Out Of Time | A Shelby

twenty eight

Nancy jumped from her seat when Arthur walked through the door, his white shirt covered in blood but partially hidden by his blazer and coat.

"God." Nancy whispered to herself as she ran to him and embraced him, knowing exactly what had just happened.

She felt Arthur hug her back, squeezing her tightly and burying his head in her hair, closing his eyes and feeling the rage fade from his body as he smelled her perfume.

"It's alright now, Nance, you're safe."

She looked up at him with tearful eyes, letting them slowly fall down her cheeks. Nancy couldn't really contemplate what Arthur and his brothers had just gone and done. She found it hard to wrap her head around the fact that her ex-husband was dead, never to come back.

Of course, the idea of being freed from him forever, not having to sleep with one eye open from the fear of him breaking into her home and finally being able to lock away the box of memories of awful tortures that he'd put her through was an incredible weight off her shoulders, but he was Vincent's father.

A sorry excuse for a father, at best, but Nancy felt an awful guilt in the pit of her stomach for asking Arthur to kill her son's father, even if he had torn apart their family.

"Arthur is that you?"

Vincent came bounding down the stairs when he heard the front door open and close. He had no idea what his mother had sent Arthur to go and do, and neither of them planned on telling him until he was old enough to understand why they made such a heavy decision.

"Come here son."

Arthur opened his arms wide and scooped up the little boy, holding him tightly against his chest and kissing his cheeks.

"I thought you weren't coming back."

He looked at the child's face as he held him. The innocent smile and sad eyes broke Arthur's heart. He looked over at Nancy who was stood watching them.

"No," Arthur said, looking back at Vincent, "I was always coming back. And I'm never going away anywhere ever again, I promise."

Vincent grinned and wriggled down from Arthur's arms, landing on the floor with both feet and a small thud.

"Good," he began, "It's not the same without you here. Want to play football outside?"

"Sure, I'm the Blues you're the Villa."

"No way, I'm not being the Villa!"

Nancy smiled as Vinny grabbed hold of Arthur's hand and dragged him into the courtyard round the back of their house with a football tucked under his arm.

She took a moment to sit down and gather her thoughts, trying to steady her mind and calm herself, realising that her life was free to start properly now.

She couldn't help but wonder about how Henry died. He deserved every last bit of pain he endured, but even Nancy hoped the boys took mercy on him. Deep down, she knew that wouldn't have been the case at all.

Nancy felt her chest for the necklace, squeezing it in her palm. This was it now, it really was the three of them, together as a family.

It still hurt her to think about Arthur's decision and the way he'd handled it, but she knew in herself that Arthur Shelby was her soulmate. The way she felt when she was around him was like nothing she'd ever felt before, and knew she'd ever feel again. He made her happy, brought out the best in her, and made her feel confident in the way that she was, not making her feel like she had to change.

Arthur was made for her, and she was made for him. Nancy saw the man that Arthur really was, beneath the anger and the guns, underneath the cap and the blade, she saw him, and she loved him. She would always love him.

There was a knock at the door that made Nancy jump, but she soon settled when it slowly opened and Esme walked in with a sympathetic smile on her face and a bunch of sunflowers in her hand.

"Here," she said with a smile, "I know you like them."

"Thank you, Esme, that's very kind of you."

Nancy filled a vase with water for the flowers, looking out the kitchen window as she watched Arthur dive the wrong way when Vincent ran up and kicked the ball at the goal they'd drawn on the back wall with chalk.

"How are you?" Esme asked when Nancy sat down beside her.

Esme thought Nancy looked exhausted. Her eyes were dark and heavy and her skin was pale, her eyes looked dull and she looked as if she was about to drop any second.

"Tired," she replied, "I haven't been able to sleep since Arthur left."

Esme felt her heart sink as she watched Nancy glance out the back window at the boys again.

"He loves you," Esme said, taking hold of Nancy's frail hand, "I know it's hard to see past what he did, but he loves you. He will love you now the way you deserve to be loved, I know that."

"How can you be so sure?" Nancy sighed, her mind still wandering to dark places and uninviting futures she didn't want to visit.

"I've seen it," Esme leaned forward and gave her a knowing look, "So has Polly. Trust us, we know."

Before Nancy met Esme and Polly, she would never have believed a word a gypsy woman would've said to her. Though now, after living through one of Polly's readings, she had more than enough faith in what her friend was telling her.

"And I also know something else."

"What is it?"

Nancy's heart dropped when she followed Esme's eyes down to her stomach. Her friend placed her hand on her waist, smiling up at her.

"What? I- I can't be, I-"

"You are, Nancy. And it's a boy, we saw that, too."

Nancy felt as if she was going to faint. She had known the pending question had been hanging over her head for over a month after she was late, but she put it down to the stress, not wanting to accept what the real reason might've been.

"A boy?" Nancy whispered.

She immediately thought about Henry, trying to go back and think about when he'd forced himself upon her, praying that none of those dates lined up with her falling pregnant.

Esme noticed the horror sinking in on Nancy's face, knowing exactly what the cogs inside her brain were spinning in thought at. She smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back into the real world.

"It's a Shelby, Nance."

Nancy glanced out the window again, this time, feeling happy. She watched as Arthur lifted Vinny up onto his shoulders, holding onto his hands and waving them in the air as they laughed together. Arthur was already an incredible father to a child that didn't belong to him, and she had no doubt that he would be just as wonderful a father with his own son.

"You should tell him."

"Not yet," Nancy shook her head, "I need to do something first."