Notes: A HUGE THANK YOU to all you lovely people who have read and reviewed Of Extraordinary Blessings. I am really glad you've enjoyed it!

Part 3

Just thirty minutes after he had been standing out in grounds with his girls in his arms, Mr Bates found himself in his lordships library, his daughter still in his arms.

He had a lot to thank Robert Crawley for. Though he had not been helpful when he had been on the stand, he had been the one who had made sure that no matter how far he had been from them his precious girls, they were provided for. That they had food in their stomachs and a roof over their heads.

Whilst Mary had gone to fetch her father, Anna and he stood by the fire with Evie. He had been told his girl was quiet so it didn't surprise him that she had not said a lot since he had picked her up.

But what did please him was that she had not asked to be set down. Not even when they had gone in side had she begun squirming, instead just staying in her father's embrace contently and looking around.

They began to make up for all the many months they had lost.

Looking at the two of them, Anna smiled. "She can't take her eyes off of you."

"And I cannot take my eyes off of either of you," Bates replied as he looked between them.

"You silly devil…" she smiled a little smile. The same one she had been smiling at him since the day he had come to Downton.

Thank god he had written to the Earl of Grantham when he had been down on his luck. Thank god he had thought of his old friend from the war. He had hoped that he might get a job when he went up to Yorkshire.

He had not thought he was going to get a second chance at life. But he had. He had got to start again.

He had got the family he had dreamt of. So lost in thoughts of his wonderful wife and beautiful daughter that he did not see the earl come into the room.

"My dear Bates!" the earl greeted him.

"Milord," John replied, turning to him.

"It is so good to see you home."

"It is very good to be home," admitted the valet his eyes wondering to his wife and daughter.

"I am sure. How do you feel?"

The two of them were not ones to talk of their feelings much, but just at that moment, in the knowledge his eyes were a little red rimmed, he could not deny them. "I feel relieved…. And so much joy I think my heart will burst," he admitted as he kissed Evie's forehead, chuckling to himself as she yawned.

"I'm sure. I saw Mary and Matthew took her out for some fresh air this morning," Robert said softly as he looked at his goddaughter.

"She greeted us on the lawn, didn't you, darling?"

"I think it has worn her out," Anna beamed. She wasn't sorry. An early night for Evie would work in their favour that day.

"I want to thank you, my lord, for the care you have taken of Anna and Evie in my absence," John said as he rubbed circles on his baby's back. "Knowing that they were provided for let me sleep at night."

"Think nothing of it, it was least I could do. And now you must take some time to be together." Robert instructed. Holding his hand up as the other man went to speak, the earl carried on. "Let's leave it a month - give Mr Barrow a chance to find a new position and my godchild a chance to get to know her father. Then I shall be very happy to have my valet back."

The tap on the door signified for four of them were no longer alone.

"Ahh, Mr Carson, Mrs Hughes come in." said the earl.

"We are very sorry to interrupt you, milord, we just heard the good news and wanted to welcome Mr Bates home," Carson explained.

"Of course, come in," Robert nodded. "We were just making plans for the future."

"And what a bright future it is for all of you," Mrs Hughes beamed. "Look at you, my little lamb. Are you having a lovely cuddle with your daddy?" she asked Evie.

"It has been a long time coming," Bates nodded.

"Of course it has. Welcome home, it is so very good to see you."

"Thank you."

"We were just saying, Mr Carson, Mr Hughes, that Bates will now take some time off before returning to work. His duty for now lies with his family. I hope it will not inconvenience you too much Mrs Hughes, but I would also like to Anna some time off."

The housemaid cleared her throat. "Milord, with all due respect, could this be a conversation for another day? Now Mr Bates has returned, I'd very much like to be a mother to my daughter. My mother sees her more than I do at the moment and I'd like to reverse that."

"Of course you would," Robert nodded. "Sorry, I should have thought. Of course that can be a conversation for another day. Now why don't I ring for tea?"

X x x

All in all, John was relieved when he had been welcomed back by the household at Downton so that his family could make their excuses and go.

Whilst he had been having tea with his lordship, his daughter had tired of staying still and climbed down off of his lap. She had intently crawled to her mother and begun using Anna's legs to pull herself up on before turning to take another couple of wobbly steps before falling and repeating the whole process again.

His girl had her mother's determination.

Once they had been welcomed back by the family, they popped downstairs where he had met the new footman, been greeted with enthusiasm by Daisy and given a fruit cake by Mrs Patmore.

Then, at long last, the three of them were walking back to the cottage, Evie settled on her mother's hip while Bates walked beside them.

"Are you ok?" asked Anna.

"How on earth could I be otherwise, when I am with the two of you?"

"It has been a long morning," she added as her daughter agreed with her, flopping her head down on Anna's shoulder.

"Yes," John chuckled. "For all of us."

They walked on for no more than ten minutes before they arrived at their little corner of the estate.

"Here we are," Anna cooed, kissing her sleepy girl as she opened the front door. "Home at last."

John followed Anna in. Home… he could not remember the last time he had had a real home. Not for years… the Abbey didn't belonged to him, his mother's house was his mothers and he and Vera had never been homely.

But as soon as he walked into the cottage with Anna and Evie, he knew he was exactly where he belonged.

A swift look around him confirmed that the next month would be full of decorating. Anna had spoken of the changes she wished to make when she had been visiting, which would take time she just had not had between work and being a mother. Now… now, they had the time.

He'd make it a palace for her.

Nevertheless, she had made the best of a bad situation. The room was pretty and cosy…

Home.

"Here you are, sunshine," said Anna as she walked over to the corner where John saw the play pen. "You have a lovely sleep."

Over one side of the wooden frame hang a folded blue blanket and inside were a few cuddle toys and stacking blocks. Anna lowered Evie down, gently picked up the blanket and tucked her daughter in.

Crossing to them, Bates put his hand on Anna's lowered back as they looked in the crib.

"She's our daughter…" he said as if looking down on a new born.

But then everything was so new to him.

Anna turned away from the crib to him and looked up before wrapping her arms about him. Needing no further hint, he leant his walking stick against the crib, and held Anna close, his eyes flitting to the door.

It was locked. They were home, all together warm and safe.

Neither of them moved for a long time.

X x x

"Evie, let your father shave in peace," Anna laughed as she stood by the stove making dinner while John sat at the table with a basin of water in front of him as he ridded himself of the traces of the pass eighteen months.

His daughter, who had never seen such a thing before, sat by him entranced by this fascinating new presence in her life.

"She's ok," smiled John, dipping his finger in the cream before touching his daughter nose, making her laugh hysterically.

"You're going to spoil her, aren't you?" Anna beamed.

"Utterly," her husband confirmed, the traces of his Irish heritage audible in the way he said the word.

The rest of the evening continued in that vein. The high chair sat idle in the corner of the room over dinner, Evie sitting on her daddy's knee to have her own.

"She is such a good girl," he sighed. "She's a credit to you, darling."

Anna shook her head. "Don't say that. She is a credit to us."

John nodded, knowing he was not to argue by her tone. He simply reached over to squeeze her hand.

"Today has been everything I ever hoped it would be… and so much more besides," he admitted.

She looked away, swallowing. "You silly beggar," she sighed, the only words she could think of. He understood perfectly.

After dinner came cake and after cake, a quiet family evening. Evie and her father played on the rug together, John animating her bears and rabbits with voices while Anna sat on the sofa laughing just as much as their daughter.

She had known her husband would make a wonderful father – she had just underestimated how quickly Evie would accept him. They had been together for little over ten hours…. And the laughter they shared, the greatest tonic Anna's heart could receive, filled their little home.

At around seven thirty however, Evie begun to rub her eyes and at last abandoned her position on the floor by John to flop her head in her mother's lap. Anna knew the signs and though unfamiliar to him as they were, John could see them too.

Evie was tired.

"Shall we get you some warm milk, my love?" Anna asked, as she got up and picked up her child, settling her on the hip.

"Is that her drink of choice?" John asked.

"For now… though already she eyes my tea from time to time," she smiled. "Don't you?"

"I can make it if you want?"

"No, you stay there," she said with a smile. He had had a busy day and needed the rest.

Watching Anna right then, however, upset John in a way he wasn't sure he could put into words. Holding Evie, making her a drink, doing more than one thing at one… she was so used to that it was second nature.

Yet she should never have been made to get used to doing it all on her own.

The moment passed relatively quickly however and soon, they were sitting on the sofa, all of them, Evie in the crook of her mother's arm whilst she drunk and John with an arm about Anna.

Words for a while were forgotten and there were a solace in the silence. John watched as his daughter's eye lids finally became too heavy to hold up. Reaching over, he took one of her warm hands and was gratified when she held on to one of his fingers tightly.

"It's been a long day for her."

"It's been an exciting day…" Anna corrected him as she leant over to kiss his freshly shaven cheek.

Leaning in to her for a moment, he sighed contently. "I – I can't seem to stop wondering if this is all actually happening."

"It is," Anna insisted.. "We can start trusting it."

He nodded but she knew melancholy had somehow edged itself way into his thoughts. Looking at him quizzically, she raised an eyebrow.

"I – I just feel so dreadfully sorry for his lordship. Poor Lady Sybil…"

He had been with Evie for no more than half a day and yet the thought of one day… he didn't think he'd survive…

"We'll never let anything happen to her." Anna promised, kissing John again as he came closer still to them. "You have to relax… nothing is going to take you away from us or us from you. You're home," she sighed, as their foreheads met. Pushing a kiss to his cheek, she felt her own eyes well as she tasted a salty tear.

Saying the words was one thing… believing it after such a long period of separation was quite another…

X x x

John walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind him. After Evie had fallen asleep in her mother's arms, exhaustion seem to flood over both himself and Anna. They had enjoyed one more cup of tea together, then had silently agreed it was time.

Climbing into a bed together at the end of the day was a joy they had experienced only one before and asides watching her husband met his child, going to bed with John was what Anna had been looking forward to the most. She had missed what she had barely had more than she had ever thought she was going too. It was the weight of him on the mattress, the warmth of his body by her side...

All of his sorrow poured out of him as he saw her standing by the window, the moon light catching her where she stood. She was ready for bed, clad in her white night gown, with her long hair plated down her back, tied at the bottom with a ribbon. He paused only to peak into the crib in the corner. Their child slept on soundly. Anna had explained that she hadn't seen the point of moving their daughter into the room next door when it had just been the two of them, and she still wanted their Evie close… for just a little while longer.

She'd get no argument from him.

Seeing as how the little girl was out for the count, he crossed the room to his wife, exhaustion suddenly forgotten. She grinned, reaching out for him before he was at her side, laying her hands on his shoulders when they were at last standing in front of one other. His hands rested upon her hips and she had found she had forgotten… just how perfectly they seemed to fit together. His broad shoulders seemed to be made for her palms….

Sleep seemed far away as she stood up on the tips of her toes and his hands abandoned her hips in favour of her lower back and his fingers then pulled at the ribbon that had held her hair back, running his hands through her locks as to untangle them.

She shifted to the bed and he took the hint. It was time for them to be together again, properly, as a man and his wife should be together.

"Oh darling…. I missed you so much…"

The time for tears was over however… that night, they knew only joy.

"We should be asleep," sighed John in the dead of night as he continued to hold Anna, running his hand through her hair. She did not have to lift her head off his chest to know he had a smile on his face… she could hear it in his voice.

"Why would we want to be asleep when being awake is so… so lovely?" she asked.

The previous night she had barely slept at all due to her excitement… and by rights she should be tired out. But she got more rest being conscious than sleeping right then, she was sure of it.

"This is a waking dream…" she murmured and leaned into his lips when they kissed her forehead.

"I do believe it is…" John agreed. A cry from the corner signalled, however, that they were not the only Bates' awake just then.

"Is she ok?" John asked utterly tense all at once.

Anna could not help but laugh, knowing that cry as she did. "She just needs a cuddle." She knew he would relax once he was used to fatherhood. But when Evie had been new born, Anna had jumped at every sneeze and cough. And John, understandably, was still very much in that space.

Getting out of bed, she walked over to the cot. "I'm here, sunshine. Daddy and I are both here," she soothed, reaching into pick the baby up. Evie soon quieted at her mother's touch and gentle hushes.

Instead of putting her back however, Anna brought Evie to their bed. John had sat up and so was waiting to take the two of them in his arms, and kissed his daughters forehead as she settled.

"Why don't we make a picnic up and go out for lunch tomorrow? It is not going to be long until it is too cold to. We should make the most of the last of the warm weather…"

"I'd like that," he smiled. "We can start planning the changes you want to make to this place too…"

She nodded. "That'd be nice…"

"We'll get them done by Christmas…" he promised.

Anna shivered in excitement. "How very different this Christmas will be to last…"

John looked between the women in his life and was struck the one thing he had not missed was Evie first Christmas, nor her first steps, he thought as he remembered earlier that day. He had missed her first smile, her first words but… but he'd be there when she went to school for the first time and he'd walk her down the aisle.

But that was all blissfully far off. For now, all they had to do was be together. They snuggled down, all three of them and John knew for a fact that no matter what else had happened, no matter what they had been through over the past year… just at that moment, his life was overflowing with extraordinary blessings.

The End.