devil's backbone 🗝 tommy shelby

chapter 31

n// lonnnnggggg chapter ahead folks so sit back relax and enjoy ily <3

It was no secret that Thomas Shelby liked to have control in most every aspect of his life.  He built himself from the ground up, forging himself in hellfire to become the man he knew he was destined to be; a man that did not just have one title.  He was a soldier, a bookmaker, the head of a crime syndicate, a businessman, and now, he was getting ready to become the most important title yet: a husband.  It was the greatest and most daunting thing he had done, but he was ready.  After all, he'd been waiting for this moment his entire life.

Which is why he had to make sure everything went perfect.

With the newfound wealth that the betting shoppe had been bringing in, he knew that he could give Sybbie the wedding that she deserved.  A wedding that was not just about politics or sex, a wedding that was not for the sake of making everyone else happy (though he would try, for her sake), and most importantly, a wedding that was a true celebration of their love.  He had never been so determined in his life.

Tommy had made sure to hire the best of the best that Birmingham had to offer, from tailors to florists, giving them all his strict criteria and expectations for the day, letting them know that if they failed, they would have him to deal with.  Needless to say, there were many willing volunteers to make his vision come to life.  He knew that his bride would disapprove, but that's what he was there for: to do the hard things to ensure her happiness.

That's what husbands did, wasn't it?

"Tommy, mate, you have got to stop pacing," Arthur groaned out, lounging with the rest of the groomsmen as they watched their fearless leader fall apart.  "You're wearing a bloody hole in the floor!  Why don't you just have a drink and you'll calm d—"

"No." Tommy interrupted, looking at the men before him.  "No drinking.  This, you fuckers, is my wedding day.  And being that it is my wedding day, there were things that I had asked of you all.  Do you bastards remember what they were?"

The men collectively seemed to roll their eyes and stifle groans, knowing what was to come.

"No booze.  No snow.  No bloody opium.  No theft.  No talks of business.  No magic.  No betting.  No guns.  No provocation.  And stop fucking talking me up to the bloody bastards, while we're at it, eh?  But most importantly, no fighting." he listed off, looking at all of them with wide, wild eyes.  Walking up to each man, he tapped their cheek and pointed a finger at them.  "No fighting.  No fighting.  No fucking fighting.  No! Fucking! Fighting!"

The men begrudgingly agreed, much to Thomas's relief.  He knew them all well enough to tell when they were sober, and for their own sake, they all were.  He couldn't remember the last time they'd all been together without something clouding their judgment and altering their emotional state.  It was a foreign experience, and after a split second of deliberation, he decided that he didn't like it.  However, this was not about him, it was about Billie.

"Now," Thomas continued, tone much softer now, straightening out his suit.  "My bride to be is on her way now with her mother and some of her cousins, so beware.  They're a handful on a good day, believe me, but they will have the idea that this is somehow their wedding.  They will try to make it about them.  It is up to us to make sure that doesn't happen.  If they speak ill of us, let it go.  They'll be looking for any excuse to cause a scene and prove everyone right about their assumptions on us; on our family."