A/N: Hi guys! Not much to say, so I'll let you get right to reading. Thanks for the previous reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga.

The three weeks that we had Angel passed quickly, way too quickly. It was Monday morning, and I was helping her get her coat on. Esme was busy packing a small bag stuffed with clothing and non-perishable snacks for Angel to take with her, wherever she was going. She hadn't talked for over a week and a half, so Dr. Thompson would be sending her off, I was sure. I didn't want to see her go, but it wasn't my decision to make. Angel didn't understand what was going on and had a worried expression on her face. I would explain everything to her in the car on the way to the hospital.

"Goodbye, Baby Girl. Get better and I'll miss you so much. Remember that I love you," Esme cried as she pulled Angel in for one last hug.

"Are you ready to go Sweetheart?" I asked, placing my hand on her back and giving it a little rub.

She nodded, the fearful expression still on her face. I picked her up and carried her out into the cold. It was late November, so the air was extremely frigid. And it would get worse. The heaters were on full blast, and I had blankets as well. I placed her in the car seat and buckled her in before climbing into the driver's seat. I decided to wait until we arrived to talk to her so that way I could look her sincerely in the eye.

I pulled into the parking lot and climbed out, sliding into the backseat with her. She looked over at me curiously. I unbuckled her and hoisted her over onto my lap and positioned her so that she was facing me. She immediately gave me eye contact. I smiled, knowing that she was practicing what I taught her.

"Angelica, I need you to listen carefully to me for a minute. We are back at the hospital. The only reason why you ever left was because I knew you needed time to heal in a relaxed environment. You have made amazing progress since the beginning, but unfortunately it is not enough to please the person in charge. I'm so sorry Baby Girl, but I am no longer allowed to have you in my care. You are going to be sent to a different hospital, with a different doctor that will hopefully be able to help you more than I can. We all have your best interest at heart, and we want to see you okay again. Whatever happened to you was tragic, and I don't know the extent. All I know is that you need to heal from this. It won't be easy, but you are one strong, brave little girl. I know you'll be okay. Since I won't ever see you again, I would like to tell you some things. From the first day I met you, you changed my life. You brought me a kind of happiness that I didn't even know existed. The three weeks that I was able to take care of you were and still are the best days of my life. Angelica, I think of you as my daughter. I love you, and you will always hold a special place in my heart," I said.

Tears formed and ran down her cheeks. I quickly caught them and wiped them away.

"None of that. This is supposed to me a good thing, you're going to get better," I said. The words felt like a lie.

I held her hand as we walked toward the hospital. If it wasn't so cold, I would have slowed my pace. Once we were in the heated building, I slowed down drastically. My feet felt heavier with each step that carried me closer to the administrator's office. Angel was sluggish as well. I knocked lightly on the door, and was invited in. When we entered, there was already someone waiting to take my baby away from me.

"So, Dr. Cullen," Dr. Thompson began with a smirk on his face. "Is she any better?"

"Her progress fluctuated during my time with her. It took her a while to get settled in, but eventually she got comfortable around my wife and me. I kept close tabs on her during her stay, and she is perfectly healthy. She did get sick a couple times, but that is to be expected since flu season is in full swing. Her eating habits have improved, as well as her comprehension of language. I was able to hold conversations with her at times, but she is very quiet. She still goes back into her distant state sometimes, but it doesn't take long to snap her out of it. Going forward I'd say that a stable, comfortable environment is needed to continue to make progress as far as mental healing goes," I said, giving him the full report, which I knew meant nothing to him. He was going to send Angel away just for the sake of giving me grief.

"Did you ever find out her name?" he asked.

"Angelica," I said. "She likes to go by Angel, though.

"Last name?"

"I don't know. All I know is that her mother died when she was very young and then she was taken in by a man that she referred to as "Master" who raped her," I said.

Dr. Thompson was impressed with the information I was able to provide, but of course he was too proud to let it show. I still saw, of course.

"Well, the paperwork is already done so she can be handed off to the social worker. Our job is done," he said.

"Dr. Thompson, she doesn't need to be sent off to another place. She just needs more time to heal from her tragic past. Let her stay with me, she'll get better. If only you had been there to see the progress she made," I said, nearly begging.

"Carlisle, she's going. Even if she was better, she'd still be going. This is why I was so reluctant to let you take her home. I knew you'd become attached."

I knelt down to her level and wrapped her up in my embrace. She crushed herself against me, and started to sob into my shoulder. I kissed her cheek and ran my fingers through her hair. She gripped my shirt tightly and sobbed even harder. This was heartbreaking. There was nothing I could do; it wasn't my decision to make. I buried my face in her blonde locks, inhaling her scent.

"I love you, Baby Girl," I said.

After ten more minutes of snuggling, I was forced to pull away from her. Dr. Thompson and the social worker were getting very impatient. They just didn't understand. I stood up and placed Angel's hand into the social worker's hoping that she would receive some comfort. The social worker just dropped it. Dr. Thompson roughly picked Angel up and placed her on his desk. He unzipped her coat and placed the bell of his stethoscope on her shirt, then moved it to the back. Angel trembled during this. He signed one last piece of paper and handed it to the social worker.

"She's good to go," he said.

As soon as Angel's feet touched the floor, she darted over to me and grabbed onto my leg. She buried her face in my knee and hung on tightly as the social worker tried to pry her off.

"Come on, Kid," the social worker said tiredly. "We have a long drive ahead of us."

"I'm not going!" she shouted, tears flowing freely.

That was the first time I'd heard her voice in so long.

"Yes you are," Dr. Thompson said forcefully, trying to help the lady pry my daughter off my leg.

"No!" she yelled again.

"Angelica," I said softly, crouching down so that I was eye to eye with her. She still didn't let go. "I know this is upsetting and frightening. But you are a strong girl, Sweetie. You'll get through whatever happens, and you will always hold a special place in my heart. Remember what I told you earlier?"

She nodded before tucking her face into my shoulder, and crying harder than ever before. I wrapped my arms around her in an attempt to comfort both her and myself. It was really starting to hit me that I would never see this child again. The child that had warmed my stone cold heart.

"Dr. Cullen?" she asked, wiping tears from her cheeks.

"Yes Baby Girl?"

"When I'm an adult and mean people can't take me away to places, can I come back here and find you?" she asked.

Her request was so cute and heartbreaking that it hurt. By the time Angelica turns eighteen, we'd be gone out of Minnesota, possibly the country. She'd also probably forget about Esme and I by the time she turned that age. But maybe not. There was a glimmer of hope that Angel would not forget us.

"Possibly. You'll have to see where your life leads you. I would love to see you again," I said, giving her the most truthful answer I could.

"Do I have to go?" she asked Dr. Thompson.

"Yes, five minutes ago," he said angrily.

I pulled her in for one more quick hug. "Be good for me, okay?"

"Not promising," she said and smiled.

I chuckled and smiled back at her.

"Addio, mia dolce figlia. Tu sei forte, sei coraggioso, e tu sei un miracolo. Mi dispiace tanto che devi lasciare. Sappiate che sarà per sempre un posto speciale nel mio cuore. Avete completato il mio cuore con un pezzo che non sapevo mancava. Ti amo così tanto, tesoro. Essere sicuri e ottenere una migliore. Ti amo con tutto il mio cuore, mai dimenticarlo."

(Goodbye, my sweet daughter. You are strong, you are brave, and you are a miracle. I am so sorry that you have to leave. Know that you will forever hold a special place in my heart. You have completed my heart with a piece that I didn't know was missing. I love you so much, sweetheart. Be safe and get better. I love you with all my heart, never forget that.)

She looked at me in wonder.

"I love you," I said simply.

"I love you too," she said back.

With that, the social worker grabbed her arm and dragged her out the door. This startled Angel, of course. She started screaming and making a scene, causing everyone to turn and watch.

"Let me go!" she cried. "Let me go!"

The social worker acted as if there was no commotion.

"DADDY!" she screamed.

My heart about jolted back to life. The pain in her voice bought venom tears to my eyes for the first time ever. Daddy. Tears actually dripped onto my cheeks. I was crying, no doubt. It hurt so much to watch her being dragged away, but at the same time I couldn't turn away.

"DADDYYY!" she screeched louder.

Then the front doors closed, and she was out of my sight.

No one moved; the room was silent. All eyes were on me, sympathizing. That lasted for maybe ten seconds until Dr. Thompson shouted, "What are you al standing around for? Get back to work!"

Everyone resumed to their business, but I couldn't move.

"Dr. Cullen, you can take a leave if you'd like. Be back the day after New Year's," he said.

With that, I picked up my bag, put my coat back on, and walked out to my car. I needed Esme so much right now. Hearing Angel scream for me was horrible, and it broke me to pieces. It was also the first time she called me Daddy, which was amazing. No one had ever called me that before in all of my four hundred years of existence. I was so happy that all of the love and care I had shown for her made her realize the role that I should be playing in her life. The role of being her daddy. Now, because of Dr. Thompson and his uncaring ways, I could never be that to her. I just hoped that wherever Angel ended up in life, she would be okay.

When I pulled into the garage, Esme ran out and greeted me in her loving embrace. I buried my face in her shoulder and sobbed, like Angel had done with me not even an hour ago. Esme's hand held my head against her and her other was around my waist. She rocked me back and forth.

"Oh Carlisle, I've never seen you in such a way," she said sadly.

"You have no idea what happened. I just went through the most heartbreaking thing in my life," I said. I told her what happened at the hospital.

"And then, as the social worker was dragging her away, she screamed for Daddy. She called me Daddy! I cried actual tears of venom. For the first time ever since I became a vampire, Esme, I cried," I said.

She was in tears too. We missed our daughter terribly. Esme told me that she had already bought most of Angel's Christmas gifts because she had so much faith that she would stay with us. I had also already begun to fill out forms to add her to our insurance plan, among other things. We were both so broken.

"I just feel like this is my fault. Like there's something I could have done so that she would still be here," I said quietly.

Esme gripped my chin and made me look at her. I felt so ashamed.

"Carlisle, I know how you are. You try to take the blame for everything, even though it's not your fault. Listen to me, I know you did everything you could to try and keep Angel with us, but Dr. Thompson just didn't care. He knows that you are an amazing doctor, so he feels intimidated and wants to use every chance he gets to feel superior to you. If he truly cared about a person's feelings, he would have found some way for you to keep caring for Angelica. You have to accept that. Neither of us can change the situation, but we can change how we look at it. For the last time; it's not your fault," she said strongly.

"I just want one last hug. I just want to hold her in my arms and tell her that she is my daughter and I love her. What I wouldn't give to do that."

"I feel the same way."

"How am I supposed to move forward Esme? The scene of her screaming for me, begging for me is forever burned into my mind," I said.

"Time doesn't heal mental wounds for us," she agreed. "But it does give us lots of opportunity. Who knows what will happen years from now?"

"I don't care. It'll never be the same," I whispered.

Suddenly, Esme burst into vicious tears, catching my attention completely.

"Darling, what's the matter? Did I upset you?" I asked worriedly.

"No! It's not you," she waved her hand dismissively as she attempted to calm down. "It's just . . . you have no idea how much I wish I could bear your child."

I didn't know what to say to her. I could give my wife anything except that. We had talked about this matter several times throughout the years, and each time it got harder. Esme wanted a baby so badly, but that wasn't an option. Our bodies couldn't do that anymore.

"Dear, I think it would do us both a lot of good to go for a hunt after this emotionally exhausting day, and it's not even over. Shall we?" I asked.

We took off on our hunt. Running did soothe the raw nerves a little, gave us a chance to feel free, but it didn't ease the pain in the slightest. Maybe after we hunted, things would be a bit easier. For once in my life, I wished that I could be distracted.

A/N: Sorry it's a short chapter, but I figured that it was enough of an emotional mess for one day. I know the ending isn't the best, but there really wasn't a good way to wrap this chapter up because the heartache that Carlisle and Esme are experiencing never ends. Where do you think Angel will end up next? What will Carlisle and Esme do? Please review. Thanks for reading! :)