A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with another update. Thank you all for bearing with me and being patient about updates. School is back in session and is once again kicking my butt, but I do the best I can to find moments to write that are often few and far between. I want to thank you all for your reviews. I'm glad someone is still reading this story haha. I hope you all enjoy chapter seventeen.

Chapter Seventeen

February 1895

Elsie and Charles had decided it was time to tell the girls about the baby. She was in the third month, and so far everything was going well. The baby was expected to be due sometime in early August, and while that was still a while away, they knew Elsie would start to show earlier with this being her second pregnancy and decided to relay the news. They tried to put it in a way Julie would understand since she was still little, and her reaction told them that the two-year-old certainly did understand.

"Baby?" Julie questioned, pointing at Elsie's bloated belly.

"Yes, sweetheart, the baby is in my tummy growing big and strong," Elsie replied. She was taken by surprise when Julie nuzzled her head into her mother's stomach and began stroking her little hand against her stomach muttering "baby, baby, baby" all the while.

Elsie looked over at Charles, tears brimming in her eyes. She was incredibly heartened by her daughter's reaction to her pregnancy. She knew Julie would make a lovely big sister, and she was already proving that fact.

"She is so sweet," Charles observed. "Although you know it might not stay this way, right?"

"Oh shush," she teased, swatting that idea away with her hand. "I know it, but I'm ignoring that for now. Just look at her. She loves the baby already."

"She won't be happy at having to wait six more months to meet them," Charles said with a chuckle.

"Oh I know," Elsie laughed. "But we will just do our best to make the time pass quickly."

"Lily, how do you feel about this," Charles asked, turning his attention to his eldest daughter.

"I'm happy for you both," the thirteen year old told her parents. "Mum deserves to have another child. Our brother or sister will be very lucky."

Elsie was touched by Lily's response. She was so grown-up now, and it would have been easy for her to have displayed some teenage impudence. However, she retained her kind and thoughtful nature, and Elsie knew she would be an amazing big sister for the next baby she and Charles welcomed into the world.

"My sweet girl, I love you so," Elsie told her, gently brushing a strand of hair off her daughter's face.

"I love you too, Mum," Lily said, snuggling into Elsie's side along with her sister. Elsie wrapped her arm around her girls, bringing them in close as she savored the moment. She loved her daughters immensely, and that would never change. She would always love them and watch over them just as she would for the child she was carrying. Being a Mum was the best title she could ever hold.

May 1895

Spring was in full bloom, and the weather was warm. There honestly couldn't have been a better day for Downton to hold their annual garden bazaar. Elsie smiled as she walked hand-in-hand with her husband through the stalls, soaking up the sun and the inviting atmosphere. Julie was perched on her father's shoulders, looking at everything with wonder and awe.

Elsie felt immensely grateful that she and Charles had been given some time to enjoy the event without working. Once everything had been set up according to her ladyship's specifications, the servants had been free to roam around and enjoy themselves. They could spend time with their families and enjoy the beauty of the day and fun of the bazaar.

As they walked through the bazaar, Elsie placed her free hand on her growing bump. She had just reached the seven month mark, and her bump was quite prominent at this point, especially in the black and white day dress she had chosen to wear for the day's event.

"You do look marvelous in that dress, you know," Charles said flirtatiously, as obsessed with his beautiful wife as ever.

"Thank you, darling," Elsie said, with a smile so genuine it lit up her whole face. Her husband never failed to make her feel like the most gorgeous woman in the world, and she would never stop loving him for that.

They were broken from their eye contact by their eldest daughter coming up to them. "Mum, dad, can we play that ring toss game please? I was hoping to win a teddy for the baby."

"Well, that's awfully thoughtful of you," Elsie said, giving her a girl a smile. "Let's go," she added with a wink before her girl guided them to the stall with the game she had chosen.

They had a marvelous time as a family together, and Elsie couldn't help but relish in the joyous atmosphere of the day. She smiled as she thought about the family she had built with Charles, and pressed her hand to her stomach once more, feeling the baby who would join their family soon kicking away beneath her palm.

Lily handed her the teddy she won for the baby, and she smiled in gratitude at her daughter as she imagined her daughters meeting their baby brother or sister for the first time. She couldn't wait to meet the bairn that would complete her family and to thank God everyday for making her a mum of three.

Meanwhile, Robert and Cora were also enjoying time with their family at the bazaar. The girls had thoroughly enjoyed the games, and they had each won a teddy. Now, Cora and Robert had decided to treat them each with an ice cream cone. They sat on a picnic bench as they ate their ice cream, Cora and Robert indulging in one as well.

Cora wiped Sybil's face gently with a napkin. "You're a little bit messy, love," Cora teased her.

"So is her mummy," Robert noted, with a grin. Cora looked confused for a moment until she felt Robert's finger on her nose, swiping some ice cream off her skin.

"Did you get it?" she asked, her cheeks blushing slightly with embarrassment.

"Not quite," Robert said, flashing his wife a smile before he leaned in and kissed her nose gently. "There, that's better."

"Thank you, love," Cora said, still blushing madly while she smiled lovingly at her man.

"Eww," Mary and Edith exclaimed, clearly unimpressed at their parents' display of affection.

Cora and Robert laughed. Their eldest girls had recently gotten into the mindset that kissing was yucky, and it seemed they were sticking firmly to that. They kissed again just to get a rise out of their girls, hearing them once again express their disgust. Sybil, however, clapped innocently at her parents' kiss.

"I love you," Cora mouthed to her husband, watching him smile and blow her a quick kiss before returning her attention to her girls and helping them clean up their ice cream. She loved her babies so much, and she couldn't have asked for a better partner to help her raise them. Robert truly was the love of her life, and he always would be.

July 1895

"Hi mum," Lily said, draping her school bag on the back of a chair before making her way over to where Elsie sat in a rocking chair in the corner of the servant's hall, her hand resting gently on her protruding stomach.

"Hello my dear," Elsie said, pressing a kiss to her daughter's cheek and nodding to the chair across from her for Lily to sit. "How was the last day of term?" she asked, adjusting her position in the chair with a small wince.

"What's the matter, mum?" Lily asked, concern evident in her voice.

"I'm fine, baby. I just got a little stiff in that position, and your baby brother or sister's kicking was not helping the situation."

"Would a pillow help the situation?"

Elsie smiled at her daughter. She adored how caring Lily was and how she always wanted to find solutions to problems. "Perhaps," Elsie answered and then let out a soft "oh" as her daughter rushed out of the room and came back with a pillow from Elsie's sitting room.

"Here, try this," Lily said, handing the pillow to her mum. Elsie thanked her daughter as she took it and placed it behind her back.

"Ah, that's better," she admitted. "Now, will you tell me about your last day of school ?"

Lily nodded and sat down across from Elsie, immediately beginning to chat away about her day. Elsie was so grateful Lily was willing to share things with her, and she cherished their time together.

Once Lily left to go upstairs and see her sister and the Crawley girls, Elsie got up to head to her sitting room. She thought to look over some timetables as she nursed a cup of tea and took things easy for a bit. As she sat down at her desk with her tea, getting as comfortable as she could in her heavily pregnant state, she heard a soft knock on the open door and looked up as Miss Baxter popped her head round the door frame.

"I have something for you," Phyllis told her. "Is now a good time?"

"Do come in, Miss Baxter," Elsie said, gesturing to the chair opposite her desk for the woman to sit.

"I made this for you little one," Phyllis told her, handing her a soft blanket with heather and ferns embroidered along the edges.

Elsie traced the embroidery with her fingers, thinking about when the day would come she would get to show her babies her homeland. "This is so thoughtful. Thank you, Miss Baxter," Elsie said, her voice wavering with emotion a little.

"Please, call me Phyllis," the other woman said with a soft smile.

Elsie nodded. "Thank you, Phyllis. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness."

Phyllis nodded and gave her another small smile. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to make things easier for you."

"I appreciate that. I'm fine for the moment, but I'll send messages to you through Charles if anything comes up that needs doing while I'm home with the baby."

Phyllis nodded in understanding and smiled in gratitude for the trust Elsie was granting her with. She recognized it was a big deal to be trusted by the butler and housekeeper in this way, and she was grateful to them for trusting her in Elsie's absence. She was genuinely so excited for them both to welcome a new addition and bring another smiling baby into the halls of Downton.

August 5, 1895

Charles and Elsie hadn't gotten a chance to discuss much of anything lately as Charles was busy working like mad, training the footman that was to fill in for him as butler for a month once the baby was born. Elsie was due to have the baby at some point in the next week, and there was a conversation she wanted to have with her husband sooner rather than later. She was honestly surprised the baby hadn't already made its way here, so she figured it would be happening soon and felt a greater sense of urgency to talk with her husband on the subject of names for the baby.

As Elsie was making her way into the kitchen that afternoon, she saw Charles heading down the hall. He had just come home for the day. Now was her chance to have that conversation. She held her hand out to stop her husband from walking any further and looked up at him. There was a sparkle of determination in her eye, and Charles knew he needed to listen well to whatever she was about to say.

"I was thinking if we have a boy, we could call him Howard, maybe Howie for short. What do you think?" Elsie asked. She valued her husband's opinion and wanted him to be honest with her. She had thought a lot on the topic in recent weeks and wanted to be sure they picked a name they both liked.

"I like that," he replied. "I can picture it now. A little boy running wild around the living room and you being soft but firm telling him to settle down."

"Wow. I can picture that too. You make discipline sound wonderful," she mused with a small chuckle. "And for a middle name: Charles, after his wonderful father," she added.

"No, that would seem rather vain. I won't allow it," he protested.

"It's not vain if I'm the one suggesting it," she retorted in a slightly raised pitch.

"And I appreciate the suggestion, love, but I just feel a little uncertain about it," he insisted in a gentle tone.

"But doesn't Howard Charles Carson sound nice?" she asked, her voice having leveled back to a calmer tone.

"What about Earnest?" he suggested, "So he can share my middle name like Julie shares yours?"

"Howard Earnest Carson," Elsie stated, trying the name on her tongue for the first time. "I like that well enough."

"Well enough?" he teased.

"It's just different than I originally planned," she said. "But I actually think I like it better," she answered, a smile forming across her face. The more she thought about it, the more the name grew on her.

"Any child of ours will be perfect regardless of their name," he said and leaned in for a kiss, placing his hand on his wife's growing stomach.

"Then it's settled," she stated as she brought herself closer to him and their lips met gently.

"Yes, I suppose it is." Charles smiled and planted a kiss on his wife's forehead. He was filled with so much love and admiration for her, feelings he took with him as he set about completing the rest of his daily tasks.

That night, the couple went to bed glad to have finally decided on a name for their little one. They slept peacefully in the knowledge they would be bringing a well-loved baby into this world until Elsie awoke from contractions, signaling it was almost time for that baby to make their appearance.

She gently shook Charles awake and told him what was going on. She was nervous, and he could tell. He whispered soft words of reassurance to her and kissed her softly on the cheek before rising from the bed and going next door, asking their neighbor to go and fetch the doctor for them.

The doctor arrived around four in the morning. Elsie's pain had grown significantly in the time it had taken him to arrive, but she was handling it as best she could. Charles had been an amazing support to her, fetching water and holding her hand with each passing pain. She was extremely grateful for his support, and as painful as this experience was, she knew it would be worth it to bring their child into the world.

As her labor went on, she dealt with the contractions as quietly as she could so as to not wake up her daughters. Around six, Charles woke Lily and told her what was happening, asking her to watch Julie for a bit if she woke up before Elsie had delivered the baby. Then, he went back to Elsie's side, as things were quickly intensifying and the baby would soon be here.

Shortly before eight, Elsie began to push. It was difficult, but it went by quickly. When she heard the words "it's a boy" leave the doctor's mouth, tears sprang to her eyes, and she looked over at her husband. "Oh, Charlie, we have a son," she said, her voice shaking somewhat. She couldn't believe her baby was finally here, and she was filled with emotion over it.

"We do," Charles said, pressing a soft kiss to his wife's temple. "Oh, Elsie love, you did so well."

Elsie nodded in gratitude before turning her attention to the doctor who was handing her her bundle of joy. "He's perfectly healthy. Arrived at 8:02 this morning," the doctor informed her kindly.

"Hello Howie," she said, marveling over her precious son as she ran a finger along his cheek.

"He's perfect," Charles added, admiring their son from his place beside his wife.

"He is," Elsie agreed, "Go tell the girls. They ought to know their brother is here."

Charles did as he was told, kissing his wife's forehead as he rose to leave the room. He gathered Lily and Julie from where they were playing quietly in Julie's room and brought them downstairs to make them some breakfast and tell them the news.

"So, do we have a brother or a sister?" Lily asked as soon as she sat down.

Charles couldn't help but chuckle at her eagerness for a moment before he smiled and told her the news. "You have a brother. His name is Howard Earnest Carson."

"Broder!" Julie said, clapping her hands with glee.

"Are you happy about that, love?" Charles asked her sweetly as he began to prepare some eggs.

"Yes!" Julie shrieked.

"Well, after you eat, you can go up and meet him. You and Lily can say hello to him while mummy has something to eat."

"Can we hold him?" Lily asked.

"You can hold him," Charles confirmed. "Julie will either need to have a pillow under her or you to help her, but I'd love for you both to get that opportunity. Howie needs to meet his big sisters."

Lily nodded enthusiastically, clearly excited to meet her baby brother. She scarfed down her food as soon as it was ready and cleared her dishes so she could rush upstairs and check on her mum and meet her new brother.

Charles helped Julie clean up and then gathered up a plate for his wife before taking his girls upstairs. He knocked on the door softly before opening it. "Some visitors would like to see their mum and new brother," he told his wife with a smile, opening the door wider so Lily and Julie could see into the room.

"Come in loves," Elsie addressed her girls with a bright smile. She was tired, but she refused to rest without introducing her daughters to their little brother first. Lily brought Julie over to the bed and lifted her to sit beside Elsie on the bed.

"Dad made you some food," Lily told her, "He said you could eat while we hold the baby."

"That's thoughtful of him," Elsie said, "So, would you like to meet your brother?"

The girls nodded eagerly, and Elsie lowered the baby to show him to his big sisters. "Howie, these are your sissies, Lily and Julie. They are going to love you and take care of you just like me and your da are."

"We absolutely are," Lily agreed.

"Love you," Julie said sweetly, cooing down at her brother and brushing her fingers over his tiny hand. Elsie couldn't help but be touched at this gesture. Her girls were the sweetest sisters she could ask for for her third child, and she couldn't be prouder of them for the way they already loved and adored him.

"Would you like to hold him, sweetpea?" Elsie asked to which Julie nodded eagerly, putting her arms into a cradle position like she had been taught. "Okay, let you sissy help you." Lily quickly put Julie into lap, placing her arms beneath her sister's arms so the baby would have extra support. Elsie transferred the baby to her daughters' arms, giving them each a smile and a kiss to their forehead before settling back against the headboard.

Charles placed a tray over her lap, providing her with some much-needed sustenance. She smiled at him gratefully before looking over at her daughters once more. They were both so happy to meet Howard, and that filled Elsie's heart with such joy. She felt she was beyond blessed to be a mother to all three of them.

"How did we get so lucky?" Charles asked, as if he could read his wife's mind.

"I have no idea," she answered, "But I sure am glad."

"Me too," Charles agreed, looking at the scene before him once more with a heartfelt smile. "Me too."