As this whole chapter is currently over 12,000 words (and still counting), I am dividing it into sections. The first is finally ready to be posted, so here it is.

An Unexpected Christmas Present Part One

Christmas. There was almost no word that made Angela happier (although if she were making a list the other words would include: Tony, love, Tony, chocolate, Tony, hugging, kissing, sex, and Tony.) Long her favorite time of year, this year she was especially giddy with anticipation for the holiday season. The decorations, the special culinary treats, the extra special time with family. Family. Angela thought about each treasured member of her family and counted her blessings that she was so lucky to have every one of them in her life; however thoughts of one very beloved person occupied her mind more than the others.

She was sitting on the couch, twirling an ornament in her fingers daydreaming about him when she suddenly heard a thud behind her. She was startled and turned around to see Tony standing by the last box of decorations he'd just brought down from the attic and dropped on the floor. It was finally time to start decorating the living room. Mona would, of course, have nothing to do with decorating, except for dropping off her stocking to be hung by the chimney with someone's else's care. Sam was studying for finals, Jonathan wanted to avoid being around the overly happy couple as much as possible so he made up a lie about having to study at the library and told them he'd be back much later in the day, maybe by the time he returned they'd be slightly less...filled with the spirit of the season. Not likely.

Tony was quite happy with this turn of events, he had definite plans for decorating, and none of them included Mona, Jonathan or Samantha. The stereo was playing Christmas music, right now Jo Stafford was singing about her lack of concern for the cold weather because she had her love to keep her warm. Tony definitely agreed with the sentiment; the song prompted him to put one of his plans into effect. He excused himself to the kitchen for a moment; Angela took the time to open another of the myriad boxes of decorations.

Tony returned, hiding a little something behind his back. Angela didn't see him as she was taking lights out of a box. He snuck up beside her and kissed her. Angela was surprised, but certainly not averse to the detour from decorating. He put an arm around her, pulling her closer, she responded by putting her arms around him; then stopped kissing him when she realized he never put his second arm around her. She looked at him, a silent question on her face. He smiled and flicked his eyes up.

Angela followed his gaze to see his arm extended upward, holding, "mistletoe," she said in a mixture of awe and delight. "I do like the way you decorate," she kissed him again, quickly, "but why is it still in your hand and not hanging from the ceiling?" If the mistletoe were in its proper place his other hand could be on her, where it belonged.

"The mistletoe has to be properly tested," he said with an air of a scientist explaining his latest experiment.

"Tested?" Angela was mystified.

"Have to make sure it works; wouldn't want this year's batch to let us down now would we?" he said much less formally, and with a definite twinkle in his eye.

"No, we certainly couldn't have that," she smiled; he was so thoughtful, and she definitely liked the turns his thoughts took.

He kissed her again, slowly, tenderly and for quite some time.

"So, what do you think?" she asked breathlessly when they finally separated.

"I think it needs more testing."

She laughed quickly as Tony continued with his mistletoe research. He was determined to utilize the mistletoe as often as possible this year. When he finally let go, Angela blushed and leaned her forehead against his, "Tony, you keep kissing me like that and the mistletoe will be the only decoration this house has for the whole season."

As much as that idea appealed to him, he knew practicalities had to be addressed, it certainly would require quite a bit of creative explanation if Mona and Jonathan returned home only to find boxes in the living room and nothing else. He indulged in one more short kiss, then went to bring the step ladder in from the kitchen.

From that year forward the mistletoe was the first decoration to be placed and the last to be taken down. There were even times when Tony considered leaving it up year round. No matter the duration of its stay it was always well tested. Very well tested.

Tony and Angela focused on their task; the decorating, not the kissing, although they did not neglect that task either. They were able to achieve some actual decorating goals despite frequent quick stops to make sure the mistletoe lost none of its effectiveness now that it was hanging from the ceiling. They finished the banister, the mantle, the doors; then called a temporary halt. The tree was scheduled to be decorated after Sam was finished with school for the semester. Angela wanted the whole family there, including her mother, no matter how much she protested. Angela had the perfect tree trimming family event planned, there would be hot chocolate with whipped cream, popcorn, candy canes, fudge; lots of music, laughter and family togetherness. She was in sentimental overload just thinking about how wonderful it was going to be.

Sitting on the couch to survey their handiwork, Tony and Angela glanced around the room, pleased with the results. They toasted their decorating with hot chocolate, "to another Christmas together," Tony declared and they clinked their mugs together. The sounds of Frank Sinatra singing, "Mistletoe and Holly" were floating through the air.

Angela's memories were drifting through their past Christmases, "Tony, the first Christmas you and Sam were here was the best Christmas ever."

"What about this Christmas?"

"This Christmas hasn't happened yet."

"Good point."

"What made that Christmas so good?"

"You and Sam were here, isn't that enough?"

Tony was a little taken aback by this, "Sam and I were that important to you even then?"

Angela put her hot chocolate on the table, Tony followed suit; he could sense this wasn't going to be easy for her.

"Don't underestimate your importance to me, Tony. You and Sam brought such wonderful change with you. The year before was terrible. Michael was in some remote jungle somewhere, as usual; he couldn't even call. Jonathan was heartbroken that his father wasn't here, he tried to hide it, but I could see it in his eyes. I was heartbroken for him, and tried to hide it. Mother just wanted to machete her way to wherever Michael was. What she planned to do with the machete once she found him was another matter entirely. She was furious with him for hurting the two people she loved the most. I gave Jonathan everything he wanted and then some. I knew the presents were no substitute for what he really wanted, but I didn't know what else to do," she started to break down. He wiped her tears away, but had no words of comfort for her, only compassion.

"He kept looking at the front door with the most hopeful expression on his face, even though I told him beforehand that his father would not be home for Christmas. I guess he thought his dad would surprise both of us." To this day Angela's heart broke at the memory of her eager little boy. "Mother tried to help, she spent the whole day playing with him; but the day was...empty somehow. There was no joy. Jonathan went to bed early. Mother and I tucked him in, told him we loved him; then went down to the kitchen and argued about Michael."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, things got better," she kissed his cheek and cuddled up to him.

Tony put his arm around her, but was a little distracted by his own memories. In all the years they'd been together Tony always thought Michael had been around for that Christmas. It was a revelation to him that someone else was having a lousy Christmas that year too. His own 'celebration', if it could have been called that, was subdued. Mrs. Rossini invited them over, fed them well, didn't let them leave early, and spoiled Sam with presents, which Sam appreciated; but they were also no substitute for her recent loss. Tony slipped away for a while during the day and spent some time alone in his father's former apartment, still not able to comprehend that his father was gone; let alone acknowledge the fact that it was Christmas.

"You ok?" A voice permeated his thoughts.

He came back to the present, "sorry, Angela. I was just thinking about how I spent that Christmas."

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry. Here I am blubbering about Jonathan and your own Christmas that year was even worse."

"Don't worry, it got better," he kissed her forehead.

She touched his cheek, remembering the poignancy of their first Christmas together. They'd both been through so much, and even though they didn't realize it at the time, they were picking up the pieces of the past and using them to forge a new future, together.

He remembered the day she helped him clean out his father's apartment. He closed a chapter in his life that day; but there were many more chapters still to be written. If anyone had told him then what some of those chapters would be, he would have been astonished. He also would have told them they were crazy. Going to college? Being engaged to Angela? Neither one of those events was even a speck of chalk dust on the blank slate of his future at the time.

He touched her cheek and leaned forward to kiss her, without the benefit of mistletoe, "thank you again," he said as he pulled away; they dropped their hands into their laps, and held onto each other there.

She smiled, "you're welcome again, but for what?"

"For being the angel that you are. For being there when I needed you the most, the day we cleaned out my father's apartment. I didn't know how much I needed you until you showed up. How did you know?"

She was touched by his words, "everyone needs help when going through something like that. When I got there...I noticed you hadn't done much packing."

He shrugged, a little sheepishly.

She looked him in the eye, "Tony, all I wanted to do was put my arms around you and hold you until the pain went away."

"Why didn't you?"

She gave him an 'are you kidding me' look, "that was a long time ago, Tony, compared to what we are now we were still total strangers then. Even though we were beginning to carefully step over lines, it would have been inappropriate."

"It wouldn't be inappropriate now."

She smiled impishly, "No, it wouldn't."

She put her arms around him, he held her as well. They stayed there, united, for a very long time, both lost in memories, but not letting themselves succumb to any sadness these memories might evoke. Instead they focused on their present happiness.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear, "you've made such a difference in Jonathan's life. Sometimes the words, 'thank you' aren't enough."

"Neither are 'you're welcome', but I'll say it anyway, you're welcome. Angela you've shared your son with me, 'thank you' isn't enough to express my gratitude for that either. He's very important to me, you know."

She knew. "You've always been such a good dad to him, right from the very beginning. You weren't in the house more than two minutes when he was listening to you far more than he had been listening to me."

"I just pointed out the benefits of obeying one's mother."

She laughed, "well, it worked."

"In more ways than one."

She smiled and gave him a quick kiss, wondering how she ever would have managed if she had turned him away that day; and shuddering to think of what her life would be like today if she had gone through with her first decision.

"Thank you for sharing Sam with me, she's one of the most precious gifts of my life."

"Thank you for loving her as your own."

"We're getting a little too sappy with all these 'thank yous', aren't we?"

"There's no one else around to be bothered by our sappiness."

"Be that as it may, I still remember so vividly the second Sam walked through the front door. Here was this beautiful little girl who'd been through so much, she stole my heart, I wanted to make everything all better for her."

"You did; she needed you."

"I needed her too."

They looked at each other, no further 'thank yous' or 'you're welcomes' needing to be said, for the words truly weren't strong enough and they could see the gratitude in each other's eyes. Angela burrowed back into Tony's arms. They continued to hold each other, knowing that even though they had come a long way on their journey, the journey was still unfolding. At least now they would face the future together, hand in hand, instead of trying to force their relationship into a form it had long outgrown.

The hot chocolate grew cold, night was falling; Tony and Angela might have stayed right there on the couch, contentedly holding each other until Jonathan came home, except for one thing.

The music.

Tony felt Angela laugh against his chest, he stroked her back and smiled. It was time for a change of mood. She looked up at him with a twinkle in her eye, and acknowledged the song currently playing, "Tony, you know how I feel about this recording. A classic is a classic; the only real recording of this song is by Bing Crosby."

He mock-gasped, complete with hand over heart, "Angela...The Drifters..."White Christmas"...you know it's my favorite."

"And you know Bing is my favorite. There is no discussion here Tony. "White Christmas" is to be sung by Bing only."

"Angela, I love you, but you're just flat out wrong here."

"Wrong, am I?"

"Uh huh."

"There would be no "White Christmas" for The Drifters to record if Bing hadn't recorded it first."

"How do you know? It would have been a hit no matter who recorded it first."

This was the same 'argument' they'd been having for years; which always ended with neither one of them conceding to the other as to which recording was better. It was one of their favorite holiday games.

"You ready to finish this for the year?"

"Yes."

In years past the argument ended with a handshake, this year the tradition was changed to a kiss.

After they finished kissing; Tony smiled a secretive smile, jumped up from the couch, rushed over to open a drawer, and pulled out a beautifully wrapped present, "Merry Christmas, Angela," he said, sitting down on the couch, obviously eager for her to open the gift.

Angela was happily surprised, "thanks, hon, but it's not Christmas yet."

"This is a private gift, I don't want you to open it in front of anyone else."

Now Angela was most definitely intrigued. "Oh," she said as she took the box from him, "but it's too small to be a lingerie box."

Tony couldn't tell if she was serious or not, "Angela, I did not buy you lingerie for Christmas."

Angela momentarily pretended to be disappointed, which surprised Tony, but then continued her flirting, "Valentine's Day, then?" she asked hopefully, and rather seductively.

Now Tony was floored, took a deep breath to calm himself. He cleared his throat, needing to get the focus back to Christmas, "fine, yes, I will by you lingerie for Valentine's Day," he agreed, a little wary of the glee in Angela's eyes; but he took up the gauntlet, "is there anything in particular you would like?"

"Surprise me," she said with a wicked glint in her eye and a devilish grin.

Even though he was surrounded by it, Tony almost forgot about Christmas.

She opened the box and gasped, "oh, Tony! It's beautiful, thank you!" The box held a delicate necklace, a heart shape made of diamonds. Angela's heart skipped several beats as she kissed him.

Tony was thrilled to see the joy in her eyes, it was clear she loved the gift, "you're welcome; here, let me put it on."

"Thanks."

He draped the necklace on her, she ran over to the mirror to see how it looked and couldn't take her eyes or hands off the necklace.

Tony came up beside her, "merry Christmas Angela" he said; then kissed the necklace, her lips, and a few other places.

"Merry Christmas, Tony. Honey, I was wrong, this is the best Christmas ever."

"And it's not even Christmas itself yet."

She was struck by a dilemma, she touched the necklace, "I can't show this to everyone yet, what do we do about Christmas morning?"

"Don't worry, I have something else for you to open Christmas morning."

"You do? Can I have a hint?"

"Nope," he smirked.

She changed strategy, drawing a finger down his cheek, "I bet I could get you to tell me."

Tony took another very deep breath, "that's an unfair tactic, Angela," he said as he stopped her finger, then moved her hand to kiss her finger.

She pretended to pout; decided to wait until Christmas morning for her other Christmas present, then changed to a serious topic, "Tony, when should we tell everyone about us?"

"I don't know, when do you want to tell?"

"I asked you first."

"Maybe we should go by the fire and discuss it."

"Very funny."

"Seriously Angela, any time is fine with me. You must have some idea, you did bring the subject up."

Even though she had broached the topic, she really didn't have any concrete thoughts. She considered the possibilities, "they'll have to know by Valentine's Day...real Valentine's Day, that is," she smiled in recollection, "I don't want to sneak around for Valentine's Day."

"You think we've been sneaking around?"

"Well, sneaking may be too strong a word; but we haven't exactly been honest with them."

"Should we tell them for a Christmas present?"

Angela considered this possibility, then decided she wasn't quite ready to put an end to their solitude yet, "no, Christmas itself is so happy, it doesn't need anything else to make it happier; and we're not telling them anything they don't already know anyway; we're just confirming it."

"They don't know we're engaged."

"And I don't want Mother's exultant shout for joy to disrupt the neighbors' Christmas."

He laughed, "so, a noisy atmosphere then?" He thought for a moment, "New Year's Eve?"

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea! Everyone will be celebrating already, another reason to celebrate will make it even better."

So it was agreed between them that New Year's Eve would be the night they would finally share their old news, and their new news.

The Christmas season continued to be joyful for Angela, Sam came home and Angela's family tree decorating dream came true. However, there was one plan that bothered her; she still couldn't believe she agreed to it. Several weeks ago her mother had started a campaign to bring the family to Florida to spend Christmas on the sunny beaches, with palm trees as Christmas trees. The first time she brought it up, Angela had vehemently put her foot down. Christmas was an occasion to be spent at home, surround by the love of family gathered in the living room with the cozy warmth of a fire burning in the fireplace. Snow should be softly falling outside as wrapping paper was carelessly torn off the gifts inside. There should be food, succulent delights lovingly prepared by Tony, with the family gathered around the table, enjoying each other's company. That was Christmas in Angela's mind and she would not consider any other plan.

Mona amended her idea, if Angela didn't want to spent Christmas itself in Florida, she'd convince her to spend the post-Christmas week in Florida. Jonathan, Sam, and Tony would all be on break from school; she pointed out that the students deserved a break from cold, blustery, icy Connecticut. However, it was Mona's strongest argument that was the deciding factor for Angela. Mona pointed out that there were very few chances left to take a family vacation together. This last point shocked Angela to her core and she agreed to the trip. Her mother promised to make all the arrangements. This in itself should have been a warning to Angela, but as she wanted as little to do with this trip as possible, and was too distracted by Tony; she let her mother make all the arrangements; and she did, every last one of them.

Angela didn't think much about the trip, it was Christmas itself she was focused on, in her mind the trip was an afterthought, a minor part of the seasonal celebration. Sam was home and sleeping in her old room, Jonathan moved back upstairs when Sam came home, so he was sleeping in his old room. Unfortunately for Angela, the kids being home meant that Tony was also sleeping in his old room. It was the only damper on her otherwise happy holiday season; but if it meant having the kids at home for a little bit longer, even she would make the sacrifice of sleeping alone.

Christmas morning arrived and Angela was more excited than the kids. She threw on her pink bathrobe and rushed out into the hallway to give the kids Christmas hugs, they went downstairs to see Mona shaking presents. Tony was also downstairs, starting a fire.

"'Bout time you sleepy heads got down here, I've already identified most of the presents."

"Merry Christmas, Mother," Angela walked over to hug her mother.

"Merry Christmas, honey," Mona hugged back. Angela turned her attention to the pile of presents under the tree.

Mona turned her attention to Sam and Jonathan, she pointed to her neck. The kids nodded conspiratorially. Grins appeared on all their faces. "Merry Christmas, kids," Mona hugged them both, knowing that this was indeed a very merry Christmas.

Tony turned away from the fireplace to see Angela bending over the presents, his face fell, for dangling from Angela's neck was his Christmas present to her, the heart necklace. Up until today she'd been wearing the necklace to bed and taking off in the morning; at least until this morning when she'd been so excited that she'd neglected to remove it. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the rest of the family had seen it too. He had to do some damage control, he grabbed her hand, inwardly relieved to note that she had remembered to take off her engagement ring, "Angela, I need to discuss the...turkey with you in the kitchen...now."

"Tony, what do I know about turkey?" she protested, true enough; plus she didn't want to go to the kitchen when their were so many beautiful presents right here.

"You know what it tastes like, that's all that's important right now," and with that he pulled her into the kitchen.

High fives were exchanged between Mona, Sam and Jonathan. "I can't wait 'til Mrs. Rossini gets here to tell her about this," Sam was practically jumping up and down for joy from the sight of that beautiful necklace. "I want a relationship like that someday," she sighed.

"Just remember, kiddo, that relationship took seven years of give and take; and sometimes even pain," Mona reminded her; but Sam wasn't paying much attention, she was too lost in dreams of romance.

In the kitchen Angela protested, "Tony, why did you almost drag me in here? Obviously it has nothing to do with turkey."

He put his arms around her neck; she smiled, if he wanted a good morning Christmas kiss, being alone in the kitchen was a good way to go about it. But he didn't kiss her, instead he touched the back of her neck. Angela wasn't arguing with the sensation, it was rather nice; but then reality struck and she gasped, "Oh Tony, I'm sorry."

Tony pulled his hands away, now holding the necklace.

"You think we should tell them?"

"They aren't going to confront us, Angela; they'll pretend they didn't see it. They are leaving the ball in our court."

"I still want to wait then."

"OK."

She slipped the necklace into a pocket of her robe. They tested the mistletoe in the kitchen, even though they had to improvise and use bay leaves as mistletoe, then returned to the family for the frenzy of present opening.

No mention was made of the necklace, by anyone.

Mrs. Rossini eventually arrived, carrying all sorts of Christmas delicacies. Sam rushed to help unburden her, she almost rudely grabbed the food out of Mrs. Rossini's hands in her eagerness to drag her up to her room and let her in on the latest news. It was a good thing Sam closed the door behind them because otherwise Mrs. Rossini's shout for joy would have been even louder. Everyone heard it anyway, but they all chose to conveniently ignore it; especially Tony and Angela.

The family enjoyed every second of their Christmas together. Angela still couldn't quite grasp the fact that they, except for Mrs. Rossini; who couldn't get away from the fish store for that long, would be boarding a plane for Florida early tomorrow, but she'd confront that in the morning. Today she reveled in the joy of home and family, grateful to be surrounded by so much love.