Chapter Twenty-Three
When Angel awoke he was startled to find himself alone and worried that possibly what had happened the night before had been taken away from him again. Sliding out of bed he came face to face with his reflection in the dresser mirror and saw the pendant complete with the heart. He relaxed a little when he saw the clock that showed it was almost noon and knew Susy would have been up long ago. He sat back on the bed and looked around the room. Everywhere were angels ... angel ornaments, angel pictures, handmade angels and some places just the word, "Angel". He smiled knowing that like him she hadn't forgotten for a moment.
After dressing he looked out of the bedroom window on to a beautiful flowered garden. Somehow he knew that Susy would have had a hand in it. The lambs were playing in a small enclosure near the little shed. When he didn't see her out there he quietly went down the cottage stairs to the small living room, and found her curled up, asleep on the settee under a light cover. The toy lamb was held tightly with its head tucked under her chin. She looked so peaceful he had to just watch her for a moment. He couldn't help himself and ran his finger over her nose. She smiled as she opened her eyes and said, "I love you, Angel."
He knelt down in front of her taking both of her hands in his. "It seems like it has taken an eternity to get here and yet it all feels so familiar, as if this is where we are supposed to be." He placed his hands over their baby, her hands resting on his. "We have waited so long for this."
"We've waited so long for our lives to be made right." Her eyes sparkled as she pulled him to her, covering his mouth with hers. In passion her tongue found his and the electricity of their touch surged between them. Her fingers ran through his hair while his hands moved up to her shoulders, pulling her closer. She dotted kisses up his cheek to his earlobe, which she grabbed gently between her lips before she whispered, "I want to make love with you."
Still holding on to her, Angel pulled back, looking deep into her eyes. "Lamb, I don't want to hurt you or the baby."
"Angel, I've wanted your baby for two and a half centuries, I won't let anything hurt it."
He stood up, pulling her up with him.
"Careful, I get dizzy sometimes when I get up too fast."
He picked her up and walked toward the stairs, "I think we'll have to get you eating a little better."
"It might be easier now that you are here."
They lay together afterwards very close. "It looks like you missed me a little, " Angel said, looking again at the angel collection.
"I thought I would die without you. When I woke and found myself here, alone, I was terrified. The people here are nice but they wouldn't help me find you. There doesn't seem to be a telephone to be found. I was going to run away, but when I realized I was half the world away from you and had no money, I stayed put. I had everything I needed except you."
"Have they not been feeding you well?"
"Go downstairs and look in the fridge and cupboards. There is almost anything there that I could possibly want. At first I missed you so much I had no appetite. I was so angry with everyone that I just existed here. But they kept trying. They would give me some of these angel gifts and last month brought me a lamb. I was here for almost seven weeks when I realized I was pregnant. I thought I was just tired from being so depressed, but then I started to get sick. I figured out some dates and I knew that is what it was. I tried so hard to eat better ... if I couldn't have you I was going to at least have your baby, but it has been really hard. Maybe it will be better now.
"I'll take care of you, of both of you," he said giving her tummy a little rub. "It is still hard to believe, but it is good." He gave her a little kiss before getting out of bed. "Stay here and rest for awhile, I'm going to raid the kitchen ... this heart beat makes a man hungry. What can I get for you?"
"Just a dish of ice cream, it is one of the few things that agree with me."
She was sitting on the edge of the bed with her head down when he came back upstairs with a tray of toast, coffee, milk, scones, cookies and the dish of ice cream.
She did eat a little better than she had in the last five months, but very slowly and carefully. Angel cleaned up everything else – his appetite made up for her lack of one.
They returned their dishes back to the kitchen and tidied up. As Angel was washing them he saw an older gentleman feeding the lambs in the backyard. He mentioned what he saw to Susy.
"Oh, that's Henry. He and his wife will be stopping by for tea at four, or at least they have everyday up until now. They have been taking care of me. I really haven't met anyone else, but I guess I haven't been too outgoing since I've been here."
"Do they live far from here?"
"No, just behind those trees in the back yard. I would imagine they are a part of this big scheme of things, along with so many others. It is amazing actually, the power that is out there."
"I guess destiny is destiny – sometimes something gets in the way and it needs help to get back on the right track. There seems to be a network of people to straighten it out."
"Even if it does take two hundred and fifty years," Susan finished.
At exactly 4 p.m. the light knock came at the door and an older woman let herself in, followed by her husband. Angel recognized the gentleman as the chauffeur from the night before. Susy introduced everyone although it seemed the couple had the advantage of already knowing the complete circumstance. Henry and Martha Smith had lived in this area in Northumberland for all of their forty-three years of marriage. As with everyone else in the network information about how they knew what was going on was kept secret except for the fact that they did know everything.
Henry presented Angel with a package of reading material, mainly pamphlets of local sites and a map. "I guess the next five days are a sort of honeymoon, so you can use our car to enjoy some of the local sites," he said handing him a set of keys. Remember we drive on the other side of the road." At the bottom of the pile was a booklet of a different sort. "The Husband's Guide to a Difficult Pregnancy." Susy's cheeks went red and she squirmed a little in her chair.
"Its okay dear," Martha started, patting Susan on the arm, I wish there had been such openness and information forty years ago." Turning to Angel she continued, "You have probably noticed how much thinner Susan is. We've tried almost everything, but it seems to be one of her problems – to have sickness and a lack of appetite on top of that. We wanted to bring you here sooner but the zodiac plays an important role in making destiny play out properly. Last night the alignment was the same as in 1762, the night you were taken away from each other. Hopefully now she can relax and feel better."
Henry and Martha excused themselves by saying that he would stop back at seven with a hot supper for the couple. Martha patted Angel's hand saying, "Stop by if you need anything. We'll leave you two to yourselves, you haven't been given much time to be alone together and soon enough there will be a wee one to keep you busy."
They went outside for a while to enjoy the nice spring day as the sun was starting to set. Susan took Angel to see the lambs, understanding now why she always had a soft spot for the little creatures.
"What are their names?" he asked.
"Well, this is the oldest. I named him Angel. Then Henry brought me the next one a couple of weeks later and his name is 'Angel Two'. When the littlest one came a decided to call them all 'My Little Angels."
He smiled as her said, "I guess you thought of me occasionally then."
"Oh, only every moment of everyday."
"Me too," he said pulling her to him. "The Powers were kind enough to keep me busy, but that didn't make me think of you any less. I must show you the photos Cordy took at the party, but lets have a look at your garden.
"How did you know it was my garden?"
"The Primroses gave it away. You told me one time they were your favourite flower."
She smiled as she said, "I call the white ones "Angel Kisses". They grow wild around here in some places and when I saw one I'd pretend that it meant you were sending me a kiss."
Angel counted the white primroses and kissed her six times, one for each flower. "You don't have to pretend anymore."
"There's four petals on each flower," she said with a sly smile.
Henry, clearing his throat, interrupted them. He was delivering their meal in a basket. He patted Angel on the back, "Took our chat seriously? Good to see you two enjoy yourselves." They thanked him as Angel took the basket and wished him a goodnight.
Angel set the basket on the kitchen table and opened the lid letting out the steam and aroma of freshly baked ham, potatoes and a vegetable. He breathed in the delicious scent and turned to Susy who had disappeared from the room into the downstairs bathroom. He could hear her being very sick and had his first experience as to what was meant by a difficult pregnancy. He waited beside the door for her and as she came out he saw that she was very pale and trembled a little. Angel picked her up and carried her up the stairs to her bed.
You are going to make me lazy if you keep carrying me up these stairs."
"I'm so sorry that this is so hard on you."
She rested her head on his shoulder, "It will all be worth it in the end."
Susy climbing in under the covers, "Go and eat while the food it hot. I'll be all right."
"Do you want anything?"
"Maybe later."
As he ate his meal he read through the booklet Henry had given him. He was very concerned about Susy and wanted to do whatever he could for her.
Later he took her a glass of milk and a plate of toast, but she was sound asleep. He sat on an old rocking chair and just watched her for a while, loving her.