Recap: Brenda and Sonny had sent Jessi out of the room to discuss safety issues. Sonny started to think that he should leave. When he said this Jessi burst into the kitchen pleading Jessi to stay. Someone is out to get Sonny and his family.

Jessi has her arms wrapped around Sonny and is on the verge of crying.
B: "Jessi! I told you Daddy and I needed to discuss things ALONE."
J: "But I don't want Daddy to go." She avoided looking at Brenda and looked at Sonny with her biggest puppy dog eyes she could muster up. "You wouldn't really leave us, would you Daddy? You promised you wouldn't. You promised."

Sonny looked into her pitiful eyes. He hadn't been around long enough to know how to deal with manipulation tricks that little girls try to use on their parents. Jessi wasn't helping anything when she let a small tear roll down her cheek or when she curled her bottom up under her top front teeth, only she was missing her two top front teeth. He looked at Brenda for help in talking to her, but she shrugged her shoulders and calmly but cooly said, "Aren't you going to answer her? We're both waiting for an answer."

Sonny looked from Jessi to Brenda to Jessi again. He picked Jessi up who was still hanging onto him and sat down in a chair at the kitchen table and settled Jessi on his lap. She leaned against him, placed her head on his shoulder, and looked up at him with her big brown eyes full of questions. He smiled at her and wiped another lone tear from her cheek. "Don't cry, Jessi." He said soothingly.

"Then don't go, Daddy." She said in a half-pleading tone, half bribing tone.

Sonny looked at Brenda, who had moved from the sink to sit across the table from Jessi and Sonny. She urged him to go on to explain himself. "Jessi, you have to understand that whatever I do, I do it because I love you and your mom. I don't want to see either one of you hurt. If I have to leave for awhile to keep you safe, I will. But remember, I'll always love you."

Jessi starts to twirl her hair around her index finger. A nervous habit she's acquired for when she nervous or scared. "I know you love me, Daddy, but why do you think you have to leave? You told me you weren't in the mob anymore." She narrows her eyes at him. "Were you lying?"

Sonny takes her hand that she had her hair wrapped around and places it into his. He holds it, while periodically rubbing his thumb over her hand, in wonderment that her hand was so small, but still so perfect. "No, I didn't lie to you. I'm out, but some people might not be too happy about that and they might try to hurt you, your mom, or me. I don't want that to happen."

"Bad people might want to hurt you?"

"Yeah."

"You're scared?"

"I guess so."

"Then don't run. Aunt Robin used to tell me that running doesn't solve anything. She also told me that if you love someone you spend all the time you can with them, because you never know how long that time will be."

"Your Aunt Robin is a smart lady. You listen to what she says."

Jessi withdraws her hand from Sonny's, and in a distant voice she says, "Yeah, I do." She slides off his lap and looks at Brenda. "I'm going to go look at the stars." Brenda nods okay and Jessi walks out the kitchen door. Sonny looks on bewildered as she leaves.

"What was that about?"

"She has stars on her ceiling."

"Okay, and…" He urges her to go on, but she doesn't She gets up and looks out the window above the sink. Sonny gets up, follows her, and stands behind her. "Brenda, are you okay?"

"See that tree out there?" She points to a cherry tree in the backyard. Sonny nods yes. "It's changed so much since Robin and I planted it. You should have seen us. Two petite girls and a baby carrying around this tree at the garden store. So many people offered to help us, but we were determined to bring it home and plant it ourselves. Jessi was a couple of months old. I had just come home from Bensonhurst, bought this house and Robin was living with us. I dragged Jessi's baby swing onto the porch so she could watch us. We spent all day digging and making sure the tree was just so. We were tired and dirty at the end of the day, but we had our tree. Robin used to say that the tree was a symbol of our love for loves gone by and hope for understanding what life had thrown our way. I was a young naïve mother then, Jessi was an innocent baby and Robin was our voice of wisdom. Everything has changed so much since then."

"Brenda…" She turns around and hushes him.

"Let me finish." He nods for her to go on. "What I'm trying to say is that I've changed. You've changed. This whole town has changed. How do you think we are going to work out? I'm not the young girl that you fell in love with anymore. Can you deal with that? Can I deal with how you have changed?"