Tommy couldn't sleep if he wanted to. He had been sat on his bed, perched on the edge and looking at the photograph on his wife's bedside table of him, Charlotte and her. Charlotte was giggling as Elizabeth held her in her lap and Tommy stood behind them, hand on his wife's shoulder. She had insisted on him smiling, detesting photographs where they were frowning. All she had managed from him was a small quirk of his lips. Tommy wasn't known to smile on request. Sighing to himself, he closed his eyes and ran his hands over his cheek.

The door to the bedroom slowly opened. Hearing it creak, Tommy looked up and over to it. Charlotte stood there in her nightgown, her hair hanging in messy curls down her shoulders. Squinting to look at the clock in the darkness, Tommy frowned. It was only three in the morning. Charlotte stood there, holding onto the door handle of the bedroom and she rocked back and forth on her heels.

"Yer should be sleepin'," Tommy said her.

She shook her head. "I can't get back to sleep," she told him.

"No, me neither," Tommy concluded and he nodded to her, urging for her to come to him. She did so instantly, hands dropping the door handle. She rushed towards him and Tommy watched her sit next to him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she leant against his side.

"She is ill, isn't she?" Charlotte spoke to her father, her tone soft and low. "Mummy is really ill."

Tommy gulped then, trying to blink back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. How could he tell Charlotte the truth? He didn't want to tell her it, but he knew that it would be for the best. It would be best if she knew the truth. But she was a little girl. She was only a little girl and Tommy didn't want to hurt her. But then what if the worst did happen? What if Elizabeth didn't come home? Tommy didn't want to think about that. Instead he nodded.

"Yeah," he admitted to her. "She is ill."

"I don't want anything to happen to her, daddy," Charlotte whispered. "I want her to wake up. I want her to come home."

"Eh, we both want that," Tommy said, moving a finger underneath her chin and drawing her gaze up to his. Looking her in the eye, Tommy noted that her eyes were wide and wet. She was on the verge of crying and Tommy couldn't blame her. "But yer 'ave to just wait, Charlotte, okay? Yer mum…she's strong. Okay? She's really strong."

"I know," she said, "she said she had to be to live with you."

Tommy did smirk at hearing that then and he nodded his head. He bent down and kissed her on the top of her head. He moved her to sit on his lap and she looked to him with the exact same stare her mother had. He nodded his head and realised that he would try to keep the truth from her for as long as possible. Tommy wasn't an optimistic man, but for the sake of his wife he had to be. For Charlotte's sake he had to be. She needed him. He wasn't giving up on her. He was never going to give up on her.

"How about we go and get somethin' to eat, eh?" Tommy asked from his daughter.

"But it is morning," she said to him.

"Time don't matter right now, does it?" Tommy asked from her, knowing that she hadn't had anything to eat since they had been at the hospital. He had to keep her distracted too. He had promised his wife that he would always be there for both of them and he intended to keep that promise. "Come on, we can go and eat whatever yer want."

She nodded her head. "I'm hungry," she said to him.

"Then come on," he said and stood up. He kept a grip of Charlotte and carried her downstairs to the kitchen for something to eat. As he walked to the staircase, James peered out from behind the door and looked to the two of them. He was dressed in his pyjamas and was holding onto the doorknob tightly.

"I can't sleep," he commented and Tommy nodded.

"Neither can we," Tommy said to the young boy. "Do yer want somethin' to eat?"

"Yes," he said and nodded. Tommy nodded to the boy and he followed him down the staircase.

…

Frances found Tommy, James and Charlotte in the living room at seven the next morning. She was about to start her shift when she had noted that things had gone missing from the kitchen including bread. Jam had been left out and a packet of biscuits had gone missing. She moved around the house and eventually found the missing food. There were two plates on the coffee table in the living room alongside half a pack of biscuits. Charlotte was sleeping on the sofa, tucked beneath a blanket. She rested by Tommy's side, her head against him as his arm remained around her shoulders and he was slumped down on the sofa, his eyes also closed. He was sleeping soundly too. James was in the chair, curled into a ball with a blanket over his body.

She should have been shocked at that. Tommy never seemed to sleep, yet here he was. He had his eyes firmly closed and his lips parted. No doubt exhaustion had taken hold of him. France silently backed out of the room and left the two of them, knowing that it was not in her place to wake them, not when they were so tired.

Instead, she went to the kitchen and informed the rest of the staff what had happened and what the proper conduct was to be. She had warned them that it would be for the best to stay out of Tommy's way. She knew how volatile he could be at the best of times, never mind when his wife was in hospital.

The phone began to ring just as Frances was about to begin sorting out the parlour. She went to answer it, suspecting that Tommy was still sleeping. Placing it to her ear, she sniffed and struggled to stop a stray tear as she let her emotions take hold of her.

"Shelby residence," she spoke.

"Good Morning, can we speak to Mr Shelby. It is about his wife, Elizabeth."

Several Years Earlier

Sitting in The Garrison, Tommy closed his eyes and remained seated on the long bench in the private room that he and his family had rented out. He could hear his brothers laughing raucously and he knew that they had too much to eat. The issue was that he didn't want to join in with the cheer. He had no desire to join in. Instead he knew that his mind was on something else, or, more accurately, someone else. Ever since she had gone she was all that he could think about. She was all that was on his mind. He missed her. He had known her for a few weeks and already he was acting like some lovesick puppy. His brothers had hardly picked up on it, but Pol was more astute.

She urged Tommy to join her outside to walk her home, feigning tiredness for the evening. Tommy wondered why she needed him, but he did not bother to question her. Instead he stood up and downed the rest of his drink, tipping his heads towards his brothers before following his Aunt from the pub. Once in the street, Tommy felt the chill of the air around him. He pulled his coat tightly around his body and sniffed as Pol placed her hands into her pockets and sauntered by his side.

"Yer know that I am beyond tellin' yer 'own to live yer life," Pol said to her nephew. She had often tried to get inside of Tommy's head and find out what he was thinking. But Tommy was closed off to her. "But I know that yer mind 'as been on one thin' and one thin' only."

"She told me she loved me," Tommy admitted to Pol. He was not a man who openly showed his emotions, but when it came to Elizabeth, he could not help it. She remained mute for a few moments and Tommy turned his head to the side and looked at her. "In 'er letter, she told me that she loved me."

"And do yer love 'er?" Pol asked from Tommy.

He shrugged. Chewing down on the inside of his cheek, he looked to the sky as the moon peeked out from behind a cloud. "I don't know," he responded in a mutter. "All I can think of is 'er…About 'ow she looked…'ow I actually enjoyed spending time with her."

"Should I take that as a yes?"

"I don't know," Tommy replied. "I don't even know what love is."

"Who does?" Pol said in a nonchalant tone. "But is she different to the others?"

"The others?" Tommy wondered.

"The others who yer 'ave been with," Pol said. "I know none of you lads are innocent. Did yer ever think about any of them like yer think about 'er?"

"Never," Tommy did not even skip a beat when he said that. He shrugged his shoulders in her direction and reached for the cigarette packet in his coat. He lit the cigarette and let it dangle from his lips.

"Yer know that yer are playin' with fire, right?" Pol checked with him. "She is a Kimber, Tommy. If yer want to be with 'er then yer need to leave Birmingham. Yer need to go somewhere else…be in London with her. Yer can't bring her back 'ere…it would be too dangerous."

"Aye, I 'ave thought about it," Tommy said with a stiff voice.

"And would yer be willin' to do that?"

"I don't know," Tommy blew a puff of smoke out. "I 'aven't thought that much about it, Pol. "I need time."

"If I 'ad any sense then I would warn yer off of her," Pol said with a shake of her head. "She isn't right for yer, Tommy. She is too prim and proper. She isn't the kind of girl that I see yer with."

"And who do yer see me with?" Tommy asked, voice now more terse than before.

"Someone who wasn't born with a silver spoon in 'er mouth."

"She isn't like that."

"She is exactly like that."

"Yer don't know 'er, Pol."

"And yer don't know 'er either, Tommy. She spent a few weeks livin' in yer 'ouse. That doesn't mean that yer love 'er."

"Yer just said that yer don't know what love is."

"Don't get pedantic on me."

"I'm not," Tommy said and he stood still. Pol stopped walking and turned on the spot to look at him. "I'm tellin' yer the truth about 'er. I don't know what I think, but I know…I know that I 'ave to find out."

Stubbing his cigarette out, Tommy squashed it with the heel of his shoe and began to walk off towards the direction of the canal. Pol sighed and shook her head.

"Where are yer goin'?" she called out to him.

"To find 'er."

…..

Tommy had impulsively taken off for London. He had jumped on the first canal boat and headed to the cake shop that Elizabeth went to every Friday. He had waited there patiently. He longed for her to appear, wondering what might happen if she decided that night not to buy her Friday treat. And then she had appeared. He had seen her walking down the street dressed in a simple skirt with a coat over her body. Her hair hung loose to her shoulders and she was looking around, her gaze darting around. She moved a hand to her hair and tucked it behind her ear. As she approached, Tommy felt his stomach turn and he swore his pulse raced. As she looked up and her gaze found his, he realised that what he felt for Elizabeth Charlotte Kimber was love.

….

A/N: Do let me know what you think!