I wanna drive up to my old house driveway
Take a walk around my old bedroom
Let the laughter and the memories surround me
I wonder if they love it like I used to
Do, do, do, do, do
Where did the time go?
Do, do, do ,do, do
The little boy in the photos
Why can't it all just be like yesterday

Eighteen - Richard Fleeshman

Tom sat at the breakfast table bleary eyed. He'd had a restless night and he wasn't feeling that great. He didn't mind breakfast though. He enjoyed spending time with his family and he had missed his sisters dearly. He had found Matthew very easy to get along with too, but he found it difficult to get along with Lavinia. He couldn't deny she was a sweet girl but he could see behind Mary's mask and how much the two of them being together hurt her. However, Tom didn't dislike her like he did Sir Richard Carlisle. Tom was one of those people who it was hard to dislike and in turn he found it very hard to dislike others, but Carlisle was one of the foulest creatures he'd met. It was his pure arrogance that Tom disliked the most and when Mary announced over breakfast that he'd be dining with them that evening Tom had the very difficult task of holding his tongue.

After they had finished breakfast the family went outside to sit in the garden, Matthew had business back at his mother's home and Lavinia had accompanied him. The sun was radiating down onto the vast gardens of Downton and the family spent hours lazing around. The heat was pleasant and the men had taken off their jackets and rolled up their sleeves, accepting this pleasant burst of nice weather.

It was well into the afternoon when Tom got up from his seat. He looked slightly dazed and stood very still. His family looked at him, concerned and Edith stood up rushing to her brother's side.
"Tom?" she asked concerned, "Are you okay?"
Tom stood silently for a moment more and Edith was just about to speak again when he tapped her on the arm.
"TIG!" he yelled and charged across the lawn turning around to show his family a massive grin. Edith smiled in relief and mocked annoyance at him.
"Come on!" yelled Tom.
She smiled and chased after her brother. It wasn't long before Tom was running back over towards the rest of his family and tigging Mary before running to safety. Mary, not looking away from her book yelled at him.
"I'm not playing" she called.
Tom wasn't taking no for an answer, "What's the matter?" He yelled back, "Scared you're going to lose?"
That was it. There was no way in the world Mary was going to be a loser. She put her book down and ran after Tom and the three of them ran around chasing each other and laughing. It was a lovely sight (one in which he would talk to Sybil about tomorrow) to see the siblings together again and chasing each other around like when they were children. By the time the cars were pulling up with Matthew and Lavinia and Sir Richard Carlisle, they had thrown themselves fully into the game and both girls were currently chasing Tom trying to trap him. They were having such a laugh and a smile spread across the faces of Matthew and Lavinia at the sight of the three. It was very cute. Carlisle however was less amused. His face was stern and he glared at Mary. Tom, deciding the only thing he could be with Carlisle was civil, after all perhaps he had misjudged him, ran over to the two cars.
"Do you want to join in? We're playing tig" he asked the three.
"We're very sorry, but we're changed for dinner and we don't want to get all messed up" smiled Matthew kindly, "It does look like fun though!"
Carlisle glared a Tom, "Why would I want to make a fool of myself?" he said coldly, "You are adults for goodness sake, yet you are behaving like children."
Tom glared back at Carlisle, "Perhaps just sometimes Carlisle, you should take the world a little less seriously."
With that Tom had turned back towards his sisters, a smile returning to his face and ran back over. However, Mary's happiness and enjoyment seemed to have seeped away as soon as the two cars pulled up.
"I don't have time for these stupid games" she sighed and she walked, nose in the air, towards her parents. Tom sighed. He thought perhaps he'd been able to bring back the old Mary, the sweet child that she had been instead of the stone faced woman she had turned into. Tom wanted his sister back.

Why must they all be so serious?