Harrogate, Present Day

Anna smiled, watching John debate over colors. "It's not that hard."

"It's the first room she'll ever see."

"We don't even know if it's a girl."

"It is." John insisted and pointed at the colors, "And this is a big choice."

"If you're so convinced it's a girl we could always do pink." Anna pointed to the colored collection. "There's a lovely selection of them right there and we can mix and match until we find the shade we want so we can paint with pink to our hearts' content."

"I don't want to give her pink."

"Why?" Anna pulled a pout, "Because every little girl has a pink room?"

"No," John rolled his shoulders, "Because I'm progressive and I don't think she needs a pink room."

"John." Anna took his hands, covering the swatches there, and kissed him. "I'm not even showing yet."

"I know."

"Then why don't we wait until he or sheis bigger than an acorn to choose paint colors?"

John's eyes darted down to Anna's abdomen, "But… I want to be prepared. I don't want to be caught off guard."

"We won't be. We've got ages."

"I just…" John waved a hand at the colors, "I just need to make it real, for me. I need to have something to help me get ready for the baby."

"And I love you for it." Anna dragged him away from the paint board, forcing him to put the swatches back, "But we've got other things to worry about right now."

"Do we?"

"We've a honeymoon to finish planning."

"I already told you, I planned it all."

"But you've not told me a single thing about it." Anna hung on his hands outside the hardware store. "Give me a hint?"

"I promise you'll like it." John kissed her lips quickly, "And I planned it that way so you wouldn't have to worry about anything else."

"What makes you think I'm worried about anything?"

"You've been so busy at the hospital and-"

"John," Anna hugged him, stopping in the middle of the pavement and earning them a few odd expressions. "It's alright, I promise."

"But with everything that's been going on lately-"

"General Crawley's fine and his retirement is entirely honorable." Anna shook her head, pulling John along. "The ruling was in his favor and he did everything right during his service."

"And you're alright with that?"

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"After what happened in Kandahar I would've thought you'd be a little…"

"Bitter?" Anna shrugged, "General Crawley did what he could with what he had to deal with and there's nothing more I could ask of him than that."

"Green still got away."

"And I've spent the last year getting used to the idea that I'll have to live the rest of my life with that." Anna intertwined their fingers. "I can't live the rest of my life hoping that something happens when nothing will."

"Why not?"

"Because he ran away. There's been no sign of him and there's nothing to be done but move on and realize that he's not integral to my healing." Anna glanced up at John. "Is he integral to yours?"

"He's…" John shook his head, "I just want that door closed forever and with him out there I just feel that there's always a chance that he'll skulk his way out of the works somehow."

Anna shuddered, "Now I've just got this image of a spider or something and I need to get rid of it."

"I've got a plan for that." John bent his head to her ear. "You could tell me what's in that package you had delivered to the house last week."

"Which one?" Anna kept her eyes forward, wending their way back to where they parked the car. "I ordered a couple."

"I'm talking about the one you snatched away and ran upstairs with."

"You've not tried to find it have you?"

"I'd be a fool to risk your wrath with that." John dodged her swat. "I know what happened when I accidently found my Christmas present."

"I know you were looking for it so don't even try to lie your way out of that one." Anna opened the car and got into the driver's seat while John took the passenger side. "Besides, if I tell you what the gift was then I can't use it as a surprise for our anniversary."

"Maybe not but then I wouldn't be thinking any number of salacious thoughts right now about what could be inside that box."

"Think all the salacious thoughts you want." Anna drove them through the afternoon traffic. "You'll be disappointed if I ruin the surprise."

"No I won't."

"Then you'll tell me what you planned for our honeymoon."

"Touché."

"That's what I thought." Anna drove them home, stopping in front of the house. "I am sorry we had to delay our plans for a day."

"It's one day." John leaned over the console to kiss her. "And seeing as our honeymoon's almost two years late…"

"We don't exactly do things in order do we?"

"Not really." John cupped her jaw with his hand, tracing down the line of her cheekbone with his thumb. "I love you."

"And I love you." Anna kissed him one more time. "Now I've got to get to the hospital or Gwen'll start the surgery without me and they'll realize they don't need me."

"They need you enough to promote you."

"Don't remind me." Anna shivered, "It'll be a whole thing and-"

"And I'll be clapping as loudly as I can through every bit of it."

"I know you will." Anna turned back to the wheel, "Best let me get on so I can get back."

"I'm counting the seconds."

"It'd be better if you counted the words you need for that article your editor wants before he'll approve your holiday hours." Anna pushed at his shoulder. "If you won't tell me what you've planned for our honeymoon you have to at least make sure we'll have one."

"What if it was just going to be a week at home where we try to be out of bed less than in it?"

"Don't tease." Anna grinned at him as John left the car.

Scotland, 1947

John paced outside the room, wringing his hands as the door would only open for brief moments to let Mrs. Hughes or one of the midwives into the room. Johann slept in one of the chairs, slumped over and snoring with his mouth open as Bonny Prince curled up under his dangling feet. Feet that reached closer to the floor every day and, even now, pulled up his trousers to show far too much ankle.

A cry from the room had John turned, waiting for a moment as his teeth ground together. But the door did not open and the only other sounds were the muffled voices giving instructions for the oldest of all human practices. He turned on his heel and readied for continue wearing a tread in the rug that lined the corridor.

"All fathers share this you know." John faced a man about his height with a prominent nose and bushily imposing eyebrows. "I might even suspect that this hallway has born the nervous strut of any number of fathers waiting for their children to come into the world."

"It's certainly not new Uncle Charles." John managed a strangled laugh. "I don't know why I'm so nervous."

"Because it's new for you." Uncle Charles put his arm over John's shoulder. "It's difficult for men in a way I don't think women understand."

"How'd you mean?"

"For all intents and purposes, we're involved in so little of the process." Uncle Charles reddened slightly. "We get to be there when… But otherwise we're just the outsiders."

"Have you been reading books for women?" John looked Uncle Charles up and down. "Because I've never heard you speak so…"

"Baldly?"

"Emotionally." John raised his hands, "Not because I don't think you have emotions but because you've always seemed so apart from them."

"It's interesting what spending a lot of time with yourself and a far more sympathetic wife can do for you." Uncle Charles chuckled, "Elsie's done quite a bit to soften me up so I better understand how to speak to women."

"Anna's enamored with you." John smiled. "If it weren't for the fact you're already married I'd fear she'd leave me for you."

"Nonsense." Uncle Charles snorted, "Your wife is yours entirely and completely."

"Good thing." John cringed at another cry from the room. "I just wish there was more I could do to help her."

"How so?"

"Even if my only involvement, thus far, was… the makingpart of it, I feel responsible for the rest of it." John rested against the wall, pointing toward Johann. "I had no part in his life for the first six years of it. And even as she carried this child…"

"What?"

John shrugged, "I'd sometimes hear her talking to the baby, stroking over her belly and crooning to it. In German or English, it didn't matter. She just spoke to the baby and somehow I knew it understood her."

"And you want that for yourself?"

"That baby will come knowing who she is. It'll latch to her, know her heartbeat, and recognize her touch in a way it won't know mine." John nodded at Johann again. "He knows me now but it took time. He was nervous around me for so long I feared we'd never grow close to one another."

"And now?"

"We've learned, with time."

"All things come with time John." Uncle Charles sat on the wooden bench nearest them and patted the seat next to him for John to take. "I ever had children of my own, something your mother always said would happen."

"She wouldn't take pleasure in being right about it."

"And I'm sure I take none in having proven her so but," Uncle Charles sighed, "It's been a bit like having children of my own watching your family here. Seeing Johann running over the grounds, finally having someone to wear out the Bonny Prince, and fill the house with laughter again."

"We're ever so grateful you let us come here." John's lips twitched toward a smile. "The accents've been hard for Anna and Johann but they don't face the kind of hatred they would've in London or Manchester."

"It's why I want you all to stay here."

"What?"

"I want you to stay here" Uncle Charles put his hands to his knees, rubbing his palms over his woolen trousers. "I've talked it over with Elsie and, as long as you set aside enough money in the estate to support her sister Becky until she passes, we've both signed the papers to leave you this house and the estate."

"Uncle Charles that's far too extravagant and-"

"It's no more than you deserve and it's no more than you would've gotten from me anyway." Uncle Charles shuddered, "I didn't want to leave it to your cousin."

"Isn't he-"

"As my sister's son you're closer and, if we're being honest, I like you better." Uncle Charles winked at John. "This is the place to build your family, to make your own, and to start your new life."

"What about you and Elsie?"

"We'll still live in the cottage. You're not forcing us from house and home."

"All the same," John tried to gesticulate with his hands but failed to encapsulate his emotions. "It's far too gracious."

"It's just gracious enough." Uncle Charles turned as the door opened and John jumped out of his seat.

It took only a moment for him to stand in front of the door, almost frightening Mrs. Hughes as she peeked into the hall. "Well, I guess there's no need to go looking for you."

"Is everything-"

"Everything is just fine, John." John slipped past Mrs. Hughes into the room to see Anna holding something in her arms. "And she's alright as well."

"She?" John came to the side of the bed, putting his hand over Anna's and gazing down at the tiny nose just visible out of the tucks of the blanket. "She's beautiful."

"She's got your hair." Anna risked an arm away from the baby to pat the space next to her. "Sit here."

John eased onto the bed, stretching his legs out before wrapping an arm around Anna's shoulders. He kissed her head, rubbing at her arm before peeking again at the baby in her arms. "May I-"

"Of course." Anna carefully passed the little girl into his arms and John froze as the weight barely settled there.

It was the greatest paradox he ever knew. On the one hand the child was nothing. Less than anything he lifted in years so a feather in his hand had the same sensation. And yet, it was the greatest weight he ever bore.

She twitched in his arms and John froze again, turning when Anna giggled. "What?"

"You won't break her."

"She's like glass." John risked a finger to push aside a bit more of the blanket and see the scrunched face of his sleeping daughter. "I've never held anything this new and precious in my life."

"I very much doubt this'll be the last time you hold something this precious." Anna cuddled up to his side, waving her hand toward the door as it opened. "Come and meet your sister."

Johann hurried in, stopping short of the bed as if suddenly shy. John twisted at the waist to give Johann his first look. "This is your little sister."

"What's her name?"

"Margaret." John and Anna spoke at once, both blinking in surprise at one another.

"After my mother," John frowned, "But I hadn't told you-"

"I was naming her after Ms. Schlegel." Anna fiddled with the blanket around her waist. "For what she did for us."

"Then Margaret's a perfect name all around." John helped Johann onto the bed as Anna took little Margaret back in her arms.

"But Margaret's a name for an adult." Johann frowned, "Not for a baby."

"Then we'll call her Maggie, for now." John turned to Anna. "If you're amenable."

"More than." She stroked over the runched forehead. "Maggie Bates."

"The next addition to our family." John held his family closer. "I never thought I'd have this."

"Nor did I." Anna leaned over to kiss him and then Johann. "Nor did I."

Harrogate, Present Day

Anna parked her car and hurried into the house. The sounds of typing and occasional frustration came from the little study off their sitting room and Anna grinned to herself. With quiet footsteps, dodging the step at the top of the stairs that always squeaked, and managed to get into their bedroom before any sounds came from the rest of the house.

"Anna?" She leaned against the door, listening for John's voice and the indicative echo of the sitting room. "Are you back?"

"Yes."

"Then it's-"

"Stay right where you are," Anna peeked out the door, pointing at him when he raised a foot at the bottom of the stairs. "I'm not ready yet."

"Ready for what?"

"I told you I had a surprise." Anna grinned at him, "And I can't get it ready if you're up here."

"But-" John put his foot on the stair and Anna shut the door. When she locked it, Anna had to tramp down the urge to give an evil cackle at John's pouting groan on the other side of the door. "You're not playing fair."

"I'll let you in if you tell me where we're going on our honeymoon." Anna waited but no sounds came from the other side of the door. "That's what I thought."

"How long do I have to wait?"

"Depends on how long you'll keep asking questions." Anna called back toward the door as she moved into their closets to dig for the loose panel at the back. "The longer you delay me the longer you have to wait."

"Now you're just saying things to hurt me."

"It's your choice."

"Temptress."

Anna did not respond as she pulled the large box from the back of the closet. It thumped on the bed and Anna hurried out of her work clothes to stand, in her underwear, before the box with the dark red colors and no other markings. She took a deep breath, catching her reflection in the mirror and studying herself a moment. If she stood straight and rolled back her shoulders then she could justtell that something grew there.

That someonegrew there.

Turning back to the task at hand, Anna opened the box and shivered. At the back of her mind she remembered the promise that sparked her first purchase of the items laid out before her. Items she had to return and reorder to get the right size. Items that she hoped would not destroy their delayed anniversary celebrations any longer.

"Get it together Anna."

She shucked off the rest of her underwear, snapping the various pieces and parts into place before checking herself in the mirror again. An adjustment here, a loosened strap there, and a tug at the bustier put it all right. Anna swallowed and stowed the box under the bed with a kick before opening John's drawers.

Two of his neckties went onto the little covered bench at the end of their bed before two of his belts thumped to join them. Anna checked everything again and, with a shiver, pulled on the diaphanous black dressing gown that came complementary with her purchase. A purchase that required careful back combing to remove from her cards before John noticed, her suggestions on her online shopping profile, and a fake email account.

With a deep breath she opened the door a crack. John was nowhere in the immediate vicinity but their house was not so large that a raised voice would not penetrate every nook and cranny of it. So she swallowed and called out, "John?"

If she opened a bag of cheese near a dog there would not be an equivalently swift response. He stood, breathing hard, in front of the door that Anna only left open enough for a sliver of her to show through. That, however, was enough to leave him quivering at attention.

"Would you like to come in now?"

"Yes please."

"Then I've a few requests." Anna opened the door fully and put a hand on his chest to stop him immediately coming forward to touch her. "First, you have to do everything I say."

"Okay."

"Second," Anna nodded at him, "You can't tell anyone we did this."

"Nervous about a little role play?"

"That depends," Anna slipped out of his reach and picked up one of the belts, snapping it so John shivered. "Are you?"

"I'll take this secret to my grave." John stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him. "You've not got the-"

Anna held up the whip, snapping it to leave John trembling. "I remember what I promised I wanted to do to you."

"Merciful gods in Heaven." John swallowed hard enough to leave his Adam's apple bobbing. "Whatever you want."

"Please take off your clothes and get on the bed." Anna stepped back, keeping her dressing gown tight around her as she watched John strip for her.

He grinned, laying back on the bed so his back leaned on the headboard. "Good enough?"

"Not quite." Anna took the belts and carefully strapped them to his ankles and kept him to the end of the bed. The neckties wrapped over her fingers as she pulled his wrists taut to the bedposts. "There were details to this."

"Wouldn't you want to whip me first?" John tried to joke until Anna snapped him with the end of it. "You're not going to-"

"Don't worry," She leaned over him, a hand teasing at his rising erection. "I wouldn't damage quality real estate."

"But you've got me in an odd position to…" John frowned, "What've you-"

"Trust me."

Anna stepped back, dropping the whip and her dressing gown so John could see all of her. From her head to the bustier to her lack of knickers, to the French garter belt, to the black heels. John's hips bucked of their own accord and Anna wondered if she even needed to do anything else.

"Anna-" He tried to move but the restraints kept him in place. "This is cruel and unusual punishment."

"This, Mr. Bates, is a celebration." She came to the edge of the bed, leaning over to kiss him. "Maybe a bit more for me than you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm feeling more myself." Anna licked next to his ear, relishing the shiver that passed through him. "And I want to feel-"

"You want the rest of your power back?" His question was barely a breath at her ear but she nodded so their skin scraped together. "Then do what you will with me, Mrs. Bates. I'm yours to use."

"Yes you are." Anna climbed onto the bed, kissing his lips as she straddled his chest. "And I'm going to enjoy having you at my mercy."

"Naughty girl."

"Exactly that." Anna kissed him thoroughly and began.

Her lips left no bit of his skin untouched. Creaks accompanied his moans as he tried to return her affections but could not move. She grinned against his skin, drawing patterns with her tongue while her fingers set to work teasing designs with her nails that showed as red lines before fading to nothing. And she did not stop until he pulled his bloodless lower lips between his teeth a bit too hard.

Anna took his lips with hers, dragging herself up his body so the material of her costume set afire his sensitized skin. She put her hands to their headboard and released his hands before looked down at him. "Ready?"

"For what?"

"You're going to eat me out and you're not going to stop until I've come twice." Anna took another look at him, "Agreed?"

John could only nod before his tongue and fingers set to work. Wet sucking sounds soon filled the room and Anna rolled into the motions. The flat of his tongue licked over her continuously as his fingers manipulated her folds to send sparks through her body. But she did not expect the hand and snaked over her abdomen to caress and knead her breast through the bustier.

Anna leaned into his hand, pulling herself up slightly to remove the piece, and dropped it over the side of the bed when John increased his efforts. Efforts that had her screaming out her first end mere minutes later. And even the potential cramp to his fingers as her walls clamped over them, did little to stop her as she turned.

He did not argue, setting back to work as Anna sat back down but stretched herself over him. With his tongue circling and sucking around her clit, Anna let her lips wrap carefully around his head. All she needed was the strangled moan and the furious increase of pace to sink lower over him.

It took no time at all for her to come and, before John could beg her to stop, she lifted her lips from him. Even the final teasing lick her tongue was nothing compared to the immediate sheathing of herself over him. Her fingers dug their furrows into his thighs as she trained her fluttering muscles to pulse and grip around him until they both shook with the exertion of holding off for the perfect moment. The moment that came when John wrapped his hands over her breasts and sucked the pulse at the base of her neck.

They came together, tugging at one another before setting to freeing John from his final restraints. The moment his belts thudded to the ground, John pulled Anna into his arms so they could lay there. Final shudders quivered and trembled through the both of them as they came down from their high together.

"Do you feel free?"

"I think so." Anna tipped her head, kissing John. "Thank you."

"I should be saying that to you." John kissed just behind her ear and then under her chin. "There's nothing I wouldn't do to repeat that."

"Really?" Anna let her hand drift lower, playing with his potential arousal. "Because I had some other ideas."

"Did you?" John twitched under her as Anna straddled his legs. "Because you don't have to-"

"I think I want to." Anna lowered her mouth to licked at her taste on him.

It was not too long before he rose to the occasion again, clawing at the blanket under them. Anna relished the textures of him on her tongue, the taste of them, and the hint of more. A more she wanted as she pulled back with a popping sound to mount him again.

This time she rode him slowly. They both adjusted to the sensation of their moving bodies, sated and curious at the promise of more, and found a rhythm that struck where they needed without rushing them. Tantalizing one another with a slow climb to the promising climax that Anna brought out of John when her fingers played with his sack and he invited her to join with his fingers rubbing insistently at her clit.

Anna sighed in John's arms, flailing slightly when he hissed out in pain. "What is it?"

"I think you just sliced me calf with your shoe."

"Shit." Anna looked down and noticed the ragged skin on his leg because of her heels. "I forgot I was wearing them."

"They don't look comfortable."

"I was occupied." Anna examined his leg, careful to keep her heels away from him. "It just broke the skin, there's no blood."

"Good thing." John sat up to check for himself as Anna pushed off the bed. "I wouldn't want it to ruin our honeymoon plans."

"Don't be mean." Anna raised a finger at him, unbuckling her garter. "I let you in on my secret."

"In time." John stood, taking her in his arms. "And you'll know when you need to know."

"You're the worst."

"I'm sure you'd like to think that." John let his hands wander over her body. "You know…"

"What?"

"If you don't take off the shoes then…" John stopped, "But I don't… We don't have… If you'd feel uncomfortable then…"

Anna teethed her lip before shaking her head. "I won't let him take anything from us."

"But it's how he-"

"He's not taking anything from us." Anna took John's hand and put it on her side as she turned and put her hands to the wall. "He's not standing between us anywhere. Not anymore and not ever again."

"If you're sure."

"John," Anna turned over her shoulder to John, dragging him closer so she could kiss him. "If you're up for it then I want you to take me like this. Before I remember these heels aren't comfortable."

John kissed her back, determined and steady as his hands smoothed over her skin. His fingers dipped into her, taunting her with matching massages to her breasts. Kisses and nips dotted her neck and shoulders until Anna sagged into her hold on the wall. A hold John used to stabilize her when he entered her.

It started slow, the fear twinging the needs of them both to ensure they were not entering territory they might regret. But as the pace increased, as her ass found its cradle in the space between his hips, as their hands and fingers moved over each other, there was nothing to do but succumb to the intoxicating pull of release. A release that drove any dark shadows away from them.

Later, laying bare with one another in the midst of their mutual ravishing, Anna tucked herself to John's side and breathed easily. His fingers glided through her hair, gently untangling any part of her hair that knotted during their activities, and she let her fingers trail over his chest. Without words, relying only on their matching heartbeats, they fell asleep.