Love Is A Battlefield [2] (T. Shelby/OC) BWWM✅

Chapter 17 - The Birthday Party

Arrow House was abuzz with life and the laughter of children as children of all ages ran around happily, playing happily on the grounds as they did.

Today was Nancy's 2nd birthday and her parents wanted to make the day extra special for her.

Anna had suggested that rather than have just a party with only family and friends they must instead invite the children of Small Heath since Christmas was also in a few days and so here they are.

Peaky Blinders surrounded all of the vast property and walked around the property, acting as guards as children played games and pet some of the animals at the petting zoo.

Anna had decided to go all out, not just for Nancy but for all the kids who were in attendance. There was a petting zoo, a puppet show and even a few circus acts.

Polly had teased that Anna wasn't just hosting a birthday party for Nancy anymore but campaigning for the seat of Prime Minister too.

Anna had retorted that she simply didn't have the time so she'd instead leave that for Polly to do - much to Polly's amusement.

Anna was busy making the last minute preparations to the large tent that the party would be taking place in as Ada, Polly, Celeste, Mary, Linda and some of the wives of the Peaky Blinders helped her with that.

Anna told Esme to relax and not worry herself since she was pregnant so Esme was chatting with some of her Lee family members who had come to the party.

"Bloody 'ell Tom, you've got the whole of fookin' Small Heath here" Arthur says as he took a sip of his flask.

"This place is as crowded as the bloody fair" Finn says as he takes a drag of his cigarette as his eyes scanned the faces before them.

"Anna wanted to make it memorable" Tommy says as he took a drag out of his own cigarette.

"I bet she did" John says with a snicker, "she's got ya by the bloody balls don't she, Tommy?" he teases his brother as the Peaky Blinders burst into laughter at this.

"Don't ya worry, Tommy" Johnny Dogs says to him, "it happens to everyone when they've got a missus" he adds as Tommy's lips tilt into a faint smirk at this.

"Leave 'im alone" Charlie says with a snicker, "if there's anyone who ain't got no fookin' balls it's John" he adds as the men burst into even more laughter at this as John scowls at this.

"Fook off the lot'a ya" he says to them despite the small smirk that appears on his face. Anna makes her way out of the tent that she and the other women were working in as their eyes landed on her.

She stops one of the catering staff and says something to the man who nods immediately before rushing off as Anna's eyes landed on Tommy.

Her face breaks into a smile when she sees him standing with his brothers and his men.

"Here comes the missus, we should probably give 'em some privacy then, eh?" Arthur says loudly as Anna approached them.

"Missus? Whose missus, Arth? Yours?" she asks him with a snort as Arthur chuckles at this, giving her a kiss on the forehead as he does before the men step away in order to give Tommy and Anna some privacy. They greet her as they disperse as she offers them a smile in response.

Tommy had given up trying to understand the bond that Anna and Arthur had - he knows that they cared for each other like siblings so he wasn't jealous of them anymore but he had been quite jealous in the past when he'd seen them interacting.

Their closeness obviously stemmed from the fact that Anna had been something of a therapist for Arthur after they came back from the war. And Anna was one of the few people that could get through to Arthur when his inner demons got the better of him.