A/N: Welcome to this story! I rewatched the Downton movies recently and fell in love with Tom and Lucy as a couple, so I decided to give them a story of their own. This is just a short five chapter story which builds off A New Era and explores Tom and Lucy as parents to Sybbie and their eventual little one. Hope you enjoy!

September 1928

Upon arriving home from France, Tom's first thought was he wanted to go see Sybbie. He had missed her greatly while he was away, and he also wanted to tell her about her newfound inheritance. He knew she would love the villa. There she could practice her swimming, learn to play tennis, and go on adventures with her cousins.

He had slipped upstairs to check on her first thing when they returned and gave her some maps he brought back for her. She was a very smart girl who was curious about the world around her and loved learning. That was a trait of Sybil's he could see in her, and he couldn't be prouder. He loved nurturing that inquisitive spirit of hers.

Lucy had gotten her a doll, which she wanted to give to her this evening because she had gone for a lie down as soon as they had arrived. Having spoken to Violet about their plans for the villa, they were now ready to tell Sybbie about it as they put her to bed.

"Sybbie, do you know what an inheritance is?" Lucy asked as she watched her stepdaughter run a brush through her hair.

"It's what George has, right? That means he will be in charge of Downton when he's older?"

"Well sort-of. That is what George's inheritance means for him, yes, but anyone can have an inheritance."

"Do I have one?" Sybbie asked, turning to look at her dad and stepmom.

"You do," Tom confirmed, "and it comes from Granny Violet."

"Where does George's come from?" Sybbie asked, still slightly confused on the process of earldom and inheritances.

"Matthew," Tom answered, "His daddy in Heaven." He watched as his daughter's face seemed to gain a slight understanding and she nodded, which signaled to him that he could carry on.

"You see, your grandmother, she.. she owns a house. Well, someone gave it to her and now she's giving it to you," Tom tried to explain in kid-friendly terms.

"That's nice of her," Sybbie replied.

"That's why we went to France," Lucy chimed in, "the house is there, so we went to see it. And we had to talk to the owners, the people who are giving it to your grandmother."

"Were they nice?" Sybbie asked. "They must have been if they're giving me their house."

Lucy and Tom wanted to laugh at Sybbie's naivety, but they also didn't want that to lead to more questions. So, they fibbed slightly by omitting Madame Montmirail's stance on things.

"Yes, Marquis Montmirail was nice, and he seemed glad his villa was going to a kind-hearted little girl."

Sybbie smiled happily at that before asking the question that was biggest on her mind: "What's it like?"

"The villa is huge and beautiful. It's right on the water, and it has a pool and a tennis court. You will have so much fun there," Lucy gushed.

"Can we go? Can we? Can we?" Sybbie asked excitedly, making her father chuckle.

"We can't go now, darlin. We just got back, and I have to start working again soon. Besides, we need to settle into Brompton. Don't you want to get your new room all set up?"

"Oh," Sybbie said, rather downcast. She was excited about going to a new place, but she was also a bit sad about leaving Downton behind, even though her father and Lucy had promised they would come and visit a lot.

"We will go next summer though," Tom assured her, reinvigorating his daughter's happiness slightly. "In fact, we are thinking it will become a yearly tradition."

"Really?" she asked, "We get to go there every summer and see the sea?"

"Absolutely!" he confirmed, sensing his daughter coming back to her usual self, the little girl who was thrilled by the possibility of adventure and time in the outdoors.

"I have to say 'thank you' to Granny Violet! It is so nice of her to give me a villa on the sea!"

"You can tell her in the morning," Tom said gently. "She's resting now, but I'm sure she'd love for you to show her your treasures that we brought back for you."

"I'd love that," Sybbie proclaimed.

"Speaking of treasures, I have one more thing for you," Lucy said, grabbing a wrapped present from the hallway and placing it on the bed beside her stepdaughter. "Open it."

Sybbie gently unwrapped it, and her smile grew large when she saw the doll Lucy had brought her. "She's beautiful. Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her stepmother.

"You're welcome, my love," she said, stroking her stepdaughter's back and holding her close. This little girl was special to her, and she couldn't imagine life without her at this point. "Goodnight sweetpea," she whispered.

"Goodnight Mama," Sybbie murmured back, warming Lucy's heart at being called such a special word for the first time.