“I am here, love,” Gabriel smiled down at her. “Why are you hurting? Didn’t Michael heal you?”
“He wanted to, but I wouldn’t let him,” she said, tears filling her eyes. “It would’ve reminded me too much of you.”
Gabriel smiled and shook his head, and then laid his hand on Dani’s stomach. She felt the familiar feeling of hot and cold, and then the pain and the drugs that had been fogging her mind faded away.
Gabriel was still there.
“Gabriel!” she cried, and then jumped to her knees on the bed so she could wrap her arms around his neck. “How is this possible,” she said between sobs, “How are you here?”
“It seems that my Father saw fit to give my life back to me and send me back to you,” Gabriel said. “He told me to go home to my wife and daughter. I have permission to stay with you. We can raise our daughter together.”
“Really?” Dani asked, with tears sparkling on her long lashes.
“Really and truly,” Gabriel said, giving Dani a soft kiss. “I’m here to stay. I still have to perform my duties for Heaven and follow out God commands, but for the most part, I’ll be right here by your side for the rest of your life. We’ll get to raise our precious Mikella together.”
Dani couldn’t believe how happy she was now. Every since Gabriel had died every day had felt like a black endless abyss. She hadn’t gone a full minute in all that time without thinking of him. She’d been filled with a bone deep sorrow for so long that she never thought she’d ever be happy again. Dani laid her head on Gabriel’s chest and cried.
“What’s wrong?” Gabriel asked, pulling back so he could see her face.
“Nothing,” Dani sniffled and smiled. “For the first time in a long time, everything is right.”
4.
Mikella cried again and Gabriel turned to pick her up, “Can I?”
“Of course you can,” Dani said. “She’s your daughter.”
Gabriel gently picked up the baby, and she immediately stopped crying. He stared down into his baby girl’s eyes; eyes so much like his own. She was exquisite. He had never held a baby before. She was so tiny and delicate. Mikella looked up at Gabriel, yawned and started crying again.
“What did I do wrong?” he said anxiously.
“Nothing,” Dani laughed and pulled the hospital gown down on one side, exposing her breast. “She’s just hungry. Hand her to me.”
Gabriel handed Mikella to Dani and watched as the baby latched onto her mother’s nipple. He watched in amazement as his daughter fed, using her tiny hands to work the breast. He had always thought of childbirth and breastfeeding as just a part of human life, but he could see now that this was one of God’s miracles.
He glanced across the room and saw that Donna was still sitting, stock still, in the chair. She was staring at Gabriel with her mouth hanging open. She had a look of astonishment and bewilderment on her face.
Gabriel asked her, “Are you alright?”
“You’re an angel,” Donna said softly. “Dani’s not delusional. You really are an angel.”
Gabriel grinned at her, “You thought Dani was crazy?”
“No, I thought she was flat out insane,” Donna admitted. “I thought you’d brainwashed her.”
Gabriel looked at Dani, “I told you it wasn’t a good idea to tell her.”
“I know,” Dani said. “I wish I would have listened. I’ve spent the last nine months listening to Donna urge me to get mentally health care.”
Donna looked at Michael, “You’re not a home health care nurse at all, are you?”
“No,” Michael said and allowed his own wings to tear through his shirt. “I’m Archangel Michael. But in my defense, I can provide much better health care than any nurse.”
“I thought you loved Dani,” Donna said, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. “You took such good care of her that I thought you were going to end up marrying her.”
Michael smiled, “I do love her, but not in the way you thought. She’s more like a sister to me.”
“And Dani already has a husband,” Gabriel said. “Me.”
“We’re not actually married, Gabriel.”
Gabriel got down on one knee and took Dani’s hand, “Please be my wife and promise to spend eternity with me,” Gabriel begged of her. “Danielle Renee Coulter, will you marry me?”
“Yes,” Dani said with tears rolling down her cheeks. “I’d be honored to be your wife.”
Epilogue
Six Months Later
1.
“I can’t believe you’re getting married,” Donna sniffled, picking at the lace on her lilac Maid of Honor dress. “And I can’t believe you waited six months to do it! What if he’d changed his mind in the interim?”
“Gabriel wasn’t going to change his mind and you know it,” Dani laughed. “And I waited six months because I had to lose my baby fat to fit into my grandmother’s wedding dress.”
Dani looked beautiful. Her hair was done in a French braid with a dark blue ribbon woven through it. She had her grandmother’s dress modified to show a touch of cleavage, but had otherwise left the white dress unchanged. It fit her perfectly.
It was snug around her ribcage, and the bustle flared slightly and trailed down into a twelve foot long train. Her only jewelry was a pair of diamond stud earrings that had belonged to her mother and a small gold crucifix that hung from a thin gold chain that had belonged to her grandmother.
Dani had decided to get married at the All Saints Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. It had been her mother’s church and she though her mom would have liked her to get married there. Gabriel hadn’t cared where they got married. His only request was that Valoel perform the ceremony and that Michael be his best man.
She and Donna were waiting in one of the antechambers of the church waiting for someone to come tell them that it was time to start the ceremony. Dani had planned to have Mikella in here with her and Donna, but Gabriel had wanted to keep her with him.
Dani jumped when there was a knock on the door.
Dani’s mom’s best friend, Mrs. Walters opened the door and came into the room. Mrs. Walters was a very short, pudgy woman with a puff of white hair on her head so thin that you could see her scalp through it. Dani couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t know her. Mrs. Walters used to babysit Dani when she was too young to go with her mom to clean hotel rooms.
Dani heard Mrs. Walters catch her breath, “You look lovely, dear. I wish your mother were here to see you. God rest her soul.”
Dani nodded her head, “So do I. I still miss her so much.”
“We all do, hon,” Mrs. Walters said. “But I’m sure she’s smiling down on you from Heaven today.”
“I’m sure she is,” Donna said. “I can almost feel her in the room with us.”
Mrs. Walters glanced around the room, “Where’s that beautiful baby of yours?”
“With Gabriel,” Dani said, putting the final touches on her make up in a small vanity mirror. “He wanted to keep her until the ceremony started.”
“Your Gabriel is a wonderful man,” Mrs. Walters said. “He doteson Mikella. If he turns out to be as good of a husband as he is a father, then you’ll have a wonderful life ahead of you.”
“I have no doubts that he’ll be a good husband,” Donna said. “He dotes on Dani every bit as much as he does the baby.”
The anteroom door opened again and Mrs. Thompson walked into the room. “I never knew you had so many friends, Dani. The pews are packed and more people are lining the walls at the back of the church. The church doesn’t even get this kind of turnout for Christmas Mass!”
“Most of the people here are friends of Gabriel’s,” Dani said.
And most of them were angels, but there were a few vampires and vampire hunters there as well. Dani kept that information to herself, though. Mrs. T. and Donna knew that Gabriel was an Archangel, but if they knew there were vampires here, they would most likely run, screaming, from the church.
The fact that Mrs. Thompson could flop down in the chair still amazed Dani. She’d seen Mrs. Thompson walking down the sidewalk and up the steps to the church earlier that day.
There was a spring in her step now that Dani had never seen before, not even when Dani and Buddy were kids. And there was a happiness about her that almost made her glow. Whatever Gabriel had done to cure Mrs. Thompson’s arthritis had turned her into a brand new woman.
There was a tap on the door and Jeremiel, an Angel of Mercy, stuck his head in the room, “They’re ready for you, Dani,” he said.
Dani nodded, “Thanks, Jeremiel. We’ll be right out.”
“Well come on, Eugenia,” Mrs. Walters said, and tugged Mrs. T. out of the chair. “Let’s give her a moment alone.”
Mrs. T. locked her arm through Mrs. Walters’s, and they walked out of the room together.
2.
Dani turned to Donna and smiled nervously, “I guess this is it.”
“Don’t get nervous,” Donna said. “You know you puke when you get nervous. The first time you did someone’s hair professionally, you threw up on their head.”
Dani laughed, “You not really helping.”
“Sorry,” Donna said. “I’m just saying, you don’t want to vomit on Gabriel. It may make him change his mind about marrying someone so squeamish.”
“I’m not worried about Gabriel running,” Dani said. “It’s not marrying him that has me nervous,” Dani said and told Donna what was really weighing heavy on her mind.
Donna was still staring at her in shock when the Wedding March music started.
Dani grabbed Donna by the arm and drug her from the room, “You’re up.”
Lofiel, a tall Cherub Angel with long brown hair and bright green eyes, was waiting outside the antechamber door to walk Dani down the isle.
Dani took Lofiel’s arm and he smiled down at her, “Are you ready for this?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”
Two angels opened the double doors that led into the Sanctuary of the church.
Donna flipped Dani’s veil down over her face, “See ya’ at the alter,” she said with a smile, and started her slow walk down the isle.
When Dani stepped up to the double doors and saw Gabriel standing at the end of the isle, her heart leapt into her throat.
He was wearing a perfectly fitted black tuxedo…and he was holding their daughter. They were beautiful. Mikella was adorable in her little ruffled purple dress. She was sitting in her daddy’s arms, smiling up at him. Mikella loved her daddy, almost as much as Gabriel loved her.
When Donna reached the end of the isle and turned to face Dani, Lofiel patted Dani’s hand. “Here we go,” he said and they started they’re own walk down the isle.
3.
“There’s your bride,” Michael said to Gabriel when Dani started walking down the isle towards them.
“She’s beautiful,” Gabriel said, shifting Mikella in his arms so she could see her mother.
Gabriel couldn’t believe that Dani was going to be his wife. It felt like a dream. He couldn’t believe that sixteen months ago all he’d wanted was to get back into Heaven.
Now not only could he come and go in Heaven as he pleased, but God had also gifted him with this beautiful, incredible woman…and a perfect baby girl. There was nothing more that Gabriel could ever want.
When Dani reached him, Gabriel turned and handed Mikella to Michael. She giggled and grabbed his nose. Mikella absolutely adored her Uncle Michael. Michael visited every day just to play with the baby.
Dani smiled at him from beneath the sheer veil and whispered, “Hi.”
Gabriel couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He hadn’t seen her since the night before. Dani wanted to go by the tradition of not seeing the bride before the wedding. It seemed foolish to Gabriel to spend the night apart; they already had a child together, but it had seemed important to Dani so he had acquiesced.
Dani had spent the night with Donna and Gabriel had stayed at home with the baby.
Gabriel smiled back at her, “Hello, love.”
Valoel started the ceremony, but Gabriel couldn’t concentrate on his words. All he could do was stand there like a fool and stare at his soon to be wife.
“Gabriel?” Valoel whispered, snapping Gabriel back to the present. “Do you Gabriel take Danielle Renee Coulter to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?"
“I do,” Gabriel said without hesitation.
Valoel smiled and turned to Dani, “Do you Danielle Renee Coulter take Gabriel…Angel to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?"
Dani smiled up at Gabriel, “I do.”
“Then with the power vested in me, and with the full Blessing of God, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife,” Valoel said. “Gabriel, you may now kiss your bride.”
Gabriel lifted Dani’s veil and kissed her softly on her lips.
Valoel put his hands on Gabriel and Dani’s shoulders and turned them to face their wedding guests, “Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel Angel.”
The crowd rose to their feet and applauded. Gabriel picked Dani up and carried her down the isle.
He set her on her feet when he stepped outside of the church, “We’re officially a family.”
“We’re about to be a bigger family,” Dani said, looking up into his eyes. “Gabriel, I’m pregnant.”
The clouds split apart at her words and a beam of sunlight surrounded them, and their wedding guest rained birdseed down on their heads.
“Be happy, my children,” the voice of God rang out through the air.
Gabriel laughed and kissed his wife, knowing he was truly blessed.
The End
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Epilogue
When Angels Fall Page 25