And here we have it. The last chapter. And now I have Rich and Jensen in my singing "It's the last chapter!". Lol. Enjoy! ~SG

Chapter 3

"How about that weather?" Gabriel said as he stepped out onto the porch, and found Wren sitting in one of the rocking chairs, rocking gently with her eyes closed. The hurricane was hitting New Orleans hard, and it was causing thunder storms all the way up in Nashville. She and Alexa had been here for a few days now, and she was sitting there enjoying the storm with her eyes closed, seemingly at home.

She still hadn't warmed up to him very much, but the dog on the other hand, who easily launched himself into her lap and curled up as if he belonged there, was her new best friend.

"Traitor." he muttered to the dog as he sat down in the other chair.

"I used to be afraid of thunder storms." she said, keeping her eyes closed and remaining relaxed as she absently petted the dog. "When I was little. I used to hide in my closet. Now they're kind of soothing."

"Probably not so soothing in New Orleans right now." he guessed. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

He knew she'd stayed up late last night, and had risen early this morning. He also knew that she didn't need as much sleep as the average human since she wasn't an average human. But as far as he could tell she had no idea what she was, and that meant he had to act like he didn't know either.

"Some." she said. The rain pounded on the roof, and the wind whipped underneath to throw her hair in her face. She pushed it back, thinking maybe she should have put it in a bun instead of a ponytail. "I've never needed a ton of sleep for some reason."

"I'm the same way." he said. Actually he didn't need any sleep at all, but he couldn't tell her that just yet.

They sat in silence for a moment listening to the storm, and then she finally spoke up, initiating conversation with him for the first time other than when she had said hi when she first arrived. "Can I ask you something?"

"Ask away." he said, spreading his hands. "I'm an open book."

She wasn't sure if she should, but she'd found some things that just weren't adding up and she wanted answers. So, even though she knew it sounded crazy, she looked him directly in the eye and asked him point blank, "Are you my father?"

He gave her a look that said that was ridiculous. "Do I look old enough to be your father?"

"No." she said, ignoring the look on his face. "But we are related somehow."

"What makes you think that?"

"There's a tiny bit of a resemblance between us." she replied. "Not much, but just enough. And your last name is my first name. When I asked about it the other day Mama told me that it wasn't a coincidence, that you two were good friends in school and she liked your last name, but you're what? Thirty-five?"

Gabriel nodded. "There abouts." If thirty-five was anywhere near relative to billions of years.

"Mama's forty-three." she said. "That's an eight-year difference. There's no way you went to school with her. I'd buy that you both grew up in Slidell, but I did a little research last night. There was never a Hensley family in Slidell as far as I can tell. But there was a Richard Hensley that worked as a high school English teacher about the same time my mother was in high school. Her English teacher and my father are the same person, and he was about thirty-five when she got pregnant with me. He'd be about sixty-one now.

"So I thought maybe we're cousins or something, but I found a picture of Richard Hensley, the English teacher that knocked my mom up and left, and he looks exactly like you. Not in the way a father and son might. More like identical twins.

"And the look on your face jut then when I said he knocked my mom up and left? That defensive look? You wanted to correct me, explain that that's not what happened."

"How do you know I'm not wanting to defend my father? Or an uncle or older brother?" he asked. It was more curiosity than challenge. Clearly Alexa hadn't been over-exaggerating when she'd said the kid was smart.

"Because I'm pretty good at reading people." she said. "It comes in handy as a social worker, and that? That was self-defense. You wanted to defend your own actions."

Gabriel simply nodded. She'd figured it all out on her own. Or at least she'd figured out a big chunk of it. He was impressed. Most people would keep digging, thinking there was no way he could be her father, or give up when they couldn't find any other explanation. But not Wren. She knew there was something going on here.

They sat in silence again, him looking out at the storm, her looking at him, his dog perfectly at home in her lap.

"You were testing me." he said, remembering what Alexa had told him about what Wren knew about her father. She knew the truth. Part of it anyway. She knew he hadn't just knocked her mother up and left. She was trying to see if it was him or not, and he'd just let the cat out of the bag.

"Clearly I don't know everything." she said. "But yeah. I know you loved her, and that you had to leave because of my grandparents. But I'm obviously missing one very big piece of the puzzle. Is this some kind of Benjamin Button thing? Because you don't look any older now than in that picture I found."

He huffed in amusement at that, and sobered quickly. "You really wanna know the truth?"

"Wouldn't you?"

"You should probably ask your mother." he said, stalling.

"Whatever piece of the puzzle I'm missing has to do with you, not her." she countered. "So I'm asking you."

"Fair enough." he conceded, and sighed. "First of all, in case you still have any doubts, yes. I am your father."

"How?"

"You're twenty-six, right." he said. "You should know about the birds and the bees by now."

Her expression told him this was not the time for jokes. Of course she knew how he was her father. What she didn't know was how he hadn't aged any since fathering her.

"I'm an angel."

"I have a feeling that's not a figurative statement." she said, feeling a little uneasy. She knew most people would think he was crazy. They wouldn't believe for a minute that he was an angel, but how else would that picture make sense? And it's not like he was trying to convince her that he was a clone or something. She knew a lot of people wouldn't believe angel's even existed, but for her it was perfectly believable. She wasn't a very religious person, but that didn't mean she didn't have faith. She had no problem believing angels were real. The weird part was that she was apparently talking to one. One who happened to be her father.

"Very literal." he confirmed. "My real name is Gabriel."

"Gabriel." she repeated. "As in the archangel?"

He tilted his head in assent. "The one and only."

"So that means I'm...half angel?"

"You're a nephilim." he supplied. "Half angel, half human, technically an abomination. The whole human/angel thing's a big no-no upstairs. Not really sure why, but Dad said so, and most of my brothers and sisters aren't capable of doing anything but follow orders."

"Is that why you had to leave?" she asked. "Other than my grandparents threatening to call the police. Because you broke the rules?"

"Actually, your grandfather threatened to shoot me, but basically." he confirmed. "They were looking for me because I ditched Heaven. Couldn't stand the family drama anymore. Ran into one of my brothers in New Orleans one night, and he recognized me. I could've handled being dragged back to Heaven against my will, and I could've handled being thrown in prison or whatever they would've done to me if they'd found out about you, but I had to leave because I couldn't stand the thought of what they might do to you and your mom if they found out. This sort of thing happens a lot more than we know, and everyone overlooks it as long as they don't have any proof. But as soon as they're aware of the existence of a nephilim everyone's in a frenzy. Nephilim have been killed before for simply existing. They're obviously not the ones to blame, but angels and their rules. It's ridiculous. I couldn't let anything happen to you."

"So you left to protect me."

"Broke my heart to have to leave your mom. And you." he said. "Especially with that family of hers. I don't know if you've ever met them or not, but your grandparents are sticklers for rules and appearances. They'd fit right in with my family in that sense. But your mom and I, we like to think for ourselves. And I gotta say I'm not surprised you did, but I'm glad you both turned out okay."

"We turned out just fine." she assured him.

"I'm sorry I wasn't around while you were growing up." he apologized as the storm began to wind down.

Wren smiled softly. "It's not your fault. You're not gonna disappear again when we go back to New Orleans, are you?"

"Not if you don't want me too." he promised. "We'll have to be careful about it, but I do want to be a part of your life if you want me to be. I won't skip out on you like my dad did unless I have no choice."

She smiled. "Good to know."

"You're handling all this pretty well." he said. "Better than your mom did, and she handled it a lot better than I thought she would."

"Well, the circumstances are a little different." she said. "In a way she was afraid for her life from what I understand. I just want to know the truth."

"And you believe all this?" he asked. "No questions, no doubts?"

"I know when someone's lying to me." she reminded him. "I can read people, remember?"

"And you don't think I'm lying?"

"Nope." she said. "I don't even think you're crazy. And my nickname makes a hell of a lot more sense now."

"Wren?" he asked. "I thought that was because you couldn't say your name right."

She nodded. "It is, but that's not the nickname I was talking about. Mama calls me Angel Baby. I used to think it was because we watched a lot of Touched By An Angel. Tess was her favorite, and you know, the whole me and Monica both have red hair thing. But she always called me Angel before we started watching the show. She just added the Baby part because of it. But now I guess it's because I am an angel baby."

Gabriel smiled. "And you're really not freaked out by any of this?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's gonna take a little time to really understand it and let it all sink in, but at least my dad's an angel and not like a drug dealer or a murderer or something." she said. "And it's kind of cool, you know? Most people are like half German or something. Half angel is much cooler. Besides, I always knew I was different. I just didn't know why. Now I do. I can't really tell anyone, but at least I know there's not like something wrong with me."

"Being an angel's not all it's cracked up to be, kid." Gabriel said. "Touched By An Angel might be a good show, but Tess and Monica aren't real."

"You don't seem so bad."

"I'm not like most angels." he said. "And really the rest of 'em aren't so bad. They just don't know any better. They don't know how to think for themselves. I guess Dad didn't think us angels needed quite as much free will as humans. Or maybe he just didn't think about it when he made us. I don't know."

"You can't ask Him?"

Gabriel laughed at that. "Up until now were you able to ask me anything?"

"No."

"And why not?"

"Because I didn't know who you were."

"And why was that?"

"Because you weren't there."

"Exactly." he said. "Hate to break it to you, kid, but God skipped out on Heaven just like I did. Probably for the same reason too. So, no, I can't ask Him why He made angels the way He did."

"Well, that sucks."

"Well, hey. At least one of us can resolve our daddy issues." he said cheerfully. "So. What do you wanna know?"

Wren thought for a moment. "Everything."

Awww! Isn't that sweet? I really do think Gabriel would make a great dad, and I'm hoping I have an opportunity to write more of their relationship. I'm not sure if it'll happen, but maybe I can come up with something. But now we move on to the next story, a trip down Memory Lane. Unfortunately you still have to wait a little while before you can read it. I have to go back and make a few adjustments, and finish the last couple of chapters, but hopefully that won't take too much longer. And it will be a longer story than this one. I think I've got five or six chapters already, and there's still one or two I need to write. So, I'll let y'all get back to whatever I interrupted, and I'll get back to work! See ya around the playground! ~SG