Author's Note: Thank you all so much for being so patient with me, and I really hope that you like this chapter! It's definitely a happier one than the last! x
Even though she was exhausted and her back ached after spending another night in hospital, a tender smile still crossed Anna's lips when the door to her room opened and John entered with their little girl. The happiness that she saw in Adelaide's eyes only deepened her love for her, and she wasted no time in pulling back the blanket and letting her climb into bed beside her when she ran over to her. 'Good morning, lovely,' She slid an arm around her and brought her close with a kiss to her cheek before meeting her gaze. 'How was your night with nanny Hughes?'
'Good!' Adelaide replied while snuggling into her. 'Granddad Carson played dollies with me until nanny got home from work, and then we had dinner and I had chocolate chip cookies for pudding! I didn't want to have a bath, but nanny told me that granddad would tuck me in and read me some bedtime stories if I was a good girl. Granddad told me three stories and gave me kisses and cuddles before I went to sleep, mummy!'
'Really? Three bedtime stories?' Anna gasped and stroked her little girl's waist when she nodded. 'You must have been a very good girl, then!'
'Why don't you tell mummy about what you did for nanny Hughes this morning, darling?' John suggested while sitting on the edge of the bed.
Adelaide looked over at him for a second before realising what he meant and smiling up at her mother. 'I helped her to wash all of the dishes!'
'You did?' Anna beamed. 'You're such a big girl, Addie, and I'm so proud of you.'
Adelaide giggled and shuffled closer to her mother before sighing. 'Can you come home now, mummy? You've been here for a very long time.'
Anna felt her heart sink in her chest and ran a hand over her little girl's curls as she knew how much of an impact their separation was having on her. It had been almost five days since she had been admitted to the hospital. Ever since they had adopted her, she and John had tried their hardest to find a routine that she was comfortable with and that suited all of them. Adelaide had just begun to settle into that routine over the last couple of months, but now her routine had been disturbed and she could sense that she was slowly starting to feel overwhelmed by it all.
'Doctor Clarkson gave me another check-up after dinner last night, princess,' She slipped a red curl back behind her ear. 'He needs to be positive that I'm well enough to leave before I can come home. He ran some little tests and he's going to have the results soon, which means that I might be able to come home at lunchtime if everything's fine. If he finds some problems, though, he might have to keep me in for a little while longer to help me get better,' She watched as Adelaide tried to process everything that she had just said to her. 'Do you understand all of that, my love?'
Adelaide nodded. 'If you're better then you can come home, but you have to stay here if you're still poorly.'
'That's right.' Anna ran a hand along her back through her cardigan.
The room was silent for a little while after that, but Evelyn soon started to whimper in her Moses basket near the window and a smile formed on Adelaide's lips as she looked over at her. 'Daddy, please can I go and see Evie?' She asked him with hope sparkling in her lovely green eyes.
'Of course,' John smiled. 'Why don't you see if she'll settle with her pacifier?'
'Okay!' She replied before pulling back the blanket, getting off of the bed and walking over to her sister.
John watched her talk to her for a moment from where he was sat on the bed, but when he looked at his wife again and noticed the sadness in her eyes, he sighed and moved up the bed to sit next to her. Wordlessly, he eased his arm around her shoulders and waited for her to rest her head on his chest before kissing her crown. 'I know that you're tired of being in here, sweetheart, but I'm so proud of you.' He told her quietly.
'You're proud of me? For what?' She moved her head to his shoulder and looked up at him.
'You were so ill and weak when you were first admitted,' He stroked her face. 'You took a turn for the worse in the ambulance, so I was told to prepare for the worst once we'd arrived. I had to wait outside with Evie while they made you comfortable and sedated you, and I was positive that I was going to end up losing you,' He lowered his voice further in case Adelaide overheard. 'I rehearsed how I was going to tell Addie, and I felt sick until I was allowed in the room. It's astounding how long two or three hours feels when you're sat waiting for something to happen.'
He took her hand in his free one and ran his thumb over her wedding ring before continuing. 'The whole time you were asleep, I was listening to your breathing and I felt useless because there was nothing I could do to change things. I spent hours talking to you and felt stupid because I knew you couldn't hear me. I remember lying Evie next to you at one point, and I put your arm over her and you woke up and held her close. You have no idea how thrilled I was. I knew that things were still serious and could change at any time, but just seeing you awake calmed me.'
A soft smile graced her features and he brought her closer to his chest. 'I had to help you eat and drink that first night because you didn't have the strength. You started recovering far sooner than I thought you would, though, and then you started nursing Evie and I felt so proud of you for that. Even when you're ill and exhausted, you still put our girls first and that's one of the things I love the most about you.' He moved a fair curl out of her face and back behind her ear before brushing his thumb against her cheek, and he felt his heart swell when her eyes fell closed.
'Can I ask you something?' She draped an arm over his stomach and snuggled closer to him after opening her eyes again.
'You can ask me anything, my darling.' He reassured her.
She looked over at Adelaide for a moment and smiled at the sight of her standing on her tiptoes beside her sister's Moses basket and speaking to her. 'Could we go on a little trip once I'm feeling better and we've gotten Evie into some sort of routine?' She asked as she looked up at John again. 'I don't mean an expensive one, but I think it would be nice for us and the girls to have a weekend away together in a couple of months.'
'What's brought this on?' He asked.
She curled her fingers into his jacket. 'We have an incredible little girl who's been nothing but patient and understanding for the last couple of months,' She reminded him. 'If we don't count visiting mum, she's been stuck inside most of the time because the weather has been awful and I've been too tired to take her out. She's also been so well behaved given the circumstances, and I think she just deserves something special as a treat. You keep saying that you want to take her to Scotland so that you can take her to places you went as a child and she can experience it.'
'You think she'd like it?' He looked over at their daughters before turning back to her.
'I think she'd love it,' She moved her hand to his chest and kissed his cheek. 'Just as much as I did.'
He smiled and leaned his forehead against hers. 'Perhaps we could find a little cottage to spend the weekend in rather than booking a room in a hotel. Hotel rooms are always rather cramped, and we and the girls will have a garden to spend time in when it's warm. What do you think?'
'I think it's going to be the perfect weekend.' She stroked his chest before brushing her lips against his.
The two of them parted when Evelyn's cries started to fill the air sometime later, and they couldn't help but smile when Adelaide looked over at them with a nervous expression on her face. 'I was just talking to her, daddy, I didn't do anything to scare her!' She hurried back over to the bed before her father took his arm from around her mother's shoulders and lifted her into his lap. 'Doesn't Evie like me?' She gazed up at him.
'Of course she likes you, darling, and we know you didn't do anything,' He soothed. 'She's just telling mummy and I that she needs something.'
Adelaide turned in her father's lap to look at her mother. 'I didn't upset her, mummy?'
'Not at all,' Anna shook her head before kissing her temple. 'Shall I go and get her? Then we can find out what she wants.'
Adelaide nodded before cuddling closer to her father while her mother pulled back the blanket and slipped from the bed to go over to Evelyn. 'Come here, sweet-pea,' Anna whispered once she had reached her baby girl's Moses basket, nothing but love in her eyes as she lifted her into the cradle of her arms. Almost as soon as she had settled her against her chest, Evelyn calmed considerably and grizzled as she moved herself into a more comfortable position in her arms. 'There you are, Addie, she just needed a cuddle.' She told her little girl as she looked over at her.
'Can I give her a kiss? Please?' Adelaide asked.
'Of course!' Anna nodded before holding Evelyn closer and padding back over to the bed.
Evelyn fussed in her arms as she lowered herself back down onto the bed, but settled once more when she nuzzled a kiss onto her temple and shushed her. Once she was certain that her baby was comfortable and content, she shuffled closer to John and Adelaide before leaning against the headboard and moving her arms a little so that Evelyn was closer to Adelaide. She then watched as Adelaide brushed a gentle kiss against Evelyn's forehead, and a smile crossed her lips when she felt John run a hand over her hair and lifted her gaze to his. 'I love you.' She told him.
'I love you too.' He replied.
There was a knock on the door to her room a short time later, and she lifted her gaze from her daughters to see doctor Clarkson walk into the room with a clipboard. 'I apologize for the wait, but I've just received the results from last night's tests and I thought you'd like to know them.'
'That depends on whether it's good news or bad.' John answered while stroking his wife's arm.
Doctor Clarkson looked at the sheet of paper clipped to his clipboard. 'Well, I think you'll be pleased to hear that the results are good for once! Nothing alarming has shown up on the tests, which is good, and everything seems to have normalised. You're free to go home, Mrs. Bates, but I'm going to send a week's worth of medication home with you. I'll make a house-call on Sunday afternoon to make sure Evelyn's growing and putting on the weight that she should be, but also to see how you're getting on.' He smiled as Anna nodded in response while soothing Evelyn.
'Thank you, doctor Clarkson.' John smiled.
'You're quite welcome,' The doctor replied. 'Now, I'll leave you so that you can prepare to leave.'
He then turned on his heel and walked out of the room before closing the door behind him, and Anna sighed with relief as she gazed up at her husband. 'I bet you're glad that we get to sleep in our own bed tonight and you don't have to squeeze on here with me anymore.' She laughed.
'It hasn't been the most comfortable experience,' He smirked while holding Adelaide near and smoothing his hand over her untameable curls. 'But I know that hospitals make you anxious and you needed me to hold you, so I would have slept on this bed for a fortnight if it'd come to it.'
She felt her love for him deepen. 'You're so sweet.'
'I know,' He winked before leaning in to steal a kiss. 'Do you want me to nip to the cottage and get Evie's pram while you get dressed?'
'I'd be so grateful,' She told him. 'I'd carry her, but I can hear that it's raining and I'd rather not carry her home and put her at risk of falling ill.'
He nodded in understanding before giving Adelaide a squeeze. 'Are you going to stay here and help mummy with Evie until I get back, Addie?'
'Okay, daddy.' Adelaide beamed.
'That's my girl,' He kissed the tip of her nose before easing her out of his lap and onto the bed next to her mother, leaving the bed and walking over to where his cane was leaning against the wall. He then took his coat from the chair, pushed his arms into the sleeves and buttoned it up before smiling over at the girls that he was blessed enough to call his. 'I'll get the fire going so that the cottage is warm for when we get home.'
'Daddy, please can you make your special hot chocolate when we get home?' Adelaide asked.
John chuckled. 'What does mummy think?'
'I wouldn't mind one myself, actually,' Anna admitted. 'You make the best hot chocolates.'
'All right,' He nodded. 'We need to get you back first, though, so I'll be back soon.'
'Bye-bye, daddy!' Adelaide waved.
'Bye-bye, princess.' He waved back before opening the door and leaving the hospital room.
Once she was alone with her daughters, Anna eased an arm around Adelaide's waist and pressed a kiss to the side of her head before cradling a sleeping Evelyn closer to her chest and sighing with happiness. 'I have the most beautiful girls.' She whispered to them. 'I love you so much.'
'We love you too, mummy.' Adelaide curled her fingers into her nightgown and leaned her head against her shoulder.
'Would you like to sleep in the big bed with me and daddy tonight?' Anna asked after running her hand tenderly along her side.
Adelaide looked at her for a second. 'I want to, but daddy won't let me because I'm a big girl now.'
'Oh, I think he'll make an exception just this once,' Anna told her. 'He's missed you just as much as I have, darling, and I'm sure he won't mind.'
'Can I have kisses and cuddles at bedtime tonight?' Adelaide smiled.
Anna tightened her hold of her. 'You can have as many kisses and cuddles as you like.'
'I've missed you, mummy,' Adelaide sighed. 'I don't want you to go away for so long ever again.'
'No, Addie,' Anna buried a kiss in her hair. 'No, I won't be going away for this long again, I promise…'
And that was a promise that she was determined to always keep.
Once John had laid a flat-out Evelyn down in her Moses basket, he smiled and used the backs of his fingers to smooth down a dark wisp of her hair before turning to face Adelaide. Before he had brought her and her sister upstairs, she had sworn to him that she didn't feel tired and she didn't want to take a nap. He could see the exhaustion in her eyes, though, and he knew that she would be out like a light in minutes after he'd tucked her into bed. 'Your turn, darling.' He said to her before resting his hand on her cheek and brushing his thumb against her freckled skin.
'Up?' She asked with hope in her eyes after lifting her arms.
He had never been able to resist her anything when she looked at him like that, and so he rested his hands on her waist and lifted her onto his hip before kissing her forehead. She laid her head on his shoulder after lacing her arms around his neck, and he felt his heart flutter when she hid her face in the side of his neck. He loved knowing that she was still his little girl. She was so independent and she'd matured so much over the last couple of months, but she still loved cuddles with him and felt secure whenever she was in his arms. He never wanted her to grow up.
He never wanted her to stop coming to him in the middle of the night after she had had a nightmare.
He never wanted her to stop wanting to have daddy-daughter days with him.
Most of all, though, he never wanted her to feel as though he wouldn't be there to hold her if she needed him to be.
Even when she was older and had a little family of her own, he hoped that she would still come to him for a cuddle whenever she needed one.
The feeling of one of her hands sliding down his back pulled him from his thoughts after a time, and he couldn't help but smile when he heard her quiet snores. Once he had readjusted his hold of her and she had nuzzled further into his neck, he kissed her temple before walking out of the room and down the hall to her bedroom. He carried her over to the bed in the corner after entering the room, and once he had laid her on the mattress, he covered her with her quilt before lowering himself to sit on the edge of the bed. 'I love you so much, precious.' He whispered.
After running a hand over her curls, he turned in place and took Mr. Woof from the end of the bed before tucking him into bed beside her and watching her pull him close in her sleep. He sat and watched her sleep soundly for a while before deciding to go back downstairs to Anna, and so he pulled the quilt a little further over his little girl and rose from the bed. Before walking out of the room, he took one last look at Adelaide and sighed with happiness. He was so privileged to have her, Evelyn and Anna in his life, and he'd never take a single one of them for granted.
He closed the door to his little girl's bedroom behind him after leaving the room, and after running a hand through his hair, he started to walk back down to the sitting room where he had left his wife reading her novel. The sight that met his eyes when he entered the room caused him to fall all the more in love with her. She must have nodded off while reading, because her book was face-down on the floor and she was sound asleep on her stomach with her arm hanging over the edge of the settee. There weren't words to express just how radiant she was in his eyes.
Once he had spotted the soft blanket hanging over the back of the settee, he walked over and took it before unfolding it and placing it over his wife. She stirred for a moment-or-two, but soon settled again when he sat down next to her and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. He wasn't at all surprised that she had fallen asleep while he'd been upstairs. She had been through such an ordeal over the last few days, and he felt as though it would be an understatement to say that she was exhausted. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her so worn out.
She was home now, though, and he was going to see to it that she did nothing but relax and spend some time with the girls for the next couple of days. He watched her bring her arm back onto the settee and sigh in her sleep as she made herself more comfortable a short time later, and he couldn't resist the urge to slide her hair out of her face. He'd tried to keep his touch as gentle as possible so not to wake her, but he mustn't have been gentle enough because she began to stir. 'John?' She mumbled once her eyes had opened ever-so-slightly and she looked up at him.
'I'm here,' He reassured her. 'I didn't mean to wake you, sweetheart, go back to sleep.'
'Hold me.' She told him before shuffling backwards toward the back of the settee to make room for him.
With a chuckle and loving shake of his head, he moved so that he was leaning against the arm of the settee before opening his arms to her and allowing her to cuddle up to him. It didn't take long for her to rest her head on his shoulder and make herself comfortable again, and once she had settled with a sigh, he turned his head in her direction and the two of them shared a smile. 'This is the first moment alone we've had since Evie was born,' He pointed out while running his hand gently along her spine. 'And we're both exhausted and feel like taking a nap ourselves.'
She laughed at his remark which caused him to chuckle as well before she said: 'The joys of parenthood, eh?'
'I couldn't be happier with our lot, though,' He admitted. 'We have the most beautiful little girls and I adore them.'
'Me too,' She sighed. 'Just as much as I adore you.'
Her eyes fell closed and a tired smile crossed her lips when he left a kiss to her forehead and pulled her closer with the arm around her waist. 'You're exhausted,' He hummed against her skin. 'Get some more rest, love, and I'll wake you a couple of minutes before I go and wake Addie.'
'Thank you. I love you so much, John.' She buried her face in the side of his neck before settling with a huff of contentment.
'I love you too,' He replied. 'I love you too…'
Anna could hear Adelaide's laughter from the bathroom when she was sat up in bed with Evelyn that evening, and the sound made her smile. John had said that he would bathe Adelaide so that she could rest, but she knew the two of them too well. There would be too much splashing and not enough bathing going on. She heard Adelaide squeal and John chuckle sometime later, and she sighed with a gentle shake of her head before looking down at her tired little girl. 'That, darling, is your father and big sister.' She smiled. 'And I wouldn't change a thing about them.'
She felt her heart swell when her daughter cuddled a little closer to her and huffed in contentment, and she couldn't resist the urge to brush a kiss against her hairline after cradling the back of her head in her hand. It still made her emotional to think that this was her life now. She was the mother of two beautiful little girls, married to the man of her dreams, and – for the first time – she was excited to find out what the future held. She finally had the life that she had dreamed of when she had married John, and she just couldn't wait to start making lasting memories.
The sound of the door opening brought her out of her thoughts and made her look up after a while, and the sight of her husband in his soaked undershirt made her smirk. 'That's odd,' She teased while he carried Adelaide over to their bed. 'I could have sworn it was Addie's bath night.'
'Don't look at me, she started it.' He laughed before sitting their daughter down on the end of the bed and allowing her to crawl to her mother.
'Oh, that's mature! A grown man blaming it on a four-year-old!' Anna slid an arm around Adelaide when she sat down beside her.
'She might be four, but she's a little rascal,' He took off his damp undershirt before pointing at Adelaide when she smirked. 'She knows it, too!'
Anna turned her head toward their little girl and kissed her forehead. 'She has daddy completely wrapped around her little finger, don't you?'
'Daddy loves me.' Adelaide cuddled up to her mother.
'Well, I can't argue with such solid logic,' John admitted defeat as he walked over to the bed before pulling back the covers, climbing in next to his beautiful girls, and taking Adelaide's Winnie the Pooh book from the bedside table. Once he had leaned against the headboard, he couldn't help but smile as Adelaide wasted no time in shifting closer to him and resting her head on his chest. 'Let's see what Pooh and Piglet get up to tonight, then.' He held her closer and buried a kiss in her damp hair before turning to Anna and caressing her cheek with the back of his hand.
'I love Piglet, daddy,' Adelaide tilted her head back on his chest. 'He's so cute and small, just like Evie!'
Her remark caused her parents to laugh before her father tightened his hold of her and she settled into his side as he flipped to the right page in her book. Even though she couldn't read long words herself, she still let her eyes roam over them on the page while her father read them to her. She loved it when he read her bedtime stories before she had to go to sleep. Sometimes, he changed his voice for all of the characters and she thought that that was such a brilliant thing to do. She had the cleverest daddy in all the world, she was positive. He had the greatest ideas!
She turned the page over for him once he had read to the end of it, and she smiled when she felt him stroke her waist through her nightgown.
From where she was sat beside them, Anna smiled as she watched her husband and daughter snuggle together while he read her book to her. If there was one thing that she loved the most about John, then it was how he treated their daughters as equals. He didn't have more time and love for Evelyn because he had created her, and he didn't have more time and love for Adelaide because she had been in their lives for longer. He ensured that both of them received the same amount of his time and love as the other, and simply knowing that made her so proud of him.
There were no favourites.
She felt Evelyn's pacifier drop into her lap after listening to her husband read to Adelaide for a time, and she smiled when she looked down at her little girl and realised that she had nodded off at last. She thought that she looked like John when she was awake, but she was his absolute double when she slept. 'This little miss is out for the count,' She looked up at her husband at the sound of his voice and smiled as she watched him stroke Adelaide's back while she slumbered against his chest. 'Do you want me to go and put her in her own bed while you sort Evie out?'
'No, I said she could sleep in here with us tonight,' She whispered with a shake of her head. 'It's just one night and she wants to be close to us.'
'That's fine with me,' He reassured her. 'How are you feeling?'
'I'm feeling all right, darling, I'm just a little tired after all that's gone on.' She admitted.
He nodded. 'You're bound to be. I'll get up with the girls in the morning and find Addie some breakfast so that you can get some proper sleep.'
'You don't have to do that.' She told him after lowering Evelyn down into her Moses basket.
'I know, but I want to. I want to be the one to take care of you now that we're home.' He explained.
She looked at him for a moment before shuffling closer to him and their little girl, resting her hand on his cheek and pressing a delicate kiss to his lips. Their kiss lingered for a time as she ran her thumb across his skin, and she leaned her forehead against his own when their kiss came to its end. 'I feel as though I haven't thanked you enough for everything you've done for me over the last couple of days,' She admitted quietly. 'You had to look after Evie as well as me when we were in the hospital, and even though you haven't complained, I can tell that you're exhausted.'
'I am tired, I'll admit that,' He slipped a strand of her hair back behind her ear. 'But that's not your fault, and I would do it again if I needed to.'
'I know, and I love you for it.' She stole one more kiss from him before pulling back, turning off the lamp on her bedside table and lying down.
'You'll call me a brooder,' He sighed into the darkness after doing the same and settling with Adelaide. 'But I'm still a little worried about you.'
She sighed. 'There's no need to be worried about me, my love, because I'm going to be just fine. You were there when doctor Clarkson said so.'
'I know.' He nodded.
'Well then,' She kissed his cheek. 'You're worn out, John, so get some sleep and I promise that things will seem much brighter in the morning.'
John turned his head in her direction and smiled. 'Do you have the first idea of how much I love you?'
'I have quite a good idea,' She laughed. 'I love you too.'
John let out quite a large yawn just moments later, and after the two of them had finished chuckling, he said: 'I think it might be time to sleep.'
'You think?' She teased before snuggling further beneath the quilt. 'Goodnight, John.'
'Goodnight, my darling,' He replied. 'Pleasant dreams.'
The two of them drifted into a comfortable silence then, and it didn't take long for their closeness and the sound of their daughters' breathing to send them off into a peaceful slumber.
Author's Note: Thank you all for taking the time to read this chapter and I really hope that you enjoyed it. Please let me know with a review what you thought, and I'll see you all soon! x
