Arabella || Peaky Blinders [Michael Gray]

twenty four

Chapter Twenty Four
"His last little pet."

ONE YEAR LATER

"John Shelby, if you don't get your arse in gear then this knife is going straight up your–" Arabella's words came to a halt, eyes widening upon seeing Ada Shelby striding inside the kitchen with a bright smile. "Oh my god," Arabella breathed out in disbelief, grin forming on her lips. She dropped the knife on the kitchen counter with a loud clatter, immediately running over to fling her arms around Ada.

Ada chuckled lightly, wrapping her arms tightly around her in response. They hadn't seen each other since Arabella had been in prison, since Ada had been living in Boston, but they'd kept in close contact, and Arabella had missed her more than anything.

"How have you been?" Ada asked as they moved apart, checking over the younger girl. She looked a million times healthier and happier than Ada had seen her in a long time. Quitting the business and taking a well-earned break had done her the world of good.

"Really good," Arabella told her sincerely. "How's Karl? How's America?"

"Karl's doing well, he misses his Auntie Arabella though," Ada responded, causing a smile to tug at Arabella's lips.

Part of Arabella actually missed living in America from the short time she had spent there a few years ago, but after her experience in prison she decided she wanted to remain close to the people she loved, spend time with them before it was too late.

She'd stopped working for Tommy the moment he'd sold everybody out, but she officially handed in her resignation once she was back from prison. Michael had attempted to convince her otherwise, but she wouldn't listen. She moved back to Small Heath to live with Mallory, making up for the time they'd lost over the past few years. Often, she'd come to stay with John and Esme for a few days, or a week, helping them out with their ever expanding family. She would see Arthur whenever she could face seeing Linda, and would occasionally travel to see Polly, and Michael, whenever he was around – though that was rare.

Polly hadn't been doing too great since coming out of prison, and Arabella wanted to help out the most she could, thought Michael was determined he could handle it on his own. Arabella's decision to quit the business did put a strain on her relationship with Michael, and the two rarely saw each other since he was always so busy, but she was determined to fix that eventually.

The one person she hadn't seen, or made any contact with at all, was Tommy. He'd reached out to her in a few letters, but she'd thrown them away each time she received one, hoping he'd eventually get the message to stop trying to contact her. She didn't want anything to do with him ever again.

Arabella and Ada made their way to the living room with John, climbing over the shoes and toys that were strewn across the floor. John slumped down into his favourite armchair, picking up his lips his key glass. "I thought we'd lost you to the great white way of Broadway."

"No," Ada responded, straightening up one of the pictures on the mantelpiece, whilst Arabella took a seat on the couch. "Well, this beats Watery Lane, John."

"Does it?" He asked her dully. "Take a seat. Arabella will grab the kids." He shot a teasing grin over at the girl, who narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance.

"Remember what I said about that knife?" She warned. John chuckled as he held his hands up in defence, moving to get up to grab the kids himself.

"Oh, it's all right, I'm not stopping," Ada assured, turning around to face her brother. "I just want to drop those presents off for tomorrow. I don't want words on Christmas Eve."

"It's my house, you're welcome," John said, holding up a glass of whiskey for her.

She shook her head, declining both the drink and his offer. "It's ok, I'm staying with Polly."

"Yeah," John said, taking a sip of his drink. "She's in a bad way."

"I'll bring her to her senses," Ada replied.

"Michael's already tried that," John pointed out. "And Arabella."

Ada's eyes flickered towards Arabella, who nodded her head in confirmation. "I'll get through to her," Ada bargained.

"You still going to come to the party on New Year's Eve?" John asked, changing the subject, to one Arabella was very excited about. She'd gone shopping with Mallory only last week to buy expensive new dresses for the event.

"Yeah," Ada told him. "Who else is coming?"

"Arthur, Linda," John began to list, only to be interrupted by his wife.

"Hello, Esme," Ada acknowledged with a tight smile.

Arabella turned around, watching as Esme slowly approached the three of them. "Who paid for your car and driver, Ada?" She asked, a bitter tone to her voice, despite Ada's attempt to be civil.

"Shelby Company Limited," Ada answered with a sigh.

"Nice car," she said. "He treats you well. His last little pet."

"Look, this visit is meant to be about making things all right," Ada stated.

"John and Arabella had ropes around their necks," Esme reminded her, storming forwards. Arabella swallowed thickly, glancing down, not wanting to be reminded of that experience. "John shit himself. Arabella still has nightmares–"

"All right," John spoke up loudly, embarrassed himself, but also noticing the look that was dawning on Arabella's face. He knew how much she struggled to cope with what happened, and he'd seen it firsthand with the nightmares she would get, often sitting with her for a while, sometimes talking, to calm her down. "Esme, that'll do, yeah? Go in the kitchen."

"Take a curse back to the money," Esme snapped harshly before storming away back into the kitchen.

Arabella and John both sat silently, as Ada raised an eyebrow at both of them, disapproving of Esme's outburst, though Arabella couldn't quite care less. Esme was right about everything, other than taking it all out in Ada. "Anyway, there's your presents," Ada said, indicating to the bag she'd placed on the floor by her feet. "How's Arthur?"

John scoffed at her question, picking up his glass again. "For Christmas, get him a sewing kit, so he can sew his fucking balls back on."

"Lovely."

A/N

Another short chapter again, sorry. I have one week of uni left and then I finally have time off over Christmas to write!!

Michael returns next chapter and then...well, we don't talk about what happened to John.

I finally found time to make a trailer for part one of this story, attached below.

https://youtu.be/qYKjKmAuljg