Sometimes I got confused between my dreams and visions.

Since seeing the horrors of the war, I couldn't figure out if I was reliving the nightmare of the war or seeing what was to come.

It was for that reason I was struggling to understand if it was a nightmare of my past or a nightmare of my future I had seen.

Tommy was there, so I only assumed that it was of the future. It was also a future I didn't want.

Seeing him get shot, and from the angle I saw, I was afraid that it would be his death. I knew it was going to occur within the year, Thomas-J was still so small, so it had to be within the new year.

"You alright, love?" Harry asked, resting his hand on my arm as I stared into the glass of whiskey he set down in front of me. I was thankful for the barstool Harry had gestured to when I came in a few minutes ago.

"You ever thought about the future, Uncle Harry?" I wondered, twisting the glass in my fingers as I thought about what this meant. Was Tommy going to die? Was I going to be left alone as a widow with a child?

"After the war, no." Harry gave a shrug and shook his head. "I was only gone for a year and that was enough to see what they all had to go through."

I wonder if he'd say that even when he found out there'd be a second war.

"I fear that the war's not left us, Uncle Harry," I muttered downing the drink and closing my eyes.

"You seen something, sweetheart?"

"No, Uncle Harry, just worried about the things to come," I said not wanting to admit that I'd seen the death of my husband.

"Alright, well, I'll be here if you need me." I gave him a nod, thanking him as he poured me another drink.

I didn't intend to drink that one, but the thoughtfulness of Harry was pleasant. Even when the pub was crowded he gave me his undivided attention. That showed me how much he cared about family.

It made me grateful for my family. Not the one I left behind in the future, my parents, my brothers and Dora, my nieces and nephews. Uncle Al (he was definitely my favourite uncle no matter what Louis said) or any of the others, but the family I had here, in Small Heath.

Tommy, Thomas-J, Polly, Ada, Finn, John and his kids, Arthur, Uncle Harry. Newt and Phineus, and of course, Alfie, no matter how much he wished he wasn't.

They all welcomed me into this world, into their hearts and I couldn't be more grateful for it.

What would have happened if Harry rejected Merry and me that night we turned up here?

I didn't even want to think about that.

"Alright, love?"

I turned to the man as he stood next to me, his eyes glazed over with one too many drinks. He was leaning heavily on the bar, his legs barely holding him up.

"I'm not interested," I told him, dropping my eyes back down to the whiskey glass.

"Don't be like that, love, we could have a good time." He wasn't slurring his words so it made me think that perhaps he wasn't as drunk as he wanted me to believe. I shook my head and scoffed in disgust. "How 'bout we leave?"

"How about no?" I said, turning my back to him and hoping to catch the eye of someone I knew.

"Look, I'm the best you're gonna get."

"Huh?" Did he know who I was? Did he think I was a whore?

"No man's even looked at you tonight, no one's gonna pay you," he said, downing his drink and standing straight. He definitely wasn't as drunk as I thought he was.

"Listen, mate, I'm not a whore!"

Having raised my voice gained us the attention of a few of the men in the pub, luckily for me, I recognised a few of them from the betting den.

"Are you alright, Mrs Shelby?" One of the men asked, stepping forward ready to intervene if he had to.

"I'm alright, thank you," I replied even though everyone knew I wasn't.

"We're alright," the man beside me said, his eyes roaming around the pib as he now felt the eyes on us. "We're just leaving."

He shifted closer to me, his hand taking hold of my wrist as he tried to pull me from my seat. I hissed out in pain as I stumbled from the stool, glaring up at the man as he dug his fingers in tighter.

"What's going on here?"

I sighed at Tommy's rough voice, relaxing as he stepped towards us, feeling safer now that he was here.

"Nothing to worry about, mate, we're just leaving."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," I hissed grabbing hold of his hand with my free one, digging my nails into his skin. "Get off me."

"Look you little whore, I'm taking you out back for some fun, so shut up," he snapped, his hand grabbing hold of mine and bending my wrist back.

"That's enough," Tommy shouted, his hand on the man's shoulder pulling him from me.

"Hey, back off mate, this isn't your problem!"

"Seeing as she's my wife, you'll find it is my problem," Tommy replied and gave a nod to two men standing behind my aggressor.

It seemed the whole pub was watching as they drug the man out the backdoor, everyone knowing what was going to happen to him.

"This is the last time I wait for you in a pub," I muttered to Tommy rubbing at my wrist as he joined me, waving off Harry's concern. "You're late."

"Arthur's a fucking idiot," he replied as if it was a good enough reason to be late.

"Where's Thomas-J?"

"He's with Newt, something about broomsticks and snitches."

Ah, yes. Newt was taking Thomas-J to watch the end-of-year Hogwarts Quidditch match. They'd be back for this evening, and ready to bring the new year in with us.

"Where have you been?" I asked not knowing if I really wanted to know. Tommy had been in and out of the house for the last five days and I had a feeling something big was going to happen.

"Sorting out business." That was always his reply to everything nowadays. "Let's get home."

***

As I listened to John start the countdown, Arthur and Ada singing horribly next to him, I couldn't help but fear for what was to come.

I hadn't had many visions since coming back into the past, just flashes here and there, but the last couple of days I kept getting glimpses, and that in itself was unusual.

As everyone cheered in the new year, I got the same images rushing through my eyes. A crate of guns. A blonde lady. An old man with a mustache. Tommy being shot. Thomas-J being taken by the police. A black horse. And a gun being pointed in my face.

All of those images on a loop within seconds.

It didn't come as any surprise when I fainted.

***

When I woke, Polly was sitting in a chair next to the bed, reading the paper.

"You've been out of it for ten hours." She didn't even have to look at me to know I was awake. "You saw something, didn't you?" She asked, knowing that I'd had a glimpse of the future because of how drained I was after.

"I've seen a lot of things, Pol," I muttered, shifting out of bed and looking around the room. "Where's Tommy?"

"Sorting some shipment at the yard." That didn't fill me with hope. Had his men already stolen the guns? "You alright, love?"

"Yes." I really wasn't but there wasn't much I could do about it now. "We've got Alfie coming for dinner tonight," I said, remembering that the giant oaf was coming round. "Well, I doubt he'll be here for the food. I think he's convinced Newt to bring him after we've eaten."

"I'm surprised he's coming at all," Polly said, having heard a lot about Alfie.

"He did say he wasn't going to come, but Alfie really wants to meet Thomas-J." It surprised me how much Alfie wanted to meet Thomas-J, but I got the sense that Alfie was a man and he secretly saw me and therefore mine as family. "I've got a lot to do," I muttered, pulling on the dress that Polly has set out for me.

"Ada and Newt have been cooking all morning, nothing for you to do but relax until Alfie gets here."

"My god, you let Ada cook?"

"Newt was with her," she said as if that was a good enough reason to leave Ada to her own devices in the kitchen. To be fair, she had a point. Newt knew his way around the kitchen even if it was hard to believe.

Where the fuck was Tommy?

Why was I this nervous?

I knew it had nothing to do with Alfie. But in a sense, it had everything to do with Alfie.

Had I told him I was married to Tommy now? Wait. Had I actually told him? No, I hadn't, but I was going to do it tonight. That's why I wanted Tommy with me, but the bastard had disappeared.

I had a feeling I knew where he was. That image of him looking at the guns haunted me. I knew it was going to bring trouble.

"You alright, love?" I glanced up jumping back in surprise as Alfie towered over me.

"When did you get here?" I asked, not even noticing when he'd arrived.

"'About five minutes ago, Newt told me your Thomas isn't here."

He must have been talking about Tommy. Especially because Thomas-J was talking Finn's ear off.

"He's dealing with business." I was mortified that he wasn't here. The whole point was to introduce them to each other. I had a feeling that perhaps Tommy didn't want to meet Alfie, but knew this was legit a business problem and explained why he wasn't here. "I'm so sorry he's not here, Alfie. I wanted to introduce you to him properly."

"Yeah, well, I'll meet him at the wedding then, yeah?"

I stared at him with wide eyes, very aware that my mouth was doing an impression of a frog trying to catch flies.

"You know about that?" I whispered, feeling terror at the thought of him knowing before I told him. Was he spying on me?

"Newt's not good at keeping secrets."

"That bastard," I hissed looking around the room and frowning as Newt dashed to hide behind Polly. I was even more surprised that she was looking amused, finding the whole situation funny.

"He just cares, Romy, you're his sister."

"Don't give me that bullshit, Alfie. I wanted to tell you." Was I scared of what he thought? Yes. Did it make sense that I wanted his approval? Yes. In the short amount of time I'd known Alfie, he'd snuck his way into my heart and I now saw him as another older brother. One that stuck his business into my life and infuriated me.

"Well, if he hurts you, I'll kill him."

"Phin already beat you to that," I told him, smiling as Thomas-J came toddling up to me, his arms stretching out for me to pick him up. "Thomas-J, I want you to meet someone," I said to the young boy, noting the way Alfie took in all his features and glanced at the family portrait hanging on the wall. There was no doubt that Thomas-J looked like Tommy. "Say hello to Uncle Alfie."

"Allie," Thomas-J cooed, reaching out for the man's beard causing Alfie to step back in shock. His eyes were wide and I almost laughed at him. It was like he'd never seen a toddler before. Thomas-J pouted, his bottom lip shaking as he huffed in annoyance. That was something he'd recently picked up when he found out it freaked Arthur out and he gave in to the boys every demand.

"What's he doing?" Alfie asked, taking a step closer and letting out an undignified yelp as Thomas-J threw himself at the man.

I saw the exact moment Thomas-J had Alfie wrapped around his finger. I saw the exact moment I knew Alfie would do anything for that boy.

Thank you for reading xx