the marriage (john shelby.)

Seventeen.

2 YEARS LATER

♚

"John please deal with her." Amelia sobbed as she sat on the end of the bed.

It was the day of Freddie Thorne's funeral. The service hadn't even begun yet and Amelia was already in tears. She was very sad about Freddie's death, but the truth behind her tears was because of the very newborn baby she'd given birth to only days ago. Ciara Shelby was a beautiful little girl, but poor Amelia was struggling. She was tired, in constant pain and receiving next to no help from her husband.

"I'm busy." He shouted upstairs, not realising she was crying.

"John please." She begged.

Once John had heard the pleading in her voice, he dropped the gun he was polishing and hopped up the stairs, running into their bedroom.

"What's wrong love?" He crouched in front of her as she buried her face in her hands. Her hair was a matted state but she was too exhausted to deal with it.

"Ciara won't stop crying and there's nothing more I can do to help her. Please just hold her or something." Amelia sighed and ran her hands through the hair, getting stuck as she reached a knot.

"Alright, I'll go see her." John sighed and stood up, disappearing into the other room.

Katie came bounding into Amelia's bedroom, her smile fading as she saw her step mum's state.

"Are you okay mummy?" She climbed up onto the bed and wrapped her arms around Amelia's waste.

"I'm just tired baby, I'll be okay." Amelia kissed her forehead and leant back so she was leaning against the wall.

"Is it Ciara? Because I can't sleep because of her crying." Katie grumbled.

The kids had adjusted fine to having a baby in the day time, but when it came to the night they found it unbearable. Ciara would cry on the hour every hour and John was too much of a heavy sleeper to notice. Amelia felt awful for what poor Martha had to go through before she died.

"I'm sorry darling I really am. It'll be like this for quite a while and I'm sorry." Amelia sighed deeply.

A knock on the bedroom door echoed throughout the room, and it opened to show Sarah.

"Dan told me you were in a state. Come on, let's get you ready." She have Amelia a hug of reassurance so that she knew she wasn't alone. "Katie will you help me? I need to do her hair."

Katie lept with joy when she was handed the hairbrush, instantly getting to work of the blonde mess that sat upon Amelia's head. There was nothing Katie loved more than brushing someone else's hair, something her younger sister had become accustomed to.

"He's just not interested. He'll hold her and say how he loves her and how gorgeous she is but when it comes to things like nappy changing or feeding, he just won't do it. He says it's my job as her mother." Amelia whispered so John couldn't hear.

"I was talking to Polly earlier. She says that even though you want to pay your respects to Freddie, Ada's given you permission to not come. She understands how you feel and has no judgement on whether you come or not." Sarah wiped some tears off her friend's cheeks.

"I can't go. John can, but I really can't. Will you stay with me?" Amelia begged.

"I'll stay." Katie wrapped her arms around Amelia's neck and hugged her.

"Good girl Katie. And yes of course I will. Have a sleep you two I'll take over baby duty." Sarah winked and left the two girls together.

Katie and Amelia flopped back onto the bed and cuddled up together. John's kids now saw Amelia as their mum. They knew what happened with Martha and whilst it hurt them, they were happy to have a mother figure in their life. Her experience as a midwife had made her more prepared for the experience.

John came back into the room, Ciara in his arms and the other kids following him like puppies. She was now peaceful and wrapped up in a blanket. Ciara was such a daddy's girl already.

"Hello. Sarah's told me the plan. Please get some rest, I don't want you overdoing yourself." He leant down carefully and gave Amelia a quick kiss.

"I promise we won't. Up you come." She instructed the other 3 kids and they all clambered up onto the mattress with her and Katie.

John sat carefully on the bed, Ciara still asleep in his arms. The kids circled him as they tried to get a look at the tiny baby. Her clothes swamped her and were hand me downs from Karl, but she was so perfect in Amelia's eyes.

"Do you wanna hold her?" John went to hand the baby to Amelia but she stopped him in his tracks.

She had sussed that John was frightened of his baby. Polly had explained that John was never really involved when the other kids were little and he left most of the work to Martha, leaving her stressed and vulnerable. Amelia was determined to change that and continually made sure that he was doing something. She couldn't turn back time for the other children but she sure as hell was ready to write the future for her own.

"I'm going to the toilet." Amelia announced.

"What do I do if she wakes up?" He stressed.

"Then, you see if she needs anything like food or changing. If not, then just hold her." She pecked his cheek and got up slowly to reduce the pain.

She left the room and left the door open behind her. Once she reached the bathroom she finally got a look at herself in the dirty mirror. She was a mess. Her once bright blue eyes were starting to look grey they were so exhausted. Pulling down her lower eye lid, she was sheet white underneath. She'd have to go to the doctor and get some iron tablets or something. The blonde hair was sat flowing down her shoulders nice and tidy now thanks to Katie's brushing, but she knew it couldn't have been pretty before hand.

After she'd finished in the bathroom, she shut the door quietly behind her and tiptoed towards the bedroom, poking her head around the door.

John was sat on the bed looking like a startled bunny as he stared at Ciara. The baby was silent and the kids were gazing at her. Alex was sat on one side of his dad, Harvey on the other side, Emily and Katie stood on either side of John peering over his shoulders. Of course, the one time they all look sweet and well behaved is the time when there's no camera in sight. Every time they were placed in front of a camera for a family photo, someone either starts crying or fighting, leaving most of the family photos centred on a stressed Amelia.

"Amy she behaved." John looked up at his wife absolutely glowing.

Amelia pushed her way into the group and sat down next to John. Emily clambered on to her lap to get a better look her new little sister.

The past 2 years has been bizarrely peaceful for the Blinders. Business had been booming and they'd made no enemies. But Tommy was itching for more, everyone could see. He was talking about London and clubs. Nothing every remained safe for too long in that family.

But for the split second that morning, everything felt fine.

♚

a/n: so it's series 2 now! there's been biiig changes but it's all worth it x