Here's another update for your reading pleasure. The story is over 300 word pages now. So much more to come.
Chapter Twelve
"Mr. Bates," Anna's day nurse greeted John as he returned to the hospital after a good sleep and meal. "We were just about to bring the baby to your wife for a feed, but she is still sleeping. Would you want to give her the bottle or shall we?"
"Oh, I will," John replied. "Has Mrs. Bates been awake at all?"
"Yes," the nurse replied. "She has. Lady Mary helped her eat some breakfast and we got her a change of dressing. Dr. Clarkson will round soon."
John nodded and limped toward Anna's room. Mary was still sitting by Anna's side having kept her word to John that Anna wouldn't be alone.
"I'm so sorry, m'lady," John said as soon as he stepped inside. "His lordship insisted I lie down and I must have been more tired than I thought."
"Of course you were," Mary replied. "Think nothing of it. You were awake for three days, and if what Anna says is true, probably more."
John blushed. "I've always been a terrible sleeper. My mother had her troubles with me, let me tell you. I'm grateful the children take after Anna in that respect."
The nurse pushed Elizabeth's bassinet into the room a moment later. The good-natured little one was awake, gurgling to herself in her cot. John noticed how when she moved her little limbs, she moved her legs more exuberently than her arms. She would shake her arms free of her swaddle, but did not try to stretch them. It was as if her body knew not to do that, that it would hurt.
"So smart already," John noted gently taking his new daughter from the cot. "Say "hello" Lady Mary. Tell her "thank you for taking care of Mummy."
Mary's eyes misted for a brief moment. "Nonsense. Anna has done that for me and more. I'll come back tomorrow. I know Mrs. Hughes and Carson are dropping by after luncheon and his lordship and Mr. Branson want to come tonight."
"Very good, m'lady," John replied. "His lordship is hoping to bring the children if he can get permission from Dr. Clarkson."
"I'm sure they'll be able to come," Mary assured. "Have a good day, ring if you need anything."
John said goodbye to Mary then turned his full attention to the baby. She had screwed up her little face to cry and pulled her legs up to give emphasis to her desire for food.
"Okay, baby, Daddy's going to fix it right away," John cooed. "Yes, I am. Here we go. Here's your bottle."
The baby drank the entire bottle down though there wasn't much in it. When she finished, John put her on his shoulder for a burp. He was the best of them at getting their little tummies to settle down when they fussed. He was tall and broad enough that the babies' tiny bellies fit against his shoulder. There had been miles walked in the Bates' household with gassy, fussy babies.
Elizabeth ate another time before Anna stirred. John was sitting next to her enjoying a cup of tea after a visit from Mrs. Hughes and Carson. They were disappointed Anna wasn't awake, but Mrs. Hughes forbade John to wake her.
"She needs to sleep until those cheeks are pink as roses again," Mrs. Hughes declared.
The elder couple fawned over the baby and Mrs. Hughes predictably got emotional when John revealed the name. What he didn't expect was for Carson to tear up at the child's middle name Charlotte for her honorary grandfather.
Anna made a small noise. It was not quite a sigh and not quite a moan, which John was grateful for. He sat up straighter, feeling his back protest the time he'd been sitting in the same place, but ignored it. John took Anna's small hand and kissed it gently. "Can you hear me, love?" he whispered. "It's John."
Anna opened her eyes and couldn't help but laugh though she instantly regretted it. "I should hope so. Who else would be kissing my hand, calling me love? Andrew?"
John chuckled a bit at himself. "How long have I been asleep?" Anna asked. She still felt so groggy and weighed down.
"Since breakfast and it's tea time," John replied. "You need your rest."
"Eight hours? I've slept eight hours? What about Elizabeth? What about her feeds and her nappy?"
"Ssh," John soothed with a thumb across the back of Anna's hand. "Lady Mary fed her this morning and I fed her when I came back after breakfast. I changed her nappy and the nurses bathed her and swaddled her. She is fine. She is more than fine."
Anna sighed. She was missing such important time with her baby. "Maybe she'll nurse tomorrow," Anna said hopefully though she could tell in a moment John didn't share that hope.
"What is it?" Anna asked at the look of worry on his face.
"It's just…" John sighed. "Dr. Cooke and Dr. Clarkson feel that, in this case, it might not be best for Elizabeth to be nursed. They feel a formula feed will be better for her, they can be certain that she is getting what she needs to heal her little bones."
Anna's face fell and her eyes filled with tears. Her voice was so small when she spoke it broke John's heart. "But I always nursed our babies. I want to."
John moved to sit on the edge of the bed and take Anna in his arms. "I know you do. I know…" He rocked ever so slowly to soothe her tears. "She's not even two days old and I'm failing her."
"No," John said fervently. "You are not. You are not." John pulled back and wiped Anna's tears with his thumbs, cupping her face in his large hands. "You fought and fought to bring our baby girl into the world. You had so much more strength than even I imagined and I know how strong you are. Giving up what you want to do for what you have to, that's what a mother does, a good mother, and you are that and more. Don't be upset. It'll be fine. You will get more rest, you will heal more quickly. It'll be alright."
Anna pressed her cheek to John's strong chest and inhaled his essence, a scent that was peppermint, sandalwood, and John. It was endlessly comforting. He kept repeating over and over, "It'll be alright." And when he said it, she believed.
Anna managed to stay awake longer enough to give Elizabeth her next bottle. She smiled at the little girl as she laid in her arms. The bruises on the side of her head were already beginning to fade. It pleased Anna that Ellie didn't seem bothered by any of the circumstances around her birth. She suckled the bottle very quickly, she was so far, their calmest and most contented baby.
"Oh, John," Anna sighed. "She is perfect, isn't she? Ten little fingers, ten little toes…She has your cheeks."
"And your button nose, and your beautiful lips," John whispered. "I'm going to have to borrow one of the grouse guns when our girls get older."
Anna laughed, then winced in pain. John took the baby and placed her in the cot before helping Anna lie back down. "Easy," John whispered. "Lie back, have a rest."
"I do feel like I might have pushed too far," Anna admitted. "I'm very tired just now."
John smoothed back her hair and offered a cup of water. Anna winced again when the bed shifted and reached for John's arm. "Shall I ring for the nurse? Get you something for the pain?"
Anna was so joyful at having held Elizabeth that it was easy to forget she had just been cut stem to stern giving birth to her. She hadn't had any pain medication since waking earlier and John was not above going to the nurses' desk and having some given posthaste.
"Not until we see the children," Anna sighed. "I don't want to be asleep when they come and frighten them."
"My darling," John sighed. "If you aren't up to a visit from the children, I will just call his lordship and ask him not to bring them, that's all."
Anna shook her head, "No, I want to see them and they need to meet their new sister. Has his lordship seen her?"
John rose to check on the baby as he replied, "Yes, love. You likely don't remember, but his lordship was here the whole time they were closing you up and examining her. He came with Lady Mary right after and saw her then."
"Then I must thank him," Anna sighed, sipping her water. "For taking care of my dear husband so well when I wasn't able."
John looked away, not wanting to remember that terror.
Anna rested, remaining as still as possible, while John had Elizabeth returned to the nursery for a change and a bath. She had been returned for her feed just before Robert and Tom arrived at the hospital with the children.
John was hovering near Anna and the baby as the family approached. Robert got down on their level and gave a gentle, but firm warning on John's behalf. "Now, remember, your Daddy has asked that you be careful of your Mummy. She has a sore tummy and he doesn't want her to be jostled. Do you understand?"
Two small heads nodded as they waited for the door to open.
Tom pushed the handle and the children rushed into the door toward their parents. Elizabeth was lying in Anna's arms while John flung his arms wide to receive Johnny and Maggie. "Hello, my darlings!"
John caught them in a warm embrace then let them loose to greet Anna or he tried to. Maggie clung to her father's neck and pressed her face into his shoulder. John looked at Robert then Anna as he steadied himself to keep from falling at the unexpected weight. He rose to his full height then shifted Maggie to his left hip. Johnny held back also holding onto John's good leg just below his sister.
"Don't you want to say "hello" to Mummy?" John asked gently.
"I apologize Bates," Tom spoke up. "Maggie missed her nap and Johnny didn't sleep well, per Nanny." Tom turned his attention to Anna. "Congratulations Anna. She is beautiful. Bates, this makes three very smart children."
Both Anna and John blushed a bit at the compliments. "Thank you, Mr. Branson," Anna said quietly, wishing to engage her older children. She turned the baby slightly. "Johnny, Maggie, come to Mummy, my darlings."
Maggie's legs tightened around John's middle and her arms around his neck. She was full on crying now as John started to move toward Anna. Johnny turned white, but looked up at his father. Never wanting to let John down, or have his father think he wasn't brave, Johnny inched closer and peered at his new sister on tiptoes, at least a meter away from the bed. "She's nice," Johnny managed to say. "She's really small."
Anna nodded, "Yes, your new sister is quite small. Her name is Elizabeth Charlotte. Do you know who she is called after?"
Johnny didn't answer, nor did Maggie. John was softly rubbing Maggie's back, whispering gently, trying to talk her out of whatever this was that upset her so.
Anna kept talking, hoping to get a reaction from her children. "Johnny, you know you are properly John Robert, named for Daddy and his lordship and Maggie, you are Margaret Mary, like Daddy calls you, called after Daddy's Mummy and Lady Mary. Elizabeth is Elizabeth Charlotte after Granny Elsie and Grandpa Charlie. All three of you are named after very special people."
Johnny slowly started to venture closer to the bed, eyeing the person that had kept his beloved Mummy from him for nearly a week.
All the while, Tom and Robert had been making awkward small talk until Anna looked at them. "Who would like to hold her first?"
Robert deferred to Tom who held the baby carefully. He didn't want to upset her as she was sleeping so peacefully. "Oh, she's so light," Tom marveled as she sniffed in Elizabeth's new baby smell.
John moved closer to Robert as Maggie's tears started to subside. With a polite, false smile affixed to his face he asked, "What did you do to my children?"
Robert shook his head, "Nothing at all. As Tom said, they are both tired, especially Maggie. They wanted to come, they were excited. I told them as you asked, by the way, to be careful, then this one…" Robert motioned to Maggie. "Started leaking and that one," he motioned to Johnny. "Went almost totally frozen and silent though why I couldn't tell you."
Tom took that moment to pass Elizabeth off to Robert. As soon as Robert took her, he was besotted by her. "Oh, Bates, what a darling little thing."
John smiled shyly as his hip started to play up and his bad knee tightened. He bit his lip to avoid hissing then leaned down to set Maggie on her feet. Maggie held fast and started crying again. "Daddy, no," Maggie sobbed. "No, no!"
"Maggie," Anna piped up. "Come see Mummy. John, put her on the bed."
Maggie threw a full blown fit, very unlike her or her brother. John shifted so she had to look at him. "Maggie, stop this. Daddy has to put you down now you can go on the bed with Mummy or on your feet on the floor. You have until three to make up your mind. One…two…"
It was rare either Anna or John ever got to three because the few times they did the consequences often involved a few whacks on their bottoms with John's open palm. Maggie finally relented and sniffled, "Bed."
John eased Maggie onto the bed near Anna's leg. Anna reached her arms out for her daughter. Maggie carefully went to Anna and laid against her side, mindful of her tummy as Robert instructed.
John took a deep breath and kept biting down on his cheek. Robert could see how the color had all but drained from John's face.
Robert wiggled Elizabeth slightly as he turned toward John. "Would you take her, Bates? Go and sit in the chair by Anna's bed, let me see all five of you together."
John sank gratefully into the chair and accepted the baby into his arms with a smile. He shot Robert a look of thanks and sighed as Elizabeth nuzzled against him.
After cuddling with Anna for a few minutes, Maggie was fast asleep and Johnny was more agreeable about looking at his new sister. "Can I hold her, too?" Johnny asked shyly.
"Well," Anna began. "She is too tiny right now, but when she comes home you can hold her, but only sitting down and only if an adult is with you."
Johnny nodded, and touched Ellie through her swaddle. She made a baby noise and moved a little making Johnny smile.
John looked over at Anna, "It's about time to say goodnight, love. Perhaps they can visit again?"
Robert nodded, "I'll have her ladyship arrange it in a few days time. Tom, will you pick Maggie up please?"
Anna shook her head, "No, Mr. Branson. Mr. Bates can carry her out. Your lordship, do you think Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Parker can sort out a bed for Mr. Bates?"
"Anna, I'm not…" John began but Anna shook her head.
"I'll be sleeping, Mr. Bates, and you haven't properly in nigh on a week now. You'll be in here next if you aren't more careful. Now, off with you, and don't come back before you've had breakfast from Mrs. Patmore."
John knew when he was bested and he truly was. He carefully scooped Maggie off the bed and nodded to Johnny to follow Robert and Tom out. When it was just Anna and John again, he leaned over and gave her a kiss. "I'll send in a nurse then to take Elizabeth and ready you for bed. If you need me…"
Anna nodded her uunderstanding, "I love you," she whispered as John brushed her lips with his.
"I love you," John replied. His heart soared.