"Great, honey. We'll see you all tomorrow!"

Tony looked up from his paperwork and smiled as Angela nearly danced over to him from the phone.

"You're chipper today," he said. "That Jonathan?"

Angela nodded as she stood behind him at his desk. "Yep! Coming later in the day, unfortunately."

"Oh, yeah. I told Sam to book an afternoon flight so I could pick them up."

"That's fine. I'll be sure to get home in time and get dinner ready. Meatloaf sound okay?"

"Perfect."

Patting his shoulders and kissing his cheek, she then started toward the kitchen. Her fingers had only grazed the door when Tony swung around in his seat.

"Angela?"

She turned. "Yeah?"

"It's really great to see you like this."

"Like what?" she replied after a moment.

"You know," he shrugged, "Smiling and relaxed. Excited about something."

Angela looked away briefly. She couldn't deny the slip-ups of her disposition anymore, but still hated when he mentioned it. "It will be good to see the family. And the big game is coming up! You must be over the moon."

"More nervous."

"Oh?"

Tony stood. "I've got a lot riding on this. You saw the response to their last coach."

"I know it was upsetting but you have nothing to worry about. You said the team is doing spectacularly."

"They are during practice," he explained, wandering over to her. "But is that going to be enough?"

Taking his hands, Angela said, "Tony, you are a terrific coach. Those boys adore you. They're going to come through. You'll see."

"You think so?"

"I'm positive."

"Thanks, Angela."

Smiling wide, she squeezed his hand. "Anytime."

"I'm glad everyone is gonna be here for it. Especially Sam. She was so young during my baseball days. I know it won't be the same as being on the field myself, but…" He trailed off.

"You've handled being away from her well."

"I'm a bit surprised myself."

She chuckled. "Certainly better than I've handled being away from Jonathan."

"I don't know if I could'a done it a few years ago. Marrying Hank kind of forced me to accept the fact she's a grown-up now."

"I'm glad to have someone experienced to navigate me through Jonathan going off to college. I suppose this has been a trial run."

"Hey," he said in a more serious tone, "we went through all that stuff with Sam together."

"I guess we did…"

"And we'll get through whatever happens with Jonathan."

With another smile, Angela slipped her arms around his waist. It took a good minute before she felt she could speak again. When she did, she said, "Soon enough Samantha will be my step-daughter and Jonathan your step-son."

"It's gonna be great," he beamed. "Although, by now I need to remind myself Jonathan isn't already my son."

Pulling back to look at him, she chuckled. "The same with Sam."

"It's almost too bad they're not still kids. I always imagined having a son calling me 'Dad'."

Biting her lip, Angela said softly, "It's not too late… Maybe for Jonathan, but we could still try for a child together."

Clumsily, he took another step back. "So much of me wants that."

"… But?"

"But we're not in our thirties anymore. I don't know what's going to happen once we're married. I don't know where I'll be working. So much is still up in the air."

"But we did manage it with Billy. School took up just as much as your time as teaching and coaching do."

"We also had Sam, Mona, and Jonathan helping out. That and he was past the diaper and middle of the night feeding stages."

Dejectedly, she sighed. "I know…"

Stepping toward her again, Tony said, "I mean, hey, if it happens it happens. I'll be thrilled! But to consciously try? That's a whole other stress. Too much time to think about every possibility."

"I know," she said again. "It's been on my mind. I figured I'd bring it up while the opportunity presented itself."

"Maybe once things settle down?"

She nodded.

"Is that all?"

"Pardon?"

"The preoccupation. I keep getting the feeling like you're not telling me something. You know you can say anything to me, right?"

"Oh," she said, switching back to smiles and giggles. "Maybe that's it. Don't know. It's not something I've been agonizing over. Just a recurring thought. Getting into that housewife mindset, you know?"

Tony chuckled. "Must be."

"Well…" she hummed, "I've distracted you long enough. I want to make some calls and get some help with tomorrow's dinner. I want to wow Mother and the kids."

"You will."

"Vouch for me?"

"Ehh…"

Angela swatted his arm.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding! I'll vouch for you."

Resisting all urges to stick her tongue out at him, she scrunched her nose and said, "Thank you. Watch it and I'll make you a really lousy dinner tonight."

Throwing his hands up, she surrendered. "I'll behave."