Thank you all!

Chapter 56

1930s – Downton Abbey

"You know my professor told me that I have impeccable writing," George said, lifting up his fork to eat. Mary watched as Pippa rolled her eyes and then made a face.

"How could he even tell? Your writing looks like chicken scratches," Pippa replied, her brows rising.

Mary rolled her own eyes and sighed. Ever since George's return home, the two children had been going at it like a cat and a dog. They argued constantly. The reprieve from when all of the other children were here ended the day before when they all left to head back home. Now, the two were back at one another's throats. It was exhausting.

"What else did your professors say?" Cora asked, breaking in between the talk of the grandchildren. George lit up and went on to tell her about his favorite class: history.

"You know," Pippa said, grabbing her roll. "I read 100 books last year. Have you?"

"Oh wow, you can read. Proud of you," George sarcastically stated.

"Hey, now, 100 books is a great accomplishment," Robert said, giving Pippa a smile.

"Thank you, Donk," she replied with a smile. George made a face when he knew both grandparents weren't looking and Pippa did one back. Mary rubbed her temple with her finger tips. It seemed the older they got the worse their arguing became.

"Why don't you both finish up eating and then go upstairs. Your Donk and Granny do not want to hear you argue during lunch."

Pippa shrugged. She kept her roll in her hand and went ahead, leaving the table. Then George quickly finished his plate and left, as well. Mary let out a sigh of relief.

"I don't know why they are like this," Mary said with a shake of her head.

"Oh Mary," Cora chuckled. "It's just like how you and Edith were. You'd find the smallest things to argue about."

That made Mary's brows raise.

"Mama, please do not tell me you just compared one of my children with Edith?"

"Oh Mary," Cora chided.

"Don't do that again," Mary said, seriously. "Neither Pippa nor George is like Edith!"

"Mary," Robert broke in.

"I think I'm done eating," Mary stated. She stood, placing her napkin on the table next to her food. "I've lost my appetite."

She did not miss how her parents met eyes and silently laughed at her, but she decided to ignore it. Instead, she went upstairs to change for the day. As she stepped inside her room, she was pleasantly surprised to find Anna resting on the bed. It was rare she would find Anna in her bed in the middle of the day, not that she was complaining.

Mary climbed on the bed and bent over to kiss the tip of Anna's nose. Anna scrunched up her nose, but didn't open her eyes. Mary kissed her nose again, as her hand brushed over Anna's hair.

Slowly, Anna blinked her eyes and opened them. When she saw Mary, she smiled, before frantically sitting up.

"I…I didn't mean to fall asleep!"

"Shh, darling, it's alright. It's been a busy week. I know you are exhausted," Mary said, placing her hands on Anna's shoulders. Mary then leaned forward to capture Anna's lips with her own. Anna melted against her and Mary happily sighed.

Then Anna had to pull away to fix her hair that had gotten mussed from falling asleep on the pillows. Mary watched as Anna's nimble fingers adjusted her bun and pressed down the pieces that stuck up.

"How was lunch?" Anna asked.

"Fine. George and Pippa argued again," Mary rolled her eyes. "And my mother tried to compare the children to how Edith and I argue. Can you believe it? She compared one of our children to Edith!"

Anna laughed. She walked over toward Mary and placed her hand on her shoulders.

"I doubt that's what she meant. You and Edith did argue often, though," Anna pointed out.

"Neither George or Pippa is like Edith!"

"No they aren't," Anna agreed with a gleam in her eyes. "But do you think maybe you overreacted?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Oh alright, love." Anna winked. "I need to get back downstairs. Johnny was asking me to read over one of his papers for him. He's probably waiting for me."

"Oh, I wonder if he'll let me read it," Mary mused. Anna kissed her once more and then smiled.

"I'm sure he will. I'll see you in a little while."

"Can't wait."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Anna was near tears when she finished her son's paper. He had given it to her downstairs and asked her to read it there and that he would be back upstairs in his room when she was finished.

She was now standing outside his door and she took in a deep breath, before knocking on his bedroom door. He opened it and saw the tears in her eyes.

"Oh Mum," he said, letting her in. "I upset you."

"No, no you didn't," she assured him, placing her hand on his upper arm. "It was just so…..Oh, Johnny!"

She wrapped her arms around her son. He had written a paper about his father being unfairly hung for killing his wife and how Anna had spent months proving his innocence after he passed to make sure the world knew the truth. In the paper, he also wrote about how too many people are hung and imprisoned unfairly and how there need to be better people to defend them.

"My professor gave me top marks for it," Johnny told her. "He thinks I could become a solicitor."

"Really?" Anna asked, her lips curling up into a smile.

"Yes, I think I would like that. I would like to defend the people who are on trial."

"That is wonderful, Johnny, truly! Oh, your father would be so proud of you!" She smiled, so proud of her son, her Johnny. She blinked harshly and then pulled him into a hug once again. "Oh, I am proud of you too. And Mary will be too. I love you, Johnny."

"I love you too, Mum."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

"Mr. Barrow?" Pippa asked, finding him outside. He glanced up from his spot with his cigarette resting between his lips. He sighed, taking it out and stomping on it. One of the rules was not to smoke around the children. Mary did not like when they smelled like smoke.

"Yes, Miss Pippa?"

"I have your Christmas gift," she said with a skip in her step. He narrowed his eyes.

"It's December 29th," he reminded her. She sighed.

"I know, but I got it for you over a month ago. Then I hid it so I wouldn't lose it and well, I couldn't remember where I hid it, but I found it today."

She handed him the package. He took it from her, curious, and opened it. Inside was a frame and in the frame was a picture of him with her, Johnny, and George. He smiled. It was an older picture of them, back when he took the boys fishing. This particular day, Pippa had insisted that she should come along. Mary had followed behind to snap a picture of them. He realized that he hadn't seen that picture until today.

"I love it," Thomas sincerely said.

"You're like our angry, but fun uncle," Pippa told him with a laugh. "We should all go fishing again soon."

"Yes, I would like that," Thomas agreed. He kept his eyes on the photo in his hands. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Happy Christmas."

With that, Pippa skipped off. Thomas couldn't stop looking at the picture. These children had treated him like family since they were young and Anna and Mary had given him that gift of allowing it, despite who he was. He touched the photo and then touched his chest, where he could feel the photo and letter still safely there.

He sighed. He couldn't do it. He couldn't hurt the children or the women who had been kinder to him than he had deserved. He wondered when exactly he had changed.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Johnny heavily sighed. Pippa and George were at it again. Generally, he stayed out of it. He was often the middle man, trying to keep peace between the two of them.

"You're just upset that I'm in school," George quipped.

"I'll be in school soon," Pippa reminded him. "Stop acting more grown than me. You are only one year older!"

"Yes, but I am more mature," George straightened his back.

"Right," Pippa laughed. "You still sleep with a stuffed dog."

"I don't sleep with him," George countered. "He sits on my bedside table. It was my father's. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"Hey!" Johnny stepped in.

"Hey!" Another voice made him turn. He saw Mary walking around the corner who happened to overhear the conversation. "George Reginald Crawley!"

Johnny watched as Pippa moved closer to George and he heard what she whispered to him,

"Oh, you're in for it now," before rushing up the stairs.

Seeing Mary head toward George, Johnny decided to duck out of the room. He had seen Mary when she was furious and wanted to be no part in it, even just as an observer. He quickly gave his brother a look and then walked around the corner.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Once Mary had calmed down, she went to Pippa's bedroom. She opened the door to find Pippa at her vanity. She was pulling her curls down. Mary was always blown away by that hair. She still didn't know where those beautiful curls had come from.

"Hey," Mary quietly said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Pippa told her, turning on the bench. "It's just George."

"No, really. You can tell me. What he said was uncalled for," Mary said.

"Mary, really, it's fine. It's just George. He didn't mean it," Pippa shrugged.

"Are you sure?" Mary asked. She brought her hand up to brush Pippa's hair behind her ear, only to have Pippa shake her head to make the hair fall back in front of her face.

"Yes, I am sure. George didn't mean it. We pick on each other and sometimes we get a bit too harsh with our words."

Mary sat down next to Pippa on her bench.

"Well, he won't be saying it again, that's for sure."

"If he did, I wouldn't care. He's my brother. We pick on each other," Pippa simply said. "But we love one another, most of the time," Pippa added with a wink. Mary playfully pushed against Pippa with her shoulder.

"I'm glad you two do."

"Well, Johnny keeps us in line," Pippa added with a laugh.

"I'm glad someone does."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

When Mary made it back toward her room, she found Thomas standing out of her doorway. Her brow rose, curious. As he spotted her, he stood taller.

"Barrow?"

"I was wondering if we might talk, in private," he added. Mary nodded. She opened her bedroom door and told Thomas to go inside.

As she walked in, she saw Thomas pulling some things out of his inner chest pocket. Slowly, he handed them to Mary.

"I found these. You might want to hide them better in the future," he told her. Mary saw the picture and then opened the letter to find that it was one of the letters she had written to Anna. She quickly glanced back up at Thomas.

"Where did you get this?" She harshly asked.

"I found it," he shrugged, obviously not going to tell her the truth about where he had gotten it from.

"This could destroy me," Mary told him.

"If it got into the wrong hands, it could," Thomas agreed. "Thankfully, they only found mine. Now, hide them better in the future so it doesn't happen again."

Mary narrowed her eyes. "Why didn't you use this against me?"

"Perhaps, I realized how much it could hurt the children and how much I like working here," Thomas shrugged. "I won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me."

"For how long?" Mary knew Thomas well enough to know that he could easily change his mind.

"I'm giving you all I have," Thomas told her. "No one would believe me without proof. I won't tell anyone. I'm not that Thomas anymore."

"You're not?"

"I'm not."

Mary slid the letter and picture into her desk.

"Alright," she said, deciding to believe him. "Thank you for giving that back to me."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

"I don't know," Anna said as she rubbed lotion over her arms. "Should we trust Thomas?"
"I'm not sure we have much of a choice either way," Mary answered, as she helped Anna with her slip. "He does adore the children. I think…well, I think we can."

"Well, I hope he keeps his word."

"As he said, no one will believe him if he tries to say anything. And I have found a different spot for our letters and pictures. We'll move them often," Mary assured her.

"Should we keep them?"

"Yes, I want them forever, darling. I plan on reading those letters you wrote to me when I'm old and grey."

Anna chuckled. "Oh, really?"

"Definitely, now, help me take off my slip," Mary winked.

"My pleasure."

Summer 1971

"This box, Mother?" George asked, handing Mary a weathered box.

"Yes, thank you," Mary said. She took the box and lifted the lid slightly, so that only she could see inside.

"What's in it?"

"Nothing for you to see," Mary told him.

"Yeah, George, stop being nosey," Pippa said from across the room. Mary sighed, rolling her eyes.

"You two are nearly fifty. Stop snapping at one another."

"You are nearly eighty and you still argue with Edith," Pippa pointed out.

"She's not wrong," George added, chuckling.

"Great, now you two are ganging up on your aging mother."

Pippa rolled her eyes in response. George made a face.

"That is seriously scary," he told Pippa. Then he walked out of the room and Pippa followed, giving Mary a moment alone. Anna was in the room, but she was asleep on the bed. She was sleeping more and more. Mary tried not to think about what that meant.

Instead, she opened the box wider and lifted out some of the letters. They had browned from age and were easy to tear, so she had to be careful as she unfolded them. But the words were still there. She smiled and began to read the first letter.

To my dearest love….

To be continued...

Thomas's heart must have grown some ;). Thank you for reading!