Birmingham | Tommy Shelby x Reader

Part 5

Author's note: italicized dialogue showcased later in the part is taken from the series.

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(Y/N) was starting to get impatient as the sound of the ringing tone continued in her ear. She wondered if the person she was trying to reach would even bother picking up. Why would she? she thought to herself, I only decided to leave without telling anyone where I was going. After the fourth ring, the call picked up. "Hello?" she quickly asked, wanting to kick herself for how desperate she sounded.

"(Y/N)?" the woman on the other line answered with shock evident in her voice. "(Y/N), is that you?"

"Yes, mum, it's me," (Y/N) responded, smiling as a sigh of relief escaped her lips. She'd been wanting to hear her mother's voice for so long.

"Oh, hunny, where have you gone off to?" her mother asked.

"I...I can't quite say," she was hesitant to give information for fear of who may be listening to the call. The call could be being monitored, or her brothers could have been present with her.

"Are you safe?" was the next question, and now her mother's voice had more worry laced into it.

"I am," (Y/N) answered the question definitively. There was no doubt in her mind that she was safe where she was now. "How is everything there?" she asked a question before her mother could get another in.

"Everything's fine. Clay's still bent up on where you disappeared to. Garrett's gotten past it, but Clay pulls him back in. Your father's also worried about where you've gone. I'll make sure to tell him that you're safe," she gave (Y/N) a run down on the family.

"And Mel?" (Y/N) made sure to ask once she realized that Clay's wife, and really the only other person in (Y/N)'s family that was friendly besides her mother, wasn't mentioned.

"Melanie's fine as well."

"Did she have the baby?" (Y/N) asked.

"She did," her mother informed her, "a baby girl." (Y/N) smiled at the news at first, but then her smile faltered slightly when she realized that her newborn niece's future would most likely turn out to be like hers...unless Clay had a son to pass his legacy onto.

"That's good to hear...what did she decide on for the name?"

"Marie. Like she said she was going to go with." There was an evident tinge of displeasure in her mother's voice, probably because Melanie had prevailed with what she wanted to name the child. Her mother felt that there were too many 'Maries' in this world already.

"Ah, ok," (Y/N) decided not to comment on her mother's vocal tone, "I'm sure she's beautiful," she added, a smile playing on her lips once more.

"She's a darling," her mother agreed, "you'll have to come home and see her," she tried then.

(Y/N) hesitated before answering. "I can't, mum. I...I'll write to you," she assured her, hoping that the older woman would settle for her desired form of continued communication, "we can keep in touch that way."

"I'll settle for that," her mother agreed, the slight tinge of disappointment in her voice not going unnoticed by her daughter.

"I have to go now," (Y/N) decided against commenting further on the topic, instead choosing to wrap up the conversation.

"Ok, (Y/N). Please stay safe," her mother stressed, her care towards her daughter evident in her voice. Now if only her entire family felt the same way about her.

"I will, mum. I love you. Bye," (Y/N) said her final words.

"I love you," her mother echoed the sentiment before the call ended.