Disclaimer: I do not own Heartland, nor any of the characters. Give credit to those who deserve it.

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Summary: Marion was dead. Amy was hurt. So Jack picked up the phone and called her, but by inviting Lou back to Heartland, he was also inviting all the pain and secrets Marion and he had tried so hard to bury.

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Chapter One

The sky was dark for the time of day, the snow was falling and the air was chilly but the noise of the city remained the same. The horns honking, sirens wailing and the people shouting. Music played from in stores, blaring out on to the open streets. It was chaotic, but perfect. She no longer minded having to squish through the crowds on the streets, bumping shoulders with other people. It was all part of living here, in the big apple.

"Momma."

She stopped at the cross walk, looking down at the little girl by her side. Those deep brown eyes staring into hers as if they were reaching into her soul. But it was the word that captured her attention, that one significate word that she had desperately wanted to hear when she was younger, but not one she had heard until just 6 months ago at age 29. it wasn't from the child she had thought she'd hear it from, however it was just as loving, filled with such innocence and trust.

"Yes?"

"Your phone."

Frowning, she placed a hand on her pocket feeling the vibration. "Oh." She pulled it out, swiping the call, not paying any attention to the caller id. "Lou, speaking." She listened to the breathing, the slow unsteady breathing. "Hello?" She asked again, giving the little girl a reassuring smile. "Is there anyone..."

"Lou..."

Lou felt her heart plumpet to her stomach, and without realising she drew her daughter closer, as if to keep her secure. She couldn't remember the last time she'd heard this voice, was it 10 year ago, or 12? And if she was hearing it now, then something, something had happened. "What happened?" Her voice was filled with dread.

"Lou, you need to come home."

The urgency in his voice made Lou's knees shake. "Is she okay?" Her lips trembled with fear.

"Your mom's gone, Lou." A brief pause as he tried to regain his breathing, steady his emotions. "Amy's hurt."

Lou didn't need to know the details, it was clear enough from the words that whatever Marion Fleming had involved herself in, she had included Amy. Reckless. That was all Lou could think of her mother, to risk Amy's life. That was nothing but selfishness. "I'll be on the next flight." She ended the call before he could speak again, before she could break down. Her bottom lip quivered, eyes had welled with tears and she wondered briefly if she should feel guilty that her mothers death was not upsetting, that it was the fact that Amy was hurt that broke her heart.

"Momma, what's wrong?"

Lou looked down, those deep soulful eyes showing empathy. "Nothing baby." She refused to bring up another death in front of her daughter. "Come on, we are going on a trip." She leaned down and picked up the small seven year old, needing to have her close.

"Where to?"

"Heartland." Lou breathed the name of the place that she had avoided for many years, a place she had refused to return to because it made the memories of everything she had ever tried to bury return.

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"I'm looking for Amy Fleming..."

"Lou."

Lou stilled, her hand squeezing that of the little girls beside her. Since the phone call she had been unable to get the voice outside of her head, it was on repeat. She wasn't sure she could bring herself to turn around and face him, a man she had once adored. She still remembered his face, the disappointment, when she drove away from Heartland without looking back. Except he only knew half the truth of why she had left that day.

"Lou."

Breathing deeply she turned to see him, and she had to bite her bottom lip to keep it from quivering. Lou took in all of his features in seconds, if there was a single thing that had changed it would be that he had gotten greyer, otherwise everything had remained the same. Except this time he didn't look disappointed, he looked concerned, perhaps a little confused. "Grampa." She finally cleared her throat, allowing the name to tumble out. A name she hadn't spoken in years. "How is she?" It was easier to divert her attention to what she had come here for, after all Amy being okay was all she really cared about.

"Amy's asleep." He took a hesitant step forward. "It's wonderful to see you again, Lou, I just wish it was under better circumstances." He looked as though he wanted to hug her but was holding back, restraining himself. "You've grown..."

"Momma."

Lou tore her eyes away from her grandfather, dropping them to the little girl who was staring between them completely confused. "Oh sweetie, this is my grandfather. Jack." Lou dared to take a glance at the man before her, seeing the shock in his features. "Grampa, this is my daughter, Georgina."

"Momma calls me Georgie. Hi." She gave him one of her bright smiles, showing off all her pearly white teeth.

Jack Bartlett felt as though he had been thrown off a horse then trotted on. He had not expected this. His granddaughter had a child, his great grandchild and he hadn't know. His heart sank, realising how much distance there truly was between them. If this accident hadn't occurred then he would still be none the wiser to this little ones existence. If there was one thing Jack had prided himself on, it was his love for his family, and he had failed Lou in every aspect of it. He couldn't fail her daughter to.
Leaning down he extended his hand to the little girl. "Well, it is very, very, nice to meet you Georgie." He gave a slight smile when the little girl shook his hand.

Lou breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing Georgie's shoulder with her hand. She wondered how this would go, after all, there was only one person in her family that knew of Georgie's existence. Not because she was ashamed, not because she didn't speak to everyone else but because she was mostly afraid of their reactions. The one person she did tell, was the one she knew would not hate her for it. "Can we..." She looked back at Amy's room, and her Grampa gave a brief nod of his head. "When did this happen?"

Jack didn't often look sheepish, or embarrassed yet he somehow managed to show it. He knew in his gut that his first call should have been to her, to tell her to come home, to allow her to say good-bye to her mother but he didn't call, he didn't because of Marion. He had tried to uphold his daughters last wishes by holding out on his granddaughter. "Uh," He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Almost a fortnight ago. I would have called sooner, things were..."

Lou shook her head, fighting down the feelings of anger. She should have been his first call but at the same time she was relieved he had waited. She would no longer need to attend her mothers funeral because it would have been held already. She would not have to listen to him tell Amy about her death because Amy would already know. It was a hard decision but Lou understood. "I'm here now."

"Grampa, I wondered..." Amy stopped speaking, her eyes falling on the woman and child who entered the room behind her grandfather. "Who are you?"

Lou breathed deeply attempting to calm all her nerves, the question struck her like a knife in the heart. This hadn't been the relationship she wanted for them, that she had begged her mother for. And now after 12 years she had to explain who she was, to the girl that should have known her.
Had her mother even mentioned her to Amy after her departure? She doubted it. If there was a word to explain Marion Fleming it was strong willed, and with strong wiliness came stubbornness.

Jack looked between his granddaughters, his heart tearing in two. Aching because this wasn't how it was supposed to be. "Amy," He spoke her name slowly stepping further into the room. "Amy, this is Lou...your..." He paused, eyes closing because he couldn't bare to look at Lou as she stood there with her hand pressed against her mouth obviously trying to contain any sobs that might escape. He wondered how she was still standing, after all these years.

Amy stared at the brunette across the room, the one with the little girl pressed into her side. Her supposed sister. All Amy could think of was all that her mother had said, all those years of rants when she thought no one was paying attention. "Don't bother, Grampa, I don't have a sister."

"Amy." Jack reprimanded, embarrassed that those words fell from her lips.

Amy glared, ignoring the pain in her body. "What are you doing here?"

Lou wanted to run, she wanted to walk right out the door and collapse on the floor. To allow her body to be taken over by the intense pain and sorrow that she felt but she was stronger now. Stronger then she had ever been and she would not allow, her daughter, her grandfather...or Amy to see her as anything less.
She breathed deeply, wrapped her arms around Georgie's shoulders and straightened her own back. She could deal with any 15 year old hatred, she heard worse. "I'm here because we are family."

Amy raised her eyebrow. "Are we?"

Thoughts?

Much Love. x