Chapter 1:

George looked around the corridor he now appeared to be in, eyes taking a while to adjust after the glare of the bright light. He heard a soft clicking noise behind him and, adrenaline running hot through his veins, he whirled around only to be greeted with.. nothing. It took him a short moment to realize that it must have been the door closing behind him. He chuckled quietly before muttering to himself in an attempt to calm down. Turning back around slowly, he glanced up the corridor Nothing. He shifted his eyes to look down the corridor instead. Still nothing. He sighed despondently, resting against the wall as he tried to decide what to do next. A few seconds passed as he waited in the silence and he was just about to have a mini-George-meltdown when he felt it. A calm, fuzzy, warm feeling restoring the wholeness that he had lacked and so desperately craved recently. His head jerked up, a huge smile already plastered on his face and looked eagerly back up the long stretch of hallway, eyes searching. About halfway up the corridor he heard a door creak open as he pushed himself off of the wall and brushed himself off. He stared studiously at the area from where the sound had come from, breath held in anticipation and saw a head appear around though the dimness of the corridor prevented him getting a good look. There wasn't long to wait until he got the confirmation he needed.

"George!" a familiar voice half cried-half screamed, her features a blur as she ran down the corridor. "George!"

George felt the tears that had been building since he'd walked through the door spill over onto his cheeks. He wanted to run to her, to meet her half-way, but his feet were firmly rooted to the spot and all he could do was watch. He opened his mouth to speak, to say anything, but the words jammed at the back of his throat and so he shut it again hastily. His cheeks were starting to ache from the smile that was stretched across his face. Here she was. The woman he loved with all of his being. Nina.

"Oh, George!" Nina kept running, the walls a mere blur in her peripheral vision as she pelted forward. Almost there, she was almost there. Five more paces, four, three, two.. one.. she jumped up into George's waiting arms, wrapping her hands around his neck as tightly as she possibly could.

"Nina," George whimpered, circling his arms around her waist as he burrowed his face into her neck. "My Nina, my Nina.." his heart felt as if it were racing and the lump of stone that had been nestling in the pit of his stomach disappeared. "I'm so sorry, Nina."

"Shhhh," Nina replied softly, her voice trembling slightly as she struggled to maintain any sense of bravado. "It's okay baby, it's okay."

They remained there for a long while trying to calm down enough to part. Nina shifted slightly causing George to look up confused, his eyes sparkling as he saw his gorgeous Nina move in for a long, lingering, tender kiss. Even though he wanted to stay in this embrace forever, he also wanted to check that she was okay, that she'd been.. well.. coping. As much as someone could 'cope' under these circumstances anyway. He gently pulled his lips away from hers and placed her down on the floor as he searched for the right words to say. However, he didn't get a chance to say anything as suddenly Nina slapped him. Hard. "Ow!" he squealed, looking at his girlfriend as though she had lost her mind. "Uh, what was that for?" He placed his hand on his arm, rubbing it slightly, knowing that if he looked now, there would be a bloody handprint.

"What was it for?" Nina spluttered, grabbing his free hand and yanking him up the corridor. "What do you think it's for?"

"I don't know! Forgive me for saying, but I was expecting a nicer first few moments together than you slapping me. Huh!" He trudged along after Nina. Bloody hell, he'd forgotten how strong she was. After waiting for a couple of seconds he concluded that Nina wasn't going to answer him just yet and he certainly didn't want to anger her further by saying anything else so they continued up the corridor in silence until they approached the room that Nina had come out of. She stopped suddenly outside of the door that he hadn't noticed causing him to slam into the back of her which in turn made her turn to him with an even bigger glare. "S-sorry" he muttered, wondering where exactly this happy reunion had gone.

"After you," Nina said in a clipped tone as she gave the door a shove open. She could still feel the tears warm on her cheeks as she followed George through the door.

"Whoa.." George murmured as he looked around the room. He turned around on the spot, taking in the room around him. "This- this is our bedroom.. I mean.. how?" He glanced over to Nina, her stern look reminding him of the situation at present.

"We can talk about that later." Nina said quietly before striding over to George and slapping him again. Ignoring his mumblings and moans she stared at him. "What," another slap, "Are," another one, "You," and another, "Doing," again, "Here?" she hit him once more.

"Ow! Nina!" George whined, his brow furrowed in confusion as he hurriedly took a step back. "What do you mean 'What am I doing here'? Oh God, are you in shock? I died Nina." He suddenly panicked at the thought of having to break the news to Nina about his demise. She must be in a really bad way. Trying to ignore the stinging sensation in his arm- it really hurt- he took a step forward again so he was right in front of her.

"I know you died, George. I've been watching you on the TV thing," she gestured briefly towards the television opposite the bed that George hadn't noticed. "I mean why the Hell have you come here?! Why didn't you stay with our baby?!" She slapped him again. "I don't know why you're looking so put-upon, we're ghosts, we can't feel pain! It's all in your mind." Her face softened as she saw confusion flicker over his face. "You'll get used to it." She looked up into his eyes, momentarily forgetting just what she was angry at. Only momentarily though, she was furious with him for leaving her baby. "So? Are you going to tell me exactly what you are playing at?"

"Nina.. I-" he looked around bewildered, the fact that he was in an exact replica- with the addition of the television- of the bedroom at Honolulu Heights wasn't helping him think coherently either. "She's not alone! I wouldn't just leave her by herself! She's with Annie."

Nina snorted. "George, I love Annie. Love her. But she's a ghost. You don't think people might get a bit curious when they see a bloody pram pushing itself around the streets of Barry? Or what about when she's walking? 'Oh look, that toddler is walking! Hmm.. she's by herself.. should we call someone? No, she's probably older than she looks!'" Her voice rose higher with each word, her face flushing with emotion.

"Tom's there too," George soothed, knowing that he'd made the right decision but not knowing how to explain it to Nina so that she understood too. "And you know Annie will look after her. She loves the baby. And the baby loves her."

"Tom's a child himself! Jesus Christ, George. She might as well be there by herself. First I left her and now you have too." Nina bowed her head, willing the tears away.

"Nina.. Nina look at me." George reached a hand out and lifted her chin until their eyes met. "My door appeared. They.. they knew E- the baby- would be safe with Annie and Tom. I would never have left her if I didn't think.. no, if I didn't know that she would be safe and happy."

"Why didn't you reject the door? Annie did it loads of times. You could have stayed with her." Nina asked softly, not quite ready to let go of the fight regarding her daughter.

"Because I need you Nina. I love you. I- I- I just.. I couldn't be there knowing you might be here. And if I thought that our daughter would suffer by me going, I wouldn't have. But I wouldn't be anywhere near the father she needed me to be." He choked on the last word. "I'm a ghost, just like Annie. All the 'issues' Annie will face, I would have faced too. And I needed to be here.. with you."

Nina looked at George for a long time in silence. The tears were still on the brink and she didn't quite know what to think. Slowly she raised her hand, smiling slightly as she saw George try not to wince, and placed her hand around the back of his head, pulling him in for a kiss. That kiss explained more than words ever could have and they continued to unspoken, tender conversation for a minute or so. When she pulled away, she stepped closer so that she was pressed up against George and rested her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. She could feel him let out a long breath and hold her close.

"She's called Eve." George said quietly, feeling his heart constrict as he waited for Nina to respond. There was a long silence, so long that George wondered if she had heard him at all.

"I know." was all she could say, tears once again streaking down her face as she clutched George tighter and sobbed for the daughter who would never know her. "It's.. perfect."