A/N: The timelines on the show have always been a bit fuzzy. For the purposes of this story, I'm going with Tom and Sybil marrying in early May and Sybbie being born in late June or early July.

May 1921

Later Mary would think it was fate that led her to the graveyard that particular morning for how else to explain to explain it? Although she took daily walks in the morning, setting out for no specific place nor on any specific route instead letting her mood and the weather determine such things, she couldn't remember when she had last set foot in the village graveyard until that particular morning.

It was one of those mornings when the weather practically begged one to be outdoors. The frightful storms of the previous evening full of driving rain and rattling thunder had given way to a sun shining brightly in the clear blue sky and the air smelling crisp with just a hint of lilac as if the storms had cleaned the outdoors. Newly sprouted leaves on trees and bushes looked fuller and greener as did the grass in the fields and flowering bushes were awash in pinks and reds and purples. Exiting the house, Mary hesitated for a moment looking first to her right where the wide gravel drive would narrow to paths leading to the side of the house and further on to the gardens before deciding to travel instead down the path towards the village.

It wasn't a long walk into the village but once there Mary wanted to sit and rest a bit before starting back to the house and so she found herself walking to the graveyard to sit on a bench among the tombstones. It might seem like an unlikely place to sit and rest but Mary found an odd sort of comfort there. Even as a child she had never been spooked by the graveyard, instead she'd look at the names on the tombstones and conjure up stories of the lives those buried there had led. But now there was one grave there where she didn't have to use such imagination.

Mary opened the small wooden gate in the stonewall that led into the village church yard and took the narrow stone path around to the graveyard. She was a few yards away when she realized a man was standing in front of Sybil's stone tomb. Thinking this was just someone wandering around looking at the tombs and headstones, her curiosity was roused as he knelt and placed a small bouquet of flowers on the ground and then reached out with his right hand to touch the tomb. Holding his hand flat against the stone, he looked as if he was saying a prayer although Mary was too far away to actually hear his words.

She stood silently but the man made no move to rise and move on causing her to take a few steps so as to get a better look at him. Narrowing her eyes as if to better study him, she noted the cheap suit that hung on him as if he had borrowed it from someone a bit bulkier and the worn leather shoes. Her eyes widened and she took a deep breath as she suddenly realized who it was. He must have heard her gasp break the silence for he slowly stood and turned around to face her. It was only then that she realized supported by his left arm and hand, baby Sybil lay snuggled against his chest.

They stood ten feet apart, staring at each other, an awkward silence filling the air, before Mary became Lady Mary, she of proper breeding and manners.

"Tom" she said as she walked closer towards him. As she closed the gap between them, her voice softened and she smiled "and Sybbie."

"Mary" he nodded.

He looked stiff and his voice held no warmth but Mary shouldn't have been surprised for his departure from Downton had been swift and under less than favorable conditions. Her father had never hidden his dislike of his son-in-law and the family had been too consumed by their grief to realize what was happening until it was too late and Tom was gone. Gone to Liverpool and his brother it was supposed for he left no forwarding address.

"It's nice to see you" she said.

"Is it?" He didn't seem convinced of her sincerity.

"Despite what you might think, Matthew and I never wanted you to leave."

"Well you …" he paused as he shifted his legs and looked down at his daughter. "It doesn't really matter now."

"Ah but it does" she replied as her gloved hand touched the top of Sybil's tomb.

"She loved you very much and as her husband you are family" her voice began to quiver. "I know things were said that can never be taken back but" she paused as her dark eyes, focused on her sister's tomb, filled with unwanted tears. Oh how much she missed her beloved younger sister. During the past ten months Mary had often tricked herself into thinking that Sybil was in Ireland and not laying cold in a stone tomb in the village graveyard but then reality would set in and she'd realize she would never again see that beautiful face or hear that husky voice.

Mary took a deep sigh, wiped away a tear and shook her head as if to dissolve any remaining tears. She then towards Tom but her eyes focused on Sybbie.

"She's gotten so big" Mary smiled, a genuine smile not one of those forced polite Lady Mary smiles.

As a proud father, Tom glanced down at his ten-month old daughter. "Aye she has grown like a weed."

Tom might have been surprised at how many times Mary had thought of her niece and wondered how she was faring, fearing what conditions she might be living in, but the baby in Tom's arms was obviously well fed and cared for. Mary noted the light blue cotton dress decorated with tiny dark blue and white embroidered flowers that fell below Sybbie's knees, the bright white stockings that covered her chubby little legs and the soft black fabric slippers. The dress was not of the stuffy and formal silk, lace, ruffles and bows clothes of Mary and Sybil's childhood. Her unbuttoned dark blue jumper, probably hand-knitted by Tom's mother or one of his sisters, seemed a little bit big for her as did the dress but both were of a better quality of material than Tom's suit.

"She's beautiful Tom."

"Like her mother" Tom proudly responded. As if realizing she was being talked about Sybbie raised her head from her father's chest and gave him a smile showing her three teeth as she opened and closed her fingers forming a loose fist .

Mary nodded her head at Tom's remark. The dark blue jumper complimented Sybbie's bright blue eyes and with her dark curly hair, a bit sparser than as a newborn, she did look so much like her mother.

"May I hold her?"

Her request surprised Tom but he nodded as he gently handed Sybbie to her aunt. Sybbie's eyes widened as she looked at the stranger holding her, her hand touching Mary's face. As Mary smiled in reaction to Sybbie's soft touch, Sybbie also smiled.

"Let's sit on the bench." Without waiting for Tom's response Mary walked towards the closest wooden bench, one of the three or four scattered about the graveyard.

Sitting down, Mary placed Sybbie on her lap. "She's surprisingly heavy."

Tom watched as Mary played with Sybbie, clapping her hands and causing shrieks of laughter from the infant. Since much of her day was spent in the garage where Tom had created a play area for her, Sybbie was used to strangers. Mary was surprisingly showing what Sybil always called her softer side, a side that she too rarely showed.

"You seem quite comfortable with her" he finally said, the sound of his voice causing Sybbie to look at Tom. She began squirming and holding out her hands for Tom to pick her up.

"It's good practice for me." Mary smiled at Tom. "I'll be having my own in early fall."

"Congratulations. I'm sure Matthew is delighted." Tom broke out into a broad smile, a smile that lit up his face. Mary had often wondered why this man had been the one to capture her sister's heart but looking at him now she thought she saw him as Sybil must have done.

"Get ready for sleepless nights and" Tom abruptly halted as he realized Mary wouldn't be doing nighttime feedings. Her child would be tucked away in the Downton nursery tended to around the clock by nannies.

"Has it been hard?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth Mary realized how foolish it was to say such a thing.

"Without this one" Tom rubbed his hand on the top of Sybbie's head "I'm not sure I could have gotten through these last months. But taking care of her and working in the garage have kept me occupied although there's still plenty of time to" he looked back towards Sybil's tomb.

Mary's eyes followed Tom's gaze.

"I don't come here enough" she said. "Somehow I sit instead in her old bedroom and feel her presence there or in the rose garden or even sometimes in our old playroom."

Mary gave a slight laugh. "I finger the books or board games she loved as a child. Oh how she loved those adventure books. No princess stories for her! It makes me laugh thinking of how serious she was at winning a game. It was the one time she'd play by the rules or at least made sure Edith and I did."

Tom laughed at Mary's story. "I can see her doing that."

They both grew quiet lost for a moment in their own thoughts.

"Just to let you know if you've wondered why you haven't seen me here before."

"Actually this is the first time I've been here" Tom responded "I mean since I left."

He had come almost daily while he was still living at Downton so Mary was surprised to hear this. "And so why now?" she asked. It wasn't one of those days when family most likely visited. Sybil's birthday was months away and the date she died was almost two months away.

"It's our wedding anniversary."

He had waited so long for that moment. The vision of the small church decorated with green and white ribbons and bouquets of flowers filled his mind. He had never seen the church so beautiful with the bows of green and white ribbons tied at the end of the pews and along the altar railing. Sybil and his sisters had visited several parks to surreptitiously pick flowers from the trees and bushes to add to the meager amount they had from his relatives' yards with the result of colorful bouquets sitting in baskets along the aisle and one large beautiful vase sitting at the base of the altar. Sybil herself had carried a bouquet of white and purple flowers tied with a white ribbon.

Through the years he had seen Sybil dressed in the finest of gowns of rich silks and satins but never had she looked more beautiful that in the simple white cotton dress that his mother had enhanced with lace on the bodice and sleeves. Her dark glossy hair had been pulled back into a loose bun and pinned in place with pearl hair pins. The purple flowers in her bouquet matched her dangling earrings, the only jewelry she wore that day until he slipped the plain gold band on her finger.

It had been that rare Dublin day that had dawned bright and sunny without a cloud in the sky and had remained so throughout the day. As he had walked into the church, he had looked up and thought the clear blue sky was an omen of good luck. It would be a marriage of much happiness.

Mary glanced at Tom. "I'm sorry I didn't think. I should have realized the date."

Her thoughts wandered to that day in Dublin. The church had looked pitifully bare with just that one glass vase in front of the altar filled with a haphazard mixture of flowers and those wicker baskets with a few flowers lying in the aisle. There had been some sense of decoration with the green and white bows but only the first three or four rows had been so decorated.

Her heart had ached when Sybil had shown her and Edith the wedding dress. Her sister deserved so much better than that simple frock. Although Granny had sent one of the Crawley tiaras Sybil had refused to wear it.

But Mary had to admit that Sybil had looked radiant that day and that no jewels could have matched her sister's smile.

Tom closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "That was the happiest day of my life for all happiness since then sprang from that day."

"And it gave you this little one, this jewel" Mary added.

That little jewel as her aunt called her began to squirm uncontrollably. She didn't like being held for so long and was making that quite clear.

"I guess it's time I left" Tom said as he stood.

"Won't you come to the house for lunch" Mary asked.

"Thank you for the offer but no."

"I'm sure everyone would love to see Sybbie" she paused before adding "and you of course."

Tom looked directly at Mary as he shook his head. "I doubt that I am welcomed there but it's nice of you to pretend it's so."

"Tom!" Mary protested. "You are Sybil's husband. You're family. Of course you would be welcomed."

But Tom was adamant. "I'll not go into that house again."

"Oh Tom I'm so sorry you feel like that but it's-"

"Some things are best left as they are Mary."

"At least let me hold Sybbie one more time."

She took the baby into her arms and held her tight against her chest. Tom was surprised to see the cracks in Mary's formal persona. For just a moment he considered changing his mind and going with Mary but then he remembered the circumstances of why and how he had left.

Tom reached out his arms and took back his daughter. Mary smiled wanly at him. "It's been so good to see you Tom. I do truly mean that."

Tears welled in her eyes. "Will you come back again?"

Tom glanced over to his wife's grave. "If not before I'll be here next year same time."