PARTs ONE & two

Part one

The huge shopping center was crowded with people walking along the corridors, searching for presents for their beloved ones on that busy week. Christmas shopping was more intense as the special day got closer and now, only two days before Christmas eve, it seemed that there wasn’t enough space for everybody inside the shops. Children were, of course, the most excited ones not only with the presents they would receive but also with the beautiful displays, so full of colour and light that made their little eyes spark with fascination.

What those people and children couldn’t see were the three angels standing in one of the biggest and coloured shop displays in that shopping center. While Tess, Monica and Andrew watched the passers-by, a closer look revealed that children were not the only ones enchanted with the Christmas decoration: the beautiful young angel, with auburn hair and a cheerful smile, also looked at her surroundings with the innocent excitement of the little ones. The miniature of a ski station, with cable cars going up and down the mountain all covered with snow and the many little houses on its base, with lots of small lights shining inside of them, had definitely conquered her heart and she imagined how it would look like inside the cabin where they used to spend their days off.

Monica loved that time of the year and couldn’t wait to spend that very special night with her beloved friends (and the cheerful puppy dog who had been left in the cabin for ‘security reasons’, as the Irish angel said).

“I’m always happy when I’m working but the years pass and I can’t remember a time when I’m happier other than Christmas time!” Monica exclaimed, with a pleased expression on her face and now looking at her two beloved friends. Also smiling, Andrew nodded his head as she kept on talking, “everything is so magic, so bright, so colourful, so... so...”

“Crowded!” the oldest angel interrupted, frowning again when a woman in a hurry to enter the next shop bumped into an old lady. It was then that Monica realised her dear supervisor wasn’t in her best mood. She and Andrew exchanged a quick glance and looked at Tess, who frowned every time someone in a hurry passed along the corridor running to the next shop, eager to buy more.

“Oh... well, yes, I believe that people are pretty busy trying to find a special gift for their loved ones...” the blond angel spoke, in an attempt to cheer Tess up.

“Well, can’t they walk slower? The shops aren’t going to run away and shut their doors in five minutes! Besides, most of them are buying useless things and have no idea why they’re doing it! I don’t know what happens to the human beings at this time of the year, it seems that they are moved by some unconscious desire to spend more and more money and totally forget what they’re celebrating!” Tess grumbled, looking at their surrounds with disapproval.

Monica pondered about her words and nodded her head a bit pensive, “Hum... well, I think you’re right, Tess. They do seem a wee bit overexcited with the presents issue and all but this is the time when miracles happen, you know, and... we wouldn’t have a job if all the human beings were perfect and didn’t need to be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas, don’t you think so?”

While Andrew chuckled, proud to hear his beloved friend’s words, Tess stared at her dear charge with her eyebrows raised and suddenly forgetting about the crowd around them, “When on Earth did you get so wise, Miss Wings?”

“Oh well, I have two wonderful friends, ya know, who I happen to love very much and they always teach me how to be a better angel!” she replied, happy to finally see something that resembled a smile on Tess’ face.

Highly amused, Andrew bent his head and whispered, “She won, Tess!”

The oldest angel stared at him and her feeble smile disappeared, “We’re not here for a competition, mister! And since Miss Wings here has mentioned ‘our job’, let’s focus on our jobs then!”

“Is our next assignment going to be here, Tess?” Monica wanted to know, still marvelled at the surroundings.

“Yes.”

“That’s a lovely place to work at!”

“Yes... I have to agree it’s beautiful...” the supervisor spoke, although less enthusiastically than her dear charge.

“One thing is for sure: kids must love coming in here! It’s the most famous toy shop in this region!” Andrew added, also finding the decoration very beautiful.

“They do. After all the decoration helps to attract more customers.” The supervisor pointed at a small and very beautiful house placed at the centre of the shop. Near the house, there was a mountain of letters. “Can you see that?

Monica’s smile grew wider when she saw the little cabin, “It’s Santa’s house!”

“And are those letters really true?” Andrew wanted to know.

“Yes, they were all written by lots and lots of children who live in this and in the other towns nearby. The owner of this toy shop allows “Santa” to ‘install’ his workshop here so that he can organise and read those letters. All of them get a souvenir from Santa and some of them will be chosen to receive a special present.”

“Oh but that’s a lovely idea! This man must be a wonderful person!” the Irish angel spoke, happy to hear that. But Tess’ face remained a not very enthusiastic one, “Well... we should not mix generosity with marketing strategy...”

Andrew frowned a little and looked at her with a questioning face, “Tess, is it my impression or you don’t sound very happy about this assignment?”

“I’m afraid Andrew is right, Tess. I can sense some sort of... crankiness...”

The oldest angel turned her eyes to her dearest friends again, “Well, if there wasn’t something wrong, then we wouldn’t be here, right?” she asked, matter-of-factly.

“Hum... yes, you’re right...” Monica agreed, not wanting to contradict her supervisor. “And I’m happy to know that our assignment will be here at this lovely shop.”

“Well... yes, your assignment will be here, Miss Wings.”

Somewhat worried, Monica turned her eyes from the shining ornaments to look at her dearest friends, “My assignment? You mean... You won’t be working with me here?”

“No...” she replied, somewhat reluctantly to leave her ‘angel girl’ there. “Santa will need someone to help him organise and read all those letters and that someone will be you.”

“But... what about you two?” the sad look in her soft brown eyes spoke millions of words and went immediately to the angels’ hearts.

“Well... I’m... I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until you finish your assignment, baby...” Tess spoke, revealing the reason for her cranky mood. Andrew frowned again, not pleased at all with the idea of staying away from the warm-hearted friend. He took Monica’s hand and squeezed it, “Are you sure that they don’t need me, Tess?”

“Do you think I’m getting old or something, mister?” she replied, now visibly upset with that question.

“It’s alright...” Monica spoke, resignedly, “Is Santa’s my assignment then?”

“Your assignment is to stay here doing your job as Santa’s helper, selecting the children’s letters, checking their addresses and their wishes.”

Monica and Andrew exchanged a sad glance, not happy at all to be apart from each other and from Tess. He gently caressed her hair and gave her a reassuring look, “You’ll do great, angel!”

PART 2

Monica spent the following days paying close attention to ‘Santa’ while she did her job as his assistant. He was a talkative old man, with a great sense of humour and really sweet and considerate to children. Initially, the Irish angel thought that she was there because of him, but the more she watched him interact with the kids, the more she wondered what could be wrong with that old gentleman.

“Oh boy! What a morning!” he exclaimed, as the little house was closed for lunch. Monica smiled and turned her eyes from the hundreds of letters to look at that chubby old man, with rosy cheeks and a broad smile. “Yes, the children always have a great time with Santa, don’t they?” she asked, studying every little reaction of him.

“Oh yes, they’re quite something, aren’t they?”

“But you do seem to have a way with them!”

“Yes, it’s true, I do! I got married to... erm... ‘Mrs Santa’ 40 years ago, you know, and we had four of them!” he explained, with evident contentment, “And these four have already given me a few grandchildren themselves! We’ll all be together on Christmas Eve!”

The little angel's smile grew wider as she heard that. “It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with all your family together!”

“It sure is, Monica. We always get together and always have a great time. Oh, of course, after I make all the deliveries!” he winked at her, causing the young angel to let out a small giggle, “And I treasure those moments, you know. There are people who are very lonely and don’t have anybody to spend the Christmas night with.” Monica realised that he was a bit it sad but it was only for a moment. “I’m sure you too will spend Christmas with your family, right?”

The Irish angel smiled remembering her two beloved friends, who were indeed her family, “Oh yes, I hope I can stay together with the ones who are like a family to me... I do have a wonderful Father, who gave me two wonderful friends. Andrew is always by my side, to reassure me and to give me confidence whenever I feel lost and lonely." The man noticed as she blushed a little and smiled, "He is like my second protector, you know. And, well, although I don’t have a mother, I have Tess in my life, and I love her as if she was a real mother. She means the world to me!”

“It’s good to hear it, young lady! And from the spark in your eyes, I can see these two, your dear Andrew and your dear Tess, they love you very much! Now, if you excuse me, I’ll change these clothes and put my ‘disguise’ to have lunch, I’m starving!”

He left Monica alone, still wondering what her assignment was. It was then that she heard a dear voice right next to her, “You mean the world to me too, baby!”

Tess was looking at her dear charge in a motherlish way, full of affection and Monica smiled broadly to see her dear supervisor, “Oh Tess, it’s so good to see you!”

“It’s good to see you too, angel girl. How are things going here?”

“Everything seems to be going very well... In fact, too well... Tess, I can’t see where I’m necessary here... Our ‘Santa’ seems to be a very happy and kind old man, I don’t see any problem with him...”

“And who told you there was a problem with him?” Tess raised her eyebrows and stared at Monica with a stern look.

“Oh, well, I thought...”

“Your assignment is to organise all the letters addressed to Santa Claus, Miss Wings!”

Monica was going to say something else but instead, she let out a resigned sight and, with a slight smile, nodded “Yes, ma’am!”

“Good! And... I also came here to tell you that there’s a great possibility that we can share Christmas together; you, Andrew and me!”

The younger angel’s face lit up when she heard that. “Oh, that’s wonderful news, Tess! Oh Father, thank You so much!” she exclaimed, first looking at the supervisor and then at the sky, through a nearby window.

“Yes, it sure is, baby. And of course, deep inside, I knew that He wouldn’t keep us apart on such a special day!”

“Yes. But... you said that there’s a great possibility...”

“Well... you have to finish your assignment first. Then you can go to the cabin with Andrew and me.”

“I’ll accomplish this assignment, you’ll see! Whatever it is that the Father wants me to see, I’ll see it!”

x

A few more days went by and, as much as Monica worked and tried to find out something – anything, about Santa and everybody else who worked with her, apparently there was nothing wrong with them.

Finally, it was Christmas Eve and by the end of the afternoon, the store closed the doors and everybody who worked there went to their homes, to celebrate the special night together with their families. The mall also started to close the doors when a man, with blond hair and green eyes, parked a red Cadillac outside. Andrew explained that he had come to pick up a friend who worked as Santa’s helper (and who started to become quite famous due to her cheerful and talkative manners), and managed to enter.

But when he arrived at the deserted store, he found Monica sitting on a chair, alone, with a paper in her hands and crying. And as soon as he saw his dearest friend so miserable, Andrew frowned and hurried towards her – his caring heart already filled with worry and anguish to imagine the reason for her tears.

“Monica? Angel, what happened? Why are you crying?” he asked, kneeling right in front of her and taking her hand, his green eyes desperately searching for hers.

“Oh, Andrew... something terrible happened...”

“What.. what happened, angel? What are you doing here all alone and crying?”

“I was closing Santa’s house and everybody else had left, including ‘Santa’ himself, when I found a letter forgotten under that mat.

Hearing that, Andrew heaved a sigh of relief – lots of things, much more terrible than what she had just said, came to his mind in just a few seconds. “Oh, Monica... I’m sure that when they reopen the shop, the child who wrote this letter will receive a gift too...”

“That may be too late...” she replied, tears still falling from her eyes. The blond angel sighed deeply, always with the extra amount of patience when dealing with his dearest friend. He pulled another chair and sat down right in front of her. Then he reached out and gently brushed away a few tears from her cheeks, “Please, don’t cry, baby. I can't see you crying. Tell me what happened exactly, maybe I can help...”

She took a deep breath and handed him the paper that was in her hands. It was one of the many letters written to Santa and Andrew soon recognised a child’s handwriting in it. “This is the letter that was forgotten. I was organising everything, so that the shop could send this child a wee present, as you said. But something in it called my attention...” then, Monica showed him the envelope where the letter was in: on it, there was a drawing, also made by a child, of a house with a candle lit up by the window, “This drawing, Andrew, represents a Christmas tradition in my beloved Ireland, you know...”

“That’s why you decided to open it?”

“Yes... I know I shouldn’t but... But I thought that maybe due to my love for Ireland, I could help the person who sent it...”

“May I read it?”

Shedding fresh tears, she nodded, “Yes...”

Before he started reading, the blond angel reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, and even after he started to read their hands remained conjoined.

The handwriting was irregular and the letter had been written in pencil, on a sheet of a school notebook.

Dear Santa,

My name is Matthew and I’m 8. I have a little sister too, her name is Mary and she’s 6. These days haven’t been easy for my family and me. We don’t have much money and our Christmas is not gonna be fancy either. But that’s ok. Mom says the most important is that we’re all together and she’s right.

I love my mom and dad and my little sister, I even take care of her cause mom is a bit busy at the moment. Something bad happened: my dad is ill and I heard mom saying that he needs a new kidney. She said his own kidneys don’t work anymore and that if he doesn’t get one soon he may get even worse than he is. He’s in hospital now and we don’t get to see him very often. Mom takes Mary and me there but the doctors don’t let us stay for a long time.

I guess a kidney must be expensive or maybe difficult to find cause she also said that they’re still looking for one. Well, as you’re Santa, I thought that maybe you could find one because you can travel all around the world in your sleigh. If you can find it, please leave it in our fireplace on Christmas night? That’s the present I’d like for Christmas.

Oh, and if you have some time, please, bring a doll to Mary? We don’t have much money to buy toys cuz mom has gotta buy a lot of medicines.

Well, that’s all. I hope you have a Marry Christmas.

Love,

Matthew.

After Andrew had finished to read, he too was deeply moved with the content of the letter. “Dear Father...”

“I cannot stop imagining how hard it’s been for this wee boy and his family, Andrew. It’s all so sad that...”

“...that you think we should do something about it.” He completed her sentence and she nodded her head, “Yes... I may not bring him a kidney but now that the store is closed and ‘Santa’ isn’t here anymore, maybe this family could be visited by an angel and hear some words of encouragement and know that God is with them at this difficult moment...”

He nodded his head emphatically, “I agree! We should and we’re going to do this!”

Monica started at him with a mix of gratitude and worry, “Andrew... I... I don’t want to put you in any trouble because of me, I guess I’ve found out what my assignment is and...”

“... and now that you’ve found it, I’m offering you a little help, angel. Besides, I’m in my free time and I came here to pick you up and take you to the cabin, but Tess wouldn’t mind if we got there a few minutes later. It’s for a good cause after all!”

Shedding some more tears, Monica wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly, “Thank you...”

“You’re more than welcome, angel...” he replied, with a slight smile on his face and also holding her tightly. In his arms, a sensitive and warm-hearted creature, so kind and generous, so delicate and full of emotions that sometimes he felt undeserving to have her love. But one thing was for sure: he loved her dearly, amazingly much, and so deep that there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for that sweet little angel, who had left a permanent imprint in his heart. Anything.

Gently, he pulled away and lay a hand against her cheek, caressing her moistened pretty face. “But now I want you to stop crying and stay calm. And I also want to see a smile back on this pretty face of yours, are we understood?” he asked, frowning and with a mock stern tone in his voice, which was enough to make a shy smile appear on her face.

“Yes...”

“Good. The only tears I allow you to shed are happy tears..."

She eyed him with gratitude and much love. "You're always responsible for those ones..." Andrew leaned over and brushed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I made a promise on this." He said, and never letting go of her hand, he turned his eyes to the letter. "And now the first thing to do is find out where Matthew and Mary Smith live...” he looked at the coloured envelope, but besides the children’s names, there was only the name of a town not far from where they were – no street, no house.

“We need more specific details...” Monica spoke, a bit disappointed.

“Well, we sure have reduced the possibilities anyway. Now what we have to do is check out the telephone list and see how many Smiths live in this city...” the blond angel said.

“Which must be many...” she added, still a bit worriedly.

But before his dearest friend was sad again, he stood up and gently helped her up, “So, the sooner we get there, the sooner we’ll find them!”

Monica looked at their conjoined hands and threw him a grateful broad smile that went straight to his heart. And, before the two angels left the shop in search for the children, Andrew left a few dollars on the counter next to the cashier, and picked up two presents from a shelf. “I guess they’ll like them too!”