"Where the viaduct looms Like a bird of doom As it shifts and cracks Where secrets lie in the border fires In the humming wires Hey man, you know you're never coming back Past the square Past the bridge Past the mills Past the stacks On a gathering storm comes a tall, handsome man In a dusty black coat With a red right hand and give him peace. Amen." I heard the Reverend say. I was walking through the crowd with the stroller, the Blinders would looking at me in shock.

"Amen." Everyone said but all you could hear was my voice. Tommy immediately turned around and looked at me shocked. I smiled at him before he stood in front of everyone. I could see that I made him nervous and I liked it.

"I promised my friend Freddie Thorne that I'd say a few words over his grave if he should pass before me. I made this promise before he became me brother-in-law - when we were in France, fighting for the King. And in the end it wasn't war that took Freddie. Pestilence took him. But Freddie passed on his soul and his spirit to a new generation before he was cruelly taken." Tommy said and it filled with emotions. I did not believe he had that in him to be honest. I gave him a sympathetic smile because I did feel bad for him, Freddie was his friend.

___

"That was a good speech, Tommy." I smiled Tommy honestly as I walked up to Tommy. I was holding Roma, I was really nervous to speak to him. What if he did not want to see Roma or be in her life? What if he did but I could not get used to sharing her. 

"You came." Esme grinned as she hugged my sideways. John was standing behind her with his new child. He was staring down at my kid.  "Did you get my letters?" Esme asked me and I nodded my head.

"I did thank you. They were everything to me. I honestly do not know how to make it up to you." I answered and every word I said was completely true. 

"No worries, I better be off now." Esme smiled at me before she stared at Thomas. John muttered a hello before he left, I took it that Tommy told them everything. 

"Who is she?" Tommy asked me and I could sense people were staring at us. This was their entertainment, at my expense. 

"Maybe we should not do this at a funeral?" I asked him as I hugged tighter onto Roma. She hiccuped and I couldn't help but flash a smile. 

"Tell me, Clara." Tommy ordered and I just sighed before I nodded my head. It was like being at the theatres, if people had seats they would be gripping onto the edge of them. 

"This is Roma, Roma Shelby. Your daughter." I explained and Tommy started to walk off. I followed after him, for Roma of course. "Tommy, do not walk away from her!" I shouted angrily and he turned around.

"You didn't tell me I had a daughter." He hissed at me and it probably was not my fines hour but I was scared and lonely. 

"You didn't love me, how was I meant if you wanted me to get an abortion or not?" I asked him honestly and Tommy sighed. 

"You know I would never have asked you to do that." He answered before he continued to walk off. I did not know what to do about it all.  Polly walked over to me before I could say or do anything. 

"Talk to me." Polly instructed as we started to walk through the green green grass. 

"About what?" I asked her as I placed Roma back into her stroller. Everyone was leaving the funeral now and Tommy had left. 

"Tommy never told us why you left? Why did you not tell him he had a daughter?" Polly asked me and I was beginning to get more and more anxious. I was kind of glad that Tommy never told them. Maybe John was annoyed because I left without saying goodbye. 

"I ratted out the guns to Campbell because I needed to keep you all safe. I could not allow Campbell snooping around any longer if I was going to be having a baby. Grace took some of the fall for me." I explained felling totally and completely guilty. 

"Why did you not tell him about Roma?" Polly asked me in a stern tone. 

"For this reason. The danger of his life." I answered because look at what has happened to him in the past. But that is a bit contradicting of me considering that I am a Peaky Blinder, but I am safe doing it. My rowdy side has now gone after having a child.

"Why are you back?" Polly asked me.

"I am going to meet my mother. My real mother." I answered completely honest, not holding back. 

"You have no feelings for Tommy?" Polly asked me and I shook my head. To be honest after that encounter, I did not know what to think. 

"He's just the father of my child." I answered in a blunt manner. I had rehearsed it because I knew people would ask me, hence why I sounded like robot. 

"You still want to be a Peaky Blinder, join us in the danger?" Polly asked me, I finally realised that I was practically just walking her to her car. I had to get my own ride home. I guess it was walking. 

"If it keeps my daughter safe then yes." I answered honestly, I believed if I kept the streets safe by being a Peaky Blinder then I could be a good parent to Roma. 

"Excellent, love." Polly grinned happily before she walked into her car. I just sighed, what had I got myself into. I knew I was going to have to face Tommy again and I did not know what to think of it all. 

___

"Right Before Tommy gets here, I think there's a few things we need to get straight between the rest of us." John started to say as we were all gathered in the betting room. I was standing up against the staircase, and Esme was sitting on it. 

"YOU think?" Polly asked in a pointedly tone. 

"Yeah." John answered and Polly huffed. "Yeah, I do. I want to know when did we all take a vote on this expansion south?" John asked and I could see that Polly was getting angry. She better be calm cause she was holding my child.

"If you have anything to say, you wait for Thomas." Polly snapped as she walked further into the room. 

"Polly's fucking right." Arthur agreed as he sat on the chair. I was stubbing out my cigarette. 

"I see all the books. Legal and off track. Sort of stuff you don't see. And in the past year the Shelby Company Limited has been making a £150 a day." John explained and everyone stayed silent. I was too busy string to sub out my cigarette to speak. I tried to quit it but it was too difficult. "Right? A fucking day. Sometimes more." John shouted. "So what I want to know is why are we changing things?" John asked in a calmer tone. I shrugged my shoulders, I had missed out on two years of it all.  "Polly, look what's happened already. We haven't even set foot in London yet and they've already blown up our fucking pub." John explained and I sighed.

"Language please. My daughter is here. I do not really want her first word to be fucking." I explained, I had honestly grown up so much in the last year and a half. 

"Who said anything about cockneys?" Esme asked in a shushed tone. Tommy heard her, however, as she sat on the stair case. I think everyone heard her though. 

"Do you know who did it, do you?" Polly asked Esme, she was being fairly intimidating. 

"No, she doesn't know who did it." John answered for her just as Tommy walked into the room where we were all stood. 

"I'm told only family are allowed to speak." Esme muttered in a snarky tone. If I got to talk then anyone got to talk really. I was an ex-agent to the crown after all. I was so glad to be done with it all, but then I have probably just plummeted myself into a world of more violence and crime but I am on the same side with the person that I love. 

Oh god! I did not mean love per say, I mean I guess I could love Tommy as the father of my child but maybe not considering all the bad things he has done. But i have done bad things too and maybe that causes a bit of confli- okay just do not hold it against me. 

"Everyone's allowed to speak. On your feet, Esme, let's hear what you have to say." Tommy instructed  and Esme got a bit of a fright. But before Esme could do so, John stood tall and proud. Like a so-called 'man'. 

"I speak for our household." John stated and I burst out laughing. Why does a man have to be the leader of it all? 

"John, this company is a modern enterprise and believes in equal rights for women." Tommy replied, I did not know if he believed that or not, however. 

"You better." I warned, not looking at Tommy. Truth was his looks and eyes were bringing back all the happy memories with him. The last thing I wanted was to fall in one with him all over again because I wanted to concentrate on Roma and only Roma. Maybe finding my birth mother but definitely Roma. She also needed a dad and I needed work, that was the only reason we were here in Small Heath. 

"On your feet, Esme." Tommy instructed and Esme did just that. This girl had guts and I was loving it so much. 

"I'm not a blood member of this family but perhaps, indeed, because I'm NOT a member I can see things in a different light. So I'll get to my point." Esme started off saying before she was rudely interrupted by the obnoxious Tommy.

"That would be nice." Tommy muttered and my head snapped towards him, my perfect brown curls following after me. 

"Let her speak." I snapped at Tommy before I turned to Esme. 

"As my husband said, Shelby Company Limited is now very successful. But London I have kin in Shepherd's Bush and Portobello. It's more like wars between armies down there. And the coppers fight side-by-side with them. And there are foreigners of every description and the use of bombs is the least of it. I have a child, blessed with the Shelby family good looks. I want John to see him grow up." Esme explained and I agreed with every word she said, I wanted them all to be safe. John tried to stay proud but he wanted his children to grow up as well. He probably wanted more with Esme and I wished that of them. "I want us to someday live somewhere with fresh air and trees and keep chickens or something. But London is just smoke and trouble, Thomas." Esme continued and I nodded my head in agreement.

""Thomas"?" Tommy repeated with a raised an eyebrow. 

"That's all I have to say." Esme added and before anyone else could do anything I jumped on that ship and continued to speak. 

"God, I can agree. I want Roma and I to have a calm life and now that I am back." I started off saying. I deliberately left Tommy out of it because right now he did not have a place in our lives. He was just Roma's dad. "I want her dad to see her grow up, honestly. Make up for long time." I added to make Tommy feel like he was included in it all because he was. "And, I want to live on a farm and write stories with my family of five but that might not happen." I explained, god knows who the father would be of that family. "I want you all to be safe, I do." I reassured as I looked at everyone individually. Polly was holding Roma, Polly had grown a liking to Roma. I thought it was just the sweetest thing. 

"That was a lot of words, a lot of words." Tommy whispered, what was he expecting us girls to stay quiet. No. We have an equal voice to any man of any race. 

"Thank you, Esme, Clara." Tommy said and both Esme and I nodded our heads back at him. "Firstly, the bang in the pub was nothing to do with London. Understood?" He asked us and we nodded our heads again, kind of like bobble heads. I think it was because Tommy was really intimidating. Obviously, I did not find him scary but other people would. "The bang is something I'm dealing with on my own. Secondly, we've nothing to fear from the proposed business expansion so long as we stick together. And after the first few weeks, nine tenths of what we do in London will be legal. The other tenth is in good hands." Tommy explained, he had a way with words. He could sell ice to an eskimo. "Isn't that right, Arthur?" He asked Arthur. 

"That's right." Arthur smirked proudly, that was something all of the Shelby brothers had- pride. 

"Now, some of you in this room have expressed their reservations. Fair enough. Any of you who want no part in the future of this company, walk out the door right now." Tommy explained and I just stayed quiet. I could not leave, this was my job. "Go raise your chickens." He continued in a snarky tone and I rolled my eyes. "For those of you with ambition the expansion process begins tomorrow." Tommy explained as the boss. Esme and I shared a glance before we walked into one of the back rooms.

"I have the address 'ere and be careful." Esme warned as she handed me a piece of paper. I could feel Tommy's eyes on me but I felt nothing. 

"Be careful, why be careful?" I asked Esme confused as I looked down the address. I knew where she lived and it was not that close. 

"They are nice to newcomers and you don't exactly look like them." Esme explained and she was right, not to sound too high up, but I did not look like them. I looked like my adoptive parents, the way I acted and spoke. 

"Is it safe to bring Roma?" I asked her, I was not going to bring my child into an unsafe environment . It just was not happening. 

"Give it a couple of visits before you take her along. I wouldn't ambush her. I hear she has a rowdy reputation." Esme explained and I smiled a little because I had the same. 

"Do I bring my gun?" I asked as I held up my gun, Esme shook her head straight away.

"You pull that thing out and you are in trouble." Esme answered and I nodded my head before I hid it in my boot. "Good luck." Esme smiled before she hugged me. 

"Thank you for everything." I smiled at her before I turned to face everyone. "I am going out for a bit, Polly are you okay with Roma?" I asked her as I picked up my purse. Polly was sitting on her chair cradling Roma.

"We will be fine." Polly smirked over at Tommy, I noticed. I kissed Roma on the head.

"Bye bye." I grinned at her before I walked up Tommy. "She will need a bottle in twenty minutes." I explained and he looked at me as if I was speaking french like the frogs. "Thomas, you are going to need to feed her." I stated bluntly as I took the baby bottle and formula out of my bag. It was a long thin bottle with a rubber red top at the top. 

"What do I do?" Tommy asked as I passed it all too him. He looked so out of place it was kind of amusing. 

"Hold Roma like this," I demonstrated as I put my hands into the cradles position. "Then fill the bottle with formula and give it too her." I continued and Polly walked up to us.

"You do what you have to do and I will help him." Polly replied smiling at me. I nodded my head before I said one last goodbye to Roma. 

I walked out feeling nervous and excited, I was going to meet my birth mother. But I could not help the lingering emotion of shakiness- this was the first time Tommy was going to be alone with Roma practically.