"Tony, look! I finished it!"
Swiveling around in his desk chair, Tony reached out and touched the blanket Angela was holding in front of her. "Hey, it looks great!"
"I can't believe it. I made something with my own two hands. I mean, something like this. Something we can use every day."
"I'm proud of you, baby," he sang.
"I can't wait to show the girls. They'll see I'm not a completely hopeless case."
Rolling his eyes, he said, "You gotta stop being so hard on yourself."
"I know, I know…"
Not wanting to distract him from correcting papers any longer, Angela went back over to the couch and spread the Afghan out to admire it herself. Finally, she found a knack. It wasn't flawless, but the mistakes were only noticeable to her or to someone who took the time to scrutinize every stitch. Already she had ideas for which pattern to try next. Maybe she'd crochet this time? Barbra had given her a book of patterns recently and they were calling her name.
She wasted no time. Grabbing the book from her shelf, she then snuggled under her creation and started flipping through the pages, dog-earring the patterns she wanted to try first. She made a note to herself to ask Candy for some advice before blindly picking up a hook and yarn. Then again, she'd managed this one mostly on her own. Maybe she was underestimating herself.
Tony didn't stay focused on his papers for long. Angela had been so quiet he had to look behind him to see if she was still in the room. The sight warmed his heart; Angela lost in the massive afghan and a soft smile on her face as she planned her next project. He'd been worried about her the past couple of weeks. She wasn't necessarily stressed, but there was something different about her. Over the years he'd witnessed just about all of her moods, however, her recent demeanor was new. She admitted her homesickness. That had to be part of it. But she only mentioned it when he brought it up first. Seeing her now bundled up and beaming with pride, dressed in denim and plaid, everything felt right. She was finally content.
Angela caught him staring when she looked up, noticing she hadn't heard the scribble of his pen for a while. Her smile widened.
"What is it?"
Tony answered, "Nothin'. You look cute."
His compliments would always make her blush. "So do you."
"How invested are you in that book?" he asked innocently, though the look in his eyes said otherwise.
Angela chuckled. "Not very, but don't you have work to do?"
He was at her side before she finished speaking. "The kids can wait another day for their grades. Wendell sure can."
Giving him a quick kiss, she smirked, "Well then, how can I say no?"
"Have I mentioned how much I love having you here?"
Angela responded by kissing him again, taking half of the afghan and covering him over. She snuggled closer to him as he deepened the kiss. Moments like this, it was easy to love living here as well.
As time went on, she realized just how inhibited their relationship had been up to now. Being alone allowed them to make sense of their relationship in a way they'd been denied. The physical element aside, she was discovering nuances living alone with him she'd never noticed before. There were few distractions. When they argued they were forced to deal with it right away without putting it aside for the kids' sake or even Mona's. When they were in a good mood there wasn't the threat of someone else's problems bringing them down.
Intimacy had in some ways been heightened during their early commutes knowing that their time would be short-lived. There hadn't been enough time to look past the passion to work on any sort of foundation. Either they were all over each other or angry without much in between. Day to day living had done wonders. It made her wish they'd had a chance like this when they first got together. Looking back, she realized how much they missed out on trying to put on airs for everyone else. No more. She took comfort in the thought. There was freedom here. No, Iowan life wasn't her ideal, but being with Tony made everything okay.