by Mary May
Chapter 15
Gideon felt sure that he was breaking most, if not all, of the Guardian rules, but hey, he wasn’t exactly handed a guide book when he was given this task so he felt that if he did things a little differently that would just be alright. He knew he interacted with Charlie more than he should; the little girl was constantly chasing him around and pointing and talking to him. He tried to be careful not to do too much in front of Sabrina but he knew she had her suspicions. She was almost two years old and the little girl was into everything and going everywhere. It took both Sabrina and Gideon to keep an eye on the little bundle of pure energy, and at the end of the day he was wiped out. He would sit in the rocking chair in her nursery and watch her as she slept, marveling at the little person she was fast becoming. She was developing her own personality and she most definitely had her daddy’s sense of humor. The child was just goofy, according to her mother; slightly insane, according to her Guardian. Her favorite game whether with her mother or with Gideon was making silly little faces and dancing around in circles. She would watch them to make sure they were seeing her then she would “fall” down and laugh. He had never been around children, so everything she did was a new experience to him. He had never in all of his considerable life found anything as charming as Miss Charlie.
Charlie’s second birthday was fast approaching and Sabrina was pulling out all the stops for her little girl. She didn’t have a very big party for her first birthday. She was still too raw from Luke’s death. This year she was going to give it the attention it deserved. Her mother and Evan were flying in, and Carl was planning on attending as well. He mentioned he might be bringing a guest, so that had all of Sabrina’s antennae up. She truly hoped that Carl had found someone special like her mother had. Sabrina had found her peace again; for the first time since Luke’s death she was at ease. She still had a lot of questions and she knew she probably wouldn’t have the answers to most of them this side of heaven, but that was okay, too. She was finally able to truly lay Luke to rest. She poured out the rest of his aftershave and put away the few mementos she was saving for Charlotte. In the last couple of weeks since her breakdown and pillow slaughter in the living room, she had been able to sleep without the scented pillow, so she felt she was finally starting to heal.
Sabrina found such joy in her daughter. She was so thankful that she had Charlotte to concentrate on during these last two years. It was hard to believe that she would soon turn two. Where did the time go? Sabrina shook her head in wonderment as she finished a quilt she was sewing for Charlotte. It was a Guardian Angel quilt with different angels scattered around all in different sizes and shapes.
Then the most curious thing happened. There was an angel on the outside edge that looked different from the rest of them. He looked harder and more masculine, and he had black wings! Sabrina looked over the rest of the material trying to find another angel like him, but he seemed to be the only one. The quilt was pink and purple with the angels all wearing different-colored robes. She thought it was so pretty and it reminded her that she needed to speak to her mother about the first Charlotte and see if she could solve the mystery of who she was.
The day of Charlie’s second birthday came and Sabrina was in the kitchen finishing up the birthday cake when the doorbell rang. She raced Charlie to the door, which was their little game. When the door opened, her mother was standing there loaded down with gifts.
“Oh, my gosh, Mom! Tell me these are not all for Charlotte!”
Catherine came through the door, followed by Evan who was also carrying brightly-wrapped presents. “Well, I could tell you that but I would be lying! Hi, darling! Where is Mimi’s little angel?”
Sabrina started to close the door when she heard someone else outside; she poked her head out and was so surprised.
“Sherrilyn, I didn’t know you were coming!” She ran down the walk to help her friend inside.
“I guess your mama got so excited about seeing you and Charlie she forgot about me!” Sabrina ushered Sherrilyn into the kitchen and set her down.
“Oh I did not forget about you, I told you I would be right back. Don’t you listen to her, Sabrina. You know she is just trying to get you to feel sorry for her!” Catherine smiled at Sherrilyn who was trying her best to look pitiful, but she finally broke and laughed.
“Ok, it was worth a shot! Where is the birthday girl?”
Sabrina pried Charlotte out of her mother’s arms and gently sat her in Sherrilyn’s lap. Charlotte looked at all of her scars and burns and gently patted her face and said, “Ouch.”
Sherrilyn captured Charlotte’s hand and kissed her palm and said, “Yes, ouch, but it’s all better now, honey. God kissed my ouchy and made the hurt go away.”
Gideon stood back and watched the family all come together. A little while later Luke’s father showed up with a tall dark-haired woman who was shyly hanging onto his arm. “Everyone, this special lady is Keelie Satank, and she has agreed to marry me just as quick as I can talk her into it!”
The crowd all gasped and then laughed and hugs and tears were evident in nearly every eye as they welcomed Keelie into the family.
Gideon was happy to see everyone again, most especially Sherrilyn, who had a special place in his heart already and he couldn’t wait to get a chance to catch up with her and find out how she had been.
The party was a huge success. Charlotte was in her highchair looking every inch like the princess they all thought she was. Sabrina had put her in a purple sundress with pink butterflies. She had pink ribbons in her high little ponytails on each side of her head. The family, friends and neighbors that attended all had a wonderful time.
When the party was all over several hours later, Evan was carrying a sleeping Charlotte into her nursery and laying her in her crib. Sabrina watched as the man who had stolen her mother’s heart tucked her little girl into bed, and she thanked God for him. Evan turned around and smiled. “I never thought I would find myself in the position of Grandfather, but I sure do love that little girl.” He walked over to the doorway and leaned down and kissed Sabrina’s forehead then walked on down the hallway. Sabrina walked into Charlotte’s room and turned on the little lamp with Jesus surrounded by the flock of little lambs. She covered her up with her angel quilt. She stood for a moment quietly praying over her little girl then reached down and lightly ran her finger over the odd little angel in the corner. After she turned on the music box, she walked out, leaving the door open a crack to be able to hear if Charlotte needed her.
Gideon walked over to the crib; he knew that Grandpa Carl had bought her a toddler’s bed, so this would be her last night in her baby bed. He coughed lightly to clear the lump that had strangely appeared in his throat at that thought. He reached down and lifted the corner of her new quilt that her mother had made her, looking at the odd little angel in the corner. Where had it come from? There wasn’t another one like it anywhere in the pattern and they all had repeats of themselves, but there was only one little angel with the black wings.
Late that night Gideon got a chance to speak with Sherrilyn when he found her out on the back patio alone.
“Hey there, big guy, I wondered when I would get to talk to you.”
Gideon sat down on the low wall that divided the patio from the rest of the yard. “How have you been doing?” he asked.
“Oh, fair to partly cloudy.” She laughed at his puzzled silence. “That means I have my good days and bad days, Gideon, but over all I’m fine.” She reached out and touched his hand. “How have you been, soldier boy?”
He chuckled. She called him the most off-the-wall names…and he liked it! “I’ve been fine, still learning how to do this Guardian thing; I know I’ve probably broken at least half of whatever rules there are, and she is only two, so there really isn’t much hope for the other half.”
Sherrilyn laughed. “Oh, honey, you’re doing just fine, and don’t you think that God knew this was outside your field of experience, but he chos
e you anyway? He created you just the way you are. You have a warrior’s heart because that’s the way He designed you, and He chose you to watch over Charlie because of it. Stop looking at it as a handicap and look at it as an advantage.”
Gideon considered her words for a moment. “I have wondered why He gave me this assignment; I could name a thousand different Guardians that could have filled this post better than I can.”
Sherrilyn laughed out loud. “Wow, those were some mighty big words, soldier boy.”
He frowned at her. “What do you mean?”
She sighed.” You told me once that you couldn’t see the future; is that still true?”
“Yes, that’s still true.” He wondered where she was going with this.
“Ok, and is it still true that God can see the future?”
Still frowning, he answered, “Of course.”
She smiled, “There’s your answer!”
“What’s my answer? I’m not following you.”
She swung her arm and connected with his chest. “You are blinder than I am! Good grief! Let me see if I can dumb this down for you a little. God can see the future; you cannot. Therefore God knows sometime in the future Charlie or Sabrina or someone in this family will need your skills as a WARRIOR! A typical guardian couldn’t do what you do, Gideon.” She reached out and touched his arm, following it down until she took his big hand in hers. She ran her fingers over the callouses and scars, feeling the strength in his long fingers. “Gideon, the Lord placed a little girl’s future in these very capable hands, and He knew when He did that, that you would make mistakes and do things your own way.” She reached and laid her hand over his heart. “But He also knew that in here beats your greatest weapon, your warrior heart, and between these hands and this heart, no little girl would ever be safer than with you as her Guardian.”
Gideon didn’t speak; her words had touched him deeply. They sat in the darkness, each one lost to his own thoughts, when Gideon looked up into the night sky. “Right before Christmas, Sabrina was attacked by several men who were possessed by demons; one was actually a very skilled commander of my own ranking. I thought to myself then that a regular guardian would not have been able to have handled that.”
Sherrilyn slowly turned her head and “looked” at him, which meant she turned his direction and cocked her head to one side. “Come again? Did you just tell me that Sabrina got attacked by demons, plural as in more than one?”
He looked at the shocked look on her face and wondered if he should have told her, but he had already opened his big mouth so told her the rest. “Yes, there were at least twenty plus the commander.”
She slowly turned her head back around. “At least twenty plus the commander, he says. Ok, so obviously you won. Did you call in reinforcements? Do they have an angel hotline or 911 services when a warrior gets outnumbered?”
He laughed. “We can call in backup when it’s needed, or at least warriors can; I’m honestly not sure about your standard-issue guardian.” She looked absolutely fascinated and he wondered if he was creating a monster with all his inside information he was feeding her.
“So how many did you call? Wow, I wish I could have seen that fight! All your fellow warriors and yourself kicking some slimy demons! That must have been a sight.”
He smiled at her description. “It was over pretty fast. The worst part was when I had to go toe to toe against Legion. He waited until the others had failed to kill me then he stepped up.”
Sherrilyn was practically vibrating in her chair she was so excited. “Ok, tell me every move! I want a blow by blow detailed account of this whooping!”
Gideon described the fight the way it happened, leaving out the more gory details.
“I bet your men were impressed watching you tan that demon’s hide!” she exclaimed.
“They have seen me fight for well over five million years, so I doubt they find me impressive anymore and besides they weren’t there.”
She looked puzzled. “What do you mean they weren’t there? Did they leave you to face the big bad wolf all by yourself?”
Gideon wondered where she got the idea he had called his men? “They didn’t leave; they were never there. I didn’t call them, Sherrilyn.”
She looked shocked. “But you said there were twenty demons plus the leader or whatever he was called and that you could call them if help was needed!”
Gideon took her hand. “I didn’t need any help. I could handle that number by myself; however, I don’t believe a Guardian could have.”
Sherrilyn sank back down in her chair, laid her head back, and placed her arm across her face. “Hey, big guy, do me a favor. The next time I ask you something that pertains to demons or fighting demons or most especially you fighting twenty or so demons plus a commander by yourself, please tell me to mind my own business!”
Gideon chuckled at her pained expression. “I’ve gone up against a much larger number than that and survived; I’m not called Gideon the Mighty for nothing!”
She didn’t look especially impressed. “I’m not knocking your skills, Gideon. I fully appreciate you’re more than capable of handling yourself in a battle situation; however, you now have Sabrina and Charlie to think about as well. I was just thinking, what if something had happen to you? Who would have defended them then?” Her voice broke on the last word and he knew she was genuinely concerned for her friends.
“If something were to happen to me, and I’m aware that I’m not invincible, do you not think that the Lord would take care of them? Send another warrior perhaps or whatever He felt was needed?”
She took in a shaky breath and nodded her head. “Of course, you’re right. He would never leave them alone or unprotected. I just never imagined demons coming after her. What do you suppose they wanted?”
Gideon was silent for a minute. “I honestly don’t know. Humans are under attack from the dark side pretty much all the time in some way or another, but this was a large-scale attack with a major commander in the lead. Now it could have been merely bad luck, being at the wrong place at the wrong time, but I don’t believe in coincidences. Whatever the reason, Legion is defeated now and it will take them a while to regroup. I won’t be taken by surprise again, I can promise you that.”
Sherrilyn could hear the determination in his voice and she felt the fear for her friend’s safety fade into nothing.
The next morning the trio of ladies were sitting in Sabrina’s living room visiting and catching up on each other’s lives. Catherine was telling them how funny it was to be adjusting to married life again. She told them how she and Evan were shopping at the local mall and he went to a different department. When Catherine got ready to leave, she left! She didn’t think a thing of it until Evan called her on her cell phone to tell her he had gone out to the car to put away a surprise gift for her and their car was stolen!
“Oh, Mother, you didn’t! You forgot Evan, really?”
Catherine wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. “I sure did! I was driving home lost in my own thoughts when my cell phone rang. I looked and saw it was Evan and I knew what I had done. Then he was so concerned about how I would take the news about the car being stolen and I had to tell him I had driven off and forgotten him!”
The ladies were all laughing and holding their sides. Sherrilyn said, “Stop, I can’t breathe! What did Evan say when you told him the car wasn’t stolen, that he was just forgotten?”
Catherine smiled. “He just laughed and shook his head and said, ‘Well, that’s better than the car being stolen; there’s less paperwork involved!’”
The ladies all laughed some more. “Mother, I thank God that He brought Evan into your life. I couldn’t have picked out anyone more perfectly suited to you and our family; he just fits right in.”
Catherine nodded. “I know; I feel the same way. I was truly blessed with him.”
Sherrilyn had been strangely quiet and Sabrina noticed. “Sherrilyn, are you feeling tired? Do you want to g
o lie down?”
She shook her head. “No, not at all, honey. I was just listening to how happy your momma’s voice is now. It’s a lot different than it used to be, before she was saved. Since I can’t see, that’s what I have to go on, the sound of people’s voices, and speaking of which, yours is sounding better, too, little girl. When you were at my house for your momma’s wedding, it had a hollow sound to it.” She reached for Sabrina’s hand. “Tell me, are you doing better?” she asked.
Sabrina chuckled, “Yes, actually I am. After I threw a world class fit, destroyed nearly every pillow in the house and told God exactly how I felt about Luke’s death. Then I fell on the floor and cried forever.”
Catherine came up off the couch and wrapped her daughter in a hug. “Oh, sweetheart, why didn’t you call me?”
Sabrina patted her mother’s back. “It’s okay, mom. The Lord let me do exactly what I needed to do. I had been just going through all the “right” motions; I was acting the part of a widowed Christian woman. But on the inside I felt like a phony. I wasn’t feeling serene and peaceful at all. I was mad, hurt and confused, and I wanted answers!” She stopped for a moment and hung her head. “I was ashamed that I felt that way. I felt like I was letting God down. But then when I went out to the cemetery I got so angry! I came home and was cleaning up the living room when I picked up a pillow and I just ripped into it. After I shredded that one I found another one. My living room looked like a snow storm had hit it. I told God how I felt, how I really truly felt, and I didn’t sugar coat it either. But you know what? He already knew how I really felt. Why I thought I could fool Him is beyond me.”
Sherrilyn nodded her head. “Yes, baby, I know how you feel. I did the same thing. I ranted at God for hours about everything and at the end I was satisfied and so was He. Do you know why He was satisfied? I was finally telling Him the truth. He knew it all along but He waited until I was ready to confess the truth to Him and stop filling His ears with empty worthless words and declarations. After I had done that, He was finally able to heal me. He couldn’t until I admitted that I needed it. As long as I was telling Him and everyone else I was fine when I clearly wasn’t, I had tied His hands, so to speak.”