Chapter 2
This is crazy Monica thought logically to herself as she sat on the same park bench she and Gloria had been sitting on earlier. I can't possibly do this. But still, no matter what she told herself, the idea kept ringing in her mind as if persuading her until it got its way. "Oh, Father, please, help me to make the right decision." She prayed as she lifted her honey-brown eyes to the heavens. Closing her eyes momentarily to compose her thoughts, Monica didn't see Andrew, the Angel of Death (and her very good friend) approach from the park path and sit next to her.
But it was then that the answer came to her and she smiled broadly as a singer tear rolled from under one of her eyelids. "Thank you Father." She whispered gratefully before opening her eyes and noting that Andrew was sitting next to her. He raised an eyebrow in question. "You okay?" He inquired softly as he placed a consoling hand on his friend's shoulder.
But Monica didn't want to waste any more time. With a brief nod she quickly stood from the bench and waved goodbye. "I'll need to talk to you about this later, Andrew. But right now I have to go." With that, she turned and bolted down the path without another word. Andrew merely watched her go, still holding that questionable expression, clearly wondering what on earth his friend was talking about and where she was in such a hurry to go. But she was gone and, like she had said, he would have to talk to her later.
A little later that week, Andrew still hadn't seen Monica around, but he had been sent to a young couples house to fix their pipes in their basement. He supposed it was just another assignment, though he had absolutely no idea what he would find when he got their, nor what he was supposed to do.
Climbing up the porch steps to the Tuckers' house, Andrew knocked a few times on the door and didn't have to wait long before a young woman answered. "Hi, are you Andrew?" She ventured with a friendly smile at Andrew's green-blue plumbing outfit and the toolbox he carried in his hand. Andrew nodded, returning the same, friendly smile to her. The woman's smile grew and she stuck out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Abby." She informed him welcomingly before motioning for him to come in. "Thanks so much for coming. We really need those pipes fixed. You know, soon we'll have baby on the way and we don't need flooding in the basement every time we go down there." She rambled proudly as she led Andrew through the main hallway.
Andrew raised his eyebrows in an interested manner. "Oh yeah? Well, congratulations." He told her gently as he motioned to her stomach with one hand, but to his surprise, Abby only shook her head in correction. "Oh no. No me. We have a surrogate mother." She explained as she continued through the house toward the basement. "She's not actually pregnant yet, but we've already 'hired' her and she's going to the doctor's office tomorrow." She continued with an excited smile and Andrew beamed widely, clearly happy for the young couple.
But it was then that they crossed through the kitchen and upon entering, Andrew spotted Mike Tucker and who else but Monica sitting in the kitchen? Taking a bit of a double take, he glanced over his shoulder as they began to leave the kitchen, mouthing 'what are you doing here?' to her as they passed. This wasn't exactly something Monica could mouth to him, but she only smiled proudly at him without a word. Just then, Abby noted that she had arrived as well and motioned for Andrew to turn his attention to her. "Actually, Andrew, this is our soon-to-be surrogate mother, Monica."