September 19, 1926

Charles stared up at the ceiling, his mind running in a thousand different directions. Elsie was beside him, her book still in her hand, intent on finishing the last chapter of her novel.

"Are you almost finished, Elsie?" With his arm now draped over his eyes to shield them from the light, he missed the look of mild irritation that she gave to him.

"Almost, dear. Only a few more pages, then I promise to turn out the light." She turned back to reading then stopped as a thought struck her. "You don't have a headache, do you? I saw you rubbing your temples when we first got into bed. I should have asked you then."

"No, not a headache, just a lot on my mind." He moved his arm away from his eyes and turned to give her a weak smile. "Go ahead and finish your book. I'm sorry I interrupted you."

Elsie could tell that whatever was on his mind, it wasn't going to go away easily and it would be better to talk about it sooner rather than later. Her book would keep. Her husband … he would not have to wait for her attention. Quietly, she closed her book and turned off the light, shifting down in the bed beside him. "Let's talk for a bit. I'd rather finish my day with you than with that book."

"You didn't have to do that, Elsie. You were almost finished."

"Yes, and the book will still be there on my nightstand tomorrow and the night after and the night after that until I decide to open it again. I'm not worried about how that story ends. I'm worried about you. What's on your mind?"

He thought for a moment, trying to work out the best way to broach what could be a potentially painful subject. In the end, he decided to take the indirect route to test the water. "I overheard Lady Mary in the nursery today as I was walking along the corridor. She was talking to Her Ladyship."

Elsie propped up on her elbow and turned her pillow over to the cooler side before settling back down, this time a little closer to Charles. "Oh, and is that so unusual? For Lady Mary and her mother to have a conversation?"

"Well, not exactly. I suppose it was the content of their conversation that intrigued me. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all day. And, now that we're meant to be going to sleep, and there's nothing to occupy my mind, I'm finding it consumed with the subject matter."

Elsie reached over and ran her fingers through his hair, thankful that he'd washed the cream from it earlier that evening. "Is this your way of suggesting we should have been a little more amorous this evening, my dear husband?" She already knew the answer but thought it couldn't hurt to tease him a little.

"No, well that is to say that I wouldn't have said no, but … "

"Relax, Mr. Carson. I was merely teasing you. Our evening have been lovely, especially since we're in our own home and don't have to return until Tuesday. We've plenty of time for other activities." She leaned over and kissed him sweetly on the lips. "So, what exactly did you overhear?"

Charles laced his fingers with hers and brought them to his mouth, brushing his lips against her fingertips. "They were talking about Mr. Crawley for starters and how much Master George looks like him. Then, she told her mother that she'd often wondered if they would have been given a little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes or if the girl would have taken her looks more from her than her father."

"That sounds like a lovely conversation between a mother and daughter. What about that has lingered with you all day?"

There was no backing out now. He had to answer her, if for no other reason than to put his mind at rest. "I started thinking about our children. Would they have been all boys, girls, or maybe one of each? Would they take after their mother in their looks or be cursed with the Carson nose and unruly hair?" He dared to lift his eyes towards hers to gauge her reaction. "They'd be Lady Mary's age or maybe a little younger if we'd only met and married earlier," he added softly.

"Aye, they would," she answered. Her hand cupped his cheek. "Tell me how you see our children, Charles. Names, genders, looks … everything you can think of … I want to hear what our children would have been like."

He drew her into his arms and kissed the top of her head as he took a deep breath. "Well, since we wouldn't be employed at Downton Abbey any longer, once we were married, that is, we would have discussed our finances and decided that two children would be enough. Would you agree that that's accurate?"

"I think so. We're both hard workers but we'd want to be able to spend time with our bairns, not work all day just to feed them and us, too."

"Right, so we would have been blessed with two children, if we were lucky. A lad that I would like to think you'd want to name after me and perhaps your father."

"And a little girl, who would be the apple of her father's eye," Elsie stated with confidence. "I would have let you name her, you know, and she would have had my eyes, blue like the sky, but so very expressive like yours, with my eyebrows, of course. I would never have had to wonder what she was thinking."

"Ah, but the lad … he would be tall like me, but he would have had your sweet disposition and ability to care deeply for others. I think we would have done well enough to send both of our children to school, as far as they wanted to go with their education."

Elsie leaned back and gave him a skeptical look, remembering his sentiments regarding Daisy and her education.

As if reading her mind, Charles shook his head. "Daisy is different. She is much older and already has a job. I was more worried about her losing that job and her income because of her devotion to her studies than I was her learning about ancient history, math, and her other studies."

"It might do her a world of good to hear that coming from you, Mr. Carson. You know she looks up to you like a father. A little encouragement and letting her know that you believe in her, want her to succeed … I'm sure she'd appreciate it, as would I." She patted his chest. "Just something to think about, love."

"Right. Umm, so our boy and girl, they would have gone to school. I don't think I would have encouraged them to go into service. I like to think we would have given them the freedom to choose their own paths in life, even if the son and I would have butted heads from time to time on matters."

Elsie laughed heartily. "Mothers and daughters are prone to do that as well, don't forget. I'm sure you'd have spent your fair amount of time consoling your daughter after receiving some punishment from me. I can see now that I'd have had to be the disciplinarian in the household. One tear on their cheeks and you'd have given them the moon to make them happy again."

"Never! You know I can be a bit of a bear from time to time."

"Yes, my cuddly teddy bear, Charles. You can bluster about but everyone knows that you don't mean it. You're kind at heart, loyal to a fault, and generous by nature. You may pretend to be angry but most of the time, I believe, you're just unsure of how to express yourself. I have no doubts that our children would have grown up being spoiled by both of us and loved beyond measure."

He turned silent for a moment, deep in thought. "We'd be grandparents by now, most likely."

"Perhaps, but who's to say?"

"Don't you regret it, Elsie? Having waited so many years, given up so much of our youth, sacrificed another way of life filled with children, and a lifetime of our own choices?"

"No, I do not regret it, not one bit. At the end of the day, after your daughter and my son were grown and with children of their own, we would still be here, in our very own cottage, snuggled together at the end of the day. Children and all those other things would have been nice, but only if I'd had them with you, love, and that wasn't meant to be. Instead, we were given other people's children to nurture, to raise, to love, and we've done a fine job, if you ask me."

"I shudder to think what my life would be like without you, Elsie Carson. Children or not, there's no way I could have loved you more than I do at this moment."

"Well, lucky for you the feeling is mutual. And for the record, I believe you would have made a wonderful father. Your love for Lady Mary is all the proof I need to know that I'm right." She closed the distance between them and kissed him soundly on the lips. "What do you say we try to get some sleep? Maybe tomorrow, we can talk more about our children or what our lives would have been like decades ago?"

"Or, I could take my loving and very understanding wife to tea in Ripon, and we can discuss future plans. Let's start thinking of somewhere we'd like to go on a little holiday. I'd like to take you on a little trip, nothing too fancy, but somewhere alone for a few days."

"I'd like nothing better. Maybe we could take the trip next month for our six month anniversary?"

He reached down and clasped her left hand, bringing it to his lips so he could place a delicate kiss to the small diamond adorning her finger. "Then, no more talk of babies and alternative paths. Tomorrow, we focus on us and making the most of our lives together now."

"I can think of something that will take our mind off babies and make the most of the moment," she teased with a seductive purr to her voice.

"Mrs. Carson, you're quite the plotter when you want to be," he said with a smirk, rolling her onto her back and hovering over her for a moment.

"That, among others, is a skill all women must learn." She widened her eyes and flashed him a coy look, one that spoke volumes, one that let him know the time for talking was over … for now.

TBC …

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, reblogged, liked, and recommended this fic. I truly appreciate your support, and I hope you will continue to enjoy the story! HUGS! xoxo