A/N: I decided to post chapter 2 tonight because I managed to write it pretty quickly and I kinda love it. I hope you enjoy x

There were so many things that Anna loved about being a wife and mother to her husband and their three wonderful children but having to wash countless piles of clothes at the end of each week was not one of them. Somehow, John and Johnny seemed to have more suits between them than she and the girls had nightgowns and dresses and by the end of the week neither of them would have a clean shirt to their name. She never complained much about her husband not having a clean shirt, not when it meant that he would wander around the cottage in just his undershirt and trousers, but it did irk her somewhat if their son didn't have a freshly ironed suit to wear when they were up at Downton.

Most of her time these days was spent sat on the kitchen floor as she separated the clothes and sorted them into piles to go into the washing machine, the process made no easier when Johnny pleaded with her to let him help. His desire to do the laundry with her would always be genuine, she knew that, and she knew that he always tried his best to do it right, but he always ended up being more of a hindrance instead. He would mix up the colours again while traipsing through the piles of clothes, he would knock the detergent box over and spill the powder all over the floor and he would take the folded clothes from the table and put them back into the washing machine. He would always have a smile on his face and be so proud of himself for helping her though, so she could never find it in her to ask him to leave her to do it herself.

On this day, however, he was down for an afternoon nap and so she was able to sort through the laundry without any distractions.

Or so she thought.

Just as she dropped Hope's dress onto the lighter pile of clothes she felt a pair of arms slip around her middle from behind, a knowing smile crossing her lips when a kiss was brushed against her cheek and she was pulled backward. 'You know; I have no idea why I bothered telling you not to move from that sofa because I knew the moment I said it that you would be in here when I came home,' John rested his chin on her shoulder once her back was pressed flush against his chest, the two of them chuckling as his hands came to settle on her stomach and he watched her take Faith's cardigan from the table and drop it onto the darker pile of clothes. 'You're meant to be allowing yourself to rest, my love, it's only been two weeks since the girls were born and Doctor Clarkson would have my head if he knew that you were doing all of this.'

'Ahh, so that's why you've been such a worrywart,' She teased as she looked over her shoulder at him. 'Doctor Clarkson scares you.'

'No, I've been a…' He paused, clearing his throat. 'I've been concerned about you because I love you and I feel that you're doing too much.'

She let out a sigh. 'If I don't do too much, not enough gets done. There are five of us under this roof now and that's a lot of people.'

'Then you need to ask for help because that's what I'm here for.' He reminded her, brushing his thumbs against her stomach.

'But I…'

Refusing to let her finish her sentence, he reached out and removed the dress she was holding from her hand before setting it back down on the table and resting his hands on her waist so that he could turn her to face him. Sensing that she was feeling somewhat embarrassed when she diverted her gaze and stared down at one of the piles of clothes on the floor, he hooked a finger beneath her chin and lifted it a little so that she was looking up at him before running his thumb along the length of her jawline. 'Ask for help, Anna.' He told her in a gentle voice.

For a couple of seconds, all she did was stand there and stare at him with tears in her eyes but when she realized that he had no intention of backing down she sighed. 'Okay,' Her voice wavered and she swallowed the lump that came to her throat. 'Could I have a little help, please?'

'Of course, you have a seat and I'll finish up here.' He reassured her with a tender kiss to her forehead.

She stepped out of the gap between him and the kitchen table and pulled out one of the chairs before sitting down, her eyes fixed on him as he set about continuing to move the clothes on the table to the numerous piles around the floor. He would look in her direction every now and again and give her a smile as she watched him, but she would only be able to manage a small one in response. She hated asking him for help. She hated asking anyone for help because it always made her feel as though she was being a nuisance and incapable of doing something alone. 'Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I'm just curious.' John's voice pulled her from her thoughts.

'Go on.' She nodded.

'You never ask me for help,' He told her, dropping one of his shirts onto the white pile of clothes. 'And that isn't something new either, you and I have been living in this house for seven years and I can't remember the last time you allowed me to help with something. Why is that?'

'Because housework isn't something that you should have to be worried about,' She explained. 'Just before I left home to become a tweeny at fourteen, mum and grandma sat me down and decided to talk to me about my future. One of the things that came up was marriage and they said that a good wife doesn't burden her husband by asking him for help with things like housework. They told me that it would be another one of my wifely duties and that it wouldn't be fair to ask you to help me with them, not when you work so hard to provide for the family. I know that our responsibilities at Downton are practically identical and that you don't earn much more than I do, but I suppose what the two of them said back then has stayed with me. I don't like asking you for help because I feel I should be able to cope. I want to be a good wife.'

Setting the nightshirt in his hand back down on the table, John ran a hand through his hair and sighed before pulling out the chair closest to him and sitting down. 'Come here,' He held his hand out to her once he had stretched out his bad leg and was somewhat comfortable, relief coursing through him when she rose from her chair and slipped her hand into his before sitting down on his good knee and allowing him to wrap his arms tight around her. 'Do you honestly believe that asking me for some help when you need it makes you any less of a good wife?'

'Sometimes…' She whispered.

'Anna, you are a human being,' He pointed out, running one hand up and down her back in a soothing fashion. 'You are an incredible wife and an outstanding mother, but you aren't a machine and you can't do everything on your own despite how much you might want to. When your mother and grandmother married, darling, it was a different time. Women didn't work as much in those days as they do now and that allowed them to focus more of their time on housework and raising children, but it's different in this day and age and our circumstances are different from theirs. You work just as hard as I do if not harder and then you come home and spend the rest of the evening caring for Johnny. I don't know anyone who works as hard as you do and you make me so proud, but you need to start asking me for help when you need it.'

She sucked on her bottom lip. 'It's just embarrassing, having to ask for help.'

'Why? What's embarrassing about it?' He inquired.

'I…I don't know.' Tears coated her words.

'Look at me,' He instructed when she dropped her gaze to her lap, his hand coming up to caress her face when she looked at him again and a soft tear trickled down her cheek. 'You never have to be embarrassed to ask me to help, especially not under these circumstances. You need to remember that you delivered twins less than a month ago. I remember you being exhausted for weeks after Johnny was born and you were only recovering from having one baby, but this time your body has to recover from going through the exact same thing twice and it doesn't surprise me that it's taking a little longer. The only person who expects all of this from you is yourself. I don't want you standing here up to your neck in laundry for hours and I don't want you doing everything for Faith and Hope. I want you to rest, but you simply won't do that.'

'I don't think I know how to.' She laughed, causing a smile to spread across her husband's lips.

Kissing her on the cheek, he sighed against her skin before pulling back again. 'I'll tell you what's going to happen now, all right? You and I are going to head upstairs while the children are asleep and you're going to change into your nightgown and get an hour-or-so yourself. Then when you wake up, I'll run you a bath and you can spend as long as you like in there while I look after the children and finish doing all that laundry. You aren't to worry about it or do any housework for the rest of the day and if you argue with me about it then I'm going to make you stay in bed all day tomorrow. You need to give yourself the chance to heal and recover, sweetheart, because you're going to end up sick.'

'I really don't have any say in the matter?' She pouted, though there was a teasing glint in her eye.

'Afraid not.' He shook his head while she wrapped her arms around his neck.

'Well then,' She leaned in to brush her lips against his in a long and soft kiss. 'Lead the way, Mr. Bates.'

The two of them shared a smile before she rose from his knee and allowed him to stand from the chair that he was sitting on, pure love for him living in her eyes when he slipped his hand into hers before he feathered a kiss against her temple and led her out of the kitchen to bed.

A/N: Thank you all for taking the time to read this chapter and I hope that you liked it. Please let me know what you thought with a review and I'll see you soon x