Rapprochement
As she worked on the scrapbooking pages spread out before her,
JenniAnn mused over how startling a difference a month could
make. In December she had holed away scrapbooks and
photo albums in an effort to prevent Max from learning by
accident who Andrew was. Now, as January neared its end,
she and the newcomer were seated in Andrew's living room with
those very same mementos scattered around them.
Max smiled as he held up one album. "Not sure what I
think about this goatee. And I saw the guy looking like
a caveman."
JenniAnn looked up from the recent Christmas photos she was
pasting down. She reflected tenderly on the decade old
image of Andrew. "He had one for a while in 2003.
I thought he looked so cool." She lowered her gaze,
focusing on the page she was working on. "He was working
as a lawyer then."
"I can totally imagine Andrew in front of a judge, delivering
impassioned speeches like Atticus Finch, working to get
justice for the wronged." The young man
smiled. "Truth, justice, and the... angelic way?"
Despite her unease, JenniAnn smiled at Max's play on his
beloved Superman's motto.
"So who was Andrew prosecuting?"
JenniAnn remained fixated on her work. "No one. He
was a defense attorney."
Max's eyes shot up in surprise. "Oh. Wow. So
the person on trial was innocent?"
JenniAnn shook her head, finally looking up. "It was
complicated. The case, I mean." She reached for
the photograph, slipped it out, and cradled it in her
hand. "And us..." she thought.
Max frowned, sensing there was more to the story than a
difficult assignment. Andrew and JenniAnn were the
source of many questions for him. He wanted to know more
about them and their past, shared and not. Yet he
couldn't bring himself to press the woman. "You don't
have to tell me about it," he assured.
JenniAnn was quiet for a few moments, lining another Christmas
photograph up. When she was finished, she met Max's
waiting gaze and smiled. It was quite obvious he was
merely being polite. "Thank you. But I'm thinking
you really want to know."
Max blushed. "Yeah. I'm sorry. I know this
is going to sound weird but I sort of feel like a little kid
wanting to hear about his parents' early days. I mean...
I know you're not my parents but..."
"I get it. And it's not weird." JenniAnn
remembered hanging on her mother's every word as she'd spoken
of meeting her father, of the couple's first date, their
courtship, the proposal, the wedding. It had made
JenniAnn feel secure to know they'd been together for what
seemed a very long time in her little girl mind. Two
people who loved each other so much had to stay together,
she'd reasoned, and if they stayed together then she'd always
have the home and family she loved. Belatedly, Max had
found that security and JenniAnn couldn't blame him for
grasping at any evidence he could that it was rock solid and
deeply rooted. She squeezed his hand. "You're
family now and you deserve to know the family history.
First... mine. We need to go back to the first time I
saw Andrew. Before you were even born and I was just
four years old."
"Four?" Max cast a quizzical look at the
storyteller. "But I thought Andrew said you were
seventeen when you met?"
"I was. But meeting is different from seeing.
Catherine had taken me shopping when she got a call from a
police friend. He asked her to swing by some place... an
alley. Catherine thought he knew she had me with her but
he didn't. So we showed up and there was this dead
body. A man. Murdered." JenniAnn shook her
head.
"How terrible for you at such a young age to see..."
JenniAnn bit her lip. "Well... thing is... I don't think
I really did see the body. I was distracted. While
Catherine was chewing the cop out and hiding me away from the
body, I saw two glowing men. The one didn't much
interest me but the other... he was beautiful and perfect and
I was sure he was a fairy prince. Or maybe Cupid."
Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Max
laughed. "You thought Andrew was either a fairy or the
little guy with a bow and arrow?"
JenniAnn smirked. "Yes and no. The classic
Cupid. The gorgeous, manly, golden god. Vincent
was educating me well even at four. Anyhow, I mean... I
didn't think Andrew was truly a god. But something...
other. More than us but less than God. Somehow it
didn't occur to me that he was an angel. Given the art
we most often see, I think I thought all angels were
ladies. In any case, Cupid... our Andrew... didn't see
me seeing him. He wouldn't know about that until a few
years ago. But I never forgot. I waited for him
for thirteen years. Never dated in junior high.
Nor high school. Some people thought I was a late
bloomer. Others thought maybe I was gay. But I...
I just couldn't let go of the memory of Andrew and I always
believed he'd come back to me... and I didn't want to have to
shed a boyfriend when he did. And Andrew did come
back. And gradually that puppy love turned into
something more real."
Max sighed, already feeling more content. "Thank you for
telling me that. I... please don't think that I've been
thinking that one day you'd, uh, walk out on Andrew. I
don't. But..."
JenniAnn noticed the young man's face cloud as it did when he
thought of his parents. "Trust issues. I
understand that. I won't take any worries ya have
personally. Promise."
"Thanks, JenniAnn. But after hearing that... that you
remained loyal to Andrew even through the worst of adolescent
hormones... wow." Max shook his head then smiled
breezily. "I can't really imagine anything or anyone
tearing you from him now!"
"Nothing ever will but..." The woman blushed as she
continued. "It wasn't always easy. And I'm no
saint. Please just remember all this before I tell you
what happened in 2003 or else you'll think me terribly awful."
Max set his hand on the woman's arm. "I could never
think that."
JenniAnn squeezed his hand. "Thank you. So... when
I tell you this, I hope you'll realize that Andrew's not
likely to walk out on me, either. He stuck with me
through some pretty ugly behavior." Drawing in a deep
breath, she began her story. "It was early spring 2003,
I was a junior in college. Twenty. I... and some
of the others... had sensed something in Andrew. A
sadness. And then... then came the lawyer stint..."
*~*~*
Early Spring 2003
Andrew
dropped his briefcase onto the floor as soon as he
stepped into his living room. Serendipity was warm
but he still felt chilled. The trial
was over, the verdict in, and Andrew was
trying to forget, for just a few hours, the images
Rafael had left him with. But the angel of death
couldn't forget the car speeding away. Boys
laughing. A young woman pale and limp on the
street... her body broken, her mind locked away for
months. It was unbearable.
Andrew sunk into his recliner, took off his glasses, and
rubbed at his eyes. He gasped when he opened
them. Marissa was standing in the doorway, staring
at him. Before he could make any remark, Andrew's
wearied eyes focused. The figure wasn't Marissa at
all but JenniAnn. Her long, blonde hair had
tricked him. "JenniAnn," he greeted. "How
are you?"
The young woman stepped into the living room and settled
into the chair across from Andrew's. "Fine,
thanks. Sorry to intrude. I didn't think
you'd be here just yet. I was just returning your
dishes from last week's potluck then was gonna leave."
The angel of death shrugged. "It's okay.
Good to see a friendly face."
JenniAnn wished Andrew wouldn't even bother smiling if
it meant something so strained as his current
expression. She reached over and briefly set her
hand on his. "How are you?"
"Can't complain. Almost done with an
assignment. And then... then onto the next one."
The woman's stomach lurched as the angel referred to
"the next one." There was something hesitant and
even dreadful in how he said it.
Andrew blinked. JenniAnn was so pale. So
like... He shook his head, dismissing the
thought. Marissa was healing. JenniAnn was
safe. Apparently disturbed but safe.
"JenniAnn, are you sure you're okay?" he checked.
"I... yes. Just concerned. You looked so...
tired when I came in."
Andrew looked to her with a slight, affectionate smile
and patted her hand. "I'm fine. Just long
days at the legal office I'm working at. We
wrapped an emotional case today."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Andrew didn't respond at first. He was sure of two
things: first, he did want to talk about it.
Second, he definitely did not want to talk about it with
a girl barely out of her teens. And yet he found
himself nodding.
JenniAnn kicked an ottoman into place beside Andrew's
chair then sat. She looked expectantly at him.
The angel of death considered his friend. Months
earlier, JenniAnn had borne hearing his account of Meg's
violent attack by the man with red boots. She'd
proven she wasn't a child and Andrew knew he had to
accept that and start behaving accordingly. He let out a
shaky breath and started. "There's
this young woman... Marissa. Right around your
age. A few months ago she was hit by a car driven
by a sixteen year old boy who had his younger cousin
with him. After they hit Marissa, the two drove
off and left her severely wounded."
The young woman cringed and took Andrew's nearest
hand in hers. "How terrible. How's Marissa
now?"
"She's come out of the coma the crash left her in
but she has a long road ahead of her." Andrew
squeezed his friend's hand.
"I'm so sorry. I'll pray that she continues
to recover."
Andrew smiled. That alone justified his
telling JenniAnn. "Thank you. She needs the
prayer."
"And the boys? Were they just being reckless
or was the driver too inexperienced or..."
JenniAnn drifted off when she saw Andrew tense.
"Oh geez. The defense attorney probably tried to
chalk it up as mechanical error or something, didn't
they?"
The angel of death stared at their joined hands,
his stomach in knots. "JenniAnn, I... well, I was
the defense attorney."
JenniAnn blanched. She could imagine Andrew
defending a wrongly accused person. But a driver
who, if nothing else, had left a woman critically
wounded?
Andrew stared out the window as he continued to
speak. "I didn't know what really happened.
Part of me believed they were reckless or the car
hydroplaned and then they got panicked and... and
left. But Rafael... he was the prosecutor... he
kept saying that a terrible video game inspired the boys
to enact it in real life and Marissa..."
"Marissa was so many pixels and points," JenniAnn
interrupted, her tone bitter.
The angel nodded. "That's what he'd
said. And the video game... it has... it's had an
impact. That much I eventually realized.
They... they called Marissa 'street scum.'" Andrew
shook his head. The words, and the hatred and
disrespect behind them, still disgusted him. "It's
what the video game calls prostitutes," he explained,
his voice as angry as JenniAnn's. "But it wasn't
until the passenger... the cousin... testified that I
really saw that... that it wasn't an accident.
They targeted this girl who... she'd done nothing to
hurt or threaten them. Only because..."
"Because she was an object. Not real.
Street scum," JenniAnn echoed through gritted teeth.
Andrew looked back to JenniAnn after he felt her
hand slide away from his. He watched as she stood
and began to pace. "JenniAnn, I'm sorry. I
shouldn't have told you. I... I wanted to talk to
Tess about it but she and Monica had to check in with
Gloria and..." The angel of death
dragged his hand through his hair, silently chastising
himself for unloading so much on her.
The woman swung around to face him. "You
think I'm upset because you confided in me?"
Andrew nodded. He stood to comfort
her. "Everything about it is upsetting. And
you're a compassionate person and it's a lot to..."
"And every bloody day I have to pass magazine
covers and see commercials and hear about these vile
video games where women are objectified and abused
and... and mutilated. And now I find out that
you've spent all this time defending someone who
targeted a woman because she was 'street scum'?"
JenniAnn demanded.
Andrew's hand froze an inch from his friend's
shoulder. "It was my assignment. The Father
sent me," he responded quietly.
"Hydroplaning?!?" JenniAnn continued to
rail. "What is that!? You *were* one of
those defense attorneys who grasp at straws just to get
their client off!"
"JenniAnn, I..." Andrew adamantly shook his
head. "No. I... I didn't know. The
street was wet and... and he was a new driver and I was
obligated to provide the boy with a defense."
"And they were obligated to show respect for their
fellow man and woman!"
"I know. I know that and what that boy
did... it hurts to think about it. And it tears at
my spirit to think about how scared and hurt Marissa
was... the obstacles she'll still face." Tears
welled in Andrew's eyes as he spoke, tears for Marissa
and tears over the rent he felt in his bond with
JenniAnn. He knew he had to get through to
her. After drawing in a deep breath, he tried
again. "JenniAnn, I promise you that I wasn't
being underhanded or trying to cover up guilt. I
would never do that! You have to believe
that. But the law requires..."
"Common sense!" the young woman spat out.
"Have you ever seen some of those video games? It
doesn't take much reasoning to suggest that, yeah, maybe
all that violence might make someone lash out. Did
your client ever even show any remorse?"
Andrew bowed his head, shaking it slightly.
Victor never had and the angel couldn't fathom that
cold-heartedness. But being self-absorbed didn't
automatically make the young man guilty of a higher
order crime.
"And that didn't tell you anything?" JenniAnn
shouted.
Startled, the angel's head shot back up and his
eyes locked with his friend's enraged ones.
"JenniAnn, it was more complicated than..."
"What if it had been me?" JenniAnn cried.
"What if it had been any of us? Would you still
have gotten up and spouted off about hydroplaning?"
Andrew's breath caught in his throat as he
struggled for some response but he was too angry, too
horrified. Mostly he was shaken. JenniAnn
had given voice to the only fear he had. Reeling,
he pulled his friend towards him. His arms clasped
around her and he buried his face in her hair.
JenniAnn yanked her head up to demand the angel
let her go but when she opened her mouth, only a
strangled gasp came out. Andrew was sobbing.
She had made Andrew cry. She had done this
terrible thing. Every ounce of rage left
her. She reached up and caressed his face,
brushing at the tears she had caused.
Andrew knew he couldn't bear it... to see her body
broken. To stand beside Yva's bed, willing her to
wake. To think of anyone speaking so vilely of
C.J. "My heart..." he choked out, "would
break."
Tears filling her own eyes, JenniAnn rested her
forehead against the angel's shoulder. She felt
lower than she'd ever felt before. She'd been
heartless, ruthlessly slinging insults because of an
ancient rage, newly reignited. And there had been
fear, too. But that she couldn't bear to
face. "I'm sorry. So sorry," she
apologized. "Andrew..."
The angel shook his head. "You're
right. I should have realized... I should have..."
"No." JenniAnn reached up to cradle his face
in her hands. "I... I was cruel a-and..."
"Andrew?" a voice called from the entryway.
"Rafael," Andrew whispered.
JenniAnn swiftly drew her hands back and took a
step away from the angel.
A few moments later, Rafael entered the
room. "Hey Andrew. Tess said I'd find
you..." The angel paused when he saw JenniAnn and
noted both she and his friend were in tears.
"Hey... JenniAnn. Sorry." Rafael backed
towards the hall. "Hey so... I can come back
later." After another curious glance at the woman,
he looked to the angel of death. "Andrew, I just
wanted to talk about the case. When's a good..."
"I was just headed home," JenniAnn interrupted,
stepping towards the hall herself. "I'll leave you
both to talk." She slipped past Rafael and left
the room. Pausing in the hallway for just a
moment, she turned to look at Andrew. He gave her
a smile, sad and forced. She knew she was forgiven
but it did little to dull the ache in her heart and the
sick feeling in her stomach as she fled.
*~*~*
JenniAnn
swiped at a tear as she twisted her Claddagh
ring. "We never talked about any of it
again. I think Andrew didn't want to make me
feel any worse. And then, not terribly long
after, Monica got promoted and Andrew was working
cases alone again. Actually, the case right
after our fight... Monica wasn't involved. I
think that's partly why Andrew..." She brushed
at another tear. "He knew it was only the
beginning and that soon she'd be away for every
case. It hurt him. We all did everything
we could to comfort him during that transition.
And so... well, there... there didn't seem to be any
sense in looking backward. But the truth was...
I was ashamed. I still am. I acted like I
did partly because I thought it was Andrew who was
moving on... not Monica. And I didn't know how
I'd cope... waiting for thirteen years, having him
around for three, and then... then gone again? I
was angry and scared and so I acted out. No
excuse. But, hey, if Andrew didn't bail then...
there's no way he will now that I think I'm rather
nice." She looked up at Max with a rueful smile.
Max hugged her. "You are nice. And I'm
sure you were then, too. You were very young,
JenniAnn. And I'm sure you think about it way
more than Andrew does... if he ever does think about
it."
"What am I not thinking about?" Andrew asked with a
grin as he entered the room, his latest assignment
having come to a satisfying denouement. The
angel instantly sobered when he saw that JenniAnn was
crying. He knelt beside her. "Laja?
Max? What's going on?"
JenniAnn looked up at him with a trembling
smile. "Nothing. Everything's fine,
Andrew. Just... memories."
Andrew looked to Max for verification. The young
man nodded.
"I'll leave you two alone to discuss those memories,"
Max offered. "I should get going, anyway.
Rose and Aunt Josephine asked me over for dinner."
Despite her melancholy, JenniAnn smiled up at Max when
he stood. She rose and hugged him. "Have a
wonderful dinner and give them my best. Thanks
for your help today."
"Of course! Thanks for asking me." Max
leaned nearer and whispered in JenniAnn's ear.
"Have a good, healing talk." After she released
him, Max hugged Andrew. "We might watch a movie
after. Is it okay if I don't come back until
eleven?"
Andrew chuckled. "Max, you don't have a
curfew. Take all the time you need."
"Thanks. You too." Max's glance traveled
from Andrew to JenniAnn and back again. Then
with another smile, he left.
The angel of death hugged his remaining friend.
"Now, what has you so upset?"
JenniAnn snuggled against his shoulder for a moment
then handed Andrew the photo of himself.
"Oh." Andrew considered the image then looked
down at JenniAnn with an impish twinkle in his
eye. "Yeah, that goatee was pretty sad."
Laughing, JenniAnn playfully swatted at the
angel. "I loved it!"
The angel grinned. "I know. Now, really,
what's wrong?"
"The things I said to you..." JenniAnn drew in a
deep breath. "When you were defending that kid
with the video game..."
Andrew pulled JenniAnn to him again. "Laja, that
was ten years ago. A third of your life ago!"
A smile played at JenniAnn's lips as she thought of
that. Still, she couldn't stop reliving the
moment she'd looked up at Andrew and seen the tears
cascading down his face.
"Let's sit down." Andrew led JenniAnn to the
couch then sat beside her.
"There... there were no excuses for how I acted that
day."
"Something tells me there were some pretty solid
reasons, though," Andrew pressed. "Laja, I let
it all go a long time ago. Do you have any idea
how many times you've told me you loved me in the past
ten years? Countless times! With all of
that, why would I hold onto one bad moment?" He
pushed some stray hair behind her ear and
sighed. "But it seems you have so let's talk."
JenniAnn
stared down at her hands. "I... I was just so
angry back then. And so bad at handling
it."
Andrew studied his friend, not quite believing
her. "Laja, I feel like there had to be more to
it than..."
"I had been sheltered for so long and was just
realizing how unsafe a place the world is for women,"
JenniAnn continued. "And so when you told me
about what happened to Marissa... that day... it
all just flared up."
Andrew saw
it then. A subtle flinch. Then
JenniAnn's arms crossed over her chest.
She seemed a world away. Her eyes went
wide when he set a hand on each of her
shoulders. "Laja, did something happen
that day?"
JenniAnn began
to shake her head but she froze when she looked into
Andrew's eyes. Every since their shared dreams,
she'd found it increasingly difficult to hide anything
from him. Finally, she nodded. "It really
wasn't such a big deal. It just... scared me.
I
don't know if you remember but I told you I'd come to
your place to return dishes. And I did.
But really I'd come there to... to feel safe."
The angel held her. "Why did you need to feel
safe? Tell me. Please."
After a small sigh, the words came rushing out.
"A friend and I had gone out for lunch and shopping in
Omaha. It was a nice strip of lil shops.
I'd always felt safe there. But that day... we
were walking and suddenly two men were behind us,
following us. I dunno of they were drunk or
just... just plain awful. But they started
shouting at us. Vile things about what they...
what they wanted to do."
As his eyes clamped shut for a moment, Andrew kissed
his friend's hair.
"Nothing happened!" JenniAnn swore. "We ran into
a lady's boutique and they left. But it... it
was the first time I ever realized... someone might
think about me that way. And they might want to
hurt me."
"Laja, I'm so sorry," the angel of death
murmured. "And I understand why you..."
"It's no excuse!" JenniAnn interrupted. "But I
just... I did want you to hold me and tell me
everything would be okay but instead... well, you told
me about Marissa and I just snapped. It all
fused together in my mind and I... I was angry at
you. I know it's awful but I was. Not
really for defending that boy although I guess I kinda
transferred the anger at the drunk guys and all they
represent on... onto you. And it was easier to
do than it shoulda been because I really thought... Andrew,
everything about you seemed to point to some pending
separation. A good bye. I was so afraid
that you were leaving and I thought that if... if I
could get myself to believe that you were... bad
somehow then it would make it easier to not see you
anymore. But I even screwed that up! You
were preparing for a separation but it wasn't you
leaving us. It was Monica's promotion. And
just when you most needed a friend as you faced
that... I was off being self-absorbed and bitter."
The angel took in a deep breath. "Laja, you were
there with me the very day I said good bye to
Monica! Don't forget that. And you
couldn't have known what was going on before
that. I certainly wasn't telling you. That
argument that day... maybe it needed to happen.
I was upset, you were upset.
Neither of us were talking about it. Maybe we
both needed to let out some steam.
Besides..." A smile lit up Andrew's face.
"If I'm remembering right... it ended with a pretty
intense hug."
Blushing, JenniAnn smiled. "Yeah... ya kinda had
an amped up... considerably more chaste... George
Bailey thing going for ya."
Andrew blushed, too, his smile growing. "I
think... I think I needed that. Things, umm...
well, even before Monica's promotion we were all so...
so driven and we didn't have much time just the four
of us and... well, things were just a little
stressful."
JenniAnn could hear what Andrew was too polite to say:
he had gone a while without a hug back then.
"I... I would have hugged you more if only I knew,"
she lamented. "And I should have known."
Andrew squeezed her hand. "Laja, you were... you
weren't even out of college and that was when I was
still very concerned that if... well, if we got too
close..."
"I know. And I... I was still nervous about
telling you... or... or showing you... how I
felt. Maybe something dramatic did need to
happen to push us past those reservations that night."
"I think so. The only thing I regret is that we
couldn't talk about what had happened to you.
I'm so sorry you had to experience that." Andrew
shook his head. Disrespect towards anyone...
especially women... was unthinkable to him. "No
one threatens my Laja," he muttered.
JenniAnn's eyes twinkled. Well she knew that
Andrew couldn't actually enforce his decree but it
helped him to say it and her to hear it. She
kissed his forehead and smiled breezily, finally
letting go of her own regrets. "Well, I'm just
glad that's all behind us because... we're being
watched and studied."
Andrew laughed. "Oh, you've picked up on that,
too?"
"You don't think... I mean... if Max is building us up
in his head as some sorta models... that's not gonna
throw things off with him and Rose, is it? We're
not exactly... standard."
"Well, no... But are you replicating your
parents' relationship with me? We don't live
together. They do. We aren't
married. They are. But that commitment,
that love, that responsibility they feel for each
other; you soaked that in and it became part of you
and how you relate to me. I think Max just needs
to see two people who love each other and don't bail
when the going gets tough. He doesn't need us to
model appropriate division of closet space or... or,
you know, other married people stuff."
"The charm of you blushing just plain never gets old,"
JenniAnn remarked fondly. "You're right."
She let out a contented sigh then squeezed Andrew's
hand. "So... if you can and want to say... did
you ever find out what happened to Marissa?"
Andrew nodded. "I... well, I never went back to
see her. She'd just remember me as... as the
defense attorney."
JenniAnn hugged the angel's arm.
"But... I did ask Ronald if he could check the file
and he did. Marissa met a guy in physical
therapy. They really hit it off. Dated for
a couple years and..." Joy shone from Andrew's
face. "They've been married for seven years,
remain deeply in love, and have three kids."
"I'm so glad! And... the boys?" JenniAnn asked
cautiously.
"Josh... the younger boy... really turned things
around. Went to college, got a degree in
psychology. He wants to go into child
psychiatry. His cousin... well, Victor hasn't
had any more run-ins with the law and he did
eventually apologize to Marissa but... I'm afraid he
still has some work to do as far as recognizing
others' feelings." Andrew frowned and ran his
hand over his hair.
JenniAnn hugged him. "You did your very best,
Andrew. For him and for justice. I see
that now. He may come around yet."
Andrew smiled and rested his chin on her hair.
"I hope so." He thought back to his final
moments with the then-teenager, wondering if there was
something more he could have said or done.
"Andrew?"
The angel roused. "Hmm?"
"Are you here for tonight?"
"Yes..."
"How about dinner and a movie?" JenniAnn suggested
hopefully. "If Max is cribbing from us, I vote
we crib from him and Rose tonight."
Andrew chuckled. "Sounds like a plan to
me. Going out or staying in?"
"You pick."
Andrew considered and soon made his decision.
"Stay in. Let's have dinner right here in front
of the fire and celebrate. Ten years ago we had
a fight and now..."
"Now we have a twenty three year old," the woman
deadpanned.
Eyes sparkling, Andrew nodded. "And a fifteen
year old. Kinda. I just mean... Violeta
does seem to be coming to you about, well, girl
things."
JenniAnn smirked. If Andrew only knew the half
of it...
"And we have an eight year old," the angel
continued. "Who, thankfully, is still interested
in little kid things."
JenniAnn sighed dramatically. "One of the nuns
back in high school took every opportunity to remind
us that too much time around boys was bound to lead to
unplanned, out-of-wedlock children. I guess she
was right..."
Andrew burst out laughing. "I suspect this is
not what she had in mind."
JenniAnn giggled. "Probably not..." She
stooped to put away the scrap booking materials.
The angel crouched on the floor to help. He
noticed when JenniAnn reverently filed away the
photograph of him in lawyer mode. When she
closed the photo album, he took one of her hands in
both of his. "Laja, there is nothing you could
say to me that would make me stop loving you.
If, later on, you find yourself remembering that night
again...please let that be the one thing you take away
from it. Okay?"
Choking up, JenniAnn nodded. "Kay."
Then, kneeling in the same spot where they'd once
fought, the two embraced. They prayed in
thanksgiving to the One who had brought true love from
violence and renewed friendship from division.