"So, what do you think?" Lou asked, turning the computer screen toward him a little. "You think Katie will like it?"

The man looked up from his phone and gazed over at the dress on the shopping website. "Lou, that looks exactly like the one you showed me just two minutes ago."

Lou laughed a little. "No, see…this one has a floral pattern and a sash, and that one wasn't even pink. Are you even paying attention?"

"What!? Of course I am!" He defended. He sighed, relenting. "Okay, okay, fine." He tossed his phone on the seat beside him and focused completely on what it was Lou was asking him to do. "Okay, you know what? I think this is the one. The other just seemed so plain; Katie would never wear it."

Lou smiled. "Okay, so this one it is."

"Aren't you going to wait for her to okay it before buying it?"

"Well, it's the dress I want her to wear the day of her birthday, and I kind of want it to be a surprise…I just hope she doesn't hate it."

Mitch gazed lovingly at his wife. "No, you know she won't. I'm sure she's going to fall in love with it. But her birthday is a month away, why are you getting it now?"

"I just like to plan ahead, you know that." Lou shrugged a shoulder.

Mitch smirked. "Yeah, I know."

"What are you looking at me like that for?"

"Looking at you like what…?" Mitch smiled, leaning in, a playful look in his eye.

The sudden knock at the door made Lou jump, a hand immediately travelling to her chest as her heart began to race. She inhaled sharply, looking at her husband. "Who could that be?"

With his arm still around Lou, Mitch craned his neck back, trying to get a look at who could be at the door, but to no avail. He exhaled heavily. "I have no idea." He stood, beginning to walk to the door. "We expecting someone…?" He asked almost to himself as he arrived at the door.

But the scene that met his eyes through the screen brought an unsettling feeling into his heart, making his mouth go dry and his breath becoming hitched in his throat.

"Mitch, who is it?" He heard Lou call out from the living room. But he couldn't answer, his voice refused to come out. Mitch swallowed as he reached for the door.

When he swung the door open, his eyes darted from the male police officer who stood on his porch to his step-daughter, who was already walking into the house. Her face was bloodied, a wild look in her eyes. As Mitch looked closer, he saw that the side of her face was scraped and there was a gash spilling blood from just under her hairline. "Georgie, kiddo…" he finally breathed out, his voice aghast.

As Georgie stepped into the kitchen, she was about to ask Mitch where Lou was, but the thought melted away because immediately, Georgie saw Lou walking toward her. The look on her mother's face and the way she carried herself scared the wits out of Georgie, making her heart drop down into her stomach. "Mom…" She barely breathed out.

Lou moved toward her daughter, her hand immediately reaching for Georgie's face. Lou saw that the side of her face was all scraped up and there was a deep cut on her forehead. "Honey…what happened to you?"

"Mom." Georgie spoke, her voice firm. Georgie's hand shook as she brought it up to where Lou's was, and she squeezed it reassuringly. "I'm okay. It's nothing."

Lou looked at Georgie, nodding her head, trying to be okay with what she was seeing. Her daughter's face was all bloodied, and she looked scared out of her mind. Or was it something else?

Lou's gaze floated over to the man in uniform who stepped inside their home. Lou's lips parted, and she looked back to Georgie. "Honey, where's—where's your sister? Did you drop her off at Jen's?"

Lou's words cut at Georgie's heart. How she wished that Katie was at her friend's house. Georgie swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump she felt in her throat.

Georgie didn't want to look Lou in the eye. She wanted to hold her gaze low, so she didn't have to see the look on her mother's face. But she made the mistake of looking up.

"Sweetie, where's your sister?" Lou questioned her in a voice that was barely audible, but loud enough for Georgie to know that her mother was dying inside, the dread and fear making themselves apparent in her.

The officer spoke. "Ma'am, I'm afraid I have some bad news. There was an accident involving both of your daughters."

Lou felt her chest tighten, and she shifted her weight, her hand going down to hold onto Georgie's wrist protectively. "Accident?"

Mitch immediately moved toward Lou, a hand going to her back. From the look on the officer's face, he knew what was coming at them next.

"I'm sorry to inform you that your youngest did not survive the car accident."

"Katie? She's not here with you?" Lou questioned, wide-eyed, her gaze travelling over to Georgie. Lou noticed how silent Georgie was, how she refused to speak, refused to look at her anymore.

"I'm very sorry for your loss. I'm very sorry." The officer repeated as he stepped away to respond to a dispatch.

Lou turned back to Georgie. "Honey, what was he saying? Where's—where's Katie? She was just with you, right? She's okay…she's okay, right?" The words spewed from Lou's lips frantically, and she brought a hand to Georgie's chin, trying to get her to look up.

Georgie finally brought her eyes up. She shook her head. "Mom, she's not okay. Katie's gone." Georgie uttered as she watched the colour fade away from her mother's face, the tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Georgie watched on helplessly as Lou moved back a couple steps, her mother's hand ripping away from hers.

Georgie reached out for Lou, but she was just out of reach. "Mom—"

There was a wild look in her mother's eyes. "Honey, what are you…?"

"Mom…" Georgie breathed out, her heart aching. She felt so detached from herself, and she couldn't believe she was the one having to break this news to her own mother.

Georgie felt like she was confessing to a crime, she was just so guilt-ridden she hadn't been able to protect her sister and bring her home. Her mother had trusted her, and now…

"No, no…she…I was just—Mitch and I were just picking out a dress for her birthday. She was going to come home and we were going to—no, she can't be—" Lou broke off, staring at her daughter. "Honey, where's Katie?" Lou demanded in a firm voice, yet it was wavering and breaking.

Georgie looked over at Mitch, a heartbroken look in her eyes. She pleaded with him to make Lou understand, to make her realize what had just happened because…she couldn't do it.

Mitch turned his wife toward him. He helped her sit down at the roundtable. "Honey, Georgie's trying to tell you that Katie is gone. She died."

The realization finally settled, and Lou's head turned to her daughter. "Georgie?" Lou's voice shattered.

Georgie let out a shaky breath, overwhelming relief washing over her that Lou was reaching out, calling to her. She rushed forward and threw her arms around Lou, and as she did, she became aware of Lou's frame trembling against her.

Lou's cries intensified as they tore through her body. And when suddenly her chest tightened up so much so that she was gasping for air, a sob escaped her lips. She immediately brought a shaking hand to cover her face, trying in vain to hold onto Georgie just as tight as Georgie held onto her.

A/N: Thoughts on this?