Wow, coming back to this one certainly didn't take long did it? ;) Cassiemortmain (who herself has some fun S/T stories on this site) celebrated a birthday recently, and I offered to write her a little something. She sent me a prompt for a birthday proposal. I decided to place it within this universe. Hope you enjoy!

Three months later

"So . . . good birthday so far?" Tom asked as he and Sybil walked back to their flat hand in hand.

Sybil nodded and bit her lip contain her grin. "I do hope the best is yet to come though," she said suggestively.

Tom smiled and dropped her hand in order to put his arm around her shoulders and pull her into him.

The two had spent an evening drinking at their neighborhood pub with Edith, Mary, Matthew, Alfred and his now steady girlfriend, Ivy. Matthew and Tom had become fast friends since Tom had come into Sybil's life, so although Mary was never one for pubs or beer, she relented more often than usual now. Today being Sybil's birthday, convincing her was relatively easy. Edith, for her part, enjoyed anything that took her out of the wine and cocktails millieu of her magazine job. And nobody ever had to convince Alfred to have a pint, certainly not when the occassion was celebrating the birthday of the girl who had made his best mate as happy as Alfred had ever seen him.

The day before, Sybil and Tom had returned to London from Yorkshire, where they'd spent a few days with Sybil's parents. Over the course of the now five months that Tom and Sybil had been together, Robert and Cora had more or less happily welcomed Tom into the family's fold. That is, they did so after initially voicing misgivings regarding how quickly the relationship had progressed and especially how quickly the two had moved in together after meeting for the first time.

But any tension stemming from that was behind them. Tom was getting on so well with them, in fact, that he invited Robert for a golf outing while he and Sybil were up north for her birthday, something that rather shocked Sybil. While they were gone, Cora made a joke about Tom using the opportunity to be alone with Robert to ask for Sybil's hand. Sybil laughed immediately and told her mother how unlikely it was that Tom would follow such a tradition or ask Robert about marrying Sybil before asking Sybil herself.

Cora only smiled in response, which led Sybil to say, "Don't tell me that you'd be happy with an engagement five months in, when you were so not happy about us living together after two."

Again, Cora didn't say anything, rolling her eyes and smiling.

It made Sybil wonder whether her mother knew something she didn't. And, of course, once the prospect of marriage to Tom had a chance to seed in her brain, Sybil couldn't get the idea of a proposal on her birthday out of her head—however unlikely that might be at this point in their relationship.

The day itself had been special. He made her favorite breakfast and brought it in to bed for her on a tray. They'd gone on a ride on the London Eye—one of Sybil's favorite things to do, regardless of its touristy nature. Lastly, they had an early dinner and drinks with some of her favorite people.

But so far there had been no proposal, nor any sign that one was coming, and seeing that it was almost 10 p.m., time was running short.

Enjoying the feel of his arm around her as they walked home, Sybil tried to put any thoughts of engagements and marriages out of her head.

"So what is in store for the rest of the evening?" She asked playfully as they walked up the steps to their flat.

"What makes you think there is more?" He responded with a laugh. "Haven't you had enough?"

Sybil turned to face him just as they'd arrived at their door. "I'll never have enough of you," she said pulling him into a kiss.

After a minute or so, Tom pulled away and whispered, "Happy birthday, my darling." He opened the door and as soon as they walked in, Sybil saw the tiny lights hanging over their breakfast table, as well as the bottle of champagne chilling and the arrangement of red roses.

She turned to him with surprise written all over her face, "How did you manage this?"

"You know earlier when Edith was late to the pub and I offered to go pick her up?"

"Let me guess, her car is fine?"

Tom nodded his head with a smile. "Even if it wasn't, do you think she'd let me touch it? She knows more about engines than I do."

Sybil laughed and stepped into his arms. "It's lovely."

"And the best is yet to come," he said pulling her over to the table, where Sybil could see that he'd also set up a tray of chocolate covered strawberries, a small chocolate cake that Sybil recognized from her favorite bakery with one candle on it and a small neatly wrapped box. Any and all efforts Sybil had made regarding the need to convince herself that Tom was not, in fact, going to propose on this particular night went out the window.

He opened the champagne and poured them each a glass, then held his up for a toast. "To you," he said simply.

"To us," she replied, clinking her glass with his.

Sybil looked down to the table and stuck her finger in the icing of the cake, which made him laugh. She held up her finger and with a wink of his eye, he pulled her finger into his mouth to lick the icing off.

"Why don't you cut us each a piece while I open my present—assuming I am allowed to open it now?" She asked, feeling her heart start to race.

"First we should light your candle," he said.

"You're not going to sing, are you?" she asked skeptically.

Tom laughed. "I'll spare you."

He walked over to the cupboard and took out a box of matches, as well as two plates, two spoons and a knife. He lit the candle and held up the cake to Sybil. "Make a wish."

Sybil closed her eyes. I wish to be with Tom for the rest of my life.

She opened her eyes and blushed a bit on seeing the love on his face over the light of the small candle. She quickly blew it out.

Tom set down the cake and set to cutting it. "Open it if you want," he said, pointing to the small gift box.

Sybil's brow furrowed. If this was what she thought it was, then wouldn't there be a bit more . . . theatrics?

Biting her lip, she ripped open the paper and saw that it was, in fact, a jewelry box, but when she opened it, instead of an engagement ring, there was a pair of small turquoise and white topaz earrings inside. She recognized them immediately from a vendor on Portobello Road. She remembered the afternoon weeks ago when she'd pointed them out to Tom and immediately felt silly for the momentary disappointment she'd felt in seeing them now. She looked over at him. He was looking back at her with an expectant smile.

"I love them," she said quietly. She took the plates he was holding onto which he had served the cake and set them down on the table, then pulled him into a hug. "I love you," she added, whispering the words into his neck, and she shivered as she felt his lips on her neck saying the words back to her.

Pulling away, she said, "I'm just going to run to the loo for a minute."

Tom tilted his head. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, just want to freshen up and put these on, OK?"

"OK."

Sybil took the earrings and walked over to the bathroom, letting out a big sigh as she closed the door. She walked over to the mirror and looked at herself. She was now 24 years old, she was in the best relationship of her life and she'd let her mother get under her skin with one innocous comment. They were only five months in. Sure, Sybil already presumed that Tom was her "endgame," but why the rush?

Why the need to marry at all?

She thought about all the ways Tom showed her he loved her everyday. How often he'd refer to their future, their children—sometimes jokingly, sometimes in all seriousness. She thought about the face he made when he tried tofu for the first time, despite her insistence that he didn't have to. She thought about all of things that had convinced her, even in this short span of time they'd been together, that she never wanted to be with anyone else.

That she wanted to marry him.

What's stopping me from asking? She thought.

Nothing.

With a smile, she changed her earrings for the new ones and came back out into the main room, where he was sitting on the floor legs splayed out in front of him next to the sofa, with the cake and champagne on the coffee table.

She came over and kneeled in front of him. "Can I ask you something?"

"So, you like the earrings?" He asked, ignoring her question.

"What? Oh, yes," she said turning her head both ways so he could see them hanging from her ears. "But actually, Tom, I have a questi—"

"Do you think they'll go with this?"

There was the ring.

Sybil looked from his hand to his grinning face back to his hand.

He moved so he was kneeling on both knees in front of her, mimicking her pose.

"I know it's really soon, but I want to ask so much, I'm jumping out of my skin. Will you marry me?"

Sybil looked up to him again, tears welling in her eyes. "Will you marry me?"

He laughed through his own tears and they both said "yes" at the same time.

XXX

A while later, cuddled up naked on the sofa, after cake and champagne and celebratory sex, Sybil asked Tom, "Did you tell my father you were going to do this?"

"Why in the world would you think I would do that before I asked you?"

Sybil laughed. "No reason."