PART 2

"Good evening..." she greeted him, highly amused, and not missing how his eyes travelled from her head up to her toes in pure enchantment.

"Good evening..." he finally managed to put words back at his mouth, and then still not having enough from her appearance, he forced himself to look at the triplets, "Hello, children..."

"Do you have candies, please, mister?" Margaret asked, smiling at him with no fear at all. Andrew's presence always caused that impact on the little ones: they were never afraid of him; instead, their affinity was immediate due to his way with children.

"Yes! I sure have!" he said, but before he could go and fetch the candies, a loud thunder echoed through the sky and caused the children to hold each other with fear. The heavy rain fell less than a minute later, and Andrew quickly urged them to enter.

"Wow, you got a lot of candies in here!" Mark exclaimed, his eyes grown at a bowl full of chocolates and other sweets.

"It's true! You got all this for the kids?" Little Mary wanted to know, looking at him with curiosity.

"Well... y-yes..." he managed to say, a little embarrassed and guilty, as he had initially refused that assignment.

Maggie opened up a broad smile at him. "You're our friend then!"

Not managing to hide her smile, Monica gazed at her dear Andrew and tilted her head, exchanging some secret words and causing him to smile back at her and then at the children. "I am. And while you wait for the rain to stop, why don't you guys sit down in the living room. The fireplace will keep you warm."

"Thank you, mister..." They politely replied, and sat down next to each other in one sofa, while the two angels sat together on another couch.

"My name is Andrew. What's yours?"

"I'm Mark, and these are my sisters, Maggie and Mary. And this is our nanny, Monica."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you all!" He said, visibly having fun with that situation, and not managing to keep his eyes away from Monica for more than a minute.

"We were fortunate to find this house on our way, you know, Andrew. Otherwise, we would have no shelter from the rain that's falling down outside." The Irish angel said, looking deep inside his green pools, both angels now aware of their assignment on that unusual night.

"Oh, I see. I'm glad I was here!"

"Yes! But... didn't you see the ghost who lives here, Andrew?" Mary wanted to know.

"A ghost? Hum... no, I don't think there are ghosts around here tonight, Mary."

"Where's your costume?" The other sister asked, in an inquisitive way. "I'm a ballerina. My brother is a lion, sister is a princess and Monica is the good fairy."

Highly amused, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh, the good fairy? Really?"

"Exactly." She replied, enjoying the way he was gazing at her.

"You're the only one who doesn't have a costume... Why? Don't you like Halloween?"

"Well, Mark, actually... I'm not much of a Halloween fan..."

"Why not? My teacher told me it's not really a monsters' celebration... Is she wrong?"

"Well, erm... no, actually, she's right, but-"

"Where does the Halloween come from?"

The avalanche of questions was such that Andrew was lost for words for a moment, and it was his beloved Irish angel who helped him.

"The Halloween started a long time ago, children, in England, in Northern Europe and in my beloved Ireland." She said; the thought of her beloved land causing her eyes to sparkle.

"And it was created to honour the dead people." Andrew added.

"Dead people? Really?"

"Yes, but it's nothing to be afraid of. It was a day created to remember the ones we love and who have already made their way back Home, to stay close to God."

"Ohh!" they exclaimed, paying close attention to what they were being told.

"And October 31^st also set the end of the summer and the end of the year for the Celtics and the beginning of a new one, so they would light up fires and made a celebration at night, and everybody participated in it."

They remained in the cosy living room, sitting in front of the fireplace for almost an hour. Protected from the storm and the cold, the triplets listened to the angels' words intently. When the rain finally started to cease, Andrew and Monica finished their narrative leaving them with an enchanted smile.

"I like this story!" Mary exclaimed, with a cute smile on her face, after listening to the angels' story.

"I used to be afraid of Halloween stories, but now I'm not anymore..." her sister agreed, equally contented.

"Yeah, and I bet nobody knows where the Halloween started at school. I'm gonna tell everybody that I learned everything here with you tomorrow!"

"You see? Everybody is entitled to change their minds!" The Irish angel spoke, to a very surprised Andrew, who couldn't help smiling.

"You know something, Monica? You're right!" he admitted, "You're perfectly right."

"Besides, look at those wee faces whenever you give them a candy. They have so much fun..."

"Yeah, I know... I never thought about it through a child's eyes, but telling you guys the true story of the Halloween sorta helped me out to see there's nothing bad about it." The angel of death said, and then his lips curved into a mischievous smile as he looked back at Monica, "... and I can see it's not only kids who have fun lately..."

"I guess you're right again, you know?" Once again, they exchanged some silent loving words, and she rose to her feet. "Well, children, I guess it's time for us to go now that the rain stopped."

"It's alright. Wonder if mommy and daddy will be home already." The door bell rang at that moment, and they could listen there were more children asking for candies outside, causing Monica to gaze at Andrew with amusement. "I guess it's for you!"

"I'm afraid so..."

He walked with them up to the entrance door, and the Irish angel looked around them with some embarrassment. "Erm... Andrew... I was wondering if you could tell me which way is the number 52 of  Cherry Lane..."

"That way." He quickly informed, pointing at the opposite direction Monica and the children were heading to, and secretly aware that his beloved angel was a bit lost.

"Oh, thank you!"

They bid him farewell and he watched them walk along the streets until the group was no longer visible. Then, with a tender smile upon his face, he turned his eyes to the sky. "I'm so sorry, Father. Please, forgive me... And thank You for the assignment... It was also a lesson."

X

The Harris' car was already parked in front of the house when Monica and the children arrived there. The door quickly opened up and Mrs Harris rushed to hold her kids.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're all fine!" She exclaimed, as her husband also joined them.

"Oh, mom, we are! We got so many candies!" they happily announced.

"I'm sorry, we should be here earlier, Mrs Harris, but the rain stopped us. Thanks to God we found shelter in one of the houses where the children went trick or treating, and waited for the rain to stop there." Monica informed.

"Yeah, there's a guy who lives there, his name's Andrew, and he gave us lots of candies, and he and Monica told us the story of the Halloween. He's our friend now!"

"Then it was really God who placed this man in your way." Mr Harris said, with some amazement.

"I don't think I quite understand it..." Monica said, slightly confused.

"Come with us..."

They entered the house and it didn't take them too long to notice what the storm and the wind had done: the huge tree that grew up in their garden was knocked down and hit exactly the children's room and the master bedroom. If there was anybody home, the pieces of broken glass of the two huge windows, along with the tree branches, would certainly have hurt that family, as their beds were completely covered with pieces of glass.

"We should be here earlier too, I wouldn't mind the thunderstorm as we had a car." Mr Harris said, to a very surprised Monica, "But there was this funny-looking lady at the club..."

"Yes, her name was Tess and somebody accidentally let some sort of red drink fall over her entire dress. I guess it was a mix of wine, raspberry juice and... well, who knows. I ended up helping her to clean it in the ladies' room, and she got a huge stain on her dress." Mrs Harris explained, and then everything became clear to the Irish angel. "When I finished, the rain was ceasing and we could return home. That's when we found it."

X

Monica held each child and bid the family goodbye. It wasn't necessary to reveal herself as an angel of God to them, but she was certain that the incidents of the night would certainly lead them to the conclusion that there was a loving Father watching over them. Pleased that everything had turned out just fine, she walked away from the house and disappeared around a corner.

Some moments later, the doorbell at Andrew's temporary house rang, and when he opened it up he found a smiling Irish angel standing on his doorstep. Not really sure of what to say, but as amused as Andrew, she tilted her head and eyed him with tenderness.

"Trick or treat..."

Her words only amused him even more. Chuckling, he bit his lower lip and gazed at her from head to toes one more time, wondering if he had fallen in love all over again.

"You see... I received many visitors here tonight but none of them were as charming, beautiful and adorable as you..." he said, and then looked deep inside her eyes, "...my pretty 'good fairy'..."

"I guess I earned my treat then!" Her Irish lilt only made her even more precious to him. "And I was wondering if it could be a good cup of double mochalatte!"

Grinning back at her, he offered his hand and she gladly accepted it.

X

"... I like your temporary house, you know..." Monica spoke, minutes later. Holding a big cup of her favourite drink with both hands, she was sitting on the bigger couch, with lots of cushions spread around, and leaning comfortably in Andrew's arms. Contrary to her, he had prepared him some hot chocolate.

Chuckling, he took one more sip of his drink and placed his cup on the coffee table, his other hand permanently stroking her auburn hair. "I have to confess that I learned a lesson today. To see past things in order to do God's work. And from what you've told me, I'm grateful that we both managed to protect that family, using the Halloween celebration."

"Oh, but don't forget Tess!" The Irish angel replied. "I'm only sorry about her stylish dress..."

He let out a small laughter remembering the supervisor's Halloween costume. "Well, she was really... unforgettable." Then, he straightened his body in order to look at his dear angel. "But she wasn't the only one!"

Smiling, she also placed her empty cup on the coffee table and tilted her head, gazing back at him with tenderness and evident love. "Well, I have to confess that I liked it, you know, Andrew!"

The blond angel looked at her fairy gown intently. "Oh, I can see that!" He exclaimed, and then looked back at her, "And... if you ask me... I liked it too..."

"Oh, really?" She spoke, straightening her body and bringing her face closer to his, never breaking their loving gaze.

"Yes..." His green pools travelled from her soft brown eyes to her rosy cheeks and sweet lips, scanning every inch of her meek Gaelic features. Then, he reached up and caressed her face, tenderly and lightly touching her delicate skin. "... matter of fact I was wondering if the good fairy could grant me one wish tonight..."

"And what is your wish, mister angel of death?" she said, leaning on his touch as he cupped her cheek.

"A kiss..." He replied, causing her smile to grow wider.

Hypnotised by his powerful gaze, and gazing back at him with sparkling eyes filled with love, she was the one to gently lay both hands on each side of his handsome face.

"Wish granted..." came the simple answer.

Slowly, their eyes closed and he bent his head down, his warm breath tickling her lips and face, way before she crossed the small distance between them and brushed her lips against his; lightly, as if treasuring the moment. Seconds later, with their hearts beating faster, he was the one who pressed his lips more firmly onto hers, tasting the sweet flavour of her mouth and deepening that sweet caress.

When air became an issue, they pulled away just enough to look at each other faces, even though Andrew continued to lay feather light kisses on her cheeks, nose and lips.

"I love you so much, mister angel of death..." she whispered, smiling and playfully rubbing her nose against his.

"The same goes to you, my sweet angel girl disguised into fairy..." He replied, caressing her face and her hair. "And you know what? It's way too cold for angels and fairies to go out at night..."

"And what do you suggest, then?"

He gently gathered her into his strong arms, cradling her and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Well, happens that the angel of death has got a quite warm and cosy house for a while and I guess you should spend the night here..."

Her tender smile at him made his heart skip a beat with so much love. "I guess I'll accept your suggestion then, mister angel of death!"

Tracing an invisible line along her jaw, he leaned down and kissed her forehead lovingly.

"I love you..."

And then she was silenced by hard lips over hers and he kissed her more firmly and deeper and just as loving as she had done moments earlier.

"I love you..." She murmured in between kisses.

The rain outside started to fall again, and the cold wind soon made everyone in that small town rush to their houses, as one more Halloween night was coming to an end. But inside that cosy little house, the warm fire and the loving atmosphere made it possible for the two angels turned into their human forms to spend a loving and beautiful night.

X

To be continued