Sitting opposite his sister, Tommy hadn't intended to visit Ada on his trip to London, but his sister had found out that he was coming back to the capital and she had insisted on him coming to see her. She was slowly growing with her pregnancy, her stomach protruding subtly. She had morning sickness and her feet were beginning to ache. She had complained to herself, but never out loud. She didn't have anyone to complain to now that Ben had died. A part of her felt lonely. She had contemplated returning to Birmingham, but she had gone against that decision. She had made a life for herself in London and she would stay in London.

"Ada," Tommy said as he walked into the parlour and she almost jumped. Tommy had a habit of letting himself into her house and she had complained to begin with, but now she had gotten used to it. She only wished he didn't startle her. He was quiet. Tommy was always quiet.

"Tom," Ada greeted her brother and he sat down on the seat across from her.

She placed down the paperwork she had been reading, letting it sit on the coffee table in front of her as she looked to her brother and he removed his cap, tossing it to the side and ruffling his hair. Leaning back, he laced his fingers over his stomach and folded one leg over the other. He shrugged to his sister.

"What did yer want to talk about?" he asked her.

"Oh, it is good to see you too, Tom," Ada said to her brother, voice sarcastic. "So we are foregoing all the pleasantries?"

"Sorry, Ada," Tommy said, but he didn't sound sorry as he gestured towards his sister. "How are yer doin'?"

"Forget it," Ada said with a roll of her eyes. "I heard about you and Elizabeth. Finn told me."

"No one else knows," Tommy muttered. "Family only."

"And how long will it be before news gets out?" Ada asked from him.

Tommy shrugged. "Yer know 'ow it is. People will gossip. Some journalist in Birmingham got 'old of the news, but I got 'im to keep it quiet."

Ada frowned. "And how did you do that?"

"Just did," was all Tommy said to his sister.

Ada huffed once and sat up, perching on the edge of her seat. "And this is exactly the reason why she left you, Tom," Ada informed her brother. "She left because of the mess you get yourself into."

"Am I just here to rehash the reasons why my wife left me?" Tommy demanded to know from his sister.

"No," Ada said. "I wanted to see how you were doing."

"Fine," he responded.

"Fine?" Ada asked him, arching a brow and Tommy shrugged again, hands running down his face as he chuckled and looked up to the ceiling.

"What do yer want to 'ear, Ada?" Tommy asked his sister. "That I can't sleep? I don't want to do anythin' but find her and beg 'er to come back to me even though I know she won't because she's right, ain't she? She's right. She's always right."

"But she doesn't have to be right," Ada said and Tommy shook his head before looking back to her. "Tom, she doesn't have to be right. You can go and bring her back. You can make this right."

"But I can't-"

"-You keep saying that," Ada interrupted him. "But you haven't even tried, have you?"

"I tried," Tommy said to her. "I tried doing nothing. I was left with Charlotte and I fell apart. I can't stop…I don't know 'ow to stop. I don't know 'ow, Ada, and Liz won't accept that. She won't accept it and I need both. I need her and I need the business. My mind…it stops when she's gone…but it stops when I stop."

"But just deal with the legitimate business," Ada urged him. "Everything you have done in the past, you didn't need to do it. The Russians…Mosley…you brought all of that on yourself. Why is the legitimate business not enough?"

"Don't ask me questions I can't answer," Tommy urged from Ada. "I don't know how to answer that. I don't know why. I just know that I had to do it. I had to do it and that is all there is to it."

"You are a fool," Ada said to her brother. "You had her. You spent years at war and you came back so miserable and lost and then you found her. She loved you. She gave you a daughter…you lost two children together, Tom. You've been through so much and you just can't see that you are throwing away the one thing you need more than the business."

Tommy said nothing back to Ada. He didn't know what else he could say. He was scared. He was scared that if he gave it all up then he would go back to that dark place he had been in. It was a place that even Elizabeth couldn't drag him out of. But he felt himself going there without her. He wanted her back. He needed her back. How did he cope?

"You told her before, Tommy," Ada continued, urging for her brother to see sense, "that she was all that mattered to you. How many times did you say fuck the business. Fuck everything. Fuck it all. So long as you had her, it wouldn't matter. None of it would matter. When did that change?"

"It didn't."

"Then why let her go?" Ada asked him. "You need to sort yourself out, Tommy. You need to do something because she is good for you."

"Yeah," Tommy only said and moved to his feet. "I need to go, Ada. I have business."

"Don't be stupid, Tommy," Ada said as Tommy picked his cap up and began moving towards the door. "Do something before it is too late, for all of our sakes."

….

Opening the door, Elizabeth saw him stood there and she longed to do something. It didn't feel natural not to wrap her arms around him and greet him. It wasn't normal not to kiss him and watch his lips quirk slightly as he saw her. It wasn't what she wanted, but it was what she needed.

"Liz," Tommy said to her, standing on the doorstep as Elizabeth pulled her cardigan tightly around her body. This was going to be the first night without her daughter. Charlotte was going to spend the night with Tommy back at home. He had promised to bring her back early the next morning, but Elizabeth didn't know what she was going to do.

"Tommy," she responded. "Charlotte is just putting her shoes on. She will be down in a minute."

"Alright," Tommy nodded and Elizabeth moved to pick up a small case.

"She has clean clothes in here," she said to her husband, handing him the suitcase and he took hold of it, his gloved fingers brushing against hers. "She complained that she had a slight stomach ache yesterday, but she wasn't ill, so I am hoping it was something of nothing. So just keep an eye on her. She was a bit warm so-"

"-I know," Tommy interrupted her. "Liz, I know 'ow to look after Charlotte."

"I know," Elizabeth said with a soft nod and she sniffed once. Moving to the bottom of the stairs, she left the front door open as Charlotte moved down them. Tommy looked to his daughter and he swore that she looked upset. She was disappointed. There was something wrong.

Charlotte pulled on her grey coat and Elizabeth pulled her soft curls from the collar. Charlotte looked to her mother as Elizabeth bent down to her height and embraced her. Charlotte held her back, her small arms wrapping around her mother's waist.

"Now you be a good girl," Elizabeth urged from her daughter. "I will see you tomorrow morning."

"Why can you not come?" Charlotte whispered.

"We talked about this, Charlotte," Elizabeth said, her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Daddy and I have had to split up, but that doesn't mean that we don't love each other or you any less."

Charlotte could only nod and Elizabeth kissed her on the cheek.

Moving to her full height, Elizabeth took hold of Charlotte's hand and led her to the front door as Tommy looked down to her as Charlotte looked at him. He managed to let his lips arch upwards for a moment before holding his hand out to his daughter.

"Come on, Charlotte," Tommy urged his daughter. "I've got Frances bakin' yer a cake at 'ome. Yer like cake, right?"

Charlotte said nothing, she only let go of her mother's hand and began to move down the path, ignoring Tommy's hand completely. Looking to his wife, Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders at her husband as Charlotte waited by the car.

"It isn't easy for her, Tommy," Elizabeth said to her husband. "She is a little girl. She needs time."

"Don't we all," Tommy said to his wife.

"I will see you tomorrow, Tommy," Elizabeth said, not wanting to get involved in the discussion with her husband. She closed the door as Tommy went to Charlotte and left his wife behind.

Charlotte had barely said two words to Tommy. She had greeted Frances with more enthusiasm than Tommy. Tommy had finished working in his study while Frances spent time with Charlotte. He looked to the photograph on the bookshelf to the side. There was the photo of them on Elizabeth's christening. His entire family looked stern and serious, but Elizabeth was beaming. She couldn't stop smiling as she held Charlotte in his arms.

Glancing back to his desk, he looked at the more recent photograph of the two of them in the gardens. Charlotte was laughing as Elizabeth held her in her arms, knelt on the picnic blanket and tickling her. She looked so carefree. Picking up the photograph, Tommy sighed and leaned back in his seat.

The door to the study opened after a knock and Tommy looked to see Frances walking into the room.

"Mr Shelby, dinner will be served shortly."

"Be there in a moment, Frances."

Frances walked back out. Tommy placed the photograph down and stood up. Removing his glasses from his eyes, he left them on his desk and wandered towards the dining room. Frances already had Charlotte sat there. She was sipping on her water before the stew was served. Sitting at the head of the table, Tommy sniffed, running a hand under his nose before looking to his daughter.

"Yer alright, Charlotte?" he asked from her.

"Fine."

"And 'ow is school?"

"Good."

Tommy sighed, wondering what more he could do. His daughter was usually talkative. She always wanted to tell him stories. She always wanted him to know what she had been doing. But now? He couldn't even get her to look at him.

"Charlotte," Tommy said after he had finished a mouthful of food, "I know what is 'appenin' is confusin-"

"-You hurt mummy," Charlotte interrupted and Tommy wondered if it was possible for a little girl to break his heart the way his daughter was doing as she looked at him, her eyes wide and almost wet. "Mummy always cries. I hear her crying and Aunt Pol said that it was because of you. You hurt her! Why did you leave her? Why did you leave us?"

"Charlotte," Tommy whispered his daughter's name and she placed her cutlery down and looked at her plate. "I love your mother so much, okay?"

"Then why did you hurt her?" Charlotte demanded to know, small tears falling down her cheek. Looking up from her plate, she turned her gaze over to him. "You don't hurt people you love. You don't leave them alone."

"I didn't," Tommy said to his daughter, slipping from his seat to kneel down besides his daughter, a hand going to sit on her knee and his other hand going over the back of her chair. "Charlotte, sometimes things just 'appen, alright? I know it is difficult. I know that it doesn't make sense, but yer mummy and I love each other still. We love yer too. We always will do."

"Then why did you leave us? Aunt Pol said that it was because you were a bad man. She said that you were a bad man who did bad things and that was why mummy shouldn't be with you."

"Aunt Pol talks a lot, hmm?" Tommy muttered more to himself than his daughter as he looked over to her. "Charlotte, we just…things are complicated, alright?"

"No, they are not," Charlotte said defiantly. "You can stop doing bad things and we can come home. Mummy misses you. Do you not miss her?"

"Of course I do."

"Then why not stop? Why not tell her and ask her to come home?"

"It isn't easy, Charlotte. One day you'll understand."

Charlotte slipped from his grip and moved to stand up. She shook her head. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to listen to her father.

"I don't want to understand!" Charlotte snapped at her father and Tommy remained knelt on the other side of the chair. "I want to come home! I want you and mummy to be happy!"

And then she left the dining room. She ran away, her green dress flowing by her ankles as she moved off. Tommy remained on the ground, bowing his head as his daughter's words swam around in his mind. Closing his eyes, he felt himself begin to tear up as he heard Frances try and calm Charlotte down n the next room. But she wouldn't stop crying. His daughter's sobs were breaking his heart. They were destroying him and he only had himself to blame.

…..

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