12. Chapter 11 (1/2)
chapter 11
that gentle kiss in the park only
came to seal monica and andrew's love for each other, which had
been evident in their eyes and in their hearts for some time. a few
moments later, they pulled away just enough to look at each other's
faces. "i love you, monica," andrew said, his green eyes shining
with all the affection he felt for her.
smiling with contentment, she was
going to say something, but, suddenly, her smile disappeared and she
stood up with a worried expression on her face.
"what is it?" he asked, also
standing up and following her with worry.
"andrew… i just thought about
something…" she looked back at him, "what if we already have
someone? i mean, what if i have a boyfriend and you have a girlfriend
waiting for you somewhere?"
andrew heaved a sigh of relief and
smiled again. "oh, that's it…"
"don't you think it's serious?"
"well, it is, and, yes, i've
already thought about it," he stroked her cheek with infinite
tenderness, "monica, if we had someone, this person would have
looked for us when we were in hospital the same way our relatives
would, if we had any. it would've been impossible not knowing what
happened; the accident appeared on tv and on the newspaper and judith
put advertisements looking for our relatives or friends for many
days."
monica considered those arguments for
some moments and ended up agreeing with him. "yes… i guess you're
right…"
"so, if that's what you're
worried about, please don't be," then, his face turned serious,
"but… if you don't feel the same about me… well, i…"
monica didn't even let him finish:
smiling
oadly, she held him tightly.
"oh andrew... i love you so much!
with all my heart!" she exclaimed, resting her head on his
shoulder. somewhat surprised with that spontaneous reaction, he held
her back, "oh angel... you're so precious to me... so precious...
and you made today the best day of my life!" he said, kissing the
top of her head repeatedly, both with their hearts filled with joy
and much love.
hand in hand the couple of angels
returned home, where judith had been waiting for them.
"hey, finally!" she said,
crossing her arms in front of her chest and eyeing them with an
inquisitive but rather amused look on her face, "i was wondering if
you'd got lost somewhere between the park and our house!"
for an instant, the two felt quite
embarrassed and looked at each other trying to find the best words to
explain their delay.
"oh... monica and i... we... we
were at the park..."
"yes... andrew bought me a cup of
coffee and... and we started talking... and... well..."
"we... we lost track of time..."
judith looked at them with her
eye
ows raised and slightly confused, "i guess you two have been
under the sun too long today!" and before they could say something
else, she added, in a totally bossy way, "now, c'mon, lunch is
getting cold!"
finding that tone of voice rather
funny, and for a split second under the impression it was somewhat
familiar to them, they smiled and quickly obeyed her orders.
"i'll help ya to set the table,
judith!" monica spoke, she and andrew following the woman.
"and i'll help to
ing the
food!" the blond angel added and didn't resist kissing monica's
cheek and causing her to giggle and judith to turn around and face
them, with the most confused face in the world.
"the food is delicious, judith..."
monica spoke, she and her dearest friends sitting at the table.
"well, thank you, dear. i know that
andrew here surely can do better but i guess i've been improving my
abilities since you both arrived!" she said, causing andrew to
smile. "it could've been better if he were here to give me some
help, but i know, i was the one to insist to make it and, besides
this, you two 'got lost' in the park so i can't complain!"
she was joking, of course, and as
soon as the woman had said that, andrew looked at monica and secretly
winked at the little irish angel, who smiled shyly and lowered her
head. judith stopped chewing and looked at them, realising that now
andrew was unsuccessfully trying to hide his smile.
"what!" she asked, more and more
confused and more and more suspicious.
"er... nothing... monica is right,
judith, the food is delicious! my help wasn't really necessary, you
did great!" andrew spoke, in an attempt to sound more natural.
when they finished, he offered to
remove the dishes and stood up to pick their plates. and as he came
closer to monica, their eyes met again, in a tender gaze, and it was
impossible, even if for a few seconds, not to notice the spark of
love in their eyes. once again, judith stared at the two of them,
aware that something was different, although she couldn't tell
exactly what.
"i'll help you..." the irish
angel offered, but andrew quickly covered her hand with his, "no,
angel, i'll do it. you stay here and take a rest, ok?" he gently
rubbed his finger against the back of her hand and stroked her cheek
with the other. her reply was a loving smile back at him, "you'll
end up spoiling me, ya know?"
"i'll do my best!" he said,
kissing her temple.
some time later, while andrew
finished to do the dishes, monica sat at the porch and watched as the
afternoon sun shone across the blue sky and as the lilacs in the
small garden seemed to be more vi
ant. she sighed deeply, as if the
entire nature was cele
ating all the wonderful things that had been
happening to her since the day she woke up at that hospital, some
months before. and, among all these things, the most important one
was definitely andrew's love.
"... what are you thinking, huh?"
his kind voice took her out of her reverie and she turned her head to
face him, "about how god has been good to me all this time..."
she replied, her soft
own eyes shining with love for him.
"well, he sure has... so good, that
now you'll get another cup of mocha!"
grinning, she took the large mug he
handed her and, as he sat down, monica stroked his handsome face and
inched her face closer,
ushing her lips against his in a tender
kiss. "thank you."
"if you're gonna thank me like
this i'll
ing you a cup of mocha each ten minutes!" he joked,
causing her to giggle.
"you don't need to do that, you
know. even if you didn't give me any coffee at all, i'd still
want to kiss you, mister!"
"whoa! even with no coffee?
really?"
"yes... but you don't have to
test it to see if this is true! just take my word!" as he laughed,
the little angel took a sip of her favourite drink and when she
looked at him again, he laughed even louder, which called judith's
attention. curious, the woman walked over to the window and pushed
the curtains away just enough to look outside, unseen by the two
angels.
"what?" monica wanted to know,
with an adorable mix of annoyance and confusion on her meek face.
"you look quite cute with this
'mocha moustache', angel girl!"
with infinite tenderness, the blond
angel reached up and cleaned her face with gentle fingers, "there
it is... my pretty angel girl back again!"
he cupped her chin and studied her
meek face, his eyes travelling from her soft
own eyes to her lovely
cheeks and finally her rosy lips. the loving way she was looking at
him and the fact that they were both alone only encouraged andrew to
inch his face closer and press his lips firmly against hers, now in a
long sweet kiss, full of the deepest love and devotion. and from the
window, judith covered her mouth with her hand and smiled, happy to
see that so much waited scene between the two people who were
practically her children now.
"oh, my god! finally!" she
murmured, not even dreaming of interrupting the two sweethearts, "oh,
they make such a lovely couple... god, i'm so happy! so happy, as
if they were my dear children... and they love each other so much, i
could see it at the moment they came to me... please, let this love
grow in their hearts!"
dinner that night was full with
smiles and gazes not only between monica and andrew but also between
judith, who was infinitely happy to see them so in love. when the
table was clean and empty, the three moved to the living room, monica
turned on the tv to find "love story" was being aired.
"oh, my, it's been years since
the last time i watched that!" the woman exclaimed taking a seat on
the couch while the two angels cuddled together on the love seat.
"i'm sure you must've watched it sometime before, but if you
don't remember it, you'll love it!"
although she had assured the angels
that she loved the movie, it wasn't long before judith was already
dozing on her seat, and finally she decided to go to bed. she went to
the kitchen to get a glass of water and smiled in her way to the
stairs as she saw monica now laying on the love seat, her head on
andrew's lap, while he was combing her hair tenderly.
actually, the blond angel watched
almost nothing of the film as he spent the time just looking at his
beloved girlfriend, drinking in the delicacy of her features, of her
own eyes shining with tears with the sad ending. when a tear
escaped her eye, he dried it with his thumb. "i'm sorry,"
monica chuckled and sit up, "i know it's silly, it's just a
movie…"
"it's not silly," he said
placing a finger over her lips and then moving it to caress her
cheek. "what i see is just part of your heart,
baby. that's who you are, kind, compassionate..." he then stopped
talking, his heart pumping faster against his chest: he had said that
about monica before, he was sure! and it had been to judith in fact!
it had been in that restaurant where they used to take the tourists
every week, the first day they had worked with judith! yes, he
definitely could remember that! if he could only remember why they