red↳ thomas shelby

- XXXII. -

[ C o v e n t r y , 1 9 2 4 ]

Zara Shelby King was woken up by the crying of her daughter. She groaned as she slowly sat up, a familiar arm sliding around her waist, trying to keep her in place. She froze as the memories of the night before flooded her brain, she was hoping Tommy would be gone already so she wouldn't have to face the embarrassment.

Zara recollected herself, and threw his arm off of her, scrambling out of her bed and snatching the pillow out from under Tommy's head. Tommy groaned as his head hit the mattress, but made no move to get up. She huffed and climbed back on the bed, clutching her silk robe around her tightly, and started hitting Tommy's back with the pillow, eager for him to get out before Theo or Grace saw him.

"Get. The. Fuck. Up." Zara said through gritted teeth, hitting him between each word.

"What the fuck?" He groaned, grabbing the pillow, trying to get his wife to stop. He smirked as he saw the frustrated look on her face that he loved so much. "Is that your idea of a good morning?"

"Good morning, Thomas. Now, kindly get the fuck out." She rolled her eyes, climbing off the bed and walking into Thea's room to check on her.

Tommy smiled widely, overjoyed with how the night turned out. He was more relaxed and well rested than he had been in weeks, and it was nice to have the love of his life beside him again. Zara on the other hand, was not as happy. She felt disgusted with herself for sleeping with her husband. She didn't want him to think that sex would fix things between them, when it was really just a moment of weakness on her part. Did she miss her husband? Of course she did, she loved Tommy with all her heart, and it made it even more painful that he had yet to show any real remorse for what he had done.

Tommy slid his boxers back on and joined his wife in Thea's nursery, leaning on the door frame watching her comfort their daughter. He wrapped his arms around her waist, trying to pull them into his chest, but Zara refused, shuffling away from him. He frowned, confused.

"Tommy, no." Zara said, quietly.

"Zar, I'm trying here." He pleaded with her, stepping closer. For each step forward, Zara took one step back, making Thea giggle. "Come home, love."

She shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. Zara rapidly tried to blink them away, but to no avail. "I can't." She said firmly, trying to make him understand. "I love you, Tommy. So much. But last night was a mistake that will never happen again."

"I don't fucking understand." He shook his head. "What do you want me to do to make this better? Just tell me Zara and I'll fucking do it!" Tommy started to raise his voice, making his daughter whimper.

Zara clutched Thea's head closer to her chest, trying to cover her ears. "There's nothing you can do, Tommy! Why can't you see that you can't fix this!"

He rushed forward and grabbed her arms holding her in place. "Yes I can. There has to be something I can do, Zara, please." She refused to meet his gaze, making him scoff, angrily. "I tried to give you everything. For fuck's sake, Zar, I would give you the world on a silver platter if you asked. Isn't that enough?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't make me the bad guy, Thomas. And don't act like you did any of that for me. You did it for yourself."

Tommy was frozen, and Zara was finally able to push his arms off of her, pushing past him to bring Thea downstairs. She paused in the doorway, "I can start bringing her to meetings so you can see her. But that is the extent of our relationship going forward. I'm sure you can show yourself out." She sighed, turning around and giving him one last cold glare.