An Angel Named Tessa
Disclaimer: Tessa and Zoë are mine, all of the guests at the hotel with the exception of Kathleen are mine, the rest belong to the creators of Touched by an Angel.
An Angel named Tessa sat at a bus stop in the middle of the desert, waiting for her new supervisor. She hoped that it was her Mother, who she missed terribly, but she doubted it. She knew it wouldn't be her Dad, but she thought that since he was an angel of death they might get to work together at some point, she hoped so. Whoever it was, she hoped that it was someone she knew well. Tessa turned her head when she felt someone sit beside her. She was surprised by who it was. "So you're my new charge?" The older African American woman asked. Tessa nodded and smiled, knowing full well who her supervisor was. It was her namesake, Tess. "Has anyone ever told you that you look just like your mother?" "A lot." She replied. "You even sound like her."
"I picked up the accent, what can I say?" She said as she hugged Tess.
"Well Baby Angel, we should get going." As she said those words a red
convertible appeared next to them on the side of the road.
"Auntie Tess, do you think we'll get to work with my Mom or my Dad?"
"You miss them, don't you baby?" She nodded.
I only saw them yesterday, but still."
"Well, keep in mind, I am almost as close to your parents are you are, and I miss them too." Tessa smiled. "Meanwhile, I wonder who Zoë has been assigned to." She said, speaking of her much younger sister. "I think that she is to young to be a caseworker, but, who am I to judge, its the Father's decision, not mine." "Your smart already Ms. Wings. I used to call your mother that before she married your dad, after that it was Mrs. Wings." Tessa laughed. "Meanwhile, how is your sister?" "She's just a wee angel as Mom would say, but Zoë doesn't like to hear that. I guess no eight year old wants to hear that about themselves, even a eight year old angel." "I know that you don't want to hear this either, but you are just a wee angel too, you've only just turned fourteen." "No, I can handle that." "Anyway, these are my rules." She began. Later that night they were on their first assignment. They were running a hotel and waiting for their assignment to come to them. Tessa had fallen asleep hours before, but Tess was up reading. "Hi Tess." A voice whispered. Tess jumped.
"Monica, you scared me! Oh, it's so great to see you! What are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd check on my baby." Monica said.
"She's been asleep for hours. I'm sure that she won't wake up if you go see her." "How is she doing?"
"She misses you a lot. Her first question was if we were going to get to work with you or Andrew, but she's really good at this. I came out of retirement just for her you know."
"Thanks Tess, that means so much to me that you can't imagine."
Monica went and tucked her daughter, (who had a habit of falling out of bed, feet first) back in bed. She kissed her. Tessa was in such as deep sleep that she never stirred. The Irish Angel wrote her daughter a note and placed it under her pillow, kissed her again and left.
An hour later Tess was still reading.
"Hi Tess," another voice whispered. She simply looked up this time.
"Hi Angel Boy. I have been expecting you!"
"You have?"
"You do know that Monica was here too, don't you?"
"She was, she never told me that she was coming, oh well, she probably came for the same reason I did, to check on Tessa." "She's fine. She misses you, but that's to be expected."
"Can I at least kiss her goodnight? Because I am guessing that Monica already tucked her in." "Your guessing right."
Andrew kissed his daughter goodnight and then he too left.
The next day, a much smaller Angel who went by the name of Zoë walked up to that very same bus stop that her sister had been at the day before. This was something that she didn't want to do anymore than her sister did, but she had to. Besides, she'd only be a way from her parents for a week, unlike her sister.
Zoë had very light brown hair that sparkled in the sun and eyes that shifted from blue to green in color. She wore a pink dress, Mary Janes and socks. She slowly walked up to the Angel on the bench.
"Hi Zoë." The older Angel said.
"Hi. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, you've grown."
"So Auntie Gloria, where are we going?"
"Well, I don't have a car, so were going to wait for the bus."
"The bus to where?"
"I don't know, just wherever God tells us to go."
"Why am I here again?"
"Because your Mom and Dad needed a little break." She said as she put her arm around the little Angel. Zoë, looked down and she screamed so loud that Gloria thought her eardrum would pop. Then Gloria looked at the ground she quickly picked Zoë up.
"Go, go now!" She yelled. The rattlesnake slithered a way.
When Tessa awoke the next morning she felt wonderful and ready for the new day, even ready for her assignment to arrive. She began to make her bed, and when she picked up her pillow she saw a small, folded-up piece of paper with her Mother's handwriting on it. She eagerly picked it up. It read:
My dearest little angel,
I cannot tell you how proud of you we are! It is such a great honor to be a caseworker, especially at your age! We'll miss you too, we all already do, but you'll get to see us, maybe a little more than you think you will. Your going to do a very good job I know it. You were meant to do this. But don't think you won't make mistakes; everyone does, especially in the beginning. But each time you do go to the father, you will find your comfort and strength there.
Love, Mom
Tessa was comforted not only by her mother's visit, but also by her
letter. Of course she should look to the father as a means of comfort and guidance! She was an Angel, and she'd been an Angel her entire life. How could she have forgotten that? It was so silly, so silly that she had to laugh. She silently hummed one of her favorite hymns as she made her way to the stairs and slid down the banister into the lobby of the small, rustic hotel.
"Your awfully cheery this morning baby angel." Tess smiled. "But here's another one of my rules no sliding down banisters!"
"Alright, if you insist upon it. What do you want me to do now? I can't wait for our assignment to get here! Do you know who it is or what its about, or."
"Too many questions all at once baby! Calm down, be patient, you'll find out soon enough! For now, go to the kitchen and get yourself something to eat."
"Do we have any coffee?"
"Oh no! You to! Your to young to be drinking coffee!"
"I've been drinking coffee since I was twelve."
"The coffee is in the kitchen." Tess sighed. "I told your mother what would happen if she drank so much coffee, but did she listen? No! And look what happened, her daughter is addicted to coffee too!" Tessa laughed.
"I don't know if I would call it addicted."
"I think that you and your mother, and at this rate your sister are addicted!"
"What else do you want me to do?"
"Wait."
"Just wait for our assignments!"
"Just wait."
"Shu, shu, the Snake is gone sweetie, it's ok." Gloria said as she tried to stop Zoë from crying. "I'm sorry, I'm just really afraid of Snakes, and." She started to cry again.
"It's gone Zoë, and look, the bus is coming."
"Where are we going, do you know yet?"
"Yes. Were going to Ireland."
"I love Ireland, my Mommy's Irish. I have been there many times."
"I know, I went to Ireland with your Mom once, but it was a very long time ago."
"How long ago?" Zoë asked as they climbed on to the bus.
"The year before you were born, that would make it nine years ago. It was a very interesting assignment. A very complex assignment as well." "Please tell me about it." "Ok, well the whole thing surrounded a family, of course, an Irish family, who lived Dublin, which is the capitol of Ireland. This family had worked for years to free the Irish people from English rule. Which many Irish families have, but this family has worked especially hard. This same family was also battling alcoholism, which is another problem that plagues the Irish people." Zoë gave Gloria a very confused look. It was at that moment that Gloria realized that Zoë was too little to understand half of what she had just said. "Never mind." Gloria sighed as she began to tell the story from a less intellectual point of view.
"It sure is nice to be on vacation." Monica said, as she and her husband walked hand in hand down a stretch of California beach.
"We've needed it for a long time."
"Right now it almost feels like the old days, before we had Tessa, even before we were married!" "You're right, I wonder how that happened?" "The kids aren't here, that's how. I miss them though. I wasn't ready to let Tessa go do her own casework, but none the less, I am proud of her, and happy for her."
"Me too. By they way, next time you go to check in on her let me tuck her in."
"How did you know I went to see her?"
"I did too. Tess told me you were there. I think she was a little annoyed with us." They laughed.
"I did to. Oh well I wonder how are little Zoë is. I hope she's having fun, I miss her. It's nice to know that she won't be doing any casework by herself for quite sometime, she'll probably be older than Tessa when she finally does casework of her own."
"It is nice to know that, it's also nice to know that we'll get to see her next week."
"I love you Andre."
"You too." He said as they stopped and kissed then continued their walk.
"This place is so nice." Tessa sighed as she stumbled into the lobby. "I wonder why there aren't more people here."
"Well, the first of our guests said they'd be arriving around one o'clock, and its only eleven now."
"Who all do we have coming?" In response to her question, Tess read off the guest list.
"And a miss Kathleen Sawyer."
"Kathleen?"
"No baby, its not that Kathleen."
"You don't know that! What if it is her? What happens then?"
If it is her, which it isn't, then we'd deal with her. Besides, how many times have you seen her and survived?"
"Well, lets see, there is that first time when I was about eighteen months old and she kidnapped me, then once when I was about two, when I was about four or five, and then there were a couple of other incidents I just can't quite seem to place at the moment. But I still vaguely remember bring kidnapped by her, it was with out a doubt, the worst experience of my entire life. I don't even want to think about it! I mean it's really creepy when the person who kidnaps you can make themselves look like anyone, and the creepier part is that she looked just like my Mother!"
"Evil works like that baby."
"Can we talk about something else?"
"Sure."
Disclaimer: Tessa and Zoë are mine, all of the guests at the hotel with the exception of Kathleen are mine, the rest belong to the creators of Touched by an Angel.
An Angel named Tessa sat at a bus stop in the middle of the desert, waiting for her new supervisor. She hoped that it was her Mother, who she missed terribly, but she doubted it. She knew it wouldn't be her Dad, but she thought that since he was an angel of death they might get to work together at some point, she hoped so. Whoever it was, she hoped that it was someone she knew well. Tessa turned her head when she felt someone sit beside her. She was surprised by who it was. "So you're my new charge?" The older African American woman asked. Tessa nodded and smiled, knowing full well who her supervisor was. It was her namesake, Tess. "Has anyone ever told you that you look just like your mother?" "A lot." She replied. "You even sound like her."
"I picked up the accent, what can I say?" She said as she hugged Tess.
"Well Baby Angel, we should get going." As she said those words a red
convertible appeared next to them on the side of the road.
"Auntie Tess, do you think we'll get to work with my Mom or my Dad?"
"You miss them, don't you baby?" She nodded.
I only saw them yesterday, but still."
"Well, keep in mind, I am almost as close to your parents are you are, and I miss them too." Tessa smiled. "Meanwhile, I wonder who Zoë has been assigned to." She said, speaking of her much younger sister. "I think that she is to young to be a caseworker, but, who am I to judge, its the Father's decision, not mine." "Your smart already Ms. Wings. I used to call your mother that before she married your dad, after that it was Mrs. Wings." Tessa laughed. "Meanwhile, how is your sister?" "She's just a wee angel as Mom would say, but Zoë doesn't like to hear that. I guess no eight year old wants to hear that about themselves, even a eight year old angel." "I know that you don't want to hear this either, but you are just a wee angel too, you've only just turned fourteen." "No, I can handle that." "Anyway, these are my rules." She began. Later that night they were on their first assignment. They were running a hotel and waiting for their assignment to come to them. Tessa had fallen asleep hours before, but Tess was up reading. "Hi Tess." A voice whispered. Tess jumped.
"Monica, you scared me! Oh, it's so great to see you! What are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd check on my baby." Monica said.
"She's been asleep for hours. I'm sure that she won't wake up if you go see her." "How is she doing?"
"She misses you a lot. Her first question was if we were going to get to work with you or Andrew, but she's really good at this. I came out of retirement just for her you know."
"Thanks Tess, that means so much to me that you can't imagine."
Monica went and tucked her daughter, (who had a habit of falling out of bed, feet first) back in bed. She kissed her. Tessa was in such as deep sleep that she never stirred. The Irish Angel wrote her daughter a note and placed it under her pillow, kissed her again and left.
An hour later Tess was still reading.
"Hi Tess," another voice whispered. She simply looked up this time.
"Hi Angel Boy. I have been expecting you!"
"You have?"
"You do know that Monica was here too, don't you?"
"She was, she never told me that she was coming, oh well, she probably came for the same reason I did, to check on Tessa." "She's fine. She misses you, but that's to be expected."
"Can I at least kiss her goodnight? Because I am guessing that Monica already tucked her in." "Your guessing right."
Andrew kissed his daughter goodnight and then he too left.
The next day, a much smaller Angel who went by the name of Zoë walked up to that very same bus stop that her sister had been at the day before. This was something that she didn't want to do anymore than her sister did, but she had to. Besides, she'd only be a way from her parents for a week, unlike her sister.
Zoë had very light brown hair that sparkled in the sun and eyes that shifted from blue to green in color. She wore a pink dress, Mary Janes and socks. She slowly walked up to the Angel on the bench.
"Hi Zoë." The older Angel said.
"Hi. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, you've grown."
"So Auntie Gloria, where are we going?"
"Well, I don't have a car, so were going to wait for the bus."
"The bus to where?"
"I don't know, just wherever God tells us to go."
"Why am I here again?"
"Because your Mom and Dad needed a little break." She said as she put her arm around the little Angel. Zoë, looked down and she screamed so loud that Gloria thought her eardrum would pop. Then Gloria looked at the ground she quickly picked Zoë up.
"Go, go now!" She yelled. The rattlesnake slithered a way.
When Tessa awoke the next morning she felt wonderful and ready for the new day, even ready for her assignment to arrive. She began to make her bed, and when she picked up her pillow she saw a small, folded-up piece of paper with her Mother's handwriting on it. She eagerly picked it up. It read:
My dearest little angel,
I cannot tell you how proud of you we are! It is such a great honor to be a caseworker, especially at your age! We'll miss you too, we all already do, but you'll get to see us, maybe a little more than you think you will. Your going to do a very good job I know it. You were meant to do this. But don't think you won't make mistakes; everyone does, especially in the beginning. But each time you do go to the father, you will find your comfort and strength there.
Love, Mom
Tessa was comforted not only by her mother's visit, but also by her
letter. Of course she should look to the father as a means of comfort and guidance! She was an Angel, and she'd been an Angel her entire life. How could she have forgotten that? It was so silly, so silly that she had to laugh. She silently hummed one of her favorite hymns as she made her way to the stairs and slid down the banister into the lobby of the small, rustic hotel.
"Your awfully cheery this morning baby angel." Tess smiled. "But here's another one of my rules no sliding down banisters!"
"Alright, if you insist upon it. What do you want me to do now? I can't wait for our assignment to get here! Do you know who it is or what its about, or."
"Too many questions all at once baby! Calm down, be patient, you'll find out soon enough! For now, go to the kitchen and get yourself something to eat."
"Do we have any coffee?"
"Oh no! You to! Your to young to be drinking coffee!"
"I've been drinking coffee since I was twelve."
"The coffee is in the kitchen." Tess sighed. "I told your mother what would happen if she drank so much coffee, but did she listen? No! And look what happened, her daughter is addicted to coffee too!" Tessa laughed.
"I don't know if I would call it addicted."
"I think that you and your mother, and at this rate your sister are addicted!"
"What else do you want me to do?"
"Wait."
"Just wait for our assignments!"
"Just wait."
"Shu, shu, the Snake is gone sweetie, it's ok." Gloria said as she tried to stop Zoë from crying. "I'm sorry, I'm just really afraid of Snakes, and." She started to cry again.
"It's gone Zoë, and look, the bus is coming."
"Where are we going, do you know yet?"
"Yes. Were going to Ireland."
"I love Ireland, my Mommy's Irish. I have been there many times."
"I know, I went to Ireland with your Mom once, but it was a very long time ago."
"How long ago?" Zoë asked as they climbed on to the bus.
"The year before you were born, that would make it nine years ago. It was a very interesting assignment. A very complex assignment as well." "Please tell me about it." "Ok, well the whole thing surrounded a family, of course, an Irish family, who lived Dublin, which is the capitol of Ireland. This family had worked for years to free the Irish people from English rule. Which many Irish families have, but this family has worked especially hard. This same family was also battling alcoholism, which is another problem that plagues the Irish people." Zoë gave Gloria a very confused look. It was at that moment that Gloria realized that Zoë was too little to understand half of what she had just said. "Never mind." Gloria sighed as she began to tell the story from a less intellectual point of view.
"It sure is nice to be on vacation." Monica said, as she and her husband walked hand in hand down a stretch of California beach.
"We've needed it for a long time."
"Right now it almost feels like the old days, before we had Tessa, even before we were married!" "You're right, I wonder how that happened?" "The kids aren't here, that's how. I miss them though. I wasn't ready to let Tessa go do her own casework, but none the less, I am proud of her, and happy for her."
"Me too. By they way, next time you go to check in on her let me tuck her in."
"How did you know I went to see her?"
"I did too. Tess told me you were there. I think she was a little annoyed with us." They laughed.
"I did to. Oh well I wonder how are little Zoë is. I hope she's having fun, I miss her. It's nice to know that she won't be doing any casework by herself for quite sometime, she'll probably be older than Tessa when she finally does casework of her own."
"It is nice to know that, it's also nice to know that we'll get to see her next week."
"I love you Andre."
"You too." He said as they stopped and kissed then continued their walk.
"This place is so nice." Tessa sighed as she stumbled into the lobby. "I wonder why there aren't more people here."
"Well, the first of our guests said they'd be arriving around one o'clock, and its only eleven now."
"Who all do we have coming?" In response to her question, Tess read off the guest list.
"And a miss Kathleen Sawyer."
"Kathleen?"
"No baby, its not that Kathleen."
"You don't know that! What if it is her? What happens then?"
If it is her, which it isn't, then we'd deal with her. Besides, how many times have you seen her and survived?"
"Well, lets see, there is that first time when I was about eighteen months old and she kidnapped me, then once when I was about two, when I was about four or five, and then there were a couple of other incidents I just can't quite seem to place at the moment. But I still vaguely remember bring kidnapped by her, it was with out a doubt, the worst experience of my entire life. I don't even want to think about it! I mean it's really creepy when the person who kidnaps you can make themselves look like anyone, and the creepier part is that she looked just like my Mother!"
"Evil works like that baby."
"Can we talk about something else?"
"Sure."