This prompt is set pre-canon, and was inspired by the confirmed morning ritual of Robert of giving his wife a kiss as the first thing every day. I hope you enjoy the young Cobert fluff! Please review!

Yellow – Happiness (Optimism)

1891

First, she thought sunlight kissed her awake. Tickling her nose, warming her cheeks. But then Cora remembered that the thick drapes in the Mercia bedroom and the deep winter months made an early greeting by the sun itself highly unlikely. And then there it was again. A warm sensation brushing her face.

She tried to turn in her sheets but something held her back. She groaned against the unwanted resistance in the early morning and made an attempt at pulling the sheets over her head instead.

"Hey…" sounded a soft-spoken hum.

It still confused Cora to wake up and not be alone in her bed. It was a sweet dream to finally come true. But it was so different from how life had been before, that in her especially sleepy state in the early hours of the day she always needed still some minutes to adjust to reality.

But now, she remembered Robert lying next to her in the sheets. Her heart skipped a beat at the realisation, and she was a whole deal less sleepy instantly. She ceased her fidgeting, abandoning the intention to return to the land of dreams, and tried to take in the sensations around and inside her in detail instead, her eyes still closed. That she was not yet ready for, looking into the eye of another freezing day of wintery hustle and bustle when all she wanted to do was to stay cuddled up in soft blankets.

She blamed her rapidly growing desire for comfort and warmth on her physical state. Mama and also her lady's maid didn't think it unusual for her to develop stronger desires and aversions here and there since the doctor had confirmed the glorious news of the growing offspring blossoming under her heart. The more so as Cora's urges weren't particularly unpleasant or concerning in any way. Mama said her 'pregnancy laziness' was maybe a little unpractical regarding the teaching for becoming a worthy successor and that it had a snobbish touch to it, but Mama meant she could deal with that and the elaborate lessons would be resumed even more resolute after the birth of the little joy. The thought made Cora a little restless because her lessons as they were called (it was actually just her days being spent closely with Mama who picked up every little opportunity to teach Cora a lesson about the proper aristocratic life), got dangerously close. The birth of her baby was a few more weeks away, two months at the most the doctor said, and Cora couldn't imagine returning to daily life in Mama's presence as exhausting and testing as it had been before her long-awaited pregnancy, probably even more so. She would have her lovely little baby, and she wouldn't want to do anything but devote herself to her child. Hers and Robert's. Oh, it gave her nearly more thrills to think about that than when she first found out she indeed was with child. Back then, everyone had been pleased and especially relieved to find her capable of bearing their family's future. But the news hadn't been connected to the mutual joy between her and her husband as Cora had dreamt of in her most daring dreams. They hadn't been the loving couple overjoyed by the blessed proof of their love. Robert had been pleased and happy and had then been able to divert parts of his attention to other things. Cora had been filled with her new purpose and had been set to start this journey on her own merits. Her joy had been damped by the rapid decrease of Robert's visits at night. But after a few weeks, she had pulled herself together and had tried to fulfil her role as a joyful expecting mother as best as she could. It wasn't a role unsuited to her, and that made it easier to stick to her determined decision of making her success in her new role independent from the state of her marriage.

But something had changed during her pregnancy. Something inside of Robert, and Cora couldn't pinpoint it to a specific event. But suddenly, he was there. With her. And now, he sought her company and welcomed it if she sought his. He came to her room more often and he even stayed the nights. And recently, he took up to sleeping in her bed just to be at her side. Cora considered that perhaps his own bed was just terribly uncomfortable, but the way he stroked her cheek before he turned to lay on his side to fall asleep told her otherwise. The explanation Cora didn't dare to consider on her own came after some weeks. His love confession had been a little bit rambled and had been characterised by the red tip of his ears and the nervous wringing of his hands as she had confronted him one night with the question of what he did in her room again after they hadn't even slept with each other just next to each other the last couple of nights. In retrospect, that had been a move too fiery for Cora's own liking but the repeated kicking in her abdomen resulted in her portraying more of a quick tongue than was typical for her. And it turned out all just great. He loved her; he really did.

Cora couldn't comprehend how they got closer with every day. She hadn't imagined it possible. They loved each other, and Cora thought this was it. They were to love each other now, and things would be sweet, and romantic, and, golly, easier! But her marriage with Robert got more exciting with every day that passed and more familiar at the same time. Cora didn't know how this worked but she couldn't care less as long as she saw Robert's adoring face every day.

Nearly every morning now, she was greeted by his softly-gazing face. He had taken up the habit of kissing her awake with a small peck on her cheek or forehead. And with a "good morning, my dear" he slipped carefully and quietly out of the bed to don his dressing gown and leave for his room next doors to ring for his valet. Cora was usually left in a sleepy and blissful haze.

"Hey… it's just me," Robert now whispered, and Cora felt his palm gently stroking the curls loosely adorning her temple. His hand followed the track of her probably wildly flowing mess of hair, only barely held together by an amber ribbon. "Please relax," his voice was velvety soft. A tiny sigh escaped Cora's lips.

Just as she thought how distinctively she sensed Robert's warmth at her left, she felt the distant pressure of his other hand on the blankets covering her belly. She opened her eyes for the first time this day, and after blinking a few times, she took in her husband lounging next to her, slightly propped up on his elbow and following the tentative movements of his own hand on the protruding abdomen of hers, hidden and veiled by light covers. The whole room was set in a warm honey light. The marigold curtains in Cora's room were suffused by the first rays of the morning sun, and it reminded her of the few walks with Robert at golden hour. She had always rested her hand a little more firmly in the crook of his arm and had imagined how they made the exact same walk but with Robert blissfully telling her about the beauty of nature and of his darling wife. Maybe, she contemplated, they could take a walk like this sometime. Maybe it wasn't a dream so far away anymore.

But with Robert's beatific serenity, this moment was perhaps even better than these walks at golden hour. It seemed he hadn't yet noticed that she had finally opened her eyes, and maybe he had even forgotten that she was awake because his caresses on her belly became a bit more present while his gaze got dreamier.

"Good morning, Robert," she said softly.

She looked at him with smiling eyes, her light blue eyes shining nearly golden in the morning light.

Robert didn't understand how she made him happier with every day. It didn't matter really what she did, but just being her sunny self lightened his mood considerably. And even though, she had already received her good morning kiss Robert had to lean forward once again.

His lips cupped the round of her cheek gently. It was the first time he realised fully what the expression apple cheeks meant. It wasn't mainly about the red colour for him that characterised a young lady's apple cheeks. It was about the full form highlighting the sweet cut of her cheekbones. Maybe it was also a lot about the colour he pondered but he didn't care because Cora's cheeks were apple cheeks nonetheless even if they had only a slightly rosy hue to them most of the time. Her cheeks felt so soft and tender against his lips. He hadn't anticipated the pleasure of kissing someone's cheeks before his marriage. But it was a great pleasure, and he decided to take his time for this today. Cora laid serenely beneath, and he once felt her fluttering eyelashes tickling his cheek. A strong urge to protect her struck him, and he held a securing hand around her shoulder.

After some time, he pulled back slowly and his eyes instinctively sought her happy smile again.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Oh, my lady's maid," Cora whispered, her wide eyes locking his eyes with a look of great intensity only Cora mastered. Robert remembered that Turner, Cora's lady's maid, was tasked by his mother with waking Cora at the right hour for the impending events of the day. Apparently, this started rather early today.

"What are we to do?" he whispered back unsurely. He wasn't used to this. Usually, he got up and rang for his valet before Cora's maid turned up. They seemed to have lost track of time today.

Cora shuffled back fully beneath the blankets. "Pretend to be asleep," she breathed.

"What?" he mouthed silently as the doorknob moved with quiet noises.

"Trust me," she responded. When Robert's head hit the pillow and his eyes closed, he felt the rush of cold air indicating the maid's entrance. The dull thumping of her heels on the carpet filled the bedroom. After a few steps, there was a sudden quiet except for an audible intake of breath. Robert knew it was the moment the maid had noticed him. He dearly hoped she didn't saw the light colouring rising up his chest and neck in embarrassment. He really liked sleeping in his wife's room but he didn't think it would be the best to be found there in the mornings. It should at least appear he had a little bit of propriety. The servant made a beeline for the windows on the other side of the room swiftly. Apparently, she had decided to open the curtains and send the couple a silent message thereby. Then, there was movement next to Robert in the sheets.

"Turner?" his wife's clear voice spoke softly after the first curtain was pulled aside. "Would you mind letting the drapes closed? Lord Downton and I still need some minutes to rest I think," she whispered, her voice more groggily than seconds before.

The maid's response was breathed in passing. Something between "Of course, milady," and "Excuse me, milady," and Robert tried to stay 'asleep' as best as possible all the while. The door closed silently behind Turner.

"Cora!" he hissed when the air was clear. "They will talk!" The look on Cora's face was not a single bit concerned. How could she be so unbothered by things like this? "Mama won't take resting in the mornings, in your room, as an acceptable occupation for the viscount and viscountess," he clarified.

"Be that as it may," she stated with calm resolution. "I think these little steps into uncustomary terrains are worth it, Robert." His name rolled from her tongue so very American. That was probably why she didn't bother with social standards. It was as Mama said so often. Her American way of thinking made it so very hard for her to adopt the English way of living. But Robert realised that it was actually just when it was the two of them that Cora really didn't care for social standards. Otherwise, she was so very eager to do things right the way Mama proclaimed. She was willing to internalise aristocratic propriety so much she already was a lady.

"Worth it what for?" he inquired carefully, not quite knowing if this was the right way to go, but desperately needing for her to say it. He just wanted to stay by her side, enveloped by her warmth right now. Maybe her explanation would help him ignore propriety and Mama's expectations for a moment.

"For us, it's worth it, Robert. For us," she said patiently as if it was the clearest thing there was, and with the gentle tone of a loving mother, explaining her child the same simple thing over and over again. She would be just perfect with their child. She was already perfect.

Robert responded to her brave conquest of a prolonged morning for the two of them with a firm and eager kiss on her lips.