CHAPTER 47

One Christmas night

Andrew looked up from where he stood in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on a meat tray in preparation of their little Christmas party, which was due to begin in less than thirty minutes. His eyes were immediately drawn to his wife, who had stopped cutting up extra vegetables to gaze out the window of their little apartment, her gaze miles away, and he already knew what she was thinking about.

"Angel?" Approaching her carefully, he laid reassuring hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him, not at all surprised to see a tearful smile, "Are you worried about tonight? About telling everyone?"

A tiny, tearful laugh escaped her, "Well, telling our friends we are angels is something to be a wee bit nervous about, but no, not really," Monica sighed as her arms circled his waist and she rested her head against his chest, immediately feeling the peace that came when his arms surrounded her and his fingers brushed through the back of her hair, "I just...I know that tonight is the beginning of good-bye."

"I know, baby," He replied, understanding her words. Though they still had a few months before the baby would be born, tonight their dearest earthly friends would know what they were...and that they would soon be leaving them. They had invited the teachers Monica was closest with and Andrew's best friends at the fire hall, as well as Caroline and Peter. Tess would also be present to help them explain their true nature and what had brought them to earth for such a long period of time. Add to that the fact that his little wife's pregnancy hormones were now in full swing, and he was expecting many tears tonight.

"You know," He began again, after a few moments of silence, "I was thinking the other day about all these things I will miss when we go Home, like waking up next to you every morning and romantic weekends away..."

A tiny sob escaped her, "Is this supposed to be helping?"

Andrew chuckled and pulled away, taking her face in his hands, "You didn't let me finish, my beautiful little angel. Before I could really feel upset about these things, I realized that when we go Home, very little is really going to change. My job with the fire station didn't always allow me to wake up next to you, because of my night shifts and even at Home, there will be days off when I can whisk you away for a romantic interlude somewhere...anywhere in the world. And though we have to leave our new friends, we will be getting back our old friends, who will love this little angel you are carrying inside of you as much as they love you and you know what the best part is?" His fingers swept tenderly over her cheeks, brushing away her tears, "The best part is that we get to share so much more than a human lifetime together. We get to share eternity as husband and wife, as parents and as angels. My existence, Angel, will be absolutely perfect, but then every single moment I spend in your presence is perfect."

Smaller hands reached up to hold his, "I love you so much, Andrew; just so very much. I never want to be without you; not ever."

"You'll never have to be because I will always be there," Leaning in, Andrew brushed his lips with hers several times and then kissed the remainder of her tears away, "I will never be apart from you again, baby."

Her brown eyed gaze met with his, as a tiny shudder went through her, remembering the horrible time she had been without him; it was something she never wanted to experience again, "You are so much a part of me, Andrew," Monica rested her hand against his strong jaw, "and you have made this life down here, that I was so afraid of, just so perfect."

"If that is the truth, Monica, then I fulfilled my greatest assignment," He replied his green eyes completely serious.

"It is. I could never lie to you, whether I be human or angel," Standing up on tip toe, she kissed his lips yet again, letting a contented sigh escape her, "Perfect."

X

Just as Andrew had suspected, Monica shed many tears as they told their tale to their friends and if any of them had doubted, Tess' revelation, as she was surrounded in the light of God's love, sealed it as the truth. The elderly angel thanked each of the humans for their friendship to Andrew and Monica, reassured them of God's plan for each of their lives and promised that angels were always watching over them.

By the end of the emotionally exhausting evening, the only two who remained in the apartment with Andrew and Monica were their two closest friends.

"Can't believe I asked you if you and Andrew were related..." Ella chuckled as she shook her head, remembering that night Monica had stayed with her before her wedding day.

"Oh Ella," the little angel smiled as she looked at her friend with obvious fondness in her eyes, "I wish I could have told you the truth about our nature, but I'm afraid that if I had, you would have had concerns about my teaching children."

The foursome shared a laugh over Monica's observation, before Andrew turned to Mark, "I never thanked you. Monica told me about how you would stop in to check on her when I was missing. You have no idea how much I appreciate that."

Mark shook his head, "That was a terrible time, buddy, for the entire world, not to mention for your wife," Glancing over at Monica, they could both see the glimmer of pain in her eyes at the mere mention of that horrible time.

"But I never could have gotten through it without you and Ella," Monica stated softly, looking at each of them in turn, "I was...lost without Andrew. After all, he was the reason I was here; I would have done anything to be able to be with him, including having to become human, and suddenly my reason for existing was gone. Without a couple of angels placed in my path, I'm not sure what I would have done."

"I think you have that backwards, honey," Mark smiled, "I think Ella and I were the ones in the presence of angels."

Looking over at his wife, Andrew extended his hand to her, and pulled her up to stand next to him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "I think we beg to differ," He stated, his gaze locked with the trusting and peaceful eyes of his own angel, "The Father placed a few people in our path soon after our arrival here in New York, among those people, primarily the two of you. You helped make this transition easier for us and you filled some of the emptiness we were feeling with the loss of our friends. You've been wonderful friends to us."

"Which is why it is going to be so hard to say goodbye," Monica added, her eyes welling up with tears once more, "Andrew and I, we love you both."

"Well baby, that feeling is mutual," Ella smiled at the young couple, thinking of how her own life had changed when they had come into it, and now in a few months, it would be changing again with the loss of them.

"The Father is so proud of you both, for all you do for His children," Her Irish lilt was tinged with tears, but she managed a smile at their closest friends, "Teaching and saving lives and offering hope in a world that often has too little of it."

"You're both a blessing to all those you come in contact with," Andrew added, giving his tearful wife a reassuring squeeze, "Not the least of those having been the two of us."

As a tiny sob escaped Monica, Ella reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze, "It isn't goodbye yet, baby, so dry those tears. We still have several months to spend together before this little, baby angel is born and I plan to treasure every minute of it. Not every day I get to spend time in the company of angels this side of heaven."

Chuckling, Mark agreed, "Hear, hear, Ella. One day I am going to have some incredible stories to tell my kids, about the time daddy was putting out fires with an Angel of Death!"

"No Mark, just an angel made human, no different from you," Andrew interjected with a wry grin.

"Trust me, buddy, I ain't no angel," His friend replied with a bark of laughter.

"I think the people whose lives you have saved would disagree," Monica stated softly as her eyes met with their two closest earthly friends. She and Andrew had been so blessed.

X

"Are you terribly tired, Angel?" Andrew asked a short time later when Mark and Ella and wished them a Merry Christmas before leaving for their own homes, with Mark promising to see Ella home safely.

Her yawn was stifled, as she raised an eyebrow playfully, "What do you have in mind?"

Startled for a moment, Andrew began to laugh as he wrapped his arms tightly around her small body, "You are precious, Monica...but no, not what I had in mind."

"Oh," She looked slightly disappointed, which caused her beloved husband to laugh again.

"I have another little surprise for you, but we need to go out," He grabbed her coat from the rack and held it open for her, completely charmed by her perplexed expression.

"But Andrew, it is nearly midnight...it's almost Christmas Eve...it's quite cold out."

"We don't have to go, Angel..." He managed to remain serious, knowing that not going would not be an option for her. Her childlike curiosity had already gotten the best of her.

"Oh no! Andrew, I want to go, but maybe you can tell me where." Dark eyes were hopeful though she knew him well enough by now that no amount of cajoling would cause him to give up the secret. He loved surprising her and that fact alone always made a tiny shiver go up her spine.

"You'll find out soon enough," He helped her into her coat, wrapped her scarf around her neck and attached her earmuffs and knitted winter hat on her head, even as she rolled her eyes playfully, "Not just you to keep warm anymore, Angel...there are two little angels under all that winter clothing, and both of whom I love dearly and don't want either of them getting sick."

Monica's eyes were shining happily, always feeling so safe and loved under his protection, "Hmm, yes, you are quite right. Can we go now?"

He chuckled, noticing how her mild sleepiness seemed to have vanished and was replaced by child like impatience, "Yes, baby. We're ready to go."

Thirty minutes later, that impatience was replaced with pure peace as the angelic couple was snug under a heated blanket in a handsome cab. The horse drawn carriage slowly made its way around Central Park and though the temperatures outside were quite cold, Monica was snug and warm beneath the blanket and nestled within Andrew's arms.

"Thank you for this," She whispered as she tilted her head slightly to gaze up her husband.

"I knew that on many levels, tonight was going to be stressful for you, Angel, so I wanted the night to end on a high note." His fingers combed through the hair that lay against her shoulder as he kissed the side of her head.

"Mmm. You want to know something?" Seeing his questioning expression, her dark eyes met his steadily, "Every night spent with you, Andrew, ends on a high note. It doesn't matter what we are doing or what happened that day or whether it was good or bad. All I need to make a day perfect is being right here, in your arms."

Emotion lodged in his throat, as he ran a tender finger along her cheek as his eyes studied every little thing about her sweet face, even as he saw the blush rise to her cheeks, "You know, pretty soon we will be back to our true nature, but I want you to know something, sweetheart," His hand cupped her cheek and he blinked wetness from his green eyes, "The last year and a half down here with you...it will forever be in my memory as one of the best times of my existence. I know it wasn't ever what we planned and that it wasn't always easy, but Monica...I wouldn't trade this time here with you for anything in this world or in heaven. I can't imagine not having had it now that I have experienced it. The day we were sent here, I could not have imagined loving you more or knowing you better than I already did, but there was so much more I learned here, about you, about us, about myself loving you. For all the flaws of living a human life, it was the most perfect time I ever could have imagined."

"Andrew..." The tears were falling from her eyes over his words and she buried her face against his shoulder for a moment, trying to compose herself.

"I love you so much, my precious angel," Andrew whispered, resting his hand against the side of her head as his lips grazed her forehead.

"I love you too," Monica murmured, pulling away enough to look at him as he brushed at the tears on her cheeks, "And I plan to treasure every moment we have here...and then every moment after that."