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

Some of you will have noticed that several chapters have disappeared, I decided to rewrite and explore what happened during the years that I originally planned to skip since the story felt lacking without them.

Chapter Thirteen: Late Night Run-Ins.

"James! Steven! Will you stop tormenting your sister," Martha shouted after her sons as she set down a cup of tea in front of Rosemary, she was struggling to manage the three children while her husband was away. Margaret toddled into the room where her mother and aunt were seated having lunch; her dress dirty as she scampered away from the mess that her older brothers were making. Things hadn't been easy since their father left for war and Martha wished that John would return soon; she had no idea how to manage them while he wasn't home.

"Sorry about that, they're a right handful sometimes," Martha apologised offering a weak smile to Rosemary, she was exhausted after spending the day trying to tame the boys and stop them from being destructive. It was rare that she had the chance to sit down and she relax, she found herself having far too much to do and the boys weren't calming down.

Rosemary smiled at that, she liked coming to see Martha even if her friend didn't have much time to sit and chat with her; she could only imagine that the same would happen to her when her baby arrived. She found herself thinking more about what her own child would be like as her pregnancy continued; she could hardly believe that things had moved so quickly. It didn't seem that long ago that she was marrying Thomas and now he was off fighting in a war while she waited for him to come home.

"It's fine, I will probably be the same when this little one comes," Rosemary replied smiling, she sipped on her tea as she thought about her baby and what would happen when they arrived. Martha nodded her head, she doubted that any child with Shelby blood would be easy to handle; she could only imagine what a child of Thomas would be like.

"Do you have any idea what you might be having?" Martha asked remembering how she'd had a feeling that Margaret would be a girl when she was carrying her; it had felt different from when she was expecting James and Steven. She was sure that Rosemary may have an inkling of what she might be having, even if it was only slight; even if many would think that she was having a boy.

"Not really," Rosemary replied shrugging, she knew that most said that they had an inkling of what they would have but she hadn't felt anything like that. As long as her child was happy and healthy that was all that mattered to her, boy or girl; she was sure that she would love them unconditionally; she just wished that Thomas would be back by then. There was no news of when the war might end and since the expected date of the end had come and gone; no one was sure just when the men would return to war if they did at all.

"Well there's still time… you have a couple more months before they're due," Martha encouraged, she was excited that there was going to be a new baby and for once it wasn't her that was having it. She had been the only Shelby wife for so long and she'd had all three of her children in a very close time-scale and she knew that she was glad not to be pregnant now.

The idea of having one of her children while John was away wasn't something that Martha had wanted; she liked having her husband close when she was pregnant. In the four years that she had been with John, things had been better than she had expected; she could hardly believe that she had been blessed with such a wonderful man and that they had three wonderful children so far. She hoped that Rosemary would be so lucky with her own marriage, she feared just what the war might hold for her and her family.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Rosemary said hugging Martha as she prepared to leave, she had helped her put the children to bed before she left and she was sure that her sister-in-law would be thankful for some peace and quiet while she cleaned up. Martha nodded her head before taking a step back so that Rosemary could make the walk back to her own home; it wasn't far but it was getting late and she didn't wish to keep her.

Starting her walk, Rosemary tightened her coat around her as she made her way down the street away from Martha's front door. The cold evening air made her walk just a little quicker as she hurried down the street, she didn't want to stay out in this cold weather and she didn't wish to linger about.

Despite the fact that most of the men had gone to fight in the war, there were still a few unsavoury people around and the last thing that she wished to happen was for her to bump into one of them. Rosemary doubted that even the fact that she was a Shelby now would be enough to scare off anyone with the wrong intentions especially with the men away fighting.

Rounding the last corner towards her home, Rosemary nearly bumped into the person that was hurrying in her direction; she stumbled slightly as she came to a complete stop. Her blue eyes quickly latching onto the face of the woman that stood before her; her stomach turning lightly and her mouth went dry not having expecting this. Victoria Parker was on the wrong side of Small Heath and Rosemary had no idea what might have brought her mother down here; she was sure that she would have been at home helping Colleen with her baby.

"Mother?" Rosemary squeaked not sure what else to say, she hadn't seen her mother in months since she had announced that she had married Thomas. They had kept their distance especially when Robert had gone off to war at the same time as Thomas; she hadn't wanted to fight with her parents on what could have been the last time that she saw her father.

Victoria blinked staring at Rosemary, a lump in her throat as she stared at her eldest daughter who she hadn't seen for many months; she hesitated for a moment as her eyes caught on the bump that was barely hidden by her coat. There rumours had reached her that she was going to be a grandmother again by Rosemary but she had hoped that her daughter would come to her and tell her instead of hearing about it from other people.

It was silent for a moment as Victoria stared at her daughter, there was so much that she wished to say but she had no idea how to express any of it. They had not parted on good terms when she had turned her back on Rosemary, she had been so angry and upset that she had lashed out and there was no taking that back now. Tears filled her eyes as she thought about everything that she had missed, she so wanted to make things right but she doubted that there was anything that she could say that would fix things.

Before she could make a fool of herself in the middle of the street, Victoria quickly hurried away as the tears started to fall; she didn't dare look back knowing that she had brought this on herself. Her pride had cost her a chance of being at her eldest daughter's wedding and she truly didn't feel like she deserved the chance to make things right; she wished that Robert was here to help her now.

Watching her mother leave, Rosemary couldn't help but wonder what she could have said to stop her from fleeing; she didn't want things to remain this way. With the impending birth of her child, Rosemary found herself wanting her mother at her side but she felt that wasn't possible.

Please Comment, Favourite and Follow xxx