Yes... Hello... It's me... with another timeline that I can't just leave alone. You must all be used to this at this point.

So this started out as the idea that is now the second chapter of this new weird, dart about (hopefully not too many chaptered) story. But I felt like this was the best way to start this and man, do I feel like I have gone down some rabbit holes with this story.

So the first part of this is set about the same time as the beginning of chapter 28 of Next to Me (i.e. Rachel has been found and they are all home and it is just Jane and Sally at theirs). And then the last two parts as post Next To Me. Okay? Just so we know where we are.


It's Oh So Quiet

Jane knew that there would be a calm after Rachel was found. Jane knew that Eddie, Kiera and Jacob would end up going home. Jane knew that with three less people in the house, it would be quiet. She just didn't realise how much she enjoyed the noise in the house.

Philip had left only a year and a half ago because Jane had encouraged him to. She was sure that he would still be with them if she hadn't done.

But as she laid in bed, with Sally next to her, she could just sense how quiet the house was.

"I can hear you thinking," Sally said.

Jane turned to her, noting how her wife's eyes were closed. Every once in awhile, the conversation would come back up as to why they never had kids or why they never adopted. If anything, she never knew that it was a big deal for Sally until after Kiera was born. It was the only thing that they weren't unconventional about. Maybe they should have taken James' offer. At least the child would have sort of known their dad.

"It's quiet. Too quiet." Jane said.

"You know that they were going to have to go home eventually."

"I know just… it is too quiet."

Sally moved closer to Jane before she opened her eyes. It did make Jane feel a little guilty because she was sure that Sally would have to get up before her. This was precious sleeping time for Sally and she was taking it from her.

"Jane."

"Sal… we keep talking about it. Why don't we do it?"

"Really?"

"We keep saying that we would make good parents and it isn't like we can take James up on his offer now. It has been the only thing we haven't done. We never gave a fuck about being together or getting married. But we give a fuck about having kids. So much that we haven't allowed it to happen. We aren't getting any younger."

"You are four years ahead of me."

Jane smiled as she rolled onto her side to face Sally. "Why don't we actually do it? Stop talking about it and actually do it. Do what we should have done all those years ago and never did because we cared too much about what people would say."

"Are you sure?"

"As sure as the day that I asked you to marry me."

Jane always loved the way that Sally would kiss her and pull her on top of her. Their love was nothing like Jane had in the past. It was why she knew that Sally was the one for her and it still amazed her how in love she was with Sally. There had only been two girls before Sally but Sally had accepted everything about her. From her rubbish family to her overprotective nature. Jane knew she was a keeper the moment that Rachel moved in with them and they went through everything that they did with her to get Rachel back on track.

It was slightly ironic that the person who gave her the best advice she had been given about relationships was from her Auntie Sarah, who had told her that if things were meant to be, then no argument could stop that. If the person you are arguing with means more than the argument, always be the first to make the first move and always make it up to them.

It was the reason why Jane hated arguing with Sally but knew that it was going to happen. Which is why they made the rule about never going to bed on an argument. To clear the air before they went to sleep. Some days that was easier than others (especially if Sally was on a night shift) but none of their arguments lasted longer than 24 hours. Because Jane knew that she had something worth fighting for with Sally.

"Actually, I am fairly certain I asked you to marry me. You asked me whether I wanted to enter a civil partnership with you." Sally said.

"Same thing isn't it? It was all we could do at the time."

"Still?"

"What ridiculous hour do you need to be up tomorrow?"

"My alarm is set for half four."

"Really?"

"Yeah. So much bloody paperwork and I need to start the process of getting Rachel's car back to her. Why?"

"Because, Mrs Allen, you have started something and I intend to finish it," Jane said before she started to place kisses down Sally's neck.

"And for two menopausal women, there are times when I think we have sex more than we did when we were in our 20s."

"I could have been worse. We could be having a lot less sex." She mumbled as she continued down Sally's body.

"It just takes up a little longer."

Jane couldn't stop herself from smiling as she placed a kiss on Sally's stomach, thinking of all the possibilities if they hadn't let what others thought get in the way. She knew that it would be something she would regret for the rest of her life. It just wasn't the right time for them. The time may never be completely right but they were finally in a world where they were accepted for who they were. They were more than free to love each other without too many people speaking up about it.

The time would never be right. But maybe it was for them.


Sally knew that because she had to leave work on time, it would be the one time that she left late. So late that she didn't think that she had enough time to change out of her uniform.

She walked through the corridors in a brisk pace that she had perfected over the years until she found the right room. She gave a brief knock before she entered, hoping that she didn't look like a police officer bursting into the room. She knew that it didn't stop them all turning to look at her and her police instinct didn't help her at that point. Because she had noted a couple that seemed to look disgusted at her.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," Sally said to the woman at the front.

"Not a problem. We haven't long started. I am sure that you can catch up."

Sally already knew where Jane was without her awkward wave, but her sights were still on the couple, trying to work out if they were known to her. She only placed the kiss on Jane's cheek because they wouldn't look away from her as she reached her wife.

"Sometimes I forget how sexy you look in your uniform," Jane whispered.

"We already know you like a woman in a uniform."

"What's up?"

"That couple over there. Just… my instinct."

"So the kiss wasn't because you were greeting your wife then."

Sally shook her head. "Maybe I just wanted to see whether they were homophobic as well."

"I know the process seems a little intrusive but we need to make sure that you are right to adopt any child. I am sure that." The woman said, gesturing towards Sally.

"Sorry?" Sally said.

"Your rank?"

"PI Allen."

"I am sure that PI Allen knows all about the police checks we do."

Sally hated how the room all turned to her. She really should have taken five minutes just to change out of her uniform.

"Well… I've never personally done them. That is ARCO. But they are only looking for serious offences. I mean, that fight outside a bar when you were 21 and were arrested for but not charged… wouldn't be on there anyway but… that one time you were charged for a minor crime won't affect this."

The woman smiled and slightly confirmed what she had said. Sally couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"I can't believe I ended up with you," Jane whispered.

"Bloody tripping over my words."

"I know. So sexy."

"I am getting to the stage where I am just assuming that everything I do is sexy."

"Not everything."

"Really?"

"So things I just can't help but think about how adorable you are."

"And there was me thinking that you were going to say hot."

Jane quietly giggled next to her and Sally couldn't stop herself from grabbing Jane's hand and placing it in her lap as their fingers were laced together. Because if they were going to do this, they had to do it properly.


"Why don't we go around the room and find out why you are all deciding to adopt?"

Jane was glad that it wasn't just thrown out to the room and the couple to the left of the woman giving the talk started talking about how they had struggled to conceive and that IVF wouldn't work for them. If anything, it gave her the chance to turn to Sally, who was still being bugged by the couple who just won't stop looking over at them. She had tried to tell her wife just to let it lie but Sally wasn't for some reason.

"PI Allen and…"

"Jane and Sally Allen," Jane said.

"Why are you hoping to adopt?"

Jane had come up with an answer to this question after being asked it by her boss when they had put them down as referees. They needed three referees and instantly knew that Rachel would be one of them. It was the other two that they were struggling with. They had decided to ask their bosses once they felt like they needed someone who knew them but not too well.

But it was Sally that actually answered the question.

"Without giving the clique answer of giving someone a home, and this might seem a little selfish maybe, but we wanted to prove to ourselves that we should have done this years ago. That we shouldn't have listened to people when they said that we wouldn't have made good parents. We have spent most of our lives proving to other people that we are… I suppose, capable because we were the same and that didn't matter whether we were straight or gay. This is something for us. Not anyone else." Sally said.

"That and we want the house noisy," Jane said. "We had a month or so where our niece and nephew were living with us with their father and… the house just seems so quiet without them. It would be nice just to have someone else there with us. You know, someone else to ask about their day and stuff like that."

"So maybe you two wouldn't mind someone older then." The woman said.

"I think that was more what we were going for," Sally said. "A teenager or someone at secondary school."

"Someone who is a little rough around the edges. We've dealt with quite a few things in our time. We like a challenge."

Jane was sure that she heard someone snort but she wasn't going to let that faze her. They had to do as Sally had just said. This was for them. They just had to learn to sod everyone else.


"Has she always been this nervous?" Rachel said.

Sally turned to Rachel and Eddie and nodded at them before she turned back to Jane to watch her pace again.

"Jane, you know that this is just because Rachel was our referee and anyone that comes to live here will be meeting her and Eddie and Kiera and Jacob a lot."

Jane stopped suddenly and turned to Sally. "That is something we've forgotten about."

"What?"

"Kiera."

"What about Kiera?" Rachel said.

"Well… we might all know sign language…" Jane started.

"And you know I will happily pay to send anyone on a sign language course. Once they are here Jane, we can deal with that. This is just about getting them here."

Sally shook her head as Jane went back to pacing.

"And you were the one to tell me that I worry too much." Rachel said.

Sally shot Rachel another look but couldn't stop herself from jumping as Jane did as the doorbell rang.

"Right… best behaviour," Jane said.

"Always," Eddie said.

"You've got to calm her down," Sally whispered as Jane answered the door.

"What am I meant to do?" Rachel said.

"She is driving me nuts."

Sally knew that there wasn't much more that could be said as Jane brought their social worker into the room. The introductions were quickly made and once they were all settled on the sofas with a cup of coffee, Sally could tell that Jane was calming down.

"Shall I call Kiera and Jacob?" Jane said.

"Let's leave them for the moment." Rachel said. "I am sure we have a few things we need to talk about."

"I'm guessing Kiera and Jacob are yours then." Debbie, the social worker, said.

"And when we don't want them, we hand them over to these two." Eddie joked.

Sally didn't miss how Rachel patted Eddie knee to say that she thought that what he had just said wasn't as helpful as he might have thought it was.

"And you are related?"

"Jane's my cousin. But both of them are more like my sisters." Rachel said.

"It's good. Look, one of the hardest things about fostering and/or adopting is having a good support network. Part of my job is to make sure that Jane and Sally are suitable but I also need to make sure that if they are given the okay to foster and adopt, that they will have the support that is required. Especially with the older kids. There are no tellings what they have been through."

"Trust me, these two aren't fazed by anything. Nor are we." Eddie said.

"Just a bit of background then, because Jane is part of the management team of a global company. Sally is a police officer. What do you two do?" Debbie asked.

"We are teachers." Rachel said.

"Rachel is a headteacher and I am her deputy and a maths teacher," Eddie said.

"Of what school?"

"Waterloo Road." Rachel said.

Sally smiled as Debbie was stunned for a moment before an oh escaped her lips. It seemed like the normal reaction when most people found out that they were at Waterloo Road.

"Are you the one that turned it around?" Debbie said.

"Well…" Rachel started.

"She would never say yes," Eddie said.

"I would like to think that it was a team effort."

"Team effort?"

"Between you, me and the rest of the teaching staff. Just because I was commanding the ship doesn't mean that I did all the work."

"And all that school needed was the right person leading it."

"Well… all I am going to say is that we don't have a problem with you as people," Debbie said.

"How do you mean that?" Jane asked.

"This is all child-focused. It isn't whether you are or aren't suitable. It is whether a child or teenager would benefit from being here. I mean, we have definitely moved on from the criteria that we used to look at but there are obviously still some criteria to meet."

Sally sighed, hoping that Debbie might be able to give them so indication soon about whether this was still all a dream for them or whether it was going to happen. She knew that the ultimate decision wasn't up to Debbie but she would like to know if they were ticking a few boxes.

"Mum, they've broken again," Kiera said as she came into the room, signing broken and again by holding her index fingers together and dropping the right one down before making a V with her index and middle finger and moving them back and forward a couple of times.

"Again?" Rachel said, copying what Kiera had just done.

Sally turned to Debbie as Rachel and Eddie started to sort out Kiera.

"Kiera is hard of hearing. She has hearing aids but she can only hear when people are close and it is quiet." Sally explained.

"Rachel panicked when they said that her hearing was getting worse and put us all on sign language courses. Kiera doesn't need sign language but it is good for us to know just in case her hearing goes completely. Rachel will happily pay to put anyone we foster or adopt on a course. She is a big advocator for it to be taught in schools. She has somewhat added it to the curriculum at Waterloo Road for the younger years." Jane said.

"Right," Debbie said. "That can't be easy."

"Kiera hasn't known any different with her hearing. It is us that has had to adapt to it." Sally said.

"Maybe when you said that we could give you anyone, maybe I didn't quite think that you meant it."

"Oh, we mean it. Deaf, blind, autistic. Hooked on drugs, drink. Has a criminal record." Jane said before sighing. "We are all about trying to give someone a second chance. Because I know that if I didn't leave home when I did, my life would be completely different. Rachel will back me up on that."

"I don't quite think that we would all be where we are now if everything didn't happen," Sally said.

Sally couldn't help but smile with Jane as Rachel almost shouted to Eddie that she wasn't going to calm down and that she was going to make a fuss when they were going to go and get them sorted out.

"I'll go and get Jacob," Jane said before she left.

Sally shook her head before she turned to Debbie. "Don't worry, this is our family life."

"Auntie Sal, should I have not said anything?" Kiera said, obviously finding the right opportunity to slip away from her parent's conversation.

"No, darling. You are fine. I think it is just showing what type of family we already are."

"They might not let you adopt anyone if they knew what we are like."

"Then let me assure you then," Debbie said. "I think, if your aunties are approved, that anyone that comes to live here would feel very loved."

Sally gave Kiera a quick wink before saying for her to sit beside her as they discussed a few things with Debbie while they waited for Jacob and Jane, and for her parents to finish their conversation.

"So Kiera, what would you say that you love most about your aunties?"

Kiera turned to Sally and gave her a smile before she said a list of things that definitely sounded like she had premade.