A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, etc., since the last chapter. Thanks to those who pointed out typos. Those have been fixed. :) To those without an account who had thoughts/questions re: Tom's job (thank you :) ), please feel free to contact me via twitter, tumblr or fanforum dot net. I have the same username as here and would be happy to discuss it in detail.

As always, many thanks to my ever patient betas, Tripp3235, mswainwright and _livingfree (on Twitter), without whom, the quality of this story would be much poorer indeed!

Disclaimer: Not mine. All Downton Abbey characters belong to Julian Fellowes and ITV. I'm just playing with them.

Chapter 22

To take advantage of the light the next morning for painting, Tom arrived at his mother's at four o'clock sharp after dropping his acceptance letter off in a post box. Everyone was up, a cold lunch had been made for eating at the flat and they were just about to sit down and eat breakfast. After the hearty breakfast, the dishes were quickly done between the four younger folk, while Mrs. Branson got everything together including the ladder before they left for the flat. The paint and supplies had been delivered on Friday and the four cleaners last night had gotten them from Cousin Fergus before they left. By the time they arrived, the sun was just up and they proceeded to work on the large walls first, leaving detail for when the light was better. The first room they worked on was the main room.

After most of the walls of the main room were covered, Tom and Connor moved to work on the smaller bedroom while the women worked on the details in the main room. This gave Tom the opportunity to talk to Connor about a number of things including his future. Since Tom was one of Connor's caregivers when he was younger, he felt that he needed to ensure that even without a father in his life that his younger brother was moving in the right direction. Since he had not been around the last six years, he was hoping to make up for lost time. The division of work between the men and women continued moving from room to room until a little after noon, when they managed to paint the entire flat, at which time they stopped work for lunch.

While Tom and Connor waited for the detail to be finished, they started on the baseboards of the completed rooms. Once they were done, Tom swept a section of floor in the main room to clean it before he laid the blankets down and set out the food. Meanwhile, Connor helped the women by fetching more paint for them as needed.

"Though it's only the first coat, it looks lovely," said Sybil as she looked at the newly-coloured walls. "Thank you so much for your help."

"No thanks needed. It's what you do for family," said Mrs. Branson. "You know when you have more time, there's probably enough paint after we're done to add a nice stenciled border at the top," said Mrs. Branson.

Sybil looked to Tom, who seemed to like the idea. "We can probably do that after we're married."

"I can help you if you'd like," said Cathleen, after she had swallowed her bite of food. "I did the border in the kitchen and the bedrooms at home."

"I'd like that," said Sybil, after she had swallowed her own food. "We can work on that over the summer."

"When is the furniture to be delivered?" asks Cathleen.

"The bed is suppose to be delivered two weeks, Monday. The rest of the bedroom set in the two weeks after that. We have to order the pantry and work tables." Looking over at Tom, "Are you free over lunch on Monday to look?"

Tom nodded. "I've finished my column and it is being edited on Monday, so I think I can spare lunch."

She turned back to Cathleen. "I'm hoping that we'll get some replies next week to see some tables and chairs next Saturday. That just leaves finding a small table or desk and chair for Tom to use in the second bedroom when he has to work late."

"Don't you want something to sit on in front of the fireplace?" asked Cathleen.

"We'd like to have a couple of chairs or a sofa, but with the budget we have, we'll wait on that for now," Tom replied.

"What else have you got for the house?" asked Cathleen.

"Cathleen, hold your tongue," said Mrs. Branson. "It's as if I never taught you any manners."

"That's all right. We have nothing to hide," said Sybil with a smile. "See that broom and dustpan and that mop and bucket?"

Cathleen nodded.

"Aside from the furniture, a few candles, and items my parents are bringing over when they come, that's all we have," said Sybil.

"Do you have plates and cutlery?" asked Cathleen.

"My aunt in London is sending a twelve place setting including serving dishes and my sister and her fiancé are giving us a matching set of cutlery."

"This is Lady Mary and Sir Richard, right?" asked Cathleen. She had a good memory for names and had already memorized most of Sybil's family's names.

"Yes," said Sybil.

"Any pots and pans?" asked Cathleen, turning to her next thought.

"Not yet," said Tom. "But we'll wait and see what other gifts we receive first."

"Won't you need something after you're married?"

"Cathleen, that's enough," said Mrs. Branson as she started to get up. "This is not an inquisition. I think it would be best if we start on the second coat." Walking over to the first wall they painted to check, she continued. "Looks like the first coat is dry, so if we paint in the same order, we should be able to finish the work today."

As Tom and Connor started painting again, the women gathered up the lunch stuffs and folded the blankets and returned them to the carrying sacks before starting on the details and while Mrs. Branson left at around three o'clock in the afternoon to get food for supper and for tomorrow, the others worked in the same pattern as before until nearly eight o'clock when they finished off the last of the trim. They cleaned up quickly and hurried back to Tom's mother's place for supper.


The next morning, Tom arrived to pick Sybil up for their second service at Rathgar Christian Church. It was another thought provoking sermon, only it was on the Gospel of Mark this time. As the weather was sunny and they had been too busy the previous day, Tom and Sybil had a quick lunch at the public house they visited last week and went to their picnic spot in the park to spend the afternoon.

After laying down the blanket, they both took off their jackets to get settled comfortably. With Tom's back to a tree trunk and Sybil leaning against him, Tom's arms automatically encircled Sybil's waist to savour their time together. They sat in silence for a few moments. When Tom started nuzzling her neck, Sybil moved just out of his reach and said very quietly. "Something has been on my mind the last week that I can't figure out."

Tom stopped and looked at her wondering if it was something to do with Molly and asked nonchalantly, "What is it?"

Sybil thought some more about how to word her question. "Why were you willing to become intimate with Mrs. Hayes and the other two women without considering marriage while you won't consider it for us without being married? I know that we discussed this briefly last week about why you won't consider it for us, but I want to know why you were willing for them."

Tom knew that this was a question that would eventually come up when his mother initially told him about the dinner with Molly. He was hoping it wouldn't come up today, but with limited time to be alone with one another, he shouldn't have been too surprised. Tom thought about it a little before saying, "Partially, it was because I was younger. I know it's no excuse but I was a lot more impulsive back then."

Sybil turned to look at Tom. "You mean like when you held my hand at the garden party the day that war was declared?"

"I suppose," said Tom with a weak smile. "Though, obviously, I was even more impulsive with the others." When Sybil said nothing, Tom added, "To answer your question, the encounters were never planned. They just occurred usually after a dance or some other event when one thing led to another. Whereas for us, while I thought about being intimate with you, almost from the very beginning, I couldn't very well ask you out to a dance, the fair or even for a walk. Although I almost did try after we held hands, but we were interrupted by Mrs. Hughes."

"I remember that," said Sybil as she looked at her lap. "Because for weeks after, I wondered how you were going to finish that sentence."

"And now you know," said Tom as he lifted her chin to look her in the eye. "To get back to my answer to your question, I was risking my livelihood when I declared myself in York, and even then I had marriage in mind."

"But since I made my decision, why haven't we …"

Tom took her hand in his. "We talked about this last week and it's not that I don't want to, but we both know waiting is the right thing to do and I want to do what's right for us, for our marriage. Tell me honestly, would you be pushing as hard for us to become intimate before the wedding if you didn't know about Molly and the others?"

Sybil considered the question for a few moments before saying in a more quiet voice, "Perhaps not, but I do know that the last time we were here and we were kissing and all that, I probably wouldn't have asked you to stop until we had gotten a lot further than we did and at the time I didn't know about any of it."

"Fair enough," said Tom. After a momentary pause, he added, "Now I have another question. Does knowing about it make any difference in how you feel about me? About us?"

Without having to think about it, Sybil said, "No, I still love you as I ever did. I still want to marry you in four and a half weeks. That hasn't changed. However, now I have a more complete picture of you. It's certainly not the picture I had drawn in my mind, but then perhaps I had idealized you more than I should have."

As Sybil spoke, Tom let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. All that he made her go through in Yorkshire only to drop this bit on her lap when she came with him to Dublin made him feel extremely guilty, but it never occurred to him that he would see Molly again so soon since last he had heard she had moved to Killarney. If Sybil had answered any differently, he wasn't sure how he was going to fix things, but he knew that he loved her enough to let her go if she chose to judge him harshly for his past indiscretions.

The issue of Molly's eldest did come to mind, but after thinking it over the past week he figured that if the child was his, Molly would have come forward earlier. She was comfortable enough with the family to know that his mother would have believed her and living in Yorkshire would not have far enough away to get out of marrying her, if her son was his. When Sybil was done, Tom said, "I'm glad to hear it. I'm sorry I didn't tell you any of it before now and I had to drop this on you so suddenly. Will you be all right having dinner with Molly? I know you won't cause a scene, but I don't want to force you, if you weren't up to it. I will make up an excuse if I must."

"I can have dinner with Mrs. Hayes and I will be civil to her as I would be to any friend of the family," said Sybil. "However, I hope that you don't expect me to welcome her as a long lost sister."

"No, of course not," said Tom, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "I'm grateful that you are being so gracious. I don't think I could love you more."

Tom reached out with his free hand to pull her in for a kiss and he poured all of his feelings into it. Sybil responded in kind and it was the first kiss since the revelations that Tom felt didn't have Molly in between them and it was freeing. Sybil's arm went about his neck and played with the hair at the back of his head. Soon he was kissing her neck, the smell of lilacs from her perfume intoxicated him. He reached to unbutton her blouse before he thought better of it and instead just ghosted a hand over her clothed breast. "Oh, Tom!" Sybil then gently guided his head back up to kiss him again and her tongue sought his soon after their lips touched. As they continued to kiss, Tom pulled her onto his lap against his growing desire, his hand cupped her behind to hold her in place as he ground himself against her leg. When Sybil moaned into his mouth, Tom knew he had to stop and he slowly pulled out of their kiss.

As he rested his forehead against hers, he whispered huskily, "Does this show you how much I want you?"

Sybil caught her breath before saying in her own husky whisper, "Yes." She then reached down to unbutton his vest to hold him closer. She rested her head on his shoulder and put her hand on his chest under his vest.

They stayed like that for at least a half hour just savouring the closeness. It had been a long week and now that they had just gotten through the first real hurdle between them, they felt stronger for it.

Eventually, Sybil remembered something she had wanted Tom's opinion on and got off his lap to get to her pocketbook. She then pulled out Edith's letter and handed it to him. "I got this letter from Edith this week. I want you to read it and tell me what you think of Edith's state of mind."

Tom realized that this was a big step for Sybil, who normally didn't like to share thoughts about her family, so he carefully perused the pages several times before saying, "She seems very trapped and melancholy."

"That's what I thought, too," said Sybil. "Any ideas on how we can help her when she's here for the wedding?"

Tom handed the letter back to Sybil. "I suppose you could mention to your father about her desire to go to university, but is that what she really wants or is it just an opportunity to get away from home. If she were my sister, I would suggest that she come visit us after we're married, so that she can get away from the trap she feels at Downton, but I don't know whether it's something that she would consider since we don't live the way she's used to at home."

Surprised by Tom's offer, Sybil asked to confirm, "Would it really be all right if she were to come and visit?"

"If she gave us a few months to ourselves first I wouldn't mind," said Tom. "We'd have to borrow a bed from someone or buy one, and she'd have to use the second bedroom, but I'd be fine with the idea. If I need to, I could always work late at the office while she's here."

"And to think we laughed at the idea of Mary staying in the spare bedroom just a couple of weeks ago," said Sybil with a laugh. "It never occurred to me that Edith could be staying there."

"We'll see if she does," said Tom, still not convinced that any of Sybil's family would consider staying with them.

"Oh, did I mention that your mother showed me the nursing job lead she had for me on Thursday?" asked Sybil.

"No, tell me about it," said Tom, pulling her closer.

"There's a clinic being built about five blocks from our flat," said Sybil, relaxing against him. "Construction is underway and it won't be ready until September, but there was a nurses wanted sign, so I took down the particulars. I was planning to write an application letter tonight."

"I wonder what the clinic is," said Tom, his arms encircled her waist. "Did Ma know?"

"No," said Sybil. "She said she wasn't as familiar with the neighbourhood, but she said she'd ask around. Is there a type of clinic that you wouldn't want me to work at?"

"No, I don't think so," said Tom. "I'm just curious."

"I rather like the idea of a clinic because it means that the hours will be more reasonable than at a hospital or as a private nurse," Sybil confessed as she looked out into the distance.

"I'm happy about that, too," said Tom. "Presuming that you would like to continue with nursing after the children come, it would fit better into the children's schedule, especially when they are older."

"Though that thought has crossed my mind, I haven't applied for the job yet," said Sybil with a smile. "Let's not put the cart before the horse."

"While the children are young, you may not want to work as much or at all, but we should see if there's a marriage bar first," said Tom.

"I think it patently unfair that women have to stop working in certain professions after they marry or after they are with child for the first time," said Sybil. "What if they want to have a purpose outside the home?"

"Some don't have a choice and have to find other jobs, but you're right," said Tom. "If a married woman is able to continue, they shouldn't have to stop working. Look at Ma, where would we be if she couldn't continue working as a seamstress."

Turning to look at Tom, Sybil said, "I knew there was a reason why I'm marrying you," before leaning in to give him a quick kiss.

After the kiss, Tom asked, "Why? Is it because you could then live in a small flat in a war zone and learn to cook and clean, and be a nurse?"

"No, you cheeky boy," said Sybil. "It's because we see eye to eye on a lot of important things and because you've encouraged and supported me in more ways than I can count, and because you've helped me become a better person than I could have been without you." Unable to meet his gaze, Sybil averted her eyes before saying in a small voice, "And because I love you so very much that I can't imagine being parted from you."

Tom then lifted Sybil's chin up so that he could look into her eyes. "I love you, too, and I can't imagine being parted from you, either." He then leaned in for another kiss.

After the kiss, utterly contented in each other's company, they spent the rest of the afternoon watching the clouds drift by.

A/N2: So the flat has been painted and it looks like Sybil and Tom have worked out their issues regarding Molly for now.

As always, please feel free to point out typos and grammatical errors (though with a wonderful copy editor on my beta team you will find quite a few less). Sometimes no matter how hard you or your betas look, these things get missed. As always, I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter good or bad, so please do review. :)