Ch 19 – November 1918, Part I: Some Surprising News

November 1918

It wasn't often that the whole house gathered together in the same room to hear Lord Grantham speak, or for any other purpose. Charlotte and the boys were a bit surprised when nanny brought them downstairs and they were each handed off to a parent. Ben made a beeline for Cora, Charlie took his waiting father's hand and Charlotte ran into her mother's arms.

Elsie put the girl on her hip and held her close as Robert began to address the household. Charlotte preferred her mother's arms to just about anywhere else on earth. Charlie, on the other hand, was proud. He felt big and responsible standing next to his father, waiting to hear the news. He stared up at him, admiring him from a distance. Carson was a formidable figure, even in the eyes of his children. Little Charlie had awe and respect for his dad that couldn't be measured by much else and Charlotte thought he could do anything in the world: anything at all.

The children listened carefully as Robert announced the war's ending, the three sort of understanding what that met. Truthfully because they were so small, all three of them had a level of confusion about the war's ending that their parents might find hilarious. They all understood that it met that the soldiers would leave the house. Ben wondered where they would go, and Charlotte thought it met Downton had won the war. Charlie understood that the country had won the war and thought that met they'd acquisitioned Germany as a part of their own nation. In short, none of the three truly got it, at least not as much as they wanted everyone to think they got it.

Elsie bowed her head as Lord Grantham led them into a moment of silence. It took Charlotte a moment to catch on to this but she closed her eyes tightly when she did. Mrs. Carson was overwhelmed. She'd been pregnant when it started, and never would've imagined that the war would last the first three years of her baby's life. Really it was four if you counted the pregnancy. The idea of it overwhelmed her, that her children hadn't existed before the war and that now they'd all enter a new world together. The idea struck Cora much the same way: her son did not exist before all of this. It would be strange to go back to some sense of normal with him there.

"Good bye my little love." Elsie kissed Charlotte's cheek when the household began to disperse.

"Mummy where you go?" Charlotte asked as her father took her hand.

"Yes, Elsie where are you going?" Carson raised an eyebrow.

"Mummy has to go out. She'll be back in a little bit. I love you." She kissed her son and her husband and waived goodbye, leaving her family standing by the stairs.

Carson huffed, he knew where she was going and did not approve.

…

Elsie filled a basket with food, contraband rather; part from Downton's kitchen and part from her own and made her bi-weekly bus trip. It was cold out now and she bundled up warm before her journey. Elsie climbed onboard the bus with her basket, and a tiny gift for baby Charlie Parks. It was nothing special, just something, her own Charlie had grown out of long ago now. She brought a bit of sewing with her: a beautiful velvet Christmas dress she was making for Charlotte. She would've brought a book, but wanted the time for her mind to wander, to sit and listen to her own thoughts.

As soon as the bus began to roll down the road, Elsie started to hear rumblings of illness. She paused, the word flu catching her ear. She and everyone at Downton had been hearing about this flu that had taken a foothold literally once the soldiers laid down their weapons. She had thought it was a sort of divine punishment for the destruction they'd all inflicted. She didn't dare say that to her husband. If you were to listen to him, he'd have you believing that not a single British soldier ever fired a shot.

She heard someone cough and suddenly she realized that she hadn't felt well lately either. She'd been too busy to pay much mind to it but she was tired. She'd even been close to throwing up quite a few times, but wasn't sure she had the flu. If she did, wouldn't she be laid up in bed by now, like everyone else who had it? Her heart skipped a beat and she wondered if she should even be going to see Ethel now. She needed the food, but surely, she wouldn't thank her for bringing illness into the house? Especially not with a baby. Elsie steadied herself deciding it was imperative that she go, but that she wouldn't stay long.

…

Carson stared down at his two small children, raising an eyebrow as they looked up ever so sweetly at him with innocent wide eyes. The two were upset their mother had left and were worried about where she'd gone. She'd done this once or twice a month, for almost a year now and this was the first time they'd noticed. Carson, however, had been well aware of his wife's feeding Ethel and her infant son and he was totally against it, especially now that it had left him all alone with his fussy children when he was supposed to be coordinating that night's dinner.

"Daddy hungey!" Charlotte hic-upped.

"Yeah sandwich."

"Sandwich, please." Carson corrected.

"Sandwich, peas." Charlie pouted.

Carson sighed. He was busy, but what in the world mattered more than this? He paused for a second, indecision playing across his face. He really should've surrendered them to nanny now but didn't have the heart.

"Here we go then." He smiled, lifting Charlotte into his arms and taking Charlie's hands.

He knew he'd made the right decision when Charlie started to jump up and down excitedly and Charlotte kissed his cheek. Their mother often took them alone for a few hours during the day but it wasn't nearly as often that they saw their Dad. For the twins, this was a welcome change.

"Daddy go pay outside Daddy!" Charlie met to say play. He pointed out to the snow covered lawn as they passed huge paned windows on the way downstairs.

"No my boy." He laughed. "It's far too cold. You might get sick."

…

Elsie smiled, jostling the baby in her arms as he cooed, happy to give the much younger, more burdened mother a rest. Seeing Ethel and her Charlie was always an opportunity for Elsie to realize just how blessed she was. Sure she worked hard, but she had a warm home, an incredible husband, and didn't have to worry about how she was going to feed her children.

Ethel folded towels, thanking her for coming in a tone that came across as begging and appreciative at the same time. She lamented about her worries and Elsie found herself not listening, and instead enjoying her time holding the little chap. The baby boy looked up at her with wide blue eyes, chewing on his own hand. Suddenly Elsie admitted to herself how bittersweet this was for her: she missed holding and cuddling with a baby, her body almost seeming to long, to care for a tiny person in this way again.

She'd tried her best to put it out of her mind after the twins started to get bigger, not even allowing herself to think about her almost desperate desire to mother someone small… Elsie sighed, trying again to put it out of her mind. She was too old to have another now, and aside from that, the twins had been miracles. She couldn't just have one...

Elsie listened as Ethel began to talk about the flu, warning her that she thought she might have caught it. She didn't know what she would do, she'd said, if either of them contracted it. Who would care for Charlie? Mrs. Carson found herself unable to focus on the younger woman's words, and her mind began to wander.

"Oooh." Baby Charlie cooed, tugging on Mrs. Carson's sleeve. He smiled beginning to slobber. Elsie jumped for a second, realizing she most assuredly did not have the flu.

…

Elsie headed back to the house, blithefully ignorant of all the drama going on upstairs, but little Benjamin Crawley was enthralled...or should we say, scared to death. Because Carson had taken the twins, Elsie had gone out, and they were celebrating the war's end, Cora had decided to give the overburdened nanny a much-needed day off. It turned out to be the worst possible day to have done that, as she had no idea what her youngest daughter and her secret beau had in store for them.

Benjamin found himself hiding under a settee, upon making the unpleasant discovery that Papa could YELL. He was distraught. His little heart raced because everyone was so upset, and moreover, he was devastated. His big sister, his favorite person in the entire world was just leaving him?!... For Tom? Ha!

'The man who drives the car is more important than me?!' He wanted to scream.

But of course he didn't. The thought was very Mary and not at all Benjamin. Actually, Ben and the twins were quite close to Tom, something that Carson greatly disapproved of but Elsie and Cora encouraged. Ben always had a lot of fun with the young man who he loved like a big brother, but if he was going to take his very real big sister away he'd hate him forever.

He couldn't believe it and worse: he was crushed. The boy considered begging her to stay but was too hurt. Instead, he crawled out from under the settee, passing his mother and grandmother on his way out of the room. Cora usually would've noticed her son's absence even in such a trying time but was overwhelmed. Not only was she very distraught, but she felt a fever coming on, and found it took everything in her to think straight.

…..

"What are you doing here?!" Charlotte gasped as Ben wandered into the kitchen.

The twins were helping Mrs. Patmore make cookies. Being only three and a half, they were not exemplary bakers, but they were good for stirring the batter and pouring in the chocolate chips. Besides all that, they had fun and Mrs. Patmore enjoyed watching them.

"C-can I stay here for a while?" Ben asked.

"What's wrong?" Mrs. Patmore inquired, getting on her knees to see him.

He said nothing, allowing her to wipe his tears with her apron. Because he was such close friends with the twins, and Sybil was… friendly with Branson, he knew everyone downstairs far better than he might otherwise and felt comfortable with them.

"It's alright." Mrs. Patmore soothed. "Why don't you bake with your friends?" She asked, helping him onto a chair next to Charlotte.

"What's going on?" Carson asked when he came into the room and saw that Benjamin was there, giggling and feeding his daughter cookie-dough. Much of it was on her nose. Charlotte giggled, then froze when she saw her father. Charlie, meanwhile, was trying to hide the fact that he'd consumed too much cookie-dough.

Carson was affronted at first, his blood beginning to boil within the first few seconds. Charlotte was much too young for…this, whatever it was, and he wanted, more than anything to protect her.

"Mr. Carson. I needed a place to go." He pouted, turning and addressing Carson as respectfully as he could.

Carson sighed, searching the little boy's sad, confused eyes. He still didn't like the relationship Ben had with his little girl, but he tried to keep in mind that like her, the boy was just a toddler and he was scared. Carson knew perfectly well what was going on upstairs and he did NOT approve. He calmly decided to sympathize with the young boy.

"Very well Master Crawley." He told the child. "You may stay and play."

The children cheered and thanked him, Carson slightly startled when he saw his little girl's eyes light up at his decision. He didn't want to admit that she was delighted, more so than Charlie.

"I promise you made the right decision." Mrs. Patmore whispered as she exited the room.

….

"What?" Elsie asked, looking back at him.

Several hours had passed and a lot had happened. In that time Benjamin had gone back upstairs, Elsie had come home and both Cora and Miss Swire had taken ill. It was late now, and the servant's dinner hour. Carson couldn't eat much, and was instead, staring at his wife as she ate noticing she was ravenous, almost like she had been when expecting the twins. He found this peculiar.

"N-nothing." He said. He might've said something. But they were with everyone, including the twins who sat in their highchairs between them, giggling at each other. They were nearly four and too big for the highchairs but Elsie kept them there, because for now they were also far too small for the regular chairs.

He looked over at Elsie, who smiled at him knowingly, almost flirtatiously out of the corner of her eye, but neglected to say anything.

…..

"Mr. Carson." Elsie announced.

After dinner they retreated to her sitting room with the twins to finish up some work before going home.

"Hmm?" He asked, sipping his cup of tea.

"I think I'm pregnant."

Carson began to choke and almost spit out part of the tea. "What?!" He yelled. "How?" He knew there was something but never would've suspected this.

"Don't ask me how. You know how!"

"Of course I know how but I mean…"

The couple paused when they heard a little cough, immediately turning to Charlotte who was playing on the floor not too far from them.

"Oh, baby girl come to Mummy. Come to Mummy." Elsie soothed.

Elsie held out her arms for Charlotte and the tiny auburn haired girl obliged, hurrying into them. Carson watched attentively as she put their daughter on her lap and rested her face against the toddler's forehead and paused.

"Oh Charlie. She's warm. She's very warm." Elsie cried, biting her lip.

She'd been talking to his father and he knew that, but baby Charlie looked up from his place on the floor with his toy train, eyes wide and concerned for his sister. He too had heard rumblings of the flu. Like with the war, the twins had a limited understanding of what the illness was. He got to his feet and went to his mother's knees, looking on eagerly at his twin.

"H-how warm is very?" Carson asked, his concern piquing.

"Ummm… not normal warm not at all Charlie."

"But we've been so careful, she can't be…"

Carson swallowed hard. The children did spend a lot of time with Lady Grantham, and Lady Grantham was very ill.

"Let's not overreact. It could be…" Elsie stopped when Charlotte sneezed.

"Bless you." She cooed.

"Mummy." She coughed, enveloping her mother in a hug. Charlotte sighed, resting her head on her shoulder.

"Oh my sweetheart. It'll be alright." Elsie soothed.

Carson and his wife looked up at each other silently, both noting the other was nearly consumed with fear, and each noticing their daughter wasn't speaking or reacting as she usually would.

It had all come on very suddenly for Charlotte. One minute she'd been on the floor of her mother's sitting room with her toys and the next she'd been incredibly dizzy and then the coughing had started. Charlotte found herself drowsy and kind of confused, suddenly really wanting Mummy and nothing else.

"Charlotte okay?" Charlie asked, beginning to suck his thumb.

"Come on my little lad." Carson said, getting up and taking his son's hand. They had decided to separate the twins immediately should one of them become ill. "We're going to stay here for the night; won't that be fun? Let's go and have Mrs. Patmore get you ready for bed while Mummy settles Charlotte in."

"No Daddy, no!" He protested, beginning to cry as his father carried him out of the room. He turned around, trying to look back at his twin, his heart heavy because he knew he needed to stay with her.

…..

"What do you mean pregnant?" He asked once they got Charlotte and Charlie to sleep. Charlie was upstairs, but Charlotte had been left in the sitting room.

The little girl's fever had eased a bit and while they were doubtful, they both hoped she was already getting better. The two went back to work after the twins fell asleep each of them had much to do and had had an unusual day.

"What do women generally mean when they say pregnant?" She laughed as he followed her into his pantry.

He gulped, staring back at her for a moment as she reached up to grab something, quietly wondering if this could possibly be the case.

"Elsie I, are you sure?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know." She confessed. "I'm feeling very…well very pregnant." She admitted, smiling back at him.

He was shell-shocked and didn't say anything for a moment as she continued to smile. For some reason he'd never expected it would happen again after the twins.

"So you think… you might be."

"Yes." She smiled, kissing his cheek as she began to walk by him.

He grabbed her by the waist and held her back, encircling her with his arms. She giggled as he leaned his face into hers. They were concerned for their daughter, but couldn't help steal moment of happiness.

"Oh Mrs. Carson that's wonderful." He paused, searching her eyes, noticing them sparkle.

"Isn't it?" She laughed as he leaned his forehead against hers.

"It's amazing." He said.

The couple was about to kiss when they heard a coughing noise coming from down the hall just a bit. It was raspy and desperate, and most importantly, was obviously a child's cough.…