Chapter 5: A happy family

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! There are helping me move on with this story! In the previous chapter we learnt happy and sad news. Elsie was pregnant but didn't know it until she had a miscarriage. They were informed that they were officially the parents of Rose and Christine. What life keeps in store for the Carsons? Let's find out. A long chapter this time. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Any situation or character that appears in the drama isn't mine.

Sister Anna was glad that a very lovely and caring couple as the Carsons became the parents of Rose and Christine. She loved those girls very much and wanted them to be happy. The two girls were jumping up and down from the excitement when the nun informed them about the final decision. They had gone to their room and started making plans and dreams about their new life with their parents. They believed that their parents from heaven had sent the lovely couple to become their parents for the rest of their lives.

Once they arrived at London's train station they walked quickly to the orphanage. Sister Anna took them to her office to make sure everything was alright to take the girls and let them stay for the night with the girls. She sent a nun to fetch the girls from their room and bring them to her office. Charles and Elsie were waiting patiently for the girls to arrive, so they could hug them. Their arms were filled with their… daughters as soon as they entered the room. Sister Anna and the younger nun were watching the lovely with smiles and tears on their faces.

The four of them started making plans for their lives as a family back at Downton. They explained to them everything about their work at the house and how they were living. Late in the evening Elsie was sleeping with Rose in her arms in one bed while Charles was sleeping with Christine in his arms in the other bed. In the morning they had breakfast together, packed the few things the girls had and left to catch the train promising to Sister Anna to visit her whenever they could. Once they arrived at Downton along with their daughters they started walking on the path to the big house.

As they were approaching the front door of the house, Charles saw the three young ladies running towards them. They all came to a stop without saying a word. Charles looked from his daughters to the three young ladies and smiled. "Lady Mary, Lady Edith, Lady Sybil we would like you to meet our daughters Rose and Christine Carson.", he introduced them and smiled at his wife when their daughters greeted politely and correct the young ladies.

"I am very happy for you. We saw you coming from the window in the library.", Mary said with a wide smile.

"Papa sent us to fetch so they could meet Rose and Christine.", Edith explained to them.

"After that we would like to show you something before you go downstairs to introduce them to the staff.", Sybil added and looked very happy.

The Carson family followed the young ladies into the house and in the library where Robert and Cora were happy to meet the two girls that had stolen the heart of their butler and housekeeper. The three girls were laughing and smiling as they took the two younger girls by the hand while the adults followed them closely. Finally they reached the bedroom next to the bedroom Elsie and Charles had been offered from the family for when they stayed at the house. Mary opened the door so they could enter the room. Charles and Elsie were very surprised by the room. It was painted with two shades of pink and two shades of purple. In one side of the room in the middle were two beds with one night table each while in each end of the side was a brown desk and a chair. In the other side of the room there was a table with two chairs and a corner with toys.

Robert and Cora were happy when they saw the wide smiles and happy faces. "This is the bedroom were the girls will stay when you stay in the house. The other bedroom in your cottage is similar to this one. It is our gift for these lovely two girls.", Robert informed them and nodded reassuringly at Charles.

"Thank you, Milord. I am sure that the girls will enjoy their new bedrooms very much.", Elsie said as she smiled down at her daughters.

"We thought that they could go to school in the village. Each girl has her own desk to write and read for their school.", Cora explained to them as she looked her daughters showing the room at the two girls. She was sure the five girls would become great friends and she didn't mind their different class. Neither the one couple nor the other had said anything about Elsie's miscarriage to their daughters. There would be no point in making them sad after seeing how happy they were.

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The Crawly family left to leave the Carson family alone in the twins' bedroom. The two girls with the help of their parents put their things away in their places and stayed there playing with their new toys while their parents went to change for their work. It was a little weird to see them wearing those clothes but both girls agreed that the dark blue dress was making their mother more beautiful because of her blue eyes.

Elsie and Charles took their daughters from their bedroom and headed downstairs to introduce them to the rest of the staff. They were a little nervous but they were sure that they would love them as much as they loved them. Beryl was making something special knowing that her friends would return with their daughters. She left what she was doing to Daisy as she heard their familiar steps and went to greet them at the bottom of the stairs.

They smiled as they saw Beryl waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs with a wide smile on her face. They looked each other and then at their daughters. As they reached the bottom they walked away from the stairs. "Beryl, I would like you to meet our daughters Rose and Christine.", Elsie said with a wide smile on her face. "Girls, this is Mrs. Patmore and is the cook.", she chuckled at the look the older woman had on her face.

The two girls extended their hands to greet the cook. "It's a pleasure to meet you, girls. You can call me Aunt Beryl if there is no problem with your parents.", she looked at her two friends who pretended to be shocked but soon they started laughing.

"There is no problem with us, Beryl.", Charles informed the cook as they calmed down from their laughter.

"What's happening here?", the girls hide behind their parents as they turned around to see who had asked. The three adults knew that the girls may not like Thomas and weren't very surprised by their reaction upon seeing him.

"Mr. Barrow could you please wait for us in the servant's hall along with the other staff?", Charles took the lead to ease the tension. He turned to look at the cook. "Mrs. Patmore could you gather the rest of the staff at the servant's hall and wait for us there?", he asked gently because he didn't want to show his anger in front of his daughters.

The cook nodded her head and entered the kitchen to gather her staff at the servant's hall and then gather the others. Charles and Elsie took their daughters in his pantry and explained to them quickly about how they would be treated in front of everyone and how they would be treated when they were alone. Charles took Rose by the hand and left his pantry as Elsie took Christine by the hand and followed them to the servant's hall. Only Beryl knew that the butler and the housekeeper were planning to adopt two girls, so the others looked surprised, shocked and confused when they saw their two heads of the staff entering the room with two unknown girls.

Neither Charles nor Elsie stopped holding their daughters' hands as they stood in front of everyone. They looked each other for a moment before they turned their heads to look at the staff. Charles took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "As you know Mrs. Carson and I are married for six months now. As we don't know if we are going to have children of our own, we decided to adopt a child but during our visit in London three months ago we met these two girls and decided to adopt them. I would like to introduce you our daughters, Rose and Christine Carson.", he let out a breath he was holding as he spoke to them.

They were looking at the surprised and shocked faces of the staff while Beryl was smiling. They were all standing in the servant's hall in silence. "Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Carson! I'm so happy for you and the girls.", it was Anna who broke the silence as she walked towards them and hugged the housekeeper while smiling warmly at the girls. One by one started congratulating them as if Anna had broken the ice. After all the staff, even Thomas and Ms. O'Brien, congratulated them they sent them back to their works. Charles went to his pantry as Elsie took the girls with her and asked Anna to follow her in the sitting room.

Elsie closed the door as the two girls and Anna were there. She walked towards the twins and stood between them. "Girls, I would like you to meet Anna. She is the head housemaid and a very lovely young woman.", she smiled at Anna.

"It's very nice to meet you, girls. I will be happy to help you with whatever you want.", she said softly to them.

The girls smiled widely at the young woman and laughed. Elsie was so happy to see the smile on her daughters' faces. She was happy to have them with her especially after her miscarriage three months ago. As Anna left to return to her work, Elsie asked them to sit at the settee drawing because she had some paper work to do and promised to show them the house as soon as she would finish with her work.

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Four months had passed since the day Elsie and Charles returned to Downton along with their daughters. The days had passed so quickly for all of them, both upstairs and downstairs. Rose and Christine had brought the laughter and the smile downstairs and they all seemed to be very grateful for that. Mary, Edith and Sybil were often downstairs to take Rose and Christine so they would all go outside and play. A week after their arrival at Downton they started going to the school which was something the loved very much. They would do their homework and study for the next day as soon as they got back from school. Some days if they didn't have anything to do they were helping their aunt Beryl in the kitchen.

It was already July and the girls had stopped the school for the summer holidays. Together with the Crawly girls they would go out in the gardens of the estate to play or to ride their bicycles. The young ladies had been very patient in helping the twins to learn how to ride a bicycle. Elsie and Charles had surprised them with two wonderful bicycles so they could go for a ride in the summer. In one week the twins had their birthdays number nine and their parents were organizing a surprise for them. The family had been very glad to be able to help them for their surprise.

Charles, Christine and Rose had noticed that Elsie wasn't feeling very well the last few days but they thought that it was a common summer cold and she would be alright in a few days. They had decided to spend their weekends at their cottage while the other five days they would stay at the house. Elsie opened her eyes as the rays of the sun hit her face and enlightened the room. Suddenly her eyes widened and she put her hand on her mouth as she got out of the bed quickly and rushed to the bathroom.

Charles woke up by the sudden movement on the bed and opened his eyes in confusion. He got worried when he heard something from the bathroom and saw that his wife wasn't lying next to him. He got out of bed quickly and rushed to the bathroom. As he entered the room, his heart sank a little at the sight in front of him. Elsie was sitting on the floor and she was leaning back on the wall with her eyes closed and took deep breaths. "Elsie?", he said her name softly but with concern in his voice.

As she opened her eyes to look at him, she sat up quickly and leaned over the toilet once more losing the contents of her stomach. He was at her side at once holding up her hair and rubbing soothingly her back in a desperate need to help her to feel better. She collapsed back on the floor with her back and her head leaning on the wall. She had her eyes closed and was taking deep breaths to calm down. She knew how worried her husband must be. "I will send for the doctor to come and check on you.", he stood up and was ready to leave the room when her hand grasped his to stop him.

"No, I don't want the doctor. I'll be fine, love. It's only a summer cold, Charles. I will lie down for a while to rest and I'll be fine.", she opened her eyes to look at him and saw the concern in his eyes but she didn't want to ruin her weekend with her husband and her daughters, especially if the doctor would order her to stay in bed. She tried to stand up but the dizziness wasn't helping her at all. "Charles, please take me back to the bed.", she was pleading him.

He finally gave in and picked her up in his arms after noticing that she couldn't stand up by herself. He went back to their bedroom, placed her softly on the bed and covered her. "I will go to wash and get dressed before going to make breakfast for us and the girls. Sleep for a while and I will wake you up when the breakfast is ready.", he kissed her on the lips and went back to the bathroom after picking up his clothes for the day.

Elsie offered him a small weak smile and closed her eyes; soon she drifted off to sleep. She didn't want to admit it but she wasn't feeling very well the last few days. She made the decision to go and see the doctor on Monday morning after leaving her daughters at the school. She woke up almost two hours later with kisses on her cheeks. As she opened her eyes and sat up on the bed, she smiled seeing her husband and daughters with her while Charles had prepared a very nice breakfast. She had to admit that she was rather hungry now. They had a very nice family breakfast in bed.

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It was Saturday, a week later and it was the twins' birthday. Their parents along with the family had prepared a very nice surprise for them. The surprised would take place at the Carsons' cottage late in the morning. This gave time to Elsie and Charles to give their daughters another little surprise. They woke up early in the morning, had washed and got dressed. Elsie took the small birthday cake she had prepared with Beryl's help while the big birthday cake was hidden for the big surprise later in the morning.

They opened the door of the girls' bedroom slowly and entered without making any noise to disturb them. Elsie placed the cake on the night table between the two beds. She sat on Christine's bed while Charles sat on Rose's bed. They kissed their daughters on their cheeks and when they had opened their eyes, they wished them for their birthday. The girls were very happy with that detail and hugged their parents. Together they ate a little from the cake and kept the rest of it for later.

Charles went to make them breakfast as Elsie helped their daughters to get dressed with their new dresses. She was wondering how they will react about their surprise later. After eating their breakfast and cleaning up the kitchen they sat outside in the garden to enjoy the lovely day of July. Elsie went back to the house to open the door when she heard a knock. She returned in the garden with Beryl and Anna following her. They girls excited that they had come hugged them and kissed them. After a while Robert, Cora and their daughters arrived at the cottage giving the girls a very nice surprise.

After cutting the big birthday cake and eating the lunch Elsie and Beryl had made the previous day, the girls opened their presents. First, they opened the Crawlys' present. It was a big colorful box and inside it had four notebooks for school and some books for children. Then, they opened Anna's present. She had bought them two books that could become their personal diary. Then, they opened Beryl's present. She had bought them a few materials for clothes, two sketch books and crayons so they could draw. Finally, the opened their parents' presents. They were so excited when they discovered what the two boxes had inside. The day they had gone for a walk in London, the girls had seen two lovely dolls but couldn't have them. Charles and Elsie knew how much their daughters wanted these dolls, so Charles had gone to London almost two weeks ago and bought them for their birthday. Rose and Christine stood up immediately, hugged and thanked their parents. Along with the three young ladies they went to play and ride their bicycles while they left the adults to talk.

Elsie had another surprise for everyone and she knew that it was the perfect time for it. Charles purred more wine into everyone's glasses but when he reached his wife she refused kindly. She was so happy to see her daughters playing with those three young ladies. Elsie saw the perfect opportunity when Robert, Cora, Beryl and Anna were focused on their conversation. She sat closer to her husband and kissed him on the lips. "Charles, I need to tell you something.", she said in a low voice so only him could hear. "I went to see doctor Clarkson on Monday.", she noticed how he turned to look at her worried.

"What's the matter, love? Is something wrong?", he asked in a low voice but with concern in his voice.

"No, love. Nothing is wrong. You have nothing to worry about.", she smiled at him. "Charles… I'm… pregnant.", she finally told him with a wide smile on her face.

He looked at her surprised with wide eyes and his mouth open. He was standing very still looking at her. "Oh my God!", he managed to say as the first shock had gone and in a rather loud voice which caused the other four adults to look at him. "Are you sure?", he asked her while he couldn't believe it.

Elsie laughed with his question and smiled at him. "Of course I'm sure, Charles. Doctor Clarkson confirmed it.", she continued to laugh.

Charles pulled her in his arms and kissed her passionately. Their pulled away a few moments later breathless. "You make me so happy, Elsie.", he kissed her once more but this time softly.

"Would you care to enlighten us?", Beryl asked rather upset and curious looking at them.

Elsie and Charles turned to look at them and smiled. "We are going to have a baby.", Charles announced happy while holding his wife close to him.

They chuckled upon seeing the surprised faces. One by one congratulated them and wished them the best for their family. "How long you know it?", Beryl asked her friend after they had sat back down.

"I went to see doctor Clarkson on Monday and he told me that I was pregnant on Tuesday through a letter.", she smiled at her husband and kissed him softly. "I'm three months pregnant and I'll have to stay in bed during my pregnancy but he gave me permission for these days because I wanted it to be a surprise. That's why I didn't work so much the last days.", she looked at Charles who was worried about her but was smiling reassuringly.

"You don't have to worry about that, Mrs. Carson.", Cora said to her housekeeper. "I'm sure that Carson and Anna can take over for you until the baby is born. You could help them if they have any problem but only if you stay in bed without protests.", she looked at the older woman knowingly and smiled reassuringly.

"Cora is absolutely right. I would suggest to stay in the house during the pregnancy so you would be able to help, from your room, in case there is a problem.", Robert said very serious.

Elsie and Charles looked each other for a few moments and then turned to look at their employers. "We will stay in the house during Elsie's pregnancy and she will help, if there is any problem, without getting out of bed.", Charles informed them.

They continued talking about the baby and many other things until it started getting dark outside. Everyone left for the house leaving the Carson family alone to rest. They had decided to inform the girls about the pregnancy the following day. That night Charles showed his wife how much he loved her and was happy that finally they would have their own child and their daughters were going to have a little brother or sister.

Please, please, please review. I would like to know what you think of this chapter. Next chapter the reaction of Rose and Christine at the new of Elsie's pregnancy.

To Be Continued…