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 Eighteen: The Late Robert Parker.

"Fall back. Fall back. Retreat." Thomas ordered moving as fast as he could, dirt covered his face and the rain poured down heavily making it difficult to see; he ducked and dodged throwing the trees as he raced away from the attacking enemy forces. The rain blinded him as he moved but he refused to stop, around him men fled for their lives and they cursed as slowly they were picked off one by one.

His heart pounded in his chest and he was sure that this was the moment that would end his life; there was no help coming and they were outnumbered. The man in front of him crumbled to the ground and Thomas felt his heart stop as he realised just who it was; he rushed forward and dropped to his knees, he turned the man over and pressed his hands against the wound.

"Stay with me Robert," Thomas demanded, his eyes trying to find somewhere that they could both hide; the rain almost blinding him, he couldn't see a thing and the enemy was fast approaching. His hands were quickly covered in blood and the cold seeped in through his trousers; he did his best to stem the bleeding but there was little that he could to save his father-in-law.

"I was wrong about you," Robert rasped, he knew that he would die here and if it was the last thing that he did; he wanted to make amends for misjudging Thomas. Thomas shook his head, now was not the time for that and he wasn't sure how much time they had before someone came across them; he doubted that would end well and he had no way to defend himself.

"You're better than any man that I could have asked for, for my Rose," Robert babbled, he hated that he would never get to meet either of his grandchildren and he prayed that his wife would forgive him for not making it home to her like he had promised. Robert had heard so much about little Robert and Kathleen, he had hoped to meet them and make amends for his harsh treatment when he returned to Birmingham; now all he could do was hope that Thomas would forgive them.

Thomas stopped looking around and focused on Robert, there had been a slight improvement in their relationship while they had been in France. He hadn't ever expected that Robert would be saying this to him, he had known how little Robert had thought of Peter; the son-in-law that remained back at home while they fought in the war.

"Take care of them. I want her to be happy. Promise me. Give them the best. Promise me." Robert pleaded, he pulled off his dog-tags and pressed them into Thomas's hand; his eyes pleading with him. He wanted them to make it back home to Victoria, he wanted his wife to have some small part of him and he knew that she would be devastated by his death. Robert had been so pleased when Victoria had told him that she had made amends with Rosemary; he wanted his family together so that they could support one another.

"I promise," Thomas replied quietly, he would do anything for his wife and daughter; he would do anything for them and he was determined to make it back to them. He had missed the birth of his daughter and no number of letters would ever make up for every moment that he missed with Rosemary and Kathleen.

"Forgive me… forgive…" Robert whispered before his eyes glazed over, he stared towards the sky as the rain pounded down on them. Thomas held onto his father-in-law as he took his final breath and left the world behind; he was silent as he slowly lowered Robert to the ground, knowing he would keep his promise.

Rosemary clapped a hand over her mouth as she stared down at the letter that she had received from Thomas; this was not what she had been expecting when she had received a letter from him. Collapsing back into her chair, tears filled her eyes as she read the news that her father had been killed and she almost couldn't believe what she was reading; a part of her wishing that this was some cruel joke.

News of deaths wasn't rare in Small Heath and Rosemary prayed nightly that her family would be spared the news that they had lost someone to this dreadful war. Already spanning two years, it was far too long for Rosemary's liking and she had prayed that they would all return home safely but now she knew that wasn't going to happen.

Rosemary felt numb as she took in the news that her father was gone, she prayed that he hadn't suffer in his final moments; she closed her eyes and wept softly to herself. The letter in her hand dropped to the floor and Rosemary didn't move as she cried, she tried to stifle her cries so that she didn't wake Kathleen. The last thing that she wished was to disturb her one-year old daughter, she hated that Kathleen would never get to meet her grandfather; she wrapped an arm around herself as she cried.

"Rosie! Rose! Are you home?" called a voice from the front door, someone knocking and snapping her out of her grief; she got to her feet and hurried to the door so that Kathleen wouldn't have been disturbed. Opening the door, Rosemary stared down at the tear streaked face of Ellen and threw her arms around her youngest sister knowing what had happened. The officers must have turned up at the house to inform their mother of their father's passing; she almost couldn't believe that this was happening to them right now.

"Father's dead… they came and told mother," Ellen wept holding onto her older sister, she was almost relieved that she had been home instead of the shops. Rosemary nodded her head, she ignored the looks from her nosey neighbour knowing that she didn't care what she thought; their father was gone and Rosemary could only imagine how their mother was taking it.

A part of her wanted to go straight to the house and see her but she had no one to watch Kathleen and she wasn't going to wake her daughter to go running to her mother's house. It wouldn't end well and Rosemary wanted a little time to wrap her head around what had happened; she gently tugged Ellen inside knowing that Yvette had probably sent her here.

Rosemary could only imagine how their mother was taking the news that her husband of twenty-seven years had been killed in combat. Thomas hadn't said much about what had happened, in fact he had only written to tell her that on the 6th of October her father had been killed; he had wanted her to know not sure when they would arrive to tell the family.

Sniffling Ellen allowed Rosemary to lead her into the kitchen and be ushered into a seat, the sounds of their mother's screams of denial still ringing in her ears. There was no doubt in her mind that the neighbours had heard and Yvette had been quick to send her to Rosemary's knowing that would be a better place for her instead of at home.

Rosemary set about making them a cup of tea to drink, she couldn't believe this had happened and she knew that they were going to have to deal with this now. The war was far from over and she feared just what that would mean, she had already lost her father and yet her husband was still there. She wished that he could come home but she knew that wasn't going to be possible until the war was over.

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