Chapter 14
The morning of Edith's 18th birthday, she woke early, Bonnie at her side, in her room at Tommy's house. "Good morning birthday girl." Bonnie whispers, pressing light kisses to Edith's lips. "Ready for breakfast?" He asks, knowing Ada had planned for the whole family to surprise Edith at breakfast.
"Mhmm!" She nods in reply, placing one last lingering kiss on Bonnie's lips before pushing back the covers and tugging on her dressing gown.
"Do you not want your presents first?" He teases, still laying in bed, Edith turning quickly on her heels to look over at him.
"You got me a present?" She asks, a smile spreading across her face.
"Of course I did!" He replies, patting the bed beside him, Edith quickly sinking back down to his side. She sits cross legged, watching as he reaches into the bedside table to get her presents, passing two wrapped gifts to her. Edith turns so she is sat, wrapped in Bonnie's arms, both of them resting against the headboard.
"Which one first?" She asks, Bonnie pointing to the smaller package first. Edith carefully tearing open the paper to reveal a beautiful, floral embroidered journal. "Bonnie." She gasps, running her fingers over the intricate patterns. "It's beautiful."
"Figured you'd like a new journal to write in, I know how much you treasure your old one. Open the cover." Edith thumbs open the book, finding a note from Bonnie carefully written on the first page.
"My mother wrote in my old journal, did you know that?" Edith asks, tilting her head back to look up at Bonnie. "It made it even more special."
"I did know that," Bonnie replies gently, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Ada told me, when I told her I was going to buy you a new one."
"Thank you Bonnie." She replies, twisting in his arms to press her lips to his. "I love it." Bonnie simply smiles in response, pressing another kiss to her lips as he hands her the other present. Edith gently places the journal on the side table, taking the next present into her hands.
"I asked Ada and Finn what books you might like," he explains as she pulls out the novels he had bought her. "Finn was no help, but Millie helped me pick those ones out, so I hope they're ok."
"Ada and Millie helped you?" Edith asks softly, smiling at how much he cared about getting her the right books. "I've not got these ones, thank you." She turns in his arms, tugging him in to a tight hug which he returns.
"Happy birthday love." He says softly into her ear.
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"Who's here?" Edith asks as they make their way down the stairs, hearing voices coming from the ground floor of Tommy's house. "I thought it was just us and Finn staying over?" Bonnie remains silent, Edith's hand tucked in his as they reach the bottom of the stairs. He gently steers her towards the dining room where her family were waiting for her.
"Surprise!" They all shout, making Edith jump as she pushes open the door to the dining room. "Happy birthday Edith!" Edith laughs, glancing back at Bonnie who gently pushes her forwards into the open arms of Polly who had pushed her way to the front of the group.
"Aunt Pol!" Edith exclaims, wrapping her aunt in a tight hug which is quickly reciprocated.
"Happy birthday sweetheart." Her aunt replies, pressing a kiss to her forehead as Edith moves around the room to hug the rest of her family.
"Who did all of this?" She asks as she hugs Finn who squeezes her tightly, lifting her off the ground causing her to laugh.
"This was all Ada, Bonnie and I helped a little." He admits, placing her back on the ground and pulling out a chair for her to sit.
"This is amazing," she breathes as Bonnie takes a seat beside her, Edith leaning across the table to take in all the trays of food in front of her. Ada comes up behind her sister, resting her hands on her shoulders to press a kiss to her cheek.
"Are you happy?" She asks, pouring Edith a glass of champagne. "Tommy found this stuff, hope it's ok. All I said, was that we needed champagne for your special birthday breakfast!" She jokes, holding up the bottle before passing it off to Bonnie.
"I'm sure it's lovely!" Edith replies with a laugh, turning in her chair to give her sister another hug. "Thank you for doing this Ada."
"Of course." Ada says, giving Edith a squeeze before releasing her again. "Now eat up, Frances and the girls have been busy this morning!" Edith laughs again, turning back around to tuck in to the trays of food.
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"You look gorgeous." Bonnie calls, hands tucked into his pockets as he leans against the doorway of the room Edith had declared her own in Tommy's house. She was dressed in a lilac floor length gown, covered in delicate beads and flower sequins (a dress Polly had bought her for her birthday), her hair falling naturally in curls around her shoulders.
"Thank you." She says with a blush, watching him walk up behind her in the mirror and lightly rests his hands on her hips as he brushes a feather light kiss to the exposed skin where her neck meets her shoulder. "You brush up quite well yourself Mr Gold. You're looking very handsome in your suit." Edith turns to face him, tweaking the edge of his bow tie between her fingers. "Save a dance for me tonight eh?" She says softly, leaning up to brush her lips over his in a ghost of a kiss. Ada, with the help of Lizzie and Esme had organised a party for Edith at Tommy's house, inviting all of her school friends and family members, Edith not knowing about the party until that afternoon when Ada had whisked her off upstairs to get ready. She had spent the day spending time with her family at Tommy's house, playing outside in the sun with her nephews and nieces, Millie arriving before lunch to wish her best friend a happy birthday and help her get ready for the party.
"Only if you find a hiding spot for a secret kiss, birthday girl." Comes his response, closing the gap between them with a breathtaking kiss
"I'll see what I can do," she murmurs as they pull apart, resting her hand on his cheek, pecking light kisses on his lips. "or, we could just stay here..."
"Miss Shelby!" Bonnie exclaims with a laugh, digging his fingers into her sides making her squeal.
"I'm joking!" Edith says, pulling away from Bonnie to pick up the necklace Arthur had bought her, holding it out to him, silently asking him to put it on her. She holds her hair out of the way, watching Bonnie in the mirror as he concentrates on doing up the clasp, pressing a kiss to the back of her neck before taking her hair from her hands and letting it fall against her back.
"I'll meet you downstairs." He says softly in her ear, leaning round to press a kiss to her cheek as he does.
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"Oh my goodness look at you!" Edith squeals swinging her niece into her arms at the bottom of the stairs. "So beautiful!" She gives Esme a hug, Katie still in her arms.
"She's not going to stay long." Esme counters, brushing one of Katie's curls back from her face "But her daddy's promised her a dance."
"Ah I see! Think your daddy will save a dance for me too?" Edith asks with a grin. "I hear he's a very good dancer."
"I think that can be arranged." John calls from behind her, kissing his sister and daughter on their cheeks before moving to wrap an arm around Esme's waist.
"How kind!"
"What about me, Auntie Edith?" Karl asks, wrapping his arms around her legs in a hug, Edith dropping an arm to her side to hold him close to her.
"You want to dance with Uncle John?" She teases, digging her fingers into his ribs.
"No!" He cries, squirming away from her. "I wanna dance with you!"
"Oh!" Edith mock gasps, grinning at Ada who had joined the group in the hallway along with the rest of the family (Bonnie and Millie included). "Of course I'll dance with you Karl!" Karl grins up at his mum this time, Ada responding with an equally as big grin of her own.
"How lucky are you?" She exclaims throwing a teasing smile to her sister who nods with mock seriousness.
"Frances will be along in an hour or so to bring Charlie and the rest of the children up to bed." Tommy explains as he, Lizzie and Charlie join the group stood in the hallway.
"That includes you Edith." John teases his sister, earning him a glare and a punch to the shoulder, hard enough to make him wince.
"Where's Arthur?" She asks, gently lowering her niece to the floor, ignoring her brother fussing beside her, Ada holding back laughter at the pair of them.
"We're here!" Arthur calls, him and Linda heading down the hallway to join the rest of the family. "The party can start now!" Edith rolls her eyes at this, slipping her hand into Bonnie's to tug him in the direction of the dining room which had been emptied for the occasion.
"Right all of you. On your best behaviour tonight. Got it?" Tommy calls as the family follow Edith's lead.
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"Have you had a nice evening?" Bonnie asks softly as he winds his arms around Edith's waist. The party had pretty much ended by this point, all of Edith's school friends having gone home (bar Millie who had disappeared upstairs with Finn an hour ago), the only people left being Edith's brothers and cousin who were drinking the night away in the living room. Edith had left them alone a few minutes before, finding some peace outside on the terrace overlooking Tommy's garden, Bonnie following her shortly after.
"I have." She replies, resting back against Bonnie's chest, allowing him to hold her up. "It was so nice to have everyone here, and to see the girls again." Bonnie smiles into her neck, pressing light kisses there as she quietly talks. "Did you have fun?"
"Mhmm," he hums in response, laying his forehead on her shoulder, pressing a light kiss there. "I've got one more surprise for you."
"Another one?" Edith exclaims with a laugh, turning in Bonnie's arms to look him in the eye, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Uh huh," he replies, leaning down to kiss her on the lips. "How would you feel about going away for the weekend?" He asks, lips lightly resting over hers. Edith pulls back with a gasp, her eyes glistening with excitement.
"Are you serious?"
"I am." He assures her, pulling her back in for another kiss. "Mmm, you taste like champagne." He teases, Edith lightly slapping his chest at his teasing.
"Bonnie!" She exclaims, tugging on the lapels of his suit. "Are we really going away?"
"Yes." He says with a laugh. "But not in a caravan." Edith's smile drops, a frown forming as she looks up at Bonnie.
"Huh?"
"We're taking a car." Bonnie states, his hands running down her arms to intertwine their fingers together.
"A car?" She repeats, Bonnie nodding in response, beginning to walk backwards towards the house, hands still linked together. "To where?"
"To London." He replies, Edith's eyes lighting up again at the thought of spending the weekend in the city with Bonnie.
"I've never been to London." She breathes, Bonnie stopping in his tracks to kiss her again.
"I know," he says gently, pressing light kisses to her lips. "That's why we're going. A special birthday treat." Edith squeals, flinging her arms around Bonnie's neck as he wraps his arms around her waist, swinging her into his arms.
"What are we waiting for?" She exclaims as he sets her back on the ground, taking his hands in hers again. "Let's go!"