"You see what you can do here, Angel Girl," Tess told Monica. "I've got something else I need to take care of for now."

"All right," Monica agreed readily in her sweet tone, and the two angels parted ways.

Tess was on a special mission. She entered in through the front door of the small-town animal shelter, and walked on unseen past the young woman behind the front desk. As she entered the kennel area where the dogs were kept while they waited for their new homes, the animals increased the volume level on their barking, scratching, and whining. Many tails wagged as the dogs of many ages ran to the front of their kennels to greet Tess.

"Hush!" the young woman from the front desk called in to them. "Come on guys, what's got you stirred up?" Tess glanced over her shoulder and saw the woman shake her head with a small smile and go back to reading her magazine, muttering, "Probably just a squirrel outside."

Tess made her way to the eighth cage in on the right and stopped to look in. "Hello, Riley Baby," she greeted the dog inside kindly. Riley was a Labrador and Doberman mixed breed, and what with the black-and-tan markings typical of the Doberman breed combined with the heavier build of a Lab, she looked very much like a Rottweiler. Tess thought angrily that that was probably part of why she hadn't been adopted yet. People won't look and see things right in front of their noses, like a sign that says "5 and 1/2 year old Doberman/Lab mix." They just see a dog that looks dangerous to them and pass her by, she thought. But anyone looking into her eyes would know better.

Riley looked up at the angel standing in front of her, but didn't lift her head from where it rested on her paws. She just continued to lay there at the back of her cage, ignoring her food and water bowls. "Is it time to die already?" she asked sadly. "I'm not scheduled until tomorrow."

Tess walked forward, passing easily through the chain link of the front of Riley's kennel cage, and knelt down next to her. "No, Baby," she said reassuringly. "I'm an angel," she said, though she knew that the animals could already sense what she was. They couldn't read a Bible, so God had given his other creations different ways to know about Him. "I've been sent here by God to help you in this trying time."

Riley sighed, a heart-wrenching sound of a mixture of relief and disappointment. "Help me how?" she couldn't help asking. "I thought God was just for humans."

"Oh, no, Baby!" Tess exclaimed. "He loves you! He made you, same as He made humans, and He loves you more than you could ever even begin to imagine!"

Riley began to wag her tail weakly at that. "Really?" she asked hopefully.

Tess nodded. "Really," she repeated firmly. As the dog and angel talked, the other animals continued to bark and scuffle around in their cages around them. Suddenly, the door to the kennel area swung open, and the young woman from the front desk entered, followed by a young man and woman who were holding hands and looking around.

Riley raised her head and pricked up her short floppy ears briefly and hopefully at their arrival, then turned a sad look on Tess. "It's puppy season," she told the angel. "My last owners picked a really bad time for me to give me to the shelter. I don't have much chance against the competition for a new home."

"Don't you worry," Tess tried to reassure her. "You're a very sweet girl. Don't sell yourself short."

As if by a miracle, the young couple stopped and looked in at Riley's cage. "Here girl," the young man greeted her, kneeling down by her cage.

"Well, don't just lay there!" Tess urged Riley. "Go get 'em!"

Riley stood up and walked to the very front of her cage, her tail wagging slowly and low behind her. She gently licked the man's fingers, which were sticking through the chain link mesh, and sat down with a hopeful whine. "What do you think, honey?" the man asked, turning to grin at the second young woman. Tess saw the golden rings the couple wore and realized that they had been joined together in holy matrimony as husband and wife.

"She looks so sweet," the young man's wife cooed. She turned to the shelter woman and started asking her questions about Riley. As her husband stood up to join the conversation, Tess turned to congratulate Riley. "It looks like you've got this one in the bag, Baby! I think they want to adopt you!"

Riley continued to stare longingly out of her cage at the young couple as she answered Tess, "I hope so, but I've seen people change their minds at this stage before."

"Can you give us about five minutes to think about it?" the young woman asked the shelter worker. The shelter woman nodded and left, giving the couple a chance to talk it over by themselves.

"Well, Diane?" the young man asked his wife. "What do you think of Riley here? The agency said we might have to wait years to adopt a baby, with the waiting list so long, but maybe Riley can be our baby until we can get her a little human brother or sister."

Diane smiled at her husband. "Oh, Rob," she laughed. "You're so cute sometimes. I've told you over a dozen times I love your idea that we get a dog while we wait for a baby. I think Riley seems like the perfect match for us."

Rob grinned widely at his wife and suggested, "Let's call the shelter lady back so we can see Riley out of her cage before we make a final decision to take her home."

"Good idea -- again," Diane said back with a grin. The couple rushed back to the front of the shelter and returned moments later with the shelter worker. The woman opened the cage and whistled quietly in to Riley. "Come on out, girl. These folks wanna take a better look at you."

Riley obediently stepped out and let the shelter worker snap the leash to her collar, her tail wagging steadily all the while as she looked up hopefully into Rob and Diane's faces. The worker handed the leash to Rob, and Tess beamed at the beautiful scene as she stood up, still invisible to the humans, in the back of Riley's cage.

A small, high pitched whimper distracted the three humans and the dog who stood in the walkway between the two rows of cages. It came from the small, 10-week-old Beagle mix puppy in the cage just to the right of Riley's. The poor little guy was laying on his side at the front of his kennel, his tail wagging at top speed, while he pathetically and frantically licked the chain link door of his cage. He whined again, tragically, and rolled to his feet.

"Aww, honey!" Diane said, staring into the cage at the little puppy. "Oh, God, this one's so cute, too!"

Riley turned her head and sadly looked at Tess. "I can't do it, angel," she said quietly. "I just can't do it! He's got his whole life ahead of him. If they adopt me, the shelter will just end up having to kill another dog instead -- maybe him!" Riley reached up with her nose and nuzzled Rob's hand gently before turning to the cage with the Beagle mix inside. Her tail wagging slowly and low behind her again, she licked at the puppy's muzzle and paws through the cage, then trudged resolutely back into her own kennel and curled up just inside.

"I understand, Baby," Tess replied. Although the idea of Riley giving up her second chance at a family saddened the wise old angel, it also filled Tess with a swell of pride for the sweet, selfless dog.

At a nod from Diane, the shelter worker opened the Beagle mix puppy's kennel and he dashed out, barking and wagging happily as he licked the three humans indescriminately. Tumbling over his own puppyish clumsiness, the puppy then turned and pounced on Riley's side, licking her face and tugging at her ear with his teeth. Riley's only reaction was to sadly begin wagging her tail again.

Diane leaned her head on Rob's shoulder, and Rob in turn put his arm around his wife's shoulders. "Well, we came here to pick out a dog," he said quietly, "but it looks like we've been picked out."

"For sure," Diane agreed, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"You have a good life," Riley told the puppy as the worker snapped another leash onto his small collar. "You be a good dog," Riley added to him. The worker clicked her tongue at the puppy, who turned and trotted eagerly out into Diane's arms.

Riley sighed and closed her eyes. But her heartache only lasted a second before Rob called, "Come on, Riley! You too!" Almost unable to believe her ears, Riley opened her eyes and leaped to her feet, tail going several miles an hour. She jumped up and put her front paws on Rob's shirt, straining up to frantically lick his laughing face.

Tess just let the tears flow as she watched the beautiful family that had just grown and blossomed with love. "As ye sow, so shall ye reap," she quoted softly. Riley had given a chance at a new life away to the Beagle puppy, and God had in turn given it back to her as well. "Good luck, Riley!"

"Thank you angel!" Riley called back over her shoulder. "Thank you so much. I never thought I'd feel this happy again -- and now I have a puppy to play with!"

Tess smiled as she watched the group leave to go fill out the adoption forms. "Well, I guess I'd better go check on Monica and see how that girl's doing," she said to herself.

When Tess arrived back where she'd left Monica earlier, the Irish angel seemed, as always, to have gotten a little too far in over her head. "How's it going, Baby?" Tess asked, walking up behind her.