Her smile was permanently stuck on her face as she went about her business for the following few days. She was continuously grinning from ear to ear as she moved around the house. Whether she was cradling their daughter to her chest or watching her sleep in the cot, she was always by her side and smiling. Tommy couldn't help but find it contagious. He would often come into a room and find Elizabeth singing softly and telling their daughter stories.
He almost didn't want to tell her about the letter he had received from Alfie Solomons. He didn't want to ruin her blissful happiness with news of Sabini returning into their lives. He wanted to keep her ignorant to it all, but he knew that she would never appreciate that. Yet he would keep her in the dark for now.
Apparently Sabini did not enjoy being dictated to and was trying to rebuild his empire and take back London and the racecourses.
"Isn't she too young for stories?" Tommy asked when he found her in the garden one morning, sat with Elizabeth on her lap.
Tommy had watched her from the doorway for a while, his eyes set on her while he listened to the story she was telling Elizabeth.
"She's never too young for a story," Elizabeth said back to her husband and he bent down to peck her softly on the cheek, his hand running over his daughter's head as he sat down in the chair next to hers, draping his arm over the back of hers.
"Well," Elizabeth said, bouncing her softly on her lap as she turned her stare to Tommy, "I have been thinking of names. I was thinking…well…I mean…I don't know if you will like it, but I really do."
"Spit it out, Liz," Tommy chuckled to his wife.
"Charlotte," she said. "I think she looks like a Charlotte, doesn't she?"
Tommy chuckled again before peering down to the babe as Elizabeth watched her husband, trying to judge his reaction, but failing miserably. She kept her lips pursed as Tommy moved to kiss his daughter on her head and Elizabeth smiled at seeing him.
"I don't know if she looks like a Charlotte," Tommy said. "But she is perfect, Liz, and it's…it's a beautiful name, eh?"
"I thought so," Elizabeth said. "But I don't want you just to agree with me if you hate it."
"Aye," Tommy said in a soft tone, "When 'ave I ever agreed with yer if I didn't agree?"
"Never," Elizabeth said and Tommy smirked, but nodded his head in agreement with her. "But I was also thinking of middle names. I was thinking that we could name her after your mother, if you like? I know you don't talk about her often, but I know you loved her dearly, just as I loved mine."
Tommy blinked profusely. He had never thought about that before, but the sentiment seemed nice and Tommy couldn't help but think about how caring his wife was. She was always putting him before her. She was always thinking about what he would want. She was truly selfless when it came to Tommy.
"What about yer mother?" Tommy asked her.
"Well, she can hardly have two middle names…then again…she could…but that would be a mouthful, wouldn't it?" Elizabeth smiled and Tommy shrugged.
"I think it would be fitting, eh?" Tommy said. "She might not be 'ere if it weren't for yer mother, Liz. We owe her everything we 'ave today. I know that."
Elizabeth did smile then, unable to stop herself as she reached a hand out to Tommy's cheek, stroking his skin softly as she leant forwards to kiss him with haste. Tommy let her complete the motion as she rested her forehead against his, moving her lips away from his but pecking him once more on the corner of the mouth.
"I don't think you truly know how much I love you, Thomas Shelby," Elizabeth admitted to him.
"I think I can guess," Tommy promised her.
…
"Charlotte," Pol said as she held the little girl in her arms and Ada and Esme stood behind her shoulders while Elizabeth remained on the seat across from Pol.
Pol had arranged for the entire family to join them on the Saturday afternoon for a civilised afternoon at her house. Elizabeth had been reluctant, but she had agreed. She needed to realise that she was part of the Shelby family, despite the fact that they all still judged her. Tommy was sat next to his wife as the women cooed around the baby and his brothers stood in the background, smoking and drinking alcohol instead of the tea that Pol had prepared.
"When will you have her christened?" Linda's voice asked and Elizabeth almost groaned at her tone as she turned to look up to the woman who was stood beside Arthur, both of them arm in arm while Tommy sipped on his whiskey.
"We were thinking in a month or so," Elizabeth said. "The weather should be nicer so we were hoping that we could have a reception in the grounds of the house, weren't we, Tommy?"
"Aye," Tommy nodded.
Truthfully he had agreed to anything Elizabeth had wanted. She had not been keen on having a grand reception, but Tommy had assured her that nothing would go wrong on their daughter's christening. He had agreed to keeping the numbers small, but he knew that his entire family could cause chaos if they so wished.
"Charming," Linda said with a nod.
"Yeah," Arthur agreed and nodded with haste while Tommy watched his brother. "It's nice, Tom. Real nice…she's…she's lovely."
"I still can't believe you gave birth in a school," Ada spoke and Esme scoffed, shooting John a look across the room as if they had some kind of inside joke.
"I am more happy that she is healthy," Elizabeth said as Pol smiled down to Charlotte, cooing softly to her and wondering what the little baby was thinking at that moment in time.
"She's a stunner," Pol admitted. "She 'as her daddy's eyes though, eh? But she 'as yer 'air, Elizabeth."
"Poor bugger," John joked and the men laughed while the women smiled and rolled their eyes.
It was only when Charlotte began to shriek loudly did Elizabeth stand up and Pol held her towards her mother. Elizabeth should have known that she needed feeding. She held her in her arms while Tommy stood up too, his hand on his wife's back as he watched her bob Charlotte around in her arms.
"Is there anywhere private I can go for a moment?" Elizabeth asked.
"Back bedroom," Pol said. "Should be private enough there."
"Thank you," Elizabeth said with a smile and began to move away, giving her husband a fleeting glance before she left the room, her voice low as she whispered to Charlotte.
"Tommy," Pol spoke his name, her voice sterner than before as she motioned for him to follow her into the kitchen. He did so with a roll of his eyes, pulling out a cigarette as he watched Pol close the door to the kitchen, making sure they were alone.
"You 'aven't told 'er, 'ave yer?" Pol said and Tommy shrugged, sitting down at the kitchen table while Pol remained stood with her hands on her hips. "About Sabini tryin' to come back?"
"Nah," Tommy said and Pol huffed lowly.
"I was there when you ran off to meet Churchill, remember?" Pol demanded from Pol. "The girl was in bits. She's yer wife, Tommy. She deserves to know what yer doin'."
"How can I tell 'er?" Tommy wondered. "You've seen how 'appy she is with Charlotte. Why would I want to worry 'er with Sabini? Me and Solomons can deal with 'im. We can stop 'im before he gains any momentum. Besides, I know how men like 'im work, don't I?"
"When you say stop 'im-"
"-Aye," Tommy said, not confirming that he did, indeed, intent to harm Sabini. "He won't be a problem for much longer. I'm 'eading down to London next week."
"You need to tell 'er," Pol demanded from him. "Look, 'ow about I look after Charlotte one night and you take Liz out? You can tell 'er then?"
Shrugging, Tommy decided to agree with her, knowing that she was right. His wife had a right to know what he was doing, even though he would rather keep it a secret.
….
Elizabeth had been reluctant to leave Charlotte with Pol at her house the following Monday evening, but Tommy had convinced her that nothing would happen. She didn't know what Tommy was up to, but he had wined her and dined her that evening, supplying her with luxurious food before driving her home.
It was only when they stepped into the door did Tommy spin his wife around, his hands on her hips as he pushed her against the wall, kissing her forcefully. Tommy knew that he was supposed to be using this time to tell her about his plan, but the thought of an empty house and no distractions took his mind elsewhere. He hadn't been with Liz in months since she was pregnant. He had tried to be, but she had always complained about the bump getting in the way, despite them trying to change positions.
"Tommy," Liz moaned his name as he let his lips move down to her neck, biting and sucking on the skin there as she moaned, her own hands moving to his belt buckle as she pulled his shirt from his waistband.
"Need you," Tommy whispered to her, moving away for a moment as he pulled her coat from her, dropping it on the floor as he shrugged from his and she nodded in agreement.
"Just…can we…" Liz groaned as Tommy moved to his knees before her and she forget what she was about to ask as he lifted her skirts up and she knew that there were no coherent words coming from her as he remained on the floor.
….
"We couldn't even make it to the bedroom," Elizabeth mumbled as she rested on the settee in the drawing room. She was covered in a blanket as her clothes remained strewn around the room and Tommy started a fire, still naked as he poked at the wood.
"I've waited months for us to be alone," Tommy told her, moving back to the settee and settling down on it with Liz, pulling her to him as he covered himself with the blanket and let his hand flatten on her bare stomach. "I couldn't wait to get yer upstairs."
"No," Elizabeth said with a scoff, "but I fear I won't be able to walk come tomorrow morning."
Tommy smirked then and kept silent as Elizabeth turned around to face him, her hand moving to his cheek as she kissed him.
"But I had no idea that having me on your desk was a fantasy of yours," she told him. "You never mentioned it when we have been working in there."
"Never seemed appropriate," Tommy muttered and Elizabeth smirked, closing her eyes as Tommy took a deep breath. "But there is somethin' I 'ave to tell yer. I should 'ave told yer last week, but yer were so happy…and Charlotte…I didn't want to ruin it."
She opened her eyes again, laying on her back as Tommy remained propped up on his side. She was about to snap at him for keeping things from her, but she didn't bother. It wouldn't change anything, plus he was telling her now. It didn't stop her from being slightly annoyed with him, however.
"What is it?" Elizabeth demanded.
"Sabini," he said and her brow furrowed. "He's back in London and apparently he's tryin' to take back Alfie's turf. He's not 'appy about what we did to 'im. He wants Epsom back."
"For God's sake," Elizabeth complained. "Why can no one just go away and leave us in peace?"
"Because that's not the world we live in, Liz," Tommy said. "But it don't matter. Me and Solomons are goin' to deal with Sabini. I'm off to London on Friday for the weekend and then I'll be back, okay? I'll be back and it will be dealt with."
Frowning, Elizabeth bit her tongue. "Do I want to know how you are going to deal with it?" she enquired from her husband and Tommy shrugged.
"I doubt it," he admitted and she closed her eyes and took in a shaky breath. "But I won't 'urt 'im if he doesn't given me cause," Tommy told her. "But you know what he is like, Liz, okay? Yer know what he would 'ave done to yer in his club. You can't blame me for wantin' 'im dead."
Elizabeth shuddered, preferring not to think of that night as she nestled closer to Tommy. He moved his arms around his wife, kissing her temple lightly before nodding his head lowly, knowing that she would not appreciate what he was going to do, but at least she wasn't yelling at him this time.
"Just promise me you will try to stay out of trouble," Liz whispered to him. "Just promise me that."
"Always," Tommy said. "Besides, I 'ave a wife and a daughter to come home to."
….
A/N: So we go back to London in the next chapter and the return of Alfie! Do let me know what you think!
