The next morning came and Peter and Carla were waking up from one of the weirdest night sleeps they've had in ages. They weren't in their own flat instead they were in one of Carla's ex-business customers multi-million-pound home. Their room had an en-suite which was decorated with black tiles on the walls with glitter embedded in them and basic white tiles as the flooring. It was relatively big and matched with the décor of the bedroom.

"Right shall we go downstairs then?" Peter asks

"Yep come on then" she says as they begin to make their way downstairs

"Lilah?" Carla shouts and Lilah appears from her study obviously getting in some work before start of play

"Hi" she smiles "Do you want breakfast?" she asks

"Ooo what do you have?" Carla's eyes light up at the mention of food

"Well, I have toast, generic cereal, I'm not the best cook but if I really push myself I can make a full English" she jokes

"I'll just have toast thanks" Carla says

"Peter do you want anything?" Lilah asks

"I'll have some cereal thanks" he says

"Lilah?" Carla asks

"Yes?" she says while making toast and getting a bowl of cereal sorted

"Could I have a look in the box?" she asks

"Sure let's eat first though" Lilah suggests

After an hour or so picking at the fruit in bowel in the middle of the table and eating toast Lilah finally decided to get the box and returned a few minutes later balanced in her hands. She places it gently down on the table not wanting to push the couple to open it and made sure that they did it in their own time.

"Ok, look, why don't I open it to get you started. Then I will leave the room so you can talk openly" she suggests

"Ok then lets do that" Carla says while Lilah lifts the lid off the box

The first thing on top of the box was a baby pink blanket with white polka dots on it. It looks delicately folded to ensure that it didn't crease. Carla noticed on the lid of the box a letter which read

"To anyone who may stumble across this box, I want you to know not to look lost. I lived once and I will always be here in spirit. Some may think this box will define me but every item in here defines me more than this box overall. Each item has a label attached apart from my blanket which was soft against my silky skin it provides comfort for my mummy when she feels sad, which is more often than you think. So don't be scared, take a look, no one judges you for the way you feel especially when you think people will."

At this point Carla was in tears and Peter was getting that way too. This bought back many memories for Carla and her baby girl but she never grieved about her out in the open especially in front of him. Peter put his shoulder around her and began taking items out of the box ready for them to read the labels of each of the items.

"Do you want me to read, sweetheart?" Peter asks knowing this must be harder for her than for him

"If you wouldn't mind" she sniffs

Peter picked up a stuffed teddy, pink in colour, it was fluffy, and the fur was soft in his hands. He handed it to Carla making sure she felt the softness of the teddy in her hands before she handed it back to him to read the label.

"Mummy bought me this teddy when I was growing inside her. She said that this teddy would save me from the monsters of the night and that it would keep me safe forever and ever. My mummy used this as a symbol of hope where this teddy would stay with her forever so she would always have a piece of me with her."

Carla and Peter were both crying knowing how this feeling felt when Carla came home to their pokey little flat with the first stuffed animal for their child and saying how much this baby would 'change them' and it did. It made them stronger. Carla then picked up hand prints which were a perfect silhouette of black ink on the white card they were on. She gestured for Peter to read it knowing all well it would set her off again.

"These are my hands. They represent a lot really. They represent me trying to heal my mummy. They represent the time I felt my mummy's skin, so soft and safe it was. My mummy misses me everyday but this way she can see the outline of something which held her skin so innocently."

Carla smiled at this knowing she didn't get hand prints with her baby girl but it was something she wanted so desperately to have she wanted to see the outline and trace over them like they were in her own. Peter felt this pain, how he messed it up, how he felt like it was all his fault he couldn't grieve for his daughter. Peter then picked up the footprints and began to read the writing on the back of them.

"Look at me, I'm walking now! This is me making my journey to you, this is me mapping out my mummy's future in the form of my feet. These are my first steps, first steps which are the start of many more where I look over the world and tell my mummy the steps she should take in her life. It's my turn to protect my mummy like she couldn't for me."

Carla knows that her little girl is up there looking down on her. She is watching her mummy come back from all the struggles she's had over the years. It had been difficult, there was no doubt about it, maybe that's why her little girl chose to live in the sky because she knew her mummy was still battling her demons. This way she could help her mummy in the form of hope and spirit.

The last item in the box was a photo of Lilah sitting on a hospital bed with Esme being held in her arms. This was precious time she got to spend with her before she passed away. This is something that was caught on camera a permanent memory of a perfect experience. Peter began to read the back of the reel of photos

"I feel safe and secure in my mummy's arms. She held me tightly to protect me against the elements of the outside world it was like we were in our own little bubble. The first time I looked into mummy's eyes and I saw the fear and pain my daddy left behind but when she held me for a while longer it was replaced with hope and happiness but soon I had to part ways with her. What I'm trying to say is my mummy will never replace me I'm still in her heart no sibling will replace that. I hope I told my mummy one thing that she keeps trying to deserve happiness even if that means replacing me. This way I know, I've done my job."

Peter and Carla gathered all the items and placed them back in the box the order they were in previous. They looked at each other and hugged. This hug symbolised the love two people had for each other and the future they had. Carla got up to see Lilah who was sat quietly doing her work she tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"So you looked through it then" she said sympathetically noticing Carla's tear stained cheeks "Come here" she gestured for a hug

"That was the most beautiful thing I've read and seen, I'm so sorry" she says quietly

"You need to look at the future and not look on the past, yes it was ugly and screwed up but you're better than that. That box teaches me new lessons that I would teach my little girl if she was still here" she says tearing up

"Come on, I'll drive you both home" she grabs her keys on the side and exits the house to get to the car

After a quiet journey home Peter and Carla got out the car and headed up to the flat. Lilah had to dart off to be at a shareholders meeting so she couldn't stay but they thanked her for having them. She said that if they ever needed her to make sense of things, she would be there for them and that they are not alone. This opened the can of worms of a private discussion between Carla and Peter which was going to be a difficult one considering they never talked about the past that much.

"You were quiet" Carla states

"What?" Peter questions

"At Lilah's, you were quiet" she says "Why?"

"Do you want the truth?" he says

"Always" she smiles

"It was just awkward I guess because I caused you so much pain when I shouldn't have let my ego get the better of me and also, I was trying to be strong for you while we were going through the items in Esme's memory box" he says truthfully

"Please talk to me Peter, you've helped me so much recently and I want to return the favour" she says

"I guess it just feels like we could have had so much more if I didn't let my ego get the better of me" he says

"Ok… What do you want for the future?" she asks

"I want you, I never want to hurt you, I never want to lose you because I think it would break me" he says vulnerably

"Oh, baby you won't lose me, by you being here every day with me should convince you that you will never lose me because you are keeping me going" she says

"Good, because I never ever want to lose you again" he says confidently

"I can't believe Lilah went through all that though" she says out of the blue

"That was pretty dark I must admit, the age gap though" he winces at the thought "The one thing that was keeping her hopeful after Frank did what he did disappeared just like that" he says.

"You thought I was strong? Take a look at that girl" she says impressed "There's one thing that doesn't make sense though" she contemplates

"What's that then?" he asks, intrigued

"Why was she on anti-psychotics if she was depressed? I'm no doctor but surely she would be on anti-depressants" she states

"What you saying? That there's more that meets the eye to all of this?" he asks

"I don't know some things don't add up that's all" she shrugs

After a long day, with a lot of feelings from the past being bought up, Carla and Peter decided to call it a day and just snuggle on the sofa for the remainder of it. They knew that looking through Esme's memory box gave them hope for the future but none of them were ready to admit what each other's future was. Carla was now more than determined to get to know Lilah even more to see if she held any clues to things of the past and maybe the mutual understanding between them would blossom into a new support net for her and Peter. There were so many things Carla wanted to know about Lilah but she knew that she would have to tread carefully to ensure that she respected her privacy. Maybe this was the friendship Carla and Peter needed to get through the future.