Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from me to the lovely and talented JessieBess!
I'm sorry for the slight delay, but I wasn't feeling well enough to finish your gift yesterday, so I chose to wait until I feel a bit better to do everything properly.
In exchange, I can tell you that while I was writing this piece, I decided to change my initial conception and instead of one chapter divided into three time planes, you'll get three separate chapters on three Christmastide days! The three one-shots will be self-contained, but will form an interlinked whole too.
Since you didn't specify when you wanted Sybil's first Christmas with Tom to be set, I decided to explore three of S/T's "first Christmases" - their first Christmas at Downton, their first Christmas as a married couple and their first Christmas with their daughter. I hope that you enjoy this fic and once again I want to wish you all the best!
In Sickness and In Health
Downton Abbey, Christmastide 1913
Sybil didn't want to admit it, but she was impatient for the Servants Ball that year. Finally, she decided not to pretend anymore and stopped convincing herself that the forthcoming special event at Downton wouldn't be different for her from the previous ones. After all, she at last had a male friend with whom it would be really great to dance and spend the evening with. There was nothing strange in that, wasn't it?
Not to mention that she really liked to spend time with Branson, and trying to find some opportunity to talk to him on everday basis was not an easy task. There was nothing unusual about wanting to talk to someone who was really her kindred spirit (in the platonic sense of this expression as meant by Anne Shirley, of course!). No, there definitely wasn't. Everyone was entitled to have friends, and Sybil couldn't care less about her friends' social status.
The day of the Servants Ball finally came, and Sybil followed her family to the main hall with a pleasant anticipation of a lovely evening. She had always loved Servants Ball more than other parties that her parents usually hosted because it was far less stiff and somewhat less artificial, like once in a year all pretense and appearances broke down and people could abandon imposed rules and divisions for one evening. Everything was finally all about companionship, not first and foremost making the right impressions.
Sybil immediately began to search for Branson among the people who had gathered for the ball. She felt a first stab of panic when she couldn't notice him with the rest of downstairs party, but decided to compose herself and wait a bit longer before declaring the evening to be a disappointment. Maybe he needed to stay a bit longer at the garage to finish his work?
Minutes passed and the family chauffeur didn't appear to Sybil's silent despair. What was worse, she was completely at a loss of what she should do - asking someone about him would inevitably raise suspicions, but waiting in a state of doubt was definitely not how she wanted to spend the otherwise celebratory evening.
Suddenly, an idea crossed the young woman's mind. She would ask about Branson her other downstairs friend, Gwen. Even if Gwen discerned Sybil's special interest in the prospect of Branson appearing at the ball, she would definitely not betray this to anyone else. Sybil relished in the thought that there were people in this world in whose company she didn't have to restrain herself and approached the ginger-haired maid, who had just finished dancing with William.
"Hello, Gwen, hello William. Can I talk with you for a moment?" Sybil asked the young housemaid.
"Of course. Is this something about my job-search, milady?" Gwen 's voice sounded a bit apprehrensive.
"No, but please don't be dissappointed. I don't think that we'll hear from anyone until Christmas time is over," the youngest Crawley girl reassured her friend.
"You're totally right, milady. It's just that... Finding this job is really important for me."
Sybil smiled broadly. "Of course. But we've just started, so we're far from being defeated at this moment. What I want to talk to you about... Gwen, where's Branson? Maybe he doesn't approve of regular upstairs parties, but he should like the idea of people of various classes celebrating together... I thought that he would make an appearance even if he didn't like dancing, if only because of the idea..."
Gwen chuckled. "Milady, not everything about Branson is about making a statement, and the reason for his absence is very prosaic... he's caught a cold and went to his cottage early."
"Oh! So that's the reason..." Sybil stuttered. "I'm only asking because... I haven't seen him for such a long time, and that's why I was worried..."
Gwen smiled knowingly, but didn't remind Sybil that if anything had happened to the Irishman, the whole household would have discussed the matter throughly already.
"Does anyone send for the doctor or checked that he has everything?" Sybil resumed the conversation; the tone of her voice was worried, even though she tried to make it sound matter-of-factly.
The housemaid shook her head. "There was no need for the doctor. It's not a bad cold, though he had no doubts that he shouldn't go to the ball. He couldn't risk a more serious illness. But he did sound disappointed about skipping the ball, milady," Gwen asserted and looked at Sybil pointedly.
"I suspect it's the first time he had a chance to attend an event like this. Not all big houses cultivate this tradition," Sybil responded calmly, though her mind was mostly processing what Gwen had said about Tom being really disappointed about not attending the Servants Ball.
At that moment, Gwen was approached and asked to dance by Cousin Matthew, so the two young women ceased talking. While Sybil had good relations with Matthew, she still preferred that he would not know about her friendship with the Downton's chauffeur. As such, Sybil quickly excused herself and approached the table in order to pretend that she was eating (she wanted to avoid anyone asking her to dance for the time being).
She felt that she needed to do something. The thought that Branson was alone at the chauffeur's cottage while everyone else was taking part in festive celebrations made her uneasy. To hell with everything, she also had anticipated finally talking to him this evening, and she was frustrated to learn that her plans were thwarted.
Lady Sybil Crawley wasn't a person who was easily giving up, though. Lady Sybil Crawley always had a back-up plan.
"Branson shouldn't be denied all those treats just because he has a petty cold," the young lady resolved. She decidedly grabbed a few of Mrs. Patmore's finest gingerbread cookies and swiftly left the hall.
Everyone was so preoccupied that thankfully no one noticed her departure. Mary was usually the most observant person in the room, but Sybil had an unbeliavable luck and was making her exit just as Cousin Matthew finished dancing with Gwen and made his way towards the eldest Crawley sister. There was no surer way to divert Mary's attention from what was happening around her.
Sybil had never been to the chauffeur's cottage before, but she knew very well where it was located, so she got there easily. Only when she found herself in front of the cottage's door, the young woman began to feel slightly doubtful. Maybe Branson was going to see her as an intrustion upon his peaceful solitude. On the other hand, Sybil wasn't the type of person who changed her mind on a whim, and once she resolved to do something, she usually followed her initial decision. Sometimes it took much time for her to make up her mind, but she rarely broke her resolve.
Thus, Sybil knocked on the wooden door and waited. She needed to stand in cold Decemver air for a few minutes before the door finally opened, but once she saw Branson, she knew that she had made the right decision. The young Irishman's face wore the most astonished expression she had ever seen, but at the same time he didn't even attempt to hide that he was very pleased at the sight of her.
"I just... heard from Gwen that you're not well, so I brought you some of Mrs. Patmore's gingerbread cookies... because no one should spend the day of the Servants Ball without tasting them... I hope that I'm not interrupting..." Sybil mumbled, suddenly feeling very embarrassed for a reason she could not pinpoint.
Branson sent her a wide smile. "It's very thoughtful of you, milady, not that I'm surprised... I mean, I'm surprised that you're here... but not by your kindness and thoughtfulness," he paused and gestured for her to come in, which she did without further hesitation.
Suddenly, Lady Sybil Crawley found herself alone with a young male servant in his quarters. Papa would get a heart attack if he ever learned about this.
Tom invited her to a small table which he had promptly cleared of multiple newspapers and books and put the kettle on fire to make some tea to go with the cookies that Sybil had brought.
"We don't have anything else, I'm afraid. I always eat my meals with other servants in the Servants Hall," Tom told his guest with a slightly bashful smile.
"No problem, I'm really not hungry. I've only wanted to give you a chance to eat these cookies," Sybil assured him.
"There's always next year."
This short statement made Sybil blush, though she did not understand why. "Who knows... you always say that you'll not always be a servant... Maybe next year you'll be doing something else... somewhere else."
Tom sent her a warm smile in response. "You must really believe in me... to think that I can achieve my dreams in just a year."
"Do you think that I'm naive and don't understand that leaving the service is not that easy?"asked Sybil in a slightly hurt voice.
"Not at all. I'm simply flattered that you think so highly of me," Tom replied and glanced sheepishly at his feet.
They sat motionlessly in silence for a while, each not knowing what to say next, until they were interrupted by the kettle's whistling.
Tom rushed to prepare two cups of tea and served Mrs. Patmore's cookies on the only plate that he had in the cottage.
It was the most modest Christmas meal that Sybil had ever eaten, but the most memorable one she ever had had and would ever have because something really serious was born on that evening, which was to change her future and herself forever.
Tom also opened himself to her on that evening, told her long stories about his family, his homeland and his dreams for the future.
In exchange, she was as open and honest with him as perhaps she had never been with anyone before.
She learned a lot about the world on that evening, and her eyes and heart were opened to new possibilities.
And isn't Christmas about new beginnings?
As for Tom, he quickly forgot about his runny nose and all the aching muscles because his whole attention was consumed by a person with whom he had never expected to spend Christmas evening just in two.
" (...) Nature by nature in unnature ends:
Echoing each other like two waterfalls,
Tristan, Isolde, the great friends,
Make passion out of passion's obstacles;
Deliciously postponing their delight,
Prolong frustration till it lasts all night,
Then perish lest Brangaene's worldly cry
Should sober their cerebral ecstasy. (...)"
W.H. Auden,"In Sickness and in Health"