EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE

Mrs Adams walked along the sidewalk and stopped right in front of the small church. After a long minute of reflection, the woman gave the first step towards the ancient building and finally entered. The place was quiet and deserted; a boy arranging the altar was the only person who she could see but he soon left. The old lady looked at the altar and, biting her lower lip, she sat down on the front pew and let out a long sigh. “I just hope You accept me back, despite my being so distant from You...” she spoke, almost in a whisper.

“For Him, you were never away, Mrs Adams.” A sudden voice caused her to look at her right: sitting next to her was the same blond angel who had once revealed to her in her daughter’s funeral. The beautiful glow that involved his form didn’t scare her.

“Andrew...”

“I came here with another message from God to you... He says He’s happy to see you here, happy to hear your words to Him. But you should also have in mind that even when you closed your heart to God, He was watching over you, crying with you night after night, holding you in His arms when you thought you couldn’t live anymore...”

“I know... if I’m standing right here, right now, it’s because of Him... now... now that almost two months have passed, I can see how I managed to go on... Each day is a difficult one, Andrew, but...” the expression on her face softened, “... but some weeks ago something happened, you know. I met this little girl and her mother and suddenly I felt the need to help them...”

The blond angel smiled and nodded his head: yes, the Father was indeed wonderful and His plan was always wise. He took the old woman’s hand and looked deep inside her eyes, “Then do it wholeheartedly, Mrs Adams. Transform the pain and sorrow you’re feeling in your heart into kindness towards other people. Do it to honour your daughter; she would be very proud of you.”

Tears were now freely falling from her eyes, “Thank you... And I’m terribly sorry for the harsh, terrible words I told you...”

“We all go through difficult times; I’m an angel but I’m not perfect. And now I guess I can understand how you were feeling. That’s why I can tell you to give nothing less than love to the ones who are near you... You have a loving brother and niece and I know how much you already like this little child and her mother... So, love them without fear; trust their soul to God and be sure that, someday, you and your beloved daughter Dana will be together again. God would never keep you two apart forever.”

“Thank you, Andrew... thank you so much... And thank You, God...”

*

“Look mommy, I found more flowers over there!” little Amy spoke, pointing to a spot not far from the bench where her mother was sitting. A month after that terrible nightmare that she had been through, Pamela was restarting her life, now without the constant fear that had been filling her soul.

“Don’t go too far, Amy!” Pamela spoke, but without the same fear as before: they were in the park located in the centre of that small beautiful town, surrounded by green trees and beautiful flowers. There were many other children playing around, being watched by their parents, on that lovely sunny day, with the bluest of the skies.

“Okay...” she replied, and happily walked over up to a tall tree, near of which lots of little daisies grew up. She kneeled on the ground and started to pick the flowers when she heard a familiar voice, with a soothing Irish accent.

“Hullo, Amy!”

The girl raised her head and a broad smile appeared on her face, “Monica!”

Barefoot, the Irish angel was wearing a long sleeveless white dress; her hair flung over her shoulders in auburn locks and a beautiful glow involved her form. “I love the flowers! They’re very beautiful!”

“Thanks!”

Monica knelt right in front of her and stroked her cheek, “How are you, huh? I think you’re very happy!”

“Yeah! Mommy and I are gonna live here!”

“Oh really? So you’ll have a new house, right?”

“Yes!”

“Amy, I told you not to go too far...” Pamela had come after her daughter but she stopped speaking when she saw Monica and a smile appeared on her face, “Monica!”

The Irish angel stood up and greeted her, “Hello, Pamela...”

“Oh my goodness, I thought I’d never see you again; I looked for you and Andrew in the hospital but... but you were gone...”

“Yes, we were healing some other place... But we didn’t forget you both, we knew you were in good hands here on Earth...”

“We’ve always been in good hands, Monica. Only now I realise that!” with an expression of gratitude all over her face, the woman came closer to the angel and took her hand, “I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t tell you how grateful I am for having you and Andrew in my life...”

“Don’t thank me, Pamela. Thank God. It was Him who sent us to you when you most needed us...” the angel replied.

“I know He did and I also thanked Him too. But I’m specially grateful that, among all His angels, He sent me you two... If I’m standing right here, with my little daughter, I owe it to you two... I owe it to you, Monica, who had the courage to face your own fears to protect me... Even if you were human, I’d still say you’re an angel from God...”

“I’m happy that the Father picked Andrew and me to protect you both...” she held the woman’s hands, “But you have to make every minute of your life count now, Pamela. Live in the truth and trust your life to God. You had a living proof that He’s watching over you and wee Amy. Don’t let your fears be stronger than your faith; remember Who loves you...”

“I will!” Pamela replied, with gratitude. It was then that little Amy frowned and looked around her, “Where is Andrew?”

A mysterious smile appeared on Monica’s face with that question.

*

Andrew had been sitting on a bench, in that same park, for nearly half an hour. Monica had asked him to meet her there after he had spoken to Mrs Adams and he felt grateful for having such a loving and caring friend, who was there to guide his footsteps at that difficult time. Watching the children playing around and how beautiful the day was, he smiled: the nightmare that had started some months before had finally finished and he could rediscover how wonderful the world that God created could be.

Suddenly, a little girl’s voice took him out of his reverie and caused him to look to over his shoulder: Amy and Monica were walking towards him and, a second later, they were sitting on the bench, right next to him.

“Hey, two beautiful ladies here with me! Today is a really blessed day!” he joked, taking their both hands in his own.

“Amy and I have a message and... a little surprise for you, right Amy?” a smiling Monica replied, winking at the little girl, who nodded her head emphatically. “Yes!”

Then, they both handed the blond angel the small bouquets of flowers they had in their hands. Overwhelmed with tenderness, he took the delicate flowers and smiled at the sweet gesture, exactly what he could expect from that little girl and from that warm hearted angel he knew so well. Little Amy stood on her feet over the bench and brushed a loving kiss on Andrew’s cheek. “We love you!”

“There, I guess wee Amy already delivered everything!” Monica added, smiling broadly and finding his blushing face rather adorable.

With a broad smile, he nodded, “You’re both the most adorable angel girl and little girl I ever met in my whole existence, you know?” he said, kissing their hands.

Smiling, Monica rested her head over his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his own, while little Amy giggled happily to hear that compliment. Andrew leaned to his right and kissed the top of the Irish angel’s head and picked two flowers from his little bouquet: one, he gave to little Amy; and the other, to his dearest friend.

Some time later, the two angels took Amy back to her mother, remaining from a certain distance from where Pamela was and watching as the girl rushed towards her mom. And, sitting right beside Pamela, Mrs Adams looked at the little girl with a slight smile on her face. She also had a little doll in her hands – her present for the adorable child that had come into her life when she herself thought that life didn’t exist anymore.

“Do you believe in angels, Mrs Adams?” Pamela asked her, observing the presence of the two angels who had helped her at the most difficult hour of her existence. The old lady raised her head and also saw the two heavenly beings from a certain distance, “When I denied their existence, they were closer to me than I could’ve ever imagined...” she smiled, “...fortunately I came to realise that in time and then I finally understood that God was always with me, no matter what.”

The younger woman nodded her head with a smile on her face, “Yes... He is always with us...”

*

Hand in hand, Monica and Andrew turned away and started to walk along the green grass, now in their angelic glowing form, invisible to the human eye.

“It’s such a beautiful day!” the little Irish angel exclaimed, after a while, looking around them with a happy sigh and squeezing his hand.

“Yes... there’s much beauty in this world...” Andrew stopped walking and took her other hand, standing face to face with her and looking straight into her bright brown eyes, “...and I’m glad that I have you right here with me to remind me that!” Then, he tenderly stroked her cheek, “You bring much beauty to my world, angel.”

Slightly blushed, she lowered her eyes for a second, only to raise them again and look at his green pools with a sheepish smile playing on her lips, “I don’t know about that, Andrew...”

Chuckling, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then he gently grabbed her face with both hands. “Well, I do... When I look at you, I remember what being an angel really means.”

“That’s not fair. You too have always been an angel to me, Andrew. Protecting me since the very first day we’ve met...” suddenly, her smile disappeared and she frowned a little, “... and I’m always ashamed when I remember the way I treated you then...”

Chuckling even more, the blond angel shook his head, “Oh, Monica... Angel... I found you adorable since the very first moment I lay my eyes on you and now, years later, I can see that I was absolutely right then!” he brushed a kiss on her forehead; his words causing her to blush even more and some tears to fall from in her eyes, “You shouldn’t say those things...”

“Why not?” he wanted to know, wiping away the few tears that rolled down on her cheeks, and finding the expression on her face lovely.

“Because... what you say is so beautiful that... that I don’t know what to tell you next...”

He let out a small laugh and stroked her auburn hair, “You don’t have to. I can feel what’s in your heart, remember?” kissing her temple, the blond angel pulled his weeping friend for a warm embrace, “You don’t just take the truth to the many people who need reassurance and faith; you also take the truth to my heart, Monica. Many years ago, while I was working on an assignment, I read something that, at first, I found a beautiful quote but which only had a greater meaning to me after I met you... [i]Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our own wings have trouble remembering how to fly.[/i]”

Shedding some more tears, she tightened her hold on him, “That’s so beautiful...”

“More than once you did this for me; more than once you were by my side, believing in me when I myself couldn’t believe in this world anymore...”

“And I’ll be by your side whenever you need me, Andrew, I promise!”

It was then that he pulled away and, once again, lay one of his hands over her face, “Then you’ll have to be at my side for the rest of eternity, angel. Not a single day less.”

Shedding some more tears, yet with a lovely smile permanently on her face, she nodded, “I will!”

Andrew placed a tiny kiss on the tip of her nose and, suddenly, they heard a familiar voice right next to them and turned their heads to see Tess walking towards them, “Well, everybody knows that the angel of death needs the no shoes angel! I just hope that they don’t forget about this other old angel here!”

Monica and Andrew exchanged an amused glance and the Irish angel winked at him, “Oh Tess... the no shoes angel loves the angel of death as much as she loves the angel-of-us-all!” Monica wrapped her arm around the supervisor’s arm and kissed her cheek.

“Angel-of-us-all?!” she frowned, not really sure if she liked that new term of endearment.

“The same thing goes for the angel of death!” Andrew added, chuckling at the nickname and at Tess’ face. He too lay a kiss on her cheek and wrapped his arm around hers.

“I love you two so much, ya know?” after hearing a slightly upset bark, she quickly corrected herself, “I mean, you three! You’re my angels, the best part of me!” she said, and the three angels and a very smart little puppy who followed them close, walked away from the park; Monica between the two souls she loved most in the entire universe.

The trio watched as a white dove cooed and flew right across the green trees and then slowly disappeared, making their way back Home.

The end