Ronnie pushed open the door, slowly because really, deep down she didn't want to confront what was on the other side. The room was dark, moonlight was all that lit up the tiny figure that sat in the corner. Ronnie approached, gently and careful not to alert attention to herself and saw that the figure was rocking her arms back and forth slowly as if she was cradling a baby.

"Danielle?" Ronnie whispered, her eyes transfixed on the slow rocking motion, the hands that were so carefully wrapped around the imaginary figure. It would have almost been beautiful if it wasn't quite so scary.

"Shush, you're going to wake him" Danielle insisted in a hushed voice, her eyes didn't move from the empty space between her arms. Soothing and gentle, Danielle brought her 'baby' closer to her chest. Ronnie knelt down in front of her and watched both fascinated and terrified.

"Wake who Danielle?" Ronnie asked, trying to catch Danielle's gaze but it was locked on the 'baby'.

"My baby... My son" Danielle insisted running a finger down where a cheek would be. "He kept crying for me but I couldn't find him... He's safe now though."

Ronnie stepped back slightly, her heart was racing as she watched this scene. How could she talk to Danielle? Rationalize with her? Explain to her that her 'baby' had died when she'd had the abortion... What was happening to her little girl? Ronnie felt sick as she gripped onto Danielle's arms desperate to bring her back to reality.

"He likes his grandma" Danielle smiled, this time she did look up and meet Ronnie's gaze but she was staring right through her. "Hey shush little one, we don't want you crying no, no... A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain, softly blows over lullaby bay..." Danielle began to sing, a soft gentle voice that broke Ronnie's heart. She was this tiny little girl lost in the most painful of situations, her daughter, breaking down and losing control.

"Danni, honey come on now I need you to listen to me" Ronnie insisted, she placed her hand on Danielle's chin and lifted it up so that their eyes met yet again. "There is no one there, Danielle, no baby." Ronnie realised she sounded harsh but she needed to break through this fortress that Danielle was building around herself.

"You're a liar" Danielle glared at Ronnie. "You! You are just jealous because I have my baby and yours was taken away! Well I won't let you take him away from me I won't!" Danielle sounded almost hysterical now.

Ronnie's hands gripped tighter onto Danielle's arms as she tried to prise them apart, unlocking them from around the 'baby'. Danielle was fighting back with every ounce of strength she could manage. Her fingernails dragged down Ronnie's arms and making Ronnie wince in pain.

"NO!" Danielle screamed, her eyes wild she looked at Ronnie with utter contempt. She pulled her 'baby' close to her chest, supporting his head as she began to move away from Ronnie.

Ronnie couldn't let Danielle leave, she just couldn't. Grabbing Danielle around the waist she pulled her back. Danielle's sobs and screams even louder than before as she desperately tried to pull away. "You won't take my baby! I won't let you!" she hissed, collapsing in Ronnie's arms, sobs that came from the pit of her stomach that made Ronnie ache with each and every one.

"It fills the sails of boats that are waiting, waiting to sail your worries away" Ronnie began to sing, it was all she could think to do "it isn't far to Hushabye Mountain." Soothing her little girl in her arms, Ronnie continued to sing, trying to keep Danielle as calm as she could manage. Danielle's sobs dulled slowly but eventually they were nothing but a rasping gasp that emerged every few minutes. Danielle became so calm so peaceful that eventually she was fast asleep in her mothers arms leaving Ronnie to reflect...

Pregnant... Finding out she was pregnant sent her whole world crashing down. She was fourteen years old and she had lost the respect of her entire family, even Roxy didn't look at her with that same awe and respect that she always had done. Ronnie was a whole new person the second that baby had been taken from her arms.

Runaway... Getting away from Archie, starting a new life in a new country. Ronnie always felt like she was a fraud. This happy face, was a lie. These people, these 'friends' were all false. They didn't know her real life, what had happened to her, what she had given away.

Return... Back in London it was as if she couldn't hide anymore, it didn't help that her little girl would be turning eighteen, that made the desire stronger, because she there was a chance that maybe just maybe her Amy wanted her too.

Death... In Weymouth, as she poured her heart out to her father. Desperate for him to understand her pain, he only added to that pain by ending every hope and dream she'd hung onto. Her baby was dead, her baby was gone, her baby had died in the arms of a stranger and she would never get her back.

Jack... Supposed to be her saviour, supposed to love her and protect her but all he ever did was hurt her. Christmas was going to be their second chance and then her whole world fell apart. The two people in your life you believe you can truely rely on, your sister and the man you love... Together... It was hard enough being around Amy when she was just a constant reminder of everything that Ronnie had lost but now she had to factor in the fact that she was Jack's baby.

Abortion... The girl that had come to her was an employee, a slightly stalker-ish, over-friendly employee. But Ronnie could see herself in that young girl. Now she tried to search her brain and ask herself whether she ever thought... She could be just like my daughter... Probably not, Ronnie was completely oblivious as she gave out advice to the scared young thing "having that baby was the biggest mistake of my life" she should have seen how crushed that poor girl looked, she knew Danielle was strange, she knew Danielle had that peculiar effect on her WHY didn't she see who she was! She called up and she rejected Danielle and with it she set them back, Danielle was more scared than ever to tell her who she was.

Revelation... Finding Danielle with Amy the natural conclusion was that Danielle had lost her mind... That thought in particular was painful now as she rocked her sleeping daughter... Ronnie didn't understand what Danielle was saying. "Granddad told you!" Who was her granddad? What was she talking about? "That you're my mother!" she screamed, that girl had truely lost it! My daughters dead, Ronnie remembered rationalizing, but as the scared young girl begged her part of Ronnie was daring to dream, part of Ronnie could see her nose, the shape of her lips. No! It was just a fantasy, a sick fantasy and when her father told her it wasn't true it was far easier to believe him

Death... Her daughters second death was far more painful than the first, Ronnie always thought that it was the dying in a strangers arms that upset her the most but dying in her own arms was more soul destroying because at least before there was nothing she could have done, now there was a whole bunch of what-ifs?

Resurrection... Can you imagine sitting in a cafe and watching the person you loved the most, a person who had died right in front of your eyes, casually stroll in? Can you imagine being so desperate to get her back that you didn't bother to confront the whole mess of emotions inside you. Can you imagine bringing her into your life and acting as if everything was ok when inside you knew it just didn't feel right. Can you imagine loving somebody so completely and being so devoted to a person that you just can't be around them because you know deep down you're destroying them?

Ronnie felt tears stream from her eyes, she was breaking down properly for the first time since... Since the day her baby had been taken away... Twenty years of emotion flooding out, her whole body shook with pain and agony. Here was her baby, sat in her arms, her baby completely destroyed and why? Because of her. Ronnie pulled at Danielle's arm, trying to hold it close to her and to feel the warmth of her child but instead what she did was expose her daughters pale, thin arms which were covered in criss-crossing cuts. Gasping Ronnie's traced a finger along a deep incision that ran up Danielle's arm, watching as she grunted in her sleep at the slight discomfort the pressure caused.

So many bad things had happened to Ronnie but Danielle had suffered as well. A broken little girl coping with being given up for adoption, given to the best parents in the world but still not changing the fact that someone hadn't wanted her in the first place. That locket, perhaps it was the biggest mistake because it constantly dragged her back to thoughts of what if... She would look at that picture that was almost a mirror of her own reflection and constantly be wondering is she thinking about me? Danielle had grew older, a teenager but she was awkward and uncomfortable and it had turned into a deep sadness that she had tried to hide from everyone.

Danielle had come so close to losing it after what had happened with Joel... Somehow she had found her last remaining ounce of strength to pull herself back but things had been descending for months. The abortion had been haunting her, her baby had been haunting her... He would cry desperate for his mummy and Danielle could never find him. She ignored these thoughts though, she knew nobody would understand.

She had found that she needed Ronnie, desperately needed her more than anyone else in the whole wide world but every time they even got close Danielle would panic and pull away. She was scared that once Ronnie really knew her she'd see the mess that she was and she would want her anymore. Danielle was flooded with guilt over everything that had happened, hurting Ronnie, letting Archie back into their lives and how that had been responsible for Rebecca's own downfall.

Mirrors, they're everywhere. Reflective surfaces that constantly show you who you are. Danielle couldn't remember the last time she'd been able to look in a mirror without the image haunting her, calling her, goading her and threatening to reach out and destroy her. She had seen all the warnings early on, she knew something wasn't right and she ignored the signs because she didn't want Ronnie to find out what her 'baby' really was, it was too late now Ronnie had seen it all. Confronted by a breakdown seismic in scale.

"We're a mess baby... I thought we'd fix each other but we're just too broken..." Ronnie sobbed.