Stevie and Lindsey came back late evening, they had been shopping for baby clothes, and clothes for Stevie, then they'd had a celebratory dinner at a restaurant. Dropping all the bags into the living room Stevie dragged herself up the stairs and flopped on the bed, Lindsey laying next to her and dropping his hand to her stomach

"A boy! We're having a son, and he's healthy!" Stevie said and Lindsey smiled brightly

"We are, and he is! You're doing amazing mommy, and I'm so proud of you!" He bent over her and lifted her shirt up, running his fingers over her bump and kissing it constantly

"Daddy loves you so much, thank you for coming to us when we needed you most! Your mommy is so amazing and I love her so much..." he kissed it again, nudging it with his nose. Stevie could sense something in the room but couldn't see anything

The woman that was haunting the house stood in the corner watching Lindsey coo to the baby and tell Stevie how amazing she was, she stood with tears rolling down her cheeks, sobbing loudly, almost screaming at points, clutching her stomach, she had hers and her lovers baby inside her...yet she would never get to meet them...

Stevie sat up suddenly. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what? Relax, mama. Why are you on such high alert?" She looked around the room, turning her head each way before settling back down. "Now where was I?" Lindsey kissed her lips then down her neck, chest and landing on at where their baby lay inside her. He tugged at her skirt and pulled it down her thighs, then pulled her panties down and off. He brushed his lips across her skin from her toes to her inner thigh, spreading her legs. He parted her lower lips, kissing them as he would the ones on her delicate face. He slipped his tongue between her folds, tasting her as if it were the first time. He groaned, being driven wild by her sounds. She gripped the bedsheets as he went down on her, licking her clit and causing her to gasp and whine with pleasure.

"Keep...going" she said breathlessly. A shadow passed the mirror and Stevie shut her eyes, trying not to notice that they weren't alone.

She tried to ignore the dull pain that was shooting through her abdomen

"You alright baby?" Lindsey asked from between her legs concerned

"Yeah, just make me cum please?!" She begged wanting it to distract her from the room

"It's my pleasure!" He licked at her with more urgency, soon she was seeing stars and tightening her thighs around his head, in her haze she heard a voice drifting through the air

"Fletcher...please come back to me...we need you..." Stevie heard it like the voice was crying, a sound of devastation echoing out, a voice that sounded similar to her own.

The voice faded slightly then all of a sudden her pain intensified, the feminine wails becoming louder, tuning in her head. She shot up from the bed, nearly falling over Lindsey and dove onto her knees, getting sick several times.

"Stephanie, what the hell?" Lindsey asked, his voice a mix of concern and irritation.

"Sorry" she sobbed, flushing the toilet and wiping her mouth.

"I thought your morning sickness was over." She shrugged. "Was it sudden? Was it because we...?"

"No, no it wasn't that, it was...I'm not sure. Maybe from all the crying earlier. You know that upsets my stomach."

"We should go back to the doctor and check out the pain and the vomiting. It seems to be getting worse."

"No, I'm fine" she told him. "Please, I just want to cuddle with my husband and nap"

"Okay" he said, softening his demeanor.

"And after I'm all rested, maybe I can give you something just as good as you gave me, you delicious man, you." He kissed her cheek, letting her brush her teeth and pull on a nightie to sleep.

-----

Lindsey went off to work the next day, kissing his wife and saying goodbye to his son. Stevie went back inside and walked past the entrance to the attic, staring at the stairs and debating, after a few minuets she dragged the steps down and went up there, once again everything was neatly placed

Finding the photo album, she opened it, expecting it to be empty, but it was all full, all the photos she'd seen before were back

"Who are you?" Stevie said to nothing, all of a sudden she watched as the pictures rippled, and started to move before her eyes

The woman she had seen many times appeared and she felt sick. "I'm sorry" said a voice. "I don't mean to hurt you."

"Why are you here?"

"This was my childhood home. I grew up here." Stevie's stomach began to knot and ache. She winced and the woman reached out to touch her, soothing her pain completely.

"Why does that happen every time you're near?"

"I'm pregnant too. I died that way." she said sadly. She smoothed her dress and she had the smallest bump.

"I'm sorry..." Stevie said.

"Vanessa Castleby." she said, introducing herself.

"Vanessa..."

"You are very receptive to spirits. I hoped you would help me."

"How?"

"Look at the pictures in my book. What do you see?"

"I see you...is this Fl...Fletcher did I hear you say?"

"Yeah that's him..." Stevie saw her smile and rub her stomach, as though to say 'that's daddy'

"He...he looks like my Lindsey..."

"He does...I watch you two together and it breaks my heart...because I see me and Fletch. What else do you see?"

"Who's this? And why is she looking so close to Fletcher?"

"That's my sister...his...his wife."

"You were having an affair with your sister's husband?" Stevie said looking at her, no judgmental look whatsoever

"Yeah, we were having a beautiful baby..." a tear ran down Vanessa's cheek, it was painful every time she thought about it

"What happened to you?" Stevie asked.

"Stephanie, I know what I did was wrong, but you understand love, don't you? What you feel for your Lindsey is just what I felt for Fletcher Andrews. I know it sounds like the dreams of a girl but I loved him the moment I saw him."

"I understand" Stevie said.

"He...he was going to leave my sister. She is the stale sort. Very straight laced and practical. She's older than me, and they met while I was at boarding school. They married and when I came home...I saw him standing in our front room. Our eyes met..."

Stevie smiled. "True love"

"Yes! So you do understand!" Vanessa said happily.

"Why now? Why me?"

"Well, don't you see? You and your husband look just like us. That sort of thing doesn't happen everyday, sweet girl"

"That's true" Stevie rubbed her stomach, the pain creeping back in.

"Let me help. I'm sorry." Vanessa said, touching her belly once again to take away the pain. "I'm trying not to cause you any discomfort but our souls seem to overlap. You feel what I feel"

"Why? I don't understand if you're dead..."

"It's still like I'm alive, only it's like a loop, I feel the same pain every day, and I'm never going to meet them." She cried

"How did you die?"

"I'll show you..." she held her hand out and lead Stevie to the mirror "Its 1914, watch..." Stevie looked into the mirror and saw that it set a scene, she saw Vanessa and Fletcher, in the room that was now their living room

"Fletch...I'm so sorry, I never meant it to happen."

"My love, what's wrong?"

"I...I'm pregnant..." she watched for his reaction

"Pregnant? You're having a baby..." he said not quite believing it

"I never meant to hurt you and not my sister either. I won't be in your way"

"You're not hurting anyone. A baby...Vanessa, you know I love you. Josephine is my wife but she's not my love. When I come back, we can run away together. We can raise that baby as a family. No one will ever find us."

"What about my sister?"

"Don't even think about her. You keep that baby safe while I'm away."

She threw herself onto him and he held her, kissing her neck the way Lindsey kissed Stevie's. "I don't want you to go, Fletch."

"I don't want to go either but I've got to defend my country."

"My hero!" she exclaimed through her tears.

"You'll be proud of me, angel, I promise. I will make you proud to call me your husband one day."

Vanessa kissed Fletcher and he placed a hand on her stomach through her dress. "I love you, please be safe"

"I love you too. I've got to go."

"Don't forget me" she wept as he left the room. The mirror became reflective again, the images disappearing.

"He truly wanted you and that baby...he had the exact same loving look as Lindsey does when he talks about our baby."

"I know, that's why it's so painful to watch you two together..."

"I don't understand, if he loved you, why didn't he stay with you?"

Vanessa walked over to a box on the dresser, pulling out two small pieces of paper, handing them to Stevie, they were telegrams, she read them, the first one had the words 'Missing in action' the second "Killed in action" Stevie suddenly looked to Vanessa with tears in her eyes

"He never came home?" The other woman shook her head

"He was killed three weeks into the war, he went over the top and that was it...he was due home two days after...I waited for days by the door, until these came, and everything in me apart from our child died." Stevie was in tears hearing the story

"He promised me he would come home...damn that stupid war for taking him from me!"

"I can't imagine what you went through. I'm so sorry"

"You've seen him, Stephanie, I know you have."

"Yes"

"Your Lindsey needs to connect to him and then we can be reunited. We are both stumbling through the world unable to touch."

"My husband doesn't listen, Vanessa. I've tried to tell him."

"I will appear to him. I will speak."

"He isn't receptive."

"You have to make him understand!" Vanessa shouted and an intense pain coursed through Stevie's body, causing her to fall to her knees.

"No, no, no...I'm sorry, please forgive me!" She dropped to her knees too and wrapped her arm around Stevie's back, pressing a hand to her stomach, the pain disappearing

"Please stop doing that, it's not good for my baby..."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it, whatever I go through, you do to." Stevie nodded and stood shakily

"You need to do your best to appear to Lindsey! He just needs to believe in you, and then he'll be in tune with Fletch...I promise you I'll make sure you two are reunited once more! I can't imagine five minuets without Lindsey, let only almost eighty years!"

"Thank you! I'll be forever grateful!" Vanessa placed a hand to Stevie's cheek lightly, Stevie closed her eyes, when she opened them she was alone once more, dust covering everything in sight, Vanessa was for the moment, gone.