The cup of Earl Grey lay cold in front of Charlotte, the light brown color darkening the longer it rested. It had been a few hours since the incident and the sun had slowly started to set. She hadn't bothered to move from her spot in the kitchen, just as Finn hadn't bothered to leave his room. The kitchen was silent aside from the sound of Charlotte's calves hitting the front of the chair each time she swung them and the soft crunch from when she took a bite of the bread Ada had given her. However, based on the scraping of wood and the footsteps in the room next to her, the silence was about to end.

Soft taps of footsteps barely made a sound and, if you didn't know what was about to happen or who it was, could've been passed off as the old house creaking. But, Charlotte knew better.

"Auntie Pol didn't say you could leave your room," Charlotte said, her voice oddly calm as her light blue eyes met her brother's dark ones, "You're going to get in trouble."

"Don't act like you don't wanna know what's going on either," Finn stated as he made his way over towards the old, navy door. Charlotte didn't bother to deny or defend herself against her brother's accusations. Grabbing the piece of bread she had left for him, she joined him against the door and crouched down.

"What do you think's going on?" She whispered, giving Finn his slice before ripping off a chunk of hers.

It had become a habit for the two to listen to the Peaky Blinders conversations through the door. Even though Finn had been accepted into the group, her brothers had yet to permit Finn into being included in on the business. Ada had explained that it was because Finn was too young to help them and they hadn't found a use for him yet. Charlotte thought that sounded terrible.

"I don't know," Finn admitted before biting into the bread and looking through the small crack between the door and the wall. Charlotte opened her mouth as another question planted itself in her mind but Finn turned to her and placed his finger over his lips, signaling for her to be quiet.

Charlotte tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear before she pressed her head against the door, straining her ears to hear the conversation that was being held behind the wooden doors.

"Right," There was no doubt in her mind that it was Arthur speaking. His voice was higher than Tommy's but had the same gruff undertone to it, "I've called this family meeting because I've got some very important news. Scudboat and Lovelock got back from Belfast last night. They were buying a stallion to cover their mares. They were in the pub on the Shankhill Road yesterday, and in that pub there was a copper, handing out these."

"What's he doing?" Charlotte whispered to Finn, leaning away from the door and looking at him with wide eyes.

"Hold on," Finn grumbled, and Charlotte watched as he squinted his eyes and pressed his face closer to the door, his nose starting to bend against the door as he leaned closer, "He's handing out… papers."

"What's on them?" She pressed, and Finn looked at her, his eyes sharp and full of frustration at her incessant questions.

"I don't know!" He hissed and Charlotte raised her hands in a quick 'I- surrender' before pressing her ear back against the door.

"'If you're over five feet and can fight, come to Birmingham.'" John quoted and Charlotte's face made an 'O' shape as her question was answered. Auntie Pol always did say she needed to work on her patience.

"They're recruiting Protestant Irishmen to come over here as Specials," Arthur stated, and Charlotte winced at the harsh tone.

"To do what?" Ada's confused tone barely carried through the door and Charlotte cursed her sister for speaking so quietly.

"To clean up the city, Ada." Tommy explained, "He's a chief inspector. The last four years, he's been clearing the IRA out of Belfast."

"How do you know so bloody much?" Charlotte's eyes widened at the threatening tone Arthur's voice held and she clenched her dress, hoping that he wouldn't start a fight with Tommy.

Although she didn't know Arthur and Tommy that well before they left for the war, she had a feeling that they weren't always at each other's throats. She never asked Tommy, Arthur, or John what had happened while they were at war… it was a topic she knew not to touch. Their first week home was hectic and confusing for Charlotte.

Since Auntie Pol and Ada feared that she may never meet her brothers, they had made sure that she sent them a letter a least once or twice a week. Auntie Pol told her that she sent her first letter when she was two. It had just been a bunch of scribbles and drawings, but Auntie Pol told her that it was the fact that she had signed her letter that gave her brothers hope. She said that the next batch of letters had been asking about her and how she had been doing. What she accomplished? What her new interests were and how she was getting along with Finn? Finn had been able to write since they had left, Charlotte hadn't.

When she met them, she didn't know who they were. Their faces had changed since the war and the young photos that Auntie Pol and Ada had shown her didn't come close to describing the haunted look in their eyes. The first week of them home consisted of Tommy screaming himself awake at night and Arthur's eyes glazing over as soft murmurs of 'no' left his lips. Ada and Auntie Pol were quick to get Finn and her out of the room before they could see more, but it seemed as though Arthur had more monsters than Tommy.

"Cause I asked the coppers on our payroll." Tommy's gruff voice pulled Charlotte out of her thoughts and she squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to focus back on what was happening.

"And why didn't you tell me?" Arthur growled, and Charlotte pressed her ear harder against the door, ignoring the sharp pain that was radiating from it.

"I'm telling you," Tommy said, and Charlotte could practically see the smirk forming on his face.

"So why are they sending him to Birmingham?" Charlotte heard her Auntie Pol cut in and she nearly let out a sigh of relief. Her Auntie always seemed to know exactly when to stop Tommy and Arthur.

"There's been all these bloody strikes at the BSA, and the Austin works lately." Tommy said, "Now the papers are talking about sedition. And revolution. I reckon it's communists he's after."

"So this copper's gonna leave us alone, right?" Auntie Pol pressed, and Charlotte shared a look with Finn.

"There are Irishmen in Green Lanes who left Belfast to get away from him. They say Catholic men who crossed him used to disappear in the night." Tommy informed.

"Yeah, but we ain't IRA." She heard John say, his voice impatient and frustrated, "We bloody fought for the king. Anyway, we're Peaky Blinders. We're not scared of coppers."

"He's right," Arthur grumbled.

"If they come for us, We'll cut them a smile each." John finished and Charlotte looked over at Finn, who used his two pointer fingers to draw an elongated smile that trailed from the corner of his lips to bottom of his ears and Charlotte wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"So, Arthur, is that it?" Tommy asked, and Charlotte could tell that he didn't seem to care by the way his voice remained relaxed and even a bit… bored.

"What do you think, Aunt Pol?"

"This family does everything open. You have nothing more to say to this meeting, Thomas?" Auntie Pol said, causing Charlotte's eyes to widen. Her Auntie was dismissing Arthur for Tommy and Charlotte knew that the house was going to loud with anger tonight.

"No. Nothing that's women's business." Charlotte blinked, maybe this is what Ada meant by sexist?

"This whole bloody enterprise was a women's business while you boys were away at war." Auntie Pol stated calmly, but Charlotte could hear the annoyed undertone to her words, "What's changed."

"We came back."

The sound of chairs scratching against the floor had Charlotte scrambling away from the door and returning to her chair. Finn had already scampered back upstairs, his steps silent and calculated as she raced up the steps. Charlotte stared lazily into the fire, refusing to look at anyone who passed through the kitchen as they left.

She had learned that if she wanted to remain out of suspicion, she had to keep quiet and act as though nothing had ever happened.

That she was too young to even understand what was happening.

Taking a bite of her bread, Charlotte's heart slowed as the doors closed and she knew that Scudboat, Lovelock, and Ada had left the room and would not be returning until tomorrow. Now, all she had to was wait until Tommy and Auntie Pol left. For some reason, they were always able to tell when she had been up to something.

"Lottie," Charlotte turned in her chair to see Tommy looking at her, a knowing smirk playing on his lips, "Where's your brother?"

"Upstairs," Charlotte responded, twisting her body so that her knees were resting on the chair and her arms were resting against the back of it, looking at Tommy with her misty, blue eyes.

"And he stayed up there the whole time?" Tommy gruffly questioned, and Charlotte nodded her head, "And you stayed in that chair the whole time?"

"Yep."

Charlotte's heart pounded in her ears at the silence that followed. Still, she kept the happy smile on her face and refused to show any other emotion. She just had to wait until Tommy left, then she could relax. Finally, Tommy smirked and ruffled her hair.

"You've gotten quite good at hiding your emotions, Lottie. That'll be useful one day."

Charlotte watched Tommy leave the room, her eyes trailing after his form until the door close. Letting out a deep sigh, she dropped in the chair and stared tiredly at the fire blazing in front of her.

It was a month before her seventh birthday, and the day her older brothers were coming home.

To say she was nervous was an understatement.

Charlotte clung tightly onto Ada's hand as she led her through the crowds of people, her other hand clenched tightly around Finn's. Charlotte's face contorted into one of confusion as she observed the amount of women who stood on the tracks sobbing. A majority of them had small children that were either wailing or staring at their mother in confusion.

"Now," Charlotte looked to her Auntie Pol as she spoke, the four of them stopping in front of a rusty, green bench, "You know that your brothers are arriving on this train. Do not let go of Ada's hand until I say so, do you understand?"

Charlotte nodded and tightened her grip on her sister's hand.

Her heart was racing and her hands were shaking.

Ada seemed to notice her nerves for she squeezed Charlotte's hand quickly in reassurance. Finn, on the hand, seemed to be ecstatic. He had let go of Charlotte's hand the moment they stopped walking. He was bouncing on his toes and pulling on Aunt Pol's hand. Charlotte only shrunk closer into her sister's coat.

"Are you nervous, Lottie?" Ada asked, looking down at Charlotte, her dark cerulean eyes dancing with excitement.

"Yes," Charlotte responded, her voice quiet and meek as she twisted Ada's coat nervously with her free hand.

"Why? Aren't you excited to see your brothers?" Ada questioned and Charlotte nodded. Ada tilted her head at her sister's sudden behavior. Just an hour ago, she had been bouncing off the walls with Finn in excitement, "What's wrong?"

"What if they don't like me?" Charlotte confessed her fear and both Ada and Pol looked at each other in surprise.

"Oh, Charlotte," Ada said, crouching down to Charlotte's height and looking her the eyes, "They're going to love you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. In every letter they wrote, they asked about you." Ada smiled, and Charlotte couldn't stop the smile from creeping onto her face, "They're your big brothers. They're going to love and protect you for as long as they're alive."

"Ada," Ada and Charlotte looked up at Auntie Pol as a breathless gasped escaped her lips and her eyes began to water, "Ada, they're here."

Following her Auntie's gaze, Charlotte struggled to see past the mass of people, but it was only when startling blue eyes crashed with her, she knew her brothers were home.