It was no secret that Lorelei Martins trusted John with her life. He'd been the one to save her from the living hell that her life had been ever since she could remember.

Her mother was a kind but weak woman, unable to protect her from that brute of a stepfather. He used to beat her up when he was drunk, and that happened almost every day.

When she turned seventeen she ran away from home, though she knew it would break her mother's heart. However, she definitely wasn't born under a lucky star, for she ended up selling her body on the streets; drunken men would take her against the wall of a dark alley, then leave her crying over her own misery.

John was the first man who asked permission before covering her mouth with his own. The first who kissed her bruises one by one before worshipping her body in ways no man had ever done before. He taught her to find her own strength, a strength that nobody could take away from her. She was a woman now, and no one would ever hurt her again.

Lorelei trusted Red John so much that she didn't even blink when he asked her to sleep with his personal nemesis, and to get pregnant with his child too.

xxx

Patrick Jane was nothing like she had imagined before. He was so vulnerable behind his show of charm and glibness that she almost felt a pang of guilt as she stood outside his motel room.

John taking pleasure in killing grown up women was one thing, the thought of his knife butchering the body of a five-year-old little girl was entirely another. And now she was going to trick the same man who'd had his daughter murdered into getting her with child; a child that would be Red John's ultimate bait to lure him in.

For the first time in years she felt uneasiness creep over her. No child should come into this world with such premises, and since she'd already had her fair share of pain in her life she couldn't bring herself to wish any of it upon another human being.

However, John had never failed her so far. All she had to do was put her trust in him, as she'd always done.

That's why she smiled and tapped her knuckles against the door.

xxx

It had been so easy, even too easy maybe. For all that he was still pining for his dead wife and wearing the wedding band the woman had put on his finger many years ago, Patrick Jane had given in to her advances quickly enough.

Lorelei wondered if it was true that he'd been celibate for almost a decade now. It was a hell of a dry spell, and she felt she owed him something special as the first woman he'd shared a bed with in so long. Given the way he was panting against her neck, it seemed that her efforts had paid off too.

The man had been so caught in the moment he hadn't even protested about the fact they hadn't used protection. What he didn't know was that John had been planning their night together for quite a long time now; and he wasn't one to leave anything to chance, especially when there was so much at stake.

xxx

It was only when she threw up on the cell floor for the third time in a row that they allowed her to see a doctor. Lorelei only smiled when the test results came through.

She was pregnant. With Patrick Jane's child.

No matter how things had gone spectacularly wrong ever since the FBI showed up in Vegas, she had accomplished her mission nonetheless. John was going to be proud of her.

And she really couldn't wait to see Patrick's reaction when he heard the news.

xxx

Patrick looked like a man who was desperately trying to wake up from a nightmare when she told him at long last.

"I thought you could tell if someone's lying," she teased him. "Am I lying now?"

He all but fled the room when he was forced to acknowledge the reality of what was happening.

The guards raised their brows as the chair he'd been sitting on toppled to the floor. Lorelei addressed them a pert smirk and followed them back to her prison cell.

xxx

Unsurprisingly her next visitor was no one else than Teresa Lisbon. As John had told her more than once, the lady cop was incredibly protective of her consultant; had it been any other woman, she would have bet good money that the two of them had been sleeping together for quite a long time now.

They had never done anything of the kind as a matter of fact, and she figured that Agent Lisbon was secretly jealous of the liaison Red John's girl had had with the man she considered her partner.

So she took great delight in dropping that bombshell.

Teresa looked like a deer caught in the headlights when the revelation eventually began to sink in, and Lorelei silently congratulated herself for getting under her rival's skin at last.

"He didn't tell you – did he? I guess there's a lot he's still keeping from you."

For a split second the lady cop looked about to slap her in the face, then she fled the room exactly like her precious friend had done just the day before.

A smile crept to her lips as she rested her hands in her lap and meekly waited for the guards to take her away.

xxx

"Why are you afraid to touch me, lover? I'm the mother of your child after all."

She wasn't sure what had prompted her to challenge Patrick this way, and she honestly wasn't expecting him to give in so easily.

The breath caught in his throat when he rested a hand on her flat belly, and he couldn't help closing his eyes. His love for their unborn child was so apparent on his face that she felt a sudden lump in her throat. She was barely aware of Patrick crying, as hot tears blurred her vision.

Later in the quiet of her prison cell Lorelei stared at the cracks in the ceiling and wondered what right did she have to hurt the father of her baby. He'd already suffered enough, and all of a sudden she felt like John's plan didn't suit her anymore.

How could she hand her own child over to someone as dangerous as Red John was?

Not that she had any say in the child's fate. She was in jail now, and would stay there until she either betrayed her master or was set free by his very hand.

As she stroked her belly she silently promised to do her best in order to protect the tiny life that was growing inside of her.

xxx

Lorelei Martins had never been so scared in her entire life. Not the first time her stepfather raised his hand against her, not even the night a guy had had his way with her while holding her at knifepoint.

Her life wasn't the only one at stake this time. And she'd never felt so overwhelmed with love for her unborn child as she did now, her hands clutching at her chest in a desperate attempt to staunch the bleeding.

There was so much blood everywhere, and she knew exactly who was to blame for it. John had guessed her will was wavering, so getting rid of her was the safest option for him either way.

It would still be enough to break Patrick's heart for good this time.

"Calm down, Lorelei. You're going to be alright – both of you."

Teresa Lisbon's voice broke through her panicked thoughts at last. Teresa was there, Teresa would protect her and Jane's child.

Lorelei clutched onto her hand and closed her eyes. It was no wonder that Patrick was so in love with his cop friend, for she was probably the most selfless woman that had ever stepped this Earth.

xxx

She didn't hesitate to fling her arms around his neck when Patrick entered her hospital room at length. In spite of the strict security outside the room, she couldn't help seeing her former master lurking in every dark corner.

He looked both weary and worried, but did his best to comfort her nonetheless. He was a kind man, and nothing like John had ever been in spite of all the wool he'd been pulling over her eyes.

"Don't let him kill me. Please."

Now she was ready to do whatever it took in order to save the life of her child, and her own as well.

As she clung more tightly to Patrick she felt safer than she'd ever been in her entire life; for he would do anything to save his own child too.

xxx

Red John was dead. The man who'd tried to kill her had finally met his fate at the hands of Teresa Lisbon.

The lady cop had done it mainly for Patrick's sake, and yet she was the closest thing to a friend that Lorelei had had in all of her life. She owed her life and freedom to Teresa, and the life of her child too.

As soon as she'd been released from jail, Lorelei had headed straight to the cemetery where Angela and Charlotte Jane were buried. Even though she was in no way responsible for their death, she still felt guilty for befriending the man that had taken their lives.

And now she was carrying a baby that was never going to meet her half-sister.

No child deserved a mother like her, especially Patrick's child. Nor was she under any illusion that the two of them could ever play the happy family together.

Patrick was in love with another woman, and he was never going to forget her connection to the serial killer who had murdered his family. She had already hurt him by tricking him into fathering her child, and now it was time to set things right.

Her daughter surely deserved the love of her father; from the look of things, she would probably have a most wonderful mother too.

Lorelei dropped a bunch of wildflowers to the ground and smiled a sad smile. If there was someone she could trust with her child, that was exactly Patrick's best friend.

xxx

She was alone as she gave birth to her child. It didn't matter though; she'd been alone for the better part of her life after all.

All the pain she'd been through was finally forgotten when a beautiful baby girl was placed into her arms. Her daughter resembled her father so closely, and she was truly happy about this fact.

Perhaps his daughter would help Patrick to heal and be whole again. And somewhere in heaven little Charlotte Anne would be rejoicing for the birth of her little sister too.

xxx

Teresa stared at her for a good minute when she showed up at her door with her daughter wrapped in a blanket.

"Her name's Carrie," Lorelei said as she placed the child into the other woman's arms. "It was my mother's name – the only good thing I had in my life."

She tried to ignore the pain in her chest as she walked away from her baby. It was for the best though, and she was sure her daughter would be thankful for her choice someday.

A lone tear trickled down her cheek before she could even try to blink it back.

xxx

Even though she hadn't deemed it possible, she met a good man at long last. He didn't care about her past, but he cared for her instead.

Brian never tried to change her, he simply loved her the way she was. And he looked so genuinely happy when she told him she was pregnant that she almost burst into tears.

She'd kept herself from seeking out her first daughter for years, but now she felt like she had to see her again, if only from a distance. That's why one day she drove all the way back to Sacramento and took a walk in the park.

"It's nice to meet you again, lover."

Patrick Jane only smiled at her. "Lorelei. What a surprise."

Her eyes rested on the two girls playing on the swing. They were so much alike, both of them sharing Patrick's golden curls. And, above of all, they looked truly happy.

"They're beautiful. Your daughters, I mean."

Lorelei couldn't help a note of wistfulness in her tone, and yet she wasn't regretting her decision in the slightest. Carrie was safe and loved, and even the lines on Patrick's face weren't about sorrow anymore.

He had forgiven her somehow. The night when their daughter had been conceived they had just been using each other for their own selfish purposes, but they had moved on ever since.

Life was good now, even if she still missed her child sometimes.

When the two girls ran towards the woman both of them considered as their mother, her lips curled in a small smile.

"Take care of her, Patrick," she said as she made to leave.

She didn't have the heart to meet her daughter's gaze as she slowly walked away.

xxx

Her son Roger was the light of her life. She simply couldn't wait for the moment when he would come home from school and tell her about his day.

However, her mind was otherwise busy today. Teresa had phoned her a couple of days ago, and her heart was pounding at the prospect of finally meeting her own daughter.

The nervous teenager that was waiting on the threshold was even more beautiful than she remembered from the last time she'd happened to see her.

As for Carrie, she seemed to recognize her as the woman she'd met in the park too.

"Your name's Lorelei, correct?"

"That's it. What a name – don't you think?"

The girl simply shrugged. "I suppose so."

As she made her tea, Carrie eventually plucked up her courage to blurt out the questions that had probably been plaguing her mind for a while now.

"Were you in love with dad?"

"I wouldn't say so."

"Was he in love with you?"

Lorelei paused slightly. "He never loved me. There's just two women he's ever been in love with. One's Teresa, the other was his first wife."

From the look on Carrie's face she guessed that Patrick had told his daughters about Angela and Charlotte, though of course he wouldn't say they'd been murdered. Not yet anyway.

The girl averted her gaze before asking one more question. "If you're my real mother… why didn't you take me with you when you went away?"

"I had some bad friends back then," her voice trembled a bit, but she went on. "They wanted to make your father's life a living hell. In the end he was the one to save me from them."

"That's why you gave me to him?"

"I owed it to him, in a way."

"You wanted him to be happy?"

Her heart leaped in her chest when she finally laid a hand on her daughter's head. "Happiness is what we're all looking for – isn't it?"

Carrie shivered at the touch, then closed her eyes. On a sudden impulse Lorelei began stroking her hair, then asked a question in turn.

"Have you been happy with your family, darling?"

Tears began trickling down the girl's cheeks, and she could feel something stirring inside her too.

"Yes," Carrie said eventually. Nothing could ever change the fact she was her biological mother, but Lorelei was well aware that family was something stronger than blood ties.

As she took the still full teacup from the girl's trembling hands she said what Carrie needed to hear, no matter if it broke her heart. "You don't owe me anything. All I did for you was carrying you for nine months. While Teresa has been the one who took care of you for all these years. You are her daughter, Carrie."

In the end she couldn't help wrapping her arms around her and holding her tightly.

"Goodbye, my child," she said at last.

Her house felt so empty without her daughter now. As soon as little Roger stepped inside at last she took him in her arms and clutched him to her chest, as if she never wanted to let him go.