PARTs 3 and 4

PART 3

By the end of the afternoon, Tess’s Cadillac was parked in front of the beach house and, carrying some shop bags and humming a happy tune, the supervisor opened the front door, immediately seeing her two charges sitting on the couch, in the living room:

“Hi babies! I’m glad you’re here, Angel Boy!”

“Hey Tess!...”, he greeted, with a uncomfortable expression on his face, as well as on Monica’s, who remained in silence, nervously holding his hand. But, busy with so many bags, Tess didn’t notice their concern at first.

“I’m sorry I took so long to come back, but there were so many things to see in the neighbour town, and I was also so busy looking for some material to finish the new sweater I’m making that I lost track of time!”

At the mention of the word ‘sweater’, the two angels looked at each other, guilt evident in their eyes. Only then, Tess realised that there was something wrong:

“What is it? Why are you staring at me with such a haunted look?”, she asked, placing her bags on the floor. Once again, Monica and Andrew exchanged a worried glance, without knowing how to start:

“C’mon, did the cat... or, in your case,  the dog eat your tongues?! I made a question, I want an answer!”

Monica cleared her throat, taking every bit of courage inside herself:

“Well Tess... Andrew and I have something to tell you...”, the Irish angel began. “That’s why we’ve been waiting for you...”

“Well, I’m here, so c’mon, start talking!”

“Wouldn’t you like to sit, Tess?”, the blond angel offered, standing up and trying to lead her to her armchair, “You’ve been walking around the town all day long, you must be tired and...”

“I am not tired, Mr, but I think I’ll start getting nervous pretty soon if you two don’t explain why you are looking at me with those guilty faces!”, she sternly replied, wriggling away from his light grip and crossing her arms in front of her chest. Taking a deep breath, Monica stood up and spoke the first words:

“Well, Tess... While you were away, in the other town, I stayed here, waiting for Andrew. And Joy was starving, so I set her breakfast, because she’s a baby, you know, and needs a lot of vitamins to grow up strong...”

“Cut to the chase, Miss Wings!”, the supervisor interrupted, even more displeased. Monica looked at Andrew nervously, and he nodded his head, encouraging her to go on:

“Well... In this meantime there was an accident involving your sweater...”

Tess’ face was blank with shock when she heard that piece of news:

“What?!”, she stormed, in an angry tone. Monica gulped:

“What I mean is that... well...”, she looked at the blond angel, who tried to help her:

“What Monica would like to say, Tess, is that there was an accident involving your sweater and Joy...”

“What are you talking about? Where’s my sweater?!”, the supervisor looked at her armchair and noticed that the outfit wasn’t where she had left. The Irish angel bit her lip nervously:

“That is the problem, Tess... Your sweater... it isn’t a sweater... anymore...”

The supervisor put her hands on her hips and came closer to her two charges:

“What the heck are you two saying?!”

“We are saying that... well... I took Joy outside, as I said I would, and, by accident, I left the kitchen door half open. And... Joy came in and... found your sweater... So, she started to play with it...”, Monica explained, “She pulled a thread here and... another thread there and... well... she ended up undoing the entire outfit... And the sweater became... five reels of wool again...”

Tess narrowed her eyes:

“You are telling me that that dog destroyed my sweater?! The sweater I took weeks to make and that was going to be ready tomorrow?! The sweater no angel in the entire Heaven has except me?!”

The oldest angel was more than angry, in fact, she was furious. Seeing the panic in Monica’s eyes, Andrew tried to speak:

“Tess, calm down, it was an accident and...”

“You keep quiet and don’t try to protect Monica if you know what’s good for you, Mr!”, she looked at him with her eyebrows raised, ”I still have my doubts about how that dog escaped from a ranch house and appeared inside my car out of the blue!!”

The blond angel lowered his head and elected not to go into that subject, for his own sake. Monica, for herself, was completely scared at the angry tone in the supervisor’s voice:

“Tess, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I never meant for this to happen! Please, forgive me; I promise I’ll be more careful with Joy from now on!”

“From now on?!”, Tess repeated, on the verge of irritation. Some tears formed in the corner of Monica’s eyes, and, a second later, rolled down her cheeks:

“I know what you’re thinking, but please, I ask you, don’t send Joy away! Don’t send her back to the ranch!... I... I love her so much... you can punish me by any other way, I deserve it, but, please Tess, don’t take wee Joy from me!...”

Andrew frowned with concern and sorrow for his dearest friend, feeling the great sadness that flowed from her heart:

“She’s right Tess, you can’t send Joy away, it would be too cruel with Monica!”, she stated, standing right beside the weeping angel. But Tess’ face was sterner than never:

“I can’t believe in what I’m listening! Besides getting into a big trouble, are you two now telling me what I should do?!”

They exchanged a final look, expecting for the so feared verdict. But, before they could say anything, Tess kept on talking:

“Of course I’m not gonna send Joy away, she’s my baby too!”

Hearing that, Monica’s face lit up with a broad, tearful and also grateful smile:

“You’re... you’re not?”

“Of course not! And if there’s anybody here who deserves a good punishment it certainly isn’t my little Joy!

The Irish angel wasted no more time and held her supervisor tightly:

“Oh Tess, I love you so much! Thank you! Thank you very, very much!”, she exclaimed, being watched by her (equally happy) dearest friend.

“Hold it there, Miss Wings! You’d better stop hugging me ‘cause you’re not gonna buy me with sweet words!”, she stormed, still with an angry tone. Although she was more relieved, Monica decided to back away from the supervisor, but she and Andrew couldn’t hide their happiness and the smile that insisted on appearing on their faces:

“What happened here was very serious and requires a proper punishment! So you two had better get yourselves ready, ‘cause I’m not gonna be sorry for anybody!”

“Oh Tess you can punish me; Andrew had nothing to do with it, it was all my fault!”, Monica pleaded. But Tess stared at the blond angel:

“Oh, I’m sure that, indirectly, he did have something to do with it!”

Once again trying to avoid the subject, Andrew cleared his throat:

“Monica...”

His best friend nodded and walked over to the bookshelf where there was a beautiful round present box. She picked it up and gave it to the supervisor:

“This is for you... You know, when Andrew and I saw what had happened to your sweater we decided to do something to compensate you, so we went to the town and looked for a similar outfit to give you, but we couldn’t find any. I even thought about making a new one myself, but...”, she sighed with a small trace of sadness still visible in her brown eyes, “Well... this bad humoured lady at the shop told me what she really thought about my knitting abilities when I showed her the sweater I’m making for Andrew...”

Hearing that, Tess’ expression softened and some of her irritation subsided, as the oldest angel could imagine what kind of comment Monica had heard; and she felt really sorry for her charge.

“Now I know I would never be able to make something so beautiful... But Andrew had an idea and we agreed that I could still make something for you. I know it won’t replace your sweater and all the work you did, but I’d be very happy if you accepted it, as an apology...”

The supervisor opened the box and saw, wrapped in thin paper, a purple woollen hat, entirely hand crocheted by Monica. It was simple and relatively easy to make, but, truth to be told, it was also beautiful and had small and delicate flowers adding a special charm to it:

“Andrew bought the manual and, as I already knew the basic crocheting stitches, because you had taught me, I managed to make it in this afternoon... I know it’s not the most beautiful hat in the world, but it was made with much love...”, Monica completed.

Try as she might, the oldest angel could not keep the stern face any longer, as that small gift caused tears of emotion to appear in her eyes:

“Oh, come here, Angel Girl!”, she uttered, hugging Monica tightly and trying to hold back the tears, as she was really touched by her charge’s gesture, “It’s lovely, I loved it!”

Monica smiled again, happy to hear that:

“I know how much you like hats; you look so beautiful wearing them!”

“Thank you, baby!... And... I’m sorry I yelled at you...”

“And I’m sorry about your sweater!...”

The two started to cry in each other’s arms, which caused Andrew to laugh and hold them in a big hug:

“You know something? Vacations with you two can be anything but monotonous! That’s why I love you both so much!”, he exclaimed, kissing the top of their heads as they circled their arms around his waist, the three angels sharing the same embrace.

*

On the following morning:

“Be sure to clean the tires too! I want this baby shining like a star!”, Tess commanded.

Sitting on a comfortable beach chair, placed in the porch, wearing her new hat and drinking a glass of cold lemonade, the supervisor watched as her two charges cleaned her red Cadillac. Joy was lazily spread on her lap and also observed her ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ doing their work.

“And make it faster ‘cause I want somebody to drive me to the town this evening, there will be a festival there!”, the oldest angel completed, and Joy barked 3 times, as if confirming that order.

Under the hot sun, Andrew was patiently cleaning the vehicle. Barefoot, wearing bermudas and a white T-shirt, and sweating, the blond angel took more wax with the help of a sponge and was going to polish the other side of the car. But, at that moment, Monica, who was sitting on the hood and, until then, had limited herself to watch him, pointed:

“Andrew you forgot to wax near the headlight... I can see there’s a part missing.”

Exhausted, he frowned and ran his fingers through his short blond hair, looking at his surroundings: Tess continued to sit in her comfortable chair, drinking her juice; Joy was lazily lying on the supervisor’s lap; and Monica remained sitting on the car, straightening her ponytail and enjoying the soft breeze that blew from the sea.

“Why am I under the impression that there’s something rather unfair happening around here?!”, he said, with some annoyance.

“Oh Andrew, you shouldn’t say that. I think Tess was very generous in giving us only one punishment day.”, she took a handkerchief and gently wiped his red face: “Besides, we’re almost finishing. You’ve already made the breakfast and the lunch, prepared Tess’ lemonade, cleaned the kitchen and the yard, made the beds... The only things that are missing are Tess’ car and dinner...”, she said, tenderly running her fingers thorough his hair.

“And what did you do?”

“Well I gave Joy her food and I’m helping you out here. Tess’ car is really difficult to clean. But... I could make the dinner if you want...”

“No!”, he quickly replied, and, after realising his exasperated tone of voice, the blond angel tried to keep it back to normal, “No, it’s ok; I’ll make it!”

She smiled and placed a tender kiss on his cheek:

“You’re so wonderful for helping me to do all these tasks! I wouldn’t be able to take care of them without you!”

The Irish angel held him tightly and continued to stroke his hair, with all the love in her heart evident in her eyes. Although he was tired, the blond angel smiled, secretly enjoying those caresses:

“I love you, you know...”, she whispered in his ear. He turned his face and kissed the tip of her nose:

“I love you too, Angel Girl...”

But, at that moment, the two were surprised by a sudden spray of water right on their faces, which caused them to cry as it was very cold:

“Hey! What on Earth is that?!...”, Andrew stormed. But it didn’t take them more than a second to find out what had caused that: Joy was looking at them, with the hose in her mouth and her tail wagging from one side to another. Realising that she had got her ‘parents’ attention, she let go of the hose and barked. From the porch, they heard Tess’ voice:

“Well done, baby! Grandma is proud of you!”, she said, looking at the puppy. Andrew and Monica looked at each other equally surprised:

“Tess! You shouldn’t encourage her to do such things!”, the Irish angel complained. Tess looked at them sternly:

“And you two should finish cleaning my baby, ‘cause I didn’t sit here to watch this sugary performance of yours!”

Joy barked again, as if, once more, she was confirming the oldest angel’s words. Andrew and Monica looked at the outrageous little dog:

“This young lady needs a lesson...”, the blond angel said, grabbing the hose that Joy had thrown in the grass, “What do you think, Monica?”

“Well... I think that, as parents, we should teach her to behave like a lady is supposed to...”

Long ears raised and black slanting eyes wide open, Joy looked suspiciously at the two angels and, when they came closer to her, the black fur ball barked one last time and ran away from them, who went after her with the hose, spraying the little animal and, eventually, themselves. In the porch, Tess shook her head in disapproval and hopelessly rolled her eyes to the blue sky.

PART 4

Monica, Andrew and Tess were sitting on the top of the porch steps, at the beach house, watching resignedly as the rain poured down. Joy was lazily sleeping on Monica’s lap, while she gently stroked the little dog’s soft black fur, and the three angels had an expression of disappointment on their faces:

“Yeah, I guess that ruins with our plans for a day on the beach!”, Andrew stated, sitting between the supervisor and his best friend.

“Look at all this rain!”, Tess exclaimed, completely distressed, “I think all that water that was reserved for the entire month is falling down today!”

“Yes, that isn’t appropriate for vacations. I like rain, though. When it falls down it seems like the Earth itself is being washed and any sadness or deceptions we might have inside our hearts are going away with the water, so that a brand new day can start, full of great expectations, bringing a new chance for everyone!”, the Irish angel said, leaning her head on Andrew’s shoulder. He nodded, thoroughly agreeing with her beautiful words. But Tess was not pleased at all with her charge’s philosophic mood:

“You say that because you don’t have trouble making a new perm in your hair every time it rains!”, she grumbled, causing the other two angels to exchange a common gaze, their eyes filled with amusement.

“Besides, your make up and your clothes are all gone in a matter of minutes!”

She watched as the rain continued to fall incessantly and, suddenly, made a decision:

“You know what? I refuse to stay inside this house! We came here to have fun and enjoy our vacation, and that’s what we’ll do!”

“So... What do you have in mind, Tess?”

“Well, there are a lot of places to go in town, Angel Girl. All we have to do is to choose one!”

“Are you sure you wanna go downtown? I had a hard day yesterday cleaning the house, I’m tired...”, the blond angel complained.

An idea crossed Monica’s mind and her face lit up:

“How about the movies?!”, she suggested, “Oh, please Tess! It’s been some time since Andrew took me to the movies and, after that, we never had time to come back!”

The supervisor was thoughtful, and, after a brief moment, she nodded:

“The movies... Yes, that’s not a bad idea... Ok, Angel Girl, we’ll go to the movies! Go get yourselves ready, we’ll leave in an hour!”

Monica stood up and happily entered the house, carrying Joy in her arms and with Tess right behind her. Andrew, for himself, remained on the same place, and rolled his eyes, not showing any enthusiasm about the outing.

*

Although he didn’t want to go out at all, Andrew was the first one to get ready. While Tess and Monica were in their rooms, deciding what to wear in that ‘very important occasion’, he sat on the couch, with a bored expression on his face. At that moment, Joy entered the living room, happily wagging her tail back and forth, and, when she saw the blond angel, the playful puppy wasted no time in pulling Andrew’s shoelaces, undoing them in a matter of seconds. He looked at her and smiled:

“Hey little one! Looks like you’ve found yourself a hobby, huh?”

He reached down and held the chubby dog in his hands, placing her against his chest:

“And I’ll tell you a secret: you are really lucky! You’re gonna stay here, hanging out, with nothing to do. I wish I could stay here too, doing the same thing but I can’t.”

Joy barked twice, staring at him with wide big black eyes and long ears falling over her tiny face; and he continued to talk:

“Why? Because your mom and your grandma had the ‘brilliant’ idea to go out, even with all this rain outside!”

The dog barked for the third time:

“Me? Well, I’ll just have to go with the two; although I’m very tired, as I worked all day long yesterday, because of what you did to Tess’ sweater, by the way!”,  he lowered his voice, “But you know what? I’m not in the mood for going out!”

Joy reached up and covered his face with small ‘kisses’, causing the blond angel to laugh:

“Thanks, sweetie! I know you’re sorry for your dad and that you would like me to stay here with you, but you know how your mom and your grandma are: it’s impossible to say ‘no’ to them!”

It was then that Monica entered the living room, and the Irish angel opened a broad smile when she saw her ‘baby’ and her dearest friend:

“You two together are so sweet!”, she exclaimed, sitting next to Andrew, “She loves you very much, Andrew!”

“Yeah, I know she does. I’m her dad after all!”

Monica came closer to him:

“She’s not the only one, you know?”, she said, half whispered. The smile on his face became larger:

“So, if there’s ‘anyone’ else who loves me that much, wouldn’t this ‘anyone’ like to stay home and spare the movies for anther day?”

“Oh no! We’ll have so much fun, I’m sure we will! Please Andrew, let’s go all together! Please?”

He looked at her pleading face and after to Joy:

“See what I told you? It’s impossible to say ‘no’ to this mother of yours!”, the blond angel stated, “Ok, Angel Girl!”

Happily, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug:

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Tess entered the living room at that moment:

“Ok babies, it’s time to go!”, she announced. Both of them stood up; Andrew carrying Joy in his arms:

“I’ll put Joy in her bed...”, he said, but the supervisor interrupted him:

“No way! I’ll put my baby in bed.”, she took the puppy form his hands, “You go and take the car out of the garage. And today you’ll drive ‘cause I don’t like driving in the rain; it makes me depressed.”

Hearing that, Andrew rolled his eyes, even more displeased:

“You’re not the only one...”, he mumbled under his breath.

*

The three angels arrived at the movie theatre one hour later, finding a huge queue outside, with lots of very talkative children and teenagers:

“The tickets for this session are already sold out.”, Andrew informed, returning to where his friends were, at the end of the queue.

“Do you think we can get tickets for the next session?”

“It’s highly unlikely, Monica. There must be two hundred people before us.”

“Babies, I’ll tell you what’s highly unlikely: this old angel here inside four walls together with all these noisy little creatures!”

Monica sighed with disappointment:

“Oh it’s really a pity!... I really wanted to see this movie, I like cartoons so much!”

“Well there’s another movie theatre in the other street, we could go there...”, Andrew suggested, not really wanting to go there, but not wanting to disappoint his dearest friend.

But when they arrived at the other movie theatre, it was Tess who protested:

“Friday 13^th, part 30?!!! You don’t really expect me to get in there to watch such thing!”

“I’m afraid Tess is right... I don’t like horror movies either. They are too... scary. I may have nightmares...”, Monica agreed. Andrew sighed deeply, hoping that the two would finally decide to come back home, as he too, detested this kind of movies. But the supervisor had another idea:

“I guess we’ll have to change our plans, babies!”

“Where are we going, Tess?”

“We’re going to play bowling, Angel Girl!”

The blond angel rolled his eyes and, with some dissatisfaction, walked over to the car:

“Fine...”