An Angel Gets His Wings

Patton has always looked up to the older angels that have had their wings for many many years. You see, in the environment he grew up in, the children inherently had big kind hearts and they would do whatever they could to make the world a better place seemingly as a human. Once they were old enough and did enough good, all they would need was the sound of a nearby bell for them to retrieve their wings and continue their work with Heaven as their main home and their deeds done while they're unseen by the humans.

Patton has done so many good things during his life on Earth: he has helped older people with their groceries, comforted lost pets while searching for their owners, directly helped local charities, even provided shoulders for his friends to cry on. He had done just as much good as the average angel if not more, but as he reached adulthood, he never received his wings whenever he heard a bell. He felt happy for the angels he saw rise to Heaven with their new wings, but envy and sadness still existed within him. He wasn't sure if he hadn't received his wings because he hadn't done enough good or if Heaven had forgotten about him.

Although the feelings resided within him, they were overshadowed by his eagerness to make a life for himself on Earth since he figured he'd be staying for a while longer. Patton discovered that he enjoyed being somewhat of a caring figure to young children, so he took some classes and was able to get himself a job as a preschool teacher. After spending time with the young children and going through with his job, he noticed that the preschool he worked at lacked books that accommodated to the variety of students he had. As a result, with permission from the preschool and help from a friend of his, he was able to add books to their Storytime that included subjects like single parents, half siblings, parents of the same sex, anxiety interpreted for little kids, etc. and occasionally got hugs from the impacted children as a sign of gratitude. Even though he wasn't the only teacher in the preschool, he felt wonderful knowing that he had impacted the lives of the kids and reminded them that they're loved and valid.

One day, a little kid who went by Dee Dee whom Patton remembered alternated between being known as a boy and a girl at random days asked if Patton could wait with her until she was picked up. When asked why, she claimed she wanted to introduced him to her Uncle Logan. He wasn't sure what was going through her mind, but when her uncle arrived and she pulled him over to meet Patton, he felt a warmth in his chest unlike anything he had ever felt before and it seemed like Logan didn't mind being pulled to meet him either.

Pretty soon, Logan would always arrive to pick up Dee Dee and the two men would chat for a few minutes before Dee Dee left with Logan. Eventually, it moved to them exchanging numbers and one thing leading to another. Whenever Patton was eagerly having a conversation with Logan when they were free and Patton occasionally saw an angel with wings rise to Heaven, he would briefly feel sad from the idea of not being with Logan forever, but a smile would reblossom on his face as he remembered his desire to live his life to the fullest whether it would be by caring for the kids or being with Logan.

After a long time, it was close to the day where he would marry Logan. Once word spread and after Patton re-read some books involving same sex couples, the little kids wanted so much to go to Patton's wedding and so did several of the students. Dee Dee was evidently so excited to call Patton his uncle and Patton giggled at the idea of calling Dee Dee his nibling. The day soon came and, after an exchange of vows and them both saying "I Do," the two shared their first kiss as husbands and wedding bells chimed. There was an applause followed by a gasp from everyone. As the two pulled away, Logan looked behind Patton and prompted the latter to do the same. Behind Patton was a large set of white wings sticking out of his back. It was then that he remembered that he wasn't human. Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the middle of the church that caught the attention of everyone there until a man with purple hair, a light blue gown, and big white wings appeared before everyone. The angel looked at the newlyweds.

"Nice seeing you again, Patton," the angel greeted.

"Thomas? But...I thought you all forgot about me," Patton answered in astonishment.

"Oh my, I really did fall in love with an angel," Logan muttered.

"I know, and I'm sorry for giving you that impression. As you know, we've watched over many angels on Earth. When I've seen you live your life amongst the humans, I tried to delay you receiving your wings because I figured you were needed more as a human than as a winged angel. But, of course, I couldn't delay you from receiving your wings forever. Now, if you're ready to receive them for good, then Heaven is ready for you," Thomas explained.

Patton looked at his new wings and at his fellow angel. However, he looked at his colleagues, students, and mutual friends as well as his new husband. It dawned on him that he wanted an explanation for the delay of receiving his wings more than he wanted to actually return to Heaven. He turned to look at Thomas without letting go of Logan's hands.

"Thomas...Heaven has many angels, but I only have one life like this. Thank you for delaying the arrival of my wings, but I think it's best that they go to someone who needs them more than I do," Patton answered.

Thomas smiled at the couple before he slowly flew upward until he disappeared along with Patton's wings. The giddy man heard chuckling coming from his husband and looked at him.

"I think you have some explaining to do, hubby," Logan claimed.

"Consider it part of a past I've occasionally forgotten about I'll explain later. But, for now, there's a cutie I want to kiss again," Patton retorted.

With that, the couple kissed once more and applause grew in the church as a bright future awaited.