Elizabeth wandered the gardens, Charlotte in her pram as she pushed her along the pathway. Elizabeth had to admit that she had hardly paid any attention to the outside of the large manor house, instead she had been too preoccupied with the inside and decorating the house to their taste. But now, as the weather lifted, Elizabeth finally saw the gardens in their entirety. They were vast, far too vast for her to maintain on top of everything else. The grass was growing reasonably high and there were leaves littered everywhere.

In total the lawn at the back of the manor was made up of six large patches of land, each one intercepted by a pathway. There were no flowers, nor were there any hedges. It was sparse, but Elizabeth could picture it in the summer. She had no doubt that Charlotte would love the outdoors.

"Liz."

She stopped walking and turned to look over her shoulder as her husband move along the path and caught up with them. Liz frowned at the sight of him, noticing how he held his stomach with his palm. He finally came to stand beside her, his hand moving down to run along Charlotte's cheek as the little girl shrieked in delight at the motion. Tommy smirked as Elizabeth moved to place her hand on his arm.

"You're supposed to be resting," Elizabeth reminded him.

"I got bored," Tommy declared. "There's only so long I can lay in bed for without goin' mad."

"Tommy, you were shot," Elizabeth reminded her husband. "You do not just recover overnight."

"Yer worry too much," Tommy complained.

"Do I need to tell you again that you were shot?" Elizabeth snapped at him, her voice shrill and Tommy chuckled at the sound before pulling a cigarette from his pocket as Elizabeth rolled her eyes and continued to push the pram in front of her.

"I'm fine," Tommy assured his wife in a low voice, his hand moving to take place in the small of her back as he kept his other hand on his stomach. They continued to move along the path before Elizabeth came to the bench that sat underneath the library window.

Picking Charlotte up, Elizabeth cradled the babe against her before settling down on the bench as Tommy took a seat next to her, drawing a sharp breath in before exhaling, the smoke from his cigarette hovering in the air. Elizabeth peered over to Tommy, knowing that she could only be annoyed with him for so long.

"So, dinner last night was interesting," Elizabeth spoke. "Do you think that your brother and Linda will actually make it down the aisle?"

"Fuckin' 'ope not," Tommy muttered and Elizabeth did chuckle at hearing that before adjusting Charlotte on her lap as the little girl held her arms out towards Tommy.

He dropped his cigarette to the floor and stomped on it before allowing Charlotte to wrap her hand around one of his fingers as he moved his now free hand to his daughter's head, brushing away the soft curls that sat on top of her scalp.

"Your Aunt Pol intends to come and visit later today. She asked if she could take Charlotte into town for the afternoon. I meant to talk to you last night, but you were hardly in the mood after dinner."

Tommy chuckled then and nodded his head in agreement. "I didn't know that you and Aunt Pol were friendly."

"She has been there for me," Elizabeth shrugged, trying to weigh it up herself as Charlotte held her arms out to Tommy and protested on her mother's lap. "I don't think your Aunt hates me as much as she first did. Besides, Charlotte helps to make things better. She is besotted with her."

"'Ard not to be," Tommy chuckled as he picked his daughter up from Elizabeth's lap and held her to him, letting her wrap her arms around his neck as he held her back. "Anyway, it's nice…yer and Aunt Pol getting' alon'."

Elizabeth nodded in agreement with that as she tucked her hair behind her ears and Charlotte continued to cling to Tommy. Elizabeth smiled at the sight, leaning back and letting the sun wash over her as Tommy continued to play with Charlotte.

Elizabeth fretted on the morning of Charlotte's christening; unable to do anything by worry that everything was going to plan. Tommy had deemed it necessary to invite his entire family and everyone he knew from Small Heath to the event. Elizabeth had not minded, but she only wished she had someone from her family there. If she could have had Mary there then that might have been something, but it was impossible. Mary had moved to France. She suspected the woman never wanted to hear from Elizabeth again. Their only shared experiences involved Billy and no one wanted to think of him.

It had been eight months since Tommy had suffered his injuries and Charlotte was soon due to turn one. They had intended to have the christening earlier, but they had been delayed. Elizabeth had remained at home looking after Charlotte while Tommy always seemed to be busy with work, claiming that the business was slowly expanding and becoming even more profitable than ever.

Moving into the dining room, Elizabeth looked on as all the staff Tommy had hired for the day set up, lining the table with linen tablecloths. Elizabeth was ready to leave for church while Tommy was finishing getting dressed. Charlotte was in her cot in their room, dressed in her long, white, lace gown.

"Is there going to be enough food for everyone?" Elizabeth enquired from a man in a sharp suit as he watched the proceedings take place.

"More than enough, Mrs Shelby," he nodded at her. "However, we could, perhaps, do with some more alcohol."

"No," Elizabeth said with haste, shaking her head back and forth as she moved a hand to the man's shoulder. "My husband's family tend to get rowdy after they have had a drink or two. I'd rather not risk seeing that."

The man smiled at hearing that. He had heard something about the trouble the Shelby family caused. He couldn't help but find it odd that the wife of Tommy Shelby seemed the complete opposite. She was nothing if not demure and held herself with an air of class. The way she walked around, her hands held in front of her as she wore an impeccably smart blue dress, proved that.

"Liz!"

The serving staff startled then as Tommy's voice rang into the dining room and Elizabeth looked over to him, but she didn't take note of him. Instead she was focused on Charlotte as she squirmed in his grip. Smiling widely, Elizabeth rushed over to them, taking her daughter's cheeks into her fingers as she bent down to kiss her on the forehead.

"She looks beautiful," Elizabeth declared.

"Aye," Tommy agreed with that. "Come on. We need to go or we'll be late to church."

"Yes, yes," Elizabeth agreed with him, standing up again as Tommy eyed her up and down as she looked around, clearly searching for something. "I just need to find my bag and the bag for Charlotte."

"Eh," Tommy said, managing to move an arm to take hold of Elizabeth's hand. "She's not the only one who looks beautiful."

Elizabeth felt herself flush slightly, especially so since they were in company. She moved to kiss him quickly on the cheek before sweeping from the room and into the foyer. Tommy followed her, noticing how she checked her hair in the mirror on the wall by the side table. She pushed her hair over one shoulder, gathering it into her hands and running her fingers through it as a makeshift brush. Tommy watched her complete the motion before bending down to pick up the large bag with all of Charlotte's items in them before grabbing her small string bag from the table.

"Is the car out front?" Elizabeth enquired, turning to look to Tommy with an arched brow.

"Aye," Tommy said. "I brought it round earlier."

"Then we should go," Elizabeth said with a rushed smile and tinged cheeks before walking with Tommy and Charlotte out the door.

Standing outside the church in the small graveyard, Elizabeth held Charlotte while Tommy greeted everyone before they went into the church. Instead of being late, they had actually managed to arrive ten minutes early. Elizabeth had said that it was polite to wait outside and greet everyone as they arrive, plus it gave them more of a chance to have photographs taken.

"How did it go this mornin' with the staff?" Pol's voice came from nowhere and Elizabeth startled slightly before turning to greet her with a smile.

"Everything looks in order," Elizabeth said as Pol smoothed out her deep purple dress and then moved a hand to her hair to fix it. "I was hoping we could hold it on the lawn, but I heard the weather is going to change this afternoon."

"I'm sure it will be lovely, eh?" Pol said and then moved down to Charlotte, fussing around her for a few minutes. "And this one is lookin' adorable."

"I know," Elizabeth agreed as Tommy spoke with John and Arthur and Ada moved to speak with Esme. "It was a nightmare to get her into the gown, however. There are so many buttons on it."

"It was worth it though," Pol said. "She looks sweet."

"Can I have a photograph with all the family?"

The photographer shouted out the question and Tommy did his best to organise his family as Elizabeth went to stand by his side. He took hold of her waist as Pol stood to her other side. She said nothing as the photographer finished arranging Finn and John on Tommy's side.

"And…three…two…one…" the photographer counted down and Elizabeth fixed a smile on her face as Tommy remained stoic. Elizabeth noted how his lips didn't even quirk and she rolled her eyes as the photographer asked for parents only in the shot.

"Try to smile this time," she teased him and he rolled his eyes but nodded and adjusted his arm slightly around Elizabeth's waist and did as his wife had asked him.

The reception following the christening was rowdy, there was no way that Elizabeth could deny that. She moved around the room often, making sure that she was being polite to everyone who was there, despite the fact that she hardly knew them. Yet everyone enjoyed seeing Charlotte and fussing over the little girl.

Tommy had stood in the doorway and watched his wife interact as she came to speak with Pol again, a look of relief coming over her face that she could speak with someone she actually knew. She let Pol take hold of Charlotte before moving to the doorway where Tommy stood. She smiled up to him before running her hand down his arm as she passed by.

"I just need to go and freshen up," she informed her husband. "I will be back in a minute."

Elizabeth rushed up the staircase and into the bedroom and en-suite. She quickly moved to splash water on her face, cooling down her burning cheeks after forcing herself to smile for the entire afternoon. She moved again and went into the bedroom, about to head downstairs before she noted a figure moving up the staircase. She remained stood still before the figure caught her gaze.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth spoke. "Are you lost?"

The man offered her a slim smile and Elizabeth tried to remember if she had seen him before. She didn't remember seeing him in the church. He was lanky and tall, wearing a slim suit with a white dress shirt and dark red tie. His hair was slicked back off his head while his nose seemed slightly hooked. Elizabeth did her best not to seem too distressed with the sight of him moving closer towards her.

"I was looking for a bathroom," he informed her and Elizabeth swore she detected a tint of a Russian accent. She managed a small smile in his direction before daring to hold her arm out and guide him back down the steps.

"There is one on the ground floor," she informed him. "It is much cleaner than the ones up here."

Elizabeth tried to act nonchalant, but she didn't particularly like the look of the man before her. As he moved back to the staircase, Elizabeth saw Tommy heading up the steps with Charlotte in his grip.

"Oh, Tommy," Elizabeth said as she stood on a step and the man remained on the step above her. "I trust you know this man."

"We do business together," the man spoke, answering for Tommy as Charlotte began to cry and Tommy slowly moved closer to his wife and handed their daughter to her. "And this must be the daughter…Charlotte, is it not?"

Tommy let his gaze roam over the man as he moved his hand to the small of Elizabeth's back as he chewed down on his tongue. The man was proving a point. Tommy had no idea who he was, but it was clear that he knew everything about Tommy. The way he was looking at his wife and daughter was enough to tell Tommy that.

"Aye," Tommy said, going along with the lie, knowing that doing anything else would worry Elizabeth and he didn't want to do that to her. "I vaguely remember 'im."

"I see," Elizabeth said, but Tommy knew that she was seeing straight past his lies. Elizabeth was no fool. She was too intelligent for her own good sometimes. "Well, I should go and try to calm Charlotte down…"

"I'll be up in a minute," Tommy promised her and watched as she moved away, tossing her head over her shoulder to look back down to him as he gave her a stern nod.

Only when she was out of sight did the man speak. "Very convincing, Mr Shelby. I can see why they want you."

"Who?" Tommy demanded. "And who the fuck are you?"

"Now, now," the man said in a low and hushed voice, moving down the step closer to Tommy. "You see, Mr Shelby, you have something that the people I work for want and it would be in your best interests to agree with them."

"And why did they not make contact themselves?" Tommy demanded and the man chuckled.

"Oh, they will," he promised him. "They just wanted me to make an impression, if you will."

"An impression?" Tommy asked. "Is that what this was? A power play?"

The man chuckled again. "You have a lovely wife and daughter, Mr Shelby. It would be a shame to see anything happen to them."

Tommy moved quickly then, but the man was just as quick, stepping down out of the way of Tommy. He held his hands up in defence and began to move down the staircase and away from Tommy.

"My name is Anton Kaledin," he informed Tommy. "I will be in touch, Mr Shelby."