Work Text:
Month 1:
You moved off of Tommy and laid on your back on the bed, sweaty and breathing hard. The both of you laid in a comfortable silence for a minute, needing some time to collect yourselves. Soon after he leaned over to his nightstand, grabbing his pack of cigarettes and lighting one. He took a deep inhale before wordlessly passing it over to you. You accepted it, and then did the same. You weren’t as big of a smoker as Tommy, but you indulged from time to time.
You shifted closer to him, moving so that you were on your side, snuggled into him with your head resting on his still-bare chest. You relished in the skin-on-skin contact as his hand softly moved up and down your arm.
“Are you working all day tomorrow?” you asked him.
“Probably,” he responded, irritated at the way work had been recently. Arthur had been worse than usual at the books and Tommy had been having to stay late to balance them properly, as he didn’t trust anyone else to do it.
“Well if you finish early I have an idea,” you told him, hoping that you could bribe him into taking a few hours off.
“Oh yeah? What ideas do you have in that pretty head of yours?” he asked, a smile playing on his face as he brushed his fingers through your hair. You were the one thing that could take him away from work. To him, you were stillness in a life of chaos. He cherished the night, because that was the time he got to spend with you, away from the betting shop, away from the unbalanced books.
“I was just thinking…it’s been a long time since we’ve taken the horses out, just the two of us,” you said. As soon as the words left your mouth you knew that you had convinced him. He loved those animals more than anything but you weren’t complaining, it made buying Christmas and birthday gifts for him extremely easy.
“I’ll see what I can do, okay?” he told you, leaning down and giving you a kiss, which you eagerly reciprocated.
Month 2:
Business had been booming recently but with you and Tommy moving into Arrow House, you hadn't gotten the chance to see Tommy’s family as often as you would've liked to. To remedy this you had invited everyone over for Sunday roast, well by invited you more demanded, maybe Tommy’s assertiveness was rubbing off on you a bit.
You had spent the day getting everything ready. The chef had made a beautiful meal and you had made sure that your new beautiful china dishes were used, wanting to make sure that everything was perfect for the family that you called your own.
Ada and Karl arrived first and you had greeted her and your nephew enthusiastically, excited that they had made the journey from London. You and Ada sat in the sitting room, catching up while Karl entertained himself with the toys that Ada had brought with her.
Soon after, everyone else, coming straight from the betting shop, arrived together. You said hello to John, Esme, and their hoard of kids who had run in before everyone else, excited to play hide and seek in your big house. Tommy was next in and you pulled him into a kiss, happy to see him after the long day.
“Are Arthur, Polly, and Finn still coming?” you asked him while helping him take off his coat.
“Yeah,” Tommy replied, “Finn decided to spend his afternoon playing football in the dirt so Polly’s making him get changed before coming. Arthur will drive them.”
You nodded, then gave Tommy’s coat and hat to Mary, who had been standing off to the side and thanked her before the two of you went to join his siblings.
About twenty minutes later your last guests arrived. Arthur had exclaimed, “Sister!” when he saw you. You hugged him and said hello to Finn as he ran past you, wanting to play with his cousins. Polly was the last in but when you said hello to her, you felt something was off as she looked you up and down.
You pulled Tommy to the side before you all moved to the dining room. “Is Polly upset with me?” you asked him.
“What, no?” he responded, confused as to why you thought that.
“She’s been eyeing me all night. I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t do something to piss her off,” you said worriedly.
“It’s probably nothing, just relax,” he told you, kissing your forehead.
Even with his reassurances, you still felt uneasy. When Mary announced that dinner was ready, everyone started filing towards the dining room but Polly lingered towards the back where you were.
As you were walking, she asked, “Have you been feeling okay, Y/N?”
You had been feeling great. “Yeah,” you responded, “Is everything alright Pol?”
She looked you over once again, “I think…” she muttered, before suddenly reaching out and squeezing your left breast.
“Hey!” you shouted indignantly. You weren’t expecting to get felt up at this family dinner. By this time the two of you were in the dining room and at your exclamation, everyone had stopped talking and turned to you.
“Just as I thought. Pregnant,” Polly declared.
“Uh, what?” you were stunned. You shook your head, “No, that’s not possible.”
Arthur chimed in from across the room, “After what I walked in on last week, I’d say it's more than possible.”
John snickered, happy that someone other than him and his wife had been caught having sex in the betting shop.
“No,” you said, “I haven’t even skipped a period yet,” you told Polly, trying to convince her that she was wrong.
“But are you late?” she asked.
“Well yes,” you justified, “but I’m never regular with it and my boobs hurt like they do when I’m about to have it and oh my god…” you trailed off. Tommy had gotten up and made his way over to you when you were talking.
“Are you sure Pol?” he asked his Aunt.
She nodded. “Yes.”
You turned to him with a smile on your face, the shock wearing off and pure joy taking its place. Why you and Tommy hadn’t actively been trying for a baby, you hadn’t exactly taken any means to prevent one. He pulled you into a tight hug and when you pulled back he cupped your face in his hands, kissing you softly before moving to put a hand on your stomach.
Everyone wished you both congratulations and the night turned into a celebratory dinner.
Month 3:
Any doubt that you were pregnant disappeared with the constant morning sickness you were exhibiting. You were miserable. The baby was not fond of anything you ate, causing you to barely be able to keep anything down. You stayed in bed nearly all day, only getting up when you had to.
You had spent the morning hunched over the toilet, as had become your normal routine. You groaned, “Get out,” when you heard the bathroom door open, not wanting anyone to see you in your miserable state, especially if it was who you thought it was.
Unfortunately you were right as you felt Tommy kneel behind you, gathering your hair and holding it behind your back for you. “Get away, I look horrible,” you muttered.
He didn't move. “You’ve seen me in worse states, eh?” he joked with you. It was true, you had had the unfortunate experience of seeing this man beaten within an inch of his life and that hadn’t been pretty either but you didn’t really want to keep score.
You didn’t respond. Instead you closed your eyes and breathed deeply, trying to quell the rising nausea you were feeling. It didn’t work and you were sick again but you had to admit, having Tommy rub your back and hold your hair did help you feel better.
You put your head down and waited for the next round of nausea, but it didn’t come. “Okay, I think I’m good,” you told Tommy and he helped you up. You went over to the sink to brush your teeth as he went back to your room.
When you emerged he had already moved the covers back for you to get in. “Thank you,” you murmured and got in. You were surprised to feel him lay beside you as you knew he would have to get to the office soon. “You don't have to do all this,” you told him as he took you in his arms.
“Well this is sort of my fault,” he replied.
You breathed out a laugh. “Yep.”
“I think it might be a Shelby thing,” he hypothesized.
“In what way?” you asked.
“Well, when my Mum was pregnant with Finn and Ada she was sick all the time. Same with Martha and now you, but Polly and Ada were fine,” Tommy explained. The Shelby’s were cursed with lots of things and it made sense to Tommy that the women giving birth to Shelby babies would be cursed with sickness.
“Maybe,” you agreed with him. “But it’s a bit too late to change the father to someone else now.”
“Not funny,” He glared at you. The thought of you with another man was enough to make him sick.
His reaction made you laugh, but that laugh cut off when he suddenly rolled over on top of you, pinning your arms above your head. “You’re my wife. No other man will ever touch you. Only me.”
You smiled up at him. You loved it when he was possessive. “You’re the only one I want.”
“Good,” he responded, “But still, I’m gonna prove to you that I’m the only one you’ll ever want. The only one you’ll never need.” He started kissing down your neck, making you suck in a deep breath.
He started taking off your nightgown, sucking on your collarbone. “Say it again,” he demanded as you started to squirm.
“It’s only you Tommy,” you gasped.
“Good girl,” he praised.
Month 4:
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Esme asked you. “Right terrors they are.”
“It’s fine, we can handle them,” you assured her. You and Tommy had told John and Esme that you would watch the kids for the night so that they could have some time away. With your pregnancy getting further and further along, you wanted to try and get some parenting practice.
You were excited to have them over as you adored your nieces and nephews and truthfully most of the time, your big house felt cold and empty. Hopefully the kids could add some life to it for a night.
You and Tommy had taken them out to the stables in the afternoon. Being John’s kids they had been riding since they could walk, so Tommy saddled up a couple of the horses and let them take turns. After dinner you all played a board game together, which caused some upset because Tommy refused to go easier on the kids and demolished them all.
Once everyone has calmed down, you put them to bed. The kids were extremely happy at the fact that they each got their own room and wouldn’t have to share for the night. You then went downstairs to find Tommy sitting with a glass of whiskey. You gave him a glare, which caused him to sigh and put it back on the table.
After you discovered you were pregnant, everyone had broken out the alcohol to celebrate. Everyone, except you. You felt that since you were doing all the heavy lifting of pregnancy, the least Tommy could do is not drink around you in solidarity. He had agreed to the condition and you made sure that he kept his promise to you.
You sat on his lap, facing him, and put your head down on his chest. “What a fuckin’ day, eh?” he asked you, stroking your hair.
“Honestly, I think we did a good job but I’m so tired,” you complained, the sound muffled from his shirt. You truly didn’t know how John and Esme did this every day.
He put his hand underneath your chin, lifting up your head so that you were eye to eye. “Well, we can’t have that, can we?” he questioned. Before you could ask what he meant, he had placed his arms underneath your legs and back, shifting and picking you up so that he was carrying you up the stairs.
Month 5:
“Hello,” you called, walking into the betting shop full of energy.
Polly was the first one to get up and greet you, as Tommy was in his office, unaware of your presence. She smiled at you, “Can I see my grandchild?” she asked.
“Of course,” you told her and she immediately placed her hands on your growing baby bump. With Polly functioning as a mother figure in Tommy’s life, she had taken to calling your baby her grandchild which warmed your heart.
“Do you think you’d be able to tell the gender now?” you asked. Polly had accurately predicted the gender of every baby in the Shelby family and you were extremely excited to find out.
She nodded, looking down at your bump. “I think it’s been long enough.”
“Perfect, just let me go get Tommy first,” you told her, wanting him to be there.
You said hi to Lizzie, who was at her desk in front of his office. “Is Tommy in?” you asked her.
“Yeah, he should be free right now,” she affirmed so you knocked on the door.
You heard a muffled “Come in,” from the other side and entered. His face lit up as he saw you enter. “Hello love,” he said, getting up and walking to you, giving you a kiss. “I didn’t know you were coming in today.”
“Well I wasn’t planning on it,” you told him. “But I was feeling exceptionally bored today so I wanted to come visit.”
He gestured towards his big comfy chair behind his desk, “Here, sit, sit,” he insisted, his protectiveness over you growing with your bump.
“I get your chair today?” you asked, sitting down as he nodded. Tommy never let anyone else sit behind his desk but apparently carrying his child had its perks. “Anyways, Polly said that she would be able to tell the gender today.” The two of you had discussed this moment, both of you would love the child either way but you knew Tommy was hoping for a boy, for an heir to his companies.
“Alright. You stay there, I’ll go get her,” and with that Tommy hurried out of the room. You knew he wouldn't admit it but he was beyond excited. Tommy reentered quickly, with Polly trailing behind him. She felt your left breast for a moment, as she did when she discovered you were pregnant before breaking out into a smile. “It’s a boy. I’m sure of it,” she declared.
“A boy,” you breathed out, pulling her into a hug, then reaching for Tommy and kissing him intently. He reached down and put his hand on your stomach, “a boy,” he echoed in shock.
Month 6:
Tommy had started sending workers into the bedroom that you both decided to make the baby’s room, getting it repainted into a baby blue and moving in a crib and rocking chair. Once it was finished you had taken to sitting in the nursery, wanting to get the baby used to his new room, even though you knew that was a bit silly.
You were sitting in the rocking chair, daydreaming, when Tommy had come in looking for you. He walked over to you, kneeling on the ground and putting his head on your stomach. After a couple moments of resting like that, you both felt movement.
“Woah,” you both said at the same time, Tommy lifting up his head to look at you.
“I think…was that a kick?” you asked. You had never felt anything like it before, the sensation was so strange.
“I remember sitting with my mom and feeling Finn kick,” Tommy responded. “That’s the same feeling.”
You felt your face break into a smile as he laid his head back down, wanting to feel it again. “It’s crazy how now it all…feels so real,” you told him.
“How are you feeling about it all?” he asked, sensing that there was something that you wanted to say. He was always good at reading people and you were no exception.
“I’ve just been thinking,” you said. “Tommy, I know that it's not traditional, but I really want you there when the baby is born. I don’t want you off drinking at a pub with your brothers, I want you with me and our baby.”
He lifted his head and then stood up, taking your chin in his hand. “Done,” he said.
“Really?” you asked. You hadn’t thought that he would give in so easily. You had even prepared a list of reasons as to why he should be there that apparently you wouldn’t need.
“Whatever you want,” he told you, leaning in to kiss your forehead, before leaning down to kiss your bump.
“If I had known that this is the treatment that I’d get, I would’ve gotten pregnant a long time ago,” you joked, happy that he had obliged to your request so easily.
“Don’t go getting any ideas,” he warned but you were already thinking of what you were going to request of him next.
Month 7:
You had been reading upstairs when you heard Mary get the door and a loud voice boom through the house. Today must’ve been Alfie Solomons and Tommy’s meeting, where they got together to talk business and make sure that the other hadn’t betrayed the other every six months. It was a strange relationship that those two had.
You got up and stretched, before heading downstairs to greet him. You and Alfie had an amiable relationship and you hoped to keep it that way so that he would be more likely to cooperate and work with Tommy.
“Hello Alfie,” you greeted as you reached the bottom of the stairs. He had his back towards you and turned when he heard you but he couldn’t hide his shock, as his eyes looked over your considerably larger figure.
“Are you pregnant?” he asked bluntly. Alfie had never been the type to mince his words.
You decided to mess with him a little bit. “What, no?” a look of fake indignation on your face. “Why would you think that?”
He suddenly looked nervous. “Well,” he started, trying to talk his way out of it, “I noticed that you had…a glow! You look absolutely radiant, yeah? And people say that pregnant women glow. So me, thinking as I do, associated your stunning beauty with pregnancy!”
Tommy had walked in the room halfway through Alfie’s speech, smirking at how uncomfortable you were making him. “Alfie, what is this I’m hearing about you insulting my wife?” he asked, playing along with you.
Alfie could see his business deal falling apart in front of his eyes, and was about to struggle through another made up story but you cracked and started laughing.
“Alfie, you were right, I’m pregnant,” you struggled out in between laughs. “We’re just messing with you.”
Alfie let out a breath. “Who do you think you are trying to give ole’ Alfie a heart attack? I think I truly saw my life flash before my eyes,” he told you.
“Well, let this be a lesson before you start making comments on women’s appearances in the future,” you replied even though you knew he wouldn't.
“Alright, Alright, b'sha'ah tovah!” he told you, wishing you a safe pregnancy.
You were touched. “Aw, Alfie, thank you,” and you gave him a brief hug.
“Do you have a name picked out yet? Because I have a lot of suggestions,” Alfie said.
“We’ll let you know,” Tommy told him, trying to stop another Alfie speech before it began with a small smile playing on his lips.
Month 8:
You felt like you were going crazy. Tommy had insisted that you come to work with him every morning in case the baby came early but he didn’t want you in the betting shop and instead set you up in his old room on Watery Lane.
You had never been the type to sit idly and being confined to the house was making you restless. When Tommy came up to check on you, you blew up at him yelling that he needed to let you do things, that you were just pregnant and other pregnant women were allowed outside which then turned to you yelling at him that he couldn’t tell you what to do, and so on.
He cut in when you finally paused for breath, “Everything I’m doing is for your safety.”
“My safety?” you screamed at him. “Well what about my sanity?”
“Stop being so dramatic-”
“I’ll show you dramatic,” you yelled at him before throwing all of the pillows on the bed at him. “Get out! Get out!” you repeated until he finally gave up and left.
You then sat down on the (now pillowless) bed and cried. Your mood swings had been intense and you changed emotions in the blink of an eye. You felt bad for yelling at Tommy before, you knew he was just trying to help in his own way.
After a few minutes you heard a knock at your door. “Y/N?” came John’s voice. “We come in peace,” that was Arthur.
“Come in,” you told them tearfully, sniffing.
The both of them stopped suddenly, unsure of what to do with their crying sister-in-law. “Aw, come on Y/N don’t cry,” Arthur said, coming to give you a hug.
“I...feel…so…bad for…yelling…at Tommy,” you got out.
“He’s fine Y/N, if anything I’m sure the bastard deserved it,” John responded.
You shook your head, “No, no he doesn’t…I love him,” you wailed.
“Well he knows that, love,” Arthur consoled you.
“I’ll go get him,” John said, eager to get out of the room.
“You know he keeps you so protected because he gets worried for you,” Arthur justified for his brother.
“I know,” you replied, nodding.
“Y/N?” Tommy had appeared in the doorway, cautiously taking small steps into the room, not wanting to get assaulted by pillows again.
Seeing him brought a new wave of tears. “Tommy, I’m sorry,” you cried.
Arthur got up and Tommy took his place, pulling you into a hug. “I know, it’s okay,” he consoled you.
“These hormones are driving me insane,” you told him.
He thought for a minute, “What if we went back to Arrow house and walked the grounds this afternoon, would you like that?” he asked.
“Yes,” you nodded quickly to show your enthusiasm at the idea, thrilled that he was finally compromising with you.
“I love you,” he told you, wiping the tears from your face, “I don’t want you to feel trapped, I want you to feel safe.”
“I know,” you responded, kissing him deeply.
Month 9:
The last month has been much better since Tommy let up a little. At this point, you were more than happy to sit in bed all day, as just standing up took a lot of effort for you. Still, you had gone down to the kitchen next to the betting shop to make some lunch, as you were intensely craving some of the leftover pie that Polly had baked last night.
After you had finished your pie, you got up, intending on taking a piece to Tommy in his office, when you felt a sudden wetness run down your legs. Uh oh. You moved quickly to the betting shop, opening the doors and rushing in, looking for Polly. When you found her she eyed you with a knowing look. “Is it time?” she asked.
“My water just broke,” you affirmed. She quickly moved into action, telling John and Arthur to get Esme and Ada and grabbing Tommy, who helped you back to his room. They set you up on the bed, Tommy staying with you as Polly went to get water and rags. You winced in pain as a contraction hit. “Tommy I’m scared,” you told him.
“I am too,” he responded, unusually vulnerable. He squeezed your hand that he was holding. “But you can do this. I know you can.”
Five hours of labor and delivery later you were holding a healthy baby boy in your arms. You and Tommy cooed at him as Ada wiped your forehead with a rag. “You did perfectly Y/N,” Polly told you.
You didn’t have the strength to do more than nod at her, enraptured by the beauty of the baby that you and Tommy had made. The other women then left the room, giving the three of you some privacy.
“He’s perfect,” Tommy breathed. “May I?” he held his arms out hesitantly as he asked to hold the baby. You nodded again, carefully transferring the baby to the arms of his father.
“Hi,” Tommy whispered to his son. “He’s so…perfect,” he said to you. You never mentioned it again, but you saw one tear run down his cheek.
“He looks like you,” you murmured. “Look at those eyes.”
“Yeah,” he whispered. “I hope he takes after you, my perfect wife. Look at what you’ve created.” You hot felt tears slip down your face, overwhelmed by all the love in the room.
He leaned in and gave you a kiss, minding the baby before passing him back over to you.
“I love you,” he told you.
“And I love you,” you replied.