Angela breezed into the kitchen the next morning feeling lighter than she had in months. Looking forward to a vacation– with Tony, alone, to Italy of all places – was a breath of fresh air to her daily grind, and to the murky place their relationship had been stuck in since her gaffe. The air had felt charged the night before, she thought, with the wine, Tony's special dinner, as if he was hoping to woo her into saying yes. In response, she had chosen his favorite pink sheath dress for work this morning, and had spent a little extra time on her hair.

Since her birthday, and her mortifying "bedroom blatherings" exposing her supposed deep-seated desires, Angela had been carefully sidestepping their usual flirty banter in an attempt to avoid any further confirmation of her true feelings. She was spooked – by her own admissions, the power of her subconscious, and Tony's inability to reciprocate in turn. In order to reestablish what they had (what exactly did they have?) she found herself needing to distance, using her ever-convenient excuse of her work as an easy escape.

Tony had given her that space, while remaining attuned to her, refusing to let her embarrassment push him away too much. He carefully found small ways to show her it was okay – they were okay – steadily maintaining his place in her life as they relaid their foundation in the weeks that followed. He continued to buy flowers "for the house," made her the double fudge brownies with walnuts. He kept the coffee going when she opted to hole away in her office rather than join him on the sofa for a TV show and some tea. His hand occasionally found its way to the small of her back, or to her shoulder, reassuring her that he was still there. This morning, he was ready with coffee and juice as usual, along with a chocolate croissant from her favorite bakery - a treat usually reserved for an occasional Sunday breakfast.

"Good morning, Mother - kids. Good morning, Tony." She ruffled Jonathan's hair.

"Morning, Mom!" Jonathan said, hardly looking up from his comic book.

"Good morning, Angela, sleep well?" Tony said as he poured her coffee.

"I did; quite well. You?"

"Like a baby." Tony pulled the napkin back from her plate to reveal her breakfast.

"Ooh, croissant du chocolat?"

"Oui, madame. Still warm."

"What's the special occasion, Tony?" Mona asked, picking up on a strange new energy in the air. Her eyes darted between them as she dug into her danish.

"Oh, no occasion, Mone. I went on a run this morning and picked these up at Le Pain on my way back."

"Ah. I see."

Angela cast a sideways glance at Tony and then began, "Mother, I'm going on vacation in a few weeks. The office will be operating under more limited hours, but I'll be paying you overtime, as I'm hoping you'll be able to be home to cover the kids as well," Angela said, attempting her most authoritative and matter-of-fact tone.

"The kids?" She looked at Tony, who was busying himself with the juicemaker. "And Tony, where will you be?" she asked pointedly.

"I'll be with Angela. She's coming with me to Italy," he said non-chalantly over his shoulder.

Mona's eyebrows raised in amused surprise. "Italy! Well that's certainly a vacation. Of course I'll keep the kids. Anything you two want to tell us?"

Tony brought the pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice to the table, pouring her a glass. "It's not like that Mone. Maurizio – you remember, my cousin? – he's getting married. Sam can't go, because it's finals week, and they actually asked if Angela would join me. So...she is."

"As your...date?"

"As his friend," Angela said, throwing her mother a steely stare.

"Ah, perfectly reasonable," she said. "And why shouldn't two best friends who live together and raise each other's children travel alone to Italy platonically as friends," she teased.

Angela's mouth pursed, glaring at her mother through narrowed eyes. "Exactly."

Sam conspiratorially elbowed Mona, "Makes perfect sense to me, guys. Hope you have a great trip. I am so bummed I can't go. But don't worry, I'm sure Mona will rule with an iron fist while you're gone."

It was Tony's turn to glare at Samantha. "I'm sure she will. And I'm expecting no less than all A's on those finals, young lady. You've made A's all year, there's no reason they should be anything but."

"Yeah, yeah yeah."

"Don't worry, Mom, I'll keep these two in line."

"I'm sure you will," she said skeptically. "But I also expect the house to be free of things that slither, crawl or explode when we return."

"Aw, man, but it's mating season, Mom!"

Mona sipped her coffee and said under arched eyebrows, "It certainly is."

Samantha chortled, nearly spitting out her juice as Tony glared at them both. "That's enough of that Mona," he growled through clenched teeth. "But thank you for keeping the kids."

"Of course, I'm happy to." She couldn't resist adding, peering at them both from the rim of her mug, "And I hope you two have a wonderfully platonic time in the land of la dolce vita."