Angel Unawares

Maggie And Aaron

"What is it?" asked Maggie.

"Are you sitting down?" asked Bailey.

"Yes!" Maggie exclaimed impatiently.

"Your brother's back," Bailey told her. She heard a moment's silence, then the soft 'click' of the connection being terminated. She doesn't believe me, Bailey told herself. I suppose I'll have to get Danny to contact her himself.

But how will I do that? was her next question. I've never even really spoken to him. She went to Amber's room and knocked on her door. "Come in," said Amber.

Bailey entered the room to find her foster sister sitting at her desk, busily scribbling words on lined paper. "Homework for Creative Writing," Amber explained. "Mrs. Williams liked my poem so much she wanted me to write a longer story about it. How I met Danny and what happened to him and all."

"I know the truth about him, you know," Bailey remarked.

Amber gasped. "How did you find out?"

"I met his sister, Maggie, in a sibling loss support group," Bailey explained. "I just talked to her on the phone. She told me he'd had a girlfriend named Jade who had a younger sister named Amber. That's how I found out it was the same Danny. I told her he was back, but she didn't believe me and hung up on me. I was wondering, isn't there some way you could get Danny to convince her it's really true?"

Amber remembered what Danny had said to her once, about how he didn't want to disrupt the new lives his family members had made for themselves. "I'm sure he'll do that when he's ready," she told Bailey.

Just then Bailey heard her telephone and answered it to hear Maggie's voice. "I'm sorry for hanging up on you," Maggie said. "But when you told me Danny was back, at first I thought you were playing a mean joke on me. Then I got to thinking, what if it really is true, after all?"

"I swear to you, Maggie, it is true," Bailey replied. "Amber can vouch for me. She's right here. Want me to put her on?"

"Yes! Please do!"

Bailey handed the telephone to Amber. "Maggie?" said Amber.

"Amber!" Maggie exclaimed. "I haven't heard your voice since..."

"I know," Amber replied. "I should have stayed in touch, but I didn't. Anyway, it's true about Danny. He is back. He took me to a movie Saturday night."

"Where is he now? Can I talk to him?"

Suddenly Amber heard a knock on the door and opened it to find Susan standing there. "Danny's here to see you," Susan told her.

Amber handed the telephone to Danny, who was standing in the hallway. "Your sister wants to talk to you," she told him.

"Hey!" he said. A moment later he laughed. "Of course it's me! How are you, Sis?" Sensing that Danny would appreciate some privacy while speaking to his sister for the first time in three years, Amber glanced at Bailey, and the two of them went into Bailey's bedroom. After what seemed like a very long time, Danny returned Bailey's telephone to her.

"Tomorrow after school, we're meeting Maggie at Deelite," he told the two girls.

"But that's so far away!" Amber exclaimed.

"Don't worry. I'll get you there." Danny winked at her.

"What's Deelite?" asked Bailey.

"It's a frozen yogurt place in my old neighborhood," Amber told her. "It used to be a coffee shop called Breezy. Jade worked there when she was in high school."

Danny was waiting for Bailey and Amber after school the following day. He took Bailey by one hand and Amber by the other, and instantly they were standing just outside the door of Deelite.

"Wow!" Bailey exclaimed. "How did you do that?"

Danny only grinned and held the door open for the girls. "Shall we go inside?"

He bought frozen yogurt cones for the three of them and they found an empty booth to sit in. Less than five minutes later, Maggie entered the store. Instantly forgetting his frozen yogurt, Danny jumped to his feet and rushed to embrace his sister. Never before had Amber ever seen such a joyous reunion. Danny bought a frozen yogurt for Maggie, and they joined the other two girls, where Maggie greeted Amber warmly and was introduced to Bailey.

"I told Aaron about you last night," Maggie told her brother. "I was up until past midnight trying to persuade him that it was really true. He can't get any leave time until the holidays, but he really wants to see you again."

"I'll visit him soon," Danny replied. "I know he's ready."

A week passed, and Jade heard nothing from either Danny or Gideon. As the days went by, she grew more and more desperate. Then an idea came to her. Of course! Surely Danny would have been back in touch with his parents by now, wouldn't he have? Of course he would have!

Eagerly she dialed Danny's home telephone number, only to hear a recorded message that the number had been changed to an unlisted one. With a sigh of frustration, she got ready and went to the library. Gideon had taken the computer with him when he'd moved out. She was still friends with both Aaron and Maggie on f*******:. When she reached the library, she found an available computer, logged on, and went to her f*******: page to see whether either of them were online and available to chat. Maggie was there, so Jade clicked on her profile.

Have you been in contact with Danny? she wrote.

Amber and I met up with him at Deelite last Monday night, Maggie wrote back.

Is he there now? Jade wrote, her fingers pounding the keyboard furiously in desperation. Can I speak to him?

He's in Virginia spending the weekend with Aaron, Maggie wrote. I'll tell him you want to talk to him next time I see him.

Jade sighed and left the library. I guess there's nothing else I can do but wait some more, she told herself.