Hey everyone! Thank you all for reading! For a while, this will be the only story I am updating, because I have a new story that I am writing on the side. I won't be publishing it until I finish it. It has really taken over my muse and so I have had to put Trial by Fire and The Golden Couple on a short pause, but I will come back to them soon, I promise! Hope you enjoy this update!

Chapter 8

Anna let out a large yawn. She was typing furiously on her laptop, trying to fix some mistake from Friday that she had just been told about. Thankfully, Baxter was still here to stay with the girls, so that she could focus on the work. But the previous night, Gracie had been up half of it, meaning Anna got little to no sleep. The little girl had screamed and cried and then begged for Anna to lay down with her. So Anna had been glad that John hadn't stayed the night. That would have been awkward.

She rubbed her eyes and then grabbed a chocolate out of the box John had brought her. He had found her the good chocolate. She snuck a second one and then got back to her work.

A small knock came at the door and she glanced up to see John standing in the doorway with two fresh coffee's in his hand. She motioned for him to come in and tried to secretly push the box of chocolates out of his view so he wouldn't know it was what she was having for her lunch.

"I heard you had a tough night with Gracie," he explained, setting the coffee down in front of her. Anna gave him a grateful smile and took it, bringing the warm liquid up to her lips.

"Who told you?" She playfully asked.

"Arya," he answered.

"Ah, yes. She can be quite the tattletale," Anna replied, giggling. "I wish I could talk with you more, but I have work to do." She frowned, glancing at her computer screen. "One day, I won't be working on the weekends."

"Why don't you let me make you a sandwich or something, before I need to go and relieve the weekend nurse," John offered. Anna looked up at him and shook her head, trying to tell him she was fine. However, his eyes landed on the box of chocolates and Anna blushed.

"Oh, alright," she stated.

"You have to eat to keep your energy up," John told her with a wink. He left her office and Anna chewed down on the side of her lip. What was it about him that made her feel so special? She had never felt special like this before? Other than with her children. They could make her feel like she could move mountains and now John did as well.

She tried to remind herself that she was getting ahead of herself. They had only been on one official date. And there was absolutely no proof that he was as perfect as he seemed. If life had taught her anything, she needed to be wary of people. Even the people you thought you knew could let you down.

She brought her attention back to her work. She wanted to finish early so that she could take her girls out to the park for a little while.

John brought her sandwich, placing it down quietly, and leaving. She watched as he walked away, a smile playing on her lips. Then she shook her head and reminded herself that she needed to take this one step at a time.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

When John went downstairs to relieve the weekend nurse, he found Martha sitting at her table eating her lunch. Immediately, she noticed John and smiled.

"You're back! Why were you gone for so long?"

"I was only gone for a day and a half, Martha," he simply answered, taking her glass of water to refill it. He set it down in front of her and gave her a tight smile.

"Where are my girls?" Her eyes scanned the room.

"Martha, your daughters are grown women now," he reminded her. "Anna is upstairs with her girls and Laura is in her home with her family."

"Anna's married?" Martha asked, baffled.

"No," John quickly replied.

"Ah! I remember. Jake," she said, making a sound of disapproval. "Snake of a man. She's married to Jake because he got her pregnant." Martha shook her head.

"She's not married to him anymore, Martha."

"Oh, she's not?"

"No."

"Good, I didn't like him."

John just nodded. He did agree with her there. Although he did find it ironic that she felt she could judge her daughter's taste in men, when hers had assaulted her daughter.

"What about you?" Martha questioned, grabbing his lower arm.

"Me?"

"Will you date Anna? You seem nice and that girl…well, she doesn't always make the best choices," Martha added, with a whisper.

"Your daughter is a very smart woman. She's grown an empire and is raising two very smart little girls on her own. You should be proud of her."

"Well, of course I'm proud of my girls! But Anna, well….you don't know what she was like as a teenager and now in her twenties…."

"Anna is a grown woman," John reminded her. "Who does well for herself."

"Right," Martha replied, although she looked slightly confused. John sighed and released her hand from his wrist. "Why don't we go for a walk for a little while? It's nice out."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Later that evening, when John walked upstairs to go to his bedroom. He started to hear the sounds of Peppa Pig playing in the living room. Worried that Anna was struggling with Gracie, he walked into the room to find that Anna was alone on the couch engrossed on her phone.

"You're up late," John said. Anna glanced up and smiled, placing her phone beside her on the couch.

"I know. I should be in bed, but this is the first peace and quiet I've had all day," Anna admitted to him. She patted the cushion beside her, motioning for him to join her. He sat down next to her and she dropped her knees from her chest, sitting up straighter. "This is my destructive behavior. I sit mindlessly on my phone for hours instead of sleeping when I should." Anna chuckled and John joined in with her.

"Well, you need some you time, too. It's important."

"I know," Anna agreed with a smile. "But I should get myself to bed at a reasonable hour, too. I run off very little sleep every night. I'm hopeful Gracie will sleep all night. Or at least, most of the night. I don't know what she's going through right now. She used to be a great sleeper."

"That's got to be tough."

"It is," Anna quietly said, falling further back into the cushions. "You should probably get to bed. Mum will be up soon and you'll have to tend to her."

"Yes, but I can nap during the day if I need to. I'd rather sit here with you for a few more minutes."

The way Anna's eyes met his made his heart skip a beat. They were pure and made him feel whole. He swallowed hard.

"Do you want to watch a show with me? I've been meaning to try out Schitt's Creek on Netflix."

"What's that?" He asked with a laugh.

"Some comedy," Anna shrugged. "A wealthy family loses all their money and has to move to a town called Schitt's Creek. Mary has raved about it and begged me to watch it for a while now. I thought I'd try the first episode before I went to bed."

"Sure," John answered. "I'd love to watch it with you."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

It became a nighttime ritual. Nearly every evening, the two of them would meet up on the couch and watch an episode or two of the comedy. By the third evening of watching the show together, they had grown more comfortable in one another's presence. And most nights, Anna ended up curled against his chest, while his fingers ran up and down her upper arm.

Tonight, John glanced down and saw that Anna had fallen asleep between episodes. She had been yawning during the final scene. When he offered to turn it off, she said one more episode. However, by the time the opening credits began, she was out. He quietly laughed and hit pause on the television. Then he gently nudged her shoulder.

"Anna," he whispered. Anna made a noise, adjusting herself on his chest. "Anna," he tried again. He watched as Anna slowly opened her eyes and placed her hand over her mouth, as she yawned. She met his eyes and moaned.

"I fell asleep, didn't I?"

"Only for a minute, but you should go to bed. We can watch this later. I was thinking, we should plan our next date." Anna sat up.

"Oh yeah?" Her cheeks had turned slightly pink.

"Yes. Maybe we do a day date. We could even do something with the kids," he tried. Over the past couple of weeks, the kids had grown accustomed to seeing him upstairs more and more. He would drop by when Martha was sleeping during the day to see Anna and them. He didn't want to overstep Anna's boundaries, though. So he wanted it to be her decision.

She seemed to be mulling it over, before she nodded.

"Yeah, that could be fun. They love you. Maybe we don't frame it as a date, then, though. As far as the kids are concerned, we're just friends right now. It's important to me that we are careful. They already are introduced to so many women with their dad. They get attached and it's bad."

"Right, of course, whatever you think is best, Anna," he told her. Anna gave him a sleepy smile and then leaned forward to give him a chaste kiss.

"You're amazing," she whispered. "Alright," she then conceded, raising her arms as another yawn took over. "I'm going to go to bed now. Goodnight, John."

"Goodnight, Anna."

To be continued...

More soon! :)