rose and thorn

xviii.

xviii.
1st June 1922
~

The expression painted on Ada's face when she answered the door was nothing short of smug.

"Hello, Rose." She smirked.

"Hello Ada." Rose rolled her eyes as the woman moved from the door to let her in.

"My brother dropped by earlier." Ada continued her teasing as the women made their way to the drawing room.

"Is that so?" Rose acted the innocent, removing her hat as she sat on the sofa.

"He was looking very pleased with himself."

"As he should. As far as I understand, yesterday was a great victory for the company."

"Oh, drop the shit, Rose." The pair made eye contact from across the sofa, Ada trying her best to seem annoyed.

"So he told you?"

"Didn't have to." Ada scoffed. "He was practically doing cartwheels."

Rose's hair fell in her face as she looked down in an attempt to hide her blushing cheeks.

"He also mentioned the party he's throwing for you."

"Throwing for me?" Rose's head snapped up again, looking over in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"He announced a party the morning after spending the night with you." She spoke sternly with a raised eyebrow. "A party where you will meet the family."

"Shit. It's going to be a disaster, they're going to hate me." Rose began to panic as her mind raced over everything that could go wrong.

"Rose, they'll love you." Ada's smile faltered slightly, remembering the true nature of her family. "Don't worry, I'll train you in the car."

Ada wouldn't admit that she too was now rather nervous at Rose meeting the family. She hid the trepidation with a smile but knew it would take a miracle for this party to go off without a hitch.

~
9th June 1922
~

Ada kept to her word and spent most of the three hour drive educating Rose on the ins and outs of her family tree. Some of it was hard to believe, other parts down right impossible.

Nevertheless, Rose made a mental note of it all, going over the major points in her head.

Arthur's the oldest, then Tommy, then John, then Ada, then Finn. Polly is their aunt, Michael is her son. She didn't bother trying to remember the names of all John's kids but his wife was called Esme and she-

"Stop worrying." Ada disrupted her thoughts, noticing the concentration in Rose's eyes.

"I just want to make a good first impression." Her knee bounced up and down as she twiddled her thumbs. She was so used to meeting royals and socialites but had no idea how to act around 'normal' people (if you could call the Shelbys that).

"And I'm sure you will, just relax and be yourself."

Taking a deep breath, Rose's eyes cast out of the window. The swathes of green that painted the countryside had slowly dissipated, being replaced by the thick, black smog and darkness of Birmingham.

It was unlike any other place Rose had been, even London. It was certainly a far cry from where she had been brought up, something which deepened her curiosity of the family she was becoming involved in.

The car ground to a halt outside a row of houses which all looked the same. Eyes from each corner of the street looked on in intrigue at the mysterious woman leaving the car with Ada.

Without giving Rose time to prepare, Ada burst through the front door of one house with Karl in her arms.

Excited greetings could be heard from where Rose stood just outside the doorway.

"Oh, Ada love, it's so good to have you back." Rose recognised the voice as Polly's who she had already met briefly.

Without meaning to, she found herself getting distracted by the goings on of the street. Children played with stones and lumps of coal as workmen passed in dirtied overalls.

What was a usual sight for so many was fascinating to the young woman who had grown up in such secluded luxury.

"Rose, love." Her head snapped back to the open doorway as she heard Polly call her name. "It's nice to see you again." The woman smiled at her, urging her to enter the house.

"You too, thank you so much for having me."

"It's a pleasure, love." Stepping into the house, Rose was led through a hallway to a quaint, cosy room with a round dining table and a fireplace.

Two young men stood by the fire as well as Ada and Karl who sat at the table.

"So this is my son, Michael." Polly introduced, pointing to the older of the two boys, the one who was smiling. "And this is Finn, the baby brother."

"Aunt Pol." Finn looked annoyed at his aunt, likely for calling him the baby. He had been trying so desperately to look tough when Rose walked in.

"Nice to meet you both." Rose chuckled slightly.

She threw an innocent wink in the direction of Michael, who hadn't stopped looking at her. Colour rose in his cheeks as he quickly turned away. Luckily for him, no one else had noticed the exchange.

"Take a seat Rose, I'll make some tea." Polly rushed around, acting the perfect host to her guests.

"Thank you." She kept her words brief, still extremely nervous of what the family would think of her.

"You'll meet the rest of the boys tonight, we thought it best not to overwhelm you. They're probably off checking there's enough whiskey or something." Polly joked.

There was a stark contrast between how nervous Polly had looked when the two had first met versus now. The business must've been bad.

"I heard there's been trouble with the Italians in Nechells, that's probably where they are." Finn said, sparking Rose's curiosity once again.

"No." Polly's smile momentarily dropped as she looked to her nephew. Rose could tell from the look that there were things she wasn't to know. "There will be no talk of trouble today. Today is a day for celebrating." She looked over to Rose as the smile returned to her face once again.

For the hundredth time since first meeting the Shelbys, Rose thought 'what on earth have I got myself in for?'