Not sure where this came from. Set after season 6 I suppose! Xx

She was nervous.

It had been such a long time since she had felt this way around her husband. Well in regards to anything like this.

But she liked it.

It was different.

Certainly not something she ever imagined doing. But then it had, and actually she felt quite proud.

Excited. She smiled.

Robert though, he was…well, he was Robert. Her dear sweet Robert who was often so caught in the past. That was why she was nervous.

They had come in the post two mornings ago, but she hadn't quite plucked up the courage to open the box until now. And really it was Rosamund fault. Sometimes she just got too carried away. The older they got, the closer she and Rosamund had become. Not to say that they had ever been anything but friends. But she seemed to understand Cora far better than she once might have.

But maybe this was too far.

And anyway, Rosamund wasn't here to support her now. To tell her now nice she looked. Cora had blushed a deep red at her sister- in- laws compliments in that department store.

Department store.

Cora hadn't really ever thought about buying clothes that were ready made. It seemed strange, but it saved a great deal of time and money. So maybe Robert could be happy about that if nothing else.

Though she suspected once he had gotten over the initial shock he might be pleased with the outcome.

Well hopefully.

She examined herself in the mirror again and…

That had been another issue, finding something that went with them. Though Rosamund had assured her she could just wear a blouse as she usually did with her skirts. That was what one was supposed to do. Or so Rosamund said.

Baxter hadn't said anything as she deposited them on the end of her bed along with the purple blouse which she was so fond of. She felt naughty and had dismissed Baxter as soon as she lay the clothes down. It had taken her an inordinate amount of time to get dressed (mainly because she was trying to avoid it). But then once she had buckled her shoes she felt far more confident and had moved to admire herself in the mirror, which was where she was now.

She took a deep breath in and smiled at her reflection. If it went pear shaped she would just come back upstairs and change.

Fine.

She nodded as she tried to assure herself. And anyway, it was Robert, he had seen her naked a thousand times, surely this couldn't be worse than that.

And anyway, Sybil had done it years ago, surely enough time had passed for him to be okay with the idea. Though that was his daughter, she was his wife. He had always felt more strongly about what she did.

She turned in the mirror looking over her shoulder and lifting the bottom of her blouse. A smile crept onto her face and for the first time in over a year she truly felt good about herself.

That was the thing about age, you got plump… fat… and there really was no way around it.

She had given birth to three children, of course that would take a toll on her body eventually. Though compared to others she knew it was a minor issue, she still felt it deep inside her. And with corsets going out of fashion… well… it wasn't favourable.

That was how all of this had begun really.

She had had too much wine in the company of Rosamund and blurted out her concerns.

She was fat.

Rosamund had scolded her, giving her a lecture about just how beautiful she was and if anything Robert was the one who should be worried about getting plump.

That had caused her to laugh.

Rosamund had dragged her to the shops the next day.

She was glad she had now, she really was a gem, and it had made her feel endlessly better.

She smoothed her blouse down, turned to her vanity to retrieve her favourite string of pearls slipping them on before straightening her spine and walking out into the hall.

Oh god.

She stopped in her tracks, hoping the sound of her heels hadn't given her away.

It was 10 o'clock in the morning, the only person who was supposed to be in the library was Robert. He was supposed to be sitting at his desk working.

She wasn't like Sybil, or even Mary, she would never dare call a family announcement in order to parade herself about. Showing off to Robert was bad enough.

Fate didn't see it like that though.

Mary did a double take, her teacup tinkling on the saucer, a perplexed look on her face.

Tom did his best to hide a smirk and a funny little smile lit up Henry's face as they all took her in, their conversation silenced.

And the only person who she intended to see her, sat oblivious with his back to her, his neck bent in concentration. She bit back the urge to sigh and instead walked further into the room. She could feel the three sets of eyes on her as she walked over and poured herself some tea, being extremely careful to stand perfectly straight as she did so. She knew they would pull if she leant over even slightly. Not something she necessarily wanted to flaunt to her children.

They all still remained silent and she knew that soon enough that in itself would have Robert turning around.

The fact that no one had said anything was making her incredibly anxious.

She picked up a biscuit to go with her tea balancing it on the edge of her saucer and going to perch beside Henry on the couch. He gave her an encouraging smile as she sat.

She broke the silence, "I didn't expect you all to be in here."

"Obviously not." Mary looked pointedly at her mother's legs which were draped in cream material.

"Mary." That came from Henry, Tom was smiling gently at Cora, pointedly ignoring Mary.

"Perhaps we should go."

"Oh don't go, I miss having such company in the mornings." And really she did, they were always off doing something or rather.

She, after a heated discussion with Robert, was only going into the hospital three times a week and wasn't required until tomorrow. After the initial changeover it worked out well and she did enjoy her work almost as much as the days with Robert.

They all turned as his chair pushed back, the noise causing her to bite her lip and look down into her tea.

Her nerves crashed back over her.

He poured himself tea and sat opposite her, two biscuits loaded onto his saucer.

There was a time when he would have noticed straight away. But that was another curse of time she supposed. He seemed far more interested in his biscuits than her.

She tentatively took a sip of her tea not sure where to go from there.

"When are you all off?" Robert had seemed to notice the extra bodies in the room after all. Mary indulged him, "Not until after luncheon, Tom and I have some tenant meetings, but otherwise a quiet day."

Robert hummed his agreeance and began to eat his second biscuit.

"And do you have any plans Mama?"

Cora felt the sudden urge to slap her daughter, but instead leant forward and placed her cup and saucer on the cushion that separated them. She had a lot of plans, all of them involving Robert in various stages of undress and she feared that her daughter may have guessed as much.

Fortunately she was well versed in hiding her thoughts and smiled most prettily, "not today, I don't have to be at the hospital which is nice."

It was then she felt it. Roberts's eyes burning into her skin, it seemed he had finally noticed. She sat back further into the couch and smiled, crossing one leg over the other, confidence washing over her.

"And it is such a beautiful day."

"Yes it is." Robert met her eye and placed his untouched tea onto the cushion with hers.

"Edith sent a telegram, she and Bertie are going to come down at the end of the week."

"Oh good!"

She was looking everywhere but at him now, he however couldn't seem to take his eyes off her. Had he noticed?

Or was he just…

She smoothed her palms over her legs and realised her mistake.

There was a growing tension in the room now and she wondered when it would break.

Tom cleared his throat and stood, "more tea?"

Henry also stood following Tom to where the tea sat on the table by the window. Mary rolled her eyes and joined her husband and brother in law.

Robert stood as soon as his daughter had left the couch crossing to sit beside Cora. He sat very close to her, on the same cushion in fact, his thigh touching hers. His scent engulfed her and she smiled, perhaps she should have done this long ago.

He tilted his head toward her, a funny smile on his lips, "trousers?"

She turned her head to face him, "Yes."

His hand rest heavily on her knee and she closed her eyes as she took an involuntary breath in, the room suddenly feeling very hot.

"Robert, our family are just there."

He shrugged giving her a look she hadn't seen in years, "Come upstairs?"

She barely heard as he made a lame excuse to their family, his eyes not leaving her backside the whole way back to her bedroom.

Turns out a well cut pair of trousers were well worth it.