A/N: Sorry for the typos so far. I have a habit of posting stuff without reading it through first, heh. Thanks to LittleGloriaFaith24 for the reviews!
Chapter 2
The next day, Gloria and Monica adjusted to their new roles. Monica was a wonderful kindergarten teacher, and spent the morning going over the alphabet with the class. Meanwhile, Gloria did side tasks like handing out snacks, taking children to the bathroom, and helping them with the individual work they were assigned. And Gloria wasn't as tired as she was yesterday, since she was getting used to being in her human form for so long, but then again…they hadn't gotten to free time yet.
"That's great, Fiona!" Gloria said, looking over the girl's shoulder at her letter 'D.' It was the same girl who saw Gloria while in angel form. Gloria was sure the girl knew the angel's true identity but wasn't saying anything. But there was really nothing Gloria could do about that. And thankfully it wasn't her fault, otherwise Gloria was sure she would have received a lecture from Tess about the importance of being inconspicuous.
The young girl grinned, her brown eyes shining. "Thanks Miss Gloria." Then Fiona leaned in, as if wanting to share a secret.
Squatting down so she was at the same level, Gloria asked, "What is it?"
"How come you aren't glowing, like you were the other day? Or Miss Monica – she was glowing too," Fiona whispered.
Gloria gave her a weak smile. Uh oh. "I-I….I'll have to get back to you on that. Excuse me." Then she bolted to the front of the classroom towards Monica's desk. "Monica!"
"What's the matter?" Monica asked, wrinkling her brow in concern.
Lowering her voice, Gloria explained, "That girl, Fiona – the one who could see us while we were in our angel forms? She just asked me why we aren't glowing, like we were the other day. I think she knows we're angels."
Monica hesitated for a moment, looking at Fiona with curiosity. "Hm…Well, I did say that sometimes children can see us, but most of the time the memory of having done so fades very quickly. There must be some reason why she remembers. There are certain humans who have a sensitivity to us."
"Really?" Gloria asked, surprised. "So, what do we do?"
"There's no harm in telling her who we are, just as long as she understands that it wouldn't be wise to tell anyone," Monica reasoned, then added after a moment, "Then again, five-year-olds aren't known for their ability to keep secrets."
"I guess we'll just have to tell her the next time she asks, because we can't lie to her," Gloria agreed.
Sighing, Monica said, "Hopefully she'll understand that she can't tell anyone, then. It would be upsetting if that little girl were teased, or worse, for believing in angels."
Poor Fiona, Gloria thought. "Well, I'll talk to her after I check on Chris during free time. When is that, by the way?"
Monica glanced at her watch. "Right about…now." Clearing her throat, she instructed, "Alright, children. Put down your pencils, it's free time."
There was a general mixture of noises as children slid back chairs and ran to various parts of the room. Once again Chris sat by himself, this time playing with some action figures.
Here we go, Gloria thought, glancing at Monica. The Irish angel gave her an encouraging smile. Swallowing the nervous lump in her throat, Gloria went over and sat next to Chris. "Hi. You're Chris, right?"
"Yeah…" Chris answered, only half paying attention to her as he played with his toys.
Steadying her nerves, Gloria pressed, "Good, because I don't think I asked you that yesterday. Why don't you go play with some of the other children? Some of the other boys are making bugs out of Play-Doh…I'm sure it's really gross…" She added that last part when she remembered that young boys often liked disgusting things.
Chris seemed to consider it, then shrugged. "No thanks, Miss Gloria."
Great, just great, Gloria thought. She stayed in her seat though, knowing that both Tess and Monica would disapprove if she gave up after that. "So, um, why are you here by yourself?"
"I dunno," Chris replied, shrugging again. "I'm used to it, I guess. And Mommy says I don't have to play with other kids if I don't want to."
Gloria frowned at that. It was one thing not to force your child to do something he doesn't want to do. But…all kids needed that little push to play with others. "And why don't you want to?"
"They don't want to play with me," Chris answered, as if convinced of the fact.
"Do you know that for sure?" Gloria went on. "Have you asked them? Maybe they think you don't want to play with them."
Chris shook his head. "No they don't. And it's gonna feel bad when they say they don't."
"Oh…so you're afraid of getting hurt…" Gloria trailed off, beginning to understand Chris' thinking. "Did you get that from your mommy?"
"Yeah. She says that a lot of people can hurt me, so it's better to stay away from them," Chris explained. He'd stopped playing with his action figures now, his focus on Gloria. It was an accusing stare, as if he were trying to figure out why she was talking to him.
What has Daphne done to this little boy? Gloria thought with bewilderment. "Well, people can hurt you," Gloria agreed, "But a lot of the time they don't. Think of what you're missing out on."
When Chris didn't say anything, Gloria held back a groan. If she had the same guts as Tess or Monica, she would have a stern talk with Chris' mother. But Daphne wasn't her assignment – Chris was. And if Gloria forgot that, both her supervisors would be quick to remind her.
Looking around the classroom, Gloria's gaze fell on Fiona. She was playing house with some of the other girls. Then Gloria got an idea.
"I'll be back in a minute," Gloria assured Chris, approaching Fiona. Tapping the girl on the shoulder, she asked, "Can I talk to you?"
Without hesitation, Fiona told her friends she'd be back and went to talk to her teacher. "Yes, Miss Gloria?"
"You see that boy over there?" Gloria began, pointing to Chris.
Fiona nodded. "Chris? What about him?"
"Why don't you go over and play with him?" Gloria suggested, taking some coloring books and crayons from the shelves and handing them to Fiona.
Handing the books back, Fiona replied, "He's a boy. And he doesn't say anything."
"Please?" Gloria said. "He's a nice boy, and I think he needs a friend."
Fiona paused for a moment. "Are you an angel?"
Startled, Gloria blinked a few times. "I'm sorry?"
"Are you an angel?" Fiona asked again. "Here for Chris, because his daddy went to Heaven when he was little."
Amazed by the girl's insight, Gloria nodded. "Yes, I am. But don't tell anyone, okay? Then it will be harder to help Chris."
"Alright," Fiona agreed, a bit reluctantly.
I hope she means that, Gloria thought. Out of curiosity she asked, "How did you know about Chris' daddy?"
"My mommy was talking about it with someone else's mommy," Fiona explained. "She called Ms. Jameson the 'B word' because Chris' mommy thinks she's better than the other mommies."
Gloria stifled a gasp, horrified that someone would say that in front of a child. Hopefully Fiona's mother hadn't known her daughter was listening. "Oh. Well, um, why don't you go play with Chris, please? You can be my special helper. Even angels need help sometimes, you know."
"This is going to be so much fun!" Fiona squealed, taking the coloring books and running towards Chris.
"Fiona!" Gloria called. When the young girl turned around, Gloria put a finger to her lips, reminding her that it was a secret.
Her eyes widened – clearly she had forgotten that already. Before sitting down next to Chris, Fiona gave Gloria a thumbs-up sign.
Chris snuck a peak at the boys at the other table while he played with the action figures. They did look like they were having fun, and the bugs they were making were so cool. Shaking his head, he tore his eyes away. Fear kept him from going over there. Even Miss Gloria had said that people did hurt, sometimes. And his mommy said it all the time.
Though now that he thought about it, he couldn't figure why Miss Gloria was talking to him so much. Fiona mentioned that she thought there was something weird about both Miss Gloria and Miss Monica, but Chris knew she was just being silly. People were people – what else could they be? "She's the weird one," he muttered under his breath.
When he looked up again, none other than Fiona Giambelli was approaching him, her arms laden with coloring books and crayons. "Hey Chris," she greeted, dumping the items on the table in front of him.
"What are you doing, Fi?" Chris asked.
The blonde shrugged, opening one of the books and crayon boxes. "I just thought you might be lonely, over here by yourself."
"I saw you talking to Miss Gloria," Chris remarked. "Did she tell you to come over here?"
Giving him a challenging look, Fiona retorted, "So what if she did? You want me to go away now?"
Chris sighed. "Why is Miss Gloria paying so much attention to me?"
"Because she…" Fiona trailed off, as if suddenly deciding to say something other than what she was going to. "…she cares about you. She's worried that you sit by yourself so much. Why do you sit by yourself so much?"
"I want to," Chris snapped. It was none of Fiona's beeswax why he wanted to do what he did. And she was a girl – was she crazy coming over to sit next to him, alone? "Fi, why are you here?"
Fiona gave him a tired glare. "Because I want to. So there."
Well, there was nothing he could say to that. "So there" meant there was no room for argument. Any kid understood that. "Fine," he grumbled.
"Aren't you going to color?" Fiona asked, nudging the other coloring book closer to him.
Chris was about to say no, but something made him put down the action figures and start thinking about what picture he wanted to color. Maybe, and he would never admit this, but maybe he thought it was nice that Fiona was talking to him. "So…" he said, trying to think of something interesting to say. "Miss Monica said we might go on a field trip next week. That sounds fun."
"Yeah, as long as your mom doesn't..." Fiona stopped mid-sentence, realizing what she was about to say. As his eyes narrowed in anger, she added quickly, "I'm sorry Chris, it's just that your mom…isn't as fun as some of the other moms. My mommy said she wants to come."
"Well, that's too bad, because my mommy says she's coming," Chris replied.
There was an awkward silence, and finally Fiona asked, "Chris…what happened to your daddy?"
Taken aback by the question, Chris almost said that that was none of her beeswax either. But she seemed so interested, like she really cared. "He…he went to work one day," Chris said, remembering the little bits that his mother told him every now and then. "But there was a big fire at his office. He couldn't get out in time. Mommy says he's in Heaven now, but I'm not so sure. We never went to Church a lot when he was alive."
"I'm sorry," Fiona said after a moment. "And Chris…your daddy is in Heaven. Trust me."
Chris stared at her as she went back to her coloring. For some reason, he knew he was right. "Okay, I will,' he whispered. Then he picked a crayon out of the box, and colored until it was time to go back to class.
Tess kept an eye on the door of the library while she organized some books. Her angel babies would be there in a few minutes, but they weren't who she was watching out for.
Catching a book that almost fell, she put it back and returned to her task. The tedious work had a calming effect, and the quiet of the library only helped. Times like these during cases were nice – they reminded Tess of the everydayness of human life, which was easily forgotten by an angel such as herself. Whenever she interacted with humans, it was because they were in trouble of some kind.
Crash.
Tess whirled around…and chuckled. One of the new workers was accident-prone. This wasn't the first time he'd caused books to fall in a heap. "Let me help you with that, baby," Tess offered, bending down to pick up some of the books.
"Thanks, Tess," the teenager grumbled. "I'm not usually this much of a wreck, I swear."
"I believe you," Tess assured him.
He watched in surprise while she crouched low to the ground to gather the rest of the mess. "Wow. You're in pretty good shape for…a woman your age. My grandmother can barely walk."
"You'd be surprised what I can do," Tess replied, laughing. She turned back to the front when the chime above the door rang. She smiled as Jacob Miller walked in, joined by his three young children. "Excuse me, please."
While the children ran loose in the kids' section, Tess approached Jacob. "Hello. Can I help you find anything?"
'Not really," Jacob answered, looking at the books on the display tables. "Just browsing while the kids pick out some books. Any recommendations?"
As she had with Daphne, Tess held up the same book on the World Trade Center. As the saying goes – if at first you don't succeed, try again. One way or another, Daphne was getting this book. "This is excellent – came out a few weeks ago, around the anniversary of the attacks. All about the families who lost loved ones. Great if you're looking for something emotional."
Jacob hesitated, but still took the book when Tess held it out to him. "It might be a little too emotional for me," he admitted, flipping through the pages. "My brother-in-law was killed that day – he worked at the World Trade Center."
"I'm so sorry," Tess replied. "But that 's all the more reason to read it. It's helped so many families find closure."
Smirking, Jacob asked, "Do you get commission if someone takes out this book, or something like that?"
Tess chuckled. "No, I just feel that the more people who read it, the better."
"Alright then, consider me sold," Jacob said, tucking the book under his arm. "Thanks for the recommendation. I'm going to go check on the kids."
"No problem," Tess replied, giving a sigh of relief when Jacob was out of earshot. She'd been a little frustrated when Daphne gave her the brush-off yesterday.
Turning around, she saw her three angel babies walk in and head over to her. "And how are you three doing so far?"
"Pretty good…did I just see Jacob walk into the children's section?" Andrew asked, confused.
Tess nodded. "Yes, you did. He's here with his kids. I managed to convince him to take home a book on the World Trade Center."
"Well, let's hope he gives it to Daphne," Andrew replied. "He wasn't too happy about having to call her when I dropped off some of the papers earlier."
"And you, angel girl?" Tess asked, facing Monica.
Monica didn't quite meet Tess' gaze. "Not as well. I think I may have offended her when I suggested that another mother chaperone a field trip I'm planning for next week."
"Miss Wings," Tess chided. "You need to take things slow. Daphne's been set in her ways for six years – she's not going to change just like that."
Her shoulders sagging, Monica said, "I know. Sorry, Tess."
"I'm sure there's no harm done," Tess replied. Finally, she turned to Gloria. The young angel was squirming where she stood, determined not to look Tess in the eye. Sighing, Tess asked, "And what is wrong with you, little angel?"
Clearing her throat, Gloria answered, "N-nothing. B-but I've sort of…enlisted some help for my case. In my defense, I think it's working real well."
"I'll be the judge of that," Tess remarked, and Gloria grew considerably more nervous. "What kind of help?"
Gloria didn't say anything for a long moment, then mustered up the courage to respond, "The one who saw us when we were observing the other day – Fiona Giambelli – she…knows that I'm an angel. I made sure that she wouldn't tell Chris, though. And she's helping me get Chris to get over his shy nature."
"Well…" Tess trailed off, trying to decide if this was good or not. Then she figured that if the Father had allowed this little girl to see angels, there must be a reason for it. And she was proud of her little angel for thinking of a way to reach a difficult case. "If you say Fiona's helping, then by all means let her. Who knows, maybe she was supposed to be in the plan all along. Good job, little angel."
"Thank you, Tess!" Gloria exclaimed, beaming with both relief and pride About half the library patrons around her gave her dirty looks. Gloria's face reddened. "Oops. Sorry!"
"Anyway, I'm still on duty for another hour, so I'll see you all later," Tess replied, chuckling. Then she narrowed her eyes at Gloria. "Besides, I think it's best if you leave before you get into more trouble."