Mrs Gray

nine.

nine.
doin' time

Anna barely slept the night Polly's plan would be put into action. What they had come up with was in everyone's best interest. It would be hard but it had to happen, it was no longer safe for them at the hospital.

Looking up at her husband peacefully sleeping, she couldn't help but feel as though she was betraying him. She would have to lie, there's no way he would go along with it if not.

It wasn't long after she had finally drifted off that Louis began to stir which eventually turned into him crying out for comfort. Anna quickly moved over to him before he woke Michael up.

"Hey baby." She hushed him as she took him into her arms, rocking him gently.

Looking at her watch, Anna saw that it was a little past 6am, Polly and Abarama were coming to get them at 10. That left only a few more hours with her child until god knows when. He'd already had to spend so much time away from his mother, Anna felt an overwhelming amount of guilt for bringing him up in such a toxic environment.

*

By the time Michael woke up, Anna had fed and dressed Louis as well as preparing a small bag for her two boys to take away with them. Michael felt the bed where Anna should be before fully opening his eyes.

"What are you doing?" He groaned, still not properly awake.

"We're going out for the day." She lied, faking a smile. "Fresh air will do you good."

"Where are we going?" Michael sounded quite excited as he carefully got out of bed.

"We're visiting family."

"Family? What family?"

"The gypsy side. Louis ought to meet them, see where he came from. There's more to his heritage than guns and drugs."

"Right." Michael was a little apprehensive but knew better than to go against his wife.

*

As they pulled up, Anna's heart began pounding. She gripped Michael's hand once they were out of the car, bouncing their son on her opposite hip.

Michael could sense something was up, he had a sneaking suspicion they weren't here to visit family. The sympathetic looks everyone else was throwing his way more or less confirmed I'm his suspicions.

"We're not here to visit, are we?" He asked Anna, who looked down in response, unable to face him.

"Michael." Polly called out, noting his expected apprehension. "You're number two on Luca Changretta's hit list."

"So we'll stay in a hotel." It broke Anna's heart that he hadn't yet figured out that she wouldn't be joining him.

Polly responded, knowing Anna wouldn't want to "If you stay in a hotel, I'll know where you are, Anna would be in and out. And hotels don't move around."

"And if anyone should come for you Michael," Abarama spoke up. "The Palmers and the Boswells will put up a fair fight."

"Can I have a moment to speak with my wife about this please?"

"I already knew Michael." Anna gave her son to Polly, walking to the other side of the car so they had some privacy.

"What? You're willing to leave Tommy? You can't, he needs you."

"I know that." She paused, looking up at his pleading eyes. "That's why I'm not going." Her heart broke in two as she watched his face drop. "It'll just be you and Louis."

"No." He reached up to her face, gently cupping her cheek so she was forced to face him. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

"This wasn't an easy decision." She croaked out, wary of the tears threatening to spill. "Look, it won't be for long, I promise. Everything is all planned out, it's few days, a week or two at most."

"We need you too. Your son needs you." He pleaded.

"I need you alive. The second it is safe, I'll come back for you. I promise. We'll get out of here, far away where we can be a normal family. You know I wouldn't ask you to do this unless I was desperate."

Michael nodded his head. "I know." He whispered as he leaned in, placing a long kiss on his wife's lips. His soft touch soothed Anna, making her miss him before he was even gone. As they parted, he placed his forehead on hers, savouring the last few moments with her.

"It won't be long, I promise. Look after our boy, yeah?"

"Of course." He cracked a smile for Anna's sake even though he wasn't even remotely happy.

They parted, walking back over to the group where Anna said goodbye to her son, not that he knew what was going on.

Tears once again brimmed in her eyes as she watched the two most important things in the world to her get in the trailer and head away to god knows where. However, in a way, a weight was lifted. Now she knew they would be safe, she could focus on winning this war.