Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 9

Breakfast that morning was noisy and joyful as the whole family gathered to celebrate the fulfilment of a long held wish. Even though they had felt like family for years, the wedding somehow made things seem more official, more right. The kids and Mona grinned as they watched Tony and Angela move around the room, always within arms reach, almost mirroring the other. It wasn't anything new to see, except that the spirit of it seemed much more intimate and connected.

Tony was so caught up in the delight of being with his loved ones again, he completely missed the various undercurrents playing out in the room. Angela kept trying to encourage Sam to share her news with Tony and Sam kept trying to avoid Angela's gaze. Jonathan sat nervously trying to find a way to start calling Tony 'Dad' without it seeming awkward or unnatural. He thought to himself a little resentfully that this would have all been a lot easier if they had got it together when he was nine instead of now when he was seventeen and just about to graduate high school. But as he watched a secret smile pass between his parents, he thought, 'Better late than never.' Mona sat smugly, waiting to share one last surprise with the happy couple.

When the meal was over and their stomach's groaning with food, Mona finally stood up and clinked her glass to get their attention. Part of her just wanted to yell and startle them into silence, but even the roguish side of her wanted to preserve the blissful atmosphere a little while longer. As silence fell and they all looked up at her expectantly, she announced, "I have one last gift for the two of you, if you two fuddy-duddies are willing to take me up on it."

Tony and Angela exchanged a confused look before shrugging their shoulders. "What is it Mother?" Angela asked.

"Well it seems that in all of his planning, Tony forgot about one little detail, one very important detail."

"I did?" Tony asked incredulously, trying to remember if anything was missing from the day before. He furrowed his brow and looked to Angela to see if she had found anything lacking. She seemed just as puzzled. To Mona he insisted, "No I didn't."

"What about the honeymoon?" Mona answered pointedly.

"The honey...ooh." Tony's voice trailed off and he and Angela blushed at each other.

Mona watched the little by-play and shook her head. She couldn't believe they were still acting like teenagers around each other. "See, told ya so. Luckily you have me here to save the day. Mona to the rescue once again! Thanks to me, you have a week on a tropical island with nothing to do but..."

"Mother!" Angela cut in.

"...Take in the fun and the sun." She batted her eyelashes innocently at Angela.

"Oh yeah, you two should definitely go. Take some time together and relax." Samantha jumped into the conversation.

Angela eyed her suspiciously but then turned to Tony and asked, "What do you think?"

"I think it would be great – the sun and the sand and... other things." They shared a lingering look.

"Yeah, other things," Angela agreed distractedly, picturing exactly just what the 'other things' could be. Shaking herself out of it, she turned towards Mona and said, "Thank you mother, for thinking of this and being so sweet. But you know, you could do one more thing for us."

Mona hesitated before asking, "What exactly can I do?"

Angela smiled sweetly, replying, "The dishes, Mother please? So Tony and I can talk to Sam. She said she had something she wanted to talk to us about." She pleaded with her eyes.

Sam glared at Angela while Mona reluctantly agreed; "Okay, but only if the boy helps."

Jonathan interrupted sarcastically, "Hey! Doesn't the boy get any say in this?"

Everyone just looked at him and laughingly answered, "Nope!"

Samantha sat uncomfortably in the centre of the couch, balling up the end of her sweater in her hand. She smiled slightly at the sight of Tony and Angela sitting in the chair beside her, Angela sitting on the arm with Tony's hand slung over her waist. She was just about to speak when the phone rang, distracting them all from the idle conversation they were making. They heard Mona call out that she would get it and then there was silence. As Sam took a deep breath to begin again, Mona poked her head through the swinging door and announced that the phone was for Tony. He slid out from the chair, squeezing Angela's hand as he did, and made his way into the kitchen.

Angela studied Samantha for a moment before speaking. "Sam, sweetheart, you've got to tell him. It's going to be all right, I promise you."

Sam smiled weakly; wishing Hank was with her instead of at work. "Thanks Angela. I just, I..."

Tony raced back into the room, phone still clutched in his hand, "You're not going to believe this, I just got a job offer at a high school, in Connecticut!" He turned his attention back to the phone, still in the midst of conversation with the person on the other end. The whole family waited impatiently as he continued the call with a bunch of uh-huh's, an okay, and finally a goodbye. At once, everyone demanded details and he tried his best to answer them.

As he stood gushing about how perfect his life was, being married to Angela, having his family around, and now a new job, Samantha broke into his speech, "And now you're going to be a Grandfather!" She spoke with forced cheerfulness, trying to mask her fear.

The whole family turned from Tony to stare at her. Tony stood shocked in disbelief, his face turning quickly from joyful to serious. Angela rose and rushed to his side, trying to calm him with her touch.

Tony spoke cautiously; "I'm going to be a what?"

The colour rose in Sam's cheeks as she began to get defensive. "You heard me. Hank and I, we're having a baby.

He stood there meeting her eyes for a long moment before glancing down at the phone in his hands. He looked away from her and spoke before walking slowly into the kitchen. "I gotta hang this up."

Angela squeezed Sam's hand briefly before following Tony. He was standing in the middle of the kitchen, staring absently at the door. His eyes focused on her as she entered the room, asking in a sad tired voice, "You knew, didn't you?"

All she could do was walk up and wrap her arms around him. He stayed in her embrace momentarily before dropping down into a chair at the table. "I don't get it," he began, studying his hands. "Sam and me, we used to be able to talk about anything. Now whenever she has this wonderful, life changing news, I'm the last to know. I must be the world's worse father."

Angela moved to cover his hands with her own as a voice carried across the room. "You're not." Sam had quietly entered the room as he was speaking. "You're not the world's worst father, you're one of the best." She spoke with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to tell you like that, I just didn't know how to tell you. I thought you'd be mad at me."

Tony raised his eyes away from his hands. "I'm not mad. I just wish you weren't so scared to tell me things. I know I overreact," he glanced at Angela, "a lot, but all I want is for you to be happy. You are happy, right?"

Sam nodded, biting her lip, "I am."

"Then that's all that matters." He got up and hugged his daughter tightly. "I love you."

They both looked up amused as Angela let out a huge, "Aww!" and rushed towards them, joining in the hug.