Disclaimer: I do not own anything Peaky Blinder related, that belongs to the series creator Steven Knight.

Chapter Four: No Greater Cause.

"I have news," Robert announced taking a seat at the table, his family were all crammed into the small room waiting to hear what he had to say and he doubted that they would be happy with his news. It hadn't been an easy decision to make but Robert doubted that there was any way that he could deny the calling that was coming for all men to sign up for the war.

Rosemary leant against the kitchen counter in the corner of the room, she had a feeling that she knew what he was going to say; many in the street around them had gone to fight in the war. It had barely been a few days since Arthur Shelby had left and the streets were emptying of men that were capable of fighting in this war.

"I enlisted in the war effort… my papers came this morning and I am leaving in the coming days," Robert revealed knowing that this shouldn't come as much of a surprise for them; everyone had to do their part and he was going to do his. There was nothing that anyone could say that would dissuade him from this and he wanted to make his family proud of him.

He wasn't going to be one of those cowards that stayed while everyone else was fighting, they needed every able man that they could get their hands on to fight in this war. Victoria was completely speechless at the news that her husband had enlisted, it was something that they had discussed and she had thought that he would remain here with them instead of fighting.

She didn't care if that made him a coward and he was forced to walk around with some white feather attached to his jacket; it would mean that he was safe and that was all that mattered to her. Ellen started to cry, she didn't want her father going to war; she was frightened and she knew that there was every chance that something could happen to him.

Yvette moved to comfort Ellen, none of them liked this but there was no backing out now; he was going and she had seen how people treated those who weren't signing up. Those who completely refused to fight for their country were practically shunned by the community; it wouldn't be long before they were attacked for not fighting when every other man was.

"You can't," Colleen insisted wanting her father to remain safe, there had to be things that he could do around here that could contribute to the war effort without him being shipped off to the main land to fight. It wasn't like there wasn't enough men going off to fight, she couldn't imagine what she would do if Peter went to war; she had insisted that he stay behind since they were expecting their first child and she needed him here.

Rosemary shook her head, there was no way that he couldn't go now and she could only imagine what sort of disgrace would be brought upon their family home if their father changed his mind. The Order of the White Feather would certainly make sure that Robert would keep to his duty; they were already ensuring that more men signed up for the cause by singling out those who refused to do so.

"My Peter will never join up for this stupid war," Colleen insisted resting a hand on her stomach, she was joyfully looking forward to becoming a mother and this war wasn't going to change that. Her baby was due in the coming year and she had already started to prepare for that day; she wanted nothing more than to have her husband be with her when that time came.

"Then he's a fool," Robert told her, he couldn't imagine that Peter's decision to remain would go un-noticed and his life would be forever marked by his decision not to fight in this war.

Arriving at the Shelby house, Rosemary couldn't help but find the house oddly quiet now that Arthur had left for the war; it had only been a couple of days since he had left but his presence was missed by his family. Many men had disappeared from the streets that she walked, all of them going to fight in a war with the promise that they would be back for Christmas.

Shutting the door behind her, Rosemary let out a breath as she thought about how tense things had been that morning over breakfast; she had left when her mother and sister had tried to talk her father out of leaving. There was no way around it now and Rosemary knew that this would be just the beginning; she didn't want to think about who would be next.

"Rosie," Finn called in greeting, he rushed from the living room towards her with a large smile on his face; he hadn't been expecting her today and he was so happy that she had come. Things had been tense since Arthur had left and he wondered which one of his brothers would be next; he didn't want to be the only one left behind but he had heard that John was already been down to enlist.

Shrugging off her coat, Rosemary hung it up by the door way and gave the little boy a hug; he seemed to always have a smile on his face when she saw him. Heading towards the kitchen, Rosemary found Thomas and Polly having a deep conversation and it didn't look pleasant; she paused by the doorway not wanting to disturb them. Clearing her throat, Rosemary was surprised that neither of them seemed to have noticed during their whispered conversation that she had arrived.

"Rosemary," Polly greeted with a forced smile, she hadn't been expecting the girl that day but she knew that the visit couldn't have come at a better time. Thomas straightened up, his eyes sweeping over Rosemary and locking onto Finn; hoping that his younger brother hadn't heard what they had been discussing and informed Rosemary yet.

"You mentioned something about lunch?" Rosemary reminded him, she was sure that he wouldn't have forgotten and she wanted to get away from the house while she had the chance. The last thing that Rosemary wanted was to spend even more time around her family when they were arguing; however, it was quite refreshing not being the source of such arguments for a change.

Thomas nodded his head, he moved towards Rosemary knowing that he would much rather spend a lovely afternoon such as this with her instead of running around dealing with idiots for business. Before he could get too far away from Polly, her hand shot out and grabbed his arm; her eyes focused on his face as she pulled him close to her.

"You're going to have to tell her eventually," Polly hissed at him, she had no idea how he had managed to keep this a secret from them for so long but there was nothing that she could do about it now. Thomas only stared at her for a moment, he knew that she was right but that didn't help him now; he was unsure how Rosemary would react to the idea that he had enlisted in the war. His orders had come that morning with his aunt opening them before he could receive them; he hadn't wanted his family to find out like this especially after Arthur had just left.

"I shall see you later Aunt Poll," Thomas insisted with a nod of his head, she was right of course but that didn't mean that he was just going to completely drop the news on her. Rosemary deserved to be told and Thomas had the entire conversation planned rather carefully in his head. He could only hope that everything went the way that he had imagined it, he didn't want to break the news in a way that might hurt her.

"There's nothing great about war Tommy," Rosemary whispered staring at him, the news that he had enlisted had come as a bit of a surprise even if it had been expected; it hurt that he hadn't told her sooner about this. She'd only just received the news that her father was being deployed to fight in France and now she had to deal with the fact that Thomas was going with him.

Rosemary sat silent trying to make sense of the mess that had come with this war, she feared just what would lay ahead for them and just how this would affect things now. Thomas nodded his head at her words, he didn't think that there would be anything good to come from this war; he just knew that he couldn't stay in Birmingham and do nothing.

"I have to do this Rose… I have to fight for my country, to protect my family… to protect you," Thomas insisted taking her hand, they had been walking around the park when he had broken the news to her and she hadn't said much since he had told her. He had just heard that her father had enlisted and it seemed like a good time to tell her that he would also be fighting in the war; he had been rather surprised to her that her brother-in-law would not be enlisting. Thomas very much doubted that would last long especially when Peter was forced to where a white feather to show how much of a coward he was.

"They say the war will be done by Christmas… I should be home soon," Thomas said trying to offer her some thought of comfort, he very much doubted that any war would be over so quickly especially with so many countries now involved in it. Rosemary took a deep breath, she didn't believe that for a moment and the more times that she seemed to hear those words; the more she began to believe that the war would last much longer.

With a nod of her head, Rosemary accepted that Thomas was going to fight in the war; he would serve in the same unit as Arthur was and her father was going to do. Relief filled Thomas when he realised that she wasn't going to try and talk him out of it, he didn't want to upset her and it was going to be hard enough to leave when his time came to do so.

"There is one thing I would like to do before I leave…" Thomas murmured with a smile, he could only imagine leaving for war one way and he hoped that Rosemary was going to consent especially given that her parents disliked him. There was no greater cause than fighting for his country and Thomas knew that he would probably never forget this moment while he was there; it would be all that he would think about while he was away from her. His hands felt rather clammy as he looked at Rosemary, he wasn't quite sure how to say this but he hoped that he wasn't about to make a mess of this.

"Marry me?" Thomas asked wanting nothing more than to have this happen before he left, he cared not what Robert and Victoria would say; he was sure that they'd have bigger things to worry about right now. Rosemary Lily Shelby had a lovely ring to it and Thomas very much doubted that they would be the only young couple rushing to get married before the man was shipped off to fight in the war. A smile formed on Rosemary's face as she stared at Thomas, she couldn't quite believe that he had asked her and she knew deep down what her answer would be.

"Yes," Rosemary gushed, she threw her arms around Thomas's neck and kissed him; she couldn't imagine that she would have said anything else to that question. Her parents would just have to deal with the fact that she was going to marry Thomas, she wasn't going to marry some baker like her sister had done.

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