Sybil wasn't remotely prepared when the doorbell rang; the flat was a mess, dinner was beginning to burn on the stove, and she was hardly presentable. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to show to her sister. She wanted to prove that she was settling into this new life easily. She pressed her lips together and glanced around the flat. Well, she would simply have to point out that she was heavily pregnant.

She turned off the stove and opened the door, which revealed Mary and Matthew's smiling faces.

"You're here already!" Sybil said. She immediately went to hug Mary, a closer show of affection than usual, but so very genuine. Without thinking, she hugged Matthew as well, and he gave her a tentative embrace. She stepped back and looked them over. Noting Matthew standing strong and unassisted, and Mary's happy glow, she commented, "You're both looking very well. I'm so happy to have you here!"

A little face emerged from behind Matthew's legs. He smiled apologetically at Sybil and reached down. "This is Emily," he said, picking his daughter up and balancing her on his hip. "Emily, this is your Aunt Sybil." Emily immediately buried her face in Matthew's shoulder. "She's a little bit shy, but just give her lots of attention. She loves attention, don't you darling?"

Sybil grinned and reached to pat Emily's head. "Hello, Emily."

Emily raised her head to glance at Sybil and immediately buried her head again.

"She'll warm up to you eventually," Mary reassured. "But you're looking quite ready for one of your own."

"I still have two weeks to go, so we'll see," Sybil replied. "And we're absolutely not prepared, but I worked my last shift for a while two weeks ago, and I've been trying to get the house ready ever since."

Mary shook her head. "My little sister, a proper Dublin housewife."

"I'm trying," Sybil said. "Now, won't you sit down, and I'll put some tea on. I was trying to make dinner, but my potatoes were burning, so I'm not sure if we'll even want to eat it." Both Mary and Matthew made a move to help, but Sybil shook her head. "No, sit down, I'll get this."

Mary and Matthew smiled benignly and took a seat in the small room next to the kitchen. Emily sat between them, entertaining herself with a doll that Mary had tucked in her handbag.

"Tom should be home any time now," Sybil said, carrying a plate into the sitting room. She closed her eyes and winced.

"Are you alright?" Matthew asked.

Sybil let out a breath. "I think so."

"Sybil..." Mary said quietly. "Sybil, was that a contraction? Because it looked an awful lot like one."

"They've been happening all week, but the doctor said they didn't mean anything; they were just practice, sort of."

Mary got up and took the plate from her sister. "You sit down, and keep an eye on the amount of time between contractions. If they start becoming more frequent, it might mean something more."

Sybil nodded and sat down heavily next to Matthew and Emily. Emily stared at her aunt's reddening face, and her burgeoning stomach, and turned to Matthew. "Otay?" her little voice said.

"What is she saying?" Sybil asked.

"I think she's wondering if you're okay," Matthew said. "Yes, Aunt Sybil is alright. And pretty soon, she'll have a baby, like you, but even littler."

Emily's brow furrowed. "Otay?" she questioned again, taking another glance at her aunt.

Mary reached down to pick up Emily. "Yes, Aunt Sybil is okay. She's going to give birth to a little baby just like... like your mama gave birth to you."

The little girl broke into a big smile. "Mama!" she repeated, clapping her hands.

Mary looked stricken, almost as if she was about to cry, but she kept it together. "That's right, Emily. I'm your mama."

Sybil was about to relax, believing the contractions had passed, but another one came and this time she couldn't hold in a groan of pain. "Let's see, the last one was about 9 minutes ago? So if they don't get too close too quickly, we should have plenty of time. All the same, I hope Tom gets home soon."

"Once he gets home, I'll go get the doctor," Matthew offered. "I mean, as long as you give me his address."

"Of course, thank you," Sybil said, leaning back against the cushions. "I'm afraid I must apologize for being a terrible hostess."

Just as Mary and Matthew were about to offer words of consolation, the door opened and Tom came in. "Lady... I mean, Mary, Matthew, how wonderful to see you."

Matthew smiled at Tom but Mary was all business. "We're concerned that Sybil is going into labor."

Tom's eyes widened. "Wait, now?"

"Yes, now," Mary said, almost irritated. She calmed herself. "She won't be a while yet, but we should begin preparing."

"Yes... well, yes, of course," Tom stumbled. "What... um, what must we do?"

Mary sighed. "Matthew is going to go get the doctor if the contractions get any closer, but I think right now we should get Sybil to bed."

"I haven't made your bed, though... or finished making dinner, or..."

"I'll do it," Mary said.

Sybil almost laughed. "Do you know how to make a bed?"

Mary tried to find a reasonable answer, but had to admit defeat. "Well, no, but how difficult can it be?" Tom and Sybil shared a knowing glance, but Mary shook it off. "Anyway, what's important right now is making sure Sybil is comfortable and safe. I have a feeling none of us will be getting much sleep tonight."

Sure enough, by midnight, Sybil had gone into labor. "Do you think," she asked between heavy breaths, "that the baby will be healthy? It's just, it's two weeks too early."

"Usually babies born at thirty eight weeks are perfectly healthy," Dr. O'Malley, a friendly enough man with a thick Irish accent, said.

Sybil gave a glance to Mary, who was standing against the wall in the bedroom. To no one but Tom's surprise, the doctor forbade husbands in the room. "When was George born?" Maybe it was an insensitive question, but Sybil was too consumed with pain and worry to think about anything but her own child.

"Thirty four weeks," Mary said, surprised at how easily such a detail came to her head. "Too early. But Sybil, don't worry too much about it. According to Mama, you were born two weeks too early, and you turned out just fine."

Sybil hesitantly nodded, trying to hold in a scream as another crest of pain flowed through her.

"Don't try to hold it in," Mary advised. "Sometimes the noise can be cathartic."

So Sybil screamed.

Matthew and Tom heard it clearly, as they sat in the sitting room with glasses of whiskey. Emily was asleep across Matthew's lap.

"I hate hearing her go through this," Tom said, gulping down his whiskey.

"I can imagine," Matthew replied. "I can't know for sure, but I believe the result will be absolutely worth it." He stroked Emily's hair gently.

Tom watched the little girl sleeping on Matthew's lap. "How did you find her?"

"My mother gave us the address of an orphanage she supports, we went there, told the woman there we wanted a baby girl, preferably a war orphan, because, well..." He trailed off and Tom did not expect him to finish. "Anyway, she brought Emily to us and I loved her from the moment I saw her. And the feeling seemed to be mutual."

"And you'd never trade her for a child of your own?"

"I hope to God I never end up having to make such a sadistic choice, but no, I would never trade, because Emily is one of my own."

Another scream pierced their ears.

Mary was right. No one, except for Emily, got much sleep that night and the bed never got made. Matthew eventually managed to drop off for a few hours on the couch, his arm protectively around Emily. Tom didn't sleep at all.

It was early morning, and the sun's rays were just beginning to peek through the window when the screams stopped. A few minutes later, Mary came into the sitting room, waking Matthew and causing Tom to jump to his feet.

"Is she alright? Are they both alright?" he asked.

"Yes," Mary said, with a smile. "Go and see."

Tom was out of the room in a flash.

Mary went to go sit on the couch by Matthew. "Are you alright?" she asked, noticing his wincing.

"Yes," he said stubbornly. "But I am glad that, were I to be kicked out of our bed, I have another bed to go to, because my back and sleeping on the couch do not seem to get along."

Mary ran her fingers gently along his stubbly neck. "Good thing I'm never going to kick you out of our bed, then. Even if I was really angry, I still need your chest as my pillow."

Matthew blushed and kissed the top of his head. "Did everything really go well?"

"Yes, it did. And you'll get a chance to see them, but just let Tom and Sybil have a moment alone."

In the bedroom, Sybil looked up as Tom knocked on the door. "Come in," she said, grinning.

"Is this..." Tom began.

Sybil held up the little bundle in her arms. "You have a son."

Tom's eyes widened. "I... I have a son," he murmured. "Look at him, he's just..." He was lost for words as he took the little bundle into his arms and sat on the edge of the bed. "He's quite a handsome little man."

"Yes, he is," Sybil said. "He's perfect."

"I can't believe he's here," Tom said. "A year ago, I was still wondering whether you would ever reciprocate my feelings. And now..."

Sybil grinned. "I strung you along terribly, and I'm sorry for it."

"It hardly matters now, because it was worth it," Tom said.

It was nearly an hour before Tom could be persuaded to leave the room, and that was just because Sybil needed to feed the baby. Mary and Matthew came in after the feeding and both held the little boy with admiration. They allowed Emily to look at him and say hello and gently touch his face. "Baby," Emily said slowly and proudly. She grinned at the little boy.

"I suppose we can't keep calling him baby," Mary remarked. "Have you given any thoughts to names?"

Sybil smiled. "We've decided. It was actually quite easy. We fought a lot over girl names, but we knew exactly what we wanted for a boy. So I supposed we were blessed to have a boy."

Tom took his son from Mary. "This is Daniel Thomas Matthew Branson."

Matthew's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Tom wanted Daniel for after his father, which of course I agreed to, and I liked the name. Thomas after Tom, of course, and his grandfather And then Matthew... well, we were part of each others lives for a long time, and we still are and will be, and I think that's important to remember. And I couldn't imagine a better man for Daniel to grow up to emulate."

Matthew wasn't crying, but he was close.

"I think it's a lovely name," Mary said.

Daniel yawned and Mary handed him back to Sybil, who stared adoringly at her son. She grinned. "You know, one time I thought I would be close enough to happiness. But this... this is happiness."

Tom leaned down and kissed her.

April 1925

Grantham House was abuzz when Matthew came home, a spring in his step and a smile on his face.

Mary didn't even bother to wait for a servant to open the door when the bell rang. She went straight to the door and opened it, and immediately embraced her husband. "So?" she asked, her eyes full of hope.

"It's done," Matthew said. "It's finally done. The entail is broken."

Something, a cross between relief and pure joy, crossed over Mary's face. They had been fighting for years to break the entail, and to hear the news that it had finally gone through was absolutely thrilling.

Emily bounced up beside her mother. "Can we go to Hyde Park?" she asked, her eyes wide. "Please, Mama?"

Mary smiled apologetically at Matthew. He smiled. "It's as good a place as ever to celebrate. Tell you what, Emily, go find William and Mama and I will grab Charlotte and we'll all go to the park as a family," he said.

Their little family had grown in the past five years. Emily was barely two when she had begun to beg for a sibling; she loved visiting Ireland and seeing Daniel but only seeing him once or twice a year was not enough. Isobel had helped them find a little boy, who was just five months old when he was adopted, and named William. Matthew felt that it was meant to be; if he had a son to name he would have named him William, and thus little William became the newest member of the Crawley family. When William grew older (and more annoying to Emily), Emily began to beg for a little sister. It took a while for Mary to concede, but eventually she did. Charlotte, only two months old when adopted, became a Crawley, and their family grew a little bit bigger.

Most of society had been surprised at the unusual adoption of three stranger children into the Crawley family, but most were at least outwardly supportive. The servants at Downton were especially supportive; they loved the children. Robert and Cora became more and more approving when they saw how much the children were loved. And Sybil and Tom, of course, approved. Daniel and his younger sister Saoirse loved having cousins to play with.

Emily was halfway out the door before Mary even made it down the stairs with a six-month-old Charlotte in her arms. "Let's go!" Emily said, running up to her mother and back to the door.

"Emily, remember, a lady must be patient," Mary said calmly.

"I'm not a lady though," Emily said, almost taking pride in her statement. "Will I ever be a lady?"

Mary blinked, unsure how to respond to her daughter's statement. "We can talk about it."

Emily seemed uninterested in talking about it at the moment though, and the minute Charlotte was settled into her pram, Emily burst out the door.

Mary followed her, pushing Charlotte's pram, and Matthew trailed behind, William's sticky hand in his.

Matthew watched as Emily ran back and forth across the sidewalk, so full of energy. Emily had always been full of joy and vigor, full of spirit and spunk. On occasion, she could be a handful, but she was so sweet that it was easy to forget how troublesome she could manage to be. Most of all, Emily loved people. She loved being the center of attention, but she also loved to meet people and talk to them, and love everyone she met.

William was quite the opposite of Emily; his untamable fiery red hair belied his sweet and gentle spirit. William was the quiet one, but also quite devious. He was as introverted as Emily was extroverted. The two often fought, but ultimately, they were the best of friends.

"Can I go with Emmy?" William asked, tugging on Matthew's hand.

Matthew patted his son on the head. "Alright, but be careful. Don't run too fast, be sure you can see us at all times, and don't cross any streets by yourselves."

William nodded, despite obviously not having any idea what was said. He immediately ran off to join his sister, and Matthew caught up to walk beside Mary.

"I can't quite believe they have so much energy," Matthew said.

"Well, you expended all yours on getting this bill through Parliament," Mary pointed out. "But I'm so glad you did. I feel like I can breathe easy knowing we can provide for them. I'm still impressed."

Matthew blushed. "Well, Lord Birkenhead really did most of the work. He does have a bit more influence than I do. I'm just glad we could make them see sense."

"You know, I used to picture you as Lord Chancellor. In fact, I told Aunt Rosamund once that I thought you could make it."

He blinked. "When was this?"

"After Sybil's ball. Sybil was getting so many offers, Aunt Rosamund thought she could do better than you. Of course, I didn't."

Matthew laughed. "I'm certain Sybil thinks she did much better than me."

"Maybe she does, but I think I got the better end of the bargain," Mary said. "We're lucky you're so terribly clever."

"You overestimate me," Matthew said.

"Never," Mary protested gently. She kissed her husband's cheek as she continued to push the pram.

When they reached the corner of the street, Emily and William were there, impatiently waiting. "You're so slow!" Emily moaned. "Will and I got here ages ago!"

"Emily," Mary warned.

Matthew, however, laughed. "We are slow, aren't we? Someday when you're old like Mama and I are, you'll be slow too."

"You're not old," William said. "You're just grownups. Granny Violet is old."

Mary raised an eyebrow and cast an aside glance to Matthew. "Dear Lord, if she ever heard him say that..."

Matthew shook his head and implored his family to cross the street and enter the park. Emily and William immediately ran off, and Matthew had to yell after them.

"Sorry," Emily said sheepishly, as they ran back to their parents. "Will wanted to see the ducks at the pond."

"I did not!" William protested, stamping a foot. "You did!"

"You're going to stay with us," Mary said firmly. "No matter who wants to see the ducks. In fact, I think we have something to talk about as a family."

A family. No matter how many times that word was said, it brought a rush of exhilaration to Mary and Matthew. They never thought this would be possible, and here they were, with a beautiful family.

They found a bench in a quiet looking area of the park. Mary pushed Charlotte's pram beside it and sat down. Matthew sat next to her, and Emily between them. William chose to plop himself on Matthew's lap.

"What did we need to talk about?" Emily asked impatiently. "Is it bad?"

Matthew shook his head. "No, darling, not at all. But it might be difficult for you to understand."

"Well?"

A sigh escaped Matthew's lips. "How do I explain the entail to you? Well, first of all, do you know who owns Downton?"

"Granny Violet!" William said confidently.

"She doesn't even live there, stupid," Emily said, accompanied by a large eye roll.

"Emily, don't call your brother that," Mary warned.

"It's Grandpapa," Emily said.

Matthew nodded. "And do you know why it's Grandpapa's?"

Both children shook their heads.

"He got it from his father. That's how it gets passed down, from father to son. Now, do you know who gets it when Grandpapa dies?"

"Grandpapa is gonna die?" William asked, his eyes wide.

Mary placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hopefully not for many years. But when he gets old, even older than Granny Violet, he won't be with us anymore and then who will own Downton?"

"Papa?" Emily asked. Her tone indicated that she was guessing, but her face lit up when Matthew nodded.

"Yes, I get Downton. But not because I'm Grandpapa's son. I'm the closest male relative. The estate has to go to a boy..."

"That's silly," Emily interrupted stubbornly. "A girl could own it just as well."

"I agree," Matthew said. "It is silly that I should inherit when your Mama, as Grandpapa's eldest daughter, is perfectly capable of owning Downton and running it well. Luckily, we married, so it isn't a problem, but that's part of what I'm going to tell you two."

William simply looked confused. "But..." he started. He didn't seem to have an exact question.

"I wish I could explain it better, but I'm not sure how. In any case, I've been working for the past few years on a way to change the law where everything has to pass from father to son, or to the next closest male relative. And today, we finally passed the law. The entail is broken. And now we can pass Downton onto you when we die."

Emily nodded. "So if this law still was there, William would get everything?"

"See, there's another wrinkle in this situation," Mary said, taking over. "Emily, you might remember when we saw Aunt Sybil when she was pregnant with Saoirse?"

"When she was really fat?" Emily asked candidly.

"Emily, it's very rude to say that. But yes, that was when she had Saoirse inside of her. When two people love each other very much... sometimes it turns out a baby starts to grow inside the woman."

"You didn't get all fat when Charlotte was born though," Emily said.

Mary nodded. "I didn't. Your father and I love each other very much, you must understand that. But also, sometimes a woman can't grow a baby inside her."

"Then how did we grow?" William questioned.

"You had other mothers," Mary said, and her throat went dry just thinking about the idea. "Another woman grew you inside of her, and got... large and everything. In Emily's case, that mother died of the flu. For William, nobody knows who or where she is. Charlotte's died as well."

"You're not my mother, then?" Emily asked, more intrigued than worried.

"I promise you, I am every bit your mother," Mary said sincerely. "Papa and I, we chose you. We wanted you so much that we chose you specifically."

Emily stood up and began to pace back and forth. Obviously she had seen Matthew do it many a time. "My real mother is dead?"

"She died when you were a few weeks old," Matthew confirmed, his voice quiet. "You were in an orphanage, and we came and decided we wanted you to be our daughter. And we've never regretted that decision, not once."

"Would she have loved me?" Emily asked.

"I'm not sure," Mary answered truthfully. "I can't imagine anyone not loving you. I'm sure she loved you, and I'm sure she's very glad you're in a loving family."

Emily looked stricken, unsure how to comprehend this. "I always thought you... that you were my parents."

"And we are, darling," Matthew said, reaching out to his daughter. "We love you all so much, and we wanted you to be ours so much. And now you are."

Emily stopped pacing. "What does this have to do with the law?"

"Legally, you're considered adopted," Matthew said. "As in, you're not the biological children of your mother and I. None of you could inherit under the old law. The new law removes that restriction. Now any of you can inherit."

Emily blinked. "You're going to give us Downton?"

"Not for a very long time, hopefully," Mary said. "But eventually, yes."

"And you changed this whole law for us?"

Matthew nodded. "That was my motivation. I wanted to see Downton go to my children."

Emily paused for a moment, and neither of her parents were certain how she was taking the news. Then suddenly, she rushed up and threw herself into Matthew's arms. "You chose me," she whispered.

"We did."

She laid her head on Matthew's shoulder. "I don't know who my real parents are and I don't really care, because I think you're my real parents. Mothers and fathers are supposed to love their children and play with them and my real parents didn't do that with me, but you did. So you are my real parents."

Neither Mary nor Matthew could hold back all of their tears.

After maybe a half hour more of quiet talk, Emily and William, not especially bothered by anything they had learned, went off to play. Mary took Charlotte out of her pram and held the baby girl in her arms. She moved closer to Matthew and they stayed close in the warm spring sunlight. It was a beautiful day and perhaps even more beautiful was the sight of their children playing together.

Mary rested her head on Matthew's shoulder. One of his arms was behind her back, the other hand rubbing Charlotte's sweet little curls. It was perfectly peaceful and pleasant.

"I never used to think I'd be very close to happiness" Matthew said softly.

"And this? Is this close enough?" Mary asked.

Matthew leaned over to kiss her. "This is more than enough."

*crying my eyes out because emotions* Anyway, there you have it. I'm really proud of this story, and I'm proud that I finished it, and I'm really thankful to all of you for sticking around to read it. I know some peope have been asking for a sequel, but... I don't think there's much more story to tell here. So right now, I have no plans for a sequel. However, I am open to keeping this verse alive. Feel free to send me prompts in this verse on my Tumblr, hufflepuffhermione, and I'd be happy to write them. I also am aware that quite a few of you are disappointed that Mary and Matthew didn't have a biological child, but that was something I chose to do very early on and I felt it was important to keep that aspect intact and show that they could be happy even without biological children. And I think they are. I have another fic that I'm in the midst of writing but I'm not expecting to post it anytime soon, because life is insane. Hopefully I can start posting that in a couple of months. Also, a special shoutout to Klarinette49, who read over every chapter of this fic and gave me advice on how to make it better. Finally, thank you all so much. I'm so grateful for your support and encouragement! And your lovely reviews! In fact, I'd love it if you could leave a review on this chapter! Thank you so much, and I hope you've enjoyed this fic!