PART 1

"... erm... Monica, I don't think the Garnets will like the entire content of this pot of pepper in their noodles..." Andrew spoke, to a not all too pleased Monica. The two angels had been in the kitchen of the small but very charming restaurant for the last 50 minutes. Their assignment, a couple who had been married for almost 20 years, had finally realised they still loved each other after being on the verge of separation. And now their two "employees" were preparing them and their daughter a special dinner.

Even though Mr and Mrs Garnet had insisted they wanted to help them, Monica and Andrew told them to go and pick up their daughter at the bus station. She was spending the weekend with her parents and was very happy to know that they wouldn't divorce anymore.

But to Andrew, having his beloved angel girl in the kitchen proved to be an extra assignment a lot more difficult than the one they had so brilliantly accomplished.

"But I won't use all the pepper in the noodles." She replied, looking at him matter-of-factly. "I will use only half of it."

Andrew gently took the pot from her hands and examined it, amazed at the great quantity of pepper in it. "Well... actually, Monica, you weren't supposed to use any of it, you see... Pepper and noodles don't exactly match..."

The Irish angel frowned at hearing those words. "What do you mean by they don't match? There can be many different combinations when food is concerned and as this is a special occasion I wanted to prepare them something special too!"

Andrew ran a hand through his blond hair and let out a frustrated sigh. "Monica... there are many different combinations when food is concerned but pepper and noodles isn't one of them..."

Her mouth dropped open and she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Oh! Just because you never heard of it, then it doesn't exist?"

Trying his best not to upset her more than she already was, he gave her a tender smile and playfully touched the tip of her nose, "Only you have heard of it, angel!"

But Monica's beautiful face didn't light up with a smile as he expected. "That's why I said it was special!" She grabbed the pot of pepper from his hand and turned her back on him, not noticing as he rolled his eyes and let out another impatient sigh.

"And where are you using the other half of all this pepper, may I ask?"

"In my meatloaves!" she replied, adding the pepper to a bowl full with noodles.

And that answer, along with the vision of an entire bowl of noodles being ruined right in front of him caused Andrew to frown with deep concern. "Your... meatloaves?"

The frightened tone in his voice only made things worse. Monica turned around to look at him defiantly. "Yes, my meatloaves. Why are you frowning like this, may I ask?"

The blond angel knew it wouldn't be easy, but he had to do something about the whole situation before it was too late. Even if that meant to go against his beloved angel girl's will. "I don't think so..."

He took the huge pot of pepper from her hands and kept it inside the highest cabinet, where she couldn't reach.

"Andrew!"

Her Irish lilt speaking his name like no one else did made her so adorable to him that he had to fight not to let her convince him that what she was doing was right.

"From now on, I'm in command of the Garnet's kitchen!" He stated, "And you can be the gorgeous assistant who will help me out."

She was frowning indignantly at him and not even his cute last sentence managed to bring a smile back on her face. "I can't believe you're doing this to me!"

Monica's hair was tied up in a ponytail, which accentuated the meekness of her Gaelic features even more. Her sweet brown eyes staring at him and the way she became so adorably cute whenever she was mad were certainly difficult to resist. But he had to; his reputation as a good cook was in check and he had to save that lunch no matter what.

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, and trying his best serious face, he stared back at her. "What I'm doing is redistributing the tasks here in the kitchen, as I have been cooking a few more centuries than you!"

That statement was the final straw. "You're belittling my abilities!"

"That's not true. You have uncountable abilities, angel, and I love all of them." He replied, with a tender smile.

But Monica's mood had definitely been ruined. She removed the apron she had been wearing so far and tossed it over a nearby chair. "You can keep the kitchen. It's all yours!"

Then she left, leaving an amused Andrew behind.

X

"... dinner was delicious! I never thought George and I would be blessed in so many ways in our life..." Mrs Garnet said, sitting at the table with her family and the two angels that had helped her and her husband, who immediately agreed.

"My wife is right. And we are very honoured that you're here with us and more honoured that you made us all this..."

"We don't know how to thank you..." she concluded, her eyes filled with emotion.

Monica and Andrew smiled at the couple and their daughter. A couple of hours after they had an argument at the kitchen, the Garnets' lunch had been "saved" due to Andrew's great cooking ability. Besides this, Monica decided to set and decorate the dinning table and truth to be told she did an impeccable job. But the Irish angel was still upset with her beloved angel of death and was hardly speaking with him.

"You don't have to thank us, Mr Garnet," she said, softly, "You two have a loving Father and that's Him you should thank to."

"Monica is right. And I can tell you that He is very happy right now..."

"Oh, but we've already said our prayers of thanks!" The man spoke.

"And we said an extra prayer thanking for your presence here... we don't think we could have been more blessed." The woman added.

Her eighteen-year old daughter Carrie to look at the friendly couple who had been helping her parents, "You two seem to be such good people... I don't understand why you have to go."

"It's time to move on, Carrie. We have to." Monica replied, and the girl let out a frustrated sigh.

"But you could stay here, working with us..."

Andrew smiled and nodded his head. "We're sure that you'll all be fine and eventually will find two good assistants."

"But you and Monica are so nice..."

"Yes, they are very good souls, Carrie. But they'll have to follow another way... help other people the same way they helped us," her mother gently interrupted.

"And later on we'll tell you more about our kind couple of assistants." Mr Garnet added, smiling at the two angels who were sitting at the table, and who had revealed their true nature on that same day.

Some time later, though, Monica and Andrew had to say goodbye to their assignments and left the small town in Tess' car, heading to the cabin where they would meet the old supervisor and friend, and especially their cute little daughter, Angela. The night had fallen earlier as a thunderstorm was beginning to form in the horizon, and the two angels in human form had a long way ahead before arriving at the cabin.