A/N: As many of you asked, here is a bit more of what was hinted at in the last chapter. I know a lot of stories have dealt with this storyline since the CS, but I'd like to think mine's a bit different. Tell me what you think!

Song: Sweet Disposition - Temper Trap

Although they both wished such a routine could have occurred in Dublin, it was nice at Downton too, especially with both him and Sybil back to work. The rest of the family had returned from Scotland just a few days ago, and already the house was back to its usual patter of rushed feet down open hallways.

Sybil had begun to work with Dr. Clarkson again, just as she told Tom she would. He loved watching her get ready, usual after he had returned from his morning review with Matthew, when he'd sit at his desk and stair at her through the mirror hanging on the wall above his head. This time was supposed to be spent comparing tax records and going over other finances to compare last year's revenue to this year's, but he was distracted by her.

He missed the old headscarf she used to wear, but he enjoyed how she was able to do a job, the same job she had always loved, even after war and a child of her own. Sybil was strong, and it was attractive to Tom that his wife not only worked but wanted to work. The wages he earned as estate manager were more than enough to keep his family sustained and happy, but it was about more than just money to Sybil, and Tom knew that.

As he walked silently up the steps he stopped in the nursery. He found Maddie standing up in her crib, smiling wildly at her father. Tom could only smile back, never able to deny the child the affection she so clearly deserved. He was his world, just as her mother was, and as she got older, Tom found himself wanting more. Sybil and he had discussed it, but such words were usually hushed by their lovemaking. They agreed that if it were meant to happen it would.

Leaning down, Tom picked up Maddie, and held her in his arms. She giggled, her lips blowing raspberries to express her joy as he brought her out of the nursery down the hall to the bedroom he shared with Sybil.

The door was open, causing Tom's shoulders to drop. He knew what that meant, and his notion was confirmed as he walked in and found Edna making their bed.

Normally he and Sybil would do it, just as they did in Dublin, but with both of them working it often was left unmade. They didn't mind, but Tom overhead Carson discussing it with Mrs. Hughes one day and it seemed such a practice was not allowed at Downton, even if the door to their room was to remain shut so that nobody could see.

Edna must have received the order to tidy up, but Tom was thankful she was nearing the end, evident as she went over to the chair where she had set their pillows down. Edna saw Tom and smiled as she fluffed the pillows and placed them on the bed. "Hello, Mr. Branson."

Tom sighed. Part of him knew that he was no better than this girl, and that deep down she was probably quite lovely. Another part of him had become one with this house and expected, just as the rest of the family did, that the servants were not here to make small talk. Knowing this, and wishing for silence and privacy as he played with his daughter by the fireplace, Tom merely smiled back, hoping it would not continue.

But it did, just as it always had. Edna always had things to say to Tom and questions to ask that he was sure she didn't need answers to.

He was on the floor with Maddie now, handing her a block. Tom was sure this would also be frowned upon by Carson, but he laughed all the same, loving watching his daughter chew the wood. When the child was no longer fixated on the block, she moved quickly onto a small doll, pulling at the arms and stretching the cotton material of the doll's dress as she lifted the doll above her head and screamed out in joy.

Tom looked over his shoulder to the clock above the fireplace and noticed that Edna was still in the room. "Edna?"

"Can I ask you something, Tom?"

Tom winced at the sound of his name coming from this woman. Even most of the family still called him Branson, and in all honesty, he liked it that way. Sybil was really the only one to call him Tom. He liked that as well.

Tom stood but managed to keep a watchful eye on Maddie, knowing that her newly learned crawling skills had gotten her in trouble lately. "You can if you call me Mr. Branson." As soon as he said the words, he felt guilty, thinking back to when he and Sybil put aside pleasantries all those nights in the garage. But that was different and they never saw each other divided the way he now saw the line so clearly drawn between him and Edna.

"How did you come to be estate manager?"

Tom smiled, thinking of the love story that he would soon tell his children. That was how he became estate manager, he thought. Because he fell in love. But as he looked up, to reveal a thought that he was so proud of, he saw Edna sitting on the edge of the bed he and Sybil shared lovingly every night. "Edna, please don't sit there," he commented, not wanting to sound as harsh as he did. He was growing comfortable and he was sure that such a thing was as evident to Edna as it was to him.

She stood at his request, but continued to smile at him, with her hands tucked neatly behind her back. She appeared to him much like a child would: uninhibited and energetic. "I think it's nice that people can move up in life, is all. At whatever cost," she stated, clearly misunderstanding what exactly it was that brought Tom to Downton, then to Dublin and back again. It was clear to Tom now that all niceties were to be set aside for as long as Edna remained in this house. Was she really insinuating that he had married Sybil to move up in life?

"Tom?"

Tom softened at the sound of his wife's voice coming in through the door. It calmed him, and reminded him of what was important. Edna curtsied and quickly left. Sybil smiled at the housemaid before running over to where Madeleine was crawling toward a potted plant. "Madeleine Sophia, do not touch that!" She instructed, causing the child to stop in her tracks and change her path toward her mother.

Sybil could only smile. She picked up her daughter and put her on her lap as she sat down on the bed. Sybil placed a smattering of kisses to the child's face, and Tom watched, loving moments like this when it was just the three of them.

"What was that about?" Sybil inquired, not allowing her face to show anything other than curiosity. As she waited for her husband's reply she continued to smile at their daughter, loving how she smiled back and laughed as her mother tickled her little tummy.

Tom joined his two girls on the bed, sitting close enough to Sybil so he was practically over her shoulder. "She seems to have quite an interest in learning my ways."

Now Sybil looked at Tom. She arched an eyebrow. "Your ways?"

Tom smirked. "Apparently I married you to move up in life."

Sybil let out a rather loud laugh. "Oh did you? Pity." She kissed her husbands lips and then passed their daughter off to him before she stood up and began to rid her body of the apron still wrapped around her waist from work. "She's sweet on you."

"I don't think I like her,"

Sybil turned around, looking over to Tom as she put her earring back in their holes. "She works here. You don't have to like her, you just have to respect her."

"She makes me feel uncomfortable." A beat and then: "I never made you feel uncomfortable, did I?"

Sybil dropped her hands and began to laugh again. "Tom Branson, you are on a roll this morning. No!" She piped out with the help of another laugh. "You never made me feel uncomfortable. Let me remind you that it was always me visiting you in the garage."

Tom set Maddie down on the floor. Sybil took this opportunity to take her daughter's place, sitting on Tom's lap. The moment and the conversation they were having was lost for a minute as the two shared a slow kiss. When they pulled away, they both smiled, with Sybil running her thumb over his lips. "If she really makes you uncomfortable you need to tell Mrs. Hughes."

"I can't do that…"

"Yes you can! You live here now. You have every right as I do. What if a footman were asking me odd questions about my life in Dublin? What then?"

Tom raised an eyebrow. "I'd kill him."

Another laugh from Sybil. "I bet you would."

"But I used to work here too, Syb. I don't want her to lose her job. I just want her to leave me alone."

"Will you stop being so weak? I'm serious, Tom. Discuss it with Mrs. Hughes. You know she loves you. She will handle it."

"That will surely start something. I could make passes at you and she can't make passes at me?"

"First off," Sybil began, pressing a finger to Tom's lips. She was oddly fascinated with him this morning. Last night it was his forearms, and the night before, the hair on his chest, but this morning it was most definitely his lips. "I allowed you to make passes at me. Secondly," she said, her voice growing stern now,"please don't ever compare what we had and what we have to a housemaid hitting on you. If you don't talk to Mrs. Hughes, I will."

"Fine," he sighed. "How was work?"

Sybil sat up straight and pressed a hand to her chest. He followed the line her fingers made, causing his eyes to stare at her breasts and the way they pushed at the soft purple cotton shirt she wore. "Lovely! Mrs. Campbell's going to have her baby soon. A week or so, I'd say."

"That's good."

"It is. Do you know they've been trying for four years?" Sybil's eyes widened at the information she revealed rather haphazardly. Immediately, she moved her fingers from her chest up to her lips to keep any more things from slipping out.

Tom chuckled. "No, but I do now."

"I wasn't supposed to tell you that…"

"I guessed that."

"Don't tell anyone."

Tom raised an eyebrow causing Sybil to laugh. "I'll try not to reveal that to Matthew when we share our town gossip."

"Oh!" Sybil said, swatting his shoulder. The two allowed their glance to travel down to where Maddie was sitting, right at Tom's feet. She looked up at her mother and father with wide eyes, the same eyes she had inherited from her mother and always wore when she wanted something. Sybil was happy to give it to her, leaning down to hoist the small child up onto Tom's other knee.

"Hi baby," Sybil whispered as the child smiled back at her. "What are your plans for the rest of the day?"

Tom sighed. "I actually have to head back out soon. I was going to go grab something quick to eat and then leave. Do you want to join me? Maybe we could eat outside before I go…"

Sybil sighed. "I can't. I told Edith I'd go to Ripon with her."

Tom kissed her cheek and then helped her to stand up. "Alright."

Sybil grabbed Madeleine from Tom's lap and watched him go, leaving her and Maddie to watch. She bounced the child on her hip. "Where's daddy going?"

Tom looked back to Sybil and their daughter, standing directly beneath the light hanging above. It illuminated them both and suddenly he didn't want to go. "I'll be back well before dinner. I was going to eat then because Matthew and I have that town meeting tonight. Will you be home?"

Sybil smiled, suddenly missing Dublin more than she ever had lately. "I think so."

Tom smiled, and grabbed at the back of Sybil's neck to place a kiss to her forehead. She closed her eyes and let it happen, then opened them again to see that he had done the same thing to Madeleine.

"Be safe," she called after him as he disappeared out the door.

Mary passed Tom in the hallway and smiled at him. She had just sent Matthew off as well and she knew that this would be time that her and her youngest sister could spend together as they so often did.

She knocked on the door, knowing better than to invite herself into the bedroom of a married couple, even if the door was slightly ajar. "Come in," Sybil called on.

She was on the bed now, leaning up on her elbow to stare at Maddie who sat chewing on her doll. Mary joined them, walking to the bed to sit down. "I saw Tom leave."

"Work," Sybil sighed. She smiled too, but Mary shrugged such an act off as being utterly disingenuous. She knew that her sister's relationship with her husband was far different from the relationship she shared with Matthew.

"He does it for you," Mary reminded as Madeleine crawled toward her. "He wouldn't work as hard if he didn't care about making you and Maddie happy."

Sybil looked up and smiled. "I know that."

Mary handed a rattle to Madeleine, watching as the infant put that in her mouth as well. It reminded Mary of the other day at lunch when the same child, set off near the dining table on a blanket, chose to pull at Isis' tail and try to put that in her mouth. Sybil and Tom immediately stood up and ran to her, but Mary and Matthew laughed, almost as a silent reminder of the children they'd someday have.

"Do you have a moment?"

Sybil nodded. "Are you pregnant?" Her eyes widened quickly.

Mary closed her eyes and shook her head. She let a smile spread across her thin lips, letting such a thing go only because she knew Sybil cared that much. Almost as much as she did herself. "I wish. But no. Soon," she said, almost as if she could feel it. "I actually wanted to talk to you about that maid Edna."

Sybil rolled her eyes. "Not you too?"

"What else have you heard?"

"Oh no, I thought you meant she had been talking with Matthew as well."

"I'm afraid not. Just Tom…"

Sybil leant back. The wear of the day was beginning to weigh heavy on her and she thought about how she really would enjoy a nap. "What do you mean?"

"I passed the hall when they were talking before. She's awfully forward," Mary stated. "It's clear she's interested in him."

"I've dealt with girls like her before. But it doesn't matter. He's not interested in her."

"Just be careful," Mary managed.

Sybil sat up. One of her legs drifted off the bed and down toward the ground, leaving the other to bend in toward her on the bed. "What do you mean?"

Mary sighed. "I just mean that you know how all of this works-"

"No I do not!" Sybil corrected, raising her voice to a volume that nearly startled Maddie. The child, with the rattle still in her mouth stared at her mother now, urging Sybil to calm down. "So why don't you explain it to me," she whispered now, her voice coming out scratchier than usual. "What are you getting at? Are you saying that because Tom used to work here that he'd be inclined to take this girl up on her offers?"

"Sybil, that's not what I'm saying. All I'm saying is that I heard their conversation and it's clear the girl has feelings for your husband. And he is your husband and I know how much Tom loves you so I would never allude to anything on his part. All I'm saying is that he did nothing to stop it."

"I know. He told me. He feels ashamed because he says he used to do the same thing to me. As if-"

"Well is that true?"

Sybil was standing now, with her arms crossed stiffly across her chest. Her gaze was transfixed out the window, as she bit at the nails of the hand she held in a fist near her lips. "NO!"

"Sybil, I'm sure this is just as difficult for him as this is for you. I know this isn't the life you two wanted but now you have it. And he is just a part of this house as you or I and this girl needs to be dealt with."

"He told me to leave it be. I know he doesn't want her to be fired." Sybil bit her lip and then turned back to Mary. "I said that to him once…"

With Madeleine in her arms, Mary walked to Sybil, placing a loving hand to her back. "Oh, darling, this conversation wasn't meant to go here. Listen to me," she said, picking up her sister's chin with her thumb and forefinger, "what happened all those years ago between you and Tom is not at all what is happening now. You didn't tell anyone about Tom because you were falling in love with him. He's not saying anything about this girl because he doesn't feel as if it's his place. But guess what? It is his place because you two are married now and your love isn't a secret. If he wants, I'll go talk to Mrs. Hughes with him…"

Sybil laughed, wiping a lone tear off her cheek. "No. He can do it. He's just too damn nice!"

Mary smiled. "No. He's scared. I can't say I'd think it were my place if it were him. But it is and Carson, no matter what he thinks of Tom, loves you and wouldn't allow that behavior here."

"Thank you."

The eldest Crawley sister shook her head. "I love you, Sybil. Just because we're married now and you with children doesn't mean I stop looking out for you."

Sybil looked up. "You'll have children soon, Mary. I can feel it…"

"Thanks for looking out for me as well."

"Edith and I are headed into Ripon. Do you want to come?"

"Whose watching Maddie?" Mary asked, referring to the child resting on her hip playing with the string of beads hanging around her neck.

Sybil smiled. "She's coming with us, of course."

"Can I stay with her?"

"You want to stay with her? It'll only be an hour but she'll need to eat and be changed…"

"Please?"

Sybil could only smile, but she felt the pull in her heart and the drop of her gut at her sister's clear want of a child of her own. Of course she could watch the child, and Sybil trusted her to be attentive and caring. She had heard a woman in town talking the other day about how it was good Mary had yet to bare a child because she feared the child would be as cold as her mother. But Sybil knew better; Mary wasn't cold. She was calculated, but she had a big heart, and she knew that someday, hopefully soon, she would be the best mother.

Thanks so much for reading! Only 5 more chapters after this one! Eeep!

Don't forget to check out Beautiful Collisions on my profile page if you have yet to do so! I'm going to begin posting regularly to that as soon as this story is finished.

x. Elle