A well written and interesting background story that fits the facts and fills in the holes.
It makes sense that Watsford is not Gracies born surname, as it would meen both Charlotte and her mother toke their mothers surname. (Which is pretty rare, but may be a tradition too if it runs in the family).

You mention how she 'give it all up'. Was that to her powers, or her home life? I think they mentioned one of the girls giving up her power, but I think Ms Chatham also said they did not know that something would make them loose their powers permanently. (And how could they know, unless there were mermaids 50 years before them?). I wonder if that was why Ms Chatham warned Cleo to stay away from the pool during full moon in the early episode, as they did not seem to have issues on other moon nights with the pool itself?

Gracie is being a bit unfair (but very human) to Peter, first she lets him support her and her baby by pretending it is his, and then complains that he is changed because he has three jobs.

"After all, did he ever think to ask? - And then he does."
Does his question refer back to the line before about being asked her opinion about marriage, or about the thousand hidden lies?
As they are separated in the next paragraph both could apply, so it is hard to get from context.

I hope the mermaid transformation did not impact her lifespan, as that would spell trouble for the girls of H20 (might make an interesting story though).

I did not know filter cigarettes existed back then, but a quick search showed that they indeed date back to the 1950.
I was also curious how much A$20 would have been worth in the sixties: $309.87 in today's money, so a significant amount. No wonder she hid it in her sock). Which also learned me that they switched from Australian Pounds to dollars in 1966!

I loved this so much!

Ahhh I loveeee
Her character doesn’t recieve at all enough attention and that is so irritating, honestly none of the 50s mermaids do.
Everything about them breaks my heart and I just want to say thank you for writing this!

I keep returning to this fandom whenever you write a story for it!

Thank you for that, and for this beautiful fic. Gracie is a really interesting character, though I have to say I didn't see her that way before your story! She was always a bit in the background for me, while Max held a prominent role.

I love how you go through the most important parts of her life and fill her with so much background, life and character. I think the most heartbreaking part in this story was the meeting with Karl, and his mentioning of what her sudden departure must have meant to her friends. I'm sure she must have been haunted by those thoughts for her entire life. But I am glad - so glad! - that she was happy, too.

Thanks again for sharing this beautiful story here! All the best to you!

I LOVE THIS! Of course, it's weird, for me, to see Gracias last name anything but Watsford but that's probably because I'm so used to it being her last name (and it has a good ring to it!)

Other than that, as I was reading, it felt like a movie in the past, watching as Gracie and Annette grew up. Nice to see how much Gracie struggled with her past and her present.

And...I guess I never considered Max being Annette's father (and Charlotte's grandfather) so it was a nice twist. Despite my bias against the guy (and his partial involvement in Charlotte's lost tail -fight me!) The idea he had a family with the woman he loved and not known it sets a new precedent to their love story.