Acceptance
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Set: After episode 8 but before the Christmas special- season 2 spoilers!
"Evening Ma." Tom pushed the door to his mother's house open glad to be out of the cold and wet that was Dublin at this time of year. His mother's house was warm and the smell of chicken pie filled the narrow hallway; his stomach rumbled slightly at the smell and he wondered after they were married whether he and Sybil would ever be able to cook as well as her.
"Tommy." She appeared in the doorway to the kitchen and raised an eyebrow as he made to sling his coat onto the banister. He rolled his eyes but nonetheless hung it on the row of pegs beside his fiancé's. "Good day?"
He nodded kissing her on the cheek and peering past her into the kitchen in search of his fiancé. "Where's Sybil?"
His mother gestured to the stairs. "A letter came for her from England today; disappeared straight upstairs once she got back from the hospital, haven't seen her since." He was already halfway up the stairs as she finished speaking.
The house was even smaller upstairs than it was downstairs and he could hear her muffled sobs as he reached the landing. He paused outside his old childhood room which he had shared with his two brothers and sister where she was sleeping now.
"Sybil." He knocked on the door as he opened it; somehow seeing her cry was worse than hearing her. She was lying on her bed facing away from him her body shaking with sobs and her arms encircling an old teddy that had belonged to his sister.
She made a choked noise but otherwise said nothing. He closed his eyes wanting nothing more than to take away her pain but instead sat on the edge of the bed picking up the letter that lay abandoned next to her.
Clenching his fist as he finished reading it so that it crumpled he threw it to one side. It was from her mother a seemingly normal letter simply filling her daughter in on the news and gossip from Downton yet it was the end paragraph that he knew had upset her.
Her parents weren't coming to their wedding. In fact it was only Mary and Edith who were crossing the sea to attend.
"I'm sorry." He brushed a hand over her hair but could think of nothing else to say to try to make her feel better. She rolled onto her back and tried to smile at him through her tears but failed.
"I'm being stupid." She wiped her hand over her eyes and then took his handkerchief he offered. "I mean there was time when no one would come and I'd be cut off from them completely and now I'm crying because they're not coming to my wedding, it's only one day after all." She would have sounded a lot more convincing if she hadn't still been crying whilst she spoke.
"No you're not." He shook his head and shifted so he was lying down too both of them staring at the ceiling. "It's your wedding day of course you'd want them there."
"I know Papa doesn't approve." She curled into his side as his arm went around her shoulders. "But seeing as he gave us his permission and everything I thought he might come and then Mama would come too; but she wouldn't without Papa and he's supposed to give me away." She burst out rolling onto her side and pressing her face into his shoulder.
He hadn't thought of that. Nor come to think of it what she'd be like without her mother there; he knew from his own mother and sister the importance of that bond between mother and daughter especially at the time of a wedding.
"Who's going to do that now?" She muttered against his shoulder. "Not even Matthew's coming; he could have done it."
Tom was silent for a moment his mind racing through their options; it was yet another moment when he missed his father. "One of my brother's might give you away then I can have the other one as my best man. And that way I don't have to choose between them."
She laughed at that lifting her head and then resting it on his chest. "You have quite good ideas sometimes you know." She raised her eyes to see his facial expression and rolled her eyes. "No need to smirk; I only said sometimes."
"So which one do you want as your best man?" She asked.
He lay silent for a moment as images of his brothers flashed in his mind. "Well Andrew is likely to lose the rings but then Seamus is more likely to give a more embarrassing best man speech." Her tears had completely stopped by now and she giggled.
"How embarrassing was your childhood?" She asked realising that while she knew a good deal about her fiancé and his family he had rarely mentioned childhood memories but then again neither had she; their contact before they had moved to Dublin had always been infrequent, short and sporadic.
"You'll have to wait until the wedding to find out." He tapped her lightly on the nose. "So I think I'll go with Andrew if you're alright with Seamus walking you down the aisle that way even if you ask him later for stories your sisters and the other guests won't hear them."
She smiled making a mental note to corner Seamus the next time the Branson family gathered together for Sunday lunch. "How many people do you want to invite; I mean I only have my sisters, Isobel and I thought I might ask Caitlin and Emily from the hospital but other than that there's no one I want to ask."
They ignored the issue of her parents and she passed over it quickly. "Aside from your family is there anyone else you want to ask?" He hesitated aside from his mother, siblings and their families, his aunt, uncle and two cousins there were very few people who he could think of to ask having not kept in touch with many when he left for England.
"I should probably ask James and Patrick from the paper." He decided. "And then there's Harry." The name was familiar to her for he had mentioned him occasionally as his best friend from childhood who shared similar opinions and ambitions to Tom; he had also been one of the first people Tom had visited when they arrived in Ireland.
"It will be a small wedding won't it." She smiled as his fingers began to run through her hair. "Not like Mary's will be."
"She's not bringing Carlisle is she?" Tom looked horrified at the thought and Sybil feelings on the matter were similar; not only did she not like the man she could not stand to see her sister with someone whom she did not love.
"No." Sybil reassured him squeezing his hand. "Mary said he was too busy. I wonder if we'll be invited to their wedding."
Tom snorted. "Not if Carlisle gets his way although your sister and mother might force him to invite you."
"Well I'm not going without you." She decided firmly. "Besides I don't think I could stand it even if you were there."
"No." He agreed. "I can think of better ways to spend my time." He pressed a kiss into her hair and she smiled. "Are you going to be alright?"
She was silent for a moment then straightened up so she was sitting and leaning against the wall the bed was sat against. "I will be." She nodded sending him a reassuring smile. "It just hurts that Papa won't come over and truly accept us. But you read what Mama wrote she thinks he'll come round eventually."
"Do you think he will?" He rolled over onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow.
She bit her lip and then sighed. "Probably, eventually." She was silent for a moment and then her eyes flicked to another piece of paper on the table and she grinned at him. "But Mary and Edith are coming. That's something."
He pulled a face at her and she slapped his shoulder only half teasingly. "They're my sisters." She scolded. "Please try and get along with them when they come over."
He raised his hands in surrender and pulled himself up to sit up leaning against the pillows and stretching his legs out over her lap. "I will if they will." She rolled her eyes at the slightly childish response and changed the subject.
"I'm hungry; let's go down." She nudged his legs off her lap and he grinned at her as they both stood up.
"I'm glad you said that; I'm starving." He took her hand and all but bounded down the stairs as though he was a child again.
"Always could you hear coming a mile off." His mother smiled fondly as they appeared in the kitchen. "I hope he didn't drag you down the stairs." She turned to Sybil and motioned for them both to take a seat at the kitchen table.
Sybil shook her head at her fiancé who grinned back. "Well I didn't fall over." She teased. "That looks good." She took a sip of her water as a large chicken pie was set on the table.
Her future mother-in-law smiled at her. "Are you feeling better love?" She heaped a portion of pie onto a plate and slid it to Sybil.
"Yes thank you." she hesitated for a moment and then decided that she had a right to know. "My mother wrote to say that she and my father and grandmother weren't coming to our wedding." She was feeling better after her chat with Tom but it still hurt and she fumbled for Tom's hand and he squeezed it gently.
"I'm sorry love." The Irishwoman's arms went around Sybil's shoulders and she hugged her back glad for the support of her new family. She said nothing else aware that there was little else she could say.
"Mary and Edith are coming over though." Tom glanced over at them both at the mention of her sisters and realised just how much their visit meant to her and resolved to try and get along with them both for Sybil's sake.
"I'm glad; where are they staying? They're welcome to stay here if you'd like them with you and they don't mind the small house." It seemed he wasn't the only one trying to make an effort with her sisters and he smiled gratefully at his mother for the offer.
"Thank you." Sybil smiled. "I'll write and ask them; Papa might be happier with them staying here than somewhere alone. Although…" She trailed off unable to explain what she wanted too.
"I understand." Mrs Branson reached across and squeezed Sybil's hand. "Just let me know when you hear back?"
"Of course; thank you." Sybil smiled swallowing a mouthful of pie which was as good as Mrs Patmore's if not better. They spent the rest of the meal talking over the days as Tom told bad jokes which were circulating the office and Sybil told stories of the patients she had seen that day.
It was different her life now and the chatter across the dinner table more relaxed and informal and Sybil would have it no other way. Her family may be struggling with her decision but her new one weren't and again she felt a rush of happiness as she met Tom's eyes knowing that she had made the right decision, even if her father didn't yet agree.
Thank you so much for reading-please leave your thoughts!
Tacxxx