Tony had no idea why he had run out of Angela's study. Did he want to talk to her some more? Was he planning on telling her that he didn't want to expand his horizons? He really was clueless but one look at her retreating back Peter's hand resting on her shoulder had frozen him to the spot. He sighed heavily. He was so damned confused about everything he could barely think straight. He needed a drink- NOW! He turned around to go into the kitchen and was greeted by the double glares of Samantha and Jonathan.

"So, now I know why you are wearing the same clothes from yesterday." Sam said in a low voice looking at his baggy jeans and gray t-shirt disdainfully.

"What are you talking about?" Tony had a moment of panic. Did they know? This wasn't something he wanted advertised.

"We know that you slept with some bimbo last night. Who was it again? Oh yeah Kathleen from your study group." Sam said with disgust.

"First of all young lady do not use the word "Bimbo" ever again. Second of all how do you two know anything about this?"

"Fine! You slept with some woman last night. Is that better? And Mona told us."

Tony sighed again and rubbed his hands over his eyes. He wanted to strangle Mona with his bare hands. This was not for her to tell. But, he wasn't surprised, keeping quiet was not one of her strong suits. He had hoped though this time she would have kept things to herself. He walked over to the couch and sank down into it feeling like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. They followed him over and sat down on either side of him. He knew there was no way out of this. They wanted answers. He just hoped he had the right ones.

"So, ummm what exactly did Mona tell you? And why did she say anything at all? She didn't even want me to say anything to Angela and she told the two of you?!"

"We were worried Tony. We knew something was going on." Jonathan said quietly his expression angry.

"But, how?"

Sam and Jonathan exchanged a quick glance. What they were about to say would probably get them into trouble but at this point they didn't care. What had happened was way more serious than the possibility that they could and probably would get into trouble.

"We overheard you and Angela talking in her study."

"What?! You were eavesdropping?!" Tony was incensed. He thought he had raised them better than that.

"We didn't mean to. We saw you go into her study and we both wanted to ask both of you something."

"What?"

"I wanted to ask Angela if I could borrow her blue scarf."

"And I wanted to ask you if you would help me with my homework." Even though he really didn't need help-considering how smart he was- he had always enjoyed it when Tony helped him study. They would laugh and joke around each of them bringing his own expertise into the subject matter.

"We heard you say that you didn't go looking for this" Sam said in disgust.

"And Mom said she didn't want you feeling badly for seeing someone because of her."

"We knew then that something had happened and we didn't want to interrupt the two of you so we went to Mona's apartment. She told us everything."

Once again Tony sighed heavily.

"How could you Dad? How could you hurt Angela like this?!" Sam was beyond angry. She wasn't naive. She knew that ever since her Mom's death her Dad had been with other women. But, he and Angela had grown so close the past six years. She thought for sure they would eventually marry. Now, that was probably out the window. And all because her Dad had screwed up royally!

"I didn't go looking for anything like this to happen." Tony said reiterating slightly what he had told Angela.

"But, it did." Jonathan said. He was beyond upset. His Mom and Tony had grown so close the past six years. He had always thought marriage was inevitable. Now he didn't know what to think. All because Tony made the biggest mistake of his life as far as he was concerned.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, it did."

"So what happens now?"

Tony knew what he was about to say wouldn't go over to well. They would be hurt, upset, and probably wouldn't speak to him for awhile. But, since the cat was out of the bag he figured they might as well know everything.

"Well, I'm going to date Kathleen…" he trailed off at the furious expression on Sam's face.

"WHAT?! Why would you do that?"

"Because Samantha I can't just sleep with her and then dump her. I have an obligation to see if this could go anywhere."

"Oh please Dad! This isn't the1800's where a woman would be shunned if she slept with some guy and he never spoke or saw her again. Besides no woman in her right mind wants a guy to date her just because he feels obligated to."

"That may all be true. But, it was how I was raised."

"Dad, I know you've been with other women after Mom died. But, you never dated them afterwards. At least not for long. Why Kathleen? What's so special about her?"

Tony wasn't sure what to say. The truth was he wasn't so sure himself. Before last night he had thought she was annoying. But, when everyone else had left and they had been left alone he had discovered there was more there than everyone had thought. She was beautiful-not as beautiful as Angela though- and they did have things in common. They both loved art and Italy and were both in service type jobs. Plus the fact that they were both older students he had to admit added to the appeal.

"I don't know Sam. We have things in common. We're both older students and we both work in the service industry. She's a waitress." he added as an afterthought.

Jonathan had been quiet throughout the father and daughter exchange. But, something Tony had said had struck a chord in him.

"Tony, what about my Mom? You said you had an obligation to date Kathleen. Well what about your obligation to my Mom?"

"That's a good question." Sam nodded approvingly at him.

"Well we're going to date other people. She said that maybe that this part of our journey. That we have to go through this to see if we can go any further."

"So in other words she let you off the hook. She's amazing." Sam said a hint of admiration in her voice. Most women would have demanded that he make a decision right then and there. But, Angela had graciously stepped aside so her Dad could date this Kathleen chick. Okay technically she really didn't have that much of a choice. They weren't married, engaged, or even dating one another. But, still what she had done had taken a lot of guts.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, she did and yes she is."

"How long Tony? How long will this so call journey be for?"

"I wish I could tell you Jonathan. I really do. But, I honestly don't know."

Jonathan got up off the couch. "Well Tony I just hope that you haven't messed things up to much." He walked over to the stairs and was about to climb them when Tony stopped him.

"Me too. Hey, do you still need some help with your homework?" Tony hoped he would say yes. Maybe talking about something else would help.

Jonathan looked up at the top of the stairs. "No thank you Tony. I think I can manage on my own." With those parting words he ascended the stairs. A minute later the slam of his bedroom door echoed through the house.

"I'm going to go too. I have a book I need to finish for my English class." Sam said rising and walking over to the staircase. Before she put one foot on the bottom step she turned to her Dad and said:

"I hope that you haven't hurt Angela so much that you've ruined any chance of ever being with her." With that said Sam headed up the stairs to her room. A minute later the sound of her door reverberated throughout the house.

"Me too Samantha. Me too." he said quietly to himself.

Now he really needed that drink!