- CHAPTER 10 -

- IN WHICH THE CHAOS GROWS MORE CHAOTIC

. . .

THE CEREMONY WAS rather quick. Eventually Ada and Polly had arrived which made Rory feel much less outnumbered in the crowd of men, and she ended up watching the entire thing at the side of the Gray woman.

Scudboat and Esme Lee were married in a matter of minutes, the two sharing the mingling of the two bloods before they were officially deemed man and wife. And for someone who'd been the least bit enthusiastic about this marriage, Scudboat appeared to be much happier by the end.

Now, with the sun completely set and hidden away by the moon, all the guests were finding new entertainment. Singing and dancing took place, the light of an apricot-coloured fire helping them see as the group of people jumped from one person to the other.

Just over to the side of yard, some of the Lee men had put together a table of sorts. A few pallets found stacked up in the corner were piled onto each other precariously, bottles of various alcohols and glass cups laid out across the top.

A multitude of people were stood around the makeshift table, most of them taking part in the drinking games that were taking place. And whilst the cheers of tipsy adults rang out into the enthusiastic air, Rory sat to the side watching with a dreamy smile on her lips as the families fused together to dance to the bagpipes and other musical instruments that had appeared.

"Come on, Ror, have a dance." John sloshed his bottle of whiskey about as he walked over to her, offering a hand. "Sitting here is boring."

Rory nodded, allowing the man to pull her up and spin her around. They danced about for some time, the two seemingly in their own world as they jumped about and span around. They turned around as people began lighting fireworks, the colourful sparks jumping into the air and making everyone cheer and clap.

The music continued to play over the top of the noise, everyone returning to their dancing and drinking games. Ada was having a little too much fun, her laughs and drunken screams being much louder than everyone else's.

"Tell Ada to slow down." Polly commanded Tommy, John and Rory joining them over at a bench they'd found.

"You think she'll listen to me?" Tommy scoffed, watching the sister jump around in circles with anyone in the Lee family.

"I tried to stop her, but she's been drinking." Polly took a sip of her drink, an amused expression on her face. "She's been stuck in that basement for weeks. What do you expect? She's going off like a firecracker- oh Christ, Tommy, please."

Rory shared a chuckle with John as they watched Arthur attempt to calm Ada down. Tommy choosing to step in before anything else dragged on too far. "Ada, that's enough now."

"Come and look Esme!" Ada shouted, body swaying as she stared at her brother. "Look at the world you've joined! Come and look at the man who runs it! He chooses his employees' wives! He hunts his sister down like a rat and tries to kill his own brother-in-law." She began slapping him, ignoring Arthur's warnings to stop. "And now he won't even let me have a fucking dance! Not even at a fucking wedding!"

"Calm down, Ada." Rory held the hand of Ada's in an attempted to keep her from hitting Tommy, Polly engulfing her in a hug.

"Ada, you must calm down." She reprimanded her, the girl beginning to gasp for air. "Holy shit." Polly looked down, Rory copying her actions to see a puddle of water. "Water. Right."

"Bloody hell, Ada, you do pick your times."

Rory and Polly acted quickly, grabbing a hold of each of her arms and instantly leaving the group of partying families and begun for the driveway. They quickly got her down one hill and up the other, slipping her into the car with the help of Esme.

Then, swiftly, and dangerously, the car set off through the lanes and towards Small Heath as fast as possible.

Rory and Polly guided her into her house, Esme following behind them whilst the men went to The Garrison. They laid her down on her bed, gently lifting off her dress so that she was just in her chemise.

Thick layers of sweat drenched her skin, agonising contractions coming from her mouth as the women attempted to encourage her.

"Keep going." Polly spoke calmly as she let out another scream. "That's right. Push." More excruciating noises came, Rory patting her forehead with a cold towel as to keep the distressed heat off her.

"I think it might be the wrong way round." Esme said, feeling various sides of Ada's womb. "I attended three sisters."Rory and Polly both copied her actions in feeling her womb, both of them agreeing with her. The baby certainly wasn't facing the right direction at all. "We should lean her forward."

"Come on, Ada." Polly spoke, gently clasping one of her shoulders whilst Rory grabbed the other.

"Not long now." The Miller girl added, feeling the same level of stress that the labouring woman did.

They held her in place whilst Esme encouraged the baby to move closer to daylight, the three counting to the screaming woman.

This was taking much longer than expected, and Rory was growing worried.

. . .

Ada sat in an armchair, the newly born baby resting in her arms. Polly handed her a mug of tea, Rory nursing her own one at the kitchen table. It had taken a little while to get the baby out, but eventually he had, and Ada was the happiest any of them had ever seen her.

"He's so beautiful." Rory mused, sitting down on an armchair opposite the Thorn. A small smile blossomed on her lips, the sound of a door opening behind her and the figure of Freddy in the archway.

"It's a boy, Freddy." Ada grinned up at her husband, the man softly walking into the room. He crouched down by her, and Rory took to standing so that he could take her chair if needed.

"It's a beautiful baby boy." Ada handed him the baby, Freddy looking at him with such love in his eyes.

Rory and Polly wore matching expressions as they stood in the corridor just be the living room doorway, letting the two parents have their moment with the child. But their expressions changed to ones of apprehension when pounds on the door interrupted.

"Open up! Police!"

Banging on the door grew louder, and Rory and Polly whipped around quickly, heading for where they could see the blurred out figures behind a hazy window.

The door opened on its own before Rory or Polly could get to it, Esme jumping in front in an attempt to keep the police out. "You can't come in here. There's a baby just been born!"

They barged past her, the other two women not making the effort to keep them out and instead stepped to the side - there was no point blocking them when the men were twice their size.

In a flurry of movement, Ada was begging for her husband as the police officers picked up Freddy's arms and lifted him from the ground. He was pushed against the walls, the Thorn woman's desperate shouts becoming more upsetting as they dragged him from the house.

All any of them could do was watch as Freddy was hauled away from his home, Ada left sobbing her heart out.

How bittersweet the day had been.

✧