"Mommy?"

"Hey, baby," Amanda smiled as she looked up from her phone. "Something on your mind?" She asked curiously as she noticed the serious look on her daughter's face.

"I don't know," Jessie shrugged as she walked towards the couch where her mother was sitting. "I'm confused."

"Oh? Well, why don't you come on over here and we can talk about it," Amanda suggested as she put her phone on the end table and patted the spot beside her on the couch.

"Uncle Sonny's not my daddy, right?"

Amanda opened and closed her mouth a few times before she could force herself to speak. "No, baby. We talked about this, remember? Declan is your daddy."

"And Dr. Al is Billie's daddy."

"That's right."

"Mila told me tomorrow is Father's Day. She said it's like Mother's Day, but you do special things for your daddy instead of your mommy."

Mila and her parents were their new neighbors across the hall. She was just a few months older than Jessie and the two girls really hit it off.

"Mila asked me what I was making for my daddy..."

"Oh, is that what this is about? Do you want to make a picture for Declan? See if we can Facetime him?" She bit her bottom lip, nervously. She knew she made it clear to Declan she could raise Jessie on her own since before she was even born, and although he calls once every few months, he never went out of his way to make a real connection with Jessie. It was a double-edged sword in Amanda's eyes.

Jessie shook her head. "I told Mila I didn't have a daddy that lived with me, so I asked what that's like. She said that they make you dinner, and tuck you in at night, and help with school stuff. She said they make you feel better when your sad or you get hurt and they take you to the park and sometimes buy you donuts or cotton candy when your mommy says no!"

Amanda nodded, offering a sad smile, but trying to encourage Jessie to continue.

"Momma...that's what Uncle Sonny does! Can't he be our daddy? 'Cause Billie and I have two different daddies, but we both have Uncle Sonny. If he's our daddy we can have the same one!"

Amanda felt a stabbing sensation in her heart, and blinked away the tears that were forming in her eyes. "Uncle Sonny loves you and your sister so much. That's why I picked him to be your godfather... which is kind of like being a daddy. It's very special."

Jessie sighed, pondering her mother's words as much as her young mind could. "Can we get Uncle Sonny a Father's Day gift?"

"Yeah, if you want to." Honestly, Amanda was incredibly relieved that Jessie would want to acknowledge Sonny on Father's Day, and she suddenly regretted all the Father's Days that had passed without acknowledging the precious role he played in their lives.

"Does it make me bad that I don't wanna make one for Declan?"

"Oh, honey. Come here," Amanda pulled Jessie on her lap and kissed her forehead. "That doesn't make you bad. Sometimes, a daddy helps make a baby, but there are all kinds of reasons why they don't help raise a baby. This will make more sense as you get older. I know it's a lot to understand. But not calling him daddy, and not wanting to make him a gift, that doesn't make you bad."

"But I'm five!" She protested, holding up her hand.

"You'll understand when you're even older than five," Amanda chuckled, kissing the five fingers Jessie held up. "Trust me."

"Can we make cannoli for Uncle Sonny? And I'll make him a card and a picture. And we should get him socks! Fun ones! He only has boring color ones."

Amanda had no idea how to make cannoli, and trying to figure it out on a whim at 3PM the afternoon before Father's Day, had disaster written all over it. "Maybe Uncle Sonny should teach Mommy how to make cannoli first before we try to tackle that one on our own, huh? We can get some from the bakery tomorrow morning."

Jessie frowned, mildly disappointed. "Okay," she huffed.

"But," Amanda continued, "we can go to the store later and pick out fun socks for him, and you and Billie can make all the pictures you want for him. I'm sure we can stop by his apartment tomorrow morning before he leaves to go to Staten Island to see his dad. How's that sound?"

"Good. Can it be a surprise? Don't tell him, Mommy."

Amanda winced. She didn't know how she felt about making it a surprise and just showing up at his apartment tomorrow morning. There was a time when it wouldn't have been unusual, but ever since she found out about Nicole, she didn't know where she fit in his life anymore. Even though she appreciated his help and lessons on how to be a grown up regarding her father's will, things were a combination of tense and awkward between them.

Then, out of the blue, or so it seemed to her, he and Nicole broke up at Fin and Phoebe's reception – right after the toasts (the theme always coming back to how Fin and Phoebe had been partners)—and something about the timing of it all made her curious and hopeful. She asked him if he wanted to talk about it, but the wound was too fresh, and he said he just wanted to drown his sorrows at the open bar. He promised they could talk about it later in the week, but thanks to a series of high-profile cases for SVU and OC, she and Sonny didn't get a chance to talk about anything personal since that night at the reception a few weeks ago.

"We'll see," she finally answered.

Dominick Carisi thought he heard a faint knock, or more accurately a tap, at his door. Visitors just after 8AM on a Sunday morning were unusual for him, especially since Nicole was no longer in the picture, so he shrugged it off as a knock on one of his neighbors' doors instead as he poured his coffee.

There were two more faint knocking sounds, followed by a series of distinct, firmer knocks - a pattern that he recognized instantly from his time on the police force. Leaving his mug on the counter, he curiously walked over to the door and smiled when he looked out the peephole and saw all three of the Rollins girls on his doorstep.

"Now this is a surprise," he said with a smile as he opened the door.

"Uncle Sonny! Hi!" Jessie exclaimed as she threw her arms around his legs. "Happy Father's Day! We got you presents!"

Amanda pushed Billie's stroller into the apartment and tried not to stare at the casual Carisi before her. He was wearing a pair of dark denim jeans that had faded with time and a fitted black short sleeve t-shirt. He was barefoot, his hair had yet to be gelled back, and Amanda had to fight the urge she had to reach over and run her fingers through the loose strands of hair.

"Here! Here! Here! Open it!" Jessie was practically shoving the gift bag in his face.

"Did you … did you ...just..." He looked back and forth between Jessie and Amanda. "Did she just..." He was at a loss for words as he scooped Jessie into his embrace and held her close to his chest. "I love you soooo much, kiddo. You know that, right?"

"Yes," she giggled happily as he kissed her cheek. "I love you, too!"

Billie was not impressed with the amount of attention her sister was receiving while she was still confined to her stroller. She began squirming and squealing to signal her displeasure while waving her arms out towards Sonny and kicking her little legs back and forth.

Amanda worked quickly to unclip the safety harness and lift Billie from the stroller. "Just a second, Billie. Just a second. I'm going as fast as I can, baby."

"Mama, no." Billie protested, still waving her hands towards Sonny, as she wiggled in her mother's grasp. "Unca! Hold me!"

Amanda took a step closer to Sonny and Billie lunged forward with such a force that she practically threw herself at him.

"Oh, hello there, Silly Billie," he greeted after shifting Jessie to one hip so he could hold both girls comfortably.

"Hi!" She exclaimed back with a grin.

Sonny carefully maneuvered them to sit on the couch while Amanda picked up the gift bag Jessie had dropped on the floor before she walked over to join them. Smiling, she sat down on the edge of the coffee table in front of them and handed him the bag.

"Here," she grinned. "Open your gift, Counselor."

"What's all this?"

"Today's Father's Day, so we wanted to get you something!" Jessie explained. "'Cause you're our godfather and you do all the things daddies do for us."

"You didn't need to get me anything."

"But you're special!" Jessie countered. "And we love you! Open your gifts!"

"Okay, okay, okay," he laughed. He pulled out the blue and green tissue paper and placed it beside Amanda on the coffee table. "A Jessie Rollins original," he beamed with pride as he studied the stick figure drawing he just removed from the bag.

"That's you and me, and Mommy and Billie, eating ice cream at the park." She told him. "'Cause that was a fun day and we should 'member it."

He grinned. "Yeah, Jess, that was a fun day," he agreed softly, glancing at Amanda. The last time they had ice cream in the park together was last summer, but that day must have really made an impact on Jessie.

"Open the rest!" Jessie bounced up and down from her spot on the couch.

He reached into the bag and pulled out another piece of paper. It was clearly Billie's masterpiece – a bunch of colorful random scribbles on a piece of white cardstock. "Well, aren't you a little Picasso, too, Billie, huh?" He asked as he reached over to tickle her belly.

"There's still more," Jessie sang.

He reached into the bag again and pulled out two pairs of socks. The first pair had images of coffee cups and donuts on them and the second pair had fried eggs and bacon on them. "Well, look at these!" He exclaimed. "I love these."

Jessie giggled. "I told Momma we needed to get you fun socks like us! 'Cause you only wear boring ones when you come over. We love fun socks! Look!" She kicked off her little pink sneakers and revealed her neon-colored polka dot socks. "Momma has fun socks, too." Jessie suddenly lowered her voice as if she were letting her godfather in on a secret. "She has Santa Clause socks that she wears when it isn't even Christmas time!"

It wasn't anything Sonny didn't know already. In fact, he used to tease Amanda about it, even though he found it incredibly endearing if he were to be completely honest.

"I picked out the donut ones cause you like donuts. Billie picked out the other ones. I don't know why," she shrugged. "She's too little to tell us why."

"Thank you so much for making today special. I love all of you soooo much," he told the girls as he pulled Billie onto his lap and then leaned over to brush his nose against Jessie's.

Amanda quickly pulled her phone out from her pocket to capture the moment between her favorite people in the entire world. She already planned on having it framed – two copies, actually; one for him and one for her.

"There's still one more thing," Jessie giggled.

"More? You're spoiling me!"

"It's the best part!"

"Oh, I don't know about that. Seeing you, and your sister, and your Momma this morning... I think that's the best part," he answered sincerely, watching curiously as Amanda stood up from the coffee table and walked over to retrieve something from the bottom of Billie's stroller. "But cannoli are a nice touch, too," he agreed with a smirk as Amanda returned with the bakery box in her hands.

"I wanted to make you cannoli, but Momma said you have to teach her first."

"I can do that," he chuckled, making eye contact with Amanda. "I think she can handle it, right, Jess?"

"Yep," she agreed.

"Here," Sonny turned on the TV and toggled through the menus until he settled on selecting an episode of Octonauts for them to watch. "Can you keep an eye on Billie while Mommy and I go in the kitchen and get the cannoli ready to eat?"

"Mmhm," she nodded.

"Okay, good."

He dropped a kiss on top of each of their heads and then he followed Amanda to the kitchen. "Coffee?" he offered her as he picked up his long-forgotten mug and brought it to the microwave.

"Yeah, that would be nice. Thanks."

He opened the cabinet and retrieved another mug, then reached to the shelf below to pull out the plastic dishware for Billie and Jessie. They didn't spend a lot of time at his apartment, it was always easier for him to stop by her place, but it warmed her heart to know that he went out of his way to have little things like Frozen plasticware and Dora the Explorer cups in his kitchen cabinets for her girls. For a brief moment, she wondered what Nicole thought about that, and then she forced herself to push those thoughts away.

"I wasn't expecting any of this, Amanda," he started as he handed her the plates for the girls and began to pour her coffee from the carafe on the counter. "It really was a surprise. Thank you."

She frowned. "I'm sorry."

"What?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at her. "Why? This was a great surprise."

She sighed, running her hand through her hair. "I'm sorry that it was a surprise...I'm sorry that we – that I- don't tell you more often how much we appreciate you...how much we need you. I think there are some things we need to talk about... to really talk about, you know? About us," she clarified.

He nodded, focusing on her intently as he handed her the coffee mug. "I, uh, yeah. I think so, too." Their hands brushed against each other as she took the mug from him. "Is now a good time?" There was a part of him that meant to frame it as a joke, just part of their banter, but it didn't come out that way when the words left his mouth.

She glanced over to the girls who were still engrossed on the cartoon and she smiled at him. "I'd say we probably have at least another twenty minutes before the show is over and they come looking for their cannoli."

"Is twenty minutes enough time?" He asked curiously. "I-I-I didn't mean to put you on the spot or anything," he stammered. "I just...I'm feeling optimistic about where this conversation may lead," he confessed, watching as her eyes grew brighter by the second, knowing instantly that she was on the same page. "There's a lot to unpack here, though. That's going to take more than twenty minutes."

She shrugged, running her finger over the rim of her coffee cup, trying to be casual even though there were a million butterflies in her stomach. "Probably," she replied, "but it's a start...and I think we deserve that. A start, you know?"

"Yeah," he agreed, his eyes crinkling as he smiled at her. "We do."