𝐞𝐠𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 · 𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞

EVELYN'S RIGHT LEG bounced up and down as she waited for her name to be called, while her hand gripped Polly's so tight that she was probably cutting the blood circulation to her aunts fingers.

"Stop stressing so much," Polly huffed, her arm reaching over to stop Evelyn's bouncing knee.

"Alf and I aren't even married yet and we're still slowly working through our problems. I can't add a pregnancy on top of his diagnosis."

Resting her head on her aunts shoulder, Evelyn shut her eyes as Polly began to twirl strands of her nieces hair around her dainty fingers. She couldn't help the nerves flowing through every inch of her body. She was completely and utterly terrified.

"When have the pair of you ever taken your time doing anything?" Polly whispered to her niece. "And what diagnosis are you talking about?"

Swallowing thickly, Evelyn pulled away from her aunt slightly to look at her directly – tears clouding her crystal blue eyes that had smudged black mascara around them from all her anxious rubbing.

"Cancer," Evelyn let a few tears fall. "He has fucking cancer, Pol. Doctors have been treating him, but we don't know if it's working. I can't lose him, especially if there's a baby on the way."

Polly could only stare at Evelyn in shock, she hadn't expected to hear that the widely feared Wandering Jew was slowly dying from cancer. All she could do was wipe Evelyn's flowing tears, trying to comfort her niece who was stuck in her own thoughts. Before Polly could say anything to comfort her niece, they were interrupted by the door swinging open and a young woman with bright red hair calling her name.

"Miss. Shelby," she called with a sympathetic smile on her cherry red lips that almost matched her hair. "We're ready when you are."

~~~~~~~

"So?" Polly urged as Evelyn emerged out of the room after an hour, frowning when her niece walked straight past her and towards the door.

Polly clenched her jaw as she followed, reaching out for Eve's elbow before tugging the girl forcefully towards her – causing Evelyn to stumble over her own feet.

"I'm pregnant," Evelyn admitted, tears trailing down her cheeks. "What am I going to do?"

With a soft exhale, Polly reached into her coat pocket to pull out her tin of thin cigarettes, offering one to Evelyn to calm her buzzing nerves. Taking the thin stick between her shaking fingers, Evelyn waited for her aunt to light both their cigarettes before Polly pulled the younger woman to her side as they began to walk down the street of Cardiff with their heads down so nobody saw them.

"How far along?" 

"Only three weeks," Evelyn sighed. "Must've been when Alfie and I got back together. The nurse said that the sickness before was most likely from a weakened immune system, but now it's definitely pregnancy mixed with it."

"Right, you're going to go back home and tell Solomons," Polly instructed, her voice low. "You're going to figure this out together. Don't think about what Tommy is going to say or your other brothers when they fucking find out. Just worry about your man for now."

"I'm scared, Pol."

With a comforting squeeze to her niece's hand, Polly's heart filled with sorrow for her niece who's voice was filled with terror at the prospect of being a mother. Checking over both her shoulders, Polly stopped them both in their steps, placing a comforting palm on Evelyn's tear stained cheek.

"Your mother said the same thing each time she was pregnant and look how wonderful she was," Polly's voice was calming as she wiped away the smeared makeup under Evelyn's eyes. "It's okay to be scared. But know that no matter your choice – and no matter how much I will probably never trust Solomons – you will always have support."