Thanks for your patience, everyone. Some actual dialogue from the show and a bit; because, really, I have no objection to funny. A special dedication to Gayle for saying the right words at the right time to keep me from throwing my hands up in overwhelm on this one.

Tony continued to hold Angela's hand, but he still hadn't broached the topic that was bothering him, in fact he was having trouble even looking at her.

Angela decided to start the conversation for him, she gently caressed his hand and said, "Tony, we have always been able to talk about anything. We can't lose our honesty with each other now that we're an 'us'. We need our open lines of communication more than ever." Fear started to creep into her mind, a nagging, desperate thought of, "there is still an 'us', isn't there?"

"I don't know where to begin."

"How about starting where whatever it is that's bothering you, started...bothering you."

He let go of her hand and stood up; actions which did nothing to calm Angela's insecurities. He took a couple of steps away from her, toward the kitchen, then stopped and turned to her. "Angela, I don't know if I can handle this."

In her eyes Tony saw a pleading question, she voiced it, "handle what?"

"Us."

Angela's heart crumbled, "why not?" she whispered hoarsely.

Tony sat back down on the couch, he could see he was hurting Angela and he wished more than anything he could take her pain away. Instead, he was going to have to confront this problem, and that was going to cause Angela more pain. He hated what he had to do; but there was no avoiding this. He pulled his wallet out of his pocket, extracted his paycheck and threw it onto the coffee table.

Angela recognized it and shrugged, "your paycheck? You're keeping your hands off me because of your paycheck? I don't understand."

"Angela, people have been talking about us for years."

"So?"

"So? Don't you care about what people say about you? Because I do."

It was sweet of Tony to be concerned about her reputation, no matter how outdated the thought, "Tony, if I haven't cared before, why should I care now?" It was true she hadn't cared what people said about them, if neighborhood gossip had her sleeping with Tony, denial was her only way to contradict that theory. The gossips never believed the truth anyway, so why bother? One of the deepest secrets of Angela's heart was that in some of her loneliest moments, the rumor of her sleeping with Tony brought her solace.

"Because now it isn't a rumor; it's true," he stated.

"They don't know that."

"That's it exactly, Angela. It's a secret, something we hide."

"I thought we made a mutual decision to keep this between ourselves...," she moved closer to him and very flirtatiously caressed his cheek with her palm, "for...fun."

He cleared his throat.

"Tony, if you want to change that policy, I have no objection."

"No, no," still a little agitated, he pulled away.

She sighed, annoyed, "then what is it that's really bothering you?"

His own pain was reflected in his next words, "Angela, no matter where I end up, or how successful I am, you'll always be the breadwinner and I'll be making crumbs."

"Tony, money is not the measure of a man."

Tony wished he could agree with her, he really did; but their economic inequality bothered him no matter how much he tried to ignore it. In all the years he and Angela had been 'together' this inequality hadn't bothered him, he was surprised their closer relationship was developing a sense of inferiority in him, no matter how much it shouldn't have been a surprise to him. "Angela, from the earliest days of my childhood it was drummed into me, 'you're a man, you have a responsibility to provide for your loved ones.'"

"Relationships have moved beyond that, Tony."

"Maybe some have."

"So what do you want me to do? Sell the agency, go back to being a copywriter and let you support us?"

"You'd do that for us?"

She shook her head, she loved this man beyond reason, but she wasn't giving up a piece of herself to placate his bruised male ego, instead she reminded him of his place in her heart, "Tony, you were the one I leaned on to start that business. You were my rock during that very dark period of my life. I cried on your shoulder. I relied on you for everything, and you never let me down. You supported me through all the worst times of my life; my divorce, almost losing Jonathan to Michael, the nights that could have been lonely if I hadn't had you to share them with. You are so very precious to me; there are times, even now, when I am not sure that you know that."

Tony was humbled and awed by her words.

Angela now had her own bridge to cross, and if she wasn't careful, it could turn into a burned bridge between them; cautiously she started, "you know that every day of my life I run up against men who can't handle the fact that I am a successful woman. I thought you were different, that's one of the things I love about you," she was terrified by the realization that when it came down to it Tony was also intimidated by her success. She tried honesty as a means to bridge the gap, "I always thought that if there ever were an 'us' that we wouldn't have this problem. You've seen the effects of it first hand. I thought you were strong enough. No, I know you are; you've been my strength through so much."

"I've been your strength?"

"Of course, where would I be without you?"

"Probably on the Board of Directors of some big ad agency," he thought, but didn't voice.

Angela intruded on his introspection, "it's sadly ironic, they say the number one thing couples fight about is money. I can't believe I was naïve enough to think it was the lack of money that caused the arguments, I never thought the opposite could be true. Tony, I can't bear to lose you over money, I can't bear to lose you over anything." Her words were achingly honest.

Tony saw the truth in her eyes. He tried to say something, but could think of nothing.

"Tony, can't you think of it as our money?" the second she said the words, she knew they were a mistake, for many reasons. For one, it crossed a line. A man as proud as Tony would never accept her money as his own. All the times she'd tried to help Sam through the years and had been denied told her that. "I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking."

They were both silent, trying to come up with any solution; but Angela was too stunned by this evening's revelations and Tony too worn out from thinking about this all day to come up with any answers.

"Angela, we are both exhausted, let's get some sleep and discuss this in the morning."

It was true, if not physically exhausted, they were both emotionally exhausted.

"You mean alone?" it wasn't really a question.

"Yes, alone."

"Fine," she said sadly. Angela could feel her heart break; never in all the years she had fantasized about a relationship with Tony had it ended so quickly. She always thought they'd be together forever. But if their relationship couldn't work, it was best they find out now, before they were in too deep. She was kidding herself there, she'd been in too deep with him years ago. Now she had to once again face an empty room. Worse, a bereft room that now contained some of the best memories of her life. Briefly, she considered sleeping on the couch, but dismissed the idea as ludicrous. She'd cried herself to sleep many times before, tonight she'd just cry herself to sleep again. It was a very unwelcome change from the way she had drifted off to sleep these past precious few nights.

They walked upstairs and parted. Angela leaned against her bedroom door as she gripped the door knob, "good night, Tony," she said wistfully.

Against his own door, Tony answered, "good night."

They walked into their respective rooms, both feeling raw and worn-out.

Alone, Tony sat on his bed, confronting some demons. His past gnawed at him no matter how often he tried to ignore it. It wasn't Angela who was foremost in his mind at the moment, it was Marie. His current problem was a direct descendant of painful memories of the past. He'd spent so much time on the road trying to be a good provider; but in the end what did it accomplish? He wasn't there for Marie. He lost her, and all he could see was failure; failure to provide for her, failure to protect her, failure to give her the life she deserved. The pattern was repeating, as once again he saw himself not fulfilling what he considered to be his masculine duty to the one he loved.

Dejected, Angela drifted over to the chair by her vanity. She picked up her new nightgown from where she had flung it, hugged it close and broke down. She was feeling sorry for herself and for all those soft, pretty gowns going to waste. She supposed she could return them, but in her heart she didn't want to. But if she and Tony were already finished keeping them around would only cause her more pain, so much unfulfilled promise. Once again she was being rejected for being a successful woman, and she was being rejected by the man she least expected to reject her. She felt her heart break a little more and cried even harder.

The next morning Angela pushed open the door to the kitchen with no enthusiasm. She noticed Tony by the stove, pouring a cup of coffee, she went to the opposite corner of the room to pull the juice out of the fridge.

"Good morning, Angela," the platitude was mockingly absurd this morning, "did you sleep well?" a question that made him cringe the moment he said it.

"No," she answered flatly, "you?"

There was no use in lying, "no."

"You should have more than juice and coffee for breakfast, we never did have dinner last night." The conversation was stilted and awkward this morning.

"I wasn't hungry, still not...it wasn't until we went upstairs that I realized how early it still was, didn't really matter though, I fell asleep quickly." A lie, she was awake for hours and even after she did manage to fall asleep, staying asleep was impossible.

Tony knew she was lying, but there was no point in calling her on it; that would just give her the chance to call him on his sleeping habits last night, and he wasn't about to revisit that hell.

Angela finished her juice, "I'm going for a run."

This didn't surprise Tony, she was certainly dressed for running; what did surprise him was that there was no, "come with?" Angela left the house with only a wave goodbye. He waved back and watched her shut him out as she closed the door.

Tony finished the breakfast cleanup and wondered what he was going to do with the rest of the day. All his plans for the weekend had been destroyed the second Angela placed his paycheck on the table yesterday morning. Needing to get out of the house himself, he left a note for Angela, saying he'd be back in time for dinner, then he spent the day at the library.

Angela returned home after her run, still frustrated. She read Tony's note and it only added annoyance to the frustration. He was avoiding her. Or had she avoided him first by going out for a run? Either way it left her grasping at tendrils of thoughts that wouldn't form into full ideas. Was she mad at him? Mad at herself? Mad at their situation? Not mad at all, just confused and frightened? She felt as though she was being mentally battered by her own feelings and was unable to come to terms with the upheaval in her life over the past day.

She sighed heavily, there was only one way to deal with this, she needed to get out of the house, away from Tony, away from thinking about Tony. Angela went upstairs, got dressed and went in to work.

Angela amazed herself by actually managing to focus on her work. She reviewed the artwork for the Allen campaign; made some minor changes, then looked over the copy in the Stafford file. She treated herself to a delicious lunch, then went back to work and lost herself in the creativity of her business.

Around 2pm, a noise in the outer office startled her. It couldn't be Tony, could it? It would be just like him to have read her note to him and come down to keep her company. At least it would have been before last night. Angela put her work down and opened her office door. The site that greeted her eyes shocked her more than she had ever been shocked in her life.

"Mother?" she asked incredulously, "what are you doing here?"

Mona was also shocked. Angela, here, at the office? When she should have been at home in bed with Tony? This meant trouble in paradise. Mona was devastated, but had to hide it well. Not only did she have to hide that devastation, but she had to cover the fact that she was here on a Saturday to tidy up some of the loose ends Angela had let slip by in her euphoria. She tried the, 'dammit, I've been caught being responsible approach', "believe it or not, Angela, I have a work ethic."

Angela wasn't sure she believed that at all.

Mona continued, "I thought I would have the place to myself today," realizing too late that she shouldn't have said that, it implied that she expected Angela to be elsewhere today and that certain elsewhere was a topic they were both ignoring, so she quickly added, "what are you doing here?" Not much of an improvement, but it evoked a response from Angela.

"What do you mean what am I doing here? I own the place. I played hooky yesterday, remember? Now it's time to make up that work. It still doesn't explain what you're doing here."

"I had some typing to finish."

"Don't lie to me, Mother." Angela was still incredulous her mother was here on a Saturday, usually she couldn't even be bothered to be here Monday through Friday. Had her maternal instinct told her there was something wrong between Tony and herself? No, not even her mother was that good, she'd have no way of knowing that she and Tony had a fight last night, and she was obviously surprised by Angela's presence in the office today.

"It's true."

"Fine." If that was the story her mother was going with, Angela wasn't going to argue. She was tired of arguing with the people she loved the most. She retreated to her office and once again buried herself in her work.

Mona was deeply troubled, she desperately wanted to call Jonathan and Sam to let them know about this most unwanted development, but didn't dare pick up the phone in case Angela overheard the conversation. It was quiet in the office, too quiet. The phone didn't ring, which Mona cursed because it meant Tony wasn't calling. Angela didn't come out of her office all afternoon, which left Mona in a bit of a dilemma. Was now the time to call their bluff? Ask Angela what was bothering her concerning Tony? Every time Mona was close to knocking on Angela's door, she stopped. If Angela wanted to talk with her about this, she would. Obviously, since the door was shut, she didn't. She'd have to leave them alone and hope they worked out whatever had gone wrong, she didn't dare think about what would happen if they didn't solve this crisis.

Mona didn't stay long at the office; partly to give Angela some obviously needed space and partly because she wanted to call Jonathan and Samantha. She yelled through the door that she was leaving, Angela answered her and that was that.

At the library Tony intended to study, he really did. Concentration was a game not granted to him today, though. His scattered thoughts finally came to the conclusion that the choice was simple; either he dealt with this problem, and he realized it was his problem, not Angela's; or he would lose her. It was a bleak choice. For the first time he pictured a future without Angela in it, it looked cold, empty and worst of all, he wasn't even sure where this future was. Back in Brooklyn? Maybe; they were always looking for teachers. He could go home, but wasn't Connecticut his home now? Could he have two homes? "Great," he thought, "two homes, the problems of the rich." He was now back to the money problem. The bottom line was: could he accept that Angela had more money, or could he not?

It was at that moment his studies decided to take center stage, for reasons known only to himself, Hamlet decided to invade his mind and quip, "that is the question."

Tony shrugged away the meddling Dane and gave up on studying for the day. He gathered his books to head home, still trying to come to terms with the state of his current relationship with Angela.

There was no denying it, Angela was going to have to return home at some point today. She threw in the towel at work, gathered some papers into her briefcase and started the long journey out of the City. A journey that provided her with ample time to repeatedly go over last night's discussion. She came to the conclusion that she wasn't giving up Tony without a fight.

Tony arrived home first. He started to make dinner, but then stopped because he didn't know exactly when Angela planned to be home. He wanted to call her, but he didn't want to call her. Would she think he was checking up on her? Being overly intrusive in her life? Angry that such a simple decision had turned into a major event, he went upstairs to change into workout clothes. He indulged in a long work out, then a refreshing shower. Both activities helped clear his mind and he felt better able to handle whatever tonight's conversation with Angela would bring, for he knew that even though they had both retreated to their respective corners today, they still had another round or two to go.

Angela knew Tony was home, his car was here. She went in through the front door, dropped her stuff on the desk and rummaged through the mail; nothing good. Tony didn't come out from the kitchen to greet her, she found she missed that little tradition more than anything. So if he wasn't in the kitchen, where was he? They couldn't very well spend the rest of the night in the house avoiding each other. Well, they could if they really wanted to, but Angela didn't want to. "Tony?" she called out.

"Upstairs, Angela."

That ended that mystery.

"Tony, can I talk with you, please?"

"I'll be right down." He appeared on the landing almost instantly and stopped in his tracks. They looked at each other, both wanting to run to the other, but holding back. Angela broke eye contact, looked to the couch and sighed. Tony walked down the rest of the stairs. The closer he was to her, the more vividly he could see the pain in Angela's eyes.

"Tony, no matter what the outcome, we need to clear the air. I don't like us being evasive with each other, it's not who we are."

"I agree."

She gestured to the couch, they walked over and sat down. Angela didn't stay seated for long, she was too nervous, she was up and pacing. Tony wanted to grasp her hand and bring her focus back to him, but didn't dare touch her.

"So, I guess we have our answer to that longstanding, 'what if?' question," Angela opened, completely turned away from him.

That sounded depressingly final to Tony, "you think it's over, Angela?" he asked very hesitantly.

She shrugged.

"Do you want it to be over?"

She shook her head, clutched her arms around herself and cried.

That was it, Angela could push him away if she wanted, but that wouldn't stop him from making the effort. He walked over to her, put his arms around her and tried to comfort her. She didn't push him away, she put her arms around him and held on for dear life.

"We'll work this out, Angela," he said quietly.

"How?" she asked through a choked sob.

"Some way," he didn't really know the answer, but he knew that she was worth the search to find the answer.

He dried her tears and grabbed a tissue or two. She smiled at him in thanks. They sat back down on the couch, Tony put his arm around her and pulled her close. Angela snuggled in, happy to be so close to him again. They stayed like that for a few minutes, remembering all the reasons they fell in love with each other in the first place.

Angela's memories were mostly happy, but they stopped at one particular moment. She pulled away, not enough to alarm him, but enough to look at him and ask a question that had been at the back of her mind for far too long, "Tony, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Angela, you know you can ask me anything."

"Why...," now that the time had come to ask this question, Angela found her courage failing, but she had to know, "why did you start dating Kathleen?" she blurted out quickly then burrowed her head back onto his shoulder.

That was a question he should have expected, but didn't see coming. "Angela, don't hide from me, please," he gently pulled away so he could look her in the eye. The pain he saw there almost did him in; it sparked a miasma of memories for him; her tears, the way he felt he had betrayed her, the forced smiles. It wasn't easy, but she deserved an answer, "I thought we agreed to wait until I graduated."

She wasn't going to let him get away with that evasiveness, "I didn't know our agreement didn't apply to other people. I waited, you didn't."

Ouch.

She was right, there was no arguing that point.

Angela rose from the couch, turning away to collect her thoughts, "do you think it was easy for me..." even after all this time it still wasn't easy for Angela to think about this. She took a deep breath and started again, "it was a difficult time, Tony; standing by, feeling rejected and hurting. Did you think I would turn you away? Do you know how many times I fantasized about you knocking on my door in the middle of the night?"

A penny dropped for Tony, it suddenly hit him that maybe Angela had intended to knock on his door the day after the Sock Hop for non-business reasons. He was astonished, but tucked that feeling away to focus on working through this mess he had created.

Tony looked down, he wanted to hold Angela, but didn't think that such a gesture would be appreciated at the moment.

"Then I got angry," she dropped.

Tony looked back up, "angry?" he hadn't noticed that, all he'd noticed was her dating as well. He wasn't happy about the situation, but he really couldn't say anything.

"Yes, you were being so hypocritical. Why was it all right for you to date her but not me? If you wanted to hold off on a relationship until after graduation, why was it suddenly all right with Kathleen?" Now Angela was finding her strength.

Tony momentarily looked away, the truth did indeed hurt. "Things were complicated between us, Angela. You were, and still are, my boss."

Angela crossed her arms and turned to him, giving him the 'you know I don't consider that argument valid' look.

Tony got up from the couch and crossed over to her, "Angela, it's easy for you to see that as a non-issue because you are the one whose life is...together. You're established and successful in your career..."

"But Tony, I wouldn't be where I am today without you. You're the one who supported me through my failures; and you know I've had those as well as successes," she shook her head, "I've tried to understand Tony, really I have; but maybe that's just another failure on my part...I just don't."

"You're found, Angela; I was still searching and I needed to be with someone who was at that same place in life. Someone who who wasn't sure where they were going."

"No one is ever sure of where they are going, Tony. Some people may think they are but life has a way of canceling those plans. Just what were you searching for?"

"Me."

"You? Tony, you're you; that thoughtful, caring, strong man you've always been. Who else do you think you are going to find?"

"I don't know, an identity other than 'Sam's Father', I guess. She grew up too quickly."

Angela held her hand out to him, he took it; "Yes, she did, Jonathan too." He nodded in agreement with that.

"But...tonight is not about discussing an empty nest. Angela, I have to know if you forgive me."

"I don't know if I have the right to forgive."

"What do you mean? You are the only one who has that right. I betrayed you." He'd never really forgiven himself for his perceived transgression. It would be up to Angela to grant him absolution.

"Tony, how could you betray me? We had no real commitment to each other. We had a quasi-commitment to maybe someday make a commitment," at least that was the way she rationalized it at the time, in order to block some of the pain. "We always left our relationship so undefined. Maybe it defied definition, I don't know. Was I hurt? Yes. Were there times when I was angry with you? Of course; but to this day I don't know if I was masking the pain by being self-righteous or if you truly did deserve my anger."

"I betrayed you in my heart."

Angela's lip quivered, she scrunched her eyes closed, but it didn't work. Blindly, she reached out to him, he stepped close and held her tightly. She cried unabated for quite some time; it was all too much, too much heartache from the past combined with the emotional roller coaster she'd been on for the past 24 hours. Tony stroked her back as he continually whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Tony grabbed some more tissues from the coffee table, "we're really putting each other through the wringer tonight, aren't we?"

Angela almost managed a laugh at that; she did manage a small smile. He dried her tears, again.

"Tony, there's something you have to know..."

Tony was more than a little frightened, wondering what Angela could possibly tell him.

"Tony, if we work out our issues and re-establish an us...I wouldn't be able to handle it...if...and sort of Kathleen-like situation happened again. I'd be shattered."

"You wouldn't have to worry about that, Angela; and Angela, I'd be shattered too if the situation were reversed." He pulled her back into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"As if," was the unspoken thought in Angela's mind.

There were making progress.

"Tony, can we leave Kathleen in the past? Where she belongs."

"Done."

Tony was not self destructive enough to bring up the fact that according to the state of South Carolina he and Angela had a very defined relationship in the eyes of the law at the time he was dating Kathleen. There was no reason to bring that up at all.

"So where does that leave us, Tony? We still haven't solved our core issue."

"Well, how about we sit down, so we can at least work on this in a little more comfort."

"Good idea." They sat on the couch, Angela once again snuggling up to him. This was indeed much more comfortable.

"So," he said.

"So," she said.

"This isn't accomplishing anything, is it?"

"No, but at least I'm back in your arms, and that's an improvement."

"Yes, it is," he took a deep breath, "Angela, I know I've been a jerk about this money thing."

"I think you're being a little hard on yourself, Tony. Think of it this way; if I hadn't had the money to begin with, then I wouldn't have been able to hire you, and I don't even want to think about what my life would have been like if I had never met you and Sam. It's bleak." She looked up at him and kissed his cheek. He looked at her and kissed her forehead. More progress. "Tony, I don't need you to be a meal ticket. It's time men and women stopped seeing each other that way. You've been my best friend for years. It's true, I don't need you for money. I need you for love; and that's so much more important than money."

For the first time in over 24 hours, they kissed, and that was even better progress.

"However," Angela smiled as they temporarily pulled away from each other, "we still need an answer." She switched to business mode and named some options, "stop working here? Get a job elsewhere and live here? Tony, if I have to choose between you as housekeeper and you as boyfriend, I choose boyfriend; no contest. I can find another housekeeper; but I can't find another you. Of course that poor person would have to put up with you nitpicking everything they do, so I'd have to pay them hazard pay."

"Funny, Angela, very funny," he smiled.

"Tony, we have a business relationship; and we have a personal relationship. It is possible to keep them separate. If I were dating someone from the office..."

"Hey," his eyes narrowed, his jealousy taking over.

Secretly, Angela loved seeing him jealous over any perceived threat, no matter how non-existent.

"Just an example," she soothed his mind, "I don't see any difference between dating someone at the office and dating someone at home."

"You don't?"

"No, I don't."

"It's all a matter of job title. So, how about a new job title," she thought for a moment, "Senior Vice President in Charge of Domestic Affairs."

He raised his eyebrows, "affairs?" Wasn't that what they were trying to avoid?

Angela rolled her eyes, "fine, how about Senior Vice President in Charge of the Domicile."

There was a reason Angela was a successful advertising executive.

He tried out the title, "Senior Vice President in Charge of the Domicile...what, no perks?"

"Oh, there are most definitely perks," she snuggled back in.

"Nice perk." It was a nebulous world they'd just created; one which relied on not looking to deeply at the facts. There was one fact he couldn't ignore though, "Angela, when it comes down to it, you're still the boss."

She pulled away again, because it wasn't important to look him in the eye and say this, "Tony, we transcended the boss and employee relationship years ago. No one's the boss, we're a team; and a damned good one at that."

He wasn't going to argue that point.

They didn't take the time to examine it then; but Angela's statement was the truth of their relationship. It was a truth that resonated in their past, present and would carry through their future as well.

"I'm hungry," Angela suddenly said, "how about a nice peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" She jumped off the couch, heading to the kitchen.

Tony didn't care for her leaving his arms at all, he also didn't care for her choice of meal, "a sandwich? How about a real dinner?"

"Don't want to waste the time," she winked as she left the kitchen door swinging behind her.

Tony was off of that couch and into the kitchen faster than a home run flew out of Shea Stadium.

Angela grabbed the jelly jar from the cabinet and decided it was time to go back to flirting with Tony, "oh Tony," she pouted, "do you want to feel like a man?"

Intrigued, he turned to her, "what did you have in mind?"

She sauntered over to him, effectively trapping him against the counter.

She handed him the object in her hand, "open this jar."

He obliged, the pop of the seal breaking causing Angela to gasp at his manly prowess.

"Was it as good for you as it was for me?" he asked.

Angela held his gaze until she could no longer contain her laughter. She took the jar out of his hand, placed it on the counter and collapsed into his arms, laughing. He put his arms around her and held her tightly, reveling in the sensation of holding her again.

"You know, Tony, I don't think I'm that hungry after all."

"You're not?"

"No," she purred so coquettishly that Tony had to hold her more tightly for support. Angela definitely liked that.

"What do you want to do?" He was prepared for almost any answer here, but Angela still managed to surprise him.

"Have a fashion show."

"A fashion show? Angela, I don't care...oh."

She looked up at him and grinned.

"I didn't realize you purchased a whole new wardrobe."

"Uh huh, care to see?"

"Well, you seem so intent on showing me, how can I say no?"

She smiled, her eyes sparkled and Tony was entranced. The clasped hands and ran all the way upstairs.

The phone rang as they passed it, they ignored it, which made the three anxious people on the other end of the line very happy.