Candy [THOMAS SHELBY]

Chapter Fifty-Nine

When Tommy returned from Margate, he was limping with a hand pressed into his side where his shirt was soaked with blood and there was a dog trailing behind him.

"Tommy?" Josephine asked, worried at the appearance of her husband. They had literally had just defeated a man who was trying to kill him and it hadn't even been a day since then.

"Go get the first aid kit" Tommy grunted as he stumbled towards the front room

"No, not in there, Teddy is in there!" Josephine reached out and redirected Tommy towards his office, "Go in here and I'll get the kit. You're not going avoid telling me about this happened by the way"

Tommy grunted but listened to her instructions. Josephine made her way into the kitchen to get the kit and asked one of the maids to take care of Teddy before she joined Tommy in his office.

"Okay, shirt off" Josephine announced once she stepped into the room.

Tommy did as instructed and Josephine kneeled down in front of him and began looking at his injury.

"He had cancer, and I think he'd rather be killed by me than die from it"

"I don't understand" Josephine frowned, "So he betrayed you on purpose knowing that you'll kill him?"

"You survive four years of war and get to come back home only to find out that you have cancer. Picked it up from the gases in France." Tommy recounts Alfie's story, "The war kills you even if it's over"

Josephine bit her lip at the story, her heart breaking for Alfie.

"That doesn't explain why you're bleeding though," Josephine tells him as she cleans his wound before wrapping it up

"He had a gun in his pocket. Shot at him to get me to shoot back and kill him"

"So the dog is Alfie's then?"

Tommy nods, "He followed after me, I couldn't exactly leave him alone"

"It's alright, he can stay with us"

Tommy nods before he stands up with a groan and Josephine has to jump to her feet to steady him.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked as she tried to push him back down

"I have to go back to work"

Josephine released a tired sigh, "Arthur was right, you need to take some time off. You need a break."

"I don't. I need to keep going otherwise everything will crumble"

"Thomas, please" Josephine pleaded, "The last time you had a break was when Theodore was born and since then life has only gotten more hectic. Your own brother died and you haven't had a chance to properly mourn since you were so busy trying to defeat a man that was determined to kill your entire family."

Tommy looked at her without saying anything.

"Please, just for a few months." Josephine gave him a soft smile.

Tommy nodded, "Okay"

-------

At first, the break did him good. In the months that passed, Josephine saw how his shoulders relaxed and how he smiled much easier and she loved to see it. He spent less time in his office and more time with his family.

They had also taken a trip to Wales, their first family holiday and it would be one to remember. They travelled in a caravan and camped on the luscious fields of Wales and Tommy had never felt so at ease like he was then.

Theodore had learnt to crawl and had even taken his first steps and with that newly learnt skill, chaos descended on the house. He moved quietly, his clothing muffling his movement and the moment you looked away for even a second, a vase would go crashing to the ground followed by a little giggle.