A/N: This chapter finally features a little bit more of Mrs. Smith for those of you that have been eagerly awaiting some sort of confrontation between her and Anna or her and John. I'm sorry to say I will not be updating this one again for a couple of days as I'm trying to update another fic and get a head on this one a little more. But I should be posting another update for this in a few days. I'm glad to see you all are still enjoying this this little take on the Bates/Smith family and thanks so much for the reviews. I haven't had time to respond individually but they are encouraging. Hope you all enjoy this latest update.

Part V

John awoke before the sun had even begun to rise and got out of bed to get ready for work. He hated to leave his bed knowing that Anna would not be joining him at the big house but he was glad to see her sleeping so soundly. He was glad of that at least, when they had returned from the fair the night before Anna had said she felt run down but couldn't seem to get comfortable in bed. Now as he gazed upon her in the bit of candlelight that played upon her fair features he had to resist the urge to kiss her so that she might catch up on some much needed rest.

A few minutes later, John stood shaving in the bathroom when he felt two warm arms surround him and settle around his waist. Her head rested in the space between his shoulders but not nearly reaching because of their height difference. John set the blade down on the sink and turned in her arms to face her, "You're supposed to be sleeping, Mrs. Bates."

Anna pouted her lip a little, her eyes still clouded with sleep, and said, "I can't sleep without you beside me."

"You miss me that much?" John asked innocently.

His voice was so sweet and his eyes so tender upon her as he spoke that it threatened to break her heart. "Well that...and you take the warmth with you," she said.

"Ah, I wondered why you kept me around," he teased. John's arms were now resting on her hips, his thumbs tracing small circles against the soft fabric of her night gown.

John's right cheek was still covered in shaving cream, but Anna didn't seem to mind. Instead she reached around John to grab his razor and picked up where he had left off. Anna had always been rather infatuated with the way John shaved: the closeness of the razor to his skin, the indescribable smoothness of his cheek after he was done, and the smell of his aftershave the seemed to mix with the smell of his soap and pomade in the most erotic fashion. She was transfixed by his large hands and the way they moved with such tenderness and precision, a practiced ease that ensured he didn't nick himself with the edge of the blade.

Not long after he had been released from prison when he caught her watching him, Anna asked if she could try her hand at helping him shave. Without thinking twice he let her and it was the most intimate thing he had ever experienced outside of making love to his wife. The way her body brushed up against his as she moved around him to get just the right angle; always careful not to cut him. She would tug at his hair gently to move his head forward and back and occasionally ran her fingers through it for good measure. At one point Anna had leaned over to clean up his side burns and he had caught a glimpse of her breasts down the front of her dress. It was enough to drive him mad. As he sat back in the chair he promptly grabbed her, still being mindful of the blade and pulled her down onto his lap so that she was straddling him. He could hold back no more and covered her in lather filled kisses before she had a chance to react.

Now as he sat there lost in that most perfect of memories she removed the last of the shaving cream from his face and stood up on tip toe to give him a kiss. "I have other uses for you," Anna said. She felt him smile against her mouth and turned her head to the side to rub her cheek against his, "Say, I'm getting pretty good at that. I think this is your closest shave yet."

John's eyes were still closed, lost in the spell that his nymph of a wife had cast over him. "Oh I don't know, I think you could get a little closer than that," John said as he held back a mischievous grin.

"You think?" she asked as her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Mm Hmm," John replied as he bent to her level so she wouldn't have to stretch up. She leaned forward once more, except this time John opened his eyes and took her in his arms. He lifted her above the ground and spun her around in their tiny bathroom while he peppered her neck , cheek, and mouth with kisses.

"I shall miss you today my husband," she said in a light-hearted tone.

"Not as much as I'll miss you, wife," he replied playfully before he set her back down on the ground.

"Do you think you'll be able to come home for lunch?" she asked.

John only had eyes for his beautiful wife, it always amazed him to discover that he wasn't dreaming whenever she was in his arms. Sometimes he feared going to bed, wondering if he would wake up back in the hell hole that was his prison cell in York. But this was no dream. No. This was better. He had found his own little slice of heaven in this cottage with Anna. "If it's what you want, I'd never pass up an opportunity to spend more time with you," John said as he brushed a loose strand of hair over her shoulder. "I just wasn't sure what your plans were, I thought I'd give you some private time with your mother."

"I hate to admit it, but I may need a break from her at that point," she said half-joking. They both shared a smile as he ran his hands up and down her side.

"Then I'll come, but only if you agree to get back in bed and go to sleep. I want you taking it easy today if you are still feeling tired," he ordered in a gentle tone.

"Yes, sir," Anna replied as she mocked giving him a salute. She gave him one last hug and kiss before traipsing back to their bed.

John finished getting ready and before leaving he placed an extra quilt on the bed, "I know it's not the same, but this will have to keep you warm until I get back." He kissed her belly just as he had the day before and came up to place a slow, passionate kiss on her lips.

"It will do for now," she said. John smiled at her and blew out his candle before exiting their bedroom. Anna listened for the sounds of him heading down the stairs and eventually the click of the handle on the front door as it shut. It was odd staying behind while he was off to work at the big house, but she wanted to make the most of her time with her mother. The visit had been long over due and she imagined that once the baby arrived the opportunity for another one in the future would become more impossible. Anna absentmindedly ran a hand across her stomach as she imagined what their child would look like. Anna hoped she could give John a son to carry on the family name; preferably one who looked the spitting image of his father.

Anna woke naturally a few hours later to find that her mother had already set about tidying up the cottage, even though not much work was needed. Her mother picked up the teddy bear that John had won her the day before and observed it for a moment as she turned it about in her hand. "Seems a waste to have spent your money on something as silly as a bear," Helen said when she caught Anna watching her.

Anna pulled her shawl around her shoulders a little tighter and walked into the kitchen to begin making a cup of tea for herself. "John got it as a gift for me," Anna said as she fished around the cupboards for a powder to rid herself of a headache that was becoming more adamant with each word her mother spoke.

"My statement still stands," her mother replied a little too sharply.

Anna let out an exasperated sigh as she pulled a teacup from the cupboard. "He wanted to get something to commemorate...to celebrate our first trip to the fair together," she lied.

"You've known John for nearly ten years and you've just barely attended a fair together for the first time?" Helen asked her daughter in disbelief.

"Well, the fairs don't come around all the time," Anna pointed out. "John was away the first year and a half that we were married," Anna said regretfully.

"In prison," her mother filled in. "For the murder of his former wife."

"Yes, but he was falsely accused and the charges were dropped," Anna corrected her mother.

"And before that?" her mother probed.

"He was living in London, trying to find evidence of his wife's infidelity to speed up the divorce proceedings with his lawyer," Anna added.

"With his wife I'm sure. While he strung you along," her mother accused.

"No, John would never," Anna continued to defend her husband.

"Anna, I raised you better than this. What are you doing with a man like that?" Helen admonished her.

"A man like that?" she repeated her mother's words. "That man was injured fighting for king and country, he saved the life of his friend, and has loved me with his whole heart. If you must know the reason he waited so long to marry me was that he wanted to secure a divorce so that he wouldn't drag my name through the mud." Her mother sat there waiting for her to stop, but Anna May Bates showed no sign of stopping. "The first fair we were supposed to go to, I became ill and was sent up to my room at Downton. Instead of going ahead, John thoughtfully prepared a tray of food and carried it up several flights of stairs so that I may have something to eat."

"I didn't know," her mother said in response when she finally found her voice again.

"And how could you? You haven't so much as said a kind word to John that wasn't somehow cloaked in ridicule or contempt," Anna said.

"Now that's not entirely fair," her mother started, but Anna quickly cut her off.

"No more fair than the way you treated him," Anna said.

"Can you blame me? I keep wondering what the next secret is that you will unearth," her mother continued.

"He wanted to keep things private not secret. My husband holds no secrets from me," Anna said firmly. "Besides, isn't it you that's always saying the key to business is to mind your own? Can't you just be happy for me that I found someone to love that loves me back just as much?"

"Anna…" her mother pleaded.

"I won't hear of this anymore. If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all," Anna said before heading to the back porch.

Anna leaned against the post that held up the roof over their porch and was quite taken aback by her actions. She had never raised her voice to anyone; least of all her mother. She was proud of herself for standing up for John, but she was also ashamed of herself for the way she treated her mother. Anna closed her eyes and began to pray, "Dear Lord, forgive me for the words I spoke out of anger. I love my mother dearly but I love John as well. I don't know how...but I wish you'd find a way to bring them together. Amen."

She sat out there after that in silence, observing their tiny yard, for how long she did not know. Suddenly she heard the creak of a floorboard and turned to see John standing there. A stream of tears came flooding down her cheeks. "John," she muttered into his chest. The force of her embrace nearly knocked him off balance.

"Hey, what's this? What happened?" John asked as he wiped the tears from her cheeks with the pad of his thumbs. "I came in and couldn't find you or your mother. I got worried."

"We had a quarrel," she said as a fresh set of tears fell down her face.

"About what?" he asked.

She didn't know if she should answer him. What if it only led to further turmoil between the two of them? "About you," she answered softly.

John had wondered how long it would be before his past mistakes had caught up to him. He knew full well that people would have misgivings about him, but he had hoped to spare Anna the suffering that had followed him like a veil of shadows. "I'm sure whatever she said was true," was all he said.

"John…" she begged.

"Anna, I wont be responsible for coming between you and your mother. I don't need you to fight my battles for me," he said.

She fixed him with a determined look, one he had seen many times before and knew better than to try to sway her. "Do you remember what happened the last time you tried doing something gallant? You can't take it lying down, because you are not guilty of any wrong. And before she leaves I'm going to prove it to her."

"Are you now?" he asked with a coy smile. She smiled through her tears and felt his fingers stop at the cool metal that surrounded her ring finger. His thumbs traced over it and brought her hand to his lips so that he could place a kiss there. "I will not have you crying anymore tears over me and my actions. Let me speak with her and try to smooth things over, hmmm?"

"You'd do that for me?" she asked.

"Especially for you," he replied with a smile. "You are my wife and I love you more than anything. Now come inside and I'll see what I can rustle up for us to eat. Perhaps I can entice your mother to come down and eat with us."

"With your cooking? I thought you were trying to get her to like you," Anna teased.

"Careful Mrs. Bates, you are treading on thin ice," he warned with a boyish grin.

John had arrived home earlier than usual that night after Lord Grantham had indulged a little too much in the wine being served at a dinner party. Still it was well past ten in the evening and he was certain that Anna and Helen would already be getting ready for bed if they hadn't already fallen asleep. As he made his way down the path to their cottage he saw that the lights upstairs were off, but a small light still burned downstairs. Anna must have left the light on for him and gone to bed early he thought with a small smile. He knew this pregnancy hadn't exactly been kind to her so far. But Dr. Clarkson assured her everything she was going through was normal and that she could be having a harder time with things due to being a first time mother at her age. If she was still awake when he reached the house he'd give her a foot massage, that always seemed to relax her.

John gently open and closed the door, taking extra care to keep the sound to a minimum so as not to wake anyone that might be sleeping. He shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the hook and did the same with his bowler hat. When he went to turn off the lamp that had been left on he was surprised to see Helen sitting at the kitchen table reading a book. She barely acknowledged his arrival as he walked over to the small dining table. Upon closer observation, John noticed it was one of his own, Anna Karenina. He had to admit he was rather surprised to see his mother-in-law thumbing through such a controversial piece. But then again, Anna had picked it out, so he supposed the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. "I must say, I didn't expect you to be up this late," John said as he took a seat across Helen.

"Another habit from the farm," she said with a hint of a smile. "We work late into the evening and wake before the sun."

"Has Anna already gone to bed?" he asked.

"I'm not sure if she's sleeping, but yes she headed up there about a half hour ago," she replied.

He swallowed hard as he loosened his tie and pulled up a chair and eased himself into it. Mrs. Smith was proving to be a tough nut to crack, but he had promised Anna that he would make an effort to get along and so here he was sitting in silence across from the older lady. "Are you enjoying your stay here so far?" he asked in an attempt to make small talk.

"It's been nice catching up with Anna," she replied with her eyes still fixed to the page.

"Is there something in particular that I have done to upset you or rub you the wrong way?" he asked.

"No. Why do you ask?" she countered calmly.

"Well, I get the feeling you don't like me. And while it makes no difference to me whether I am liked or not, it makes a difference to Anna. I'm not saying we have to be best friends but I would very much like us to get along," he said with the utmost sincerity.

"Very well," she said as she shut the book with a thud. She then set the book down and turned to face John head on. "If you must know, I think my daughter would have been better off without you. Ever since she met you we hardly hear from her or see her. The few times we have heard from her, it has been nothing but bad news and heartache," she explained and watched as John's face fell. "First there was your sham of a marriage, then there was the way you led her on only to leave her when you ran back to your wife," she said and John averted his eyes. "Oh yes, she told me about that. Of course I didn't hear about it until you were on trial for the murder of said wife. And after you ran off to marry her like a thief in the night after paying for a divorce." She didn't even allow him a moment to come back from the verbal blow she had driven into him. It wasn't as if he wasn't aware of his troubled past, but to hear it put so bluntly was a bit of a shock. "And what if you had been sent to the gallows, she would have have been the widower of a murderer. I'm just glad she didn't fall pregnant in that time. Can you imagine if she had been left stranded with a child to care for?"

John sat there feeling worse than he had in months. He knew it shouldn't bother him now that everything had worked out the way they wanted it to. But the truth was he would always feel horrible for dragging Anna into his troubles, no matter what reassurances she had made on their wedding night. These were the thoughts that had tormented him as he rotted away in that prison and watched his wife age by years in a matter of weeks as despair and loneliness took over her world.

She went on, "And what about now?"

"What about now?"

"You come home late at night from your job, and yes I realize Anna works at the Abbey too, but what will happen when you have children? Will she be left at home to raise them on her own, only to have you help out when you can in the wee hours of the night or every other week when you have a half day?" she asked.

"Well, we don't plan to be in service forever," he expressed trying to stand his ground. But before he could go on she started into him again.

"And what about when you can't work anymore? If your leg gets worse? Will my daughter be left trying to juggle her job and taking care of you?" she asked.

He couldn't hate her for asking such things, but it didn't take the sting out of the words. The truth was he knew he was older than Anna and that his age could very possibly leave her taking care of him in their later years or worse, he could leave her all alone before his time.

"I want to make it clear, John. I do not hate you," she said. And while she was no taller than Anna her presence took on a very large form in that moment. Her eyes were shooting daggers his way and her face remained rigged as she spoke. "When you have children-if you have children," she corrected herself, "You will understand why you must fight so fiercely to protect your own."

"I know, I have not always made the best decisions," he finally said. "But I cannot and do not regret loving your daughter. And whether you believe me or not, she chose me...she had me from the moment we exchanged 'hellos'. I only came to Downton for the possibility of a job and to get away from my wife because we did not love each other anymore, but she refused to give me a divorce. But you see, it's because of the way you raised your daughter to be so kind to others, even when they probably don't deserve it, that I am with her. She showed me more kindness, generosity, and love than I could have ever hoped for in those first years at Downton. She was my only friend for a time," he said. John wasn't sure if she was really absorbing what he was saying, but at least she had allowed him to speak his piece.

"I knew Anna was falling for me and try as I might, I wanted to keep her at arm's length. I knew I wasn't good enough for her. I discouraged her and even revealed parts of my past I probably shouldn't have in hopes that it would make her see sense. But she gets her fire from you," he said honestly and that seemed to get her attention. She wasn't looking at him with complete contempt anymore and there was a glimmer of intrigue on her face as he spoke. "Every time I had another problem at my doorstep it was Anna who was always there to support me or offer a solution. She offered me her hand, she insisted we marry, it's she who never doubts not in me or anything else. I guess you could say that's what I love most about her," he continued. He thought he saw Helen's features soften a bit at his words. "I don't think you and I have much in common, but I will say there is one thing we can agree on."

"And what's that?" she asked indignantly.

"We both don't know what Anna sees in me," he replied simply. John noticed she gave a slight roll of the eyes but kept on listening to him. "The difference is, you are so eager to prove that I am wrong for her. When I am only eager to prove her right. I want to give Anna a reason to believe she made the right choice by putting her faith in me. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her. I'll love her even after I take my last breath." They both sat there staring each other down after that. Each considering what the other had said as they looked at one another. When John determined that neither of them had nothing further to say on the matter he excused himself, wished Helen a good night and headed up to bed to catch some sleep.