Another Paradise | T Shelby

THIRTY SIX - STAINED GLASS

Tommy was stood with his hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his trousers as he waited outside the school gates for his son.

He felt an unnerving amount of eyes fixated on him, swallowing hard as he avoided catching anyone's gaze. His heart was racing as he watched the children file out of the school, teachers dismissing them one by one as they greeted the parent that was there to collect their son or daughter.

To say his heart was in his mouth would've been an understatement. Thomas felt as though his heart had broken through his rib cage and was beating on the floor in front of him, so nervous he was sure there was a possibility he'd throw up his insides at any moment. Though of course, his face held no such emotion.

Cool, calm and collected to the world, Thomas's lips were pulled into a thin line as he kept an eye out for Charlie, remembering to take deep breaths to attempt to settle the nerves inside his chest.

He had been unable to think of anything but Blair after his son had told him about his new teacher. Tommy didn't necessarily believe in God, but he knew that if there was one, bringing Blair back into their lives was his work.

He'd spent sleepless nights debating what the right thing to do was. Part of him thought that it was best to let Charlie and Blair have their own relationship, whatever that might've been, without his interference, though the more he thought about it, the more the sickness in his stomach increased at the idea of her being so painfully close yet agonisingly far away all at once.

Thomas never stopped loving her, not even for a second. He dreamt of her the same way Charlie did, unable to fall asleep unless he pictured her face or thought about her voice and the way her perfume lingered on his clothes after he'd held her in his arms.

In the five years that Blair had been gone, Thomas had stopped himself on countless occasions from chasing after her, forcing himself to stay at home rather than drive down to Kiera's house and try to find out where Blair was living.

It wasn't because he didn't care enough to do so, but because he couldn't face dragging his son through possibility, hope, and inevitably loss all over again. He realised very quickly after three became two that Charlie needed his father, and that chasing after a woman wasn't going to give his son the love he needed, even if Blair had been the best thing that had ever happened to the both of them.

Acceptance had finally settled in for Thomas and after five years, he had made peace with the fact that it would just be him and Charlie forever, content with living life together. He didn't want to try and find love in anybody else and he certainly didn't want to find another woman to play mother to his son.

Their world had finally started spinning on its axis again and the two of them were happy. Charlie had inherited his father's love for horses and spent almost all his time out in the stables, though Thomas vowed to himself that he'd never let his son wear a cap with a blade sewn into the peak for as long as he lived, wanting a clean, safe life for his child more than anything else.

Perhaps, though, peace and quiet wasn't meant for the Shelby family.

"Who's picking you up today, Charlie? Is it Frances?"

It had warmed Blair's heart to see Frances again after discovering that Charlie was one of her students. She had dearly missed everybody that worked at the Shelby Manor, though she had a soft spot for Frances, grateful for all the times she's shared her wisdom and offered her a shoulder to cry on as a friend, not just a colleague.

"Not today," Charlie replied, swinging his bag in his hand, "Dad's here."

"What?"

Charlie was still slightly hesitant to warm up to Blair. Two weeks had passed since the first day of school and he wasn't sure what the feelings he was experiencing were. There was anger, sadness, love, fear, and a million other things that the ten year old couldn't distinguish, all of them together making him simply confused more than anything else.