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

Face Claim for Rosemary Parker: Celina Sinden.

Chapter Fifteen: Baby Kathleen.

"You're going where?" Colleen asked not entirely sure that she had heard her mother currently, she stopped feeding her son and turned to face her with a frown on her face; she certainly had not expected this. Victoria had been home late the night before and Colleen had been rather annoyed since it meant that she could not go out with Peter; she hated being cooped up at home with baby Robert all the time.

Rolling her eyes, Victoria continued to pack some things into a basket with a smile on her face; she wanted to help Rosemary out in any way that she could especially since she lived alone. Times were hard right now and with a newborn in the house, Rosemary was going to need all the help that she could get if she were going to keep food on the table. Just as Victoria had done when baby Robert had been born, she had supported Colleen in anyway that she needed and now she would do the same for Rosemary.

"I am going to Rosemary's house," Victoria repeated slowly as if talking to a fool, she often wondered what she had done wrong with Colleen to make her so spoiled; she had never worked a day in her life and expected everything to be handed to her on a golden platter. Both Rosemary and Yvette had started to work as soon as they could, they had done their parents proud and Victoria knew that times were not going to get any easier the longer that the men were away.

Ellen looked up from her breakfast, a curious look on her face especially since she had yet to go see the new baby; she had been asleep when Rosemary had finally delivered her daughter.

"But I wanted to go out with Peter, he promised to take me for a walk along the canal," Colleen sulked, a frown on her face knowing exactly what would have changed things; she had heard her big sister had given birth and she hated that it took attention away from her Robert. Victoria ignored Colleen, she was not in the mood to deal with her and she almost wished that Peter's parents would take her in; as much as she loved her daughter, she wanted to be the centre of attention all the time.

Poor Peter had been practically disowned by his family because he had not gone off to fight in the war and was doing nothing for the war effort because Colleen did not want him to. He was seen as an embarrassment to his family and Victoria had to admit that even she could not avoid the whispers about him as she walked down the street.

"Can I come?" Ellen piped in, she had heard about the new baby and she wanted nothing more than to see; it felt like forever since she had seen Rosemary as well since her sister had stayed away from the house because of Colleen. It had been Yvette that had been sent to her house to help out, Ellen being forced to stay behind and have to put up with Colleen bossing her about. Yvette looked at her mother, she felt a great relief that the delivery had gone so well and she was thrilled to have a niece; she was even saving up to buy her this adorable cardigan that she'd seen in a shop window.

"Of course, I am sure Rosemary and Kathleen would love to see you," Victoria encouraged with a smile on her face, she finished what she was doing and looked at her three daughters that still lived at home. A part of her was a little sad that soon she would likely have an empty nest, she could only imagine what the next few years would hold for her. Ellen beamed at the answer, quickly finishing her breakfast before disappearing upstairs to get dressed; she didn't wish to keep her mother waiting too long as she was nearly ready to leave.

Victoria watched her go and smiled, she truly wished that Ellen didn't have to grow up; she had always been her baby and she wanted her to stay little forever. The fact that her youngest daughter was fourteen only made Victoria wonder where all the time had gone; she now had two grandchildren and it was hard to believe that she was a grandmother. Yvette got to her feet and moved to get ready, she was going to go with them; she was rather excited about meeting her niece for the first time plus if she stayed home then Colleen would expect her to babysit.

Huffing in annoyance that no one seemed to care about her plans for the day, Colleen instead focused on Robert and cuddled him close; at least she'd managed to have a son on the first try unlike her sister who'd ended up with a girl.

"She's so little," Ellen whispered in awe, holding Kathleen in her arms unable to take her eyes away from her; it was like hold one of her dolls from when she was a girl but slightly heavier and this one moved. There was nothing that Ellen could compare to this moment, she had not been allowed to hold baby Robert when he had been born because Colleen would not let her.

Colleen had insisted that Ellen would only drop him and had refused point blank to let her hold him because of that; she had kept Ellen as far as possible away from the baby. Victoria smiled moving around the kitchen as she prepared lunch for them, she had insisted that Rosemary rest since she had been busy with the baby all night.

"Any news from Thomas?" Victoria asked hoping that perhaps Polly's letter would have arrived by now and they might have some reply to see how he had reacted to the birth. It was never going to be easy and she had feared just what might happen should her daughter be left a widow at such a young age; she had a child of her own to think about now.

"He expressed his joy at the news that we have a daughter… he wishes that he could come home to see us," Rosemary said thinking about the letter that had arrived that morning. It had come as a surprise that the response had returned so quickly, she had not expected to hear anything from him for weeks and it was a relief to know that he liked the name that she had chosen. She was sure that he had been thrilled that they had welcomed a daughter and she wished that he could come home now; she hated that things had worked out like they had.

Victoria sighed, there was so much going on that they did not know about; the war was meant to be over by now but nothing seemed to be done yet. A war over by Christmas was what they had been promised, now it was the middle of May; there was no sign of an end nor that anyone was coming home.

"I pray that this is all over soon," Victoria said knowing that nothing would change, she could pray all she wanted but it was not going to bring her husband or son-in-law home. It was hard to believe that things had turned out this way, a part of her feared that she might never see Robert again and he would not get to see his grandchildren; she had nightmares some days of what would happen.

In his letters, he expressed remorse for his actions before he left and Victoria had refused to act as a go between; she insisted that he be the one to make amends with Rosemary rather than doing the work for him. The room was quiet for a moment, all of them thinking about the war that was going on; they had no idea just what was happening across the channel in France or the main continent. The papers kept things vague and anything that might be given away in letter was crossed out before they were delivered to the families; there was no telling just what was happening over there.

"Where are you working?" Rosemary asked turning to face Yvette, she did not want to think about the war or the idea that Thomas might not come home and never get to meet their daughter. Rosemary knew that if she thought too much about it then she was going to cry; she hated that there was nothing that she could do to help bring him home. Yvette had hinted at a new job and Rosemary had been so distracted as of late that she felt bad for not more attention.

Yvette looked at her older sister, her job was not that important and she knew that it was not a lot; she was just trying to help making sure that they could still put food on the table and help out with two new babies in the family. She knew that their mother had also taken up a job as a typist, the loss of their father's pay check was being felt and they had struggled with putting food on the table at the best of times with the large number of people at home. Being at Rosemary's house had been refreshing, rather than the cramped conditions of two families living on top of one another.

"It's just a cleaning job," Yvette said shrugging her shoulders, it was not anything special but it helped pay the bills and it was much more than anything Colleen was doing. Their sister sat around the house and expected everything to be done for her, she even expected them to be live in baby sitters and helped herself to whatever she fancied in the house even if the item was not hers.

.Please Comment, Favourite and Follow xxx