For You My Darling, Anything

Loving You, Scared Me

"I'm surprised you aren't showing yet," Cora said noticing that there was no external signs Edith was pregnant.

"Well it won't be long till I do," Edith replied blatantly as as she thought about how little control she had in this situation.

"Well at least for now no one can tell that you are pregnant," Cora tried to encourage her daughter though it rather backfired.

"Well I can!" Edith groaned sitting down as she felt overwhelmingly hot. "I am sick almost all the time, I can barely fit into my corset, not to mention I am constantly dizzy or hot," Edith ended with a frown

"Oh you poor thing," Cora said feeling sympathetic for her daughter as she remembered the trials of pregnancy. "I remember that feeling all to well," she could see Edith had little color in her face and she moved to open the window some, hoping it would help.

"What do you suppose we do?" Edith asked, her eyes showing the concern and fear she felt. "I can't see a way to fix this," she paused thinking about how impossible this all seemed.

"Maybe Aunt Rosamund is right and I should give the child up..."

No matter what Edith said Cora saw how unsure she was but as a mother herself she could recognize how serious this predicament was. "Edith listen to me," Cora began intently staring her daughter in the eyes. "If you can without a doubt look me in the eyes and tell me that giving up your child would not become the biggest regret of your life, then I will make the arrangements myself," she paused studying the younger woman's features. "But if there is even one small part of you questioning that choice, I beg of you to listen to it."

Edith looked away taking in her mothers words, thinking about what it would actually mean to give up her baby. Would she be able to live with never seeing he or she grow up? Be okay with the knowledge that her child would be living somewhere else in the world with no clue about who she was or who their family was. Did she have the right to deny her child of that knowledge? "Aunt Rosamund has already made all the arrangements and it's too late to cancel them..." she spoke unsurely, looking back to her mother.

"Rosamund is not the one who will have to live with the decision that is made," Cora said in rebuttal as she stretched her hand forward tucking Edith's hair behind her ear. "This is your child Edith...yours." She could see Edith starting to rethink everything and she hoped that maybe she was being swayed a different way.

"Oh mama, but how could we possibly we pull such a thing off? What possible explanation could be given when I walk through those doors with a newborn child besides the most obvious one?! And when the news spread about Lord and Lady Grantham's bastard grandchild will you still support me then?" Edith asked intensely, letting her emotions get the better of her; something she regretted almost instantly as her mother looked away from her trying to hide her own hurt.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that..." Cora spoke up quietly adjusting the rings on her fingers trying to steady herself. Was this really how Edith viewed them? Did she trust them that little? "I could only hope that you do not truly think so little of your father and I that you could believe the opinion or gossip of others would stand in the way of us doing right by our own daughter."

Edith swallowed trying to make the lump in her throat go away but had little success doing so. "I am sorry Mama I did not mean that...I'm afraid my emotions are all over the place," she looked at her mother earnestly. She knew it was not excuse but she hoped it would help her mother understand.

"I understand this must all be very frightening to you, God only knows how much it frightens me to think of the position you are in," Cora trailed off. "But nothing, absolutely nothing, would stop me from supporting you."