Chapter 37

Two weeks later

Heading through the downstairs of the house, Edith makes her way through to the betting shop, pulling the double doors shut behind her. Smiling at Finn as he pushes off the table he had been resting against, he gives her a gentle hug as she approaches him, before placing a hand on her back, the pair of them heading through the shop to where the rest of their family were sat around the table, waiting to start the family meeting.

"Hello," Edith calls, gaining the attention of her relatives who turn to look back at her. "Mind if I bring a new member of the family to this meeting?" She teases, shifting the tiny baby in her arms.

"Get over here." Arthur calls, holding his arm out to his youngest sister who moves straight into his embrace, curling her body against his as he pulls her in for a hug. "How's our boy doing?"

"He's perfect." Edith breathes out, settling into a chair beside Polly who leans over, pressing a kiss to the baby's head.

"Right," Tommy starts, bringing the family's attention off of the baby, and onto him, rising from his chair. "Now that we're all here, we can start this meeting." Glancing around the table, Tommy lifts a cigarette to his lips, lighting it before continuing. "Firstly, I'd like to welcome the newest member of the family...Edward John." Pausing as the family clap softly, Ada reaching over to pinch the baby's cheek gently, Edith grins up at her brother who gives her a smile in reply. "Now that that's out of the way, let's get on with the meeting...I have a plan."

A knocking at her front door startles Edith out of the fantasy world of the book she had been reading, shifting the baby in her arms as she rises from the armchair, placing her book on the side as she makes her way through the house. Inching the door open slightly, Edith smiles as she finds her oldest brother stood on her door step, hands shoved deep in his pockets.

"Hello Arthur." She greets him, opening the door wider to let him step inside. "You know you don't have to knock, right?"

"Ah, wouldn't wanna walk in on something I don't want to be seeing." Arthur teases, throwing his cap onto the table as he drops down into a chair. Edith places the kettle down on the stove, turning to face Arthur with a glare, rolling her eyes at him.

"We're not like John and Esme," she grumbles lightly as she turns back to light the stove. "Or John and Martha for that matter." She states jokingly, moving to lean against the cabinet, gently swaying the baby in her arms, the siblings falling into silence, lost in their own memories of their brother.

"He'd be proud of you, Edith." Arthur states softly, peering up at Edith who hums under her breath, eyes fixed on her baby, running a finger gently across his cheek.

"Stop. You'll make me cry." She whispers in reply, refusing to raise her eyes and make eye contact with her brother. "You want to hold him?" She asks instead, lifting her eyes briefly, motioning to her son. Arthur straightens in his chair, nodding his head as he holds his hands out for his nephew. Stepping forwards, Edith gently places the baby into her brother's arms, settling him as she tucks the blanket around his tiny, wiggling body, Arthur bringing him close to his chest, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Dragging a chair closer, Edith takes a seat beside Arthur, resting her elbow on the table, head in her hand as she watches her tough big brother soften, cooing gently down at her son who was staring intently back up at him.

"He's a Shelby through and through, eh?" Arthur teases quietly, glancing up at Edith who nods, a small smile gracing her lips as she reaches out to place her finger in Edward's outstretched palm. "He's got the eyes." Her brother continues, his own eyes glued to his sister. "Just like yours and Tommy's. And Ma's." Humming under her breath, Edith lifts her eyes to meet Arthur's.

"The spitting image of our John though." She whispers, using her free hand to brush the soft hair on the top of his head.

"And you." Snapping her head up again, Edith frowns at Arthur who nods. "If we had put you and John boy together as babies you wouldn't have told the pair of you apart. And now add little Edward to the mix... you're the copy of each other."

"Yeah?" Edith breathes out, eyes filling with tears at her brother's statement, Arthur nodding again.

"You might have Tom's eyes, but everything else is John. Your heart, your smile, your temper..."

"Everyone always said I got that from you." She comments, brow furrowed in confusion.

"Nah." Arthur scoffs with a shake of his head. "Our John, just like you, he cared with all of his heart. You, Martha, Esme, the kids, you all had his whole heart, and if anyone said one bad fucking word against any of us, his temper...cor, he'd bloody go for it."

"Really?" Edith breathes out, eyes wide as she wait for Arthur to continue.

"Bet you never really saw that side of him, eh? He kept it under lock and key around his baby sister. You were his fucking world, Edith Mary. He'd do anything to protect you. We all would."

"I know." Edith whispers softly, dropping to crouch beside Arthur, letting her head drop to rest against his arm.

When Edith's next oldest brother lets himself into her house that evening, she rolls her eyes to herself at the difference in their approaches. Arthur may have been more bold and brash than Tommy in their day to day life, but their brother was certainly the more bold in his entrances to his siblings houses; he didn't fear what he would find on the other side of the door.

"Gosh. A visit from two brothers in one day. Aren't I lucky?" Edith teases, laying her sleeping baby into her brother's arms, falling into the armchair beside him.

"Finn?" Tommy asks, briefly lifting his gaze from his nephew to his sister, and then dropping it back down to the baby again.

"Arthur." Edith replies, resting her head in her hand, eyes glued to her brother and baby, Tommy humming in reply.

"I wanted to speak to you, away from everyone else." Tommy explains, Edith nodding for him to continue. "You know my plan..."

"I do." She confirms, casting her mind back to Tommy's announcement of his political plan earlier that day.

"You're part of it." Tommy states, meeting Edith's eye as she raises her eyebrow. "I'm going to need someone organising my meetings and such. Being my second when Arthur isn't available, for the meetings I mean. Writing up documents and speeches; I'll give you the general points and ideas, you put it into writing. You've always been good at that. There will be reporters, articles and the like, I'd like you to be in charge of sorting that. Picking out the good from the bad so to speak. I trust your judgement. I know you won't get sidetracked by names and statuses."

"So...I'd be your secretary?" Edith clarifies, leaning back in her chair.

"Of sorts. But Lizzie will still organise the business side of things, the company dealings. You'll support me on the political side of things." Tommy replies, copying her action and leaning back in his chair, bringing the baby closer to his chest.

"Alright...your political secretary?" Teasing smile spreading across her face, Edith snorts out a laugh as Tommy shakes his head in exasperation, running a hand gently over the baby's back.

"I'll pay you."

"Well I wouldn't bloody do it for free." Edith scoffs, reaching out to tuck the falling blanket back around her son, leaving her hand to rest beside Tommy's on his back.

"I figured."

"I guess I could stop you overworking yourself so much..." Edith replies slowly, cocking her head to the side as she contemplates his suggestion. "Schedule in family time."

"You don't need to schedule that in-" Tommy cuts in with an eye roll, throwing Edith a pointed look.

"The lack of your presence around here since we got back, two weeks ago, I might add, would say otherwise, Thomas." She states sarcastically, giving him a withering look.

"You've just had a baby, Edith-" Muttering under his breath as Edith cuts him off, Tommy throws Edith an identical look to the one she had just given him.

"Two weeks ago."

"12 days."

"Details." Edith scoffs, waving her hand in the air. "I've still barely seen you."

"I was here after you had Edward. You made sure we all were." Tommy protests, finally rising his eyes to meet Edith's harsh glare. "I've been giving you space. I've seen you-"

"Are we really arguing over this? Tommy. Seriously. All I'm asking, is that you're around a bit more. I'll take the position, if that's what you want-"

"It is."

"Why are all of our conversations like this?" Edith sighs exasperatedly, dropping her head back to look up at the ceiling.

"Like what?" Tommy asks, softer this time, dropping his head to the side to look over at Edith who slowly lowers her own head to meet his eye.

"Talking over each other." She expands, waving her hands in front of her.

"I don't know." He replies sincerely, shaking his head briefly. Both siblings freeze momentarily as the baby in Tommy's arms lets out a tiny squeak, shifting against his chest. Soothing the baby quickly, Tommy gently deposits him back into his mother's arms, smiling at how natural Edith looks with her baby curled into her chest, his head falling to rest against her shoulder. "How are you doing?"

"I'm ok." Edith tells him quietly, focusing her eyes on her baby, pressing delicate kisses to the top of his head. "Today's the first day Bon's been back at the gym..." Trailing off, Edith lifts her eyes to meets Tommy's, shaking her head with a scoff, a small smile spreading across her lips. "But you knew that. Course you did. That's why you and Arthur came by today, eh? I knew it was too suspicious getting a visit from you both!"

"What? Two big brothers can't just come and visit their baby sister and their new nephew unannounced?" Tommy teases in reply, throwing Edith a wink, knowing she had seen right through the two oldest siblings. "Just wanted to make sure you're ok."

"I'm ok." She reassures him seriously, meeting his eye, giving him a gentle smile. "Are you?"

"I am." Tommy replies quickly, rising from the chair and moving over to the sideboard, pouring himself a generous helping of whiskey.

"Feeling better?" Edith prompts, knowing that Tommy's action was not done unconsciously; he was trying to find a way to dodge her questions. Nodding in reply, Tommy paces the room slowly, one hand shoved deep in his pocket, his glass of whiskey dangling from the other. "And your hand-"

"So you'll do it?" Tommy asks in place of an answer to her question, pausing in front of Edith who peers, wide eyed up at her brother, tilting her head to the side again. "The job. You'll work with me?" Closing her eyes briefly in exasperation, Edith nods slowly, raising her eyes to meet his once more. "Good. I'll draw up the papers. I'll be back in the morning. Sleep well." Sighing to herself, Edith watches as her brother places the glass back on the side, pausing momentarily in the doorway of the living room, where he turns on his heel, stalking back across the room. Reaching his sister, who was peering up at him again, Tommy bends at the waist, pressing a kiss to her forehead, and then an even gentler kiss to his nephew's head, squeezing Edith's shoulder once before rising to full height again, and finally leaving the house, Edith watching sadly as he goes.