Mrs. Miracle Page 0,49

with a bent hanger. Seth had to give Sharon credit, she'd done a good job.

"Dad." Jason looked to his father for support, his eyes large and imploring. "You aren't going to make me wear wings and a halo, are you?"

"Son, the show couldn't go on without you. Being an angel is an important role."

"The guys are going to make stupid jokes." Judd tucked his chin against his chest and pouted. "It's bad enough that I've got to wear a dress." He spread out the material at the hips, making sure Seth recognized the sacrifice he was already making. "But wings and a halo?"

Seth had to admit that the twins weren't the ones he would have chosen for the parts, given their bent toward the mischievous, but it was too late to quibble now. The pageant was only a little more than a week away.

"Mrs. Miracle said that not all angels have wings," Judd added on a near frantic note.

"Really?" Seth didn't appreciate the housekeeper taking his son's side in this issue.

"It's true," Jason added. "Mrs. Miracle said that some angels look like ordinary people, with regular jobs and everything. Some even come disguised as regular people. God sends them down to earth when He has a special task that needs careful handling."

"Complicated circum...circumstances and such," Judd said, sounding very adult for his tender years.

"It seems to me that Mrs. Miracle is a wise woman," Sharon murmured.

"She cooks real good, too," Jason said, and then whispered just loudly enough for Seth to hear, "Lots better than Dad. I was worried about what was going to happen to us before Mrs. Miracle arrived. We might have starved."

As if hearing her name, the housekeeper strolled into the kitchen with a fresh batch of folded towels.

"Isn't that right, Mrs. Miracle?" Judd asked, all but leaping down from the chair and grabbing hold of the portly woman.

"What?" the housekeeper asked, taken aback by the frontal attack.

"What you said about some angels not wearing wings. My dad says I have to put them on for the Christmas pageant."

"Well," she murmured thoughtfully, "while it's true enough some angels don't need wings, I wonder how the church audience would know exactly what you were without them. It's an unfortunate truth that some narrow-minded people wouldn't recognize an angel without something to flap behind them."

"They make me look like a girl," Judd insisted.

"Don't let the Archangel Michael hear you talk like that," Mrs. Merkle said with great dignity. "Why, he's one of the mightiest warriors of heaven."

"You mean angels can be soldiers, too?"

"The fiercest kind of all."

"It's true," Seth added, wishing he'd thought of that himself.

"Michael carries a sword of truth with him at all times. And from what I understand, he isn't afraid of using it, either."

"Then so will I," Judd said, satisfied. "I'll be a warrior angel. And if anyone calls me a sissy, they better watch out, 'cause I'll knock them down with the sword of truth." He thrust his imaginary weapon forward, leaping down from the chair, prepared to wage battle. Jason's actions pantomimed his brother's.

"As I recall the Christmas story, the shepherds guarding their sheep were afraid of the angels," Sharon reminded him.

"'Fear not,'" Jason shouted his memorized line, "'for we come with news of great joy.'"

"'For unto you this night is born a Savior,'" Judd added, and for good measure growled.

"This is what I love about Christmas," Sharon said, laughing for the first time since her arrival. "The season of love and goodwill toward all mankind."

"I'm not going to hurt anyone," Judd promised, "I just want to scare people. No one told us angels could be soldiers." He straightened and stood a little taller. "How come I didn't know about this Michael dude before now?"

"We just weren't thinking, son."

Judd yanked the costume over his head and handed it to his grandmother. "I'll wear the wings and the halo, as long as I can carry a sword, too."

Seth grinned. "I'm sure that can be arranged." He shared a smile with his mother-in-law.

"It seems to me it's time for you two to head toward bed," Mrs. Merkle said, tapping the face of her watch.

"Already?"

"Already." She had a no-nonsense manner about her that his children rarely questioned.

It seemed to take forever to get the kids down, although the mission was accomplished in less than a half hour. Judd talked nonstop about being a warrior angel, and Jason kept repeating his lines for the program, saying them with greater and greater conviction.

Once the two were asleep, Seth