Avos'

𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

TOMMY SHELBY IS NOT A MAN WHO TYPICALLY RETHINKS HIS WORDS.

He is a man of action, a man of certainty, a man who doesn't dwell on what was said and not said. But now as he can't help but continuously glance at his rearview mirror to stare at the extra passenger, he's rethinking his words because he's not too sure what he's done.

He hadn't been lying when he said he needed a new nanny, since Nora- entering her later years- is unable to meet Charlie's educational and emotional needs. He runs around a lot, likes to play, is curious about everything, and Nora can't keep up. However, that's not the only reason he had been looking for someone new. Charlie, for a lack of better words, is missing a certain amount of attention and affection. When Tommy had spotted Theodora, it became glaringly clear.

He had seen her talking to Charlie from a distance and the tender tone and genuine care she had for him couldn't be ignored. In the two years since Grace died, Tommy's tried his hardest to give his son everything he needs, but it doesn't come easy to him. He never had a father to care for him, play with him, love him deeply and fully. Now, he gives his son everything he needs- a good life with comfort and security- but the rest is difficult.

It also doesn't help that his decision had been swayed by just how entirely prepossessing Theodora is.

For such a young-looking girl, there is something violent about Theodora. Her jaw is sharp, her cheekbones are high, and her nose is small and straight. There is a certain strength to her features- not delicate or soft or precious- but demanding. And if all that alone isn't enough, she has the single most unique eyes he's ever seen. Wide, large, and grey. He thinks that he might have even spotted little flecks of violet in them, but she'd looked away before he could confirm it.

And the way she spoke to him had been exciting. He hadn't intentionally tried to provoke her by constantly interrupting her but had done it because her voice is beautiful. It's like a melody, British for sure, but with an unusual drawl to it, a tinge of something exotic that he can't place.

Instead of not sticking to his strict composure and using the hard-earned composure that's taken him thirty-six years and one war to achieve, he hired her.

Fuck.

"Is Theodora going to be living with us?"

Tommy tears his eyes away from the mirror and stares down at Charlie who's playing with his cufflinks and sporting a smile of anticipation. "It's Miss. Theodora to you, Charlie. And yes, she will be."

"She's pretty," Charlie says, not bothering to lower his voice as he lifts his entire body to look at her over his seat. Tommy can see the faint blush on Theodora's cheeks but, besides that, she doesn't react.

Neither does he.

When they pull into their driveway, he feels the usual swell of pride at the life he's built. Coming from his roots, clawing and digging through dirt and shite, he's made a name for himself. This lavish estate is everything compared to the moldy cramped home he's shared with seven people growing up. He glances back at Theodora to see her reaction, and it surprises him that she's nowhere near impressed with the sight. His house is nice, grander than anything in Small Heath, and if her clothes are anything to go by, she's lived by modest- even impoverished- means.

He stores this little detail in the back of his mind as he stops the car right by the front door, across from the fountain he commissioned just a few weeks ago. He and Charlie are out first, and he makes his way to the back door to help her out. He outstretches his hand and, for a second, she simply stares at it. It isn't until he clears his throat that she smiles weakly at him and takes his hand, dragging around her one piece of luggage with her other. He guides her out of the car but she doesn't look at him, choosing to analyze their surroundings instead.