Author's Note: Chapter 2 is here! Thank you for your kind words so far and I hope you continue to enjoy :)
'Well,' Anna said as she pressed down on Pamela Reynold's stomach to check the positon that her baby was resting in at clinic the next morning, 'I don't know what you've been doing since the last time we saw each other, but whatever it was managed to coax this little one into dropping at last. I can feel the head within the cervix now.' She heard the relieved sigh that Pamela let out as she rested on the bed.
'I walked up and down the staircase a couple of times each day.' Pamela admitted whilst hand-drawing circles onto the proof of her first child once Anna had finished her examination. 'I'll admit that all that walking was a little exhausting, but just the thought of having to have a caesarean left me feeling sick.'
Anna nodded with a smile as she moved to stand beside Pamela. 'You don't have to be worried about it now.' She soothed whilst pulling her slip and blouse back down over her stomach. 'Now that Baby has cooperated and moved, you're free to give birth in your own home and in your own bed.' She revealed.
'How many more weeks do you think I have?' Pamela raised her brow.
After taking hold of one of the elder woman's hands and helping her to sit up on the bed, Anna stepped back from her so that she could look at her. 'A fortnight at most.' She told her. 'The baby could be here before the end of this week though, so I'll come to you with a delivery pack tomorrow to be on the safe side.' She helped Pamela down from the bed before taking her hand. 'It won't be long now, I promise.'
'Thank you, Nurse Smith.' Pamela smiled.
'You're welcome.' Anna replied before opening the curtain to the cubicle and following Pamela out.
Once Pamela had left the town hall she breathed a sigh of relief at knowing that she had been her final patient for the next hour before heading for the kitchen in search of a steaming cup of tea. She smiled when John turned to her as he was stood with the kettle when she entered the kitchen, his lips curving up into a smile of their own as she began to approach him. 'I see we had the same idea.' He chuckled.
'It's been a long morning.' She laughed whilst tucking an errant strand of hair back behind her ear.
He nodded in understanding. 'I'll make this one. You sit down.' He told her.
'It's alright.' She shook her head. 'You've been busier than all of us.'
'That might be true, but I'm not the one who's had to walk around in heels all morning.' He smirked.
Anna looked down at her feet and only then did she notice just how much they were aching from all of the walking she had done since breakfast. 'I'll make the next one.' She returned his smirk when their eyes met again before turning on her heel and walking over to the table. After pulling one of the chairs out she sat down and rested her chin on her hand, a sigh escaping her whilst she gazed over at John.
'You want to know more about me, don't you?' He raised his brow at her when he caught her eye.
'Am I that obvious?' She giggled.
John shrugged with a smile. 'No, you just strike me as quite an inquisitive person.'
'I am, I suppose.' She admitted. 'Is there more about you to know, doctor?'
He thought for a moment as he pulled two mugs out of the overhead cupboard. 'I have a daughter from my previous marriage.' He told her. 'Her name's Kathleen and she turned two a couple of weeks ago.'
'Does she live with you or does she live with her mum?' She asked.
'With me.' He revealed. 'Her mum left in the middle of the night when she was just over a month old. I had it out with her a couple of days after that and she said that she left us because she wanted to have her life back.' The frustration that he felt was evident in his voice. 'I can't believe she thought that that was an acceptable excuse for leaving the two of us.' Anna sighed whilst she continued to listen to him.
'I grew up in a single-parent household.' She admitted. 'Mum never talked about dad much, but when I was thirteen she told me that he broke up with her when she told him that she was pregnant with me. She did such an incredible job of raising me all on her own and I'm certain that Kathleen is going to be able to tell people the same about you when she grows up.' She watched him walk to her with the tea.
Once John had sat down in the chair beside her he went into his trouser pocket. 'I have a photo of her.'
She waited for him to pull out the photograph before he handed it to her and she put her teacup down so that she could look at it. 'Oh, she's so sweet…' She said as she looked at the black and white image.
In the photograph, Kathleen was sitting on a rug with a little blanket caught in one hand and a stuffed bear in the other whilst she sucked on a pacifier. Her head was covered with dark ringlets that ended at the base of her neck and she could tell just by looking at the photograph that she had the same dark eyes as her father. If she was honest, it was quite hard to tell the difference between the two of them.
'She looks like such a darling.' She said as she handed the photograph back to John.
'Yes, she does,' He agreed before tucking the photograph back into his trouser pocket. 'but less than an hour after that photograph was taken she had a meltdown because I told her she had to wait until she had had her dinner to have another piece of chocolate.' He revelled in the little laugh that Anna let out.
'I can tell that you adore her.' She smiled.
He nodded in response. 'I don't think I could love another person more than her. If Vera had taken her with her when she had left, I dread to think what kind of a state I would be in now. I know this might sound a little stupid, but she gives me something to live for.' He said to her before lifting his cup of tea to his mouth and taking a sip of it, Anna shaking her head before she covered his free hand with hers.
'It doesn't sound stupid.' She reassured him. 'Mum said that I did the same for her.'
The two of them shared a smile before she leaned back in her chair and picked up her mug once again. 'Now that you know some more about me, can I ask you a couple of things about you?' John inquired.
'Of course.' She replied.
He thought about what he was going to ask her for a couple of seconds. 'When did you realise that you wanted to be a midwife?' He asked her as he leaned back in his own chair and took another sip of tea.
'When I was twelve.' She revealed. 'My aunt had come to join mum and I for dinner one evening when she had been pregnant with my cousin and just as I was going to bed, her waters broke and she went into labour. Mum called for a midwife and when the midwife arrived I was told to go to bed, but I just wanted to find out what happened during childbirth and so I sat at the top of the staircase all night.'
John chuckled at her revelation. 'So, watching your cousin arrive made you want to be a midwife?'
'Mmm hmm.' She hummed. 'I'll admit that I didn't think that childbirth was as incredible or beautiful as I do now…I still remember feeling sick when I saw all the blood from the top of the staircase…but that was the thing that told me that I wanted to be a midwife, yes.' She glanced at him over her mug.
'I've never met a woman quite like you, you know.' He told her after a time.
She sat in silence whilst smiling at him for a few seconds. 'Is that a compliment, or…?' She asked.
'A compliment.' He was quick to reassure her.
'What makes me different to other women you know?' She asked.
He shrugged. 'I don't know, but there's something different about you. I'm sure it'll come to me.'
'Will you tell me some more things about Kathleen?' She asked.
'What kind of things?' He looked into her eyes.
'I don't know…about her personality. What's she like?' She ran her thumb around her mug's ridge.
John chuckled to himself at the thought of his little girl. 'Well, sometimes she can be a little whirlwind and can't sit still for more than a second at a time,' He smirked, 'and other times she can be the most laid-back child I've ever known and just want to have a cuddle on the sofa and watch cartoons all day.'
'Where does she go when you're at work?' Anna cocked her head to one side.
'Mum watches her for me when I'm working and has her overnight for me when I'm on call.' He said.
She sighed. 'Your family sounds like mine. I'm closest to mum and grandma.'
'Was your mother a midwife?' He asked her.
'She was.' She told him. 'Grandma too, when she was young.'
'They must be proud of you.' He smiled. 'You're an incredible midwife.'
She felt a surge of warmth course through her at his words. 'I wouldn't change my job for the world.'
Just as John opened his mouth to continue their conversation, Jane turned up at the kitchen hatch. 'I'm sorry to interrupt, doctor Bates, but I need a second opinion with Mrs. Timmins.' John gave her a nod.
'I'll be right there, Nurse Moorsum.' He smiled.
After returning his smile the dark-haired nurse turned on her heel and walked back to her patient.
'No rest for the wicked.' John said after turning back to Anna.
She couldn't help but giggle. 'It was so nice getting to know more about you and Kathleen.'
'You wouldn't want to come to the park with Kathleen and I on Sunday evening, would you?' He asked.
'The park?' She echoed.
He nodded. 'I don't see her much during the week and so we always have a picnic for tea on a Sunday.'
'I wouldn't want to impose on your time together.' She shook her head.
'You wouldn't be imposing.' He soothed. 'It would also give you a chance to meet Kathleen in person.'
Anna thought for a moment before a smile graced her features. 'That sounds wonderful.' She said.
'Shall Kathleen and I collect you from Downton Place at around six on Sunday night?' He inquired.
'Six would be perfect.' She picked up her mug and carried it over to the sink.
'Brilliant.' He flashed her one more smile before turning on his heel and walking out of the kitchen.
Once he was gone, she leaned back against the sink and sighed.
She had known this man for 24 hours and yet it felt as though she had known him her whole life.
He was such an incredible man and she couldn't wait to spend Sunday evening with him and Kathleen.
When she made it back to Downton Place at last late that afternoon, Anna leaned back against the wall of the bicycle shed and let out a sigh of fatigue. Since clinic had reached its end that morning she had sat down twice. Twice in almost seven hours. When she and the Sisters and the other nurses had made it back to Downton after clinic they had walked to the dining room in the hope of having some lunch.
Just minutes after she had sat down next to Gwen at the table, however, Sister Cecilia had walked in to tell her that Shirley Price's waters had broken and so she had had to go out to her. Shirley had had the most beautiful little boy after almost four hours of pushing and being the first to hold him had cheered her right up, but she had to admit that she had been looking forward to eating something at Downton.
She had cycled home as fast as possible after ensuring that everything was well with Shirley and sweet little Charlie, her stomach rumbling the entire time, but before she had even had the time to take her bicycle back to the bicycle shed, Sister Lena had come outside to remind her that she had needed to go back to Dorothy Jones to find out how she and her little girl were getting on. She had been worn out.
Nevertheless, she had turned around and left Downton again in order to ride to Dorothy's flat. Despite how nice it had been to bring up baby Anna's wind and have a cuddle with her, she had been relieved when she had been able to take her leave. That relief hadn't lasted too long, however, because a shard of glass had punctured one of the tires on her bicycle meaning that she had had to walk to Downton.
Now, as she stood with her back pressed against the wall to the bicycle shed, she felt like sobbing. She was tired, she was starving, she ached and she was certain that she would scream if she was made to go out again before tomorrow. 'Shake it off, Anna.' She told herself after standing in silence for a short time, 'You knew that there were going to be days like this. It's just part and parcel of being a midwife.'
Once she had allowed that to sink in she ran a hand over her face and turned to walk up the steps and into Downton. The sound of heels clicking on the tiled floor reached her ears moments after she had closed the door behind herself. 'Oh, Anna,' Sister Hilda sighed whilst she approached her, 'you look so tired.' She allowed the Sister to rest a hand on her shoulder and stroke it tenderly for a few seconds.
'I'm alright, Sister, honest. It's just been one of those days.' She admitted.
'Even so, I think you've earned yourself an early night.' Sister Hilda smiled. 'I've fixed you up a tray so that you can take it to your room and then climb straight into bed. If that's what you want, of course.'
The appreciation was evident in Anna's eyes. 'Oh, Sister, thank you.' She said to her.
'Of course.' The Sister nodded. 'Now off you go.'
After thanking her once more, Anna stepped past her and walked in the direction of the kitchen so that she could get the tray that Sister Hilda had prepared for her. 'You only get special treatment because your mum used to work here.' Sarah snarled as she looked at her from where she was stood with Jane. 'If I or one of the others ended up with a flat tire, we wouldn't get an early night and a dinner tray.'
'Leave her alone.' Jane and Gwen said in unison.
After picking up her tray, Anna glared at Sarah before smiling at her friends and leaving the room.
Sarah O'Brien…
She wondered if her patients knew just how cold she was behind closed doors.
If she wasn't so tired she would have stood up for herself, but she was exhausted and didn't feel up to wasting her last shred of energy on getting herself into Sarah's bad books for the thousandth time.
After a few minutes she had made it up the staircase and into her bedroom and, with a sigh, she placed her tray down on her bedside table before taking off her uniform and stockings and climbing into bed. She didn't mind sleeping in her slip tonight. She couldn't be bothered to walk down the hall to find her pyjamas. It surprised her how fast she managed to eat her dinner and drink the cup of tea that Sister Hilda had left on the tray for her. She wished that she could say that slumber claimed her just as fast.
Alas, she couldn't.
Ever since the war she had had trouble sleeping.
Whenever she closed her eyes all she could see was Patrick lying dead.
Not long after she had come to Downton to help with the NHS she had met a young man called Patrick and it hadn't taken long for the two of them to fall for one another. Even now, she still was unable to find words to explain just how much she had loved him. He had been close to asking her to marry him – she had been able to tell – but he had waited too long to get down on one knee and propose to her.
One night, close to the end of the war, the air-raid siren had blared and everyone had fled to the bomb shelters. The one that she had fled to had been the one closest to both Downton Place and to Patrick's house, but when she had been sat with Gwen she had been unable to see Patrick anywhere. For almost an hour she had prayed that he had been safe, but just hours later she had learned the horrible truth.
He hadn't made it out of his house and into the bomb shelter in time.
She had never hated anyone more than she had hated Hitler in that moment.
His senseless war had led to the death of the man that she had adored with all her heart and soul.
She had thought that now – ten years after the end of the war – she would have gotten past what had happened to him, but she hadn't. She wanted to find love again at some point, of course she did, but until she was able to move past what had happened to Patrick no man would stand a chance with her.
As she laid down beneath her quilt she tried to think of happier things to take her mind off of the bad.
In an instant, the thought of spending Sunday evening with John and Kathleen entered her head.
She couldn't wait to get to know John better and to make friends with Kathleen.
She couldn't wait to get out of Downton Place for the evening.
Her lips curled up into a smile at the images that entered her head.
She could see herself sitting with John and Kathleen whilst the three of them ate the food that he had prepared for the picnic, she and him talking about nothing in particular whilst Kathleen sat between them and spoke up or giggled every now and again. The images in her head caused her heart to swell.
Even though she didn't know John that well, she couldn't wait for their picnic.
She had never been more impatient for anything.
Author's Note: Thank you all for reading! I know that this chapter was shorter than the last and wasn't too interesting, but I promise that the next chapter will be longer and better so please stick with me. Again, thank you so much for your lovely feedback on the first chapter and I hope that you'll all review this chapter and keep reading. Until next time, friends! x