In honor of "Tom & Matthew Bromance Day"! As well as a birthday present to incognito-princess who requested some bromance, as well as Tom offering some "relationship advice" to Matthew. Hope you all enjoy and thanks as always for reading! Oh, and not a shocker, but this is 3x05 AU, so Sybil lives, and it's set before Mary gives birth to George.

Brotherly Advice
by The Yankee Countess

"Oh this is beautiful!" Sybil gasped as she pushed the tissue paper away from the box that covered the fine, silken fabric of her sister's newest gown.

Mary's answer was a snort. "I'm glad you think so," she all but muttered from where she sat. Sybil looked up and not knowing the emotion that lay beneath her sister's comment, gave her a sweet smile before returning her gaze once again to the frock.

"It truly is lovely, Mary, does Matthew know?"

Mary looked away. "When has he ever shown an interest in what I wear?"

Sybil frowned slightly. "Well…you'll no doubt take his breath away in this, though if we're honest, you already do that every day."

Mary muttered something under her breath, before gripping the arms of the chair she was sitting on and hoisting herself up, a slight waddle to her movements due to her growing pregnant belly. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Sybil's frown began to deepen. Something was clearly bothering her sister. She placed the tissue back over the dress and moved across the room to where Mary stood. "Is something the matter?"

Mary didn't answer her at first.

"Mary?"

"Oh, Sybil, I'm fine!" she all but snapped, before groaning because naturally that showed she was quite the opposite. "I…I'm just tired, that's all…the baby—you understand."

Sybil nodded her head because yes, she did understand, but there was more to this than simple "hormonal irritability".

"…Did something happen with Matthew-?"

"Oh Sybil, please! Just…" she turned her head to tell her little sister to leave her alone…but one look at Sybil's concerned, loving eyes, and knowing how Sybil was and that she wouldn't "just leave it" no matter how many times Mary told her to…without warning, Mary's emotions betrayed her, and her face crumpled and tears began to fall.

Sybil was startled by this sudden outburst of emotion, but she didn't hesitate to cross the room and wrap her arms around her sister. "Sssh, it's alright, it's alright," she whispered.

Mary groaned and shook her head. "It's not! And it never will be! Because…because…" she took a deep breath between her sobs. "Because…Matthew doesn't want me anymore!"

"WHAT!?"

"That's what she said!"

Tom stared at his wife in disbelief. "I don't believe it; no one man on this earth loves or is as devoted to Mary as Matthew is."

"I agree with you, but he must have said something to make Mary think the opposite."

"Or maybe she misunderstood him," Tom muttered.

"Let's not argue over 'who said what' and take sides—"

"I'm not taking sides!" Tom protested, then quickly looked away at his wife's raised eyebrow. "Look, I'll talk to him after dinner. I'll convince him to join me for a game of billiards and get down to it, yeah?"

Sybil smiled and cupped his face in her hands, leaning up on her toes to brush her lips against his. "Thank you, darling."

Tom smiled back and returned the kiss, though he did let out a sigh before turning back to their shared wardrobe and retrieving his dinner jacket. "I should start charging for the 'counseling' I dispense."

It wasn't difficult to convince Matthew to join him after dinner was over. A game of billiards meant a slightly longer delay in returning to the drawing room, and it was clear, based on the rather uncomfortable way Matthew kept shifting in his chair throughout the meal, that he was looking for any excuse to get away for a little bit, even if it meant putting up with his brother-in-law's company (not that Matthew minded too much).

Tom got the game going, and for the first ten minutes, they played in silence, breaking it every so often with "good play", or "nice hit". But even though Matthew chuckled and smiled and seemed to relax with each passing minute, it was still obvious that something was on his mind, and whatever it was, it was bothering him.

"I noticed at dinner that you seemed a bit…tense," Tom began the conversation.

Matthew snorted, but said nothing more.

Not one to beat around the bush, Tom looked up at his brother-in-law from across the billiard table and directly asked him, "is everything alright?"

Matthew sighed and reached for his brandy glass. "What makes you ask that?"

Tom did his best not to roll his eyes. "Look, you don't have to put on that whole 'stiff upper lip' thing you English are known for, not with me." He put down his stick and looked directly across the table at Matthew. "What happened?"

Matthew looked down at his brandy glass for a moment, then back at up at Tom, opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again and finally asked, "When Sybil was pregnant, did you ever worry about…?"

Tom's eyebrows rose at Matthew's words, but patiently waited for his friend to finish his question. "About…?"

Matthew closed his eyes and sighed. "About…'harming' the baby?"

Tom frowned. "Harming the baby? I…what do you mean? In what—" he stopped as he realized what Matthew meant. "Ohhhhhh…'harming' the baby…" he made a slight gesture with his hands, then stopped himself, feeling his face grow rather hot, as did Matthew's, but his brother-in-law confirmed what Tom had figured out with a nod of the head. "Well…I was cautious at first, but Sybil assured me everything would be alright, and being a nurse, I trusted her."

Matthew nodded again, though he still didn't look very convinced. Tom sighed and walked around the billiard table until he was standing next to his friend. "Without making too many assumptions, I'm guessing that your wife misunderstood your concern for the baby with something else?"

Matthew groaned and threw his hands up into the air. "Two nights ago, after we…well…" Matthew paused, his face reddening and Tom had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. "Anyway, we were…were lying together, and…and I felt…" Matthew looked down at his own stomach then. "I felt it…kick…against me."

Tom smiled and nodded his head, remembering when his daughter had done the same to him while he held Sybil in the night during her pregnancy.

"I've felt the baby move before, but…but this was the first time after Mary and I had…"

Tom nodded his head, saving Matthew from having to explain. "I can imagine that was a bit…unsettling?"

Matthew frowned but didn't argue otherwise. "It was…surprising…to say the least. And…and I suddenly just found myself thinking 'perhaps the baby was kicking against me because I was crushing it?'"

Poor Matthew, he looked genuinely worried and upset. Tom immediately shook his head, recalling all the assurances Sybil had given him back when he had worried something very similar. "You didn't—you aren't, and that's not why the child kicked."

Matthew didn't look so sure. He leaned closer then, lowering his voice in case anyone passed by at that moment. "Forgive me for asking something so personal, but…when Sybil was pregnant, was she always so…?"

"Insatiable?" Tom finished for him.

Matthew's eyes went wide, and his face paled momentarily before burning a deep crimson. Tom couldn't stop himself from laughing. "I wouldn't say that was unique to just pregnancy," he chuckled. "But…without going into detail, she was…and remains so, I'm happy to admit."

Matthew continued to blush. "Well…I suppose that's something the Crawley sisters have in common."

Both men started to laugh then.

"I mean, please don't misunderstand; at least four times a week, Mary and I would—"

"I understand," Tom assured, glad for his brother-in-law, but honestly not really wanting to hear all the details about his and Mary's intimate life together.

"What I mean is, it wasn't shocking that Mary was…insatiable," he murmured, using the word Tom had used earlier. "But…she seems even more so now, and please don't misunderstand, I love my wife, I love her more than anything—"

"Hey," Tom stopped Matthew. "I know that; anyone who looks at the two of you knows that, you don't have to explain yourself." He was starting to get an idea of what happened. "So, last night, I'm guessing…Mary comes to you and wants…"

"Yes," Matthew confirmed, blushing again.

"But…you didn't?"

Matthew closed his eyes and looked down. "I mean, I did, I wanted to, but…but I was so worried about the baby, especially after what had happened last night, that…that I…" he sighed. "That I said, 'I'm tired and would rather sleep'."

Tom couldn't help but wince slightly. While he knew Matthew meant nothing bad by his words, he could also understand how easily Mary may have misconstrued them. Having lived through his own wife's pregnancy, he remembered a few occasions where he had said something and Sybil thought he was calling her fat or that he found her undesirable and he had to crawl on his hands and knees practically, to get her to forgive him as well as understand that he loved her and always thought her beautiful.

"Did you try to explain?"

"I tried, but…Mary was convinced I didn't want her, and then she began fussing about her size and everything, and all but banished me to my dressing room. And then this morning, she was giving me the cold shoulder and…" he sighed. "I don't know how exactly to make up for this blunder."

"I do," Tom was quick to answer. "But…you'll have to set aside the fact that you're an Englishman and think and act like an Irishman."

Matthew's eyebrows lifted then. "Go on…"

"I suppose we shouldn't wait for them," Cora sighed, putting down her tea cup. She looked across the room at her daughters. "Men easily revert back to being boys when it comes to their games."

Mary snorted at that, and Sybil reached over and attempted to pat her sister's hand.

Mary was having none of it. "Right, well…" she rose from the chaise where she had been sitting. "I'm going up; if my husband arrives, you can tell him that," she muttered, turning on her heel to leave the room. However, just when Mary did that, the drawing room doors opened, revealing the two missing husbands, Matthew in front of Tom, his eyes intense and focused and unblinking as they rested on his wife.

Mary stared back at her husband, a little taken aback by his sudden appearance. However that was nothing compared to what happened next.

In three strides, Matthew was across the room, and without a pause or a blink or a word, wrapped an arm around his wife's waist, while the other wove around her back, cupping the back of her head, and then a gasp went up around the room as he suddenly dipped her back, and crushed his lips against hers in a passionate kiss that nearly caused the dowager countess to cry for some smelling salts.

Even Sybil looked shocked, but when she turned her gaze to own husband who was still standing in the doorway of the drawing room, she quickly saw the knowing look (and smile) on his face, and knew all too well from her own experience that what Matthew was doing was what Sybil had once coined, "The Branson Apology".

Mary let out a long, ragged breath when their lips parted, and clutched at her husband's shoulders as he straightened them back. She looked up at him, somewhat dazed by the kiss, and one of Matthew's hands rose to her face, running his fingers across her cheek, and murmuring softly, "you're so, so beautiful…sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure this isn't a dream, that you're truly my wife." He kissed her lips again, though this time it was chaste, yet it still left Mary breathless. Matthew's hand drifted down then to rest over her belly. "Will you forgive me, my love?"

"Oh Matthew…" Mary breathed, her arms now curling around his neck. "There's nothing to forgive, it was a simple misunderstanding, I know that now…"

"AHEM!" Violet rattled her cane against the floor in an effort to bring some order back to the room.

Mary and Matthew blushed (as did everyone else) but Mary looked up at her husband, a familiar gleam in her eye, and Matthew grinned back, and the two quickly said their goodnights to everyone, before making a hasty exit and retreat to their room.

"Well!" Violet turned and looked at her youngest granddaughter with a disapproving frown. "I'd expect this sort of behavior from YOU, but…" she gave a shake of her head and muttered for Carson to help her stand.

A few minutes later, everyone left the drawing room, including the Bransons.

"If you could see your face," Sybil giggled, looking up at her beaming husband.

"What?" Tom tried to look innocent, but they both knew better.

"Don't think I didn't recognize what Matthew did as something you tried many times on me—"

"Tried, and succeeded," he cheekily added.

Sybil rolled her eyes, but giggled, then paused their movements, weaving her arms around her husband's neck and shoulders. "Thank you, by the way…for all your help. Again, Tom Branson saves the day!"

Tom blushed a little…then glancing around, suddenly dipped Sybil, swallowing her gasp in a passionate kiss of his own. "Never forget, me darlin'," he murmured, his accent thick. "You always take my breath away."

Sybil let out her own shaky breath as Tom righted them once again. "Well then…" she swallowed. "Let me continue doing just that…"

She squealed with delight as her husband swept her up into his arms and proceeded to take the stairs, two at a time.

The End