CHAPTER THREE: The Wedding
A WEEK HAD PASSED.
Tabitha was still processing that her father was going to marry her off to the head of the Peaky Blinders. Though, her time down at the stables with Thomas was kind of fun, and thought it was kind that he'd have Apollo moved to the Shelby stable in Small Heath so she saw Apollo everyday. All she knew about Thomas, a part from the dangerous business he ran, was his love for horses. It was the same love she had for them, the main thing the two had in common.
Tabitha showed Thomas the rest of the family horses, and she was right. None of them were as beautiful and strong as her beloved Apollo. Thomas still loved all of them, checking their mane and strength. All the horses seemed to like him, even Artemis, the smokey black horse that belonged to Theo, who didn't like new people, enjoyed Thomas running his hands through her mane.
The more Tabitha thought about the wedding the last couple days, she never thought about getting married even before the war. She was twenty then, and thought she'd spend the rest of her life taking care of and train horses. Tabitha knew her father couldn't continue the feud with the Peaky Blinders due to his already bad health, he wasn't able to go through another war. She wasn't going to marry Thomas to stop a war, but she was going to marry him for the health of her father.
The morning of the wedding was hectic for Tabitha, being awoken by her mother and some of the maids pulling her out of bed and into a warm bath. Grandma Irina, Finneas' mother was there to help, giving Tabitha tips on how to please a husband in a bedroom that were too detailed for her and her younger sisters. Penelope and Charity were already in their bridesmaid dresses that they bought the day before, since there was only one full day to plan the wedding. Kezia and Tabitha had got the cheapest and most beautiful dress she found at the local dress shop, the shoes included.
The wedding was taking place in the Hearn family garden, where there was enough room for the ceremony and a reception. Everything was set up by her mother, grandmother, and her uncles and cousins. Uncle Paul was the officiant because he was technically an ordained minister, and married off his own sons.
Tabitha slipped into her dress as they finished up decorating outside, and then she sat down in front of her vanity dresser. She looked in the mirror, looking at her reflection as her mother walked into her bedroom. Kezia stood behind her daughter with a flower crown made of white lilies with a white ribbon down the back, and she wore a forced smile on her face.
"Here we go, the finishing touch," Kezia said, placing the flower crown on her daughter's head.
Tabitha frowned, making Kezia sigh and sit down on the bench beside her. She wrapped her arms around Tabitha's shoulders, giving a soft sigh.
"Your father and I never wanted things to happen this way," Kezia started. "This isn't how you're big day was supposed go."
"I just don't understand why father won't fight for me," Tabitha said.
"Because he knows he can't win this time." Kezia looked down at her daughter with a frown. "We have a strong dynasty, but we are nothing compared to the Lees or the Shelbys. You are our only hope to make peace, as much as it pains your father and I both to give you away."
Tabitha mumbled, "not as much as it pains me."
"You know, you and Theo were conceived the night of your father and I's wedding," Kezia said. "And on that same night, my mother told me not to bother coming back home. But I want you to know, no matter what, you will always have a home to come back to."
A faint smile made it's way to Tabitha's lips. "Thank you, mama."
Tabitha and Kezia embraced each other in a tight hug, staying that way for another minute or so. A slight knock was on Tabitha's bedroom door, making Tabitha and Kezia's heads whipped to the door.
"Who is it?" Tabitha asked, speaking up as her and her mother pulled away.
"Your dear, suffering papa," Finneas said in the other side of the door. "I've come to give the bride away."
Kezia kisses her daughter's forehead, and then got up to open the door. Finneas was there, dressed in a nice, tweed suit for the occasion. His wife kissed his cheek before she left him and their daughter alone. Tabitha stood up from her vanity dresser and faced her father in the white wedding dress she wore. Finneas faintly smiled at how beautiful his eldest daughter truly was, seeing that she looked just like Kezia at that age.
"Will I do, father?" Tabitha asked, a frown on her lips.
"You will do very well. You look beautiful, just like your mother on her wedding day," Finneas said, approaching his daughter. He rested his hands on Tabitha's arms, still faintly smiling. "Are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." A fake smile formed on her lips before Finneas pulled her in for a hug.
"I've never been more proud of you than I am of you right now," he said in a whisper. "You have brought honor to this family that will not be forgotten."
"I'm doing this for you. For Penelope, and Charity, and Ocean, for mother, but especially for you," she whispered back.
"Te iubesc, flica mea."
(I love you, my daughter)
"Te iubesc, tata."
(I love you, papa)
Finneas kissed Tabitha's forehead, and they walked out of her bedroom together. They walked out of the house and into the gardens, where her family and Thomas' were waiting in rows of chairs and an aisle down the middle. Thomas was at the front sitting on a cushion on his knees, faced away from the bride. The crowd of Hearns and Peaky Blinders gasped in awe at the sight of the beautiful bride.
A forced faint smile was on Tabitha's face, her arm linked around her father's as they walked down the aisle. They stopped at the front, and Finneas placed a tender kids on his daughter's forehead, and helped her up the steps. Tears were already strolling down Kezia's cheeks, and Finneas wrapped his arms around her for comfort.
Tabitha knelt down on the cushion on both knees, beside Thomas, the man she was betrothed to spend the rest of her life. He wore a nice blue coat, blue trousers, and a blue tie over a white button-up shirt. Thomas' eyes were unable to leave Tabitha, examine her from the flower crown on her head to the beautiful silk dress she was in. He kept his stoic expression while Tabitha kept her forced faint smile as they at each other for a couple more moments until they both looked at the officiant, who Tabitha's uncle Paul.
"Friends, family, allies," Uncle Paul spoke up. "We're here today to join in matrimony, this man, and this women...in harmony and to join two families together, to become one," he started, then turning to Thomas. "Do you, Thomas Michael Shelby, take Tabitha Florence Hearn, to be your lawful wedded wife, in sickness and in health, 'til death parts you both?"
"I do," Thomas answered without hesitation.
He then looked at Tabitha, who's faint smile dropped, because she realized that it was actually happening. She was getting married, to a man she barely knew, a dangerous man.
Uncle Paul then turned to Tabitha with a smile and spoke up again. "And do you, Tabitha Florence Hearn, take Thomas Michael Shelby, to be your lawful wedded husband, in sickness and in health, 'til death parts you both."
"I..." Tabitha paused, collecting her thoughts.
As much as She didn't want it to happen, she had to go through with it. For her uncles, her cousins, her siblings, her mother...and her father.
"I do," Tabitha finally answered.
"One more part remains in this ceremony," Uncle Paul continued, pulling out a small, ornate dagger. "It is the unification of two bloods. So the two families become one family."
Paul handed the ornate dagger to Thomas and Tabitha held out her palm to him. He gently brought the blade across her palm deep enough to draw blood, making her slightly since at the stinging pain in her hand. Thomas then handed the dagger to her and held out his palm, their eyes never leaving each other. Tabitha brought the blade gently across Thomas' palm, her eyes still on him as he didn't flinch or since at all from the pain. d
She gave Uncle Paul the dagger back and joined her cut plan with Thomas' palm, feeling the good mix together.
"I now pronounce you, man and wife," Uncle Paul announced. "Thomas, you may kiss your bride."
Tabitha froze, remembering that the bride and the groom were supposed to kiss. Her and Thomas looked at each other, her cheeks heating up shyly as he began to lean in. She closed her eyes and felt something soft touch her lips that made her kiss back immediately.
They both pulled away as the guests clapped and cheered from the kiss, mainly from John and Arthur Shelby telling and cheering for their brother loudly. Tabitha opened her eyes to Thomas' crystal blue ones, and for a moment it was they were the only things that existed.
Then the realization hit, she was married to Thomas Shelby, the wife of the Peaky Blinder Devil.