Note: Sorry for the long delays in writing. I am finding it harder to be in the right mood to write these days. Anyway, here is a lovely cute chapter that hopefully will make you all smile.
Richard was calmly wandering the grounds at Downton, the next morning looking for Thomas. As he was a guest, he had the luxury of being able to wake up without the sound of an alarm clock at 6am, and so therefore had slept in until around 9am, and was consequently feeling refreshed and relaxed from his previous day of travel, and wedding talk. He had spent most of the night with Thomas. Thomas didn't ask him and he didn't invite himself, Thomas just gave him a look before in the evening, whilst they all were sitting around the table eating their evening meal, that said it all. A subtle look in his eye, that no one, apart from Richard of course, would have otherwise noticed. He had reluctantly forced himself out of Thomas' bed a few minutes before 6am, not wanting to tempt fate another time. Due to waking up much later than everyone else, he didn't see Thomas at breakfast, which they had very kindly saved for him. He had expected Thomas to come back down from overseeing upstairs breakfast, but he didn't. He was later informed that Thomas had gone out to talk to the nanny, who was watching the children play outside. Naturally, saying Thomas was 'outside' was a bit of a vague description of his whereabouts, considering the size of Downton and its surrounding gardens, so therefore Richard had found himself walking up and down paths, across lawns and behind hedges, to try and locate the man.
He eventually came across an unusual sight. A pair of perfectly shined shoes, poking out from behind a gathering of shrubs, in one of the gardens around the back of the house. Thomas? Richard thought as he approached. "Good to see your chat with the children's nanny is going well," Richard said with sarcastic humour. Thomas, who was lying very still on the grass behind the shrubs, jumped at the sound of his voice.
"Richard," Thoams whispered. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you, I haven't seen you since last night,"
"Shhhh!" Thomas said, "You will blow my cover."
"What exactly, are you doing?" Richard said, confused.
"Hiding," Thomas said, quickly sitting up and pulling Richard down with him behind the shrubs.
"I see," Richard said, now lying on the ground next to Thomas. "From whom?"
"Master George and Miss Sybbie," Thomas said in a hushed tone.
"The children from upstairs?" Richard said, now matching Thomas' whispering voice.
"Yes, their nanny had to leave them for a bit, so asked me to watch them. They begged me to play hide'n'seek with them, how could I refuse?"
Richard chuckled, never in any of the many great houses he had visited had the butler been asked to watch the children, let alone agree to play with them. What was even better, was the fact that Thomas was taking the game seriously. "I see. You clearly are very competitive."
Thomas looked into Richard's eyes, enjoying watching the way that his eyelashes fluttered as he blinked unconsciously, "You know I like to win."
"I do," Richard said with a smile.
"Shhh!" Thomas said suddenly, "I think I heard someone."
"Don't you think I should go?" Richard asked.
"You can't do that! You will draw attention to my hiding spot," Thomas said, urgently.
"But wouldn't you mind if they found us two together, children tend not to be very good at keeping secrets."
"No I don't mind, it's fine. Children don't judge like adults do so much and anyway, their parents know about me and I guess, about you anyway. Stay with me." Thomas said, putting his finger on Richard's lips. Only a moment later George came running across the lawn shouting excitedly, "I've found him!" to Sybbie who was just behind him. "Found you Mr Barrow!" George said, as he practically jumped onto Thomas, not really noticing the other man lying next to him.
Thomas and Richard sat up, as Thomas laughed and picked George up off him, he was a lot heavier than he was several years ago. "That was a lot quicker than last time, I'm going to have to get more inventive with my hiding places," Thomas said.
"Why are you hiding with someone else though?" Sybbie asked.
Thomas thought a moment, "He found me too. This is my dear friend Richard Ellis, he works at Buckingham Palace, though he's visiting me for a while," Thomas explained, wishing it was so easy to explain Richard to adults.
"Pleasure to meet you both," Richard said to both the children, giving a little nod like he would when greeting his superiors at the palace, which made both the children giggle.
"You work for the King?" Sybbie asked with amazement.
"Yes, I do. I am his valet," Richard said, not complicating matters by having to explain that he is in fact one of two valets to the King.
"And so the King let you come all the way from London just to see Mr Barrow?" George asked.
Richard and Thomas both smiled at each other for a moment, "In a manner of speaking, yes I suppose he did."
Sybbie thought for a moment, "That's nice. But you are still our friend though, right?"
"Of course!" Thomas said. He was always touched by the fact that the children were so fond of him. Thomas blinked rapidly, inwardly telling himself to not be so soft as to cry in front of the children. Thomas sat up a little more so he was on his knees. "Now, you two should go and find nanny. She was only gone for a few minutes, we don't want her worrying about you."
"We can play again soon though?" George asked.
"Yes I'd like that," Thomas said, as George gave him a hug, before running off with Sybbie to find nanny.
Richard sat down again, once they were alone once more. "They are really fond of you Thomas. Its lovely to see."
"You know, after I did this," Thomas said, looking at the scars on his wrists, "George was one of the first to come and see me. He didn't know what happened of course, he just thought I was ill, but he wanted me to feel better. During the weeks and months before, playing with the children was pretty much the only thing that made me feel alive."
"I know they have their own parents, but you're like a second father to them, and I can't see their fondness for you fading any time soon," Richard said, taking Thomas' hand and kissing his wrist, whilst looking into his eyes. Thomas smiled, things were good. Yes, things were perfect.