Candy [THOMAS SHELBY]

Chapter Sixty-Four

"Are you ready for breakfast, hm?"

Josephine asked her two very sleepy children as she carried them into the kitchen, Tommy was still upstairs and they had reconciled over their fight about Finn. Josephine understood that Finn was an adult now and that he wanted to be like his brothers and Tommy got where she was coming from about not wanting him to be in danger and they had come to an agreement about the whole thing.

"Do you want some fruit, or toast or porridge?" She asked as she helped Teddy into his seat and placed Rowan in her highchair.

"Toast please mama" Teddy requested with a sleepy smile.

As Teddy ate his toast and Josephine fed Rowan some porridge, Josephine could hear Tommy run down the stairs and into his office, she had no idea what he was up to and decided it was best not to ask.

Not long after she saw him striding across the garden and beyond through the kitchen window and as soon as he left her sight, his phone rang from his office.

"Ted, why don't you go and tell daddy there's a call for him?"

Teddy nodded and jumped out of his chair and Josephine helped him take off his slippers and put on his boots before letting him go, watching as he raced across the field before she turned back to her daughter and finished feeding her.

.•° ✿ °•.

Tommy was knelt down on the field, hardly noticing the wet mud seeping through his trousers as his attention was locked on the mine in front of him. He could easily set one off and kill himself but that prospect did not scare him, he had never feared death but he's been slowly cracking and he was one push away from completely collapsing but the mine in front of him gave him an opportunity to end it before he completely cracked.

He raised his arm above his head, fist clenched, ready to end it all but as he knelt there in the mud the image of his family flashed in his mind. His wife, their son, their daughter and they all sat in the dining room not far away he didn't want to upset them, he truly didn't but his mind was killing him and he wanted to end the pain.

He once again looked down at the mine in front of him and backed down, shoving the arm that was raised underneath his other arm with a sharp exhale unable to follow through.

"Dada! Dada!"

Tommy's head snapped up at the call of his name and in the distance, he could see Teddy running towards him and he suddenly realised he was in the middle of a literal minefield.

"Teddy!"

Tommy was instantly on his feet, dropping his gun as he raced towards his son,

"Teddy, wait! Wait!"

Tommy has never moved so fast in his life as he ran and the relief he felt when he caught Teddy in his arms was overwhelming. He didn't stop once he held him, he just continued to run until he was safely back at the house, the sound of Teddy's giggles in his ear as his son thought they were just playing around.

He burst into the kitchen with a gasp shocking his wife and daughter. As he stood there, his mind raced a mile a minute, reality sinking in of how close things were to ending.

Teddy let out another giggle as he slipped from his hold but before he returned to his seat, he leant against his father's legs and looked up at him,

"Your phone was ringing"

Tommy knelt down so that they were face to face, "Was it eh? Don't worry the operator will have the number for me. Now go finish your breakfast"

Teddy gave him a nod before he scrambled back to his seat and picked up where he left off.