𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟕
𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

Tommy Shelby had won — he had won by a mile. He was now the new Labour member of Parliament which seemed completely random to the family but also completely calculated which was not an uncommon factor for Tommy Shelby's actions.

His little daughter had been born a few months after Elijah and they had named her Ruby. Ruby Shelby— Polly's influence.

It was the first time Aurora had seen a genuine smile on his face when he walked out of that hall with his daughter in his arms. He was proud. Proud of himself for the first time in a while.

Everybody was proud of him.

—

Ada felt herself tearing up when Aurora finally stood before her with her wedding dress on. It hugged her perfectly — she was beautiful. She always had been. Ada held a hand over her mouth and blinked a few times. "Oh, love!" She fussed, cupping her face and laughing. "Are you excited?"

"I'm nervous," Aurora breathed, looking at herself in the mirror.

"Well— we can't waste much more time." Ada reminded her and took her hand. "Shall we go? Your husband to be is waiting for you," she teased.

Aurora rolled her eyes and agreed.

The pair then found themselves in the new Rolls Royce that Tommy had gifted them as a wedding gift and soon enough, they arrived at the church.
Nerves flooded Aurora and she took a deep breath when waiting at the large double doors. This was it now — she was finally getting married.

The plan was that Ada would walk her half way down the aisle and John would walk her the rest.

The doors finally opened and everybody stood. The sound of the piano echoed and Aurora smiled widely. She began to walk, careful not to trip over her dress. John was exactly where he needed to be which eased her slightly — she was afraid that he would get confused and mess it up.

Ada looked at the girl and couldn't help but smile. They reached John and Ada squeezed her hand before parting from her side.

"Finn's shitting himself," John whispered in her ear as he took over.

Finn turned, finally setting eyes on the girl and his eyes widened. Arthur chuckled to himself and nudged his brother in the side.

Aurora laughed slightly and before she knew it, she was at the alter. John nodded to her and gave her a wink of reassurance before walking to where Tommy and Arthur stood behind Finn.

Aurora had chosen Charlotte and Isiah to stand on her side — figuring that she couldn't pick everybody.

"Everybody may now sit," Jeremiah instructed.

Aurora turned to face Finn and he looked down at her. His eyes were filled with admiration as he took her hands gently. She smiled at him and he nodded, his thumb grazing her knuckles.

"We join here today to witness the sacred union and join together Finn Shelby and Aurora Thorne in holy matrimony—" He introduced.

Aurora could hear her heart pounding.

Jeremiah began to read out their vows but Aurora was too distracted to listen to them all. It was only when Finn seemed to be looking at her with concern that she realised she had not been listening. She glanced at Jeremiah who nodded to her and she understood what it was she needed to say.

"I do.." her words were certain and clear.

Finn let out a breath of relief and held back a laugh.

"You may now kiss the bride!" Jeremiah clapped his a hands together.

And Finn did just that. He leaned down, holding her face as he placed a kiss on her lips. It didn't last long though as he still felt it was not an action he wanted to share in front of his family.

Cheers and claps erupted.

John whistled and clapped loudly. "Go on, lad!" He called out.

Tommy watched from where he was stood, a proud smile plastered onto his lips as the pair turned toward everybody else, offering them all a smile of thanks. He continued to clap as they walked away from them all.

"Ay, he's done it now." Arthur shook Tommy by the shoulder, "our little brother is married, eh?"

"It seems so." Tommy hummed.

—

"Have you seen Elijah?" Aurora asked Charlotte who was busy talking to guests, Charlotte looked around. "The last I saw he was with Finn." She told the girl confidently.

Aurora thanked her and walked off to find her now husband who indeed was stood socialising with his friends whilst holding his now one year old son on his hip. "Gentlemen," she interrupted lightly, stepping beside Finn. "I was just wondering where my son was."

"He's here," Finn said, turning to show the boy his mother.

Elijah flashed a cheeky grin and leaned into Finn's side.

"We were just talking about how Tommy's a politician now," Finn lowered his voice and spoke in a strange tone. She chuckled and rolled her eyes. "It's a strange turn in events but he seems serious about it so, who are we to judge?" She shrugged and accepted Elijah from Finn.

Finn nodded to her and she walked off once more.

The atmosphere was amazing. There was no trouble, no stress. Aurora was enjoying herself.

Though the noise was a bit much for her so she decided to have a moment and take herself to the empty drawing room with Elijah.

She sighed and stood before the painting that sat on the wall of Aurora, Finn and Elijah:

"Who's that, hm?" She pointed up. The boy's eyes travelled along the wall. "Dad.." the word came out more like a mumble but she understood nevertheless. "You look just like him, did you know that?" She spoke despite getting no answer.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Tommy's voice spoke from the doorway.

She jumped slightly and turned around. She smiled with relief and nodded. "I am, thank you. It's nice to walk around without having to look over my shoulder every other moment."

Tommy let out a breathy laugh and looked down at his whiskey. "I hope you and Finn have found peace— i hope this house has become a place for a new start." He suggested.

"Strangely, yes. It has." She confirmed. "We wouldn't have it without you though, Tom. Give yourself some credit for once." She hummed.

"Credit.." he laughed to himself.

"I'm serious."

"I'm sure you are." He sighed. "Well— I hope you're proud of yourself, Rora." The old nickname that she had not heard in so long made her smile. "You've came a long way. Not everybody can do what you have.."

"Thank you, Tommy. That means a lot more than you think." She spoke.

Aurora took a deep breath. "Where is Charles? I feel it has been a long time since I last saw the boy." She frowned, "he must come to stay here one weekend."

"I believe he is with Ada and Karl." Tommy raised his eyebrows. "And he does mention you sometimes— and Elijah. He says he wants to go and see his cousin." Tommy breathed.

"He's a good boy, Tommy." Rory's tone suddenly shifted. "You need to look after him." As the time went by, she couldn't help but notice Tommy's lack of attention toward the boy. As he grew, he became more like his mother and that seemed to haunt Tommy. Grace was so close yet so far.
"Don't let him forget the love of his father."

Tommy frowned and looked away.

Aurora didn't want to accuse Tommy of being a bad father because that wasn't at all what he was. He was incredibly loving at times — she had witnessed that first hand. But, the more he looked at his son the more he seemed to grieve Grace, even after all these years.

And Rory didn't blame him. But she could not make any excuse for him when it came down to how his attitude had changed toward the boy.

"Don't let him feel alone, Tommy. You'll only regret it," she said, touching his arm and looking at him for a moment. "You're a good father, Tom. I know you are." She said quietly, "don't let that change."

Tommy stared at his feet once she left.

It was strange, really. The girl he would once carry around on his shoulders was now telling him that he needed to look after his son. He once worried about whether he'd see her again or if she'd do something stupid but now she was in full control of her life. It seemed that he was the one starting to lose control.

And maybe that meant their roles would switch. That it would be her trying to keep him going.

It was announced over the loud speaker that John and Rory would now have their dance — the father daughter dance it was traditionally called except John was not her father.

Whilst dancing, John leaned in to whisper to her. "I'm proud of you, d'ya know that?" He asked. "You haven't failed to mention," she joked, laughing to herself. Her breath hitched, her thoughts begging to leave her mouth in a way that wouldn't sound completely strange. "Do you think he'd have liked me?" She asked with her head bowed.

"Who?" Tommy hummed.

"My dad." The words tasted like poison on her tongue. "Luca." She corrected.

Tommy seemed to shift his weight from one foot to another. "I think—" he paused, "that he'd be glad you were raised by somebody other than himself." He suggested, "I think it's clear that you'd be living amongst nothing but trouble if you resided with the Changretta's."

"You think?"

"I know." Tommy's words were firm.

"And my mother— what about her?" Rory continued.

"I can't speak on her behalf but I would hope that she regrets giving you up." He kept his eyes on Rory as her mind raced for a few moments. She began to wonder what life would be like if her mother had taken her to Italy — if she had been raised with two parents. And then she realised that she wouldn't want anything she had now to be any different.

"Our Finn loves you very much." Tommy's words caught her off guard, "And I want you to realise that before it's too late. He could be gone tomorrow and you'll have not appreciated him enough— any of it, you'll have not appreciated any of it."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Is today the appropriate  time to be discussing my husband dying?"

Tommy's breath was shaky. "It can all disappear within seconds, Aurora. You've seen it happened to Ada— you've seen it happen to me." He spoke, "don't let it happen to you."

"That isn't something I can control."

"No, but it's something that will make you hold him close. It's something that'll make you realise that what you have is something people would kill to have." He was serious. He was actually serious. He was discussing death on her wedding day.

"You need to lighten up, Thomas. You need to realise that sometimes life isn't all darkness." She huffed, "and I understand that all you're doing is trying to prevent me from suffering in the same way that you have but unfortunately it isn't something neither me or you can control. I wish I could control it but nothing is guaranteed— so why spend my days worrying about something I cannot control."

His eyes lowered.

"You need rest, Tommy. I can see it in your eyes." She breathed as she stopped beside the door, "I thought you were getting rest whilst all of this trouble was over."

"I have work to do."

"You always have bloody work to do." She hissed, "maybe instead of telling me that I need to appreciate what I have, you should go and tell your son that you love him."

- short chapter kind of. this takes place 1 year after the last chapter of act 4.
- there will be a time skip of 2 years from now to the next chapter.
- i don't think we'll see Aurora's mother again but i'm not certain.
- this is not entirely proof read also sorry for such a late update