You Were Gone

11 Months Later...

Sophia is the best thing that happened to me. She was for sure a blessing. She just turned 11 months old a few days ago and she is walking, stumbling a little, but walking. And talking too, lots of words. She started babbling at six months. She also had the cutest giggles that made your heart melt. "Mama." Sophia says in my ear. I'm barely awake and she wants to go the studio to see her aunts and uncles. "Ok baby girl." I say to her. I get up from my bed and lift Sophia off my bed. I place her on my hip and walk to her room. I set Sophia on her bed and open her closet. "What do you want to wear?" I ask her. Sophia made grabby hands towards a baby blue top so I take it off it's hanger. I grab her dark wash overalls and change her into the outfit. I grab baby blue knee socks out of her sock drawer and place them on her.

Sophia has wavy brown hair that makes her look just Val. I brush out her hair and carry her back to my room. I get dressed in a white tank top, red flannel, and jean shorts. I go into my bathroom and apply some makeup. I then style my hair in messy bun. I walk back into my bedroom and Sophia is sitting my bed, sucking on her thumb. It's been a habit of her's, I'm not worried about it right now. I put her up and she lays her head on my shoulder. I carry her to the kitchen and place her in her highchair. "Do you want apple juice or orange juice?" I ask her.

"Owan." Sophia answers. I grab her sippy cup out of the cabinet and fill it with orange juice. "Here you go Soph." I say.

"Tank ou." She replies. I get a small breakfast together for us and once I'm done we'll head to the Dancing with the Stars studio. Sophia loves watching the others dance, mainly her aunts Witney, Lindsay, and Brittany. But Sophia can't pronounce the 'y's' in their names yet and its cute how she says it. I finish making English muffins with jelly and I hand Sophia her plate. She finishes her food quickly and I eat mine too. I place our plates in the sink and take Sophia out of her highchair. I grab my keys, her diaper bag and my purse and we're out the door. In a matter of minutes we're at the studio and Sophia is yelling, "Ot! Ot! Ot!"

"Let's go Sophia." I say unbuckling her and setting her on the ground next to me. I sling her diaper bag on my shoulder and grab her hand. We walk into the studio and Sophia lets go of my hand. She knows the studio pretty well and she runs to the kitchen. "Dwere!" she squeals.

I follow behind her and Derek is in the kitchen. "Sophie Bear." Derek answers.

"Sophie Bear?" I question.

"You will never speak of what you just heard." Derek states.

"Ok whatever you say." I answer. Derek lifts Sophia off the ground and she giggles. "Jenna! Jenna!" Witney yells running into the kitchen out of breath.

"What?" I ask.

"Him- here- he." She puffs. A few moments later Lindsay follows behind her saying the same thing. "Ok Brittany better be coming next with a better answer." I say. Then Brittany runs into the kitchen. "Val is here!" she shrieks.

"al?" Sophia questions. Oh my sweet baby girl, has to be confused.

"No one baby girl." I answer.

"Sophia!" Witney smiles. Witney runs to Derek and takes Sophia out of his arm."Witne." Sophia says.

"She's getting closer to saying it right." Witney says.

"Yeah." I answer.

"Where is Val?" I ask Brittany.

"In the parking lot." She replies. Oh no, I don't want him to know about her. The front door opens and closes. "Here comes the moment of truth." Derek says.

"Shut up." We all snap. Someone appears in the doorway and it's... Mark. "Mark." We whine.

"What?" he questions.

"We thought you were Val." Lindsay explains.

"He's in the parking lot." Mark says pointing to the parking lot.

"No duh Sherlock." Brittany snaps.