The climb to Mrs. Rossini's third-floor apartment was a familiar one, and Tony felt a little awkward being led there by a virtual stranger, as though she had more reason to be there than he did.
The door opened before they reached it, and Mrs. Rossini scurried out, her tell-tale apron and Velcro sneakers in place as usual.
"Tony! Angela!" she exclaimed in her customary shriek, embracing both in a crushing bear hug. "I can't tell you how good it is to see you both."
"Hey there, Mrs. Rossini," Tony said, then faltered, not knowing what to say. He and Angela had been so caught up in the mixed emotions of what they were doing that they'd both neglected to remember that Mrs. Rossini had lost her friend and neighbor of more than thirty years. Calling forth his manners, Tony mustered the usual questions one asked at such a time. "So, ah, how're you holding up?"
"Oh, fine, fine. The baby's asleep, so that's why I met yous out here. Billy's playing some video game no bigger than a calculator. He doesn't say much, but I know he's hurting. The funeral was this morning."
"What? Why so soon?" Tony asked. He had expected the calling hours to be that night, and the service the morning after, as was Italian tradition.
"Don't know. Her will said she didn't want a bunch of people gawking at her dead body and that she wanted to be buried as soon as possible. So she was."
Angela chimed in for the first time. "Mrs. Rossini, if we'd known, we certainly would have been here."
"I know dear, but you've got your own worries. Now come on, you wanna see your new kids, or what? I got veal in the oven."
The social worker, who had remained in the background for the whole conversation, finally spoke up. "Excuse me, Mrs. Rossini. Does Billy know the Micellis are here to take him home with them?"
"Well, not exactly. He knows Tony and Angela are coming over, but I thought it would be better if they told him everything."
The apartment hadn't changed in two decades. Tony took in the plastic-wrapped couch, scarred dining table that had been the centerpiece of countless dinners, and the faded flowered wallpaper before settling on the young boy sitting in a chair quietly feeding a bottle to his young cousin. Though Tony had seen Billy from time to time over the years, it had been a while, and he was surprised at how much the boy had grown.
"Hey there Billy," Tony said, trying not to let the gamut of emotions he was feeling show through his voice.
"Hi Tony," he said simply before his eyes moved over to Angela, who he hadn't seen since their wedding five years earlier.
"You remember Angela, right?"
"Yeah, hi."
"Hello Billy. You've certainly grown since I last saw you."
The lukewarm conversation continued a while longer, with Tony asking Billy about Charlie and his grandmother, a subject he was very tight-lipped about, just as Mrs. Rossini had said. Angela asked him about school and if he remembered staying with them for a year. On the latter subject, he recalled with surprising detail the swimming lessons he took at the Y and their trip to Washington, going as far as to remind Tony that he ended his speech by quoting Porky Pig.
"Thanks a lot Billy. It only took me seven years to forget that," he replied dryly, but was pleased Billy seemed to have a lot of good memories of his time with them.
Finally, the time came to get to the crux of the visit, and everyone was taken a bit by surprise when Billy asked, "So are me and Charlie going to stay with you guys now that Grandma is gone?"
The social worker decided to field that question. "Do you want to go stay with them?"
"You mean forever?"
"Well Billy, Angela and I told Ms. Harding that we'd like to adopt you and Charlie if that's okay with you. We still live in the same house, and you could bring all your stuff."
The boy was quiet for a while, and Angela realized he had grown up in more ways than one from the silly four-year-old she had come to know so well.
Not meeting the social worker's eyes, Billy stared at his feet and finally shrugged his shoulders. Tony saw the tears swimming in the boy's eyes and gently took Joan's place in front of him. "Hey buddy," he began gently, "I know you miss your grandma. I wasn't much older than you when my grandfather who lived with me and my dad died. I was lucky enough to still have my dad, and you still have Charlie, and she's gonna need you. So even though this is hard, and I know you haven't spent a lot of time with Angela and me the last few years, why don't you give it a shot? Okay?"
Billy nodded silently, then unexpectedly launched himself and Charlie into Tony's arms, the tears flowing freely. Angela kneeled down and wrapped her arms around her new family, her heart breaking for the little boy who lost so much in his short life.
It was a quiet drive home, and both Billy and Charlie were asleep by the time Tony passed the familiar "Welcome to Connecticut" sign. The jeep was filled with Billy's few possessions and to a larger extent, piles of baby gear. Charlie's room was to be Samantha's old room, and Billy would take over Jonathan's, which still contained many of its former occupant's belongings. What little room that had been left in the Jeep was filled with newly purchased items to round out everything they would need to accommodate an infant.
Pulling up to the house nearly six hours after leaving it, Tony was surprised to see Sam and Hank's car as well as Jonathan's sitting in the driveway. He wasn't sure if a full house was what he wanted to come home to, especially since they still hadn't told the kids about their decision, but it didn't look like they had a choice.
Billy awoke as soon as Tony cut the engine, but Charlie slept on even as Angela detached the carrier from the carseat base and carried the sleeping baby to the door. It had been a long time since Angela had cared for an infant, but as with bicycles, babies are something one never forgets. She handled the infant with care and confidence she didn't know she had, and was awash with emotion every time she felt Charlie's soft skin against her cheek or hand.
Tony entered to house first, burdened with a diaper bag and groceries, and found Mona, Jonathan, Samantha, Melissa, and Hank seated in the living room. Angela nearly plowed into Tony before seeing the group convened a few feet away.
"Uh, hi guys," Tony said, dropping the diaper bag and taking a sack of vegetables from Billy to place on the bench near the door.
Immediately, chaos broke out as everyone rushed to help carry groceries and packages as well as to greet Billy and get a glimpse of Charlie tucked in the nippy-nap. Everyone was speaking at once, asking what had happened, and what was going to happen. Sam was cooing over Charlie, the arrival of her own baby a mere few weeks away, and Jonathan and Billy reunited like long-lost brothers.
Finally, things settled down and Tony had a chance to ask why everyone was there.
"Well, Mona called us and said you guys could maybe use some help today," Sam offered by way of explanation. "And when we got here, she filled us in."
"And what do you all think," Angela asked tentatively.
"Collectively, we think it's great, as long as it's what you want," Jonathan said.
Looking down at Charlotte cradled in her arms then at Billy, sitting on the couch between Jonathan and Hank, and finally at her husband, who was staring at her intently as she rocked the baby, and Angela was able to answer with complete confidence, "Yes, it's what we want."
Sam nodded, then announced, "Okay, we'd better get busy then."
"Honey," Hank interrupted, "why don't you take a seat on the couch and do what you do best — give orders." Hank and Jonathan stood up and ordered Angela to have a seat next to Sam while they headed out to the Jeep for the first of many trips.
Four hours and six pizzas later, Charlotte and Billy each had their own room decorated with a mixture of new and old. There was a baby swing in the corner of the living room and a highchair in the kitchen along with a supply of formula, baby cereal and bottles. The superhero theme in his room as well as the constant activity brought out some the easy-going, witty Billy the family remembered from years ago.
Tony stopped working long enough to feed Charlie, all the while telling Sam of her time in diapers and bibs. He ooed and awwed as he swirled spoonfuls of cereal through the air on its way to her mouth, then with the second nature that comes to those who've cared for babies before, scooped up the remainder of the previous spoonful as it dribbled down her chin and redeposit it in her mouth.
When the cereal was gone and the mess wiped up, Tony left Charlie in Sam's care and went to track down Angela, who had disappeared upstairs to change clothes. Tony wasn't surprised to find her sound asleep at the foot of their bed, the sweat pants she had intended to put on folded under her head as a pillow.