Chapter 25
Edith rocks back and forth on her heels as she waits on the front step of the house she had just arrived at, glancing around to take in the property it sat on as she waits for the door to be answered. She freezes as the door whips open, plastering on a smile as her older brother falters, not expecting to find her stood there. "Hello Arthur!"
"How did you get here?" Arthur grunts, leaning against the doorframe as he takes in his little sister, wind swept hair, boots covered in mud, standing on his door step, at barely 8 o clock in the morning. Edith rolls her eyes at her brother's greeting, making no comment on it as she smiles up at him.
"I rode. On Lavender. She's outside. Hope that's ok." Edith says, pointing behind her to the horse she had tied up behind them. Arthur sighs, nodding nonetheless.
"I guess so."
"Look, Arthur. I know we left off on a bad note. I'm really sorry about that. I just-" Edith pauses, biting her lip as she looks up at her oldest brother. "Can I give you a hug? Please?" Tears pool in her eyes as she waits for what feels like hours, but in reality is only seconds before Arthur responds, opening his arms for his baby sister. She lets out a loud sigh of relief, followed by a small chuckle, collapsing into her brothers chest, wrapping him in a tight hug, Arthur pulling her just as tightly into his arms.
"You coming in? Or are you just going to stand out here in the cold?" He asks as they pull apart, Edith wiping a stray tear from her cheek as she lets out another light laugh.
"Well I was hoping you'd invite me in. Maybe let me put the kettle on? Nab a biscuit?" She asks, stuffing her hands in her pockets.
"Come on. Get in. Linda'll kill me for letting the warmth outta the house standing out here with you." Edith steps into the house, nearly walking into her sister in law as she looks over her shoulder at Arthur, asking where his wife was.
"Oof, sorry Linda!" Edith gasps, Arthur grabbing her arms to stop her falling backwards. She timidly puts her arms around the older woman, pulling away once she had received a light pat on the back, following Arthur through to the kitchen.
The siblings shared a silent cup of tea (plus a few biscuits for Edith) in the kitchen, before Edith excuses herself to check on Lavender, returning to the living room where Arthur had moved to
"Oi! Fucking hell Edith!" Arthur grunts with a laugh as Edith jumps on to the sofa beside him, snuggling into his arms.
"I've missed you!" She laughs, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug, the awkwardness from earlier already forgotten.
"Edith! Get your shoes off the sofa!" Linda exclaims as she enters the living room, rolling her eyes as Arthur gives her a pointed look. "Please." Edith raises her eyebrows at Arthur, throwing Linda an apologetic smile as she slips her legs off the sofa.
"Is he asleep?" Edith asks, nodding towards the sleeping baby in his pram in the corner of the room, Arthur nodding in response. "Can I hold him? When he wakes up I mean."
"Course you can." He replies, pulling out a cigarette. "And you can tell me all about your travels." Edith turns slowly back to her brother, eyes wide with shock. "What?"
"You want to know about my travels?" She clarifies, Arthur nodding again. "With Bonnie?" She shakes her head as he nods again. "The trip you were adamant I wasn't going to take." Arthur nods again, resting back on the arm of the sofa, eyes raking over his sister as he takes in the changes to her since she had been gone. "Ok. Who are you? And what have you done with my big brother?"
"Look, let me tell you something. Ok?" Edith nods for Arthur to continue. "When you left, Tommy, John, Michael and I all sat down to chat, alright?" Edith nods again, settling back against the sofa cushions. "You seem happy, Edith. Really happy, and that's what ma would have wanted. Bonnie is a good guy." Edith hums in reply, raising her eyebrows.
"Wow..." she scoffs, letting out a chuckle. "What made you change your tune like that?" Arthur lets out a chuckle of his own, nodding his head in Linda's direction, the older woman smiling softly as Edith who gives her a grateful smile.
"I know what it's like to be in love." He replies, patting Edith's knee. She smiles up at her big brother, resting her head against his shoulder as they sit in silence, both staring into the fire roaring in front of them.
"Saw Tommy yesterday." Edith mutters, breaking the silence as she pulls a cigarette out of the holder Arthur had thrown onto the table.
"How did that go?" He asks, shaking his head at her offer of another cigarette.
"Terribly." She grunts, dropping her head onto the back of the sofa, looking up at the ceiling. "The conversation you and Tom, John and Michael had when I left. Yeah. He doesn't feel like that anymore."
"What happened?" Arthur asks, changing his mind as he plucks the cigarette from between her fingers and taking a drag before passing it back.
"He told me I'm acting like a spoilt brat. He doesn't fucking listen, Arthur." Edith pauses, shooting a side glance at Linda who was settled into the armchair beside the fire, rolling her eyes at her sister-in-law's choice of language. "Sorry, Linda. But he doesn't. There's trouble coming, Arthur. I can feel it."
"Tommy's got a lot on his mind..."
"Yeah, and there'll be a lot more with whatever I've sensed is coming. Come on, Arthur. You believe me, don't you?"
"I do. 'Course I do..." Arthur starts, trailing off slowly.
"But?"
"But..." Arthur repeats slowly, shrugging his shoulders.
"Here we go..." Edith groans, taking a long drag of the cigarette as she turns away from her oldest brother.
"Edith." He chastises lightly, tapping her knee.
"Sorry. Continue." She replies with a roll of her eyes, which is quickly reciprocated by Arthur.
"Thanks for the permission."
"You're welcome." She jokes sarcastically, smiling over at her brother who raises his eyebrows.
"I think you need to cut him some slack." Arthur states, holding up his hands to stop Edith from cutting in as she scoffs, narrowing her eyes at him. "Edith. Just let him do what he needs to do. Ok? Just leave him be. Try not to start any more fights with him for now. Eh?"
"You're one to talk." Edith scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest. "Fine. Yes. I'll try. Ok? Happy?"
"Very happy." Arthur grunts, rolling his eyes at Linda who gives him a small smile.
"And that's all you're going to say?" Edith asks, dropping the cigarette butt into the tray on the table.
"Eh?"
"That's it? You're not telling me anything else? About what Tommy's working on? What's been going on in the business." She clarifies, waving her hand about in the air.
"No. Not now." Arthur replies, running a hand through his hair. "Now, how about you tell me about your adventure? Eh?"
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Edith pops her head over the back of the sofa as she hears the front door shut, calling out Bonnie's name, smiling up at him as he pokes his head around the door, stepping in to give her a quick kiss.
"I'm going to go and clean up. I won't be long." He says, brushing his thumb over her cheek as she pulls him in for another kiss, humming in response.
"Did you win?" She calls out, watching Bonnie head towards the stairs, smiling as he pauses and turns back to face her, rolling his eyes teasingly in response.
"'Course I did." He relies with a wink before jogging up the stairs.
"You spoken to Finn yet?" Bonnie asks as returns to the living room, dropping onto the sofa beside Edith, laying down to rest his head in her lap.
"No. I haven't seen him since I got back from Pol's." Edith replies, threading her fingers through Bonnie's hair.
"How is Polly?"
"She's fine."
"You should try and talk to Finn." He suggests, tilting his head to look up at Edith who gives him a soft smile, nodding her head.
"I will." She says, Bonnie smiling up at her. "When he apologises."
"Edie..." Bonnie draws out, lifting his head and giving her a warning look as she laughs.
"I'm joking!" She replies, shaking her head in amusement as Bonnie lowers his head back to her lap. "I just haven't seen him, is all. I'll talk to him when he gets home." She pauses as she runs her fingers back through Bonnie's hair, massaging at his scalp gently. "Bon, we need to talk about something."
"Ok?" He replies slowly, sitting up to face Edith. "What's wrong?"
"When I went to Aunt Pol's yesterday, I asked her to read my leaves." Edith explains, Bonnie frowns, trying to connect the dots to understand what Edith was telling him.
"Ok..." he draws out, brow furrowed in confusion. "And what did she see?"
Flashback
"Aunt Pol? I want you to read my tea leaves." Edith states as Polly opens the door, ushering her niece in out of the cold.
"It's about time you came around for a reading." Polly says, turning to head back through the house, Edith following her towards the kitchen. She glances back to look at Edith, her eyes darting quickly down to Edith's stomach and back up again.
"I know." Edith sighs, dropping into a seat at the table while Polly potters around the kitchen.
"And I'm guessing it's young Bonnie that's got you into this mess?" Polly motions to Edith's stomach, the young girl instinctively resting her hand there, nodding her head. "Well, let's have a look then." Polly sighs, pushing a tea cup towards Edith who takes it with a sigh of her own.
"I've been feeling off, for a while..." Edith continues, trailing off as Bonnie frowns.
"Edie, you never said anything." He replies, brow furrowed as he takes Edith's hand in his.
"I didn't want to worry you, if it wasn't...but the feeling hasn't gone away. And I've been having these weird dreams. That's why I went to see Aunt Pol. So she can help me make sense of them. It's almost like I'm seeing our future or something, but it's hard to remember them. I kind of knew something was off when we were travelling. I don't know if they told you, but your sisters were desperate to read my tea leaves but I didn't let them. I didn't want them to know before you."
"Edith. You're confusing me. What's going on?" Bonnie cuts in, squeezing Edith's hand in his.
"I asked Aunt Pol to you read my leaves...because I thought I was pregnant..."
"You thought you were...or you are?" Bonnie asks gently, cupping Edith's cheek in his hand. "Edith? Did Polly see something?" Edith nods this time, reaching over to take his hand in hers. "And?"
"And..." Edith starts, trailing off as she searches Bonnie's eyes, locked on hers. "I am." Bonnie's eyes widen, Edith biting her lip as she watches for his response.
"We're having a baby." He states, Edith's heart pounding in her chest as she waits for him to move.
"Are you...are you ok Bon?" She asks quietly, gently taking her hand out of his and pushing herself up to sit against the arm of the chair.
"Am I ok?" He repeats with a laugh, shifting forward towards Edith. "I should be asking you that! You're carrying our baby!" Bonnie laughs again, running a hand over his face. "Bloody hell, love! We're having a baby!" Bonnie leans forward, pulling Edith in to a tight hug, who immediately collapses into his arms, letting out a sigh of relief, wrapping him in a tight hug. "Come here." Bonnie moves to stand, gently nudging Edith forward so that he could sit behind her with Edith sat between his legs, resting back against his chest. Bonnie snakes his arms around her waist, slipping his hand under her top to rest on her stomach.
"We were so careful." Edith whispers shakily, her eyes shut as she rests her head back on Bonnie's shoulder. He presses a kiss to her temple as she lets out another shaky breath.
"I know." Bonnie replies, nodding his head. "But things happen for a reason, you always say that Edie."
"I do." She agrees, resting her hand in top of his on her stomach. "Fuck." She groans, tipping her head into Bonnie's neck. "Tommy's going to kill me. And Arthur. Shit. And John. My brothers are going to kill you!" Edith's head snaps up, her body quickly following as she turns to face Bonnie who cups her face in his hands.
"Edith, breathe." He commands, leaning up to capture her lips in his. "We'll be fine, everything is going to be fine." Edith nods slowly, biting her lip again as she twirls her rings around her fingers.
"We'll go travelling again." She states, pointing her finger at Bonnie who lets out a laugh, rolling his eyes at her. "We'll only tell Ada where we're going. She won't tell Tommy or the boys. We'll just say we're going away with your family again for a while! Ada can join us just before the baby's born and then we can come back. What's Tommy going to do then? He won't kill you if the baby's already here!" Bonnie shakes his head at her, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Edie. Love. We're not running away." He states, brushing his thumbs over her cheeks.
"It's not running away!" She protests. "It's travelling."
"We're not going travelling." Bonnie replies, Edith narrowing her eyes at him. "Love, we're going to stay where you're safe, comfortable and have Polly, Ada and Millie all within calling distance should we need them." Edith sighs, recognising that what Bonnie was saying made sense. She drops forwards again, back into Bonnie's arms which quickly encircle her body again, running his hand up and down her back. "How do you feel?" He asks.
"Sick." Edith replies, curling an arm around Bonnie's body. "Nervous. But excited."
"Me too." Bonnie says softly, smiling down at Edith as she tilts her head to look up at him.
"Are you happy?" Edith asks, running her fingers through Bonnie's hair.
"I am." He states. "Are you?" Edith smiles, nodding in response. The young pair lay in silence for a while, enjoying being in each other's company, both of them thinking about the baby they would be adding to their families.
"God I was so nervous to tell you." Edith finally days, breaking the comfortable silence.
"Why?" He asks, tilting his head to look Edith in the eye.
"I don't know!" Edith laughs, shaking her head. "It's just...we hadn't planned this."
"I know. It's a little earlier than we planned on starting a family, but at least we've got plenty of time to have all those babies you wanted." He jokes, leaning down to kiss Edith as she laughs.
"Bonnie!" She giggles, shaking her head.
"Hey, I'm right, aren't I?" He replies, Edith burying her head in his chest with a groan.
"And look. You have this." He says, twirling Edith's promise ring around her finger. "I'm not going anywhere. We have all the time in the world."
"I'm not going anywhere either." Edith promises, pressing her lips to Bonnie's in a deep kiss.