A/N- Fair to say, a lot of this chapter is self indulgence. Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, forgotten how much fun it was to write the Bateses in this context.

Disclaimer: Same as the previous chapters...

It didn't take Anna long upon waking up to adjust to her surroundings, Eleanor snoring gently beside her. She had grown so used to feeling John's weight at her side that it was quite odd not to feel him there initially. Since getting together properly, they had barely spent one night apart, really since the few weeks Anna spent with her parents after she left Niall. Looking to the crib beside her, she smiled as she was greeted with the sight of George fast asleep, hands resting above his head. All her babies had slept in the same position and George was no different. Looking over to her daughter, she smiled as she noticed Eleanor was too sleeping with her arms resting above her head.

Carefully slipping out of bed, noting the time as just after eight o clock, Anna stretched before opening the door to the adjoining living room. Deciding to check in on her three other boys, she treaded the carpet before delicately turning the door handle. As the double bed came into view, she momentarily panicked as she saw it was empty. However, one look to where John was sleeping and the panic melted away to a feeling she would never be able to describe.

Seeing John with the children always warmed her heart, but the sight of John in the single bed, his feet sticking out of the covers and over the end of the bed, Finlay and Callum laying on top of him, was one of the most beautiful sights she had ever seen. It appeared one of the boys must have had a nightmare and scrambled to the protective arms of their Daddy, then the other one realising he was alone must have followed suit.

Moving back into the living room, Anna put the kettle on before opening the door to see the paper she and John had requested be left for them. Deciding to make the most of her quiet morning, she made herself a cup of tea before taking her drink and the paper out on the balcony with her. The view really did look beautiful that morning, Anna thought she would make the most of it.

Just as she got through her first cup of tea, she looked over her shoulder to see John standing behind her, wearing only his pyjama bottoms, his hair disheveled and his face showing just the slightest hint of stubble. He was leaning against the door frame, wearing the most delicious smirk upon making eye contact with his wife.

'You know, I'm not sure,' Anna began as she rose to her feet, carrying her empty tea cup in one hand, 'if the best view is those hillsides over there or the sight of my husband with no shirt on.'

As she reached him, Anna wrapped her arms around John's shoulders, John's arms finding Anna's waist immediately drawing her closer to him. Just as their lips were about to touch, a whimper from the bedroom Anna shared with George and Eleanor caught both their attentions, Anna sighing and resting her forehead against John's chest. Chuckling, John kissed Anna on the head before freeing her from his embrace.

'He'll be ready for breakfast,' Anna murmured, walking towards the door. She was taken by surprise as John caught her by the wrist.

'Why don't you go and have a bath? I'll sort the kids out.'

'John, there's no need...'

'There's every need,' John replied before Anna had a chance to really protest. 'Go, relax.'

As George's whimpers grew, Anna relented. 'Alright. I'll see you in a bit.'

Once Anna had disappeared into the bathroom, John went to see to George. He could see that Eleanor was stirring, her brother's cries obviously waking her up. Leaving her to awaken under her own steam, John tiptoed past the bed and towards George's crib. The whimpers soon died down as George saw his Daddy, his cries replaced with a gummy smile and his arms reaching out for John.

'Morning, little bean,' John cooed, lifting George into his arms and holding him tightly to his chest. 'Did you sleep well?'

'Daddy, you know he can't talk, don't you?'

John looked behind him to see Eleanor sitting up in bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. 'Yes my little lamb, but the only way he'll learn to talk is if we talk to him.'

'Where's Mummy?'

Rolling his eyes at Eleanor's abrupt change of subject, John turned on his heel and walked towards the door. 'In the bath. So it's breakfast with Daddy this morning. And you know what that means.'

'Coco Pops,' Eleanor replied excitedly, leaping out of the bed before carefully considering something. 'But won't Mummy see?'

'Not if we eat them quickly,' John said with a wink. 'I smuggled a box for you and your twin brothers. Mummy will never know.'

As he surveyed the scene, John felt rather pleased with himself. Despite still himself in his nightclothes, the four children were fed, all traces of Coco Pops removed, dressed, washed and ready for the day ahead. Anna was still enjoying her bath, an hour now passed since he had sent her there. Now, John found himself embroiled in a game of hide and seek, George an intent observer in his bouncy chair beside the doors to the balcony. John knew where each of his children were hiding, he'd never play this game and properly close his eyes. He knew his offspring too well. In a previous game where John had taken his eye off the children for a split second, it took him well over twenty panic filled minutes to find Finlay, who had managed to wedge himself behind the boiler in the airing cupboard.

Playing his role to the letter, John over exaggerated his search, giggles from different parts of the room in turn causing him to laugh. Lifting up sofa cushions, looking under the table in the corner of the room and in cupboards were all part of his great act. He knew full well Eleanor was behind the sofa and that Finlay and Callum were huddled together behind a curtain that hung in front of the balcony doors, their feet sticking out from underneath, George sitting beside them in his chair.

'And who do we have behind the sofa?' John teased, kneeling on the cushions and looking over the back of the furniture. 'Could it be my little lamby?'

'Oh Daddy,' Eleanor huffed, folding her arms as she looked up at John. 'You always find me before the twins.'

John regarded her with a sympathetic expression before whispering, 'it's only because I was missing you, my darling.'

Seemingly satisfied with John's excuse, Eleanor jumped up and over the sofa to stand beside her father. She tapped him on the hip before bringing a finger to her lips, indicating for him to remain quiet. Pointing ahead of her, John looked to the curtains, Ellie noticing where her brother's were hiding. Smiling, John encouraged Eleanor to approach the curtains, George in his bouncy chair becoming very excited to see his little sister moving closer.

'Boo!' She squealed as she swung the curtain away, Finlay and Callum erupting into giggles as George kicked his legs out beside them. 'Found you.'

'We won,' Finlay boasted, jumping out from his hideout and onto the sofa. 'Your turn to hide now, Daddy. Me, Cal and Ellie will count.'

'Alright, alright.' John placed his hands on his hips, watching as his three eldest children turned and faced the wall. Looking to George and deciding it might be best in these unfamiliar surroundings to take the baby with him before everyone disappeared from view, John lifted him from the chair and began to search for somewhere to hide.

'One, two, four...'

'No Callum, you missed out three,' Eleanor argued with her brother. As they were counting, Anna entered the room, observing the scene around her with a quizzical eye.

'One, two, three, six...'

'Callum,' an exasperated Eleanor exclaimed. 'You missed four and five that time.'

'I'll do it,' Finlay offered, clearly getting frustrated with his brother also. 'I moved to the top of the monkey tree at nursery for counting to ten.'

Laughing at their conversation, Anna look behind her into the kitchen area of the room to see John huddled under the table, clutching George to his chest. He mouthed, 'shhh' to her, causing her to struggle to stifle her giggles. Wanting to help her husband out, she had noticed a tablecloth in one of the drawers the previous evening. Finding it, she draped it over the table, just in time for the children to have finished counting.

'Ready or not, here we come,' they all shouted in unison, observing their mother had entered the room almost instantaneously.

'Mummy,' Callum exclaimed, running into her arms. 'We are playing hide and seek.'

'I can see that,' Anna replied with a giggle, opening one of her arms to accept Finlay into her embrace. 'It's Daddy's turn to hide, is it?'

Eleanor was already on the case, looking in the bedroom she shared with her mother before marching across the living space and barging into her father's room. Once finding he wasn't hiding in there, she came back out into the living area, rolling her eyes as she saw her brothers looking in a cupboard their father would never fit in.

'Daddy is too big to fit in there,' Eleanor sighed, walking behind her brothers and closing the cupboard.

Anna sat back in the armchair, an amused spectator as they explored behind the sofa and on the balcony. Then, the undeniable sound of their baby brother babbling reached their ears. All three turned and looked towards the dining room table. Being four years their senior was proving helpful as Eleanor realised the tablecloth that was draping the table wasn't there before she and her brothers started counting. Running across the floor, she pulled the table cloth away to reveal her grinning father and baby brother sitting under the table.

'Aww, nice one George,' John said teasingly, squeezing the baby's legs before manoeuvring them both out from under the table. He smiled at his wife as she approached him. 'Did you enjoy your bath?'

'Yes. Now go and get dressed,' Anna instructed her husband, taking George from his arms before reaching up to place a kiss on his cheek. 'We are meeting Cora and Robert at eleven.'

With the sun beating down on the Firth of Forth, a cool breeze blowing gently, it was the perfect day for a picnic. Robert ran on ahead with Eleanor, Callum and Finlay, revelling in his role as Godfather to them all. The children adored him, and it was clear how much Robert enjoyed being in their company. Cora held George as she quietly followed behind her husband, talking softly to him as she rocked him in her arms. Walking at the very back were John and Anna, Anna pushing George's now vacated pushchair and John carrying the picnic basket that Cora had prepared with the help of the hotel chef.

'Shall we sneak off?' John suggested with a whisper, placing a hand on the small of Anna's back. 'They seem quite content to look after our children for us. I'm sure we wouldn't get a second thought.'

'Hmm, as tempting as that sounds,' Anna sighed before looking down at John's legs, which he had exposed to the sun, 'especially with you in those tight shorts, I'm not sure it would really be very fair to leave them with our children.'

'What, these old things?' John teased, looking down at his appearance. He rarely wore shorts, but he knew after their time away together in the south of France shortly after the twins had been born how much of an effect a simple pair of beige, knee length shorts and navy polo shirt could have on Anna. 'Besides, with you in that beautiful dress it's surprising you are the one driven to distraction and not me.'

'You'll just have to contain yourself, Mr Bates.'

'Hey, I am a father of four small children who all demand their mother's attention. I am used to being at the back of the queue in terms of her affection.'

'But when you get it, it's worth the wait, isn't it?' Anna breathed, looking up to meet John's gaze.

As their pace slowed upon making eye contact, John's hand had slid down Anna's back considerably. It took all the strength he could muster to not take her in his arms there and then. Even after over a decade of being together, they still knew how to talk to each other, still had the same effect on the other since the other since the very first day they met.

'Oh yes.'

Raising his eyebrows, John dipped his head to meet Anna's lips in a brief kiss before they heard the calls of Robert announcing that this was the perfect spot to eat their lunch. Everyone was due to meet Elsie and Charles for tea at the castle where they would exchanging vows later on in the day, Elsie insisting the children were welcome after Anna suggested only John should attend. Charles had asked Robert to be his best man and John to be an usher at the wedding, with there only being a small gathering of forty or so guests, only one usher would be needed. Robert would be spending the night in one of the rooms at the castle with Charles, John joining them early on the morning of the wedding. With proceedings having a distinct Scottish air, the groomsmen would be wearing kilts.

Charles had worked at St Peter's when Robert was merely on the history teaching staff. They had formed a mutual respect for the other from the first day they became acquainted which had grown into a strong friendship as the years wore on. Charles had almost become like a father figure to Robert in the years following his actual father's death. Charles had always regarded Robert as the only person to come close to being the son he had never had. When John took up his post at the school, it was their common interest of Geography, that meant he and Charles formed a bond.

Elsie and Charles had known each other for over twenty years, Robert had always noticed a spark between them. How it had taken this long for them to become an item, he would never be able to fathom. They simply fit together, a perfect couple in every sense of the word. It warmed his heart, as well as John and Anna's who knew them well from her time working at the school, that they were now finally spending their lives together.

'Are there chocolate biscuits in the picnic?' Callum asked excitedly as Robert laid out the blanket on the floor.

'Perhaps,' Robert shrugged, looking to a grinning John and Anna who had finally joined them all.

'And crisps,' Finlay said as he sat down on the freshly laid out blanket, immediately creasing up Robert's hard work.

'We'll have some sandwiches first though, eh boys?' Anna suggested, taking George from Cora so she could dish out the picnic.

John sat behind the twins, Eleanor taking her place beside him and wrapping an arm around his leg. The boys were enamoured with Robert, hanging on his every word as he explained to them about the different fish that lived in the firth beside them, and how if they ate their lunch nicely, they could go on the hunt for the monster that lived beneath its depths.

'Is there really a monster?' Eleanor asked her father, John shaking his head out of sight from the boys as they took their sandwiches from Cora.

'So how are all the girls?' Anna asked Cora, laying George out between her legs on the blanket.

'They are all fine,' Cora smiled as she thought about her daughters. 'Edith is happy in London and Sybil will be at the wedding tomorrow.'

'And Mary's settled in America?' Anna continued as she gently stroked George's head, the baby slowly falling asleep.

'Oh yes, and,' Cora looked to Robert, he nodding his head and smiling in encouragement, knowing what his wife was asking permission for, 'she and Matthew are expecting again. A boy this time.'

'Oh, that's wonderful,' Anna exclaimed. 'I knew they were having difficulties.'

'Yeah, but what isn't wonderful is what they want to call the poor, unsuspecting chap when he arrives,' Robert moaned, before biting into his sandwich.

'Robert,' Cora gently chided as she carried on in her task and handed sandwiches to Eleanor and John, 'it is their child and we have no right to question them.'

Eleanor moved closer to her brothers, bored with the adult chit chat. The two of them, now intrigued about the firth, had chosen to sit at the bottom of the blanket. The children's own discussion ensued as they ate their lunch, leaving the adults free to talk about Matthew and Mary's new addition.

'They want to do a Beckham,' Robert said through a mouthful of his sandwich over his shoulder to John. 'Want to name him after where he was conceived.'

These words caused John to burst out laughing, looking to Anna who herself was struggling to stifle her amusement. Cora had to concede, the idea was on the absurd side, a slight smile playing on her lips.

'Where was he conceived?' John asked. 'Please let it be Massachusetts, or Milwaukee.'

'Danville,' Robert revealed, looking back at John. 'Danville Crawley. Honestly.'

'Where's Danville?' Anna asked, looking to her husband.

'It's a town in the county of Contra Costa in California. To the North East of it is Mount Diablo,' John answered without missing a beat. 'I'd be relieved they are naming him after the town they conceived him in, rather than the county. Contra Costa Crawley would be a mouthful.'

'Hey, did you two think of naming George after where he was conceived?' Robert's joke earned him a strong stare filled with contempt from Cora although Anna appeared to see the funny side.

'I'm not sure 'Downton Working Men's Club Bates,' would have suited him,' John replied, looking to Anna who was staring at him open mouthed although her face still displayed her amusement at the conversation.

'I'm intrigued now, when was this?'

'Mary and Matthew's leaving party,' John continued before he felt a slice of tomato brush the side of his face. He looked to Anna who was silently begging him to not reveal any more details.

'Oh yeah.' With his interest piqued, Robert turned to face John more fully, 'couldn't wait until you got home, eh?'

'Robert,' Cora hissed, moving her attentions to Anna who was frowning at John, although a hint of a smile could still be detected on her lips.

'What can I say,' John shrugged before meeting Anna's gaze, 'my wife is hot.'

'Stop it,' Anna moaned, Robert now laughing heartily as Cora shifted uncomfortably on the mat, although she was still smiling.

'Mummy,' Eleanor called out, staring back over her shoulder. 'What's conceived?'

'Now, if we needed any more reason to change the subject,' Cora said, gesturing in the direction of Eleanor. 'Which flavour of crisp does everyone want?'

Tea with Charles and Elsie wasn't as hectic as Anna had been anticipating. George slept through most of it, John and Robert took care of the twins whilst Eleanor was content to sit with her mother and Cora at their table. Elsie was the epitome of happiness as she caught up with Anna and Cora, clearly overjoyed she would soon be married to the love of her life. Charles was the proudest man on the planet, grasping Elsie's hand in his whenever the opportunity arose. After an hour or so, Cora and Anna took the children back to the hotel so John and Robert could assume their groomsmen duties.

Being as English as they came, Charles had decided to have their kilts made using the Hughes tartan, to honour his new bride. The tartan was mainly different shades of blue, with a small amount of red and even less green woven into the pattern. Their kilts would be accompanied by black tweed jackets, waistcoats and black bow ties. Their sporrans were proudly displayed, each vowing to be proper 'Scotsman' on the day. Seeing each other in their outfits for the first time, Robert having been unable to attend the fitting but having to send his measurements to Charles, the enormity of the situation hit him for the first time.

'I'm really doing this,' Charles remarked, looking at himself in the floor length mirror in the room her would be sharing with Robert. 'Getting married at my time of life.'

When he was headmaster and watching the romance blossom, it was always joked and hinted at that when the time came that Charles would make an honest woman of Elsie, John and Robert would be by his side, all three of them clad in kilts.

'Hey, if my knees look like yours when I get to your age I'll be a happy man,' Robert quipped, observing his own appearance in the mirror.

'Not long till you catch up with the old timer, eh?' John remarked as he patted Robert on the shoulder. The three of them had always shared a jovial relationship, Charles taking their comments in good heart. 'I best get back to Anna and the kids, but I'll be here at eight tomorrow morning.'

Robert called after his friend as he walked towards the bathroom to get changed, Robert straightening his lapels as he spoke. 'Leave your suit hanging in there, don't want the surprise being spoilt for the ladies.'

As far as Anna and Cora were aware, the furthest the tartan went in the men's outfits were waistcoats, which Finlay, Callum and George would be wearing to match their Dad. Eleanor would be wearing a dress made out of the tartan as well, loving having a new dress to wear. They had no idea about the kilts and neither did Elsie.

'I just hope Elsie appreciates it all. She said she didn't mind that we would only have tartan waistcoats, but I could tell that she did. She's always telling me what an old prude I am,' Charles began to discard his jacket, carefully hanging it on the coat hanger. 'But you know when you know someone so well, you can almost read their thoughts.'

John nodded, looking back at the two men from just inside the bathroom. 'She's going to love all the effort you have gone to, Charlie. It will be a wonderful day, the surroundings are beautiful.'

'Wonderful.' Charles nodded. 'Beautiful. Words to describe my Elsie perfectly.'

'Indeed, it's going to be magical,' Robert agreed before clearing his throat, it dawning on him the conversation had suddenly got too heavy for his liking. 'Anyway men, let's get changed and then I'm taking you Charles to the bar for a nightcap. A large pint is in order.'

'Finlay Bates, come here right this instant,' Anna bellowed after her son, he finding it hilarious to roll along one of the lawns outside the garden, in his brand new white shirt. 'We have to go and find Daddy.'

'I'll get him,' Eleanor huffed, walking over to her brother and hauling him to his feet. Grabbing his hand, she almost dragged him back over to Anna who was holding Callum's hand, Cora pushing a sleeping George in his pushchair.

The castle was set near the banks of the Firth of Forth, Anna and Cora remarking how there would be some fantastic opportunities for the photographs later on. Elsie and Charles had rented a room inside for their wedding, the party afterwards was to be held in the grand hall. It really was a breathtaking setting.

'Mum. Anna.'

Anna and Cora looked behind them to see Tom and Sybil approaching, little Sybbie being carried by her Dad, baby Patrick in his mother's arms.

'Sybil darling,' Cora embraced her daughter, Tom greeting Anna beside them.

'You look very dapper, Tom,' Cora remarked, looking her son in law up and down in his tartan suit. 'Very much the part.'

'Got to make the effort, haven't you?' Tom replied, giving the women in his company a twirl. 'It's been a long time coming, these two getting hitched. You and Anna both look gorgeous.'

'Thank you,' Anna smiled, keeping an eye on her children out of the corner of her eye. 'I'm told if we walk in the main entrance, then John will be there to show us where to go.'

'Tom!' Eleanor exclaimed, running into his arms. Being a close friend of John, Tom and indeed Sybil saw a lot of the Bates family. Sybbie was friends with Eleanor, Finlay and Callum and all the children adored Tom who was always on hand to entertain them when in their company.

'Look at you, little missy. What with Sybbie, you'll be the two most beautiful girls at the wedding.'

'Except for the bride,' Eleanor pointed out, looking up at her Mum. 'Can we go and find Daddy, now?'

Finding the entrance to the castle, they all stepped inside to be greeted with familiar faces. Ethel noticed Anna first, fighting her way through the small crowd to embrace her old friend whom she hadn't seen for a while. With Tom taking on the mantle of babysitter and George asleep it meant Anna was able to catch up with her friend for a moment or two. The chatter that had built up amongst those gathered died down as some double doors burst open. Appearing in the open doorway was John, clutching a pile of papers in his hands.

'Okay all. If you'll approach in an orderly manner, I'll show you to your seats.'

Anna hadn't noticed his bottom half yet, she, the kids and the rest of the people they had entered the castle with were at the back of the crowd. She furrowed her brow, confused as to why he wasn't wearing the tartan waistcoat he had told her the groomsmen would be wearing but what seemed to be a tuxedo instead. She also found it confusing as to why all those in front of her were looking John up and down, some of them deeply amused whilst others were patting him on the back. And then, as more of the crowd moved into the wedding room, it became clearer. Upon meeting her gaze, John's face broke out into a big smile, he giving Anna a small wink before concentrating once more on his task. Ethel approached John with her date, kissing the usher on the cheek before walking past, leaving John with the only people left to greet his family and the Crawley's.

'Why is Daddy wearing a skirt?' Callum asked, approaching him with caution.

'It's a kilt, silly,' Eleanor corrected her brother, which seemed to be one of her favourite pastimes. 'Do you like my dress, Daddy?'

'You look beautiful, lamby,' John knelt down to speak to his three eldest children, little Sybbie standing beside them. 'You all look fantastic. Very smart. Now you have to sit very quietly whilst Elsie and Charles get married, otherwise it's my twenty five point lecture on why Geography isn't boring for you.'

'Now there's incentive for you, kids,' Tom joked, shaking his hand once John had stood once more. 'Loving the outfit, mate.'

'Thank you, Pickles,' John replied, using the nickname he had held for Tom since they had first met.

'Are Robert and Charlie wearing the same?' Cora asked as she and Sybil approached, John using his index finger to stroke Patrick's arm as he lay sleeping in Sybil's arms.

'He is indeed,' John nodded, peering over his shoulder to see Robert and Charles as the front of the room with the registrar.

'Now this I have to see,' Tom said, shepherding the children into the room with him, Sybil and Cora following.

Anna stood with George, having taken him from the pushchair, the three of them now the only people in the entrance hall. Anna was rocking George in her arms, trying to settle him once more now that he was out of his pushchair.

'I was hoping he'd sleep through it all.'

'You look absolutely stunning.' John breathed, taking in the sight of Anna in her knee length navy blue dress before softly stroking George's head. 'The kids look adorable.'

'It was a chore getting them ready, Cora was great though.' Anna admitted with a smile, George falling back to sleep in her arms quickly. 'But enough about us, my gorgeous husband. You sir, are working that suit and kilt.'

'Thank you, miss,' John replied with a jovial lilt to his tone.

'And are you,' Anna moved her eyes down to where John's sporran was located, 'a true Scotsman?'

'Now Mrs Bates, that would be telling.'

The day passed by in a blur, Charles and Elsie the picture of happiness as they promised the rest of their lives to one another. All the guests complimented the groomsmen on their attire, Charles not needing to worry about Elsie appreciating the gesture. The moment she walked into the room and saw him at the top of the aisle, her face spoke a thousand words. Margaret Patmore, the head of food technology at the school and Elsie's closest friend was on hand to give her away, Elsie's parents sadly no longer around to witness the most wonderful day of her life.

The service was emotional, Elsie and Charles having written their own vows to try and encapsulate all they felt for each other. There was hardly a dry eye in the house as Charles told Elsie and those gathered he would wait another fifty years for her if that was it would take for him to call her his wife. John sat with his arm around Anna and George, their other children insisting they sit with Sybbie and Uncle Tom in the row behind. As the service progressed, John and Anna would find each other's gaze, each knowing in that moment the other was thinking about the vows they had made to each other a decade previously. As the registrar announced them Mr and Mrs Carson, John placed a kiss to Anna's temple, holding her tightly to him before joining with the round of applause that began to reverberate around the old castle.

With the backdrop that surrounded the castle, it was certain that the wedding photographs would be spectacular. Tom took the kids to play on the beach after they had their picture taken with Charles and Elsie, this part of proceedings causing the little ones to become a little agitated. Anna stayed with the wedding party, a moment she would treasure occurred when she and Cora were invited to join Charles, Elsie, John and Robert in a photograph. The affection she held for the newlyweds knew no bounds, and Robert and Cora were John's best friends, the reason why he moved to Downton in the first place.

The truth was, Anna was rather enamoured with the sight of John in a kilt. There was just something about a man in that kind of traditional clothing that had always made her heart skip a beat, but this increased ten fold when she saw it on the man she loved. Anna and John had always been quite a tactile couple, willing to show affection in public but today even more so. When he wasn't needed for photographs or to help in proceedings, Anna would find John's hand, wrapping her fingers around his as they spoke to their fellow guests. It was almost like an unspoken act, to remind those gathered, if they needed reminding, that she was his and no one else's. Especially with the way he looked today.

As the afternoon moved into the evening, the party really began. Charles and Elsie had hired a live band and opened the dancing with their song, And I Love Her by The Beatles. The music was firmly set in the fifties and sixties, which suited the day down to the ground. A classic, traditional wedding day it had been and it made sense the reception followed suit. Eleanor had been begging her Dad for a dance for most of the evening, each time the band started a new song she asked him to dance with her. John resisted until the band played My Girl, and he couldn't very well say no to that one. Anna wasn't to be forgotten, John saving the last dance for his wife as the band closed their set with God Only Knows by The Beach Boys.

Once back at the hotel, Cora helped a rather merry Robert back to their room whilst John carried the twins in his arms, the two of them fast asleep. George was also asleep, Eleanor not far behind her brothers as she walked in a daze beside her mother. John put the boys to bed, both of them still dressed in their shirts and trousers, he not wanting to dare wake them. Anna took George and Eleanor into her room, joining John in the living room half an hour or so later, ready for bed. John had his back to her, still in his waistcoat and kilt, his head resting against the back of the sofa. She made him jump as Anna approached John from behind, running her hands down his torso to rest on his stomach.

'Alone at last,' John murmured, turning his head to kiss Anna on the cheek.

'Finally,' Anna whispered into his ear. 'The kids are all sleeping like logs. And I can't wait a moment longer to find something out.'

'And what's that?'

She gently patted the sporran he still wore. 'If you are a true Scotsman or not.'

John took hold of her hand, guiding Anna around the sofa to stand in front of him. 'What's stopping you, Mrs Bates?'

She wasn't kept in suspense for much longer.