"I really need to go now" Nate got up from his chair and put his jacket on.

After they had returned with Chinese takeaway, Nate, Sophie and Amy sat at the kitchen table and for the first time in felt like they were a real family. Nate and Amy had told Sophie about the strange couple who had been queuing at the Chinese place and they all laughed. Nate and Sophie both tried to explain what they did when the girl had started asking questions and Nate had also brought up the school issue which had been me with a complain groan from the seven years old.

"Amy" Sophie nervously looked at the girl. "Why don't you start getting ready for bed and put you pajamas on? We can have a girls only PJ's party"

The girl nodded knowing that the adults wanted to talk in private. She was really tempted to eavesdrop, but Sophie's loft apartment left her with little choice for a good hiding place.

Once the girl had gone to her room, Sophie anxiously looked at Nate. She couldn't stay still as she ran her through her hands.

Nate smirked, recognizing the signs of her nervousness. "It's going to be okay, Sophie" she reassured her.

"I know" she exclaimed a bit too quickly, embarrassed to let him see her so vulnerable. "You're just a phone call away anyway, right?"

He nodded. "But you won't need it. Have Fun! Watch a movie, play something, try to be a friend remembering that you're still her mother. Gain her trust, but also establish your roles in the relationship… you've done this loads of times."

"I don't want to treat her like a mark, Nate" she soon replied defensively. "I…"

He put his hands on her shoulders "I'm not saying that... for the first time in your life I'm asking you to be yourself"

"What if I can't?" she sighed on the verge of crying. "It's been so long that I don't know if I can be me, just me again."

"If we can't be honest with our children, the who else?" he smiled. "I know you can do it" Then he did something that caught them both by surprise. He leaned down and planted a small and comforting kiss on her forehead.

Suddenly realizing what he had done, Nate jumped away from her putting distance between them. "Huh.. well… I'll just say goodnight to…"

"Nate" she stopped him. "I've ended it with James."

He shook his head. "It's not my place…"

"Yes, it is." She paused "I'm done waiting" her words took them back to a conversation they had more than a year before.

Nate heart dropped to his stomach. He felt like she had just punched him in his guts. Does this mean she has given up on him? Did he really take too long?

"I'm not just going to stay here waiting for your move. I want us to be together. I want us to build a family."

"Soph…" how could he tell her that he wanted that too?

"No" she interrupted him going closer to him. "you don't need to answer now" she smiled. "I'm just giving you heads up. You know I can be really persuasive." She teasingly ran a hand down his chest and she felt satisfied when she saw him gulp.

They heard movement coming from the corridor and they both took a step back, acting like nothing had happened.

"I'm ready" Amy exclaimed walking back into the room. "Got washed, brushed my teeth." Her new red Disney pajamas fitted her perfectly.

"That's good" Nate smiled at her. "Well, have fun you two. But not too much, remember we're going to look at some schools tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah" Amy rolled her eyes at him playfully.

Nate didn't know what to do. He wanted to kiss his daughter goodnight, but he didn't know if she was ready for it. Fortunately she solved his dilemma for him when she wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a hug. After the initial surprised, Nate smiled and hug her back, his emotions written all over his face. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"Goodnight and sweet dreams" he whispered.

When she let go of him, he opened the front door. He spared a final glance to Sophie. Her words still lingered in the air, he could see her love in her eyes. As much as he wanted to grab her and kiss her senselessly, he knew he couldn't so he just gave her a timid wave.

"Bye"

"Goodnight, Nate" she smiled.

Mother and daughter were for the first time alone together and they didn't know what to do. Amy still didn't know if she could trust the woman that had abandoned her and that lied to her father.

Sophie could still sense the resentment coming from the girl. She took a deep breath –Be yourself- Nate had told her.

"So, what would you like to do?" she asked the girl. "We've still got a couple of hours before bedtime"

Amy shrugged. "I don't know"

"How about a movie?" Sophie suggested. "Let's see what's on. But first…" she smiled. "… I need to put my pajamas or I won't be dressed properly for our party"

They settled on the couch under a cover with a bowl of popcorn between them. Amy had found the cartoon movie "Brave" which she still hadn't seen. They didn't expected to be centered on a mother/daughter relationship and they both squirmed uncomfortably at the emotional scenes.

"Well" Sophie acclaimed at the end of the film. "That was good. Parker is always trying to make us watch cartoon films on movie night. I think she does it to annoy Eliot." She chuckled "Just like Hardison chooses sci-fi and horror films to annoy everybody else."

"They all seemed nice when they took me for that ice-cream, even though parker is a bit strange, but she's nice and funny"

Sophie nodded "Yeah, she had a difficult childhood. She was in foster care too and she started stealing at a very young age. She is the best, though" she told her with a proud voice. Realizing how it may have sounded she soon trying to correct herself. "Not that stealing is good. It's very bad" she told her not very convinced, but if only Nate knew that she was encouraging their daughter to follow their path, he would kill her. "Your father doesn't need to know about this"

Amy laughed. "Why is he involved with all of you if he's not a thief?"

Sophie sighed. "Long story" which wasn't hers to tell, but she knew that Nate was never going to open up about his past with their girl.

Amy paused, hesitant to ask her next question. "Who is Sam?" she finally found the courage.

"What?" she gasped surprised.

"This morning Nate said that I had Sam's same eyes." She continued.

"He…" Sophie didn't know if she should tell her, but she knew they had to build their relationship from somewhere. "He was Nate's son"

"I have a brother" the girl nearly exclaimed excitedly.

"Not really. Nate was married before. To another woman. Together they had a son: Sam"

Ay noticed she was talking about him in the past and swallowed hard. "What happened?"

"He got sick, really sick" Sophie had trouble talking. She had never met the boy, but she remembered the photos Nate had showed her and that little boy who had been running in the park laughing and screaming delight. " Cancer. He died nearly three years ago. Nate took it really bad. He lost everything and he took him a long time to build his life back."

"That's a sad story" Amy whispered wanting to cry for her brother that she had never got the chance to meet.

"Yeah" Sophie could see that the girl was barely keeping together so she put a comforting hand around her shoulders and after a moment of hesitation, Amy curled up against her side for the first seeking comfort from her mother.

"Your father is a really good man, but sometimes a tragedy like this can you leave broken." She paused. "But I think you coming suddenly in our lives can help him being whole again" she smiled down at her. Sophie noticed that the girl was sleepy. "Well, it's time for bed" They let go of each other and got up.

Amy didn't want to go to sleep, she wanted to learn more about her parents, but her body was betraying her "Okay"

"How about I tell you how your father and I met until you fall asleep?"

Amy nodded eagerly and rushed to her room, quickly getting under the covers.

The next morning Sophie woke up with the sound of her alarm clock going off. She quickly switched off the annoying the beeping. She didn't like getting up early, but she wanted to try and make breakfast for her daughter's first day at her new home.

She slowly got up and took a shower, hoping that the water would wake her up. After drying her hair and getting dressed, she walked to her kitchen. She wasn't a good cook like Eliot or Nate, but she could make some toast and serve cereals. When she was done, she looked at the time and decided it was time to wake Amy up. Nate was going to be there soon.

"Amy" she knocked at her door. When she didn't get an answer, she slowly opened the door. "Amy, it's time to get up."

She frowned when she saw the empty bed. She wondered if the girl had gone to the bathroom without her noticing it.

"Amy" she knocked at the bathroom door. Nothing. The bathroom was empty.

Sophie started panicking. She was gone. Her daughter was gone. She quickly called the only person she wanted to hear.

"Sophie?"

"Nate" he soon heard her distress in her voice "She's gone. Our little girl is gone"

A/N What happened to Amy? Did she ran away or something else? Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D