PART 9

PART 9

On that morning, as soon as she woke up, Monica looked around her and realised that Andrew and Tess weren’t inside the tent anymore, and neither was Joy. Then, she looked at her side and found out that a rose had been carefully left next to her.

Smiling, as she knew pretty well that that flower wasn’t together with the other ones she had picked on the day before, the Irish angel took it in her hands and touched the soft rose buds.

The first thing that she did when she left the tent was to look for her dearest friend and soon found him arranging a small backpack with a bottle of water, some sandwiches and a pack of dog cookies. Joy was standing next to him attentively observing his actions and, when she saw her mommy coming closer, the little dog ran towards her happily wagging her tiny tail and barking:

“Hello, sweetheart! Good morning to you too!”, the Irish angel greeted, holding her precious baby tightly in her arms and kissing her head. Chuckling, Andrew finished to pack the things and walked over to Monica:

“Hey, good morning, Miss Wings! We were just waiting for you!”, he said, with a gentle smile upon his handsome face. Also smiling, Monica placed Joy on the ground and, without saying a single word, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly:

“… it’s not that I’m complaining; much on the contrary, I’m really enjoying it, but… What have I done to deserve such a warm good morning?”, the blond angel asked, also holding her tightly. Monica pulled away just enough to look at his face:

“Remember when you rescued Joy from that lagoon in the swamp and I said that I would hug and kiss you both as soon as you got rid of all that mud? Well, I’ve already hugged and kissed our precious chubby baby; now it’s your turn!”, she answered, kissing his cheek afterwards.

Lost for words with a sweet attitude (and with a terrible sensation of guilt and regret), he held her tightly for the next minute. Then, he pulled away just a few inches, gently caressing her cheek, and looked deep inside her eyes:

“Monica, about yesterday, I’m so sor…”

“I love the flower.”, she interrupted him, placing her fingers upon his lips, still with a beautiful smile upon her face, “I put it together with the others. Our temporary home is more beautiful than never.”

He took her hand and brushed a gentle kiss on her palm, and smiled mischievously:

“You what? I could dive in that big puddle of mud everyday just to receive such a warm good morning again!… Carrying our little one together with me, of course!”

Hearing that, Joy let out a (scared) bark and stared at her daddy with her ears raised and eyes wide open. Laughing at Andrew’s words and at the little dog’s reaction, Monica held him once more:

“Well, you don’t have to, because I happen to love you very much and I could greet you like this forever! But… I have to confess that you two looked quite cute with all that mud on you…”

A mock stern expression appeared on his face:

“Really? Well, and I think you look quite cute when you’re practically begging me to stop tickling you, with some tears rolling down your red cheeks and having a ‘laugh attack’!”

Now it was Monica who stared at him slightly scared (but still smiling). But, before the Irish angel could say something, they heard another voice from behind them:

“Nobody’s gonna tickle anybody now! We have a lot to do today!”

Seeing Tess coming closer, Joy let out another scared bark and ran clumsily towards her ‘grandmother’:

“Come here with your grandma, baby!”, she said, holding the puppy in her arms, “Yes, I know. The sugar level around here is too high again!”, the supervisor stared at her two charges accusingly.

“Where are we going today, Tess?”, Monica asked, without letting go of her dearest friend’s hand.

“We’ll go on a hike over these mountains, Miss Wings!”

Hearing that, the Irish angel smiled excitedly:

“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea, Tess! I know lots of trails we could follow until…”

“Calm down, Miss Wings! I said I’m in command of this campsite and this time I’ll set our route!”, the oldest angel stated, with a firm tone in her voice. But that didn’t diminish Monica’s enthusiasm:

“It’s ok! Once we’re all together, it’ll be fun anyway!”

“Yes, that’s it, Angel boy. Is everything ready?”

“Yes, ma’am! Food and water packed and camp stuff double checked!”

“So, what are we waiting for? Let’s move!”

Tess marched ahead of them, with an authoritarian (and rather funny) attitude, as if she were a general commanding a troop of soldiers (in that case, of angels) through the woods. While little Joy stuck together beside her, Andrew and Monica held each other’s hands and walked right behind her, trying hard to suppress their laugher.

*

When the angels returned to the campsite, the sun was setting behind the green mountains, and a full moon was already appearing in the sky. It had been a hot day and, considering the pleasant temperature, the night would also be a delightful one.

“That was a wonderful day, Tess! I was glad to see all this area again after so much time!,” Monica exclaimed, enthusiastically, “I didn’t know you were so curious about it, though. We walked over all these mountains!”

“Neither did I, baby. I just wish I had known how confusing these trails could be!”

Andrew tried to suppress a smile as he had been the only one who noticed that the oldest angel had completely got lost in the woods.

“In fact, if we had got the narrow trail, we could’ve arrived faster and...”

“And who could assure you that trail was the right one?”, she replied, slightly bothered with his teasing tone of voice, “And we are here anyway, aren’t we?”

“You two must be tired, I can feel that,” the Irish angel said, looking at her two best friends with her eyes filled with love.

“Ok, I admit it, I’m tired!”, Tess confirmed.

“I knew you would. That’s why I prepared a little surprise for you...”

Hearing that, the two angels exchanged a rather scared look:

“A ... Surprise?...”, Andrew stammered.

“What... kind of surprise, Angel Girl?...”

At that very moment, they stepped into the campsite and saw, right in front of them, all the necessary settings for a fire place, and marshmallows ready to be cooked and eaten:

“Well... It wasn’t just me... I had ‘Someone’s’ help too, you know...”, the little angel replied, looking at the sky, ”I imagined you two would be tired to cook dinner and, secretly, I asked Him for a little gift to you both.”

Tess and Andrew heaved a sigh of relief and looked at each other and after to Monica.

“You know something, Monica?”, the blond angel wrapped his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer to him, “You should be included as the most important ‘item’ in any camp list!”

“I agree with that, angel boy!”, the supervisor said.

*

The angels sat by the fire and had a delicious dinner, talking about past and happy assignments, their days off, the warm weather and the joy of being in one another’s company, some very precious moments that would be in their memories forever.

But they were also tired as the day had been a very busy one and Tess was the very first angel to surrender to sleep:

“That’s enough for me, babies. I’ll go and get a good night’s sleep, I guess I’m already sleeping here!”

Monica looked around them and, as the night was a very pleasant one and there were no traces of rain in the sky, the Irish angel had an idea:

“Why don’t we all sleep outside tonight? The sky is so beautiful and the night is so warm! Besides, the fire will illuminate everything around us!”

“That’s a great idea, Monica! We have sleeping bags inside the tent, we could bring them outside and sleep right here in front of the fire!”, Andrew agreed. But the supervisor stared at them not at all enthusiastic about that idea:

“I’m not in the mood for night adventures! Besides, I don’t want to wake up with any strange animal staring at me in the middle of the night!”

“C’mon, Tess, there won’t be any animal around us, it’s not dangerous at all!”

“Absolutely not, Mr Halo! And it’s a lot warmer and cosier inside the tent, I won’t leave my comfortable bed to sleep outside!”

“You don’t have to worry about that, Tess.”, Monica added, still trying to convince the supervisor, “Andrew is very comfortable and warm, you know. You can hold him in case you feel cold!”, she said, holding her dearest friend’s arm.

Smiling and pleased to hear that, the blond angel nodded his head:

“You sure can, Tess!”

The oldest angel rolled her eyes and stared at them:

“Don’t count on me snuggling around your neck, Mr!”

*

Differently from Tess and little Joy, who were sound asleep inside the tent, Monica and Andrew were sharing a sleeping bag and the Irish angel was comfortably resting her head on his upper arm; both observing the starry sky:

“... and that is  Cygnus, it has 61 stars and it shines so brightly in the summer it’s possible to see its main stars in a night like this one.”, Andrew explained, softly running his fingers through her hair.

“It’s so beautiful... What about that one?”

“That is Cassiopeia. The familiar 'W' shape of Cassiopeia is made up from five stars: Segin, Ksora, Cih, Schedir and Caph. The central star, Cih, is the brightest of these.”

“You know something?”, she turned her head up so that her eyes could meet his:

“What Angel Girl?”

“You’re such a good teacher! I could spend hours here with you observing the sky!”

Chucking, he bent his head and kissed her forehead:

“I could stay here teaching you until there were no stars left in the galaxy for us to study!”

“That’s a lovely idea! Of course we can’t do it non stop, but... We could gather around once in a while to do it!”

“Yes, I guess we have a deal on that!”, he had hardly said that when his dearest friend turned to the side and gave him a tight hug and a loving kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you...”

“You’re more than welcome.”, he replied, placing some strands of hair behind her ear and not missing her sleepy eyes, “But right now, let’s have this class finished, as I can see there are some sleepyhead pupils around here!”

“Ok...”, giggling, she looked at the sky one more time, “I guess the stars will be there so that we can continue this class later!”

At that moment, they saw as a bright star crossed the space:

“Look, there goes another one!,” Monica exclaimed.

“Aren’t you going to make a wish, Angel Girl?”, Andrew joked. The Irish angel snuggled close together with him, in a warm embrace, and rested her head on his chest, almost sleeping:

“What for?... I have all I wish right here with me already...”

With a feeling of happiness deep inside his heart, the blond angel smiled and lifted a silent prayer, grateful for those moments he had been sharing with his two angelic friends. Soon, it will be time for them to go back to work and, although there would be a few assignments where the angels would be working together, there would be times of separation too. He remained awake for some time after Monica had fallen asleep and, kissing the top of her head, he held her tightly, secretly wishing that there were more days like those.