My first HMS Branson story, please let me know what you think. I'm alot better at videos than stories so please go to utube/emmabtvs to see my Sybil/Branson videos

Dedicated to rubberduckiesrock who promised me a new chapter of her story if I wrote this ;P

Set around christmas time but Sybil is not pregnant.

Tom Branson was walking through his bedroom door expecting his wife to follow but she didn't. They had been to the local pub for a post Christmas drink with his family and friends and Sybil had definitely enjoyed her first taste of drunkenness and was at this moment standing before her husband with glazed eyes and a light head.

'I think you're going to have to carry me Tom, I'm not feeling so good' she said placing her hand on her forehead.

All Tom could do was laugh whilst scooping her up, he didn't want to let on that he was loving every minute of seeing his beautiful wife drunk.

'See, you're getting more Irish everyday' he exclaimed to her dropping her on the bed still in her clothes.

Life was very different for Sybil now especially in how she dressed. Her sisters had send her some dresses to wear but there never seemed a correct time to wear them so tonight she had just worn a simply pink shirt and a blue long skirt, her hair loosely down.

As Tom was placing Sybil on the bed she pulled him down with her, kissing him passionately. Tom didn't want to deny that it felt amazing; she was different tonight and more confident. Ever since their wedding night everything had fallen into place, all the time they'd waited was worth it and every time it felt better and better to be in her arms but he knew he couldn't.

As he got up from the bed he explained why 'Sybil, I'm not going to sleep with you when you're drunk!' he explained. He wanted to; there was no question about that. If he had been drunk too there wouldn't have been a hesitation but he respected this woman more than anything in the world and knew it wouldn't be right.

She responded with a pout and a playful 'not fair' expression, instead he stood looking at her, removing his shirt and trousers and beaming, so proud that she belonged to him.

'Why are you smiling?' Sybil asked.

He's heard that before

Several months ago in a dusty garage Sybil had asked her family's chauffeur why he was smiling when she had explained that her sister now knew about his declaration of love to her. The reason he has smiled was because in that moment he knew it was worth the risk. He had been in love with the Crawley's youngest daughter pretty much from the moment they'd met and during the First World War he had declared his love for her many a time. However this was the first time she had ever talked about them as a unit, an 'us' and that gave Tom hope that maybe he wasn't fooling himself and that he had a chance.

Now here he was, in their rented home in Dublin, man and wife and the reason he was smiling was because he was lucky, he knew that. 'You just look incredibly cute when you're drunk' Sybil took this as an opportunity to try again to seduce her husband, standing up from the bed and walking slowly towards him until the drink took over and she stumbled slightly into his arms.

Tom grabbed for her waist to steady her.

That had happened before aswell.

Some weeks after Sybil had first talked about 'them' she started to take more and more regular trips into the garage to talk to 'her Branson' He was pushing and pushing to get a response from her and as she walked away he grabbed her waist firmly which stopped her in her tracks. When she looked up at him she couldn't think, something like a magnetic force was drawing them together and all she wanted to do was grab the man she's known for years and kiss him, but at the last minute her head won over her heart and she walked away. That was the moment she knew it wasn't just him who was interested anymore.

Back at their house Tom had aided Sybil into bed and placed her under the sheets making sure she was warm and gave her a goodnight kiss.

This was Tom's favourite kiss, he definitely enjoyed the passionate ones but this kiss was the one they would share forever, it was the kiss that confirmed to him that she truly wanted to be with him. Sybil obviously felt it too because as they broke apart Tom could see that her pupils were lined with tears, before he could wipe them away Sybil spoke 'Thank you' Tom didn't understand why she was thanking him, he always thought it should be the other way around. 'For keeping your promise, to devote every waking minute to my happiness' They had been together several months now but Tom still struggled to believe how much Sybil truly loved him so when she said things such as this, he fell in love a little deeper every time. 'You remember that?' replied Tom 'Course I do, I remember everything you said to me, I just didn't understand it straight away' Sybil insisted.

'and you don't regret anything, you're happy here with me in Ireland'

Sybil reached out her hand and placed it on Tom's cheek, just like she's done in that dusty old garage, the moment she knew she was going to run away with him. 'I've never been so happy in my whole life, and we have so much more to do' she rewarded him with another of Tom's favourite kisses and cuddled up to her man.

Tom staring at the ceiling asked her one final question 'So you don't mind us visiting yours parents then?' Sybil had received a letter that morning from Cora explaining that Mary and Matthew were engaged and that she would like them to visit at last. He looked down to see Sybil's response but she was fast asleep in his arms dreaming of their future.