Due to us not being able to use a portkey or apparate straight to England, it took us a week to apparate through France while staying under the radar. By the time I returned to Small Heath it had been three weeks since I left and there was a Thomas-J sized hole in my heart.

Instead of apparating into the house, I stopped off by the cut and walked home from there. The morning breeze was relaxing and it gave me enough time to compose myself before I returned home.

Before I even opened the door I could hear them. Finn was shouting at Voodoo for getting in the way and I could hear Matthew and Mary laughing as they ran past the front door. Edward was screaming, he must have been in the kitchen as it sounded far off.

I was happy I listened to Polly when she warned me about taking the silencing charm off the house. She said it left the house too eerie and it would start rumours around town if no nose could be heard from within, especially considering five children under the age of ten lived here.

I pushed open the door slowly, peeking inside as I glanced down the hall. I couldn't see them, the table sat off to the left of the doorway, but I could hear Polly talking to Ada as Finn and Matthew chatted away. I slipped into the house, closing the door behind me and hung up my coat and bag.

Biting my lip, I tiptoed my way down the hall and stopped at the door, peering in at them.

"Are you ready to leave within the hour?" Polly asked, setting a plate of toast in the middle of the table.

"Yeah, Katie's got her new crayons she's going to take and Mary's taking two of her dollies."

"I've got my chessboard ready, Aunt Pol," Finn interjected, nodding to the chessboard resting at the bottom of the pram.

"What about you, Matthew?"

"Sir Louis said he'd show me some French today," the eight-year-old said, with a smile. I', unfortunately, missed his birthday while I was in France. I wonder if Ada gave him his present?

"That sounds exciting, you'll have something to show Romy when she returns," Polly said, wiping Edwards' face as he smeared himself in strawberry jam.

Ada was standing behind Mary, putting her hair in a braid down her back. Katie had the same style, though she had a bright yellow bow tied neatly at the bottom. I smiled slightly at their domesticated breakfast before letting my eyes flicker over to the pram where my pride and joy sat.

He was chewing on his fist, a crumpled piece of toast mushed up in his hands. I flicked my eyes up to his face, smiling at the mushy crumbs covering his mouth. His blue orbs lifted and met mine and I could tell the exact moment he realised he saw me.

"Mama," he gurgled, his arms reaching out for me.

He was met with utter silence from everyone around the kitchen table. Polly almost dropped the spoon she was using to stir her tea and Ada gasped while bringing her hands to her mouth. Finn was smiling brightly, and Katie and Mary started giggling.

I was crying.

I cannot believe he'd just said my name.

"Such a clever boy," I exclaimed, pushing open the door and going straight for him. I didn't care that his hands were covered in soggy toast, I needed to cuddle him. I planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek as I held him tightly.

"Romy!" Finn shouted pushing his chair away with a squeak as he ran to me, wrapping his arms on any part of me he could get to.

"You're back," Polly said with a sigh of relief. I hadn't noticed how tense she was before but she was relaxed in her chair now, her hand resting over her heart and she muttered a silent prayer.

"You're alive!"

"Ada," Polly scolded, frowning at her nieces as she threw herself at me.

"I'm sorry, but she didn't write or anything, how were we supposed to know she was alive," she grumbled against my shoulder, pressing her face into my hair. "I missed you."

"I missed you all very much too," I said, leaning down and pressing another kiss on Thomas' head. "Are you going out?" I asked having heard the conversation before Thomas-J interrupted.

"Well it's Saturday," Ada said as if it would explain everything. At my baffled look she went on. "We're going to see the soldiers at the hospital."

"Oh, you're doing that?" I asked, having not even thought about the hospital while I was in France.

"It was Finn's idea. He didn't want them to be alone while you were gone so we've been to see them every Saturday for the last three weeks," she said, shrugging as if it was nothing.

"Thank you, Ada," I said, pulling her into a hug and pressing a kiss to her cheek. "It means a lot to me."

"There's more people there, Romy," Finn said, all excited. "Wives and families. Because of us."

"That's great to hear, Finn." At least something had come out of our visits to the hospital. At least the doctors had listened to me. "Shall we finish breakfast and then we can go visit our friends?"

July 12 1917

Dear Tommy,

Sorry for the delay in writing.

Phineas and our friend, Newt had been reported MIA a couple of weeks ago - some mission I can't mention. I'm not even allowed to tell you where they were, I'm sure you can understand.

I've been dreading news about them for weeks now and I'm glad to say that both of them have arrived home safely.

I think Newt was left a little traumatised after his ... incident. He's decided to stay a few days at the house. I think the children help him from getting lost in his head. Finn is particularly fond of him, but it's Katie you have to watch out for. She had him playing tea and was calling him Queen Newt all afternoon.

Oh, you'll never guess what happened.

Thomas-J said his first words yesterday! He called me 'Mama'. I cried. He looked me right in the eyes and called me Mama.

I don't know where he got those words from. As you know the children don't have Martha anymore and Finn doesn't speak about your mother much. I think Ada must call me Mama to him.

My heart burst at the words but I can't help but feel guilty. Am I taking this moment away from Merry? Should I be feeling so joyous at the words?

I already have a feeling what you're going to say - 'Merry would want this for you. She gave you Thomas-J to love and to nurture. You are his mother and you can be happy because he called you Mama.' Something like that right?

I've just realised that through a whole year of writing to each other we haven't ⸺

Holy shit!

Has it really been a year since we started writing to each other?

Oh my God, it will be a whole year tomorrow.

Well, in that case - I love long walks down the cut. I love the long-distance relationship we have going on, you're never here so you're never pissing me off with your heavy breathing or annoying questions. I love that intimidating gaze you have in your photographs and I love your strong cheekbones.

My favourite colour is green. My favourite person is Thomas-J (sorry no one can beat him). I love Voodoo because he pisses Polly off when he claws at her favourite slippers. I love flowers but cannot stand roses and I love animals of all kinds.

I don't think it matters about all the small things above, Tommy. You know my soul and that's nothing anyone else can claim.

All my love, always and forever,

Romy xx

Tommy smiled down at the letter, resting his hands on his knees as he looked over at his brother. It was a rare moment where they had nothing to do but wait for new orders.

"Arthur," he said, bringing his cigarette up to his lips as he waited for his brother to look at him. "You remember that letter, the first one Romy sent me?"

"Yeah, you had no fucking clue why she bothered to write ya but you asked 'er to write again," Arthur grumbled, leaning back on the floor, his head rested on a folded pillow he'd snatched from a nurse.

"It's been a year." Tommy couldn't believe it had been over a year since they first started writing. By the time he received the letter, he was sure it was almost August. They'd moved around a lot since the beginning of July. "A whole fucking year."

"Who woulda thought, aye? You got yourself one 'ell of a girl during the fucking war, Tom." Arthur chuckled, swinging his arm out to thump Tommy on the shoulder.

"She's ... I dunno, Arthur. I really like her, fuck I sound like a fucking kid knocking one off over his teacher." Tommy threw his cigarette on the floor and ran his hand through his hair. It didn't even cross his mind that he still had Romy's letter in his hand.

"Fuckin' hell, Tom." Arthur sighed as he sat up and placed a strong hand on his brother's shoulder. "Just tell 'er ya love 'er and ask 'er to wait for you."

"Yeah?"

Neither of them admitted how scared Tommy sounded, but they both knew it was what Tommy wanted.

"She ain't Greta, Tom. She's healthy as a fuckin' horse. Fucks sake, Tom, she's fuckin' perfect."

Tommy wasn't sure how many more times Arthur could say the word fuck when talking to him, but knew if he didn't take his head out of his arse, his brother would be getting more violent.

"Newt! You cannot bring that in here!" I hissed glancing over my shoulder hoping Polly had returned from the betting den. She had begrudgingly accepted Voodoo and she loved Rudy and Havoc, she'd even accepted Gray, but there was no fucking way she was going to be alright with a Newt bringing in a Mooncalf. "Where the hell did you even get a Mooncalf?"

"You know what it is?" he asked, amazed as he tried to push the shy creature through the backdoor.

"Of course I fucking know what it is, why are you bringing it in the house?" I asked, throwing my hands in the air. "This is almost as bad as Hagrid bringing a dragon to Hogwarts," I grumbled under my breath as I stepped closer to the door and saw a Hippogriff chilling in the garden.

"You know, you swear a lot," Newt told me, giving me a stern look as he placed a suitcase on the floor and ushered the Mooncalf inside. Was this the famous suitcase Aunt Luna spoke about.

"Have you got an Undetectable Extension Charm on your case?" I asked, fascinated as the Mooncalf disappeared. "What are you up to, Newton?"

"Merlin's beard, you sound like my mother," he groaned, glancing at me before jumping into his case after the Mooncalf.

Frowning at his attempt to ignore me, I followed after him, finding a set of stairs leading down from the case into a wooden shack.

There wasn't much to it. A small bed against one wall and a few tin buckets on a workbench.

"I've only started planning out," Newt said, waving the Mooncalf out of the shack. I followed after him again, surprised to see a forest area made up of bamboos on one side of the open space outside the shack and a rocky area with grass and trees where Newt was guiding the Mooncalf. "I plan on studying all my creatures here. It's not much at the moment but I hope to add more habitats suitable for each creature. Once this war's over, I plan to travel the world looking for them."

"Does anyone know how powerful a wizard you are, Newt?" I asked, looking around at this advanced magic displayed in front of me. Such magic like this was only dreamed about.

"I often wonder if anyone knows how powerful a witch you are, Romy," he replied in a similar tone. "But you're not an ordinary witch are you? Part Veela, a seer and a metamorphmagus."

"How did you know?" I asked, slightly frightened that he knew that when I hadn't told him. Hell, I hadn't even told Phineas.

"You once told me you had a sixth sense when it came to magical creatures." He shrugged as he took a step towards me. "I grew curious and did some research." Of course, he did some research if I wasn't so sure he was a Hufflepuff I would assume he was a Ravenclaw from his love for research. "Did you know seers have the ability to sense magical creatures because in some way their souls are on the same plane of existence as those said creatures?" No, I did not know that, but now I did.

"What about the other stuff?"

"You might not know it but your eyes and hair change a lot. It's nothing noticeable if they didn't know you, but I've been studying you and I'm good at spotting these things."

"And the Veela part?" I asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the knowledge that he's been studying me.

"I met a witch that had a quarter Veela blood in her, you have the same glow she did. I don't think you even know about it. It's not a physical thing, but rather a thing you feel in your stomach. It kind of draws us to you," he said, shrugging as he waved his wand and a tin bucket came flying into his hands. He threw a few pellets at the Mooncalf before turning back to me with his large smile on his face. "You know why I did it? The research?"

"Why did you do it, Newt?" I asked, feeling tired all of a sudden.

"Because I care about you, Romy. You're like my little sister and I feel the need to protect you."

"You're only a year older than me, Newton," I scoffed, pushing his shoulder slightly as he got all emotional on me. "Look, I love having you here, but please don't try and bring any more creatures into the house. If you're thinking about getting that Hippogriff in this case you better take it outside." Newt rolled his eyes at me and I slapped his arm lightly and laughed. "I'm so not saving you from Polly when she comes to hunt you down."