"Yes, Father," they replied together.
"Very good," gracing them all with an indulgent smile. "Come then - it is time for you to feast. Then I will tell you all a little story."
************
The Father had risen from His throne, but remained on the dais looking out at the vast company of Angels seated around as far as the eye could see. Saphira and Esmeralda had taken seats on the top step, but the rest had spread out on the golden floor, not wanting to impinge on whatever it was that the Father had in mind for Esmeralda and Saphira. The Father maintained His vigil for long moments, meeting the eyes of each and every individual in the room, grateful beyond measure for their unfailing loyalty in spite of everything. They watched the proceedings with interest, and as His eyes moved on to the next, the silence in the room grew to absolute stillness. Nevertheless, they were all thankful for the outstanding acoustics in the room when the Father began to speak in His normal, soft tone.
"My children," He began. "I know there has been a lot of confusion and hurt and even anger in your midst in recent days. And though none of you spoke out to Me about it, I am aware of the resentment and frustration many of you have felt. I assure you it was necessary.
When you have been a society for as long as we have, you reach a place where stagnancy and complacency become the way of life, and that will destroy you. For us, it has the tendency to destroy those that we are supposed to care for - not just each other... but our mortal charges as well.
"What happened between Brianna and Charisma should never have occurred. Their watcher grew lazy, and by the time he saw fit to notify us, it was too late." The Father took a deep breath. "I knew what was happening of course - that omniscient thing again - but given the rules we operate under, there was little I could do to change it... at least immediately.
When Saphira took matters into her own hands - when she broke the rules because she felt it was the right thing to do - she provided the opportunity that allowed us to send a team in to help Brianna and Charisma. However, since she was being punished for her rash actions, there had to be some consequence - she and Esmeralda were cut off from us and made human. I didn't do it to be cruel - I wanted to know how they would cope, living as humanity does."
He strode back and forth on the platform, aware that every eye in the room was following his movement. "I had a reason - actually, I had several reasons. Esmeralda believes it was a test of faith." He nodded. "I suppose you could look at it like that. A few of the Angels that served on this mission think it was some sort of experiment." He shrugged. "Perhaps, but not in the way any of you envisioned. I wanted to know how they would function with the unexpected - no real resources... able to count only on one another." He looked down at Esmeralda and Saphira and smiled.
"You two passed my wildest expectations, because it wasn't just the two of you for very long. You went out and made friends and found people who cared because you cared first. It was quite amazing to watch you create another family - one you hadn't been born to but that loved you just the same. And when you helped Brianna Walker that first time, with no thought of yourselves... providing for a stranger from what little you had because it was the right thing to do - that's when I sent the rest of the team in. I was confident you could pull off a victory with those two."
"But why didn't you give us the support we needed, Father? This all could have ended so much quicker with the same results if we'd just had...."
"Would it, Es?" the Father queried kindly. "Charisma Tagherty possesses a stubbornness to rival your mate's. And Brianna Walker was tired in her very soul. Do you think you would have achieved the same success any faster with more support... knowing what you do about them?" He waited patiently for her answer as did the rest of heaven.
"Perhaps... not," she conceded.
"Besides," the Father reminded her gently, "there was still Saphira's punishment to be gotten through. And you chose to share that with her. As much as I love you, I wasn't going to negate your choice by forcing anything. Had you elected to leave her to return home, you would have had access to every resource available. But we both know that would have been an epic fail for everyone involved," looking around when snickering broke out across the room. "What??" He asked plaintively. "It's not like I'm not aware of this stuff, and I get tired of everything being a disaster." He turned back to Esmeralda.
"No - despite all the grumbling and frustration, things played out the way they should."
"So we were supposed to die? You couldn't have just brought us home?"
"Your deaths were to give closure to those left on the human plane. You had become so integral in the lives of those you were mentoring that simply disappearing would have been intolerable; it would have undone all your hard work to get them together because they would have been focused on finding you instead of working on becoming a couple. Unacceptable. Keeping you alive and moving you would have caused... complications." He turned His attention to Amber. "And before you ask, it needed to be real - they needed to be convinced that it was real to be able to say goodbye. So I kept it as real as I could."
"Can I ask why?" Amber replied. "What was so important that You needed to cause so much chaos for so many of us here? I understand the human element - I do work with them on a regular basis. But why the elaborate scheming? Why couldn't we know the truth? What could possibly be worth...?"
The Father held up His hands and Amber trailed off. "When Esmeralda and Saphira were first mated to one another, it wasn't a surprise for anyone here was it?" listening to the negative murmurings all over the room. "Of course not - even though it happened much sooner for them than it has for most of you, it was unmistakable. There's an aura around them that everyone can feel even if they can't see it - humanity is sensitive to it as well. All of you have one to some extent and when you meet your mate, it blends and becomes stronger.
When Saphira and Esmeralda merged, they became more than mates - they became a family. And over time, they wanted more. Each of them - separately and unknown to the other - came to me and made a request. They wanted a child... their child." Excited rumblings ran around the room and the Father stood perfectly still waiting for it to die down. Saphira and Esmeralda gripped one another's hands, stunned to realize what their shared appeal to the Father had been.
When it was quiet again, the Father looked out at the multitude, smiling benignly at the excitement he could feel throughout the room. "Saphira once commented about my regretting giving humanity free will." He smirked at the blush that traveled up her face. "I don't regret it as much as I wish I had been a little more selective about some things. And this assignment gave Me a second chance to do that - it gave Me the opportunity to see how Saphira and Esmeralda responded to the unfair and the unexpected and the unknown. It was very enlightening and you far exceeded any expectations I had for you. And it made Me realize that it was time to reward the depth of your love for one another."
The Father looked between the two of them and smiled, then offered them His hands to pull them up on the dais beside Him. "If you both still desire to add to your family by having a child together, you have my blessing."
Saphira and Esmeralda didn't hear the cheers and applause that rang out around them. They only had eyes for each other. The Father stepped just out of their view and they met in a long embrace - Saphira had set herself immediately, knowing Esmeralda was going to jump into her arms and Esmeralda didn't disappoint. For long moments they remained wrapped up in one another, heads buried in each other's necks as they trembled with excitement and joy.
Finally, Saphira felt Esmeralda mumbling against her skin and pulled back just enough to look into sparkling green eyes. "Es?"