Finding A Home

"Have you found anything yet?" I asked Lizzie as she joined me in the kitchen, smiling down at TJ as he greeted her with a cheeky smile.

"Nothing big enough," she replied, taking the tea cup that floated over to her. "How did Finn take the news?"

"We actually haven't told him yet," I said, joining her at the table, dropping my notebook down beside me. "We've still got a couple of days before his birthday."

"Jesus, we're already into February? It only feels like yesterday the war ended."

"I always think time flies by when you're happy," I muttered, my eyes lingering on TJ as he babbled to himself in his playpen. He would be turning three this October and I hated thinking about him growing up, especially if Campbell was still roaming the streets.

"Who's going to tell him?"

"Polly wanted to tell him, but Tommy told her it would be best coming from me. I've asked Newt to help, we all know how much Finn looks up to him, it would be nice for Finn to be told by his hero."

"And how do the others deal with the knowledge that Newt is Finn's favourite?"

It was funny, really.

Arthur would never admit it, but he was slightly hurt that Finn preferred Newt to him. It did take a lot of reminding him that Newt was here for the last two years of the war on and off so Finn had the chance to spend time with him.

"It's not that Newt is his favourite, it's more the fact that Newt understands him better than his brothers. They have a lot in common and Finn doesn't have to pretend to be someone else to impress Newt. He's always pretending to be tough just to please his brothers and that's not who he is as a person."

"You've definitely got your thoughts on it," Lizzie said, nudging me with her foot under the table.

"It's because I've had to explain it to John and Arthur a hundred and one times," I grumbled, rolling my eyes at her teasing. "Tommy thinks it's because Newt's my brother and Finn loves me but knows I can't give him my undivided attention with TJ and Edward so he's gone to the next best thing."

"Well, don't mention this to Phineas, but Newt is your better brother," Lizzie stage whispered, smiling as she heard a huff from the hallway.

"That's what you get for listening in, Phin," I called watching as said older adoptive brother came pouting into the kitchen sending a mock glare at Lizzie.

"I was just coming to see my lovely nephew," he said, scooping up TJ, making the young boy laugh. "At least I'm your favourite uncle, right, Thomas?"

"Allie! Allie!" TJ shouted, glaring up at Phin.

"What's he talking about?"

"His favourite uncle is Alfie, Phineas," I said, watching the horror on Phin's face as he realised he was loved less than Alfie.

"But he hardly sees Alfie. I see him all the time." He was making a poor attempt at arguing his case. He was actually no better than Edward and TJ when they fought over toys.

"Yeah, but he's Alfie." There was no other way to explain it. There was something about Alfie that made everyone like him. Tommy even liked him, not that he's ever met him.

"Don't tell me, he's your favourite brother too."

"No." His face lit up in hope. "It would have to be a tie with Newt."

Huffing out in annoyance, Phin let TJ back on the floor, scoffing as he reached to play with his toys again without even paying his uncle attention.

"I come bearing news."

Why did that always sound so bad?

"Is Elea okay?"

"There's no improvement but luckily she hasn't gotten any worse. Your friend, Healer Longbottom, has placed her in a bed at St Mungo's so they can keep an eye on her." He looked tired so I could only assume he'd been up stressing to find a way to help her. "That's not why I'm here though."

"Has something else happened?"

"Nothing bad, I think I've found you a place to open your orphanage."

"It's not an orphanage, Phineas."

"Your rehoming children that have lost their parents. That's an orphanage, Romy."

"It's not just a home for orphans, Phin, we'll take in children of parents who are struggling and help to look after them until their parents are able to. We'll raise children from birth to eighteen years old and give them an education and life skills. We'll help find them jobs and homes before we expect them to leave our care. It's about providing them with support and a family. Giving them someone to rely on and talk to when they need it. It's not an orphanage." I may have snapped at him, but he needed to understand what we were providing the children of Small Heath with. "I want it to be like Hogwarts, Phin. That feeling of family with your housemates and knowing you could trust any of the professors."

"Just as every child deserves," he agreed, a soft smile on his face as he thought about the place I wanted to create. "I think I've found the perfect place for you."

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Phin wasn't lying when he said he found the perfect place for us.

It hadn't crossed my mind to even look at this part of Small Heath, but in a way, it did make sense.

With the end of the war, the hospitals that had been in use were no longer needed. The hospital I worked at during the last two years of the war was one of them. It was surprising considering it was a relatively new building, but according to Phineas the government didn't have a need for it anymore and were looking to sell it off for finance reasons.

"It's fantastic," I said, smiling as we walked around one of the larger rooms, the beds still lining the walls. "Can we afford it?"

"Well, you can definitely afford it, you'll still have a lot of money in your account too," Phin said, knowing the ins and outs of the account we had opened for the home for children.

"How long will it take to buy it?"

"A couple of weeks at most, you're lucky you have a rather intelligent business man on your side who has the best lawyers in Britain."

"This is going to get you into a lot of trouble with your family," I told him, not being able to hide the smile from my face.

"Yeah, but it's for all the right reasons." He paused for a moment, taking in the room with a sad smile. "Elea would be proud of what we're doing."

"You're talking as if she's dead, Phin. She's not. She's still alive." I didn't want to see him go through anymore pain, but I knew, in the long run, that there was probably no way to help Eleanora.

"We've had the talk, Romy. She knows she won't live and she doesn't want me to do anything to Sirius in revenge. She's asked me to help you with this," he said, gesturing to the building around him. "She said if we can't have our own children then I had to be the uncle to every child that steps through this home."

"And she's right, Phin. These children will grow to love you. I know they won't ever replace the children you wish you could have had with Elea, but they'll all need someone like you."

"What do you think, Lizzie?" Phin asked her, noting how she had been quiet the whole time. "Think this will be ideal?"

"I think it's a lot of space to work with," she said softly, her eyes shining in sympathy for Phineas. She would never say anything out loud to him, but she would definitely feel for him.

"There's plenty of room for us to have the perfect home for all those that need it. Magical or not." I was determined to make sure that every magical child out there had the chance to live here if they no longer had any family. Why should they grow up the way Tom Riddle had? It wasn't their fault they had been born with magic in the muggle world, a world that didn't understand them.

"We should start planning then."

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Tommy arrived home that night looking like he had something to say but didn't know how to approach the subject.

I didn't say anything to him. I wanted to see how long it took him to say something before I had to nudge him for the information.

"We're telling Finn, tomorrow," I told Tommy, making mention of the fact that Finn was a wizard to take his mind off of whatever was bothering him. "I've got plans to meet up with Jeremiah tomorrow as well and explain to him about Isiah being a wizard and going off to Hogwarts in September. There's enough time for them to get used to the idea before they're off to Hogwarts."

"I think Jeremiah's wife was a witch," Tommy muttered around a cigarette, as he looked over to me with his piercing eyes. "She reminds me a lot of you."

"I'm taking that as a compliment," I teased, rising from my seat and pressing a kiss to his head. "You gonna to tell me what's bothering you?" Okay, so maybe I couldn't wait.

"Danny killed an Italian."

He didn't need to say anything anymore. Polly told me about the boundary lines between the Peaky Blinders and the Italians.

"I'm guessing they want him dead for justice."

"I was with Danny in France. He was in the tunnels with us." He shook his head and leaned forward in his chair, his elbows resting on his legs. "I can't justify killing him. I know what he's gone through during the war. I was with him most of the time. How can I kill him for something that's not his fault?"

"Then you don't kill him." It was blunt and I knew it wasn't what Tommy wanted to hear. "You just make the Italians think he's dead."

"Yeah?" It seemed Tommy was pondering my idea when he started nodding as if he'd come up with something. "I think that could work."

"Right, excellent, now that you've decided on that you can go upstairs and put your son back to bed," I told him, nodding to the doorway where TJ stood, rubbing his eyes.

"My son? I thought he was our son."

"No, he's your son when he wakes in the night because he hears his father coming home," I said, nudging Tommy over to collect our son as he looked like he was about to cry. "It's okay, sweetheart, your daddy's going to put you back to bed."

"Da," he muttered, reaching up his arms and his Hungarian Horntail dangling from his hand by the tail.

"I'll join you soon then," Tommy muttered, cradling our son against his chest and making his way upstairs.

The only downfall of TJ sleeping in the bigger room was that he was in a big boy bed now and could easily get out himself whenever he wanted.

Tidying away the last dishes in the kitchen, I made my way around the kitchen, filling Voodoo's water dish and sighing at the empty bed where Nova was supposed to be sleeping.

Newt thought he could keep hidden the fact that he'd taken her with him and kept her in his case while he studied her, but I wasn't as oblivious as he thought. He often muttered out loud to himself when he was thinking of new ideas and such for his book.

Turning the lights off, I made my way down the hall, making sure all the lights were off and the doors were closed. Coming to the front door, I locked it and made my way upstairs, pausing in the hallway as I heard Tommy reading from the Tales of Beedle and the Bard, TJ's little mutterings as he tried to copy his father.

Giving a smile, I walked into our room, unbuttoning my dress and gently folding it and setting it on the top of my dressing table.

Once I changed into my nightdress, I climbed into bed and flicked my wand at the lamp beside me, grabbing my notebook from the bedside table.

I was going over the notes and plans Lizzie and I had made about the children's home. I thought it would be a good idea for the pair of us to be the public faces for the children's home.

Lizzie would have a permanent home there, always available in case the children needed something, but she still got allocated days and nights off when either I would be there in the day or the other matron in charge would keep an eye in the evenings.

We'd already started making a list of staff we'd need to hire. A cook, a couple of matrons to help Lizzie in the evenings and throughout the day and some teachers and a caretaker or two. I had thought it would be easier to hire teachers with the understanding that they would each have night shifts during the week and a day off which followed their night shift and the weekends off which the two matrons would cover.

"What are you thinking about?" Tommy asked, coming into the room, looking even more exhausted than he did when he came home.

"What happened to you?" I asked as I caught sight of the time and realised I'd been sitting here for forty minutes waiting for him.

"Your son," he muttered, removing his tie and waistcoat. "I told him one story, which he agreed to. Once that one finished he begged for another one 'one more Da, please' he said and I gave in."

"That's your first mistake," I told him trying to suppress the smile as he grunted in annoyance. "It wasn't just two stories was it?"

"Four bloody stories, Romy," he said, throwing his hands up as he slipped out of his shoes. "He's manipulative like his mother."

"When have I ever manipulated anyone? It's more like he's your carbon copy and you can't stand the thought of someone being as smart and cunning as you."

"Well, it must be a combination of us then because you're just as smart and cunning as me."

"Are you flirting with me, Thomas Shelby?" I teased, placing my notebook on the bedside table and rising on my knees, shuffling towards him as he moved to the edge of the bed. "You know you don't have to do that to get me in your bed, right? We're married already."

"Doesn't mean I can't work for it," he replied, leaning down and pressing a kiss to my lips. "I love you."

"And I love you," I said, pressing a kiss to his lips with every word. I pulled away, resting my arms over his shoulders and playing with the back of his head, my fingers brushing over the shaved hair. "We've got some busy times ahead of us."

"Yeah?"

"I've found a place for the children's home," I told him, pulling away from him as he continued to get ready for bed. "Lizzie's been really helpful with the planning and we're going to work on colour schemes and sort out all the dormitories in the next couple of weeks. Get everything set up before we can move in the first lot of children in."

"Have you found any children yet?"

"I know where they're all staying thanks to Artie. He's actually going to be helping me to gain their trust over the next couple of weeks so they'll all come willingly to the home."

"Sounds like you have it all under control."

"You're not mad that I don't want your help with this?" I wasn't too sure how he took the news that I wanted this to be my project. Something I did with the help of Lizzie and Phin and no one else.

"No. I've got enough to deal with without helping you out," he said, climbing under the covers and pulling me into his side. "You don't need me hanging around giving my opinion either."

"Yeah, you'll probably just choose an ugly colour and throw off the vibe I'm going for," I teased, snuggling closer to him and taking in his warmth.

That was the thing I loved about him. He was always so warm, especially on the cold nights of winter. I loved it.

"You had a dream last night," he suddenly muttered, bringing me from my thoughts. "You were muttering something about a baby."

"I remember." It was as if him mentioning it had brought back my dream which I seemed to forget about until then. "I think I've had this dream a few times before," I told him, shifting closer to him as he pulled me into him. "I'm dreaming and then I wake because of the thunder. I'm in this house. I didn't know where I was when I dreamt about it when I was a teenager." I could remember all those times I dreamt about this dream. It made me pause because I'd forgotten all about the many dreams I had until now. "I just had this feeling that something was wrong. I would walk to the window and look out but it was quiet on the street. Just as I turned to go back in bed a flash of lightning would light up the sky followed by a loud rumble of thunder. There was a cry and I always thought it was TJ at first but something always felt off."

I paused as I took in a breath, running my fingers over Tommy's chest, smiling at the tingling that followed my fingertips.

"Something always tugs me to follow it down the stairs and to the front door. I'd open the door to find the street empty. I'd go to close the door when another boom of thunder would alert me to a baby on our doorstep, crying out at the storm." I pulled away from him slightly to glance up at his face, wondering what he was thinking about. "Someone left a baby on our doorstep Tommy."

The more I thought about it the more it made me wonder if this was more than a dream.

"You don't think it's a vision do you?"

It seemed my husband was on the same wavelength as me.

"Possible, but I can't be sure until it actually happens. Things change all the time. Maybe it's after we open up the home and someone thinks it's beneficial to leave their child in our care."

"Do you know when it happens?"

"No." Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to decipher when the baby would be dropped off at our doorstep. "Everything looks the same so I can only assume it will be within the year or we're just really boring people who don't update their house."

"We'll deal with it when it happens."

He seemed quiet. Too quiet.

"Is there something you know?" I pulled away from him and pushed myself up so I could look at him carefully.

He had that look on his face. The one where he wasn't sure if he should say what he was thinking.

"I've had a dream about the baby too."

Well. I wasn't expecting that.

"You have?"

"It's when you bring her into the house." That was something new. I always woke up as soon as I spotted the baby.

"A girl?"

"A newborn. There was a note but we never got to see it. I always wake as soon as you place her in my arms looking alarmed and rushing out of the house into the storm."

"I leave you with her? Where do I go?"

"I don't know. I woke up."

"How many times have you had this dream?"

I had to wonder if Tommy had always been able to have prophetic dreams or if he had them when they were related to me and were an influence of our bond?

Was it the essence of his magic that was allowing him to glimpse into the future and was only growing stronger because he was surrounded by magic?

Had the blood contract he'd signed when he made TJ his biological son affected the magic in him. Had it awakened what little abilities he'd have?

"Only twice." His voice broke through my panicking and I glanced at him to see the concern in his voice. "It's going to be okay, Romy. We'll deal with it."

"Okay." If that's what we had to do. "Okay." I think I was trying to reassure myself as I nodded in agreement, allowing him to pull me down against his chest and into his embrace.

I knew I wouldn't be falling into a restful sleep tonight.