when mary and tom’s baby girl’s wardrobe is overflowing with clothes because her namesake does not understand the concept of self-control and feels the constant urge to spoil her goddaughter 😌
“i wasn’t looking, i swear, i just saw it there in the window and it CALLED to me” - madeline gardiner
forever obsessed with the way he lies there with his head in her lap because he doesn’t care and he’s just a comfy boi 🥹 you know they do this all the time at home and she just runs her fingers through his hair while they sit by the fire reading and stuff once the kids are in bed and they get some alone time 😌
They met at a dinner party when Madeline came to London to spend the summer with her aunt, and Edward fell immediately. They ended up going on a group trip to The Lakes, where they confessed their feelings for one another, hence why Madeline later plots the trip there with Mary and Tom (because, you know, vibes and stuff).
They courted for a time, and he took her to meet his family, and Mrs B immediately decided she didn’t like her and tries to cause trouble (because she was her Caroline Bingley) and Edward defended her against his family, and she learned to stand her ground and made it clear to them all that she wasn’t going anywhere 👑
Then they finally got married, moved into Gracechurch Street, his business boomed, and their mutual freakiness resulted in their three kids (though I totally feel they should have had more because they’re obsessed with each other 🙂↕️
yeah so i hc that mrs bennet was madeline’s “caroline bingley” because, like she says to mary, there will always be one 😭 and yes, it will be included in my origin fic, because i need edward defending her against his family, but also her learning to stand her ground against her future sister-in-law 🫶
[Summary: A collection of drabbles following the Gardiners and their family through some of their most private moments.]
[Word Count: 1,000]
[Author's Note: So, I always planned to create for myself a little collection that I could update when inspiration strikes me between my main fics, and this is what I came up with! There are going to be ten drabbles per chapter - this is my first go at ever writing drabbles, so I hope they're okay! - and they're all going to be relatively fluffy I think, with the odd bit of angst/hurt/etc. I hope you guys like these!
PLEASE READ, T.W: in chapter one, one of the drabbles (drabble 2) references pregnancy loss. Please skip this one if you need to do so <3]
Click here to read over on AO3, or stay here and read under the cut!
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1 - Before the Guests Arrive:
“We have fifteen minutes,” she breathed.
“I only need ten,” he mumbled against her neck.
They absolutely did not have time for this, she knew, yet she found she made no move to stop him when he guided her sleeve down her arm and dipped his head to kiss the curve of her shoulder. When he finally laid her down on the bed, she chuckled, though it soon gave way to another sound entirely.
Afterward, he came up behind her as she fixed her hair in the mirror, kissing her on the neck.
“I told you,” he smirked. “Ten minutes.”
2 - Loss:
He said nothing on his return to their bedroom once the doctor had left.
She didn’t need him to.
It was her loss in ways it could quite never be his, but the fact that he grieved it anyway – that was what undid her. She didn’t realize she was sobbing until he joined her on the bed, his arms slipping naturally around her as his lips buried in her hair, and she did not try to fight him when he drew her near.
Rather, she wept until she had nothing left, and he held her through every moment of it.
3 - Interlude At the Inn:
Mary and the others were still climbing Scafell. The inn, much like her husband had said, was peaceful, and the Hursts had taken themselves back to their room on arrival for a rest. They had done much the same. Aside from the fact that resting was the last thing they had in mind.
She admired the fells, dark and enormous, from the window for a time.
He closed the curtains.
“The Hursts got back safely,” he unbuttoned her spencer jacket.
“We have done our duty,” her fingers loosened his cravat.
He kissed her, and neither thought of the Hursts again.
4 - Rebecca:
There was something about the idea of becoming a family of five that had, at first, unnerved them. They had grown accustomed to being a family of four, and another child had simply not been part of the plan.
Now, though, with the baby nestled comfortably in her arms, changed and well-fed, neither of them had even the slightest doubt that she had always been meant to be part of their family.
“Rebecca,” she said quietly, passing her thumb over downy dark curls. “Rebecca Grace.”
“Rebecca Grace,” he echoed with a soft kiss to the back of her neck. “Perfect.”
5 - The New Dress:
She wore it to breakfast, which was either innocent or deliberate. He couldn’t decide.
"You're staring," she told him, reaching for the butter dish.
"I am not."
"Edward."
"I am thinking."
"About what, exactly?"
About the colour of it, he thought, an emerald green that complemented her complexion beautifully. The cut of it, too. The way it accentuated the curves and contours he had come to know by heart.
"Business," he muttered instead when he remembered the children were present, wisely letting his gaze return to his newspaper.
"Business. Of course," she said with a smirk, biting into her toast.
6 - A Frightful Nurse:
She had told her husband that morning that she felt rather unlike herself, and she’d regretted it ever since. He had been, in a word, insufferable all afternoon. Though she could hardly complain. He was only trying to help. It was just unfortunate that he made a frightful nurse.
He had tucked her blanket so tight she could no longer move her feet.
The fire in the grate was so hot, she felt that she was melting.
And recruiting the help of their children…well.
Despite all of that, though, she smiled.
She was, she thought, a very lucky woman indeed.
7 - Tom:
The idea to allow Tom Hayward to lodge with them had been quite her own.
Edward had been at the warehouse, and when Tom had informed her of his plight, she’d been unable to turn him away. Part of her had feared Edward would be…less than pleased with her making a decision like that alone, though on his return home that evening she’d realized that she needn’t have.
He had been most accommodating.
“You really don’t mind Tom staying?” she asked as they climbed into bed.
“No,” he assured her again, chuckling. “Besides…you’d only find another stray to take in.”
8 - Found, Always:
He had always been able to find his wife in any room, no matter the gathering’s size, and this evening was no different. He heard her before he entered the drawing room – her loud, unguarded laugh that carried over the rest of the chatter, and his gaze fell on her the very moment he made his way inside.
She was speaking with Mrs. Clarke, and he saw the corner of her mouth twitch from across the room. She looked his way. They exchanged a smile. He could find his wife in any room. He always had.
And his wife, him.
9 - The Desk:
It had started, as these things often did, with her bringing him tea he hadn’t asked for.
Setting it down on his desk, she’d run her fingers along the back of his hand, and that had been that. In the next breath, his hands had been at her waist, his mouth at her throat, and – panting into his shoulder now, her legs still around his waist – she was fairly certain their staff had overheard them.
“I believe we just gave them something to talk about for the next month,” she breathed.
“Only a month?” he smirked. “I’m losing my touch.”
10 - Edward's Birthday:
She and the children had always marked his birthday, despite his half-hearted protests, and this year had been no different. Rebecca had presented him with a picture she had drawn, George with a fine pocket watch, and Marianne had written a truly beautiful poem for him.
Her main gift to him had been clearing his schedule, allowing him to spend the day entirely at home, and seeing him so unburdened had, in a way, been a gift for herself also.
“Thank you,” he said, lying beside her that night, “for today.”
“You’re welcome,” she smiled. “Happy birthday, my love.”
does anyone still read/like drabbles? because i had the idea to do a collection of those (maybe ten per chap) instead of a collection of singular one shots but idk…i have a couple already lined up, but i wanna know what you guys want to see! lemme know 🤍
and if my first one shot in my gardiner collection was potentially rebecca falling asleep during the party because she got tired but didn’t want to miss out on the fun, and madeline and edward find her and sneak away for a few minutes to put her to bed because yes
hc that when madeline and edward used to visit the bennets when the girls were tiny, edward would bring all of the girls beautiful bows and stuff, but madeline would also bring mary books from stores in london that she felt she would like…she always had a soft spot for her girl 🥹
I have such an urge to do a one shot of Mrs G helping Mary get ready for her wedding to Tom 🥹 She would be so proud and emotional, like that’s her girl 😭
I like to think that Mary and Mr Ryder remain quite good friends long after she becomes Mary Hayward and that Mr Hayward, although he adores his wife, is eternally frustrated by him.
Listen, he likes his schoolmate well enough. They're friends too! But Mr Ryder has the most infuriating tendency to swoop in and cause chaos at the most frustrating times.
Tom and Mary are having a quiet couple's getaway trip? Somehow, Mr Ryder appears with a drinking game that leaves them all hangover.
Tom and Mary are exploring rare bookshops in London? They find William Ryder in the back of one of them engaged in a strange bartering ritual with the shopkeeper over dice.
Tom and Mary are having their first child? Here comes Uncle Ryder with a Venetian midwife mid-labor.
Mr Hayward KNOWS his wife loves him more than anything. He knows Mr Ryder amuses and baffles her with his eccentricity. Any jealousy from their courting days has been put to rest. Yet, he'll huff and puff because Thomas Fucking Ryder has a sixth sense for popping up with the worst timing in the world.
Click here to read over on AO3, or stay here and read under the cut!
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Edward was still snoring into his pillow when she slipped from the bed at just past six the morning of the seventeenth, taking her wrapper from where she had left it the evening before and pulling it on against the chill that had settled overnight, and she found she was quite awake. Really, she had never been what one would call a morning person. Normally, her husband had to coax her out of bed with the promise of tea, jam, and other sweet things -but this morning? She had already been awake for hours, thinking of all that remained to be done before their niece finally joined them that afternoon.
Leaving the room in silence, she closed the door behind herself before making her way along the hall, past the still-quiet nursery, and up the stairs to the bedroom on the top floor. The decorators had done a fine job, she thought as she opened the door and stepped into the room, the warmth from the fire hitting her instantly. The walls were a lovely pink now, and with the desk and the vanity having been so beautifully restored, she was confident that Mary would feel comfortable in her surroundings. The bed still needed fresh linens, but she had asked the maids to wait until this morning to do so.
She backed out of the room again after a time and returned to the middle floor, and she was glad that there was still no movement or whispers coming from the nursery. She adored her children, but the three of them had always been the lightest sleepers and had the ability to sense when she and Edward were so much as stirring. Knowing how busy her day was going to be once it really got started, she hoped she would at least be fortunate enough to savour a cup of tea before they woke. She found her husband awake when she slipped back into their room, and the look he gave her made her chuckle.
“I never thought I would see the day when you rose before dawn,” he said, his voice rough from sleep.
“I have quite a lot to do this morning before Mary arrives,” she replied, as if he needed reminding.
He hummed, tucking an arm beneath his head. “Too much to kiss your husband good morning?”
She pretended to think for a moment, standing there with a hand on her hip as she looked over at him. “Well, I suppose I can make a little time for that,” she told him with a little smirk playing at the corner of her mouth, padding over to the bed and sitting down on the edge before brushing his curls from his face. “But don’t you think for a moment about trying for anything more. That, I do not have time for.”
“I don’t know about that,” his hand found her hip. “I’ve found I can make good time when I need to.”
“You needn’t sound quite so proud of yourself.”
“On the contrary. It is something I take great pride in.”
“Shut up,” she murmured, shaking her head as she leaned down to kiss him at long last. It was a slow, tender kiss, and there was most certainly a part of her that wanted to put his…talents…to the test, though she knew it would be unwise. She truly had far too much to do this morning. Before they could get too lost in one another, she broke the kiss and pulled away from him, raking her fingers gently through his hair as she looked down at him. “Behave yourself when Mary is here. You’ll only scar her.”
“Tom lodged here with us long enough, and I would say he’s still in one piece.”
“I’m serious. Behave yourself.”
He held his hands up in mock surrender. “When the wife has spoken…”
She rolled her eyes good-naturedly at him and stood from the bed, and just as she began making her way around to her own side in order to ring for her maid, she heard the unmistakable sound of the nursery door opening down the hall. She groaned softly. “I hope you realize that this is all your fault.”
“How could it possibly be my fault?” he asked, sitting himself up and running a hand over his face.
“I don’t know,” she muttered. “I only know it is.”
Pulling back the blanket and climbing out of bed, he made his way up behind her while she finally rang the bell and slipped his arms around her waist from behind. “Well then,” his lips found the side of her neck, “I suppose I ought to subject myself to getting them ready for the day. Give you a bit more time.”
She chuckled under her breath, her head falling to one side for a moment as she indulged him, though she soon turned her attention back to him and smiled as she looked up at him through her lashes. “You are good to me,” she acknowledged. “So very good, and I appreciate that more than you realize.”
He did not respond with words, for he felt there was no need, deciding instead to kiss her softly before taking his arms from around her and leaving their room before their children could come running in.
She lingered there for a time once he was gone, the quiet of only a minute ago already starting to give way to the usual chaos of morning. There was much to be done, she reminded herself, and very little time in which to do it, but as she padded over to her vanity and caught her own reflection, she smiled.
By four, the house would be fuller still.
And she found she was rather looking forward to it.
------
Once she had shown her niece to her room and made sure she had all that she needed, she thought to give her a little space, time to rest after her long journey and settle in at her own pace, and so she made her way silently from the room and returned downstairs. She and Edward had made it quite clear to her that they had no expectations of her today. Today, they would handle the children, and then formal introductions would take place in the morning, after breakfast and before their lessons started.
Neither one of them wanted her to feel out of her depth.
She had had the feeling, speaking to Mary in her room just now, that she was unsure as to how she felt regarding the arrangement, and that had told her everything she needed to know. In the letter she’d sent to her mother weeks ago, she had politely requested that she simply put the matter to her, though it seemed she had done the complete opposite and her niece had been entirely blindsided. Knowing her mother as she did, no doubt she had kept the matter from her until she felt she couldn’t refuse – though she would not have permitted her to do so anyway – and then given her no choice.
She ought to have thought about that, she told herself as she descended the stairs, though there was nothing she could do about it now, and although she did not agree with nor condone the actions of her sister-in-law, they had resulted in getting Mary away from Longbourn and that had been her plan all along. It would take time for her niece to settle and find her way, she knew, but she endeavoured to look on the brighter side of things. She was in London now, over a hundred miles away from her mother and her sighs and critiques, and that was what she needed.
Within a matter of weeks, without that woman in her ear, the true Mary would make herself known.
Edward was sitting in his usual chair in the sitting room when she entered, his newspaper in hand, and she sighed as she sat down on the edge of the sofa and poured herself some tea with the service laid out on the table. She leaned back slightly once she had her cup in hand, trailing her thumb around the rim as she made herself comfortable, and after taking a sip she looked over at him and held his gaze for a moment. “I have a feeling your sister failed to mention my request to Mary when I wrote her,” she told him. “I had the impression while speaking to her that she was only made aware of this recently.”
“I wouldn’t put it past her,” he mumbled without looking up from the article in front of him.
“I doubt we’ll be seeing much of her today,” she said with another sip of tea. “It’s nearing five already, and she’ll be tired after her journey. I might go up in an hour and ask her if she feels up to joining us for supper, and if she doesn’t then I can take a tray up for her. I’d prefer to do it myself. It may give us a moment to talk about things. She seemed a little…guarded…just now, which I understand, but I’m hoping that she might feel a little more inclined to talk this evening. I just don’t want her to feel as though she’s unable to open up to me about things. She ought to have someone she can confide in.”
He lowered his paper at last, folding it and setting it down on the arm of his chair, and after pouring a cup of tea for himself, he cleared his throat softly. “I think we need to remember that Mary doesn’t really know how to open up. It isn’t something that she’s used to. I blame my sister for how she keeps herself to herself and internalises things, but that is just the way she is at the moment, and it’ll take time for us to undo that. I wouldn’t try to push her, not that I think you will, because all that will do is make things take longer. If she’s going to open up to anyone in time, though, it’s going to be you.”
“You think so?”
“Of course. You have an approachableness about you, which she already knows. She just needs time.”
She nodded. “I know. I just want to help her.”
“And you are,” he assured her, nursing his cup. “Just by allowing her to be here, you’re helping her.”
“You’re right. I’m not sure why I’m beginning to doubt myself,” she shook her head.
“Because the reality isn’t quite like the expectation, and a few of our plans require some adjustment,” he pointed out. “But I don’t see you have any reason to worry. You’ll get there with her in the end.”
She chuckled gently under her breath. “And how can you be so certain?”
“Because, my dear,” he gave her the smile he only reserved for her, “you always do.”
------
As she had expected, Mary had politely declined her offer to join her and Edward for supper, admitting that she was tired from her long journey and not really that hungry, but she had felt that hadn’t been the actual reason. Her niece forgot that she knew her well. She had known her all her life, and she and Edward had frequented Longbourn over the years, meaning she had learned to read her rather well. She knew there were many things she could not bear the thought of, one of which being imposing on people and being deemed a nuisance. There was no chance of that, not in this house, but she had known better than to press her.
Had she, she would have been no better than her mother.
Rather, she had let her alone and gone down to join her husband in the dining room, though she had requested that a tray be put together for her that she could take up once they had eaten. She was pleased with what had been arranged for her – some cold chicken, a bread roll with a pot of butter to one side, a dish of fruit, and a slice of the cake Cook had baked that morning – and she felt Mary would at least be able to stomach some of it, even if she didn’t quite have the appetite to finish it all.
She moved the tray carefully into one hand when she made it to the top floor, knocking gently on the closed bedroom door, and when her niece gave confirmation for her to enter, she pushed the door open and stepped into the room. She was already tucked up in bed, changed into her nightgown with her hair unpinned and a book in hand, and she smiled at the sight as she closed the door with her foot. “I know you said you weren’t all that hungry,” she recalled as she moved to the bed and lowered herself onto the edge, “but I don’t like the thought of you not having had anything to eat tonight.”
The corner of Mary’s mouth twitched slightly, and when she saved her place in her book and set it to one side, she took that as her cue to hand the tray to her. She watched her cast a glance over the contents, and the way her eyes lit up at seeing the slice of cake made her smile. “I remember sponge was always your favourite,” she told her. “I still recall one of your uncle and I’s visits to Longbourn when you were young. A sponge cake had been made to go with dinner, and while we were speaking with your parents, you and Lizzy snuck into the dining room and helped yourselves to a lot of it.”
The look on her niece’s face told her that she did not remember that in the slightest.
“Your mother was well and truly vexed when she found out, as you can imagine,” she shrugged, “but I thought it was quite funny. Particularly when Lizzy tried to take most of the blame, saying that she acted alone, yet you had as much powdered sugar over your face as she did. It was endearing, really.”
Mary snorted softly at that, amused. “I very much doubt she would do the same for me now.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” she shook her head. “Lizzy always did have a bit of a soft spot for you.”
Mary fell quiet for a moment after that, once again looking down at the tray in her lap, before turning her attention back to her. “I hope you didn’t think me ungrateful for not joining you for supper.”
“No,” she replied without hesitation, bringing a hand to her arm through the sleeve of her nightgown. “No, we thought nothing of the sort. You had a long journey, and a lot of things have changed in a very short amount of time for you. It came as no surprise to me – to either of us – that you needed to take some time to yourself. In the morning, once breakfast has been cleared, I’ll formally introduce you to the children and then leave you to get better acquainted. They can be…spirited…at times, and they may try to push the boundaries a little, but they will settle down. And I’m sure you’ll do well.”
Mary buttered some of the roll from the plate on the tray and popped it into her mouth, swallowing it before she leaned back against the headboard with a sigh. “Thank you, Aunt Madeline,” the words came out quieter than intended. “Really, your offer couldn’t have been more well-timed. Things back at Longbourn, as you can probably imagine, were quite dark. I did worry about leaving Mama, but since being here, I’ve come to realize that this was more than likely the best thing for the both of us. We haven’t gotten along too well since Papa died, not that we did before, and space was needed.”
She hummed in understanding. “Well, you are welcome to stay here with us for as long as you feel you need. London can be intimidating in the beginning, I know that from experience, but I do hope that you come to like it here in time. It has rather a lot to offer a person. Especially, I believe, one like you.”
Mary refrained from brushing it off completely, though she highly doubted that. “I don’t think so.”
“I do,” she smiled, leaning in to place a soft kiss on her cheek before rising from the bed and running her hands down the skirt of her dress. “I’ll leave you to eat and get some rest. I feel you’ll need it before tomorrow. If you need anything at all, I’m only one floor down. Is there anything? Before I go?”
Mary shook her head. “I don’t think so. Goodnight, Aunt Madeline.”
“Goodnight, Mary,” she echoed before turning on her heel and leaving the bedroom, closing the door carefully behind herself. She remained there for some time then, standing alone in the dim light of the hall and listening to the quiet creaks from the house as it settled for the night, and then she smiled.
he may have left that room casually, but you cannot convince me that he didn’t run and find his wife the second he was out of there because he was confused and concerned 😂 “Madeline…they have stew on their faces.”
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