Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

104

Going on holidays so I'm updating earlier than I expected to! Hope you're all enjoying! I definitely found this last season the hardest to write, mainly this Tommy / Ailbhe scene but I hope everyone is enjoying it xox Marianne

The telephone rang just past midnight. Ailbhe had been just drifting off, Finn had been asleep for well over an hour. He had passed out mid-sentence as usual. He was working long hours and with Tommy being spread so thin, he was calling in favours with the whole family. Ada had been roped into countless foundation events, representing the Shelby Kennedy family as best she could. Ailbhe had already been juggling roles when she got roped into handling the property and acquisitions sector. Niall had been forced into black tie twice in the last week and he was chomping at the bit. But Tommy needed them and they were there, whether they liked it or not.

She had been in Camden Town to meet with a new potential racehorse trainer and to finalise a budget plan with Liam for the upcoming season. Although Ailbhe was still on the Shelby Kennedy Company Ltd board she, like Ada had extended beyond the family name. Ailbhe worked on charitable organisation boards and committees outside of the family's reach and she liked having her own life. It was nice to not be "the sister" or "the wife", she liked being Ailbhe Kennedy sometimes too since she was a woman valued on her own, not as part of the whole.

But no matter how busy Ailbhe was with her own life, a man with the Shelby name always seemed to pull her back in.

On her way home she had stopped at Tommy and Lizzie's to see Ruby. They swore she was fine, the doctors swore it, the nurses swore it. But Ailbhe couldn't shake the feeling that they were missing something and she had told herself she was going to speak to Curly about it tomorrow. She sat with Ruby for the evening, playing cards and letting her god-daughter teach her more Shelta.

Finn had come home with dark circles under his eyes and no appetite. He found her in the stables and had felt himself sigh in relief. The days seemed longer when they were apart. 

They had eaten in the small library, toast and tea just like Polly used to make for them when they had a really bad day. Ailbhe sat on the chaise lounge beside him with her feet in his lap and her hands in his hair. He told her about his day, especially the parts that he knew would make her smile. He listened to her news about Ruby and watched as her shoulders tensed when she spoke of her. But she sighed and shifted closer to him until she was almost in his lap. Finn pulled her into his lap and planted a kiss on his wife, feeling at home again.

He had been asleep for over an hour when Ailbhe realised she might not be able to sleep at all. She was becoming more and more restless at night and the only thing that made her continue the ritual of changing out of her clothes and climbing under the covers was the fact it was the only guaranteed time she got with her husband.

She was running a hand through his hair, down his neck not even sure who it comforted more,  but she kept doing it. Flashes of the cursed sapphire and Polly's voice kept her awake, not sure what it all meant. She had arrived home to Finn, a sense of unease in her chest that he promised her wouldn't last but as the clock struck midnight it was still weighing heavy on her chest.

She had just started to switch off and drift asleep when the phone rang. She jumped up, not even rousing Finn until she slid out of the bed, his leg slipping out from between hers and his hand being dropped onto the bed from where it had been resting under her top. Even in his sleep, he reached for her and most nights he fell asleep with his hand cupping her breast and his head nestled in her shoulder, his front plastered to her back.

He jerked awake, his hand reaching for her but he only caught a glimpse of her as she had darted from the room. By the time he had pulled on shorts and followed her down the stairs to the phone, she had already answered it and gotten the news.