𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 ʲᵒʰⁿ ˢʰᵉˡᵇʸ

- 𝟎𝟏𝟏

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤
-𝟎𝟏𝟏-
𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟏

After the Peaky Blinders defeated Billy Kimber, Valerie and Thomas decided to move away from Small Heath. They didn't go far, of course. I mean, everything they had was in Small Heath. Tommy's family, the gang.. John.

Valerie, at first, was very against the idea solely for the fact that she'd be leaving Maria behind. But Tommy had promised to get Maria a house in hopes that it would keep her from working in prostitution. But oh how they were wrong.

Well — not completely wrong.

Valerie could hear Francesca's giggles as Tommy sat with her in the drawing room. The house they lived in was big. It was around the same size as the house Valerie grew up in. It reminded her of being a child again.

She stood beside the door that was ajar and watched as Tommy lay on his side on the rug whilst Francesca sat with a toy doll in her hand. His head was supported by his hand and he watched the little girl with a smile.

"Dad.." She babbled.

Giving that Francesca was three years old, she was stringing small sentences together.

"Yes, Betts." He replied by using the girls nickname that he had called her since she was little. "Look." Francesca held the doll up for him to look at. Tommy took it from her hand and nodded. "What's her name then, Betts?"

The dark haired girl looked up whilst thinking. "Dolly." She said happily. Tommy stifled a laugh at the name and handed the toy back to her.

Tommy stood to his feet with a groan and leaned down to scoop Francesca up. "Let's go find your mother, eh?" He said to her.

At this point, Valerie had moved back to the office and sat in the chair at the desk whilst she went through their post. Tommy walked into the room and stopped at the door. "Mummy!" Francesca said excitedly. Valerie smiled lovingly and looked over to her daughter. "Hello, sweet girl." She greeted. "What have you been doing?"

"Playing with dad." She said.

Valerie appreciate the fact that Tommy had managed to play the father role in Francesca's life without hesitation. He loved the girl like she was his own.

"Oh have you now?" Valerie looked at Tommy. The corners of his lips turned upward and he nodded. "That's right." He confirmed.

"Well, that's lovely." Valerie told them both. She glanced at the clock on the wall. "I'd say it's time for you to go to sleep, no?" She asked. Tommy too looked at the clock. "No!" Francesca whined. "Your mother is right, Betts. It's late." Tommy pushed her dark curls behind her ear. Francesca pouted and crossed her arms.

"How about this—" Tommy began. "You go to bed now and we can go out on the horses in the morning, eh? I'll take you to go see the horses." He offered.

Her face lit up immediately. "Fine.." She grinned, leaning into Tommy. "Alright then. Say goodnight."

Francesca waved goodnight to Valerie and Valerie stood, walking over. "Goodnight, my love." Valerie whispered and kissed the girls forehead.

Tommy disappeared into the hall and only moments later, the phone began to ring. Valerie sighed and picked it up. "Hello?" She asked. "Is this Mrs Shelby?" A voice asked. "This is she." Valerie confirmed. "There's been an accident.." they said lowly.