All night her heart had rung with it, and in the morning when she woke – from the deepest sleep she had had for months, if not years – for a few moments she wasn't entirely sure that it hadn't been a dream. She dared not turn her head upon the pillow for the fear that whatever she would find had melted away like the faintest dusting of snow confronted with the warmth of the sunshine.

She knew she was being silly, however, because she could feel him. His breath on the back of her neck, his hand resting against her hip.

Her husband was next to her again, in his rightful place beside her. At home and in their bed.

The anguish had not disappeared but it had been conquered by what seemed to her like nothing short of a miracle. She kept replaying the moment in her mind, although she had more than enough to content and delight her in tracing each part of his face, pressing her palm against his chest so many times. It had almost been like their wedding night again, the love and happiness transforming into light that could have blinded with its pure brightness. The thoughts, emotions and sensations colliding in her head, making her almost breathless, until she arrived once more at the time when joy was given to her like a gift when she believed she had been overlooked.

This Christmas was going to be nothing like she had expected.

The temptation was to stay in bed for the whole morning, and she was certainly sorely tempted to do just that, given that she had spent so much time – one singular night being too long – there alone. Mrs Hughes had said that she didn't expect to see her at the house until noon at the earliest. What she meant by that was that she should spend the morning catching up on her rest, even though such a thing was impossible to do without John.

With him back, she was incredibly glad that she hadn't pleaded with the housekeeper to be there at dawn instead.

"I will have to go to the house," she said to him as they dressed.

"Of course," he replied. She watched him, somewhat entranced, as he fixed the buttons on his waistcoat and worked with his sleeves. It struck her, though of course it was far from being a novel feeling, how much she had missed their routines, and him most of all. "But I don't need to. Not if it will cause a fuss."

"I don't care what it causes," she exclaimed in reply. She was putting the last of the pins in her hair, otherwise she would have been over to him like a shot. His reflection in the mirror looked back at her, with a knowing smirk on his face. "What are you going to do otherwise, stay here on your own all day?"

"I suppose so, yes."

She didn't say anything more until she was touching him again, once more convincing herself that he was real.

"Everyone will see the change in me. Yesterday I was as miserable as sin, even with the good news that you'd be coming back eventually. Today I can't take the smile from my face. You know that there could only ever be one reason for that."

His eyes wrapped her in an adoring look, leaning into her touch as she placed her hand to cup his cheek.

"I'm very glad to hear you say that."

She could only smile in reply.

"I know everything isn't rosy," she said, smoothing her hands down his chest, seeing how his expression was beginning to shift ever so, "but I'm already convinced that this is the happiest Christmas that I've ever had."

The smile came back within a second of her finishing, and if her heart wasn't so full of sheer joy she would have burst into tears.

"And here's to it getting happier, still."

They were in their own little world as they made the walk from the cottage to the house, too occupied with one another to consider what anyone else would make of it. It only felt different when they got within seeing distance of the servants' entrance, and Anna clasped onto John's hand a little tighter. She probably should have said something before leaving the night before, at least to Mrs Hughes, but she'd been so swept up that it hadn't occurred to her.

They deposited their coats and hats, giving one another a last smile shared between themselves before the secret was out.

She was glad to find the hall fairly quiet at that particular moment, despite the day that it was.

"Anna," Mrs Hughes said, standing up from her seat at the table, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," she returned to the housekeeper, "I hope it's been a good one so far."

"Oh, you know. It's nice to not be up quite so early." Anna knew Mrs Hughes was trying not to seem too enthused for her sake, and she was glad of her empathy. "Lady Mary passed on your present to me with you not being here this morning. I've saved it in my parlour, though I think she would like to see you open it."

"Thank you, Mrs Hughes. I have a bit of a present for you all, too."

"Oh my god!" Mrs Hughes exclaimed when she saw John step forward into the hall, causing Mrs Patmore to come in from the kitchen and Miss Baxter to look up from where she sat, with a bright smile lighting her face. "Mr Bates. What a surprise this is!"

"It's wonderful," Miss Baxter said, "when did you get here?"

"Last night, during the party," John answered, sharing a look with Anna.

"That explains it," Mrs Hughes said, grinning at the pair of them, "I thought you'd gone off to get an early night. Well, I'm so happy for you both. I hope you're planning on staying, though I don't like to think we're intruding on your day."

"Of course not," Anna replied, "it wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't spend it here, with all of you."

"Especially when things could have been very different," John added.

"I'll have a word with Mr Carson about getting something fitting for us to drink. And I doubt that I should have to ask," Mrs Hughes turned to Mrs Patmore, "but I trust that there's enough to fill an extra plate at the table."

The cook, who had been unusually quiet, nodded her head and smiled. "Oh, you know better than to doubt me, Mrs Hughes. It's so lovely to see you, Mr Bates. I haven't quite recovered from the shock."

John and Anna smiled at one another, both knowing that Mrs Patmore had been the first one to see him enter the house the night before.

The rest of the day went on wonderfully indeed, and while it was nice for them to be at the centre of some good news for once, the only thing that mattered to the both of them was that they were together for the happiest day of the year, and truly happy once more.