I can't believe Sybil x tom Romance Week is almost over! Here's my penultimate story for the week. Hope you enjoy it!
Dig for Victory
Sybil was wearing a pale yellow shirt under denim dungarees as she knelt on the ground, pulling potatoes out of the ground. Her children were kneeling beside her, helping to clean the dirt off the vegetables before placing them in a basket to be taken inside.
Tom was in front of them, pulling apples off the tree which he was going to use to make apple crumble later on.
"Mummy," William, Sybil's youngest son, said.
"Yes, sweetheart," Sybil said, continuing to pull potatoes from the soil.
"Why do we have to grow our own vegetables? Grandma and grandpa don't."
Sybil glanced up at Tom, who had been listening in on Sybil's conversation with their son.
"Well," Tom said, taking the reins from Sybil, who didn't know how to answer. The last thing she wanted was for her children to grow up spoilt as she had been, and wanting the life that she had tried so hard to put behind her. "Even though grandma and grandpa don't plant the vegetables themselves, they do grow them on their land. Somebody else comes and plants the seeds and bulbs and digs up the vegetables for them."
"Why don't they do it themselves?" William asked.
"Because they do other things," Sybil said, "like raising money to help the war effort, and remember they've still got to look after such a big house."
"I wish we had a big house like Downton," William said, sitting back on his heels.
Sybil looked desperately at Tom. Parenting wasn't easy at the best of times, but parenting during the war was much harder. There was never any time to relax. If Sybil and Tom weren't parenting, they were looking after the house. If they weren't looking after the house, they were trying to grow enough food to keep their family going. If they weren't growing food, they were trying to mend the clothes their children inevitably ripped and tore. And if they weren't fixing clothes, they were worrying about the money they needed for everything else. They were permanently exhausted and hearing that their son wanted to live like his grandparents made them anxious.
"I don't want a big house like Downton," Connor, their eldest, said strongly, sitting on the other side of Sybil.
"No?" Sybil asked, pleased that her eldest son seemed to like his living conditions.
"No," he confirmed. "It's too big. There's too much to clean and too many places to go. It would feel like you were living on your own. It's too spread out."
"I agree with you, Connor," Tom said. "You're very wise."
"Did you ever live in a house that big, da?" William asked, walking up to his father to help him choose the nicest apples.
"No, not me," Tom said. "I lived in a little house like ours when I was little. But we had a very small garden, so we couldn't run around outside as much as you boys do."
Sybil moved along the row of potatoes so that she could keep harvesting them. The boys weren't concentrating on the potatoes, so Sybil cleaned them off herself before putting them into the basket by her side. Whilst she worked, she listened to the conversation her husband was having with her children.
"But we did have an allotment nearby," Tom explained.
"What's an allotment?" William asked.
"It's somewhere to grow food," Connor answered, proud to be a knowledgeable big brother.
Connor was seven years old. He had light blonde hair and was headstrong like both of his parents. He had mostly Tom's physical features, but he had Sybil's eyes and mostly Sybil's demeanour.
William was four years old. He would be starting school in September. He was the spitting image of his father in every aspect other than having Sybil's hair. His dark curls contrasted to Connor's mop of blonde, which had come through Tom's side of the family. William was a shyer child than Connor had ever been, but he was also more willing to show affection to his family.
"That's right," Tom said, praising Connor and expanding on his explanation. "In this house, we can grow food in the garden because we have enough space. But some houses have very small gardens or none at all, so you can't grow food there. So instead, you have an allotment. It's a small patch of land – you buy one that's as big as you need it to be – that you can use to grow all sorts of vegetables."
"Boys," Sybil called to her sons who had gathered around her husband. "Could you please take these two baskets into the kitchen and put them carefully on the kitchen table."
The boys picked up one basket each, both full of potatoes, and ferried them inside. Sybil sat back on her heels, wiped her brow with the back of her hand and sighed at the work she had been doing.
"Are you alright, love?" Tom asked.
"Grand," Sybil said. "I've just got to get the carrots up and then we'll be done."
She stood up and walked behind Tom. In their garden they had two apple trees, one for cooking and one for eating. She went to the "eating tree" as they distinguished it to the boys, picked an apple and took a bite.
She hugged Tom and felt herself moulding to the shape of Tom's body. All she wanted to do was fall in bed beside him and have his body pressed against hers, two perfect pieces of a jigsaw, even in sleep. But she still had work to do. There's no rest for the wicked, as they say.
The boys came back out into the garden and ran around, playing with one another, making up games involving battles and racing and dragons and all manner of exciting things.
Their parents smiled at them, standing side by side at the edge of the garden.
Tom wrapped his arm around Sybil's waist and kissed her temple.
"I want another one," he whispered, staying out of earshot of his sons.
"I'm already pregnant," Sybil said, turning to face Tom.
"You are?" he asked, shocked and ecstatic.
"I am," she said, smiling widely at her husband.
Tom drew her into a hug and couldn't suppress his excitement.
"When did that happen?" he asked.
"I'm about ten weeks along," Sybil said.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked.
"I didn't know until yesterday," she said. "You were at work, and I haven't really had a chance to stop and think until now."
Tom kissed Sybil fully, pulling her waist towards him. When they broke apart they remained close.
"I love you," he said.
"I love you too," she said.
And she meant it. He had fathered her children and he had made her life the best it could possibly be. He was the better half of her and she wanted nothing more than to be with him for the rest of her life.