Thomas blinked himself awake the following morning. It was still dark, the only light in the room coming from the street lamps outside. He reached for a small torch on the table next to him, shielding the light so that it would be enough to see the time on the clock next to him, but not too bright so that he wouldn't wake Richard. His search for the correct time confirmed that he had less than five minutes until he had to get up. He switched off the torch and rested his head back on the pillow, pulling up the duvet as it was freezing and he wasn't wearing any clothes. He could only pull it part of the way up his chest though as Richard had migrated off his own pillow and was lying on his side with his head on the mattress just below Thomas's shoulder, his right arm flopped lazily across Thomas's stomach. Thomas smiled with the memory of yesterday evening and this morning. Despite all Richard's many (and sometimes rather creative) ways of trying to persuade him to give up the hiding place of the present, he still has no idea where it is or what it might be. The alarm next to him clicked before ringing, and in order to preserve some of Richard's sleep, Thomas hurriedly felt around with his hand to silence it, not having time to switch on a light this time, meaning he almost knocked over a glass jar of vaseline that was sitting on the table. Richard though, was in a deep sleep as he only stirred a little, pushing himself up closer to Thomas's side, and mumbling something that Thomas thought sounded like 'not yet'.

...

A few hours later, Thomas found himself sitting at the head of the table in the servants hall at Downton, yawning for what felt like the hundredth time, as he tried to stay awake enough to not give any of his colleagues any reason to wonder if something is amiss. Daisy was busy giving a rather exaggerated account of how Andy had been out late last night looking for a couple of sheep that had gone missing. The way that she was telling it was making it sound a lot more of a big deal than it actually was, Thomas reckoned. His main concern was that he would not show himself up at upstairs breakfast soon, by falling asleep where he stood. He shouldn't be complaining, after all the reasons for his tiredness were, in the end, worth it. Which brought him to a second problem. How was he going to stop thinking about all the things he and Richard did last night? The things on the sofa, up against the wall, in bed before they fell asleep eventually at some early hour. It turned out thinking this very thought was not helping, as all that did was remind Thomas that he was a very lucky man. Richard is a good lover, Thomas thought as he picked the edge of his toast with one hand, the other hand propping up his head as his elbow rested on the table. Not the posture of a man who was in a position of authority. Position- yes. The things that Richard could do with his tongue...

"Mr Barrow? Are you quite alright? You look rather flushed, hope you're not coming down with something," Mrs Hughes asked.

Thomas jumped and blinked, as though he had forgotten that he was in a room with several other people, who were now all looking at him. "What? Oh um, yes I'm fine Mrs Hughes," he said, sitting up straighter.

"You've hardly eaten anything?" she pressed.

She is concerned isn't she? "Nothing is the matter, I just got very little sleep last night," Thomas explained. Not a lie is it? Not technically. "I've got a lot on my mind that's all." Again, technically not a lie. "But nothing worrying I promise you."

That seemed to satisfy her, and thankfully the topic of conversation did not remain on 'Why is Thomas Barrow's face the same colour as a beetroot?' and moved to more mundane things, that this time Thomas tried to pay more attention too in order to stop his mind going back to Richard.

...

Later that morning after finishing overseeing upstairs breakfast, that went a lot better than yesterday as Stephen didn't make the same mistake as yesterday when he fell into some sort of daydream. If anyone was going to daydream today it would be himself, Thomas thought, but luckily he kept those very welcoming thoughts hidden, for now at least. He was looking forward to sitting down though and drinking something nice and strong and warm. He didn't usually like black coffee but today it would do the trick perfectly. He also had to think about how he was going to put his plan about the decoration of their christmas tree in place, he was wondering if it would be a bit too much to ask. At that moment Master George came running downstairs and straight into him, making it two days in a row where he had almost been knocked over by another human being. He seemed to be getting bigger each day, Thomas thought. "Oh sorry Mr Barrow," George said, with a cheeky grin covering his face.

"Good morning Master George, and where are you off too in such a hurry?" Thomas said.

"Hiding," George said. "And I got to put this on the tree," he said, holding up a decoration made of card that looked like a horse but of course was actually a reindeer.

"I hope you are not giving Nanny a hard time?" Thomas said, bending down to George's level which wasn't as low down as it used to be.

"No, I'll go back in a minute," George said.

"You're still busy decorating the tree then?" Thomas said. "Hasn't it got enough on it already?"

"Nope," George shook his head. "And Sybbie still has to put her ones up on there. Can you lift me up so I can put it on the higher ones?" George asked pointing to the branches that would be out of his reach.

"Very well, but you're going to be getting too old for this soon," Thomas said, lifting George up by the tree. "Oh and too heavy too," Thomas added, making George giggle.

"George, I hope you aren't taking advantage of Barrow's good nature," Lady Mary said, who had appeared by the door.

My good what?, Thomas thought, as he was pretty sure she had never described him using those words before. "It's no bother m'lady. Master George just needed my help to put yet another decoration on the tree," Thomas said.

"I see. Well Nanny will be wondering where you have got too George. Perhaps you should go and find her. You wouldn't want her to worry," Lady Mary said, though not unkindly.

Thomas put George back down and stretched his arms a little. They had begun to ache a bit with George's weight. "Yes mama," George said, "Thank You Mr Barrow," he added, but his happy childlike smile was thanks enough in Thomas's eyes, before running out the room.

Thomas was about to bid Lady Mary good day and take his leave when she said, "The tree is positively brimming with decorations now don't you think Barrow? It will be a tricky thing to find a place for all the others the children have been making."

Thomas blinked. Any exchange between him and any member of the upstairs family usually had a purpose to it, and was very rarely conversational. "I agree m'lady. There may be more decoration than tree at this rate." Lady Mary didn't answer straight away, and was looking up at the tree next to them, so Thomas thought this may be time to take his leave. Suddenly though, it occurred to him that this might also be the moment to ask the favour he had been considering for the past day. "If I may," Thomas began. "There is another tree that is in need of decorating which the children could hang the rest of their decorations on."

"Oh, are you planning on having a tree downstairs?" Lady Mary asked.

"No m'lady," Thomas said. He hesitated, wondering if this was such a good idea after all. "We aren't but Mr Ellis and myself do have one. Put it in our living room yesterday morning and we haven't gotten round to decorating it yet. I was wondering if, with your permission, Master George and Miss Sybbie would like to decorate it? Though I should talk to Mr Branson in regards to Miss Sybbie first." When Lady Mary didn't answer him and just looked at him, Thomas thought he had just made a huge mistake by overstepping the line. "If you think that this will be inappropriate then I understand," Thomas added.

"Oh I don't think it is inappropriate at all Barrow. Both the children adore you, we know that. Forgive me for hesitating, I never expected you to ask such a thing. I do think it is a rather lovely idea, and if you are able to supervise both of them then it would give Nanny a bit of time to herself. I reckon, with all their excitement about Christmas, she is in need of a bit of a break."

"Thank you m'lady and I could watch them of course," Thomas said, feeling pleased and relieved. "Would you be able to spare me this afternoon for a few hours?"

"Yes. I think that could work well as long as they are back in time for their supper. I will arrange a car to take you all down to the village and have the driver pick you up after a couple of hours?"

"That would be good m'lady, thank you," Thomas said.

"And don't worry about speaking to Mr Branson, I will ask him, but I am sure he will have no objections either," she said.

"Very good m'lady," Thomas said.

"Lovely!" Lady Mary said, sounding rather pleased as though this was her idea. "Well I'll let you get on," she said, turning away. "Oh, one thing Barrow," she added, looking at him again with a knowing smile on her face. "Mr Ellis- does he know of your plans?"

"Um, no. I was hoping it would be a bit of a surprise m'lady," Thomas said.

"Oh I see," she said.

...

The clock on his desk read two in the afternoon when Chris Webster finished off the last of his sandwich that he got himself for lunch. The slice of Christmas cake and mug of coffee were still untouched though. He would have those a bit later. He slouched in his chair and stretched his arms, since he had been here for an hour now. Today had been quiet in the shop and Richard had gone out for a few hours running some errands or something, so he was enjoying a bit of quiet to himself in the makeshift office he and Richard had put together, figuring that the business side of the shop shouldn't be run from the kitchen table as it would have led to things going missing. There was a small room (more like a walk in cupboard really) off the kitchen around the back which was probably used by the previous owner as a stock room. Now it had a modest size table and chair in one corner near the door and a bit of room for extra stock at the other end. Cosy was one generous way of describing its size, but Chris didn't mind. He picked a chunk of cake off the end of the slice, it did taste good. Richard made it using his mother's recipe. No wonder Thomas loves him, Chris thought, he is charming, very good looking and he can cook. He told himself to shut up and stop feeling sorry for himself as he was not expecting to spend winter and Christmas so comfortably. Despite wanting too, he knew he shouldn't complain about his circumstances considering what they easily could have been. His peace was interrupted by the sound of a car pulling up outside the shop front, an expensive sounding one he thought. He would get up when he heard the shop door bell ring though, as he was comfortable where he was. However, it was the side door that opened so he assumed it was Richard returning. He was about to shout and ask Richard jokingly if he had sold the shop and bought himself a sports car (he knew that Richard would love a car like that), when he heard Thomas's voice followed quickly by the sound of two rather excited children. "Is it a big tree Mr Barrow?" Chris heard one of the children ask.

"Not as big as the tree at Downton, as that would not fit inside this little place, but big enough for you two to have a good time making it look festive," Thomas said. "You and Miss Sybbie go on upstairs . I'll join you in a moment. Unless you need my assistance with these boxes?"

"No that's okay Mr Barrow, you said that I'm getting bigger so I can manage, but Sybbie might need some help," the boy said. That must be Master George, Lady Mary's son, Chris thought as he wondered why they were here.

"I am older than you George. I can manage," Sybbie said. She sounds confident of herself, Chris thought. He didn't know much about the family who live at Downton, he gained most that he knew from conversations between Thomas, Richard and himself, but remembered that Thomas said that she is the daughter of the youngest of the Crawley sisters who passed away shortly after the birth of Sybbie. Her father, Mr Branson, was the chauffeur once but has been part of the upstairs family for a while now.

"How about you take a box each then? I'll be up there in a moment or two," Thomas said.

"Okay Mr Barrow," they both said.

Chris heard Thomas walk into the kitchen and dump his coat down on the back of the chair, despite the fact that there was a hook for that near the door. The door to the little office was partly open so Chris called out, "I see you have kidnapped your employers children Thomas." Thomas upon hearing Chris, walked over to the door and opened it fully, he yawned before leaning against the doorframe. Chris looked at him, and wished he would stop looking so effortlessly wonderful.

"They are here with permission from their parents, don't worry," Thomas said, returning Chris's smile. "They have been making Christmas decorations practically non-stop so they no longer have a tree with room to put them on. I suggested that they decorate the one upstairs."

"And they just let you have their children to look after for the afternoon? Never knew that was in a butler's job description," Chris said.

"It's not but they have always seemed to like me for some reason, especially Master George, pretty sure at one point they were the only ones in the whole house who did," Thomas said. Chris wondered what Thomas meant by that, it was hard for him to imagine anyone not liking Thomas Barrow.

"Does Richard know about them coming here?" Chris asked.

"No, I was hoping he wouldn't be here when we arrived actually. I was hoping to surprise him," Thomas said. "Has he gone out?"

"Only around here, got a few errands to run apparently," Chris said. "Not sure if it will be a surprise or a shock."

Thomas smiled again. "Surprise hopefully. I am paying them in cake though, we agreed in the car, so I hope there is some of that left," Thomas said looking at the cake on the table that was now half eaten.

"Plenty left Thomas," Chris said.

"I should go up," Thomas said. "Could you do me a favour?"

"Anything for you," Chris said.

"Right, good," Thomas said. He wasn't blind, he knew Chris still loved him, and it made him feel guilty sometimes. "When Richard returns, can you tell him to come upstairs?"

"Very well, consider it done," Chris said.

...

About an hour later Chris was in the shop when he heard Richard return, shaking off some of the light rain that had started to fall from his coat before hanging it up by the side door. Chris wandered into the kitchen, hoping to take advantage of Richard boiling water for some tea or anything warm as it was freezing. "I honestly am tempted to put the oven on and leave the door open just to warm this room up," Richard said.

"Lovely idea," Chris said, "Bloody freezing."

Richard stopped as he noticed Thomas's coat on the back of the chair, "Is Thomas back early? Or has something happened?" Richard said looking at the time.

"Oh it's okay, he is just back for another hour or so, he has company," Chris said.

"Oh. Who?" Richard curiously asked.

"Go and see for yourself," Chris said, smiling but giving nothing away. "It's a surprise apparently, though that will be left up to your own interpretation." Richard put down the mug that he was about to put a tea bag into, curiosity overwhelming his need for a warming drink. "May I?" Chris asked, looking at the mug.

"Yes of course," Richard said before going upstairs.

...

Richard couldn't work out who would be visiting Thomas or why Chris had a grin on his face when he told him about Thomas's guests, he was only half way up the stairs to the living room when he heard a couple of children's voices. That he did not expect. He pushed open the door at the top of the stairs slowly, though it was already partly open, and was definitely surprised by what he saw. The Christmas tree he had bought home yesterday morning was in the process of being decorated in the most colourful way. He recognised the children of course, they had met before, years ago in the garden when he discovered Thomas playing hide and seek with them both. Sybbie was sitting on the floor fixing some more links into a paper chain that Richard guessed would join the colourful chain that was already wrapped around the bottom half of the tree. George was sitting on Thomas's shoulders and was using Thomas ,who was sat cross legged on the floor next to the tree in the corner, as a human step ladder. The whole scene was delightful and Richard was wondering about disappearing back downstairs as he didn't want to interrupt, but he knew Thomas would want him to interrupt as this was a surprise for him. "If I knew we were going to have company I would have returned earlier," Richard said as he entered the room, meeting Thomas's gaze and being pleased to see his face light up. "Nice to see you again Master George, Miss Sybbie. I should congratulate you on your skillful decorating of this thing. Mr Barrow did mention that he knew of some people who were experts in all things Christmas. I should have known it would be you."

"Hello Mr Ellis," Sybbie said politely. "Mr Barrow said you live here too. That's nice, I wouldn't want him to live alone."

"Glad you remember me from the last time we met," Richard said, sitting down in a chair, he really couldn't take his eyes off the scene around him.

"Of course we do! You're Mr Barrows friend and you work for the king," George noted, as Thomas set him down off his shoulders. If Thomas found George heavy to lift up still, then he wasn't complaining. In fact he looked in his element.

"He doesn't now George," Sybbie said. "He runs the book shop."

"So who dresses the king now?" George asked.

"I don't know exactly, I reckon they found a replacement," Richard said. "Unless he now dresses himself."

"Well he could do. He has two arms and legs doesn't he?" Sybbie said. Thomas thought of how similar she is in some ways to her parents.

"He can't do that himself though, he's the king!" George said. The two children now seemed to be involved in an important debate surrounding whether the king of England needs a valet, or indeed two. Richard took the opportunity to sit next to Thomas on the floor.

"It's a lovely surprise Thomas, thank you," Richard said into Thomas's ear. Perhaps it was a gesture that was a bit too forward, but he didn't feel worried about the two visitors they had. "You look a bit tired though, come home for tea tonight and we will go to bed early."

Thomas's heart warmed with Richard's words and his breath on his ear as he spoke them to him. "I will do that. I'm glad you like it, not too much of a shock?"

"No it's brilliant," Richard replied. Speaking to George and Sybbie he said, "I hope Mr Barrow is paying you for your work, it would only be fair."

"We agreed on cake Mr Ellis," Sybbie said.

"Seems like a fair price, I'll make sure you receive a good share," Richard said.

"Though don't tell Nanny, she will tell me off if you don't eat your supper tonight," Thomas said.

"It will be our secret Mr Barrow," George said.