𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕

Madeline rushed through the hospital and pushed open the doors. "Is he alive?" She screamed. A doctor stopped her from entering the room. She was hyperventilating and fought against him. "Please tell me— let me in!" She cried like a child.

"Get your fucking hands off my wife!" John stormed through. The doctor hesitantly removed his hands from Madeline's shoulders and stepped out of the way.

"Theo—" She whispered and swung the door open. She came to a halt at the sight of her brother laying on his back. His face was bloodied and bruised. A hand made its way to her mouth and she sat beside the bed. "Oh, Theo." Her voice broke.

Madeline took his hand in hers and kissed his knuckles. "What did you do?" She whispered.

-

It was now 1923 and everybody sat in a church waiting for no other than Grace Burgess. She was to be married to Thomas after her husband died because she had cheated on him with Tommy.

That night in the hospital, Theo had miraculously survived and Madeline had not felt such heartbreak in a while when seeing his almost lifeless body there.

The reason behind Theo wanting to see Madeline was because he was aware of a gang fight that was going to break out. One that he'd be involved in. He had a bad feeling that he wouldn't come out alive so he made the decision to talk to his sister one last time.

And meet his nephew.

Except he managed to survive with major injuries and had a sister who now had a vendetta against the Lee brothers. Whether she would actually kill them like she had threatened, nobody knew. But they did know that if she were to ever come face to face with the boys that had hurt her brother, she'd do something.

"Here come the fucking cavalry— late as usual." John remarked from beside Madeline. She scoffed and pushed his arm. Seconds later, Grace entered the church in a purple dress.

Madeline sat with a frown upon her features at the strange choice of colour. "I thought you were supposed to wear white.." Katie whispered up to them.

John stifled a laugh. "You are."

"I don't like weddings." Katie crossed her arms. "They're boring." She added. John furrowed his brows together. "You've never been to a bloody wedding." He reminded his daughter who just replied with a simple shrug.

Linda leaned forward in her seat to hush the pair and earned a hard snarl from Madeline and Katie.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join together in holy matrimony: Thomas Micheal Shelby and Grace Helen Burgess.." Jeremiah began. Madeline played by her fingers, completely bored by the whole thing.

"Do you, Thomas Micheal Shelby take Grace Helen Burgess as your lawful wedded wife?"

"I do."

"Do you, Grace Helen Burgess solemnly swear to love, honour and obey till death do you part?" Jeremiah turned to the blonde. "I do." She responded. "I now pronounce you husband and wife." He nodded.

The two turned to eachother and leaned in. The whole Shelby side of the church erupted into cheers and laughs. John hit his hands against the wood in a drum roll like way and nodded.

Everybody gathered outside to take photographs and Katie was not a fan at all. She stood with her arms crossed and a foul expression on her face.

"You look just like your father." Polly teased, touching Katie's cheek as she passed. Katie rolled her eyes and shook her head.

-

"Stay close, Katie." Madeline touched the girls back once they entered the busy house. It was only moments before John was stolen by Arthur. She could hear him complaining about the cavalry as he walked away.

Madeline wandered the busy room in hopes to find a familiar face but the only faces she could see were the members of Grace's family and she wasn't going to attempt to speak to them.

Theodore had been invited but he was yet to show.

"Miss Shelby." A voice said from behind her. Madeline spun on her heels. "Sorry to disturb you." It was an older woman. Madeline smiled and shook her head. "It's no worries."

"I just wanted to say what a beautiful family you have." The woman complimented. Madeline flashed her a smile. "Your son— he looks just like his father but yet still captures your own beauty." She said. "And your daughter is so well mannered."

"Well thank you." Maddie said softly. "They're both very good kids." She added.

Madeline found it hard to make small talk with people she wasn't familiar with. She assumed the woman somehow knew the family for her to be at Tommy's wedding and be aware of her children.

Thankfully, as if planned, Theodore strolled in which gave Maddie the perfect excuse to leave the conversation. "Brother!" She sighed with relief. He found her face in the crowd and waved. Madeline got to him and quickly fixed his tie and suit collar before hugging him. "I didn't think you'd show."

"I almost didn't." He chuckled. "I don't think i've ever worn a suit in my life." He said.

Madeline grinned. "First time for everything then, brother." She patted his shoulder. "Katie was asking about you." She nodded toward the girl. "I best go and say hello then." He made a b-line for his niece.

Theo weaved between the people and opened his arms wide, a welcoming grin on his lips when Katie spotted him. The girl practically jumped up into his arms and laughed happily. "Uncle Theo!" She giggled. Theo lowered her onto her feet and held her shoulders. "Look at you, eh? Look how big you've gotten."

-

"What do you call an animal with a prick half way up its back?" John asked loudly to the Cavalry officer across from him. "A Cavalry horse!" He wheezed. Madeline raised an eyebrow. "He gets it!" John tapped her. Madeline nodded once at his ridiculous behaviour before shaking her head with a smile.

Arthur suddenly got up and left the table in search for the missing bride and groom.

"Where are the children?" John finally calmed himself down. Madeline picked up her drink. "With one of Tommy's maids, I believe." She said whilst sipping her drink.

Her eyes travelled across the table to where Theo sat talking to Ada with a cheeky smile on his face. The corners of Madeline's lips turned upward at the sight of her happy brother. "He seems happy." Madeline nudged John and nodded toward the Lee boy.

John followed her gaze and hummed. He leaned in closer to Madeline, "just make sure you tell him that if he hurts my sister, i'll cut him." John whispered jokingly in her ear.

Maddie shook her head and gently pushed him away. "Not funny, John."

Arthur soon returned as well as Tommy and Grace. "To the bride." Tommy held a glass up. "To the bride." Everyone repeated. "Now, according to the tradition. My best man will say a few words." Tommy took a seat.

John drum rolled on the table. "Go on! Here he goes. Go on Artha!" John encouraged.

"Right, er, i'm not one for speeches." Arthur began. John removed his cigar from between his lips and pointed at him. "Sing then!" He suggested. Madeline snaked an arm around his and chuckled.

"I will later, John. But, er, I do have some words written down here. On this piece of paper. This doesn't include everything that I want to say—"

"Arthur just read what we wrote down, eh.." Tommy whispered to him.

"I will. I will but first a few words from the heart. This man here, my brother Tommy, helped me survive through some of the worst times—" Arthur began. Tommy cleared his throat rudely  to interrupt him. "It's a wedding, Arthur. Tell a joke." Micheal chimed in.

"Yeah, tell a joke." John agreed. Maddie hushed him.

"What i'm trying to say is my brother and the love of a good woman pulled me through that time. Now Tommy also has the love of a good woman. Her names Grace like the grace of the good lord. Even though the circumstances of their union was tragic—"

Tommy hit his fist into the table and stood. "Alright— Arthur let's raise a toast, eh. To love, to peace, to marriage." He shouted and patted Arthur's shouted.

"Well done, Arthur. Beautiful speech. Really nice. Really really nice." John said whilst blowing smoke into the air.

Madeline felt bad for Arthur and punched John's arm which resulted in him hissing in pain. "What you doing that for?" He pulled his arm away.

"Leave him alone. He's trying his best." She scolded.

"Where's he fucking going now—" John watched Arthur storm off. "That's because of you that." Madeline accused him. "Tormenting the life out of him." She whispered. John rolled his eyes and kissed her lips quickly to shut her up.

She smiled and shook her head. "You can't just kiss me every time you've done something wrong." She told him off.

John hummed and kissed her again. "Can't I?" He teased. Madeline grabbed his face. "No. You can't." She pushed it away gently.

-

"The children are asleep." Madeline said to Theo as they stood watching people linger. Theo sipped his drink and kept one hand in his pocket. Madeline gave him a once over. "So you and Ada..."

Theodore snapped his head toward her. "Me and Ada?"

She smirked. "I saw you at the dinner table earlier tonight. Don't think i've ever seen you smile like that." She pushed. Theodore looked away. "She's good conversation." He said.

"Since when did you like politics?" Madeline scoffed.

"I don't." Theo looked down. "But I like hearing her talk about them."

"Aww," Madeline fussed jokingly and shook Theo's shoulder in a tormenting way. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "My little brother is in love! Do you love her?" She teased. Theodore shook his head again. "Don't take the piss, Maddie."

"I'm only joking." She said to ease him. "But just know what you're getting yourself into if you go there." She whispered.

Theo looked over his shoulder at the open back door. "Come on." He placed a hand on her back and led her outside where a crowd had gathered. And within that crowd was John fighting.

Madeline's eyes widened and she pushed through the men to see what was going on. "What the fuck!" She exclaimed and grabbed Johnny Dogs by the arm. "What the fuck is going on?" She hissed.

Johnny looked at her before diverting his eyes back to the fight. "It's a fight, love. You want to place a bet?" He grinned.

"No i don't want to place a bloody bet." She cupped a hand over her mouth as she watched. John let out a laugh which made her skin crawl. He threw one last punch which sent the man backward and he held his arms up proudly.

People cheered and Madeline shook her head before grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the crowd. Madeline grabbed his face and examined it for any injury. "What the fuck?" She asked him.

Laughs fell from his mouth as he looked down at her. "I fucking won. Did you see me? I fucking won!" He grabbed the sides of her face and kissed her aggressively.

He pulled away and laughed again. Madeline wiped the small cut under his eye with her finger and sighed. "So I leave for five minutes and come back to you fighting?" She whispered.

John grinned. "Amazing ain't it?"

She shook her head but couldn't help her smile. "Shut up." She muttered. Madeline placed a hand on his bare chest. "Put a bloody shirt on."

-

Madeline and John lay in a spare room of Arrow House whilst the children slept peacefully on the sofa at the end of the room. John had his head buried in the crook of her neck and his arms loosely around her waist. "I love you." He whispered.

Madeline ran her fingers up and down his bare back and smiled. "I love you too." She kissed his forehead.

"I'm going to get us a house.." He spoke quietly with his eyes closed as he slowly fell into a sleep. "A big fuck off house with loads of bloody land." He continued.

"That sounds nice." Madeline gently played with his hair.

"We can have dogs." He added. She almost laughed. "And horses. I'll teach James how to hunt— how to shoot." John mumbled. "And Katie?" Madeline raised a brow. "I'll teach her how to ride a horse."

She closed her eyes and readjusted herself so that she was laying in his arms. "I miss the horses..and all the land. The freedom." She intertwined their fingers. John hummed tiredly. "I'll give you it all again. When the time is right."

John kissed her shoulder. "We're
moving up in the world, Mads."