Lilian let out a shaky breath as she realized what the little boy had just said. She took a moment to look at Finn before looking up to Polly; she couldn't believe that the boy had come up with the idea on his own. Her brows raised slightly, and the older woman nodded in a silent answer. Lilian bit her lip to keep it from quivering as she lowered to her knees in front of the boy. She took his face in her hands.
"Do you like her name, Mom?" he asked shyly, his nerves evident in his expression.
"I love it, little man. It's perfect." A tear slipped from one of her eyes. Before she could wipe it away, however, Finn did it for her. Lilian knew she wouldn't be able to hold herself together much longer. "Thank you, Finn. Why don't you go see if Charlie needs any help with the other horses while I talk to your aunt."
"Okay!" the boy exclaimed. He dashed out of the stable and toward the man with his usual excitement before Lilian could even get up off the floor. Once she had, she made her way over to Polly and pulled the brunette into the private office Thomas had set up earlier in the year. She shut the door and slouched against it, allowing more tears to fall.
"Oh, baby," Polly whispered. She gathered her girlfriend in her arms and held her as she dissolved into a mess of tears. Lilian was trying her best to suppress all of her emotions, and Polly could tell. "Let it out, Lilian. You don't need to fight it."
After hearing that, the young woman truly couldn't wrestle with the tidal waves of intensity any longer. She collapsed against Polly's chest and sobbed, her breaths sharp and scattered. Lilian gripped the fabric of the woman's dress in her fist. Her hold on the cloth clinging to Polly's body was strong, almost as if the brunette was afraid her girlfriend would fade away if she released her from her clutches. Lilian brought herself as close to Polly as she could manage with how violently she was trembling.
The older woman hated seeing Lilian this way, but she knew it was best for her to let her emotions out. She gently put her hands on the brunette's waist and walked her over to the chair behind the desk. Polly sat down first and then pulled Lilian into her lap. She guided the sobbing woman's head to her shoulder and stroked her hair with one hand while rubbing her back with the other.
"I know, little love. It hurts, doesn't it?" She felt Lilian nod against her, continuing to cry. "I'm sorry. I can't promise you it will get better soon, but I can promise you that I will be here through it all. I'm not going anywhere. I love you, Lilian," Polly said. A tiny smile lifted the corners of her mouth when she noticed Lilian's breathing begin to slow and her cries coming to an end. She lifted the young woman's head from the crook of her neck; Polly wiped away the remnants of Lilian's tears and kissed her forehead. Lilian repeated the action before bringing their foreheads together.
"I don't deserve someone as amazing as you, Polly," she muttered as her eyes slid shut. Polly frowned.
"Don't you dare say that, Lilian Marie. You deserve more than you will ever accept, more than I can ever give you. You are all I could ever dream of, and I don't know how I got so lucky as to call you mine. Now, let's try this again. I love you, Lil." The woman in her lap giggled quietly before pressing a kiss to her lips.
"I love you too, Pol," she whispered, pecking her lips a few more times before drawing away again. She bit her lip as she smiled. The older woman groaned and rolled her eyes playfully.
"Stop that, little one. You know it drives me crazy," Polly sighed, biting her own lip as she used her thumb to gently release Lilian's bottom one.
She then did something Lilian wasn't expecting. She leaned forward and kissed the brunette, but instead of moving back like normal, she took Lilian's lip between her own teeth and tugged on it lightly. Polly let it go and pulled away, chuckling at the shock lacing her girlfriend's features.
"Cat got your tongue?" she teased. The question made Lilian's cheeks go a bright red, and she buried her now flushed face in the crook of Polly's neck.
"That was so mean, Polly." The brunette laughed causing the young woman to cross her arms and pout. The former rolled her eyes and made the latter lean back so they could look one another in the eye. Polly gently tapped the tip of her girlfriend's nose, and Lilian had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.
"Enough whining, little love. We should go get Finn and head back before the boys get home and send out a search party," the older woman stated after running her fingers through Lilian's hair a few times.
"Okay," the woman whispered, slipping out of Polly's grip. She held her hands out to the matriarch and helped her out of the chair; she tugged a little harder than necessary, however, causing Polly to stumble just a bit. Lilian took the opportunity to steady her and steal a kiss while her girlfriend was still caught off guard. Polly shot her a playful glare once they pulled apart.
"You are so goddamn lucky that you're cute." Lilian giggled and kissed her cheek, eliciting another playful huff from Polly. The latter slung her arm low around the young woman's waist and patted her hip. "Let's go, Mama."
The pair exited the office together in search of the boy and returned home in much the same fashion they had arrived: hand in hand and glowing with joy.
~~~~~ Roughly One Year Later ~~~~~
"Thomas, please," Polly pleaded. "I need you to do this for me. If I walk in there asking for a ring, you know what they're going to do? They're going to call the coppers and ship me off in no time, Peaky fucking Blinder or not. Please."
"Polly, I-"
"I will get on my fucking knees and beg if I have to, Thomas. You know how much she m-"
"Polly!" a now frustrated Thomas yelled. The devilish smirk he once wore because of their conversation had flipped into a scowl, his eyes rolling impatiently.
The woman's gaze snapped up to his as she planted her hands on her hips.
"If you would have let me finish what I was saying, you would know that I would gladly go in and get the ring for you. All I needed to know was which one you wanted. I know how important this is for you, so I want to get it right."
"Oh, right, um- it's in the front window, in the middle of the display. That's the one she used to look at when she thought I was busy looking at everything else," Polly chuckled, wringing her hands nervously. The man gave her a quick smile, reached across the table, and squeezed her hands to stop her fidgeting.
"I got it, Pol. You need anything else?" he asked. His eyebrows raised slightly when she hesitated. Then she shook her head.
"No, no. I got the rest. Thank you, Thomas. Really." Her bottom lip quivered just the tiniest bit. Instead of letting it show, she lit up a cigarette and took a long drag. Thomas waved her off and got up.
"Everything's going to be just fine, Polly," Tommy assured. After throwing back the rest of his drink, he grabbed his jacket, threw it over his shoulder, and left swiftly.
Not long after the Shelby man left, Lilian appeared.
"Hi, my love," she chirped as she shut the parlor doors behind her.
"Hi, Mama," the matriarch replied. Lilian smiled at her before turning her attention to the makeshift bar in the corner.
Polly couldn't help but admire Lilian as she watched her from across the room. She noticed the way the young woman's hands twitched with energy as she rummaged through the drinks and glasses looking for her favorite liquor. She adored how her chestnut curls were beginning to slip from the pins she had watched her place that morning because of all the running around Lilian had done with the boys from the neighborhood. Polly watched as her girlfriend's face lit up when she found the bottle she'd been looking for and uncapped it. She followed her hands as she set the bottle aside and grabbed a few cubes of ice from the nearby bucket, dropping them in the glass before wrapping her delicate fingers around the neck of the bottle once more. She watched as the golden brown liquid flowed into the glass, swishing around the ice and stopping about halfway up its crystal walls. Polly adored the way Lilian's nosed scrunched after taking a sip from the glass; she chuckled quietly at the realization that her girlfriend still had not gotten used to the strength of the new liquor kept in the parlor. She continued to watch adoringly as the brunette spun her heel, a bright smile lighting up the room, and made her way toward the seated woman.
Lilian took another sip from her glass before setting it on the table and taking the chair across from Polly. She took her cigarette case from her top, lit one, and blew the smoke away from the brunette before the silence was broken.
"Come here," Polly instructed gently. The young woman obliged immediately, getting up from her seat and walking around the table to stand in front of her girlfriend. Polly grabbed her hand and pulled her into her lap. She kissed her tenderly.
"Are you alright, Pol?"
"I'm just fine," she whispered, her reply being sealed with yet another kiss. This one, though, was even softer, more loving, than the last. When the women pulled apart, they each had a dazed smile on their lips.
"I could feel you staring at me earlier. Why?" Lilian asked quietly, not wanting to ruin the gentle moment for either of them. Polly shrugged.
"I was just... noticing the little things." Lilian couldn't help the tiny giggle that slipped from her. She took Polly's cigarette from between her fingers and put it out in the ashtray, hushing her complaints sooner than they could fall from her lips. The brunette then took the older woman's hands in her own and began playing with the rings scattered amongst her fingers.
"Like what?"
"Like the way you play with my rings when you sit in my lap," Polly teased, earning a laugh and a playful slap on the arm from Lilian.
"I'm serious, Pol. I wanna know what you see." The young woman stuck her bottom lip out in a pout.
"So am I, Lil. That's one of the little things I love. I also love when you stick your tongue out just the littlest bit when you're trying to concentrate, or how you keep your knife strapped under your dress even though the boys have already told you you don't need one, that they'll protect you. I love that face you make when Finn does something you're proud of, like when he helped Mrs. Davis across the road. Not to mention when you bury your face in my neck when you get nervous or embarrassed. There are so many little things about you that I love, Lilian; too many to name them all," she explained, her expression practically glowing with the love that was seeping from her heart.
Lilian had teared up a bit as she listened to Polly speak, never having realized that someone could care enough about her to notice things like that. It was people like Polly that brought her hope for the future she had always wanted, one full of joy, family, and most of all, love.
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A/N: Hello, beautiful people! I'm so so so so so so so so sorry about the delay on this chapter. You all have been so patient with me, and I can't thank you enough for it. I'm finally well enough to continue writing, so I wanted to put this out there. IMPORTANT: I am super sad to inform you all that the next chapter will likely be the last of this story, but it has been an amazing journey with you all. I hope you enjoy this update <3
PS: I feel like Ho Hey by The Lumineers is the perfect song to represent their relationship. Let me know what you think :)