So here I give you a longer chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it! Thanks again for all the nice comments to this story!

"Honestly, Tommy, did you think we would all abandon you on Christmas! No way! So Niall booked us a flight and a hotel and here we are! Don't be alarmed, we brought all the food!" His mother stepped into his apartment without hesitation and looked curiously around her.

Niall and Kieran also followed together with his nephews and nieces.

"Nice to see you, bro", his sister, Moyra, said and kissed him on his cheek. "What were you doing? You look a bit underdressed."

"I was just... uh...," Tom stuttered, dumbfounded.

"I know you said, don't move, but I was wondering what took you so long, so I...", Sybil said, coming out of the bedroom, wearing his shirt and nothing else, stopping dead at the sight of the suddenly very quiet and shocked Branson family in front of her.

"Oh my god," she gasped.

Kieran let out a whistle. "Holy shit, Tommy," he laughed.

"Don't say shit, Kieran," his mother chided automatically. "Not in front of the kids."

Suddenly Tom awoke from his stupor and went to Sybil.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. Turning to his family, he said. "Well, all, this is Sybil. We'll be right back" and ushered her back into the bedroom.

Closing the door behind him, he leaned heavily against it and drew a deep breath.

"I'm so terribly sorry," he repeated to Sybil. "I really, honest to god, had no idea they were coming here!"

He watched her with a heavy heart. Did his family blow everything now? Things had been progressing so well with Sybil and he really, really didn't want to scare her now.

To his huge amazement, Sybil was laughing though. "Oh my... how embarrassing! I always thought something like that only happened in movies!"

Reluctantly he broke into a grin, too. "I'll never hear the end of that, trust me."

"What now?" she giggled. "Is there a window through which I can escape?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid not." Not sure how she might react, he tentatively said: "Come on, let's face them together. They'll be polite to you, I swear. They'll be only teasing me for the rest of my life."

She just grinned and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. Then she started redressing.

"I'm glad we didn't start our little session in the living room," she remarked. "At least all our clothes are in here!"

He just looked at her. Then he walked over, took her in his arms and kissed her soundly.

"You're great, you know that?" he said with awe. "The most wonderful girl I've ever met."

"What in heaven's name were you doing with that girl? Why haven't you mentioned before that you had a girlfriend?" Tom's mother hissed a little later, after she dragged him into the kitchen pretending to need his help to find her way around the cupboards.

Tom rolled his eyes, avoiding her last question. "Come on, Ma. Don't pretend you don't know what we were doing."

"On Christmas day of all days," she said, reproachfully. "It's a sin."

Tom laughed. "It's always a sin, Ma. Need I remind you? On Christmas it is not worse than on any other day."

"Don't distract me with a theological debate. I want to know about that girl now," his mother demanded. "Is it something serious?"

Tom had the grace to blush a little. If only you knew, Ma, that I met her not 24 hours ago and we already had sex twice.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "I like her a lot though. And I fancy her like crazy."

"Fancy her!" his mother complained. "I wouldn't think you're almost thirty years old. I mean look at her! She seems nice enough from what I saw, but she must make much more money than you do, Tom. God, the clothes she's wearing. I'm no expert, but I'm a woman and I swear that Jeans was not bought at Penney's!"

"She's a doctor,and her father is the owner of the house here." Tom shrugged his shoulders. "So what? I'm making good money myself. What is the point in all that? You don't know her at all, do you?"

He was getting annoyed now, so he just left his mother standing in the kitchen and went to look after Sybil. He found her sitting on the sofa and talking to Moyra who stood up when he sat down next to her.

"Is Ma in the kitchen, Tommy? I promised to help her with the cooking," she said and left them alone.

"Hi," he greeted Sybil and couldn't stop the odd warm feeling in his stomach and the happy smile that made the corners of his mouth turn upward.

"Hi!" She smiled back, her face betraying her uncertainty about the whole situation. "Actually I was just saying that I should go up to my flat. I don't want to interrupt your family evening."

"If anyone was interrupting something it's them," he groaned, frustrated. "Don't go," he pleaded. "I promise the food is worth it and I feel so horrible to bring you in this situation in the first place. They can behave, really."

"I don't doubt it. But I feel like I'm intruding."

"No, you're not," he said. "I mean, if you're bored, of course I'd understand that you would want to spend your evening doing something other than talking to the Bransons, but if you're not, please stay. I'd be happy if you do. I'm worried that if you go now, you might never want to see me again."

He looked into her eyes. "And that would be really, really bad."

"No," she shook her head. "You don't need to worry about that. I'm already determined to get to know you better, I thought I made that pretty clear earlier?" She raised her eyebrows.

He grinned, his eyes growing suddenly dark with desire and he kissed her cheek tenderly. "I would so love to have more proof of that determination," he whispered in her ear. "You think I can tell them to sod off as soon as we had Dinner? Will you please stay then?"

Sybil suddenly felt goosebumps all over her body. "I guess", she nodded. "I will."

"Oh come on, Tommy, stop it," he heard Niall's voice from across the room. "Leave the poor girl alone for now. Do you have something to drink in the apartment?"

Tom rolled his eyes and stood. "I'll get you something. But I just moved in here yesterday, so I'm not really prepared to having guests here. All I can offer is some beer."

"Guinness?" his brother asked hopefully.

"No, Lager", Tom said. "They didn't have Guinness in the supermarket around the corner."

"Now sit, children!" his mother's voice shouted from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready!" She came out with a big turkey on a plate.

"Wow, Ma," Tom said and held the chair next to him for Sybil. "How did you manage that? You can't have cooked the turkey in just an hour!"

His mother smiled proudly. "I made him yesterday and so I just had to warm it. Did the same with the potatoes and the stuffing. I couldn't just let you be all alone at Christmas in London."

"He didn't seem very lonely to me," Kieran grinned and Tom kicked him under the table. "But the turkey looks good, Ma."

"It looks delicious," Sybil said warmly.

"So, Sybil," Tom's mother started when they all had their food. "Tom said you are a doctor?"

"Yes, I am," Sybil answered. "I work at a hospital not far from here. It's just a few minutes."

"Moyra is a nurse," Kieran said. "But right now she's on maternity leave."

"Yes, she told me."

"What is your specialty?" Moyra asked and Tom realized that he didn't know either. They hadn't gotten that far. There was so much he wanted to know about her.

"Paediatric oncology," Sybil answered and noticed Tom looking up and staring at her with slightly shocked eyes.

"Oh dear," Tom's mother said. "That must be so hard."

Sybil nodded. "It is," she said truthfully. "But it's also very rewarding. If you are able to help it is the best feeling in the world. If you're not though ... it is absolutely devastating."

Tom searched for her hand under the table and squeezed it. He was moved she could sense that. She smiled at him and squeezed back. It was oddly nice to feel his warm fingers envelop her own. She found that she didn't want to let go of his hand and decided to indulge herself. So she just ate with her other hand and Tom did the same, not caring about the amused glances his brothers gave them.

They didn't take part in the lively conversation that now developed between Tom's siblings and their spouses. They just sat there, content to listen and holding hands. From time to time, Tom looked towards her and smiled and she smiled back. Sybil didn't know what was happening, but each time he looked at her she felt as if she had never been more happy in her life.