Alright, I know I said there would be two more parts, but I was wrong. As I went to work on this story, I realized there was only one part left. That is partly because my muse decided to change the ending. Thank you all for reading this story! Enjoy!

Lucky Charm

7 Years Later

"Daddy, you aren't doing it right," Emilia complained, as she took the hairbrush out of John's hand and turned back to face the mirror. "Mummy always does it this way." Emilia showed John how Anna would brush her hair into a ponytail and then tie the band around her thick dark hair. However, when Emilia tried to do the last step, her hair fell out again. Suddenly, Emilia burst into tears. "My hair!"

"Emilia, you look just as beautiful with your hair down," John said, trying to settle his daughter. He sighed slightly. He needed Anna here to handle hair and clothing. To Emilia he was never good enough at this. "Maybe even more beautiful," he added.

Emilia twisted her lips and then nodded, sniffling and rubbing the tears from her eyes. She pulled open the large drawer of bows and picked out the purple one to match her dress, before handing it to John.

John tightened his jaw, but clipped the bow on the side like he had seen Anna do many times before. Watching Emilia's face carefully, he sighed in relief when she seemed pleased with the outcome.

"Perfect!" Emilia turned and wrapped her arms around John's waist. His hands returned the action and he took in a deep breath. There wasn't much better in life than one of his children hugging him. Emilia, who had been born small, was a tough one. She was strong willed, but fair minded. John knew once she hit the teens that she would be a force to be reckoned with.

John gently took her shoulders into his hands and stepped back slightly. "Go on and get your brother," he told her. Emilia happily skipped out of the bathroom and he could hear her calling across the house for Bennett. "Don't yell for him, Em, go and get him."

Emilia sighed, but did as she was told. John chuckled. He stepped into the hallway and headed across to the kitchen. There sitting on the table was an ornate cake made by Bennett. At only twelve years old, Bennett had become a master in the kitchen like his mother. He went to swipe at a corner of the cake, when he heard Bennett shouting across the room.

"Dad! No!" Bennett came running toward him and gave him a scowl. "That's not for now. There's leftover icing over there," John looked to where Bennett was pointing. He grabbed the bowl and happily dug his finger into it to get a taste.

"I don't know how you do it, son, but this tastes like heaven."

"Can I have some?" Emilia eagerly asked. John put the bowl to her level and Emilia swiped her own bit of icing.

"You both are going to get messy," Bennett scolded. John just laughed.

"We'll wash our hands. It'll be okay."

As promised, John and Emilia washed their hands. Then John carefully picked up the cake and led the children out to the car.

Placing the cake into the car, John felt immense responsibility not to let anything happen to it. Bennett had spent hours and hours making it perfect. He twisted his lips and maneuvered everything in the back until he was sure the cake would make it to their final location safely.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

When they reached the building, John saw that many people had already arrived. Emilia ran off in front of him and he had to call her back to help grab a few things. She pouted briefly, before taking a couple of the bags and rushing back inside. Bennett, on the other hand, had already taken several things inside before John even had to ask him.

"John!" Sybil's happy voice rang. She walked up to him and placed her arm lightly around him. "Does she suspect anything?"

"I don't think so. I believe Mary and I have kept it under wraps."

"Great! The entire Crawley clan is here and a few others. Do you need help with anything?" John shook his head.

"No, thank you."

He walked into the building and was happy to see how well decorated it all was. He found the food table and placed the cake in the middle. Then sighed contently to see it was still all in one piece. John then went to work with the few finishing touches. He didn't have long until Mary would be arriving with her.

"Alright everyone! I just got a text from Mary. They will be here in five minutes." At his statement, Emilia ran over to him and asked to be held. She was giggling so intensely from excitement. John had been afraid she would spoil the surprised, but Emilia had done great keeping the big secret.

The doors opened and everyone quickly shouted, "SURPRISE!"

Anna's jaw dropped, as she took in the room full of their family and friends. She glanced to John, who walked over to her and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"What…what's all this for?"

"It's happy one year, Mommy!" Emilia leapt toward Anna and Anna stumbled slightly by the weight distribution. John steadied her with his hands around her waist and gave Emilia a pointed look.

"You have to be careful," he reminded her. Emilia gave him a sheepish grin and nodded.

"Sorry, mummy," she murmured. Anna wrapped her arms more tightly around the little girl's frame and kissed her cheek.

"That's okay, sweet girl. I know you're just excited."

"Everyone is waiting to celebrate with you," Mary interrupted from behind them. "Go on, then."

Not wanting to argue with Mary, John and Anna headed further into the room. Everyone was hugging Anna and telling her how happy they were for her. The room was bouncing with a lot of happy energy. Joy for his wife built up in John's frame.

"Mum, come look," Bennett said, coming up over to his parents and sister. He took a hold of Anna's hand and led her to the table where his cake was.

When they got to the table, Anna's eyes welled up with tears. It was the most beautiful cake with the words, "Happy One Year with a New Heart!" The new heart had been their miracle. A year and a half ago, the LVAD was no longer able to keep her heart going like it was supposed to. The doctors were giving her a year or less. She had been sure that was the end of her rope. But then, surprisingly, there was a heart available for her. The surgery was a success and thankfully, her body accepted the heart. New hearts were not a guarantee of a longer life, but they gave hope for one. The longest someone had lived with a heart transplant to date was 33 years. Some only ten or less. John said she would beat the record. As of right now, everything was going well and the doctors felt John could possibly be right.

"Bennett, this is beautiful." He beamed at her compliment. Anna ruffled his auburn hair and smiled. She had the most beautiful family.

"Years ago, we said we would celebrate if you got a new heart," John reminded her. Anna nodded. She remembered that conversation. "When you got the heart, you were still weak. Mary and I decided waiting until you hit the year mark would be best because you could enjoy it." Anna happily moaned and leaned closer to John. She caught his lips into hers and he happily returned the favor.

"Ugh," Emilia covered her eyes and hid her face into Anna's neck.

"They just love each other, Emilia," Bennett explained to his sister. "Don't you want them to love one another?"

"Yes," Emilia replied, sitting her head up. "But not with kisses!"

At that, John peppered several kisses on Anna's lips, making Anna giggle.

"And we love you too," he said, kissing Emilia's cheek and turning to Bennett, but Bennett put his hand up and shook his head.

"I'm twelve; no more kisses from my parents." Anna rolled her eyes, but respected his wishes.

"Okay, but we do love you, as well."

"I know that, Mum," he said in exasperation. "I'm going to go and find Sybbie and the other kids. Come on, Emilia." Anna placed Emilia down and watched as their two children ran to find the other kids. Then she melted into John's side and placed her head against him.

"I do think you might be my lucky charm, Mr. Bates," she murmured into his chest. John's hand ran up and down her back and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"No, no, my darling, you are mine." And as John glanced around the room at everyone who had come to celebrate with them and their happy children playing with the others, he knew it was true.

The End

Maybe the ending was a bit too cheesy? I'm not sure, but they can be cheesy at times,(Can't we all? lol). You can thank my muse for Anna living. She was supposed to die, but in the end, my muse decided she needed to live. So here you have it. Thank you for reading this story! I am sad it's over. It was one of my favorites.