London 1970

How had he let the girls talk him into this? He was feeling every bit of his 78 years he thought as he plopped down, there was just no other way to describe it because he was far too tired to sit down gracefully, on the plush couch in the lounge of their hotel suite.

"Here's your tea Grand Da" his granddaughter Ciara said as she dutifully laid a cup and saucer in front of Tom on the oaken coffee table positioned in front of the couch.

"Would you like some biscuits to go with it?" Ciara inquired as she set a plate with several kinds of biscuits on the coffee table.

"That sounds lovely my dear" Tom replied before taking a long drink of his tea. "Are you and Aine going to join me?

"I am but Aine is soaking in the tub. I think she's a bit tired."

"If she's tired just think of me" Tom sighed before continuing " … your dear old Grand Da. How much do you think we've walked the last couple of days?" Tom asked before taking another sip of his tea. Oh it tasted heavenly and just hit the spot Tom thought. He was glad he had spent the extra money and gotten a two bedroom suite with a lounge separating the two bedrooms. He didn't think he had ever appreciated having a couch to lounge on as much as he did right now.

Tom didn't think he could manage another step tonight. "What if we have dinner here tonight? Order from room service?" he asked hopefully.

"Oh Grand Da I think that sounds heavenly. I've always wanted to do that. I always see them do it in the movies." Ciara gushed. "Let me go ask Aine if that's okay with her." Ciara stood up to walk to the bathroom where her cousin was currently soaking in the clawfoot tub.

"Why don't you say I've decided that and she can just put on her pajamas and robe rather than getting dressed again" Tom offered before Ciara could leave the room.

Turning around to face her grandfather, Ciara beamed at him. "That sounds good."

Tom smiled at his beloved granddaughter. Of all his grandchildren she reminded him the most of Sybil. Not only did she look a lot like Sybil but she also had her kind and caring personality. He knew he shouldn't have favorites but he and Sybil had always been particularly close Ciara. It wasn't just that her family lived the closest to his house or that she practically lived with them during her childhood but it was more due to Ciara's personality. She had been a delightful child, full of curiosity, easy to please, and had a smile that could light up a room and she had grown into a young woman just as wonderful while bypassing the dreadful behavior of so many teens.

Actually it had been Ciara who had helped him the most get over Sybil's death last year. Well he really shouldn't think "get over" but rather cope with her death.

It had happened so quickly he wasn't prepared for it at all. One day Sybil said she wasn't feeling well and then just four days later she died. Tom was in shock over suddenly losing his beloved wife just months after their 50th wedding anniversary. If he could give any thanks it was that she didn't seem to suffer at all.

His grief consumed him for weeks. He often sat in the back garden holding his favorite photographs of her crying his heart out. He had thought that no grief would ever be as deep or sorrowful as when his nineteen year old younger son had been killed. But at least then Sybil had been there with him to share their grief. Some say the hardest grief to get through is the death of a child and many marriages don't survive it but he and Sybil had taken strength from each other and their already close bond deepened even more. He knew from Aedan's death that you never get over it you just learn to live without them but that there is always a whole in your heart.

Within weeks of her funeral his well-meaning children had thought it best for him not to be constantly reminded of the lack of Sybil's presence by disposing or ridding the house of most traces of her. But Tom would have none of that, he didn't want the house to lose those traces of her which he now found comforting. It had led to some rows between him and his children until he had told them it was his house and he would decide when, and how, to dispose of Sybil's things.

Sybil's spirit was ingrained in the house and no way would removing a few photographs or her clothes change that. They had lived there for almost forty years and everywhere he looked it reminded him of Sybil. He saw her touch in the decoration of each room from the way the furniture was arranged to the paintings that graced the walls to the curtains that hung at the windows. He had never cared much, or thought about really, room décor. But that was one of the luxuries Sybil enjoyed in her life with him in Ireland, she now had the freedom to decorate a whole house any way she wanted.

It was Ciara who was the most understanding of Tom's feelings. She would sit in the garden with him and ask Tom to describe why those photographs were of special interest to him. It seemed Ciara was the only one who wasn't afraid to raise Sybil's name in conversations with Tom. It was Ciara who would comment when eating dinner with her grandfather that this recipe for lamb stew was her grandmother's favorite or that the fish dish was grandma's favorite. It was Ciara who would bake Tom's favorite cake using Sybil's recipe and remind him of when she was a child how she loved when her grandma would let her make the icing and that they always made more than needed because they'd eat so much of it while waiting for the cake to cool enough to decorate it. Then she'd laugh and with tears in her eyes tell her grandfather how much she missed her grandmother.

He wasn't sure how it happened but suddenly Ciara was living in the house. And then before it knew it, two of her university friends were also living there. He thought it wonderful that the house was alive with laughter again. He no longer ate solitary meals sitting in front of the television. Dinner once again became a time of lively conversation. He slowly began enjoying those things he had always done such as writing and reading. He even wrote some columns on grief and grieving for the newspaper. While his grief was no longer all consuming, he did miss Sybil and he knew he would do so every day until they were finally reunited again.

Tom leaned his head against the back of the couch. It felt good to sit down after a day walking around London. Well really, he told himself, after three days of walking around London.

He and Ciara had arrived in London on late Tuesday afternoon after taking the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead and then the train to London. He knew it was faster to fly these days but he much preferred taking the ferry and train. He enjoyed watching the English countryside go by from the comfort of the train compartment and seeing the changes as towns grew larger and houses seem to spring up in the most unlikeliest places. The English countryside was still pretty though with so many quaint villages with houses and churches that had stood there for hundreds of years.

"Aine is pleased with staying in too. You'd think we were a couple of old women and not twenty year olds!" Ciara laughed as she walked back into the living room and woke Tom from his thoughts. She wasn't really tired even after all the walking they had been doing but she thought her grandfather could do with the rest although she was afraid they'd probably do nothing but rest once they got to Downton.

Ciara had only been to London once before and she had only been around twelve or thirteen then and didn't really remember it all that well. This time was different because she was able to go places she wanted to visit such as the Portobello Market, Covent Garden and Hyde Park. Her grandfather was delighted she was interested in seeing Speakers Corner in Hyde Park and they had spent an hour there listening to the lively conversations. Ciara found London was just so much more colorful than Dublin, the streets were full of women in mini-skirts that would draw too much attention at home.

"Let's order a bunch of things and eat family style" Aine remarked as she strolled into the lounge of the hotel suite already dressed in her pajamas. "It will seem more decadent to be in pajamas eating dinner" she exclaimed.

Tom laughed at her excitement, it was so easy to please his two granddaughters. Why hadn't he ever thought of taking them on a trip before he wondered. It had taken Aine to do a semester abroad in Germany to get them on this trip. She had asked if he and her cousin Ciara would meet her in London when her term at the university in Germany was finished. It had been several years since the two cousins had seen each other as Aine lived in the United States. Aine hadn't able to come to Dublin for Sybil's funeral last year since she was at university and couldn't take the time needed to travel from Virginia to Dublin. She probably hadn't been to Ireland in five or six years.

Aine's mother was Tom and Sybil's second child Roisin who had surprised the family when she married an American Air Force Officer. Roisin had spent the last years of the second world war in England working as a nurse. She had met the handsome American pilot when he came to visit one of her patients. It was a fast courtship and the marriage took place just six months after their meeting.

He and Sybil had not even met their future son-in-law until the bride and groom came to Ireland for their wedding. Much to Tom's dismay the two had married at a registry office rather than in the church claiming that John only had five days of leave and they didn't want to wait. Worried about wartime romances Tom had tried to get Roisin to wait for at least a year to marry but Roisin had always been headstrong and independent. To his great surprise, Roisin and John would soon celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. He had received his invitation to the party that would celebrate the grand occasion but he knew he would not travel to Virginia to attend the party. It was too far and he was too old and without Sybil he just couldn't face such a journey.

Sybil had been heartbroken when Roisin and her new husband moved to the States for it was just too far away for easy visits. John had stayed in the Air Force after the war and had been posted to several different states. Then in 1960, John was posted to the American air base at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, England and so for the next four years, they were able to visit back and forth in Ireland and England several times a year.

It was during this time that Aine and Ciara had become quite close as they were the same age with Aine only three weeks older. In the summer Aine came to Dublin for a month and stayed with her grandparents as well as with Ciara's family, Tom's oldest daughter Aoife.

Now both girls had just finished their second year at university. How quickly the time had gone thought Tom. It seemed like only yesterday the girls were playing dress up and giggling up a storm.

It was a rainy day in Dublin. Not a gentle rain but a full blown storm. Not unusual but for two energetic ten year old girls who spent hours riding bikes or playing ball in the yard, it was annoying.

He wasn't sure how or who's idea it was but soon the girls were with Sybil in the attic going through a trunk of old clothes. The girls couldn't believe the treasure of fancy dresses that had been packed away for years. They had never seen such exquisite dresses of rich fabrics of silk, brocade, or organza decorated with fine embroidery or beading. That their grandmother had actually worn these beautiful dresses stunned them.

As the girls tried them on, Sybil talked about some of the occasions at Downton where she had worn each dress. She found some of her old photograph albums and the girls were fascinated to see their grandmother in these very clothes. It had been a wonderful afternoon for both grandmother and granddaughters.

Tom let the girls decide on what to order for dinner and it took them a considerable time to peruse the room service menu and make their choices. In the end it was an eclectic mix of items that covered the coffee table. Both girls sat cross-legged on the floor across from Tom while he remained firmly on the couch. The girls had insisted that Tom also join them in wearing pajamas which he gladly did although it did take some effort to finally get up from the couch to change clothes.

It was a perfect evening thought Tom. There was much laughter and the chatter between the three never seemed to cease. Tom was happy that his granddaughters enjoyed his company. He was so pleased that both girls seemed so down to earth. In today's society where so many youths seemed more interested in sex and drugs he was happy that his girls seemed well adjusted and interested in the world around them. Both had done very well at their respective universities.

The only thing that could have made the evening better thought Tom was if Sybil were here. How she would have loved sitting on the floor, dressed in pajamas eating shrimp cocktail and chocolate cake with her granddaughters.

But before he could get too maudlin, Aine asked in a most sincere voice "Do you think we'll be able to dine at Downton in our pajamas?" causing Tom, who had just taken a gulp of his lager, to sputter much of it and the girls to break out in giggles.

"Of course they'd be wearing the finest silk pajamas" Ciara managed to say between giggles "and Aunt Mary would be wearing a tiara."

Now that would be a vision Tom thought he'd pay money to see. Then looking at his granddaughters who were imitating the formal Crawleys eating and trying their best to talk in posh English accents Tom grinned as he rolled his eyes. The rowdy Bransons would once again be taking Downton Abbey by storm he thought.