Dottie crawls in to the large bed beside Isiah. Her hair is damp, and her clothes are falling off her body. Her face is free of any makeup.
"Mum shot Linda," Dottie says quietly, knowing the walls aren't soundproof.
Isiah himself, sitting against the mountain of pillows.
"They used Tommy's knife to get the bullet out," Dottie adds, curling up on her side to face Isiah. She looks up at him.
"And it brought back memories?" Isiah asks, slumping down further in to mattress. "Want to talk about it, Dots?"
"Tommy poured opium in Linda's drink. Made her drink it, well more than half... just made me think of Reggie. He would force me—" she bites her lips, her eyes closing.
Isiah leans down, draping his arm over Dottie.
"I thought I was over it all." Dottie reveals, her voice wavering as her chest heaves up and down.
Isiah sighs, pulling her towards his body so her head lays against his beating chest.
"Can you hear that, Dots?"
"Your heart?"
"My heart," Isiah confirms. "As long as I've got one, I'll still think of memories. Whether they're good or bad. I always will, whether I've gotten over it or not."
Dottie listens carefully.
"My mum use to say to me when I was younger that you're never truly over something. You can be healed, and moved on, but every now and then your mind will go back to it."
Dottie doesn't respond.
"She use to the memories we have, they live with us. They pop up every now and then to remind us how far we've come. They come to mind every so often to tell us to keep going."
Dottie nods, lifting her head up, "do you miss her? Your mum? You never talk about her."
Isiah now nods, "every day I miss her. Dad misses her too. They were childhood sweethearts, you know? When he first came over from Jamaica, everyone made fun of his accent, apart from my mum... they were together from fourteen, up until my mum died."
Dottie nods, cuddling in to Isiah's side.
"Florence looks like my mum an awful lot," Isiah reveals, "she's got the same smile and the same eyes."
Dottie hums, "yeah?"
"Yeah. You know that's why I wanted her name to be Florence. My mums name deserves to be lived on."
Dottie leans on her elbows, pushing her head up, "it's a good thing I liked the name," she says with a small smile on her face.
Isiah grins, pushing his face towards her. He takes hold of her lips, kissing her softly. However, when the door bashes open, he jumps, pulling away like a naughty teenager.
"I'm so sorry, Dottie!" Tommy's maid Mary cries as Eliza and Florence bounce in to the room.
Both girls jump on the bed, with Florence needing a little help from Isiah. They crawl in between Dottie and Isiah, cuddling in to their parents.
"It's fine, Mary," Dottie says, dismissing the woman. "Thank you for tonight."
"Of course," Mary responds, nodding her head slightly before closing the door.
Dottie falls against the pillow, pulling Eliza in to her chest as Isiah wraps his arm around Florence.
"What are you doing here, hmm?" Dottie asks sleepily, her eyes half shut.
"Flo didn't want to sleep without you," Eliza reveals causing Florence to shriek.
"Oi," Isiah says, "stop that. If you want to sleep in here, you gotta be good, Flo."
Florence looks at him as she rolls on to her side. "Mama?" She asks, staring at Eliza as Dottie reaches her hand out to take hold of Florence's.
"Yes baby?"
"Is Uncle Micheal living with us?" She asks hesitantly, "and Aunt Gina."
"She's not your aunt," Isiah hums.
"No baby," Dottie answers, "not anymore, alright? Now can we get some sleep, eh?"
Florence shuts her eyes for a moment before she opens them again. "Daddy?"
"Yes, baby?" Isiah sleepily asks.
"Will you live with us again, daddy?" Florence asks, sitting up as if she's a meerkat.
Isiah chuckles, "lay back down and I will," he says, watching as Florence then flops down.
Eliza looks down at Dottie's hand, noticing the newest ring. She picks up Dottie's hand, and twists the ring as Florence crawls on to Isiah's chest, her ear to his heart, listening to his every breath. Isiah groans, moving slightly on to his back to get comfortable for the evening.
"Congratulations, Mama," Eliza says quietly, "congratulations daddy."
—
Dottie finds herself sitting against one of Tommy's steal chairs on the patio, watching as the sun dances in the sky. In the distance, she can see Johnny's Dogs' trailers, parked far enough from Tommy's house to have their freedom but close enough for Tommy's safety.
The early morning breeze causes goosebumps to line Dottie's skin. She shivers as she watches in the abyss, knowing her girls or Isiah will stay fast asleep until later on in the morning.
"Here."
A voice pulls Dottie out of her head. She looks around her shoulder, seeing Micheal extend his arm towards her, offering her a mug.
She accepts it with a small smile, "thank you," she says, nodding her head as he takes a seat beside her. "Enjoy the ballet last night?"
Micheal hums, "it was definitely... interesting. Couldn't really understand it."
Dottie huffs out a chuckle, "do you remember that performance Mam took us to in the village? The one done by the local school? You didn't understand that either."
Micheal nods, a small smile working its way up to his lips. "You left half way through."
Shrugging her shoulders, Dottie replies, "I was bored." She lifts the mug up to her lips, taking a sip of the steaming tea.
"Why do you still call Rosemary Mam?" Micheal suddenly asks, his eyebrows pulled together slightly.
Dottie hesitates. She looks out to Tommy's land, trying to find her words. She swallows her mouthful, and looks back at Micheal.
"She's still our Mam. Alright, she wasn't the best, but she looked after us, loved us, protected us."
"But she's not our mum, Dots."
"She went through the same thing as Mum," Dottie says in a quiet voice, "Mum... Polly that is, she had her three kids taken off of her and two were placed with Rosemary. Rosemary brought up those two kids, and yet when they were off age they left, to go back to their real mum. She was our mam for most of our lives, and yet we abandoned her."
Micheal hums. "I think having kids is making you soft, Thea. You've never liked her."
Dottie shrugs, "Rosemary isn't too bad, just we didn't get along when I was younger. She wanted a daughter, and I wanted my mum. It was only me who lucked out, I guess."
"Do the girls call her gran?"
Dottie nods, "Eliza's always called her granny, hasn't she? She was estate to see Mam again, and Florence copied her. Took Flo a little bit of time to get used to her rules though."
Micheal chuckles, "she still loves her rules?"
Nodding her head, Dottie confirms. "She still loves her rules."
Micheal and Dottie share a look, a look that makes everything seem alright, even after their drift.
"Can I tell you something, Thea?" Micheal asks, proceeding when Dottie nods, "I've been doing some thinking, and you can't tell a soul about this, but I'm going to propose at the next family meeting that Tommy steps down."
Dottie purses her lips.
"I know what you're thinking, but he's being this good labour politician, then he needs to wipe his hands clean. Besides, the Americans, they don't want to deal with him. They want to deal with someone sophisticated and knows people."
"You?"
Micheal nods. "I know what you'll say."
"Tommy will kill you," Dottie replies, tilting her head slightly. "I don't think this is a good idea, Micheal. I really don't."
Micheal stares at Dottie for a second before he looks back at the acres of land.
"You're not mad at me, are you?" Dottie suddenly asks, her voice softening. "About the whole Gina thing?"
Shaking his head, Micheal replies as he looks at her, "no. I had a word with Gina, told her to stop parenting the girls when she's around them. She's annoyed, but I'm not. I understand. After all, you let us stay with you. You didn't have to do that, Thea."
Dottie gives him a small smile in return, "you should know I'll always have you, as long as the girls are—"
Dottie steps speaking when her eyes fall on Oswald Mosley, who's calmly stepped out of Tommy's manor and now looks out to the acres of land Tommy owns.
He smugly looks at Dottie and Micheal, stepping towards them.
"Ah. The Gray siblings? Tommy's cousins."
Dottie doesn't say anything, instead she looks at Micheal, who's clenched his jaw upon looking at Mosley.
"He's the cousin who lost Tommy all his money in America, and you're the cousin who killed a man unprovoked."
Dottie's chest tightens. It wasn't unprovoked, she wants to scream. She curls her fingertips in to the palm of her hand.
"It's amazing how alike you all are. Shelby's and Gray's. You all have the same glare, and it always seems to be at me." He smirks. A horrible snarky smirk winding on to his lips.
He runs his eyes up and down Dottie's frame.
"I must say, Dorothea, you look completely ravishing in the morning sun. Won't you agree, Henry?"
Dottie's chest tightens as his eyes darken. She clears her throat, picking up her mug and downing the rest of the tea in one mouthful. She then dusts her lap, and stands up.
"Micheal, Sir Mosley, have a good day." She says before rushing away, refusing to look behind her as she darts in to the house.
Tommy is the first person she comes across. His eyes travel over Dottie's reddening face. He frowns, holding her cheeks as she breathes out.
"Dots, what's wrong? Eh? Isiah do something?"
"It's Mosley. I know him from when we lived in Kent, Tommy."