BOO! I scared y'all, didn't I? ;) Thanks for all the reviews and for sticking with me. I've been busy lately with school, and I know that sounds like such a lame excuse, but I just cannot find the time. I'm doing my best though! Enjoy this xoxo

Lou sat in a chair in her room, watching over Georgie. She had fallen asleep on the couch out in the living room, and Lou had hesitantly woken her up and brought her inside where she thought her daughter would be in comfort.

Lou had then sat with Georgie until she fell asleep, but even when that happened, Lou didn't leave. She just couldn't. The mother sat in silence, her heart continually breaking, an unexplained fear creeping into her heart.

Lou stood from her chair and walked over to her daughter. She sat at Georgie's beside and she checked for a temperature. She was still fairly warm, despite the fact Lou had given Georgie her medicine and fluids…none of that had helped yet. This troubled Lou, upsetting her. "Honey, just get better, please…" she pleaded to Georgie, who was unresponsive in her slumber.

Lou knew perfectly well that the chilly weather had most likely not played a role in getting her daughter sick. She knew it was probably the stress from yesterday that had caused it. Lou's own left arm had been aching intensely since last night, and it just wouldn't go away. The only reason Lou had scolded her for not wearing a jacket outside was because she didn't want to frighten Georgie, telling her she'd fallen sick because of the trauma of yesterday's events.

Thinking back to yesterday, Lou remembered the sheer terror she had felt when she'd seen his gun against her daughter's forehead, how afraid and on the edge she had felt. It could've been over in seconds. Unhinged and bothered by the image in her mind, Lou brought her hand and stroked Georgie's forehead right where the gun had been, as if to erase any trace of it ever being there, from her own mind. Lou thought that if he had been angrier, or maybe feeling more merciless, he could have—probably would have—pulled the trigger.

And Georgie would've—

Lou stopped herself.

No. No, she just couldn't go there.

Lou shut her eyes tight, a shudder going through her skull. Lou's eye caught Georgie's bandaged hand. There was blood seeping through the white strips of cloth, and just seeing that, knowing how the glass must have dug into her palm—

Thinking back, Lou now realized why Georgie had dropped the vase. It must've been too hard to hold onto, with her hand like that. Seeing Georgie's hand like this, knowing it had happened because of her…just the sight of it made Lou's heart crawl into her throat.

Georgie had been so quiet the whole time he was there. She had silently suffered the injury to her hand, she quietly suffered through him shoving her into the desk in the kitchen, and she would have quietly taken the bullet too…

Lou looked over at her daughter, who she still thought of as the eleven year old that had arrived at their doorstep all those years ago. She was still so young and innocent. She was vulnerable in so many ways, and she needed to be protected, from anything and everything.

And Lou had failed to do just that.

It was Georgie that had protected her, fiercely and without hesitation. Just that morning too, she had vowed to never let Bennett hurt her mother again. The fierce and absolute anger she'd seen in Georgie's eyes scared her. It planted a fear in her heart that she couldn't get rid of, no matter how hard she tried.

Lou leaned down and planted a kiss on Georgie's temple, and she stroked her hair lovingly and longingly. Lou loved both Katie and Georgie with all her heart, and she just didn't know what good thing she had done in her life to deserve such amazing children. These two were her lifelines. Her lifelines, and she couldn't do without them.

Planting another kiss on her daughter's temple, Lou straightened. Continuing to stroke her daughter's hair, she said, "I love you, honey…I love you…" Lou trailed off, beginning to cry. "I love you so much…"

"If anything were to happen to you, what would I do…? How would I go on? My life would be just…incomplete without you… just so pointless. My—my heart…" Lou trailed off, her voice faltering. "...it's—it's trembling at the mere thought of losing you…and I can't. I can't, sweetheart…so keep yourself out of harm's way. Please protect yourself. Please."

Lou's throat went tight, and she was on the verge of a full out breakdown. She slapped a hand to her mouth, and quickly made her way out of her room, and into the kitchen to make sure Georgie wouldn't wake up and see her like that.

Lou cried heavily, her tears flowing steadily. She was terrified, worried and worn-out, exhausted and afraid of the future. Afraid for her children's well-being, their safety.

A couple of minutes later, Amy made her way into the house and was immediately made aware of Lou standing over the sink, crying. She was alarmed, suddenly thinking of the worst. She walked over in a rush. "Lou, what is it? What's the matter?"

Lou's shoulders were shaking, her hold on the sink weakening until one of her hands slipped from where they were perched. She brought her hand up to her mouth, muffling her cries.

"Lou, please just say something. Is everything okay?"

"How is everything okay, Amy…?"

Amy sighed, just a little relieved. Lou's tone indicated that nothing had happened. "Come here," she said, coming ahead and wrapping her arms around Lou's shoulders. The way that Lou shook and trembled made Amy fear her sister would just fall apart at some point, sooner rather than later, with no point of return. Amy tightened her hold on her sister, hoping to put all her broken pieces back together.

Soon after, Peter arrived from dropping Katie off at school. He made his way to Lou's room, determined to talk with her. He walked ahead, appearing in the door frame.

Lou immediately looked up from her book. "Hey. You're back."

"Yup. Dropped Katie off at kindergarten. She seems to love it," Peter said, thrilled to be part of Katie's school routine. Her teacher had met with him excitedly, saying how much Katie loved talking about him in school, and how well she was doing, and that she got along so well with the other kids.

Lou smiled, saying, "That's good."

"Yeah," Peter said, rubbing his hands together. "So, how's Georgie?"

"She still has a temperature. I just—I'm hoping it goes away soon. We're doing everything on our part."

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine."

Lou tightened her jaw, setting it back. She sighed. "Yeah, I hope so."

Peter walked ahead. "Hey, Lou…can we talk?"

Lou looked at him, standing up. "Yeah, what is it? Everything alright?"

"Everything's fine. I just…I wanted to talk to you about some things."

"Oh, well, so did I, actually."

"Okay, you first."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, absolutely," Peter said, suddenly nervous and hesitant to say what was really on his mind.

"Okay," she said. "Well, you and I both know that Georgie is really bent out of shape about all of this."

"Yeah."

"And I'm pretty sure this fever happened because of yesterday's trauma, and I just think that maybe Georgie being here, with me…isn't the best thing for her. I was thinking that maybe for the holidays, you could take Georgie and Katie to Vancouver with you. I mean, you wanted them there before, right?"

Peter was taken aback, flustered. It seemed Lou didn't want him around. Not that this was about him, but if they were going to get back together, how would this distance make any of that work? Peter put a hand to the back of his head, smoothing out his hair. "Lou, are you sure about this…?"

"Yeah, I am. And it's not just that they need a change…I'm—I'm worried about what he said yesterday. He threatened them, Peter. He threatened our daughters, and I can't—I'm not just going to stand by and let him destroy everything that you and I—"

"Woah, woah, woah—Lou, let's not—" he broke off, walking ahead. Putting a gentle hand to her arm, he said, "Let's not go there. They're going to be just fine, and we're going to be...just so happy…"

Lou looked up, her eyes vacant, deprived of soul, searching his for just that. "We?"

Peter laughed nervously. The cat was out of the bag now. "Yes. We will be. And if you think that Vancouver is the way to go, to keep our children safe, then I say let's do it. I'll take them there with me, I'll spend time with them, I'll care for them, I'll keep them busy over the break, and—and then when all of this is over, I'll bring them back home, safe and sound."

Lou looked up at him, trying to hold back her tears. "Thank you, Peter…thank you so much…" she cried thankfully.

Peter smiled, putting a hand to her hair, kissing her forehead.

When Peter moved back, Lou couldn't contain herself anymore. She threw her arms around Peter's neck, holding him close. "Thank you so, so much."