A/N: This is part 1 of the Secret Santa Fic for thebarefootflapper. I know that we're not suppose to post these in chapters but your premise is made for posting on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day and almost all of it is queued up to post. :)

Not beta'd so mistakes are all mine! Same universe as The Journey to Happiness, Branson and Crawley, Father and Child and Moving Forward but one where Sybil and Matthew live and Edith marries Sir Anthony in 3x03.

Disclaimer: Not mine. All Downton Abbey characters belong to Julian Fellowes and ITV. I'm just playing with them.

Chapter 1: A Fine Christmas Day - 1904

Sybil

All through December, seven-year-old Sybil Crawley had been carefully writing a list of wishes that she wanted to ask Father Christmas to bring. There were the usual requests for dolls and new frocks, but in there also were requests for clothes and a doll for the poor little girl she had seen at Church on Sundays and glasses for old blind John in the village because she had overheard that glasses would help him see.

Earlier in the day, the tree in the Great Hall had been trimmed by several of the housemaids under the supervision of Mrs. Edwards and Mama. Sybil wanted to help but was told that she was too young still to handle the delicate glass ornaments. While Mary and Edith, who were old enough, showed no interest in spending three hours putting everything up and were elsewhere. All Sybil could think of was how unfair the situation was.

In years past, on Christmas Eve, after saying goodnight to Papa and Mama in the drawing room before they went in to dinner, the sisters would troupe upstairs to the nursery with the nanny for bed. But this year, it would only be Sybil going up to the nursery since Edith had moved to her own room when she had turned ten in August. With Sybil being the only one in the nursery, the girls were asked to hang their stockings from the mantel of the fireplace in the library where the rest of the gifts were opened Christmas morning. Reluctantly, Sybil pinned hers there and headed upstairs while her sisters were treated to a dinner with their parents and then attending a late Christmas Eve service. At least, Patrick will be coming tomorrow and she would learn at luncheon whether she could attend Christmas dinner, too.

When Sybil awoke on Christmas Day, she looked immediately to the mantle but her stocking was not there, which made Sybil pout. "Not fair!" For it was tradition that the sisters could open their stockings as soon as they were up. But soon thereafter the nanny, who had heard her shout, entered the room to help Sybil start her day.

After she had dressed and eaten her breakfast in the nursery, Sybil ran over to her parents, who were sitting by the fire in the library. "Mama! Papa! Happy Christmas!" Her father was reading from yesterday's paper. "Can I look in the stocking from Father Christmas?"

"Happy Christmas, Sybil!" said Lord Grantham with a smile, after lowering his newspaper.

"After your sisters are ready, darling. Happy Christmas!" said Lady Grantham.

"But Mama, we used to do so as soon as we were awake when we pinned them to the mantel in the nursery." Sybil looked at her mother earnestly.

"Your sisters should be down shortly," said her father, looking at the clock on the mantel. "We are to distribute the servant's gifts in just over a half hour and then your Granny, Cousin James, Cousin Helen and Patrick will be coming to luncheon." He then returned to his newspaper.

That might mean they will open in five or twenty-five minutes knowing her sisters. Sybil didn't intend to pout but she did.

Seeing the sad look on Sybil's face, Lady Grantham held out her arms to her youngest daughter. "Come here, darling. Tell your Mama what you hope that Father Christmas sent."

Reluctantly, Sybil went to her mother and sat on the sofa between her parents. Her mother put her own arm around Sybil's shoulders. She looked up at her mother. "I hope that Father Christmas would send a new doll and a new frock for me, but what I really wish for is that he would do the same for that little girl who comes to church every Sunday in the same dirty clothes and to send glasses for old blind John in the village. Do you think he did that Mama?"

Lady Grantham was at a loss. She had heard earlier in the month from Fraulein Kelda that Sybil had been writing to ask for gifts for others, but never dreamed that her youngest would remember on Christmas morning. Looking above her daughter's head at her husband who merely shrugged when he lowered his newspaper, she gently said, "Perhaps we could go visit the Browns and old blind John later this week and see what Father Christmas has brought."

"That would be wonderful, Mama." Sybil smiled.

At this juncture, Mary and Edith chose to enter the library and the family spent the next half hour opening gifts from Father Christmas and their parents.


Since she was five, the highlight of Christmas for Sybil was that there was a possibility that she would be allowed to dress in her best frock and to have Christmas dinner with the adults, providing she behaved the previous week and could demonstrate her knowledge of dinner utensils to Carson's satisfaction at the end of Christmas luncheon. So from the end of November onward, the governess would spend fifteen minutes each day working with Sybil on dinner utensils and place settings. The tradition had started when Mary was five and had continued with each girl as they turned five until they turned ten. The only times any of the girls had lost their privilege was when they had fought the previous week. Sybil was determined never to lose it.

As was custom, after Carson came to collect the plates from Christmas luncheon, he would take the girls who were required to pass the examination into the butler's pantry where he would show them place settings and asked them to demonstrate the proper use of the utensils to which he pointed. After the examination, Carson would confer with Lord Grantham who then pronounced whether the examinee was proficient.

This year Sybil wasn't nervous at all. She had not forgotten what she had been taught the two years previous and hence only learned more in the daily lessons. So when Carson brought her to the butler's pantry, she answered each of his questions quickly and accurately. When the family saw her skip back into the library, they knew even before Carson shared the results with his lordship that Sybil would be joining them for dinner.

After the scrumptious dinner wherein Sybil behaved admirably, the Christmas pudding, all aflame, arrived. The first year when she saw the flaming dessert arrive, her eyes went wide and her mouth formed a perfect 'O', much to the amusement of the adults around the dining table. While she had been familiar with flame from candles at night, she had not been familiar with the concept of alighting food. What surprised Sybil even more was that the pudding tasted much better than she had expected and she had gone to bed dreaming of Christmas pudding. When she had been in the kitchens next, she had asked Mrs. Patmore when she could make the pudding again and she had been gently told that she would have to wait until next Christmas and now it was time again.

When Carson came through the dining room doors with the dessert, Sybil's eyes lit up and she smiled at Patrick who was also excited about the fiery sweet. After Granny wished everyone a Happy Christmas and it was doled out, Sybil could barely contain her excitement with the pudding in front of her. To keep herself from eating it until the adults started, she watched them intently, especially Granny who was always the first to take a bite. As soon as Granny dipped her spoon into the dish, Sybil started to eat.

It was hard to believe but it was better than previous years and she savoured every morsel. In the end, she was the last to finish. Soon thereafter, it was time for the ladies to retreat into the drawing room, and the sisters to go to bed. Since it was a much later bedtime, Sybil was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow and she dreamt of Father Christmas and Christmas pudding.


Tom

Meanwhile in a Dublin flat, fourteen-year-old Tom Branson was helping his sister, Niamh, with getting their younger sister, Cathleen, who was two and very precocious, ready for Christmas Mass. Their mother was in her bedroom readying the newest addition to the family, Connor, who was born the previous month. Their father and Kieran had gone out to clear the stoop of snow after breakfast. While his eldest sister. Mairin, was at the stove cooking the dinner they would be eating when they returned.

"Cathleen," said Niamh. "Please hold still." She was trying to put stockings on Cathleen while she sat on Niamh's lap, while Tom was attempting to button the buttons on the dress. No small feat with a squirming toddler. They were dressing her at the last minute to give the child the least chance at ruining her Christmas clothes for Mass.

"No!" Cathleen shouted, point at her object of interest. "See doll there."

"Tommy, do you mind?" asked Niamh with a nod of her head in the direction of the doll, exasperated.

Taking the hint, Tom went to pick up the doll that Cathleen was eyeing.

"Thank you, Tommy," Cathleen grinned when Tom handle the doll over.

Tom resumed buttoning the dress. "Do you think Da and Ma will like the clock I made with Mr. Moore's help?" Tom had been running errands for the clockmaker since he dismantled his mother's treasured clock in the previous year.

"I'm certain they will love it, Tommy." Niamh smiled at him.

"I wished that you didn't have to go back to the Dillons tonight," Tom said wistfully. "I miss having you around to help with Cathleen." Niamh had been in service since the summer when she turned fourteen and this was her yearly full day trip home to see her family.

"Well, I miss being here, too, Tommy, but I need to earn my way." Niamh put Cathleen down. "The Dillons are good to me and I'm learning much. I can't ask for more." Changing the subject, she asked, "Are you planning to finish school this year and get an apprenticeship or go for another two years like Ma wants?"

"I'd like to stay in school if I can." Tom gathered Cathleen's discarded clothes. "Mr. Moore thinks that the extra schooling will help me understand timekeeping better, but what I really want to do is learn how to tinker with engines like Kieran. You heard that Kieran wants to try his hand in Liverpool next year?"

"Liverpool?" asked Niamh. "What do Ma and Da think?"

"There've been a few choice words between the three of them since Kieran announced his plan last week, so we'll see."

"Why Liverpool?" asked Niamh, puzzled.

"One of his chums from the motor depot took a job at a garage in Liverpool and wants Kieran to join him." Seeing Cathleen walk toward the wrapped gifts under the decorated Christmas tree by the fireplace, Tom cautioned, "Cathleen!"

Cathleen turned and looked at her favourite brother with a toothy grin.

"Come here!" Tom gestured with his finger. Obediently, Cathleen came to him.

"Do you think he'll go?" asked Niamh, taking Cathleen's clothes from Tom.

Placing Cathleen on his shoulders to keep her from dirtying her clothes, he and Niamh walked toward the room Cathleen and Mairin shared. "He may yet but Ma and Da have been trying to convince him to stay a year to see how his chum is doing first. Have you considered working in England?"

"Me? No." Niamh placed Cathleen's clothes on her bed. She will need to change back into them after Mass. "Mrs. Gallagher, the housekeeper, is well pleased with my progress. The family is kind and I'm only an hour away. Having a good place in service is worth more than trying somewhere new."

Just as Tom was about to reply, the father and Kieran returned to the flat and Declan Branson announced that they should be leaving for Mass in five minutes.


When they returned from Mass, the roasted goose was taken from the covered dish above the stove and placed by the head of the table where Declan would carve it and the table is quickly set by Tom and Kieran while Niamh watched Cathleen, and Connor was nursed by Mrs. Branson in the bedroom. Mairin then continued to place the prepared food on the table until it was all there.

Once Rose Branson emerged from her bedroom, Niamh brought Cathleen to the table and the others all sat down in their designated spots. After a quick prayer, dishes start to be passed around and there's little conversation other than pass this or that with murmurs of thanks. Once the first helping was consumed, conversations started to flow. Declan asked Niamh about her work and what she thought of the Dillons. It wasn't often that he saw her anymore, so he took the opportunity to speak to her about her interests. Tom, who sat next to Cathleen, made sure that she was occupied and fed because he knew that his mother was tired having to care for a newborn and didn't need to worry about her toddler, too. Mairin and Kieran spoke about some mutual friends they saw in at Christmas Mass.

After dinner was consumed, the lit Christmas pudding was brought out and while the flames did not leap as high as the one brought out at Downton Abbey, it did ignite, burn off the alcohol and sear the pudding slightly. When the flames resided, Declan wished "Nollaig Shona Daoibh" and started to cut a sizable piece for each member of his family save Connor. Each year, everyone would look for the thruppence that was put into the pudding and the last two years in a row, Tom had found it in his portion. This year the honour went to Declan.

When Christmas dinner was complete, it was time to open the gifts under the tree. Due to the size of the family, it was as always chaotic. Tom's gift to his parents was well received and they decided to use it in the bedroom. Tom received a book from Niamh, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, a knitted cap from Mairin, a harmonica from Kieran and a fountain pen set from his parents.

Soon after the gifts were viewed and loved, it was time for Niamh to head to the railway station. As in past years, Declan escorted his daughter and waited with her for the train. Though Tom was getting too old to be hugged by his parents, he showed no such reserve for his sister.

"I hope you can come home for Easter," said Tom, who tried to keep the emotion out of his voice while he held her. "Safe travels."

"Thank you, Tommy. I'll try." Niamh smiled at him when they let go of one another. She then hugged her mother and her other brothers and sisters before leaving the flat with her father.

After Niamh left, the Branson home became much more subdue. Tom washed dishes while Kieran watched Cathleen and tidied up and Mairin put away the leftover food. Rose was again in her bedroom feeding Connor. Once everything was returned to its rightful place, the children tried out their gifts in the parlour. Before long, Declan returned from the railway station and headed to bed since his next shift at the docks started at three o'clock the next morning. That was the signal to everyone that Christmas was over for another year and one by one, the remaining Bransons drifted about a little before catching some extra sleep.

A/N2: Happy Christmas, thebarefootflapper! I hope you liked the first part. :)