The exhaustion had won out somewhere around three am, after she fed Maisie one more time. By the time she'd woken, Ben had crawled into bed with her, and was still snoozing soundly next to her. Maisie was awake but happily babbling quietly in her cot. The room had cooled, but not too badly, so Elsie slipped from her bed, tucking Ben under a wool throw blanket, before she moved to stoke the fire. Pulling on her warmest layers and her slippers, Elsie felt like she was bunding up to go outside, even though she was just crossing the house. She added a couple more logs and prodded the flames into something more useful. Once it was roaring again, she moved to get Maisie from her cot.

The anxiety was near paralyzing, the fact that Tyb had not come home and Elsie felt guilty for falling asleep. He hadn't slept a wink until she had come home after the dragons, but she supposed she had come home within twenty-four hours. It had been years since she had felt this all-encompassing sort of dread welling up in the pit of her stomach and she didn't miss it. She was no better prepared to deal with it either, having hoped they were past everything now that they were married and settled and happy. Now that she had everything she wanted though, losing it was just that much more terrifying and she froze completely in the realization.

The smell of breakfast forced her to move, cradling Maisie close, wrapping her tightly in the warm blankets, Elsie left Ben to sleep for a little longer. He was perfectly warm and content and she had to be thankful for that. It would be a long day of being stuck inside, waiting, and worrying and hopefully the could remain distracted enough to get through. It didn't ease the gripping fear around her heart at all, but Els knew she had to push through it for the children. Maybe they would have some pancakes this morning, they were Ben's favorite and they would help keep Elsie's hands busy, even if Mrs. Robinson wouldn't love the help.

Hopefully they just had to get through today. Just today. Tyb would be home and everything would be fine. Just today.