A/N- For those following 'Living In Sin,' I haven't abandoned it. It's just, this came into my mind as I say with my boyfriend as he watched 3, yes that's 3, football matches in a row this afternoon. Modern AU fictions are where my heart lies, it would seem.

I have no knowledge of the British Army, I just Googled and researched a little bit. If there are any glaring mistakes please let me know. The truth is, the majority of this story will be focused on what happens once John leaves the army.

I didn't waste any time in getting to the smut, so this is rated M from the get go. There aren't many fictions where John and Anna are together from the start so this might make a nice change. The courting is all well and good, but when it comes down to it we all like to see them happily married as soon as.

Disclaimer: Anna, John and Robert belong to Julian Fellowes, ITV etc

'Ready or not, here I come...'

John Bates tiptoed around the bedroom. He knew where they were. Their squeals gave them away in the first instance, now their incessant giggling was telling John all he needed to know about their whereabouts. Walking to the first bed, he got down on his knees and looked underneath it.

'Well, they aren't under Oscar's bed. I wonder if they are under Dylan's bed...'

Walking to the bed a little further along, John smiled as their giggles became full blown laughter. Treading carefully past them, John once again got down on all fours and looked under the bed.

'Nope.' John shook his head as he stood up. 'Not Dylan's bed either. Where could they be?'

'Daddy!' One of the boys shouted out loud, his excitement becoming too much.

John remained unperturbed, turning to face their actual hiding place. 'Now, how about the wardrobe?'

Walking slowly to the wardrobe, John saw the doors partially open as Dylan saw him, before quickly pulling it closed again. Placing his hands on the handles, he pulled the wardrobe doors open.

'Boo.' The two boys faces were beaming as they leapt out of the wardrobe into John's arms. 'I win.'

'Can we have another go?' Oscar asked as John put them both on the ground.

'Come on boys. Remember what Mummy said. After two games of hide and seek it is time to go to bed.'

'And we must do what Mummy says, Oscar,' Dylan advised his younger brother.

'Wise words, young man,' John nodded, patting his son on the head. 'Ossy, listen to your brother. Now, Oscar you jump into bed, and Dylan, you come and sit on Daddy's knee.'

Both boys did as their father instructed, Oscar scrambling under his cover as John sat on the edge of the bed. Dylan jumped on his father's lap.

'Now, you know Daddy is going away tomorrow. For a little while...'

'Six months.' Dylan interrupted. 'That's half a year, Daddy. That's a long time.'

John closed his eyes at his son's candidness. 'It will pass in no time. You know Daddy is going to help some people in another country.'

'Will you be flying in the helicopter, Daddy?' Oscar asked excitedly. 'And using your gun to shoot the bad people?'

'Hopefully I won't have to use my gun that much, Ossy' John replied. 'And I will probably be going in the helicopter, yes.'

'But you'll be back, won't you Dad?' Dylan looked up expectedly at his father.

John swallowed hard, this was the part about being a soldier he found the hardest. Having to say goodbye and making promises he wasn't sure he could keep. In all likelihood, John would return in six months time and enjoy his retirement. After twelve years in the army, rising to the rank of captain, John had had his fill. He needed the army when he joined up. His marriage was failing, he was at risk of falling into a downward spiral of alcoholism as his wife, Vera had affair after affair. He joined the army to garner some stability in his life, a purpose. He was 30 then. Now 42 and a veteran of three deployments, John had decided this would be his last. He had served his country with pride and honour ever since he had joined the Yorkshire regiment. It was time to leave and put his family first. He thought the army had been his saviour, yet an angel walked into his life, or rather the Prince of Wales pub, seven years previously and John's life was never going to be the same again.

Anna Smith. She was blonde, the owner of stunningly beautiful blue eyes. her figure was faultless and her smile took John's breath away. John knew he was in love with her before he even heard Anna speak. It was also clear she was much younger than him -ten years younger as John found out when he began to speak to her- yet that didn't seem to matter. John and Anna simply clicked, there was chemistry between them from the start that John had never come close to feeling when he was with Vera. He just had to have her. It took six months for John to get his girl, proposing the night before he was deployed to Iraq. Anna accepted. As soon as John returned, his divorce confirmed whilst overseas, they shared a simple ceremony at the local registry office. It wasn't much, but was all they could afford with John's Private's salary and Anna's wages as a sales assistant in a local bookshop. It was enough though. To just be known as Mr and Mrs Bates and to be able to live together was all that John and Anna wanted.

Now, seven years down the line the two of them were living in Army accommodation with their two perfect sons. Dylan was 5, the eldest and, unfortunately for him in John's opinion, the spitting image of his father. Oscar on the other hand had inherited the Smith genes in every sense. Blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and, whilst Dylan was more reserved like his Dad, Oscar inhabited his mother's enthusiasm for life. They were like chalk and cheese but to John they were flawless. They were his boys, the children he never thought he would have.

Leaving Anna to go on tour was hard enough, but to leave the boys was heartbreaking. He had only had to do it once before, when Dylan was just over a year and Oscar a newborn. Dylan was turning three months when Anna found out she was expecting Oscar. It was a surprise to be expecting again so quickly but Anna and John were overjoyed.

Now they both understood their Dad's job and what could happen when he was gone, especially Dylan who was a lot wiser than his 5 years would suggest. Looking down at his eldest son's face, John answered the question he had posed as positively as he could. To give them something to look forward to.

'When Daddy comes home, how about he finally takes you both to see that United game he has been promising?'

'Yeah,' Oscar said excitedly. 'Do you reckon they'd let me play?'

John laughed at his sons suggestion as Dylan jumped off his lap, without a word, and got into his own bed. John kept his gaze firmly on Dylan as he answered Oscar. 'You never know son. Are you alright, Dyl?'

'Yep,' Dylan replied weakly.

'Night night, Ossy,' John whispered, kissing his son on the forehead before pulling his covers up to his chin. Oscar's eyes were already drifting close as his father tucked him in. He had been this way since he was a baby. One minute he would be alert as anything, the next fast asleep. Smiling as he gently stroked Oscar's cheek, John moved across to kneel beside Dylan's bed.

'Dad's going to miss you,' John stroked Dylan's forehead. 'And Oscar. So much.'

'I really wish you didn't have to go.' Dylan stared up at the ceiling, John could see the tears welling up in his eyes.

'Now, none of that,' John said, sitting on the edge of Dylan's bed. 'When I'm away, you're the man of the house. You have to look after mummy. And Oscar. Can you do that for me?'

Dylan nodded, wiping a tear from his eye.

'That's my boy. Now, by the time Daddy comes back you'll be on your summer holidays. You know what me and Mum have promised for the summer.'

'Disneyland,' Dylan whispered excitedly, wary of his now sleeping brother only a short distance away.

'Exactly. So Daddy will be back. Of course he will be. I can't let my boys down, can I?'

'No,' Dylan replied, John relieved to see his mood brighten.

'I love you son, will you send me some of those fantastic drawings you do when I'm away?' Dylan nodded enthusiastically. 'Great. Now it's time you went to sleep. You have school in the morning.'

'Night Daddy. I love you.'

'I love you too, son.' John answered with a smile. 'Goodnight.'

With a kiss on his son's forehead, John stood up and walked to the door. With a glance over his shoulder at Oscar happily snoring and Dylan wriggling to get comfortable, John turned off the light.

Flicking through the endless satellite channels, laid out in his pyjama bottoms on the bed as Anna had a shower, John allowed himself to contemplate what the next six months had in store. He would be assisting Major Robert Crawley, a man John held in high regard and had a strong respect for. They had been to Iraq together 4 years previously. Since then, they had become good friends, sharing the types of memories only soldiers could possibly hold. It was going to be tough, but this was why John had joined the army. To fight for his country, to try and better people's lives. On his first tour, he had no one to leave behind. He was estranged from Vera, his mother lived down in London and all his friends were in the army too. In a strange way he looked forward to his deployment. Now he just wanted to get it over with, to get home and be with his family properly.

They had already prepared for John leaving the army. His mother had passed away, leaving all her assets to John, her only next of kin. They had sold the house, living in it not an option as Dylan had only just started a school in Yorkshire. It wouldn't be fair to uproot him so early on in his education. John and Anna had purchased a four bedroom house nearby, meaning, to the delight of their sons, they would each have their own room. Anna's salary as a receptionist for a local law firm, as well as some left over money from John's mother, would tide them over until John could find himself a new job. John couldn't wait to get home.

In the next moment, Anna appeared in the bedroom. Her short silk nightdress meant John had a wonderful view of Anna's legs. Even after seven years together, just under six years of marriage and two children, the attraction they felt for each other from the first moment in that pub had never waned. John drank in the view, Anna fully aware she was being watched. Looking in his direction, Anna felt her breath catch in her throat as she registered the way John was looking at her.

'What is the matter with you?' She asked finally, placing her hairbrush on the dresser next to the television.

'I'm just looking at you.' John replied, standing up and walking in Anna's direction. 'I enjoy watching you.'

Anna closed her eyes as she felt John's arms curl around her waist. She could feel the coarse black hair of his chest pressing into her back. Her heart felt like it was beating at a hundred miles an hour. Turning around in his embrace, she placed both her hands on each of John's strong upper arms. Being in the army meant he had to keep himself fit. Although he didn't possess quite the same toned body he did when she first met him, he was still trim and his arms were rigid under her touch.

'You never fail to turn me on,' Anna breathed, pressing her forehead against John's.

'Well, Mrs Bates,' John put his hands on Anna's waist and lifted her up, Anna wrapping her legs around his hips. John's hands came to rest on her bottom, keeping her steady as John pressed his lips against hers. 'Let's see what we can do about that.'

Anna buried her hands in his hair, kissing him languidly as he moved them both to the bed. Sitting down, he kept Anna in place, sitting on his lap as their kisses became deeper, John's hands moving to remove Anna's nightdress. She moaned out loud at the loss of contact to his lips, John resuming the kiss as soon as he had tossed her nightdress on the floor. John's palm settled on one of Anna's breasts, Anna moaning his name as he took her other nipple between his thumb and forefinger, watching it become hard before taking it in his mouth.

'John, I need you now,' Anna growled, tugging at the waistband to his pyjama bottoms.

Anna removed herself from his lap as John took off his trousers, before sitting back down. Anna was back on his lap almost as soon as he came into contact with the bed, grinding herself down on his arousal. He was already hard, the sight of Anna in her silk nightdress and the candour to her words already rendering him helpless. John shifted his hips and then he was inside her. She was hot and already wet from their brief exploits. This was the effect they both had on each other. The desire they felt for the other knew no bounds.

'Christ, Anna,' John hissed, taking in her body before looking down to see them joined together.

'I know,' Anna murmured, searching for his lips with her own. Their tongues tangled almost immediately, the need to taste each other overpowering.

John began to move his hips then, Anna reciprocating by grinding down on him. She could already feel a light throbbing, a pang of desire in the pit of her stomach. Her hands were placed on John's upper arms to keep her steady, his muscles contracting under her fingertips as he kneaded her bottom with his own hands. John knew Anna, he knew the things about her that only years of marriage could bring. She was close to reaching her end and John knew how to drive her onwards, his own climax edging nearer with each occasion Anna ground down on him.

'You're gorgeous, do you know that?' John whispered in her ear, his breath hot and heavy against her skin. 'You feel amazing to me right now. So wet, so smooth...'

'Oh John,' Anna quivered, almost in desperation as the first waves of pleasure began to move throughout her body.

'There is no finer sight to me than to see you like this, to run my hands all over your body, to know no one else will ever know you in this way ever again except for me...'

'Oh God...' In the next moment Anna was undone, John slowing down his movements as Anna collapsed against his body. He kissed the top of her head, allowing Anna to regain her senses but all the time moving himself inside her.

It wasn't long until he continued, the rhythm he had settled into a few moments previously was replaced by erratic thrusts, Anna's climax driving him on to reach his own. Anna began to place warm kisses on John's shoulders, his neck before placing her lips on his. John responded feverishly, taking her tongue inside his mouth as he felt himself empty within her, the kiss swallowing his moan as his movements halted.

'Bloody hell,' he breathed, lying back on the bed. 'You'll be the death of me.'

Anna moved up to lie beside him, lying on her side and stroking his face. 'I just hope I get the chance to be.'

Lying in the darkness, neither able to speak, John and Anna held hands in the darkness as they pondered the next six months.

'I knew what I was getting into when I married you,' Anna began. 'But it doesn't make it any easier. You're my husband, I need you here.'

'You know that I would rather stay,' John admitted, turning on his side as Anna did the same. Face to face, John placed his hand on Anna's hip. 'To be with you. To be with our boys. But it's my job. As soon as I am back we can live how we want to.'

'I don't know how I'd cope if I lost you,' Anna broke down, pressing her head against John's chest. John lay on his back and pulled her closer to him, Anna now tucking her head under his chin. She breathed in his scent. How she would miss his embrace when he was gone.

'Now you can wipe that idea out of your head.' John kissed her hair. 'I'll be back. We promised the boys we'd go to Disneyland and you know I'm not one to go back on my promise.'

'Yes,' Anna laughed slightly. 'And you promised me a proper white wedding. If we renew our vows.'

'See, I've got all these promises to keep. Not coming back isn't an option. And Dylan has promised me he will look after you and Ossy.'

'Well, I'll be in safe hands then.'

'You will.' John agreed.

Silence fell between them then, John contemplating sleep until Anna sighed slightly, indicating to John she had something else to say.

'You know that I love you, John Bates. To the army you're just another soldier, but to me you are the world.'

'I love you too,' John whispered. 'You and the boys are the best thing that ever happened to me. I can't wait to grow old with you. I imagine us, in twenty years time or so, having the boys around for Sunday lunch. Their wives, maybe even their children, sitting with us at the table. And I'll glance over at you, meet your beautiful eyes and we'll share a smile, safe in the knowledge that what we shared over those years was worth all these painful goodbyes.'

'That sounds wonderful.'

'It's going to happen,' John insisted. 'In six months time, our new life can begin...'