Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

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A glimpse into Ailbhe and Finn's 'exile'

1936 (Three years after the family vote) The Hamptons, New York

For the first time in a long time, Ailbhe Shelby woke of her own accord. There were no panicked phone calls from the family. Cara wasn't knocking at the door with breakfast. She didn't even wake gasping or shaking from a dream plagued by whispers and signs. These days, she simply woke when she had slept enough or someone roused her. On her stomach, warm and drowsy tucked down under the blankets and feeling more well rested than her night's activities would ordinarily allow.

However, as it happened Ailbhe was not the first to wake that morning. Her hand was wrapped around her husband's arm but he was sleeping soundly she guessed from the soft and low sounds of his breathing. Peeling open her eyes, she could not stop the smile that appeared on her lips when she saw who was awake. Her son, barely ten months old staring back at her.

He was lying across his father's chest, seemingly unbothered about the cold as the blanket had slipped down below Finn's waist. But Finn had always been her own personal furnace and their son was quite happy to cling to his bare chest for warmth.

"Good morning" Ailbhe whispered, an undeniable grin on her face as she reached out a hand and stroked her son's rosy cheek.

He was teething and it was testament to how much he had fussed during that night that Finn had eventually given up and let him sleep in the bed with them. Finn's ability to sleep through anything had ended seemingly the day he became a father. He was the first to wake or rouse, claiming he could hear something that sounded like a cry or a whinge from the nursery.

"Mama" - he wriggled off his dad's chest, falling to the mattress between them where Ailbhe caught him to ensure a soft landing.

"Yes baby, that's me. I'm mama" She whispered, utterly enthralled by her baby's smile as he pointed at her.

"Who's that?" She asked, pointing at the sleeping form of her husband beside her. Her handsome, gorgeous husband who had ravished her the night before when he came home to find his wife in the shower.

He had crept in, almost silently but she sensed him there before he could step in. She let him have his fun, feigning shock when he grabbed her from behind and wrapped himself around her wet and naked body.

She had tried to listen to what he said to her, hearing fragments like 'my perfect little...' and 'luckiest bastard' but she was distracted by the running water and her own moans when Finn knelt and tossed her leg over his shoulder, going straight between her legs with an insatiable hunger she knew only in his eyes.

"Dada"

Her son's words were coming slowly but he knew who the most important people were. He could almost say Liam and Niall, even Ada but he seemed to call for Charlie the most. With Charlie spending the Summers with Uncle Finn and Alv, their son had spent almost all of his time with Charlie who was delighted to learn that he would absolutely be allowed to call their little boy his little brother just like how Ailbhe had called Tommy hers.

"And who's this?" Ailbhe asked, smoothing down the curls on baby's head before holding onto his middle to keep him upright.

He struggled with his own name, the 'j' sound always sounded more like a 'z'.

But Ailbhe smiled.

"That's right, you're John"

Finn had picked the name. And Ailbhe had loved it.