Episode 53 - A special dinner

The gentle morning sunrays shone through the windows in the living room and made their way up to the fluffy carpet spread on the center of the room. A small stuffed turtle was lying over the caramel rug but a pair of chubby little hands soon grabbed the toy and placed it together with a pretty ladybird. Next to them, there was a smiling caterpillar and a very friendly little frog. A baby’s small giggle filled the silent living room, and anyone who saw the sparkle in the little girl’s green eyes and her joyful smile would certainly be enchanted with so much beauty and innocence. Little Angela was sitting on the white rug and had been playing with her favourite toys all by herself for the last couple of minutes, but she could hear her parents’ voice coming from the kitchen, just a few steps away from her.

But seconds later, while the angel was still contemplating how she had organised her little friends, a loud laughter reached her ears and on the following instant she saw with eyes wide open in curiosity and amusement as her mommy left the kitchen in a rush and still laughing out loud with her equally laughing daddy running right after her.

“You need to learn it’s not nice to put pepper inside someone else’s sandwich, ‘mrs’!” Andrew spoke, and the tone of voice, as well as the expression on his face, were a mock angry one. Monica let out an excited squeal when he grabbed her by the waist and gently knocked her on the sofa, where he tickled her unmercifully.

“Oh!.... Andrew!... You... You shouldn’t!... This... this is too ticklish!” she pleaded, barely able to speak as her eyes were soon filled with tears for so much laughing. “S-Stop... please! Stop!”

“Well, I got the pepper you got the tickling, angel!” The blond angel kept on with his sweet punishment plan and all that excitement ended up having a funnier effect: Angela watched her parents and started giggling too, clapping her little hands together as if saying that she was enjoying the “show.”

And at that exact moment, another angel materialised herself in the living room, with her back turned from the sofa.

“Oh, please tell me I didn’t get here at the wrong time!” Tess spoke, covering her eyes and still hearing Monica and Andrew’s excited cries.

He stopped tickling his beloved angel girl and they exchanged an amused glance at the supervisor’s words. But before they could say something else, a sweet sound made the oldest angel uncover her eyes and smile.

“-tie Tess!”

“Oh, my sweet little angel girl! Come here with auntie Tess!” she stooped down to pick Angela in her arms. “Hello, baby, how is my cute angel baby doing, huh?” The smile on the baby girl’s face melted her heart, as Andrew helped Monica up from the sofa.

“She’s always excited to receive auntie Tess’ visit, you know?” The Irish angel spoke, she and Andrew standing side by side with their dear friend.

Tess turned to each of them but now with a stern look on her face instead of a smile. “Well, it’s good to have contact with more composted angels who manage to keep a firm, serious attitude while on assignment on Earth!”

The way she spoke nearly made them start laughing again, but they unsuccessfully managed to keep a straight face. “Well, our wee one is going to spend the entire day with you, and I think there isn’t a better angel in all realm to teach her!”

“Not to mention that today especially she’ll have contact with the elders! Imagine the amount of precious teachings she’ll receive!”

The supervisor nodded her head at hearing their words. “Exactly!” And then she turned to the little one, who kept on eyeing the three grown up angels with curiosity and some amusement. “Clara, Dottie, Ruth... They’ll all be envious that I’m in charge of educating our Father’s special little angel here! And we’ll have a terrific time, baby, auntie Tess promises you!”

Monica and Andrew exchanged another amused glance and watched as the toys on the carpet were now inside the big bag that had magically appeared on Tess’ shoulder.

The Irish angel gave a step forward and tenderly cupped Angela’s face with both hands. “Oh, wee Angela... I hope you have fun with auntie Tess and the others!” She kissed her daughter’s rosy cheeks and rubbed the tip of her nose with hers, causing the baby to giggle again. “God bless you, sweetheart!”

When she stepped away, it was Andrew who caressed Angela’s soft auburn hair with his hand. “Mommy and daddy will be right here waiting for you, my little angel!” He kissed the top of her head and, smiling at her own smile, he added. “Take good care of auntie Tess and the others!”

The oldest angel frowned at that comment and gave him another stern look. “Well, I think her parents could learn from her about not making a mess in their earthly homes!

Laughing, the blond angel inched closer and kissed the supervisor’s cheek. “We love you too, Tess!”

“Andrew is right,” Monica spoke, wrapping an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “and you can tell the others that you are Angela’s grandma!”

That remark was enough to make Tess’ heart soften and send away her usual grouchiness. “I love you two very much, babies.” She said, eying them with tenderness and a motherly look.

They bid each other farewell and on the following second, supervisor and angel baby had disappeared. It was then that Andrew wrapped his arm around Monica’s shoulders and brought her closer for a loving embrace, which she returned with the same affection. “When do you have to leave?” She asked, aware that on that day their small temporary home would take a bigger dimension as she would be all alone there.

“I’m afraid right now, angel...” he kissed her temple.

Monica rested her head against his chest for a few moments, sighing deeply as she heard his steady heartbeats. “I confess that I’m enjoying staying on Earth and experiencing a wee bit more of human beings’ way of life... but I miss you already...”

Andrew nodded his head. “I feel the same thing, baby. But this assignment is almost at the end and I believe it’ll be a happy ending.” He pulled away and gently grabbed her face with both hands. “And I’ll be back for you in the evening!”

A slight smile graced her face and she leaned on his touch. “It’ll be the happiest time of the day.”

She was looking at him with so much tenderness and so much love that he wished time would freeze so that that moment lasted for as much as they could enjoy it. Andrew crossed the small distance between them and a captured her lips with a sweet and tender kiss, which lasted for a small eternity. Her arms were soon wrapped around his neck, while his hands entangled in her long auburn hair and settled on the back of her neck, so he could deepen the kiss a bit more. Smaller kisses, just as sweet as the first one, followed and then Monica threw herself in his arms.

“I’ll be waiting for you like a good human wife should be!” She spoke, with a slight smile, causing him to chuckle.

“As much as I love fulfilling the Father’s work, I can’t wait to be back home to beautiful wife!” He kissed the top of her head, and then pulled away to look inside her sparkling brown eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too!”

Andrew captured her lips once again and during that loving kiss, Andrew’s form changed from human to angelic and faded slowly. A second later, Monica was alone in their living room. Without opening her eyes, she placed her hand against her mouth and smiled, still enjoying the feeling of the blond angel’s lips on hers. “Oh, Andrew... my sweet Andrew...” she let out a small sigh, still thinking of his loving touch, when suddenly an idea crossed her mind. When Monica opened her eyes again, they were beaming and a broad smile now graced her face.

“You’re going to have a surprise when you come back!” She exclaimed, and left to the kitchen singing an out of tune Irish song.

X

It was past 5 o’clock when Monica put the last ingredient inside a big casserole: a portion of mushrooms, and watched as it merged inside the pan, together with the other components that would later become the main dish of a romantic dinner. As soon as she had the idea to cook something special for Andrew, the Irish angel rushed to the nearest supermarket to buy all the necessary material for that. When she arrived, Monica placed the ingredients over the small board in the kitchen and first she started to prepare the decoration.

She swept the small dining room and changed the dishcloth to a more beautiful one: white laced, with lovely patterns on its board. The dishes and the cutlery were neatly arranged and two elegant candles would be lit along with the soft light coming from a nearby lamp. Then, it was time to select her clothes: nothing too sophisticated, after all they were in their temporary home. But Monica knew how much Andrew enjoyed her wearing delicate and beautiful dresses, and as it was a warm night, she decided to pick a sleeveless model, with a v-neck that would allow the small gold angel pendant on her necklace to glow over her fair complexion.

Monica also decided to change the curtains, sheets and pillows in their bedroom, and ended up changing the ones in Angela’s room too, despite the fact that the little girl would spend the night with Tess and would only be back on the following morning. Pleased with her accomplishments, she had a quick lunch and finally started to work on their lunch, using a recipe that she had seen in the newspaper the other day. The Irish angel decided to keep it with her and put it into practice in the future. That was the great opportunity.

Always singing, she peeled the potatoes and the onions, and sliced them – not aware to the fact that some slices were visibly bigger than others. Then, she placed them in a huge casserole with boiling water together with the portobella mushrooms that were already there. Then, she turned her attention to the chicken breasts that were ready to go into the oven. But re-reading the recipe, the angel frowned with slight concern over a small detail: “salt, pepper and paprika to the taste.”

She bit her lip and considered the fact that, contrary to her, Andrew wasn’t very keen on spicy foods. A tea spoon of each condiment would do, and if it was necessary, she could add some more later on. The next step was to pre-heat the oven to cook the chicken and, not knowing for how long it should be done, she decided to leave it on for 15 minutes, not to run the risk of them getting raw food.

Then, she placed the tray filled with butter and the chicken breasts inside it, and as the other ingredients would also take some time to cook, she decided to go and take a shower in this meantime.

x

20 minutes later...

When Andrew left the elevator, he had the slight sensation to smell something burning in the corridor. He frowned with concern: it’d been a long time since cooking attempts without his presence had happened whenever he and his sweet Monica were on Earth, and he wondered if they had any neighbour with the same “culinary abilities.” But when the blond angel opened the apartment door, he soon realised that no neighbour could have started a fire in his own kitchen.

“Monica!” he shouted, rushing to the kitchen as he saw the back smoke coming out of the door. Relief filled his heart as he saw she wasn’t there, despite the fact that everything indicated that she was the author of that disaster: a casserole over the stove now held burned potatoes, mushrooms and onions. And their stove held black chicken breasts. He quickly turned off the fire and grabbed a silicon glove to take the pan and throw in the sink, opening the faucet a second later. Then, Andrew also turned off the oven fire and opened it up: the smell of burned food became stronger and thinking about what would have happened if he hadn’t arrived, he called the Irish angel once again. “Monica!”

“Andrew?”

Since she had entered the bedroom, Monica had been singing and at the moment she heard Andrew’s urgent voice, she had her hair filled with shampoo. Quickly, she washed it off and, wrapping herself with a towel, she came out of the bathroom dripping wet and walked up to the kitchen. It took her a split second to find out what had happened – again.

“Andrew...” she said, and then looked at work all ruined over the sink. “My dinner...”

“Angel, what happened here?” He wanted to know, although he could imagine the latest events.

She kept staring at the devastation scenery with a miserable look in her eyes. “I... I don’t know! I was preparing us a special dinner but... but...” It nearly broke his heart when he saw the tears threatening to fall from her eyes at any moment. “I promise I followed all the instructions! I promise, Andrew!”

With patience, he gently placed his hands over her wet shoulders. “Yes...  I know... Please, calm down, angel. I know you didn’t meant it.” He himself was calmer now that nothing bad had happened to Monica.

“I didn’t! Can’t I manage to cook things right all by myself at least once in all these centuries, Andrew?”

He had to struggle not to laugh at her words. “Oh, angel... I guess you didn’t have much opportunity to do it...” he started, but his words died in his mouth when he saw her crying face.

“And when I do I get everything wrong...” she said, and left the kitchen towards their bedroom.

Andrew ran a hand over his blond hair and let out a sigh. Hadn’t he arrived at the right time, his sweet valentine would have probably gotten hurt trying to fix the mess she had accidentally caused. He was going after her when a sudden knock on the door made him take a different direction.

“Yes, Mrs Madigan?” He opened up the door and saw the friendly old lady that lived in the apartment opposite to theirs.

“I’m sorry to bother, Andrew, but I wonder if there is something burning in there...” She said, trying to look over his shoulder as to get a better idea of what had happened. “I came to see if everything is alright with Monica and little Angela...”

“Oh, yes, everything is fine. You see... Angela isn’t here today and... Monica and I had a little problem in the kitchen but we’ve managed to solve it...”

“Ah, I see... A ‘little problem’ in the kitchen!” the old woman exclaimed, and with a smile, she lowered her voice. “Young man, take my advice: let the ladies do the cooking! I’m sure you had all the good intentions in this world, but Monica is the one who should be in charge of the meals! Men... well, they should take care of things like fixing and repairing... But not the kitchen... Leave it to the girls!”

The blond angel raised his eyebrows, not believing what he was listening and at the same time finding that situation rather funny. “Okay... I’ll take that in mind, Mrs Madigan. Now if you excuse me, I still have to fix things here...”

“Oh, yes, of course! You’re such a good husband! No wonder you raised up such a beautiful family!”

“Thanks, Mrs Madigan!” he smiled, “Have a good night!”

“Good night, son. Oh, and please tell Monica that tomorrow is my grandson’s birthday and we’ll have a small cake for him at 7! You’re all invited!”

“Thanks a lot!”

As the old woman went away, he closed the door behind him, still chuckling at that situation. Andrew found Monica in their bedroom, still with the towel wrapped up around her body. The wardrobe door was open and she was searching for her usual “home” clothes while the dress she had especially selected to wear that night was still over the bed.

“Angel...”

“I bet the neighbours already know that I shouldn’t be left alone in the kitchen...” she said, with an adorable pout that nearly made Andrew laugh. But he knew better. Andrew walked up to his beautiful angel and gently lay both hands over her bare shoulders. “Baby, it’s okay...”

“It’s not...” She let out a sigh and gave up looking for her clothes. “Why can’t I learn something so simple, Andrew? All I wanted was to prepare you something special, a special dinner, but I couldn’t and because of my inability to cook, and I cannot believe that during my entire existence I wasn’t able to do it!”

“Oh, Monica... Please, come here...” He closed the wardrobe door and gently made her sit at the edge of their bed. Then, he took a seat next to her and kissed her cheek. “Angel, I understand you’re upset.”

“I am!”

“But I’m also thankful that you’re not hurt, and this could have happened.”

She bit her lower lip and finally gave in to his embrace, leaning against his side and resting her head over his shoulder. “I suppose you are right...”

“As for the dinner you were preparing, I know you made it with all your heart, baby, and this is what matters. What is more, it’s alright with me if we eat homemade food, a sophisticated dish or a sandwich at a small café by the road.” He cupped her chin up and made her look at him: she was so pretty with the wet hair framing her lovely Gaelic features that he couldn’t resist and placed a small tender kiss against her lips. Then, he stroked her cheek and kept on talking. “What matters, angel, is that you’d be with me. How many times have we gone through separate ways since the day we’ve met? All I could think of then, and all I can think of when we are apart now is the moment we’re together again.”

“I understand... I miss you so much when you’re away...” she said, feeling her sadness fading away as he wrapped his arms around her small shoulders.

“So you know how grateful I am with the opportunity to stay here on Earth with you and Angela. Nothing in this world would make me feel more blessed.”

Monica’s eyes were looking at an invisible point on the floor as she spoke again. “Every day I say a prayer of thanks for having you with us, Andrew... But... Well... I’m still sorry my special dinner didn’t work...” She gazed up at him again and he could see that she was still a little frustrated, but her irritation at her own self was over. “I even picked a new dress for the occasion...”

Still serious, Andrew cleared his throat and looked down at her. “Angel... That dress wouldn’t have the same effect that this towel is having right now...”

That comment finally brought an amused smile back to her lips and she raised her eyebrows slightly blushed. “Andrew!” She exclaimed, her Irish lilt was like music to his ears.

His lips curved in a crooked smile. “You look absolutely stunning in it!”

Monica was going to say something, but the words died in her mouth and her smile grew wider. “I love you so much!” Her hand caressing his cheek, her sweet perfume and the tenderness in her eyes nearly undid him, and a split second later, Andrew gathered her in his arms and captured her lips in a loving, languid kiss which she welcomed with the same intensity, the same joy and the same love.

He moved one of his hands to the back of her neck, his fingers entangling in her wet hair and holding her head more firmly as he deepened their kiss. Monica let out a small sigh, allowing his strong arm to encircle her waist and hold her tightly against his strong chest.

“I hadn’t planned things this way...” she whispered, as when air became an issue Andrew pulled away and started to place a trail of tiny kisses against her jaw and neck.

“We can order something...” he said, and both spoke at the same time then. “Later!”

“Please tell me Tess won’t get here at the wrong time...” he murmured in reply, before kissing her lips once again, stifling her giggle.

x

To be continued