A/N LONG VERSION:The clock on my computer got screwed up, so I was posting in the future. When I fixed it, the last chapter updated funny, so you may have missed it if you are not receiving story alerts. The problem is fixed now, so it should not happen again. If you have not read Chapter 6: The Lost Boys yet, I suggest you go back a page and do so.
SHORT VERSION: Did you read Ch6? If not, you should.
Chapter 7: The Darling Children
"That must be his cab!"
"Honestly, Sybil, what makes you think this cab is any different from the five dozen you have already pointed out?" Edith asked, exasperated. It had been a very long morning for the Crawley family.
"But this one is slowing down in front of the house!"
"They all slow down here, we are on a corner." Mary pointed out. "Please come away from the window, Sybil dear, or I may be forced to gag you and tie you to a chair." Her voice dripped with false sweetness.
A defeated Sybil slunk away from the window as the cab continued past the house. Two seconds later, she ran back to the window as she heard hooves on the street. "But maybe this is them!"
Edith buried her head under the nearest cushion and moaned. "Please, Mama. Make her stop!"
But Cora could not help her. In truth, her state of mind was hardly any less agitated than Sybil's. Her nerves were shot and the only way she had been able to endure this never ending day was to ignore her children altogether. After luncheon, Lady Violet had not lasted five minutes in the room before retreating to her rooms upstairs. "Please send for me when he arrives."
Rosamund was playing solitaire in the corner while Mr. Painswick watched. She called Sybil over to help her. Occasionally, she would look up at the clock. She knew exactly when Robert would arrive, knowing the train arrival time and knowing to the second how long it took to get to her front door from the station.
At a quarter after two, Rosamund said to Sybil. "Let's check the cabs again, my dear."
Edith moaned again and Mary kicked her. Edith kicked her back. Soon, they were shoving each other and they would have resorted to hair pulling next if Sybil hadn't started jumping up and down, shouting, "I see them. That's Carson in the front for sure! It has to be Papa!"
"I believe you are correct." Rosamund confirmed. Cora felt herself go faint, but recovered as her youngest daughter threw herself into her mother's arms for a brief hug before dancing away.
"He's home! He's home!" She crowed, skipping about the middle of the room.
Edith ran to the window to see for herself. She skipped back and threw her arms around Mary. "It's true!"
Mary tried to remain dignified, but she allowed Edith to hug her and she might even have skipped a step or two as she was pulled into a dance with her two sisters. Mere moments later, they all froze mid dance when they heard the front door close. Heavy footsteps climbed the short flight of steps as they held their collective breath.
The Painswick's 'Carson', as the girls called him, opened the door and announced, "Lord Grantham."
"Papa!" Three voices cried. Before he was two steps into the room, Robert found himself embraced by three pairs of loving arms. For a moment, he was overwhelmed. He patted each of their heads in turn and then looked up at his wife who smiled at him with tear filled eyes; eyes he had dreamed about for two years. Having recovered somewhat, Robert scooped up Sybil in one arm and Edith in the other. He leaned down to kiss Mary on her cheek, saying, "My darling girl." He repeated the action for Edith and Sybil, each time saying, "My darling girl."
Robert carried his two youngest over to the lounge where their mother sat, Mary walked right beside him, her hands on his arm as though he might float away. Setting the girls down, he sat beside his wife and gathered her in his arms. "My darling girl," he breathed into her ear.
Rosamund and Marmaduke snuck out of the room unnoticed, leaving the woven knot of human happiness that was the Crawley family with some privacy. They needn't have bothered to sneak; they could have tap danced out of the room and gone unnoticed. An hour later, Cora rang the bell and asked for Lady Rosamund and Lady Violet to be brought in. Rosamund did not mind being summoned in her own house. Shortly, she ordered the tea brought in. Now the family reunion was complete as Lord Grantham's sister and mother welcomed him home, though with much fewer tears and embraces than his wife and children had done.
Squeezed between Sybil and Mary, Lady Violet patted Robert's hand in an uncharacteristic gesture of affection. "Welcome home, my darling boy."
TBC...
A/N I thought this moment warranted its own chapter, even though it is brief. There should be another chapter later today.