A day in the park
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, and the constant soft breeze helped to spread the sweet smell of flowers around the park. The leaves on the top of green trees swayed with the rhythm of the wind and the children and their parents played along with the joy typical of those whose main worry was to enjoy the company of the ones around.
A group of laughing three-year-olds ran by Andrew, and permanently holding on a lilac stroller, he followed them with his green eyes, chuckling at their excitement. Only when they made a turn behind a tree to find their parents did the blond angel turn his attention to the stone path up ahead him. On the chair, a wide-eyed little baby gazed at the world around her with curiosity and enchantment, and the meekness of her Gaelic features reminded immediately to her mother's ones.
But now Monica was away on a last-minute assignment, and this time Andrew was the one to baby-sit their lovely daughter. And that "assignment" was by far one of the best the blond angel had ever fulfilled in his whole existence. Since Angela was born, Andrew resented the fact that he had spent so little time next to her. He missed her and Monica terribly, and for a moment even envied some human beings who were blessed with spending time with their families. But then the blond angel would turn his eyes to the sky and ask for forgiveness, aware that he had been blessed in so many ways that envying what others had wasn't fair. That morning was one of those gifts and he would enjoy it at the maximum.
Angela had a pink hair-pin attached to her auburn strands near her temple, and the lovely white and pink dress she was wearing, matching the equally white sandals, had been made by her "angelic grandmother," such as the rest of her earthly clothes.
They didn't know when the little angel girl would finally make her way Home in her true form, but while she remained on Earth, Tess had declared she would be responsible for all her outfits. Andrew chuckled at the memory of Monica trying to knit a lilac dress to Angela and at the funny looking garment that resulted from the Irish angel's knitting work.
He saw an empty wooden bench underneath the generous shadow of an oak tree and decided to take a break from the walk. The angel sat down and placed the stroller facing him. Angela's curious green eyes were now focused on his identical ones and at that very moment her lips curved in a cute toothless smile.
"Hey, my little angel! Are you enjoying your outing here in the park, huh?" He said, gently tickling her tummy, and with his own eyes sparkling with love. Andrew was amazed at Angela's ability to bring out so much affection and tenderness in him - a quality that she had certainly inherited from her mother, like many others.
"Yes, I can see you are! You and your mom love being in contact with nature. You see, some years from now daddy will bring you here again and you'll be running along the park and making some little friends of your own. We can make a picnic here and this time your mommy will come too!"
Angela's smile only grew wider at his words, even if she couldn't understand what he was saying, the little angel was able to feel the father love that was coming from his heart like a warm embrace. The blond angel would always be there for her.
"Excuse me..."
A female voice, however, suddenly interrupted their "conversation" and Andrew turned his eyes to see a young lady, with short dark hair and brown eyes and wearing a beige dress. She seemed a little shy, feeling that she was interrupting something.
"I saw it when this fell..." she spoke again, handing him a small stuffed green turtle, one of Angela's little toys.
"Oh, thank you. I really didn't notice it." He took the toy and placed it on a compartment in the stroller. The young woman tilted her head at the image of a smiling Angela and smiled too.
"Your daughter is... so beautiful."
"Thanks. I must say that she looks a lot like her mother." He replied, proudly like any loving father would be.
"I can see she's much loved. Look at all this joy."
"Oh, she is. It's the first time she visits the park, and it seems she's enjoying it a lot!" He turned to face Angela and took her tiny hand, "And I guess daddy isn't doing a bad baby-sitting, huh?"
She cooed and kept the cute smile, which caused them to laugh. "Do you mind if I sit down?"
"No, please," he indicated the place next to him.
"Thanks. My own little angel is right there..." she pointed at the group of children who had passed by him a minute before, where one of the little boys waved at her before reassuming his task digging a hole on the soft sand.
"You have a beautiful son! Congratulations!"
"Thanks. Joshua is three years old today, you see. I thought that bringing him to the park was a good birthday present. And one that is not expensive at all."
"I'm sure he'll remember this present for the rest of his life. No money can pay the time we spend with the ones we love." He replied, "And it's the best time of the day, as the sunrays are still gentle."
"Oh, yes, that's true. It's been warm these days... I can see this little one here does have an attentive father!" She exclaimed, a little surprised with his knowledge on taking care of babies.
X
Monica drove along the road admiring the scenario around her. She was in the countryside and so far all she had been told was to take Tess' Cadillac and wait. She would know when to act and what to do. Meanwhile, the Irish angel sighed and a soft smile appeared on her face: she wondered what Andrew and Angela were doing at that very moment. Her heart cheered with joy as she knew how long her beloved Andrew was waiting for an opportunity to spend time with their little angel. That Saturday morning was a present.
She kept on driving and imagining the good moments father and daughter were sharing together and smiling at how good with children Andrew had always been. They both had as a matter of fact. Experiencing mother and fatherhood was something that both of them had longed for, and no wonder they were chosen to be blessed with Angela.
Suddenly, an image not far from her took her out of her reverie, and now Monica had her eyes turned to a car that apparently had stopped by the road. Its hood was open and there was a man trying to fix its engine. The Irish angel reduced the speed and pulled over on the other side of the road.
"Would you like some help?" she politely asked, observing he was wearing formal clothes and his shirt was practically ruined by that time.
"Oh, well, thanks but I guess fixing it won't be that easy. I've been trying it for the last half hour..." he said, trying to hide away his disbelief that such a petite woman would know anything about cars.
"Oh, sometimes car engines can be deceitful and hide away the solution to the simplest problem!" Her Irish lilt filled the air. She got out of the Cadillac and closed its door behind her, observing the problematic motor with a slight smile. "I wonder if it could be that wire here..."
She pulled out a plug and reconnected it again, and then looked at the man with hopeful eyes, secretly having fun with his scepticism. "Why don't you try to start it now?"
The man was going to say something else but gave it up and elected to oblige the mysterious lady's request. To his surprise, once he sat down and started the car, it's engine was working perfectly again.
"I don't believe it!" He exclaimed, amazement written all over his face.
"I guess you have one less problem now..."
He got off the car and walked up to her apologetically. "I'm so sorry, for a moment I thought..."
"... that I wouldn't manage to fix it? It's alright," she gently spoke, and then pointed at the red Cadillac, "I had a little problem with her a while ago, you know. Then I learned how to solve it and... well, I'm glad now I could help someone else."
"Thanks, madam. Thanks a lot." He cleaned his hand with a cloth, "My name is Matthew Evens."
"Nice to meet you, Mr Evens. I'm Monica." She replied, shaking hands with him.
"Are you heading to Keysville, Monica?"
For a moment, the angel was in doubt, looking for the best words to tell him she had no idea where she was supposed to go. She glanced at his car and noticed he was driving on the opposite direction from hers when the vehicle broke down.
"Well... actually, I'm..."
At that very moment, she heard a gentle whisper in her heart and it gave her the certainty that she was looking for. Her smile grew wider as she spoke again. "Yes, I'm definitely heading to Keysville! Do you know it?"
"Well, I live there," he said, "I work in Salt Lake, though, so I pass by this road everyday."
"Oh, really? I... I hope have an extra shirt then!" she joked, looking at his dirty shirt.
She didn't miss it when the expression on his face faded a little and he lowered his head for a moment. "That's fine. I'll pass by a store near the office and buy another one."
"I'd do it immediately." Monica looked around them and then back at him, and noticed his inquisitive look at her.
Matthew studied the expression on her face for a moment, wondering if she really knew the right way to Keysville. "And... You know that this road is divided in three a few miles from here, right?"
"Erm... actually, I didn't... You see, I'm geographically challenged sometimes. My husband and a dear friend are almost always driving with me but today they're both busy with some other... assignments."
Matthew sighed deeply, and ran a hand through is hair. The mysterious lady had stopped to help him while others just passed by, ignoring his problem. Besides this, she had managed to solve the problem with his car in the blink of an eye, and it wouldn't be fair leaving her all alone now that she was visibly lost.
"Well, I still have an hour... We could do like this: I'll go back to Keysville and you can follow me. This way you won't get confused or lost, and I'll get to change my shirt at home. What do you think?"
Her smile grew wider again. "Oh, that would be very kind of you, Mr Evens."
"Please, call me Matthew."
"Thank you, Matthew."
They got in each other's cars and headed to the small city, located about 40 minutes from Salt Lake City.
X
"How old is she?" The woman in the park wanted to know, as Angela now smiled at her.
"Four months now. We decided it was time for her to know the world around her - the beautiful part of it." Andrew replied, his eyes focused on Angela.
"Yes, you're right. And these little ones grow up so fast that we have to enjoy every little second by their side..."
"Just wish her mom was here too..." He said, finally looking at the woman.
"Let me guess: she had work to do and you got the baby-sitting?"
"Exactly."
"She might be rather upset about it..."
The smile on the corner of his lips grew wider, "Well, actually, no... You see, I'm usually the one who is away most part of the time, and she knows how much I miss our little angel here... How much I miss them both. She was quite happy because I'd get the chance to spend the day with our daughter."
A little surprised, the young woman nodded her head, "I see. Your wife must be very generous then."
"She is. Monica is... the most selfless soul I've ever met."
Suddenly, a baby's cry interrupted their conversation, and both looked at little Angela. "Hey, hey, hey... Shh... Calm down, little one..."
Andrew was quick to gather the baby girl in his arms and place her against his chest. "Shh... it's ok, angel... it's ok, daddy is here..." He calmed her by gently caressing her back and kissing the top of her head. The woman sitting next to them observed as Angela's chubby little hand clutched at his tee-shirt almost desperately, as if she had found a safe place to stay and didn't want to let go. The image of that loving father soothing away his baby's sorrow nearly undid her, and immediately brought tears to her eyes.
A minute later, with Andrew's loving words and warm embrace, Angela stopped crying.
"My goodness... how did you do it that fast?" she wanted to know, surprised at his ability.
"You see, I'm still new at being a dad, but I've had quite a lot of experience with children, and if there's one thing I've learned is to recognise the crying." He said, finally looking at her again, and not missing how moved the young lady was. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yes... I'm... I was just admiring the scene... A beautiful scene of a father and his baby..." She quickly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, "I'm sorry... It's just that she... she obviously loves and needs you so much and watching as you held her close... I guess I'm too sentimental today..."
"Children need to be loved. And having the opportunity to love them unconditionally is a blessing, you know. It's an opportunity no one should ever miss." He said, wondering if there was something else behind that woman's tears.
And his words did have an effect on her: she bit her lower lip and turned her eyes away from him, back to her little son who was playing not far from them. "You're perfectly right, mister. Sometimes... sometimes people are so selfish to realise something so simple as that..."
"Everybody makes mistakes," Andrew offered, hoping that somehow he could tell her the words she needed to hear. "But it's never too late to fix them."
She looked at him again and managed a tearful smile, "You're right again. Seems you understand not only about small babies but also about humans in general."
"Well, yeah, I guess I have a few years of experience!" He joked.
The young woman remained quiet for some moments and then rose to her feet. "I'm sorry, but I need to go now. I hope you and your baby daughter have a great time here in the park."
"Hope you can give your little boy the best birthday he's ever had!" Andrew replied, watching as she walked along the grass and up to her little boy, and gently held his little hand. The blond angel watched them until they left the park, and then turned his eyes to little Angela.
"Well, seems it's just you and me again, little angel!" he said, pulling away just enough for her to look at his face; and he chuckled at the expression on her meek face: her almost non-existent eyebrows were raised and she had a funny questioning look. "Yeah, I know, I know... You wonder how long your mom's assignment will take, right? Me too! But I'll tell what: how about we have another walk in the park, up to the lake, where you'll see the small fishes swimming with their moms and dads, huh?"
Andrew was immediately rewarded with another cute smile, and he too smiled back at his daughter, a precious little treasure he was holding in his arms with much love.
To be continued