Thank you all! Enjoy!

Chapter 25

"Good, your blood pressure is looking good, Anna," Sybil informed her, as she pulled the cuff off of Anna's arm.

"Does that mean I can go home?" While Anna knew they were only taking the extra precautions to make sure she was healthy, she was ready to go home. She had been at the hospital for three days now and was tired of all the poking and prodding. Sleep was hard to come by, even with the help of her parents and John.

"Not yet," Sybil regretfully said. "You gave us quite the scare, so I want to monitor you for a few more days.

Carson fussed from her bassinet. John scooped her up and walked over to Anna, handing her over. Then he bent down and kissed the top of her head.

"Yes," he agreed with Sybil. "You'll stay here until we are sure you are absolutely well enough to go home, my darling." Anna sighed, but she couldn't argue. They both just wanted what was best for her.

"I'll be back by tomorrow," Sybil told the two of them, before leaving the room. Anna adjusted Carson to her breast and fed her. She had now reached the uncomfortable part of breastfeeding. According to her lactation consultant, it would take a few days for her breasts to adjust and as soon as they did, it would become much easier. Despite knowing that, it didn't keep Anna from biting down on her lower lip as she winced through the pain.

"Are you in pain?" John worriedly asked. His hand came up and brushed lovingly against her cheek. Her head shook.

"It's just adjusting to feeding her is a little painful," Anna admitted. "But it's not too bad."

"I wish I could help," John replied. Anna glanced up at him and smiled.

"I know," Anna answered, turning her head into his hand. Carson finished up her meal and Anna lifted the baby up, kissing her cheek. Then she placed her against her chest and held her as she fell asleep.

"You look exhausted, my love," John murmured. "Why don't you let me take her and you try to take a nap?"

"No, I want to hold her," Anna said. "I spent so much of my pregnancy terrified and now I can't let her go."

"Alright," John quietly said, pressing another kiss to her forehead. "I'm going to sit over here and read some. Let me know when you want me to take her, okay?"

Anna nodded. Her fingers then grazed up and down the baby's back, and her lips lingered at the top of her head. The love that spread throughout her frame was strong. She hadn't known she could love someone this much. It almost scared her with how intense this feeling was. But she wouldn't change it for the world.

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

While Anna was in the hospital, John had the others helping him move all their things from the small flat to their home. He was grateful for Matthew, Tom, and Robert being willing to help. Mary had also dropped by making sure the things were placed where they needed to go.

"You're going to need more things to fill up this place," Mary mused. Tom grunted next to her, as he was lifting up a large box. Mary, who hadn't lifted a thing, ignored him and just walked past the other boxes and twisted her nose at all of the space left in the living room. "Perhaps a larger couch? And some chairs?"

"Mary, while I am thankful for your help, right now we're just getting the things inside. If you wouldn't mind, maybe organize the baby's things in the nursery?"

"Alright," Mary flippantly replied, walking to the nursery. Matthew gave John an apologetic nod, before taking a box of kitchen supplies into the kitchen. John wanted to say not to worry. It was because of him and Mary that the shadow of Green was gone. He could handle anything now since he didn't have to worry about him harming Anna or daughter ever again. However, before he could finish his thoughts, Mary's voice rang from the nursery.

"Where on earth is her bed? And is this all you have clothing wise?" John sighed, but reminded himself he was doing all of this for Anna, so she could bring Carson back to their home. It would all be worth it in the end.

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

"Who is the sweetest baby in the world?" Charles murmured to his granddaughter, bouncing her up and down, as he walked around Anna's room. The baby cooed and Charles' eyebrows wiggled in response. "That's right, you are my dear."

Anna just chuckled. She had known her parents would love her baby, but she couldn't have imagined how much that love would be. When her father held Carson, it was as though everything else in the world disappeared around him.

"How are you feeling, love?" Elsie questioned Anna.

"Fine, just tired," Anna replied. "She's up every few hours and then the nurses seem to come between those hours. I think I have gotten, maybe, four hours of sleep total since I've had her." Elsie's brows furrowed.

"Why don't you try to sleep now," she suggested. "Your dad and I will watch over Carson. And I'll make sure he keeps quiet," she added playfully.

"Okay, I'll try."

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

When Anna awoke, it was dark out. Her eyes scanned the room and she began to panic. What had happened? She had just closed her eyes for a moment and now it seemed to be late at night. Where was Carson? Where were her parents?

A hand came over hers and Anna nearly screamed, but as she turned she saw the hand over hers was John's. She slowly met his eyes and he smiled at her. His hand came up to cup her cheek, gently caressing her skin with his thumb.

"What…what time is it?"

"8 o'clock. Your mum said you've been asleep since about 4:30."

"Where's Carson?"

"Asleep, right over there in her bassinet," John soothed. "Why don't you go back to sleep, before she wakes up?"

"I'm sure the nurses will be in her shortly," Anna stated, a sigh passing through her lips. John took her hand into his, before shaking his head.

"No, Sybil told them to leave you alone until the morning. Your mother may have spoken to her about your need of sleep to get better," John added with a small laugh.

"Doesn't surprise me. Elsie Carson knows how to pull some strings," Anna replied. She inched herself deeper into the bed and continued to hold on to John's hands. "But shouldn't you get some rest?"

"I have rested way more than you, my darling. You go to sleep. I'll wake you up when Carson needs to eat. Otherwise, sleep up, my love. Rest while you can."

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

The next day, Anna was handed her laptop by John and it was opened to a furniture website.

"What's all this?"

"Pick out some items for the house. The crib came in this morning, so I am going to go and put it together shortly. But we need a new couch and chairs for the living room. If you'd like new dishware, choose it. New bedding, any accessories you'd like for the house, just choose whatever you'd like," he told her. Anna's eyes narrowed. So John added, "You don't have to choose everything right now. I just wanted to give you something to do while you wait."

"But where is all this money coming from John? Certainly we can't just completely furnish the house in a week," Anna exclaimed.

"I have some savings set aside," John just simply answered. And that wasn't a lie. John had always been a frugal with his money. He did have a decent savings. However, money to buy the house and for the furnishings came from selling his car. It was something he couldn't tell, Anna. Not now, anyway. Eventually, she would learn that the car was gone, but he was pushing that off as long as possible.

"I feel like I'm not contributing anything," Anna confessed, her lower lip trembling. She found that with her post pregnancy hormones that she was more emotional than usual. Things that would have never made her cry before made her cry now.

"You are, my darling. You're my fiancé and the mother of my child. We're a family. What's mine is yours," he said, kissing her hand. "You don't have to look at things if you don't want to. I just thought it could help pass the time."

"I love you," Anna said, her hand holding his tighter.

"Oh, I love you too, so very much."

"We should talk to Matthew and Mary, find out what we need to do to ensure that Carson is legally yours," Anna told him, as the thought suddenly hit her. "I want to make sure that if anything were ever to happen to me, that she would have you."

"Shh," he could tell she was getting worked up. "I'll speak with them this afternoon. No worries, my love. And nothing is going to happen to you. You are stuck with me for many, many years to come." At that, Anna's lips curled into a smile.

"Good."

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

It had been a long week, but Anna and Carson were finally released to go home. On the ride home, Anna found that John was driving below the speed limit, allowing all of the other cars to pass them. As she sat next to Carson's car seat, she kept chuckling to herself.

"And what are you on about, my darling?" John asked.

"You're going as slow as a snail," Anna teased.

"Carson is in the car," John simply stated as his excuse.

"Well, we don't want to get hit for going too slowly," Anna said back, her voice still light. Then her eyes fell to Carson, who was sleeping soundly in her seat.

"As soon as we get to the house, I want to take a shower and then get into our bed. I missed our bed."

"Me too," John agreed. He had spent every night with her at the hospital.

When they reached the house, Anna unbuckled Carson and pulled her to her chest, before John opened the door to help her out. Seeing the house, Anna's lips twitched up into a smile.

"I still can't believe it's ours," she breathed. John's hand came around her back and he pulled her close to him.

"But it is, my darling."

The two walked in. Anna's breath hitched in her throat. It was gorgeous. Any furniture John could get within a few days, he had. There were still some areas that needed to be filled, but there were no boxes, everything was in its place.

"It...it…"

"We can move and change whatever you wish," he quickly told her. "I just wanted you to be able to come to the house set up and ready to live in."

"No, it's perfect, John. Let me put Carson down and then we can go on a tour."

Even though Carson had a nursery, for now, she would be sleeping in a bassinet next to their bed. Anna placed the sleeping babe into her bed and then marveled at their bedroom. It was almost double the size of the one they had in the flat.

John gently took her hand and walked her through to the other rooms in the house. Anna nearly cried in the nursery. It was everything she could have ever wanted and more.

"Mary was in charge of this room. So you'll have to thank her," he told Anna. He then took her to the rest of the house, finishing the tour in the office.

"This corner is yours and this corner is mine," he pointed out. "If you decide to start school, you can work at your desk over here."

Anna walked around the room, pausing when she got to the picture of him and her by the car. She lifted it up and sighed.

"I can't wait to take Carson to see the car. Although it doesn't have any seat belt in the back, so she'll just have to look until she's old enough to ride up front."

John took a deep breath. He would have to tell her. There was no more pushing it back. He took the frame from her hand and set it back down where it belonged.

"Anna," he slowly started. "I…I sold the car." At his admission, Anna gasped.

"Wh…what? Why…why would you do that? You loved that car," she questioned him. "Is…is that how you bought this house?"

"It is," John honestly answered. Anna's eyes filled with tears.

"You shouldn't have done that, John. That car meant so much to you. Carson and I would have been just fine in the flat. You….I…but it was your father's. You loved it, so much," Anna exclaimed. "We could have found a smaller house, later. I….I don't understand."

John sighed. His hands took hers within his own. "You and Carson mean more to me than that car. I still have the memories, the pictures. But I would do it over and over again for you too."

"But John, it's a house. I mean, I love it. I really, really do. But you shouldn't have to give up something so precious to you so that we can have a house. We could have gotten one eventually," Anna said. Her eyes glassy. She couldn't understand why he would give up something so important for her to have a home. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful; it just seemed like an unnecessary sacrifice for a place to live.

"Perhaps," John uneasily replied. Anna caught on by his demeanor that there was more to this story. Her eyes narrowed.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"It's nothing to bother you with, Anna. The car is gone. We have a home for the three of us. Now we can make new memories," John said, trying to brighten the mood. But it hit Anna then.

"Alex didn't sign those papers out of the goodness of his heart, did he?" She questioned. Her eyes watched John as he shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "How…how much did you give him?"

"Anna….."

"How much?"

"The car sold for 550,000. I gave him 300,000 to sign over his rights," John confessed, his eyes on the ground, unable to look at Anna.

What happened next, he didn't expect. Anna's arms quickly wrapped around him and she began to sob against his chest.

"My darling?" He questioned. But Anna's head shook against him.

"You…..You did that for us? For Carson? To protect her? You….you sold the thing that meant the most in the world to you for her?"

"It didn't mean the most in the world to me, Anna. You and Carson do," John answered earnestly. Anna clung to him tightly and lifted her head up to meet his eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you, for doing that for Carson, for us. I…I'll never be able to repay you."

"Shh, you don't have to repay me. I did it because I love you and I love Carson. I wouldn't change it for anything in the world."

To be continued...

This story likely has 2-3 chapters left, unless my muse decides to change things up on me. Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think. :)