Disclaimer: I do not own anything Peaky Blinder related, that belongs to the series creator Steven Knight.

Rosemary Shelby - Celina Sinden.

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Thorne Issue.

"I didn't realise you were here," Ada greeted coming down the stairs, she was still dressed for bed and she yawned smiling at the sight of Rosemary and Kathleen in the kitchen speaking with her aunt. After the morning that she'd had, Ada hadn't wanted to climb out of her bed; she was always happy to see her sister-in-law and niece, even with all the trouble that Thomas seemed to be causing these days.

"Good of you to join us. Where have you been all day?" Polly asked setting down the newspaper that she had been holding and looking at Ada, she didn't believe for a second that Ada had spent sleeping the day away with everything that was going on. It was bad enough that she didn't know what was going on in Thomas' mind these days, she wasn't even sure that Rosemary could say what he had planned next.

"In bed. I couldn't sleep. Then I couldn't wake up. Then I was cold and then I had to go for a wee. Then I was with this bear on a boat, but that was a dream. Then I was hungry. Why are you reading the paper?" Ada rambled on, she helped herself to a piece of bread and added loads of jam to bread before joining Polly and Rosemary at the table.

Kathleen contented to play with a new doll that her father had bought for her, a little present for how brave she had been when the bad men had broken into their home and trashed the place. Rosemary gave Ada an odd look, she hadn't breathed a word to Tommy about the whispers of where and who Ada was spending her time; her husband would commit murder if he ever found out. But Ada's current actions were cause for concern, even Polly who had turned her attention back to the paper was trying to not make it obvious that she was checking Ada out.

"I've never seen you read the paper. I've only ever seen you light fires with them," Ada dismissed, turning her head so that she could see the front of the paper; she hadn't heard from Freddie since he had dropped her off at Mrs Donovan's who had been far from friendly with her because of her brothers' actions.

"The BSA are on strike. The miners are on strike. IRA are killing our boys ten a day," Polly listed wondering how Ada could be so oblivious sometimes, her niece had no idea what sort of danger they were in with this copper about. Campbell had made himself clear, sending his men to raid people's houses and announcing that it was with the Peaky Blinders support was just asking for trouble.

"Stand up," Polly demanded suddenly, her words catching Ada off guard and she looked across the table at Rosemary who almost seemed just as confused as her; she could see the look on Polly's face, one that stated that she was working something out.

"Just stand up. Side on," Polly instructed, she pursed her lips as she eyed Ada for a moment as her niece did as she was told with Rosemary watching on curiously. Polly stared at Ada for a moment before she got to her feet and reached out to cup Ada's breasts, her niece exclaiming in shock as she batted her aunt's hands away and looked at Rosemary for support.

"Ada... how late are you?" Polly asked patiently, she had her suspicions and if the whispers that Rosemary had warned her about where true then they were in trouble. It was not going to end well for anyone if Ada was pregnant, especially by a man that Tommy had once called his best friend; that sort of betrayal wasn't going to sit well with anyone.

"One week. Five weeks. Seven if you count weekends. I think it's a lack of iron. I got some tablets," Ada rambled, she looked down knowing that she was in big trouble; she'd lost her last prescription while she had been at Freddie's just before the raid had taken place. There hadn't been time for her to go back and get it, not with Freddie on the run because they were hunting down communists. "

But they didn't work?" Rosemary asked, she glanced at Polly knowing that a lack of iron wasn't what they were seeing right now; she could only imagine what would happen when Tommy found out. No doubt her husband would hit the roof, he had enough to deal with right now without adding Ada's stupidity to the mix.

"No," Ada admitted, she looked between her aunt and sister-in-law feeling a growing sense of dread by the looks that they were giving her.

"Keep walking, Ada. If anybody sees us here they'll know," Rosemary said linking Ada's arm as they walked away from the building, Ada still looked a little stunned at the news that she was pregnant. The last thing that they needed right now was for anyone to see them here, it wasn't a place were any woman wanted to be caught especially not with the Peaky Blinders having to deal with Inspector Campbell.

"I'm not getting rid of it," Ada said finding her voice, she loved her and Freddie's baby and she wasn't going to just get rid of it no matter what anyone else in her family had to say about it. Rosemary sighed, she didn't slow her walk knowing that they couldn't stop and talk about it here; she would have to be the one that spoke with Tommy hoping to sooth his temper when he found out.

"Just come home and we'll talk about it," Rosemary encouraged, she would help Ada in anyway that they could but right now this was not the time nor the place to be having this discussion. No doubt, Polly would be waiting for them when they got home and she would want to know what was going on with Ada having stayed behind with Kathleen.

"You get off me or I'll scream out, I swear," Ada spat pulling away from Rosemary, she shook knowing that there was no way that they could make her give up her baby. She stepped away from Rosemary who shot her an annoyed look, her hands stuffed into her pockets as she looked around really not in the mood for what Ada was pulling right now.

"All right, if you want to do this on the street, let's do it. Whose is it?" Rosemary asked, she was tired and she was sure that Tommy would be wondering where she was if he got home and she wasn't there. Ada really had made a mess of things, the whispers would have reached any of them and it was only Rosemary's luck that Colleen had mentioned to their mother that she had seen Ada with Freddie Thorne.

"If I tell you, you'll tell them and they'll cut him to pieces," Ada argued, she was well aware especially from what Freddie had told her that her brothers wouldn't take too kindly to her seeing him. The very fact that they would be furious that he had knocked her up before marriage wouldn't stand with them, they would say that Freddie had shamed her by doing so.

"Not if he marries you they won't. Will he marry you?" Rosemary asked, she hoped that Freddie would as it would put an end to all of this; Ada would be safe, something that could only happen now if she married Freddie. Otherwise, she would be talked about like a common whore and her baby would be a bastard; something that Ada would never be able to get away from.

"I don't know. I don't know where he is," Ada admitted walking slightly, she hadn't heard from Freddie since he had took off and she had no way of getting a hold of him until the heat died down from the mess her brothers' had caused. Ever since this new copper had shown up things had changed, Ada knew that her brothers' had something to do about it even if she didn't pay any attention to what business that they did. Unlike Rosemary and Polly, she wasn't invited to sit in on their meetings with Polly acting as an adviser to the Shelby brothers while Rosemary was respected due to being Tommy's wife.

"Jesus Christ, Ada," Rosemary whispered, she had never thought that the Shelby girl was in anyway stupid, if not a little naive at times not to release how privileged she was compared to those around her. Rosemary had never imagined finding herself in the position that Ada found herself in, her father would have hunted Tommy down if he'd have gotten her pregnant. Robert Parker had never been a fan of the Shelby boys but from what she had heard had come to respect Tommy for fighting in the war while Peter had hidden away back here in Birmingham.

"He's gone away, but he said he'd come back," Ada whispered, tears in her eyes and a part of her doubting that Freddie would come back; she never did understand what he had seen in her. She wasn't as beautiful as some of the girls' in Small Heath nor did she have a good family name to lean back on.

"He's a good man. He promised. He will come back, I know he will," Ada cried breaking down into tears, Rosemary stepping forward to wrap Ada into a hug as she wept. Ada's entire future now rested on Freddie Thorne, a man that was currently MIA and who they had no idea if he'd make an honest woman of Ada.

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