Early one morning, February 10th, 1923, Anna Bates rolled over, and found herself looking at her husband. He was asleep, just like always. Anna thought how should I wake him up this morning? The answer soon came to her. She leaned over, and kissed his forehead. Then she kissed his eyelids, before their fluttered open, revealing brown eyes. He smiled. "What a way to be woken up. What time is it?"

She checked the clock beside the bed. "Half past eight."

He lay back in bed. "Thank God it's our day off. That was nice of Mrs. Hughes to give us the entire day off… especially when we've got a few days coming up… We don't deserve it." He sighed, smiling.

"We do deserve it. Are you going to deny me my good morning kiss, Mr. Bates?"

"I would never deprive you." He said, reaching for her, and she met him lips, and deepened the seemingly chaste kiss. When he pulled away, he faked being shocked. "Mrs. Bates!" He cried out.

She giggled. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Bates, I forgot myself for a minute. Now, I'll go make breakfast." She danced out of his reach, and still giggling, went downstairs.

He lay back again, smiling. It was nice to see Anna, almost an entire year after the attack, smiling and laughing. He was proud of her, of his wife, for the progress she'd made. She still occasionally grew quiet, drawn into some horrible flashback, but that hadn't happened in a bit over a month now. Over the next few minutes, he could hear the smell of breakfast. He walked downstairs, slowly, only to find his wife standing over the stove, an apron over her nightgown. He looked at her, her braided hair swinging around her shoulders, her bottom moving around, her hips swinging as she danced around, giggling to herself. She hadn't heard him come in. He growled. "Looks tasty."

She turned, and turned pink as she realized he wasn't talking about food. He was talking.. about her. She walked over to him. "Well. I do pride myself on my cooking."

His eyes twinkled. "Now… who said I was talking about food?"

She giggled again, but stopped abruptly, when he pushed her against the kitchen wall, unable to contain himself any longer. She pressed against her arm, her fingernails raking down his back, as she was caught in the passion of the moment.

"You really don't play fair." He whined into the kiss.

"Neither do you, John Bates. You were the one who interrupted my cooking!" She teased.

He pulled away. "Do we have to eat? Can't we take this upstairs?" He moved closer again, cupping her face in his large hands.

"John. I might not make it that far." She warned. "And you're not really going to waste this opportunity to eat breakfast with your wife, are you?"

"Of course not." He said, as his stomach growled. He sat at the table, watching his delectable wife cook their breakfast. At last, she set down the plate in front of him, and it smelled heavenly. She ate her breakfast, then asked. "So what do you want to do today?"

"Plan for our holiday." He answered, his eyes boring into her.

"And what did you have in mind, John?"

"I was thinking we could maybe… stay at a hotel or something, maybe in Ripon, for a few days, treat ourselves for dinner and such." He said, smiling at the thought of treating his wife to all life had to offer.

"John." She reminded him. "That's hotel money."

"We don't need hotel money." He said, smiling devilishly. "I didn't tell you this, but his Lordship won big the last time we were at the races, and he gave me half, and told me to treat you."

"So this is your idea of a vacation?" She asked, trying to keep the smile off her face.

"Yes ma'am." He answered, earning a swat. "What do you think?"

"I think it's brilliant." She answered. "We need a vacation- and I need a new garter, to impress my husband." She winked.

He felt his body temperature increase. He tried to keep his face and body actions neutral, when all he wanted to do was press her up against the wall again. "Don't be a tease." He growled again.

"Sorry John." She said. "So, a hotel in Ripon, dinner out, and sightseeing… maybe take a walk past the registrar office?"

He smiled. "I'd love to do all that, and more. Although the only sightseeing I'm planning on doing, is of my wife's gorgeous body."

"Silly flirt!" She teased. He finally lost all self-control, pressing her against the wall, and she kissed him, as she unbuttoned his undershirt to run her fingers through his chest hair. "Upstairs!" She gasped. "Now."

And so they went upstairs, glad that it was their day off, theirs to spend how they wanted to.

A few hours later, they were lying together, in a content afterglow. "Once again, Mrs. Bates." He said, endearingly. "You've proved your worth."

She swatted his arm, and giggled. "Oh, Mr. Bates. You never are more proud of me than when I show you who's boss."

"Always." He whispered, watching her eyelids flicker. "And might I add that after almost four years of marriage, you never fail to impress."

"Neither do you, John." She was silent for a moment, thinking. "John?"

"Yes Anna?"

"Have you given up on children?"

He suddenly felt wide awake. He sat up. "You're not- Are you?"

"No, John, darling, I was just asking."

"No, I haven't given up. I've been trying not to think about it. I've been more trying to enjoy… what I have."

They giggled together, as he rubbed his hand over her arm, her shoulder already cooling after their heated lovemaking. Then there was a knock on the door downstairs. Anna's eyes flew wide open, and she looked out the window to see- Mrs. Hughes! She jumped out of bed, looking for something to wear, something to put her hair in. Looking around frantically, she pulled on a dress, urging John. "Button it! Button it!" He did so with haste, and it was quite comical. Her wearing a dress, her hair down, and him naked trying to button her dress for her. She giggled at the thought, before putting her hair in a quick bun, hissing "get dressed!" to John, before rushing downstairs. She opened the door, and said. "Hello Mrs. Hughes. How are you?"

"I'm fine, my girl. I just wanted to see how you and Mr. Bates were doing on your day off."

"Sorry it took so long, we were… cleaning." She said, praying John was getting dressed. "Would you like some tea?"

"That would be lovely." Anna ushered Mrs. Hughes into the kitchen, and started making tea. After a few minutes of menial chatter, John walked in, looking presentable.

"Hello Mrs. Hughes."

"Hello, Mr. Bates. How are you?"

"Tired from all the cleaning we've been doing." He said, because cleaning was their go-to excuse. This wasn't the first time it had happened to them.

"Anna has just been telling me that when your holiday starts on the 12th, you're going to Ripon?"

"Yes that is right, Mrs. Hughes. We feel we deserve a holiday. Speaking of… I wanted to thank you for arranging those days off for us for Valentine's Day."

"You're welcome." Mrs. Hughes said, smiling. "Now remember, I don't want to see either of you at work again until the 17th."

"Yes Mrs. Hughes. We'll remember." Anna smiled at her, a fondness for the older woman showing in her smile. She served the tea, and the three of them made small chatter until they were done. Mrs. Hughes told them she'd seem them tomorrow. And left.

Once she was gone, Anna and John looked at each other, and started laughing, unable to believe they'd pulled it off.

"It's a good thing…" He managed to gasp. "That she doesn't know what's really going on!"

"She probably does, she's a wise soul, Mrs. Hughes."

John laughed again. "Shall we get back to cleaning then, Mrs. Bates?"

And thus, they went back upstairs, awaiting whatever came next. They had a holiday coming up, and they were free to do as they wished for those few days off. They were finally at peace, and happy.