Tag: s2 au

unplanned pregnacy

How had it come to this?  Why had she allowed herself to be so foolish?

Sybil looked down at the letter in her hands and felt the tears well up once again.  She was being punished for her stupidity, that was the only answer.  And God help her, she knew she should feel sadness at the news that Tom Bellasis was dead, but…in truth, she felt more sorrow for her own circumstances.

He had come to visit her while she was in York.  She hadn’t seen him in ages, and the visit was quite unexpected.  But a welcome one as well.  She was feeling lonely, a little homesick, and…her heart was dealing with some complicated emotions.  Tom asked her to join him for dinner, and she happily took him up on the offer.  He took her to a dance hall, a place where she would never be allowed to attend if she were back at Downton.  They danced and laughed and drank champagne as if there was no tomorrow.  She was having such a merry time that she didn’t realize he was kissing her until she felt his lips move away from hers.

“I’m leaving for the front, tomorrow,” he had told her.  He was frightened, despite the brave smile he wore.  “I don’t want to be alone tonight…”

He didn’t say the words…but she knew what he meant.  And…she couldn’t blame it entirely on the alcohol; she was curious herself about the act, and she too was feeling fragile and afraid.  Perhaps it was her own loneliness or her sense of pity that won out in the end?  She honestly didn’t remember much about the night…it was over and done before it even seemed to have begun.  But he was a gentleman, in the sense; seeing her back to the dormitories before daybreak and promising to write to her.  Did he think they were sweethearts now?  Or engaged, even?  She never thought to ask him, and was too afraid to do so in her letters.  But she’ll never know for certain, because…he’s dead.

Tom Bellasis is dead.

…And she’s with child.

He had the opportunity to say something to her for two years.  And he felt his heart brimming with desperation to do just that as he stood before her in that archway in York.  But…something inside him told him to wait.  Wait; now wasn’t the right time.  And despite his better judgement, he listened to that voice.  And watched her walk away, thinking how two months would feel like two millennia.

He wanted to rejoice the day she returned to Downton…but something about her has changed.  She’s not the same woman he knew, she’s withdrawn and appears…defeated, even.  How unlike his Sybil.

Finally, one day, he can’t hold it back, he confronts her and asks what happened when she was in York?  And much to his shock, she breaks down before him and weeps her heart out.

His arms ached to hold her, but he kept himself still as he listened to her tear-filled confession.

Pregnant.

She’s pregnant.  And the father of her child is dead.

Perhaps…under different circumstances, he would be jealous?  He’s not a sinless man, and a part of him his envious of the poor dead bastard, but whatever jealous emotions threaten to rise are quickly pushed aside in his concern for her.  What is she going to do?

“I have to tell them…” she whispers at last.  He knows who she means, and he knows it will not be easy.

He doesn’t know what else to say; he feels utterly helpless and wretched as he watches her walk away, her arms wrapped around herself as if she’s the only person in the world who is left to comfort her.

But she’s not.  She isn’t alone and she doesn’t have to face this alone!  He didn’t say anything when he should have, and…God help him, he’s going to speak his mind now!

He walks through the front door and heads straight to the drawing room, the sounds of angry shouts filling the air around them.  Accusations, demands, words of disappointment and ridicule.  No more…

A huge gasp fills the room as everyone turns to stare at him as the doors bang against the wall.  He stands straight and tall, and without missing a beat, looks directly at Lord Grantham and declares, “The babe is mine!” before turning his eyes to the stunned face of the woman he loves.  “Will you marry me, Sybil?”

A hush falls over the room, or so it seems.  In truth, all Tom can see is her.

Then, the room erupts once again when Sybil answers, her eyes never leaving his, “Yes.”

“His name is ‘Tom’, Mary, and I am in love with him, and when he’s better, I’m going to marry him.”
–Sybil Crawley, Chapter 6 Will You Wait?

Sybil & Tom Appreciation Week DAY 4:
Favorite Sybil Crawley Quote–FROM FANFIC

**images not mine

magfreak:

FINAL CHAPTER POSTED!!!

I can hardly believe it either, but it’s true! I have actually finished a fic! It’s not the end of the story per se, but the conclusion of the time in Tom and Sybil’s lives that this story lets us into—specifically, their secret marriage. Now that it’s out in the open, the rest of their lives can begin but this particular story ends.

Thank you so much to everyone who ever read this story, reviewed, favorited, reblogged, liked, etc. Your support means a lot. Some of you have been on this journey with me from the very beginning, ALMOST FOUR YEARS AGO! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Here’s a peek:

“Sybil, what’s this about?” Edith asked.

“Please sit down, both of you,” Sybil replied.

“Has something happened with Matthew?” Edith asked, looking back and forth between Mary and Sybil, before taking a seat on the bed next to Mary.

“No,” Sybil said. “It’s nothing to do with him.”

“Then what? You’re both making me rather nervous.”

Sybil handed Edith the certificate. Edith took the paper in her hands and jumped to her feet as soon as she realized what it was. “You’re married? To Branson!?”

Sybil took a deep breath, then began her tale. “Last year, when I left for York, before he left me at the college, Tom proposed. I gave him no answer then, only because I was afraid of what would happen if I did. When I was back for Christmas, that’s when I accepted.”

“What changed?” Edith asked.

“Nothing, really. I just stopped trying to convince myself it wasn’t what I wanted, because there was no getting myself around it. It—well, he—was exactly what I wanted.”

“And you decided, just like that?” Edith exclaimed with alarmed. “After he sprung the question on you.”

“Of course, she didn’t decide, just like that,” Mary said rolling her eyes. “It was a long time coming.”

“Oh, and you knew all about it, did you?” Edith retorted.

“Please!” Sybil said. “Don’t fight. I’m sorry to have kept you both in the dark. Edith, Mary has only known about us being married since today. She’s had her suspicions about our friendship for some time, but none of that matters. Tom and I were friends almost from the moment we met, but he never overstepped with me. His proposal in York was the first time there was any sort of overt acknowledgment that there was something more than friendship. In early January of last year, around the Twelfth Night, he took some time off and we went to Scotland. Two days later I was back in York and he was back here. After that—”

“But, Sybil,” Mary interrupted. “I still don’t understand. You could have come to us before! We could have helped so things were done the proper way. Why did you think you needed to take such a drastic step?”

“Because you’d have tried to talk me out of it,” Sybil said, simply. “And it would have worked—but only for a time. This was inevitable, I assure you. I love Tom too much to have ever been convinced to forsake him for the sake or propriety. I don’t care about what scandal may come. I’m sorry for whatever heartache I will cause mama, but I will live my own life. This was the only way I could prove that I was serious.”

“You don’t think we’d have believed you?” Edith asked.

“Mama, papa and granny—they all expect everything to go back to normal when the war ends, and that includes me. They think my work as a nurse is a phase, but it isn’t. The war didn’t create my desire to work or to lead a different life. It merely compelled me to act on the desire. Forgive me for not including you in the decision, but again … it’s mine to make.”

“And you made it,” Mary said, standing up.

Sybil nodded. “I did.”

“Why now?” Edith asked. “After all this time keeping it a secret.”

“At first, I wanted the experience of being a nurse, and this was the only way I could get it. After a while, I wanted to have him and you both. But the secret can’t remain so forever. I don’t want it to.”

“You didn’t think any of that that was possible out in the open?” Mary asked. “Do you have such little faith in us?”

Sybil took a deep breath, and smiled sadly “I have all the faith in the world in you. That’s why I didn’t ask permission. Because I knew I could ask forgiveness.”

Congrats on finishing this wonderful story!

magfreak:

Chapter 13 is up!

“Do you think he can hear us?” Mary asked, eyes still on Matthew.

“I don’t know,” Sybil said. “I’d say likely not given the morphine.”

Mary looked over at Sybil. “He’s proud of you.”

“You don’t have to say that,” Sybil replied.

“But I know it to be true.” Mary said. “We spoke of you when he was here last … for the concert.”

Sybil smiled but didn’t say anything.

“He spoke well of Branson, too.”

Sybil’s head jerked up. “Mary—”

But Mary had already turned to walk away, saying quietly as she did so, “Let’s go somewhere private.”

Sybil had no choice but to follow. But Mary did not know her way around the hospital the way Sybil did and after two turns was already too turned around to get them anywhere.

“Let’s just go outside,” Sybil said and took Mary by the arm and led her to the main doors.

Sybil let Mary’s arm go as soon as they were outside and kept walking until she reached the bench at the end of the lane, not bothering to look up to see if Mary had followed her.

Mary watched Sybil walk away from her for a long moment before following her and sitting down next to her. She wasn’t sure what to make of Sybil’s reaction when she’d brought up Branson, but there was no avoiding the issue any longer—both sisters recognized that.

It was Mary who spoke first. “I spoke with Branson yesterday.”

“I know.”

“What did he tell you?”

“That you want him to stay away from me.”

Mary took a deep breath. “Sybil, I know you think you love him, but—.”

“Mary, please don’t tell me what you think you know,” Sybil cut in, speaking firmly, but not raising her voice. “You don’t know how I feel. You haven’t known for some time.”

magfreak:

The Ring Around Her Neck, Chapter 12 is up!

“So you are prepared to admit that you are friends with her?”

“I am,” Tom said quietly. “I dare say she’s friends with many of the staff.”

“You know very well that the kind of friendship I am speaking about is not one Sybil has with the rest of the staff, and you do yourself no favors my being coy with me,” she said quickly, the pace of her speech revealing her frustration for the first time.

Tom held her stare. “Well, then, say what you mean to say to me and be done with it.”

“Lady Sybil has a wide open heart,” Mary replied. “I will not see it be taken advantage of.”

“I have not taken advantage of her!”

“Not physically, perhaps, but she is young,” Mary insisted, “She’s impressionable. She has ideas of the world that are simply not the way things are. Can’t you see the danger she could be in if—”

“If what? She doesn’t pretend I don’t exist but to do your family’s bidding?”

Mary looked away. Tom was surprised to see a measure of discomfort in her expression, as if she understood that the social boundary she was insisting on was not something she wanted to defend.

Tom took a deep breath, eager to calm the anger he knew would be of no help to him in this moment. “You may think my company undesirable, milady, but Lady Sybil is of her own mind. I could no more tell her what do to than tell the sun not to rise every morning.”

Mary was still looking away, but Tom could see a vague hint of a smile on her face. “I can’t argue with that,” Mary said, turning back to him. “But whatever you wish to happen between you, or whatever you think may be possible—it isn’t. Think me a snobbish ogre, if you must, but let’s focus on where we agree. Surely, you can see all the obstacles that stand in your way, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“And surely, you want the best for her, as I do, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“Good. I won’t presume to ask you to leave the house, but I must ask that you promise to … leave her alone.”

Tom looked away for a moment. Don’t lie. “No.”

Once again, the firmness of his answer, his unwillingness to merely accept what Mary was telling him and to do as she asked took Mary aback. “No? But—”

“With all due respect, milady,” Tom cut in, “you’ve asked me if Lady Sybil and I are friends, and I’ve said we are. You’ve hinted as to the nature of our friendship, and you seem to think that my status as your employee gives you some say in how I conduct my personal business.”

“When it’s to do with my sister, it is my business!”

“Well, then I reckon this is between you and her.”

magfreak:

Mary took a deep breath. “ I believe, rather, I know Sybil and Branson are friends, inappropriately so.”

The statement surprised Matthew. “Friends?”

“I saw them talking in the garage the other day. There was no reason for her to have been there.”

“But wouldn’t you say you are friends with Anna?”

“Friendship is not the same between a man and a woman.”

“Isn’t it?”

Mary gave Matthew a knowing look, and he chuckled. “Well, I won’t argue the point,” he said, “but I get your meaning. Have you had any other indication that there’s something between them? Something more than friendship?”

“No—well, I’ve tried to talk to Sybil about it, but she gets on her high horse, and it’s difficult to get a straight answer. She likes him, that much is obvious. It’s possible, likely even, that they’ve kissed based on how upset she was when I brought it up. But she’s too sensible a girl to let herself be seduced.” Mary paused for a moment, as her mind went to the memory of her own indiscretion—the one she’d wanted to confess to Matthew back when he proposed but couldn’t bring herself to and that was still unknown to him. “At least,” Mary continued, “she’d be sensible enough to want to be married first, and given her age, that’s not possible, right?”

“Not in England. I don’t know the particulars of the law or whether it can be skirted elsewhere, but it would be a challenge. I suppose how much of a challenge would depend on how much you think she likes him.”

“Enough that I don’t feel reassured now that you’ve said that.”

Matthew watched Mary as she looked away for a moment. She was clearly quite worried.

“Would it be the greatest tragedy in the world?” he asked quietly.

The Ring Around Her Neck, Chapter 11

magfreak:

Guess what fic just came back from a nearly year-long coma! 

Go read Chapter 10!

(Or, given how long it’s been, go read it from the beginning so you remember what the hell happened.)  

Tentatively, Mary asked, “We are talking about …?”

Sybil swallowed a lump in her throat. She’d told herself over and over again that she wasn’t lying to her family, only skirting the truth. But to answer this question in any other way would be to do just that. “Branson,” she said quietly. “Yes.”

Mary’s heart sank. “The chauffeur? Branson?”

Sybil, having opened the door to the truth could not help but be honest now, saying, “Oh, how disappointing of you!”

“I’m just trying to get it straight in my head. You and the chauffeur.”

Sybil rolled her eyes at her sister’s poorly veiled snobbery. “Oh, no, you know I don’t care about all of that.”

“Oh, darling, darling, don’t be such a baby. This isn’t fairyland. What did you think? You’d marry the chauffeur and we’d all come to tea?”

Sybil turned to fully face Mary and said, “You’re telling me that my expectation that my family would treat an honorable, kind person with respect regardless of birth was too high, and I’m being childish!”

Mary’s face softened. “Sybil, I’m not trying to upset you. It’s only that if something’s happened I want to know. I want to help.”

“Help who?” Sybil turned to the door and called back over her shoulder. “Help granny rebuild the walls the war has torn asunder so that everyone goes back their proper place in the pecking order?”

Mary rolled her eyes, having reached her limit of Sybil’s relentless self-righteousness. She ran to catch Sybil by the arm. “Why should it matter so much to you? What might’ve happened?”

Sybil shook her arm loose and stared her sister—her primary confidant the whole of her life—and spoke the truth. “I married him. I ran away to Scotland last year and eloped without anyone knowing, and we’ve been keeping it secret ever since. So granny’s right. Are you happy now?”

“I’d wait forever…”

“I’m not asking for forever…”

**UPDATE**

“Will You Wait?” by The Yankee Countess

Weeks before the end of the War, Sybil promises that she will give
Tom an answer, while he promises that he will “wait forever”.  But what
if “forever” wasn’t as long as you thought?  An unexpected tragedy
forces Sybil to reexamine her response to Tom’s declaration, as well as
vocalize her feelings…and decision…at long last.  But is it too late?

Chapter 11

“Hey…” he drew her attention once again and she looked down at him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She
blinked…and then, despite the emotion she was feeling, a garbled sound
that was half laugh, half sob (but more laugh) escaped her throat. She
took his hand in hers and began to rain kisses upon his bandaged
knuckles. “Do you promise?” she asked, giggling despite the tears that
were freely flowing.

His own blue eyes seemed to shine as he
smiled back at her. “I finally got you to marry me, milady; there’s no
way I’m going to lose you now.”

Begin the story here

scathach124:

You Can’t Wait Forever – Chapter 5: New Beginnings

Sybil
sighed. “I just feel … already, I feel so incredibly happy. I
can’t believe I’m here right now, at this moment I’ve dreamed of for
so long.” She looked towards the open doors of the church, and
everyone knew she was thinking about the coming minutes, when she’d
say her vows with Tom, he’d place the ring on her finger, and she’d
take her first steps as a Branson, with him on her arm.

“The first one of us to
find her happiness,” Edith said.

“And you two will find
yours someday, I know it,” Sybil promised. She held her sisters’
hands, gripping them fiercely. “I know this isn’t the wedding you
expected any of us would be having, but both of you being here means
more than anything to me. It … it wouldn’t feel the same without
you. And no matter how far away I am … you will still be my
sisters, always.”

“Goodness,
Sybil, I don’t want to be crying just yet,” Mary joked, though
Sybil’s affectionate words did leave her touched.

“So
when you both find people who you love, I’ll be there just as you are
here for me,” Sybil went on. “Nothing in the world could keep me
away.”

Read now on FF.net! M/M & S/T

**images not mine**

Originally posted by yourreactiongifs

BRAVO! Well done on completing this story! *sheepishly looks down as I still need to read it* But it’s such a wonderful, and sometimes bittersweet feeling, to finish a story, but I know this project was one filled with love! Congrats! I hope you are proud because you should be :oD