Here's your promised teacher, and yes, I did get it in before Sunday! So lucky you guys!

I just wanted to respond to another review. I will respond to most reviews, starting now. So if you have a question or any review really, unless it's a simple "great story" I will write a reply and answer your question. Don't think that I'm not grateful for a simple reply; I am SO grateful! But I can't really respond in detail to that, so I'll just say thanks at the end of my section like I always do.

Guest chapter 4 . Nov 14

I'm the guest that defended your last chapter. I'm happy you appreciated it. Your story is great. It was nice to see Ty bonding with the kids. TJ getting lost reminded me of Sunday's episode when Katie got lost. In assuming the mystery caller will be Wyatt afraid to tell the family about Georgie. Can't wait for that. The brother/sister fluff was cute. Lyndy teaching Lily to jump and then her being concerned over TJ being late. Excited for the next chapter.

My Response

Well thank you so much! Feel free to PM me directly if you wanna talk or something. I'm so glad that there's some people who like my story! To be honest, I'm actually really proud of it so far!

The timing with TJ getting lost and Katie too, on the TV show, was just plain coincidence! I swear on it! I had planned for TJ to get lost on a trail ride so readers could see a new side of him, and Esme too and it was funny how the chapter/TV alignment worked out.

About the mystery caller...are you a mind reader or something? Just kidding, but you're closer than you think, but don't think that I'm that predictable! There's still some surprises yet to be written. Many, in fact. This chapter doesn't necessarily clear it up, but certainly gives everyone more the think about, because the real reason isn't revealed until next chapter. Bwahaha!

I've never been an only child, so writing Lyndy to be by herself would just be sad. And since I've had tons of inspiration, (thanks to my brothers, Ben and Emmett,) I know what siblings should do for each other. And the Flemming-Borden kids aren't perfect, just as you're gonna learn in this chapter. But they help each other out when it's important and just because. But yes, I love the fluff too!

Finally, one of the chapters you've all been waiting for

Chapter 6 - Baggage Of Not Just Clothes

"Have fun at school!" Ty called out of his open window. It was the next morning and Ty was dropping his three kids off at school for the first time in two weeks. Normally the kids took the bus, but Amy needed to be in a town up the road by eight and Katie was leaving to see Brick, so no one would be able to wait at home with the kids until the bus. So Ty was taking them to school and dropping them off on his way to his shift at the clinic.

"By Dad!" Lyndy shouted, and ran into the building. Her best friend, a red-haired green eyed girl named Emily, headed her way as soon as she spotted Lyndy.

"Hey Lyndy!" Emily said, linking arms with her best friend. They started down the hall, heading for their sixth grade class.

"Hi Em! How was your spring break?" Lyndy asked.

"Great! My mom and I went to San Francisco. I tried to tan, but as you know, pale freckled skin doesn't tan, just burns." Em Made a face and Lyndy laughed.

"Can't say the same about me!" Lyndy actually tanned quite nicely, as she had light skin that matched her brown hair and blue eyes.

There was a pause, then Em gave Lyndy a sideways glance. "So I hear you've got an admirer," she said, with a sly smile.

Lyndy swallowed hard. Who was Emily referring to? They were only eleven; since when were boys a topic of conversation? "I do?"

Em rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Don't tell me you don't know who! Didn't they ask you to the Science Show in Calgary this weekend?"

"Uh, you mean Rhett?" Lyndy was confused. How did Em know what she was doing this weekend?

"Duh! He texted me to see if you still liked science! As much as him, I mean." Em laughed as Lyndy shot her a look of disgust. "Just kidding. But he really did text me."

"Oh," Lyndy didn't know how to respond. "Rhett's pretty cool."

"Here he comes now!" Emily looked up and pointed to the blonde haired blue-eyed boy who was walking down the hall, hands in his pockets and a smile on his face.

"Oh lord," Lyndy said under her breath. Other kids in the hallway turned and stared as Rhett approached Lyndy.

"Hey," he smiled and held out a hand. "Can I escort you to class?"

"Uh, sure." Lyndy returned his smile and shot a quick "I'm sorry" glance at her best friend. There were catcalls and whistles as Rhett grabbed Lyndy's hand and they walked down the hall. Rhett smiled good-naturedly at his viewers and when his older brother punched him on the shoulder, Rhett just laughed. Lyndy wasn't used to this spotlight, but she trusted Rhett. Although she still thought they were too young for anything to actually happened, she knew she'd enjoy the thought.

It wasn't until after school, that TJ had noticed the change in his older sister. For one thing, she used to walk out of school with just Emily and occasionally another friend, if they were going to hang out later or something. Not that Lyndy wasn't popular; she was and not just because of her cute appearance, but she'd never been this popular. As Lyndy headed to the bus, random kids that TJ didn't even know were approaching his sister. Lily peered across the seat of the bus and her brother to stare.

"Wow, I didn't one boy could make sissy so popular!" Lily commented.

"Neither did I." TJ frowned at Rhett, who was sticking close to one side of Lyndy. Em was on the other, and they smiled wide and soon boarded the bus. Normally, TJ sat with Lyndy, but he didn't see chance of that happening now.

But to his surprise, Lyndy slid into the seat beside her brother with a sigh. "Hey TJ," she said.

"Hey, what's with the sudden popularity?" he asked.

"I have no idea." Lyndy replied honestly, and quickly explained what had happened that morning. "It's all a little nerve-racking."

"Just tell Rhett you don't like it. If he's a true friend, he'll call them off. I'll tell him if you like." TJ offered. He was glad that Lyndy wasn't any different. He liked his sister just the way she was.

"It's okay, I'll tell him. Be right back." Lyndy stood up from her seat as the bus lurched to a stop outside someone's house. TJ saw her slide into Rhett's seat, and they exchanged a few words. TJ stopped watching and thought about other things. Such as what he wanted to do when he got home. A ride on Arlo either in the ring or over the field sounded good. Maybe his mom or dad would join him.

As the bus pulled to a stop at the end of Heartland's long driveway, TJ saw Rhett smile as his sister, who returned it. Lily got off the bus and Lyndy followed suit, with TJ bringing up the rear. After the bus left, leaving a cloud of dust, TJ turned to Lyndy. "So what did you say?"

"I said I didn't like random people approaching me, and that if he could, call them off it. He agreed and apologized. Then we talked about the science fair." Lyndy replied.

"Oh, sounds good." The kids continued the walk to the house in silence, only the sound of their feet trudging on the gravel path ruining the quietness.

As they neared the house, Lily was the first to spot an unfamiliar car in the driveway. And no, it wasn't Lou's because ever since Lou's surprise arrival, (well at least a surprise for the kids,) they had remembered what her car looked like for future references.

The car, if you could even call it that, was actually a huge motor van. It was silver with grey trim and had three big windows and looked like a large living space from the outside at least. TJ didn't even know such large motor vehicles existed! In Hudson, people never used motor homes to camp; instead they used good old tents. The only one that TJ had ever seen, was the one "Aunt" Mallory and "Uncle" Jake owned, which they brought last time they visited. But that one was not even half the size of this huge beast.

"Let's go see who it is!" Lyndy took off running. Lily, not wanting to miss the excitement, chased after her sister. TJ sighed; his sister's would get excited for anything. But even TJ didn't want to miss this, so he shouldered his backpack higher and followed his siblings towards the house.

"Mom?" Lyndy had abandoned the sight of the unknown car, when she spotted her mother's. She thought Amy was supposed to be in town with Ty for the afternoon, or at least until dinner at six. So if their mom was home, where was their dad?

Amy wasn't in the barn, so Lyndy quickly checked the back stalls. No Amy. So Lyndy came to the conclusion that her mom was in the house, with whoever the van owner was.

"Lily, I think they're in the house," she called, cutting across the front yard and opening the gate. She left it unlocked so her sister could use it as well.

"Hey Lyndy, stop for a second!" Lyndy pulled up short, just shy of the top step on the porch. She turned around and saw her dad jump out of his truck. Since when did he come home this early?

"Why are you home dad?" Lyndy questioned. She wasn't upset, but confused.

"I don't know. Your mom texted me about an hour ago and asked if I could come home as soon as possible. She assured me no one was hurt or anything, but to return to Heartland earlier than planned. I was going to grab you guys so you didn't have to take the bus, but Cass couldn't take over until half past three, which I knew was too late to come get you guys." Ty explained.

"Oh okay." Lyndy saw TJ and Lily nearing. "C'mon guys, dad's here too."

"We saw, he called out of his window at us." TJ said. "Did you ask him if he knew who the car belonged to?"

Ty heard what his son had said, and took that moment to take a look at the motor van in the driveway. "Wow, that's a sight for sore eyes! Most luxurious van I've ever seen and that's just from the outside! I can't believe I didn't notice that before. Who's is it?"

"That's what we want to know." Lyndy was just about to ask if her dad had any ideas as to who it belonged to, when the front door opened and Amy stepped onto the porch.

"Hey honey, what's the rush?" Ty climbed the stairs in two strides and leaned over to kiss his wife.

Amy's figure was ridged, although she kissed Ty back. "Well it wasn't so much a rush as I need help. Hey kids, how was your first day back at school?"

"It was good! I was named "student of the week!" Lily proudly stated.

"Great honey, we'll have to celebrate later. But at the moment, I need you all to enter the house, and keep quiet. There's some guests in the house, who are very delicate right now. So no talking, unless it's obvious words need to be said, okay?" Amy looked sternly at her daughters, who were more the chatters of the household. TJ was more reserved, and hardly got a word in when his sisters were in full voice.

"Okay mom." Lyndy said solemnly. She wondered who in the world was in their house and why they were so "delicate" so to speak.

Lily nodded and so did TJ. Ty looked at his wife with a confused glance, but Amy's face didn't give anything away.

Amy carefully opened the door and held it open for her family. The kids entered last, allowing their dad and mom to go in first. Lyndy quickly exchanged a glance with her brother. Lily grabbed her siblings hands. Nothing this serious had ever happened in their family before, except when Jack had announced he was moving to France for good.

Since Lyndy was last to enter the house, she was the last to see who was sitting at their dinner table. But TJ and Lily had a glimpse, and their surprise was hard to hide. When Lyndy had closed the screen door and made sure it was locked, she too walked into the kitchen. Who she saw, or more appropriately what she saw, couldn't keep her from speaking. And so be it if she got in trouble later. She didn't know how else to express her surprise. So she said the first thing that came to mind.

"Georgie? What are you doing here?"

Georgie had apparently cried with Amy earlier when she just showed up at Heartland. But as soon as she saw the look on Lyndy's surprised face, a wave of emotion flooded her and more sobs broke out. Amy rushed to her niece's side and held her in an embrace. Ty didn't know what to do; for the first time in a long time he couldn't comfort the poor girl. One, he didn't know why Georgie was here, and two, where was Wyatt, Georgie's husband?

"Lily, can you please grab the box of tissues from the bathroom?" asked Amy.

Lily darted off without a word, but when she returned, she felt something needed to be said. "Here Mommy."

Some part of what Lily had just said made Georgie cry harder. TJ had never seen his cousin so upset. Sure, he had been seven when Georgie had left for the circuit with Wyatt, but any time before then he had remembered his cousin as happy. Not breaking out in tears at every sentence.

Amy shot Ty a glance, which he took as a "get the kids out of here" glance. "Lily, can you go tidy your room? You too TJ. And Lyndy, maybe start some tea and an after school snack for everyone?"

"Okay dad." The two younger kids nodded and headed down the hall. Lyndy started for the kitchen, but turned before disappearing from the dinning room.

"Georgie, would you like anything?" asked Lyndy, being as polite as possible.

"N-n-no. Thanks th-though." Georgie looked up from staring at the table and tried to half smile at her younger cousin. But the smile didn't last long, and fresh wave of tears was brought on.

"Okay." Lyndy for once in her lifetime didn't know how to approach her cousin. She remembered back when she was three, Georgie and Katie teaching her how to rope a cow dummy, but all she wanted to do was sit on it. Or when Lyndy was feeling upset about something at school, Georgie would talk to her about it, and by then end they'd both be laughing. That was fun, until Georgie finished school and she and Wyatt got married. Not long after that, they took off on the jumping circuit for Georgie to pursue her horse career. Now the big questions were what on earth was Georgie doing here? And where was Wyatt? Lyndy wanted answers, yet she didn't know how she was going to get them.

After assembling some cheese and crackers on a plate and apple slices in a bowl, Lyndy took them down to TJ's room, where she found both her siblings talking in hushed voices.

"Oh hey Lyndy, thought you'd be coming soon. Close the door." TJ took the plates while Lyndy shut the door behind her. "We were just discussing reasons for Georgie's surprise arrival, and no Wyatt. Lily thought they split up, but I think that's a little low for them. Last time I saw them, they couldn't keep their hands off each other! Like even if they did break up, why would Georgie come here of all places? I mean, sure, they're young, but since when did age matter? Lyndy was already born by the time Mom was Georgie's age. So why now?" TJ grabbed an apple slice and took a bite.

Lyndy thought carefully for a moment. "Something about what Lily said made her really upset. Since when did "here mommy" bring tears? I think it's something to do with kids, because who else would call Georgie, mommy?"

TJ looked in awe at his sister. "That's a great theory! I totally can see that Wyatt and Georgie getting upset about kids. Maybe Georgie wants kids but Wyatt doesn't?"

"Nah, remember at their wedding how Georgie and Wyatt talked about kids in their vows? Sure, things may change, but those two won't. Maybe Georgie can't have kids and is upset or stressing on how she's gonna tell Wyatt?" Lyndy guessed.

"That works. But the question is still, why come here? To Heartland? Why not video call her Aunt Lou or Katie? And if she really wanted to talk to Mom or Dad, why not call?" TJ said, thinking it was so simple.

Lily, who had just been listening to her siblings exchange theories, suddenly shot up with a thought. "What if Georgie tried to call us, but couldn't get up the courage?" Lyndy and TJ looked at their sister, confused. Lily quickly started to explain her thoughts. "I mean, remember the weird phone call Lyndy picked up on last night, and how the answering machine recognized the number as "family?" So what if it was Georgie calling, but she couldn't find the right words to say what she needed to say?"

Lyndy and TJ pondered over it for a moment. "That sounds realistic. Good thinking Lily!" Lyndy slapped her sister five.

Suddenly, TJ's bedroom door opened. "Georgie's gonna stay in the Lily's room, so if you kids could go help your mom set it up, that would be greatly appreciated." Ty said, looking at his kids, who were still in their circle formation.

"Why my room?" Lily normally didn't mind, but she always gave up her room while there was company. "Can't Georgie stay in the loft? Or Katie?"

Ty looked sternly at Lily, disappoint shining in his green eyes that Amy used to rave about to her friends. "Lily, Georgie's had a hard past few weeks and the least you can do it giver her your room for a couple nights. I know that you always share your room, but this time, we can't be flexible. Georgie needs family support and I hate to have Katie in the loft by herself. Speaking of Katie, she's going to be home soon, so I need to be on the porch to tell her a bit of what's going on. So Lily, please go grab the things you need for school tomorrow from your room so you won't have to go in there in the morning"

Lily pouted, but didn't back-talk her dad. She knew that it was the right thing to do, but that didn't mean she liked it. "Fine, where am I going to sleep then?"

"In Lyndy's room. Or TJ's. It's up to your siblings." Ty left the room, still frowning upon his daughter's attitude.

"How about we all bunk upstairs? Then TJ would be giving up his room too." Speaking of Georgie, Lyndy had taken over her room when the family moved into the main house. TJ had Lou's and Lily had Katie's. Amy's was turned into the guestroom, which left Amy and Ty with Jack's old room. They had had his room extended, so now it was much more roomy than before, as it had to accommodate two people and sometimes three kids instead of just Jack and occasionally Lisa. Now it was almost twice the size and had a bathroom too. Lyndy loved seeing the change, and it proved that their family had been their for ages!

Lily thought for a moment. "Okay, I guess that's fair. But you're not leaving your room." Lily was being incredibly difficult for once. She normally was a happy and bubbly girl who was never trouble. Yet there was a change within her, and it worried TJ, more than he would like to admit.

"So? I"m sharing it with you two." Lyndy had had enough with Lily's selfishness. "Go do as Dad said and get your stuff. I'll be in my room, setting up for you both." Lyndy promptly left the room, leaving TJ to follow Lily out of the room. He was two steps up to the loft when he realized he forgot his blankets and pillow. After grabbing his missing items, he trudged upstairs to Lyndy's room.

Lyndy had set up the sleeping bags on the floor of the spacious room. She had decided to sleep on her bed, so she only unrolled two. TJ set his stuff down on the one closest to the wall, leaving the pink and purple one for Lily. "Hey, I have a question for you," TJ said, as he helped Lyndy straighten out her bedspread.

"Shoot." Lyndy stopped moving and looked at her brother.

"Why do you think Lily's acting all weird? She's never had a problem with sharing her room before. Actually, she's normally all over it, and super excited."

"I don't know exactly. I don't think she liked being kicked out without notice, or the fact that Georgie wasn't her normal, "all over the youngest kid" self. I mean, so far Georgie's been no fun. Not that I don't understand, but I wish someone would tell us what was going on!" Lyndy hated not knowing things. She always wanted to be in the loop, and refused to leave a question unanswered. And normally she always found out. It was just a matter of time. That's why TJ wasn't as concerned, as he knew Lyndy would tell him the second she found anything out.

"True." TJ didn't know what else to say. So he just thought. Why had Georgie showed up, and now of all times. Where was Wyatt? And why was Georgie so emotional. She seemed fine, so why wasn't she acting like it?

Yet sometimes what we see on the outside isn't what people are feeling like on the inside. Or how they're damaged. And although Georgie wasn't afraid to show her emotions, she may be feeling a whole lot different on the inside, and it's just a matter of time before her secret slips out.

I plan for the next chapter to be up by Friday, if not next Saturday. So until then, happy reading! Don't forget to review with questions or comments, as I am always grateful. Thanks to everyone!

Next update/chapter

Someone comes to Heartland in search of their wife, (can you guess who?) and has many tales to tell. Some are not for little kids, so Cass and Caleb offer to take TJ and Lily out. But when the family believes Lyndy to be out on a trail ride, she ends up hearing much more than a eleven year-old should ever know...