"Daddy, no, you're doing it wrong!" a four-year-old Emma told her father on the home video Marissa was watching.

Emma grabbed the water wing form her father and blew into the hole, the rubber armband inflating. She turned to Ryan and grinned triumphantly. "See," she said cheekily," I do it betterer."

Marissa laughed at the young version of the daughter she barely knew and continued watching the tape.

Seth suddenly appeared in the frame of the Cohen's backyard, his arms full of beach towels and three bottles of sunscreen. In an instant, Seth tripped walking up the steps, the contents of his armload spilling onto the cement. "Son of a chocolate bar!" he spewed angrily.

Emma let out an adorable laugh and turned to her uncle. "Silly Uncle Seth," she said, head cocked to one side, freckled nose wrinkled. "Chocolate bars don't have babies!"

"Sassy little thing wasn't she?"

Marissa whipped around and spotted Ryan, leaning casually against one of the tall, white marble pillars. "She use to contradict everything you ever said, always thought she was right," he said, walking over to the couch and where Marissa was sitting and gently placing himself down beside her. "Mouthy, just like her mother," Ryan joked.

Marissa smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry. I meant that as a joke you know," Ryan apologized.

"I know," Marissa said quietly.

Ryan looked at her, confused, then said, "Then what's wrong?"

Marissa turned to Ryan with watery eyes and sniffed.

"Hey, hey, hey," Ryan said, shuffling closer to Marissa and putting his hand on her arm, wanting so bad to wrap her in a hug but thinking it too soon. "What's wrong?"

Marissa let out a heavy sigh, then said, "Ry I've missed out on so much of Emma's life. I don't know her at all. I watch this tape and it's like watching Ellie as a little girl except this is a memory that I don't have."

Ryan smiled sympathetically. "Mariss I fell that exact same way about Ellie. Even though her and Emma look identical to each other, I can't help but feel that I don't know Ellie at all. I don't know her favorite color, her favorite band, when she took her first step …"

"…her first word," Marissa finished, a habit that had yet to die-hard even after over sixteen years. "I think we name the biggest mistake of our lives, getting a divorce and separating out girls," she said.

"Then lets change that; we'll get to know our girls. Not only will we spend as much time as possible with them, but between us we can get to know the other twin," Ryan said.

"You mean like I tell you something about Ellie and you tell me something about Emma?" Marissa queried.

"Exactly," Ryan exclaimed. "Like Emma, her first word was batman, courtesy of Seth," Ryan laughed.

Marissa laughed too. "Ellie's first word was pudding."

Ryan grinned lopsidedly. "Tell me more."

Marissa smiled; she loved talking about her daughter. "When she was three, I lost her in Barney's," she laughed. "I panicked, looking around for her everywhere. I was hysterical and had half the store looking for her. Eventually, I found her in the Electronics department sprawled out on the floor watching Sesame Street. I don't think I've ever held her tighter," she smiled. "Now tell me something about Emma."

Ryan let a genuine smile grace his face. "I had taken her to Newport one time, which I've been doing every couple of months since she was born, I think she was about four, and we were hanging out in Sandy and Kirsten's backyard. Seth was holding Emma while I helped Kirsten put out snacks and I turned around for a second just in time to see Seth trip going down the stairs and drop Emma," Ryan smiled, even though at the time his heart had been pounding so loud in his ears and he could barely breathe. He looked to Marissa who's fingertips were over her slightly parted lips.

"Emma's head was split open and Seth was hysterical. There was blood everywhere and the whole time the only thing I could think about was how she was the only thing that I had left that was connected to you and how much I loved her. We rushed her to the hospital and the doctors gave her twelve stitches just before her hairline on her forehead, which is why she has the scar."

Marissa smiled. "I was wondering how she got that."

"What are we going to do Marissa?" Ryan asked. "Now that the girls have found each other there's no way we can split them up."

"I don't know Ry. Los Angeles is my life now. And you have everything here in New York. But Emma and Ellie will de damned if we keep them apart."

They were silent for a minute before Ryan said, "Well they're not going to have very much choice are they? I guess you're just going to have to take Ellie back to LA with you and Em and I will stay in Manhattan," Ryan said sadly.

"Ryan I don't know if I can bare to leave her behind again. The guilt nearly killed me last time, I don't think I can handle that kind of heartbreak again."

Ryan tentatively reached out and placed his hand on top of hers. "There's no point ripping our hair out tonight. It's one o'clock in the morning, we can talk with the girls tomorrow. By the way what are you doing up this late?"

Marissa smiled, unable to ignore the concern in his voice. "I couldn't sleep. I figured I would just come out here and watch tv when I saw the home movie. I hope you don't mind."

"Why would I mind? Marissa I want you to always remember what I'm about to say to you: you gave me Emma. You gave me the one thing that means more to me in this world than anything else, other than Ellie and you of course. Emma is as much yours as Ellie is mine. Their ours, despite what any stupid custody papers say. You got that?"

Marissa smiled sweetly. "I don't know how we ever ended this," she said quietly before leaning in and kissing him on the cheek, then getting off the couch and heading back to the spare room where she opted to stay instead of a hotel.

As Ryan watched her walk away, he placed his fingertips to the tingling spot on his cheek where she had kissed him and wondered the same thing.