Chapter 17
"Hello there." Bonnie greets his girlfriend as she opens the front door, face flushed red.
"Hi!" Edith says breathlessly, leaning on the doorway for support, beaming up at him.
"You ok?" He asks, furrowing his brow in confusion.
"Just great!" She replies, rising up on to her tiptoes, her lips puckered, silently asking for a kiss, which Bonnie ducks his head down to give.
"Ok..." Bonnie draws out with a laugh as Edith settles back to normal height. "I've just finished up at the gym, I was wondering if you'd want to..."
"Auntie Edith!" Charlie's little body barrels into Edith's legs making her jerk forward, Bonnie holding his hands out to catch her before she falls. Katie appears from behind them, grabbing Edith's hand and dragging her back into the house.
"Sorry!" Edith calls over her shoulder, both her and Bonnie laughing at the antics of her niece and nephew. "Come in!" Bonnie cautiously steps into the house, following the direction Edith had been dragged off in.
"What the..." he murmurs, breaking with a chuckle at the state of Edith's living room. The pillows had been pulled off the sofas and were propped up around the room, blankets covering every inch of visible space.
"Welcome to Shelby Manor!" Edith jokes, flinging her arms open wide as Bonnie looks around, wide eyed. "Oof!" She yelps, dropping to the ground as more of her nephews tackle her on to the cushions.
"You ok?" Bonnie asks, trying to hold in his chuckle as he looks down at Edith, laying on the floor with her nephews crawling over her.
"Yep!" She grunts as Karl's elbow connects with her chin. "Ok! Off!" She shouts, pushing Karl off of her stomach, him flopping on to the cushion beside her with a shriek. Bonnie leans down, holding out his hand which Edith gratefully takes. "Well, this started as Shelby Manor, now its a war zone!" She jokes, moving to stand with her back to Bonnie's chest watching as her nieces and nephews wrestle around the living room. "I think they'll be ok with all these pillows for a minute, want a cup of tea?" Bonnie nods at this, the two teens giving one last glance at the children before heading into the kitchen.
"How come they're all with you today?" Bonnie asks leaning against the counter, Edith coming to stand beside him, her eyes glued to the doorway, watching her niece's and nephews play in the living room.
"The boys are out on Blinder business. Took Ada with them." Edith replies, frowning.
"You don't seem too happy about that," Bonnie comments, taking Edith's hand in his, intertwining their fingers. "I thought you didn't want to be part of the company."
"I don't." Edith protests. "Doesn't mean I don't want to know what's going on. Or see my brothers! It's been weeks since I last saw John and Arthur, Michael pops around occasionally if I'm going to see Aunt Pol, I only see Finn when he's not out with Isiah or leaves his room long enough to stop fucking Millie and get some food, and Tommy's only ever around when he needs something. Like today, with the kids. I hate it." Edith groans, taking her head in her hands, rubbing at her eyes. "God I'm such a moaner. Don't listen to me. I'm just tired. Sorry Bon, you didn't come here for me to rant at you and be in a shit mood."
"We all have those days Edith." He reassures her, wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her in for a hug, Edith's head coming to rest on his chest. "Have you told your brothers that's how you feel?"
"They don't listen. I tried to ring Arthur yesterday, Linda answered and told me he was out. Esme and John never even pick up the phone, they're probably too busy fucking too. Tommy's in and gone within a minute and won't listen to anything other than what he needs, and I don't see Finn enough to be able to have a conversation with him." Edith protests, wrapping her arms around Bonnie.
"How about you call a family meeting?" Bonnie suggests, Edith pulling back from the hug to look up at him. "Then everyone's together in one place. Talk to them all at once."
"That's a good idea." Edith agrees, biting her lip. "Maybe I can get Ada to help me organise it. They all listen to her."
"Sounds like a plan." He replies, leaning down to kiss her. "Don't worry about it all for today, eh? Let's just enjoy the afternoon with the kids."
————————
"I think they're all out." Edith whispers later that evening, crawling over to Bonnie who was sprawled out on a sofa cushion still strewn across the living room floor, Teddy laid across his chest. Edith flops down beside them, laying her head on the small amount of space her nephew wasn't taking up between Bonnie's shoulder and chest. "Thank you for being such a good sport, they're quite the rowdy bunch!"
"Anytime." Bonnie quietly replies, turning his head to press a kiss to the top of Edith's head.
"You look good holding a baby." She comments, a twinkle in her eye as she runs her hand over Teddy's back, her eyes locked on Bonnie's as he chuckles. "You'll look even better when it's our baby your holding." She teases, Bonnie smiling down at her in reply.
"You're going to be an amazing mum one day Edie." He states, his hand coming to rest on her cheek.
"I can't wait to start a family with you." Edith replies, brushing her fingers through the fine baby hairs on the back of Teddy's neck.