Heather sighed and leaned her head on Jane's shoulder.

"So, how was your past year?" She asked.

"Without you guys? Depressing, "Jane answered, "You?"

"I've had worse years."

"Yeah, like which?" Luke asked.

"Like when we first tried living with the Andersens."

"Hey, at least we were all together then. Besides, they said they'd give you another chance."

"You don't understand, I'm worried to go back there. It's my fault we got split up in the first place, I don't want it to happen again. I already almost messed up big time here. Three times to be exact."

"We won't let anything happen again," Jane reassured, "We won't let you mess up that big."

"The Andersens are really nice, I promise," Ben said.

"Okay." Heather smiled at her little brother, "But you better not be lying to me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Marshall boys and Heather walked around town. Their jobs at the ranch had come to a screeching halt when Heather's siblings came into the subject.

"So, when are you leaving?" Andrew asked, not making eye contact.

"Huh?"

"When are you leaving us? When are you moving in with your siblings? When are you not going to be around anymore?"

Heather was taken aback, "Who said I was leaving?"

"Oh, don't give me that. Your siblings come and offer you a home with them, of course you're not gonna stay!"

"Andrew," Craig began as he grabbed his brother's arm.

"No!" Andrew jerked his arm away, "I'm tired of you two telling me what to say and what not to say. Heather, when are you ditching us?"

Heather's eyes were wide now. She wasn't putting up with this.

"Ditching you, huh? How on earth could you blame me for this! Or have you forgotten who left me in the first place? It was you who left."

"We came back though, you're moving states."

"I can't just not be with my siblings! Do you know how painful these last three years have been! It's one thing after another! My mom dies, then my dad dies, then we realize we don't have a legal guardian and none of my mom's family wants us because my aunt despises us. And then we get sent to stay with a foster family, and I blow it and wind up getting my sister and I separated from my brothers landing me in Tennessee and her half way across the country!"

The boys stared at her for a moment, taking it in.

"And now I have a chance to fix that," She whispered, "And you're selfish enough to try and deny me that chance?"

Andrew didn't have any words to say.

"Just as I thought," She said as she continued walking forward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Smooth, Andrew, real smooth." Jeff sat on the edge of his bed.

"Shut up."

"No, that's what you should have done. I'm not going to."

"What do you want from me?" Andrew asked as he sat up.

Neither of his brothers had an answer, so he leaned back again.

"I don't understand," Andrew said, staring up at the bottom of the top bunk. "She's our sister."

"She's not though, Andrew." Craig replied, "She never will be."

"Wasn't that the point though, to be her siblings?"

"Yes, until she had real ones. And she does, they've known her longer than we have."

"Yeah, well family is more than blood. There has to be a way to make her stay."

"Andrew, no," Jeff said, "We can't do that to her and we won't."

"If you love something let it go, if it loves you it will come back." Craig recited.

"I never said I loved her."

"You just referred to her as your sister, Andrew. She's like family to us now, we all love her." Jeff put his hands behind his head.

"Knock, knock," Lily said as she pushed open the boys' door. "What's up?"

"Well, Jeff and I are reminiscing over our good times with Heather, while Andrew here is trying to come up with a plot to get her to stay." Craig explained from the place he was laying on the floor.

Lily sighed, "Ann-dreww."

"What?" He held up his hands innocently.

"You know she can't."

"I know, I know, they've already lectured me."

Lily smiled at her two oldest brothers, "I'm impressed, I'd thought you'd all be putting up a fight. Good going guys."

Craig gave her a thumbs up.

"Now," she said, "on to Andrew. You care about her right?"

"I never said I cared! You guys need to stop putting words in my mouth."

"We all know you care, buddy, you can let your guard down." Jeff said.

"I do not care!"

"Yeah, well, right, Mr. Doesn't-Care-But-Doesn't-Want-Her-To-Leave, it is the best thing for her."

"Ugh, you guys are impossible." Andrew sat up and clamped his hands around his head. This was going no where good any time soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Craig pulled into the Laynie's driveway. He climbed out of the truck and knocked on the door. Mrs. Laynie answered the door.

"Oh, Craig! I must say I'm surprised to see you, it's usually Andrew."

"Ah," He nodded understandingly, "I thought it was my turn. Is she around or is she at the Ranch with her siblings?"

"You're in luck, she's spending the day here today. Do you need her?"

"Yeah, I was hoping I could discuss something with her."

"Come on in, I think she's in the back room watching TV with the kids."

Craig walked in and headed into the unfamiliar room.

"Craig?" Heather said when she looked up.

He awkwardly waved. "Can we talk?"

"Yeah, 'course," She said as she pushed herself up, "Where do you wanna go?"

Craig stopped, he wasn't good in social situations and he hadn't thought this far ahead.

"Uh...lead the way."

Heather shrugged and took him out to the backyard. It was empty aside from a wooden swing hanging from a tree where Heather promptly sat. Craig sat on the ground.

"How you doin' down there?" She asked from the swing.

"Good."

"Great. You know this is unexpected, it's usually Andrew."

He lightly laughed, "Apparently that's what everyone thinks."

"So, what's up? You here to guilt me into staying, too?"

He shook his head, "I'm really sorry about Andrew."

"Yeah, that's his problem not yours. Anyway, continue."

"Really, what happened? I want the full story this time."

"Pushy, pushy!"

"I'm serious."

She sighed. "Why?"

"We've gone through this a lot. You tell us bits and pieces. I've known you for a few months now, and things, well it seems like we won't be around each other a whole lot anymore, and I think it's time for answers. All of them."

She rolled her eyes, "Again?"

"Not again. This is the first time. You've never told me the full story."

"Okay, fine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather sat at the funeral of her father, tears pooling in her eyes and spewing down her cheeks. Who knew life could shatter so quickly, but who was she kidding? It had been shattering ever since her mother had gotten sick. Jane, who was sitting between Heather and Luke, reached over and squeezed her hands. Ben was seated on top of Luke's lap, with his head was leaning against Luke. Luke wrapped his free arm tightly around Ben and rested his chin on the top of Ben's head. The four siblings sat, holding each other's hands.

The next days were numbing. Learning that they didn't have a legal guardian confirmed all of their fears. Since their mother's family was completely dysfunctional, their father was an only child and their grandparents were no longer living, moving in with a family member was out of the question. Which told them the worst. They were to be put in foster care.

This ultimately landed them with the Andersens, living in Maine. It wasn't so bad there, they were nice enough. But Heather wasn't happy. There was a hole left in her heart that couldn't be filled right away. It just sat there, threatening to drive her insane. She started acting out, little things at first, but eventually they weren't so little. Jane had tried to stop her. It wasn't Jane's fault Heather was shoplifting. It wasn't Jane's fault that Heather got caught. It was Heather's fault. All her fault. They caught Heather in the act and poor Jane happened to be standing beside her. Of course, no one believed her when she explained Jane had nothing to do with it. The Andresens couldn't handle it anymore. They agreed to keep the boys, but they couldn't keep the girls. So they were separated. Breaking the fractured family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That's when I was dragged back to Tennessee," Heather explained, "That was a year ago, and I moved in with Mrs. Laynie."

Craig hadn't really thought about what to say. "Wow," Was all he managed.

Heather laughed slightly. "Not the best with words? I guess I'm used to Jeff talking all the time or Andrew's loudmouth-ness."

Craig smiled and scoffed, "You got that right."

They sat in comfortable silence, until finally Craig looked up to say, "I'm
happy for you, you know."

Heather met his gaze and looked at him curiously.

"I mean, I'm happy this is working out for you. It took a lot for you to get here, to be with your siblings again, I mean. I imagine it had to hurt to keep going, but you did. And I'm happy for you, it's about time something worked out for you."

Heather kicked at the ground, making the swing she was seated on move.

"Thanks." She said.

He gave her a tight lipped smile.

"I'm going to miss you, Craig."

Craig was taken aback for a moment. He hadn't expected her to miss him. Sure, maybe Jeff or even Andrew, but him? He was always sitting there quietly, putting in his two cents on occasion. Once he let himself stop thinking he smiled and said, "I'm going to miss you, too." With that Craig got up and the two quietly walked back in to the house.

Craig walked out the front door and turned around to wave goodbye. She waved back and Craig returned home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather packed her suitcase. She folded a few shirts and some shorts. The trip was only for a week, but she knew it was going to be the start of something much longer. The start of the hardest decision she would ever have to make. She had just made friends, she had just found a place she belonged but now her family, the family she was born into, the family she loved and missed, was back. Back after too long. Now the old Heather was coming back. The Heather who had grown up with a loving family. The Heather who hadn't had a care in the world. That was the old Heather. If Heather moved back in with her family, maybe the old Heather would start to show instead of the bitter newer one. But still, her 'new' family was wonderful. They had made her feel at home. They had just started to chip away at the new Heather that she hated so much. But she couldn't forget about her siblings. She couldn't forget about all they had been through together. Neither could she forget about the Marshalls, they could have given up on her, they could've let her go, and even when they did, they came back. They gave her another shot. Heather knew what she had to do. She knew where her heart belonged. But this would be one of the hardest things she ever had to do.