Post-season 6, mild-ish spoilers? More speculation than anything else. I've had this scene in my mind for a while now and decided to write it down and share it before the CS gives us the real Baby Bates. This is what my imagination has had to survive on until then ;) I hope you enjoy it!
John Bates walked gingerly with the sound of his uneven footfall on the gravel filling the otherwise serene morning air. He liked this time of day best, when the air was dewy and cool and the sun was just casting its light on the world. Mornings like this always drew with it a thousand memories of walks with Anna from their cottage to the big house. He didn't regret their choice to move on, but he missed those moments. They still carved out time for each other, finding minutes in the day to break from their work and share each other's company, but a walk into town always had him wishing Anna could be right along with him.
He was headed now to the post office, cane in his right hand, letters in his breast pocket, and a precious little bundle in his left arm, snoozing as if she were in the comfort of her own bed. It was easiest do his errands in the morning when the demands of the day weren't in full-swing. It was quieter, calmer in the mornings. Maybe that was also why he liked them best.
The warm weight in his arm shifted slightly, exhaled sharply against his neck, and the little arms twined around his neck constricted further, and then settled back into a sleepy lump once more. He tried to steal a glance at the little one, but her head rested high on his shoulder and the silky, dark locks of hair fell across her face and obscured his view. Not that it mattered; he knew she was asleep. His little daughter had woken early – a very rare occurrence for her – and insisted on going with him, but hadn't lasted long into the quick venture before she gave in to sleep once again. John had predicted this, but couldn't find it in his heart to deny her the opportunity to string along with him. Only a few paces from the hotel and he was having to stoop down and carry the suddenly sluggish little one.
"She rules you with an iron fist." Anna had called after him as he let their girl slip out the door with him before Anna had even had the chance to give the girl a proper breakfast.
John now lifted the tiny fist from where it was curled against his shirt collar and kissed it before settling it back in place. Never would it be said he was the head of the house, now that they had this little one. And he'd have it no other way.
By now, he'd reached the post office and paused at the door, taking the cane in his left hand while he opened the door with his right, then quickly shifted his cane back to the proper hand as he entered the building. It was a move done with practiced ease, hardly disrupted by the added weight of his daughter in one arm.
The postman greeted him with a polite smile.
"Shall I hold your little girl?" A woman asked, who'd come in behind John. It was meant to be a kind offer, a generous one, but one that Bates encountered all too often. Someone saw an aging man with a cane in one hand and a child in the other and felt fearful for the child. He'd seen it in strangers' eyes before and he could see it in the woman now.
"No thank you." He kept his tone light, but an edge of disgust still filtered through. If Anna was here, she would be silently fuming, steadfast in her belief that Maggie was never safer than when she was with John. He posted his letters quickly and left, aware now that little Maggie was alert once more. Her chubby hand patted at his shoulder as if to soothe the sting of the earlier encounter. She trusted him implicitly and that was all the assurance he needed. The walk back to Kinmoor was livelier, brighter, as the town bustled to life. Even the little one on his shoulder popped her head up to see the commotion, but she was quiet as she took it in with keen eyes.
"Maggie, darling." Maggie's eyes, so similar to his own, met his gaze with piqued interest. "Should we stop inside and get something for Mummy?" His head gestured to the bakery and his payoff was Maggie's instant smile.
"For Mummy!" She parrotted back in agreement. "And me." Her dimpled hand patted her chest.
"Yes, I suppose so." He chuckled and then pressed a kiss to her round cheek. "Since you wouldn't let Mummy feed you."
They popped inside for a few pastries, an indulgent treat they couldn't enjoy too often, but that John liked to surprise Anna with on occasion when finances allotted it. Maggie's presence on this errand might have swayed him towards it this time around for he couldn't seem to deny the child any small joys he could offer her.
Fully awake now and holding a sweet treat in her little hands, Maggie was content to be carried, though she had more than enough energy for the walk home, John knew. She had the paper bag with Anna's surprise tucked in with her, keeping it safe. "Here, Daddy." She tore off a piece of her own pastry and held it up to his mouth.
A simple little act of sharing in her treasure, but it softened John's heart further for his girl. Maggie Bates was playful and stubborn, but above all, kind. Her mother's heart was the best thing he could've hoped for her to inherit and traces of Anna's goodness in Maggie were always making themselves known.
"Thank you, Darling."
Kinmoor Hotel was now in sight and it lifted John's spirit every time he looked upon it. Kinmoor was a modest hotel, but cozy and well-kept. Business was suffering with the rest of the economy, but they were still afloat. This might be in part due to the desirable location near the station, but John liked to think his and Anna's run of the place also spoke to its survival. A car pulled up and one of the porters hurried out to help with the luggage. The young man caught sight of Bates and straightened a little bit, keenly aware his boss was watching.
"Well, go on, Samuel. If you don't leave now, you'll be late."
At the sound of his wife's voice, John's gaze swept the area for the sight of her. By the front entrance, Anna stepped out and shooed a boy of six.
"Be good, Sammy." John called after his son as the boy started in the direction of his school and the group of children already walking that way. Samuel spun and waved to his father before returning in his trek.
Anna turned and smiled warmly at the sight of John and Maggie making their way to her.
"There's my little love." Maggie careened sharply toward her mother at the sound of her gentle beckoning. Anna caught her and the paper bag that was almost flung perilously to the ground in Maggie's haste. "What's this?" Anna held the paper bag and looked to Maggie, receiving an impish smile in return. "For you, Mummy." Maggie insisted. "A surprise." Anna caught John's pleased gaze and the half-eaten pastry in her daughter's hand, the crumbs on Maggie's sweet face.
"Well, I think I can guess what it is, but thank you for it, Maggie."
They stayed by the door watching Samuel until he turned the corner with a few other boys towards the school.
Maggie squirmed in her mother's arms. "No, no." Anna chided gently, but her arms held tight to the determined little one. "No running off to school for you just yet." Anna was already swaying with Maggie, fingers tickling the girl's neck so that the stubborn scowl disappeared from Maggie's face. "Soon enough, little one, don't you worry."
Her tone was light and airy, but the truth of her words hung between them. Soon enough, their little Maggie would be chasing after Sammy on their way to school and if they blinked, they'd miss these fleeting years between then and now.
Anna shifted Maggie's weight to one hip and turned to John, probably intending to move inside with him, but she seemed to catch something in his look. "Penny for your thoughts?"
He exhaled with the slightest smile. "Just taking it all in."
Their hotel with their children all around them. These were the years they yearned for. It filled him up with a mingling wonder and gratitude to be living this life after so long of thinking it could only ever be a marvelous dream to wake from.
John pressed a kiss to Anna's forehead and then to their girl's. "Wouldn't want to forget a moment of this."
Thoughts? Thinking about maybe writing a few more one-shots with Samuel and Maggie if there's any interest.