John watched his son run around the room, holding the tiny model aeroplane tightly in his fist, and twirling the propellers with his fingers. A hand came to John's shoulder and he took it in his, kissing it. He turned up to see Anna's face as she bent down to kiss his cheek.

"Happy Christmas Mr. Bates."

"Happy Christmas Mrs. Bates." John kissed her lips and waited for her to join him on the sofa. "You spoiled him."

"Me? I gave him a pair of shoes and that plane. You're the one who went to Ripon three times to buy him that second edition collection of fairy tales."

"He's worth spoiling."

"Yes he is." Anna kissed John again, "As are you, Mr. Bates."

John felt his breath catch a bit, "What did you have in mind, Mrs. Bates?"

"Something that'd be quite scandalous to say with our son in the room, Mr. Bates." Anna whispered in John's ear, biting at his earlobe, "But more than worth the wait if you can get him to bed."

John grabbed his cane and snuck a kiss before standing. His gait hitched and the light tap of his cane offset with a comforting thump of his wooden right foot. Anna watched him scoop of their son, both giggling uncontrollably as John hauled the boy over his shoulder.

He tried to cry for his mother between his fits of laughter and Anna came to his rescue. Or so he thought. Instead of saving her son she started tickling him. He shrieked, pleading for mercy as John opened the door to the boy's room.

"Bedtime Jacky." John put the boy on the bed and pulled down the covers as Jack placed his aeroplane on the apple crate he insisted was his bedside table. "What story tonight?"

Anna leaned down to kiss her son, "When you're finished it's time for prayers and then bed. No arguments, even if it's Christmas."

John watched his wife leave and then pulled out the new book, "How about a Grimm fairytale?"

John looked up from his accounting as Anna entered their bedroom, sighing. "Did he go off alright?"

"He was dozing during prayers. He repeated three times for the Lord to bless the dog he wants but doesn't have yet and asked that we could go to the sea on our next holiday before he snored in the middle of a prayer." Anna laughed, "If I hadn't been so insistent I would've laughed right there."

"Maybe next year we could think about a holiday to the sea. Or even a dog." John tallied the numbers and recorded them in his ledger before closing it. "Our hotel's booked for the next few weeks and the summer reservations are coming in. It wouldn't be too difficult and a boy needs a friend who can run the length of the garden with him."

"Because I can't?" Anna draped her arms over John's shoulders from behind.

"Because I can't." John rapped his knuckles against his prosthetic, "When I do the hinge seizes and then I have to oil it. It's more temperamental than the Dowager Countess."

"Poor you." Anna pouted in John's ear, "Whatever will you do?"

"Foreswear it and hop along like Long John Silver I guess, with a huge crutch I can use to knock people out of my way in crowds at the fair." John turned in his chair, "I could retire and live as a man of leisure now."

"You could." Anna's fingers moved in the hair at the back of John's head. "But then what would I do?"

"You could give Lady Mary your notice and work here, for me."

"Trade one master for another?" Anna stepped back, "I don't think so Mr. Bates. If anyone will retire in leisure it's me."

"I did notice Lady Mary gave you three days off."

"I think Mr. Henry is getting to her and she'll finally start dressing herself." Anna pulled the covers back on their bed as John worked his way to the bureau, pulling out their pajamas. "But it's more than that. It's about having a reliable friend, a confidant, and neither of us wants to give that up."

"You could always have her for tea or for dinner."

"It's different." Anna stopped, her focus toward the bed but off in the distance, "It's about having someone, in those quiet moments, who you trust to hear everything, see everything, and say nothing. Someone on whom you rely for anything and everything without reservation or doubt."

"Darling," John put their pajamas on the end of the bed and reached for her shoulders. "I understand. I remember how hard it was for Lord Grantham when I gave my notice so if you want to continue working for Lady Mary then I've no argument. You're invaluable to her as you to me and I don't have any compunction about you staying on as long as she wants or needs you. I'm not a jealous man."

"No you're not and thank you, it means the world to me that you understand." Anna rubbed his arm. "Now drop your trousers and on the bed with you."

John worked the braces over his shoulders, undid his belt, and let his trousers fall to the floor. He sat on the bed as Anna took the bottle of lotion from the bedside table and handed it to him. He rolled it between his hands, warming it as Anna loosened the straps on his thigh. She unbuckled the contraption and slipped the cup from his knee, pulling the padding and sleeve away from his leg to set them on the chair next to the bed.

John squeezed some of the lotion onto his leg and Anna began rubbing it into the skin, massaging the muscles there. John sighed at the sensations before unbuttoning his shirt, "I'm more than lucky I've a wife like you to do this for me."

"We're lucky we have this hotel. Could you imagine what a state your knee would be in if you had to climb all those stairs at Downton everyday?" Anna pressed deep into the muscle and John twitched, "Sorry, you've got a knot here."

"You don't say." John winced, "Perhaps you're in the wrong line of work darling. You should've opened a shop for massage."

"The only man I plan on massaging, John Bates, is you. Now hush or I'll do it again."

John silenced, but only for a moment. "Have you ever thought what we'd do if my mother hadn't left us that money?"

"That we'd get by," Anna kept her focus on her treatment of his limb. "I was just thinking we ought to pay Mrs. Patmore and Mrs. Hughes' house a visit, as a thank you for lodging out your mother's house."

"I thought we thanked them by co-signing on their bed and breakfast."

"It never hurts to treat nicely those who are kind, Mr. Bates." Anna tickled behind his knee and John jerked, "Besides, Mrs. Hughes kept an eye on our little cottage the whole time we were away. It'd be the least we could do to book a holiday with their establishment."

"Watching our cottage served her well in the end though, didn't it? Now she and Mr. Carson have it. Who knows what she planned for it while she was there."

"Behave, Mr. Bates, that kind of talk is beneath you." Anna stood, unbuttoning her dress, "They deserve happiness."

"I'm sure they do." John finished undressing and reached for his pajama bottoms. "I'm just happy they let us keep the furniture."

"As am I." Anna grinned and John's hand stopped as he went to put on his pajama bottoms. "It'd be a shame to give up your chair in the sitting room when it has just the right amount of space."

"Anna?"

"You remember. It was only yesterday morning." Anna leaned forward, wearing nothing and not reaching for her nightdress. "I thought it was very memorable but if not then maybe I should try again."

"Repetition never hurt anyone." John choked as Anna took the bottoms from his grip and flung them to the end of the bed.

"You won't need these, Mr. Bates."

"I should hope not." John lay back on the bed as Anna crawled over him, her hair hanging like curtains around them. "You did say you had a very scandalous way to spoil me, Mrs. Bates."

"I do," Anna took John's hands and held them to her abdomen. "Merry Christmas."

John furrowed his brow when Anna just left his hands there but then his eyes shot open. "Truly?"

"I thought so about a month ago but now I'm sure." Anna giggled as John shot up, hugging Anna tightly.

"I just thought you were eating all the pies."

Anna slapped his shoulder, "Thank you very much Mr. Bates. I'll have you know I haven't eaten anything extra."

"If you really are pregnant then I'll make you all the pies you could want." John flipped their positions and began kissing Anna anywhere he could reach. "I'm going to be a father again."

"I'd keep it to myself for the time being," Anna moaned as John kissed over the tops of her breasts. "I don't know how Jack'll respond."

"He'll love having a little brother to run around with." John kissed back up to Anna's face, "Or a little sister to protect."

Anna wrapped her hands around John's neck, grazing at the hair there with her fingers. "Is that what you want?"

"I'll take either as long as they look like you."

"John," Anna raised an eyebrow, "I want a serious answer."

"And that's not serious?" John moved a hand up and started massaging her breast. Anna sighed and John knew she was almost lost. "To just want another child who reminds me of you?"

"I know you want something." Anna struggled to speak as his hands continued and her body moved of its own accord. "If your wish mattered, what would you want?"

"I'd want," John bent and started kissing slowly from Anna's ear to her collarbone. "A little girl with blonde hair that shines like yours does in the light. A little girl I can tuck into bed at night with stories of princesses and castles and handsome princes that are far into the future."

"Keep going," Anna groaned as John moved his mouth to her breasts, speaking between kisses and caresses.

"I'd take her on walks in the park with Jack. We'd name her after my mother, if that's agreeable."

"No," Anna shook her head and John stopped, "If it's a girl I want to name her Mary. Mary Aphrodite."

"You've given this a lot of thought."

"If it's a boy I want Robert." Anna had her eyes closed as John worked his way back to her face.

"How long have you been thinking about this Mrs. Bates?"

Anna finally worked her eyes open, "Long enough to believe we probably don't need a boy's middle name."

"You're sure it's a girl?"

"Someone may have hinted it to me." Anna smiled as John beamed at her. "In a few months we'll know for sure."

"Then Mary Aphrodite it is." John paused, "Shall I get back to spoiling you Mrs. Bates?"

"I thought I was supposed to spoil you?"

"You were," John ran a hand over her stomach, "And you already did. Now I get to show my gratitude."

"I think she's there because you showed me gratitude Mr. Bates." Anna laughed but John ignored her, moving one of his hands lower.

"Something I'll never get tired of doing."

Anna gasped when John's fingers brushed over her and she closed her eyes. "Then don't let me stop you."

John used his other hand to stroke up and down her sides, working his mouth down her body after paying extra special attention to her breasts. She sighed and moaned, giving John all the encouragement he needed to continue. When he reached her sex he gave it the same attention he gave the rest of her.

There was no hurry here. Not like other times when they only had an hour to spare or when Jack might be up any moment. This time John adored Anna the way he always enjoyed. He sucked at her, working his fingers as deep as they could go and scraping inside her to find the spots where her knuckles went white clutching the bedspread or where her nails would scrape along his back. He drove her to the edge with licks and laves that had her hips thrusting out of her control as she tried to keep her voice down so as to not wake up their beautiful child in the next room.

John paused, with Anna panting and gasping, and thought about the next little child they would bring into this house. This house they built together. She looked at him, worried a moment because he stopped, and John made sure she watched as he lowered his lips to her most sensitive bundle of nerves and pulled it into his mouth.

Anna screamed with pleasure as she broke. John could feel her inner muscles tugging at his fingers and felt his own response to that promise. The promise of pulling her to the peak again just to watch her fall over it. The promise that brought joy to their lives and would again with their next child.

He massaged her on the outside and from within as he withdrew, making sure she could come back to earth. John ran his hands up her body, making himself believe for a moment he could already feel the little life growing just above her hip bones. The little bit of joy he could not wait to hold in his arms.

When John reached Anna's face she kissed him, thrusting her tongue into his mouth like she wanted to clear it of all tastes but his. John sank into the kiss, enjoying when Anna was this wrecked. When all the walls anyone builds, even on accident, come down. When they were almost one person again.

John was so caught up in his musings that he did not notice when Anna wrapped her hand around him. His hips bucked, already prepared after driving her to the edge, and worked toward her experienced hand. She broke their kiss to lick her lips, her hand determined in its efforts to have him straining and pulsing in her grasp.

"I think it's time for you to get spoiled Mr. Bates."

He could not find words to respond so he used his actions instead. John pressed into Anna and her head went back, holding his side and groaning as her nails dug in there. He hung his head, loving the feel of her around him in every way possible. He withdrew and thrust in again, sending her body shuddering as he stirred her still buzzing nerves.

They kept the pace slow, Anna moving her body to counter his and eventually locking her ankles around his waist so he could strike her as deeply as possible. They did not speak so much as match one another's sounds of pleasure in a dance older and more primal than even the entity that led them together. John saw the blush rise in Anna's cheeks and pressed on her to counter his movements to bring her over the edge again just before he finished.

He kissed her, lightly, and she held him close. A moment later they rolled sideways, still embracing but so John kept his weight off Anna. Not that there was as much weight anymore. He never did quite gain back the weight he lost in France but she held him close anyway. Like on the nights he woke with nightmares and she worked herself under his arms to make sure he knew he was home and not back there. Or when she sometimes rubbed at his prosthetic before realizing he could not feel it and worried he might think her callous for not remembering.

None of that mattered in the end. Only they did. They survived it all so far. They would survive whatever else came for them.

Anna sighed and brought John back to the present. "Do you wonder what happened to her?"

"To whom?"

"Aphrodite." Anna moved to look at John's face, pulling a blanket around her, "After we moved here I stopped seeing her. The last time I saw her was a few months ago, when I first thought I might be pregnant. She told me it'd be a girl and then walked away."

"I haven't seen her since we bought the hotel." John ran his fingers over Anna's exposed arm, "She congratulated us, said Jack looked healthy, and then left."

"I hope she found the love she was looking for." Anna put her head under John's chin, "After all she did for us that's what I wish for her."

"Me too." John mused, thinking back to the flamboyantly gaudy woman sitting across from him on a train ride north. The train ride that changed his life and made everything brighter. "Me too."

The bullet train whizzed through the tunnel before the woman with multicolored hair could see the cerulean ocean. She leaned toward the window, smiling at the sharp drop of the verdant cliffs into the water. So caught up in the scenery was she that she barely noticed the man who took the seat opposite her.

"They say this is the most beautiful part of Taiwan." She looked over at the man, eyebrow raised. He pointed to the window, "Supposedly Hualien is the most beautiful of all the vacation spots in the country."

"I suppose it is." She sat back, "What brings you here?"

"Just looking I guess." He smiled at her.

"Looking for what?"

"I was told, by a friend, that I'd find True Love here." He leaned forward, "You wouldn't happen to know where to find it would you?"

She laughed, "I might."

"Good." The man extended his hand, "My name's Hephaestus."

"Aphrodite." She shook his hand. "I happen to be a bit of an expert on True Love, if you believe it."

"Expert you say?"

"Oh yes." She relaxed back into the seat, "Though your time may be a bit limited."

"Why do you say that?"

"I've recently found a few gray hairs I didn't dye that way." She pulled at her mass as if to show him, "I think the time for me to help others find True Love is fading and now all that's left is for me to find it for myself."

"I may know someone who can help with that."

"I hoped so."

They both turned back to the window, smiling to themselves and to one another through the reflections there.