Edith and her siblings after their mother passes away

Edith age 3 1912

AN: Another idea from Idcam - thank you! Enjoy!!

Pacing the floor in front of the fireplace, John runs his hands over his head, all three Shelby boys chain smoking cigarettes, whiskey glasses surprisingly untouched, yet still clasped in their hands.

"I don't want her going to the funeral." He states suddenly, coming to a stop in front of Arthur who doesn't even glance up from the fire to meet his brother's eyes.

"It's not your choice John." Tommy grunts around a cigarette, letting his eyes flick very briefly up to John who glares down at him incredulously.

"She's 3!" He exclaims, throwing his hands in the air, Ada wincing as the whiskey sloshes over the side of the glass, falling onto the rug in front of her.

"And Finn's 4, he's going too. We're all going to say goodbye together." Tommy states, raising his eyes to meet John's, silently daring his brother to challenge him again.

"No he's not." Ada sighs at John's comment, letting out a curse under her breath as she drops her head to the side to look over at her brothers who all turn to look at her.

"Ada. For god's sake. Don't fucking get involved." Tommy snaps, lifting his glass to his lips as Ada shifts forward in her seat, leaning over to look at Arthur.

"Arthur, you can't seriously think letting the babies go to Ma's funeral is a good idea?" She asks, holding his gaze as Tommy turns his head to look over at the oldest sibling too.

"Arthur?"

"She's been asking for Ma." Arthur states, instead of answering Ada's question, his eyes quickly flicking back to the flames of the fire.

"She doesn't understand where she's gone." John shoots back, quickly downing the remaining whiskey as Tommy swirls his around his glass.

"Arthur's right. She's been asking after her. This might help."

"Yes. And she's been asking after Da too, and what do we tell her about that, eh?" Ada asks sarcastically, glancing around to meet all three pairs of eyes, scoffing at the silence that falls over them.

"She should be there." Tommy states again, dropping his head to rest on his hand, rubbing at the bridge of his nose.

"She doesn't understand!" Ada repeats John's earlier statement more forcefully.

"Well what do you suggest we do, Ada? Eh? Since you're so full of brilliant ideas!" Tommy spits out, spinning to face his sister who meets his glare with a steely look of her own.

"I don't know!" Ada exclaims in reply, throwing her hands in the air as she falls back against the chair, letting out a frustrated groan as she covers her face with her hands.

"Great." Tommy scoffs sarcastically with a short shake of his head.

"She's not going. And if you force her to go, then I'm taking her home with me to Martha, and I'm not going." John tells them, moving to sit on the arm of the armchair Ada was curled up in. "Scrap that. I'll take her with me, and Finn, and I won't bring them back."

"That is not your choice, John." Tommy snaps, pointing his finger at his younger brother who shakes his head sarcastically.

"And what are you going to do? Eh! You don't know the first thing about raising children!" He shoots back, still as angry, but not quite as loudly as Tommy, all too aware that Edith picked up on so much more than they realised, no doubt she could hear her brothers arguing through the floorboards.

"And neither do you, you're still a child yourself."

"I have two children-"

"Yeah, who run fucking wild." Arthur scoffs in reply, shaking his head with a bitter laugh.

"Arthur. Shut up." Ada hisses, laying her hand on John's arm to stop him from rising from the chair.

"Say that again, Arthur. I fucking dare you-" John growls, attempting to shake Ada's hand off and rise from the sofa.

"Oh Jesus Christ, stop!" Ada yells, causing her brothers to fall into a tense silence, all of them letting their anger simmer slightly as they gaze into the fire once more.

"We need to decide who's going to take guardianship of Finn and Edith." John states softly, breaking the silence. "And Ada, of course." He adds, smiling gently down at the teen who gives him a sad smile in reply.

"Well obviously it will be me." Arthur replies, pushing himself upright in his chair.

"Oh, obviously." Ada scoffs, rolling her eyes.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"You're hardly ready to take on both of them by yourself. John would be the better option. He has Martha to help-"

"Me." Tommy cuts in, making his siblings freeze, all of them turning to gawp at him in shock.

"What?" Ada stutters, blinking rapidly then turning to peer up at John who shrugs. This statement had come out of nowhere, sending the group into a stunned silence.

"I'll take-" Tommy tries again, Arthur letting out a grunt as he cuts him off.

"Like hell you will. I'm the oldest, it's my responsibility."

"Why can't Polly take them?" John cuts in, placing a new cigarette between his lips and lighting it.

"Look at her John. She's been a wreck since they took Anna and Michael. She won't want to take on Finn and Edith now." Tommy replies, still forcefully, yet a soft undertone of caring creeping through.

"Why don't we just ask her?" Ada asks, curling her legs up underneath her as she looks up at John again.

"Ada, please. Stop." Tommy groans, rubbing at his forehead, trying to stave off the growing headache pounding behind his eyes.

"I'm trying to help!" Ada cries, throwing her head back against the back of the sofa.

"But you're not!" Tommy exclaims in reply, forcing his exhausted body upright. Being the only two older siblings left in the house since their father left, and their mother passed, Ada and Tommy had been taking it in turns to get up in the night with the two youngest siblings, a silent agreement falling between the two of them that if one was up with the little ones in the night, the other got a lie in in the morning. Having said this, tensions were running high, the pair of them were finding it more and more difficult to keep their anger towards their father at bay, and not lash out at each other before their brothers turned up to take over after breakfast.

"Tommy, stop shouting! You'll wake Edith." Ada spits out, meeting Tommy's eyes with a harsh glare, eyes narrowed to thin slits.

"I told you, I'm going to-" Arthur starts loudly, at least four glasses of whiskey, all downed in the last few minutes, not coursing through his veins.

"Arthur! Lower your fucking voice." John hisses across the room, rolling his eyes as Arthur pushes himself up from his seat on the other side of the room.

"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?" He grounds out, stumbling across the room to John.

"Oh here we fucking go-" Ada mutters under her breath as the two brothers begin bickering, one considerably louder than the other, yet both letting their tempers get the better of them. Tommy rises from the sofa too, his voice rising in volume to be heard over the yells of Arthur, pushing back on John's chest to stave off a physical fight starting between his brothers.

"Ada?" Edith calls tearfully, suddenly, from the foot of the stairs, all four older siblings' heads whipping around to face Edith as she sniffles, her arm wrapped around the banister.

"Edith. You should be in bed." Ada chastises softly, holding her arms out to her younger sister who raises her own arms, allowing Ada to lift her on to her hip.

"Why are the boys shouting?" She whispers against Ada's shoulder, tucking her head into her sister's neck as the teen turns to face her older brothers, giving them all a pointed glare.

"I told you you'd wake her." She hisses, tightening her hold on Edith as Tommy sighs, running a hand over his face.

"Let me take her." He states, reaching out to take Edith who looks up at him, shying away from his hands, her head still tucked against Ada's neck. "Edith-"

"You fucking scared her." John snaps, stepping around Tommy, bending at the waist to meet Edith's eye. "How about a story in bed, eh? Ada can make us a cup of hot milk?"

"Cuddles?" Edith whispers, releasing her tight grip on Ada's dress as John nods, giving his baby sister a reassuring smile. Leaning forwards, Edith lets John take her into his arms, wordlessly carrying her back up to the room she shared with Ada. Silently watching John's retreating figure carry Edith back up the stairs, the three siblings visibly deflate, Ada dropping back into her chair with her hands over her face.

"I really think John should do it." Ada says softly, pulling her hands away from her face to look up at Tommy.

"John's not doing it. Neither are Aunt Pol or Uncle Charlie. I've made a decision-",

"Wait a minute. I-" Arthur cuts in, Tommy holding his hand up to silence his brother.

"We're going to share guardianship of Ada, Finn and Edith. Legally it will be my name on the papers, I'm still in the house, Arthur, you've moved out, it makes the most sense that way. We don't want to be moving Edith and Finn, they're happy and they're safe here, and you and John can chip in and help out too. Same with Pol and Charlie, just without the added stress of having to look after them all the time."

"That seems fair." Ada whispers, dropping her head into her hand as she peers up at Arthur. "Do you think so, Arthur?"

"Fine." Arthur grunts, dropping back down onto the sofa, pouring himself a fresh glass of whiskey.

"Lets just stop this. Eh? This fighting. It's not doing any of us any good. Especially not Edith and Finn." Tommy states, settling back into his seat, gratefully accepting the bottle of whiskey Arthur was holding out to him.

"Deal." Ada states softly, holding her pinky finger out Tommy who curls his finger around her own.

"Deal." Arthur repeats with a nod, glancing up as Tommy rises from his chair again.

"Good. Then it's sorted." He states, turning in his heel to leave the room.

Pausing outside of Ada's room, Tommy peeks through the crack between the door frame and the door, smiling at the sight of John stood at the window with Edith in his arms.

"And look, that one looks like a horse." John whispers, pointing towards a cloud passing in the sky in front of them. Edith giggles, her head tucked in John's neck, one arm wound tightly around his neck, her other hand clutching his shirt, her thumb in her mouth, fingers curled around the fabric.

"A bunny!" She exclaims suddenly, John gasping in mock excitement in return, letting out a soft 'woah' as she stretches out her hand, pointing towards another cloud. "Mama." She states quietly, her finger moving to the other side of the window, pointing towards a particularly bright star to their right. Swallowing the lump in his throat, John nods slowly, humming in reply as he tucks Edith's tiny body closer to his.

"That's right," he whispers, pressing his lips to the crown of her head, leaving them to linger there as he struggles to keep his tears at bay. "Mama's up there, and she's looking down on us. Keeping us safe." Moving Edith to rest against his chest, her head still resting on his shoulder, John turns away from the window, swaying the toddler in his arms, smiling as she reaches up, thumb still in her mouth, her other hand now fiddling with the collar of his shirt as he hums a gentle lullaby, rocking the youngest Shelby to sleep in his arms, unaware of their older brother still watching from the doorway, heart thumping, eyes filled with tears at the tender moment unfurling ahead of him. They would be alright, he would make sure of it.