A/N: I loved hearing about Carson's first encounter with Violet at the end of the Downton movie, so I thought it would be fun to explore Anna's and also how she may be feeling the night before the funeral with everything she has to do and all that's on her mind. This is just a fluffy, sweet little moment between the Bates family and I really hope you like it.


"My darling, enough. You're going to be dead on your feet come morning if you don't come to bed."

Absorbed in her thoughts, Anna practically jumped out of her skin when her husband's hands came to rest on her shoulders as she sat at the little table in their sitting room, her sewing machine going as her tea cooled beside her. "John, this needs to be finished tonight. There'll be no time in the morning and Lady Mary doesn't need another thing to have to worry about."

He sighed and ran his hands down her arms, leaning down to kiss her head. "Then let me do the rest."

"You don't know how to use a sewing machine."

"No, but I have two hands and know a couple of things about using a needle and thread. Give that to me."

She was reluctant to do so, but she did as she was told and handed the dress she was hemming to him before watching him make his way over to the shelf her button box was on. Once he had it, he approached the sofa and sat himself down on the edge before quickly getting to work. "How was His Lordship when you saw to him tonight?" She asked him in a soft voice.

"Quiet. I would have asked him how he was feeling, but it would have been a stupid question given the circumstances and I know better than to press him on matters he doesn't want to discuss," He replied, his hands not stilling for a moment as he went on mending the fiddly hem. "How about Lady Mary? Has she said much to you about it over the past couple of days?" When he received no answer from her for several long moments, he lifted his head and looked at her with a frown. "Anna?"

Looking at him with tears in her eyes, she let her hands play together in her lap. "She has that look in her eyes again."

"What look?" He pushed the needle into the pincushion resting on his knee.

"The same look she had in the months following Mr. Crawley's death," She whispered. "Luckily, things aren't as bad as that at the moment. She doesn't look right through me like she did back then and she does talk to me when I go in, but I'm so scared she's going to fall down that hole again. She loved the Dowager so much, I know she did, sometimes it even seemed to me like she loved her more than she loved Her Ladyship, and I know she was dreading this. We all knew it was coming, of course, but knowing and experiencing it are not the same thing and even I was shocked when Mrs. Hughes said that she was fading. Gwen and I used to tease that she would outlive all of us. I couldn't imagine Downton without her a part of it."

He nodded in response. "Do you have any memories of her? She and I never really crossed paths, but I expect you did."

She failed to suppress a chuckle. "I have a couple, but there is one memory I have that I doubt I'll ever forget. I hadn't been at Downton all that long, so I was still considered the new girl and I was hearing stories left, right and centre about her. She was rumoured to be this strict, tough, terrifying woman and, being fourteen and rather on the small side, the mere thought of being in her presence was enough to keep me awake at night," She paused for a minute, taking a breath. "Well, one day, it happened. I was behind in my duties and I was sure I would hear about it from Mrs. Hughes if I was late downstairs, so I rushed to put back the vase I was holding and I tripped over something. It shattered the minute she walked into the house."

"And what did she do?"

"She stopped and looked at me for a moment and I was sure I was in for it, but then she started laughing."

He shook his head, amusement written across his face. "I bet that came as a surprise."

"Did it ever," She rose from her chair and walked over to the sofa to sit with him, his hand slipping into hers once she had gotten comfortable. "She must have known I was new or sensed how scared I was because she took pity on me. She walked over to me and said it was the ugliest thing she'd ever seen and she had wanted it gone for years, so I truly did her a favour. She said it would remain between us, no one had to know, and she – to my knowledge at least – never told a soul about it."

John, noticing the way her smile faded and her face fell seconds later, dropped her hand and rested his warmly on her back. "Tomorrow is going to be hard for everyone. The family most of all, I know, but for all of us downstairs as well and I want you to know that it is more than okay for you not to be okay. No one expects you to be, my sweet one, not on such a day."

"I expect me to be," She shook her head, her voice quiet. "I need to be strong for her tomorrow because that is what she's going to need. She needs to be able to keep it together and go out there with her head high, so I can't be in pieces all day."

"She doesn't deserve you, you know. I'm sorry, but she doesn't." He leaned in to kiss her temple.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "You have the opinion that nobody is deserving of me."

"Because they aren't," He told her. "You are too wonderful for any words."

Looking up at him, she allowed him to brush a kiss against her lips before cuddling against him for a moment and sighing. "I think I might go up and look in on Johnnie for a minute as long as you don't mind," She laid a hand on his knee, letting her thumb brush against it as she looked at him again. "He said something about having a tummy ache when I was tucking him in, so I want to make certain he's sleeping well and doesn't need something. I'll only be about ten minutes, I promise."

"You go," He nodded, running a hand over her hair. "I'll finish this, make sure the house is secure and then I'll come up."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Positive," He assured her before leaning in to steal another kiss. "We have an early start ahead of us, so you need to sleep."

Wordlessly, after sharing one last smile with him, she got to her feet and padded out of the sitting room before making her way down the hall and up the staircase. The top one creaked, causing her to grimace for she knew that her little boy, much like his father, was one of the lightest sleepers known to man. She listened for a time and when there was no movement or sound to be heard from the bedroom at the end of the landing she continued, opening the door to Johnnie's room carefully when she got there. She could see from the doorway that he was still fast asleep. His arm was still clutching his teddy to his chest, a leg had crept out from beneath the covers and was hanging over the edge of the bed and he was still snoring gently.

It still astounded her, the love she had for this precious boy.

Nearly four years since his birth and it still astounded her daily that he was hers.

She tiptoed into the room in silence and closed the door behind her, not wanting the light to flood in and disturb his sleep, and a lump came to her throat when she sat down on the bed. Old Lady Grantham's passing had shown her that she'd been taking the precious time she had with him for granted. She was always so tired when they came home from Downton in the evenings that she would feed him, put him to bed and maybe have something warm to drink before turning in herself. She rarely took the time to sit with him while he slept, to listen to his soft breathing and run her fingers slowly through his hair. She could be forgiven for those things, she knew, but she wanted to make sure she made more time to simply be with him.

Their lives being the way they were, she doubted the Dowager ever had moments like this with her own children.

Nannies took care of everything at the big house and, especially in those days, parents barely saw anything of their children.

She couldn't imagine that.

Having her son and then only seeing him at set times throughout the day, not having an active part in his upbringing.

Reaching out to smooth a hand over his tousled blond hair, her heart raced when he relaxed in his sleep at her touch and a smile crept across her face when she saw his eyelids flutter. His eyes opened a couple of seconds later and he rolled onto his back, yawning as he rubbed at them. "Is it morning, mummy? Do we have to get up now?" He asked, his voice a bit rough.

"No, sweetheart, I'm sorry," She replied, pulling the covers further over him. "Mummy and daddy are about to go to bed."

"Can I sleep with you in the big bed? Daddy always lets me if I wake up at night." He reminded her.

She smirked at that. "Only if you don't tell him that I was the one who woke you up because I'll be in trouble. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Come on, then," She waited for him to get out from beneath the covers and crawl into her lap before rising from the bed, her lips finding his forehead as she balanced him on her hip and began to carry him across the room. Slipping out onto the landing, she snugged him closer to her as she made her way to her own room before stepping inside and closing the door. "Daddy will be up in a minute, he's finishing something for me downstairs, so why not get into bed so you're settled when he gets here?" She suggested, setting him down at the foot of the bed before walking over to her wardrobe for a nightgown.

He did as he was told without needing to be asked twice, crawling up the bed and slipping beneath the quilt easily, and she quickly changed out of her uniform and into her nightgown before approaching the bed and climbing in beside him. They laid down together then, her arms encircling him when he cuddled close and rolled onto his side so that they were nose-to-nose near enough, and she saw his little brow crease as he laid a hand on her cheek. "Are you sad, mummy? You look sad."

"I am a little, darling, yes." She admitted, knowing better than to lie to him since he seemed to notice everything.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because daddy and I are going to Old Lady Grantham's funeral tomorrow and…and funerals are always very sad."

"Oh. Can I help? I don't like you sad."

She had to blink back tears as she tightened her hold of him. "You being here with me is already helping with that."

"Really? That really helps?" He seemed a little surprised.

"Oh, of course," She replied, grazing his nose with hers. "You are my most special boy and I love you so much."

"I love you too, mummy." He mumbled.

A comfortable silence fell over them both for a little while then, but that silence was short-lived since the door opened and John came walking in mere minutes later. "I see we're a bedful again tonight," He teased as he closed the door behind him before making his way over to where they were cuddled up together, she and their son smiling up at him as he propped his cane up against his bedside table before getting into bed and making himself comfortable. "How's your tummy, little man?"

"Better," Johnnie told him, patting his stomach through the covers. "But mummy is feeling sad."

Glancing at his wife, he reached over and stroked her arm. "She is, so we have to take very good care of her, don't we?"

"Mmhmm."

Anna laughed when their son, if it were even possible, cuddled closer to her and she pressed a kiss to the crown of his head. "I feel so incredibly lucky to have the two of you, you know." She whispered into his hair, lifting her gaze to her husband.

"And the two of us are just as lucky to have you," John assured her. "The luckiest…"


A/N: Thank you so much for reading and please drop me a review to let me know what you thought. I appreciate them so much and they truly help with motivation.