"Daddy, I know what you should do!  Since mommy is making you cookies, you should make her some of your homemade Italian food!  Remember how much she ate your food when she was pregnant!"

"Heh, yeah.. you think I should?"

"Yeah!  She's been telling me how much she misses you!  IIII Mean your cooking!" Sofia smiles.

"Oh really?  Well what do you think I should make?  We can pack it up and bring it over to the house."

"Yeah she'd love that!  Umm.. how about you make your delicious five cheese pasta!"

"One of my best!" Danny says with a smile.

"Yeah!"

"Wanna help me, little chef?"

"Sure!"

**

Jackson sat in the living room with the kids while Sofia and Danny were in the kitchen.

"Jax, why mommy and daddy no live together no more?  They mad?" Arabella asks her brother.

"They aren't together anymore, Bella.."

"But why?"

"They just aren't."

"But.. that make me sad.. Bella sad!" Arabella says with tears in her eyes.

"Hey, don't be sad!" Jackson reaches over and sits her on his lap.

"Don't be sad, pretty girl.  It's not so bad.. we get to have two of everything now!  Two houses, two rooms!  Two.. two Christmases.." Jackson got quiet as he realized how different their Christmas would be this year.

"But daddy loves mommy and she loves him.. When we go back home, they get back together, right?"

"I don't think so, Bella."

Arabella's lip quivers.

"Don't be sad."

She doesn't respond, instead she wraps her arms around him and lays on his shoulder.

**

Once the food was ready Danny packed everything up and took the kids to Jessica's.

"Mommy, we're home!  Open up!" Sofia says.

Jessica hurries to open the door with a smile on her face.

"My babies!"

"Hi momma!

Daddy, come in!" Sofia pulls him by the shirt.

"Oh!  Uh.. Hi, Danny.. Whatcha got there?"

"I made everyone some of my famous five cheese pasta."

"Yum!  Well thank you, Danny!"

"You can stay for dinner, daddy!"

"Huh?" Jessica turns to Sofia.

"He made it special just for you, momma!  You have to invite him to stay!"

"O-kayy.. Come on in, Danny."

"Thanks.  I'll go set everything up."

"Alright.  Excuse the mess." Jessica says before turning to Sofia with her eyes narrowed.

"What?" Sofia smiles.

"What are you up to?"

"Nothing!"

"Mhm."

**

Their dinner consisted of laughs and old stories.  It wasn't awkward at all, it was actually nice.

"I love this!  I feel normal again!" Sofia said with tears in her eyes.

"Sweetie, we are normal!" Jessica chuckled.

"Yeah.. I know.. So Jax!  Are you ready to go back to school?" Sofia quickly changes the subject.

"Nuh UH!  Are you crazy?  What kind of question is that?!"

They all laugh and discuss the upcoming school year.

**

"Everyone hand over your dishes so I can start washing them."

"No, I've got it, Jess."

"You cooked dinner, I can at least wash the dishes."

"No I'm fine!  You go on and relax, it's been a long day."

"Okay.  Thank you."

"You're welcome." Danny smiles.

Sofia was watching them with a huge smile on her face.

Jessica walked out of the kitchen and dragged her along with her.

"You look like you're up to something, little missy."

"I'm not, I promise!  He wanted to make you some dinner!  He was Really excited to eat cookies too!  He misses them so so much!  He said you're the best baker ever!"

"He said that?" Jessica chuckled.

"Yep!  That was nice, huh?"

"Yeah.. Excuse me, Sof.. I'm gonna go thank him."

"Okay!" Sofia said with a big smile.  She had a feeling that her plan was working.

"Kids, come on and let's go play in the living room!" Sofia called her siblings so her parents could have some alone time.

"Hey.." Jessica says  awkwardly.

"Oh hey.." Danny smiles.

"Thanks for dinner."

"Oh no problem!  Sof told me how much you've wanted it... She also told me how you made me my own special snickerdoodle cookies."

"What?"

"Yeah, thanks, Jess!"

"Danny.. did you happen to tell Sofia I was the best baker ever?"

"I didn't say that.. but you are!"

"Oh God." Jessica sighs. 

"What?"

"Sofia."

"What about Sofia?"

"I knew she was up to something.  Danny, she's lying to us!"

"About what?"

"I never asked for your food!  I mean, I love it but I haven't mentioned it.  Sofia asked me to make her snickerdoodle cookies then turned around and told you that I made them special for you."

"Why would she do that?"

"Why do you think?" Jessica tilts her head.

"You think she's trying to show us how much we really miss each other?"

"By lying!  Danny, this isn't good.  Sofia!" Jessica calls for her.

"Oh Jess, she's a kid.  Separation is hard on a child, go easy on her."

"Yes?" Sofia walks in with a smile on her face.

"Sofia, we know what you've been up to."

"What do you mean?"

"We know you've been telling stories."

"Oh.." Sofia's voice went low as she lowered her head.

"Honey, why are you doing this?"

"Because you belong together!  Neither one of you will admit it but Everytime you two talk about each other or joke about old times, you get this look on your faces I haven't seen in a long time!" Sofia was shouting at her parents.

"I have to make sure everyone is happy!  You two aren't trying to fix anything at all!"

"Honey, you're a child!  You can't stress out over your father and I's relationship."

"I may be a child but I'm not stupid!  I know you're not happy, mom!  And dad, you're always depressed!  I know I said I hated daddy and that you shouldn't go back with him, but that was before I saw you apart.  Seeing you apart sucks!"

"Sofia!"

"No it Does, mom!  You two are too blind to see it!  YOU LOVE EACH OTHER!  We should live together like a family!  We shouldn't be split up like this!  I just want you two back together so we can go back to the way things used to be!"

"Sofia.. it's not going to, love." Jessica speaks in a soft voice.

Sofia looks at them and pauses for a moment.

"I hope one day you wake up and realize that I'm right."

Sofia walked out leaving Danny and Jessica there alone in a very awkward position.


***

Okay I just quickly want to say thank you all for all of your lovely comments!  You guys always make my day!
I know a lot of you are team Danny, and a lot of you despise him!  I've read all of your comments and given it a lot of thought.  I add in a lot of what you guys want, BUT I'm going with my heart on this one and making a decision that I'm really excited for.  So get ready for worry and tears. I wanna end this story with a bang!