Thank you again for reading this far I really appreciate it and thanks for all the reviews I love to read them

Thank you again for reading this far I really appreciate it and thanks for all the reviews I love to read them. I hope you will enjoy this chapter and I am trying to upload more frequently for the moment as I am moving to uni in 2 weeks and probably won't be able to upload for a while after that, until I get my laptop and internet sorted. Please continue to read and enjoy!

Chapter 9: The Lake

They had been driving to Jim's secret destination for almost an hour now and Melinda was beginning to get a little tired she was also slightly bored and really needed to pee.

"Jim is it far now I really have to use the bathroom." She moaned.

"5, 10 minutes tops can you wait that long, if not I can pull over here and you can pee in that bush." He said trying to make light of the situation.

"Ha, Ha funny but seriously I am not going anywhere near that bush so you better get a move on, unless you want a wet car seat." She replied making a little joke of her own but the look on Jim's face showed that he wasn't so sure it was a joke.

It had been just over 5 minutes when Jim pulled up outside a small log cabin beside a lake, he had come here a few time with his family as a child but hadn't been back since his father passed away.

"Ok Mel this is it, we're here." He said as he carefully parked the car and turned off the ignition.

"Oh it's wonderful, how come you never took me here before?" She asked, admiring the cabin from out of the car window.

"I dunno, I came here as a kid but I never really wanted to come back after my dad died, until now." He replied placing a kiss on Melinda's cheek. He then opened the car door, slid out of the car, and ran round to where Melinda was sat and opened the door for her too.

"Why thank you." She said smiling cheekily.

"You're always welcome." He replied cheesily.

"Right can we go inside 'because I really have to go pee." She said sounding like a small child.

"Oh yeah sure thing honey, here are the keys, bathroom is up the stairs, first room on the left, come right back out when you're done I have another surprise for you." He said placing the keys in his wife's delicate hands.

"Thank you." She replied quickly before heading straight for the cabin door and dashing up the stairs like a bullet.

Jim chucked to himself at his wife's urgency to reach the toilet and things were only going to got worse as the pregnancy developed. It was only 2 days until Melinda was to return to the doctor for a routine check up on herself and the baby and although Mel seemed fine Jim was still worried.

As the cabin didn't have a garden Jim took advantage of the location and decided to set up his surprise on a small hill by the lake, he figured if he was quick enough he could set everything up before Melinda came looking for him.

First he pulled a large chequered rug and laid it on the flattest part of the hill, it was a beautiful sunny day, not even a slight breeze or a single cloud in the sky to ruin it. Next Jim retrieved the picnic hamper from the side of the cabin (he had hidden it there in case Melinda came out) and began to set up a small picnic area, placing the basket in the middle with a bunch of flowers. Now all he had to do was wait for his wife.

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(Meanwhile)

Melinda had run up the stairs so fast that she hadn't even had a chance to take a look at how beautiful the cabin was. When she reached the top of the stairs she did as Jim said and entered the first room on the right. The room consisted of a rather large and luxurious looking bath tub directly opposite the door but there were a few feet between the door and the bathtub. At the right of room there was the toilet and opposite that was a basin with a large, frameless mirror above it.

. Melinda walked over to the basin to wash her hands and glanced at her reflection as she did so.

"Errrgh, gosh I look awful." She muttered to herself.

Seeing her reflection in the mirror caused her to realise that she did in fact look as bad as she felt and so she turned on the hot tap, filled the basin with water and began to rinse her face. Suddenly the room turned cold causing Melinda to shiver slightly, she could sense a presence in the room but when she looked around she could see nothing.

"Hello, who's there?" She called out. Nothing happened.

"Hello I can help you if you just show yourself, I know you're here I can sense your energy." She called once again and this time she caught a glimpse of something in the corner of her eye.

Turning in the direction she saw the spirit she spoke once more, "My name is Melinda, I want to help you."

Finally the spirit appeared to Melinda but she seemed very distant, like she didn't want to be there. Her features appeared almost porcelain, making her look extremely fragile and her long, dark hair made her already pale face look ghostly. From how she appeared in front of Melinda it was apparent that she had died a pretty violent death as she was bruised and cut all over the place but she was still enchantingly beautiful and Melinda felt drawn to her straight away.

"Hello, do you need my help?" The ghost whisperer asked the young spirit.

"Not exactly, I came here to bring you a message." The girl said.

Melinda swallowed hard, "What message, who sent you?" She asked wearily.

"That isn't important but you need to listen. Dangerous things are happening Melinda and this time you might not be able to stop them, you must be careful because the spirits need your help." The girl said plainly.

"What do you mean? Why do you need my help and why am I in danger?" Melinda asked pleadingly.

"He's coming, be careful Melinda..." The ghost trailed off as she disappeared.

Mel stood in shock at first but she didn't have much time to sit and think about the visit before a familiar and yet very unwelcome ghost appeared to her in the bathroom causing her to feel instantly dizzy and nauseas.

"Jim." She managed to call out weakly before sitting herself on the bathroom floor, head in her hands.

"What do you want?" She asked her voice frail.

"I warned you about helping those spirits, she came to you and I know it but you can't help her and she can't save you or your child. People are very interested in this baby and not just spirits." The dark eyed ghost spoke his lips barely moving.

"What, why?" She asked, her voice even quieter than before as she began to feel herself losing consciousness from the spirits overwhelming energy.

"Because you and your future child will allow spirits as myself to walk amongst the living once more." The ghost spat then abruptly disappeared.

His departure tipped Melinda over the edge and she lost the battle to keep her eyes open and her mind active, she blacked out.

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Jim hadn't heard Melinda's call and was beginning to get worried about her, she had said she would only be 5 minutes but he was pretty sure she had been at least 10 and he decided to go looking for her.

Opening the door to the front of the cabin Jim firstly scoured the bottom floor to see if his wife was simply having a nosey around but he couldn't see her anywhere and he was becoming increasingly worried.

"Mel, Mel are you alright?" He called, the sound of his voice echoed around the cabin and straight back to him but he received no reply.

Jim then ran straight up the stairs, even faster than Mel had done earlier and bounded straight through the bathroom door where is saw he wife laid unconscious on the floor.

He ran straight up to her and instinctively checked her pulse. It was weak but definitely present he knew that he had to get her to wake up, the longer she was out the more danger she would be in, and the baby but he was pretty sure that it wasn't health problems that caused the incident.

"Mel honey I need you to wake up for me." He spoke softly into her ear. She did make a small noise but nothing much else.

"Melinda, you have to wake up, come on, for me, please." Jim said trying to stay as calm as possible.

This time she managed to move her arm slightly and began to open her eyes. When Jim saw this he let out a sigh of relief.

"Honey you scared the hell out of me just then." He said holding her tightly in his arms and placing soft kisses on her face.

"...I'm sorry." She replied still a little weak and shaken.

"Hey it's ok as long as you're ok that's all that matters." Jim said softly still holding her safe in his embrace.

"I still want to see this big surprise if that's ok." She said fluttering her eyelids slightly.

"I dunno, you really should rest Mel, you were out for at least 5minutes." Jim said looking at her sincerely but those puppy dog eyes were wearing him in, as usual!

"Please I promise I'll sit down the whole time, unless you had a hike planned, in which case I will stay right here." She said sounding a little better.

Jim pondered her request for a few seconds, well she does need to eat something and may be a little fresh air and some nice food will make her feel better.

"Alright, but..." He scooped Mel up into his arms and began to carry her. "I'm carrying you to the surprise. He said on his way down the stairs, Melinda neatly in his arms as she had been the night they moved into their home.

Melinda didn't protest, even if she had wanted to she was in his arms before she had even had the time to blink but there was going to be no complaining. He was probably right anyway; if someone she knew had just spent 5 minutes unconscious then she probably wouldn't let them go gallivanting around either. Plus she still felt a little shaky, but that was probably because she hadn't eaten since she threw her breakfast up this morning.

When they reached the picnic area Jim placed his wife on a spot on the chequered rug and sat opposite her, so close that their noses were almost touching.

"Oh this is so great, I can't believe you did all of this for me." Melinda exclaimed as she put her arms round her gorgeous husband's neck and kissed him.

"I would only do all of this for you and only you." He replied kissing her back.

The pair then sat together eating food from the picnic basket, feeding each other strawberries and enjoying the beautiful sunshine and the breathtaking view of the lake at the bottom of the hill.