The end of the modern AU songfic. Thank you for reading thus far and hopefully you'll enjoy the fluffy end.

Charles woke surrounded by the scent of Elsie but stretched his arm out to find an empty bed beside him. Frowning, he wondered if he had just dreamed their encounter. It wouldn't be the first time he'd dreamed of having her in his bed. With his eyes still closed, he took mental stock and realized that he was devoid of clothes and the backs of his legs were a little sore. These sensations combined with the fact that the pillow beside him definitely smelled like Elsie convinced him that this was not a dream. He opened his eyes wondering where she might be. There was no water running in the lavatory and a glance at the armchair in the corner revealed her skirt with a dark green bra on top. She certainly wouldn't have gone out without at least one of those items of clothing. Where could she be?

His question was answered when she backed into the room carrying a tray. He smiled at the sight of her new periwinkle dress formerly known as his periwinkle shirt. As she turned toward the bed, he was pleased to see a smile in her eyes as well, "I was hungry, so I thought I'd bring you breakfast in bed."

"That sounds wonderful, but I thought I was supposed to cook breakfast for you as payment for the help with my phone."

She smirked as she waited for him to prop himself against the headboard before setting the tray down on the bed, "I think that I could be persuaded to accept services already rendered as payment."

"That's good," he smiled lifting the sheet so that she could slip in beside him, "Did you already eat or is this to share?"

"To share of course. You couldn't put all this food away on your own, could you?"

"There's only toast and fruit here. I've been very busy this morning. I need to keep my strength up to keep 'paying'."

"Well, if you want more, I could go…" she started to rise.

"No, no," he said with his hand on her arm, "Stay here. We'll get up later to have something more substantial."

She took her cup of tea and leaned back beside him.

He spread blackberry jam on two pieces of toast and held one out to her before taking a sip of his coffee, "It still amazes me that someone who thinks this is the devil's brew can make a perfect cup. You even know exactly how much cream to put in it."

"Well, I have been doing this for a few years," she smiled.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye for a moment before clearing his throat, "Elsie, did you mean what you said about thinking that I've already been courting you?"

She sat her tea down so that she could address him properly, "Charles, do you remember when I got the Crawley account?"

"Yes, you came to my office and told me about it. I believe we celebrated with a bottle of Merlot."

"From the moment that I realized that I had won the account, all I could think of was telling you, even before I was off the phone with Isobel. Surely that means something."

He chuckled, "I suppose it does. And of course, as soon as I'm invited to one of these business parties, the only person I think of inviting is you. Plus, I could have quite cheerfully strangled your 'old friend' yesterday."

"Then, dear, sweet man, I believe that we are courting," she said kissing the corner of his mouth. He grasped her hand in his and brushed his lips across her knuckles.

Between them, they finished off the large plates of toast and fruit, and he rose to take the tray back to the kitchen. He returned with his new phone in hand and stretched out over the foot of the bed, "This thing was making odd noises. I think I may have been texted."

"Your other woman?" she teased.

He smiled, "So you're my woman now, are you?"

"I believe that that's already been established. Now, what other woman is texting my man?

"Elsie!" he admonished with a frown, "How many women have you seen me with these past five years?"

That question brought her up short. She couldn't recall Charles having been with any other women since she'd known him. "Charles, when was the last time you went on a date?"

He paused in punching in his code to unlock his phone, "Well, since you pointed out that we've apparently been dating without my knowledge, it would be Saturday afternoon when we saw that matinee."

She rolled her eyes at him, "I meant besides me."

He paused again and blew out his cheeks as he tried to remember.

She laughed, "Never mind, if it's been that long, it doesn't matter."

He returned to unlocking his phone and then his eyes widened, "I have ten e-mails. I thought I cleared these out before you came over. Three are from Anna, two from John, and one from William. Why would he send me anything?"

She leaned over his shoulder while he opened the e-mails, "Anna is letting me know that my schedule is cleared for today. The second one says it is cleared until Monday. The third one says that she won't need us to babysit Saturday night, but could we please keep the twins on Sunday afternoon. What on earth did you say in that e-mail?" He handed the phone to her in astonishment.

"John wants to know if he should bring over champagne, and the second says not to worry about Sunday afternoon, they'll just see us on Monday," then she laughed out loud, "Well, Charles Carson, this is what comes from distracting me. My original e-mail to Anna says 'Mr. Carlson is busy doing a friend who needs him and will be in tomorrow.'"

"For heaven's sake Elsie!" he laughed, "I stopped referring to myself in the third person years ago, and I should think I know how to spell my own name."

"You were nibbling my neck at the time," she said dryly, "It was a little difficult to see."

Exasperated, he took the phone from her, "William's says that I should be careful how I treat you, or he'll have to thrash me. Cheeky assistant you have there."

"And your text message?"

"Oh, that's the one with the little speech balloon, isn't it? It's from John. Says 'knocked-no answer, check door."

He rose and pulled on his boxers. Taking the phone from her he walked to the front door and came back a few minutes later with a bottle of champagne, "He apparently took it upon himself to bring over the best we have. Let me put it on ice, and I'll be right back."

When he returned, he was treated to a tantalizing view of Elsie bent over to gather clothes from the floor. Her dress/shirt slid up to reveal a nice stretch of thigh, and he stood mute in the doorway for a moment before speaking in a strangled voice, "Elsie, what are you doing?"

She spoke to him over her shoulder, "You know the untidiness would drive me to distraction. Are you going to help or just stand there?"

Lost in the fantasy of hearing her ask a completely different question while in that position, he forgot to answer except for the low groan that escaped his lips. She straightened and turned to him.

Shaking his head to let the fantasy dissipate, he said, "We should probably get these clothes tidied so they don't distract you."

She shook her head at him in amusement, "That sounds like a good idea."

She found his shirt in the corner and hung it in the wardrobe while he plucked her blouse from the top of the wardrobe and hung it carefully beside his shirt. Once he'd carefully hung her skirt beside his trousers he said, "Now, there's another item of my clothing that needs to be taken care of as well."

"Oh, yes, let me go find your waistcoat and tie," she said as she started toward the door.

Catching her arm, he said, "I'm referring to a certain shirt that you've nicked."

"I thought it probably looked much better on me than it did on you," she teased.

"It certainly does," he agreed seriously, "but it would look even better off you."

Putting her feet on his and holding on to his shoulders, she pulled herself up to give him a hungry, demanding kiss. He grasped her bottom to pull her even closer, and his eyes widened with the realization that she was wearing only his shirt.

Pulling her against him, he maneuvered them back to the bed where he quickly laid her back against the sheets. Lying beside her, they kissed unhurriedly, exploring each other's mouths with lips and tongues.

She pulled back after a moment to whisper against his cheek, "Did you really read the whole manual for your IPhone?"

"Of course," he replied between quick kisses on her lips, "I want to learn as much as possible about everything I own so that I can take care of it properly. I always read the manual."

"I don't come with a manual. How are you going to take care of me properly?"

"Elsie, dear woman, no one could ever own you, and I most certainly would never want to try," he said, "I will simply have to learn how to 'take care of you' with careful exploration and experimentation."

"Exploration?"

"Every inch," he nodded seriously before beginning on the buttons of the periwinkle shirt.

Now I will leave the 21st century and head cheerfully back to the 20th century to finish 'Childish Pranks'. Reviews are always welcome.