There were far better ways to wake up on my birthday than wrapped in my husband's arms, even if he was squeezing me a bit tightly. He loosened his grip when I shifted though, allowing me to slip to the bathroom and let Rigel out before returning. I had hardly laid back down before he had me in his arms again, sleepily rubbing his nose against my shoulder. "Happy birthday, Ana."

I sighed into his touch, "Thank you, Will."

"How many years now?"

I rolled my eyes up, thinking. "Twenty-eight, I'm getting old."

He snorted, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. "Hardly, I'm the one that's old."

"Forty-one is hardly old."

"It's older than you," He teased, laying back and drawing me down so I rested on his shoulder. "Now, be a dear and run your young little self downstairs and bring your invalid of a husband some tea."

"It's my birthday, you should be the one bringing me tea."

"I would, but my knees Ana, they're aching. I think I might be getting rheumatism."

"I think if you really are that old," I shifted upright, affording him a good view of myself. "Then I should cover up, old men have died after seeing a naked woman."

He chuckled, pulling me back down. "I suppose you're right, I'm not that old."

"Shocking." I muttered, enjoying the way he pulled me close to him. "We should start to get moving, you know. I will need to tidy up before everyone comes over." Last night had mostly involved Will stripping off my clothes downstairs, and the parlor was still littered with them. A good number of his clothes were downstairs too, one of his socks had barely been caught before landing in a pot.

Will groaned as I got up, "I don't understand why you insisted on a birthday lunch."

"Because that way Oscar doesn't have the chance to stay the night." I replied, pulling on a dressing gown. "I don't want you two fighting again."

Will rummaged through the wardrobe, pulling out a shirt and trousers. "I'll be cordial, you don't have to harp on it."

"I know you will." I leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'll get some coffee made." Southampton had gotten colder recently, and I shivered a bit until I had the stove lit. The weather was looking appropriately dismal, gray clouds blotting out the sun, winds whistling around the windows and making them rattle in their frames, and the barest hint of rain spattering the glass. Rigel was quite glad to be let back in, shaking off the slight dampness of his coat before laying out in front of the fire.

Will shoved him with his foot, "I can't very well light the fire with you there."

"Here," I joined him, helping move Rigel out of the way so Will could bundle some newspaper up under the coal and get it lit. It sputtered for a few minutes before catching, greasy black smoke drifting lazily up the chimney. "I miss a nice woodfire, this coal smells awful."

"We'll lay in more wood over the summer." Will stood, stretching. "As it is, this coal is cheaper at the moment. Not to mention it's actually available, even if it is poor quality."

"Remember Vermont?" I leaned against him, "It was always so nice to sit in front of that fire and read together."

He rubbed his hand along my side, "We'll be back there soon enough, although Scotland should prove wonderfully cozy for Christmas."

"I hope your father likes the house." I pursed my lips, thinking of the letters that I had received from the other family members. They sent their love, but were compelled by various reasons to remain in Dalbeattie. Even Samuel would be returning before the New Year, leaving Will and I with the house to ourselves.

Will snorted, "I know Beatty won't. You've sent out all the invitations, right?"

"Even to Lieutenant Johnson, I hope he can make it." I thought back to writing out endless invitations, all to come and celebrate the New Year with us at our new house. "And yes, I was cordial to Ethel. You know she's going to be horrible."

"If I have to deal with Oscar," Will turned, kissing my forehead. "Then you have to deal with Ethel, if only for my peace of mind. Now, run upstairs and get dressed. I'll whip up breakfast."

By the time I came back down the stairs, the table was already set up with plates of bacon and eggs, scones and honey and fresh flowers in a vase. Will caught me noticing them, "I hope you don't mind that I grabbed them from the bush by the garage."

"They're lovely." I gave his hand a squeeze, tucking into the spread before me. Mother had sent along plenty of food, as well as her own gift. She had decided that since I was living as a housewife, I needed something practical and had sent a half dozen aprons she had made herself. But, of course, Mother couldn't resist adding in something more and had tucked a fine silver silk dress between them. I would make quite an appearance in it at the New Year's party, with my plaid across my breast.

When I had told Will my plans he had been quite excited, especially since he wouldn't be required to wear his kilt. He would be in his formal uniform though, but he considered that a blessing compared to his other choice. He had sworn me to secrecy about the party in front of the Lightollers though, for he knew Lights would give him endless grief over it if he knew.

Which meant that when the family showed up and I was speaking to Sylvie over a glass of lemonade while the boys demanded stories from Uncle Will, I couldn't tell her my plans. "Well, I just wanted to spend Christmas closer to Will."

She nodded, watching Rigel and Nana circle Lights. "I can understand that, the children and I will be spending it closer to Bertie. He's hopeful that Nana will have her puppies soon, which means she'll be coming along."

"I think he would be glad to have them born while you're there with him."

"If only so he can promise puppies to his friends over there and avoid buying presents," Sylvie giggled. "I kid, but soon enough we will be looking for homes for them."

I leaned closer, "Do you think we could send one to my mother? I just know she would love one."

"I don't see why not, so long as someone took care of it on the way over." Sylvie shrugged, looking over to where her husband was cradling both their daughters. "Although Bertie may want to keep a few, the children do love puppies."

"I'm quite sure there will be more puppies in the future."

"Don't give Bertie ideas, he's already talking about getting another dog. The last thing I thought was that I'd be married to a dog breeder." Sylvie rolled her eyes, returning to the parlor to pick Doreen up.

I turned for the door, hearing a knock sound. When I opened it, Oscar was standing on the step with a paper wrapped package and a bouquet of daisies. He thrust both at me, "Happy birthday, Anastasia."

"Thank you, Oscar," I took them both. "Please, come in. The Lightollers are already here."

He stepped past me, "Wonderful, at least it's not just Will and I." I sighed as I followed him, shaking my head. Honestly, those two were enough to drive me to drink. Fortunately, with a new object of focus, the boys immediately demanded to know everything about Oscar and Will was smirking at seeing the way Oscar was flustered by their interrogation.

I gave him a little pinch when I sat beside him, "You two need to stop it."

"I'm only smiling." Will pinched me back, making me jump. "Can't I smile on my wife's birthday?"

"Not when it's at Oscar's expense." I rolled my eyes, "If you keep this up, Lights is going to want details on why you two are glaring at each other."

Will winced, "Perhaps we should do presents and distract him." He stood, rummaged in a cupboard for a moment, before coming back with a bulky wrapped package. "Happy birthday, Ana."

That drew the attention of the boys, who watched avidly as I tore into the wrapping to reveal a wool coat. It was the same navy blue as Will's uniform, and I had a slight suspicion the gold buttons had been discarded from the same supplier the navy used. Will must have noticed my raised brow, "I asked a tailor near Rosyth to make it with what he had on hand, I figured you would need a nice warm coat for next month. Scotland is colder than here, you know."

I stood, coming to give him a kiss. "I do, thank you, Will. I love it."

"Mine next," Oscar grabbed the present I had set on the table, handing it to me. I unwrapped it, revealing a pair of fine leatherbound books. "Le Morte d'Arthur, in English, of course. I figured you would enjoy a long classic to get through during the winter."

"It's much needed," I gave him a smile, noting how Will had pursed his lips. "Thank you."

Will leaned over, his voice a whisper. "If he wrote something in there about being the Lancelot to your Guinevere, I'm killing him."

Sylvie saved me from stomping on my husband's foot, laughing lightly. "I'm afraid our gift hasn't been wrapped." She looked to Lights, "Bertie, tell them."

Lights looked to Sylvie, then back to Will and I. "You know that if anything happened to us, we'd want the children to go to you." He gave me a smile, "We know you both would raise them well and love them like your own, but we'd like to make it official."

Sylvie laid her hand on his arm, "What he means to say is that we want you two to be Doreen's godparents, if you'd be willing."

Will glanced to me, encouraged by my small nod. "We'd be honored."

"Good, because we've been putting off the christening until I was here and we'd asked you." Lights stood, reaching for the whiskey. "We've got the church ready for tomorrow, we'll be by to pick you up."

I snorted, "Well that was fast."

"I had no doubt the two of you would say yes," Lights chuckled, "And I assume when your happy event happens you'll be asking us to stand up?"

Will rolled his eyes, "You always have to be the center of attention."

"You have to admit," Lights toasted him with his glass. "It's much more fun when I am."

Sylvie was glad to finally be able to have Doreen christened, it had been long enough. Of course, she had wanted to have Bertie there for it, but if William was going to be a godfather, then he needed to be present. That had meant putting it off until both Doreen's father and godfather had leave at the same time and were in Southampton.

But now everyone was in church and properly dressed, much to the boy's disgust. She could see them sitting in a pew from where she was standing by the altar, shifting in their fine clothes. Sylvie made a note to remind herself to write Ruth a letter and thank her for buying those when they had visited, they looked so handsome in them. A glare from her calm the shifting, and they resumed sitting respectfully while the priest droned on.

Will and Anastasia were standing as straight as they could, clearly listening intently. Sylvie had to grin at that, they were taking it very seriously, a bit more seriously than needed. Sylvie had no doubt that she and Bertie would be around for far too long to watch over their children, especially now that he had ceased smoking that awful pipe.

The night before, laying next to Bertie after a round of lovemaking, she had brought up their choice of godparents. "We should have asked them to stand for Mavis too, you know."

Bertie, laying back with his eyes closed, shrugged. "It's already in the will, back from when he was still married to Ada."

"Still," Sylvie rolled over, draping a hand over his chest. "He did look awfully pleased when you brought it up."

Bertie opened one eye, "He looked proud is what he did, and I'm hoping it will help him."

"Help him how?"

He had wrapped an arm around her, "You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, not even Anna." Sylvie rolled her eyes, but agreed. Bertie had sighed, "You remember what I told you happened the night of the sinking, once we were on the boats."

Sylvie preferred to never think of that night, and she would like her husband to never think of it again. "I do."

"Well, that night if I hadn't been yelling at him half the time, Will had wanted to slip off the boat and back in the water." He squeezed her tighter, "Bloody fool blamed himself, but once Anna had him in her arms she didn't let him go."

"And thank God for that."

"Indeed," He pressed a kiss to her cheek, "But after Lusitania, he told me he had thought about it again. If Anna hadn't made it, he didn't intend to go on." He pursed his lips, "But William always does his duty, even if he hates it. I don't know how he made it through on that destroyer before he got his battlecruiser, I would have stabbed that captain after a week."

"More like a day."

"I can control myself," He rolled his eyes. "Most of the time. But this way, just in case anything does happen to Anna, which it won't, he has a duty to Doreen. He won't forget that."

Sylvie leaned up, pressing a kiss to his lips. "So thoughtful, aren't you?"

"Don't tell him," He chuckled, "I have to keep up my roguish reputation."

"My lips are sealed."

"Only on that matter though, I have far more need of your lips to have them sealed all the time." He had flipped her over then, leading to a very entertaining night that had made them a tad late to get up in the morning.

Now that Bertie had told her, she could see the way William stood dutifully by his wife, promising to raise Doreen as her parents would have wanted. He kept one hand wrapped in Anastasia's, but brushed his other over her daughter's head, his eyes softening as he did. Bertie may have said that William would do his duty if needed, but she could see the love in his eyes. She wasn't even his actual niece, but he clearly loved her like she was his own blood.

As did Anastasia, repeating Will's brush over Doreen. There was nothing but happiness in her gaze, a smile on her lips as she leaned over to press a kiss to Doreen's forehead. Sylvie knew she would make a wonderful mother, if only this damn war would allow her enough time with her husband.

Back in Scotland, Will was cold, miserable and dearly missing his wife. It was always a struggle to go from his warm cozy house back to his cramped cabin, no matter how much Sharpe tried to make it ready for him. Will still thanked him for his efforts, but it didn't matter that there was a cup of cocoa waiting for him, extra blankets laid out and the heater already warming the room.

It didn't have Ana.

He knew it wouldn't be long until he saw her again, Beatty had already issued leave to very captain for Christmas, and a good deal of the enlisted men would be taking brief trips to see their families. When he had eaten dinner in the wardroom a good deal of discussion had been about their cruise, but there had been brief comments about gifts for wives, children and sweethearts. A good deal of them were going to get extra buttons from the men's uniforms to wear as they liked, something Will thought was a good idea. He could easily see Ana sliding one of his buttons on her necklace, resting against her parent's rings.

He had only been able to have a couple nights in port before they received final approval to depart on their cruise. Ammunition had been loaded and stored away, the pantries were packed and the lines thrown off. It had cheered Will to see the men happy to finally be doing something, and not just his own. A few cruisers would be joining them, as would a squadron of destroyers. He could almost see Quigley on the bridge of the Peterel as she led them down the Firth.

Will knew the North Sea would be in a blow, it seemed like it always was during the winter, but this was rather intense. It quickly became apparent that the destroyers would not need to screen for U-boats, they would have a hard enough time keeping on a straight heading. But their crews were more than game to steam a distance away from the Unicorn and the cruisers and deploy their targets.

He pitied Ives up in the spotting tower, he was no doubt pitching up and down so harshly he might just fly out.

Ives may have been green around the gills, but he kept at his duty. No matter the fact that his first salvos were wide, that the rain was lashing against the windows, the guns struggling to come to bear against the pitch and roll of the ship. Will kept his feet in the bridge, using binoculars to observe the shells as they approached the targets each time the guns roared. It was dark by the time the targets were actually beginning to take hits and Will called a stop to it for the night.

Ives had been given a mug of hot tea laced with whiskey and covered in blankets when he reached the wardroom. His hands shook slightly as he drank, "I apologize for our performance today, sir. We will improve, you have my word on that."

Will sat down by him, patting his shoulder. "I could see the improvement throughout the day, I have no doubt you will use what you learned today tomorrow."

Ives pondered the depths of his mug, "Why do you have them so far away, sir? I wondered if we could even hit them when we started."

"Well, it's not likely that we'll be facing them right across from us." Will shrugged, "How much ammunition is left?"

"We expended a third today, sir." One of the quartermasters spoke up. "I have allocated half of what remains for tomorrow's practice, the other half to be held in reserve in case we face any action on our return."

Ives's jaw was set, "I'll make good use of my half, sir."

"What about torpedoes?" Will turned back to the quartermaster.

The man consulted his list, "We loaded a dozen for each of the four tubes, four held in reserve for each would be preferable. I can offer thirty-two to be expended."

"Then that it what we'll be doing on our way back to Rosyth." Will stood, looking at all of his officers. "I did not intend to bring you all our in a storm like this, but this can only improve us. The Unicorn will not be one of those ships to linger in port, we will be prepared for any battle we may face. If that means we train in the worst circumstances, then so be it. It means we will be ready."

Tyne lifted his glass of rum, "The men may hate you for it now, sir, but they'll come to thank you for it in the end."

Will raised his own glass back. "Do you all hate me now?"

Nettles chuckled, "I can't say I hate you sir, but I would much prefer to be in port."

Tyne snorted, "And I'd prefer to keep my rank. Now, sir, what time should we be ready to begin?"

Will couldn't help but grin at the groans that greeted his next words, "Sunrise gentlemen, if we can see it through this storm."