Elizabeth had fretted for the rest of the day while Tommy had been at work, unable to sit down and focus on anything but what Pol had told her that day. She was pregnant. She was having a baby. She was having Thomas Shelby's baby. Sitting down at the kitchen table, Elizabeth kept her hand around her cup of tea for hours on end.
She barely even noticed Tommy walk in with the rest of his brothers. He was smirking with a cigarette in his mouth as John and Arthur spoke to each other, laughing and joking as Arthur moved into the kitchen and took hold of the whiskey bottle from the corner cupboard along with three shot glasses.
"Alright, Liz?" Tommy asked, moving his cigarette from his mouth to bend down and press his lips against the top of her head, his hand on her shoulder before he sat down in the chair next to her.
He picked up her cup of tea and dared to take a swig of it, but he gagged on the cold liquid as Elizabeth remained sat with her eyes in front of her. Saying nothing, Tommy placed the mug back down and looked to his wife with an arched brow.
"Yer tea's cold, Liz," he informed her. "How long yer been sat 'ere drinkin' it?"
"Nah, get some whiskey down yer, Liz," Arthur said, sliding a glass across to her.
She merely took hold of it in her fingertips and toyed with it. "You know I am not a big drinker, Arthur," she replied, knowing that drinking was out of the question if she was pregnant.
Keeping still, Elizabeth moved to look at Tommy with a small smile, knowing that she could not keep this news to herself. She moved her hand to Tommy's arm as John handed him a shot of whiskey. He placed it on the table before removing his cigarette from his mouth and stubbing it in the ashtray.
"What is it?" Tommy wondered, knowing full well that there was something on Liz's mind. She never let her tea go cold.
"I need to talk to you," she whispered. "Alone."
Tommy nodded, not bothering to ask her what was wrong. He suspected it might be something to do with their living arrangements. Elizabeth had been unhappy with living in Birmingham in the cramped house since they had returned to Birmingham. Pol had left for the suburbs and had bought a house out there, which was exactly what Elizabeth wanted. Yet Tommy had told her that they just had to make a bit more money before they could leave.
If only she knew that he had plans to buy a mansion, not just a semi-detached house with a front and back garden.
"Let's go to The Garrison, eh?" Tommy asked her and she shook her head slowly.
"Maybe we could talk before then?" Lizzie asked from him.
Shrugging, Tommy said nothing, instead choosing to take his wife by the hand and lead her up the staircase towards their bedroom, ignoring the whistling and jeering from Arthur and John as they went. Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but allowed Tommy to push open the bedroom door into their bedroom. He closed it firmly behind him as Elizabeth stood in the middle of the room, her arms wrapped around her waist as she looked around.
"Do you remember when you first brought me here?" she asked from him and Tommy chuckled, shrugging out of his coat and tossing it at the bottom of his bed along with his cap.
"You were one the run," Tommy said. "And I took yer in, didn't I? You were so lost and confused…now look at yer."
"The wife of one of the most powerful men in Birmingham." Elizabeth said.
"Nah," Tommy shook his head. "Yer one of the strongest women I've met, Liz. Yer…everything that 'as 'appened…yer still keep going. Yer not just my wife."
Smiling, Elizabeth moved around the bedroom and tided away Tommy's coat and cap, hanging them on the peg on the back of the door while Tommy watched her move. She continued to smile, knowing full well that it was odd for Tommy to express his emotions. He moved to sit on the bed and Elizabeth walked towards him, her hands moving to his shoulders as she stepped in between his legs.
"I love you, Thomas Shelby, despite all of your flaws," Elizabeth said and Tommy took hold of her waist.
"Do I 'ave many?" Tommy wondered from her and she laughed loudly at that part, rolling her eyes before shaking her head back and forth.
"You have a few," she told him.
"And there was me thinking I was perfect," Tommy whispered and Elizabeth continued to laugh.
"No," Elizabeth responded.
"So what was this thin' yer wanted to tell me?" Tommy asked of her as she ran her hands along his shoulders, massaging them softly with her movements while Tommy kept his hands on her waist and his gaze on her face as it scrunched up in concentration and she tried to think of the best way to tell him the news that she had for him.
"Well it is pretty big," she admitted. "And I was not too sure how to react when your Aunt Pol told me…I still do not quite know how to react."
Frowning, Tommy did his best to work out what she was talking about, but he struggled. Instead he kept silent as Elizabeth moved to take one of his hands from her waist. Delicately, she rested it across her stomach and placed her palm on top of Tommy's, smiling softly as she wondered if he would get the message. She smiled as she saw his face turn from passive into one of confusion. Her smile widened as Tommy moved his eyes from her stomach and to her face.
"Yer pregnant?" Tommy whispered and Elizabeth nodded.
"I am," she confirmed for him. "I have not bled in two months, Tommy. Your Aunt Pol seems convinced I have gotten fatter too. I need to see a doctor to check, but I wanted to tell you as soon as possible."
"Pregnant…" Tomy whispered, the word trailing off as he looked back to her stomach. "How?"
Laughing, Elizabeth arched her brows. "Well, Thomas, do you remember that night-"
Elizabeth had no chance to finish as Tommy took hold of her around the waist and pulled her into his lap, his arm moving to steady her there as she watched him slowly begin to smile.
"I know how it 'appened," Tommy said. "That were a daft question, but…yer realy pregnant?"
"I think so," Elizabeth nodded and Tommy looked disbelieved. "It took a while for it to sink in and I know that it might not be the best timing-"
"-Nah," Tommy shook his head with haste, moving to run a hand down her cheek and tuck her hair behind her ear as he searched her gaze. "It's amazing, Liz. I promise yer."
"Really?" Elizabeth checked. "Because a part of me did not entirely know how you would feel. We have never discussed children before, have we? Everything has happened so fast."
"No," Tommy promised her. "I'm 'appy, Liz. I'm 'appy for us…and by the time this baby is born we will 'ave our own 'ouse. We will have somewhere to call our own."
Smiling, Elizabeth moved to peck him on the cheek. "And if you need any help with money then I will get a job somewhere to help-"
Tommy interrupted her with a chuckle and a shake of his head. "Business is goin' well, Liz. You don't need to do that."
"And if I get bored just sitting in here and doing nothing?" Elizabeth challenged him and Tommy chuckled, his hand dropping to her stomach as his other hand cradled her cheek in his palm.
"You're carryin' our child, Liz. Yer not startin' work yet, okay? When yer 'ave the babe yer all 'ave enough on yer hands then, won't yer?"
"But until then I was thinking," Elizabeth said, her hands roaming up Tommy's arms and to his shoulders. "I want to teach."
Arching a brow, Tommy listened to Elizabeth as she shrugged her shoulders at him and looked anywhere but at his gaze, not knowing what Tommy would say.
"I had a privileged education when I was young," Elizabeth spoke. "And I was thinking that it would be nice to help children. I have always liked being around them and I enjoy reading and writing-"
"-Fine." Tommy interrupted his wife, not wanting her to continue to reel off her excuses.
"Truly?" Elizabeth checked with him.
"Truly," Tommy said. "If yer want to teach then yer can teach…after the baby is born, eh?"
"But I am barely pregnant, Tommy. Why can I not just try and look for work now?" Elizabeth demanded and Tommy shrugged at her, but he did sigh and nod his head.
"Yer can do," Tommy said. "I know that I can do nothin' to stop yer, anyway. Yer 'ave a mind of yer own."
Smiling, Elizabeth leant forwards to kiss him once more on the lips. "Then I promise you that I will take it easy when the baby is nearly born. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
…
It was another day before Tommy went with Elizabeth to see a doctor. He went in with his wife as the doctor examined her and gave her the good news. He watched on as Thomas and Elizabeth Shelby celebrated once he had spoken the words, but he did not say anything to them. He knew about Thomas Shelby's reputation. The man was calm and collected, yet he was nothing but violent if someone got on the wrong side of him.
"What do we do now?" Elizabeth asked him, her hand dropping to her stomach as Tommy wrapped her arm into his and they ambled along the path as the sun shone and Elizabeth angled her hat to protect her face.
"Now, I 'ave somethin' to show yer," Tommy said, smirking as he opened the door to his car that he had parked on the side of the road.
Elizabeth didn't question him as she took hold of his hand and he helped her into the car. She sat down on the seat as Tommy walked to the driver's side and settled down. Elizabeth questioned him as to where they were going, but he kept silent, refusing to tell her anything. She conversed with him before noticing that they were on the outskirts of Birmingham with nothing but trees and silence surrounding them.
It reminded Elizabeth of home. It reminded her of being back with Billy in the mansion in the middle of nowhere. She had often wondered if things would have been different if she hadn't have been locked away there. Would there have been a neighbour she could have ran to? Would her mother have spoken to someone who would have helped her? Elizabeth didn't know, but as Tommy pulled up outside gates of black steel, she shook her head.
"What is this?" she demanded from her husband as he drove down the stone driveway, the sight of a mansion coming into view with white washed walls and double wooden doors. The gardens were lush and hedges were perfectly sculpted along with a plethora of coloured flowers.
"This is your new home," Tommy told Liz, stopping the car from moving any further as he turned to look at Liz.
Her eyes widened in disbelief. "How?" she whispered.
"Business has been doing better than planned and I borrowed a bit of money from it yesterday," Tommy said. "I wanted yer to 'ave a 'ome of yer own…a 'ome where we can be a family."
"But Tommy…" Elizabeth trailed off, wondering what more to say to him before she climbed out of the car herself and Tommy watched her move to the house. "I know how much these things cost, Tommy. The business…how…I do…"
She stammered as Tommy climbed out from the car and moved to press a hand on the small of her back, running it up and down slowly as she continued to watch the mansion in disbelief.
"The business has expanded, Liz," he declared. "Yer don't need to worry about money, okay? You need to accept that this is our 'ome."
"But you are not doing anything illegal, are you?" Elizabeth checked and Tommy moved a hand into his pocket before turning to face his wife, his hand running down the side of her face slowly as he searched her gaze.
"No," he answered her and Elizabeth continued to watch him before nodding.
He wouldn't lie to her. Not after everything. She had to believe that. And so she finally smiled before kissing him firmly, silently hoping that this was the start of their quiet life together.
