"Andrew," Carla lamented, as she came into the living room where the other angel was shrugging into his coat, an irritated expression on his handsome face,
"I need your help."
"Carla," He sighed softly, grabbing a hat from the shelf in the closet,
"I don’t have time right now. I need to…" Seeing the look on her face, which was one of concern, he sighed again,
"What is it?"
"You need to talk to Monica. Ever since Tess decided we were all going caroling tomorrow night because her choir won’t listen to her, she’s been kind of upset. You know how the whole singing thing gets to her and she’s saying that she may as well stay home while we go. Andrew, she can’t stay here by herself on Christmas night!" Carla explained as patiently as she could, her eyes showing her distress for her friend,
"Please, can you go and speak to her? She’ll listen to you; she always does."
Sighing once more, Andrew glanced at his watch and groaned,
"I can’t right now, Carla. There are only two more shopping hours till Christmas and I have yet to find her a gift, and trying to find the perfect gift for your best friend amongst the rude humans out there snatching stuff up from right underneath my nose, is nearly impossible. I’m sure any of these people even remember the true meaning of Christmas."
"But Andrew," Carla continued, ready to argue her own point with him.
"I’ll talk to her later, Carla, I promise," He replied, trying to pacify her,
"Though I know of no cure-all for this problem. Singing was not one of the gifts the Father set fit to give to her and I can’t make it happen for her tomorrow night. I’m afraid that no matter what I say to her, she’s still going to feel left out," His eyes flickered with concern for his dearest friend, but knew he didn’t have time to dwell on this now. Maybe he could find her a gift that would cheer her up, if he didn’t wind up storming out of yet another store because of ten women pushing him out of their way.
"I’ll see you babies tonight," Tess grumbled as she brushed by Andrew to grab her own coat from the closet,
"Only one more rehearsal with these people, thank you, Father. I’ve never met so many humans who call themselves ‘singers’ who can’t follow simple directions such as ‘crescendo’. They think all sings need to be sung with the same volume-loud and obnoxious." She continued her ranting as she got into her coat with Carla’s help,
"And why am I the only angel with an assignment on Christmas Eve anyway? Angel Boy here gets to go shopping, Monica is back in her room sulking, Rose is baking cookies, but I have to go try to direct a church choir who love to try to out sing each other."
"Believe me, Tess, I am NOT looking forward to a Christmas Eve shopping experience," Andrew retorted, rolling his eyes,
"And about this caroling thing tomorrow night-"
"We’re going, Angel Boy," She replied firmly,
"Christmas just isn’t Christmas without some beautiful carols and I can assure you, none of us will be hearing that at the service tonight. I advise you both to bring ear plugs."
"Well, ‘Joy to the world’ certainly isn’t present here this evening, now is it?" Rose remarked, singing the song title while coming out of the kitchen, having overheard the conversation that had been taking place.
Tess snorted,
"Well, ‘hark the herald angel sings’," She remarked, a twinge of sarcasm in her voice,
"Just let me get through tonight, Rose and we’ll see what we can do about joy tomorrow."
Rose was getting ready to reply when the others looked up as Monica came out of her room and headed towards them. The older angel sighed, seeing the look of sadness in the Irish angel’s brown eyes and longing to replace it with the joy of the season, which she was convinced all of her friends had forgotten for the moment.
"Are you going out, Andrew?" Monica asked, trying to keep the sadness from her voice. Seeing him nod his head, she continued,
"Do you mind if I tag along?" It wasn’t so much that she had any desire to go shopping, but more like maybe a coffee and spending some time with her best friend, might make her forget about this whole caroling thing tomorrow night.
"Monica," He began regretfully, knowing there was no way he could shop for her with her with him,
"You know I’d never say this without good reason, sweetie, but this time I do mind."
Hurt flashed in her eyes briefly, before understanding as she nodded her head, though she couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Usually, she loved Christmas, but now she was starting to wish she had an assignment, instead of being given the holiday off. But beings she had worked the last few hundred Christmases, this year, she along with Andrew, Carla and Rose had been given the holiday to spend together and Tess would join them after the church service tonight. However, in Monica's eyes, this was shaping up to be one of the worst Christmases she could ever remember,
"That’s okay," She replied, managing a small smile.
"I’d love some help in the kitchen baking cookies, honey," Rose offered, moving to wrap her arm around Monica’s shoulders,
"You too, Carla."
"Sure, Rose," Carla replied as Monica nodded once again.
Guilt gnawing at him like a reindeer pawing on a rooftop, Andrew looked over at his friend,
"I’ll see you in church tonight, sweetheart. Save me a seat, okay?"
"I will," She replied, forcing another smile to make him feel better.
"Just bring your ear plugs," Tess reiterated as she headed for the front door,
"The service starts at 10:45 and don’t be late." As she closed the door behind her, she mumbled,
"Oh Lord, give your angel strength."
"I need to go too," Andrew added, seeing the minutes ticking away on his watch and knowing he was running out of time,
"You guys have fun," He added, ruffling Carla’s blond hair and moving to give his best friend a quick but loving hug, wishing he could wipe that forlorn expression from her face.
As the two younger angels retreated to the kitchen, he managed a smile for his former supervisor,
"I just want to get this whole shopping thing over with and still have my sanity intact."
Rose smiled as she hugged him, knowing he could avoid having to shop at all if he would only consider what it was his best friend really needed, but that was for him to figure out. She only hoped all four of her friends would remember that giving love was the true meaning of this holiday, just as God had given his Son to the world in that manger, so many years ago.
"I sure hope that choir isn’t as bad as Tess is making it out to be," Carla remarked an hour later as she pulled a fresh batch of cookies from the oven and set them down on the counter.
"Well, honey, sometimes they can only be as good as the attitude of their director," Rose commented, as she worked on whipping up the ingredients for a batch of chocolate blossoms,
"Seems to me a few attitude adjustments around here could make a world of difference.
Monica sighed softly as she sat at the table and took the foil wrappers off of the little chocolate kisses,
"I’m sorry, Rose. It’s just that I was really looking forward to a Christmas off with my friends and now this whole caroling thing has come up."
"C’mon, Monica," Carla intervened softly,
"Your voice can’t be that bad…"
Monica tilted her head to the side and looked at the younger angel intently,
"Have you ever heard me sing, Carla?" Seeing both angels shake their heads, she continued with pain flickering in her dark eyes,
"I was kicked out of the angelic choir if that gives you any indication and lets just say if I were to go with you tomorrow night, which I’m not, you’ll want to hang onto those ear plugs Tess suggested."
"Now honey, surely it can’t be that bad," Rose remarked, watching the doubtful expression on Monica’s face,
"Why don’t we all sing something and you let us be the judge of it?"
"I don’t think that is a really good idea, Rose," She replied skeptically.
"C’mon, Monica. It’s just the three of us here and no one else to hear you. I’ll be it’s not as bad as you think it is," Carla urged hopefully,
"We’ll sing something easy, like ‘Away in a Manger’, okay? Rose and I will start and you just join in when you are ready," Seeing her friend shrug her shoulders resignedly, Carla started to sing, her sweet voice filling the kitchen as Rose joined in with her,
"Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down His sweet head…"
Against her will, the little Irish angel couldn’t help but join in with the other two angels, thankfully missing the fact that even Rose winced at one of her notes that reminded the oldest angel of nails on a chalkboard. As they finished the verse, silence filled the kitchen for a moment, before Carla piped up,
"It wasn’t that bad, Monica," She sighed then, knowing that lying was forbidden,
"But I do see your point."
"And you have other gifts, Monica," Rose added, giving the younger angel’s shoulder a loving squeeze,
"Like the truth."
Monica swallowed hard as she got up from the table,
"And the truth is, I can’t sing," She whispered sadly, shaking her auburn head,
"I can’t sing and Tess is determined to go caroling tomorrow night. I’m sure you guys will have fun though."
"Monica," Carla shot her friend a pleading look.
"It’s okay, Carla. Listen, I have some…last minute gift wrapping to do, if you’ll excuse me." Managing a smile, she turned and headed out of the room.
"Bad idea?" Rose asked, looking over at Carla’s sad face.
"I’d say so," She responded with a sigh, wondering what on earth it would take to make this Christmas a happy one.
Tess tossed her jacket onto one of the church pews grumpily and let out a deep, frustrated sigh. Shaking out the snowflakes in her shoulder-length brown-gray hair, the angel turned to the front of the church and saw that all of the so-called "singers" she had been trying to direct these last couple of weeks were huddled around in small circles, chatting away as if they were little kids.
More frustration rose up inside of her and she shook her head, crossed her arms and headed towards them, a shout on the tip of her tongue. Tonight was the night of the service and they had so much practice to do, so what were they doing talking instead of practicing?
Tess clapped her hands together loudly and yelled in a booming voice,
"Attention! Attention, everyone!"
Still not receiving a response, but the laughter only growing more intense and the talking never stopping to listen to her, the angel felt her nostrils flaring with anger and she put her fingers into her mouth and let out a piercing whistle. She had never done anything like this before and even for her, it was out of her character. But it did catch the singers’ attention and they all stopped suddenly, turning around to face her as if they had just noticed she was even there in the same room with her.
"Okay, now that you all are FINALLY listening," Tess snapped, coming closer to the group, her arms still folded across her chest,
"Do I need to remind you all that tonight-as in Christmas Eve-is the performance, and that instead of yapping away you all should be practicing! We need to perfect you for tonight and it’s not going to happen if you’re just sitting there-"
"But Tess, we sound just fine!" A young female piped up, shrugging her shoulders before going back to talking with a young male, who she had always claimed was her "soul mate". The two ignored Tess once again and before the older angel knew it, the entire group of 20 singers started chattering away again like she was invisible.
"Oh Lord, what am I going to do now?" Tess groaned as she raised her already exhausted brown eyes to the ceiling and sank down into the front pew,
"Tell me what I am to do…"
Almost as soon as the words escaped her mouth, a loud scream erupted from one of the females in the group and Tess’ head snapped up in time to see the crowd part and an ever-large young woman doubled over, holding her stomach. The angel’s brown eyes widened as she realized that this woman who was very pregnant appeared to be going into labor right at this very moment, in this church.
Commotion filled the entire group as they helped the woman, who looked to be in her mid-30’s with shoulder-length reddish-brown hair, to the ground. An older man scattered away in search of blankets and pillows to help prop her feet up and keep everything under control, while another woman grabbed her cell phone and called for an ambulance. The woman’s face was scrunched up in obvious pain and from her viewpoint, Tess could tell that this woman who she only knew by name-Kelly-was going to have this baby right here and right now, whether the doctors were here or not.
Andrew wandered around one of the many shops that he hadn’t stopped in on his recent missions to find the perfect gift for his best friend and he sighed grumpily as he saw that once again, like all the other stores, it was packed with human beings in search for their "perfect" gift for their loved ones.
"Last minute shopping…" The angel grumbled to himself as he wrapped his coat tighter around himself,
"Andrew, why do you do this to yourself…?"
Rubbing his gloved hands together, still feeling chilly from the snowy cold that he had just come inside from, Andrew headed down one of the women’s isles that held makeup and clothing. The angel frowned as he examined some of the items and their tags, not really surprised that some of these were on sale: 10% OFF. BUY ONE GET ONE FREE. 50% OFF. LAST DAY TO BUY!
Fingering a silk scarf, the blonde Search and Rescue angel tilted his head to the side as he gazed at it,
‘Maybe Monica will like this…She does like scarves, and maybe a nice hat will go with it…’ He thought to himself. But suddenly, a loud obnoxious child’s voice sounded from behind him, which caused his blood to boil as he turned around. He had always loved children, but when it came to the holidays and he was searching for the perfect gift for his dearest friend, now wasn’t the time to bug him. Biting his tongue, he held back a retort as the young boy shouted.
"Oh, now that will look just LOVELY on you, mister!" He shouted, laughing and pointing at him. Yanking a straw hat with a pink ribbon off of one of the shelves, Andrew cringed as the kid stuck it on top of his hat and batted his eyelashes at the angel. He made his voice squeaky and feminine as he once again raised his voice above the crowd of customers,
"Is this my style?"
"JOSHUA!" A woman’s voice shouted above his child-like, obnoxious voice and before Andrew knew it, a lady who obviously looked to be the kid’s mother, rushed around a corner and grabbed the hat off of his head and stuck it back on the shelf. Grabbing his shoulders roughly and forcing him to meet her stern, blue eyes, the mother demanded,
"Just what in Heaven’s name are you doing, young man? I told you to stay with me and not bug other customers." Releasing her son’s shoulders, the young woman turned apologetic eyes to Andrew, who she saw had replaced the scarf and had backed away from them and she didn’t miss the look of humiliation in his green eyes,
"Sir, I am so sorry about that. Forgive us, he’s always like this-loud and obnoxious. I mean, he even wanted to be the Grim Reaper for Halloween and his father allowed it." Sighing, she shook her head and ran her fingers through her long hair,
"I hope that you find what you’re looking for and from now on, he’ll leave you alone." Offering him a smile, she reached over and patted his arm before turning back to her son and grabbing his upper arm,
"And you, Joshua, after Christmas, you’re grounded. C’mon, let’s go." Practically dragging him around the corner, the young boy still couldn’t stop laughing as he glanced back over his shoulder at Andrew.
Andrew cringed once again as the child shouted just as he and his mother disappeared around the corner to another part of the store,
"See you later, Bumblebee Boy!"
Andrew’s face turned a deep shade of red and his cheeks burned as the two humans disappeared. Immediately placing the scarf he was thinking of buying for Monica several minutes ago back onto the shelf carelessly, the angel raced quickly to another part of the department store where not so many people were gathered. Leaning up against the wall, he closed his eyes and forced himself to "breathe", like Rose and Tess had told him plenty of times during tough assignments.
"Father, what am I doing wrong here?" He questioned God, urgency in his voice as he looked up at the high ceiling,
"There must be something I’m doing wrong if this kind of thing keeps happening on these shopping trips…"
"My child, it’s not anything that you’re doing that is wrong," The Voice of the Father whispered into his heart lovingly,
"But I do want you to figure this out in your own time, and trust Me, Andrew. The time is closer than you think."
Suddenly feeling a tug on his jacket, Andrew sighed and finally opened his eyes, coming face to face with a small child. His green eyes widened as he noticed her tattered, worn clothes and her hair was in disarray, greasy and limp. In her bare hands, she held a pink piggy bank and her blue-gray eyes held deep sorrow, but also hope and love in them. Andrew opened his mouth to say something, but couldn’t find his voice.
"Mister?" The child finally spoke up, her voice small and quiet,
"Mister, do you have some spare change? I don’t have much, and neither does my family, and I have to buy my mommy and baby brother something for Christmas tomorrow. Please, mister?"
Finally finding his voice, Andrew knelt down beside of the little girl,
"What’s your name, sweetheart?" He asked gently.
"Faith," She answered quietly as she lowered her eyes shyly,
"Do you think you can help me, mister? I just really wanted to make Christmas special for my mom and brother this year. Mommy has been so sad ever since my daddy went to heaven a few months ago and I just wanted to get her something to make her smile."
Andrew forced back tears at the little girl’s plight,
"And who is going to make Christmas special for you, Faith?" He questioned softly.
At this, the child smiled,
"Just seeing them smile will make it special for me, mister. It’s all I want for Christmas is for them to be happy for a little while."
"Excuse me," A woman’s voice interrupted their conversation and looking up, Andrew could see that she had tears in her eyes, having overheard the story the child was telling to him,
"Here honey," She said with a smile as she handed the little girl several bills,
"You go and make Christmas special for your family."
"Thank you, ma’am," Faith responded, her eyes wide with disbelief as she looked at the money in her hand. She smiled as the woman patted her on the head and returned to her shopping, shaking her head sadly. Turning back to Andrew, Faith then asked,
"Will you help me find them gifts, mister?"
"Of course, I will," Andrew responded, reaching for her little hand,
"And call me Andrew, okay?"
"Okay, Andrew," Faith responded as she led him down the aisles of the store in search of something perfect to give to her family.
Unbeknownst to the pair, the woman who had given the money was sharing Faith’s story with everyone who would listen, and soon a small crowd had gathered as the story of the poor little girl was repeated.
Once Faith, with Andrew’s help had decided on gifts for her mom and brother and had paid for them, they turned around to face the crowd of customers. The same woman stepped forward, tears shining in her eyes.
"Faith," She said softly, kneeling down to meet the child’s eyes,
"I hope you don’t mind that I told these people about you and your family and it seems that everyone here wanted to help," As she said these words, the other shoppers quietly took turns coming forward and handing Faith bags or money. The bags held toys or clothes, not only for Faith’s family, but for Faith as well and the money was more than the little girl had ever seen in her short life. She watched, speechless as silent tears streamed from her eyes, as people kept coming forward, all wanting and eager to help.
Andrew as well, had tears falling from his eyes as he witnessed what he considered to be a true Christmas miracle. These people were putting aside their own frenzied last minute shopping to help this little stranger who was full of such love. They had not forgotten the true meaning of Christmas…but maybe he had.
Once everyone had come forward, and Faith had tearfully thanked each one, she turned back to Andrew,
"I’m gonna need help getting this stuff home."
"Well, help you have, Faith," He replied gently,
"And it turns out, I have some money too and why don’t we stop at the grocery store to get your family a real Christmas dinner for tomorrow?"
Bursting into tears, Faith flung her little arms around his neck,
"Thank you…I never thought so many people would want to help me. I mean, I’m nothing special, Andrew…"
"Oh but you are, Faith and I happen to know that God thinks you are just wonderful." He replied as he held her tightly.
***
Monica slipped on her coat and quietly slipped out of the house, just wanting some time on her own to think before heading to the church. She had left Rose and Carla a note, but had wanted to sneak out unnoticed so no big fuss was made about it.
As she walked down the sidewalk, she looked around her at the falling snow and sighed, thinking about what a perfect Christmas Eve this was. She had always loved snow, especially when it fell on this particular night of the year, she only wished that Andrew was here to share it with her.
He had been so caught up in shopping the last several days that she had barely seen him. She had been so looking forward to spending Christmas with her friends, and here he had been so busy and Tess had been so grouchy. Rose and Carla had been cheery enough, but though she loved them dearly, they weren’t Andrew and Tess who she had known and worked with for so long. But despite Andrew’s shopping frenzies and Tess’ grumbling, Monica had at least thought that Christmas Day, everything would come together, but now with this caroling thing, it seemed that even part of that day would be spent apart.
It wasn’t that she was pouting, though she knew that was what Tess thought right now, but more that she couldn’t see going and just standing there while her friends sang, and trying to sing along was definitely out of the question. Music was not one of her gifts and she had spent most of her existence trying to accept that and had done pretty well for the most part, except for in moments like these, when it involved feeling left out.
"Oh Father," She sighed softly as she continued walking,
"I’m sorry to feel so blue at Your special time of the year."
As she walked into town, she stopped then, hearing singing coming from the square and she stopped to listen.
"…Faithful friends who are dear to us, will be near to us once more. Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow. Hang a shining star upon the highest bough, and have yourself a merry little Christmas now…"
Feeling tears welling up in her brown eyes, the little Irish angel lowered her head and continued on her way.
"...C'mon, baby, push! You're almost there, Melissa!" Tess encouraged the
screaming woman one final time, her heart pounding loudly in her chest as,
with one final scream of pain, a loud crying noise sounded throughout the
church chapel. Voices of the church choir and the paramedics, who were
gathered around the new mother and the new-born baby shouted out orders as
the umbilical cord was cut from the new baby girl and Melissa struggled to
catch her breath.
Tess watched, surprise and awe flowing through her being. The angel found
herself speechless now as she watched the events unfold before her angelic
eyes; this really was a Christmas miracle...a miracle and a gift from the
Father Himself.
*****
Two hours later...
Andrew walked through the doors of the cabin later that evening, a smile
that hadn't been on his face earlier, now playing across his mouth. Running
his hands through his hair, shaking the snowflakes out of it since it had
started snowing just not too long ago, the blonde angel unzipped his heavy
jacket and hung it up in the closet beside of him, and tossed the hat he
held in his hands back onto the upper shelf. Although he had not found the
gift he had earlier wanted to give to Monica for Christmas Day, right now
however, his attitude was different. His best friend didn't want the most
"perfect" gift; what she wanted was his love...and to be able to sing the
next day with the rest of them.
'Baby girl, I promise I'll help you somehow," He promised his dearest friend
in his thoughts as he walked through the living room, where the large
Christmas tree stood in the corner with the lights shining brightly through
the darkened room, and the Christmas angel was perched on the very top. The fire in the fireplace flickered at the wood, which brought another smile to Andrew's handsome face at the memories of times he and his friends had spent before that fire...
Heading from that room and through the swinging doors to the nearby kitchen, the angel stopped in his tracks as he saw Monica sitting alone at the table, a mug of hot chocolate in her hands. Her auburn head was bowed as she appeared to be deep in thought, obviously about the whole Christmas caroling thing tomorrow night.
Taking a step towards her, refusing to leave her side until he saw a smile
on her pretty face, the young Search and Rescue angel walked up behind her
and rested gentle hands on her slim shoulders. Watching her turn around to
face him, Andrew offered his best friend a loving smile and felt a sense of
relief as Monica returned the smile with a forced one of her own.
"Hey, Angel Girl, why so glum?" He gently prodded, kneeling down beside of
her and reaching a hand out to touch her soft cheek.
Monica shrugged her shoulders, although she knew that her friend already
knew what she was thinking. Finally meeting his soft green eyes with her
brown ones, the Irish angel felt a few tears brim in her eyes, but she
blinked them back.
Andrew saw the expressions and body movements she was giving, and although he was feeling a lot happier than earlier that evening, sadness for his best friend filled his heart. What could he do to make her smile? No, she
wouldn't be able to sing with them as they caroled tomorrow, but there had
to be something she could do so she wouldn't feel left out...
Suddenly, as silence continued to pass between the two angels, an idea then
came to his mind. He would need help from Tess after the Christmas program later, but the idea was just too perfect!
Removing his hand from Monica's cheek, Andrew offered her another smile and then reached for her hand. Feeling her grip his hand in her own, the angel pulled his friend to her feet,
"Let's go for a walk or something before the Christmas program," He
suggested lovingly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close
to him as they left the kitchen,
"I'd like to spend some quality time with my best friend before this
evening's program."
Wrapping her arm around his waist in return, Monica offered up a sad smile
at him but still refused to say anything. But she was grateful for the love
of her dearest friend and this did bring a more cheerful smile to the
angel's face.
Andrew smiled contentedly as he sat in the pew in church later that night, listening to Tess’ choir sing. Contrary to what she had said earlier, the choir sounded beautiful and even Tess herself had a grin a mile wide on her face as she directed them.
He glanced over at Rose and Carla and found them smiling as well as they listened and in front of him sat Faith and her family, whom Andrew had invited to church that evening after meeting them when he had helped Faith home with all the gifts and food. There had been such love and thankfulness among the family as Faith and Andrew had explained what had happened at the store, that it made his heart swell with love at the reminder that human nature could indeed be good.
His smile vanished slightly as he glanced over at Monica who sat on the other side of him and he saw a lone tear slip down her cheek as she listened to the choir singing. He longed to tell her now about his gift to her, but yet he wanted it to be a surprise for Christmas morning. She was just hurting right now and he so didn’t want that this night.
Moving to wrap his arm around her shoulders, he drew her close to him before whispering softly to her,
"Angel Girl, it will all work out. I want you to trust me, okay?" He saw the questioning look in her tear-filled eyes as she gazed up at him and he smiled reassuringly as he repeated,
"Trust me."
She nodded as she rested her head against his shoulder,
"You know I do." She replied in a sad whisper.
Kissing the top of her head, Andrew nodded towards the choir,
"They sound great, don’t they?"
"It’s beautiful," Monica whispered shakily even as another tear escaped her eye,
"Oh Andrew…I just wanted to spend Christmas with my friends… with you…"
"Shhh," He replied, holding her tightly,
"And you will, I promise."
The following morning, laughter echoed through the cabin as gifts, as well as the stories from last night were exchanged.
"Well, baby," Tess grinned, watching as Andrew unwrapped a package,
"Seems like you and I both got a lesson in the spirit of Christmas last night."
"Sounds that way," Rose smiled knowingly.
"It certainly was an amazing night," Andrew grinned as he opened the box that was from his best friend, breaking into laughter as he saw what was inside. He pulled out a heavy green flannel shirt, the shade of green carefully chosen to match his eyes, which now glanced over at Monica mischievously,
"Angel Girl?"
"Well, you lost the last flannel shirt you had," She giggled, her mood much lighter this morning,
"I figured the least I could do was replace it."
Laying the shirt back down, he reached over and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek,
"I love it, sweetheart. Thank you."
"You’re welcome," Monica replied warmly, enjoying the moment, before Tess spoke up and changed it.
"So, we’re all set for tonight, correct? Andrew, you’ll be singing the bass part, I can handle tenor. Rose will be alto and Carla will handle the top part with that sweet soprano of hers," She grinned at the youngest angel, who chuckled softly,
"Andrew and I picked the songs out last night, so we are all set to go."
Seeing his best friend’s smile fade, Andrew reached for the last box under the tree and handed it to her,
"Which brings me to your gift, Angel Girl."
With tears welling up in her brown eyes, Monica shakily took the box from him, before wiping at her eyes as she tore at the gold paper slowly. As she opened the box, a puzzled expression crossed her face as she looked up at him. Seeing him nod his head as he smiled, she looked closer, understanding now filling her heart and she burst into tears as she threw her arms around him,
"Oh Andrew…thank you! Thank you!"
"You’re welcome, sweet Angel Girl," He whispered as he held her tightly,
"Tess helped me with it last night."
"But it was his idea, baby," Tess replied with a smile.
"He knew what you really wanted for Christmas, Monica." Carla added with a grin.
"Thank you," Monica repeated, smiling through her tears,
"I think it’s the best Christmas present I’ve ever received," kissing her friend’s cheek,
"I love you," She whispered fiercely into his ear.
"And I you," Andrew replied, wiping the tears from her eyes, while his own shone with happiness….
…"But the angel said to them, ’Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manager.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly hosts appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’"
Monica’s musical Irish lilt filled the cold Christmas night air as people watched and listened from their porches, before Andrew, Tess, Rose and Carla’s voices filled the silence after she had spoken.
"Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her King. Let every heart, prepare him room and heaven and nature sing…and heaven and nature sing…and heaven and heaven and nature sing."
The five friends exchanged smiles as they watched a white dove ascend from the treetop, and the beautiful vision soon vanished into the clear, starry sky.