The sound of hamburgers on a grill sizzled in the air, and the smell of flowers in the garden covered the backyard in an earthy, yet pleasant scent. Beer bottles clinked together in cheers and aimless chatter buzzed in the backyard as various members of the Diaz family caught up with one another, whether it was those who continued to call El Paso, Texas home, or the few that had chosen to relocate to Los Angeles, California.

"Is this your card?" a small voice sounded next to Charlotte Campbell, and she looked down to see her best friend's son, Christopher Diaz, holding up the ten of spades with a knowing smile.

"How did you know?" Charlie asked the young seven year old with a suspicious grin, and he began to laugh victoriously, a hand flying into the air in triumph.

"I knew it!" Christopher exclaimed. "A friend taught me at school. I've been practicing."

Charlie looked down at Christopher, trying to fight the sad smile that threatened to cross her face. Christopher seemed in high spirits, despite having buried his mother Shannon at her funeral service the day before, but Charlie couldn't even begin to guess what was going through the young boy's head. Aside from the service, Christopher kept a smile on his face from the moment Charlie and her brother had arrived at their house, and it was all she could do to keep the young boy laughing, to keep him distracted from the weight of everything taking place.

"How?" a voice called from near the house, and Charlie looked up to see Christopher's grandfather, Ramon Diaz, looking skeptically over at his wife and son. "By running out on him?"

"Ramon," Helena Diaz warned, her eyes moving back and forth between him and their son, Eddie.

"Oh god," Jackson Campbell breathed, shooting his sister a nervous glance before the two looked uneasily back at Christopher, making sure the boy hadn't heard his grandfather's outburst.

"Papi, we're not doing this." Eddie said, walking back towards his father.

Charlie watched as Ramon nodded, apologizing to Eddie as the three of them sat down together next to Eddie's aunt and grandmother, and began to discuss something quietly amongst the five of them. As she watched the conversation unfold, she noticed Eddie growing more and more angry, especially after his two sisters went over to join the group.

"Hey Chris, how about we go for a walk?" Jackson suggested, turning back to the boy to get him distracted. "You can show me around your abuelita's neighborhood, how does that sound?"

"Okay," Christopher nodded, seemingly unaware of the conversation at the other table, and Jackson nodded his head in their direction, gesturing for Charlie to stay with them.

"You keep an eye on that," Jackson whispered to his sister as he grabbed Christopher's crutches, helping the boy out of his seat as Christopher led the way to the garden gate.

Eddie noticed Christopher and Jackson leave, and his gaze moved down to where Charlie now sat alone as he waved for her to join them. "Charlie, can you come here for a minute?" Eddie asked, and Charlie nodded, quickly getting up from her chair and moving to the empty one next to Eddie.

"Everything okay?" Charlie asked.

"Everything's fine," Ramon attempted to assure her. "Just a family matter, Charlotte. Nothing to worry about."

"No, Charlie stays." Eddie insisted before turning to look at the woman next to him. "It seems the real reason they all came out here was to get me and Christopher back to El Paso." he looked back at Christopher and Jackson's retreating forms before looking back over at his father. "I won't uproot him again."

"Christopher hasn't been here long enough to put down roots." Ramon pointed out. "He spent the first six years of his life in El Paso, with us." He looked back at where Charlie still sat next to Eddie. "With Charlie, too."

Charlie felt his words like a punch to the gut, as she looked away from Ramon and back to Eddie. While it was true that she missed having them in El Paso more than anything, missed the year they'd spent living together to split rent and working to make ends meet before Eddie had taken Christopher and moved to Los Angeles to become a firefighter, she also knew he'd made the right choice by getting out of Texas, and that they were happier here. She couldn't let him lose that, not after all the work he'd done to get where he was.

"I really shouldn't be here for this." she tried to shake off his words, but Eddie shook his head.

"Stay," he pleaded, and she nodded before he once again looked back at his family. "Being with me is what's best for Christopher. I chose this life for a reason."

"You can choose another one." Ramon insisted, but Eddie shook his head.

"I won't do it," Eddie stood firm, rising to his feet and gesturing for Charlie to join him. "Come on, let's go find Jackson and Christopher."

Eddie didn't talk about the confrontation with his father again, instead ignoring the older man for the rest of the party as he continued to act like nothing was wrong, a facade built in front of him that Charlie could see right through. It was only when she snuck out of the guest room to get a drink of water from the kitchen that she found Eddie sitting at the table, a glass of whiskey in front of him as he stared off into space in front of him, the room quiet except for the soft sounds of Jackson snoring on the couch in the living room.

"Can't sleep?" Charlie spoke up softly, grabbing a glass from the cupboard, though instead of filling it with water as she had originally planned, she instead sat next to Eddie, taking the whiskey bottle and pouring some of the dark liquid into the glass.

"'Course not," Eddie said, shaking his head as he lifted the glass to his lips, taking a sip. "Thanks for being there earlier. I'm sorry I made you stay, with everybody. I just knew you'd be on my side."

"I would've done it anyway," she reminded him. "He's wrong, you know. As much as I may miss you both out here, you and Christopher have a life out here. He's happy out here, with you."

"I just feel like I'm back to square one." Eddie admitted. "I don't want to fail Christopher, and I can't uproot him again, but I can't give him everything he needs. His nurse Carla's great, but I know my shift hours aren't easy on everyone out here."

An uneasy silence settled between the two as they both turned back to their glasses, Charlie's eyes finding the window against the wall directly in front of them. How different things had been from the last time she and Eddie had sat drinking in his kitchen, from when she'd first helped them move to LA and they were discussing his upcoming training, and what the future might have in store for him and Christopher. For things to get so derailed within their first year was something neither of them had seen coming, nor did she have the slightest clue about how to make things okay again.

"I miss the days when you were closeby." Eddie admitted, causing Charlie to look back over at her best friend. "I know we didn't have a lot when we lived in that old apartment, and I was barely home with my jobs, but things were easier with you there."

"So let's do that again," Charlie spoke up suddenly, causing Eddie's eyebrows to pinch together in confusion.

"I can't go back to El Paso, Charlie." Eddie insisted. "I just can't,"

"I'm not talking about you coming back to El Paso, dingus." Charlie retorted. "Is that guest room up for grabs for a more permanent situation?"

"You mean you'd move out here?" Eddie asked skeptically, and Charlie nodded.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Charlie, I can't ask you to do that." Eddie said, shaking his head.

"Oh Edmundo, I assure you that my motives are ulterior." Charlie assured him. "Think about it: you know I've always wanted to move out here eventually, my line of work is out here. Everything I've ever dreamed about is out here in this city. Then I'd get to see you and Christopher every day. You need a nanny, and I need a place to stay."

"You'd really do that?" Eddie asked. "You'd drop everything and move out to California just to help me with him?"

"I'll text my boss and give her my two week notice right now," Charlie joked, pulling her phone from the pocket of her sweatpants, and Eddie knocked it aside back onto the counter, laughing for the first time since she'd arrived a few days before. "Seriously though, when Jackson and I fly home, I'll pack up my things and drive right back. Just give me a couple of weeks to get everything sorted down there, and I'll be back. We're a team, Eddie. We've always been a team."

"I can't thank you enough," Eddie said gratefully, putting his arms around his best friend as he gave her a tight hug. "He's going to be so excited to have you out here. He misses you so much, we both do."

"Well, we won't have to worry about that anymore, now will we?" she asked, lifting her glass as Eddie did the same, clinking them together. "Looks like the Campbell-Diaz household is officially back in business."