cassiemortmain requested a “rock the holiday AU” drabble, the prompt being “Christmas Tree”. So here’s that prompt and hey! Guess what day it is? ;o)
“Suzy AU Christmas Countdown”…
(part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4)
Sybil and Suzy couldn’t stop laughing as Tom “posed” in the new Christmas jumper that both she and her daughter and picked out for him. “Not ‘sassy enough’?” he asked, sucking in his cheeks and pursing his lips, which naturally earned even more giggles.
"Well…" Sybil managed to say after her laughter started to calm down. "If your writing ever goes south…I think you could make a career out of modeling."
Tom grinned and then turned to Suzy, who was still in her pajamas and sitting between the both of them on the floor before the Christmas tree. “Alright, what’s next?” Tom asked the child, who was the one responsible for passing the presents.
Suzy grinned and dove under the tree, grabbing a very specific box that Sybil had no memory of being under the tree until…this morning?
Tom chuckled to himself and gave Suzy a look. “Really? That one?”
Suzy nodded her head. “Please? Haven’t we waited loooooooooong enough?” she sighed dramatically.
Sybil was confused. “Long enough for what?”
Tom and Suzy exchanged a look and Sybil narrowed her eyes. What on earth were they up to?
Tom then proceeded to look as if he were in deep contemplation, scratching his chin and making Suzy groan in exasperation. “Alright, alright,” he laughed, before turning and looking at Sybil…and suddenly butterflies started flapping rapidly in her stomach at the way he was now looking at her. “Sybil?” he murmured, holding the small package out to her. “This is for you…and it’s actually from both Suzy and myself.”
"I helped him pick it," Suzy declared, grinning and gazing up at her mother with excited eyes.
Sybil looked back and forth between the both of them…before taking the package (with somewhat trembling fingers)…and began to unwrap it.
"Mummy, you’re going too slow!" Suzy groaned, but quieted herself at the look Tom gave her.
Sybil nibbled on her bottom lip and looked at Tom who turned his attention back to her…and was looking a bit nervous himself. She looked back at the package, and finally ripped the last of the wrapping paper away…revealing a small, black velvet box.
Only so many things came in such a box…
"Do it!" Suzy hissed at Tom.
Tom groaned and fixed Suzy a look, before turning back to Sybil…and even though she was already sitting on the floor, he did (at Suzy’s insistence) rise up just enough…until he was kneeling on just one knee.
Sybil’s hand flew to her mouth.
"Mummy! You need to stand! Or at least sit on the couch, because this doesn’t look like it does in the movies—"
"Suzy," Tom muttered, before turning back to Sybil and looking a bit sheepish, but also…looking very much in love.
Sybil was sure her heart had melted.
"Sybil Crawley…Lady Sybil Crawley,” Tom murmured, somewhat cheekily, which would have earned him a swat if Sybil weren’t feeling so emotional right now. “You…you make me want to be a good man—the best a man can be. I didn’t realize how…how empty my life was, until that day I heard you grunting and muttering while you tried to move that piece of furniture when you moved in,” he chuckled, though Sybil could see tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke. “I think I fell in love with you that very moment, even before I saw you, I think my heart just knew at the sound of your voice…that I had finally found ‘home’.”
He swallowed and reached out, taking her trembling hand in his and holding it as if it were more precious than anything on this earth.
"If you’ll have me…I would be honored to ‘officially’ be a part of yours and Suzy’s family…and for you to be a part of mine," he squeezed her hand. "Together…the three of us can make a new family, and…and I promise to devote every waking minute to yours and Suzy’s happiness—"
"SAY YES, MUMMY!" Suzy interrupted, unable to help herself. "Please? Please? Can Tom be my daddy? Will you please, please, please marry him?”
Despite the interruption to what Sybil would always think of as the world’s most moving and romantic proposal, she did burst out laughing then, tears of joy and love rolling down her cheeks. She didn’t trust her voice, so she simply nodded her head at her daughter before turning to Tom and nodding her head again. “Yes!” she finally squeaked. “Yes, I will!”
Tom actually collapsed back onto the floor, his knee giving out from the joyful surprise at her acceptance (did he truly have any doubt?) she thought to herself, but Sybil pushed that thought aside because she had more important things to do…such as putting his ring on her finger and kissing him senseless!
And she was just about to do that, when Suzy jumped to her feet between the both of them and cheered, her little hands in the air. “YES! BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!” she shouted, throwing her arms around Tom first and hugging him tightly. “You’re going to be my daddy!” she laughed, before turning to her mother and hugging her. “I helped him pick out the ring, Mummy! Do you like it? Do you?”
Sybil nodded, though her eyes remained on Tom…her fiance. “Yes, darling, it’s beautiful…perfect, I love it.”
Suzy grinned and continued cheering, moving from between them and dancing around the Christmas tree with joy, allowing Sybil to finally show her love and thanks to the man who would become her husband and Suzy’s father, and who she had no doubt would make good on his promise to make both their lives the happiest. He already did, so he was well-practiced.
Sybil’s hands grabbed Tom’s face (perhaps a bit roughly, but she was desperate to kiss him) and Tom didn’t protest, he clutched her tightly, his powerful arms locking around her like a vice, and Sybil loved it. They kissed, deeply, the rest of the world seeming to disappear around them, until finally they were drawn back to reality by Suzy who was tugging on their jumpers. “Don’t forget me!”
Both of them laughed and wrapped an arm around Suzy, drawing her into their circle and each kissing a cheek, before turning to look at each other and letting their foreheads touch.
"I love you," Tom whispered.
Sybil sniffled and whispered back, “I love you too…so much.”
"AND I LOVE YOU TOO!" Suzy announced, giving both her mother and Tom a sloppy kiss. "So can I start calling Tom ‘daddy’ now?"
