Author's note -

Thank you so much to everyone who has read/followed/reviewed/favourited this collection so far! I always love to hear from you.

Sorry it's been a while since I updated these stories. This one was written to mark Mind the Gap day, which celebrates the friendships the Bransons share with the downstairs folk at Downton Abbey, based on a prompt from the lovely yankeecountess.

Hide and seek

1926, Downton Abbey

Noise was tumbling along the corridor leading from the servants' hall - the noise of running feet, shrieking and giggling. Charles Carson frowned. This wasn't the kind of thing he was used to!

He met his future wife coming the other way - obviously, she'd heard the ruckus as well. She smiled at him.

"Charles, what's going on in there?" He returned her smile, still not used to hearing her use his first name in public.

"I don't know, Elsie, but I suggest we find out! You can't do that in the servants' hall!"

He pushed open the door. The next thing he knew, a small figure cannoned into his legs.

"Oh, I'm very sorry, Mr Carson - the children and I were just…"

Tom gestured in apology from his place on the other side of the big table. He was holding his daughter in his arms, who was still gasping and laughing from being swung around.

"What game were you playing?" Elsie asked.

"We were playing hide and seek. When I found them, we got a little bit carried away."

Charles glanced down at the little boy at his feet, who returned his gaze quite unafraid.

"Hello, I'm Michael. Who are you?"

The butler's stern face relaxed a little, as he bent down to the youngster. "Hello, Michael. I'm Mr Carson. And this is Mrs Hughes."

The girl in Tom's arms smiled and nodded, as if in recognition. "Mam told us about you. She's known you both all her life, she said." Once her father set her down, she came around the table towards them. "My name is Aislín Branson. I'm very pleased to meet you."

Charles solemnly took the outstretched hand and shook it. Shortly afterwards, Elsie did the same before looking over at Tom.

"Mr Branson, would you and the children like a snack? Tea and cake, perhaps?"

"Oh, yes, please, Mrs Hughes - can we, Da?" Aislín looked over for her father's permission.

Tom nodded his agreement. Soon, the Branson children were sitting up at the table eating a slice of Mrs Patmore's excellent pound cake.

Charles was just picking up the teapot to pour when he heard a familiar voice.

"Tom? Children? Where are you, my darlings?"

Aislín jumped up and ran towards the sound, her brother not far behind her. "Mam, Mam, we're in here, we're eating cake!"

The next moment Sybil came into the kitchen, both children now hanging onto her legs, the youngest member of the Branson family asleep in her embrace.

Tom immediately stood up and walked over to his wife, kissing her tenderly on the lips and wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Let your mother walk, please, ye young spalpeens! Sweetheart, how are you? Had a good rest?"

He brought Sybil over to the table, settling her and their baby son in a chair before sitting down beside her and pouring her a cup of tea.

"Mmm, just what I needed. Thank you, love." She leaned over to kiss her husband, resting her hand on his cheek and smiling into his eyes as Michael leaned on his mother's knees.

"Carefully, please, mo ghile beag - Padraig's just waking up. Oh, look at you, you're a mess!" Sybil said, wiping the cake crumbs from her little boy's face with a napkin.

Once she was done, Michael looked up at his new friend. "I'm Padraig's big brother, you know," he said proudly.

"And a fine job you do of it, too, I'm sure, Michael," Charles replied.

Sybil smiled at Elsie who had come up beside her.

"I do apologise if the children have been disturbing you! I was taking the chance for a quick nap while Padraig was asleep, so Tom suggested a game to keep the other two busy. I might have known they'd end up making mischief, as usual."

"Lady Sybil, of course, it's no trouble at all. It's a pleasure to see you here again after all these years, you and Mr Branson and the children." The older woman's voice and glance were fond.

"We wouldn't have missed your wedding for all the tea in China, Mrs Hughes."

Aislín moved closer to her father's side. Tom cuddled her and kissed the top of her head.

"Did you used to come in here, Da, when you were a cho-fer?" she asked him.

"Oh yes, every day I'd be in here for a cup of tea and a chance to read the paper. Later on I'll show you where I used to work, out in the garage."

Sybil smiled at the mention of the word 'garage', and Tom put his arm around his wife's shoulders, pulling her closer. She looked up at him and, even to Charles, the deep love between them was clear to see.

He thought back to the famous evening in the drawing room, all those years ago, when Lady Sybil and the chauffeur had announced their engagement, defying the entire Crawley family to marry and build the life they wanted, far from the privileged world of the Earls of Grantham.

Perhaps Elsie's right about these two - they are a perfect match… he reflected as he watched the Bransons kiss again.

"Da, you can kiss Mam later. Let's have some more cake!" Aislín's impatient voice rang out.

Charles and Elsie looked on, hand in hand. Somehow, neither of them minded the noise any more.

Author's note -

"spalpeen" = rascal, "mo ghile beag" = my little darling in Irish Gaelic, per Google translate. As I've mentioned before, I have a headcanon of Sybil learning several words and phrases of the language of her adopted home country and using them with her children quite naturally.

In this AU, this story markes the first time the Bransons have visited Downton Abbey since they became parents in 1920, and their visit is in honour of the upcoming wedding of Charles Carson and Elsie Hughes.