PART 16

EPILOGUE

On the following weeks, the 3 angels and the little puppy had fallen a pleasant routine: although they would give everything to see Monica completely healed, taking care of the little Irish angel was the best assignment they could ever receive and, indeed, they were doing a great job.

Occasionally, Monica had some nightmares; the hours of terror and despair still alive in her memory, but usually Andrew was the one to soothe them away. That night had been one of them. He had woken her up from a bad dream and, much against his will, as he was afraid of hurting her by making any movement, the Irish angel had insisted he should stay with her. And, in the end, that wasn’t such a bad idea, because his loving presence managed to soothe her heart and she had a peaceful night’s sleep. On the following morning, she stirred in bed and opened her eyes: his dearest friend’s handsome face was still there, beside her, as she had pillowed her head against his shoulder, and he greeted her with a cheerful smile, “Good morning, sleepyhead!” giving her a gentle squeeze.

“Hi...” Monica managed to say, looking at him with sleepy eyes.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, softly running his fingers through her hair.

“Wonderful...” she inched closer and hugged him, “Thank you for staying!”

“You don’t have to thank me for that! I’m always with you, Monica. Always.” He kissed her temple and, carefully holding her, rested his cheek on the top of her head.

“I know.”

The two angels remained in silence for a long minute, enjoying each other’s presence, until the Irish angel sensed a pleasant and familiar smell coming from the kitchen. “Tess is preparing breakfast... I guess I’m hungry...” she said, with a smile upon her meek face.

Andrew chuckled at her sudden excitement, “Correction, my angel: you are ‘thirsty’; not ‘hungry’!”

Blushing, Monica looked at him sheepishly, “Well... I found out that Tess makes a wonderful mocha latte, you know.”

Still chuckling, he studied her meek features, “Judging by the smile on your this pretty face of yours, it must be really good!”

Blushing even more, she continued to speak, “The truth is that you, Tess and even wee Joy have been spoiling me lately and I guess I’m starting to get used to that!”

While he laughed, she reflected about her words and then made a quick correction, “I mean, I’m getting used to Tess and Joy spoiling me!”

“Hey! What about me?”

“You’ve always spoiled me, Andrew!”

Still chuckling, the blond angel nodded his head, knowing that it was completely true, “Well, yes... though I wouldn’t call it ‘spoiling’; it’d be much more like ‘loving’ you, honey!”

Giggling, she tightened her hold on him once again and he continued to speak, “And talking about it, do you wanna have your breakfast here or at the kitchen?”

“Oh, can I have it at the kitchen, please? I’m a wee bit tired of staying in bed all day long, you know.”

“Your wish is my command, Angel Girl!”

He carefully pulled away from her embrace and helped her to sit down in bed. Then, he took the Irish angel in his arms and carried her up to the kitchen, where Tess was finishing to set the table and Joy was already devouring her breakfast.

“Good morning, Tess! Hullo sweetheart!” Monica greeted, watching with happiness the little dog’s excitement, and Andrew carefully placed her on a chair.

“Hey Angel Girl! Have a seat; I prepared you a double mocha latte mixed with cinnamon and extra cream!” the oldest angel said, placing a large mug with Monica’s favourite drink. The little Irish angel and Andrew exchanged a quick look and secretly smiled, amused with Tess’ extra care.

*

Some more weeks passed by and Monica’s recovery was so amazing that even the doctors were surprised when she finally got rid of the plaster in her arm and leg. The therapy sessions that followed only confirmed what everybody already knew: she was completely healed. Andrew and Tess remained by her side during all this time and it was possible to see all the happiness they felt reflected in their eyes when they left the hospital for the last time; holding hands with Monica.

“It’s so good to be able to walk again!” she said, smiling beautifully with the sun on her face.

“Yes, I can imagine how trapped you were feeling in that apartment, baby!” the supervisor replied.

“Well, in fact, the fact that I had to stay in the same place all the time bothered me. But I have to confess that I enjoyed having you two pampering me all the time!” The two angels smiled with her words, “I’ll miss the double mocha latte you prepared me, Tess. And you carrying me everywhere too, Andrew!”

“Anytime you want me, I’m here, my angel!” Andrew answered, squeezing her hand.

“Well... you shouldn’t get used to that mocha latte anytime you want, Miss Wings!” Tess spoke, with a stern tone in her voice. But then, she looked at her dear charge’s face, “... Ok... maybe a cup once in a while...”

“I love you, Tess!” Monica exclaimed, giving her a tight hug, which caused the oldest angel’s face to soften.

“I love you too, Angel Girl!”

They came closer to the red Cadillac but only Tess got into the vehicle. “I’ll see you two later!”

“Why? Where are we going?” Monica wanted to know.

“This is a secret that is about to be solved...” Andrew took her small hand into his, “Bye, Tess!”

“Bye, babies!”

*

Monica and Andrew stepped in front of a house and the blond angel rang the bell.

“Andrew what are we doing here? You didn’t tell me...”

The Irish angel stopped talking when the door flung open and Susan smiled at them, “Andrew! Monica! Tom, they’re here!”

“Susan?”

The teacher and the angel hugged each other and she invited them to come in. “I’m so glad you two are finally here! You are the first guests in our new house, in fact!”

“I’m glad to see you too, Susan! How are you? And how is the baby?”

“We are all fine, and fully recovered! And I can see we’re not the only ones! You look great, Monica! Though I thought that, well, being an angel you could recover faster.”

“Well, if the Father wanted me to recover faster, I would have. But I believe it was His will that I remained here a little more time. Besides, I had Andrew and Tess taking care of me all the time and they’re wonderful.” Smiling, she looked at her dearest friend, who smiled back at her slightly blushed.

“That I’m pretty sure of!” the teacher said, not missing the great love and affection between the two angels and finding it adorable. At that moment, Tom, Susan’s husband, entered the room, carrying a small ‘bundle’ in his arms.

“Somebody is awake and insisted on welcoming the guests!” he said, with a happy smile upon his face. Monica and Andrew stood up and the Irish angel came closer to the little baby girl.

“Oh God!” she exclaimed, with a mix of happiness and emotion on her face. And soon, some tears of joy appeared in the corner of her eyes. The baby had gained a lot of weight and had rosy cheeks and now much more hair, which was reddish brown, matching the colour of her eyes. “She’s so beautiful!”

“Yes, she really is...” Susan agreed, “... and she missed you, Monica!”

“Me?”

“Oh yes! She was eager to see the one who first held her when she came to this world!” Then, Tom gave the small child to Monica, who carefully held her in her arms.

“Hi, wee one... you’re such a cute lady!” a single tear made its way down Monica’s cheek and everybody watched when the little baby looked at the angel and smiled, “Oh... you do remember me, don’t you sweetheart?”

Monica’s voice was filled with emotion and she soon felt Andrew’s hand over her shoulder. “I don’t blame her,” he said, looking at his dearest friend with all the love in his heart.

“She would never forget the ones who save her life, as well as mine...” Susan said, “If my daughter and I are here today it’s because God sent His two angels to help us when we most needed...” she looked at the baby, “And if I can hold her and see her growing, it’s especially because of you, Monica. You nearly lost your life to save mine...”

“Susan, I only did what I had to. It was God’s will that Andrew and I were there and of course I was scared, but I trusted in His great wisdom all the time.”

“God is always good... An angel told me that some time ago!” the teacher completed, as the little baby stirred.

“Hey, you wanna take part in the conversation, honey?” Monica gently stroked her rosy cheek, “What’s her name?”

Susan and Tom exchanged a glance and the teacher smiled, “Right before she was born, Tom and I didn’t even know if it would be a boy or a girl. But now, after everything that’s happened... we both agreed she could only have a name... This little one is Monica...”

Now it was the Irish angel who stared first at Andrew and after at the couple really surprised, “What?...”

“She is named after the angel who brought her to this world, the angel who first held her in the arms and who soothed her little heart when she was crying with hunger and cold... The one who protected her all the time during that tragedy and took care of her when I myself couldn’t.”

Monica looked down at the baby now crying with emotion, “Hey, Monica... I guess I never said that before, but welcome to this world, wee one! I know that your first hours here were a bit confusing but...” she smiled even more as she heard a few silent words whispered to her heart, “... But I was told that you’ll have a very happy life and that you will make many other people happy too!”

Andrew smiled at the image right before his sparkling green eyes: his dearest friend was not only completely healed but also very happy and he could feel all her joy flowing straight to his own heart. Yes, God was always good. So good that he felt like offering a silent prayer giving thanks for having that little angel, his ‘Angel Girl’, back at his side. He watched Monica with the baby in her arms in the most absolute silence. His eyes were undoubtedly filled with emotion and with so much love that he himself was suddenly surprised to feel that way. What seemed impossible had happened: his love for her had grown even more; it had taken deeper roots than he could ever imagined. He didn’t have any idea where it had come from or if it had always been there, deep inside his heart, but it sure made him feel like his soul had been invaded by a great sensation of joy.

Still smiling, and completely amazed with that unexpected feeling, Andrew gently soothed Monica’s hair, causing her to look at him with grateful tear filled eyes, “You already knew it, didn’t you?”

“Well...”

“Yes, he did, Monica!” Susan said, “But he didn’t want to spoil the surprise!”

“I wouldn’t miss this expression on this pretty face of yours for anything in this entire world, my angel!” the blond angel said, reading the words ‘I love you’ deep inside her brown eyes.

“It was his idea not to tell you about little Monica until you saw her. And he was right!” Tom spoke while his wife nodded her head.

“Andrew loves you very much, Monica!”

The Irish angel looked at her dearest friend and giggled when he nodded his head and blushed deeply, as he always did. “I know that!”

They turned their attention back to the baby as she stirred once again and this time, it was Andrew who rubbed his finger on the back of her tiny little hand, “Hey little Monica! You’re really a cute little lady, you know? Though I’m not surprised, considering that being cute is a characteristic of your name!”

At that moment, the baby moved her small hand and grabbed Andrew’s finger, causing everybody to laugh. “Our little one likes you too, Andrew!” Susan said.

Monica nodded her head, “Yes, and I guess that she and I have one more thing in common besides the name!”

*

Monica and Andrew left Susan and Tom’s house some time later and now were walking hand in hand in the street and stopped at the park to watch a beautiful sunset.

“You know it’s the first sunset I watch since we started working on this assignment?” the Irish angel said, leaning her head over his shoulder.

Smiling, the blond angel nodded and let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her small shoulders. “I know. That’s why I decided to bring you here first...”

She turned her head to look at him with an intrigued expression on her face. “First? Are we going somewhere else?”

Now that he had managed to raise her curiosity, his angelic smile turned into a mischievous one. “Yep...”

Monica kept on staring at him now with an adorable mixture of confusion and annoyance due to his purposeful silence. “So... you took the day to surprise me and to make me feel curious, right?”

“mmm... yep...”

She continued to stare at him, still waiting for his reply or even trying to guess what else he had in mind. Struggling to hide his laugher, he looked down at her. “You’re missing the sunset, Monica!”

Sighing deeply, now convinced that he wouldn’t tell her anything else, she decided to turn her attention back to the orange coloured sky, taking the opportunity to lift a silent prayer and thank God for being back to earth and together with her beloved friends.

*

“That was a lovely surprise, Andrew!” Monica exclaimed, leaning her head on Andrew’s shoulder as they danced close together a beautiful song. They were in a restaurant, located at the bank of a beautiful lake, and the soft light music filled the air. The place was cosy and casual and beautifully decorated. Besides, the pleasant night, with a sky full of stars, only added more charm to their surroundings.

Andrew was holding Monica close to him and smiled satisfied as he felt the contentment in her heart flowing straight to his.

“I’m glad you liked, Monica. It’s been quite a while since the last time we danced together and I don’t think I could stand it any longer!”

She smiled and looked up at him, “I can say the same!”

“Now that you are completely healed, I thought it would be a good idea if these were your first steps.”

“It was a lovely idea... I’ll never forget that, Andrew!”

“Oh, but don’t give me all the credit for that! Grace had something to do with it too...”

“Grace?”

“Well... yes. She... uh...” the Irish angel didn’t miss his slight embarrassment, which she always found quite cute, “She suggested that after we had been rescued I should invite you for a date...”

To his ears, Monica’s giggles were like the soft music that had just finished, “Grace is such an adorable little girl!” she remarked, “And very a smart one too!”

Blushing deeply, he nodded his head and, as they had stopped dancing, Andrew took one of Monica’s hands in both of his. “Well, she sure is but... the truth is that I love you so much, my angel, that even cute little Monica was able to notice that...”

Now it was the Irish angel who blushed and her smile grew wider than before as he gently stroked her rosy cheek.

“I could feel that even being in hospital, unconscious...” she noticed as a trace of sadness appeared in his bright green eyes. Monica quickly placed her hand on his face and caressed his cheek lovingly, “No, don’t be sad, Andrew... I don’t ever want to see you sad because of what happened, it’s all in the past now and I’m so grateful that it all ended up well.”

A slight smile appeared on his face, “You have this light inside of you, Monica... This gentle and warm heart of yours is so full of love and I never get tired of contemplating your beautiful soul!”

“Look who’s talking!” she replied, with a playful tone in her voice.

“That’s why I got so desperate with the possibility of staying away from you or never seeing you again... it makes me sad even now that it’s all over...”

“Oh but you shouldn’t...” she gently admonished him, and then she looked deep inside his green eyes; her own gaze full of confidence in what she was saying and filled with pure love, “Because in fact, after all that’s happened, I can say that I’ve never been so happy! And you know why, Andrew?”

He took her hand to his lips and softly placed some strands of hair behind her ear, “Tell me...”

“The Father’s will was done here on Earth as it is in Heaven. His children were safe from a terrible tragedy, a new life was brought to this world and...” Monica took his both hands in her own and squeezed them, “... we are together again.”

Without saying another word, Andrew pulled her to his arms and the two angels shared a tight and loving embrace, which lasted for long silent and pleasant minutes. As the blond angel bent his head to place a tender and affectionate kiss on her forehead, a white dove cooed and perched on a nearby tree.

The end