My Darling ❤️

Finding the right moment

Why was it so difficult?
They were already back from London, Edith giving her very unsubtle looks as she stopped herself from telling Matthew in front of everyone in first class.

It wasn't that she was worried about his reaction, she just wanted it to be the right moment.
"That excuse is wearing a little thin" Mary whispered to herself in the privacy of her bathroom, of course she felt awful again.
"No, I will tell him, I can't stand having to do this by myself anymore"

Talking to Edith on their way downstairs, she realised it might be difficult to get a moment alone, she wanted this to be private, even if her sisters had guessed. Sybil had definitely guessed (to be expected from a nurse) but Mary couldn't believe she had already told Edith! Edith kept accidentally revealing that she knew during their trip to London, she would have to hurry up and tell Matthew or Edith would tell him for her.
"Can you keep everyone out of the library for me?"

"Why? Sorry, old habits. Yes I can but you have to promise to make me godmother, since we're best friends now" Edith smiled, enjoying her own joke.

"Edith! Firstly, you need to stop saying things like that so loudly, and secondly, I am definitely not promising anything, you'll have to earn it"

Edith sauntered down the last few stairs, smiling, on her way to perform her sisterly duties in trying to keep any of the family in one place for longer than five minutes.

She saw Matthew purposefully striding towards the breakfast room, having to run to catch him, she was out of breath when she go there.
"Good morning my darling, are you feeling better?I've been so worried since you tired yourself out in London, you were so pale and thin I was about to walk you right into one of those Harley Street offices..."

"Matthew! Can I talk to you in the library?"

"Of course, let me just have some breakfast first.."

"No, I absolutely need to talk to you now, come on" Mary took his arm and led him straight into the library, worried she would loose her determination over a meal that made her feel unwell just thinking about it.

"What it is that was so urgent?" Matthew asked tentatively as soon as they walked through the door.

"Matthew, I love you, I wanted to make this special and grand, but I realised this morning that it will never be the right moment. You're going to be a father!" She could hold back a beaming smile as she said it.

"Really? Oh Mary, my darling Mary that's wonderful! I can't believe it! Are you sure? Of course you're sure, I love you. This is a perfect moment."

Mary took his hand in both of hers, pulling it towards her stomach, smiling infectiously. They shared a moment of peace and comfort, safe in the knowledge that they were ready for this, the worrying was behind them and they were glad to have had some time to get used to the idea of potentially being parents.

They didn't even notice Carson enter the room quietly and smile at the scene, he would keep their secret for as long as they needed.
"I want to tell them" Mary whispered, stroking along along his hairline and behind his ear.

"Tonight? Ok...this is surreal" his head tipped slowly backwards as he drunk in the feeling.

"I love you, I want to visit Paris!"

"I love you too, and...what's brought this on?"

"You know I am absolutely thrilled that this is finally happening, right? But I am aware that it will be harder to spend much time...alone or visit wonderful places soon"

"You make a good point...let's go! But we should tell the family first of course"

"Well then we better get on with the day so tonight comes sooner!"

Dinner with the whole family:
They were already on the main course of Lobster with Hollandaise, a smell that was deeply unsettling for Mary still, she had already survived three weeks of this, hopefully it couldn't be much longer.
Cora managed to catch her eye, of course she had noticed that something wasn't right with her daughter but she had wanted to give her the chance to say in her own time, however she was getting a little impatient and decided to raise an eyebrow, it might coax something out.
In turn, Mary caught Matthew's eye, asking him whether now was a good time with her eyes, he was enjoying the food so much that he had forgotten and needed her to mouth "now?" across the table, hoping no one would see.
Matthew nodded, smiled and cleared his throat during a break in the conversation.
"Everyone, Mary and I have an announcement, a couple of announcements"

"What is it Matthew?" Robert questioned impatiently

"Yes, Matthew?" Isobel asked gently, as if apologising for Robert's abruptness.

" Firstly, we are going on a trip to Paris!" He smiled genuinely, but also as a tactic to hide the fact he was very much enjoying holding the entire table on the edge of their seats for the second announcement, Mary was also enjoying this and even thought she saw Carson smiling as he was overseeing the desserts being laid.

"And, secondly...we are having a baby!" Matthew gazed at his wife, a goddess smiling back at him as the congratulations poured in.

Sybil and Cora both proudly stated that they had guessed almost simultaneously, Robert was overjoyed, as were the rest, even Edith, Edith genuinely found herself almost tearing up at the announcement, despite already knowing. Isobel embraced Mary as soon as they got up to move through, it was a joyous moment for all and only the start of a great relationship between Mary and her mother in law.

Matthew and Mary sat together in the drawing room and discussed their plans for Paris and the baby, Mary leaning against his shoulder as she reflected on how incredibly lucky she was, and how much her perspective had changed in just a few years. Her future was something to look forward to with Matthew by her side and she couldn't be more grateful for how far she had come.

It took me a long time to come back to this, but this feels like a good place to end, I will hopefully be continuing this in another story as long as I don't get too busy. That one will probably stray from plot a lot more to properly explore their marriage and parenthood.