Chrissy and Michelle arrived back at their house about a half an hour later and Chrissy sat down on the front porch, petting the tuckered out Snuffy.
"Well, I'm gonna go finish those books before dinner. Are you coming in sweetie?" Michelle asked as she knelt down for a minute.
"No, I'll just stay out here for a little bit." Chrissy replied. Michelle nodded, kissed Chrissy's head and walked inside. Chrissy unleashed her dog and threw a chewed up tennis ball across the lawn. Snuffy was unamused, obviously ready for a nap.
"Alright, fine." Chrissy said quietly. She didn't realize that somebody was standing behind her.
"Hello Chrissy." Chrissy turned around and saw the angel who had helped her a little over a year ago.
"Monica!" Chrissy exclaimed as Monica sat down next to Chrissy.
"I wondered if I would ever see you again." Chrissy said with a smile.
"I told you I would be back when you needed me." Monica replied. Chrissy puckered her brow.
"But, nothing's wrong. Not that it's not good to see you Monica, but why do I need an angel?" She asked politely. Monica shrugged.
"I don't know little one. God just sent me to be with you." She explained.
"I'm feeling a little scared now. If God sent me an angel, that means something must be wrong." Chrissy admitted. Monica put her hand on Chrissy's shoulder.
"God is with you Chrissy, no matter what happens." She said. Chrissy smiled.
"So tell me, how has life been for you?" Monica asked.
"Well, it took me some time to get used to Michelle, but she's been really nice to me. So much is different. I don't have to cook dinner every night like I had to do for my mom. Michelle doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs. Even this house is so much bigger and better than my old house." Chrissy replied with a small smile.
"That's wonderful Chrissy. I also see you are wearing a T-shirt and I see no cuts." Monica noticed. Chrissy stared at her arms.
"Yeah, I haven't cut myself since I last saw you, but it's been really hard. Whenever I get depressed about stuff, I sometimes want to cut, but Michelle has made me promise that whenever I want to cut to come and get her and we usually talk about it and I feel better. Plus I'm still seeing the counselors at the group home on a weekly basis, so that's been helpful too." She explained to the listening angel.
"It sounds like things have been pretty good. It sounds like you really like Michelle." Monica said.
"I do. She's actually in the process of trying to legally adopt me." Chrissy explained.
"Oh, that's wonderful."
"Yeah my social worker Sandra is trying to get it to go through. It's been in the air for a few months, just with all the paperwork, but it'll happen soon and I won't have to worry about ever being taken away from Michelle." Chrissy said. Monica smiled.
"So who's this then?" Monica asked, pointing to the tiny cocker spaniel that was snuggling up to Chrissy, fast asleep.
"This is Snuffy. He was just a puppy when I first came here. I've never had a dog before." Chrissy said. Just then, the front door opened and Michelle came outside.
"I needed a break from all those numbers. Do you want some lemonade Chris?" Michelle asked as she saw that Chrissy wasn't alone. She smiled at the stranger.
"Hello, are you a friend of Chrissy's?" Michelle asked.
"Oh yeah, she's an old friend of mine. This is Monica." Chrissy introduced. Monica stood up and smiled.
"Hello, you must be Michelle." Monica said as she shook Michelle's hand.
"Yes I am, it's nice to meet you Monica." Michelle turned to Chrissy. "How do you and Monica know each other?"
"Um." Chrissy looked at Monica, not quite knowing how to answer. "She helped me a lot when I was still living with my mom. She lived in our basement for a while."
"Oh okay, cool. Well Monica, would you like to join us for some lemonade in the backyard?" Michelle asked.
"I'd love to, thank you." Monica replied and she followed Michelle through the house.
"Come on Snuffy, let's go." Chrissy called as she followed too. As they walked out to the backyard, Monica felt as though something was going to happen. As she watched Chrissy laughing at Michelle's jokes, Monica had a feeling that Chrissy wouldn't be laughing for long. She just had a feeling that something was going to happen; she knew God had called her to be with Chrissy, she just didn't know why.
