Tommy didn't move from bed for the next week, his body still too weak to do anything. Elizabeth had been at his beck and call for every moment. Tommy had promised her that he would be fine, but she hadn't left. She was either curled up in the chair by the window, reading or nursing Charlotte, or she was sleeping by his side in the bed. She was constantly fussing around him while Pol busied herself with Charlotte. The young baby had been a welcome distraction.

Pol had moved into the manor during that time, taking care of Charlotte when Elizabeth was busy with Tommy.

"If you're going to recover fast then you shouldn't smoke," Elizabeth informed her husband when she found him sat up in bed one morning after she had finished dressing Charlotte and feeding her.

Pol was still sleeping, but Elizabeth suspected the woman deserved a lay in for the morning after everything she had done. Elizabeth juggled Charlotte to her front alongside trying to carry a glass of water for her husband. Tommy took hold of the water once she bent down slightly so that he didn't have to sit up as much.

"Smoking keeps me sane," Tommy said and Elizabeth rolled her eyes at hearing him as she perched on the edge of the bed and Tommy moved a hand to stroke Charlotte's soft hair on her head.

"The doctor says you will heal quicker if you quit for a while," Elizabeth reminded her husband, reaching for his pills from the bedside table and handing them to him. "And you need to take these at least around the same time every day."

"Lucky I 'ave you as my nurse, eh?" Tommy teased her and she rolled her eyes as he swallowed the pill and drank the water, taking a sharp breath as he nestled back into the cushions.

She said nothing for a few moments before she moved and let Charlotte lay in the middle of the bed, her arms and legs stretched in front of her as she busied herself with looking to the ceiling and seeming to be lost in a world of her own. Elizabeth bent down to peck her on the forehead before going to kneel by Tommy's side of the bed, taking his hands into hers as she observed the cuts on his knuckles.

"I forget," Elizabeth admitted. "I forget that violence comes naturally to you sometimes…"

"Don't," Tommy demanded from her.

"How can I not?" Elizabeth asked from him. "Tommy, I have never demanded to know everything about your business with your brothers…what you did before we found each other again…but I worry for you. Do you understand me?"

Tommy had been shocked that he had not had this talk earlier. He had been expecting it. He had been expecting the worry and the fear inside of her to take hold eventually. Elizabeth was a worrier. She was nothing but a worrier.

"I'm fine," Tommy told her. "Come 'ere."

Elizabeth moved to sit on the edge of the bed then, allowing Tommy to run his hands along her cheeks and hold her gently as he kissed her swiftly, the motion soft and gentle as she closed her eyes and leaned into him.

"I just don't know what to do, Tommy," Elizabeth admitted. "What if the business with Churchill is worse than this? What if you are out of your depth? How do we cope then? Living in fear like this…knowing that any day he could demand you to do something…and Charlotte…"

"Eh, eh, eh," Tommy said in a low voice, trying to soothe her as he took her chin and then point to Charlotte. "Nothing will ever 'appen to yer or 'er. Do yer get that, Liz? I would never let it 'appen."

"You can make promises, Tommy," Elizabeth informed him. "But it is keeping them that can be a problem, despite your best intentions."

Tommy sighed softly then, his warm breath hitting her cheek as she managed to sniff and then shake her head. She couldn't keep doing this. She couldn't keep worrying when Tommy was calm and collected. Instead she had to push it from her mind. She had to let Tommy recover and believe that whatever Churchill wanted, it could not be too danger. Burying her head in the sand was better than admitting the truth.

"I'm fat."

Tommy was still recovering from his injuries, but that evening there was to be a family dinner at the Manor so that Tommy didn't have to move far, despite him protesting that he was fine to do so. However, as he perched on the bed and did up his waistcoat, he could hardly help himself from smirking at his wife's words as he watched her stand in front of the mirror.

"You've just given birth, Liz," Tommy reminded his wife.

"And none of my normal clothes hardly fit," Elizabeth said, trying to button up a dress but failing miserably as she huffed lightly. "I have maternity clothes but they are all frumpy and baggy."

"No one is expectin' yer to look glamorous," Tommy said to her, standing up and groaning in slight pain as his wife ignored him, too focused on herself in the mirror as she bit her lip, knowing that she should tell him before they went downstairs.

"The correct answer would be: 'You always look gorgeous, my love, despite your weight.'"

"My love?" Tommy chuckled and Elizabeth scoffed.

"We've never been ones for terms of endearment, but I was being sarcastic," Elizabeth said, slipping out of her dress and letting it pool to the floor as she remained in her underclothes and headed to her wardrobe to find something else.

"I can try to call yer that, if yer want?" Tommy said and Elizabeth shook her head.

"It is not us," she simply spoke.

"As yer wish," Tommy shrugged. "But I wasn't thinkin' of how beautiful yer look."

"Charmer," Elizabeth mumbled.

"I was thinkin' if I 'ad time to get yer into bed before we go down."

She flushed then and arched a brow, turning her head over her shoulder to look at him with a sly grin as he looked at her with that roguish stare he sometimes wore.

"I don't think so," Elizabeth said. "Besides, you are hardly up to it, Tommy. The doctor says you need rest for another few weeks."

"Yer can go on top," Tommy mumbled and Elizabeth laughed then, pulling a red dress out of her wardrobe and laying it on her bed.

"Are you that depraved?" she demanded from him. "Besides, I doubt you will be in the mood once I have told you why you're family have demanded this meal tonight."

"Try me."

"It's about Arthur."

Tommy frowned, lighting up a cigarette. "Yer right," Tommy complained. "That's ruined the mood."

Elizabeth did laugh as she squeezed into the dress, noticing how it fitted too tight on her waist, but it fitted around if she squeezed in. It flared down to her knees and the collar on it was high. She reached around to the back to try and fasten the row of buttons up, but Tommy was quicker, reaching for them and letting his hands pull them together.

"Arthur has asked Linda to marry him," Elizabeth blurted out as she felt Tommy's hands still on her skin and she chewed down on her lips, her head rotating to look over her shoulder as she gaged Tommy's reaction. But he appeared emotionless.

"I take it she said yes?" Tommy asked.

"I imagine so," Elizabeth said, "that's why we are having the meal tonight."

"Idiot," Tommy muttered. "He thinks that she can change 'im."

"She has a bit."

"This is Arthur," Tommy muttered. "A part of 'im is too damaged to change. Every man who came back from France 'as a part of 'im that is too damaged."

Elizabeth knew he was speaking from experience, but it still pained her to hear him. Keeping quiet, she let Tommy go back to doing up her dress as she looked forwards again, her gaze finding the window.

"But she can change 'im enough," Tommy complained. "I need to get 'im to stop this madness…"

"No," Elizabeth said with haste, turning her head back over her shoulder as Tommy finished doing up her buttons and she turned to face him then, her hands going to his shoulders as she kept him grounded. "If you try to stop him then he will only be more determined. This is Arthur, Tommy. You know he respects you and would do anything for you, but I do not think he would give up Linda."

"What makes yer so sure?"

"Because he is in love," Elizabeth spoke as if it were that simple. "Tommy, when someone is in love then they will do anything for that person, or do you not remember that?"

Tommy looked at her as she gave him a forlorn smile, her hand going to his chest and patting it once.

"You forgot," she said. "I am not that surprised. You never were that observant."

"That's different," Tommy complained to her in a low voice as she laughed and went to the dressing table to sit down and begin to fix her hair while Tommy shook his head.

"It is hardly different," she said. "You ran away with me, Tommy. Do you not remember that? You ran away to London when we were in danger here because you loved me. You put me before the business. You did that because you loved me, Tommy."

"Again, that was different," Tommy declared and Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"You are too blinded by your hatred of Linda to see that," Elizabeth declared in a small voice. "I am just saying, Tommy, that if you tell him not to marry her then he will just do the opposite."

"Then what do you suggest?" Tommy asked as Elizabeth finished pulling her hair into a loose bun at the back of her neck, pinning it so that it didn't move.

"Let him marry her," Elizabeth said. "We can keep an eye on her and see if she has any ulterior motives. Doing something brash will not help, Tommy."

"I don't like this," Tommy complained and his wife chuckled as she went to kiss him on the cheek.

"She is not a threat so long as we keep her close, Tommy," Elizabeth said. "So come on, we need to go and get this out of the way with and then I might see about ignoring the doctor's orders if you're certain you're up for it."

Tommy smirked at his wife's mischievous smirk as she winked at him and began to move out of their bedroom and down to the dining room.

Elizabeth had agreed to ask for a chef and serving staff for the night, realising that she could hardly cook for everyone, keep an eye on Charlotte and make sure her husband didn't throttle Arthur from across the table. Charlotte was sat in a high chair at the corner of the long square table in between Tommy, at the head, and Elizabeth to the left.

Tommy was drinking heavily; something the doctor had advised against, but this was Tommy. He didn't take well to advice. Pol and Ada were laughing over something, often coming over to coo over Charlotte while John and Esme looked at each other with some kind of knowing expression.

Linda and Arthur sat at the other end of the table, the epitome of a loved up couple while Elizabeth did her best to keep her eye on Tommy. Finn and Michael were messing around, playing with their food as though they wanted to eat anything but what was placed in front of them.

"Who set the menu for tonight?" Ada was the one to ask.

"Your Aunt Pol," Elizabeth spoke, sipping on her water in between eating the vegetables on her plate. "She's been a blessing recently."

Elizabeth caught Pol's gaze and the matriarch of the family seemed to manage a smile for Elizabeth then. It was only slim, but her lips definitely turned upwards.

"Yeah, since Tommy went and got 'imself shot," John laughed and everyone seemed to smirk and chuckle as Elizabeth wondered what was funny. "Lost yer touch, eh?"

Tommy said nothing, choosing just to smirk and take another gulp of his drink. Elizabeth moved slowly over to Charlotte, standing by her daughter's high chair and feeding her slowly as Tommy looked to her, murmuring so that no one else could hear them.

"Eat yer dinner, Liz. I'll feed 'er."

"No," Elizabeth said, her face stern as she looked to her husband. "You need to rest."

Tommy didn't bother to complain as his wife continued to feed their daughter before going back to her own food and chewing on it delicately. Once the plates were cleared, Tommy looked across the table to his eldest brother, his gaze narrow as he saw Arthur begin to stand up. Linda was practically beaming with joy as she kept her eyes on him, her lips quirked high up onto her cheeks.

"Now that we've 'ad chance to eat," Arthur spoke, holding up his glass and Tommy leaned into the table to pour himself another glass of wine as Elizabeth looked to Linda, wondering what the woman was thinking of. "I 'ave somethin' to tell yer all."

"What is it, Arthur?" Pol was the one to ask, despite the fact that she knew full well what it was. As far as Arthur knew she was the only one with the inside information.

"Well, as yer know," Arthur said, looking awkward and coughing lightly. "Linda and me 'ave been together for a while and I know…well…I know that there's no other woman for me. So I asked 'er to marry me."

Elizabeth forced a smile onto her face at the news while everyone else just looked confused and solemn. Ada coughed slightly while John looked to Esme as his wife nudged him slightly and smiled too. Elizabeth soon turned to look to Tommy. He had his lips pressed to his glass and his eyes were set on Linda. It was almost as if he blamed her for everything. Standing up, Elizabeth moved to her husband and rested her hands on his shoulders, hoping to break his gaze from Linda.

"Tommy…" Elizabeth whispered his name. "We're delighted for you, Arthur."

"Aye," Michael agreed. "Didn't think it would be long before yer asked."

"Yes, congratulations," Pol declared.

But Arthur only had eyes for one person. He was looking straight across the table to Tommy.

"And you, Tom?" Arthur asked.

"Yer," Tommy said, lacking any emotion as Elizabeth squeezed tightly on his shoulders. "'Appy for yer, Arthur."

There was a sense that everything they had said was faked. But Arthur didn't challenge them. He remained silent as Linda stood up and began to speak, exclaiming how excited she was to marry Arthur. But Elizabeth zoned out completely as she bent down to whisper into Tommy's ear.

"Just try to look happy," she urged him and he scoffed before picking his drink up again.

"I don't trust 'er." Tommy muttered and Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"You do not need to trust her," Elizabeth said. "You just need to pretend."

Looking him in the eye as everyone busied themselves with congratulations, Elizabeth quickly kissed him and gave him a soft smile, silently promising him that everything would be fine. Linda could not be that much of a threat to the family, surely.

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