It was the very first time that something threatened to mess up with John's crafted schemes, and yet he was well aware that it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise instead.
He had noticed the telltale signs of her pregnancy far before Lorelei even suspected anything. The thought of a child of his own gracing this world unsettled him at first, but the idea of an heir following his footsteps soon had him thrilled in spite of himself.
Someday he might teach his child how to better cut through a victim's skin, to cherish the look of fear in their eyes freezing in the stillness of death. Or he might as well keep his offspring safely away from such a dangerous lifestyle, protect them from the guilty pleasures of blood and pain.
And one day, when he would definitely grow tired of what he did for a living, he could always retire and play the loving grandfather to his kid's children.
However, Lorelei wasn't anywhere near ready to raise Red John's heir. Motherhood could easily snap her out of the blind faith he'd managed to inculcate in her so far, and there was no way he would run the risk.
That was why she had to be parted from the baby right after their birth. Luckily he knew enough mind control techniques to have her doing it willingly, so that he would gain custody of the child.
He took her to a secluded place, whispered soothing words in her ear until he had her completely under his control. Then he spent the next few months in her close proximity, like the master does with his faithful dog. It was easy for him to play the part of her savior, the one who would protect her child from the cruelty of life.
When the time came, Lorelei gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She walked away from the hospital just like he had prompted her to do, and a couple of days later he showed up claiming his daughter. A paternity test proved that the child was indeed his own, and since the mother was nowhere to be found he would be the only parent the world would ever know about.
John named his daughter Hailey, and settled in a beautiful house on the outskirts of Sacramento. They knew him by the name of Jack Robinson there, a pun that only he could understand to its full extent. He hired a nanny to look after his child, and when he wasn't otherwise busy he took great delight in watching her first faltering steps, or hearing her babble the word 'Daddy' for the very first time.
His heart swelled with pride at the thought he'd contributed to the creation of such a beautiful thing, and his little girl loved him dearly in return. It was quite a twist of fate that his daughter happened to have blond curls; he would have expected her hair to be as dark as her mother's, instead Hailey reminded him of the child he'd killed years ago.
That gave him mixed feelings. In a way he'd scored another victory on his enemy; he'd fathered a daughter, and got to spend all his spare time with her. While Patrick Jane was still stuck in neutral, pining for the little girl that was never going to see the light of the sun again.
However, whenever he played with Hailey he felt something akin to guilt stirring inside his chest. Every father wanted to protect his own daughter, and the burden he was secretly carrying didn't help in the slightest.
What if someone guessed that Red John had had a child? Would they just laugh at him, or choose to let her pay for what he'd done?
And what would such an innocent girl think of him, if she happened to discover the truth? There was blood on his hands, and all the water in the world wouldn't be enough to wash it away.
As he gave the toddler a piggyback ride, he mused that right and wrong weren't necessarily how other people used to define them. He loved his daughter more than he'd ever loved anyone in his entire life, and that was all there was to say.
That didn't stop him from planning to use his child for his own purposes someday. The striking resemblance she bore to Charlotte would make her the perfect weapon against his personal nemesis.
The fact that he would make sure that nobody was going to harm a hair on her head went without saying, of course.
His generosity went as far as to let Lorelei see the child from time to time, though she was obviously forbidden to mention the blood tie between the two of them.
Hailey had been told that the woman was a friend of her mother's, and she easily accepted it. Truth be told, he felt something akin to jealousy bubbling up inside of him when Lorelei held his daughter in her arms; and yet he knew it was a necessary evil, a way to keep her constantly under his control.
There had been just one time when Lorelei had threatened to revolt against him, and that was when he asked her to sleep with a guy in Homeland Security in order to get some information out of him.
She'd said she couldn't do that, but then he'd gathered her in his arms and reminded her that he was supposed to keep their child safe only if she kept her end of the deal and followed his orders to the letter.
When she showed up with the information he needed, he took her upstairs and made love to her in order to wipe away the memories of another man's body on hers. He told her how proud he was of her, and that Hailey would always be safe if she kept up the good work.
Lorelei only laid her head on his chest and fell asleep with her ear against his heart. Were he capable of what other people called commitment, he would probably choose her among all other women.
It was always fun to spend the night with her anyway. He even bothered to scribble a brief note before leaving the apartment and heading back home where his daughter awaited him.