Grá - Peaky Blinders

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1902

"Pol, quick, Mums having the baby" A twelve year old Tommy informs his aunt. He had just come in from playing with John and Arthur and heard his mother screaming, knowing straight away she was in labour.

"Okay, get me towels, water and alcohol, then go out and play with your brothers" Polly Gray tells her nephew, he runs off and gets the supplies his aunt needed to help welcome his new sibling into the world.

Three hours and a lot of screams later, the newest member of the Shelby clan was born on a cold winters evening, a gorgeous baby girl with big brown eyes and a button nose. Polly told her nephews and niece to which they all ran up to see their littlest sister, Thomas being the first to run up to his mother finding her asleep and his little sister in a crib beside the bed, carefully taking her out and rocking her in his arms, he fell in love with her promising to protect her for as long as he lived and after.

"What's her name Polly?" John asks from beside Tommy in awe of his newborn sister. Not giving time for their aunt to answer Tommy pipes up.

"I think Lilibet is a nice name— you know after that author we read at school" he says remembering the french author Elizabeth 'Lilibet' Louis he read a few weeks ago.

"That's gorgeous Tommy, we will tell your mother when they wake up." Polly says in a hushed tone still cautious of her sister- in law sleeping beside them. "Your father will be home soon, come on let them rest" she says half believing that her brother will be home, if he's not in between a whore or getting drunk down Small Heath. The man missing the birth of his bouncing, beautiful baby girl, Elizabeth Ruby Shelby.

1905

"Come on Lil, lets go outside for a bit" a ten year old John says to his sister pushing her out the door, not intending to follow her out. Lilibet just started walking and talking and she was becoming a nightmare for the Shelby's, constantly whining for something or running all about the house more often than not, resulting in injury for the three year old. John shuts the door once he manages to get her out the door and locks it.

"Johnny let me innnn" Lilbet whines screaming at the door, having a tantrum.

"Are you okay?" A voice from behind her asks, when she turns around she is met with a boy with a dirty football in his hand, his curly brown hair spread across his forehead and green eyes, freckles lightly sprinkled across his face. He seemed a little older then her and a bit taller.

"Uh, yah. W-who are you?" Lililbet says trying to string a sentence together, not knowing many words.

"I'm Ruairi Healy, I live across the road just moved here from Cork in Ireland—I'm five" Theo introduces himself to the little girl with a black ribbon tying up her unusually long hair for a three year old.

"Oh, hi Ruairi, I'm Elizabeth Shelby I live here but John shut the door" She says calming down in the presence of the boy.

"Well want to play football with me ?— my brother won't play with me" He suggests to the smaller girl infront of him, she nods in return and they stayed out there for three hours laughing, talking and playing until Thomas had returned from school to find his little sister and a random boy sat on the step outside their house.

"Bye bye Ruairi" Lilibet waves with the hand not holding her brothers, she tells her brother about how John locked her out and that's how she met her new friend, unknowing to her, her best-friend for life.

1914

"Please Tom, don't leave me with Ada, I beg you, Johnny please." Elizabeth begs her brothers as they are leaving for France today, she will obviously miss her brothers dearly but she didn't want to be left with Ada, knowing she will torment Kezia like she always does ten times more.