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

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Chapter Two

"Why is she here, Grampa?"

Jack breathed deeply, when he looked into Amy's eyes all he could see was curiousity and betrayal. He knew Amy didn't know much about Lou, apart from her name and that she existed. He knew if Marion had it her way Amy would never have known that Lou exisited but it was hard to keep a whole town from mentioning her. "Marion was her mother." It seemed like a simple enough answer, but it wasn't a completely truthful one. Marion wasn't the reason he'd called Lou home.

"Mom wouldn't want her here."

"Amy." Jack admonished, but he knew she was right. What he wished he knew was if it was out of spite or if Marion thought Lou wouldn't want to come. "I called her. Lou is family and she deserves..."

"No! Lou hasn't been here since I was a toddler. Why would you ask her to come back..." Amy groaned in pain as she tried to sit up in the bed.

"Settle down. You shouldn't be..."

"I'm fine, Grampa. When am I going to be able to get out of here? I just want to go home."

"Soon. The doctors are contemplating releasing you late this afternoon."

"I don't want her there."

"Amy."

"No Grampa. Mom wouldn't want her at Heartland."

"Stop!" Jack Bartlett raised his voice, making Amy's eyes pop open wide. He could never remember a time when he had raised his voice at Amy, though he had done with Lou many times. However, this nonsense had to stop. He know long thought it was right to have his family seperated. "Your mom is gone, Amy, and I know it..." He paused, taking a moment to collect himself as his hands started to shake. For all her faults, Marion was still his daughter. "She's gone, but Lou is here."

Amy glared, her eyes filled with anger. "She's never wanted to come home before."

"That may be, but she has also never been welcome." He took a step towards the bed, looking down at the very reason he never talked about the past. "But I want her here. Amy, I haven't seen Lou in a very long time, I've missed my granddaughter."

"I'm your granddaughter. I'm the one who has always been here."

Jack placed a hand on her shoulder gently. "I'm not asking you to accept her with open arms, Amy, but Lou is allowed to stay for as long as she pleases." He took a step back. "I love you, I do but I do love Lou as well." He heard the words fall from his lips and he tried to remember the last time he'd openly admitted his love for his eldest granddaughter.

...

Lou stood outside the room, listening to the words that carried through the door. She held Georgie close, pressed the child's head to her stomach, hands covering her ears. She didn't want the seven year old to hear what was being said because she knew it would only make Georgie worry. Perhaps even make her angry because she hated when people spoke bad about her momma.

Lou couldn't say she was surprised by Amy's response to her presence but it was disheartening.
What did surprise her was her Grandfather's reaction. He had told Amy that he wanted her here. It was the first time she had felt wanted by him in years and she briefly wondered if that was only because of Georgie's presence. But then she shook her head and remembered he hadn't known about Georgie until they arrived.

"Lou, why don't you go ahead and go hom...uh," He rubbed his hands together nervously, as if uncertain what he should call the place she had grown up. "Back to the ranch. Amy and I will be home later tonight."

"Grampa,"

Jack shook his head, knowing exactly what he was about to hear from her. "At the moment she is grieving, hurt and confused but if you leave, then it'll only intensify what she already feels for you." He took a step forward, very hesitantly placing a hand on her arm. "I want you here Lou, I need you here and so will she."

Lou bit her bottom lip, nodding her head slowly. "Okay. I'll see you later." She backed away from him, unsure if she should be returning to Heartland. Was it the wisest decision after all this time?

"Momma."

Lou glanced down at Georgie as they walked back through the hospital. "Yes honey?"

"Are you gonna call Grandpa?"

Lou sucked in a breath as Georgie reminded her, she had promised to call her father as soon as she arrived. "I'll call him as soon as we get you some lunch." She had no idea what she was going to say to her father, he was concerned that her return would open old wounds and he was right. She could already feel the band aids breaking away.

...

Lou felt like the life was draining out of her, every second of those insufferable years were flooding back into her mind.
Her hand gripped the car door just to steady herself, because she was afraid. Afraid that she would collapse on the floor beneath the weight of the memories.
Nothing had changed, and she struggled to know whether that was a good thing or perhaps just another trigger.

The hospital.
Now the house.

Her body was experiencing to many emotions at the same time.
Fear.
Sorrow.
Pain.
Anxiety.
And a small piece of happiness that she had finally laid eyes on Amy again.

Not that Amy wanted her here. The 15 year old held so much resentment within her body, and while Lou felt most of it was unjustified, she accepted it because a part of her did feel guilty for leaving because not only did she walk away that day but so did he.

"Dad, you can't..."

Tim grabbed his suit case off the bed, turning to find his 18 year old daughter standing by the door. "Get in the car, Lou, I'll be right behind you sweetie."

Lou shook head, tears running down her cheeks. Amy's cries could be heard loudly from the other room, as her mom tried to calm her. "Dad if you leave then..."

"Go Lou." Tim's voice left no room for arguing and Lou left the door away.

"You can't do this Tim, how could you think that leaving Marion and Amy..."

Tim grit his teeth, no longer did Lou stand there but Jack. "Don't you dare. I can't do any good here Jack, I abandon my wife and Amy, or I abandon Lou. It's an impossible choice but Lou needs me."

"She's a grown girl. This is her decision."

"No!" Tim's voice thundered through the room. "You think she would leave here if she had another choice. You know I'm right Jack. Lou has always wanted to be like you, her dream has always been to run this ranch, to do you proud." Tim saw the waver of emotion in Jack's eyes. "You can hate me for this now, but one day you'll understand. My little girl needs me, and I won't be like Marion. I won't let her down."

"Tim!"

Tim shouldered past Jack, catching sight of Lou who stood behind him. She'd heard them. "Come on, kiddo."

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Tim flinched, hearing the sound of Amy's voice but he didn't look back, he grabbed Lou's hand and pulled her along behind him. He could feel her shaking, and see the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"You can't, she needs you."

"No kid, you need me. I failed to protect you once. I will not fail you again."

"Momma."

Lou blinked, pulling away from the memory to see Georgie standing in front of her, head tilted with those eyes once again staring at her with such intensity. "Come on, let's go inside."

"Momma. Why is Amy mad at you?"

Lou breathed deeply. "Amy is grieving. Her heart is hurting, just like yours was when you lost you other mom."

"Oh." Georgie frowned thoughtfully. "Why have I never met Jack? Or Amy? I only know Grandpa. Did they not wanna meet me?"

Lou crouched down to be eye level with her daughter. "Oh no, sweetie. That's my fault."

"Why?"

"I haven't been here in a very long time, not since I left with Grandpa. It's hard for momma, to be here, so I haven't told anyone apart from Grandpa about you. I'm sorry, Georgie." Lou expected the little girl to be angry with her because she knew it looked bad to have told no one other then her father about her daughter. It was how most people would act if they were ashamed.

Georgie wrapped her arms around her mothers neck. "It's okay, momma. You look sad. What's wrong?"

Lou inhaled her daughters scent, holding her close and allowing a tear to slip down her cheek. "Momma just wishes things were different." She kissed Georgie's cheek. "Come on, no more sadness. Let's go inside."

"Does Jack have horses?"

"Oh yes." Lou smiled slightly as the little girls face lit up with excitement. She looked behind Georgie to the house, sorrow filled her. "Come on, lets go see the horses." It felt good to turn her back on the house, but then dread filled her when she realised she was heading straight for the barn. The one place her mother loved.

...

"Grampa."

Jack looked over at Amy who was curled up in the passanger seat. He was surprised to see how much better she looked now that they were away from the hospital. "Yes, Amy?"

Amy frowned, as if she wasn't quiet certain she wanted to ask but she knew she wanted to know. "If mom and Lou weren't on good terms, then why is she here? She didn't come all this way for me. I don't know her, I don't remember her."

Jack smiled slightly. "Of course she came for you Amy. Lou loves you." If there was anything Jack had ever been certain of, it was that Lou did love Amy, endlessly. "You might not remember her Amy, but Lou remembers everything about those first few years with you."

"Why happened? Why did she leave?" Amy questioned, asking the one thing that had always plagued her mind. "Mom never spoke about it, only that Lou was the reason dad left. And you have never really spoken Lou's name until now."

Jack nodded, it was true, he had avoided saying Lou's name since she had left but he also knew he couldn't tell Amy the truth. The truth was never to be spoken about. "Lou has her reasons but despite what your mom told you Amy, Lou was not the reason your dad left. That was not her fault."

Amy shook her head angrily. "Why can't you just tell me the truth! Why does everyone have to lie?! No one has spoken her name in years and yet you invited her here?! She's in our home, at Heartland. She has a freaking child, no one knew about. Why?! Why did Lou leave? Why have I not seen or heard from my sister since I was a toddler. Can I even call her my sister? She's a stranger!"

Jack glanced across, his heart aching as he listened to Amy's rant, the hurt that was coming from her. "You listen to me, if I could tell you then I would but Marion never wanted it spoken about and I need to respect that. Lou left because..."

"Why?!" Amy demanded when it was clear he wasn't going to tell her.

"Because something happened to her, and your mother took the only good thing to come from it, for herself." He didn't agree with what Marion had done but as her father he tried to back her, to respect her. In doing so, his family fell apart. "I think your mother thought she was doing the right thing, but your father, he never agreed with it. It tore them apart and broke Lou in the process."

"Was it me? Was mom getting pregnant was that...did I contribute?"

Jack reached over and squeezed his granddaughters hand. "Amy, you are here and we are all so grateful for you. Don't doubt that, not ever."

Thoughts?
What do you think tore this family in half?

Thank-you for the reviews. I wasn't going to release this chapter so soon but, well, why not?! Hope you enjoyed it.