A/N: Thank you all so much for the response, I'm really glad you liked it. Have more fluff before the finale tomorrow…
Warning: There is a brief S4 spoiler mention, but I wouldn't say it's a big give away. Just a hint that something will happen.
Disclaimer: I forgot this before, but Downton Abbey isn't mine, nor are the characters. If they were, this series wouldn't have happened.
Nothing More, Nothing Less, Only Love
2, Love
Mrs Hughes had always been a kind of mother figure, showing something of a motherly instinct towards Anna as soon as she had arrived at Downton as a rather timid, but with a well-mannered flare if need be, fourteen-year-old girl. Mrs Hughes had always been the one Anna could turn to in her times of need – when her sister had needed her help with her newborn baby, when she felt as though Thomas had gotten a little too ahead of himself and was bullying some of the younger footmen, when her mother had sadly passed away, when Mr Bates had been sentenced to death and then life imprisonment, the night of the concert and the horrific weeks and months that followed for her – and now, Anna was slowly beginning to understand that motherly instinct.
As she held her newborn baby girl in her arms, Anna felt a wave of love rush over her. She still couldn't quite believe it. Whenever little Ella would cry, she could feel her heart aching, wanting to know what was the matter, so she could somehow make it better for her. She felt the overwhelming responsibility towards this new, little life and it feltwonderful.
John was asleep next to her in bed, softly snoring with an open book against his chest. He had been so nervous these past couple of days since the birth, almost scared that he would break Ella she was so small. Their daughter had been born a few weeks earlier than expected, taking Anna quite by surprise in their cottage that evening – luckily John had arrived home just under an hour later. Anna had never been one to doubt John's capabilities as a father, even though he had stressed his worries occasionally throughout her pregnancy (although usually after she had demanded to know what was wrong), and seeing her husband interact with their daughter in the past two days had confirmed all that she had suspected of them. John was the perfect father, already recounting stories that he would tell to their little girl even though she was yet to understand them, mostly about how her mother and father met and apparently how she was a beguiling faery. Well, she had definitely had something to say about that. Anna suspected Ella would be wanting a lot more of those stories as she grew up. He had even sifted through a selection of Burns with Ella the previous evening, having laid the baby across his chest as he lulled her to sleep, the vibrations of his chest as he read presumably setting Ella to sleep.
Anna loved to watch them together, and she knew that she would never tire of doing so. Giving birth to Ella had been like falling in love with John all over again, their daughter taking after John in a lot of her physical features. Of course, they couldn't really tell at the moment, but her dark hair and hazel eyes were a give away, although John had argued that her nose was the same as Anna's.
John stirred in his sleep, shifting onto his back and letting out a loud, heavy breath. And then, from in her arms, Ella seemed to do the same, shifting a little bit more to get comfy although half-asleep, and then letting out little breaths that Anna could feel against the palm of her hand.
Her heart swelled, watching the two people she loved with such affection, beginning to stand up slowly to put Ella back into her cot. Ella squirmed at the movement and turned into her chest, her little hands flailing as much as was possible at such a young age.
Like father, like daughter, she thought to herself, smiling.