As they entered December it got colder. It was to be expected, seeing as most nights they lay under the stars in cramped base camps or squashed together in the trenches.

It had been two weeks since John had left for a different mission. Tommy was lucky he still had Arthur with him. It seemed the men higher up understood that Tommy could control his older brother better than they could. It's why they left him under his command as they shovelled their way through the underbelly of France.

"Oi." Tommy looked up at Arthur's husky voice. He thought he had a few minutes to himself while everyone got themselves settled for the night. "You got a letter."

Tommy felt himself smile as Arthur handed him the letter. His heart beat that little bit faster when he noticed it was written in Romy's hand. She'd finally written back to him.

Skimming through the letter, Tommy frowned, she called herself a bitch. Why was she always degrading herself like that? Tommy folded the letter up once he finished it and pulled out the photographs Romy had sent him.

There, lying in the middle of a large bed was a tiny baby that was sleeping with a smile on his face. Tommy believed it was a smile, his Aunt Pol would have told him it was wind.

As he looked down at baby Tom, Tommy felt his chest tightening. Why did he feel so proud looking down at the boy? He was perfect, not that Tommy would admit that to anyone.

In his mind, the baby looked a lot like Romy. They had the same shaped eyes and the same eyebrows. How different would he look when he got back from France? Would he still be a baby or would he be a grown man?

Tommy's smile grew as he looked at the other photo. He was sure it must have been one Ada snapped again, but he was surprised Romy had been the one to send it to him.

It was also slightly inappropriate which made him think Ada had slipped it in.

Romy was in the bath and she held Thomas in her arms. Ada had taken the photo at a low angle, not capturing any of Romy's body beside her arms and above her shoulders.

He couldn't believe that Ada thought this was a good idea.

"What you lookin' at?" Arthur asked, reaching over and taking the photo from Tommy. "Fockin' hell, Tom. You got a right sort there!"

"Arthur! Not so loud," Tommy snapped, snatching the photo from him before he could draw any more attention. Tommy pulled the other two photos from his breast pocket and slipped his newest ones under the old. Before he could slip them back away, a hand took the photo of Romy.

"What's this, Tommy?" If there was a moment in his life that Tommy hated his brother it would have been now. "Hey, Al, look at Tommy's girl!"

Rodger, the soldier that looked at the photo of 'Tommy's girl', flung the photo to Al and the group he was standing with.

"This your girl, Tommy?" Al asked, raising his eyes in surprise as he looked down at the beauty in the photo. The other soldiers hooted as Al passed around the photograph and Tommy hated the idea of them all looking at her.

As if sensing his brothers rising anger, Arthur rose and snatched the photo from their hands, before giving it back to Tommy.

"Alrigh' bugger off," Arthur saved walloping Rodger over the head as he muttered under his breath. Arthur shuffled over to Tommy, his head hung down in shame as he scratched at the hairs on his chin. "I'm sorry, Tommy."

"It's alright, Arthur," Tommy said, taking a cigarette and placing it between his lips. As he smoked, he looked down at the photographs of Romy and the baby.

"You ever wonder what it'll be like, Tom?" Tommy glanced up at Arthur wondering what he was talking about. There were only a few times Tommy had heard that tone in Arthur's voice and it was always related to women. "To have a girl like Romy to settle down with. To have children and be loved."

"Aye, I think about it." He thought about it a lot when he had Greta. Their children would have been good looking. In his mind, they took after her with her looks and were nothing like him. When she was taken from him, he'd lost that dream and never thought about it again.

Why would he want anyone after losing his Greta?

Tommy glanced back down at the picture of Romy and baby Tom in the bath and brushed his thumb over Romy. Could he picture himself having a family now?

To have it with Romy and Tom? It wasn't completely out of his mind and the more he wrote to her the more he contemplated it. Was he ready to commit himself to someone that already had a child? He knew Tom wasn't hers by birth, but he was her son.

Would she even want him?

He could feel himself changing as each day went on and he didn't like the man he was becoming. Would Romy like the man he was becoming? He wasn't the man that was in love with Greta and he didn't think he could ever be that man again.

Could he have a future after the war? A future with a wife and children? Could he have it with Romy?

"You alright, Tom?" Arthur asked, nudging his brother on the shoulder as he gazed off into the night.

"Just tired, Arthur."

The look on Polly's face was worth it. Ada had said she wouldn't agree with it, but once I had made my mind up there was no changing it.

I wasn't sure what would annoy Polly more. The big expensive Christmas tree or the little black cat curled up by the fire.

"What is this?" Ada was right. She wasn't happy. Her lip was turned up in disapproval and I was waiting for her to start shouting. Not that Polly had ever really shouted at me.

"It's a Christmas tree," I told her, biting my lip as she glared at me.

"I'm talking about that," she said pointing at the cat.

"Oh, that Voodoo, our newest family member. It's an early Christmas present to myself. I've always wanted a cat but I got an owl so mum said I wasn't allowed one until I had my own house. Guess I can have one now."

"Stop it," Polly warned, trying to keep the smile from her lips.

"I was going to call him Lucifer or Satan but thought it wouldn't go well with you," I teased, dodging her as he reached out to smack me. "I'm joking, Polly."

"You and Ada are going to be the death of me," she muttered, rolling her eyes as Finn came running into the room being followed by Matthew. "No! If you're going to play your stupid games, go in the garden and do it."

"But it's raining," Finn argued, throwing his hands in the air.

"Then you can't play." It seemed Polly was on one today.

"Hey, why don't you go get ready for the Christmas photograph? Harry will be here in a minute to take it. I want to send it to the boys before Christmas," I told them, ushering them up the stairs where Ada was walking down with Edward in her arms. He was already dressed in his dark blue jumper that had been knitted for him. I'd taken a page out of Nanna Molly's book and had knitted us all sweaters with the classic first name initial. Well, I hadn't knitted them, the magic had done that. I was crap at knitting.

I loved Ada's light blue jumper, the dark blue of her 'A' matching the blue of Edward's jumper. His 'E' was a matching blue for her jumper too. Tom and I were in matching green jumpers with our initials in a light grey. I thought it would be funny to capture our Slytherin side, even if no one knew about it.

Matthew, Finn, Mary and Katie came down with their feet banging on the stairs. They all had on their matching blue jumpers and joined us as Polly opened the door for Harry.

"Alrigh' all," he greeted, smiling at the sight of Polly in her park blue jumper. He wasn't going to say anything to her, but I could see the glimmer in his eye. "You ready?" he asked, getting behind the camera I'd already set up in front of the Christmas tree.

"Come on then," I called out to them all, PLacing Polly and Ada in the back, with a gap for me in the middle. Edward was in Ada's arms but I just shifted him so he was on her left hip before placing Matthew in front of her. He was just small enough that if he stood slightly to her right you could still see the 'A' on her jumper. "Finn, come here." I placed him to Polly's right, not blocking her jumper and placed Mary between Finn and Polly before moving Katie into the middle of the group, right in front of where I'd stand with Tom. "Here, Katie, you can hold Voodoo, we can't forget him can we?" I said picking the little kitten up from his bed and gently placed him in Katie's arms.

He wasn't a fussy cat and didn't mind being held by the four-year-old. Once they were all standing in the places I wanted, I picked up Tom and joined them, sliding between Polly and Ada. I adjusted Tom so he was cradled in my right arm and in the position where you could see his jumper.

"Okay, we're ready, Harry," I told him, brushing my curls over my left shoulder as I turned slightly to the side, a smile on my lips.

"Smile," Harry said, taking a few photos, the camera flashing with each photo he took.

"Thank you so much, Harry," I said, moving towards him and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I can send this off for the boys and hopefully they get it before Christmas day. Shall we go have dinner? Let's call it our mock-Christmas dinner."

"Onward to the kitchen!" Finn declared and Polly sent me a look of pure surprise. Perhaps I'd been spending a little too much time with Finn lately, he'd been picking up on my common slang from the future. I needed to be more careful.

Christmas was drawing closer and it seemed as if everything was growing darker around them. It seemed just his luck that as the holiday grew closer and they were meant to be spending time in cheer and merriment they were instead digging their way through the ground, setting traps, and preparing for their next big fight.

It was a day or two before Christmas that they received their letters. Tommy liked the way the men lit up at the mention of letters. It was a small pleasure he indulged in, watching the happiness of the men as they read through letters from home.

He knew he was the same whenever he received a letter from home. Any small bit of news from those he loved was what he enjoyed, even in his darkest times.

As Arthur threw down his letter, Tommy was surprised by the thickness of it. Arthur it seemed, received one of the same thickness. It was unusual for them to get letters this thick, he was sure there was a limit to what they were allowed not received. Perhaps they were being more lenient due to it being Christmas.

Slipping his finger under the flap, Tommy smiled as he was greeted by crudely made Christmas cards from his two nieces. Mary and Katie had clearly spent a lot of time on the cards and he could tell that Ada had a hand in colouring in Katie's card. They were written in Ada's hand, just a few words of love and wishes before drawing pictures of Christmas trees and presents.

Tommy glanced over at Arthur to see his nieces had sent him the same. He wondered who had been behind it, Polly or Romy. They hadn't received cards last year, only a letter from Polly with love and kisses from the whole family.

He had a feeling it was Romy's doing.

He was thankful for the effect she was having on his family. He hadn't seen Arthur this happy since arriving in France. There were times when Tommy feared Arthur wouldn't return and it wasn't because his elder brother would end up dead.

There had been a big change in Arthur. When he was shot in the tunnels, Arthur had been there with him, distraught because he thought Tommy was a goner. He'd seen something snap in Arthur then and he knew he'd never be the same.

Matthew and Finn had written letters. The seven and eight-year-olds had come a long way in their writing skills. Tommy knew John would be proud of what his son had learnt and knew they owed this to Romy too.

Both letters were similar to the cards, wishing them well over Christmas and sharing how they wished they'd be back home and no longer fighting. Tommy hadn't really stopped to think about how this was affecting the children. He'd seen many boys fighting, die out in France, and while he hated seeing them die so young, he hadn't stopped to think how this was affecting those at home.

Ada and Polly never wrote about their problems, always wished the war would end and give them their best wishes. Romy had been different. She hadn't been afraid to tell him how she was feeling because she was afraid it would seem selfish. She had tried to keep it normally between them by pretending there wasn't a war going on. She hardly mentioned the war unless she thought she was being selfish with her moaning, but that's what he liked.

He'd rather forget there was a war going on if he was being honest and talking to Romy made him feel that for about an hour before he was facing reality again when he heard the guns and bombs followed by screams in the background.

Ada and Polly had included a shared letter, briefing them on how everyone was safe and doing well at home. They said they were spending Christmas at Romy's this year and how they missed them more than ever.

There was a photograph wrapped in hand-drawn wrapping paper, something he was sure Katie and Mary had decorated.

It was the first time he'd seen the whole family in a photograph together. Usually, it was Romy taking the photo for them and she was always hidden, but this time she was there, right in the middle holding the baby.

There was something about seeing her there in the middle of his family that finally made it click in his mind.

She was family.

Over the months, while she'd moved to Small Heath and waited for Tom's arrival she'd touched the hearts of the Shelby's and made herself a place in their family. He could see it from the look Polly gave her in the photo. This was a woman that Polly approved of. This was someone Polly loved the way she loved Ada. If Romy could gain Polly's love and respect then there was no question what the strong woman thought of her.

Romy was family now and he wasn't sure if that was going to change.

"Tom, you seen the photo?" Arthur asked, lifting up his own copy of the photograph Tommy was currency gazing at.

"Aye," he replied, fiddling with his breast pocket where his other photos of his family were hidden.

"You seen their jumpers?" At his brother's words, Tommy took in the matching jumpers he hadn't noticed until then. They were all wearing a jumper that had their initial on the front and he knew that was Romy too. He knew Polly would never have gone for it unless it was for them. It must have been Romy's idea.

Why was everything her idea?

Scratching at his face, Tommy moved the photograph and pulled out the last letter, noting that this one was from Romy. She's even written his name on the outside as if she was afraid he didn't know it was for him.

Dear Tommy,

I hope you enjoy your Christmas gifts from us. Finn was most definitely not going to be making you a card - his words not mine.

Polly hates the jumpers. I'm not sure what she hates most though, the Christmas tree, the jumpers, or the newest family member. And, no, I'm not talking about Thomas-Junior.

Why did his heart thump that little harder at the mention of the baby that shared his name?

Have you seen the little furball in Katie's arms? I went and bought a black kitten. It was mainly to wind up Polly, Ada said she didn't like them much, especially black cats. I was going to take it further and name him Lucifer or Satan but we settled on Voodoo instead - that was Finn's idea.

Tommy looked back at the photograph and blinked in surprise at the two eyes staring at him from the black mess in Katie's arms. He hadn't even seen her holding the kitten at first glance.

I wish you were home. It would be nice for you to spend Thomas-J's first Christmas with us, but I guess there will always be next year. If you were here for Christmas I might have given you a kiss under the mistletoe. I guess I'll have to give to the other Thomas in my life.

Wishing you the best Christmas you can have.

All our love,

Andromeda and Thomas xx

The first thing he thought was the use of her name. She'd signed it Andromeda. She never did that. It was always Romy. Why had she signed it differently now?

The second thing his mind pondered was the way she said she'd kiss him. Was that a hint to how she felt or was it just her being festive?

Rubbing his hand over his face, he groaned in frustration as he dug out a cigarette and let the smoke coat his lungs. Why was this stressing him out?

"You alright', Tom?" Arthur asked, concerned about his brother's reaction. He knew he was reading a letter from Romy and he'd never seen Tommy so ... confused after reading one of her letters.

"Yeah, just ... you know ... women," he muttered, folding her letter and shoving it with the others he'd kept from her. Hidden away in his right breast pocket was his collection of letters from Romy and a few from Ada. He slid the family photograph into his left breast pocket, settling it with the photographs of Romy and Thomas-Junior.

He knew he was smiling at the thought of the baby, but he didn't care. If Arthur asked him what he was smiling about he'd just tell him he was happy seeing their family thriving back home.

As he closed his eyes that night, he thought about the kiss Romy would have given him under the mistletoe.