Chapter 2 The Family Of My Love

Mister Carson gave Thomas and Andy a week off, though he had been reluctant. The lovers knew it was just his own suspicious nature, because he knew nothing. Andy's Fae magic had seen to that.

So the two men packed up what they would need for the week and headed off for the train station. Thanks to Andy's powers of concealment they were able to hold hands as they walked there together, and Thomas couldn't have been happier about it.

It was these little gestures of affection and caring between them that Thomas had longed for all his life, and the fact it was Andy that he was sharing them with filled him with such joy that it made his chest feel so full of love he couldn't contain the feeling.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd been happy. And he knew he'd never been this happy. He'd also never smiled so much in his life. It was even beginning to make his face hurt, but he was more then willing to embrace the pain because it was a good pain that was caused by his happiness with Andy.

It was a few hours by train to Thomas's childhood home, so Thomas chose an empty car and stowed their bags on the rack above the bench seat before he and Andy sat down together.

After a few minutes the train began to move, leaving the station, and they watched the scenery pass by together in contented, peaceful silence.

About an hour and a half or so later Andy sighed sleepily, rubbing at his eyes for a moment or two before yawning and laying his head on Thomas's left shoulder, since Andy was sitting by the train's window, and closing his eyes.

"Mmmm, I am sorry, Thomas.." he whispered in his ear. "I think I am going to fall asleep here."

"It is fine, my love," Thomas replied, slipping his arm around Andy's waist and reaching his hand up to slip his long, elegant fingers tenderly through the silky soft dark auburn hair on the back of his head. "We did keep each other up last night talking. I will wake you when we reach our stop."

"Yes, we did," Andy agreed, then added, "But I was also too excited to sleep. Thank you, Thomas."

"Of course. Holding you close to me, awake or asleep, is no hardship at all, my precious one. And it never will be. I love you, Andy Parker."

"And I love you, Thomas Barrow."

Thomas held Andy as he fell asleep, staring down at his lover's face and smiling yet again when Andy snuggled in closer to Thomas instinctively even though he was no longer awake.

It was certainly a most pleasant way to spend the sunshine-warmed late morning.

When they arrived at their destination Thomas woke Andy with a gentle hand on his right shoulder. "Andy, we are here. It is time to get off the train, sweetness."

Andy nodded in reply, stretching then rubbing at his eyes adorably with a sleepy smile up at him before standing as well.

They retrieved their luggage from the rack above their seat before disembarking from the train, walking together to leave the station and head in the direction of Thomas's mother's home.

When they reached the small white two-story house, with the closed-up clock shop being on the bottom floor, Thomas ascended the narrow metal staircase on the right side of the house with Andy following behind him.

He knocked twice on the cornflower blue door, then a third time after a moment had passed, clearly some sort of signal, and it wasn't long before the door was opened inward. An older woman was revealed. Her long silver hair was pulled back in a bun and she wore a simple cotton dress in the same shade of blue as the door.

"Thomas."

"Mother."

"Do come in. Both of you. Your sisters are in the kitchen preparing the bread for supper."

Thomas nodded and entered the house when she stepped back, drawing Andy in gently by the arm before shutting and relocking the door. They followed his mother into the kitchen after setting their suitcases down in the entryway.

Thomas's sisters were kneading dough so they all could have bread with dinner later, and they looked up at him as the three of them entered the room. The brunette had hazel eyes and wore an emerald green cotton dress, and the blonde had gray eyes and wore a dusky pink cotton dress.

"Thomas!" the sisters said in unison. Both of them moved from behind the small island counter to hug him together, getting floury handprints on Thomas's usual pristine black suit.

Andy expected his fastidious lover to be annoyed, but he just laughed and ruffled their long and loose brown and blonde hair with each hand, teasing them gently, "Girls, girls! You will make my sweetheart anxious."

The girls blinked, watching as Thomas turned his head to look at Andy with a smile, gesturing to each of the women as he said their names. "My mother, Amelia," he spoke of the older silver-haired woman. "My brown-haired sister, Rose, and my blonde-haired sister, Julia." He looked at his mother and sisters, then back to the other man with unusually soft black eyes. "Mother, sisters, this is my Andy."

Thomas's sisters clearly didn't know what to say, but his mother stepped closer to them, her familiar black eyes peering at Andy specifically. "I won't pretend to understand this thing between you, because I don't. But I know myself to be far more tolerant of other people's differences than my deceased husband. So I have only one question for you, Andy. Do you love my boy?"

"With all my heart, Mrs. Barrow," Andy replied seriously, his gaze level and honest. "The only reason I came to work at Downton was to be with Thomas."

"I see. Well, Thomas will take you to his old room so you two can get settled in and rest before dinner."

After Thomas and Andy had unpacked their small suitcases into the wooden dresser they sat down together on Thomas's old full bed, removing their shoes and lying down on the mattress to rest for a while before dinner.

"Well," Andy said quietly, turning his head to smile over at Thomas as he spoke. "It went better than I expected it to. Though your sisters do not seem to know what to do with me."

"Give it time, Andy," Thomas replied with a return smile. "We just got here. By the time we have to return to Downton, they will be treating you like another brother."

"I hope so, Thomas."

"I know so, precious."

Thomas and Andy woke from their short nap about an hour or so later, cleaning themselves up in the small bathroom attached to their room and changing their clothes. They then reached out to each other, holding hands just because they could as the pair headed toward the kitchen for dinner. They were so relieved that they could touch here without fear, and they smiled at each other happily.

They were already not looking forward to returning to Downton and all the emotional and physical restrictions that working there entailed.