𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥'𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 ᵖᵉᵃᵏʸ ᵇˡⁱⁿᵈᵉʳˢ

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

Nothing ever happened on Watery Lane, especially not before the war. The Shelby family would gather almost every night in their Aunt Polly's home for dinner.

But one night, in the middle of December 1904, something finally happened. Something that would change that family forever. Snow had been falling all night, the temperature was dropping by the hour.

The doorbell rang and Polly decided to be the one to answer considering the kids were all arguing with each other. And to her surprise, nobody stood before her. But just as she was about to return to her family, she noticed the small basket that held a baby.

"Sweet Jesus.." she mumbled, leaning down and carefully picking up the basket. "Who was at the door, Pol?" an eight year old John shouted from the kitchen. Polly closed the door over and kept her eyes on the child as she walked into the living room.

Everyone turned to her. Tommy stood with a confused expression on his face when she placed the basket onto the table.

"What the fuck.." John whispered, earning a smack around the back of the head from Arthur. "Who's baby is that?" John asked.

Ada peered over the table, placing her hands on the wood and staring at the baby. "I was about to ask the same question," Polly glared at both Tommy and Arthur.

"It's not bloody mine," Tommy refused, taking a quick look at the child before taking a step back. "Do we get to keep it?" Ada asked excitedly, "please can we keep it?"

"All right Ada, go in the other room," John gently dragged her back by her shirt and pushed her off toward the door. "Is somebody going to tell me what's going on?" Polly questioned.

Arthur's face had went pale, his blood running cold. "Arthur?" Polly spoke. He cleared his throat, looking between Polly and the baby. "For gods sake!" Polly exclaimed, carefully lifting the baby from the basket and adjusting the blanket. "It's a girl," Polly told them, "now somebody speak up."

Tommy knew right then, that baby was Arthur's. And so did Arthur, he knew but didn't want to believe it. His mouth had went dry and his heart was pounding.

It was obvious. The child had the same hazel eyes that Arthur had. Same nose too.

"Oh shit.." John whispered, his fist up to his mouth. "Arthur, you knocked someone up?" The young boy shouted.

Polly's eyes widened, "Arthur? Is she yours?"

"I..er..dunno Pol." He stuttered. Polly sighed, "Arthur is this child yours?" She repeated. Tommy hummed. "Arthur, at the start of the year when we were in London and you met that girl, you remember don't you?"

Arthur nodded slowly, "I remember."

The night replayed in his head. He'd met a woman, she was gorgeous. Like an Angel. Her hair was a mixture between brunette and ginger, her eyes were brown. He thought she was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. But she was older than him. Only by a few years. So obviously he was ecstatic when he'd gotten her into bed with him. But if he knew this would've happened, he'd never if even looked at her twice.

Polly outstretched her arms, "take her then. It's your bloody baby, take her."

He shook his head, "I don't want to hurt her." He frowned, taking a step back but only to be pushed forward by Tommy.

"Arthur, you won't bloody hurt her. She won't break, just take her."

His hands we shaky as he took the girl from Polly's arms. Arthur didn't want to believe that he had a child. He wasn't sure if he was capable of being a father.

"So you're telling me someone left her on our doorstep..in the middle of winter?" Arthur muttered, his eyes not leaving the fragile baby in his arms. Polly hummed in agreement. "No note or anything, just a baby in a basket."

"Fuckin hell.." he whispered, carefully sitting down.  Ada rushed in once more and kneeled on the floor beside Arthur. "What's her name, Artha? Are we keeping her?"

"Yeah..we're keeping her." He said. He thought for a few moments, "Maeve," he finally said. "Maeve Lillian Shelby,"

A sense of happiness replaced Polly's anger and she smiled, touching Arthur's shoulder. John sniggered in the corner and Tommy punched his arm.

Ada watched in complete awe as they all watched Arthur cradle his daughter. "What do you reckon dad will say?" Arthur asked quietly, referring to their father who was currently doing whatever he was doing.

"He'll probably kill ya," Tommy said, half joking and half serious.

And just like magic, Arthur Sr. walked through the door, freezing in his place when he saw what his eldest son was holding.

"What the fuck is that doing in my house?" His voice bounced off the walls.

"That is your sons daughter." Polly said bluntly, defending Arthur. "So before you start nagging on at him, give him a moment to enjoy this before you rip it away from him like everything else he's had."

"Pollyanna," Arthur Sr. raised his hand, "let me deal with this in whatever way I want."

"Shut up," Arthur whispered. Arthur Sr. snapped his head toward his son. "What did you just say?"

"I said shut up," he raised his voice slightly, not taking his eyes away from Maeve. "Leave us alone, for once. Please." He said calmly.

Before Arthur Sr. got a moment to speak again, Ada ran up to him and closed the door, shutting him out. Tommy chuckled at his younger sisters behaviour and shook his head.

Arthur knew that he'd try his best to be a good father and he knew he'd do whatever he needed to be better than his own father. He refused to give his daughter the same life he had. And if that meant walking to the end of the earth, he'd do it.

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