𝟏𝟔𝟖 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 ★ 𝐇𝐚𝐳 𝐎𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝

☆ 𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 ☆

It's now the Season of Lent which means all of the religious people are on their best behavior for that time of the year when Christ died for everyone's sins. On Earth, everyone has a different way of remembering Christ. Up in Heaven? They throw a party.

"Can anyone please remind me why Saint Augustine of Hippo is in charge of the party planning?" Gabriel asks Amadis as they wander around Heaven to see how they're preparing for the occasion.

"Because of his former life of loose living, Gabriel." Amadis laughs, shaking his head. "Are you annoyed or something? There's no reason for you to be annoyed because Saint Augustine has been planning this every year. This year is not different."

"I'm not annoyed at him. He's doing a great job at it, actually. I'm just annoyed that Jesus died." Gabriel huffs causing Amadis to cackle. "Why?" Amadis asks, with an amused smile on his face.

"Imagine coming down from Heaven to tell THE Virgin Mary that she has been chosen by God Himself to carry His son only for him to die years later. Like, I'm so mad that it had to happen even though it was bound to." Gabriel shakes his head as Amadis just nods along.

"How do you think that happened?" Amadis asks.

Gabriel says, "It was a whole fiasco down there, actually. There's this king called Herod to kill all male babies because one of them might be Jesus. Then at some point Jesus got lost and he was actually at the temple teaching even though he was only, like, twelve. Then for some reason we don't hear from him until he's thirty and baptized by John. It's all really long. Like, honestly, just read the Bible. Everything's there anyway."

"Fair enough." Amadis shrugs.

"Have you heard from the kid? What's his name again? Harry?"

"Harley." Amadis corrects. "I've heard him praying a few times and he waves at me when he sees the clouds I make for him. If I recall correctly, he's turning eleven years old in a few days."

"How adorable! Did his relationship with his parents improve?" Gabriel asks as the two of them reach the edge of Heaven. They both look down on Earth and see everyone going on with the life God gave them.

"Yes, it greatly improved. I'm really happy!" Amadis turns to his friend and smiles. They walk back to the direction they came from as they talk about other things. When they arrived in the main hall, everything was set up and the party had begun moments ago.

"Why are we celebrating my death? And why are people in the Philippines reenacting what I did?! That's absurd." Jesus rambles next to his Father.

"We're celebrating because you're back here with me!" God smiles.

"If you wanted me to stay, why did you let me rise again after three days?" Jesus questions.

"No comment." God says. "Anyway- AH! Amadis! Come here, boy." He sees the angel and motions for him to walk over.

Amadis glances at Gabriel before walking to the highest being. "Yes?" Amadis asks.

"I'm changing your protocol. Instead of coming down to Earth whenever someone wishes something bad, you can now go down on Earth whenever you like! Isn't that cool?" God chuckles.

"Wow! I, uh, thank you! May I ask why you changed it?" Amadis asks.

"Harley prayed to me last night and you're lucky I was able to listen to it on time. Anyway, he said he wanted to see you and what kind of God would I be if I don't make it come true? Tell him it's an advanced birthday gift from me." God explains.

"Wait, I'm going now?!" Amadis shrieks.

"Yes, now go! Everything will be okay when you get down there and you know what that means already. Mary will be waiting for you." God says before clapping his hands to make Amadis disappear.

Jesus' jaw drops, "Did you just-?"

"Yep." God says, popping the 'p'.

Back on Earth, the Osterfield family were supposed to go on a trip but something work related came up. They called their usual babysitter, but they weren't available. Lucky for them, their new neighbor has a 'nephew' who can look after the children. How convenient....

Amadis appears on the ground laying there and he quickly gets up and brushes the dirt off his clothes. He gasps at the sight of his clothes because they were very modern and different from what he was wearing a few seconds ago.

Mother Mary opens the door and sees Amadis. She quickly motions for him to come inside and he quickly runs inside the house.

"How's my son? Is he bored?" Mother Mary asks.

"Yes, as usual." Amadis answers.

"Okay, well, I'm sure God has told you what to do. You'll be the babysitter of the kids next door. It's Harley and his siblings. All you have to do is go there and tell them I'm your aunt." Mother Mary says as she ushers Amadis out the door.

"What? Now??"

"Yes! Good luck!" Mother Mary smiles, pushes him out the door and closes it.

"Geez, thanks." Amadis says. He composes himself for a minute and calmly walks to the Osterfield Household. He knocks on the door three times and it immediately opens to a relieved Harrison.

"Are you Mary's nephew?"

"Yes!"

"Great! Come in and make yourself at home." Harrison says as he lets Amadis in and closes the door. "Right, I'll just get this over with. Just stay in the living room and nap time is at exactly 2PM and the sleeping bags are in the storage room next to the kitchen. There's food in the kitchen and the pantry, so help yourself there. Call us if there's an emergency and if we're not back by 7PM, please cook dinner. I think that's about it. My wife's in the car now and we have to go. OUr numbers are on the fridge! Goodbye!"

With that, Harrison waves goodbye and leaves. Amadis gulps and turns around to see the children coming down the stairs.

"Amadis!" Harley rushes downstairs and pulls him in for a tight hug which Amadis returns. "I've missed you so much!" He whispers.

"I missed you too!" Amadis smiles before pulling away. "I'm babysitting you and your siblings today which means I'm in charge."

"Since I'm the eldest and I'm turning eleven, I, too, am in charge." Harley says in a posh accent causing Amadis to laugh and nod anyway.

Amadis looks at the three children and asks, "Okay, what do you kids want to do?"

"Something really fun!" Harley grins.

"Alright." Amadis chuckles.

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