Another side of Heartland

Chapter 35

-Mallory-

Georgie and I trotted and loped along the same path Caleb and I did the day before but instead of stopping at the pond we broke down to a walk and just mosied around. "So.. why so squirmy? You made Caleb uncomfortable and that's saying something." Georgie shrugged and picked at a mark on the saddle horn. "Does it have anything to do with Badger?" Georgie's eyes widened but then averted from me. I let out a sigh and stopped dragon making Georgie stop Copper and look at me. "If you like him and it seems like you like him a lot, you need to talk to him. He wasn't good to me.. but then again he didn't want to be here back then.. it was an innocent kind of like thing with us back then." Georgie was quiet and then looked up at me. 'Are you sure?' I giggled "positive, I Love Caleb" 'I knew it!' I laughed and we continued walking around the pond. 'When did it all change between you two?' "It's been about four and a half months now and I couldn't be happier" Georgie nodded and then it suddenly hit her that I gave her copper. 'Why did you give me Copper? I've begged to ride him forever and the answer was always no!' I laughed sheepishly and petter dragons neck "this is Dragon" Georgie still looked confused. "Aaannnnd Caleb have her to me"
Georgie squeezes and squirmed around excitedly and I laughed feeling careless in that moment.
Once heartland came into view Georgie was feeling much more settled and I could smell the grill. We walked up to the back porch just as Peter flung the back door open carrying a tray of steaks to put on the grill and Dragon dropped down making me yelp and then Giggle. Caleb was laughing hysterically accidentally waking up a sleeping Katie on his lap.
"Are you okay?" Peter asked looking at me. 'Yeah I'm good' I said still laughing.
Caleb has picked up a now awake Katie and toted her over and sat her in front of Georgie in the saddle and then he turned to me 'take your foot out of the stirrup' I did as he asked and he pulled himself up behind me resting his hands on my hips.

"Did you know she wouldn't buck me off when you did that?"

'Nah but I had a pretty good idea.
To the barn!'

Caleb pointed and Georgie and I headed that way. Just before we walked into the barn I saw Badger pedaling up the driveway on his bicycle.
I had an idea.
I leaned back and whispered in Caleb's ear. "Can Georgie use your truck later to take Badger home so they can talk?" Caleb only nodded and slid off of the back of Badger and grabbed Katie putting her on his shoulders while Georgie and I unsaddled the horses. "Am I ever going to get that saddle back?" Caleb asked looking at me. I grinned but offered him no response and he simply rolled his eyes. Badger walked into the barn and pulled Coppers saddle off for Georgie and I pulled Caleb's saddle off of dragon and Caleb untied her and led her to her stall turning her loose. Once Everything was tucked away we turned and headed towards the house. Katie was still on Caleb's shoulders and Caleb put his arm around me. Georgie and Badger were walking close side by side but not talking or anything. I rolled my eyes and nudged Caleb and pointed to them and Caleb shook his head stomping his feet off and sitting Katie down on the porch. We all pulled our boots off and walked in the front door just as Lou was sitting out the food on the dining room table.
We each grabbed our seats at the table Lou and Peter each took an end leaving Caleb and I on the left side and Georgie and Badger on the other with Katie sitting between Caleb and Lou. I smiled at Caleb and Katie's funny bond and then we started to pass the dishes around and fill our plates. Putting twice as much as I would have even two weeks ago on my plate I smiled and passed the bowl of potatoes to Caleb and he thanked me before putting a little little on Katie's plate and a normal amount on his and passed it on to Lou. Once all of our plates were filled Lou finally spoke.
"Peter and I have to go back to the states next week for three or four days to check on some things and attend some meetings." Georgie's fork clattered to the table and she looked at Lou, I could see sharp words were on the tip of her tongue but Lou spoke too quickly before she could let any of them out. "I'm not sure when grandpa will be back or if he and Lisa will be gone during those days depending on Amy's schedule. BUT if it is okay with Mallory and Caleb, Peter and I have decided that Georgie can stay here and we will enroll her in VHS and then no matter what we choose or where we choose to go she will have school taken care of" Georgie's face brightened and she started to thank Lou and Peter repeatedly. Lou looked over at us questioningly and Caleb was the first one to speak. 'Of course Georgie can hand out with us and so can Katie if you would like' Lou nodded but didn't really seem to even contemplate that one "one kid at a time Caleb. I don't think I'm ready to let both go yet." Caleb just shrugged and scooped mashed potatoes into his mouth. I smiled at him and then looked over at Georgie who was over the moon. "What's VHS?" Badger asked looking at Lou and then at Georgie. 'Virtual High School, VHS it's the same curriculum taught in schools but it's all online so it can be done from anywhere.' Badger nodded and returned to his dinner.
We were just about to cut into the chocolate pie that Peter and Badger picked out at the store When the phone rang and Lou excused herself to go answer it. While Lou was taking the call I took the time to pick up the left overs and dirty dishes and carry them to the kitchen. Georgie and Badger pitched in and in no time we had the left overs tucked in the fridge and the dirty dishes rinsed and placed in the dishwasher.

When the three of us returned to the dining room Lou was just getting off of the phone "Okay Grandpa, Love you too"
Lou looked at the clean table.
"Thanks you guys, I was going to take care of that" 'we didn't mind' I smiled at Lou and before she proceeded to cut the pie she told us about the call with Jack.
"That was grandpa as you guys probably guessed. He says Amy is doing great and so are her horses and that he was only going to stay through this weekend but since this is probably the last time he will get to see Amy until after New Years because they will be so far away He and Lisa have decided to go ahead and drive the extra hour to watch the week long futurity in the next town and they will be back the Monday before Boxing Day" we all nodded knowing how hard it was for Jack to be away from Amy. "So I guess that means you two will in fact be in charge of Georgie" Lou said cutting into the pie and giving us a sideways glance.
We nodded and then Lou served us pie and we all just talked and enjoyed it. Before we knew it, it was 8:30 and pitch black outside.
I elbowed Caleb and nodded towards Badger and I guess he got the hint because he nodded and I spoke up. "Come on Georgie lets go out to the loft and watch a movie we set up Caleb's laptop to the old projector and we don't have to worry about being quiet." Georgie looked at Lou and Peter for approval and when they nodded we stood up and walked out. 'Be quiet coming in the house later if you decide to!' Lou yelled on our way out.

-Caleb-

Come on Badger I'll drive you to the camper if you want. Badger nodded and we stood up walking out the door and he grabbed his bike setting it in the back of my truck, instead of driving out the driveway I drove over to the barn and switched places with Georgie. "Turn the headlights off before you drive over the cattle guard or they shine right in the house. If you want to be extra safe drive around beside the front pasture and park beside the barn. Just come up to the loft when you get back and we can decide to either sneak you in the house or you can just crash with us." I finished my mini lecture and gave Badger a look even though he had no clue what was going on before closing the door and walking back into the shadows of the barn with Mallory.
"That was awful nice of you"
'What can I say? I'm an awful nice guy'
I grinned pulling Mallory close and kissing her.