Adopted By Polly Gray

Chapter 7: Family Drama

The past few months were never ending with chaos. Polly and Ada went to the doctor and confirmed she was indeed pregnant with Freddie Thorne's baby which then she married him. After that she hid away with him in a rathole of an apartment, as Polly would describe it, and kept her distance from the family. Tommy, of course, was told about it and was pissed off to say the least. John wanted to marry the prostitute Lizzy Stark so his kids would have a mother, Finn almost got blown to bits when the Lees put an explosive in Tommy's car, Arthur was dealing with his own issues, and above all though the family had gotten into trouble with Billy Kimber. The coppers have also been trailing around to the point Starlene wasn't allowed to go anywhere alone. She was either escorted by one of her family members or a member of the Peaky Blinders to and from school. If Polly was away from here then the house was guarded. Starlene's health wasn't the greatest from the incident. The first few weeks she couldn't keep any of her food down. The poor girl was in constant pain but kept going to school and doing her chores. She refused to be a burden on her mother. But she was getting better. Today however was John's wedding. In order to make peace with the Lee's the family decided to have John marry a girl named Esme. The only thing was, John had no idea.

Polly came into Starlene's room early to help her get ready for the day. "How are ya feeling, Star?" She asked her daughter as she brushed her hair.

"I'm okay, mum." She smiled at Polly through her reflection in the mirror. Polly returned a soft smile to her daughter.

"Are you okay, mum? Is something wrong?" Polly shook her head. "No nothing is wrong, Star, I'm okay. My only concern is you."

"Your worried about today, aren't you?" Starlene turned in her chair to now look directly at her mother.

"Your slightly biting the inside of your cheek on the left side. You do that when your worried and you can't smoke."

Polly put down the hair brush and let out a slight laugh, "I regret teaching you on how to pick up people's mannerisms."

"So i'm right? Mum, tell me. Maybe I can help, please."

"You don't need to worry, Starlene. It's nothing I can't handle. I need to take care of you. It's my job to be the mother, not yours." She kissed the top of her daughter's head. "Just you being with me is help enough."

Starlene sighed in defeat and turned away from the older Gray woman. "That maybe true, mum, but you shouldn't have to carry the weight of the family on your shoulders. Tommy puts too much on you, Ada's due any day now, John's getting hitched, Arthur is going off the rails, and Finn is running around causing trouble. I know about that blonde bartender girl too, Grace, that's caught Tommy's eye. She has bad energy around her, I've heard you talking about her and I agree that she can't be trusted. But none of this should fall on you, mum. This stress could kill ya' and I worry about you. I may not be the mother, nor is it my job to be one, but I am your daughter, and I am allowed to care about you." She wiped the few tears that fell from her eyes.

Polly listened to the young girl as she got out the dress she has bought for Starlene to wear. Her daughter was too bright for her age. She was wise well beyond her years and had the most caring heart. The young girl definitely stood out from her gangster family. As much as the Gray woman tried to keep her daughter from the family business it was hard to hide. Starlene knew the dangers and the turmoil that her family was in. She knew they had targets on their backs and as Tommy sought out more power the targets would only get bigger along with the threats. It was not a world meant for a kindhearted girl like her. But, without Star the family would be lost. She was always meant to be with them.

"Star, don't cry. A little stress won't kill me anytime soon." Polly walked over and hugged her daughter.

"Yeah, but the coppers might or kimber's men." It was Polly's turn to sigh. "No one is going to kill me or us. We'll be okay. Tommy won't let anyone hurt us."