PART 10

PART 10

On that day, the angels decided to spend the morning near the campsite, as it was their last day off, and they didn’t want to do any intense physical activity (they had done a lot already!), but just to relax and enjoy their surroundings instead.

“Where’s Monica, Angel boy? It’s awfully quiet in here!…”, Tess asked, as, in fact, the silence around the place was practically absolute without the Irish angel and the little puppy.

“She wanted to feed the birds and to make a new attempt to stop Joy’s jealousy concerning the other animals that come closer to her!”, Andrew responded, remembering how funny the small dog had reacted when she saw her mommy feeding lots of birds some days before.

“It’s been some time since they left.”, the supervisor glanced at her watch.

“Yes, you’re right. To tell you the truth, I already miss them! I’ll go find those two…”

But it didn’t take Andrew too long to find his dearest friend and the puppy dog: not far from the campsite, Monica was lying under the shade of a big green tree, sleeping peacefully with little Joy in her arms. As the chubby puppy was also asleep, there were some small birds perched on the angel’s body or on the ground, next to her.

Andrew’s heart practically melted at that image and, smiling with all the love in his heart evident in his eyes, he backed away from the place just a few steps so that he could call Tess:

“What is it, baby?”, the oldest angel asked, with a worried expression on her face. He quickly silenced her:

“Shh… I just want you to take a look at this…”

 Tess walked over to where Monica was and, seeing her dear charge sleeping peacefully like a little girl, she smiled.

 “If you ask me, I’d say this is the best view of the whole trip!”, Andrew said, in a low voice, wrapping his arm around Tess’ shoulder, “I didn’t have the heart to wake her up.”

“Well, I wanted to serve lunch now but, considering what day it is and considering her unexpected nap, I guess we’ll have to go on with our plan! Come with me…”

And the 2 angels moved away from the place without making any sound.

*

“… But Tess, when she woke up the only thing she said was that she was sorry that today is our last day here. She didn’t mention anything about her ‘casework anniversary’… Are you sure she remembers it is today?”, Andrew asked, as he and the supervisor walked along the green grass.

“Of course I’m sure! And knowing that little angel as I do, I know she doesn’t want to mention it because it’s also our last day and that’s enough to make it special!”

A gentle and warm smile appeared on the blond angel’s face:

“Remember the last time we went on vacation together and she… ‘prepared’ us a ‘special lunch’?”

The supervisor smiled too:

“Boy! How could I ever forget it?!”, they exchanged a look of complicity and she concluded, “But this time, she’ll be the one who will have a big surprise!”

 *

 Monica and Joy slept for about 30 minutes more, when a small bird perched on the puppy’s head, waking her up. Joy opened her eyes slowly and, when she saw all the other birds surrounding them, she stood up immediately and, getting rid of her mommy’s loving embrace, the little dog started to bark at them angrily.

A second later, the birds had flown away to their nests and Monica was awake:

“Hey, wee one, what happened?”, she asked, with sleepy eyes. But, seeing her ‘precious baby’ barking and looking at the tree tops, the Irish angel soon realised what the problem was:

 “Oh Joy, you shouldn’t be so jealous, sweetheart! You know I love you, don’t you?”

Only then, Joy stopped barking and covered her mom’s face with lots of kisses:

“You are so temperamental sometimes! I wonder where you got it from…”

After hearing a tiny bark, Monica stood up holding the puppy in her arms:

“Let’s see what your grandma and your daddy are doing?”

*

 Tess was serving herself with some of the food she had prepared when Monica returned to the campsite:

“Tess, I’m so sorry, I fell asleep under a tree and lost track of time…”

“It’s ok, baby, Andrew helped me out here and there wasn’t much to do. Sit down, I’ll serve you.”

“Where’s Andrew?”

“Oh… He… already ate…”

The Irish angel frowned with concern hearing that:

“He did?”

“Yes…”

“I… I thought we would spend the day together…”

“Well, I asked him to take a look at my baby; I haven’t used it for days and I’d like to be sure everything’s alright with it when we leave…”

Although she was still disappointed with her dearest friend’s absence – Tess’ car was parked a bit far from the campsite – Monica accepted the supervisor’s explanation and they had lunch together.

Some time later, after they had finished eating:

“Tess, I was wondering if you would like to have a walk around here, I promise we won’t go far. It’s such a beautiful day!”, the Irish angel invited, enthusiastically. But Tess’ face was one of indecision:

“Well… I think that won’t be possible, Angel Girl… You see… I have a lot to do here, in the campsite…”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry, Tess, I’ll clean it up later…”

“Yes, I know that baby, but it’s quite messy around here and I’ve already started to clean it… Maybe we can walk around later…”

The older angel watched with distress as Monica’s face fell and half of her enthusiasm disappeared.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. You go ahead, baby, take the time to rest or maybe you could take little Joy here for a walk…”

Disappointment all over her face, Monica lowered her head:

“Ok… If you prefer…”

“Yes. Later we could light the fire and sit around it…”

A little sad about Tess’ refusal to her invitation, Monica went to look up for Andrew and found him finishing to clean Tess’ Cadillac:

“Andrew?”, she greeted him, with a broad smile.

“Hey Monica!”

“Joy and I are going on a walk around here, we’re not going too far, just up to the lake.”

“Oh… really?…”

“Yes, and I wanted you and Tess to come with us. It’s a pity she can’t, she’s tidying up the tent and the site…”, she lowered her voice, “But, if you ask me, I think she’s a wee bit tired, you know.”

“Well, Tess said she would be in command around here but I guess she didn’t have much success!…”

They couldn’t suppress their laugher remembering how ‘well’ the supervisor had ‘commanded’ the campsite:

“I guess she wants to make a last attempt!”, the blond angel completed.

“Yes. I think you’re right!”, smiling, Monica took his hand, “Come with me?”

A weak smile appeared on his face and it took him some time to reply to that sweet invitation:

“Well… I… I’d love to, Monica, but… you see… I… er… I promised Tess that I would put some gas in her car before we left and that’s… That’s what I’m gonna do right now, so that tomorrow, when we leave, it won’t be necessary to do it…”, he explained, in a clumsy way.

“So you’re going to the city?!”, she exclaimed, a bit surprised.

“Yes, that’s it.”

“Ok, then I could come with you! We could walk around the town to visit some shops and even drink some coffee and I…”

“Monica… I’m afraid this isn’t such a good idea… I mean, it would be better if you stayed here instead…”

Hearing that, Monica’s face fell for the second time on that day, and she stared at him with a trace of hurt evident in her brown eyes:

“… you don’t want me to go with you?”

Seeing such reaction, Andrew mentally scolded himself for using the wrong words, and, for a moment, he felt like telling her what was really going on:

“No! of course I would like you to come with me, Monica! Of course I would… The problem is that… Well… I intended to go there and come back really fast and if we take the time to do things such as walking around the city and drinking coffee that won’t be possible…”

Andrew realised that his explanation was getting even worse at the moment Monica lowered her head and stared at the ground:

“Are you upset with me, Andrew?”, she asked, her voice almost disappearing. That question not only shocked him but also made him feel terrible:

“Upset with you? No! Never!”

Quickly, the blond angel came closer to her and cupped her chin, lifting her face up so that their eyes could meet:

“Monica, you’re the most adorable creature I’ve ever met! Why in this world would I be upset with you?!”, she said, holding one of her hands. But sadness never disappeared from her face:

“Well… I have to recognise that there have been some small incidents during our stay here and I guess I’ve been around in practically… all of them…”

With a warm smile upon his face, Andrew pulled her closer to him in a tight embrace and placed a kiss on the side of her head:

“You know what I ask the Father everyday? To keep you around in the next centuries and also in the ones after these!”, he said, running his fingers through her hair. And relief filled his soul when the Irish angel looked back at him now with a shy smile:

“You do?”

“Yes... everyday of my existence.”

“Well, I guess He won’t have any problem in answering to your prayers!”

He placed some strands of her hair behind her ears and grabbed her face with his both hands:

“I promise I’ll get back as fast as I can, ok? And when I get back, you, Tess and I can do whatever you want to… together, of course, with our little one!”, the blond angel said, and both looked down at Joy, who had been sitting on the ground attentively watching her parent’s talk.

Feeling a little more relieved, though she was still sorry for not having her friends together with her for a couple of hours, Monica nodded her head:

“Ok. We’ll be waiting for you, won’t we, Joy?”

They heard a tiny puppy bark in reply and Andrew placed a kiss on her cheek:

“I’ll be back soon!”

After watching him leave, Monica took the little chubby dog in her arms and looked at her small face:

“Well… Would you like to take a walk with your mommy or are you busy too, huh?”

And Joy wasted no time in covering her mom’s face with lots of wet kisses.

PART 11

Monica and Joy wandered in the woods, with a warm sun on their faces and a fresh breeze blowing through the green trees and bushes and listening to the humming of the birds for over an hour, until the Irish angel realised they were going too far. Pondering that soon she would have difficulties in finding the way back to the campsite, and really missing her dearest friends’ company, she ran until she grabbed the roundish little animal in her arms.

“I really should bring you here more often, wee one. You’re a baby and it’s good for you to have contact with nature! But now it’s time to go back.”

 Joy immediately reached up and covered Monica’s face with lots of kisses.

“I’m sure your daddy and your grandma are missing you too!”, she exclaimed, hugging the chubby dog tightly, “I just hope they have finished their tasks already!”

 Saying that, the Irish angel made her way back to the campsite.

*

 Carrying little Joy, Monica returned to the campsite with a content expression upon her face, certain to find her friends waiting for her and eager to spend the next few hours with the two other angels.

But the smile disappeared from her face as soon as she got there, as, although Tess’ car was parked nearby, neither the supervisor nor Andrew were anywhere around:

“Tess?… Andrew?…”, the Irish angel called, but there was no reply. Sadness all over her face, she gave some steps towards the tent, trying to hold back some tears that were already forming in the corner of her eyes:

“… I guess they went to take a walk by themselves, you know…”, she spoke to the little chubby dog who was following her, “… after all, they deserve a little peace and…”

Monica stopped walking abruptly before she could finish the sentence: right in front of the tent, on the folding table they had been using during their stay, there was a beautiful cake, all covered with coffee cream and with some candles on it. Next to it, there was a card, with the picture of a smiling angel (which bore some resemblance to her). Perplex and speechless, she walked over to the table and took the card in her hands: immediately recognising the 2 handwritings on it:

‘Dear Monica,

 Since you’ve become a caseworker, you’ve been filling our days with happiness and pleasure.

All the love that flows from this kind and warm heart of yours makes us realise how blessed we are to have you always by our side.

We’ll always pray to the Lord to keep things like this for ever and ever.

We love you very, very much,

Happy caseworker anniversary!

Tess, Andrew and Joy.

 PS. As our little Joy is still a baby, we’re signing it for her; but be sure that she also took part in this little surprise party and agreed not to say a word to you about it. We couldn’t have done it without her help!”

When she finished to read the content of the card, the tears in Monica’s eyes started to roll down on her cheeks, but now they were tears of happiness. It was then that Tess and Andrew came from behind her, each one with a smile on their faces:

“And you thought we would forget that today is your caseworker anniversary? Happy anniversary, baby!”, the supervisor had hardly said that when Monica turned around and gave her a tight embrace:

“Oh Tess! You remembered! I love you so much!”

“I love you too, Angel Girl!”

“We can’t forget anything about our Angel Girl, huh, Tess?”, Andrew said, gently stroking Monica’s hair.

“I don’t think this is ever possible!”

Monica changed the oldest angel’s embrace for Andrew’s:

“I love you! Thank you so much!”

He kissed the top of her head:

“You’re more than welcome, Monica! But you know what? This was the hardest assignment I ever had!”

Monica pulled away just a few inches so that she could look at his face:

“Hardest assignment?”, she spoke, with tears still falling from her eyes. He wiped them away with gentle hands and continued to talk:

“Yes! To go to town and take the cake and the card without letting you realise what was going on and having to refuse your company twice in a matter of 10 seconds was the most difficult thing any living creature could do!”

Some tiny barks interrupted their laugher and the 3 angels looked down at the ground:

“Come here you too, wee one!”, Monica grabbed Joy and hugged the little puppy tight in her arms, immediately receiving lots of wet kisses:

“Of course you can compliment your mommy too, sweetheart!”

“Believe me, she was of great help to us!”, Andrew exclaimed.

“Well, now that we already hugged and kissed our Angel Girl, let’s cut this cake cause I wanna see if these people at the bakery followed my instructions properly!!”, Tess interrupted.

PART 12 - FINALE

One hour later, the 3 angels were sitting by the table, savouring the last pieces of the cake they had bought for Monica, and even little Joy could have a piece:

“It’s delicious!”, the Irish angel exclaimed, with some coffee cream on her nose, cheeks and fingers.

“Yes, Monica is right! These people at the bakery really did their best!”. Andrew agreed, secretly chuckling at his dearest friend’s appearance. But the supervisor wasn’t so enthusiastic:

“Let’s not exaggerate, you two! It’s good, but they still have a lot to learn! If only I had the necessary equipment, I would teach them how to prepare a real cake!”, she spoke, with a firm voice.

Monica, who was sitting between the two other angels, swallowed the last piece of her cake and took Tess’ hand:

“I have no doubt that it would be a wonderful cake, Tess!”

“I agree with Monica!”, Andrew added. A little self assured, the oldest angel smiled:

“Yes. I know that!”, she replied, somewhat bothered with the cream that was now in her hands too. Monica went on talking:

“You know, the only disadvantage of going camping is exactly this: not having a wee bit of technology so that we can cook everything we want to!”

The Irish angel didn’t realise the quick glance Tess and Andrew exchanged:

“Well, in some cases, it could be a blessing too!”, the supervisor said, causing her charge to smile:

“Yes. making everything simple gave us time to really be together, as we all wanted. Besides, there will always be a day off or other vacation!”, Monica completed, causing her two friends to look at each other for the second time:

“Well… there was the cake, the card, but we have another present for you, don’t we, Tess?”, Andrew said, changing the subject and with an enigmatic smile on his face:

“Oh yes, you bet!”

“Another present?”, she asked, a little surprised.

“Yeah… and I’m sure you’ll like it a lot!”, he said, now both angels looking at her with a mischievous expression on their faces:

“Oh, Andrew, Tess, you don’t have to give me anything else, I loved the card, the cake, it’s all wonderful…”, she replied, innocently.

“But this extra present is gonna make this big smile on your face to grow wider than it already is!”, the blond angel spoke, he and Tess getting closer to her. And only then, Monica realised what their intentions really were and her sparkling brown eyes grew wide with panic:

“Oh no!…”, she exclaimed, quickly standing up in a desperate attempt to escape from them. But Andrew was faster and grabbed her about the waist, carefully knocking her down on his and Tess’ lap:

“No! Andrew! Tess! Please, don’t!”, she screamed, laughing loudly and uncontrollably, as the supervisor tickled her under arms and Andrew ran his fingers on her stomach:

“See Tess? Didn’t I tell you how fun it is?!”, he said, ignoring Monica’s pleas.

“Yes! You were right, Angel boy! It really makes you feel good!”, the oldest angel agreed, clearly enjoying to hear her charge’s laugher and to see her cheeks turn red. And Joy watched everything barking excitedly, as if encouraging her ‘grandma’ and her ‘daddy’ to continue to tickle her ‘mommy’:

*

 Late at night, the 3 angels gathered together in the back seat of Tess Cadillac to see the sky. It was all covered with lots of twinkling bright stars and a soft night breeze blew through the woods and on their faces:

 “You were right, Angel Girl. Angel boy here is really cosy!”, Tess said, snuggling close to Andrew to protect herself from the chilly night air. He was sitting between the supervisor and Monica and chuckled with some satisfaction on his face:

“I knew you wouldn’t resist for a long time, Tess!”, he replied, causing Monica to smile:

“I can assure you won’t find a warmer and more comfortable place to stay, Tess!”, the Irish angel spoke, also snuggling up to him and resting her head on his shoulder. Little Joy was peacefully sleeping on her lap and wrapped in a warm blanket, specially bought for her.

“Well, having you two, I mean, you three around is enough to make anyone feel a lot warm.”, he said, passing his arms around their shoulders in a big embrace. All of a sudden, a star crossed the sky, drawing the angel’s attention:

“It’s such a beautiful night and the sky is so clear that it’s possible to see Ursa Minor.”, Monica explained, “The most famous star in Ursa Minor is Polaris, known as the North Star. This is the star that is nearest to the North Celestial Pole. If you can spot Polaris in the sky, you can always tell which way is north. And the angle of Polaris above the horizon tells you your latitude on the Earth. Because of this, Polaris was the most important star for navigating at sea.”

“I can see you’ve been studying more, Angel Girl!”, Tess said, smiling surprised with her dear charge’s knowledge. Monica smiled a little sheepishly:

“Oh, yes, in fact I have. And I also have a very good teacher, you know!”, the Irish angel replied, looking at her dearest friend, who blushed immediately. Finding his embarrassment really cute, Monica kept on talking, “But I’m still learning. The universe is so vast and wonderful and there are billions of different stars yet to be explored. I only know a few.”

“But you’re an excellent student!”, Andrew praised her, gently running his fingers through her hair. She looked at him with a grateful and loving smile and then, back at the sky:

“You know what is so wonderful about studying the sky, Tess?”

“What is it, Angel Girl?”

“There’s always something new to explore! A new galaxy, a new planet or even a tiny little star, like that one, for example.”, she pointed to a shinning star which had appeared in the north, “I don’t know its name, or even if it was there yesterday night! And gathering information about it is like a new challenge!”

At that moment, Andrew turned to her with a (mock) surprised expression on his face:

“Don’t you know the name of that star?!”, the blond angel asked, causing his dearest friend to be twice worried for ignoring that fact:

“No… Should… Should I know it?”

“Of course you should!”, he insisted, secretly finding her worry rather funny.

“Well, I don’t know the name of that star either, Mr, and I haven’t been dismissed from my job for ignoring this information!”, Tess replied, slightly bothered by his conceited words. But he went on teasing the two angels:

 “You should know that too, Tess!”

That reply caused the supervisor to be twice upset:

“Well, since you are so smart, ‘Professor Angel Boy’, would you be kind enough to share all this brilliant knowledge of yours and tell us, poor angels, the name of that star?!”, she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and staring at him in a stern way. Monica also looked at him with anxious eyes:

 “Yes, I’m curious now! Which star is that, Andrew?”

After a certain suspense, he smiled mischievously and pointed at the sky:

“That is Monica!”

 Hearing that, Tess rolled her eyes to the sky with some impatience:

“Oh, please, for Heaven’s sake!”, the oldest angel grumbled, while Monica smiled and shook her head in disbelief:

“There is no such star!”, she kindly objected.

“Of course there is!”, he insisted, really enjoying that moment.

“Angel Girl is right, there isn’t such a star!”, the supervisor spoke. But Andrew went on with his conclusions:

“Yes, there is and I can prove it to you!”

“How?”

“Yes, Mr, how?”, Monica and Tess respectively asked. Calmly, and still with a boastful tone of voice, he pointed out:

“Can you see those 3 other stars close together with ‘Monica’?”

“Yes…”, they said.

“Those are Tess, Andrew and that little one is Joy!”, came his simple answer, “They form the ‘angels constellation’!”

Smiling, Monica wasted no time in wrapping her arms around his neck and covering his face with lots of kisses, while Tess rolled her eyes to the sky for the second time:

“Oh, please, give me a break!”, she said, and while her two charges shared a big embrace, the supervisor started to analyse the new born constellation carefully:

“You know what, Angel boy? I think you may be right… I mean, take a look at that big star…”

“Which one?”, he asked.

“The brightest one. That can only be ‘Tess’!”, she finally replied, causing Andrew and Monica to exchange an amused glance. Smiling, the Irish angel nodded her head:

“I totally agree. It shines so brightly and intensely, like a guiding star! It could only be Tess!”, she spoke, looking at the supervisor with the same love a daughter would have for her mother. Also smiling, Andrew wrapped his arms around his two dear friends and the 3 angels watched, with happiness evident on their faces, as a white dove cooed and crossed the starry sky.

THE END