Little Shelby's

Eight

"Dad! M'going to Uncle Finn's!" Vinny called out from by the front door

"Take Birdie with you!" John called back "She can play with Eliza for a while"

"Daaaaad" Vinny whined "The girls are no fun!"

John shook his head and walked to the hall, and raised an eyebrow at his son "I'm not asking you to play with her, I'm just asking you to take her with you so she can play with Eliza while you play with Archie"

"But-"

"Or you can just stay here" John shrugged "Your choice"

"Fine" Vinny said, grabbing Birdie's hand and walking out the door, and John nodded before going back to the kitchen, where the rest of his kids, and Minnie who was still there for some reason, finished up their breakfast, which was jam on toast that he'd made, as Tilly had decided to stay in bed.

John frowned as Frankie walked in from upstairs "You been here all night?"

Frankie nodded "Yeah" He said, grabbing a piece of toast and leaning against the counter as he took a bite.

"In Tilly's room?" John asked, eyebrow raised, and Frankie shook his head

"I was in the spare"

John nodded a little "Where is Tilly?"

"In bed, she's sick as a dog, I reckon she's got whatever Hattie's got"

"Fucking fantastic" John muttered, shaking his head.

"Want some toast?" Charlie offered Mia, passing her a slice before taking one for himself

"Yes please come in, help yourself" John said sarcastically, causing Charlie to give him a cheesy grin.

"We've got some news Uncle John"

"Oh yeah, what's that?" John said, lighting a cigarette

"We're getting married" Charlie said, nodding his head towards Mia, who excitedly held up her hand with her engagement ring on it

"Well congratulations" John smiled "Welcome to the family, Mia, and good luck, you're gonna need it"

Mia just laughed as Elsie and Minnie started hounding her about how Charlie asked her and how romantic it must have been.

"Well, this calls for a night out" Frankie said, grinning

"I agree" John said "We'll leave the kids to the women later and go to the pub"

"Oh so is that how it's gonna be now?" Mia said, looking up from her conversation with the girls "I'm left at home with the children while you go out drinking with the boys?"

"See, she's a Shelby already" John joked, causing Mia to roll her eyes.

"Going out!" Tilly yelled as she darted past the kitchen

"Where are you-" John started, but the front door had slammed before he finished his sentence "I thought she was sick?"

Frankie shrugged "So did I"

"You need to be keeping a closer eye on your woman" Charlie said "You won't see Mia pulling that shit with me"

"Is that right?" Frankie asked, eyebrow raised "Where is she right now?"

Charlie looked around the room and rolled his eyes to see that Mia had vanished, probably having been dragged off somewhere, and John couldn't help but laugh

"If a woman's brave enough to put up with us Shelby men, she sure as hell ain't gonna listen to us"

"Mum didn't listen to you?" Artie said, looking over