November 29, 1982

"It's okay, Dean, honey. He won't hurt you. Angels protect people – you know that. And you've met Gabriel before, remember?"

Dean clung to his mama's leg in the doorway to the kitchen and peeked out at the stranger. Dean definitely did not remember. But he did know that angels were good, and Mama said this one was the Campbell family's angel, so maybe it was okay. He inched out from behind Mama and looked at the angel more closely. He didn't really look like the pictures in the books his mama and daddy read to him.

"Your halo is funny. It's all wiggly," Dean announced at last. "It doesn't look yellow like in my book."

The angel laughed and crouched down on the linoleum so he was closer to Dean's size. That felt better. Safer.

"No, Dean-o, it's not yellow is it? Halos don't really have colors. But I think your book is as close as they've figured out how to draw them."

"Can I touch it?"

"Dean! Don't be rude," Mama said.

But the angel – Gabriel – smiled up at her. "It's okay, Mary. He's three whole years old and hasn't touched a halo? Kid ain't lived yet!"

"I'm almost four!" Dean shouted, holding up his fingers to show Gabriel in case he didn't know. "When I'm four, my new baby brother or sister will get born!"

"Now, love, you know the baby won't be born for a while after you turn four."

Dean sighed. "I knowwww, Mama."

Gabriel shifted to sit criss-cross on the floor and made a pouty face. "You know, I'm feeling a little neglected over here. Did you forget about my halo or what?"

"NO! Mama, can I?" He grabbed her pant leg and yanked back and forth.

She put a gentle hand on his head to still his movements. "Yes, Dean. Gabriel said it was okay."

Dean jumped full-on into Gabriel's lap, but he didn't seem to mind like Daddy sometimes did. He grabbed Gabriel's shirt and pulled himself up to look at his halo. It was weird. "I can see it, but it's not there. Is it there? Is it really real?"

"Mmm," Gabriel shrugged. "Touch it and see."

Dean let go with one hand to reach up and carefully stick his finger where the halo seemed to be. With a shriek of laughter, he yanked his hand back. "It tickles!"

Gabriel's eyes went wide. "It does?" He grabbed both of Dean's hands and clapped them to the sides of his head.

Dean squealed and laughed, trying to wiggle away, but Gabriel held his hands in place while making funny faces. "No tickles!" Dean yelled. "Don't! Stop!"

"What was that?" Gabriel asked. "Don't stop? Okay, I won't!"

"Nooo, Gabriel! No tickles!" Dean kicked and struggled and was laughing so hard he almost couldn't talk.

"Ohhhh, no tickles! My mistake, Deanerino!" The angel let go of his hands and Dean tumbled away from him, but seconds later, he was climbing right back up onto Gabriel and poking experimentally at the halo.

"So what do you think, little man? Is it real?" the angel asked.

Dean nodded hard. "Yeah! Can you feel me do this?" he asked as he flapped his hand near Gabriel's ear.

"Yep. But not the same as you feel this," Gabriel answered and tweaked Dean's nose with his fingers. "It's energy, not flesh."

"That's weird!"

Gabriel grinned. "I suppose it is."

Dean perked up. "Can you really fly?"

"Yup!"

"Can you fly me?"

"Dean..." his mama warned.

Gabriel shrugged and made a face. "I can, but it's not like birds fly. Or Superman. To you it would feel like you were here one second and there the next."

"Oh," Dean said, disappointed. He wanted to fly like Superman. "Do you have wings then?"

"Sure do!"

"Can I see?"

Gabriel clucked his tongue. "Sorry, kiddo, but I'm afraid they're invisible. People can't see angel wings."

"Oh. Okay." Dean squinted at the angel's face. "Your eyes are a funny color."

"Gee, thanks, kid," Gabriel chuckled.

Dean whirled around to point at Mama. "Mama's eyes are blue, and Daddy's eyes are brown, and my eyes are green!" He turned back around and opened his eyes really wide so Gabriel could see. "Yours are kind of orange."

He turned on Gabriel's lap and flopped back against him. Angels were warm. When they weren't tickly, that is.

"Were you really Mama's angel when she was little?"

"Sure was. And her daddy's before that."

"Really?"

"Mmhmm."

"Wow, you're old!"

His mama sighed. "Dean..."

But Gabriel laughed. "Kid, you got no idea."

Mama leaned against the doorway with her hands on her round belly. She looked tired. "Dean, I think it's time we let Gabriel get going, okay? Angels don't have much time to play – he has a lot of work to do."

"Okay," Dean agreed. He turned on the angel's lap and wrapped his arms around his neck despite the tickly halo. "Bye, Gabriel!"

Gabriel hugged him back. When he let go, Dean discovered he had a Tootsie Roll in his hand. He looked wide-eyed at the angel who just winked. Then Gabriel got to his feet and ruffled Dean's hair. "Bye, Dean-o! See you around!"

And then he just disappeared! There was a fluffy noise and some wind and he was gone. That might be even better than Superman. "Whoa!" Dean shouted, then laughed and jumped in circles around the kitchen.

"See, I said you would like him," Mama said.

"Yeah, he was nice!"

Mama kneeled down in front of him and took his hands. He kept the left one in a tight fist so she wouldn't find out he got candy. She'd make him wait to eat it until after dinner. Mama's eyes flicked to his fist briefly before she smiled and said in her important-voice, "Remember, Dean, Gabriel watches over our family. Don't bother him just to play – he's very busy. But if you ever really need help, you can pray for him."

"I 'member," he nodded enthusiastically.

As soon as she let him go, he bolted up the stairs to his room. Quiet as he could, he unwrapped the Tootsie Roll and stuffed it in his mouth. When Gabriel first got there, Dean wasn't so sure about him, but Mama had been right. Angels were nice.