Chapter 8: Our family growing
A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! They are really very encouraging in writing this story! I won't end it here but I will write, at least, two more chapters! In the end of the previous chapter Elsie went into labor while being seven months pregnant. Will the baby arrive safely? Will Elsie and the baby be alright in the end? Let's find out. I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: Any situation or character that appears in the drama isn't mine.
Charles wanted to go to his daughters and be with them but he was very worried and nervous about Elsie and the baby and he didn't want them to see him like this. He was feeling already sad that they had to be there to hear their mother's first cries of pain. He was so glad that Beryl was in the room with them and while he was waiting outside, Cora was inside at his wife's side. He was pacing back and forth in the corridor stopping in his tracks whenever he heard her cry of pain. They wanted so much a child of their own but he was afraid that their wish would cost Elsie's life or the baby's life or worse both lives.
Richard had examined her and informed her that it would take a while before she would be able to start pushing. Cora was at her side holding her hand and talking to her to keep her calm because her fear and worry didn't help very much her condition. In fact her condition would get worse with her fear and worry. The pain was getting stronger with each contraction she had and she was feeling already exhausted. Suddenly, she lost consciousness and fell backwards on the pillows. Richard checked on her and knew that she was going to wake up as soon as another contraction would hit her.
After a few minutes a contraction hit her and she opened her eyes letting a cry of pain. Cora put her hands on her spine and pressed a little. Elsie let a small sigh of relief and the younger woman did it again as the contractions were coming again and again. Two hours had passed when Richard finally instructed her to start pushing for the baby to come out. She was feeling very tired and thought that she couldn't manage it until she felt Cora sitting in the bed behind her and convinced her to push.
Cora along with Richard kept talking softly to her encouraging her to push so she could hold her baby in her arms soon. She feeling very tired but she kept pushing with every bit of strength she had. She wished Charles to be there with her encouraging but in a way she was glad that he wasn't there because he would get very worried about her and she may had cursed him for doing that to her. Richard told her to push one more time with all her strength so the baby would be out. As she heard her baby crying she felt very tired and fainted in Cora's arms. The younger woman got out of bed as quickly as she could and put Elsie down softly on the pillows.
She watched as the doctor gave the baby, after its examination, to clean it and dress it and he moved to check on Elsie. She was a little worried about the older woman as she looked very pale, weak and small on the bed.
Charles was pacing back and forth in the corridor when he stopped dead in his tracks upon hearing a cry and noticed that it was the baby crying. He wanted to enter the room to see his baby and his wife but he decided to wait for the doctor to come out and get him. He just went to stand in front of the door waiting patiently for the doctor to come out. After a while the door opened and Richard stood in front of him after closing the door. "Mr. Carson you have a healthy daughter.", Richard informed him with a smile on his which didn't reach his ears.
"Another woman in my life to love and cherish.", he smiled widely but then looked at the doctor with worry on his face. "How is Elsie?", he was looking at him in a try to stay calm.
Richard looked at him and took a deep breath. "The labor was difficult for her as she already had a difficult pregnancy. She is very weak and she needs to stay in bed for at least a week to regain slowly her strength.", he wanted to do something about them but he couldn't. "I have something more to tell you. I'm so sorry to inform you about that but Mrs. Carson must not get pregnant again. If she gets pregnant it will be the death of her and I wouldn't like the girls and the baby to stay without a mother.", he saw how the butler nodded his head in agreement. "She is sleeping now and she won't wake up until the morning. You can go inside to meet your daughter and then you can take her to meet her sisters.", he offered him a small smile and leaded him in the room.
As he entered the room his eyes caught first his wife lying on the bed asleep with a small smile on her face. The nurse walked towards him holding the baby and placed it softly in her father's arms. Immediately his daughter was in his heart and he was sure that the twins will love her very much. He thanked Cora before she left the room to inform her family and he sat down next to his wife. The doctor along with the nurse left after Richard told him that he would come back tomorrow to check on Elsie. He sat there looking from his daughter to his wife and from his wife to his daughter.
After a few minutes he stood up after placing a kiss on his wife's forehead and left the room with the baby asleep in his arms. He knocked once on the door and entered the twins' bedroom with a smile on his face. Rose and Christine upon seeing their father entering their bedroom with the baby they run to him. He sat down in one of the beds so they could take a better look at the baby. "Girls, you have a sister.", he looked at their happy faces and then looked at Beryl who had noticed the sadness in his eyes.
"She is beautiful, papa.", the girls said together as they admired their new sister.
"Can we see mama now?", Christine asked as she caressed lightly the baby's hand.
"Your mother is sleeping now because she is weak from the labor but you can see her tomorrow.", he saw that the cook was looking him with a worried and questioning expression. "Tomorrow morning you will take care, along with aunt Beryl, of your sister as I have to go to buy a cot for her.", he informed them.
"Lady Grantham told us that she will bring the cot for the baby in a while.". Rose told her father with confusion.
"They wanted to buy something for the baby and upon seeing that you haven't bought a cot yet, they decided to buy one and give it to you before Elsie would give birth.", Beryl explained to him what Cora had told her. "She will bring it here with two footmen in a while so you can put the baby inside to sleep.", she had a smile on her face to reassure him.
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The girls wanted to take care of their sister through the night but Charles took the cot to his bedroom so he would be able to attend to the baby whenever she woke up. He told them that they could spend the morning taking care of the baby and their mother as he wanted to go to Ripon for an errand he had to do. He didn't tell to anyone what he was planning to do because he wanted it to be a lovely surprise for his family.
The girls woke up in the morning upon hearing their sister crying from the next bedroom. They waited a few minutes but it didn't seem to stop so they went quickly to their parents' bedroom to see what was happening. They saw their parents still sleeping; especially their father was looking very tired and the baby crying in the cot. They walked towards the cot and started shaking it very softly to make the baby stop. It stopped for a few minutes but started crying again. "We have two choices, Rose. Either we wake up papa or one of us will pick up the baby.", Christine looked her sister and then looked at their father who was still sleeping.
"He seems to be very tired and it would do him good to sleep a little more. So our only choice is to pick her up. But who will do it?", Rose looked her sister with wide as they were trying to decided who would be up the baby.
"I will do it. If she stops I will try to put her to sleep. If she doesn't stop you will take her. Alright?", Christine looked terrified but when Rose nodded she leaned over the cot and slowly picked up her sister.
She sat in the rocking chair beside the cot and started rocking the baby back and forth. After a few minutes the baby stopped crying and looked with teary eyes her sister. Rose was surprised that her sister managed to calm their sister and sat beside her while they were both looking at her with smiles on their faces.
After a while Elsie opened her eyes for the first time since she lost consciousness last night after giving birth to her baby. She was a little confused as to what had happened afterwards. As she looked at her left side she saw Charles sleeping soundly and looking tired. Suddenly, she remembered the baby and sat up quickly wincing at the pain that hit her. She was happily surprised to find her older daughters looking and smiling at the baby while Christine was rocking back and forth. She felt so proud for them and thought that maybe the baby was crying and they had to somehow stop it. "Girls?", she said in a low and soft voice.
Rose and Christine looked up from their sister as they heard someone calling them and were very happy to see their mother looking at them with a wide smile on her face. Rose stood up from her chair and helped her sister to stand up from the rocking chair. They had managed to make their sister sleep, so Christine walked slowly towards the bed to their mother. "We learnt that you didn't meet the baby yesterday because you fainted from exhaustion.", Christine said in a low voice as to not wake up the baby.
"Mama, you have a very beautiful daughter.", Rose said proudly to her mother as her sister placed the baby softly in their mother's arms.
Elsie smiled proudly at her daughters and then looked down at her new baby daughter and smile again. She was indeed very beautiful and she was happy that she arrived healthy in the world. As she leaned backwards on the pillows the baby opened her eyes but didn't start crying instead she was looking with interested at the new face in front of her. She must know that I am her mother, Elsie thought and smiled once more. Her baby daughter drifted off to sleep again and she looked up at her daughters. "I gather that she woke you up because she was crying and you came to see what was happening and found us asleep. So you decided to take matters in your hands and made her stop crying and fell asleep.", she laughed a little upon seeing her daughters nodding. "I'm very proud for you girls. Thank you so much for taking care of your sister. I love you very much.", she reached to kiss them both.
After a few minutes Charles opened his eyes trying to remember what had happened before falling asleep exhausted and suddenly the realization came on him. "Oh my God! The baby!", he stood up quickly to go to the cot but stopped in his tracks when he heard giggles coming from the bed. As he turned around he noticed that his wife was sitting in the bed with the baby in her arms laughing while his daughters were standing next to the bed laughing as well. "May I ask what you think is so funny, ladies?", he was a little upset seeing them laughing at him.
They stopped for a moment but started laughing again. Elsie saw that he was getting more upset and stopped before she woke up the baby and started crying. The girls stopped laughing as well and tried to keep silent. "We are very sorry about this but it was a little funny, love.", she tried to keep her laughter back because she could wake up the baby and upset her husband more. "You must feel very proud about our daughters.", she continued explaining as he looked at them confused. "Apparently, our little girl was crying and woke up her sisters. They came to see if everything was alright but found you sleeping tiredly and me sleeping as well, so they decided to pick her up and rock her so she would stop and fall asleep.", she saw how he smiled proudly at his daughters but also feeling embarrassed for sleeping and not hear the baby. "Come here, love.", he did as he was told and turned back to bed sitting next to his wife as she sat closer to him so the girls could sit on the bed as well.
They lied down on the bed for a while when Charles stood up to get washed and dressed to go to Ripon without telling that he had a surprise for them. He left his twins to take care of their mother and sister while he was away. The girls were taking care their sister as Richard came to check on Elsie and then to check the baby. He told her that she had to stay for at least a week in bed and then he would check on her again and tell her if she can go back to her work. Beryl had sent a maid up with breakfast for the girls and Elsie. She was glad to know that her friend woke up and was already much better.
Charles turned back to Downton from Ripon in the afternoon and went to check on his family before asking for a sandwich from the cook to keep him until dinner. He found his four women sleeping on the large bed with the baby between his daughters and his wife. He walked slowly towards Elsie's night table and placed four small boxes with different coloured ribbons. He placed a kiss on his wife's forehead and left the room to go downstairs.
He went to check on them again before he had to go to the dining room to serve the family. He found them sitting in the bed talking and laughing. He thought that they hadn't seen the boxes as they were standing still closed on the night table. He walked towards Elsie's side and kissed her softly on the lips while afterwards placing a kiss on his daughters' cheeks. He took first the small box with the blue ribbon and gave it to his wife. Elsie opened the small box and found a necklace with a gold chain and a gold heart. She noticed that the heart could be opened and that she could put inside two photographs. "You can place a photograph of our three children and a photograph with me and you, love.", he turned the heart so she could see what was engraved on it. 'Our family always with you inside your heart.' She had tears in her eyes and kissed him on the lips.
He took the small box with the pink ribbon and gave it to Rose with a smile. Rose opened the small box and found a necklace similar to her mother's but with a rose and when she opened it she found two photographs, one of her biological parents and one of her adopted parents. She turned it and saw that something was engraved on it. 'We will always love you.' She stood up quickly, hugged and kissed her parents. He took the small box with the purple ribbon and gave it to Christine. She opened it and found a necklace similar to her mother and sister's but with a butterfly and inside it there were the same photographs her sister's had. She turned to see what was engraved and found the same message. 'We will always love you.' She stood up quickly ad gave a hug and kiss to her parents. "Sister Anna gave me picture of your parents on their wedding day and I put a picture of our wedding day.", he looked at Elsie and smiled. "You will always have with you your four parents.", he saw the tears falling from their eyes and was sure that they liked it very much.
He took the last small box with a red ribbon and gave it to Elsie to open it. Elsie opened it and found a necklace similar to the others but with an angel. Inside of it there was a picture of Elsie alone on her wedding day and a picture of Charles alone on his wedding day. She knew that something had to be engraved in the back, so she turned to see it. 'Our little angel.' She looked up at her husband with tears falling from her eyes. "She is indeed our little angel. God sent her to us to bring more joy and happiness to our family and life.", she looked down at her little daughter who was sleeping peacefully and then her arms were filled with her two girls. "Never forget how much we love you, my darlings.", she placed a kiss to her daughters' foreheads.
Charles kissed his women and left the room to go downstairs to serve the family. Soon the twins were also asleep and Elsie looked for a while her three angels sleeping peacefully until she drifted off to sleep as well. This was how Charles found them when he came back two hours later with dinner. He had to admit that he wanted very much a son but he was very happy with his daughters and he wouldn't change them for the whole world. He placed the tray with the dinner on the desk and then took the baby placing it softly back to her cot. He woke up his other three girls to have dinner. They ate together while talking and laughing. They allowed the twins to stay with them for just one night, so they placed them in the middle. Soon the Carson family was asleep.
Please, please review. I would like to know what you think. I hope until Thursday to update the next chapter of my story 'What happens next?'.
To Be Continued…
