Bringer of Love

Summary: The angels return to the Bakers to help them through Erica's cancer, and college student Lucy's relationship with her boyfriend. Sequel to "Bringer of Light" episode.

Chapter 1

There was no chaos in the Baker kitchen. While for many other families, the morning before school might be messy and loud, this one was just the opposite. Monica could see that over the years, the small family had formed a quiet breakfast routine. The father, John, helped his wife Erica to her seat at the head of the table. Lucy, their twenty-year-old daughter, got milk out of the fridge, then went to the cabinet to get cereal bowls. Without even asking her parents what they wanted, she put down the milk and filled each bowl with Cheerios and wetted them with only a few splashes of milk. Then the young woman brought the bowls to each of her parents before she served herself.

"Lucy certainly has grown up," Monica remarked to the two other angels at her side, Gloria and Tess. She'd been told that Andrew would be joining them, but she didn't know when.

Tess nodded, her gaze still on the family. "She's twenty now, angel girl. She's done a lot of growing up in the past five years. Maybe more than she should have."

"Wait, you've met them before?" Gloria asked in confusion. This was their first meeting about the assignment. "What was your assignment last time?"

Last time, Monica thought with a frown. The poor family, they've been through so much already. "Yes, Gloria, five years ago. John is a scientist who refused to believe in God, but he does now, as does his family. We were also here when…he and Lucy discovered that Erica would be fighting ovarian cancer for a second time."

Gloria's eyes widened. "Ovarian cancer? Then how…" She paused, as if to choose her words carefully. "I mean, it's great that Erica's lived this long, but…"

"She's a fighter, little angel," Tess explained. "And her faith has given her strength. But her strength has finally run out, and the Father is calling her home."

At that news, Monica looked at Erica again. The woman was pale, and her pajamas seemed to sag on her frail body. She hadn't touched the cereal in front of her, and it appeared that she was using all her energy just to sit upright in the chair. Monica's heart sank, both at Erica's condition, and the memory of how distraught Lucy had been when she first learned the seriousness of ovarian cancer. "Oh, Tess…Lucy and John will be devastated. They're such a close family, those two will miss her so much. I can already tell by how much they take care of her now."

"But fortunately, they've grown closer over the last few years. They'll be able to comfort each other through their faith that Erica will be in Heaven," Tess assured her.

"I can't believe that John didn't believe in God before," Gloria confessed, amazed. "How can anyone not believe in God? He's…everywhere, in everything."

"Well, John understands that now, thanks to his daughter's faith," Tess replied. She continued to watch the Baker family, who were moving through their morning routine. John read the science section of the newspaper, while Erica asked Lucy about her plans for the day.

Gloria noticed this conversation as well. "Lucy goes to college? So Erica's alone most of the day? That doesn't seem right."

Much to both of the other angels' confusion, Tess chuckled and turned to Gloria. "Well, I'm glad you feel that way, little angel. Because for the length of this assignment, you're going to be Erica's live-in nurse."

"Oh, that's good! I'll start reading up on ovarian cancer, then maybe on nursing…" Gloria replied, almost to herself as she began to think of reading material.

Monica gave Gloria an encouraging smile, then turned to the other angel. "What am I going to be doing, Tess?"

"You're going to be working at a children's day care, angel girl," Tess informed her. "It's where Lucy and William volunteer. William is Lucy's boyfriend, and he'll be your assignment as well."

"Boyfriend? For how long?" Monica asked out of curiosity. She was happy for Lucy. Given that the young woman had chosen to attend local college to stay home with her mother, Monica presumed that Lucy didn't take much time for herself.

"Since last April when they met at the day care center. He's a very important part of her life," Tess answered. When there was a brief pause in conversation, she said, "Well, aren't either of you going to ask what I'm going to be doing for this assignment?"

Gloria and Monica traded bewildered, yet amused, looks before the younger angel replied, "Oh, I'm sorry, Tess. What are you going to be doing?"

"I," Tess began, a happy note to her voice. "Am going to be assistant vice principal at the school where John teaches." She appeared to enjoy the thought, a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye.

Monica suddenly felt very sorry for the first unsuspecting high school student who got detention under Tess' watch. "I'm sure you'll be great at that, Tess," Monica replied, though she suspected that was an understatement.

Though she seemed to share Monica's concern, Gloria only smiled and nodded. "Yeah! That's perfect for you!"

"I thought so," Tess agreed. "John is going to be taking his class on field trips to the planetarium this year, and I'll be going along as a chaperone."

There was a small crash, and the three angels redirected their attention to the family. Erica had knocked over her bowl of cereal, probably because her reflexes had deteriorated. "I'm so sorry!" Erica was saying, tears in her eyes as she attempted to get up to clean the mess.

"It's alright, honey," John assured her. He'd put down his paper and rushed to her side. Both he and his daughter noticed that Erica could barely lift herself from the chair. "Here, why don't you go get some rest? I'll help you back to bed," John said while he began to help her stand up.

Lucy also gave her mother a comforting smile and ran to get some paper towels for the milk, which was seeping into John's newspaper. "Don't worry, I'll clean this up. And I'll come in to say good bye before I go to class."

It was clear in Erica's eyes that she felt guilty that her family had to fuss over her, but she smiled anyway. "You two, you're so good to me. I love you so much."

"We love you too," Lucy and John replied in unison. Then Lucy went to clean the kitchen table, and John began to help Erica to the hallway.

In the corner of the kitchen near the door, Andrew appeared. He gave the other angels a nod in greeting, then followed John and Erica.

Tess nodded back. Before Gloria or Monica could ask, she explained, "Andrew's going to be watching over Erica, until it's time to take her home. That could be in two weeks or two days from now, we still don't know."

"Then we better get started on this assignment now," Monica suggested. The other angels agreed, and all three vanished from the kitchen.