All According to the Divine Plan: Chapter 4 –Seeing with the Soul

Chapter 4 –Seeing with the Soul

Huh? Where’s Connor at? Wasn’t he here sleeping with me last night?

“He had to get up to get ready for church so I made sure you stayed asleep while he got up.”

Aww. I wanted to cuddle more.

“Of course you would. You would’ve also made each other late for church. Speaking of which.”

“Good to see you’re awake, Gabriella. Get in your new clothes so we can head to church.”

 “Alright, alright.” After getting changed, we go to church. It’s a beautiful place with many pictures and statues. Everyone in it is dressed up in suits, dresses, and outfits that one would wear at an important event like a wedding. They seem to be quite at peace here.

Connor puts down the kneeler and prays silently like some of the people in here.

Not wanting to stick out, I do the same. Um. How do I do this? Hey!

“Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus! Dominus deus sabaoth. Pleni sunt cæli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis.”

He looks the happiest I’ve ever seen him. What is he even saying? Everyone in the church says the same thing during the mass. I’ve tried to follow Connor’s every move except for the part where they go up to the altar for what they call communion. He doesn’t want me to go up for it and just stay kneeling for some reason. I don’t mind it, but I feel like I’m missing something important. It’s as if what they are receiving is calling to me in some mysterious and silent way that only my soul can hear.

Even though I didn’t receive what they did, I feel a sense of peace by the end of it. At the entrance of the church, Connor introduces me to the parish priest who he’s friends with, and tells him that we’re going to get married and that I haven’t been baptized yet. The priest is okay with this. In fact, he’s glad that I’m getting in touch with God. He then says he’ll talk more with us about arranging my baptism and our marriage later before saying goodbye to the other leaving churchgoers. To be honest, I thought being here would be a bit more awkward and boring, but I’m glad it wasn’t.

While in the car with Connor, I start to feel nervous again. “I guess it’s time to see your parents.”

“It’s going to be okay. They get along with everyone! I wonder if my brothers and sisters are going to be there. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I had them. Do you have any siblings?”

“No, I don’t.” I have to be introduced to Connor’s siblings too now? Oh, man. He tells me all about them and his parents on the way to his parent’s house.

I try to be as calm as possible as we approach the door and ring the doorbell.

“Hello!” the man says before hugging Connor and me.

“Hey, dad. This is Gabriella.”

“Hello, sir. It’s an honor to meet you.” I didn’t even think about what I would say to his parents. How do you introduce yourself as the woman your son is going to marry?

“The honor is mine. My name is William. Come in. My wife, Valentina, is almost finished making breakfast for us.”

As we go in, I notice that Connor’s parent’s house is decorated like his with many religious statues and pictures along with pictures of his family. The woman in the kitchen must be his mother, Valentina. Honestly, when looking at both of them, I’m not sure who Connor takes his looks after the most. “Hello, Gabriella. My name is Valentina. It’s good to finally meet the woman that my son has been talking about a lot.”

“It’s good to meet you too.”

“Take a seat and relax. Brunch is ready. Tell me all about yourself and how you met Connor. I want to know how you stole his heart so quickly.”

“Explain how I…ummm…heh.”

“Mom, you don’t need to cut to the chase so quickly.”

“Oh, but I do. Her suddenly appearing in your life and you falling in love with her makes a mom like me overly curious as to how it all happened.”

“I’ll explain it then while we eat.” After I say grace along with the family and we begin to eat, Connor explains how he met me, my circumstances, and what we’ve done since. Thankfully, he leaves out the time I tried to kill him and the two times I’ve tried cuddling with him.

“Wow, you’ve really been through a lot and changed a lot over the past few days, Gabriella. It really is an act of God.”

“Yeah. I’m surprised you’re not telling me to prove that I can see and have conversations with my guardian angel.”

“It’s fine. We believe you. Now, for the big question. When are you two getting married?”

“I still have to get the ring.”

“Oh. Well, we have plenty of family rings you could use. Why don’t you take one of those and propose to her right now? I want to record it and also have a framed picture of it.”

“Um. I don’t know. Hey, any of my brothers or sisters stopping by today?”

“No, but we should be seeing them soon for our monthly family dinner. We’ve made some changes to the house since you left. Want to see them while the girls continue their chatting?”

“Sure thing.”

Oh no. Valentina is really forward with what she’s thinking about. I’m not sure if I can sit here with her by myself. Where are they going anyway? They’re not getting one of the rings, are they?

“Want to see Connor’s baby photos? They’re really cute.”

“Okay.” The photos that Valentina shows me are really cute. She describes each one as if they happened yesterday and says that seeing them makes her feel that way.

“How old are you?”

“Thirty-five.” I stop myself before I ask her how old she is. She’s probably older than me, but she looks younger.

“Connor is twenty-eight. Did you know that?”

“No, I didn’t. My guardian angel did say he was young, but I didn’t really think about how much younger or think to ask him his age.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t have a problem with it. The age gap isn’t too big and God did bring you two together.”

“Right.”

“How many kids are you planning on having?”

“Ummm. Uhhh.” The thought of having children was in the back of my mind. Still, I never thought I’d have to answer how many I guess I should’ve because of Valentina’s traditional mindset.

“You should aim for three or four. That’s how many children I’ve had. Maybe I’ll consider having a couple more in the future. I’m also fine with just one if that’s all God chooses to give you.”

“I ummm. Okay…” She really is too much. I appreciate her bluntness, but still. Connor, where are you?

“Since you’ve been living together, have you also been sleeping with-”

“Hello, we’re back! You weren’t asking Gabriella any weird questions, were you, honey?” Thank God both of them are back!

“I was actually. I want to know if they slept togeth-”

“Come on, stop embarrassing them.”

“Okay, fine. I still have more I want to talk about anyway.”

“Actually, mom, we should go. We have a lot more things we wanted to do today, didn’t we, Gabriella?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

“You see? You’ve scared them off.”

“Oops. I’m sorry. Come back soon!”

“Okay! Thanks for everything, mom and dad!” Connor says while taking my hand and quickly leaving the house. We get into the car, wave as we drive away, drive around the corner, and stop in a place where Connor’s parents don’t see us. “Whew! I hope mom didn’t ask you anything too embarrassing.”

“You heard what she was about to ask. Anyways, do we actually have any plans for the rest of the day?”

“I was thinking about going to the garden park by the lake for a bit and then I’ll make dinner back home. It’s Sunday so I thought we’d take it easy.”

“I’d like that. Let’s do it.” Going to the garden park where many flowers and plants of the state are shown off in areas around the lake is a relaxing experience. Besides the gardens, there are small cafes, restaurants, and ice cream parlors here. There's also a playground, a small library, and a little carnival area with games for kids. It’s great to see so many people happy in one area. What’s also amazing and strange to me at the same time is that I see myself in the place of the mothers with their happy families as if I’m seeing a glimpse of my future self.

Connor and I don’t talk much during our time here, but we don’t need to since being with each other here is more than enough to keep me happy and worth it. We hang around until the fireworks show happens at sunset, kiss in front of it, and then go back home for dinner. Like the rest of the nights, we sit on the couch. This time we’re watching some nostalgic movies.

Around ten o’clock, Connor says to me, “You know. I think I’ll sleep with you on the couch tonight.”

“A-are you sure?”

“Yeah. I don’t really have work on Mondays. Sometimes I do and sometimes I have work on Saturdays depending on what parts of the diocese I have to help, but never mind it. Let’s just rest together. We’ve had a long day.”

“Yeah…”

This is the perfect way to end the day and I’ll have Connor all to myself again for one more day. We cuddle up to one another and I fall asleep in Connor’s arms. I get one more day with him. One more day…all to myself…

But his heart won’t completely be mine. He’s completely devoted to God, so he won’t have me as the center of his world.

That’s fine. God is why Connor is such a good person and it’s better that he’s this way so that he can teach me to become better than I once was and happier in life than my parents.

But still, what happens if Connor gets sick or is unable to work? I may not be able to get a good job for a while because of my ruined reputation and the remaining money in my bank account can only sustain us for so long. My life is completely dependent on him.

I’m being paranoid if I think like that. Honestly, my life is better now than it was before. It’s strange to admit that I’m glad I lost everything I had and got Connor in return. I’m sure he won’t let me down and we’ll find a way to get through life’s hardships together.

But what if God takes everything away from me again? Who knows what he wants at any given time? If I do what he wants, he’ll chain me to his truth. He’ll chain my freedoms just like how my guardian angel has chains.

I’ll just have to trust Him then. He does seem to have my best interests in mind and has proved that I was on my way to ruin my life just like my parents ruined theirs.

I see that there’s no changing your mind right now. I hope you enjoy giving your life to someone who took away everything you had.

Huh? I wasn’t thinking to myself while asleep. Who was that?

“More demons trying to tempt you. I’m glad that you were able to prevent them from influencing you.”

Why were they bothering me? I’ve gone to church and prayed.

“That’s exactly why they were after you. They leave those who are already chained to their sins alone.”

I’ll also be chaining myself just like that demon said if I pick God’s side.

“Such is life. You either chain yourself to a loving or a hateful master. Who you chose dictates how you live your life, values, goals, and everything in between. There are no options besides these two. I have chosen a loving master. What choice have you made?”

I guess I’ve made the same choice you have seeing awful my life was with the other one.

“That makes me happier than you can possibly imagine. If the demons ever bother you again, I’ll be here fighting for you. Do not be afraid to call on me whenever you need help.”

I won’t forget you, my guardian angel.