It had been a few days since Arthur Shelby senior had left and as I walked into the kitchen, I found Tommy and Arthur sat by the fire. Polly had told me about what Arthur had tried to do after being tricked by his father and I walked over the pair, bending over to wrap my arms around Arthur's shoulders from behind. "I was just telling Arthur how John and I would love to split his share of the company." Tommy told me, grinning. I rolled my eyes at the man before pressing my lips to Arthurs head. "He's not going anywhere just yet." I told Tommy as Arthur brought his hand to rest on my arm. "John in the shop?" I asked. Tommy nodded in affirmation and, giving Arthur another squeeze, I went to find my husband.
The shop was busy when I entered and Polly smiled at me as she came down the steps. I quickly spotted John by the blackboard at the other side of the room. I closed the doors to the kitchen, allowing the eldest Shelbys to stay in their private moment, and made my way over to him. He was on the phone as I was approaching and grinned broadly when he spotted me. John hung up the phone as I went up the small steps and came to me, wrapping me in his arms as I took the toothpick out of his mouth and kissed him deeply.
When we broke apart, I popped the toothpick back between his lips and turned to watch Tommy coming towards us, talking and nodding to various men as he went. He stopped just short of the steps and grinned up at John and I. He looked happy. "Come with me." He told us, turning and getting his coat. I looked up at John, confused. Although it was well masked, I knew he was as just as confused as me and I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or bad that he didn't know what was going on either.
We followed him from the shop, crossing Watery Lane and stopping. John and I looked at each other confused. "What's going on, Tom?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets as Tommy turned to look at us, lighting a cigarette. "Now we all know that the house has been crowded since we were younguns and even though Arthur and now Ada have moved out, there are still a lot of people coming and going from the house. You two are married now and you need your own space." he told us before holding out a set of keys to me.
I looked at John before taking the keys, looking for any sign that he was in on it. "You've bought us a house?" I asked, turning the keys over in my hand and looking at Tommy. "Shelby Brothers Limited has bought you this house." he told me, gesturing to the house we were stood in front of. "It's not much but Pol thought you would want to be close to the family, especially with that baby on the way." he told us with a grin.
John looked stunned beside me. "Are you being serious?" I asked, searching his face for any sign of a joke. He nodded. I squealed, wrapping my arms around Tommy's neck and pulling him in for a cuddle. He laughed, wrapping an arm around my waist. When I finally let the Shelby go, he pulled John in for a hug. I grinned up at the pair. When they broke apart, Tommy turned to me and gestured to the door. I smiled as I turned, placing the key in the lock. "I'll leave you to look around yourselves. I've got work to be getting to." Tommy said before turning and walking back to the shop.
We had been in our house on Watery Lane for a few days and we had taken full advantage of having an entire house to ourselves, it was a novelty that we had never enjoyed in our relationship. Growing up in the Shelby house was great but there was definitely no privacy.
We had awaken earlier than usual. I had been wrapped in Johns arms and pressed against his bare chest as we watched the sunrise through the thin curtains. John had his hand on my bare stomach, occasionally tracing light shapes on my pale skin. Tommy had been in a weirdly good mood over the last few weeks and had even told us to take the next few days off.
It hadn't taken long for John to trail his hand down my stomach and between my legs, gently massaging moans from me as he twirled a curl around his fingers and kissed my temple. I could feel him pressing into my hip and gasped when he pushed his finger inside me, sitting up slightly to achieve a better angle. He rested on his elbow as he brought his lips down to mine, moving his fingers hard and faster inside me until he felt me release around him. I moaned loudly, gripping his muscular arm as the orgasm ripped through me.
John placed a few more languid kisses on my lips and forehead before positioning himself above me. My sensitivity showed as he pushed himself into me, making me moan. He moved slowly in and out of me, placing soft kisses over my collarbones and breasts. I pressed my hand to his back, the other knotting in his hair. It wasn't long before I was moaning with his thrust, him meeting me with his own groans of satisfaction. It was slow and gentle and perfect for the lazy morning.
The door flew open. John jumped off me, going for the bedside table. "John? I told you to keep the doors locked. I could've been anyone. Now get dressed." Tommy said, unfazed by the scene he had just walked into as I scrambled for the blanket to cover myself. I looked up to see John had his gun in hand. "We're doing it today." Tommy added. "You said we had the day off today, Tommy. He's busy doing me." I told Tommy, sitting up while holding the blanket over my chest. "Make sure he's done you by nine." Tommy laughed. "Make it ten! And you should learn to knock!" I called after him as he left. "It's not a day for knocking." he responded, closing the door behind him.
"I thought the idea of this house was that it stopped people interrupting us." I said, running a hand through my hair as John put his gun back on the side table. I let the blanket drop into my lap as John settled beside me. "You know what Tommy's like." He told me, eyes looking over my chest appreciatively. He looked at me with heavy eyes and I gave him a small smile. I let out an involuntary squeal as he pushed me backwards on the bed, making me lie back down as he got on top of me. He hovered above me, a cheeky grin on his face. "Now where were we?" he asked before pressing himself inside me, grinning broader when I let out a loud gasp.
I walked into the Shelby house and was shocked to see Ada there. "Ada!" I shouted, rushing over to the girl and pulling her into my arms. She laughed as she wrapped her arms around me. "Hello, Evie." she said, squeezing me tightly to her. I turned as I heard baby Karl cooing and turned to watch Polly lifting him into her arms. I smiled. "You're much better with him than I am." Ada told her, her arm still around my waist and mine around hers. "He settles quicker with me because he can't smell the milk." Polly told her, gently rocking the baby and wandering over to the window. "You look tired. Let's put him down." she whispered, placing the baby into the wicker basket that had been placed on the table.
Ada and I walked over to the table, looking down at the bright eyed boy. Polly gently shushed him. "Mine were terrors for the tit. Both of them." Polly told us before looking up at us. "Well, you two never knew my children, did you?" she said, sadly. "We were both children ourselves then." I told her. "You never talk about them." Ada said. "Never have reason to. My heart breaks even when I think about them." Polly told us, wandering around the room until she was stood behind us. "But today, I do have reason to. Sit down, girls." she told us, sitting in a chair herself.
Ada and I looked at each other before doing what she asked, sitting on the sofa opposite her. "They were three and five years old. Sally was three. Michael was five. Well, two weeks away from being six. It was Sunday morning. While I was at church. You're not forgiven, this pinch-faced bitch said to me. You are not forgiven. You see, some sheets I washed and hung on the line had the name of a hotel on them. They'd been stolen in a robbery. And they said some porter at the hotel had been coshed. And a woman from round here told the police I had the sheets. Jealous, you see, of the new sheets. And when the police came, they found a spirit still for making a few drops of Gin. And for that, they took my children from me. And they never told me where they took them. And they did it because they could. Because I was weak.
"But they'll never take your babies away from you. Do you know why? Because Tommy and John and Arthur wouldn't let them. Because Tommy won't let them walk all over us. Now it is Tommy that has brought strength and power to this family. Cause he knows, you have to be as bad as them above in order to survive. I'm telling you this because I want you to forgive him." The last bit was obviously directed at Ada and, although all of us had tears welling in our eyes, Ada stood firm. "How can I? When my Freddie is rotting in jail because of him." she questioned. "There's something about today that you need to know. Both of you." Polly told us, my brow furrowed in confusion.
"Tommy is getting him out." Polly told us as if she was talking about the weather. Ada and I looked at each other, unsure if we had heard the woman correctly. "Tommy is getting Freddie out of prison?" I asked, turning back to Aunt Polly. She nodded. "I don't know how but he said that he's getting it sorted. Just to trust him." she told us. "When's he doing it?" Ada asked, anxious to be reunited with her husband. "With all the racket Tommy has been making today, I assume it will be today but don't take that as a definite. God knows what is going on in that boys head." she replied, looking between the two of us.
A/N So I had major writers block for this chapter. Please let me know what you think :)