John shivered, blowing into his hands while the man looked over his boat. "Well, it's a rougher one but you've taken good care of her." He turned to John, "When was the last time you had her in dry dock?"

"It's been a bit." John admitted, "But she's not leaked in years. My father almost stripped the hull himself to fix the last leak I remember."

"Then your father knew as much about building boats as sailing them since I've not seen one this well cared for in some time." The man shook his head, "You get the pleasure cruisers who just want something pretty to ride and all they do is drive those things into sand bars."

"Not much risk of those here."

"No," The man turned on his heel to face John. "I'll give you a competitive price by the morning. I'll send my assessment to my client, along with the pictures, and we'll talk 'sale' if he's interested."

"Then I'll wait for your call." John jumped as his pocket vibrated. "Sorry, my daughter's got an appointment and I think I'll need to head off soon."

"No worries mate. We're all done here anyway." He extended his hand and John shook it quickly. "It's a shame you're selling it. I've seen people who take worse care of actual family members."

"She's got enough of my blood in her wood to be a near relative so she's like family."

"You gave her a pretty enough name." The man pointed to it, "And you wrote it much more nicely than many I've seen."

"I didn't write it." John swallowed, "Someone else did it for me."

"She's got a good hand, whoever she is." The man shook his head at the name, "I always thought 'May' a rather beautiful name."

"So did my father." John nodded at him. "As soon as you know, Mr. Strallan, it'd be a great help to me."

"One last question," Strallan called to John as he walked away. "Why are you selling your vessel?"

"Just making some changes in my life." John turned up the dock and hurried to his truck. He steered into the hospital carpark and hurried inside. Ondine waited there, chatting with Sybil. They both looked up as he entered and John forced himself to ignore Ondine's inquiring look to face Sybil. "How are you Sybil?"

"Waiting for morning sickness to end."

"Do I offer congratulations or condolences about the future second child of the Branson family?"

"A little of both maybe?" Sybil shrugged, "Sybbie's absolutely ecstatic about it and Tom's over the moon but I know when it gets closer he'll be a mess."

"I know I was with Ondine." John clapped his hands together, "Sepaking of, how's the prognosis?"

"She's taken the kidneys like they were her own and we've got no evidence of relapse or any lingering problems. Her meds are working and her body's showing no signs of rejecting the transplant." Sybil turned to Ondine, "I'd say you're lucky but I think modern medicine's the real hero here."

"It certainly is." John held a hand out to Ondine. "You ready?"

"Yep." She grabbed her bag, "I can't wait to come back in six months to have them tell me again how my body's all mended. It never gets old."

"No it doesn't."

"Sometimes I think you enjoy these checkups more than me." Ondine tossed her bag into the cab before she entered it.

"When you've got kids and one of them survives a brutal disease you tell me you wouldn't be elated every time a medical professional tells you there's nothing more to worry about." John shut his door, "I enjoy them because they tell me I get more time with you."

"At least until next week." Ondine grumbled, "I don't want to go to London for Christmas holidays."

"We agreed on it."

"No, you and Ma agreed on it." Ondine folded her arms over her chest, pouting with a lip jutting out. "I wanted to be here for the lights and Mrs. Hughes is bringing back her version of Hogmanay this year. I'll miss watching the ball drop with Ma while she drinks herself to sleep by eleven."

"I know it's not what we wanted but it's what we've got." John sighed, "But you're going to Mrs. Hughes this afternoon anyway."

"Why?" Ondine shifted in her seat, pulling the belt to an odd angle over her chest. "Why'd you miss my appointment today and why am I spending the afternoon with Mrs. Hughes when I know you're not taking the boat out?"

"Because I've got some things to take care of and I want to make sure you're taken care of."

"I'm eleven. I can take care of myself."

"And I'm your father and I think you need to have someone monitoring you. If more for my peace of mind than for you."

"But why?" Ondine pressed and John glanced toward her just as the light turned green. "Why do I need monitoring this afternoon?"

"Because I've got people coming to the house and I don't want you there while they're poking around it."

"What?" Ondine frowned and then her eyes widened as realization dawned. "Are you selling our house?"

"I might be. There's a lovely couple interested in it."

"Who?"

"Do you remember Dickie Grey?"

"I hope the other half of that couple isn't his witch of a wife."

"Ondine!" John parked the car, "That's not polite."

"She was horrible."

"She was your primary school teacher."

"She whacked the entire line of Drewe boys with a switch once."

"That's beside the point." John paused, "And no. His wife passed a few years ago. The woman is his second wife, Isobel Crawley."

"Is she Father Crawley's sister?"

"I think they're third cousins or something." John shrugged, "I know he introduced them and officiated their wedding and was kind enough to drop the line to them about my selling my house and as they were looking for a nice, quiet place out of the way I think it's a big favor to us."

"To you maybe, not me." Ondine huffed, "Where'll we live while other people take residence in our house?"

"We're moving to London to be closer to your mother." John unbuckled his belt, "And because I think we need a change of scenery."

"What about when Anna gets back? Is she coming to London with us too?"

"I don't think Anna's coming back, Ondine."

Ondine quieted, "What do you mean she's not coming back?"

"Anna's not called or texted or emailed us in three months Ondine."

"Did Green-"

"No," John shook his head. "I've asked Father Crawley and he says she's still with his daughter at Downton. She's safe, as far as he knows, and we've nothing to worry about."

"Except that part where you said she's not coming back." Ondine narrowed her eyes, "What do you know that you're not telling me?"

"Father Crawley told me Anna's been talking to a lawyer."

"What kind of lawyer?"

"The kind that means I might be signing some papers in the future." John jerked his head toward the door. "Come on, we don't want to keep Mrs. Hughes waiting."

"Then why are we moving?" Ondine did not move from her seat, continuing to stare forward at the dashboard. "Why aren't we fighting for her?"

"Because she's not fighting for us and the best thing we can do for those we love is to let them go."

"Let them go?"

"If that's what they want then it's torture to try and force them somewhere else." John took a deep breath, leaning against the cab to stare in at Ondine from his position outside it. "I love Anna and I respect that if she doesn't want to be with me anymore than it's my duty to love her enough to let her leave."

"You won't fight for her?"

"I won't fight her, there's a difference." John pointed to Ondine's bag. "Come on, we're already late and I need to make sure the house is in order."

"So we're moving to London, which you hate, to be closer to Ma, who you hate, because you think the woman you love is leaving you?"

"I can't walk around that house, knowing what I loved there isn't there anymore and knowing it only caused her pain."

"What about what I want?"

"Okay," John opened his hands to her, "What do you want?"

"I want you to go to Anna, to profess your love for her, to stay here, to… to do anything but what you're doing right now."

"I can't do those things because they're not the right things to do in this case." John closed his door and walked around to her side, opening her door. "Now come on. We're being rude to someone doing us a kindness."

"Kindness for you maybe." Ondine breathed but John ignored her, escorting her to Mrs. Hughes's door.

Once the sour and glowering girl disappeared inside John drove back to his house. He beat the realtor and the Greys there, giving him a sigh of relief as he fumbled with his key to unlock the door. When it opened he hurried inside to straighten things.

The knock on the door, no matter how expected, startled John and he only just managed to stop the glass in his hand tumbling to the floor. He set it on the counter and walked to the front door, opening it with a prepared smile. It froze as he saw Anna standing at the door.

"May I come in?"

"Of course." John stepped out of the way and shut the door quickly behind her to keep the heat inside. "What… what are you doing here?"

"It's still our house, isn't it?" She opened her mouth as if to say something else and John rushed to stop her.

"It is, it is. I'm just… just surprised to see you here, I guess."

"I have been a bit… out of sorts haven't I?" Anna turned her head at the sound of tires on the gravel. "Are you expecting someone?"

"I… yes, I am. They're um…" John swallowed, "It's funny you asked about this still being our house, actually, since they're here to… they're here to view it."

"View it?" Anna frowned and then her face blanked. "You're selling your mother's house?"

"I'm considering the possibility of an offer on my mother's house."

"Why?"

"It's-" John stopped at the knock on the door, "Can I answer your question when they're done?"

"Sure." Anna removed her coat. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Would you mind making tea while I show them around the house?"

"Not at all."

To Anna's credit she played the perfect hostess to the Greys. And to the credit of the Greys they cooed and gushed over the quaintness of the house before informing John at the door they would have an answer for him very shortly. The mood of the whole house changed, however, the moment John shut the door and faced Anna where she stood at the kitchen table.

"Might I know why you'd sell this house?"

"Because I'm moving." John shrugged, swinging his arms a moment before clapping his hands together in front of him. "I'm taking Ondine and we're going to London."

"You hate London."

"But her mother lives there and it'll be easier to arrange visits once she's in closer proximity."

"You were doing just fine with that before." Anna gripped the back of the chair right before her. "What's changed?"

"I've got nothing to tie me here anymore."

"You've got Ondine."

"And she's coming with me." John held Anna's gaze. "So all the things I care about are coming with me and I'm leaving behind the things that don't matter."

"This is your home."

"It hasn't felt that way."

Anna lowered her head, "This is about me, isn't it?"

"I can't live in a place that brought you so much pain and I can't be here when it reminds me of you and that brings me pain." John waved a hand, "The sight of this place, of me, was torture enough for you that you went to Yorkshire to be away from it and that's torture for me."

"I told you I needed to get away to heal."

"And I hope you did. I hope you are healed, if that's what brought you back now, but I'm not going to keep feeding myself the painful delusion that you're coming back."

Anna frowned, "Why'd you say that?"

"Because Father Crawley was the only one who gave me updates on how you were, Anna." John tried to keep the edge out of his voice. "You never called, you never texted, you never emailed. Hell, you couldn't even bring it upon yourself to write a bloody letter with the words, 'doing alright' or 'I love you'."

"Doctor Seward-"

"Can go bugger off for all I care." John closed his eyes, clenching a fist to try and rein in his emotions. "I don't know what you did while you were there and I don't know what you were doing to heal. Whatever it was I hope it worked and I hope you're better. I sincerely do."

"But?"

"But when the woman I loved left me, without a word, and when she's just showing up at my doorstep without a word I don't know what to think."

"That I came back, like I promised." Anna came around the table and held onto John's hands. "That I'm better now."

"You should've been better here." John drew his hands away. "You should've trusted me to do everything I could to help. Trusted Ondine and the people here who care about you. But you didn't you ran away and expected what? That life would just pause while you were gone?"

"I thought you understood."

"I did, when you left. But I guess expecting you would keep me apprised of your progress or even want to talk to me was too far outside the realms of imagination." John shook his head. "If you've got the papers I'll sign them and let you go. If not then we'll try and figure something out. But if the Greys put an offer on the house they get it. If Mr. Strallan's client wants my boat he's got it because I'm leaving this place and all the bad memories here."

"They weren't all bad… were they?"

Anna's small voice cut John to the core and he hurried to respond, his voice cracking. "No. There were so many good ones."

"Then stay, please." Anna implored, taking his hands again and this time John did not pull away. "Don't leave what you love."

"But you already left me." He tried to control the tears running down his cheeks but he could do nothing about them. "It's all over, Anna."

"What are you talking about?"

"Father Crawley told me you met with a lawyer while you were at Downton."

"About the case, John. He was the one the state appointed when I agreed to give testimony about Green and his operation." Anna put a hand to her forehead. "Mary only heard the end of the conversation."

"Then you're not…"

"Leaving you? Divorcing you?" Anna could not shake her head more emphatically. "Never."

She looked at his hands. "I know I didn't do this the right way and I've probably hurt you more than words can express but please, please John," Anna turned to face to his. "Don't leave here. Don't leave this house, don't sell your boat, don't… don't take Ondine to London."

"Then what do I do, Anna?"

"Stay here, with me." Anna stepped closer, "Be here with me as I want to be with you again. Please give me another chance to make this right."

"You never made it wrong."

"I hurt you and that's… that's wrong."

"That's what we do, in relationships. We give people the power to hurt us and trust that they won't."

"I didn't repay your trust very well then did I."

"You came back." John slipped his hands from hers to hold at her cheek and neck, running his thumbs over the skin there to reassure himself that she was real. "You want to stay. That's the kind of payment I'd take any day."

"Thank you." Anna leaned into him, wrapping her small arms around him and John responded with a solid grip on her. "I'm sorry John. I'm sorry for all the hurt I've caused you."

"I know. And I'm sorry I was so stupid as to assume-"

"Stop." Anna put her fingers over John's mouth. "You did what you could with what you had."

"I should've have assumed the worst of you."

"I didn't give you much choice now did I?"

"Doesn't excuse it."

"But it does explain it." Anna took a deep breath, "I love you, John Bates, and I want you to know, without a doubt, that'll never change."

"I know. And I love you." John bent, stopping himself before he could reach her lips. "May I?"

"You don't need to ask for that." Anna lifted herself up enough to close the distance and John could think of nothing more pleasurable than kissing her.

He pulled back a moment, "So you're back for good then?"

"For good and proper." Anna put her hands to his neck, clasping them there to keep herself close. "And I've got to say that I've been missing something rather terribly while I've been away."

"What's that?"

"You." Anna grinned, "More importantly certain… parts of you."

John blinked, "Excuse me?"

"I hope you're not about to ask me to explain the birds and the bees to you."

"No, I've got that part very nearly mastered." John nodded at her, his hands holding at her waist. "But you've been… Since the attack you…"

"I know." Anna stared at his shirt, her hands coming from around his neck to brush over the fabric there. "But part of my recovery was realizing the difference there and I knew I never felt more loved or wanted or part of you than those moments and I… It might be selfish but I want that now. I want to feel close to you John."

Her voice whispered over him as her fingers curled in the fabric of his shirt. "Please John?"

John did not answer with words. Instead he hauled her to him and took charge of her mouth. He followed the guide of her hands and her moans, pausing occasionally when she instinctively stiffened or her own grip fluttered. But her responses returned his eagerness in dividends.

The buttons on his shirt opened faster than he thought humanly possible but the thought fled his head even faster when Anna's nails raked over the territory there. His own hands fumbled with her shirt and she had to take his grunt of frustration as a cue to haul it over her head. John quickly rewarded her work with his determined kisses over her chest and the flesh of her breasts raised from the bra she wore.

Anna pulled them back toward the table and John lifted her to sit on the edge. The heavy furniture squeaked a moment but held while they attacked one another with determined effort. John's fingers fluttered everywhere and soon his trousers gaped under the focus of Anna's. They only paused long enough this time to shove his trousers and pants out of the way and haul hers down her legs.

Her knickers, or more specifically her rather flattering thong, stopped John in his tracks. When he forced a swallow and lifted his head to look Anna in the eye she only grinned. "I thought I might get something special."

"Not a garter?"

"Oh I got one of those too." Anna spread her legs and pulled John closer by notching one over his hip. "It was one of the things Mary helped me do when I told her I was coming back. She thought it might help."

"You could be wearing anything and I'd want you back." John stroked the back of his finger against her cheek. "I'd always want you back, Anna."

"Then take me back Mr. Bates." She trilled in his ear and John waste no more time.

He did not bother to remove the thong, just pulled it to the side and drove forward. Her nails dug into the skin of his shoulders under his shirt and John bit down on his lip enough to taste the coppery tang of blood there. Anna cried out when he shifted and John tried to adjust her position on the table but she held him close.

"It's not that." Her eyes fluttered open, "It's just you."

John drew to the edge and then thrust back in, hand at Anna's ass to adjust her position on the table so he could better control his motions. His other hand worked between them trying to bring her over the edge when he already teetered there. He refused to not bring this to her satisfaction when he was getting his.

She pulled at his open shirt, dragging his mouth to hers again before removing that hand to join his between her legs. Their fingers slipped and ran over one another in time with their wild motions. It was like they had no idea what they were doing but also that they had been in this position a million times, seeking one another with the familiarity of old flames and the ignition of first time romantics.

With the dig of Anna's nails into the skin of his side and the violent suck of her mouth on his tongue, John recognized the cling of her inner walls in time with her shriek. He waited a moment, as the sound dissipated in the kitchen, and then drove forward on his own. It took no time at all for him to finish and John rested his forehead in the familiar spot on her shoulder.

Her light laugh drew his head up and Anna smiled at him. "I'm not sure you should ever sell this table."

"It'd be bad form to hand over something after you've had sex on it." John grinned back, sliding free and standing still a moment as the emotions and sensations of what just happened finally set in. "Give me a moment."

"Okay." Anna sat still until John moved and then frowned. "Where's Ondine anyway?"

"She's with Mrs. Hughes. I wanted her there while the Greys took a tour of the house."

"Because she'd be upset?"

"Because I didn't want her to have to endure it." John picked Anna's trousers off the floor and helped restore her before seeing to his own clothes. "It was painful enough for me."

"And your boat?"

"She didn't know about that until this afternoon."

"I see." Anna leaned on the table, her hands flexing against the wood. "And will you?"

"Will I what?"

"Will you still sell and move to London?"

"Now that you're back I don't think that'd be wise." John checked the clock over her shoulder. "Do you want to come with me and get Ondine? She'll be thrilled to see you."

"I think that'd be lovely." Anna bit her lip, "It'd also be a chance for me to ask for my job back."

"Is that what you want to do? Bookkeeping for Mrs. Hughes?"

"No but it's the job that might be available now and since I can't decide what I want to do it's what I've got."

"What would you like to do?" John helped Anna into her coat and grabbed his own. "There's got to be something you're good at."

"There are things." She shrugged, "I always wondered if I'd make a good journalist since I loved it at school but I studied foreign language instead. Wanted to be a translator."

"Can't say there's much need for Mandarin Chinese here but maybe somewhere else."

"No," Anna held up a warning finger, climbing into the cab with John. "It's got to be here."

"Then what about your story?"

"My story?"

"Woman gets caught up in a fisherman's net and then marries him."

"No one would believe it."

"Then make it a fairytale and sell it." John shrugged, "I don't know but Ondine'd be over the moon if she could help with that one."

"She was the one convinced I was a selkie."

"She's pretty insistent in that regard." John faced Anna. "I'm just glad you're here."

"Me too." Anna's hand covered his. "Me too."

They retrieved Ondine and, as John predicted, she was ecstatic. She spent half the drive back chattering to Anna about everything she missed and the other half telling John, over and over, in her superior voice, "I told you so." When she finally calmed down enough she latched onto Anna's idea for the fairytale and pulled out her sketchpad to storyboard the whole thing.

That was how John found her, face sideways on a drawing of a woman in a net. He carefully slid the sketchpad out from under Ondine's head on the coffee table and lifted her into his arms. Anna bent over, collecting the colored pencils and the wiping away the shavings from the used rubber that now sat as a stub of its former self.

"She's determined, I'll give you that." Anna whispered, dusting the shavings into the rubbish bin and setting Ondine's things on the desk in her room as John helped slide her into bed.

"She's a romantic." John kissed Ondine's head and pulled her covers up.

"She's a little girl. They're always going to believe in happy endings."

"Someone has to." John agreed as they crowded out of the room, closing the door behind them. "I was always too busy trying to look like Conan the Barbarian as a kid to worry about a happy ending."

"All that toxic masculinity getting to you." Anna teased as they walked down the hall to their room.

"Not anymore." John pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it into the bin. "Having a daughter destroyed all those things you think about when you imagine being a 'man' and I realized I wanted to be the father she deserved."

"What do you mean?" Anna pulled her hair up, wrapping it into a messy bun on top of her head.

"Ondine doesn't need some 'roid monster to bust through walls for her. She needs someone who'll listen to her, cry with her occasionally, and act with compassion. She needs kindness and that's what she brought out in me." John sat on the edge of the bed, wearing only his pants, and frowned at the far wall as he lost himself in thought. "I think all children need that but Vera never saw it."

"Is that why she left?" Anna crawled behind him and John turned over his shoulder to kiss her cheek.

"She left for a lot of reasons but I think her version of a man wasn't me after awhile."

"Her loss then." Anna's hands caressed over John's back, "Because you're the version of man that I want."

"Really?" John half turned, resting his weight on one arm as Anna crawled off the bed, just out of reach. "What version is that?"

"I don't mind the one, right now, who's rising to the occasion."

John nodded at her, "You're just being a tease now, you know that."

"I do." Anna opened her dressing gown and John's mouth dried at the sight of her garter and nothing else. "But you'll enjoy it."

It took no time at all for John to be over her, naked as the day he was born, and for Anna to try hushing her sounds as he buried his fingers and tongue between her legs. His other hand smoothed over the garter and ran the path between garter and her breasts so expertly John swore he memorized it better than the multiplication tables in school. But all that he thought about once Anna broke with a barely strangled sob of pleasure, was how to make her do it again.

She had other ideas when he tried to go for another round. Her legs wrapped his waist and Anna flipped them over. Within a second, John trying to recover the breath so recently evacuated from his lungs, Anna sheathed him inside her and moved. Her fingers dug into his chest, steering her motions while directing her speed, and it was all John could do to keep up.

His feet planted on the mattress but they slipped when he sought the kind of grip and lever he needed to bring his hips to meet hers. Soon John abandoned the idea and just grabbed at Anna's hip with one hand and her ass with the other to drive himself as deeply inside her as he could go. She cried out, nails raking down his abdomen to where they joined to send herself over the edge again.

Her second tumble over was enough to send John there. He managed a last thrust before stuttering slowly to a stop. Anna's hands slipped on his chest, the stick of sweat making their motions uncertain, but when she slid off him and lay at his side it did not matter.

John held her close, tapping the garter. "This is definitely a keeper."

"I'd hope so. I bought it in France."

"France?" John frowned, "What were you doing in France?"

"Mary was supposed to go with her husband but he cancelled last minute because of a family emergency."

"And she didn't go?"

"It was the father of his ex-fiancé."

"That's…"

"Awkward in other circumstances but she was his ex-fiancé because she died in a car accident a few years ago. He stayed in touch with the father and acted like a surrogate son ever since." Anna moved on the bed, working closer to John. "He went to be with him when the man died and attended the funeral."

"That's sweet."

"And it left Mary with a second ticket that'd go to waste otherwise so I went with her." Anna cringed, "Are you mad?"

"Since I was the beneficiary of this trip," John ran a finger over the skin just above the garter and felt Anna shiver. "I'd say we just have to make sure Ondine doesn't know since she's always wanted to go."

"I won't tell a soul." Anna whispered theatrically and John went to kiss over her neck. "I'm good at keeping quiet about things."

"I guess we'll have to see how quiet you can be." John licked up her ear before teething over her earlobe. "Remember, Ondine's just down the hall."

"Two can play that game." Anna ran her fingers over John's arousal. "I'll win."