A/N: Sincere apologies again to those looking for some of Sybil and Tom's adventures as a married couple in Dublin, but my muse is in control these days. :(

When I saw the pictures of the christening, my muse finally struck again. Since Julian Fellowes decided to give Tom a brother named Kieran, my Ciaran has merged into his Kieran. Same universe as The Journey to Happiness and With Love from Dublin. (Chapter Warning: Spoilers for 3x05, 3x06.)

Thanks to Tripp3235 for a quick beta of the story.

Thanks to those on tumblr who answered my question about what we know about Kieran Branson. It really helped with his part here.

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

Morning of the Christening
"Good morning, Mr. Branson." Mrs. Rose was tidying little Sybil's room while the little one gurgled happily in her bassinet when she saw the baby's father enter the room.

"Good morning, Mrs. Rose." After taking his jacket off and placing it on a chair, Tom immediately walked over to where his daughter laid.

"Big day is it not?" The wet nurse glanced at him and smiled while she worked.

"Yes, it is." Tom let little Sybil play with his hand, while he looked around the room. "Where is her christening gown?"

"It's being pressed." Mrs. Rose smiled at Tom's enthusiasm. "We've another hour and a half yet and she'll need to be fed and changed again before we put her in that beautiful gown."

Tom picked up little Sybil who gave him a big toothless grin and gurgled in recognition. "How are you my darling girl? Did you keep Mrs. Rose up all night? Were you being a good eater?"

Little Sybil couldn't get enough of her father's Irish lilt and laughed heartily when Tom made faces at her.

"She is an angel." Mrs. Rose smiled while she folded some clean nappies. "From what I hear from the other staff, just like her mother."

Tom's heart dropped at the mention of his late wife, though he didn't stop playing with little Sybil, whose neck was now strong enough to hold up her head. After a short pause to compose himself, he managed to say, "Yes, her mother was an angel." It had been several months since Sybil's harrowing death, but Tom still missed her every day and every night. At times, his daughter had been the only thing that kept him going.

Sensing that the young widower wasn't ready to talk about his late wife, Mrs. Rose changed the topic. "Little Miss Branson is a good eater and a good sleeper. She does fuss when she's got a growing spurt, but otherwise sleeps through the night. She rolled right over this morning."

"Did she now?" asked Tom, smiling at his girl.

"On the change table." Mrs Rose put her hand to her chest. "Gave me a shock. I'd put her on her stomach, so she could practice lifting her head like Dr. Byrne said in her letter and when I was reaching for a cloth to wipe her bottom, she rolled right over. Thankfully not off the table."

Tom raised little Sybil above his head and got a big laugh out of her. When she sat in his arms, he caressed her soft cheek. "Are we rolling over now, my darling girl?" The little one smiled and gurgled at her father.

Mrs. Rose smiled. She'd never seen a more involved father in all her years as a wet nurse. "If you'd like, you can put her on the bed and see. She rolls right over almost as soon as you put her on her stomach."

Keen to see this new achievement, Tom walked over to the narrow bed in the nursery meant for the wet nurse and placed little Sybil on her front facing him and then sat down on the floor in front of her to watch. She fussed and wailed a little like she normally did when she was placed in this position and then she rolled over.

"Oh my darling girl!" Tom picked little Sybil up and kissed her sweet cheeks. Tears welled up in Tom's eyes. If only your mother were alive to see this, she would be so proud of you.

Sensing that the young father wanted some time alone with the baby, Mrs. Rose took the opportunity to get a well-deserved break. "Mr. Branson, you don't mind if I go for a quick bite to eat and then check on her christening gown? Little Miss Branson won't need feeding for at least an hour yet."

Tom looked over at the wet nurse. "No, not at all. Take the time you need. I can manage her."

"Thank you." Mrs. Rose walked to the door. "She'll probably want a nap soon. Did you want me to swaddle her before I go?"

"I can do that, Mrs. Rose." Tom looked around for the swaddling clothes. Turning to smile at the wet nurse, he added, "Go eat."

With that, the wet nurse nodded and left.

After expertly swaddling his daughter, Tom sat on the seat by the window with little Sybil in his arms. His wife had chosen the room for their child in the last weeks of the pregnancy. It was a room close to theirs, so that she could easily get to the baby when the baby needed her in the night. Now that she was gone, it made it easier for Tom to spend time with their daughter.

The more Tom thought of Sybil, the more melancholy he felt. He kept a smile on his face for his little girl, but the smile had gone out of his eyes. Before long, little Sybil started to fuss, signalling she was tiring and ready to sleep. Tom began to rock her in his arms and hum a lullaby he remembered from his childhood. If it worked well enough for Connor, his youngest sibling, as baby, it ought to work for his daughter.

After ten minutes and some walking around, she was fast asleep. He was about to put his sleeping daughter in the bassinet when Lady Grantham came into the nursery. The two adults smiled in greeting.

"She just fell asleep," Tom whispered.

Lady Grantham walked over while Tom placed his daughter in the bassinet. Gazing at her granddaughter, she said in a low voice, "She's so sweet. Just like Sybil was when she was a baby."

Tom smiled wanly. "Mrs. Rose was just saying that Sybil is an angel just like her mother."

Lady Grantham smiled in return. "Where is Mrs. Rose? I would have thought she would have been with the baby."

"She went for a bite to eat." Tom smiled at the countess. "I don't mind. Sybil has only one parent now and I feel I ought to spend as much time as I can with her, especially since when I have a job I won't be able to."

Lady Grantham looked at her son-in-law. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that. I know that your brother has offered you a place in Liverpool." The countess beckoned Tom to the other side of the room to talk more freely.

"I need to find a job." Tom followed Lady Grantham but continued to glance at his sleeping daughter. "I can't stay here with Sybil forever. It's not that I don't appreciate the help, but I need to work to provide for her. It was never the long term solution to stay here. Her mother and I agreed that we would stay for the birth for little Sybil's safety. We had spoken about what to do after her lying in. She wanted to go back to nursing. Your daughter knew I had no intentions to stay."

"I know, Tom," said Lady Grantham. "But my daughter also asked me in her last conversation to keep you moving forward. Going back to working on motor cars because it's the only offer you've received isn't the solution either. I'm afraid that I know very little of what your job was like in Dublin, but would you consider looking for another journalist position here in Yorkshire?"

Tom managed to look sheepish at this juncture. "I have to admit that I haven't looked because I believed that no one would hire an Irish republican living in exile."

"Why ever not?" asked the countess. "The Irish situation is discussed in every paper these days even the Sketch. How do you know when you haven't even tried?"

Tom chuckled quietly. "Now I know where Sybil's optimism came from. She asked me the very same question when we were planning how to go about telling the family about us. She had the same faith in me as you do."

Lady Grantham smiled at her son-in-law. "My daughter had faith in you because she loved you very much. I have faith in you because I care about you as my son-in-law and as the father of my granddaughter. You must have some talent to have been offered a position in a daily paper when you'd never worked in the field before."

Tom smiled at her support. "When I worked here, I managed to publish some articles in a few monthly circulars. It was one of these articles that led to being offered the position in Dublin."

The countess considered this. "So you do have talent. The solution I'm offering is as follows. Stay here for now and apply for positions as a journalist until you've exhausted all possibilities. Based on what I'm hearing, I doubt it will come to that. Only after you've exhausted all possibilities should you consider taking your brother's offer."

"Won't his Lordship mind?" asked Tom. "He hasn't been exactly happy with any of my decisions."

"Leave his Lordship to me." Lady Grantham smiled. "I am fulfilling a promise to our daughter. I'm afraid that he will have no choice in the matter."

Tom looked at his mother-in-law in earnest. "Thank you for your support. It means a great deal."

"Thank you for giving me a beautiful granddaughter." The countess smiled. "I better get ready for the christening. I only came here to check on little Sybil."

After Lady Grantham left, Tom busied himself by tidying the tidy nursery until Mrs. Rose returned with the freshly pressed christening gown.

"Mr. Branson, you know you don't have to tidy the nursery while I'm away," chastised Mrs. Rose when she caught him with broom in hand upon her return.

"Well, 'idle hands are the devil's workshop" my mother always said and Sybil is sleeping. I couldn't just leave her."

"And pray, what I am I going to do when you're all off at the christening?"

"I'm sure you'll find something with which to occupy yourself, Mrs. Rose."

Before Mrs. Rose could retort, little Sybil started to fuss. Thinking they were too loud, Tom and Mrs. Rose quieted down in hopes that Sybil would fall back asleep, but no such luck. Soon she was fully crying.

Tom and Mrs. Rose looked at one another and Mrs. Rose said, "Sounds like she's soiled herself."

When Mrs. Rose made to pick her up, Tom held up his hand and went to her. "I can manage this."

"You know where everything is?" asked Mrs. Rose, anxiously.

Tom unwrapped the swaddling clothes and picked up his daughter as someone who has experience in handling babies. "Yes and I've told you before that Sybil isn't the first baby I've changed." Little Sybil stopped crying almost as soon as she was picked up.

"Of course, Mr. Branson." Mrs. Rose kept an eye on her charge while her charge's father changed her.

Tom lifted the gown little Sybil was sleeping in and started to undo the pins holding the nappy. "What sort of present have you left your Da?"

Little Sybil gurgled at her father.

Tom opened the nappy to reveal just a wet one. "You're being very nice to your Da." Tom continued to change little Sybil while he kept talking. "Let's wipe you clean and put the dirty one into the pail and get a clean nappy for you. I'll have to put my finger between you and the cloth while I pin it together. One pin and then another and now you have a clean bottom again." Tom then picked little Sybil up, who smiled and waved her arms about. He then turned to Mrs. Rose "Is it time to change her into the christening gown?"

"No, not yet, Mr. Branson." Mrs. Rose smiled at him. "She needs to be fed and burped first. You don't want her to spit up all over that lovely gown."

As if on cue, little Sybil started fussing and wailing. Nothing Tom did helped, so he handed her to the wet nurse. "Looks like it's up to you, Mrs. Rose. Fifteen minutes?"

"Should do the trick. I know you want to put her in the christening gown yourself. Knock before you enter, Mr. Branson." Mrs. Rose was already settling with Sybil in a chair.

"I will." Tom then picked up his jacket from the back of the chair and left the nursery.

While he was buttoning up, he came across Matthew, who was walking to his dressing room.

"Ready for the christening?" asked Matthew, matching Tom's pace.

"Almost," said Tom. "Sybil's being fed and then she'll be dressed and ready to go. You?"

"I need to change into something more appropriate." Matthew looked at Tom unsure of whether anyone else had pass this information to him. "Your brother is looking for you. He's in the library."

"Thank you. I'll go see him straight away."

When Tom arrived at the library, Kieran was admiring the shelves of books. "Must've thought you landed in heaven when you started this job, Tommy. You always did like reading."

"Those in service aren't always allowed to borrow books, Kieran." Tom was weary of his brother already.

"Didn't you crow to Ma that the Lord of the manor allowed everyone to borrow books when you started?" Kieran shot him a look.

"I suppose I did." After pausing a moment, Tom added, "I didn't know you read Ma's letters that diligently. When I was still in Ireland, she often wondered if you were all right in Liverpool because the letters that came back never did answer half her questions and the questions it did answer were often illegible and made little sense."

"We can't all be Ma's favorite, you know." Kieran scoffed.

"Let's not start this never ending argument, Kieran." Tom was clearly frustrated. "What did you want to discuss?"

Kieran turns to Tom. "I've been watching the family here and it occurs to me that you're not respected by your father-in-law. Do you really want little Sybie to grow up seeing her Da not having the respect he ought?"

"We're not staying here forever," said Tom.

"And just where are you going to go with no job, no money and no things, Tommy?" asked Kieran. "Don't you ever think about the details or is your head so high up in the clouds that you can't see?"

"I see just fine," Tom fought back.

"Not what Da thought when he was still alive," said Kieran.

"I was fourteen when he died, Kieran." Tom hated when Kieran brought up their father with whom he never saw eye to eye. "I think I've managed quite well for myself since."

"Yes, married into English nobility and now you're stuck here, where no self-respecting Irishman ought to be." Kieran looked at Tom. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

Tom was about to return an angry retort when he suddenly spied a picture of his late wife on Lord Grantham's desk. Remembering why his brother was here, he took a few moments to calm down. "Look Kieran, I asked you to come here to be Sybil's godfather at her christening. Not to debate where my life has gone. I know you don't agree with some of the decisions I've made, but I'll not let you bait me into a quarrel on Sybil's first big day."

Kieran looked at Tom and held out his hand for Tom to shake. "Let us not forget the purpose of this day, but don't think that I won't be asking you again about this."

Tom took his brother's hand and shook it. "I expect no less. Are you ready?"

"I am." Kieran looked at Tom. "I was waiting for everyone else."

Tom took out his pocket watch and took a look. "I'll dress Sybil and meet you in the outer hall in ten minutes." With that Tom left his brother in the library.

Tom knocked and waited by the door of the nursery.

"Come in."

Tom looked anxiously at his daughter in Mrs. Rose's arms. "Is she ready to be changed?"

"Just burped her when you knocked." Mrs. Rose smiled and handed little Sybil to Tom. "Would you like some help?

"No, I can manage." Tom was determined to do this on his own.

Mrs. Rose looked at the young widower. "You may want to check if she's soiled herself before putting her in that beautiful gown."

Tom did a quick check by squeezing the cloth nappy with his hand and found little Sybil to be still dry and clean. "She's still clean."

"Might I suggest dressing her on the bed, so that you can lay out the gown and then place her on it," Mrs. Rose said gently.

Placing little Sybil in the crook of his left arm, Tom took the freshly pressed gown in his other hand and placed it on the bed spreading it out. He started to untie the gown she was in.

Mrs. Rose watched the eager young father. "She doesn't need to be undressed. The fabric of the gown is likely too stiff for her skin. Just place her in it dressed and let the gown cover her."

"Won't she be too warm?" asked Tom, worried about his daughter's comfort.

"No," said the wet nurse. "It's getting colder now, so the extra layer will help."

Tom diligently placed little Sybil in the generations old Crawley christening gown, stuck her little wiggly arms into the sleeves and buttoned the gown.

"Here's the bonnet." Mrs. Rose handed Tom the small piece of white fabric.

Placing the bonnet on her head, Tom gently wiggled it into place on his daughter's head and tied it under her chin.

"Here's the bib in case she spits up."

Tom took the bib and tied it in place before picking up his daughter.

"All the best at the christening." Mrs. Rose smiled at her charge and her charge's father. "You be a good girl, little Miss Branson."

"Thank you for all your help, Mrs. Rose." Tom smiled gratefully.

"We'll see you after."

When Tom arrived downstairs with little Sybil, the rest of the family including Kieran were already gathering in the outer hall.

"Here's the guest of honour," said Matthew when he noticed Tom coming down the stairs holding little Sybil.

"Let's head out, shall we?" Lord Grantham announced and everyone started out the front door.

Finis!

A/N: So did I get Cora and Kieran right? Mrs. Rose is just a blank slate but I see her as a stout woman in her 40s who's been a wet nurse for 10-15 years. I'd much rather be writing S/T dealing with a baby, but I'm such a canon writer that I couldn't go AU yet, no matter how sad I'm feeling.

As always, please feel free to point out any typos and grammatical errors. Sometimes no matter how hard you or your beta looks, these things get missed. Also, please feel free to point out cultural misnomers or anachronisms, I live in Canada and I know that our terms are often different than those in the UK and Ireland. As always, I'd love to hear what you think, so please do review. :)

For those still looking for Sybil and Tom's adventures in Dublin, I'm now looking to after 3x08.

P.S. Thanks to PH for her daily encouragement since 3x05.