Chapter 14

"Ok. Invites." Polly states as she drops into the armchair. "Rose?"

"Yes?" Rosie replies, bouncing Karl on her lap as Ada coos at him from beside her.

"Are you paying attention?" Polly asks, reaching over to tap her notebook on Rosie's knee.

"I am." She says, glancing up at Polly who rolls her eyes.

"Good. Hand the baby to Ada."

"What?"

"Rose. Hand the baby to Ada." Ada lets out a chuckle as Rosie grumbles under her breath, holding the baby out for her friend to take.

"Fine." She sighs, dropping back to rest against the back of the sofa, arms crossed across her chest.

"Who do you want to invite?" Polly asks, ignoring Rosie's stance.

"No one." Rosie replies with a shrug, reaching her hand out to Karl who takes her finger in his fist, pulling it into his mouth.

"What?"

"No one that isn't already on the list." She emphasises, glancing over at Ada who raises her eyebrows.

"What about your family?" Polly prompts, lifting a cigarette to her lips.

"Who? They're all dead!" Rosie replies with a short chuckle.

"Rosie! That's morbid." Polly chides, shaking her head as the young girl shrugs again.

"But true."

"Ok, fine. School friends." Polly changes track, leaning forwards towards the younger girl.

"No."

"Rosie."

"No." Rosie repeats with a shake of her head. "No, Pol."

"Why?" Polly cries, exasperated.

"Don't like them." Rosie replies, turning to look at Ada as she snorts in laughter "What? I don't!"

"Jesus, Rose. Give me something, here. Who do you want to invite?" Polly implores, sending Ada a pointed look, stopping her laughter immediately.

"I told you, there is no one else that's not on the list." Rosie protests, reaching forwards to find a cigarette of her own, pulling one from the box on the table.

"There must be someone!"

"Ok, fine. Ada." She replies, letting out a laugh as Polly groans, bringing the cigarette to her lips.

"Jesus." Polly sighs again, dropping her head into her hands. "Lord give me strength."

"Yes, please Lord, give us strength." Rosie groans, Ada bursting out into laughing at her response, causing Rosie to begin to giggle.

"What's going on in here?" Tommy asks as he pushes through the door, finding his aunt in despair, and his sister and future wife in fits of giggles on the sofa.

"Your fiancée is driving me up the bloody wall, Thomas." Polly states, waving her hand in Rosie's direction who pulls herself together for long enough to turn in her seat, smiling sweetly up at Tommy.

"Rosie..." he draws out, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Tommy..." she replies in the same teasing tone, drawing out his name as he had done with hers. "Gimme a kiss." She says as she rises, rounding the sofa to stand in front of him. "And patience. Give me patience."

"What's she doing, Pol, eh?" He teases, lovingly pulling Rosie into his arms, which she curls into comfortably, rolling her eyes at Polly's exaggerated sigh.

"We're trying to make a list of people to invite to the wedding." Polly explains, waving her notebook in the air.

"Ah..."

"There isn't anyone, Tom." Rosie states, turning to look up at Tommy who tightens his hold around her waist. "We talked about this."

"There must be someone, just one person, Ro. Just to make Pol happy." He whispers, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"I gave her one person!" Rosie protests, earning another giggle from Ada.

"Oh yeah, who?" Tommy asks, glancing over at Ada, brow furrowed in confusion at her finding the situation so hysterical.

"Ada." Rosie states, smiling as Tommy chuckles. "She's a person, is she not?"

"She is. But she's family, so she's already on the list. One friend, Ro. There must be one friend. From school? Church?" He asks, squeezing her hip lightly as she sighs.

"Gwendolyn." She says finally, turning to look at Polly who smiles.

"Who?" She clarifies, quickly jotting the name down.

"Gwendolyn Smith. She was a friend at church when I was younger. She moved away, but we keep in touch every so often."

"There we go." Tommy sighs, rubbing Rosie's back gently. "See, was that so hard?"

"Yes." She replies sarcastically, tilting her head up to kiss him again.

"Wasn't Gwendolyn Smith the blonde one, got pregnant and ran away with William Rowe?" Ada asks, glancing up at Rosie who nods.

"That's the one." She confirms, turning to face Ada with her back to Tommy's chest, his arms still tucked around her body.

"Huh. She was nice." Ada comments with a smile.

"She was."

"Ok, that's a good start. Who else?" Polly asks, drawing the attention back to her as a Rosie groans, turning to look up at Tommy again.

"Tommy! You said one name. I gave her a name." She exclaims, letting out another groan as she drops her head to his chest.

"Her, is right here." Polly chides, Rosie rolling her eyes in response.

"I gave you a name!" Rosie cries, turning back to her. "I told you! There is no one else."

"Ok, I can see we're getting no where with this, how about your dress?" Polly suggests, briefly meeting Tommy's eye as he shrugs. "We need to think about the dress...the venue...the-"

"Oh God, Tommy, please. Make it stop! Take me away." Rosie cries dramatically, making Ada giggle as she covers her ears with her hands.

"I'm going to the shop." Tommy states, gently pushing Rosie back towards the sofa, stifling a laugh as she reaches out to grab his arm as he passes.

"Tommy! Please!"

"I'll be back. Later." He replies, kissing her once more as he turns to leave again.

"Tommy!"

"Ooh, let's go and look at dresses!" Ada pipes up, lifting Karl into her arms, ready to get out of the house.

"I have a dress!" Rosie protests, turning to her best friend with a withering look, knowing that Ada knew she was wanting to fix up her mother's dress for the ceremony.

"But we can get ideas on how to fix it up!" Ada suggests, giving Rosie a wide grin as she shakes her head, dropping down on to the sofa.

"I don't need ideas on how to fix it up, Ada. I know what I want to do." She mutters, running her hands over her face.

"Ok, then let's do that." Ada states, heading towards the stairs, pausing as Rosie peers over the back of the sofa at her.

"I'm working on it."

"We can help."

"I don't want help." Rosie snaps, suddenly frustrated and feeling a little overwhelmed with all the wedding talk and constant suggestions. She really did appreciate the help Ada and Polly we're giving here, but she was much happier to be left alone to work on her dress. Polly, in particular, wanted a big white wedding for the couple, still a tad miffed that she hadn't been able to do the same for Ada. The older woman was persistent in her efforts, despite numerous protests from Rosie who wanted a quiet, simple ceremony with their closest friends and family around.

"Oh for goodness sake, Rosie. Why are opposing this so much?" Polly exclaims, shaking her head at the young girl.

"Because you're making such a fuss! I don't want a fuss! I want to wear my ma's dress, in the church we've always gone to. I want Jeremiah to marry us. I want to kiss Thomas. I want to get drunk, and dance the fucking night away in a field! That's all I want." Rosie cries, dropping her head into her hands.

"Sounds bloody perfect." Ada comments, moving to rest a comforting hand on Rosie's shoulder, sensing before Polly had, that Rosie had nearly reached breaking point.

"Rosie..."

"That's what I want Pol." She replies, throwing her hands out to her sides.

"That's not a very good plan." Polly comments, raising her eyebrows as she flicks through her pages of wedding planning notes.

"I don't care if it's a very good plan!" Rosie protests, rising from the sofa.

"We should at least-" Rosie lets out a frustrated shriek, Polly's eyes widening at the sound as the young girl rounds to face her, cutting her off.

"Oh my God, Pol. I swear to god. If you don't stop I'm going to find Tommy's cap and-"

"Ok, alright. That's enough. I'm taking my fiancée now, so no one loses an eye. Ok?" Tommy jumps in, having heard the commotion from the betting shop, stepping in just in time to pull Rosie away from a potential fight. "Come on. Come on, Ro."

"Finally. Thank fuck for that." Rosie sighs as Tommy wraps an arm around her waist, leading her from the room.

"No more threatening Pol, eh?" He chides gently, cupping her cheeks with his hands as she smiles up at him, leaning up to press her lips to his.

"Sorry." She mumbles against his lips, winding her arms around his neck. "Do you really have to go back to work?" She asks, letting out a laugh as he gives her a sarcastic sigh and shake of his head, dropping his head to press feather light kisses to her neck.

"I guess I can spare a few minutes." He teases lightly, leading her towards the staircase.

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"You shouldn't be in here." Rosie comments, hiding her smile as she senses Tommy hovering in the doorway to her old room, which she had turned into a sewing room for the purpose of fixing up her mother's wedding dress.

"I've been looking for you." He replies, stepping inside without waiting for an invitation.

"I've been here." She states, turning to smile up at him as he approaches.

"So you have." Tommy confirms, leaning down to kiss her. "And very busy by the looks of it." He runs his fingers gently over the fabric on the table in front of Rosie, raising his eyebrows as she pushes him away suddenly.

"Tommy. Stop. It's bad luck for you to see my dress before the wedding day!" She exclaims, covering the dress the best she could with her arms.

"All I can see right now, is lots of white lace." He states, letting out a chuckle as Rosie huffs, pursing her lips in a pout. "Ok, fine. If I turn around, can I give you a kiss?"

"I guess so." She says softly, waiting for Tommy to turn around before rising from her chair and moving into his arms.

"You're tense." He comments gently, running his hands over her back as she wraps her arms around him, humming in reply as he presses his lips to the top of her head, leaving them to rest there.

"I'm stressed." She mumbles against his chest, Tommy frowning in response.

"Why?" He asks, pulling back to cup her cheeks with his hands, looking her in the eye.

"I don't know...our wedding is in less than a week Tom-" she starts, only to be cut off by Tommy, who rubs his thumb gently across her cheeks.

"What needs doing? Eh? How can I help?"

"You're sweet, but it's nothing you can do." Rosie replies, tucking her body close to his again as he sighs, frustrated that he couldn't immediately help ease her stress.

"Nothing?" He clarifies, frowning again as she shakes her head against his chest.

"No. Nothing."

"Not even keeping you company in here?" Tommy suggests, smiling as Rosie pulls away to look up at him, a grin spreading across her face.

"I'd like that..." she says slowly, tilting up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

"I'll bring a chair up, turn it away from you, I promise I won't look at the dress." He says, gently tucking her hair behind her ear. "I can light the fire too?"

"Really?" She sighs, her eyes betraying how happy she was to finally have some alone time with Tommy, away from all the stress of wedding planning, and the running of the company.

"Yes."

"That would be lovely."

"Ok, good." Tommy replies, tucking his finger under her chin to tilt her head upwards, making sure her eyes met his. "On one condition."

"Go on..."

"You take a break." Tommy holds his hand up as Rosie opens her mouth to protest, shutting it quickly with a smile as he gives her a pointed look. "You're exhausted, Ro. Let Ada and Pol help. I know they have different ideas to you, but they can help. You need to rest."

"Just give me half an hour. That's it! And then I'll stop. I'll take a break. I promise." She exclaims as he lowers his hand, smirking as she pushes up on to her tiptoes to kiss him.

"Promise?" He teases, holding his pinky finger out to her as she rolls her eyes, nodding nonetheless.

"Yes." She replies, hooking her finger around his.

"Deal."

"35 minutes." Tommy calls teasingly, holding his pocket watch over his shoulder to show Rose as she rises from her chair.

"Close enough!" She jokes in reply as she moves to straddle Tommy's lap, resting her head on his shoulder as he wraps his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her temple. Rosie sighs, letting her body relax against his, her eyes fluttering shut. "This is nice." Tommy hums in agreement, sliding his hands under her blouse to run his fingertips lightly along her spine. "We should make more time for this." Tommy hums again, turning her head to press a kiss to her hair, letting them linger there as Rosie lets out a long yawn. "I can't wait to marry you."