PARTS 3 AND 4

PART 3 – Cheer up, angel girl!

Monica ate very little on that day and also on the following one. Besides her slight fever, the Irish angel was a bit upset for causing so much trouble to her angelic friends. Not being able to help Tess with an assignment and keeping Andrew stuck in the cabin taking care of her made her feel extremely guilty and somewhat embarrassed.

Sitting on her bed, lying against the pillows, she gazed through the window with a sad and pensive look in her brown eyes: the sun was shining and it was a very beautiful afternoon, which made her sigh and think about the many different things she could be doing at that exact moment. A slight knock on the door took her out of her reverie.

“Angel?” Andrew spoke, poking his head inside the room.

“Hi...” the low tone in her voice wasn’t very enthusiastic and he could detect the melancholy in her eyes. Frowning with concern, the blond angel walked over up to her bed and took her hand, “Monica? Are you alright? Are you in any pain?” he asked, checking her temperature by placing his hand against her cheek.

“I’m... I’m alright, Andrew. I’m just a wee bit...” she sighed deeply again, as she herself didn’t know how to voice what she was feeling inside. Lowering her eyes for a second, Monica started to play with the hem of the blanket, searching for an explanation to her sadness. Andrew waited patiently for the answer to come out of her mouth and a few moments later she spoke again, “It’s such a beautiful day outside and... and then I keep thinking of you and Tess... of the trouble I am causing you both, you know... I’m so sorry, Andrew...”

The blond angel shook his head with disapproval at what she had just said and squeezed her hand with both hands, “Angel, no! You shouldn’t feel like that, Monica, you’re not giving a trouble at all! Once in a while we all need a little help and even an angel needs an angel, you should know that by now! How many times you were my angel? How many times you were there for me, huh?”

“I know... And now I’m also sorry that I upset you by telling you this...” she frowned and lowered her head again but, despite her evident embarrassment, Andrew secretly chuckled, finding the expression on her angelic face rather adorable.

Sighing deeply, he cupped her chin and lifted her head up so that she could look at him again. “I want you to imagine something... Imagine that you and I had never met, that we didn’t know each other...”

Her eyes immediately grew wide with evident fear, as she obviously dreaded to even think of such a terrible thing, “I don’t want to imagine this, Andrew! It’s... it’s too awful!”

“Well, yes, it sure is and I don’t like to think about it either, but if that was true, right now, you’d probably be here all alone, as Tess still would have to handle the assignment by herself.”

He felt her squeezing his hand even tighter, as an immediate reaction to his words. “I see what you mean...”

“So little angel, don’t you ever think you’re a trouble to me or to Tess because the truth is that our existence would be a lot less happy if we didn’t have you by our side – either to laugh out loud or to take care of you when you’re not feeling well.” He gently stroked her cheek and concluded, “And we do it because we love you very, very much!”

With a tearful smile, she nodded her head and looked at him with eyes full of tenderness and affection, “My existence would be less happy if I didn’t have you by my side too, Andrew... Not meeting you is something so terrible that I... I feel my heart filled with anguish just to think of it... I love you very much too...”

With a pleased smile on his handsome face, he pulled her closer for a big, bear hug, “Oh, angel... It can be sunny outside but you know something? You light up my world right here inside this cabin, angel.” he spoke, kissing the side of her head and happy to feel the sudden happiness that his kind words had brought to her heart.

Only a long minute later did he pull away and looked at her meek face again, “And right now you’re coming with me; I think you should get out of this bedroom a little.”

“I have to confess that I was getting a wee bit bored to stay here all day, ya know?”

He nodded and gently tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, “Yes, it’s not fair to keep you trapped in here. Besides, I have a surprise for you!”

The way she tilted her head and looked at him with intrigued sparkling eyes was so adorable that made his heart melt, “A surprise?”

“Yep!” the blond angel took her both hands and helped her on her feet.

“What is it?”

“I told you, it’s a surprise!” he replied, visibly enjoying to play that game and to see the meek smile appearing on her face again.

“But... you’ll tell me what this is, yes?” she was burning with curiosity and he himself couldn’t hold the little secret for longer. Wrapping a supportive arm around her shoulders and holding her hand, he guided her out of her bedroom. “And can I say ‘no’ to you when you give me that look?”

*

When they arrived at the living room, the Irish angel found a TV and a DVD on. “Andrew? May I ask... What’s... what’s all this?” she said, surprised to see the equipment there.

He led her up to the couch and sat down next to her, gently taking her hand, “Well... Although we’re in human form, angels still have some powers, you know... And some help!” he replied, “I realised it’s been a long time we haven’t been to the movies and then I thought about bringing the movies to this cabin, to make it more comfortable for you. And... as I know that you happen to be a big fan of Abbot and Costello I... kind of organised a little festival with them!” he showed her some DVDs where one could read ‘The best of Abbot and Costello’ written on their covers.

“The best of Abbot and Costello! Andrew... I... I... I don’t know what to say...” Once again, Monica felt grateful for having such a loving and wonderful friend right next to him – Andrew was not only taking care of her by giving her the right medicines at the right time and preparing the meals and vitamins so that she could heal faster; he was also doing everything to cheer her up, to send her sadness away.

“Well, you don’t have to say anything, angel. All I want is that you wait right here cause I’ll bring the popcorn, ok?”

The best reward the blond angel could ever get was to see her smile and the spark in her soft brown eyes; her excitement evident on her meek face. “Thank you so much... for being here and for being you...”

That statement was enough to make him blush. “You shouldn’t thank me for that... In fact, I’m the one who should be thanking you, after all, it’s you who make me feel a better angel...” The blond angel kissed her cheek and stood up, “I’ll be right back.”

“Erm... Andrew...” she spoke, before he could move away.

“Yes, angel?”

“I was wondering if... if you could bring some coffee too...”

Rolling his eyes with mock annoyance, he shot her a stern (but totally fake) look, “Alright... but it’s just one cup and not a single drop more!”

Smiling with more contentment, the Irish angel watched as he disappeared through the door heading to the kitchen, from where the delicious smell of the microwave popcorn was coming.

*

With popcorn properly cooked and cups of mocha and chocolate prepared, the two angels settled down in the sofa and started to watch Monica’s favourite actors in action.

And that loving atmosphere finally managed to send away the Irish angel’s slight sorrow and worry for some time. Together with Andrew, she laughed at the innocent and witty jokes and at the comedians’ funny manners. Andrew, for himself, couldn’t help laughing at his dearest friend: she already knew the lines and occasionally would repeated them together with the characters, leaving him to wonder how many times she had watched those films. And the most adorable to him was to see that Monica was having as much fun as if it was the first time she watched them.

When the second movie was over, the blond angel stood up to bring more popcorn and a few minutes later, when he came back to the living room, he found Monica peacefully sleeping in the coach, resting her head over a small pillow. He placed the bawl with their popcorn on the coffee table and knelt in front of her, taking a few strands of hair off her face and stroking her delicate skin. “Well, it seems that I was wrong after all, right? Even convincing me to let you drink 3 cups of mocha, you still feel like taking a nap!” he whispered.

He stood up and carefully placed a warm quilt over the little Irish angel, as it was getting dark already and the temperature was falling quickly. Then, he bent his head and brushed a loving kiss on her cheek.

PART 4 – A rebellious little angel

A few days had passed since Monica caught chickenpox and, despite the rash on her skin, her slight fever seemed to be breaking. Due to this, and also to the fact that she was feeling trapped inside the cabin, the Irish angel had an idea.

“... you have to throw some more food over there, Andrew... See those nests? There are lots of wee birds on those trees!” she spoke, sitting on an armchair placed in the porch and giving instructions to her dearest friend, who was gently persuaded to feed the small birds that inhabited the surroundings and who she had ‘adopted’.

Initially, Monica wanted to do it herself but Andrew forbid her to leave the cabin and, after one of those pleading looks, she managed to at least stay sitting at the porch, with a quilt covering her from her waist down (despite the warm sun that was shining on that morning). And from there the Irish angel could watch her dearest friend holding a pot of bird food and feeding the little animals. The idea didn’t please him very much, but, as usual, he ended up agreeing to do it, knowing that it would make her feel better.

When he finished his ‘assignment’, the blond angel returned to the porch and came closer to her, “Well, mission accomplished!”

“Thank you, Andrew.” Monica replied, with a smile and a grateful expression on her face. “I’m so blessed to have such a loving friend.”

That statement was enough to send away his superficial distress and the look in her soft eyes was such a tender one that he even felt guilty for being slightly bothered with a simple task.

Shaking his head and smiling, he knelt right beside the armchair and took her hand. “I’m the one who should be saying that, you know?”

“Well, I know I’m not perfect, but I try to be the best friend I can; you and Tess deserve it...” she spoke, blushing a little and with a permanent smile.

Laughing, he stood up and brushed a tender kiss her forehead, “You can be sure you’re the best friend an angel could ever have, Monica. And you don’t need to do anything else for it; just be yourself.”

She squeezed his hand and let out a sigh, “I miss wee Joy, you know. The  house seems a bit more silent without her...”

Hearing that confession, Andrew frowned a little worriedly, “You do miss her, right angel?”

“Oh yes... I wish I could hug her tight and kiss her tiny head... But I’m glad she’s not here, you know. God knows what could happen to her if she stood here with me like this... Our baby girl could catch my chickenpox!”

Now the blond angel had to make a lot of effort not to laugh at Monica’s conclusion. “Well... that’s... that’s something to consider...”

Pleased to remember the happy little dog, she leaned on the armchair and contemplated the scenery around them. “Remember when she was born?”

“And how could I ever forget that?”

“She was so tiny, so weak. She almost didn’t survive...”

“But she had an angel taking care of her all the time and whose thousands of qualities include great determination!”

She smiled to hear that compliment and kept on talking, “You know I was the first person she ever saw?”

Andrew’s smile grew wider and he kissed her hand, “No wonder she’s such a happy little creature!”

The Irish angel giggled and looked back at him, “Oh but she’s happy because she has 3 angels who love her very much and take really good care of her!”

“Well, yes, that’s true. And talking about ‘taking good care’...” he stood up and raised his eyebrows, “... don’t you think you should go back to the house now?”

“Oh... well... in fact I thought I could stay here a wee bit more, Andrew and... without this blanket... You see, the sun is warm and I’m feeling alright...” she frowned a little, searching for the right words to tell him the effects of his overprotection, “In fact, it’s a wee bit hot here, you know...”

Andrew shook his head, still reluctant to leave her there, exposed to the weather, “I don’t know, Monica, you had a fever yesterday I don’t want it to come back...”

“Oh, I don’t think it’ll come back, Andrew. To tell you the truth, I guess I’m getting much better, you know...”

The blond angel ran his hand through his hair, not liking the way that conversation was going, feeling that he was about to lose one more battle. “Are you sure you’re not feeling anything? Not even a little indisposition?”

She nodded her head emphatically, “Yes, I promise you!” noticing his evident indecision, she added, “And it’s such a beautiful day; so sunny and warm! I feel so good breathing this pure air of the mountain...”

Sighing deeply, he finally gave in to her pleading look, “Alright... But it’s just a little bit more!”

“Ah, thank you, Andrew!”

“You’re still healing and have to be really careful!”

“But I’m healing faster and that’s because you’re taking a good care of me!” she replied, happy to have his consent. “In fact, I was wondering if, since you let me stay here, we could take a little walk...”

Andrew crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared at her with a stern expression, “Absolutely not!”

But she didn’t give up that easily, “Not even up to that tall tree, where the nests are?”

“Nope!” he quickly replied, decided not to give in even more, no matter how hard it was for him to resist to such a meek pleading face.

Sensing that she was pushing a little too far, Monica sighed and leaned on the armchair, “Okay... I’ll behave myself...”

“That’s exactly what you have to, ‘Miss Wings’!”

He was going inside the cabin to put the bird food back in the kitchen, but Monica spoke again, “Erm... What about the blanket? Can I remove it?”

“Only if you come back to the living room!” his voice was still a stern one, which caused the Irish angel to frown, “You sound like Tess!”

“Well, that’s good to know because you’re not going anywhere from here, except for the living room or your bedroom!”

She gazed at him, trying to hide her amusement to see how serious he wanted to sound.

*

Some time later...

“... and if you look over there you see there are some the new nests; the wee birds were born just a couple of weeks ago.”

Monica and Andrew were walking not far from the cabin, near the trees where new nests had been built and she had her arm wrapped around his own for support.

“In fact, I guess the bird population in this area has increased a bit, ya know?”

Andrew chuckled and looked at her, “Well, maybe it’s because they’ve heard of your free restaurant for birds, came to check it out and decided to stay here as the food is great!”

Giggling, she gazed back at him, “It’s not everyday that I hear a compliment on my food!”

Watching the amusement on her face, he gazed at her “Now that you deliberated disobeyed me by leaving the house for a walk, will you please go back? Or you have any more objections to make?”

“Hum... no... we can go back now!” the Irish angel spoke, having fun with his mock upset face.

“Good! You’ve been quite a rebellious little angel today!”

“But don’t you love me just the same?”

“Well, yes, of course! And what am I supposed to do?”

Giggling, Monica stood on the tip of her toes and placed a tender kiss on his cheek; both angels returning to the cabin afterwards.