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Lucille
"Are you scared?"
Lucille glanced over toward Polly from where she was pulling on her coat. Tommy was waiting for them outside of the house, smoking a cigarette. The two women had insisted he stepped outside when having a smoke around the child. Ada was giggling as she sat against the wall, waiting for her Aunt Pol to pull on her own red jacket, which she would reject with waving arms that made her look like she would take flight.
Lucille and her daughter had spent two nights in Watery Lane. They slept in John's old room and spent the days drinking tea and getting to know Polly. Tommy had been absent for much of the time, much to both Lucille and Polly's disappointment. He had said something about business, but she knew nothing of that side of him yet.
"Yes. Do I look it?" Lucille said.
As she turned to Aunt Pol, she sighed. She looked as if she wanted to laugh and it made Lucille flush even further. Polly brought her in for a hug.
"At least you're honest. But yes, smile, everything will be fine." She said, patting her shoulder and making her way onto the street with Ada in her arms. "And if it's not I'm sure Tommy'll change their minds."
They were silent as they made their way to what Tommy had called the Garrison, a pub where she would finally meet the rest of his family. Polly has reassured her many times that she would be fine, that they would love her, but she wasn't sure.
Ever since she had arrived in Birmingham, Tommy had been rather distant. When he was at home, he was often away with his thoughts, silent as he watched Ada play, a hint of a smile on his lips. She wanted him to let her in, to let her know the new Tommy as much as the version of himself that she knew in France. Lucille knew that he was scared to let her in.
Polly broke her from her thoughts as she turned to her with a smile. They had reached the pub and stopped just outside the door. The sound of shouts and laughter rippled from inside.
"Are you ready?" She asked and Lucille nodded.
They stepped into the pub, Lucille tucked herself behind the two of them. Laughing and shouting was silenced for a moment as Tommy paused in the doorway before heading toward a private area, opening the door and disappearing into it.
"Tommy, lad! Where you been?" Lucille could hear a man's happy shout as she hung back at the door, glancing in and around the room.
"Sit down John. I have something to announce." Tommy said.
A younger blonde man and an older man with longer, slicked hair and moustache. Their hair was all she noticed, as, apart from that, they looked quite like Tommy, with bright blue eyes, a flat cap on their heads and a cigarette hanging from their smirking lips.
"Lucille." Tommy called and she stepped forward, watching as their eyes flicked toward her.
"Hello." She said, lifting her lips into a smile. Polly moved in beside her, Ada flapping excitedly in her arms.
"This is our daughter, Ada." Tommy said and his brothers sat staring, either in awe or shock.
"Bloody Hell!" The blonde exclaimed as he stood up, shuffling to take a look at both of them. "When did this happen?"
"France." Tommy muttered.
"Named after our Ada?" He asked and after Lucille nodded he moved around to look down at her with a wide smile. "I'm John."
"Lucille." She said.
"Arthur." The older man shouted in as he took Ada in his hold, turning so they both looked at her. "Look at that. She looks just like me!"
"Poor child." Polly whispered as she pulled Lucille to sit around the table. "What'd I tell you. Everything is fine."
Lucille watched as her daughter played with her uncles. There was a wide and bubbly grin on her face as she wiggled in her place, clapping her hands. She glanced to Tommy- he was smiling. She felt a tug at her arm. Ada was sat on Polly's lap beside her, her small hands playing dance with her sleeve.
"She needs a nickname!" Arthur shouted, with John agreeing loudly.
"What about Adda?" The blonde boy suggested. "You know, like Ada but without the ay sound."
"What?" John said as he noticed his aunt's incredulous looks.
"No, no." Lucille said. "I like it."
"You do?" Polly asked. She was surprised by the fact that she could agree with anything her nephew said.
Lucille nodded with a smile. She did like the nickname, though for more than just its sound. The name, to her, represented the fact that Tommy's family had welcomed the two with open arms, and that was all she could have wished for.
"Alright Adda. Come here." Tommy suddenly said, shooting a glare at his brothers as he lifted the young girl up. "Before one of them bloody drop you."
"Aw look at that, same eyes." Polly cooed, as she clapped her hands with Adda.
"So we having a drink or not?" Arthur asked and Lucille shook her head.
"I'm fine without." She said and Polly laughed.
"You've got a lot to learn." She said. "There's whiskey in our blood."
John winked as he got up, sliding passed them and toward a small window in the wall. He opened it, calling through, waiting as a small blonde woman appeared in the other side, next to the bar.
"Alright, Grace." He said. "The usual and another one."
I was so stuck for thinking of a nickname so if you can think of a better one, comment it if you'd like and I may use it xx
