I know I said I was putting my mind to the time travelers next, but this chapter was already in draft form well before I even began Pushing In…..so here's the wedding night for our newly married Captain Matthew and Lady Mary Crawley.

XX

Matthew put George down and returned downstairs.

Mary and he sat with the family for a series of photographs. Mary had agreed that a select group of photos be released to Hello Magazine. She knew there was a natural curiosity about her quick re-marriage. She had gotten used to a certain amount of interest in her life. It had come with the territory of being a member of the aristocracy. It seemed many times the only vestige left of a forgotten era. The public's delight in recounting the ups and downs of her class. As a director of a theatre company and star of a West End show, she also knew she was a valuable commodity. Controlling the message allowed her to sell the image of herself she wanted to present to the public. Assuage the paparazzi and lessen the negativity.

The difference being it was all true. This time the message and the image were the same.

Matthew was the love of her life. Their love for their son shone through in every photograph. There was no need for artifice. No masks or pretense. She had not realized how many protective layers she had worn, until she shed them all. No more affected plummy voice to hide her pain.

"Only a few more." She whispered to Matthew.

He gave her a wearied look. "I feel just like that Barbie doll in Toy Story 2. My cheeks hurt from smiling too much."

"Buh Bye…Buh Bye…" Mary perfectly mimicked. They both broke down in giggles as they remembered watching that beloved movie with George. Matthew impetuously clasped Mary in a hug and kissed her.

Mary's friend Kate snapped some of those candid shots just for them.

Robert kissed his daughter's cheek and shook Matthew's right hand. "I'm proud to have you as my heir. But even more as my son-in-law and George's father. You're a good man."

Matthew smiled and gripped it strong and confident. "Thank you Robert." His voice cracking with emotion. "That means a great deal to me."

They cut the cake.

"Did you save a slice for George?" Matthew inquired as he scooped another forkful in his mouth. Mrs. Patmore had outdone herself with the intricate yet delicate decorative icing and the layers of various sponge cake flavourings.

"I did." Mary leaned in towards his ear. "I think you might want me to do the same for you." Her finger gently slid along his lower lip to collect some icing. "We all know your not so secret love of sweets."

Matthew's sly grin returned. "I might want another slice. Later tonight." His eyes stayed on hers. "My appetite is ravenous."

Mary felt an intense frisson course through her body. "I can handle that."

Matthew's eyes turned dark with desire.

But there were other duties to attend to first. Greeting family members. Saying their thank you and good-byes to guests who made ready to leave.

A first dance. Mary's quirky choice of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole. One of the musical groups she interviewed told her they had just the singer. She had hired them on the spot.

And the mellow notes from the soloist were true to the original.

Someday I'll wish upon a star

Wake up where the clouds are far behind me

She had heard it one night missing Matthew and holding their infant son as she rocked him to sleep with this lullaby to joy and love. The haunting yet intoxicatingly happy song was one that remained in her memory.

Oh, somewhere over the rainbow way up high

And the dream that you dare to, why, oh why can't I? I? I?

Matthew loved it. He held her close and they spun around the makeshift dance floor in the monk's garden tent.

Everyone then joined in for more dancing.

Finally Matthew was released to go upstairs to change out of the red mess kit and into a more comfortable suit and tie for the rest of the evening.

They danced on into the late twilight. This most perfect of days was, for Matthew, something he did not want to end.

He loosened the tie around his neck and pulled her out onto the dance floor once again.

Matthew's hand slipped slowly around Mary's waist. He pulled her imperceptibly closer with each step.

The lingering rays of the sun cut streaks of light through the trees. Mary, lightly humming, placed her head on Matthew's shoulder.

They swayed to the music, a soft jazz number. A few couples still on the dance floor.

Matthew saw no one but Mary.

He felt her skin against his. Her body's weight on his chest. He never wanted to let go.

She loved his breath against her ear. Tingling. Warm.

"I think we're closing the place down." She said, reluctantly lifting her head.

Matthew mused, "It's our wedding. As it should be."

The lead singer said off mic "Last dance?"

Matthew nodded. The bluesy notes of Etta James's version of "At Last" pierced the air.. The female soloist's longing, sweet voice pierced into the night.

"At last my love has come along

My lonely days are over and life is like a song…."

Mary smiled. "Who knew I was marrying a romantic…" Her lips brushed his. She began to hum along with the song.

"You smiled, you smiled…and then the spell was cast" she sang into his ear. "And here we are in Heaven…for you are mine at last."

Matthew embraced her tight to his beating chest. Then with languid patience, he reached out his arms to grip her hands and dip her down low to the floor. At the last note of the song, he swept her slowly back up, meeting his anxious lips.

"Let's go upstairs." He kissed her with impassioned zest. "I want to make love into next morning."

"Hmmmm…." Mary murmured. "If only. What about George?"

Matthew's lips were slowly making their way across her cheek. "All taken care of my love. I asked Sybil to take him on a long walk tomorrow to the train station in Ripon. She promised a big lunch and a trip to the sweets shop. We have hours."

"Sneaky devil." Another long lingering kiss.

Matthew pursed his lips. "Anything to spend more time with you, my love."

"Do you mind postponing the honeymoon until after I finish with the show?" Mary whispered in his ear.

"No." He reassured her. "As long as we're together, it's all I'll ever need."

Mary had a word with her mother who promised to make sure all the caterers and staff hired for the reception were thanked and given the gift bags they had arranged.

Matthew, waiting just on the other side of the music room French doors, cast out his arm and took his bride inside. "Come and kiss me…"

Arm in arm they walked up the stairs to the secluded corner room at the back of the second landing. Cora had specially decorated it with new bedding and pillows. A bucket of chilled champagne, a basket of food, and slices of the wedding cake were on a side table. Candles on the mantle and inside the fireplace.

Matthew threw himself onto the soft bedspread, groaning in happiness that they were finally alone.

Mary started to take off the pearl necklace but could not undo the clasp.

He bounced back up to a sitting position. "I'll help you." A hitch in his voice as he gazed at her beauty.

Mary walked over and stood with her back to Matthew. "It's such a beautiful necklace Matthew."

Between the two of them they managed to release the hinge and it came away in Mary's hand.

"I saw it at the jewelers when I picked up the wedding rings. I bought it on the spot. I imagined how beautiful you'd look with the pearls around your neck. I must say the reality was even better than my dreaming." Matthew could hardly believe they had become wife and husband. That all the baggage of their past did not encumber their present and the hope of their future.

"It was a beautiful ceremony." Mary sat down on his extended knee. His arm slipped around her waist.

"George was such a little rascal." Matthew chuckled. "He so wanted to see mummy walk down the aisle I just had to scoop him up to see."

"I'm glad you did." Mary drawled, laughing herself. "My two men to see me through to the end. When I saw you and George together I knew my life could not be any happier."

"I will make it my vow to make you feel like that all the time." Matthew rubbed his nose against her cheek.

"I know we'll have lots of argument…" Mary warned.

"Good arguments." Matthew countered.

"I can be quite stubborn in getting what I want." She kissed his lips. "And I usually get it."

"I know that. You know what you want. But I know that as you love me, you will at least give me a chance of speaking my mind before you make me change it." His eyes danced in good humour.

"You know me very well Mr. Crawley indeed." And Mary slipped her tongue into his mouth and scraped it against the top of his palette before making its way towards his throat.

He moaned in pleasure and closed his mouth around her tongue as it slithered up and down his mouth. Matthew then started to unbutton the gown. But he could not get at the buttons. He reluctantly let go of her mouth and she turned around.

His fingers were not nimble. His scarred hand forcing him to go agonizingly slow. But the work made the anticipation sweeter.

The victory rewarded him as her alabaster skin was revealed beneath. She shuddered at his delicate touch.

His hands moved inside the open back of the wedding dress. He placed one on either side of her small waist. His roving fingers made their way to her shoulders, inside the gown. He pulled each side down around her shoulders until it came away in his hands. It fell to her waist. His fingers sneaked around and smoothly encompassed each of her breasts. His face inched towards her body and kissed the curvature of her back.

She leaned into him. Mary could feel his hot breath on her skin, his lips on her spine, his fingers massaging her nipples. Making them erect and igniting her nerve endings so that each stroke made her shudder in desire. She closed her eyes and let the moment linger.

Matthew slowly spun her back around. His hands dipped down her curved waist to the gown that prevented him from going any further. Her hands came around his and they both shimmied her out of the gown entirely.

That elicited yet another low, guttural moan of passion from Matthew's lips. "Come to me, please." He started to shake.

The desperation in his voice startled Mary.

"What is it love?" She embraced him. Her naked body against his still clothed form.

He cushioned his head against her chest. "Nothing." He sank in further against her soft skin. "And everything. I'm so afraid of losing all this. Of losing control again of my life. Robert heard me yell and curse as I had a nightmare in a room along this very passage. When you had first returned to London and I stayed the night here alone."

"You have had them with me as well." She revealed quietly. She slowly undid his tie as she spoke, sending shivers down his body. When the knot was undone Mary freed the tie from around his neck.

Matthew had never realized the nightmares had been present when he slept with Mary. "I am so sorry. I've been trying to get them under control with therapy but sometimes despite my best efforts they return."

Mary tried to reason. "Well now that you're well and truly out of it maybe they'll decrease in intensity. And as Lavinia is making a full recovery you won't feel so guilty."

Matthew shifted, suddenly uncomfortable.

"What is it?" Mary asked.

"I… I'm not yet fully released from my ALS duties. I was…erm…" How to tell a civilian about the pressure the military had placed on him to agree to an extension. It was not an order…not exactly. But it was a request they did not expect him to refuse. "I have agreed to a reserve position in the army for the next year."

Mary made a low gasp. "I see."

"It will probably not come to much. Because of ongoing trials..." He hesitated again "that I can't really discuss in detail, I need to make myself available to go to The Hague if needed. I might also have to go to America again. To the Pentagon. To keep certain officials up to speed on the progress of the trials."

"But no more combat?" Mary was truly afraid now. That he'd have to return. He was still so fragile.

"No." His warm voice reassured her. "None of that anymore."

They stayed quiet for a few minutes. Then Matthew had to ask.

"How did you know I feel guilty about Lavinia?" Matthew crinkled his brow. He's put such a burden on her. "You don't need to take up my problems."

"Yes I do. I do darling." Mary wrapped him in her arms again. "We're one now remember. You didn't need to tell me. You told me the story of how you think you forced her to go with you that day you were bombed in the truck." Her arms unconsciously held him closer.

"I did force her." His voice choking with emotion. "I made her go because of my ego. I wanted her to see what I had been putting up with for years. Just because she disagreed with my reports. I told her she had not been on the front lines. She knew nothing. I essentially goaded her into going with me."

"She made her own decision. She respected what you said and wanted to see it for herself. That may be a challenge, but she knew the dangers, right?"

"Yes." He had to admit. "We went through all the training sessions together."

"Then she made up her own mind. You are not to blame." She pushed loose strands of hair back up his forehead. "And you saved her life. You got her out of that truck and to safety. She knows that."

He nodded even as he still could not accept all she said. "You are very persuasive. But my therapist at hospital says much the same. And until I can believe it I'll still have the nightmares. She says I'm not quite there yet."

Mary brushed his hair with her fingers. "I will be here. We'll see it through together."

He looked doubtful.

Her fingers wove in amongst his curls. His hair had grown out as he was on medical leave. She pulled his face towards her and gave him a deep, passionate kiss.

"Does that convince you?" She said as she released his lips slowly from her kiss.

"How can I not win out then? With you on my team." His voice taking on a playful tone. "But you can convince me again."

And she lowered her face to meet his trembling lips once again.

He pulled her down onto the bed. The kiss became intense, needy. He drew her closer and closer to him.

"Let's get you out of these clothes." Mary said, coming up for air from that kiss. And she quickly unbuttoned his shirt as he pulled off the trousers and socks. She slipped her hands around his neck and pulled his head down again, his lips to hers. His tongue searching and exploring the interior of her mouth. She whimpered as his body flexed and his muscles tensed with anticipation. His abdomen was ripped, creating that v-shaped torso down to his groin she loved to see. She greedily took it all in. She touched each side of that shape and inched her finger down the point to his now clearly erected arousal. She gripped it slowly, barely tracing it with her fingers, her hand gliding and stroking lightly.

Heat blazed through Matthew's body at that touch. The tantalizing feel of her fingers made him even harder and more needy of further ministrations.

He lay back, pulsing. His heart beating fast.

They were naked against the sheets. He cuddled up beside her and nuzzled her neck with his nose. His hand tried to gently caress her breasts.

He pulled away. "I'm sorry" as he felt her slightly flinch.

"No…." She said, pulling his hand again towards her breast. "It just tingled is all. I want your touch. I always want your touch on me."

He smiled softly and felt a sudden pang of such deep love for his wife. His Mary. "You are so beautiful." Her belly, smooth and flat, open to his caress. He leaned in and kissed her breasts. Taking each one into his mouth. His tongue dancing and darting. His teeth nibbling and sucking each nipple. Her skin was hot to match his own. He could think of nothing else at the moment but the desire to utterly pleasure her.

They came together then. His lips touched and played with hers. He pulled on her lower lip with his teeth. He felt her shudder in ecstasy as his hand snaked its way down her stomach towards her inner thigh. She opened to him and he felt her wet response to his touch. Matthew moved a top her body and she gripped his rear with her fingernails as he plunged his hard erection into her. She groaned in delight and pushed her legs up and against him. As he thrust in and out feeling every rush of orgasmic pleasure, she gripped his shaft and tightened her pelvic muscles over his activity. She was ruthless in her control over his body.

It caused him to need more. He wanted the constriction. The release. The bliss was indescribable. The compression and liberation making him stiffer and the sensations more intense. He opened his eyes to see that Mary's pupils were dilated and dark with intensity. He slowed his penetration to heighten her own pleasure, feeling the sensitive ridge that always made her gasp in intermittent moans of gratification. His grinding action rubbed her spot until her eyes closed again, her mouth fell open, and she gripped his member even more possessively. She was damp, wet with heat. Together they clung to each other in hunger and desperation. They moved faster and faster as he thrust in deep. She bucked and screamed out in pleasure. A sound that made his climax voraciously intense. Intense pulsing pleasure coursed through his body. His mouth was dry.

Mary's moans subsided. The ending of such pleasure made her bereft. Wanting more. Feeling lost without it.

Matthew's arms tired out, he released himself from her panting body, and flung himself down next to her. She curled up next to him.

Slowly as they emerged from the delicious reverie of sexual gratification, their attentions were still yet drawn to each other.

"I don't ever want to move again. I'll just stay here next to you forever." Matthew whispered in her ear. "Can we do that? Can we just lay here forever?"

"If forever is tonight." She said. "Then yes. We'll lay here forever."

"Then it is so." He sighed in contentment. "We'll make tonight forever."

Fin

XX

I hope to get to do an epilogue soon!