CHAPTER 34

One Tuesday morning

Monica sighed as she looked out the window of their apartment on a rainy Monday night. Summer had come and gone, and classes had just started up again a mere two weeks ago. The days of summer had been both blissful and lonely for the little angel. Due to their honeymoon, Andrew had not had any more vacation to take over the summer, where Monica had the entire three months off work. Part of that pleased her greatly as no matter what shift her husband was working, she was able to spend his off hours by his side, even if he was sleeping after working all night. The heat and humidity of summer made it easy for her to nap beside him for a few hours and then when Andrew would awaken, they would explore the city, or fix a meal together. The days were happy ones for the little angel when they were not trying to balance two schedules to find time to be together.

But now that school had started again, she found herself just as happy as she had missed the children and now with her second year as a teacher, that meant a classroom filled with new faces as her former students moved up a grade and to a new teacher. Though she had grown attached to her children from last spring, the new faces were every bit as adorable and the wee ones were every bit as inquisitive and enchanted with their new teacher.

But tonight it was raining and miserable outside and Andrew was preparing to work his night shift so it was her least favourite time. Even a year later, she hated being alone at night, though Bear's company certainly helped. The puppy had gotten considerably bigger though he was far from full grown yet and he was never far from the little angel's side, which secretly, Andrew liked very much.

"Tomorrow is your field trip, right, Angel?" Andrew had emerged from the bedroom ready for work and already dreading saying good night to his wife, knowing that despite her lack of complaining, she was far from comfortable with his weeks on night shift.

"Yes, to St. Paul's Chapel. We'll be there early, so I'll already be gone when you get home." She sighed heavily, hating that she would miss those few precious moments with him before leaving for work.

"Then I'll be waiting for you after school," He assured her, resting his hands on her shoulders and gazing into her face for a moment before touching his lips to hers. As he pulled away, he suddenly remembered something he had forgotten to tell her, "Oh, Angel, this weekend I'm working for Brian. His parent's anniversary is Saturday and he is travelling to Maryland..." His voice trailed off as he watched her face fall.

"This weekend? You're working this weekend?"

Monica's expression was incredulous, which was something he had not been expecting, "Yes, Monica, this weekend. He asked me last week but I forgot to tell you. I figured you wouldn't mind-."

"But I do mind! I had something planned for us, Andrew!" Her frustration surprised even her. Andrew was always doing sweet things for her; preparing romantic dinners or surprising her with a night out, and she had finally decided it was time for her to do something to surprise him. This weekend was the weekend she had chosen to do just that and now it stood to be ruined, "Can't you change it? Can't someone else work for him?"

"Baby, no, not at this late notice."

"You should have told me!" Monica was nearly on the verge of tears but she was also angry, "Instead you just assumed it was all right!"

"Angel, I just didn't think it would be a big deal. I'll have the following weekend off instead. Can't we do what you had planned then?" He was trying to remain patient. Monica was never one to become upset over something like this, which was the reason he had not thought twice when Brian had asked him to switch weekends.

"No! It's not that easy, Andrew! I had it planned and I wanted to surprise you but now I can't! You should have checked with me!"

"I didn't realize there would be a problem-."

"No, because you didn't ask!" The little angel was already mentally figuring out the calls she would have to make to cancel the weekend she'd planned. The Bed and Breakfast, the restaurant where she had booked the table weeks ago because of how popular it was amongst couples. She'd only wanted to surprise her husband!

Sighing with frustration, Andrew bit his tongue to keep himself from responding harshly, but glancing at the clock, he knew he had to get out the door or he would be late for his shift, "Monica, I have to go, but we'll talk about this later, I promise."

"There's nothing to talk about," She murmured, turning away from him, "I'll cancel everything, so there's no point in talking about it anymore."

"Angel..." He tried once more but she was already walking into the bedroom. Though he hated to leave things like this, Andrew also knew that being late in his line of work was not an option. Being late could be the difference between life and death for one of God's children. As the bedroom door clicked shut, he ran his hands through his short, blonde hair.

He'd have some serious making up to do next weekend.

X

"Wow!"

"It's so pretty!"

"Do people go to church here? It's cute!"

Despite her regrets over her argument with Andrew last night, Monica had to smile at the comments of her little students as they explored St. Paul's Chapel. Though it had rained last night, the September morning dawned in stunning beauty as the sun returned and the blue sky held not a cloud, so with the help of a few parents as volunteers, the children had walked and ridden the subway to the chapel.

The little angel was having trouble focusing however as she kept replaying her angry words at her husband the night before. Though she had been deeply disappointed in his sudden change of schedule she certainly couldn't fault him for helping a friend. Much to Andrew's credit, he had remained calm and patient as always while she had allowed herself to get visibly upset. Shaking her head, Monica sighed; maybe the rain had affected her mood last night, causing her to react so angrily, but regardless of the reason, she was deeply ashamed and finding it difficult to wait until school was out to apologize to her loving husband.

"Do any of you know who George Washington was?" The pastor of the little chapel was asking her entranced class.

A little hand waved in the air and the minister nodded his head in her direction, "He was president!"

"That's exactly right and do you know that the day he was sworn in office, or became president, he worshipped here and that was in the year 1789."

"Whoa!" One little boy exclaimed as several other children responded with "ooh" or "ahh".

"This church is really old!" Another boy pointed out as the minister chuckled and nodded his head.

"You're right. It was built in 1766 and is the oldest public building in use in Manhattan. But despite all that, we are simply a place to teach people about God's love and where people come to pray. Do any of you have people you pray for?"

Many children nodded their heads before he continued, "If you want to follow me, you can light a candle over here, with some help, as a prayer for the one you care about."

As the children and a few parents followed the pastor to the other side of the chapel, Monica gazed at her watch, wondering if she could slip away long enough to call Andrew's cell phone to tell him she was sorry. Though she would much rather say it in person, she also knew how distracted she was at the moment, caught up in her own guilt.

As she reached into her bag to search for her cell phone, the deafening sound of an airplane shook the small chapel. Several of the children clapped their hands over their ears and screamed and the minister looked more than a little worried. Monica found her feet moving to the back door of the chapel, her heart pounding in her ears. She emerged from the chapel to the back cemetery and the tree Andrew had planted just to look up and watch a large airplane crash high into the North tower of the World Trade Center.

The moment felt surreal and for the next few seconds it was if the entire city became perfectly quiet; as if it stood still. The only sound Monica could hear was that of her own blood pumping so loudly it was deafening and she wasn't even aware of the tears on her face until she had to blink to clear her vision.

"Oh Father..." She whispered aloud and with her words all chaos seemed to break loose. The ground beneath her shook with the impact of the plane into the tower. There was suddenly screaming and the sound of screeching tires as cars skidded to a stop. Smoke and flames were consuming the upper floors of the towers and the knowledge that hundreds of people were already dead filled her soul with great anguish.

A hand to her shoulder, caused Monica to turn to face the gentle faced minister from inside the chapel, "How could this have happened?" She whispered tearfully.

"It's a terrible tragedy," Pastor Donovan murmured, his own shock still apparent.

The din was growing louder with the sounds of sirens that seemed to be coming in every direction and the little angel suddenly sprang into action. Her spirit was filled with great dread in the same manner the sky was filling with dark smoke, "I have to get the children back to the school."

"Miss Monica!" Frightened cries greeted her as she ran back inside and the tears on their teacher's cheeks did little to comfort them.

"What was that noise?"

"Why are you crying?"

"I want my mom!"

Monica knelt down and a few of her little students immediately ran into her arms, seeking reassurance, "There's been a little accident across the road, so we need to get you all back to the school..."

"Monica, you can't go anywhere yet," Pastor Donovan gently interrupted her, "The roads are going to be blocked as are the subways I'm certain. You're better off to stay here."

Looking up into the frightened eyes of her parent chaperones and seeing them nod, she sighed, "All right, but let me call the school to tell them we are all okay. Your parents will be worried."

But attempts to call were fruitless as the telephone lines were all jammed and this only added to her worry. Most of New York probably knew about the accident by now and people were undoubtedly trying to get through to their loved ones.

And what about her own loved one? By now, Andrew should be home, but was he and did he stay there? A shudder ran through her at the realization that if he knew what had happened, he would certainly be back here to help, but she forced a smile for her little pupils, "Maybe Pastor Donovan has some paper and crayons and you all can make pictures of what you like best at the chapel," Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another one of the church employees hurry into the office to see what she could round up for the children to keep them occupied, "Then when we go back to school, we can hang them up on our board to remember our trip!"

Soon paper and crayons were passed out and while the children were busy drawing, Monica and one of her chaperones, Amy, slipped out back once more.

"Oh my god," Amy murmured, looking at the flames and smoke escaping from the building, "My cousin works in one of those buildings, Monica."

Wide eyed, the angel turned to look at her friend and mother of one of her pupils, "We'll pray, Amy, that God protects your cousin."

"Her name's..."

Amy's voice was cut off by the blood chilling sound of another plane and as the twosome watched, a second plane hit the second tower. The ground once again shook and Monica's hands immediately flew to her face in her horror that this wasn't an accident any longer. No, this was intentional...and evil beyond anything she had ever seen in her existence.

All she wanted was her husband's arms around her.

Amy was crying helplessly as more people who were nearby watching the horror unfold, cried out in fear. Monica felt as if her head were spinning and she suddenly felt the ground slipping out from beneath her feet, "Amy..."

Her friend grabbed her and helped lower her to the ground, "Monica? Oh God, help us..."

Slowly, the dizziness that had overtaken her began to regress as she stared up at the twin towers, both blazing. Her dark eyes could just make out what appeared to be people jumping from the windows of the high floors and a sob caught in her throat as she imagined the horrors that lied inside those buildings for jumping to their certain death to be the better answer.

"Oh Father, where are you?" Monica whispered before she looked at Amy, "My husband is a fire fighter. He must be here somewhere."

"Oh Monica..." Amy murmured, thinking about the sound of the fire engines that seemed to fill the air, "Are you okay? You almost passed out."

The angel thought she was about as far from "okay" as she had ever been as she continued to watch the horrific scene around her, but she nodded her head weakly as Amy helped her to stand, "Thank you."

"I'm going to go check on the kids. Are you all right for a minute?"

"Yes. Yes, of course," Monica was unable to pull her eyes away from the smoking buildings as she brought her hand up and rested it over her heart, "Oh Andrew...I love you...and I'm sorry...please...be safe."