Author's note -

As always, thank you so much to everyone who has read/followed/reviewed/favourited the story so far! I love to hear from you.

Chapter 6 - Family matters

The bedroom door slowly opened, and Tom pushed his way in with a tray - "Sybil - you awake yet?" He walked over to the bed and saw she was stirring, her long lashes flickering on her cheeks.

As he put the tray down, her eyes opened and she smiled. "Morning, love. Is that tea - mmm, thank you, just what I fancy." She sat up in bed and let the duvet fall to her waist, revealing her naked body to Tom's eager eyes with a lack of self-consciousness that drove him totally crazy.

"You can have it a bit later on - something else I fancy first..." he murmured, sitting down on the bed next to her and gently pushing her back against the pillows.

Sybil pretended to resist - "Tom - really? We've got my family thing today, and... oh well, twist my arm..." She giggled and put her arms around his neck - "Mmm, you are a bit overdressed with that towel around your waist - let's see what we can do about that..."

Tom rolled into the bed and cupped the back of her head in his hand as he started to kiss her, tangling his fingers in her hair - he just could not get enough of this girl. Even after last night ... he remembered how Sybil had gotten giggly and frisky after one too many glasses of champagne, leading to some very M-rated activities in the cab on the way back to his flat, which had continued in the stairwell until someone else coming up had meant they were almost caught in the act. Then, they could hardly wait to get through his front door to get started again...

Even after a night like that, he always, always wanted more of her. He still couldn't believe it sometimes when he woke up in the middle of the night and saw her sleeping next to him, which she did most nights these days.

By the time they left Tom's flat they were running late and delays on the Victoria line meant that everyone else was already there by the time they walked into The Wolseley for brunch. An impeccably dressed waiter showed them over to a table where all the Crawleys were sitting, and Sybil made the introductions -

"Tom, I'd like to introduce you to my parents, Robert and Cora, and my sister, Edith."

Although he had known about Sybil's family background from the beginning, the fact that she lived purely on money she earned herself, and never used her title, made her a bit different from the rest of her family. This was particularly true of her father, who seemed to have a bad smell under his nose as he shook Tom's hand looking every inch the Earl of Grantham.

Sybil's mother was much more welcoming - "Welcome Tom, so lovely to meet you! Do sit down."

Tom sank gratefully into a seat next to Matthew and whispered out of the side of his mouth - "Glad to see one friendly face!"

Matthew grinned - "Don't worry, old man - his bark is worse than his bite. Well, usually..."

Edith took a while to acknowledge their arrival as she was in the middle of a phone call.

"Don't mind Edith - her ear is permanently welded to her Blackberry these days," sniped Mary.

Sybil defended Edith - "Hey, don't be too hard on her. You know how seriously she takes her job!"

"Yes, yes - Edith's fantastic career in New York, youngest VP at JP Morgan, blah blah blah. Some people need to learn how to draw boundaries."

"Now love, why don't you help me choose what to have - should I have the eggs Benedict, or the grilled kippers?" Matthew tried to distract her - somehow, Mary and Edith always managed to rub each other up the wrong way, with Sybil usually stuck in the middle trying to keep the peace, so she shot him a grateful look as Mary turned to look at the menu.

"Now - Tom, what is it you do again - I think Sybil said you were a writer?"

"Yes, that's right - a journalist actually. I'm on the financial desk at The Guardian..."

Tom turned towards Cora and they started talking quite happily as the orders were taken, which Sybil was pleased to see - "Bless you and your American charm, Mum," she thought.

Mary pulled at her arm - "How are you - I hardly see you these days? Don't you have time for your sister any more?"

"Well, Tom and I are spending a lot of time together and you know how it gets..."

Mary pouted at that, and Edith chimed in over her shoulder - "Sybil, he is really cute - well done you! I hadn't realised he was so young, though - turning into a cougar now, are we?"

Although she was officially kidding, Edith's comment touched on one of Sybil's insecurities about her relationship with Tom, so she brushed it off quickly and changed the subject by asking Edith how things were going in New York.

"Well, we're right in the middle of this huge deal with some investors from Abu Dhabi..."

When Sybil went to freshen up later on, her mother went with her and inadvertently hit the same nerve.

"Tom seems like a delightful young man, darling. How old is he?"

Sybil reluctantly answered - "22, Mum, not that it matters."

"I'm sure it doesn't - as long as you are happy, that is all that matters to me." Cora squeezed her daughter's arm as they went back to the table, and Sybil appreciated the gesture of reassurance. It seemed as if Tom had won her mother over, at least.

She went back to the table to rescue Tom from a slightly heated conversation with her father about the latest political scandal surrounding the government.

"Well, Tom, I'm not sure that's fair - I went to school with Monty and I am sure there's a reasonable explanation for what happened. I would expect you chaps to give him a fair hearing…"

"Dad, you know it's not polite to talk about politics at this hour of the day," Sybil teased him as she took her seat between them.

Robert kissed her forehead - "Lovely to see you, Sybil - it's been too long since you've been home to Downton."

"My home is here now, Dad, remember?" She felt Tom's arm slipping around her waist and leaned into him automatically, and as she turned away from her father she saw a frown of disapproval on his face.

"Let's get out of here, OK?" she whispered in Tom's ear.

Tom was more than happy to oblige - doing the meet the family routine was not his idea of a fun Sunday, and as Sybil did the rounds, kissing everyone goodbye, he said to Matthew - "See you at football, right?"

Matthew nodded and gave Tom a wry look - Mary and Edith were quietly arguing about something and Tom could see his friend would not be getting away for a while yet.

It was a beautiful day as Sybil and Tom wandered along Piccadilly, hand in hand.

"All right?"

"Yes fine," she said, but her eyes didn't quite match her smile.

"Come on, Sybil - you can tell me the truth."

Sybil sighed - "I wish my family wasn't so high maintenance - there's always some kind of squabble going on between my sisters, and Dad loves to get on his high horse about things. And they can be so narrow minded..."

Tom tipped her face to his and gave her a kiss - "A stór, all families have their little quirks - you should see what my lot are like! Want to take a walk into Green Park?" Sybil nodded, and they turned into the park and found a sunny spot to sit down.

Tom tugged Sybil closer to him, and said - "I've got an idea - want to go away for a long weekend somewhere? You have been working so hard at the hospital lately and I'd like to spoil you."

"Oh Tom - that sounds like complete heaven! Somewhere sunny, where I can lie on the beach and we can ravish each other as often as we like. Where shall we go?"

Her saucy wink when she said that made Tom realise he has succeeded in lifting her spirits - "Let's talk about it later, Sybil - all that talk about ravishing has given me another idea."

He lay back on the grass, pulling her with him. She leaned over him, blocking out the sun - "Darling, you read my mind!" Her lips closed on his and his arms tightened around her, and as they kissed in the sunshine he already felt as if they were on holiday. Then again, as he was starting to realise, every day he woke up with Sybil in his arms was already the best day he had ever had.

A/N -

"a stór" - "my darling" in Irish Gaelic, per Google Translate. Fair warning - next chapter likely to be M-rated, at least partly! There will be some plot too, though. :)