My dearest Bianca,

if you are reading this, it means that I have not made it till your sixteenth birthday. I'm writing this letter three days before your fifteenth birthday. Tomorrow, I'll ask Will to keep it safe. A letter might seem like a stupid gift for your sixteenth birthday from your dead father, but I wanted to do this anyway. I chose your sixteenth because it is a milestone for all of us. You, your dad and me. Because on your birthday fifteen years ago, I asked your dad to be my boyfriend. Five years later he asked me to marry him. It was coincidence that when we adopted you, we chose the eight year old that had such an important date for us as her birthday.

Ohhh, how I remember the day we first took you home. When we arrived at the home, you were waiting for us, shyly sitting there with your bags at your feet. We'd met you twice before, but you were still shy around us. This changed when we got to the car. I hit my head on the car roof, and you giggled. Your giggles sounds like little bells, and it warmed my heart. The adoption agency had told us your past, and that you came here just named Bee. We chose to give you the name Bianca Angela Solace-Di Angelo, named after my sister who died at the mere age of 18. Your second name was chosen because you were our little angel.

When you were 11 I was diagnosed with a cardiac disease, which runs in the Di Angelo family. Luckily you'll never be the carrier of this, because according to biology you're not my daughter. But to me you were, are and will always be. My sister had died of this, as I said at the age of 18. When Will and I sat you down to talk to you about my condition, you took it so well. You understood most of what we said. We knew from the beginning I would not see you turn 30. We didn't tell you this until it became inevitable. The day I was taken to hospital was that day. And again, you took it well. You were almost 13, and when I broke the news to you, you didn't scream. You just wept silently. I always admired that about you. Your impeccable strength. I would do anything for even a tenth of that strength. I don't know how many times I told you not to come by on my bad days, but you came anyway.

I'll never be able to say everything to you before the day you're going to lose me, so I wrote it in a letter.

I love you. You are my little angel. You are beautiful. Never stop being curious. You deserve to shine. I'll always be watching over you, helping you, even if that means I have to beg the angels, I'll protect you and Will with all my power.

Your dad. Protect him when I can't. I always said he fixed me, but actually we fixed each other. Yes you may be broken too, but make him feel a little less broken. He needs someone to do that.

Never forget I'm watching over you and your father. I love you. I love your father. And until I see you up there, which I hope is not any time soon because you need to live a happy life, just know I am there for both of you, even though you might not see me.

Forever grateful to have spent my life with you and you father.

Nico Di Angelo

I slowly folded the letter, and looked back up at my dad. He was sat on the opposite side of the table, waiting patiently for me to finish reading. He was smiling sadly. Tears were welling in the corners of my eyes and slowly sliding down my cheeks. I rose wordlessly and sat down next to him. I swiped my thumbs over the tears and hugged him tightly. "Dad, have you ever read the letter?" "No Bianca, I promised Nico I wouldn't until you had read it."

I read it out to him. Within minutes he was sobbing silently. We were looking through the photo albums we have, and revisited memories. We were okay, for now.

--

The moment my face collided with the ground, I gave up. No-one in school liked the girl who had once had to dads and even lost one later. I would get tripped in the halls, shoved aside, insulted, or even beaten up.

I just lay there, looking at the mud that spread out on the PE field, letting my clothes get soaked, and trying to ignore my laughing classmates. I heard my ex-friend laugh loudest of all. It hurt that I was no longer the one that made in laugh until he couldn't breathe. But are you really friends when the moment your dad dies he leaves you and tells the entire school I am a depressed psychopath.

"Bianca, don't give up. I wanted to too. But I got help when I most needed it. It just so happened that this help came from Will. But because Tyler can't see how much you're struggling and he's trying to protect his reputation, I'll do it. I made that promise." I thought I'd gone insane. My papa was speaking to me, in my head. 'I made that promise.' He promised to protect me, to watch over me no matter what, until we join again. And he's keeping those promises.

The startled look of my classmates when I stood up from the ground smiling, was almost laughable. Tyler looked at me, and for a second I thought I saw guilt and sadness flash through his eyes, but it was soon replaced by the fake happiness he often showed.

I walked away from the field, gathered my stuff, and left the school. PE was my last hour anyway, and the teacher never paid attention. I started my 10 minute journey home.

--

"Dad! DAD! I know you're home, I saw your car!" still no reply. I started climbing the stairs, towards his study and bedroom, expecting him to be wearing headphones or be sleeping. I opened the door. "Dad..."

My dad was standing on his office chair, next to one of the beams supporting the roof. A rope was hanging from the beam, and my dad was holding it in his hand, not noticing me.

"DAD. What is going on? Please get down from there. I need you. You can't give up. We need to stay strong, to survive, for Nico, papa. For each other." The words kept spilling from my mouth, not stopping until he was back on the ground and I had my arms wrapped around him tightly.

"I'm sorry, Bee. I'll be strong.

--

My dad tried, really tried. Sometimes he weakened, but I was always there to patch him up. Often accompanied by my papa's voice in my head, I helped him through the days he could barely look at the furniture without breaking down.

I helped him regain a bit of confidence in himself. It was hard to see him like this, but it was never just the two of us. Nico always accompanied us, every moment, every break-down, and every laugh.

--

"Today for career day, we have Doctor Solace."

"Hello. I'm a neurologist at the Bellevue hospital here in New York City. This means I deal with all sorts of brain damage. People who have concussions, mild or mayor, people who had a stroke, people who have amnesia, everything to do with the brain. I, however specialize in people with amnesia, memory-loss, whether it be illness or a temporary thing that caused this. I spend days talking to people, slowly making memories resurface. The process can be quick, or take years. It depends how severe the damage was, and how determined the patient is to get their memories back.

"So, there are a few well-known ways to get amnesia. Strokes, concussions and illnesses are most commonly known. However, a less known one is shock. They don't know exactly how shock can cause amnesia, but they think it's because the brain gets overloaded with information, goes into shock, kind off like a crashing computer, and erases parts of the memories.

"The shock can be assault, a near-death experience, or emotional shock. For example, very sudden heartbreak, or the death of a loved one. This last one happens to more people then we realize, but these people also fix their own memories. Anyone who's lost a loved one must've had trouble trying to remember things they did with the loved one, or how their voice sounded. After a while the memories will return, but you had short term amnesia. Are there any questions?"

I smiled at my dad, standing in front of my class. In the last two months we'd come so far. He was okay, I was okay, we were okay. And every day it was improving.

'See papa, he'll make it, with our help.' I spoke to my papa, I knew he was watching, guarding us. He'd become our guardian angel.

"I see it Bee. And I think someone else is going to help you soon too."

--

"Bianca, can I talk to you for a second." Tyler was looking at the ground, shuffling his feet awkwardly, and guilt? I just nodded, and sat down at my lunch table, gesturing to him to take a seat too.

"This is probably way too late, and I get it if you hate me and never want to be associated with me, but I want to apologise. I don't know why I suddenly cared about my reputation that my friends. Wait, I do know. I liked a girl in the popular class. I thought I wouldn't have a change with her if I wasn't popular, so against my own heart, I joined the populars, and left you. I didn't realize how much you needed someone then. I left you when your dad was dying, and it was a dick move. Turns out that girl I liked is the school's player, so I got over her. I so badly wanted to go back to you, but was too afraid of being bullied, so I stayed away. I regret this all. When you stood up from the mud smiling a few months back, I realized you were so much stronger than anyone else. And I am crappy at apologies, so please say something, anything, I'm running out of words."

"Ty, you are as true turnip. Even if I wanted to, I could never hate you. You were the guy that died your hair pink on the day gay marriage was legalised in the entire USA, just to show your support. You were the guy that walked in on the coach making out with a student, and instead of being horrified, filmed the entire thing, then told the entire school that I should have the credit because I had forgotten something there which made you go back. And if your question is to be friends again then yes, of course. Now give me a hug."

--

Nico smiled down at his daughter. He kept his promise. He saw Will standing in a corner of the cafeteria, watching Bianca and Tyler hug, and smiling softly.

"I said I would get you through, no matter what, didn't I Sunshine?"

"Yes you did, Death boy, thank you. I love you."

___________________________