A/N: Those of you who follow me on Twitter probably have seen me mention my humorous brother, who thinks Bates is a pretty cool dude. He once said I should write an AU where Bates has to slay a dragon. Then I got this idea while rewatching the Princess Bride (my favorite movie), which allowed me to make it canon era, as that's what I write. My brother will definitely find this too sappy, whoops. I've had it in my drafts for away and finished it up just now, so no influence from S6 spoilers. This take on the kids is slightly based on a version I've used before, but I've changed it a bit for this scenario. Some elements of the tale are at the request of my brother. ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own Downton Abbey.
A storm had struck the village of Downton in the night, rain pounding, wind howling. Lightning flashed in the sky, and the thunder rumbled.
At the house behind the Downton Inn, Margaret and William Bates, clad in their pyjamas, rushed into their parents' bedroom, bouncing in and hopping into the bed.
"Daddy, Mummy, there's a monster outside!" their daughter shrieked.
John was the first to react, and he reached over to flick on the lamp on the bedside table. "Careful not to bump Mummy, all right my dears?" He knew it was futile to ask them not wake her, and he could feel her sitting up beside him, her hand on the growing expanse of her stomach.
News that they were expecting again came as a surprise. The twins were four going on five, with their birthday coming up soon before the arrival of new addition to the family. Dr Clarkson told Anna that surges in fertility at her age did happen, so it wasn't completely impossible. Although they had been content with just two, she and John were very thrilled to be blessed again. This pregnancy had been easier in comparison to carrying twins, thus far, now in her sixth month. That of course did not make her husband worry any less.
Anna scooted a bit to make room for the children, who clamored in between their parents. John put his arm around them as the thunder crashed again, this time closer to their house, which was situated behind the hotel.
"It's just the thunder, everything will be all right," Anna said soothingly, smoothing down Margaret's blonde curls.
She pressed against her mother's side, one hand clutching onto the thin material of Anna's nightgown. "Can I sleep in here?"
"Me too," piped up William.
John sighed, but Anna nodded. "I think we can allow that tonight."
"Can you tell us a story, Daddy? I don't think I can sleep without a story." William asked, peering up at his father.
"One with a princess, please," added Margaret.
"And a dragon."
John furrowed his brow. "Very well, I think can come up with something."
The thunder filled the room again, and while the twins squealed, that gave him a perfect idea. He started his tale once they quieted down. "Once upon a time in a far away village—"
"Not Downton?"
"No, not Downton. Miles and miles from here." The goal was to calm them down, not scare them further.
"Oh," said William, almost somewhat disappointed.
"There was a dragon that lived in a nearby cave that was very large and roared very loud. In fact, he was even louder than this thunder."
The children's eyes grew wide with anticipation. Anna smiled at how enthralled they were. Margaret shifted towards John to listen, so Anna managed to turn on her side in an effort to get more comfortable. The baby decided that it wanted to be awake too, kicking up its own storm. At least the littlest one wasn't pressing on her bladder… for the moment anyway. She lazily rubbed circles on her rounded belly as John continued the story.
"Because the dragon was so loud, the villagers decided that something needed to be done. They couldn't get any rest because it was so hard to sleep at night." The thunder echoed in the distance, adding dramatic effect.
"So the village chosen one brave person to go—"
"Daddy!" exclaimed Margaret at the same time William shouted "A knight!"
John paused, bemused but also touched at these choices.
"That's right, it was Daddy, Sir John." stated Anna, a crafty smile on her face.
"Er—" he now stammered a bit, as the children squealed a bit in glee. Of course Anna would make him the knight in the story. Well, that worked. His plan had been to bring in the princess as marvelous, pretty blonde lady…
"So did Daddy slay the dragon?" asked Margaret.
"Well no, not on the first try. He went in without a very good plan—" Much like this story, John thought.
"Did he get hurt? Oh, he did, that's why he has a stick!" exclaimed William. He bounced up and down at his addition to the story.
Their children never judged their father for his limp or walking with a cane the way others did. They never seemed to notice or care that he was slower than them, and were always diligent of of his pace when they walked hand-in-hand. He had always worried that he'd be missing something—or not providing for them—from not being able to chase after them, but they always preferred to stay by his side when he played with them. While the two of them together could be fairly rambunctious, they were very well behaved and did have a pensive side that Anna always teasingly said they inherited from their father. John, of course, said that they got their kindness from their mother. Brothers and sisters often did not get along, but Margaret and William did. Anna chalked this up to them being twins, but whatever the reason, it was wonderful that the two rarely ever fought.
"I suppose so," John said slowly, his heart feeling overwhelmed. "But he had to make sure that next time he faced the dragon, he knew what he was doing."
William interrupted again. "Did he slay the dragon with his stick?"
This time John laughed, and Anna joined in with giggles. The twins were perplexed.
"You're ahead of yourself, my young sir," John said, giving William a pat on the shoulder.
"What about the princess?" Margaret said.
"Ah yes, the princess. She was the fairest in the land, with beautiful blonde hair and the prettiest blue eyes…"
Their daughter caught on easily. "Mummy!"
Anna grinned. Perhaps it was only proper, but she knew John, and she knew that this was probably his plan along.
"Did Mummy help slay the dragon?" Margaret asked eagerly, looking to and from each parent.
"Yes, did she?" Anna inquired, a sparkle in her eye.
"Well, at first the knight didn't want the princess to come on the journey back to the dragon's lair. At after all, he did get hurt. So he was going to take a squire with him—"
"Mr Molesley!" William blurted out. At first, John made quizzical face but then he joined in Anna's peals of laughter. The thought of Mr Molesley handing him his cane as they went off to battle a dragon was proving to be too much.
"Yes, Squire Molesley," John managed to get out. "But the Princess Anna, that is, your Mummy, decided that she ought to go too. And so they set off together as a team."
He glanced at his wife, who was catching onto his analogy. She beamed lovingly at him.
William was growing impatient. "And then they slayed the dragon!"
"Well first they have to travel to the dragon's cave. Which was very dangerous. Which is why I—er, the knight—was very worried about having the princess come with him."
"But, it was all right, because they helped each other cross the swap." Now Anna was adding in more elements again.
Margaret decided that she ought to as well. "And run past the trolls!"
"Yes, they had to do that too." John was grinning at how silly this was, but so endearing all the same. "They finally made it to the cave and the dragon was… guarding his gold."
That's when John realized that maybe William wasn't actually sure what "slaying" was, and decided that he ought to change things…
"So he bopped the dragon on the nose with his stick," he gently did the same thing to his son with his finger, "and told the dragon that if he was going to be so loud that he needed to go far, far away from the village. And the dragon didn't like being told what to do, so he flew off and was never seen again, leaving his gold behind…" John was not sure where he was going with the story, moral wise.
Luckily Anna had an idea. "And then the princess gave the brave knight a kiss, because that was worth more than gold." She leaned over Margaret's head and her lips meet John's chastely. Luckily, the twins weren't at the stage where they understood their parents' displays of affection.
John smiled into the kiss, still grinning when they broke apart.
The thunder had stopped, and the rain had let up. Margaret let out a yawn, and William was rubbing his eyes.
"I think it's time to try to sleep now, my dears," Anna said. The children quietly situated themselves, and Anna shifted back down slowly, one hand cradling the swell of her abdomen.
John drew the blankets up over William, Margaret further down the bed and already tucked in under the sheet, and then he flicked off the lamp. The twins were getting so big, and it was harder to sleep with them sandwiched in the middle, his long arm barely reaching across their son and to Anna's waist now. He hoped that she wasn't too squished, with her ever-growing baby bump.
"You know, John… you are my hero. Even if you've never 'slain' a dragon in the literal sense," she said quietly, her voice coated with emotion and love.
He looked over William's head at his wife, barely being able to meet her eyes. "Well, my darling, I feel that you are the heroine of our story, if I say so myself," he whispered.
He didn't have to see her cheeks to know that she blushed at this. "Let's be fair and say that it's more that… we've needed each other. I know that I wouldn't be here now without you."
"Nor I you." His voice was growing gravelly.
Her hand found his and gave it a squeeze. They had both had to face demons and the way that they were able to come through it was with each other, and that's how they lived each day, with love and support.
"We do really make a good team," she muttered, "If I do say so myself."
"Well, I quite agree." He squeezed her hand back.
She mumbled something inaudible, the only discernible word being "love."
He knew how tired she was and she needed her rest. "Love you too, my darling."
A/N: Thank you for reading my cheesiness! And thank you to those who reviewed my first chapter of recent drabbles, I hope to have more up soon. :)