Thomas let neither Edith nor Florence out of his sight for the next three weeks.

He had the workers gather what could be salvaged from the house, and pack it into boxes. It turned out all he wanted to keep were clothes, perhaps a few books from the library, his mechanics, keepsakes from his and Florrie's once innocent childhood. Everythingelse
was a part of the past that he was only too glad to be rid of.

While the men worked, the three stayed in the warm little room beneath the Post Office, where Thomas and Edith had once spent the night together. Edith's friend the Doctor, Alan, had been taken to hospital, where he was being treated for his wounds. Inthe
meantime Thomas had asked him for strict instructions on caring for both Florence and Edith and making their recovery as comfortable as possible. Florence had broken ribs and muscle damage in her neck, which bruised horribly, whilst Edith hadescaped
with a few scrapes and was mostly in shock.

Thomas refused to leave their bedside for anything, and carefully cleaned and bandaged wounds when required. He mixed medicine as Edith watched and, rather than force his wife into his company, slept in the armchair in the corner of the room, despitehis
discomfort. Edith could see that he was racked with guilt over the entire occurrence, and in agony from his own stab wound, but he did not complain.

One night, after about a week, she awoke to find him sat reading what remained of her novel by candlelight. Checking that Florrie was breathing easily beside her, Edith watched him for a moment, seeing the tears in his eyes as the memories plagued himagain.

It took much effort for Edith to move her hand from where it was tucked under Florrie's shoulder with her arm around her, but she stretched it out towards him and tried to whisper.

"Thomas," she gasped. He looked up suddenly, startled. His face was a picture of sorrow, and Edith felt her heart break. She didn't want him to suffer.

"Lie with us," she breathed, her voice breaking. Something flickered in Thomas' face, perhaps relief, or hope. He slowly set down the manuscript and stood up, moving hesitantly across to the bed.

Edith was on her side, with Florence curled up in front of her, so out of respect Thomas lay down behind her with space between them and simply placed a hand on her shoulder. He was afraid to upset her, but Edith wanted him to know it wasok.

She reached and lifted his hand from her shoulder, then pulled it around her waist so he could feel Florrie's hands too. Hesitantly, gingerly, Thomas shuffled a little closer and pulled her to him. Edith smiled as she stroked his hand with a finger andfelt
his breath in her hair.

"It's ok," she breathed weakly.

At the movement in the bed, Florence stirred, and Thomas felt her little fingers weave through his as she noticed his presence. He couldn't help his smile as her weak voice floated through the darkness.

"Edith?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

Florrie paused for a moment, and Edith heard her biting her lip.

"Will you be my new mama?" she asked quietly, nervously. Edith smiled to herself, and heard Thomas hold his breath. She moved her lips to Florence's hair and kissed it softly.

"Of course I will," she whispered passionately. "I'll never leave you, I promise."

Thomas exhaled behind her, and Edith could practically feel his relief. Tomorrow, they were leaving, going back to America at first, to start their new life together. To live as a normal family- husband, wife, and daughter.

Thomas and Florence never did weep for Lucille. At least, they never mourned in front of Edith. As twisted and evil as she was, she was still Thomas' sister and Florence's mother. She'd protected and cared for them both as children.

In a strange contrast, Edith found it relatively simple to pass for Florence's mother. The fact she was wise beyond her years drew credit to the notion that she and Thomas were simply childhood sweethearts who had eventually settled down together. Neitherof
them really looked old enough to have a ten year old child, but they were so happy together and Florence was clearly so loved and cared for that nobody ever stopped to pry.

They'd bought a small house with a patch of land out in the most rural village they could find outside London, where Edith wrote her stories and Thomas rebuilt his workshop in the attic. Before the tragedy of Allerdale Hall, he'd actually got his machineto
work, and so wasted no time in posting copies of his now completed plans and proposals to various companies all through the country. He was starting to find success.

While her husband worked at the final stages of building a career that would sustain them for the rest of their lives, Edith focused almost all of her attention on Florence's education. As the little girl had never seen much of the great outdoors andmost
certainly had never travelled beyond the gates of their own estate, Edith knew that to send her straight to a public school would be terribly cruel. The poor child had never been allowed to interact with other people as a general rule, let alonemeet
someone her age, so Edith knew she would have to take small, carefully measured steps to give Florence the best chance at continuing her education with other children at school.

Admittedly, Lucille had done an excellent job of home schooling Florence at the hall, and she had no problems with anything academic. By any standards she was a bright girl, and this gave Edith hope that with time she would be able to pick up whateverwas
being learned in class with no issues.

In an attempt to tackle Florence's distrust of the outside world, Edith took her 'daughter' out almost every day, to parks and libraries and other small towns besides their own. At first Florence had been terribly afraid of these experiences, and clutchedat
Edith's hand with a desperate grip, but with time she had learned that other people were not as bad as Lucille always told her, and that in fact one's life could be enriched by forming friendships with others outside of their home and family.

Every day when they returned home she would run up to the attic, where Thomas would ask her what she'd learned that day, and she would launch into a bright description of even the most usual of interactions. Thomas took great joy in watching her progression,and
frequently told Edith how wonderful she was and how Florence would grow up to be a better person thanks to her.

At the present moment, Edith was sat on the sofa in the living room of their new home, a very sleepy Florence curled up in her arms as she waited for her father to prepare her medicine. Thomas knelt before them, humming softly as he mixed and measuredout
the dose, dripping it into a syringe with the utmost precision.

Edith rubbed Florrie's arm encouragingly- the little girl hated injections. She much preferred it when Thomas administered her doses to when Alan did, but it didn't make the sensation of the needle in her arm any less uncomfortable. Dr McMichael had recentlysuggested
she be swapped from pills to jabs to allow the drug to take action through her bloodstream faster, and of course Thomas and Edith had agreed. All they wanted was for Florence to be healthy.

Thomas finished preparing the needle, and glanced guiltily at Edith, who smiled.

"Okay, darling, are you ready?" Florence opened her eyes at the sound of his voice, and though her brow furrowed and she bit her lip, she nodded, clutching Edith's arm tightly. Thomas smiled softly.

"Good girl. Give me your hand."

Obediently, Florence stretched out an arm and closed her fingers around her father's outstretched palm. She watched him gingerly as he wiped the crook of her elbow clean, his eyes flicking to hers for a moment as he readied the needle.

"One, two... three," Thomas counted gently as he gave her the jab and took the syringe away, rubbing his daughter's arm carefully. Edith smiled as Florrie exhaled shakily.

"You're very brave," she told her, meeting her eyes. Thomas nodded.

"That you are. Dr McMichael will be very pleased."

I love this version, and I think I'll continue to write it along with the other one :3 please let me know what you think! Thank you for your follows & favourites ^_^