Linda Branson greeted them as they pulled up in front of the house, her head rising abruptly above the hedge from where she had been weeding and heard the sound of the car's engine. Shortly to turn sixty, her face was tanned and lined from a lifelong passion for gardening and her tussled hair displayed hints of sun kissed fair streaks.

"Darling!" she called, waving a gloved hand wildly and smiled so enthusiastically towards the passenger seat that Sybil warmed to her instantly.

"Nana!" Josh gesticulated frantically from the back, then fiddled with his car seat for release.

"Is that our birthday boy?" Linda turned her head towards the open front door of the house. "David! They're here!"

Before they reached the front gate, Tom's father emerged, striding energetically along the path, his arm aloft. Silver haired and lean with the Branson blue eyes twinkling a welcome, Sybil caught a glimpse of Tom in the years to come.

Josh was swept up by hugs and kisses before Linda released him and leant forward to embrace both Tom and Sybil in swift succession. "How lovely to meet you, Sybil. Thank you for coming all this way to see us!"

Sybil beamed at her. "Thank you for making me feel so instantly welcome!" she said and meant it sincerely.

David replicated his wife's greeting before taking Josh's hand and pretending to look thoughtful. "Do we have anything for Josh inside, Linda? I don't think we do, do we?"

Josh began his customary stationary bounce of excitement. "You do, you do!" he giggled and his grandfather pulled him close as they began to walk towards the house.

"Well perhaps we might, let's go and take a look."

As Tom hung his jacket on a hook in the hallway, his mother began peeling off her gardening gloves and walking to the kitchen.

"How was the party?" she called over her shoulder and Tom indicated with his head that they should follow. It was a spacious 1930s built house, incomparable to Downton in size or grandeur but Sybil caught sight of a study and two reception rooms before they entered the bright and roomy kitchen. Linda filled the kettle before thoroughly washing her hands, smiling indulgently towards the farmhouse style wooden table at which Josh was peering curiously at a pile of brightly coloured presents.

"Can I open them?" he asked eagerly, reaching out a finger to caress the wrapping paper in awe.

"Let's just get some drinks and then you can, yes. There's something from Uncle Kieran there too" his grandmother replied with a smile. "Some milk, Josh or we've got juice or squash?"

Peering into a cupboard, she reached for a packet of biscuits, then turned her head towards Tom.

"You know, Dad and I could easily get down to Kilkenny for the day. It's no bother."

Sybil watched Tom shift his weight from one foot to another, his right hand reaching back to scratch his neck.

"Well weren't you both working yesterday?" he asked with what Sybil felt was forced brightness.

"Yes, but we could have taken the day off. We're happy to do that for our only grandson's birthday."

"I think Eddie presumed that being a Friday, you wouldn't be able to come, that's all."

"Still…" Linda pulled a strip of cardboard off the side of the biscuit packet with marked force. "…it would be nice to be asked."

"Linda…" David's voice was laced with warning from across the room and he stared meaningfully at her.

Linda shook her head. "I only meant…."

Tom quickly interjected. "Well it'll be on a Saturday next year so I'll be sure to let her know that you'd like to come along."

His mother turned to him, her expression wholly amiable. "That's all I ask."

They sat down companionably with their drinks, chocolate biscuits presented on a china plate and Josh hastily consumed two, displaying a child's logic that they could at any moment be inexplicably whisked away again. His presents were opened and admired, the new Lego kit immediately spread out over the table for construction before being swiftly abandoned for the reading of a new storybook by David.

Linda nudged the biscuit plate towards Sybil again who smiled and shook her head. Tom leant across to take one and earned a stern look from his mother.

"Dad's had his cholesterol checked…" she warned. "…he's having to be very careful."

Tom took a deliberate bite and grinned across the room towards his father. "Sorry about that Dad, but you know, you're sixty two and I'm thirty three. I've got a while. And anyway Mam, you're practically trying to shove another one down Sybil's throat, what about her health or is this your way of subtly eradicating the British aristocracy?"

A pink flush quickly spread across Linda's face and she shifted in her seat, looking both uncomfortable and annoyed, opening her mouth to refute her son's attempt to tease. Tom began to chuckle and Sybil felt stirrings of sympathy, deciding that she had been handed the opportunity to remove a possible obstacle between her and Tom's parents. Their strong principled socialism had been well documented by their younger son.

"Please don't worry, I don't take offence from people disagreeing with the aristocracy" she assured and Linda began to shake her head rapidly, as if to dismiss the notion.

"Mam!" Tom guffawed and Sybil gently placed a hand on his knee in an effort to silence him.

"I don't actually agree with the principle myself to be honest. But there you are, you can't help where you're born. I live entirely independently from them. But they're good people, regardless of what anyone might think of their position."

Linda exhaled loudly, her relief at common ground evident. "Oh yes, I met your mother once…."

Sybil smiled. "Yes the school tombola. She remembered."

"That's right. Well she was a very nice lady. American isn't she, by birth? I found her very approachable actually." Linda's voice slowed, her embarrassment beginning to diminish. "She invited me to join the Women's Institute, I seem to remember."

"She's still very involved with that."

"It wasn't really my thing, in all honesty." Linda looked uncomfortable again and Sybil pulled a face to put her at ease.

"Me neither. But each to their own!"

"Exactly!" They exchanged a smile and Sybil leant back into the sofa, hoping that the first hurdle had been overcome.

The day passed without further impediments. They had lunch and walked to a nearby playground, forced to run the latter part of the journey home when it began to unexpectedly rain. Sybil created a Lego garage from scratch on the living room carpet with Josh, impressing three generations with her knowledge of compressors and carburettors.

"I had a short lived relationship with a mechanic, years ago." she admitted. "I spent more time than I would have ideally wanted, watching him work. Some of it rubbed off."

Following a family dinner and DVD, Josh was reluctantly accompanied upstairs and Sybil sat on the edge of the bath, taking part for the first time in the daily evening ritual which she had observed her sisters perform with their children. Josh seemed delighted by her attendance, using it as an opportunity to perform, entertain and ultimately divert his father's attention from the end result.

Once he had finally accepted defeat and listened happily to stories read by both Tom and Sybil, they returned downstairs. Sybil was feeling relaxed, enjoying a glass of white wine and listening to light jazz on the stereo when Tom's father surprised her with his subject matter.

"How did you get on with Eddie?" he asked, his expression etched with curiosity. Before Sybil had a chance to gather her thoughts and offer a measured opinion, he provided a hint of his own.

"She can be a tricky character at times. Still, not an easy situation for any of you."

Tom fidgeted awkwardly in his seat, but didn't contribute, watching her intently. Linda placed her own glass down on a nearby table, laying her hands on her lap with expectation.

"I think we were probably as nervous as each other." Sybil said carefully and three heads nodded in unison. She twisted the stem of her glass between her fingers and decided that she wanted no untruthfulness between them.

"It wasn't great in all honesty. I think it's fair to say that she would have preferred me not to have been there…" She glanced in Tom's direction, hoping that he would back her up and was rewarded by him taking her hand and offering his contribution.

"Sybil handled it brilliantly. And you know…" he paused for a moment "…Eddie was very busy with all the arrangements so it was difficult for them to have a chance to get to know one another, really."

"I think it's important for us to try and get along, so we will get to know each other over time." Sybil nodded sincerely, still staunchly of the belief that there was no room for doubt.

"She's doing a wonderful job with Josh, I have to admit…" David offered and frowned when his wife immediately cut in over him.

"But we feel a little side-lined."

"I'm not sure that we have the right to…"

"We have every right, David. We're as much his grandparents as Joseph and Jean. Of course she's going to want their help more than ours, they're her parents, but Tom's been fully involved throughout, it's not as if he abandoned her!"

Tom sighed, rubbing his temple. "It's a constant balancing act" he admitted. "But sometimes I think you let your frustration colour your opinion of her, Mam. It's not entirely fair."

"I've only ever tried to be friendly and helpful to her…"

"But you're not local to her so there's very little you can do on a day to day basis. You have him here a lot, you are very involved, but the fact is that it's not a conventional arrangement. I think you've just got to stop comparing it to Kieran's girls. It's a different situation, Mam!"

Linda remained silent, offering only a dismissive shrug to indicate that she was not intending to persue the matter further. Her husband cleared his throat and spoke with an air of authority.

"Well, we need present a united front for Josh's sake. All of us. No matter what our personal opinions are."

The conversation moved towards less contentious issues. They discussed Ripon with Linda and David sharing memories of their time there and a handful of mutual acquaintances.

"Are you the only couple from your school year, do you know or did anyone else end up together?" Linda asked curiously.

Sybil shook her head. "I don't know of any others. Not from our year anyway. There was a couple in my sister Edith's class who were married but then unfortunately got divorced."

"Was that the class Kieran was in?" Linda tipped her head while Tom and Sybil exchanged knowing glances.

"Yes. Edward Bailey and Tamara Ellison. You can ask him if he remembers them. But there might yet be another romance from our year."

Sybil caught Tom's eye in an attempt to remind him of the information she had recently shared. A wide grin swept over his face. "Yes we've been matchmaking and Sybil's friend Anna has got back in touch with this guy John Bates who I was quite friendly with. They both liked each other at school and we brought them together on Facebook."

"And now Anna's going over to Dubai where he lives!" Sybil declared with triumph.

"To live?" Tom's mother asked.

Sybil shook her head. "No just on holiday. She works for a big Tour Operator and sometimes gets offered cheap flights. She's travelling with a colleague but apparently John's going to meet her for a drink at the hotel one evening, so you never know!" She circled a hand around in the air with a flourish, excited at the potential for her close friend and ignoring the logistical complications.

The conversation continued genially until Tom's parents retired for the night and left Tom and Sybil side by side on the sofa, generously replenished with drinks.

"Mam gets a bit emotional about Eddie and the whole situation from time to time, although you wouldn't know it whenever she actually sees her. It's just not what she wanted for me, that's all."

Sybil took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Look, it's not going to be easy, I know that."

He looked abruptly grave. "But it doesn't put you off? I'd understand if it did. I know I've said that before but I mean it. I'd rather you told me if you have any doubts."

She held his gaze. "I want you and Josh comes with you and therefore so does Eddie. I accept that. I suppose I do wish it was less complicated in many ways, but then I'm already very fond of Josh and can't now imagine him not being part of this relationship. "

"You're very good with him. I couldn't ask for any more in that respect."

"Well I like kids, I told you that. It's fun. Especially when you're not the parent. I get to do all the fun and silly bits. What's not to like?"

"Do you still want some of your own?" He posed the question cautiously but it was bait and Sybil seized it.

"I think I should probably turn that around and ask if you would ever want another one?" His features softened and she hurriedly continued. "Once again, we seem to be in very deep territory quite early on, but then this is completely unlike any other relationship I've ever had. But I would like to know, going forward, where you stand on that. It makes a difference for me."

Tom looked abruptly uncomfortable. "What are you hoping I'll say?"

"No, no…" she gave him a playful nudge. "You have to tell me what you think. Otherwise it's worthless."

"I'm nervous about the thought of having another child" he admitted. "Partly because it's been so tricky, but of course having one with someone I'm actually in love with would be different. Living in the same house, being there every day. That's what I want deep down. It's never going to happen with Josh, but the thought of having that for another child is appealing."

Sybil nodded and waited while he carefully considered his next words. "And partly because I worry that I couldn't love another child as much as Josh. I know that probably sounds silly…"

"No it doesn't!" Sybil interrupted. "I think everyone probably thinks that. My Mum told me that she felt the same thing after Mary was born and certainly Mary's going through similar thoughts about having another one in the future."

Tom rubbed the side of his neck. "Yeah, I know but it's not just that. It's because he's not had the best start…" He shook his head and corrected himself. "…not the ideal start anyway. I think I feel as if I owe him more love than any other potential sibling who'd be in a more secure position from the beginning. Does that sound stupid?"

He looked so unusually uncertain that Sybil felt her heart constrict. "No darling, it doesn't" she said gently and rested her head on his shoulder. "It sounds like the understandable concerns of a wonderful father." Slipping his arm around her waist, he turned to kiss the top of her head.

"You haven't answered my original question" he reminded and she smiled, nestling against his body, their fingers entwined.

"Well I don't know about some, but yes I'd still like to be a mother someday."

She heard him softly exhale. "Something for us to think about" he said.

She lifted her head and looked him in the eye. "I'm not in any great hurry."

"Okay"

"Just one day, before I get too old."

"Well that gives us a bit of time yet."

They were each silent for a while, lost in their thoughts and the potential created by the conversation.

Tom spoke first. "And unlike at your parents' house, we're allowed to sleep in the same bed here."

She flashed a grin. "Very liberal of them."

"Well I've already got one woman pregnant, so I guess they think it can't get much worse!" He hesitated and pulled a face. "Mind you, I can't say that I particularly relish the idea of having sex on the opposite side of the wall from my parents."

"That's okay" Sybil replied, her lips twitching. "We made up for it last night."

Tom tickled her waist. "That's true." Then he lowered his voice. "You know that thing you did…?"

Abruptly Sybil placed a hand over his mouth and giggled. "Tom, I have no more desire to discuss it in your parents' house than you have to do it."

Tom wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her close and bestowing a more amorous kiss on her lips. "Fair enough" He raised his eyebrows and switched to a sultry tone. "But I'll be wanting a replay when we get home to Wales."

ooOoo

Days later, Sybil met Gwen back in Cardiff for a long overdue evening out. In a mutually favoured bar, they shared a crisp bottle of Pinot Grigio and mouth-watering plates of food – hot, sticky chicken wings, potato wedges lightly sprinkled with cayenne pepper, golden breaded mushrooms dipped in aioli, mixed olives, a hearty bowl of Greek salad. They ate hungrily, wiping their fingers on paper napkins and discussing Eddie with earnest animation. Sybil felt a sense of relief to be able to discuss the situation without an obligation towards self-censure. She was nervous of disturbing a precarious equilibrium when it was raised with Tom, wary that she had not yet been fully briefed on all aspects of his relationship with Josh's mother.

Sybil relayed her experience of the party and Gwen listened carefully. "I'm not being funny right…" she said in her lilting Welsh Valley tone "…but it was never going to be an easy introduction, was it?"

"No" Sybil admitted. "But if it had been under any other circumstances, I'd have thought her bloody rude at times."

Gwen shrugged her shoulders. "If it had been under any other circumstances, you might have got on like a house on fire!"

"Perhaps" Sybil was unconvinced, but wondered if her impression of Eddie had been distorted by Tom subsequently mentioning her faults. "Anyway we need to get on. There's no point in dwelling on what she thinks of me, deep down. It's the situation that frightens her, having another important adult in Josh's life. We just have to move forward from that and hopefully she'll be more accepting as time goes on and we get to know one another a bit better. I'm never going to compete with her, I'll just be another person to help him in life."

Gwen chewed thoughtfully. "It sounds as if you're committed then? You and Tom? This is it, you think?"

Sybil dipped her head and automatically blushed, basking in an abrupt wave of happiness. "I think so" she said with a smile. "I mean, we're not talking about doing anything official, but I wouldn't have taken the first steps with Eddie if I wasn't intending to be around for the future."

"Well, at least you already know that Tom's good fatherhood material!" her friend pointed out.

"That's true. Not that I've judged men in the past on that basis."

"Really?" Gwen looked surprised. "I have, I think it's important. Remember that guy Rhys I saw for a bit?" Sybil nodded, recalling that she had never really warmed to him. He was often looking over her shoulder whenever she spoke to him, as if he was hoping to catch a glimpse of somebody more interesting and an opportunity to escape.

"He was crap with my niece, Ellie." Gwen continued, wrinkling her nose with distaste at the recollection. "She was only a few months old at the time and he always looked at her as if she was a bad smell." She giggled. "She probably did stink to be fair, but I knew he'd never be a good Dad. Jonathan gave Ellie a big cwtch*, the first time he met her. Then he got down on the floor and played with her teddies. I knew right then that he was the man for me."

Sybil smiled, watching her friend stare into mid-air, her eyes glazed with contentment. "He'll be great, you both will."

"And you will be too." Gwen refocused and swiftly handed back the compliment. "You've always had a way with kids. And it's important that you've already had that conversation with Tom. You wouldn't want to get further down the line and find out that he'd already had his fill of nappies and babies."

Sybil chewed her lip, still not entirely confident of Tom's agreement towards another child, but certain that he would not want his personal thoughts on the matter shared. Although she understood his apprehensions, she would want his unequivocal agreement before she made any official commitment for the future.

"Anyway, how's all the family?" Gwen asked brightly and Sybil gave a heavy sigh, remembering the other issue which was weighing heavily on her mind.

"Stressed at the moment, unfortunately." She thought back to the telephone call with her mother three days earlier. "Their official caterer has gone bust and they've still got two more weddings to host over the next month. There were some problems earlier in the year and Dad thought he'd sorted it all out, but anyway the company ceased trading last week, two days before Downton was hosting a wedding for eighty people."

Gwen clasped a hand to her mouth. "Oh my God. What happened?"

"My parents' cook, Mrs Patmore stepped in. I mean, she wasn't obliged to. She's only employed for domestic meals but she's been working there for years and she wanted to try and help. She hired some students that she'd worked with on my grandmother's birthday lunch and they all mucked in. Even my Dad was garnishing vol-au-vents, apparently!"

Gwen pulled a face. "Stressful"

"Yes" Sybil nodded. Her mother had brushed aside her daughter's concern, confident that they could muddle through the rest of the season and start afresh with another company the following year. But privately Mary had told Sybil how most of the profit would be erased by additional wages and purchasing food directly from the supermarket. She was trying to help her father with a damage limitation exercise, but her input was restricted by being in Glasgow and she was unable to take any leave.

"It'll be better when Mary's finished with The Commonwealth Games and can move to Downton full time. I just think my parents are getting a bit out of their depth with it all, they need Mary to manage it full time. And Mary needs to be living with her husband and son, rather than spending most of the week several hundred miles away." Sybil leant back in her chair and patted the table in front of her, wanting to draw the conversation to a close. She could be of no practical help, living so far away and her parents wouldn't welcome their problems becoming public knowledge. "But it's not going to happen for another year, so I guess my Mum's right. They'll have to muddle through somehow for the time being. Anyway, another drink?"

Gwen shifted in her seat and scratched her ear. "Um, I'll just have a soft drink please. A juice or something?"

Sybil stood up and leaning across the table, theatrically placed the back of her hand against her friend's forehead. "Are you not feeling well?"

Gwen smiled with visible discomfort. "I'm fine, I'm just trying to look after myself a bit more, that's all."

"Oh!" Clarification washed over Sybil and she sat back down heavily. "Are you pregnant?" she mouthed.

Gwen shook her head. "No. Not yet. I wouldn't have drunk half a bottle of wine if I was."

"But you're trying already? I thought you were going to leave it a year?"

"Well I'm a bit older than you, Syb. I've already hit thirty five and I just thought that I should get on with it, really." She shook her head and gave an affected shrug. "It'll probably take ages, so we might as well get started." An impish grin then flashed across her face. "You know, we're getting plenty of practice in!"

"Well good luck" said Sybil with an earnest smile, thinking as she did so that things would never be quite the same again.

Gwen seemed to sense her wistfulness. "I'll still be coming out you know, you're not getting rid of me that easily! And even after I've had a baby, I still want our nights out!"

Sybil nodded with a knowing smile, believing that like her sisters, Gwen was unprepared for the scale of change that a baby would bring.

"You won't be far behind me, I reckon!" Gwen had misunderstood her contemplation. But Sybil felt under no pressure to compete. She had been honest when she explained to Tom that she was in no hurry to have her own child. In part, the idea frightened her, regardless of her love for Tom and the growing belief that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She had always been fiercely independent and whether in a relationship or not, enjoyed the opportunity to make spontaneous decisions, unhindered by the needs of others. She felt that there was a kind of finality in having one's own child. She needed to be willing to cast aside her liberation and feel wholly unresentful. Making new life was a joint responsibility and she wanted it to be on their terms. She and Tom each had fears to overcome before they could contemplate taking such a big step. Nature would play its part in the timescale, but they would not be swayed by the enthusiasm of others.

For the time being, however, there was no fun to be had in drinking alone. "Come on…" she indicated her head towards the street outside "…I'd suggest coffee but I'll be up all night. Let's go and get some hot chocolate in the café near the bus stop."

Gwen picked up her coat and stood up. "Mmmm, good idea. With marshmallows and cream please."

Sybil wagged her finger and pretended to look severe. "You're not eating for two yet, Gwen."

Her friend linked her arm through Sybil's as they walked out of the door. "As I said, I'm practicing!"

A/N *cwtch is the Welsh word for cuddle but is used by English speakers too (pronounced cootch). Shortly after moving to Wales, I went to visit my newborn niece and my sister-in-law asked if I would like a little cwtch. Despite not knowing what she was talking about, I agreed, wondering if she was offering me some type of cake. Then she handed me a baby! Now I say it all the time with my kids, it's a very comforting word.