October 23rd, 1927 10:37 am

Busy day ahead. At around eleven o'clock today Will and I will be driving over to Ripon to attend the Farmer's Market and pick up produce for the week. Archie's given me quite the long list to fulfill. Anna loves these things, but it really is hard for her to get away with the girls. And, the whole rear of the car will be needed for the fruits and vegetables. So Will's going...

He's excited. Right now he's helping his mother make sandwiches for us to eat on the short drive. Too short to stop for a picnic really but we'll make a day of it. Anna said he told her we were having a boy's adventure. No girls allowed. The little scamp.

I'm actually looking forward to getting out of town for the day. This will sound crazy, but all week, every time I walk down the street I have the strangest feeling that I'm being followed, or at the very least, watched. I'm only mentioning it here because… well I guess I want to document it.

Like this morning on my way to the Post Office, I just couldn't shake the sense that someone was keeping their eye on me. I glanced into the store front's as I passed by and saw no one staring back. Indeed, the only person I saw on my short walk was an old man sitting on a park bench across the street, feeding birds in the village square. No one I knew and when I came out of the Post Office he was gone. It's nothing, I know, but it did leave me with an unsettling feeling.

So, the boy and I will have a day of it. Anna doesn't seem to mind missing out on the fun, the very opposite, actually. She says she and the girls will have a fancy tea with Daisy and Sarah in the gazebo. Hats and tea cakes and everything, she told me. I hope there are some leftovers.

Will just smacked his hand on my office window. He must be ready to set off on our boy's adventure, so I'll sign off.

~ John Bates

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Boys & Girls

'William Bates, would you please sit down and sit still. I was just saying goodbye to your mother and you should too,' John told him, climbing into the car.

The boy got up on his knees and hung himself half out of the window, waving his arm furiously. 'Bye Mummy! I love you. Have fun with my sisters!' Will turned to his father, 'C'mon Daddy, let's go!' He finally settled himself down. Yes, Will thought to himself, today is going to be a really good day.

Anna leaned against the screen door, watching her men driving off. She had a big smile on her face, excited about the afternoon ahead. She would miss her boys, indeed she would, but tea with her little girls and a couple of good friends would be a welcome break from the peculiarities of men, no matter their age.

The ride to Ripon didn't take too long, and William always enjoyed watching as the landscape run away from his eyes. He had climbed over into the back seat and was pressing his nose against the window glass and trying to follow the line of the road. It was almost like a game he would never be able to win, but nevertheless he enjoyed it.

'Don't you make yourself sick, Will. Climb back up here beside me…' his father had told him at one point, patting the seat beside him, but the boy wouldn't have it.

'I won't get sick, Daddy. I promise.'

The boy's accent, so much like his mother's, would never fail to tickle John. 'All right, son. If you say so…'

The market was busy today. Noisy and crowded. William was beside himself, wanting to be everywhere at once. John tried his best to keep him close, warning him that if he ventured too far he would be lost for good and never find his way home again.

'...What then, Will? Wouldn't you miss mummy and your sisters, and your old dad?' John smiled down at the boy as he held his hand tight. 'And Jack, Charlie and Butter? We would miss you terribly.'

'Ah, it wouldn't be that bad…' William wrinkled his nose. 'Home's not very far away. I could hop on the train or ask someone to take me. Don't worry about me, Daddy. I could find my way home!'

John had to shake his head and chuckle at his son's surety. At four and a half, going on thirty, John felt fairly certain Will probably could find his way home.

'I see now why your mother was telling me you were getting too big for your britches.' John eyed his son and went on, 'And why she almost begged me to take you with me…'John recalled his wife's words. 'Take William with you, I'm...it will do him good.'

'I'm at the age of growin' fast, Mum says. I'm getting taller than Percy and all,' Will puffed up and bragged.

'You'll be quite tall anyway, if you take after me.' John squeezed the boy's hand lovingly, beaming with pride. 'And I reckon you do. All right now, let's see what's on this list Archie wrote.'

'Can I read it, Daddy?' William asked, smiling up at his father.

'All right... here, what do you think it says?'

'Mu..musss..mushrooms? Mushrooms!'

'That's very good, William! Mushrooms. Let's find them.'

From Downton to Ripon, the day was sunny and bright, with just a bit of a nip in the Autumn air.

Warm rays of sunlight streamed in through the latticework of the gazebo. Anna was placing a rich lace tablecloth on the round in the middle. The tablecloth, was a gift given by Mrs Patmore and Mrs Carson back when they first moved out of the Abbey. Anna set the table with her best china and her favourite tea blend, lavender and chamomile. She allowed herself to wear one of her best dresses, a light coat and a matching hat and even applied a bit of rouge on her cheeks and perfume on her wrists. Why not? Treating oneself now and then never harmed anyone, and she always enjoyed looking her best self. That was one of the things that she loved the most about no longer being in service. It was a wonderful feeling of freedom she would never get tired of.

'Oh my! Isn't this the picture?' Sarah's voice came to her ears as she finished setting the table.

'Looks like a picture from one of those magazines. It's lovely!' Daisy added, carrying in her arms a tray with hot biscuits. 'Archie just made these 'specially for us. Right out of the oven.'

'That's wonderful!' Anna clapped her hands together in excitement. 'Place them on the table, will you? I'll fetch the girls...will you help me, Sarah?'

Not five minutes later, they came outside with the girls in their arms, ready to sit and enjoy their day. Daisy immediately took Finn from Anna, telling she should rest while they were here.

'Oh my goodness, look at them! Can they get more sweet?' Daisy babbled over Finn. The twins were wearing matching pink dresses, Fee with a blue ribbon around her head, Finn with a yellow one. Both wrapped snuggly in pale blue blankets. Two sweeter little girls had never been.

'They look like those dolls that rich girls have to play with. I always wanted to have one but my mum and dad couldn't afford it.' Sarah said, Fee in her arms.

'Well, Sarah, you can always have a baby of your own and dress it like this.' Daisy suggested.

'Trouble is, babies grow up,' Anna giggled, before blowing into her tea and sipping at it. 'And it's never easy when they do.'

'So she can do like you did, have another one when the other is no longer a baby,' Daisy said, grinning.

'But instead of one they are two and when they grow there's double the trouble.' Sarah laughed and the other women joined in.

'And girls...goodness me. Mr Bates is already fretting over their future boyfriends,' Anna remarked, raising her eyebrows at them and remembering one night a few days ago, when John was telling her he was already worried about the idea of his girls having boys calling at the house for them one day. '...What if the boys they love are not good enough? But then...even if they are they will never really be, will they?' Her husband had been worried all through the night, silly man, while she had slept like a baby beside him.

'Men always fret over daughters while they tell their sons to go out and find for themselves. I know, I have five brothers,' Sarah sighed, rolling her eyes.

'Not Mr Bates…' it was Daisy who spoke in her employer's defense. 'Mr Bates is a gentleman and he will teach William how to be a right proper man.'

'You're right, Daisy. He will. I don't like to beam over my husband because, surely I am a little biased, but if there's one thing Mr Bates believes is that a man should always show a women respect. I if I searched the world over I couldn't find a better man. I'mso very lucky.'

'That you are, Anna. You have such a beautiful family and happy marriage,' Sarah stated, smiling.

'So, tell us! Are you thinking about children?' Anna asked her, with a teasing look.

'Oh yes...tell us!' Daisy insisted.

'Well…Caleb and I have been talking about it but...I don't know.' Sarah giggled and shook her head, a little shy.

'Don't you worry about your job, Sarah. If you want to start a family, you should. Your position won't be at risk,' Anna reassured.

'Oh, thank you, Anna. That means so much.' Sarah smiled grateful, before turning toward Daisy. 'Now, Daisy, your turn...you tells us about that Andy of yours!'

And the afternoon passed pleasantly.

'I reckon we were very lucky, Will! We found everything Archie asked us to buy,' John told the boy as they drove back to Downton Village. The day was already darkening and his son was winding down from all the excitement of the market. 'Tell me, did you enjoy our boy's day together?'

'I did, Dad! I liked it a lot when we ate ice cream on the bench. And when that naughty goat tried to eat my hat.'

'You have to keep it on your head, not let it fall to the ground.'

'Mummy says I have a big enough head and she doesn't understand why I keep losing my hat.'

'Ha! I think mummy buys your hats too big probably,' John laughed.

'Yeah! And I liked when you let me read the list. And when we ate our sandwiches too. Mummy does real good sandwiches.'

'Mummy does real good everything,' John chuckled. 'We are quite lucky, my boy.'

'Yeah! She'll like the flowers we bought for her,' Will grinned.

'Yes, I suspect she will.'

'And I really liked that we came just the two of us…' William said, slowly, as he looked outside trying to keep track of the road. 'I like having you just for myself sometimes.'

'Ah, son. I like that very much too,' John spoke, his voice breaking a little. Will's words touched his heart, making him feel emotional. 'You know… you will always be my boy. No matter how grown up you are.'

'Uh-huh, just don't say it when Percy's around. He calls me a snotty little git sometimes, when mummy cleans my nose or when she tells me to put my hat on…what if he heard you say I'd always be your boy?!' William winced.

John couldn't help but laugh before turning serious. 'That friend of yours…' John shook his head, '...there's nothing wrong when men talk about their feelings, Will. Understand that. We are all human, we all feel, even when sometimes some folks think they are too old, or brave to be moved, or that feelings are for girls and weak men. That's a pack of nonsense. Not that you should go around shouting your emotions... but sometimes being emotional, when the circumstances call for it, does you nothing but good. Remember that.'

William nodded, listening to his father's words attentively.

'Especially when the time for such a thing has to do with some beautiful girl you like.' John winked.

Will giggled, 'Just like when you tell mummy you love her so much that all you want to do is to go to sleep with her?'

'Uh, yes. Exactly like that,' John chuckled loudly, his ears burning a little at the meaning of his own words. Oh God, one day his son would understand what he really meant... 'And if I knew better all those years ago, I would have said it sooner...nevermind that, now, tell me...do you still want to be a farmer like Mr Mason? You were all over the animals today.'

'Nah, I don't want to be a farmer anymore,' the boy pursed his lips.

'No? What then?'

'I want to be a sailor! A captain of a mighty ship...just like Captain Finn.'

'Captain Finn? What about the animals? You said you wanted to have lots of them.'

'I can have some on my ship, can't I? It's my ship. I can do what I wish.'

'Well, Captain William Bates, here we are. Shall we honk letting mummy know we're home?' The boy nodded, smiling. 'Maybe you would like to do it yourself?'

Dinner that night was filled with happy stories and loads of laughter, and later popcorn in front of the fireplace and a game of Snakes & Ladders. Their day apart had been good for them all, but they were so happy to be together tonight.

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October 23rd, 1927 10:15pm

I'll just sit here at my vanity and write in the journal before crawling into bed. It has been the most perfect day and I am reluctant to have it end.

We have the twins down for the night. At four months old, if we get them fed and to sleep by ten o'clock they'll be out until five in the morning. Not nearly late enough for me, but John is of the opinion I'd sleep until noon if allowed. And he's probably right.

Will was out the minute his head hit the pillow. He's really quite the boy. John said he never stopped moving and talking all afternoon. He can be a handful but I knew they would enjoy spending the day all to themselves. And I certainly enjoyed my tea with the girls. Sarah, Daisy and I have become such good friends.

I think, if the weather tomorrow is as fair as it was today, I'll pack the girls up in their pram, put William on his bicycle and we'll go for a walk around the village square. I need to pick up a few things - some blue yarn for a new jumper for Will and fabric for dolls I'm making for Finn and Fee's Christmas. It's not too early, you know. The holiday season will be here before we know it.

John just walked in and sat down close behind me. He's taking my hair down now and is kissing my neck... I think he's trying to see if I'm saying nice things about him, so...just to keep him happy, I will say I have the kindest, best and most handsome husband to ever walk the earth and I know I'm the luckiest woman in -

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The journal entries are written by handy for the bus & terriejane.

We'd like to thank the lovely annamays (aka fuzzydream) for being our beta.

Thank you for reading :) please review