Liliana Mae Rosa Shelby // A Thomas Shelby Fanfiction // UNDER EDITING

14 - OLIVIA MAE

"Tommy!"

"Tommy, get in here!"

Once the second eldest Shelby arrived, John shoved the phone to his chest, leaving Tommy confused as to the matter of urgency. "Hello?"

"Thomas?"

"Yes?"

"You had a daughter, Liliana?"

"I did."

"You do," Caterina corrected him, filling her glass up once more. "I've raised her the past ten years."

Tommy didn't know what to say. He thought for a second his mind was playing cruel tricks on him. He thought the war was catching up on him. He thought it was a prank call, something thinking it was funny. Truth be told, although he told himself for years his little Lily was out there somwhere safe, he started to give in to the idea that maybe she was dead.

"Thomas?"

"Has someone paid you to do this, eh? You think this is fucking funny?"

He hadn't noticed his voice was beginning to raise, and he hadn't noticed those in the den come closer to listen to the interacton.

"Spark Hill Parish, in 1909. Myself and my husband went, we took Lily that day. I've raised her ever since."

No, no, no. Too good to be true, Tommy.

"So you're telling me my daughter's alive?"

"I'll be in Birmingham at six. Meet me at the Parish. I'll prove it."

The phone went dead, and Tommy proceeded to shout down the phone, in complete disbelief of what he'd just heard. Arthur took the phone of Tommy before he broke it, and Polly stormed through after hearing all the racket. Tommy was pacing the den, clutching his hair, panicking like he'd done in France. His mind was in complete and utter overdrive. "Get them out, get them out," Tommy mumbled, inaudible to those around him. "GET THEM OUT."

Chucking a whiskey glass at the wall, the shards sliced Tommy's hand and was left with blood pouring over the den floor. Arthur hadn't seen his younger brother like this since the days in the trenches, and truth be told, it was a sight he never wanted to see again. Polly shooed away the men in the den, leaving Tommy, Arthur, John and Pol.

"She's alive," Tommy panted, pacing the den. "She's fucking alive, she can't be, no, Tommy. She can't be."

He was talking to himself, and his family stood and watched in worry as he did so. "Thomas, sit down."

Turning to face his aunt, Tommy stopped dead in his tracks. "The fucking Parish," he hissed, pointing at Polly. "You said you checked the Parish, you fucking liar!"

Arthur held back his brother who was on the brink of a breakdown, shaking and shivering under him. "Calm down brother."

"She's alive, Arthur," Tommy mumbled, "my baby. My baby!"

"Isabella should be here, John-"

"NO! No, no no," Tommy shook his head, "she can't be here. No. What if it's not true, what if it's a lie? I can't hurt her like that. No, she doesn't find out."

"Tom, come on man. She's her mother, she deserves to know."

All Tommy ever wanted to do was protect his wife, protect his family. His head was a fucking shambles after the news, but he was rational enough to know it could have been a sick joke, and he knew first hand what the loss of Lily did to his wife. He wasn't willing to put her through that again should his worries be true.