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Chapter 5

Anna pulled down her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, heavily sighing. Gracie kept tugging on her sleeve, begging for her to show her some attention. She had brought the girls into her office, desperately needing to get work done and praying she could get it done with them there. Arya had sat down in the room next door. Anna had tried to do it up as a play spot for Gracie, but the girl had followed Anna back to her office and had been pestering her for nearly ten minutes now.

"Anna?" Mary, her best friend's voice, caught her off-guard. Anna looked up and narrowed her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Anna's voice lightened up some and she gave her friend a smile.

"We were supposed to go to lunch," Mary reminded her. "I've come to sweep you up and take you away."

"I can't," Anna sighed. "I'm sorry. I know I said, but things have gone haywire over here and my nanny has a sick father, so I have the girls. I just…I don't have the time."

Mary's lips pursed into a tight line.

"Why don't you have me call Daisy over and she can keep the girls for you for a little while? You know she adores them," Mary offered. Daisy worked over at Downton Abbey, Mary's family estate. It was now a busy tourist location and Daisy worked with Ms. Patmore to make lovely meals for the guests who would come and visit. Every so often when Anna needed a backup sitter, Daisy would fill in.

"Isn't it a busy time of year at the Abbey? Ms. Patmore'll kill her if she leaves for a long stretch of time."

"We've just hired two new staff for Ms. Patmore: Alfred and Ivy. I'm sure she'll understand. Plus, Daisy's been planning on leaving for a while now. She wants to start her little bakery. This will be good to see how the two new ones work while she's away."

"Alright," Anna replied. "If you're sure. I hate to put anyone out."

"Anna, you aren't. And you have to take care of yourself too. I think you need a girls' night."

"Mary…" Anna stated, shaking her head, disagreeing. "I can't…"

"It's settled. We'll go out tonight. You and me. I'll ask Daisy to watch the children and stay the night."

"I can't possibly…"

"She'll love it, especially when she sees what I offer to pay her."

"Mary, I can't have you…"

"It's settled," Mary strongly said again, not allowing any room for Anna to argue.

"Oh, alright. It does sound fun."

"That's the spirit. I'm going to go and call Daisy and get her over here to watch the girls. I'll pick you up at 8."

Anna giggled, as her friend walked out the door. A night out did sound fun. She couldn't remember the last time she had done something for herself. She was always busy with work and the girls and even her mother. There was no sleeping in and absolutely no free time. Yes, this could be nice.

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

John walked upstairs and it was nearly quiet. He had needed to find more fresh batteries in the large cabinet. It seemed everything was slowly dying downstairs. He checked his watch and saw it was after eight. Perhaps the children were in bed.

As he got to the landing, he saw a young woman sitting at the couch next to Arya, reading her a book. Arya seemed enamored with the young woman and had her head rested against her arm. Gracie was nowhere in sight and John guessed she was asleep.

When he opened the cabinet, the woman looked up and then smiled. She stood and Arya followed suit. The woman walked over toward John and outstretched her hand to him.

"'ello! I'm Daisy. You must be Mr. Bates," she brightly introduced herself. John took her hand and gave it a good shake. His brows furrowed. It seemed Ms. Smith was quick to replace her nanny. He frowned slightly.

"So you're the new nanny?"

Daisy chuckled, shaking her head.

"No, not me," she said. "Ms. Baxter is the girls' nanny, has been since Gracie was a wee babe. She's like their family. I sometimes step in when she's not able. I work at the Abbey, in the kitchens. But I want to open my own shop soon. Ms. Smith has been helping me with the details of starting me own company. She's so incredibly kind."

"Right," John relied, inwardly scolding himself for thinking so poorly of Ms. Smith again. It seemed he continued to read her wrong.

"But I love the girls. I've known them since they were born. Anna…er, Ms. Smith brought them over a lot when they were little."

"That's nice. Well…"

"Daisy," she reminded him.

"Yes, Daisy, nice to meet you. I should get back downstairs to Ms. Smith's mum."

Daisy nodded and went back into the living area was Arya. Then John made his way back downstairs to place the batteries in the small flashlight that he had to use on occasion when Martha would fall asleep on the chair and he didn't want any big lights to wake her.

Martha was sleeping now and would likely be asleep until around midnight. John knew he should go up to his room and try to get some sleep. So he did. But when he reached his bedroom, he ended up reading a book for several hours. His eyes caught sight of the time and he jumped out of his bed. Martha would be awake soon if she wasn't already. She was always grumpy at her first wake up and if he weren't there to calm it, it could cause a tantrum.

However, when he walked downstairs, he was surprised to find Martha sipping on a small glass of water and staring out of the window. He heard the distinct sound of a door shutting outside and assumed that Ms. Smith was home from her night out with her friend.

Martha turned to see who she heard and her eyes were dark.

"You'll have to tell Mark to scold the girl! Out late again," she scowled.

"Mark?" John questioned.

"My husband. He warned me about her," Martha sighed and shook her head. "And he was right. Anna used to be a good girl. But now look at her, sneaking out in the middle of the night; smoking and drinking and doing god knows what!"

John chuckled to himself. It was hard to picture the tight laced woman he knew as a rule breaker having fun and causing mischief. He decided he would have liked to have known her then. He walked over toward the window and saw Anna…Ms. Smith, he corrected himself, chatting with her friend through the car window. She was standing beside the car, giggling. She seemed steady on her feet, so he was pretty sure she hadn't gotten stupid drunk.

"Martha, Anna's a grown woman now," he tried to remind her. But she didn't hear him or understand, because she continued.

"You have to watch out for that girl. She lies. Oh the lies she weaves," Martha said, ticking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "You should hear the lies she says about her stepfather."

John suddenly grew warm and uncomfortable. His eyes shifted to Martha, as his mouth grew dry.

"Says how he brushes up against her and comes into her bedroom at night," Martha sneered. John swallowed hard.

"You think your daughter is a liar?" John finally said, no longer feeling at ease around Martha.

"Of course she's a liar! Mark would never do such a thing," Martha bit. "She's begging for attention. And look at her now, dressed like that in that….outfit."

John felt a knot growing in the pit of his stomach, everything becoming so very clear. He closed the blinds and went over to turn on the television to Martha's favorite show. Thankfully, her attention turned to it. Then he made her evening snack and brought it to her. She would be back asleep soon.

The whole time she sat there eating, his stomach churned. He couldn't take his eyes off this woman before him.

When Martha stumbled into her next fit of sleep, John walked upstairs to go to bed. He didn't know that he'd be able to sleep tonight. The things he had just learned would haunt him all night.

Before he could go into his bedroom, he saw that Anna was in the kitchen nursing a cup of tea. John paused at his door. Then he inhaled sharply and decided to walk over and say hello. He knew it was pushing his boundaries and the two had only just fought. He didn't want to lose his job, but he needed to apologize to her.

As he stepped in, Anna glanced up from her tea cup and her lips curled down slightly.

"Is everything alright with Mum?" She questioned. John just nodded. He stepped closer toward her.

"I wanted to apologize for..well, everything," he quietly said. Anna just shook her head.

"Doesn't matter," she twisted her lips. "Everyone is always so sure they know me."

"But they don't," John replied. "Not really."

"No," Anna agreed. "They don't."

"I….." John stopped himself. Was this his business to bring up? Licking his lips, he stuttered it out, "I'm sorry for judging you so harshly about how you treat your mum. I didn't realize…."

Anna just chuckled, shaking her head. "So she's told you then? Thought you were Mark?" His name came out as venom. "How convenient for her to remember when she can spill my secrets, but then she gets to forget when I have to remember it every single day no matter how much I wish I could forget it." There was a stray tear that had escaped and fell down Anna's cheek. John had to tighten his hand into a fist to keep from reaching forward and wiping it away.

"I…I'm so sorry and I'm sorry she told me."

"It's fine." But John knew it was far from fine.

"She should have believed you," he carefully stated. He watched as Anna took in a shaky breath, before bringing her tea back up to her lips.

"We can't change the past," Anna murmured. "I eventually ran away from home, moved in with my friend, Mary. Mum didn't even care. Then I met Jake, we married-way too young. I had ambitions, he didn't. I wanted more for my children, you know?"

John didn't know why Anna felt as though she could trust him with all this information, but John just listened.

"I wanted them to have a father who loved them unconditionally and who would be there for every moment of their lives. And I gave them Jake." More venom. "It breaks my heart. Arya…she struggles the most. Gracie doesn't seem to be as affected by it all. But Arya misses her father. She wants him to be more and he's not. And I did that to her. I gave her that father."

"No," John disagreed, stepping in. "He's the one doing it. You're a fantastic mother. You have shown her not to put up with someone who treats you like that and you are a hard worker who balances more than most could handle."

Anna's eyes met his then. He swallowed hard at the intensity of her blue eyes staring back at him. He took another step forward.

"You couldn't have known that he would be that person when you married him."

"No," Anna quietly agreed. "I didn't. But I should have…." Her words faded. John's hands came around hers and he pulled the teacup from her hands. Anna's eyes hadn't left his. She slowly stood from her stool.

"You're a wonderful mother, Anna," he said, saying her first name for the very first time. It was then that Anna inched forward and caught his lips with her own. Her fingers dug into the fabric of his top and she stepped forward, pushing his back against the island.

As they pulled apart, they were both breathless. Anna bit on her lower lip and her eyes were full of lust.

"Let's go upstairs," she said. John's hands brushed against her shoulders.

"Are you sure? You're not drunk?"

"No," Anna calmly said. "I very much have my wits about me." She inched up again to kiss him. Melting against her lips, he moaned. Her arm snaked around his back and pulled him, having him follow her up the stairs. They continued to kiss, only breaking apart to make sure they didn't miss a step or to catch their breath.

Reaching Anna's bedroom, they fell against the bed.

"I haven't done this in ages," Anna confessed. But she wasn't shying away. Her fingers began to undo the buttons on his top.

"Me either," John breathed. Anna's lips quirked up into a smile. "Do you have protection?"

"I'm on birth control," Anna answered. She pushed his shirt up and over his shoulders, letting it fall to the ground. Then her hands flew to his bare chest.

John brought his hands up to cradle her head and he kissed her deeply. Anna made a happy sigh. And, for a brief moment, the world stopped.

To be continued...

Well, well...that changed quickly...how will they feel the next day?