Passion Bearers

The Pregnancy

Her Aunt Maura, the one who delivered all the babies in the clan, realised it before Tess did.

Tess was walking through their encampment by the seaside of Wales when Aunt Maura grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her outside of the people's eyes. They stopped outside the haystacks, a usually deserted place, and wind blowed in their faces from the sea. But, it was not the sea breeze that gave her the goosebumps, it was her aunt's fiery glare.

" Who is the father?", she hissed at Tess, gripping her elbow, " For the love of God, tell me it's Randy Young".

Tess felt shock roll through her but she didn't let it show. She clenched her jaw and fists, bringing them to her sides.

It had been three months since the horse fair at Appleby and she had been on a crusade to eradicate all thought of Tommy Shelby from her mind. But, even still, when the slightest memory of that night came up into her mind, she felt a twinge of pain in her heart, even if she didn't acknowledge.

" I don't know what you're talking about", she replied tightly.

Her Aunt laughed at her expression, her eyes still as piercing as they were before.

" You've missed a few months, am I right? Keep throwing up in the morning. You are not stupid, Tess, you know the signs", her Aunt said as she regarded her, tightening her fingers on her, " Now what I need to know is who is the father, Tess?".

Tess didn't reply.

She knew she couldn't say Randy. That was not true. Her and Randy weren't even allowed to be in the same space without company. On top of that, she wouldn't want him touching her unless it was absolutely necessary.

But, she knew if she said that it was Tommy, her engagement would be broken and there would be a hunt for his blood by all six of her brothers. She knew that if they found him, they'd murder him. But, it was all her fault, not his.

" Tess", her Aunt pressed, " Tell me it's Randy. Tell me you didn't sleep with someone else. Because if you did, there would be a mighty war coming".

Tess closed her eyes but didn't say anything.

At that point, her Aunt rushed off to the encampment cursing in Romani, looking like a whirlwind of fury. When she left, Tess began to cry, falling on her back and clutching her face. She didn't want to cry. She wanted to stay strong and keep it all bottled but it all came pouring down on her. She couldn't hold it in.

Her aunt and mother found her crying on the floor, clutching her knees, and almost immediately, her mother dropped next to her and hugged her tightly.

" My sweet summer child", she whispered in Romani and then in English she said her, " Tell us who it is. Tell us and I promise I won't tell your brothers".

Tess considered it, looking at her mother pleadingly.

" Promise me", she breathed out.

" I promise", her mother answered.

Tess waited, swallowing, and taking a deep breath.

" It's Thomas Shelby", she finally said.

There was a moment of silence after she said that and her mother leaned back, closing her eyes and putting her hand them. Her aunt cursed in their tongue underneath her breath. Tess looked down, embarrassment pulsing through her. She sniffled, immediately wiping her tears off after that.

" Maura", her mother said to her aunt, "Tell Zachary that Laura is going to marry Randy Young. As for Tess, tell him to fetch the Shelbys. Looks like Tess is going to get married after all".

Tess remembered when she was just a little girl, her sister Dahlia had pushed her into an ice cold lake. Not being able to swim, Tess nearly drowned in the water. She still clearly remembered that moment, the moment she saw the sun from beneath the water and yet she couldn't reach. Water was filling up her lungs and she was falling into darkness.

It felt exactly like that when her mother said that and her aunt rushed away in an instant to follow her orders. She had barely even comprehended she would be having a child and now, they were giving her away into a marriage?

If Tommy would even be alive by the time of marriage. Zachary, her eldest brother, was cruel and ruthless. He wouldn't hesitate to gut Tommy for what he had done to Tess. She would have his blood on her hands.

She looked at her mother, rage filling her to the brim.

" You promised! You promised you wouldn't tell them!", Tess screamed in her mother's face,

"They're going to kill him! You know they're going to kill him!".

Her mother levelled her with a stare and for the hundredth time, Tess was appalled by how much more beautiful her mother was than her. She was beautiful in the way you would expect somebody from a legend to be be beautiful. She had that refined face and figure as if she was sculpted by a sculptor. Hair black like midnight, eyes bright like embers. When her father was alive, he used to tell Tess that he didn't have to think of writing poems about her mother. The poems wrote themselves.

But, it was her sisters and brothers who inherited all that beauty. Her mother always said Tess had her mother's wits and sense and her father's features. Indeed, Tess looked the most like their father out of the ten of them. She had his stubborn jaw, his brown wild locks and the same pale, freckled face. At the twilight of his years, when he had turned to drinking and cheating on her mother, Tess could barely look at herself without feeling hatred by thinking of him.

" Nobody is killing nobody, Tess. They will not kill him. Tommy is a smooth talker. He smooth talked you into sleeping with him then he can smooth talk his way out of your brother's murder plot, don't you worry about that", her mother hissed, brushing it off, "What I worry about is you and your child. Tommy Shelby will carry responsibility for what he had planted in you, dead or alive".

And just like her mother said, responsible he was. Because, just a few days later, it was none other than the Shelby family that she saw upon the hill over their encampment.