𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐒 ᶠⁱⁿⁿ ˢʰᵉˡᵇʸ

𝟎𝟐𝟐: 𝐃𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐
𝐃𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧. 𝐃𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧

Aurora sat beside Charles' crib as he looked up at her, completely innocent and unknowing. His lips twisted into a smile. "Hello, Charlie." She whispered, leaning down to touch his hand. Charlie said nothing, of course. He just stared at her.

Rory still couldn't get her head around Grace's death. Her funeral had been a week ago and even then it was hard to believe that Grace had truly died.

Aurora couldn't get the image out of her head. The image of her bloodied hands and Grace's pale face. It was painted perfectly in her head.

Tommy wasn't saying much. He would go off on his horse and come back in the mornings to feed them and see Charlie before riding off again. Nobody knew what he was thinking — if he was thinking anything at all. Rory missed him. Everyone missed him.

She heard the door close and wished a quick goodbye to the young Shelby boy before practically running down the stairs.

Tommy stood in the hall, just staring up at the portrait of Grace that hung on the wall.

Rory came to a stop. "Tom.." she breathed. He didn't even look at her. He turned and went into his office, slamming the door behind him. Rory swallowed hard and walked into the dining room where everybody was waiting for him.

Everyone but John and Arthur who seemed to be late.

"He wants to see you and Michael first, Polly." Ada said, nodding toward the door. Michael cleared his throat and stood up to go into Tommy's office.

"He doesn't want to see everybody at once?" Aurora asked, taking a seat next to Finn. "It's alright— he doesn't even want to see me." He sighed. She pursed her lips into a line and stared into the fire.

"How's the baby?" Ada asked.

"He asks for his mum." She explained. Ada tutted and looked out of the window.

"Poor thing. Hasn't got a clue." Ada said.

Rory played with the hem on her sleeve and Finn just leaned back in his chair. The door opened and then closed. "Alright," John walked in, "where is he?"

"In his office." Rory answered.

John hummed and stood beside Arthur. Nobody knew what to say. Nobody knew what to think or where to look. It was like they were stepping on somebody's grave when they walked in that house. It felt wrong.

Finn and Ada shared a weary glance as they waited for Polly and Michael to come from the office.

"Right— let's go." Arthur stood quickly. Polly slowed. "We've already seen him." Polly told them. John's face fell and he looked around the room. "He wanted to see people in a particular order.." Ada mumbled.

Polly took a breath. "I can normally read him but he's difficult to read so be careful."

"I thought it was a fucking family meeting." John hissed. Arthur hummed in agreement. "All of us together."

"John he's grieving." Polly scolded. "To see everyone together would be too much." She explained. Arthur breathed, "yeah, well.." he trailed off. "Come on, John." He said.