A/N: This chapter is slightly longer than the others, because it's pretty important to the story, but I do hope it makes some sense. Thanks, as always, to everyone who is reading and reviewing this - you've all made me feel better this weekend, because it's not been a great few days.

Sarah x

Serena turned over onto her back, staring at the moonlit ceiling. In her mind, she saw the photo again. The boy was tiny, and he looked about four years old, his dark hair falling in his eyes. She searched her memory over and over and over again but found no trace of him. Not even a name.

The explanation for that, of course, seemed to be that he was from her future rather than her past. At some point in the next four and a half years, she was going to meet this child for the first time. The fact she trusted the unknown unnerved her ever so slightly, if only because it was the only option really left to her. Her ideas were limited.

Was this someone trying to tell her something? Was this the world, perhaps a world unseen, trying to say something? Perhaps it was a force trying to bring her and Hanssen closer. If anything, her behaviour and his reactions were in danger of driving them apart. What she couldn't understand was why she was acting like this; when she spoke to Hanssen the way she did, when she ignored him or walked away from him, it felt as if she was not the one acting. It felt like her mind and body would not work in tandem. It felt like she was not the one in control.

It was almost certain that there was some form of supernatural residing here, and she had no doubt that they influenced her situation in some way or another. These days there was very little she could not believe in. She was unsure of where to go from here.

She turned again, onto her side, to find Hanssen, or at least his image, picking up a newborn from a cot, singing something quietly in Swedish. "Please, just stop this," she murmured. She wasn't sure if she was talking to her own mind or whatever it was that lived in the walls, but she wanted the visions to stop. She wanted some peace.

Eleanor appeared out of nowhere, wiping tears from her cheeks and greeting Hanssen with a glare. Edward appeared behind her, a bottle in his hand, and started harassing Hanssen and Eleanor. The baby started crying, and the sound made Serena get out of bed and stalk around the four people and the cot and out the bedroom door for some peace of mind.

As she sat in the dark living room, she touched her abdomen lightly. She had already considered and denied to herself the possibility that she could be carrying this child, although the mother and medic in her persuaded her to refuse alcohol at dinner just in case. She was in her forties, and she couldn't bring to believe herself she could be a mother for a second time. She didn't even know if she wanted to be. Serena Campbell was usually good when it came to shock and difficulty and decisions, but this time she wasn't sure. She was more likely to freak out than anything else.

She found she was telling herself how she would take to something she hadn't even proved. She was panicking over something she didn't even know was true, and she knew the chances were slim. But she had to know, one way or the other.

In a moment of madness, and despite the fact it was almost one in the morning, she got up and went through to the bedroom and picked the car keys off Hanssen's bedside table, and her phone, cardigan and handbag from her side. She pulled her wellies over her pyjamas, not caring much that she was going out in her post-sleep state. It was the dead of the nigh; who was going to see her anyway, or even care?

She could just about remember the way to the supermarket Hanssen had taken them to in Douglas, and it was open twenty-four hours. With trepidation for many different reasons, she started the engine and carefully pulled out of the drive; the snow had stopped falling, replaced by a hard frost that made her feel like she was driving on an ice rink.

She was a calmer driver than Hanssen but only when she was alone; if she had Jac or Jonny giving her earache they wouldn't have lived very long. The snow was cleared from the roads, leaving slush and ice in its place, so she drove at thirty-five where so normally would have done fifty-five until she reached the Muirdrum bypass and got onto the dual carriageway. It was a relief to be free of the tight bends and sharp dips.

In her mind's eye, she saw a child running around her living room with a cheeky grin, teasing her to catch him if she could. She saw the boy in his school tie and blazer, ready for his very first day of high school. She saw him as a young adult, well over six feet tall, graduating university. She found she wanted it to be true. She already loved the child she didn't know existed.

At Ardestie she noticed the moon shining through the clouds onto the quiet road, lighting her way to Dundee. She was nervous now, and she briefly contemplated turning back and forgetting all about it. It was silly that she could even believe it could be true. It was selfish to want it; she knew she had not been a great mother to Ellie. She knew the teenager's life was more lonely and more difficult than it could have been if Serena had been there for her more. If she hadn't torn her life between work and arguing with Edward then Eleanor might have been happier. She wasn't mother material. She had proved that already.

She approached the roundabout at Ethiebeaton, and her heart leapt into her mouth as a lorry cut in front of her as she came out the exit on the other side. "What was the bloody need?!" she shouted in temper, slamming her hand onto the horn of Hanssen's car.

She slowed down for a minute or so to recollect herself, calming her breathing down.

She busied her mind with biology and maths and realised she was late. Very late. Two months late. And she hadn't noticed because she was constantly busy with other things, mainly her job and her disintegrating relationships. Perhaps her subconscious had even been glad for the absence of the pain it caused her every month, and therefore had not allowed her to question it.

She reached what the local radio called the "Scott Fyffe circle" and took the Douglas exit, and she drove into the car park with a sigh, parking fairly near the door. Closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wondering why she hadn't left it until a reasonable time of the day. She had jumped out of bed when her mind clicked and thought, 'Oh, I might actually be pregnant.' Such lack of preparation was not normal for Serena.

She got up out of the car and pulled her cardigan around her as the chill hit her and she locked the car behind her. With purpose and anxiety, she stalked into the shop, trying not to look like too much of a madwoman. But then who else is out at one in the morning in her pyjamas and wellies?

She strode carefully to the correct aisle and picked up two pregnancy tests, because two assurances were always better than one alone. Rather than experience the awkwardness she would have felt at a manned till, she went through the self-service and paid by card.

For a moment she was tempted to go to the toilets and do it there and then, but she then decided that she would rather drive home without the strain on her mind of either being pregnant, or else trying to figure out who that boy was if he was not hers. Driving was always better done on a relatively clear mind. That, and she would prefer to be back before anyone noticed she was gone. She didn't want to answer silly questions.

Her heart started to split when she remembered that she was not the only one involved here. She couldn't see Hanssen wanting to be a father; as far as she knew, he had lived his life without strings or commitment, and she didn't think he would be willing to give that up. If this test came back positive, it was going to come down to a matter of choosing him or the baby. She could feel it in her bones.

She was soon taking her boots off and replacing them with slippers, careful not to wake Hanssen. She put the keys back by the side of his bed and padded silently through to the kitchen, were she opened a bottle of fizzy juice and downed about half a litre. While she was at it, she had a couple of chocolate biscuits and sat down on the wooden chair at the table.

A piece of paper lay haphazardly on the wood – another photograph. This time it was of her and a teenage boy, and a redheaded teenage girl on her other side, the hot sun beating down on them, evident in her tan. She turned it over and saw:

Callum, Serena and Emma

Memphis, Tennessee, USA

July 17th, 2029

She looked at it again; she recognised herself but she did look older. She was surprised to see the boy holding a guitar in one hand, the other arm around Serena's waist. He was a musician, if his possessions and location were anything to go by. And who on Earth was Emma? Obviously, she was the redhead whose arm was linked with Serena's, but where did she so suddenly materialise from?

"This is ridiculous," she muttered. But if it was so ridiculous, why was she even giving the notion a place in her mind?

With a sigh, she got up and went to the bathroom, and the next five minutes seemed to take an eternity to pass as she stared intently at two white sticks. She was contemplating the future, whichever way things went. Sitting on the edge of the bath, she found very few painless options.

Upon the realisation that Hanssen would not like it, the first test showed its conclusion in digitised letters: Pregnant. Less than a minute later, the second said the same. Despite her reservations, her face broke into a wide smile, her heart fluttering slightly as she was given confirmation that she was carrying a child. She put her hand over where she now knew lay her child, wondering how the presence in this house could have known before she did.

She got to her feet and stepped out of the bathroom, walking straight into Hanssen. "What are you smiling about?" he asked tiredly. Her face fell as his gaze, lit by the bathroom light, fell to her hands. He took the two positive tests from her hands and she watched him drain white. "Have you been out in the car?" he asked her. Not the question she had been expecting, but still she nodded her head. "Well, that wasn't smart."

"I made it back fine, didn't I?!" she retorted. Why was he being so unpleasant? Her being pregnant was not the end of the world, after all. "Aren't you going to say anything?" she added when he looked at the positive readings again.

"About what?"

Her mouth fell open. "I...The...That!" she exclaimed, pointing to the white sticks in his hand. He looked almost angry, despite the ghostly look about him.

"How many weeks?" he asked mechanically, with no feeling, never mind any joy.

"I'm not sure."

"How can you not be sure?" he demanded. His reaction was startling.

"I...Well, I didn't notice anything amiss," she admitted. It was the complete truth, but it seemed to just irritate him. He was about to snap; she could see it in his eyes as they seemed to grow darker and harsher. She was not prepared for the noise that came out of his mouth when he spoke.

"You're a doctor!" shouted Hanssen. "You should have noticed!"

"I'm sorry to burst your simple little bubble of male logic, but when you're completely rushed off your feet, deputy CEO of an NHS hospital, busy general surgery consultant, mother to the world's most stubborn teenager and ex-wife to the world's greatest moron, the last think you think is, 'Oh dear, I should be on my fucking period!'" she ranted at him, annoyed by his actions and reactions.

The door down the hall opened and Jac and Jonny appeared, but Serena was not able to tear her eyes away from Hanssen. How could he react like this? His words hurt her more than they should have, but this was his child as well. He must have felt something other than the anger he put on show about the situation.

"What's going on?" Jac asked, breaking the intense silence Serena felt falling over them all.

Serena could only whisper, "I'm pregnant."

"Oh!" Jonny exclaimed. "Congratulations!" Serena glared at him. "No? Sorry," he muttered.

Hanssen spoke once more, and Serena was horrified. "This isn't my problem."

"It shouldn't be a problem at all!" Serena shouted at him, fighting back tears at his seeming lack of care, and refusal to be a father. Jonny pushed past Hanssen and took Serena's arm, letting Jac guide her into Jac and Jonny's bedroom. She was appalled that Hanssen didn't want anything to do with this, and therefore her.

As Jac shut the door, Jonny said to Hanssen, "Well, you're being about as much use as a bag of green tatties!"

Hope this is alright!
Please feel free to drop me a review and tell me what you think!
Sarah x