Author's note-

This chapter contains a scene that may upset and/or disturb some people.

Chapter six
"Not really sure how to feel about it
Something in the way you move
Makes me feel like I can't live without you
It takes me all the way
I want you to stay"
Stay - Rihanna feat. Mikky Echo

The surrounding area of the park around her was filled with small children running around, their laughter bouncing off the trees and echoing in the area. It was a sweet song to hear and it brought a smile to Lottie's face as she looked around, the sight of them playing reminding her of her own childhood. With her mother starting up her modelling company and her father working for the police force, Lottie was quite often placed at a daycare centre for a few hours or more; more than once the staff would bring the children to a park that looked very similar to this. Maybe it was even the same one, there didn't look to be much difference.

She walked down the cobbled pathway, the cobbles warm beneath her bare feet from the hot sunshine gracing the world. Summer was coming soon, her favourite season of the year, and she hoped the weather then would be as pleasant as it was in the park.

She heard a child calling for her mother in a panic and spun around, wondering if she could help the little girl that sounded so scared. Looking around though, she saw the startling discovery that all the children had disappeared. Every single one of them except...

Somebody tugged at the bottom of her dress and Lottie looked down to see a child staring at her. Falling down to her knees so she was at the same height as the young girl, Lottie's eyebrows furrowed together as the feeling of familiarity swept over her powerfully. The girl had a round face with bright blue eyes, her hair in short ringlets to her shoulders, a beautiful dark brown colour.

"Do I know you?" Lottie asked gently. "I feel like I should know who you are..."

"You should," the girl nodded, her voice sounding wise despite the fact she only looked about five or six years old. "My name is Charlotte. I'm you; you're me."

"I don't understand... What's going on?"

"Can you help me?" Charlotte asked, tilting her head to the left. "I've done something very bad and I guess because you're me when I am older, you're the only person that I can trust. Will you help me, Lottie?"

"Um, sure sweetie," Lottie said slowly, still confused as to what this situation was all about. Guessing that the little girl probably needed help with something she'd broken, or perhaps lost, she asked, "what do you need help with?"

"I need you to bury a very small grave, I'm not strong enough to do it myself," Charlotte sighed as if that was the biggest problem in the world. "I killed somebody, you see. She was barely a person yet, but still a person nevertheless. And I killed her because I didn't know what else to do... Everybody else has gone and I was all alone, what did they expect me do? So? Will you help me hide the body?"

Lottie paled, a sense of dread filling her core as the sunshine above her disappeared. Now the world looked dull and dark; menacing. "Charlotte... You didn't really kill somebody, did you? Please tell me this is some sort of sick game or joke..."

"No it isn't. Look." Charlotte stepped to the side to reveal something behind her and Lottie looked down at it in horror. It was just a little baby, the size of a newborn, tiny and vulnerable. Innocent. A completely innocent baby that didn't deserve what had been done to her. Empty blue eyes that matched Lottie and Charlotte's stared up at Lottie, lifeless. The small body was limp and pale white, deep scarlet coloured blood covering her torso.

"Oh my god," Lottie chorused, absolutely disgusted at and terrified of the sight in front of her. "Oh my god, oh my god." She forced herself to look away and to look at Charlotte. "What did you do?! Oh my god, what did you do? That baby did nothing wrong, how could you? You murderer!" She shouted at the girl.

Charlotte looked unbothered by the shouting and shrugged her shoulders. "It wasn't just me that killed her, Lottie. So did you. You killed this baby- the baby you yourself just said did nothing wrong. And you killed her simply because you felt like you'd been left alone by everybody. You were selfish and you killed this baby. You made the wrong decision and now you'll have to live with that for the rest of your life. Will you help me dig up a grave now?"

Lottie awoke, sitting up straight in the bed, breathing heavily. What the hell sort of dream was that? She thought to herself. It was beyond creepy and the whole idea of it was just plain weird... But she couldn't deny that she didn't see the meaning behind the dream: it was her conscience's way of telling her not to have an abortion. That she wasn't like those girls who really weren't in a position or state of mind to have a baby. She could easily afford to look after the baby, could easily learn to bring it up with the help of Finley and her parents.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, not wanting to face this decision yet. Again, she was procrastinating against making a choice but she couldn't even be bothered to care about that right now. She stumbled out of the single bed with baby pink sheets decorating it and pulled on her Tardis dress over her underwear. She had ended up staying up late crying to her mother so had stayed the night in her old bedroom and didn't have any clothes to change into.

Barefoot, she padded out of the bedroom and down the stairs, avoiding the kitchen where she could hear Victoria humming to herself as she cooked or cleaned- a habit Lottie herself had now. Her father was on the sofa in the living room, his wheelchair beside him as he watched TV. He didn't notice her in the doorway at first which gave her a moment to just look at him.

Harry Lovelle looked older than he actually was, the result of his job as a construction worker years ago and the chemotherapy he had been suffering through for the past three years. Lottie had once had an extremely close relationship with Harry, he had been her idol and she had been daddy's little girl. But when he'd been diagnosed with chronic lymphoid leukemia three years ago, Lottie had been devastated. She'd immediately done as much research on the cancer as she possibly could, not believing her eyes when she read that there was only a 50% five-year survival rate.

She hadn't been able to deal with it well and had selfishly distanced herself from Harry despite the fact he needed her more than ever. She'd seen him just a couple of weeks ago for his birthday and that had been the first time she'd seen him for four months. She just hated seeing him that way; she hadn't wanted to watch as he slowly lost so much weight and energy that he could barely walk - hence the wheelchair - and didn't want to see him so poorly. What daughter would want to see that for her father?

Harry used to be quite muscular, with thick copper coloured hair and bright green eyes. Now he had a scarily-thin frame, his hair was left to little tufts and his eyes always had a dullness to them, no longer shining brightly with humour. It truly did break her heart to see him like that. She missed the old him so much and every day she thought about coming to see him but always chickened out because she was such a coward.

She walked over and sat on the sofa next to him, curling her feet up and resting her head on Harry's shoulder. "Morning dad," she said softly. "I love you."

"I love you too," she heard a smile in his raspy voice. "Good morning. Your mother told me everything that happened. I'm sorry you've found yourself in a situation that you don't like."

"Are you not angry at me?"

"Yes. But not for the reason you would think. I'm angry because you're seriously considering an abortion," he said. Harry had always told her the truth about serious situations like this and that hadn't changed at all over the years. "Lottie, you would be a brilliant mother and I hate that you doubt yourself. Plus, a baby... A baby would be a brilliant thing for this family, sweetheart. I think it would bring us together again, help us forget about my illness and focus on a new life."

"Are you really surprised I'm thinking of an abortion?" She asked with a long sigh. "I'm not talking about Victor Benedict or my modelling... I mean the type of person that I am. I always push people away when I'm scared; I'm selfish and cowardly, I know that. But life would be so much easier if I didn't have this baby, if I waited until I was with my soulfinder or somebody I really love until I start a family."

"I know more than anybody that life isn't easy," Harry said with a small chuckle. "And you should too by now. There are thousands of single mothers in the world, what makes them so different to you, eh? I'm not going to tell you what to do, my girl. But I will say that I will be disappointed if you have an abortion and very excited if you don't. I would love to be a grandad before the end of my days."

"Don't talk like that," she reprimanded him, not wanting to hear him talk about 'the end of his days'. His words made her think again of the dream she'd had; she knew that the horrifying and creepy sight would stay with her for a long time. It wasn't just her dad's words - although they were part of it - but it was her dream that brought out her next words. "Anyway, I've made my decision. I'm keeping the baby, with or without Victor Benedict." And deep down, she knew that would have been her decision in the end anyway, no matter how long she put off making the decision, that would have always been her choice.

She was going to be a mother.

I'm pregnant, Victor... I'm pregnant, Victor... I'm pregnant, Victor... I'm pregnant, Victor... I'm pregnant, Victor...

Over and over and over again the words echoed in Victor's mind, a record playing on repeat. He was at his parents' house along with the rest of his brothers, a day dedicated solely to hanging out with each other seeing as it had been a long time that they'd had a day like that because they were all so busy. Sat on the sofa, he wasn't even listening to the chatter of his brothers around him- Lottie's voice was stuck in his mind and he couldn't think of anything else. He made sure to keep strong shields up so that his mother and Zed - the mind readers in the family - didn't hear these thoughts, a trait he had learnt the hard way to keep doing.

She's pregnant. A day later and he was still in disbelief over the fact that he was going to be a dad if Lottie decided to keep the baby. It actually angered him to think of her getting rid of his baby but what was he supposed to do? Demand that she keep it and go through the pregnancy even if she didn't want to? He couldn't do that; it wouldn't be right.

An image came into his head of himself holding a little baby wrapped in a pink blanket, smiling down at her as her tiny little fingers held on to one of his thumbs. He leant down to kiss her forehead gently, softly rocking her from side to side. Then Lottie appeared beside him smiling, kissing the baby's head before giving Victor a kiss on the lips and whispering "I love you" to him.

He shook his head to shake the image from his mind. He was only picturing that because he'd always imagined not having a baby until he was happily in love... He could dream of having that in the future, but the circumstances with Lottie were a lot different. He would never have that with her not did he want that with her. He wanted to have that with his soulfinder. If he was involved in this baby's life, what would his soulfinder think of him having a child with somebody else? Would she approve? He could easily stay out of the baby's life - Lottie had practically said she wouldn't care - and pretend for the rest of his life that this had never happened...

But Victor wasn't heartless. He wasn't the kind of man that would have a child and not take responsibility of it. Plus, he imagined his soulfinder finding out that he had a child but wasn't in it's life and knew that she probably wouldn't like that very much. He had to take care of this child, for the child's sake and for his future soulfinder. And Lottie too; it wouldn't be fair to leave her to bring up their baby on her own. He wanted to support her and do the right thing, even if he didn't think he was ready to be a dad yet.

He slid his Blackberry from his jeans pocket and sent a text to Andrea: Cancel my interview for S! this evening. I have some extended family stuff to take care of, you're going to have to rearrange it. Sorry. -Victor

He let out a long sigh and tried to remember where Lottie's apartment was, memorizing the address as he did so. He'd go and see her later today, he decided. They had a lot of talking to do.