxiously for him to look up and tell her that he had located the child's heart beat- she was certain the babe was alive, and very active- but the longer he took to listen, and when a pensive look appeared on his face, she began to doubt, to fear.

"Lady Mary, have you noticed anything perhaps, unusual about this pregnancy in comparison to the others?" Dr. Clarkson asked as he stood up straight and gave Mary the signal to cover her stomach. Mary's brow furrowed and she felt a surge of worry.

"No, I don't think so- Dr. Clarkson, is everything alright?" She asked nervously. If something was wrong with her baby- she didn't know how she could bear it.

"Yes, yes, Everything is fine, you're perfectly healthy, and I've found nothing wrong, however..." He trailed off and stared pensively at the wall.

"However? Doctor, please, I don't like the way that sounds." Mary prompted.

"Lady Mary, I believe, now, I could be wrong, but I believe that I'm detecting a second heart beat." Dr. Clarkson explained. Mary's eyes grew wide and she just stared at him.

"A second heart beat? Do you mean aside from mine and my baby's, another one?" Mary asked.

"Now, I'm not certain, but I'd like another Doctor's opinion on the matter, especially considering the fact that you've already given birth to twins in the past, which means it is likely that you could be having twins." Dr. Clarkson explained. Mary nodded slowly and looked down to her belly where her child- children?- were rested. "If that is the case, I am certain you know what that means, considering you previously gave birth to twins, yes?" Again Mary nodded. Twins- again? How could that be? This baby inside of her, it was just one, she could only imagine it being one child, not two! Not that she would object to two new babies, for she loved each of Matthew's children dearly, but how would they fit two new babies into Crawley house? "If you would allow me to, I'd like to call in your brother in law, Dr. Lowe, and let him have a listen. He's just down the hall seeing to a few patients- that is if that's agreeable to you?"

"Oh, um, yes, fine." Mary said distractedly. Could this be really truly happening? When it had been Catherine and William, no one had known about a twin until William had come racing out after his sister- but now, to have a second set of twins...was that even possible?

"Hello Mary, Dr. Clarkson told me what's going on. Would you mind too terribly much if I had a listen?" Gregory asked as he entered the room.

"That would be fine." Mary nodded, and unbuttoned the bottom of her shirt just a bit to allow him access to the skin of her stomach. Gregory adjusted his stethoscope, and then placed the cool metal disk on her skin. He listened intently for a few moments, and then pulled it away with a smile on his face.

"Mary, It's my opinion that there are two distinct heart beats there. Of course, it's impossible for me to say that I am certain of it, I can say that I would encourage you to prepare for multiple births." Gregory said. "Congratulations." Mary smiled at him, and re-buttoned her blouse.

"Yes, well thank you. I suppose I should tell Matthew." Mary laughed. He was at home with their children and his mother. He had wanted to come with her, but she had insisted he stay, as he had not spent nearly enough time in his mother's presence. Gregory nodded, murmured a hasty goodbye, and slipped back out into the hall. She was more grateful now that she had insisted that Matthew stay at home- she needed a few moments to clear her mind, and the walk was just the thing. She pulled on her coat, and stepped out into the the chilly October air. And she really thought on it. She could not wrap her head around it at first. Two new babes? They barely had room for one! Especially since they didn't know the genders, and there fore could not decide if Catherine or William and Reggie would be the ones to be moved about. But then she thought of Matthew, how much she loved him, how much she loved his- their children. How could she worry about a thing as trivial as space when she should have been rejoicing about the presence of another beautiful child. She smiled then, and walked with a new purpose towards Crawley house.

AN: Well here was another Chapter for you! I hope you enjoyed! Sorry to leave you on a little cliff hanger, but it isn't too bad, and I'll try to write an update soon!