A new story...

Time can be Rewritten

Chapter One: That night...

He opened the door to the bedroom and peeked inside.

He had suspected his wife would not be sleeping yet and his thoughts were confirmed when he saw her look back at him from the bed they had shared for so many years now.

She smiled at him and he noticed how tired she looked. It had been a long day for them all. He entered the room completely and she held her hand out to him and he crossed the room quickly and took it. He sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled back at her. His wife. His love for so long now.

"Did you get to say good bye then?" Her eyes showed the stress that the day had brought to them all. He wondered how he must look.

"I did. She looked so peaceful. It was hard to leave." He leaned across to kiss his wife gently on the cheek and she accepted it gratefully.

"Did you see the baby as well?" Cora asked her husband softly, her words vanishing into the shadows of the dimly lit room. There were many rooms with lights on even late into the night, the Earl had noticed as the car had approached the house.

Everyone had felt the joy and pain of the day all the same.

"I did. And she looks just like her mother did when she was born." He smiled again at his wife.

"Oh Robert. Do you remember the night Sybil was born? It seems like so long ago, but just yesterday at the same time." Her eyes wrinkled as she smiled and a tear formed in her eye. He reached across to wipe it away as it trickled down her pale cheek.

"Of course I do. That was a very long night of pacing in the drawing room. It does seem like yesterday though doesn't it?"

The two of them lamented for a short time at the events of the years that had passed since their youngest daughter had made her arrival in the world. And now that daughter was a mother and they were grandparents together.

"I'm sorry..." They both spoke it at the same time and then smiled at each other. He continued.

"I'm sorry that we quarrelled earlier. If I had only listened to you sooner... we wouldn't have had to go through this." His regret at his actions earlier in the day were on his sleeve and she saw the sincerity behind his words.

"You were being stubborn. Just because you brought in that fancy Doctor doesn't mean he is divine in his prognosis." The edge to her voice was audible. He looked at her apologetically again.

"I know. I can't imagine how it might have gone if I had let him persuade me any longer. The end of the day might have been very different. I shudder to think about what might have been..."

Cora took her husband's hand then and held it tightly.

"Don't think about what might have been. It will tear you apart and I need you. We have to plan a party to welcome our first grandchild into the world. And we should do it sooner rather than later. I want to show Tom and Sybil that they are welcome here, and I hope that they will consider staying now that they have a family. At least for some time until she recovers from the operation."

Robert smiled again at his wife, and he knew that she was right. He couldn't worry about what might have been.

"I saw Mary's light on, I'm just going to go let her and Matthew know that everything ended up fine. That her sister will be fine and her daughter is very healthy. I know she was worried." Robert stood up and Cora was forced to relinquish her grip on her husband's hand.

"Good idea. The two of them worried more than anyone I think. Except perhaps you and I." The look on her face let him know that he should run his errand quickly and return to her. He nodded and quickly left the room. Cora leaned back on the pillows and smiled.

She had a granddaughter. She would be someone's Granny now. And what a life the little one would have, especially if she could convince her daughter and her husband that they should consider a life at Downton. It would take some time, but time they had.

Mary answered the door at the knocking and spoke for some time with her father in the hallway. When she came back into the room, she turned the lights out and crawled under the covers to be near her husband. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, kissing the top of her head as she settled against his chest.

"Sybil and the baby are fine. Doctor Clarkson performed the operation with no complications and when Papa left them, Sybil was still asleep but Tom and the baby were fine. He suspects Sybil will be home within a few weeks."

She could feel her husband's heart beating against her ear and she was grateful he was there with her. She could not have made it through the night without him. Likely no one in the family could have. He had been wonderfully supportive and reassuring as they held their vigil for Sybil and the baby.

"What did she have?" Matthew held his wife a little tighter.

"It was a little girl." Mary turned to look at his face, and though the room was dark, she could see his pale blue eyes glinting.

"How wonderful. The two of them are going to be incredible parents." Matthew smiled into the darkness and took hold of the pale, delicate fingers that were drumming on his chest. They intertwined closely with his and all was well in their world.

"We can learn from them for when our little one arrives."

She felt him sit up abruptly and he leaned over to turn on the small lamp on the bedside table.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" His eyes looked as though he was a schoolboy, seeing the hall decorated for Christmas for the first time of the season.

"No Darling. Not yet, but I think it will happen soon. There's no rush. It will happen." She leaned forward to kiss him gently on his smiling lips.

"Shall we hurry things along?" His smile was cheeky and hopeful. She responded by kissing him more deeply and the light was quickly turned back off.

They spent the rest of the night practising and ensuring their chances improved. The worry of Sybil and her labour forgotten as they de-stressed themselves of the day's events.

Tom stood by the window of the room with the tiny bundle firmly settled in his arms. He hadn't put the baby down since the nurses had brought her back to room a few hours earlier. He heard a stirring from the bed and approached it, hoping that Sybil was finally waking up. Doctor Clarkson had assured him that she would probably sleep through the night from the drugs they had given her for the emergency surgery. He had been so scared for her, and was glad that everyone had finally backed down and let them bring her to the hospital. He shuddered to think what might have happened if they had not.

But, it hadn't happened, and Sybil and the baby were fine.

He leaned over the bed and saw her eyes were opened just slightly. He smiled.

The baby cried just a bit and he shifted his daughter in his arms to quieten her. Sybil's eyes opened and she attempted a very weak smile.

"Tom?" Her voice was dry and raspy but she seemed to be trying to wake up fully.

"I'm here darlin. So is our daughter." He sat down on the edge of the bed and held the baby out to her slightly.

She reached out a weak arm and pushed the blanket away from the baby's face. Tom watched her as she did it, and somehow fell more in love with her than he had ever been. He would have not thought that possible, but he was mistaken.

"Oh look at her. She's perfect." Sybil smiled at her husband and closed her eyes again.

"Sleep. The doctor said you would be your old self in no time. We'll be here in the morning. Just sleep."

Tom reached out to brush her hair behind her ear in the affectionate manner that he did so often, and felt his heart swell so large that they had made it through the day. For a time, he had feared that they would lose her, or the baby, or both of them. But the day had ended well, if not just a touch dramatically.

What the future would hold for them he dared not dream yet, but in the moment where he was, all was perfect.

To be continued?

maybe.