John opened his eyes and groaned, reaching for his phone before realizing the sound was far more distant. He adjusted in bed and noted the grumble from a higher pitched and smaller voice. As he blinked his eyes clear of sleep he noticed Anna pulling the covers to dig herself deeper into his bed. A smile took over his face as he snuck out of the covers, leaving as little of it open as possible so he could keep her wrapped in the heat of them, and worked down the stairs to find his phone in his trouser pocket.

His finger slid the indicator over to the side and he moved the phone to his ear. "John Bates."

"This is Doctor Blake at Grantham Medical, I'm calling about Rosie Aldridge." John stopped, stooping over the floor to grab for his trousers. "I'm Doctor Blake, the attending currently in the children's ward."

"Is she alright? I know her heart replacement was due a week ago but they insisted on final checks and-"

"Rosie's doing lovely Doctor. I'm calling because the heart's coming in this evening. We've informed her parents and they've elected to move forward with the surgery. I was calling to make sure you'd be available for it."

"I've got nothing going but paperwork this evening so I'll be more than ready for it." John grinned to himself, clothing caught over one arm and holding the phone between his head and shoulder as he worked into his trousers before opening the shades in his sitting room. "Is she excited?"

"When she wakes up her parents will tell her the good news. We're hoping you'd agree to do all the pre-op prep with her."

"Absolutely. Thank you Doctor Blake."

"My pleasure."

John ended the call, standing in his sitting room with clothing over his arm and phone in hand. He gasped out a laugh and turned his face to the window that gazed on a quietly waking city in his little, forgotten corner. "Sometimes we get miracles."

He hurried back up the stairs and stopped when he noticed the empty bed. John frowned, placing the clothes on the bed and plugging in his phone before turning as if to go back down the stairs. But then he heard humming from the bathroom. Pushing the door open he saw Anna reaching an arm into the shower to check the water.

"Couldn't wait for me to come back?"

Anna jumped, giggling after she caught her breath, and John coughed to cover his reaction when her towel slipped slightly. "Couldn't manage to knock as a warning?"

"What would be the point of that?" John walked forward, nodding at the shower. "If I get another place I'd want a better shower."

"This one doesn't look too bad." Anna opened the glass door, her fingers holding at the towel as John stopped in front of her. "Want to show me how it works?"

"I don't know." John let his hand cover hers on the towel, tugging it gently.

"Don't want to?" Anna's hands moved over his hips under his trousers so they fell to his knees and John maneuvered carefully to step out of them.

"I wouldn't want to demonstrate unless you'd be watching very closely." Anna's towel hit the floor and she stepped toward him as John slipped back under the spray. "Are you?"

"I might be." Her fingers slipped over his hips, water sluicing between them. "What would you do to help me pay closer attention?"

"First," John flipped their positions and turned Anna toward the knobs. "The one on your right is for cold water. Adjust it carefully since one slip and we're enduring a blizzard on an iceberg."

"Noted." Anna put her hand forward to turn the knob and John slid his hand along her arm and back to her shoulder before sloping down to massage her hip. "What next?"

"The other knob." He lifted her arm, following a similar path with his own hand before lowering his head to kiss at her shoulder. Water blinded his eyes so John squinted past it to direct her. "Is the hot water."

"Same light touch as before?"

"Not quite." John continued moving his lips over the skin of her shoulders and neck, moving her hair to the side to he could access more of it while his fingers slid over her skin to run the line of her folds. Her legs spread wider and the hitch in her breath led her hand on the cold water knob to turn and douse them both with a frigid stream.

John shivered past it, putting his hand over hers while the other continued to run over her. "Gently now."

"You're distracting me." She hissed back when his thumb flicked at her clit. "My hand slipped."

"So did mine." John nipped at her ear and met her ferocious kiss as he pulled her hand off the cold water knob. He broke the kiss to nod at her other hand. "Twist that slightly or we'll be showering in Mordor."

Anna worked it carefully to find the perfect temperature while John worked to find her perfect pitch. Her fingers hold onto the casings for the shower knobs as John tempted and teased from his position behind her. The hand not currently slipping a second finger into her tight opening caressed her breasts.

With the stream of water between them, John tried to maneuver them so neither would get the spray right to the face. But it was not until Anna stepped sideways, rotating him with an insistent nudge of her hips, that they managed it. John's back took the brunt of the cooler water and Anna held to the cold wall. Without grips there was a moment of worry but John kept her pressed close to his chest and her hands spread flat on the wall.

John waited a moment for Anna's position to still and then eased his fingers further inside her. Her gasps and whimpers echoed over the glass walls and soon John responded to the clenching of her muscles by adding another finger to find that spot inside her that sent her voice to a soprano register. His fingers eased through the rippling muscles and restore blood to his strangled digits as Anna sagged toward the wall.

"Shit."

The arm wrapped around her torso, still kneading and attending to her breasts, helped Anna stay standing as John nudged against her. She turned her head and risked the spray to kiss him. Their tongues tangled and John let his hand hit the wall to hold him steady under the assault on his mouth.

Her shimmy toward him, running her ass against his straining erection, broke their kiss as John gasped. The giggle that escaped her earned another kiss and a moan of her own in response when John shifted enough to run through her slick and sensitive folds. She gave a nod and John thrust forward.

Cold water snapped at his skin but John ignored it. His body shielded hers and each thrust splattered water against the walls but John only focused on her. On the way her ass fit perfectly between his hips. Or the way her knuckles whitened against the tiles. Or the sounds escaping her throat that only intensified when he moved just enough to hit that spot inside her in time with his fingers at her clit and breasts.

It was as perfect as her performance at the symphony and a few moments later they hit a crescendo of their own. As they did, both sagging together, John fumbled a hand behind him to fix the water. The heat scalded his cold skin but John managed to warm the water enough to expose Anna to it. She sighed into the feeling and rested her head back against the tiles as John handed her a flannel.

"I think your shower's just fine." Her eyes closed and she half-heartedly washed at herself until John took over the job.

"It serves it's purpose but what I want," John paid attention to her vaginal track, touching carefully so as to not over-stimulate her but still get her clean, "Is a load of jets that all spit water from any direction."

"Not sure I want to feel like I'm going through a car wash." Anna blinked hazily at John, smiling as he held up the shampoo bottle. "I don't mind if I smell a bit like man. I've only got a matinee performance and with all the hairspray they'll use to douse my head it won't matter what it smells like."

"If you're alright with it." John measured the shampoo and took his hands to her hair, massaging as deeply there as he did to her body before stepping out of her way so he could rinse it back out.

"You can work wonders with your hands." She sighed, her eyes closed throughout the whole experience. "Did you ever think of being a masseuse?"

"This is when I admit I was one in Uni right?" John laughed with her, making sure all the shampoo was out of her hair before taking some for himself.

"I would've pictured male stripper."

"Very funny." John faced her, blocking the water again as he rinsed his own head. "But you know I-"

He froze when her hand stroked over him. Anna's eyes never left his as she lowered herself to her knees. John threw a hand to the wall behind her head, partially to shield her from the spray but also to balance himself as she kissed around his hips. Her hands never stopped moving, setting a faster pace than her gentle kisses, and John nearly bit through his tongue when they massaged his sack with all the care and attention he hoped he lavished at her breasts.

All attempts to speak were silenced by Anna's expression and only fuzzed more as her lips closed around him. She started simply, pulling and licking at his tip, but grew bolder as John's reactions escaped all attempts at restraint and he groaned. When her tongue wrapped over him, pulling and yanking to draw him forward, John bucked helplessly against her. And when she squeezed while also hollowing out her cheeks to take him deeper, John clenched his fist tight enough to dig half-moon crescents into his palms.

She almost ignored his pleadings but, with one final suck that scraped her teeth along him, Anna stood and allowed John's approach. His mouth crashed over hers and only broke when her back hit the back tiles. Her need for air clicked the tiny part of his brain not screaming on the high of pleasure and John paused to work her into the same state. The state he sent her to with quick fingers and a mouth he wrapped around her breasts.

Anna's fingers dug into his scalp and then took over the sensation of the chilling water striking his back. John's fingers dug into Anna's thighs and he lifted her against the wall, both of them ignoring the screeching sound of her body sliding over the tiles, to drive into her waiting folds. He struck his pelvis against her clit so the rub of his erection against her was enough to send her crying out in his ear. But Anna clawed over his shoulders when he only gave her a moment of rest before driving as deeply inside her as he could.

Their eyes met in a moment of pause and then John moved in earnest. Her fingers furrowed in his hair and she brought her mouth to his ear to nip between her whispers. Each one had John trying to spread her legs wider and sink deeper until he was sure he bottomed out and their skin snapped together against the friction of the water and one another.

"Please let me finish again." She begged, her ankles locking at his lower back while the arm not wrapped around his shoulders held him closer with nails digging into his ass. "You're deep enough, just let me come."

"I'm trying." He responded, tilting her chin up to take her mouth and run his tongue between her teeth.

John worked a hand between them, his other holding her securely at her ass, and rubbed with earnest to give her the friction she needed. It only took another moment for Anna to break in his arms, rippling and quivering around him so her release tugged him closer. He rutted without finesse and climaxed in a moment. The final stutters of his body almost left him sagging but he planted his feet firmly enough to keep them both from falling on their faces.

The water, frigid and frosty, was enough to rinse over them before John turned it off with shaking fingers. Whether from the cold or the two orgasms he managed in the shower he was not sure… And not sure he cared.

Snatching the towel from the floor, John wrapped Anna in it and pushed her from the tiny cubicle before grabbing a towel for himself. He dried out his hair and then himself as Anna pulled her still-damp hair up into a ponytail. "Something else they fix with hairspray?"

"I'm not giving away any more secrets." Anna wagged a finger at him and walked to the counter. "You wouldn't happen to have a spare toothbrush would you?"

"Under the sink." John grabbed his trousers from the floor and went into his bedroom, opening the wardrobe to find his smallest shirt and a pair of tracksuit bottoms that would swamp her but might do in a pinch. An empty hanger worked for her dress and he wrapped it in a sack to protect it before returning to the bathroom to offer her the clothing.

"What?" Anna frowned at it, her brow furrowed as the toothbrush stuck from the side of her mouth and John held up her dress in his other hand. "Ah."

"Thought you might want something a bit more comfortable."

She nodded and spit into the sink, pausing before taking another turn with the brush. "That's very kind."

"Least I can do when you stayed over at mine." John dug some of his own clothes out and changed quickly before working around Anna to comb his hair into place and take his own toothbrush. "I can take you home on my way to the hospital."

"Is that who called at the crack of dawn?"

"Actually yes." John grinned at her in the mirror. "Rosie's replacement heart came in this morning and I'm getting the surgery done tonight. This time tomorrow she'll be ticking just fine."

"That's incredible." Anna finished spitting and hugged John under his unoccupied arm. "She'll be so excited."

"Her parents even more so."

"Look at you." Anna pushed at his shoulder. "Saving lives."

"One heart at a time." John winked at her. "If you want breakfast there might be something in the kitchen but I make no promises."

"That's fair." Anna took the clothes and lifted them in thanks as John finished with brushing his own teeth.

As he dropped his brush back in the cup he looked at the one Anna left and lifted it free, leaning out the door to see her looping the straps of her heels around the head of the hanger. "You want to leave this here?"

"I might need it again." Anna winked at him and went to the stairs, wearing the borrowed clothes, and John forced a few deep breaths to suppress his reaction at the sight of Anna in his rolled tracksuit bottoms and shirt.

She endured his prep patiently, drinking tea in one of his mugs, and even accepted the loan of a pair of too-big sandals to walk to his car. Their ride to hers was easy, smiles and jokes passing smoothly between the two of them. Almost as smoothly as the kiss Anna left on his lips before she left his car.

"I'm free tomorrow and Tuesday, so you know."

"When do you leave for your EuroTour?"

"Next week." Anna leaned on the car, speaking through the open window. "Want to join me anywhere?"

"Everywhere but I'd have to check my schedule. Transcontinental booty calls need a bit more planning."

"Don't I know it." Anna winked back at him. "I'll see you tomorrow Doctor."

"Count on it."


John checked over the charts again, finalizing the plans for the surgery, and started when his phone rang. Frowning at the number he slid the indicator over to answer it. "John Bates."

"This is George Murray of the law offices of-"

"I know which law offices your represent Mr. Murray, I retained your services." John stopped, pen dangling over the medical chart in front of him. "I do hope you're not calling on a Sunday because you've discovered some discrepancy in my case."

"There's nothing wrong with your case… legally speaking."

"Then what's the problem with my case?"

"It seems there might be other considerations to take into account."

"As in?" John paused, a niggle of irritation at the delay in Murray's voice.

"In the case of Mrs. Bates-"

"I hope you're going to tell me that in less than a month's time there'll be a 'former' attached to that name."

"We all hope Doctor Bates." John waited through the sigh on the other end of the line. "Part of your contention with Mrs. Bates, and a justification of irreconcilable differences, was that she took actives measures against childbearing in your marriage and therefore deceived you in the course of your marital relationship, is that correct?"

"Yes." John finished writing at the end of the paper and signed, phone tucked between his ear and his shoulder so he could use his hands to close the file and arrange it with the others that needed approval for the surgery. "It wasn't the only thing. She also cheated on me and we provided proof of that."

"And the adultery is enough on it's own but…"

"I don't like the sound of a 'but' in your statement Mr. Murray." John hauled in a breath, rubbing at his forehead while keeping the pen tucked between two fingers. "We've been fighting this for three years and I'm not overjoyed about the idea that there's some kind of spanner in the works this late in the game."

"The paperwork is all filed, Doctor Bates and there are no discrepancies. The divorce will be legally finalized by the end of the month."

"Then what is it?"

"It's your son."

John stopped, "I don't have a son. Didn't you hear the argument? Vera used contraceptives without telling me when we were trying for a child. We never had a child so I can't have a son."

"According to the records of the general hospital in London, there was a birth shortly before Vera Bates participated in an operation that stopped all procreative capacity. They-"

"I know what they did. I'm more interested in the birth you mentioned. What birth?" John put a hand through his hair hard enough he was sure he ripped some from the roots. "We've never had children because she was never pregnant."

"According to the birth certificate I received yesterday morning she was and she delivered a healthy boy. You have a son, Doctor Bates, and his name is John David Bates Junior."

John almost dropped the phone. When he found the energy to speak it took the rest of his reserves to restrain his anger. "If you've known since yesterday morning, Mr. Murray, why is this the first I'm hearing about this?"

"I had to investigate the legitimacy of the claim and verify the child is yours."

"And is he?"

"By all accounts, yes. We've run a sample of his blood from work done a few years ago when he broke his arm."

"He broke his arm?" John pushed himself back from his desk to pace his office. "How does he break his arm and I don't even know he exists?"

"He's in foster care, Mr. Bates. Has been since your wife put him up for adoption when he was born."

John clenched his hand around the phone. "How did she do that without my permission? I'm the father."

"You were serving on your tours at the time, Doctor Bates. She optioned for a closed adoption and that was that."

"How do you know about it?"

"It came up when one of our investigators uncovered it as part of our inquiries as to the allegations of damages she was suing you for."

"There'll be damages alright." John took a breath, glancing at the clock. "Mr. Murray I've got a surgery I need to perform with a clear head but I want everything you have on my child as soon as you can get it to me and I want to know where he is. Everything there is to know about him I want to know."

"We're still trying to get you visitation-"

"For my own son?"

"By law he may not be considered yours any longer."

John ground his teeth, "I'm sure a man of the law, such as yourself, can work through that. In fact, I expect it."

"Doctor Bates that's hardly-"

"Goodbye, Mr. Murray." John hung up the phone and closed his eyes, trying to sort through his thoughts to clear his mind but all he could think was one thing, "Sometimes we get miracles."

"Doctor Bates?" He turned to the door, slipping his phone into his pocket and grabbing at his coat to still the tremor in his hands. "They're ready for you to scrub in."

"I'll be right there Sybil."