A/N: I'm unsure if people are still interested in this fic, but if you are then that's brilliant and welcome back! I apologise for the break I took, but writer's block hit and then I started to write for different fandoms and so I've only just gotten around to writing this. I hope that you enjoy it though and happy reading!

Resting her head on her husband's shoulder as the two of them strolled past the park together, Anna sighed and brought one hand to rest on her belly through her dress before her heart swelled when she felt their child press one of its tiny appendages against her palm in response to her touch. The decision to spend the afternoon at the palace with her family had been rather a spur-of-the-moment one. They had both been incredibly busy over the past couple of weeks, overseeing the renovations that had finally started to take place and trying to figure out where they wanted the baby's nursery to be, and they had both decided that it was high time they had a break. John had tried to get her to agree to take the car when she had proposed the idea of heading to the palace, but it was such a perfect day and she had wanted to stretch her legs.

In less than two months she was expected to go into labour with their little heir and then she would be put on strict bed rest for the next six weeks at least while she recovered, so she was determined to make the most of the little freedom she had left before utter chaos descended on the household and she was confined to her bedroom. Even though she was dreading the inevitable boredom, she was unbelievably excited and impatient to finally have her baby boy in her arms. Her parents had told her not to become so set on the idea that she was having a son, but she knew in her heart that she was having a boy and even John's mother had told her that she had gone through most of the things she was currently experiencing when she had been pregnant with him. No, she was sure that she was having a prince and nothing would change that.

'Someone's quite preoccupied…'

The sound of her husband's voice pulled her from her thoughts after a while and she tilted her head back on his shoulder to meet his gaze, a smile crossing her lips when he dropped a kiss to the tip of her nose and brought his free hand to her face so that he could stroke her cheek with the back of his palm. 'It would seem as though the only thing I'm capable of thinking about these days is this little one,' She shook her head, laughing as she stroked her thumb against her stomach. 'Some nights, I even have dreams about him. I just love him so deeply already. Mama keeps telling me to reconsider my decision to nurse him and hire a nanny instead, but I want to be the one to do everything for him. I want to be the one to nurse and change him and I want to be the one to settle him when he cries, not some woman we hardly even know.'

'You know that I love your mother as though she were my own and part of that is because she's never shown me anything but kindness. She accepted me into this family without hesitation and I have the utmost respect for her for that, but just because I have respect for her does not mean that I won't support you and your decisions in front of her if I have to,' He reassured her with a squeeze of her hand. 'She only wants to help, I realise that, but what she herself needs to realize is that this is our son and not hers. She has no right to tell you that you shouldn't nurse or change him yourself because she had no part in creating him and she's doing nothing for him. I apologize if that sounds harsh, but I know how long and hard this pregnancy has been for you and for her to tell you that you shouldn't be able to enjoy motherhood angers me.'

Smoothing a hand over the curve of her stomach as she stopped for a second in the middle of the street, she turned to face him and neatened up his tie a little before taking the lapel of his jacket in her hand and shaking her head as she looked him in the eye. 'No, it doesn't sound at all harsh, what you just said is exactly what I hoped you were going to say to me,' She admitted. 'She made me doubt my abilities for a while and I admit that there have been times when I actually started considering it just to appease her, but you honestly have made me realize that I need to stop letting people control me just because I'm afraid of upsetting them. You're right, she had nothing to do with creating our baby and she's done nothing for him as of yet, so she has no right whatsoever to come to me and tell me what sort of mother I should be to him.'

'And I want you to remind yourself of that whenever you start to doubt…' He brushed the blonde curl that had slipped out from beneath her hat back beneath her ear, tracing the curve of her ear with his thumb as she did so to make her smile. 'Because you will make a fine mother.'

The two of them looked into one another's eyes for a moment before deciding to continue on their way to the palace, but just as they started walking again a little girl who couldn't have been more than three years old came running through the park gates and fell down just in front of them. They were slightly stunned for several seconds, but Anna managed to snap herself out of it when the little girl started to cry and she wasted no time in crouching down so that she could help her to her feet again. 'Goodness me, that was quite the tumble, wasn't it?' She kept her voice down as she brushed several dark curls out of the girl's face and brushed them back behind her ear, a sigh escaping her as she took her handkerchief from her coat pocket and used it to dry her tears a little. 'Are you all right, sweetheart? You aren't hurt anywhere, are you?'

The little girl only whimpered in response as she reached down to touch her knee.

It was then that Anna noticed she had scraped her knee a little on the pavement, but there was no blood and so she gave her a tender smile. 'Just a little scrape, it's nothing to worry about,' She soothed, stroking her face before relief flooded through her when she smiled in response. Holding her hand out to John, she let him help her stand before she took hold of the little girl's hand. 'Do you know where your mummy is?'

Before the girl had the chance to respond, the sound of hurried footsteps caused Anna and John to turn their heads.

'Lilian Etta Smith, what has mummy told you about running away?' A red-faced, dark-haired woman asked as she too ran out of the park.

When she looked up at her, Anna smiled and it didn't come as much of a surprise when the woman's eyes widened and she went completely silent for a moment as she took a step back. She had become quite used to members of the public being struck dumb whenever they saw her out and about and even though she sometimes wished that that wasn't the case, she understood. 'Your Royal Highness,' The woman curtsied before taking hold of Lilian's hand, the little girl releasing Anna's hand so that she could go and stand with her mother. 'I sincerely apologize.'

'No apologies are necessary, please,' Anna shook her head as John laid a hand on her back. 'You must remember that I have two little sisters, so you could say that I've become quite used to dealing with scraped knees. Children are so resilient though, so I'm certain she'll be just fine.'

'Lilian, what do we say to Her Royal Highness?' The woman asked when she turned her attention to her daughter again.

Lilian managed to do a wobbly little curtsy before holding out the lily in her hand to Anna. 'Thank you, Your Royal Highness.'

Accepting the lily from her, Anna breathed in its scent. 'You're very welcome. Now, I'm afraid we must be going as we have an engagement.'

'Of course,' The woman nodded. 'Good day, Your Royal Highnesses.'

'Good day.' Anna and John replied in unison before stepping around her and beginning to walk down the street.

It was only then that Anna noticed the photographer across the street and she was unable to keep herself from groaning in annoyance as she glanced up at her husband. 'Oh, well that's going to make an exciting story. It's going to be all over the papers in the morning now, isn't it?'

'Potentially, but I honestly think it should be,' He admitted while sliding his hand out of hers so that he could slip an arm around her waist. 'It could be years yet, I know, but one day the time is going to come for you to take the throne and rule over this country. I know that you don't like to talk about it much in case we tempt fate and something happens to your father, but you will be Queen one day and I think that having things like this all over the papers is a fantastic way of showing people who you really are. When you start your rule, the members of the public are going to want to know that you care and that they're able to look up to you. They'll never know you like I and the rest of the family do, but as long as these stories keep getting out they're going to know that you have a beautiful heart and that'll help you out greatly.'

She hummed in response as she leaned against him. 'You make a good point I suppose.'

'But not only that, it'll prove to people that you are going to make the most wonderful mother to our son.' He caressed her stomach warmly.

Covering her hand with his and tilting her head back to look at him, she shook her head with a smile. 'Do you know how much I love you?'

'I have quite a good idea,' He chuckled before pressing the softest kiss onto her lips. 'I love you too.'

The two of them shared one last smile then before he held her close and she laid her head on his shoulder as they continued on to the palace.

'Oh, that's much better, mama, thank you,' Anna smiled at her mother once she had slipped a cushion behind her back and found a footrest for her to prop her feet up on when she was sitting on the settee later that afternoon, her eyes closing as a smile crossed her lips when Lilian ran the back of her hand down her cheek. She sensed an intense gaze burning into her when her mother moved to sit down in the armchair across from her and when she turned her head in Charlotte's direction she laughed at the hopeful expression that was written across her face. She knew exactly what she wanted. Ever since she had let her and Rose feel her son move for the first time she had been truly fascinated and now every time she and John paid them a visit she wouldn't stop looking at her until she let her do it again. 'Come here, then.' She told her.

Charlotte wasted no time in standing from the stool she had been sitting on with Rose and approaching the settee, the two of them sharing a smile when she sat herself down beside her and she wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Once her sister had cuddled up to her, she rested a hand on the right side of her stomach as that was where she could feel her son resting and began to smooth soothing circles onto that area. 'You might have to be a little patient. He naps a lot these days and it can take a while to wake him up, he's rather like his papa in that way,' She teased as her gaze flicked to John for a second and she was unable to resist smirking when he shook his head lovingly at her in response. It took less time than expected to wake her son and when he began kicking she pressed Charlotte's hand to her stomach. 'Can you feel that?'

'Yes,' Charlotte beamed, nothing but happiness in her eyes. 'He's kicking, mama, he's kicking!'

Lilian set her teacup down on her saucer as she laughed. 'He must be just like you, sweet-pea, you kicked all through the day and the night!'

'Really? Did I really kick that much, Anna?' Charlotte asked when she looked at her sister again.

'You did,' Anna replied as she pulled her closer. 'Rose and I used to love it when you kicked, we used to argue over who would get to feel.'

Charlotte let out a soft giggle. 'Does it hurt when he kicks? What does it feel like?'

'Not all the time, sometimes it does because he decides to kick me in the ribs and then his feet end up stuck in there because they're so tiny. I love it when he kicks though and I think it might be one of the things I love the most about being pregnant with him, I only wish that he would choose his timings better because he kicks all through the night at the minute and I can never sleep!' She looked down at her stomach when she felt her son stop kicking for a moment and she sensed that he was listening to the sound of her voice. 'Yes, I'm talking about you.'

The room fell quiet for a time after that and Anna continued to watch Charlotte run her hand back and forth across her stomach as her son moved within her, but when her mother tutted impatiently she glanced over at her again. 'Your father said he'd be right down.' Lilian sighed.

'What is it that he wants to speak to us all about, mama? He made it sound rather urgent.' Anna inquired as she stroked Charlotte's hair.

'I should let him tell you when he comes in.' Lilian shook her head.

Her dismissal only added to Anna's concern. 'Is it his chest? He promised me that he would take his medication, please tell me he has been.'

'Yes, he has been,' Lilian reassured her. 'I stand with him to make sure that he takes it every night before bed.'

'Then what could it be?' Anna whispered more to herself than her mother as she looked down into her lap for a moment.

From where he was sitting in the armchair opposite Lilian, John frowned as he watched her look back and forth between Anna and the door. She was troubled. She was uncomfortable and he was positive that he could see a measure of guilt in her eyes, something that led him to feel as though she was well aware of what Gideon wanted to speak with Anna and the girls about and that neither one of them was going to like it. Before he was able to think about it too much, however, the door to the red room opened and he glanced over his shoulder just in time to watch Gideon shuffle in. 'Good, you're all here,' He acknowledged as the footman closed the door behind him and he started walking over to where they were sat, his gaze instantly going to Anna as he sat down on the chaise and cleared his throat. 'I…I need to tell you all something.'

Resting his hand over Lilian's when she laid it on his knee, he entwined their fingers and turned his head in her direction before she nodded at him and smoothed her thumb across his knuckles in a comforting fashion. 'For the past couple of years, as I'm sure you're all undoubtedly aware by now, I've had many issues with my health. Three years ago, I was struck down with tuberculosis and then the year after I had quite a long battle with pneumonia. As you all know, I recovered from both and I received a perfectly clean bill of health from the doctor. When I started having trouble breathing again a couple of months back I thought that the pneumonia had returned, but I…I was informed that it was a little more serious than that.' He forced himself to look Anna in the eye as he uttered those words and when her face fell it broke his heart.

'What do you mean by a little more serious?' She demanded.

'Anna…' Lilian soothed.

'No,' Anna almost snapped. 'Papa, tell me the truth. Tell me what the doctor said.'

Gideon swallowed nervously and blinked back the tears that clouded his vision. 'He…he told me that I had lung cancer and it had progressed to quite a severe stage. He was prepared to operate and remove the lung, but before I had the chance to undergo the operation he discovered that the other lung had been drastically affected and so there was nothing more that he could do for me. I could have one lung removed and still live a relatively normal life, but I don't think I have to explain to any of you why it wouldn't have been possible for him to remove both.'

For a moment, Anna was silent as she sat next to Charlotte and the two of them stared at their father with soft tears rolling down their faces. She was unsure about whether Charlotte completely understood what he was telling them, but one look at Rose told her that she was just as aware as she was that he was telling them that his cancer was incurable. 'Okay…' She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down a little. 'You have cancer, but that doesn't mean that we have to start preparing ourselves for the worst right now, does it? I mean, I heard or read somewhere that it can take several months for it to reach such a stage and so that means that for now all of us can just focus on what…'

The expression on his face caused her to fall silent.

She knew in that moment that he had far less time than she had first anticipated.

'You don't have long, do you?' Her voice was no higher than a whisper.

'Four months…' He choked out as tears of his own began to fall. 'If I'm especially lucky it may be five, but the doctor says that's unlikely.'

Anna lifted her hand from her bump to her mouth as a sob tore itself free from her throat. 'You found out while we were away, didn't you?'

'Darling, I know that you're upset, but the only reason we didn't tell you is because—'

'You knew about it and you didn't bother to tell me when I asked you how he was?' Anna snapped, rage in her eyes as she turned to Lilian.

Lilian swallowed the lump in her throat as she nodded. 'Your father made me promise not to tell you because it would spoil things.'

'How do you think I feel now?' She asked, not even minding that she was shouting. 'I'm having my first child and you won't be here, papa!'

'Anna…' She heard John speak to her in a gentle voice. 'You need to calm down, my love, because all this strain isn't good for him.'

Rising from the settee without a moment's hesitation, she brushed her hair out of the way and stormed over to the door before pausing for a second and turning back to her family as they looked at her concernedly. 'I am sick and tired of people telling me what's best for me and my baby. I thought that you saw me as the woman I've become, but I realize now that you still see me as this weak and vulnerable little girl who needs to be protected because I couldn't possibly understand or deal with such serious matters. I assure you though that that is not who I am. I deserve to be treated with respect. I deserve to be kept informed about the declining health of my own father and shall I tell you why that is? Because his health is linked to my accession and each time his health declines I am one step closer to becoming the queen of this country.'

'Anna, sweetheart, I know exactly—'

'Mama, please don't tell me that you know exactly how I feel at this moment because I can assure you that you don't,' Anna's voice trembled. 'I assure you that there isn't a single person in this room who understands what I'm going through right now. I spend every day feeling sick to my stomach because I know that I'm another day closer to becoming Queen. That in itself is more than enough for me to have to come to terms with, but that isn't the only thing on my mind because at the same time I'm becoming a mother. When I found out that I was having a child I expected to have at least a couple of years to get used to motherhood before my accession, but I won't even get that luxury because now I know that my father has four months less to live. I'm losing my father, becoming a mother and becoming the Queen of England all at once, so please don't stand there and tell me that you know exactly how that makes me feel, mama, because you couldn't possibly know that.'

She opened the door before glancing over her shoulder once more at her family. 'None of you could…'

Crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against one of the many oak trees in the garden, John let out a gentle sigh as he watched Anna sit alone on the bank that led down to the lake. He had had no doubt that that was where she had disappeared to after leaving the red room because it was a place she had always gone to whenever she had needed time to think and be alone, but he had decided against following her down there because he had known that she hadn't been in the best headspace. She had been furious and heartbroken when she had left them all to come outside and she would have ended up unloading her anger onto him if he had tried to force her to talk about it, so he had made the choice to let her have an hour to herself to come to terms with it all and then he would move in and try to comfort her as best he could.

Deciding that it was time for him to put his plan into action, he carded a hand through his hair and took a deep breath before pushing away from the tree and beginning to make his way down to where his wife was sitting. Before he had even had the chance to reach her side, Anna turned in place and looked over her shoulder at him and even though he hated knowing that she was hurting so much he was relieved when a sad smile crossed her lips. She had calmed down. She was still heartbroken, he could see it in her eyes, but her anger had dissipated and he was pleased. 'I was starting to get a little worried about you,' He admitted when he reached her side at last and looked down at her while she plucked the petals from the buttercup she had discovered. 'You've been out here for quite a while, my darling, would you like some company?'

'Company would be nice,' She admitted in a quiet voice before casting her gaze back out over the lake again as he sat down next to her and leaned back on his hands. Neither one of them said a word as they sat side-by-side for the next several minutes, the birdsong and the rippling of the lake the only thing to be heard until Anna let out a sigh and turned her head in her husband's direction. 'John, I want to apologise for how I acted earlier on. I never meant to lose my temper and speak to mama and papa in such a manner, but I never expected him to tell me that he has four months left to live and it was just all too much for me to take in. I just want you to be aware that nothing I said back there was aimed at you. You are the most incredible husband and I know that I always have your full support, but it doesn't feel like it with them.'

Smoothing his hand across the small of her back through her dress, he moved closer to her on the grass and kissed her temple before pulling back to look at her again. 'I don't want you to take this as me condoning what your parents did because I don't condone it in any way, they should have told us that he had cancer the moment they found out and they should never have hidden it for as long as they did. However, I think I can understand their thought process. You may be twenty and you may be married and expecting your first baby, but what you must remember is that to them you're still their little girl and they see it as their duty to protect you. They knew how much this was going to hurt you and that no doubt clouded their judgment and made them believe that they were doing the right thing by keeping it from you, darling.'

'Perhaps…' She hummed, tears clouding her vision again. 'I just can't believe it. He always seemed immortal to me, but now I know he's not.'

'Come here,' He moved his hand to her waist and pulled her close before letting her rest her head on his shoulder and wrap her arms around him, his heart sinking when he heard her sniff through her tears as he leaned his cheek against her forehead. 'Your father is probably one of the strongest men I have ever met and that's just one of the many reasons I admire him. He managed to fight off tuberculosis and pneumonia and even though I know that his cancer is incurable, I don't doubt that he's going to fight this for as long as he can to ensure that he has as long as possible with us. The next couple of months are going to be hard and I know that because my aunt died of breast cancer when I was a child, but I promise you that I'm here and I'm going to be standing right next to you the whole time. You're not going through this alone.'

Tilting her head back on his shoulder, she laid a hand on his chest and gave him a soft smile. 'You don't know how much that means to me.'

'I love you, Anna May Bates.' He whispered as he brought his free hand to her face and brushed a tear from her skin.

'And I love you,' She reassured him, stretching up to brush a kiss against his lips. 'So much more than you could possibly imagine.'

'Goodnight, little man…' John murmured to his son that night as he could feel Anna running a hand over his hair while he traced the curve of her stomach with his palm, a gentle sigh escaping him as he leaned down to brush one last kiss against her bump before crawling back up their bed. The two of them shared a smile when he cupped her cheek beneath the curtain of her hair and leaned in to kiss her lips warmly, a comfortable silence falling over them while he slipped beneath the covers afterward and the two of them set about making themselves more comfortable. He leaned back against the headboard once Anna had moved into his arms and laid her head on his chest and he pressed a kiss to her crown, his hand running up and down her back through her nightgown as she snuggled against him. 'How are you feeling?' He asked.

'Sad,' She admitted with a sigh. 'I'm glad that I made peace with mama and papa tonight, but making peace won't make his cancer go away.'

His heart sank in his chest and he pulled her close. 'No, it won't, but your making peace with him would have taken a load off of his mind.'

'You're right, I suppose that's the main thing,' She replied. 'You…you said that you've been through this before. How bad does it really get?'

'It isn't a nice thing to witness, my love, I'm not going to lie to you because you deserve to know the truth,' He explained before looking her in the eye when she tilted her head back on his shoulder and looked up at him. 'You have to sit and watch the person you love decline more with each passing day and knowing that you can't do anything to stop it is the most heart-breaking thing. The only thing that you can do is make them comfortable, but in their last days that's honestly the most important thing in the world to them. They want to know that they're surrounded by those they love and that they're loved in return and I know that that's how your father is going to be made to feel. He's going to have us, your mother and your sisters surrounding him when he passes and I promise you that he'll be in no doubt of how much we care.'

She blinked back the tears that were brimming in her eyes as she nodded. 'I think one of the things that cause me the most pain whenever I think about what's coming is that our son will never know him. He'll still be here when I go into labour and he'll be able to hold him, but it won't be too long after that and our little one will be far too small to remember those moments with him. That's what truly breaks my heart.'

'He might not have personal memories with him, but I promise you that you and I are going to make sure that he knows what an incredible man his grandfather was as he grows up,' He reassured her while resting a hand on her stomach through the covers, the two of them smiling when their son moved. 'He's going to be shown photographs of him and we're going to tell him about all the things he achieved as King and he's going to look up to him so much even though he won't be here. We're not going to let him become a stranger to him, Anna, I mean it.'

'Good because I just couldn't bear for that to happen.' She sniffed as she covered his hand with hers on her stomach and laced their fingers.

'You need to get some sleep, today has been so chaotic and I can tell that you're exhausted.' He said before kissing her on the forehead.

She hummed sleepily in response and draped an arm across his stomach so that she could anchor herself to him, her eyes fluttering closed as she nuzzled beneath his chin and felt him tighten his hold of her while he reached to switch off the lamp on his nightstand. 'You always say that things will look better in the morning,' She murmured into the darkness as she ran her fingers through his chest hair. 'Is that true now?'

'You'll have a clearer head in the morning and be able to think much more rationally about things, yes.' He promised.

'Good,' A soft smile appeared on her lips before she turned his head to brush a kiss against his throat. 'Goodnight, John, I love you.'

'Goodnight, Anna,' He whispered. 'I love you too…'

A/N: Thank you so much for taking the time to read this chapter, I really am so grateful and I hope you liked it! The vibe that I'm going for with Anna is that her personality is very similar to the personality of Princess Diana in that she loves children and she isn't afraid to mingle with the public. I adore Diana and I always think Anna would be like her if she was royalty in a way, so I hope that you all like this version I'm creating. I would love it if you would leave me a review to let me know if you liked this and you're still interested in this fic, and if you are then I shall see you soon :)