The priceless bride - by Gaby

After Andrew had gone back to the airport to give Jonas his forgotten tuxedo, the angel and the man were sharing a drink.

“It’s her dream, I just want to make her happy,” Jonas told the angel after they had been discussing his wedding.

“It’s a good start,” Andrew said.

“And what about you, Andrew? Are you married?”

“No,” the angel said blushing slightly.

“But you’ve got a girlfriend,” the man continued judging from the angel’s smile. “What’s her name?”

“Monica...” Andrew answered playing with his glass of ginger ale.

“Monica, huh? Where did you meet her? Have you two guys been together for a long time?”

“You won’t believe it... I met her in a wedding, seven years ago,” the angel replied.

“Seven years?!” Jonas exclaimed. “And you aren’t already married? After seven years you’re not still sure if you want to spend the rest of your life with her?”

“No, no! I am sure...” Andrew said not knowing how to explain his relationship with Monica to this man without telling him they were angels. “It’s just that...”

“Then what? If you do love her and you’re sure, why don’t you two just get married? Don’t you want to make her happy too?” he saw the angel nodding and then continued, “Well, I better get to my gate. Thanks for everything.”

“Sure.”

“Oh, excuse me,” Jonas said to the bartender. “Do you have some of those little umbrellas you put in fruit drinks? Liz loves these things. She opens and closes them until they are broken. What can I say?”

“I’d say it’s true love!” Andrew said. “Monica loves them too. Shirley Temple with two umbrellas... her favorite drink.”

“You know, Andrew? I’d say that’s true love too!” the blond man said blinking to the angel.

xxxx

“I’m gonna get some sleep. Wake me if...” Jonas told the angel after he had fought with his fiancée. They were driving to Washington through a very heavy storm that had finally cancelled the man’s flight.

“What? If she calls?” Andrew said.

“No. If you get tired...” the man finished sarcastically and then got comfortable in the seat.

Andrew turned to see him and sighed. Something Jonas had said before had him thinking... thinking about how would it be his own wedding with Monica... Surely he’d be jumping of joy and never in a million years he’d fight with her just as Jonas and Liz had done minutes ago. But once again he wondered... could they get married? Angels weren’t supposed to fall in love but he and Monica had fallen. Was it impossible to think about getting married...?

Soon he had to leave his thoughts aside for a while as the storm was getting worse and if he wasn’t careful, his assignment wouldn’t be to take Jonas to Washington but Heaven, and that was not the plan.

xxxx

The next night, after a long and difficult way to the hotel, Andrew and Jonas had just listened to what Liz had said to her homeless guests in the room and the man could hardly believe he had told her he didn’t want to marry her. “She’s made mistakes too, she knows that,” the angel said referring to Liz. “She... hum... she met an angel tonight too.”

Jonas chuckled at then turned to see Andrew. “Monica? Is that your Monica?” The angel nodded smiling proudly. “She’s beautiful!”

“Thanks.”

“So if you really are an angel, tell me something. How do people stay married?”

“That’s what God wants to teach you both... one day at a time.” Andrew then took some little umbrellas out of his pocket and offered them to his assignment.

The man smiled and picked them, but then gave one back to the angel. “For Monica,” he said simply. Jonas turned to see Liz and when he turned to face Andrew again, he saw he was gone.

xxxx

A moment later, Andrew met Tess, Gloria and Monica. He wrapped his arms around his dearest friend and kissed her temple. “Oh, there you are. I’m glad you’re here, there’s someone I want you to meet!” she said.

“Really?” the blond angel asked fearing a joke from her.

“Uh hu, aunt Meg. I think you’re going to love her,” the little angel said smiling mischievously to Tess and Gloria and then freeing herself from his embrace to hold his arm and take him away from their coworkers.

It took them both more than an hour to get rid of the famous aunt Meg as wisely, Andrew had made Monica stay with him while he talked to the woman, who had had the time of her life giving the angels all kind of advises for a long romance.

“Wise movement, angel boy,” Monica said wrapping one arm around his neck and tangling her fingers in his hair when they had managed to escape to the dance floor. “You know I can’t resist your touch and that I’m stick to you as soon as you place a hand on me, right?” He had wrapped his arm around her shoulders when they had first arrived to the table and then he had taken her hand when aunt Meg had forced them to take a seat beside her.

“Let’s say I have learned a few things...” he added circling her tiny waist and pulling her closer to him. “Besides it wasn’t a wise movement. It’s just that I missed you and I needed to touch you...” he whispered on her ear, then placed a light kiss on her jaw and buried his face in her sweet smelling hair. “I have something for you, so you can see I never stop thinking on you.”

He pulled away a little and then gave her the little umbrella. Monica laughed at seeing that funny but loving detail and wasted no time on hugging him tightly and giving him a sweet kiss on the lips. “I love you, angel boy!”

“And I love you too, angel baby. So very, very much!” he told her returning the hug and the kiss.

A new song started to play and they kept on dancing.

Please, don't let this feeling end,

It's ev'rything I am,

Ev'rything I wanna be;

I can see what's mine now,

Finding out what's true,

Since I've found you

Lookin' through the eyes of love

Andrew tightened his hold on Monica as he heard the lyrics of the song and his previous thoughts came back to him...

Now I can take the time,

I can see my life

As it comes on shining now;

Reachin' out to touch you,

I can feel so much,

Since I've found you

Lookin' through the eyes of love.

“Monica?” the blond angel asked.

“Mmm...” she replied with her face still buried in the nape of his neck.

Andrew took a deep breath to gather courage to ask what he was about to ask. “If we could get married... would you like to have a wedding like this?”

Monica pulled away and looked into his green eyes, reading easily his troubled heart. She had wondered that many times but she had decided not to push the issue. She was perfectly content with what they already had; she knew they were bonded forever as God himself had blessed their love. “No,” she said sincerely and then caressed his cheek softly. She felt a wave of tenderness with the troubled face he made. “I don’t need a big wedding to tell you I’ll spend the rest of my life with you, Andrew. I know the Father has blessed us already as having you in my life is the biggest gift He could have given me. I don’t need a diamond ring or a wedding band to know you love me... All I need is a little paper umbrella,” she finished and smiled when she heard him chuckling.

“I love you, Monica” was all Andrew said, and then cupping her soft cheek too, he leaned down to kiss her deeply.

And now I do believe,

That even in a storm, we'll find some light;

Knowin' you're beside me,

I'm alright.

Please, don't let this feelin' end,

It might not come again;

 And I want to remember

How it feels to touch you;

How I feel so much,

Since I've found you

Lookin' through the eyes of love.

The end