Thank you for the reviews.

Yes, I am back with the only Wednesday Work that I have got finished. I mean there is no real point in sitting on it longer than necessity is there.

First off... Happy Birthday, Em. If I am being honest, that just gave me a good reason to upload this.

Secondly, I going to try and sum up a little FYI I tweeted last night. In short, if I thought my writing year went badly last year, I think this year is going to be on par. I just feel so busy with everything else at the moment. Like I started this level of my training at the end of February and so far I have completed three modules, taken two exams and passed thoses, taking my third exam next Wednesday to start the next module on 15th. Karate has been a little mental as well but, hopefully, maybe, that will calm down as well (there was a point where we almost had something planned for every weekend). And I am not going to lie, I don't need much to distract myself away from what I should be doing. But, at the same time, I want to keep writing when I can because I got fics I want to write and I fear that if I say that I need to take a break from it, I might never pick it up again. I already stopped before and Waterloo Road brought me back to writing again. It has just been a lot recently. Hence why you haven't had anything longer than a one shot/a chapter since March (which might not seem long ago but I hoped that I would be closer to getting the next long fic out to you than I am at the moment).

Anyway, hopefully I can get more like this to you sooner than I think currently.

Please enjoy this chapter all about Charlie...

Who Is Charlie?

Charlie didn't want to get their hopes up.

Things… never really worked out for them.

Soon or later, Sally and Jane would work out that they weren't worth it and the whole thing would fall through and they would go back to Jackie and being called Eve and gendered as she/her. In their eyes, the sooner it happened, the better. That way they could get back on with their plan of leaving care and be completely safe in the knowledge that the only person that they could rely on was themself.

Probably the worst part in that thinking was that Sally and Jane were making a massive effort.

And when it seemed like things were close to being finalised, that was when they showed Charlie that they could be relied upon.

"So who is Charlie?" Jane asked.

"Sorry?" Charlie said.

"Well, who are you? Who do you want to be? How do you want to present yourself? Like how do you want to dress or have your hair? What will help you turn fully from Not Eve to Charlie?"

In that moment, Charlie realised how much they could change. They had never got past the name stage before. They knew deep down the way that they felt but it wasn't until they had the opportunity to know what that could look like did they know that they didn't really know how they wanted it to look like. And Charlie was sure that Jane picked up on that.

"Don't worry. We can work it all out as we go. I just wondered if you did have any thoughts."

Charlie wished that they did.

"What are you looking at?" Rachel said as Charlie scrolled through their phone.

"Jane brought up about hair cuts. I do… I'd like to dye it but I know it needs to be a natural colour for school." Charlie said.

"What colour would you want?"

"Blue. Or maybe purple."

Charlie could see Rachel thinking it over and they knew that her students were lucky to have her as a headteacher. Charlie's current head was a bit of a dick. Definitely not half as tolerant as Rachel was. And he would flip if a hair colour wasn't right. Like a skirt being a little too short or if someone wasn't wearing a blazer.

"You didn't hear this from me," Rachel said. "But some purples can look rather black. And I would get it professionally done rather than from a box. And don't let Jane convince you that she can do it. She can't and she never has been able to. Sally will kill me after the… mess that was left last time."

Charlie giggled. "What happened?"

Rachel's lip twitched slightly and Charlie already knew that it probably wasn't something that Rachel wanted to say.

"Our family. Mine and Jane's." Rachel said. "We have a history of going grey early. Like… I don't remember my mum not dying her hair because she was half-grey after… my sister was born. I thought I found a few greys and instantly wanted to dye my hair. Jane said she could do it. We ruined five towels and made a mess of the bathroom. And Sally had every right to have the go that she did at us. She had just come in from a night shift and wanted to use the shower but couldn't because there wasn't a clean towel and the rest of them were in the shower. And the bathroom was a tip. I think Jane had more grovelling to do than I did."

For some reason, Charlie wasn't that surprised. In getting to know Jane and Sally more, they now knew that Jane was the risk taker while Sally was the one who liked to overanalyse every situation. Charlie did think that had something to do with Sally's career. But they were both equally as patient and had been quick to change things that they were doing just to accommodate Charlie. Like by the third time of them meeting, both of them had the they/them pronouns down and it was clear that they had done some research into what it all meant. And they weren't shy about saying when they didn't know or understand something. Charlie was sure that they would have made amazing parents anyway. They were just the lucky one to have them.

"I won't," Charlie said.

"Have you found a haircut as well then?" Rachel asked.

"Sort of. I just… I don't know. I want to go shorter. A lot shorter than it is now. I just worry that I am going to sit down at the hairdressers and they will try and talk me out of it."

"Well, they shouldn't really. Not if it is what you want. Pixie short?"

Charlie nodded. "A bit like this." They turned their phone to Rachel.

"Jane, 1992," Rachel said.

"Sorry."

"That was the haircut Jane had in 1992. Hold on a second. There are a number of photos around here somewhere."

Charlie watched as Rachel left the kitchen, probably to go to the living room, and felt the excitement rise in them. They were going to see Jane and Sally in their 20s and they didn't know why the idea of it did excite them. But Rachel returned with the widest smile on her face and Charlie was certain that these photos held some good memories for her as well.

"That was us bringing in the new year. 91 into 92." Rachel said as she handed over the first photo. "I don't quite know where Jane picks half of her friends up but one of them at that time was a hairdresser and literally, with half an hour to midnight, Jane decided that she wanted to start off the new year with a new haircut so we cleared half the kitchen so she could get it cut. Bearing in mind we were all pretty drunk by that point, it wasn't too bad."

Charlie looked down at the photo and could only smile at the scene. It was the three of them; Jane, Sally and Rachel. Sally was in the middle with Jane kissing her cheek while Rachel was laughing. It definitely showed how carefree they were. The next one Rachel handed them was of the same night and Charlie could only feel their smile widen. Because Jane and Sally were looking at each other with so much love. And it was a look that Charlie had seen between them many times before. In their 33 years of loving each other, it had never faded. And Charlie could only hope that they would find something like that.

"I know. They're sickening, aren't they?" Rachel said.

"I think it's rather cute. 33 years and they still feel the same about each other."

"That doesn't mean that they haven't had their moments."

"Yeah, but doesn't everyone? No relationship is 100% perfect all the time."

Rachel gave them a look and Charlie did wonder what she knew. Because it didn't seem like one of those looks to tell them that she already knew that. Although, Charlie couldn't really see Jane and Sally having that much of a bust up.

But the look on Rachel's face changed as she handed over the next photo, saying that it was one of her favourite memories. There were moments when Charlie didn't believe Rachel. And that was one of them. Just because of the tone that Rachel said it in. Charlie knew her past. They knew what she had done and was made to do by a family member. But this was after this time. And a couple of years afterwards. Things should have been better, shouldn't they?

Charlie wasn't going to ask the question. Mainly because they didn't want to bring up any bad memories. Because even they knew that bad memories lingered.

And they wished for a day when they wouldn't.

When it was all arranged, it was arranged by Charlie and at a time when they knew Jane wasn't going to be around. Not that they didn't think that Jane would be down for what they wanted to do. They just had Rachel's warning ringing in their ears and felt like Jane finding out about them dying their hair after the event would be the best way to keep the peace in their household.

And it wasn't like they needed Sally to be there as they were sure that both Jane and Sally did trust them, but it was nice when Sally did offer to come with them. To which Charlie took her offer. Mainly because it was lovely to have the support that she now had.

But when the hairdressers were in sight, Charlie stopped Sally. Just to tell her exactly what was happening.

"We might be here a while," Charlie said.

"Okay."

"I also booked to have my hair dyed as well. Rachel told me the story about what happened with her and Jane and a box of hair dye. I just… well, I thought it would be better if Jane knew afterwards."

Sally laughed. "Most definitely. Honestly, I don't get angry with her a lot but God, that was one of the times when I wanted to strangle her."

"I just wanted you to know now. So it wasn't so much of a surprise."

"Charlie, it's your hair. You can do whatever you like with it."

Charlie smiled at her before they started walking again and after a little waiting, Charlie found themselves in the chair with the hairdresser behind them.

"Cut and colour, right?" The hairdresser said.

"Yeah," Charlie said before they got their phone out. "I was thinking about this for the cut."

They watched the hairdresser as she looked at the photo and then played about with their hair for a moment. Sally also leaned over to get a look at the photo and Charlie could see the smile on Sally's face in the mirror.

"1992 Jane," Sally said.

"Rachel said the same thing."

Sally turned to the hairdresser. "My wife had the same hairstyle in 1992."

"And colour?" The hairdresser said.

"What is the darkest purple you do?" Charlie said.

"You're still at school, aren't you?"

"Well, I've done my GSCEs now. But I'm going to do my A Levels. I just don't want to go too overboard with it right now. Do you get that question a lot then?"

"Not in that way. It is usually about what colours they could have and get away with it at school."

She cut the majority of Charlie's hair off before she started with the colour. Sally looked like she realised that they were going to be there for a while. And once the colour was in their hair and the hairdresser said that she would be back to check on it in a couple of minutes, Sally joined Charlie and they would admit that they didn't know what the look on her face meant.

"Was it Rachel who gave you the idea of dark purple?" Sally asked.

"Yeah."

"What colour did you want it?"

"An electric blue. Like really bright. I don't mind the purple idea though. Just... I did want it bright."

"You could have over the summer."

"I might have liked it too much to not want to let it go after the summer."

"Fair enough."

Charlie paused for a moment. "Sal, thanks for all this. For everything you and Jane have done for me. You didn't need to. And everything you are doing now."

"Do you want to know one of the first things that Jane said to me after our first meeting was?"

Charlie nodded.

"She said that she didn't think that the hardest thing would be the adoption. It wouldn't be us getting to know each other. It wouldn't even be us living in the same house together. I remember it so clearly. How she turned to me and just said 'you know that kid is lonely. And probably has been for quite some time. As much as we want the kid to have their own independence, I bet even when we want to give, they aren't going to take'." Sally paused for a moment. "Calling you kid helped Jane make sure that she was using the right pronouns."

"Yeah but people let you down, don't they? Even you've said that you spent time away from your family because they didn't completely accept you."

"Mum and Amy accepted me. Always have done. We were going to try and make things work behind my dad and brother's back but that never happened. Jane had it worse in that aspect. She was pretty much outed in front of her own family and her dad took it way worse than she ever imagined. So I do think she knows a thing or two when it comes to loneliness."

"Yeah… well… you don't have to worry about me."

"I don't quite know whether you have a choice in that matter. Especially with Jane. I think she will already go to the end of the earth for you."

"Yeah but…"

"Charlie, we are going to care for you whether you want us to or not. And we will want to provide things for you that we think that we should because everything is about you and helping you become the person that you want to be. You are at the beginning of a journey. We want to be there with you. And we want to make sure that you always have a safe space to do that in."

Sally smiled at Charlie before she squeezed their shoulder before she left them to wherever she was waiting before. A couple of moments later, the hairdresser was back.

"Shall we see how this colour is going?"

Charlie nodded and knew that they had a couple of things to work out. And maybe they should let Jane and Sally into their lives a little more.

"Oh I love it," Kiera said.

Charlie hadn't expected the Lawsons to be round when they got home. They turned to Sally only for her to give them a shrug and Charlie suspected that they were now stuck with all of them whether they liked it or not.

It seemed like Rachel had heard Kiera and decided to put her head around the door to take a look before giving them a smile.

Charlie took a deep breath before they stepped into the kitchen. As much as they knew why they had hidden it from Jane, they didn't know how she was going to take it. Experience made them believe that it wouldn't be taken well.

"How does it feel?" Jane said when she saw Charlie.

"A lot better. It is going to take a little getting used to after having it long for so long." Charlie said.

"It suits you. Maybe a bit better than it suited me." Jane paused for a moment. "Is it a different colour as well?"

As much as Charlie tried to, they couldn't stop themselves from becoming worried about what the outcome was going to be.

"Y-yeah. I fancied a change there as well."

Jane turned to Rachel. "Is that okay?"

"Okay?" Rachel said.

"For school. Is the colour okay for school? I am not having them kicked out on their first day because their hair is the wrong colour."

"I was the one to suggest a dark purple." Rachel paused for a moment. "And don't be all holier than thou about school now. You didn't finish secondary school because you were kicked out."

"So were you."

"I wasn't kicked out because of something I had done."

"Kinda was. You should have let Melissa keep the drugs."

"No. No. No." Sally said. "No, we are not doing this again and we aren't doing it now."

Kiera had snuck up beside Charlie by this point and they turned to her.

"Did you know that about your mum?" Charlie whispered.

"Sort of. I knew that she had been kicked out of school because of something related to Danny. And then I know that Danny had something to do with drugs and… my grandparents, I suppose, were addicts."

"Is that why Rachel doesn't drink?"

"Maybe. She told me that she had a weird relationship with alcohol." Keira paused. "I do really love the hair."

"Thanks. I hadn't told Jane and Sally about dying it. You don't think that Jane is mad about it, do you?"

"Nah, I think they are two busy arguing about the past to really care about the present."

Charlie did turn to the scene in front of them and couldn't help but agree with Kiera. And what Charlie feared never came. Because Jane seemed completely cool with it. Which confused Charlie for longer than they were going to admit.

"Jane, can I buy a binder?" Charlie said.

"Yes," Jane said before having to shout after her ward after Charlie bolted. "Hey, come back here."

Luckily, Charlie did come back but with a rather sheepish look on their face. Jane knew that Charlie maybe wasn't settling in as well as everyone hoped. There were times where it seemed like they were but Jane was sure that there were still a few things that they had to overcome before Charlie properly trusted them.

"You said yes," Charlie said.

"I know I did but I don't want you to buy the first one you find. And I don't want you to buy a cheap one either. I want us to do the research and then I want you to promise both me and Sally that you will wear it responsibly. Okay?"

Jane understood exactly what Charlie was going to do. They weren't going to be the first one in the house to make themselves appear less feminine than they actually were. Jane had always found herself being 'one of the lads'. Which had made her do some rather strange things to try and be like them. Even more so when she realised that she liked girls instead of boys. Which shocked some of the girls that she did manage to hook up with, in both good and bad ways.

"I'll be fine," Charlie said.

"Will you?"

Charlie nodded.

"So if I find you passed out one day when it is really hot or because you've worn it for too long, am I allowed to tell you that I told you so?"

Charlie did seem a little stunned at that but also seemed to bounce back quite quickly. And Jane realised that she had to get across that she had done all of the stupid things that she was worried that Charlie would do. And that her body didn't thank her for it at the time. And she doubted that Charlie's body would thank them as well.

"Charlie, what I am about to tell you, nobody knows. Well, other than my mum. Sally doesn't know nor does Rachel and they are the two people that I would say knew everything about me." Jane took a deep breath. "I used to bind back in the day. I used to hang out with my cousin, James, and his group of friends. Causing mischief. And I was okay for a girl. And when you are there, confused about everything around you and about yourself, you do stupid things. I tried to be one of the guys. It was easier to pick up girls that way. Some who seemed relieved to find out that I wasn't actually a guy.

"But there was one day where… I'd got a bit cocky with it. I didn't have a quarter of the information that you have now. I didn't know the risks. And that day I did what I usually did but I must have done it a little tighter than usual. I was fine all the time I was out but the moment I got home, I knew something wasn't right. I felt so breathless and I went straight to my room to get undressed but I didn't get that far. Mum found me, passed out on the floor. I'd gotten my t-shirt off but she had to cut off my makeshift binder. And I had to promise her that I would never do it again if she promised me that she would never tell anyone that it happened. I realised that I really scared her and, for once, I did exactly as I was told."

"Yeah but…" Charlie started.

"I know. There is a lot more information now and you will be wearing something made for that purpose. Which is why I want to make sure that we are doing this properly. An hour or so of research is going to be better than to go in blindly."

Jane wasn't completely convinced that Charlie completely understood when they said that they would get their laptop but she did hope that Charlie would be sensible with it.

But Jane was sure that it was an 'only time will tell' type of situation.

Jane and Charlie being leant over Charlie's laptop was not what Sally had thought that she would come home to but it was how she found them in the kitchen. Discussing something that Sally had hoped to get but couldn't completely understand what they were talking about.

"I'm home," Sally said as she entered the room properly, hoping that they wouldn't have noticed that she had been listening in for a bit.

"Good day?" Jane said as she looked up.

"Jane, you know most of my day now is paperwork based."

"Yeah, but sometimes you get to do what you entered the force to do."

"Not as often as I would like."

"I know. But I prefer that you are actually getting acknowledged for all that you do now. And you can do more now, even if you don't feel like you are. You don't come home as frustrated as you used to do."

"I would have thought that you would have seen that as a bad thing."

"I am getting old, Sal. I like to think that I can keep up but the mind can only tell the body to do so much."

"Can we stop this conversation please?" Charlie said.

Sally turned to their ward and could see that the conversation had hints of going in a direction that she was sure most kids would be embarrassed about if their parents spoke about it openly. But Sally couldn't deny the changes to her relationship with Jane as they got older. They weren't the 20-something years olds now. And they had matured with the length of their relationship.

"So what are you two doing?" Sally asked.

"Researching binders," Charlie said.

"You are going to be careful with it, aren't you?"

Sally caught Jane's reaction to that, realising that Jane had obviously already voiced her concerns. It wasn't that they wanted to restrict Charlie in the same ways that they had been restricted in the past. But they wanted their ward to be healthy as well as happy. And maybe the dangers to Charlie's physical health came to mind first than the overall benefit it would have on their mental health.

"It is why we are researching," Jane said when Charlie stayed quiet. "I think we are going to get it from one brand and get multiple sizes. And I have asked Charlie to promise us that they are going to use them responsibly."

"And I've got to go out and get some sports bras for the days that I don't wear them," Charlie said.

"Sorry, Charlie. I just…" Sally said.

"No, I get it. You would hate it if anything happened to me. Even if it was self-inflicted."

Jane only gave Sally a shrug when she looked over at her but it was clear that Jane had already dealt with it. In what way, Sally wasn't sure that she would find out. But that didn't completely matter. She was just glad that it was sorted.

"I'm going to have to put Eve, aren't I?" Charlie said.

They hated how their voice cracked at that. It may have only been a month since someone last called them Eve but it felt like a step backwards. Charlie was who they were now. And the last thing that they wanted to do was put their deadname on the form.

"Well… yes," Rachel said. "For legal reasons. But I will personally make sure that it is on the system that you are called Charlie and that is what you want to be called. And they/them pronouns. There is usually a form that goes around on the first day of the school year that makes sure that our system is up to date."

"Or just tell them that your auntie is the head and most of them play ball after that," Keira said.

"Why should Charlie when you don't use it?"

"I don't use it because everyone is starting to overreact to things."

"You are entitled to a good education and it shouldn't matter if you are state educated or put in a special school. It's like the moment I say that you are deaf, there are some that think that means you need more help. Like it is linked to your intelligence somehow."

Charlie did love the relationship that Rachel and Keira had. It completely juxtaposed the relationship that they had with their own mother before they ended up in the care system. It would have been nice to have that type of relationship and they hoped that, eventually, that would be the relationship that they would have with both Jane and Sally. Although Charlie had already gathered that there were certain things that would go down differently if they didn't pick the right guardian.

"Look, all I am trying to get across is that everything will be sorted for you, Charlie," Rachel said.

"Is it hard to change your name?" Charlie asked.

Rachel shook her head. "And you've been trying out the name and are comfortable with it. Same way I sort of did it. I just…" She sighed. "I entered a police interview room as Amanda Fenshaw and left it as Rachel. It's… all part of the longer story."

"Was that when Sally arrested you?"

"I did hit her. And if she didn't, I wouldn't have been reunited with Jane."

"It was fate," Keira said.

"She is her father's daughter."

Charlie couldn't help but smile at that. Because the Lawson kids were definitely mixes of their parents. Even if they only thought that they were like one or the other.

"I do feel really comfortable with Charlie," Charlie said.

"Then maybe that is the next thing you need to do," Rachel said.

"And don't worry. Mum loves paperwork. Dad on the other hand." Keira said.

Rachel just rolled her eyes and it only made Charlie's smile widen.

As much as they didn't want to believe that this was all real and that this family was now theirs, Charlie did certainly feel at home.

And they knew that they had a couple of things to think about before they even started the application to get their name changed.

"I would have thought that would be the easy bit," Sally said as she looked over Charlie's shoulder to see how they were getting on with filling the form out.

She had seen that they had stalled not long after they started to fill it out. And Sally wasn't lying when she thought that Charlie was on the easy part. They had put in their old name but only Charlie of their new name.

"It's just…" Charlie started.

"From Eve Grant to Charlie Grant," Jane said.

"Well."

"Well, what?" Sally said.

Sally could feel how hesitant Charlie was but it helped her to catch up to where this was going and why they were so hesitant. And it was like Charlie knew that when they looked up and her, with Sally giving a little nod to tell them to do it.

"Charlie Grant. Or I could be… Charlie Allen." Charlie said.

Jane instantly stopped what she was doing and locked eyes with Sally. And the good thing about being with someone for 33 years meant that Sally knew exactly what Jane was feeling. It was probably the same feeling she felt when Sally said that she would rather take Allen than stay a Tyler when they were planning their civil partnership.

"Sorry?" Jane said.

Sally nodded when Charlie turned to her. If it was anything like when she asked or when Rachel told them what Keira's full name was, Jane would have to hear it multiple times before it sank in.

"Well… if it's okay. I-I-I've been thinking about it since Pride. When I called you two my mums. Just… well… this is a new start. And." Charlie seemed to take a moment to compose themselves. "Would it be okay to take your name? To… make it all the same? I get your history but mine is sort of the same. And now I have a home where I can be who I am and well… Allen means so much more to me than Grant."

Sally knew that the tears in Jane's eyes were going to fall whether Jane wanted them to or not.

"Really?" Jane said.

Charlie nodded.

"W-well, if that is what you want… I am more than happy with that."

"Me too." Sally said, giving her opinion even if she felt like it might not be needed now.

Sally always thought that things would sort themselves out in the end. That everything would settle down and Charlie found out who they were, things would be how they wanted them to be. Maybe it had taken a little longer for it all to happen than expected but it had happened. Which was the most important bit. And Sally even found herself feeling a little emotional seeing Charlie write 'Charlie Allen' on the form.

This might not have been the way that she would have wanted things to happen originally. Maybe when she had thought about having children, it would be her own flesh and blood. The only problem came when she knew that she couldn't have children with the person she want to have children with. And maybe, in the not so distant future, couples like them would be able to have children who shared the DNA of both parents. But for now, Sally knew she had Jane and Charlie. And she was more than happy with that.