Chapter 24 - He is your brother

The next day.

It was still early morning. On the streets of Birmingham, people were either going about their business or to work. Someone else was resting, and someone was standing and looking at the whole city bustle from the side holding a cigarette in his hand. But the most important thing is that now there was a smile on the faces of passers-by, which is connected with the fact that their relatives finally returned home.

Standing in the middle of the city bustle, wearing only a shirt, Thomas Shelby stood with Arthur and talked on various topics with him and looked at the city that he had not seen for several years.

"We're at Tommy's house.. Finally, we will be able to live peacefully again as normal people in houses, and not in the damn trenches .." - said Arthur, slightly wrinkling his face.

- "No, Arthur.. We won't be like normal people anymore." Thomas said, looking at his brother, who understood the meaning of his words.

There are too many scars left on everyone's heart after the war. And it is not known how long it will take to heal them. Maybe they really won't be able to live like everyone else.

At that moment, John came out, who had just left Polly's office. According to her, she wanted the family to gather in the main hall to discuss something. At that moment, the woman was clearly going to say something important at this family gathering, so he went out to call his brothers.

- "Tommy, Arthur.. Polly asked us all to get together to discuss something important.." John said, lighting a cigarette.

"She didn't say the reason?" Thomas asked.

- "Who knows, probably talk about us.. Maybe something else, but when we talked, my aunt was clearly nervous, maybe it's something serious," John said, scratching his head.

While the brothers continued to talk, Polly sat in her chair and looked at the photo in her hand. She was looking at her with her neurotic gaze.

The photo showed a boy with a girl in a wheelchair next to him. It was the only photo that Victor took before he disappeared.

- "I wonder how the boys will react when they find out about this.." - the woman whispered, picking up a glass of whiskey.

A little later, the whole family gathered in the main hall. There were 3 brothers who were still talking about different topics and Ada who was sitting with little Finn, but only Aunt Polly who had not yet come to the meeting was missing.

"Do you know why she gathered us here?" Ada asked, clearly not understanding the reason why they were here.

"I thought you'd be aware of the reason, since you've been with her the whole time we've been away.." - said Arthur smoothing his hair back.

- "No, I do not know.." - said Ada and continued to play with her younger brother.

Soon there was a dull sound of heels tapping from the second floor, where a woman soon appeared. Polly slowly descended the stairs and settled into a chair that stood in the middle of the hall.

- "I have some very important news for you.. Now is probably not the best time to talk about something like this, but I think the sooner you find out the better it will be for you.." said Polly and put a black and white photo on the coffee table that was slightly worn.

- "This boy's name is Victor, the surname he now bears, he inherited from his mother." - after that, she made a short pause, carefully looking at the faces of everyone present, then continued to say: - "Mother's surname is Romanov, father's is Shelby.."

Namesakes are quite common, and almost everyone has them. If someone has the same surname with him, it does not mean that the other person is somehow related to him by blood ties.

"And how are we supposed to understand this?" Arthur asked, clearly not understanding what's wrong here.

- "Maybe someone has the same surname as us. I don't think it's worth wasting time on meaningless conversation because of this.." John replied.

- "Shut up John, let Polly continue, if it were that simple, she would hardly have gathered us here." - Thomas replied and looked at Polly, clearly giving her a sign to continue.

- "The fact is that his father is Arthur Shelby Sr.. That is, your father." - Polly said that after her words, everyone just stared at her at once.

- "Um... this is..." - Arthur was about to say when Tommy interrupted him.

"Are you sure about this? I don't think now is the time to joke." Thomas asked and went over to take the photo on the coffee table.

Holding the photo in his hands, he examined it carefully. It depicted 2 teenagers with smiles on their faces. Especially the girl who was very beautiful, which is why her smile was the most noticeable feature in this photo.

Next to her was a boy with very expressive facial features, but he did not have such a bright smile as the girl, instead he had a small gentle smile on his face, but the most noticeable were his eyes that were full of emotions for the girl next to him.

- "I've already checked everything several times, so I'm sure there's no doubt about it. " Polly said , then looked at her nephews and said again: - "You must understand that he is your brother, although from another mother. You have the same blood with him, so I think we should return him to our family."

Everyone in turn began to approach Tommy to look at the photo too. At that moment, when Ada and John saw the couple in the photo, they immediately turned pale, especially John. At that moment, he immediately remembered what this little kid had done to him 6 years ago.

"Polly, are you sure?" John asked with obvious confusion, clearly not wanting to accept all of the above.

- "John.. Let's go away for a minute," said Eida, pulling his brother aside.

The girl as well as her brother at that moment was in a little shock from the photo she saw. Therefore, she decided to discuss with him separately from the others.

"He tricked me, Ade.. Do you hear? This little asshole then deceived the two of us as children!" said John, clearly not restraining anger in his words.

- "Do you think I was also glad to find out that that boy turned out to be our younger brother," Ada added with a serious tone.

"He's not my fucking brother. I do not know when our father managed to fix this bastard on the side, but I am clearly against him being in our family."- said John.

- "It's not for us to decide what to do next.. Let's see what others decide, and then we'll think about everything else. Ending the conversation, Ade returned to her seat.

At that moment, there was a strange atmosphere in the room after what Polly said. Everyone in his head was thinking about something of his own, clearly having his own opinion on this matter. But the majority still decided that it would be right to return the boy to the family.

"Do you know where he is now?" Tommy asked, clearly not in a good mood now that he found out that his father had once cheated on his mother.

"Unfortunately, I don't know that either.. Four years ago, after the outbreak of the war, he disappeared from this city. Perhaps the only clue where to look for him is to personally ask this girl" - pointing his finger at the photo where there was a girl in a wheelchair.

- "Good.. Then I'll go and find out about him tonight.. Arthur, John, you're coming with me.." - turning his head to his brothers who clearly had not the best facial expressions .