Upstairs, Frances searched through her drawers for the letter. She had rewritten it many times, thought about sending it, thought about burning it. In the end it was safely stowed away in her drawers. But now, now she was unsure what to do. The letter read:

'
Dear John,

I hope you are well. How are your parents? Was the journey agreeable?

I have something to tell you. The week after you returned to England, I discovered that I am with child. Your child. I thought that it would be important for you to know. I have not told anyone else, Ma is not very approachable lately and Da never was.

I want to make it clear that I am not sending you this letter to force you to return. J only wish to inform you that you will be a father. Once my parents are informed they will likely marry me off as soon as possible to avoid scandal.
I do love you John. And I believe that you love me. At least we have that.

Love,

Frances
'

Should she send him the letter now? What good would it do? What would be the point? That baby was now a man with children of his own. And that baby only knew her as his godmother. Bringing this out into the open now would be stupid. It would destroy many people's lives and no one would gain anything. It wasn't as though John would sweep her off her feet and they would ride off into the sunset. He was married to that annoyingly pretty younger woman, Annie or whatever her name is.

But he needed to know that he was already a father. Maybe, if she wrote another letter- she wouldn't even have to sign it- explaining everything and telling him all about his son, then didn't send it until just before he leaves, none of it would be out in the open after all.

She took out her stationery set and began to write.

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Anna's POV

I sat and watched people dance in the pub. I eagerly wanted to dance, so I got up.
"Anna, where are you going?" John asked me.
"I'm just going to dance."
"But shouldn't you be more careful in your condition?" he said and gave me a concerned look. Although I love him more than life itself, his over protective attitude can be a bit annoying.
"Just one dance?"
"Alright, but please be careful."

I started dancing with someone, but I could see John watching me. I could tell that he was sad that he couldn't be the one dancing with me. I keep telling him that his injury doesn't matter to me, but when I'm dancing or something like that, it is clear how much he wishes to be rid of his stick.But, all he could do was watch me from afar. I was careful as I danced, which was no easy feat when you were dancing a jig. I knew that John would appreciate how cautious I was with our child. At one point during the dance, I clutched my stomach. A searing pain stabbed my abdomen John immediately rushed over.

"Are you alright?" he asked hurrying to me. The pain disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, but I was grateful that he had come to my aid. I always feel safer and more comfortable when he is around.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Good. Maybe we should leave now..."
"I barely got to dance. I'm not ill, you know. I'm just pregnant." I said starting to get a little bit upset. I started out the door, barely registering what I was doing. He followed me into the night. The stars sparkled and shined. I stared up at the sky. "I wonder if our child will want to try to count the starts. I tried that once as a child. Did you ever try that?"
"Not that I recall."

I looked at him then, "I'm sorry I got upset. I've just been more emotional lately."
"I'm sorry too," he said grabbing my hand,"I should be less overbearing."
He hugged me then, and we both looked at the sky in the midst of our embrace. We stood there, wrapped in each others arms for quite some time, before Peggy called us back inside to the warmth.

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

When John had been summoned to the other side of the room by Seamus, Peggy took her opportunity to unsettle Anna. "Frances is coming over for dinner tomorrow, after mass." She smiled. Anna blinked, "oh? Does she come often, or..?"
"Often enough. We're closer than you might think. Even after her engagement to John fell apart-" Anna almost choked on the juice she was drinking. "They were engaged?" Peggy smiled innocently, it was just as she thought, the girl knew nothing.

"Oh didn't you know? Ah sure, there's probably a perfectly reasonable excuse for John not tellin' ya. It's not like he held back the information to prevent your suspicion that he still loves Frances or anything. Because he definitely did love her very much, that was always clear. They were a lovely couple you know, very suited to each other. I don't have a notion what happened. Twas probably her father, he hated John. He wouldn't keep them apart now though. But sure, John has you now. Tisn't as though he's going to let years of summer time romance and promises of undying love and unofficial exchanges of wedding vows, get in the way of his marriage to you."

Peggy almost laughed at the expression on Anna's face. She didn't hate Anna herself, she didn't have anything against the girl really. But she always believed that Frances and John were meant to be together. And she was willing to do everything in her power to unite them. As for their son, John Francis Hogan, Peggy believed that he deserved to know who his real parents are, preferably not from his mother's death bed as Frances had planned. If Anna got hurt in the process, so be it. Every war had it's casualties.

Well!

I hope you are enjoying this so far, I know that I've kind of neglected this story for a while, but I'm trying to write more. Only a few more chapters to go !

THANK YOU FOR READING! !

Hugs,

SaskatFishcakes

&

anna_bates_forever