To Be A Shelby

Prologue

Metals jingled about in the box that he held as Thomas Shelby sat inside the liberty truck. His head was tilted upward, a beret covering his face while he attempted to get a wink's rest. Alas, his brother Arthur's boisterous laughter made it impossible.

The truck was travelling from France, inside were three Shelby brothers who had served the crown during the war. It made a few creaks as it struggled to navigate through the rough road. Tommy knew then that home was nearby.

"Not much longer now, boys," Johnny cheered, clearly as happy as Tommy and Arthur were to be finally returning home.

A small smile made its way to Tommy's lips and he removed the beret on his face. "Let's make a quick stop at the cut, Johnny," he'd instructed.

"Do we have business there, Tommy?" Arthur asked. He was the eldest, but Tommy had the lion's share of cleverness in the family so he's always been the one running the show.

"I do," he replied shortly and quickly got down from the liberty truck once they were at the cut. Tommy tossed the box he had been holding onto.

He took a deep breath, took in the view and nostalgic scent of Small Heath, and climbed back aboard the truck.

"Getting rid of the medals, aren't we?" Arthur said with a tap to his shoulder. Tommy gave his brother's hand a friendly tap and said, "Fuck the medals," all the while giving Johnny his usual reserved smile as they looked at each other in the rearview mirror.

Not long after, a familiar house slowly zoomed into view. Johnny sped up and parked the truck up front. The second that the truck went to a halt, Johnny and Arthur came rushing out of it and into the home they've longed for during the war.

Tommy followed suit, but in a steady pace. All three of them ended up confused because there was no one in the house. They've checked the kitchen, and the bedrooms- no one. The one place they could be was behind the double doors by the dining room.

As soon as it swinged open, everyone who had been too busy tending to the bets for the races stared at them, wide-eyed. Polly, who had been counting and logging numbers, looked up and her tears fell at the sight of her boys.

"We're home, Aunt Pol," John greeted and immediately, Aunt Pol ran to them with an embrace.

"Oh, thank God! My boys are back home safe!" she cried. Ada also ran to them with a tight hug.

"I missed you!" she exclaimed. Arthur and John were clearly happy. So was Tommy, he had a smile on his face but was quiet. Not until he saw a woman standing, or rather hiding, by the double doors.

"Who are you?" he asked in a cold, deep voice.

"It's okay, Tommy. Come and join us, Marie," Aunt Pol beamed excitedly.

The woman emerged out of her concealment. Tommy looked at her, observing that she had to be no more than three years younger than he was.

She was a brunette, hair wavy and reaching almost all the way down to her hips. Her eyes were a touch of gold when the sun directly hit her, there were splashes of freckles from her left to right cheeks, and her prominent nose was matched by perfect pouty red lips.

"Family meeting, everyone?" Polly suggested. They simply nodded and sat around the table. Just then, Finn came barging in with his loud enthusiasm and excitement.

"You're all back!" Finn had exclaimed. After giving each of the brothers a hug, he whispered something to Marie.

"How's she close to Polly, Ada, and Finn?" Arthur asked suspiciously and as quietly as he could, nudging Tommy using his elbow.

"We were both in France, I'm as clueless as you are," he answered.

"Okay, now we shall begin the first family meeting where my boys are finally here!" Polly declared.

"That's your cue to leave," Tommy dismissed Marie.

"No, Thomas. She stays," Polly interjected. The three soldiers gave her a confused look and in turn she smiled at them, gesturing for Marie to stand beside her.

"What do you mean she stays, Pol?" Tommy asked again as he threw a scrutinizing glance towards a Marie.

"She's family now, Thomas. I've adopted her. She's your new sister," Polly announced happily but the trio seemed less thrilled to hear about a stranger in their ranks.

"I-I'm Marie... Shelby," she introduced in a quiet and shaky voice.

"Shelby, eh? How's that last name working for you?" Arthur stood up, slowly approaching the woman, circling her like a hawk.

"Arthur, she's a good lass, this one," Ada interjected, pulling Marie behind her.

"We don't know that. For all we know, she's a bloody mole," Johnny protested.

"Now, you watch your tongue there, Johnny!" Pol scolded. Next thing they knew, the room was filled with arguments and screaming.

"Enough!" Tommy yelled, loud enough to shut everyone up.

"We've just gotten home from the war, and the first thing you do is spring this woman onto our faces, calling her a fucking Shelby," Tommy walked to the window, hoping a good look at the chaos outside would calm him down, then continued to say, "You know how we respond to threats, Aunt Pol."

"She's nowhere near a threat, Tommy. She's helped us lots on the days I thought I couldn't push through without the three of you," was his Aunt's reply. What she said softened him, but it didn't change how he saw the new Shelby girl.

"If you're to be mad at someone in this room, it has to be me. I met her at nursing school," Ada started.

"Polly says you didn't last a day at nursing school," Arthur interrupted.

"I didn't. But Marie did. She and I, we bacame friends anyway. One day she came here, beaten nearly to death by her drunk stepfather. We couldn't do anything, not when he was the legal guardian. So we went to court and filed for neglect, they took his stepfather into custody," Ada held Marie's hand as she remained wordless.

"That was generous enough, you should have left it at that," Tommy said coldly.

"The next day, Finn came down with the fever. A week passed and he wasn't getting any better. I thought I would lose him! But Ada came through those doors with this woman and she nursed Finn back to health. You wouldn't be coming home to a brother if she hadn't been here," Pol spat distastefully, saying, "I love her like a mother would her own child, and she had no family of her own. How wrong was I to take her in?"

Thomas went quiet at the mention of saving Finn's life. He turned to face Marie, approached her until he was mere centimeters away. She remained looking down at the floor.

"You earn the Shelby name, you hear me? Most importantly, you earn our trust. Until then, you are free to stay, but you will never be a Shelby," Tommy said, walking out of the room.

Everyone soon walked out, and Marie sat there, feeling like she had to cry... but couldn't.