It happened quickly: Declan didn't text her again, but the next message came through the State department, letting Amanda know that he was willing to surrender Jesse. The agents couldn't - or wouldn't - give any insight to his thought process or motivation, but she didn't care so much about that. They did inform her that Jesse would not be brought back to the United States by Declan - it was too much of a risk, because he could be brazen enough to change his mind and divert her elsewhere. Instead, she would be escorted by an American female ambassador from the consulate. It took two days to arrange her travel, but the most agonizing part for Amanda was waiting for Jesse to finally appear in the 'arrivals' terminal.

"Do you see her, Sonny? I don't see her," Amanda asked nervously, wringing her hands together as she looked around the crowded airport that evening.

"No," Sonny answered, craning his neck to see over the hoards of people. His hands rested atop the handle of Luca's stroller. "These international flights are always huge, though..."

"What if something happened?" She looked at her phone for any indication that things hadn't gone according to plan - not a single new message.

"We would have heard something," he insisted.

Then she heard it, the outcry Amanda would know anywhere: "Mama!"

That was her daughter's voice. She whirled around on her heel to see Jesse sprinting toward her, the little girl's hair flying behind her, her hands holding the straps of her familiar purple backpack at her shoulders. She had clearly broken away from her escort - a kind-looking woman who followed just a few feet behind her.

"Jesse!" Amanda exclaimed, crouching down with her arms spread open. Jesse collided into her full-force and she immediately wrapped her up in an embrace, picking the little girl up off the ground as she stood up straight again. Squeezing her tightly, she pressed a kiss into the side of Jesse's head. The familiar scent of her daughter's hair brought a sudden rush of tears to her eyes; she had missed her so, so much. It was as if the void inside of her had been suddenly yet completely filled. "Hi, baby. I'm so glad you're home," Amanda told her breathlessly, tone as bright as possible given how emotional she was.

"I missed you, mama." Jesse's voice was small and shaky as all of her limbs stayed wrapped around Amanda's frame.

She pulled back slightly to anxiously look at her daughter's face: Jesse's big, brown eyes were shining. She looked exhausted and frightened, her lower lip puffed out in a tremulous pout. "It's alright, Jess. You're home now," Amanda reassured her quietly, swallowing hard over the lump in her throat and trying to keep herself from totally falling apart.

Jesse rested her head on Amanda's shoulder, tightening her arms and legs around her.

"There's my girl," Sonny greeted the toddler cheerfully, like she had merely been away all day at school. He hovered close to Amanda's side as he smoothed a palm over Jesse's head lovingly. "We missed you."

Jesse reached a hand out in Sonny's direction, leaning her body toward his until he got the hint: he pulled her from Amanda's arms to carry her instead. Then she grabbed for her mother, like she didn't want Amanda to go too far just because she had momentarily traded adults. Crowded close into Sonny's side, Amanda set a comforting hand on Jesse's back. Usually talkative and tirelessly inquisitive, Jesse was quiet, sniffling and frowning with her head on Sonny's shoulder.

"Amanda?"

She looked up to see the woman who had accompanied Jesse standing quietly before them, clearly wanting to be respectful of their reunion.

"Hi," Amanda greeted her, moving away from Jesse and holding out her hand for the woman to shake. "I'm Amanda." She gestured behind her and added, "that's my husband, Dominick."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Bridget," she said with a kind smile.

"Thank you so much for bringing her. I just, we've been so... just, thank you," Amanda rambled.

"Of course. It's all a part of my job. She's a sweet little girl," Bridget replied with a nod. "She's pretty tired and confused, though. This has been a lot for her."

Hot tears suddenly slipped down Amanda's cheeks and she tried to hurriedly brush them away. "I know. I'm not really sure how to..."

"Usually kids talk about this stuff - what's happened - in their own time," she explained gently. "She hasn't said much to me."

"That's weird, though. Usually you can't shut her up," Amanda whispered weakly.

She nodded again. "I think she's overwhelmed. My recommendation is that you try to spend as much time with her as possible, but get back to normal routines. Bath time, bed time, that sort of thing."

"Yeah, okay. I can do that."

"Maybe ask her a few things, feel her out, see if she says anything once she's home."

Amanda chewed her lower lip. "You don't think she's like..."

"Hm?"

"Permanently traumatized or anything, do you?"

"Kids are incredibly resilient. But she's been away from you and out of her element for seven days, so only time will tell," Bridget reasoned. "In order to close the case, the State will have her meet with their child psychologist in a couple of days. Hopefully that'll give you some peace of mind."

She swallowed. "Yeah, it's just, with the work I do, I always..."

"Assume the worst?" she completed Amanda's sentence with a wry smile.

"Yeah," Amanda admitted sheepishly.

"Forget about being a detective right now," Bridget suggested gently. "Just be a mother."

Sonny made one of Jesse's favorite dinners: macaroni and cheese. Not the kind from the box, either, even though Amanda was well-aware that the orange pasta was one of his guilty pleasures (and he was always not-so-secretly thrilled when Jesse specifically requested it). He had made this particular meal from scratch, but despite his heartfelt efforts, Jesse didn't eat much. She pushed food around her plate for a little while before telling them that her stomach hurt.

After the table was cleared and the dishes were done, Amanda sat on the couch next to Sonny with Jesse between them. The little girl kept her favorite stuffed rabbit, Bunny, in her lap, stroking him gently like he was her pet. Over the toddler's head, Amanda glanced at Sonny, who was watching her expectantly, waiting for her to initiate a conversation.

"Y'know, Jesse, we missed you so much," Amanda began carefully. She used gentle fingers to brush hair away from Jesse's forehead. "Y'wanna tell us what happened?"

Jesse looked over at her, eyes wide. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, no, of course not!" she said quickly, squeezing her daughter's arm. "None of this is your fault. I just wanna know what happened, that's all."

"Well... my other dad came to get me from school and said we were going on an adventure," Jesse explained slowly, turning her attention back to her stuffed animal.

"An adventure, huh?" Sonny repeated curiously.

She nodded. "So we went on an airplane for a really long time. It made my ears hurt," she went on, then added meekly, "I had soda even though you don't let me. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Amanda assured her gently. "Then what happened?"

"Then we went to a farm. There were sheep."

"What'd you do there?"

"It was boring. Lots of grown-ups." She frowned as she toyed with the rabbit's floppy ears. "Where were you?"

Amanda's chest tightened as she watched her. "I was here, baby. Trying to get you back."

She looked over at her mother, her little brow furrowed. "Why didn't you come?" Jesse asked.

She sounded so genuinely confused; Amanda could have sworn that her heart was breaking into a million little pieces inside of her chest. How the hell was she supposed to explain this to a four year old? She could barely make sense of it all herself. "I wanted to, Jesse, but the... uh, police said I couldn't," she tried, voice thick with emotion.

"But you're the police," her daughter reminded her cleverly.

"I know, these are... different kinds of police than mama and dad are. Special ones," Amanda told her. "So we had to do what they said and wait right here for you."

"I didn't like it," Jesse whispered.

"I know," she barely managed to croak. "Neither did I."

Sonny used a towel to roughly dry his wet head after his shower that night. When he tossed it aside, his hair was damp and wild. Bare-chested in old basketball shirts, he pulled a t-shirt on. "You look upset," he observed, catching Amanda's eye once he was clothed.

Holding a mug of tea in her palms as she sat cross-legged on their bed, Amanda hadn't realized she had been frowning as she watched him. She had laid with Jesse for an hour before the little girl finally fell asleep at ten o'clock, and Amanda had expected to feel better now that she knew her daughter was back in her own room. Instead, she was gripped by a different kind of uneasiness. She sighed. "I'm just... I dunno," she answered Sonny in the least helpful way possible.

He perched himself on the edge of the bed next to her. "It's 'cause of what Jesse said earlier, isn't it?" he guessed.

"I just feel so guilty," she admitted quietly, toying with the string of her tea bag. "Imagine bein' her age and wondering why your own mom didn't come get you?"

"It's too complicated for her to understand right now."

"But did you see the look on her face? She looked so sad. I'm afraid she thinks I don't love her. And I just... I don't like that I don't know what happened over there."

"Don't start thinkin' like that, Amanda."

"I can't help it. What if-"

"Give her some time to readjust. Let the psychologist do their job and then this'll all be over," Sonny interrupted her in his firm but compassionate way. He set a hand on her knee. "She's a tough kid, she'll be okay."

Amanda nodded, eyes on the remaining liquid in her mug. "What do you think is gonna happen to Murphy?"

He cringed slightly. "He may be lookin' at state prison time."

"For how long?"

"I don't know. I did some research a few days ago and it could be up to fifteen years. Or he could get probation and a buncha fines. It depends on a lot of stuff."

"Yeah..."

"But he interfered with your custody agreement - he transported a minor to another country without your permission - so he's seriously damaged his standing in family court."

"I mean, yeah, but what does that really mean?"

"He's probably gonna lose his rights to Jesse."

"Do you really think-"

"Mama!"

Jesse's shriek tore through the apartment. Alarmed, Amanda and Sonny both jumped up from the bed to run out into the hallway, Frannie close at their heels. Amanda flung open Jesse's bedroom door and flipped on the light. She found Jesse sitting up in bed, red-faced and crying, her grip tight on Bunny. The dog jumped up beside her and began to lick the little girl's cheek, but it didn't do anything to stop her tears.

"What? What is it, Jesse?" Amanda demanded anxiously, frantically looking around for the cause of her daughter's distress.

Jesse's heaving sobs were making her breathless, her small body shaking with the force of them. "I..."

"Hey, it's alright," Amanda soothed, bending down to smooth a hand over Jesse's head. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"Yes..." Jesse stammered, sniffling as her hands rubbed haphazardly at her eyes. "I... I... woke up and didn't know where I was!"

"You're home, Jesse. With us," Sonny reminded her, voice quiet. "It's okay, see? I'm here, your mom's here, your brother and Frannie are here. We're all here."

She hiccuped as she tried to catch her breath, nodding quickly and obediently at Sonny's observation. Tears still dropped sporadically onto the fabric of her blue pajama shirt and her nose was running.

Amanda took a few tissues from her daughter's dresser and began to pat gently at Jesse's face, cleaning her up. "How about you come lay down with us for a little while?" she suggested. "Frannie will come too, she'll watch out for you. She's good at that."

Jesse nodded. With her rabbit's ear in hand, she clambered off of her bed and padded into the hallway, Amanda and Sonny close behind her. In the bedroom, Amanda pulled back the comforter and sheets so the toddler could climb beneath them, flopping onto her stomach right in the middle of the mattress. She joined her there, propping herself up on her side, head in her hand. Jesse's cheek rested on a pillow while her mother ran a soothing palm up and down the little girl's back. It took a little while, but soon Jesse's eyelashes began to flutter and her breathing took on a new, steady rhythm. It was only when Amanda was confident she was asleep that she took her hand away and relaxed her own body.

Sonny was stretched out along his side of the bed, reading. Through heavy eyelids, Amanda watched him until she eventually rolled over. She had never met a person who read more than he did, but that was probably why he was constantly brimming with random facts. Sometimes it got on her nerves, but for the most part, she liked that about him. He knew a lot, and when he didn't know, he didn't try to bullshit her. She understood why law appealed to Sonny: there were absolutes, but there were also many different ways to approach a single problem, if only one did enough research. It wasn't about feelings or matters of the heart. Throughout Jesse's ordeal, he had been logical and inquisitive - while Amanda had let emotion cloud everything.

Curled up on her side facing away from Jesse, she felt herself drifting off to sleep. She was so comfortable - when was the last time she had actually been able to relax? Amanda had never been the best at getting rest, but with Jesse missing, her insomnia had increased tenfold. Now it was all catching up with her, her limbs warm and heavy, her brain fuzzy with static. Everyone she loved was safe in one room, and that was enough.

"Daddy?" Jesse's little voice drifted into Amanda's awareness. She briefly contemplated encouraging her to go back to sleep, but she was too tired and maybe Sonny would do it. Jesse tended to listen to him more, anyway.

"Hm?" Sonny responded.

"Do I have to have my other dad?" Jesse asked.

Amanda's heart jumped in her chest, suddenly alert, but she kept her eyes closed to keep up the facade that she was still asleep. Really, she was just a coward: she didn't want to be a part of this conversation.

"What do you mean?" she heard Sonny ask slowly. Amanda could picture the look on his face: brows knitted together, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"I don't want to," the four-year-old said.

"Your dad made a big mistake, takin' you on a plane like that. But... lots of people make mistakes," Sonny told her diplomatically.

She could practically hear the wheels in Jesse's mind turning in the silence that followed. She opened her eyes, nervous.

"Ella only has one dad," Jesse concluded, referencing her friend downstairs.

"Yeah, I know."

"Do you have one dad?"

"Yeah, I have one."

"Seeee?" Jesse sing-songed.

"You're just like your mother, you know that?" Sonny responded with a quiet chuckle.

"What's that mean?"

"It means you're a smart cookie."

"I'm not a cookie!" she giggled.

"I dunno about that, you're pretty sweet," he insisted playfully. Amanda felt the mattress shift. "C'mon, it's way past your bedtime. Go back to sleep."

"Will you rub my back?" Jesse whined.

"Didn't your mother just do that for an hour?" Sonny asked skeptically.

"Again," she pleaded. "She's sleeping."

"Okay," he sighed. "Close your eyes."

Amanda sensed Jesse wriggling deeper beneath the covers next to her, getting comfortable. For a little while, it was quiet, and Amanda assumed that Jesse was content. She felt so many things, but mostly she was immensely grateful. There was no handbook on how to navigate a situation like this, but Sonny simply took it in stride. She knew this conversation would happen again and maybe the next time it wouldn't go so smoothly, but for now, Amanda was relieved.

"I love you, Jess. Y'know that?" Sonny whispered, breaking the silence.

"Yes," Jesse murmured sleepily. "I know."