God, it’s me Priscilla. Ha! Ain’t no Margaret here. Sorry, that was inappropriate, I probably shouldn’t joke when I’m asking for a favor. Remember when I was younger and I asked you and Uncle Silas to find someone for my mom, so she wouldn’t be alone and so she would smile more? Well, you delivered. Daddio is the best man I know, besides my dad, and I can’t thank you enough for giving him to us. I was wondering though if you would let me keep Garrett and Elead. There is something about them, a connection I can’t seem to explain, a yearning to be a part of their world. Plus, you gave Garrett that body and it seems like it should be appreciated, I mean, I suppose I can make the sacrifice to stare at it and touch it many times each day—right sorry, got off track. Just think about it and let me know.
I push off from the wall after my ridiculous prayer. I must make a sound of some kind, because Garrett opens his eyes at my approach, a soft smile gracing his face. My steps falter for a moment as his eyes capture mine in a fiery gaze.
Maybe, I don’t need to ask God if I can keep them, maybe I should be thanking him for deeming me worthy and delivering them into my care.
Ephraim 6.
I open my eyes to see an angel bathed in soft light. I tighten my grip on my nephew, now my son, feeling his tiny back move up and down with his breathing. She smiles at me and I feel it like a touch to my body, a balm to my soul. Is it wrong to want to keep such an angel for myself? Would God punish me taking one of His into my keeping? What if I promise to protect her and the witness to His glory, laying on my chest, with my last breath and beyond? What if I pledge my hands to the finding of their sustenance, my body to shelter them in all manner of storms, my heart to ensure the beating of their own?
I shake my head of these maudlin thoughts and refocus on the angel now resting her hand upon my shoulder and caressing the exposed back of my son. The feel of her on my skin shoots electricity through my body, though I never imagined being electrocuted would be such a turn on.
She moves her hand up my neck, running her fingers through my dark red hair. Such an innocent touch to ignite an inferno. “How…” she hesitates, so I meet her eyes, giving her an encouraging smile. “How are my boys?” She whispers out and my smile grows.
“We are better now. He and I have been just been dozing on and off, ruminating on the state of the world, our plans for the future, our mutual fascination with a certain nurse.” My grin turns cheeky and she laughs.
“I looked at his chart, since you have been here, his breathing and heart rate have improved. His color is better, organs are responding to treatment. I think you may have saved him.” Priss pats my head, like congratulating a dog for returning the ball.
Reaching up, I snare her hand and bring it to my lips for a gentle kiss on her knuckles. Her breath hitches at my gesture and the inferno spreads. “Never doubt that he has saved me, b’shert, and never doubt your own role in my salvation.”
“We barely know each other.” Her voice goes low and tight, forcing the words out.
“When I set my eyes upon him for the first time, it took no longer than a second to know he was mine to care for, mine to love…why should it take longer to recognize the same truth about you?”
I watch helpless as tears fall from her eyes. “My mom said it was the same when she met my dad the first time. And again, when she met my daddio.” At my confused look, she chuckles. “My dad died when I was 4. She met my daddio when I was almost 9. Both times she describes it as an instant knowing, like a certainty that they would be everything to her for as long as she could hold on to them.”
“Sounds like a smart woman.”
“She is. And my aunts and uncles, though well known to be crazy, they all have similar stories to meeting the other and just knowing. I never…I don’t know why it never occurred to me that I might experience the same.”
I shift Elead from my chest to the crook of my arm. He barely stirs, just sighing in content. I pull Priss around to sit on my lap. She balks at my gesture, but finally acquiesces when I give her a stern look. Wrapping my arm around her, I feel complete in a way I didn’t know I wasn’t until this moment. Holding Elead, the last piece of my brother here on Earth, and Priscilla, the other half of myself. She snuggles into me, resting her head on my shoulder, resting her hand over mine so we hold Elead together.
“We will take our time, there is no rush to our story. We will learn about one another as we learn to navigate our new reality.” I kiss the top of her head, breathing in her coconut and honey shampoo. “And my first lesson is to keep a pad and tampon on my person at all times. Just in case.” I chuckle as she groans, tickling her side to stop her from pinching me.
We both still as Elead squirms in my arm, scrunching his
