"Mama, it's mommy!" Sofia calls out from her spot on the couch. Her little hands are holding up a picture of us from when Sofia was still a baby.

"Yes it is, baby girl," I respond, tears forming in my eyes. "You're gonna go back to mommy's house next week, it's her birthday."

"You and mommy are supposed to be friends again, Sofia tells me like it's a fact, not an opinion. "She misses you so much, mama."

"We'll see," I say. In an attempt to distract her from talking about mine and Callie's past, I say, "Why don't we make a present for mommy's birthday? A photo album would be cool!"

Sofia smiles, her eyes twinkling. She squeals and jumps up from her seat on the couch, running into her room. After a few minutes, she emerges with a large piece of pink bristol board.

"Are we going to make a collage instead?"

"Yeah."

I grab the first picture of us that I see, the one Sofia was holding earlier. It's the three of us, Callie on the left, me on the right, and Sofia sitting on Callie's lap. "You know, that's one of my favorite pictures of your mommy, you and me."

"I like it too. What other pictures are there?"

I pull out a few more, explaining the significance of each one to Sofia as I show it to her. Soon enough, there's no more room for pictures. "It's so pretty, Sof!"

"Uh huh, but it needs sparkles," she declares.

1 WEEK LATER

"Happy birthday, Calliope," I say as I hug my ex-wife at the door of her new house, where she's started a new life without me.

"Thanks, Arizona." Callie gestures for me to follow her inside, so I do. I see that she has a bunch of pictures of her and me up, almost as many as she does of Sofia. But none of Penny. "Thanks for coming for my birthday, I didn't want it to be just Sofia and I."

"What about Penny?" I ask, my curiosity taking over.

Callie sighs. "She left after about two weeks here. Apparently I was still wrapped up in missing you," she says as she blushes, looking at the ground.

Sofia runs up and interrupts our little moment. "Mama, can mommy open up her present now?"

I look at Callie, who smiles and nods. "Of course, Sofia," I say.

Sofia hands Callie the rolled up package, tied with a neat, purple bow. "It's from Mama too."

"Is it?" Callie looks at me with wide eyes. "Mama's presents are always the best."

"I know," Sofia gushes, making me giggle.

I blush as Callie winks at me. "Just open the present," I exclaim in fake exasperation.

"Okay, okay," Callie says, putting her hands up in surrender. She gently tugs off the bow, making sure not to rip the poster, and unrolls the collage. As she sees it, her face brightened. "Oh, wow. It's perfect. Thank you so much, Sofia. You too, Arizona. I know just where to put this." Callie walks over to the fireplace with the collage and a roll of tape, putting it up on the wall.

"You're welcome, mommy." Turning to me, Sofia says, "Say you're welcome, mama. Do it."

"You're welcome, Callie. Sof, can you go to your room for a few minutes? I need to talk to your mommy in private."

Sofia smiles and nods eagerly, probably hoping that Callie and I will get back together, or as she would say, 'be friends again'.

"Arizona." Callie's voice is shaky, nervous. "Is this really such a good idea?"

"Honestly? I don't know. But I can obviously see all of the pictures of us that you have on the walls. You aren't over us, over me. So please, come back to Seattle with me."

"I can't. It's not that easy, Arizona. I have a life here now. A job, obligations. And plus, everyone hates me."

I laugh at Callie's claims that everyone hates her. I mean, yeah, people are pissed that she left, but that's because they love her, not because they hate her. "Callie. You're being ridiculous."

"I know. I'm still scared though."

Instead of saying anything, I lean forward and kiss Callie on the cheek. "Don't be scared."