Angel Unawares

Mother And Son Reunion

Saturday night, Danny called Amber. "I'm sorry for not being in touch sooner," he said. "I hope you didn't worry too much."

"Oh, no, that's all right." Amber was too relieved to hear his voice to get upset.

"Remember the little old lady with cancer I told you about?" Danny continued. "She passed over just this afternoon. She lived in a nursing home and was all alone because her family never came to visit her, which by the way, they're really going to regret. I sat beside her holding her hand as she took her last breath, and then I took her to heaven and waited until she was all settled in before I came back."

"Wow!" Amber whispered.

"Say, there's still time if you'd like to do something tonight."

"I'd have to get ready."

"Twenty minutes long enough?"

"Sure, I guess so."

"Tell Bailey she's welcome to come along as well. I've got a surprise for her."

Twenty-five minutes later, Danny rang the doorbell. He greeted Susan and both girls, then asked Amber and Bailey if they'd like to go roller skating. "I don't know how," Amber confessed.

"That's all right," Danny replied. "I'll teach you."

At the skating rink, a teenage girl was waiting for them just inside the entrance. Amber recognized her immediately from photographs she'd seen. "Brittney!" cried Bailey. The sisters embraced happily.

"Danny told me how much you missed me, so I came back to visit you," Brittney told her twin.

"How long can you stay?" asked Bailey.

"Only a couple of hours." Brittney looked a little sad.

"You mean you can't come home and see Mom and Dad?" Bailey was obviously very disappointed.

Brittney shook her head. "Sorry, no. I'm needed elsewhere, but we have a little while to skate together just like we used to. Come on!"

The sisters put on their skates and were soon sailing gracefully around the rink while Amber watched wistfully after them. "I could never skate like that."

"Of course you can," Danny told her. "All you need is practice!"

Amber put on her own skates, and her legs scissored frantically back and forth as Danny laughingly steadied her. He showed her how to balance, then to move slowly forward, and soon they were circling the rink together. "This is fun!" Amber exclaimed.

Soon the lights dimmed, a romantic song began to play, and couples began to skate holding hands or facing one another. Danny turned around to face Amber so that he was holding both her hands while skating backwards. Euphoria swept over her as she gazed into his eyes. "Being here with you is just so nice," he told her. "I love the way your eyes are shining tonight."

"I feel really happy when I'm with you," she replied. "Sometimes I even forget...I mean, lots of times, I forget and just feel like I'm with a regular guy."

"I feel just like a regular guy when I'm with you." He kissed her then, a soft, chaste kiss, not like the one he'd given her on the Rialto Bridge in Venice.

"Mom's talking about sending me to a psychiatrist and maybe even having me committed," Maggie told Bailey, Amber, and Danny. It was Saturday, and the four of them were walking up and down the mall. "I slipped up and accidentally mentioned going horseback riding with you, Danny, and now she thinks I'm schizophrenic and hallucinating."

"I'll stay with you when she comes to pick you up and take you home," Danny told her. "She's ready."

Maggie's eyes widened. "Would you? Really?"

Danny smiled and nodded.

"Great!" Maggie exclaimed. "I've been wanting her to see you again for ages!"

Mrs. Green came to pick her daughter up at four o'clock in the afternoon, as she usually did. Her eyes swept over the two other girls and then landed on Danny, and she instantly looked confused. He grinned. "Hi, Mom."

Mrs. Green's mouth opened, then closed.

"It's really me, Mom." He took a couple of steps in her direction but didn't touch her.

She began to shake. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"It's no joke, Mom. Really, it's me."

"Oh, Danny!" She began to sob heavily, and he held and comforted her as the girls watched awkwardly. A few seconds later, she reached for Maggie and pulled her into the embrace.

"You will come home with us, won't you?" Mrs. Green asked her son once she'd regained her composure. "I...I'll set an extra plate for dinner. It'll be just like old times."

"Of course I will."

"Dad's gonna be so happy to see you again!" Maggie exclaimed.

Amber longed to see the father and son reunion more than anything else in the world, but she understood how the family would want the first meal they'd shared together in over three years to be just the four of them. She looked into Danny's eyes and saw gratitude for her understanding. "We'll have you over for dinner soon, Amber," he told her. "I promise."

Mrs. Green looked surprised. "Amber?"

"Long story, Mom," Danny said. "I'll explain over dinner."

As Amber drifted off to sleep that night, she couldn't help but wonder how Danny's reunion with his father had gone.