As some commented that the second chapter was very sad, here is one to cheer you up... I hope... Ari is 19 years old.

Arianna's POV

I stare at the white screen in front of me. My English professor asked the whole class to write a short essay of less than a thousand words about believing in yourself. I can't hold back a sigh, while I reach for another chocolate chip cookie, considering to ring my dad for some writing advice. But without speaking to him I know he will just say to write what is in my heart, so I close my eyes and try to figure out what exactly is in my heart when it comes to self believe. I don't understand why the professor chooses a topic like this. What happened to writing about the most important people in your life, or where you see yourself in twenty years, or you childhood. I could have been finished if I could write about that, but writing about believing in myself gives me a major writers block. My phone beeps and I read a text message:

'Hi pumpkin, just to say we think about you and we miss you.'

I smile, when I receive a second message with a picture of my dad Sonny waving at me from a comfortable stretched out position on the couch. And after I receive a second picture of my dad Will waving at me, I hit reply:

'Miss you too, love you.'

And while I look at the pictures again, I suddenly know what to write. Within an hour I am finished and uploading the file onto the universities online assignment hand in program. When I receive my essay back three days later, it shows a bright A+ on the front, and I immediately text both my dads with the good news:

'I just got an A+ for an essay on believing in myself.'

And of course they respond quickly, both requesting to read the essay. Even though I hesitate for a while, I eventually decide to sent it, feeling slightly nervous for their reactions.

Will's POV

"Hi honey."

I pull Sonny close for a welcome home kiss and then I let him go to finish our dinner. He walks over to my laptop and asks

"Do I have time to check my email before dinner is finished?"

"Sure, go ahead."

While I stir the spaghetti sauce, I enjoy the comfortable silence between us. We don't always have to speak when we are together. Just being together is enough for me to be completely happy.

"Did you see this..."

I turn around and raise my eyebrows:

"What..."

"Ari... she sent us her essay..."

I walk over to stand behind him to see for myself:

"Wow, can you print it off, I can't wait to read that."

Sonny prints it off and I put two plates with spaghetti in the oven so I it will stay warm. Then we find ourselves snuggling up on the couch, while we start reading our daughter's essay with fatherly pride.

Believing in myself

When I heard I had to write an essay about self belief I was not sure what to write. I hoped for a topic such as 'my childhood memories', 'where I see myself in twenty years', or 'what does love mean to you'. I have enough ideas to write several essays on that, but unfortunately I had to let them go to focus on 'believing in myself''.

In my opinion believing in yourself has a lot to do with self esteem, self worth, and self love. And although it seems like something you have to do for yourself, I'd like to explain to you in this essay how that is not necessarily true. Let me tell you about what grew my self esteem, what made me believe I was worthy, and how I learned to love myself. And by doing so I am going to reach back into those million ideas about childhood and love I mentioned above, as I think they will paint a picture to the point I am trying to make.

I grew up in a family most people will call unconventional. My mother lives in New York and I see her a few times a year. She is married to a guy named Peter, but I barely know him. My mum is sweet, and I love her, but I don't think we have a mother-daughter relationship like others seem to have. I don't tell her much about myself, and our conversations do not go beyond shopping, clothes, and make-up. But I never missed anything because I also have two dads, who raised me and took care of me from the moment I was born. If they would read this my dad Sonny would probably say that HE took care of me from the moment I was born, and that my dad Will was nowhere to be found at that time. But we all know he is just teasing, even though strictly speaking he is right, as he was the one who helped my mum during the delivery. Anyway, my two dads and I were a real family, and I can honestly say that they were, and still are, my home.

From as long as I can remember they have been there for me. When I was about eight years old they were on the front row cheering me on, while I was Maria in the nativity play at school. When I was ten they let me take ballet lessons, and they never missed a recital. Every rapport card I brought home was reason for a family celebration and a big group hug so they could whisper in my ear how proud they were of me. Except for one terrible rapport card which let to me being grounded, but that is a whole other story. When I graduated high school they framed my diploma to hang it in the middle of the living room. When I was accepted into university they told the whole family before I could, just because they were so happy and proud. When I mentioned I wanted to be a doctor like great grandma Marlena , they said I could. When I changed my mind to becoming a lawyer like grandpa Justin, they immediately gave their support. When I decided I wanted to be a photographer they bought me my first camera. And when I finally made the decision to become a journalist they hugged me and promised to buy every journal I will contribute to. They always showed me I was good enough. They always said they were proud of me. They never doubted my abilities and talents.

To grow up like that is an enormous privilege, and it gives tremendous strength. Earlier I mentioned self esteem, self worth and self love as essential parts of self believe, and all my life I have been given the opportunity to understand these concepts so I can apply them to myself. No matter what I do, no matter where I go, they are always behind me. They believe in me, ever since the moment I was born until now while I am writing this essay.

So when you ask me to write about self believe there is only one thing I can say about it: I believe in myself because they showed me every day how to do that. By believing in me, they have taught me to do the same.

(...)

Sonny's arm is around my shoulders and our heads are leaning against each other. We have already read the essay three times, and we still have not said a word. We just sit there in silence, trying to find the words to express the feeling in our hearts. Sonny is the first one to speak:

"That is..."

He doesn't even finish his sentence and I just whisper:

"I know..."

I lift my head so I can look into his eyes and I smile at him:

"Thank you..."

He raises his eyebrows and I give him a soft peck on his lips before I explain myself:

"You made us a family, you took care of her as your own, you showed her how to believe in herself... and you also showed me how to believe in myself... when we met I was a mess... you know that... and you... you made me strong... so thank you..."

His eyes show the emotions, but his smile is radiant and just for me:

"Thank you..."

This time I raise my eyebrows while I return his smile. He nods and explains:

"I waited a year for you because I needed you in my life to make it complete. You and Ari are my life... and I love you two more than anything...you made me part of a family... so thank you."

My lips find his to kiss him sweet and tender, and I cannot resist to let my hands go through his thick black hair. When we let go he reaches for his phone, but I grab his hand and shake my head:

"I have a better idea..."

"OK... you want to Skype?"

I shake my head again:

"Can you take a few days off?"

"I suppose I can, T is asking for extra hours so I am sure he is happy to fill in for me... why..."

"Let's surprise her tomorrow and take her to dinner... We can leave tomorrow, have dinner together and then we can stay at a hotel, and drive back the next day..."

Before I know it he is kissing me and I hear his whisper on my lips:

"Sounds perfect..."

I stand up and look through some papers until I find a phone number of a friend at university. Ari once gave us this number if there was an emergency and we could not contact here for any reason. We decide that this is an emergency and then we ring the friend to ask her to make sure Ari is not making any plans for tomorrow night. When I put down the phone I look at Sonny, and his smile tells me he has some plans of his own. I am more than happy to let him act on those plans, so when he walks over to me and starts unbuttoning my shirt I just enjoy the feeling. And when his hands are on my chest I don't hesitate to let nature take over.

(...)

We drove for four hours but we just arrived on campus. Together we remember the route to Ari's dorm and after we parked the car in the next street, we walk up to her front door. I feel the familiar grip of Sonny's fingers around mine and I squeeze slightly. Then I ring the door bell and we hear a voice shout:

"Ari, can you get that?"

We hear footsteps on the stairs and then the door opens and our baby girl is standing in the doorway. Here blue eyes open wide and she says:

"Dads?"

And then she seems to realise it is definitely us and the throws her arms around our necks and we hug it out in a big group hug. We both kiss her cheek and I hear Sonny's whisper:

"We are so proud of you."

I cannot help but smile when I remember how Ari wrote about that in her essay. She has happy tears in her eyes while she smiles at the both of us.

"You two are actually here..."

I nod and say:

"We are... we thought you deserved a big surprise after an essay like that... so get your stuff, we are taking you out to dinner."

Moments later she walks out and closes the door behind her, immediately putting her arms through ours. Her voice is shy when she asks:

"So you liked the essay..."

"It was OK...", Sonny teases, after which he continues:

"And you were right... I am the only one who looked after you since the moment you were born."

Ari leans over to kiss him on his cheek while mockingly thanking him, and then she looks at me and whispers loud enough for Sonny to hear:

"Don't worry, you are my favourite daddy."

We laugh, remembering the million times we did this, and then I squeeze her arm against me and say:

"Honey, that essay was beautiful... and you should know that we will never ever stop believing in you."

We walk passed a small restaurant and we decide to go inside to have our dinner. Sonny and I enjoy the happiness coming from our daughter while she goes over the menu trying to decide what to order. Eventually she decides on three dishes she would like to have and before we get a chance she orders her three dishes of choice. After the waiter left she just smiles sweetly:

"Don't worry, you'll like it... and now we can all share and taste all three."

I look at Sonny and shake my head:

"I think it is your fault she turned out this bossy..."

Sonny shrugs his shoulders and returns:

"It's not like your daddy skills exceed mine in any way..."

"No, but you are just as bossy... she does not have that from me..."

Sonny looks at me with a big smile and says confidently:

"You need me to be bossy sometimes..."

I shake my head, but smile at him knowing he is right. It is part of the reason why I love him and he obviously knows it.

Ari voice is clear and sweet when she says to Sonny:

"I like it that I do things like you... just like I am happy to take after daddy."

I smile:

"And there are several things you do like Sonny... you hide in the shower when you are sad, you put your face in your hands when you are worried, you're bossy, and you eat chocolate chip cookies when you need to think..."

The both smile while a light blush cover their cheeks. And I just grin happily, knowing that I just made their day better. Sonny takes a deep breath and says:

"OK, true... but she also does things the same you do them... she uses her blue eyes to get what she wants, she can be a bit insecure at times, and she can give people second and third chances when most people would have given up..."

This time I blush and Sonny reached over to kiss me softly. I look at Ari to start her usual 'don't do that in public please', but she just smiles at us and says:

"I love you two."

We enjoy our family conversation, moving quickly between serious and teasing. We move our plates around so we all taste everything and Ari decides she made a good choice when ordering the three dishes. And then we have to say goodbye. We do our familiar group hug and listen to her whisper:

"This was the best surprise ever..."

And then she runs inside and we walk back to our car. Before I can open the door I feel how Sonny turns me around in his arms. My hands fold around his neck and we just stare at each other for a while. Then he softly says:

"William Horton... I believe in you."

I know I am blushing again, and I stumble:

"I believe... I believe in you too."

His thumbs softly stroke my hips while he continues, while he looks deep into my eyes:

"And we did a good job raising our baby girl."

I nod, wishing I was better with words and able to actually say something worthy. But he smiles slightly while he says:

"Don't worry honey, I can read it in your eyes, you don't have to say anything..."

I feel the butterflies in my stomach when he says that, knowing he understands me without me saying anything. But before he kisses me I just have to say one thing:

"Babe... I believe in us..."

I hope this cheered you all up a bit after the second sad chapter!