@and-you-will-like-it requested I write something with baby Theodore, either modern or otherwise, so I picked modern AU, where Mary and Edith are twins.  I hope this pleases (also, it kinda got away from me). ;)

It took everything in her for Nanny James to keep the three wriggling girls calm that morning –“calm” being a relative term.

“But Nanny,” Edith said, tugging on the edge of her uniform shirt impatiently, “We want to see our baby brother!”

“Lady Edith – all of you – you’ll see him when everyone else does, at tea time this afternoon. Your mama needs some rest after being in hospital.”  Nanny James nodded matter-of-factly at this.

But the girls did not want to be logical.

Sybil fell asleep around an hour before luncheon, for which the nanny gave thanks.  The youngest Crawley daughter, being only just shy of three years old, seemed to feed on the energy of her sisters.  Her shrieks of delight and anticipation accompanied every question and statement made by her older sisters, and the three of them could not stop hopping around, no toy or game keeping their attention for long.

“Will we be able to hold him?” Mary inquired, finally still on the floor, hugging the sleeping toddler to her chest.

“Will we be able to feed him?”  Edith’s question trailed Mary’s by only a few seconds.

Mary continued, “Can we take him out in his pram?”

“Will Granny like him?” Edith asked, wide-eyed as her twin sister snorted and rolled her eyes.

“I don’t think Granny likes babies,” Mary retorted.

Nanny James’ eyes bounced from one sister to the other, as if she were watching Wimbledon. Neither of them let her get a word in edgewise, so she let them continue.

At least they were relatively quiet.

After luncheon, the nanny attempted to get the trio to nap.  Sybil fell asleep again quite easily, the excitement of the morning seeming to have tired her out.  Mary and Edith kept whispering questions and wonderings to one another, and Nanny James suspected neither slept a wink.  To be fair, sometimes they didn’t nap anyway.  At almost six years old, both had nearly outgrown nap time.

Nanny James counted it a victory when she convinced the three of them to play a game until the bell rang for tea.  When it did, all three began jumping and screaming again.

“It’s time!” Edith shouted.  She grabbed her nanny’s hand.  “Come on, Nanny, we want to see the baby!”

With a laugh, Nanny James took Sybil’s hand in her other while Mary opened the door and led the way.  “Remember, little Ladies.  Our quiet voices when we get in the library.  The baby might be asleep.”

“We remember,” they all said in stage whispers.

Mary and Edith fairly dragged Sybil and the nanny into the library.

“Mama!” Sybil squealed, running on stubby legs for her mother.

Catching her up and bundling her into her lap, Cora turned to her other daughters.  She laughed.  “Seems I’m not the main attraction today,” she said to Robert, who sat across from her, next to his mother.

Robert laughed as well.  “They’ve been waiting almost as long as we have.  I’m sure they’ll greet you in a moment.”

“Not so close,” Violet admonished the twins.  “He doesn’t need you breathing on him so hard.”  She turned a bit so the girls could see him more clearly.

“Mary, Edith,” Robert said, “This is your baby brother, Theodore.”

Reaching out a careful finger, Edith made to touch his cheek.

“Very gently,” her granny said, an edge to her voice.

“You like Teddy, Granny?” Mary asked as she put her hand close to his, grinning when his fingers grasped one of hers.

Violet huffed and shrugged.  “I like him as much as any other baby I suppose.”  But she smiled down at the bundle in her arms before looking over at her son. “What is this ‘Teddy’ nonsense?”

Controlling the urge to roll his eyes, Robert answered, “We thought it might be easier for the girls, especially Sybil.”

Huffing again, Violet turned her attention back to her grandson.

Cora and Robert shared a look of relief, knowing that bit of news might have been received much worse.

“Mama, can we hold him?” Edith asked.

Robert touched his daughter’s bright curls.  “I think that will have to wait for another day.”

“But –“

Tilting his head at her, eyebrows raised, Robert stopped any more words coming from the twins’ mouths on the subject.

Mary sighed a little.  “He’s very tiny, Edith.  It’s probably better to wait.”

“But won’t he get heavier?”

Cora replied from across the room.  “Yes, but it’ll be easier to hold him when he can hold his own head up.”

“He can’t hold his head up?”  Mary appeared shocked by this information.

Robert bit back a chuckle.  “His neck isn’t strong enough yet.”

Edith shook her head.  “Babies are strange.”

“They simply need a little extra care so they can grow strong.”  Violet ran the pad of her forefinger down Theodore’s cheek.

“When he grows strong, can he play with us?” Mary asked.  “Like Sybil does?”  She crossed to her mother and reached out for her sister’s hand to hold.

“Yes,” said Cora. “When he gets strong enough.”

Kissing the back of the baby’s hand, Edith gave a small nod.  “Then I like him.  We can wait until he’s strong.  And we will help make him strong too.”  She looked over at Mary.  “Right?”

“Right,” Mary said.

Cora and Robert exchanged another glance, this one filled with gratitude for each of their children.