Author's note: Thanks, stayathomemum, for your constant support ...

6

After her long and open talk with Tony and Angela, Lynnie had the feeling that she was finally able to unravel the knot in her stomach, which had been sitting there ever since she had overheard her father's proposal. She felt lighter and her carefree teenage spirit returned. Her 16th birthday was coming up, and she finally had the nerve to think about her birthday party. Before all this had happened, she had planned a party with all her friends - girls and boys - food, drinks, music and dancing, with some making out later on during a slow dance maybe. Brian would stand in line for the kissing part, or Adrian, both really cute, good-looking and popular guys. Sex was still out of the question for her. She knew all the facts of life, even though her father had hardly gotten a single helpful word out of his mouth when he had once tried to talk to her about it. Her mother had always put her off until some other time when she was old enough to have it, so it had been Angela who had told her everything about protection as well as waiting for the right person and the right moment.

Lynnie was a normal 15-year-old girl, adoring the so-called 'cool' boys and fantasizing about her dream prince, but the story of her parents and Angela had given her food for a lot of thought. She had learned that love could also be very painful and that somebody else's feelings were by no means something to easily fool around with. So making out with some dude just because all the other girls wanted to make out with him seemed inappropriate to her at the moment. Maybe if Tony had told her that his first adult kiss had been born out of a bet, she might've changed her mind, but he hadn't. So she had altered her plans for her birthday party and had decided to ask her father about it.

"Dad, I have made up my mind about my birthday party."

"How many friends are you going to invite?" Tony asked, already trying to calculate the amount of food he had to prepare.

"I want to do something different this year."

"Oh, ..."

Lynnie hesitated. He might not like what she had already set her mind on.

"Come on, spit it out! Unless you want me to send you on a luxury cruise to the Bahamas with your friends," he tried to tease her.

"I'd prefer just a family celebration."

"But we always have a family celebration plus a party with your friends," he asked surprised, not getting what Lynnie was trying to say.

"I'd like to have a celebration with my entire family, not only the traditional birthday dinner here at home with Sammy, Angela and you. I'd like to go to a nice restaurant, and I want to have everybody there - Sam, Angela, Mona, Jonathan, you, and ..."

"Aaaand?" Tony probed, silently hoping she wouldn't be saying what he was afraid she would be saying.

"Mom."

Tony sucked in his breath. "I don't know whether this is such a good idea, Sweetheart."

"I know that it won't be easy, but this is my only birthday wish, ... for all of you! You don't have to get me anything else, not even the car I asked you for! I just want to have all the people around me who are important in my life. You are all adults, you should be able to make it through one single evening without being at each other's throat," she stated, one eyebrow raised.

'Smart remark,' Tony thought, but wasn't convinced that it would really work. "I don't know how Angela feels about it, and I'm pretty sure your mother won't like it at all!" he pointed out.

"Well, it's my birthday, and I get to decide what my party will be like. And this is how it's gonna be! Basta!" Lynnie could be stubborn like donkey if she had set her mind on something.

"Alright, birthday girl. At your own risk! Invite everybody you want to have at your party, see who shows up, and wait what's gonna happen. I'm sure it will be an evening to remember!" He wanted to add 'one way or another' but bit his tongue. He hoped that Kathleen would simply refuse to come if Angela with her mother and son would be there too. But he wasn't too sure about it, thinking back to the silly pass she had made at him the other day. Quite the contrary, he was afraid that Kathleen might seize the chance for a big scene, but he also knew that it would be hopeless trying to talk his daughter out of her plan.

The day had finally arrived; Lynnie's 16th birthday.

None of the adults had dared to deny the girl's one and only birthday wish, not even Kathleen. Everybody felt responsible to have caused her emotional distress, albeit to a very different extent. Kathleen had first thought of telling her daughter that she didn't number the Bowers among her family. But then she had changed her mind, willing to wait for a better moment to tell her.

Tony had mixed feelings about the event. He had never been comfortable with Angela and Kathleen meeting each other, beginning with the day Angela had secretly invited his study group over to their house after his first night with his now ex-wife. He knew that Angela was a strong woman, able to keep her emotions under control, and bent on not spoiling Lynnie's party. But he wasn't sure about Kathleen. He knew that she was capable of doing anything to dare both of them, disregarding that it was supposed to be her daughter's big day.

Angela was simply dreading the day. Sitting at the same table with Kathleen for an entire evening, bearing her barbed remarks, and to top it all, having her mother watching the show seemed to be a nightmare come true. But it was Lynnie's wish, so she complied. She planned to sit right between Jonathan and Tony and spend the evening talking mainly to them. The week before, Lynnie and she had looked for a nice place and had finally made a reservation at a new, stylish restaurant in New York City. Not too expensive, but still a bit fancy. Anyhow, it was her 16th birthday, and Angela wanted it to be special.

The day of Lynnie's birthday was a tough working day for Angela. She had an exhausting meeting with a difficult client in the morning, a business lunch with a fellow ad exec, a conference call with her banker and her tax accountant late afternoon, and last but not least, a job interview with a promising art director right before she had to leave for the celebration. So Angela arrived at the restaurant later than the other guests, with everybody being seated already at the table Lynnie and she had picked out the other day. Jonathan was sitting between her mother and Sam, so there was no way Angela could sit where she had planned to. Lynnie was framed by her two parents, and neither Sam nor Mona had been too eager to sit next to Kathleen, but Tony had been so thoughtful as to save the place on his right for Angela, so that Sam had finally pulled out the chair next to her ex-stepmother.

"Hello everybody, sorry for being late. My last appointment took a little longer than expected."

"Hi, Honey," Tony welcomed her and placed a quick peck on her cheek, "have a seat. We've just ordered the champagne to toast Lynnie."

"Couldn't you make in time just once, Angela? Does your business always have to be more important than private matters?" Kathleen threw in the ring, rolling her eyes. She didn't like the appearance Angela was making with being the last guest to show up, plus nobody seemed to mind her delay.

"Mom!" Lynnie defended Angela, "it's okay. Angela asked me whether she should reschedule the last job interview and I said no." She raised her glass, threw everybody a joyful smile and continued, "I'm really glad that you're all here for my 16th birthday. Now let's eat, drink, and talk, and just have a good time."

"To you, Lynnie," Tony said, almost overflowing with pride. "To Lynnie," the others joined in in unison.

"Angela, would you please be so kind and take a picture of my daughter, my husband and me to commemorate our little family's celebration."

Everybody noticed that she had said 'husband' instead of 'ex-husband', and everybody knew that it had not been a Freudian slip, especially Angela. But she swallowed down her anger and resisted the temptation to correct Kathleen. She didn't want to add fuel to the flames. "Sure," she said instead, took the camera from Kathleen's hand and waited for them to pose for the picture. Holding the camera up to find the best angle for the shot, she could see how Kathleen made Lynnie stand in the middle between Tony and her, then she laid her hand around her ex-husband's shoulder and pulled him so close that their cheeks almost touched.

"Okay, cheese everybody," Angela said, then released the shutter. "One more?"

"Yes, please. Now I'd like to have one with Lynnie on my right and you, Tony, on my left." They readjusted their positions, and this time Kathleen laid her arms around their waists, Lynnie's as well as Tony's. He wasn't comfortable with it at all but didn't want to make a fuss about it either. So he smiled weakly into the camera, hoping that the shooting would be over quickly.

"Smile!" Angela told them and took another few photos.

"Thanks so much, Angela," Kathleen said sugar-sweetly, taking the camera from her. "These belong in our family album. It's a birthday tradition from early on."

Another pill for Angela to swallow. She asked herself how much more often Kathleen would use the words 'family' and 'husband'. She was well aware they were only meant for her. They were the knife Kathleen kept twisting in her wound. But Angela was strong, and she was determined to make it through that evening putting a good face to the matter - for Lynnie's sake.

After the starter had been served, Kathleen played her next card. "Remember when we brought Lynnie home from the hospital, Tony? I can't believe that that was 16 years ago! She was so cute, wasn't she?"

"She was," Tony picked up Kathleen's cue, smiling at his daughter.

"Only that your bliss wasn't meant to be perpetual, Kathleen!" Mona couldn't bite back that snide remark. She had come with the expectation to have been offered a good show between Kathleen and Angela; and they didn't disappoint her. Not at all. Only that Angela took in too much. Why didn't she retaliate at all?

"Sometimes you try hard but fail anyway," Kathleen said.

"Uh huh," was Mona's only comment. She received a warning look from Angela who wanted her mother to keep her tongue in check.

They were interrupted once again by the waiters who served the main course, a marinated tuna steak with artichokes, Lynnie's favorite. Sam tried to lead the conversation to a less sensitive topic. She felt the tension at the table like everyone else. "Lynnie, did I ever tell you about the first car Dad got me when I was 16?"

"That was a very reliable and secure car, Samantha!" Tony replied earnestly and exhaled imperceptibly. He glimpsed at Sam, thankful for her try to lighten up the atmosphere. Jonathan also had to contribute something to the matter, comparing Sam's car to a school bus, so a more joyful talk adjoined; at least for some time.

Angela didn't realize so much of it though. She concentrated on herself, poking at her food without really having an appetite, repeating silently a mantra to herself, 'You can do this, Angela, don't let her provoke you!' She only did this for Lynnie. If someone had asked her what she wanted, she would've preferred a nice cozy evening on the couch with Tony giving her a relaxing foot massage. Her feet were killing her, she had a terrible headache and was exhausted after this long, tiring day at the agency, and this woman didn't have anything else to do but to constantly torment her.

Mona, who realized how tense Angela was, tried to run rings around Kathleen again. If Angela had decided to surrender to her, so be it, but she wasn't willing to let her daughter made look like a fool.

"Kathleen, why isn't your boyfriend here? What was his name again, ...?"

Kathleen cleared her throat, "Leif. His name was Leif Penderton."

"Oh, right. That gallery owner. What happened? Did he return to his wife and kids?" Aaaawww, that felt so good! Mona enjoyed the annoyed expression showing up on Kathleen's face.

"No, we've just grown apart. And I was the one who dumped him!"

"Of course you were," Mona murmured.

"Mother!" Angela would've kicked her in the shin if she hadn't been seated too far away from her at the opposite side of the table.

It was again the waiters who made the squabblers return to their respective corners. They cleared the table to bring the dessert. It would be a crêpe Suzette flambéed right at the table by the chief pastry cook. Something Angela had been looking forward to, having a sweet tooth, but now she was afraid she might vomit.

"This dessert reminds me of the time we were in Paris," Kathleen hijacked the conversation again, "I had to go on a business trip there and was allowed to take my husband and daughter with me. That was a wonderful vacation, wasn't it, Tony? Lynnie was only three years old. We had this cute tiny apartment close to the Eiffel Tower with no place to put Lynnie's cot, so we took her into our narrow bed and she slept in the middle between us. France is so romantic!"

"Mom, I haven't planned to walk down memory lane for the entire evening. I'm not getting married or something, we're celebrating my 16th birthday, nothing else."

"Aaaww Lynnie, let your mother delight in the good old times. These memories are so precious!"

"Kathleen," Tony whispered to her through gritted teeth.

"What? Are you repressing your memories? Are you afraid that allowing them back into your conscience would make you wish back to what we had? A family life?"

Angela jumped off her chair, almost tipping it over, and hissed, "I won't listen to this anymore," and left the table. She was afraid she might scream at Kathleen or burst out into tears, which would've been even worse. So she excused herself, and hurried on to the patio as fast as her high heels and aching feet would let her. "Enough!" Tony shouted simultaneously, "Would you stop it now, Kathleen! We've heard enough of your little storiettes. We're here to celebrate Lynnie's birthday and not to listen to your tawdry tales of the past. Is the only reason you came here tonight to tease Angela?"

"Oh, how gallant of you to defend your little girlfriend, Tony," Kathleen mocked him.

"Angela's not 'my little girlfriend', Kathleen!" Tony spat out, working hard to keep his anger under control so that he didn't strangle her. He felt sorry for Lynnie, for he was sure that she had somehow pictured this evening to be a fresh start for her family, but it had turned out exactly the way he had feared it would. And he knew that he had to back up Angela, that if he didn't put his ex-wife in her place now and here, she would never stop. "We've had our time, Kathleen, but it's over. Do you hear what I say? O-V-E-R ... over! I'm with Angela now, after ten years you should've noticed. The sooner you accept that you are Lynnie's mother to me and nothing else, the better. For all of us!" Turning to Lynnie he added, "Sorry, Sweetheart," then left the table to follow Angela on the patio.

"Huh? What's his problem? If she can't stand that the three of us have a history together, then she has to stay away from events like this." Kathleen shrugged and rolled her eyes.

"No, Mom!"

"Excuse me?"

"I invited Angela, and I wanted her to be here because she's good to me and because I love her."

"Love her?" Kathleen gasped.

"Yes, I love her. I consider her part of my family, and she is my guest just as you are. But if you're not able to behave like an adult and decide to tease her like a toddler without manners, then I'm afraid you're the one who has to leave."

Silence fell onto the table. Nobody dared to breathe. Everybody stared at Lynnie aghast, only Mona jubilated inwardly and couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from slowly transforming into a slight grin.

"I beg your pardon? Are you telling your mother to leave?"

"No, I'm asking my mother to respect my other guests. This is my party. So if you want to stay until after the dessert, you better talk about something else but the time you were still married to Dad, because it's just rude to do that in front of Angela. Do you think you can do that, Mom?"

"Tee hee, I didn't know that she was so sensitive, ..." Kathleen dabbed her lips with the napkin and took a sip of wine. "But if you ask me this nicely, Lynnie," she glared at her daughter, "I'll keep my mouth shut from now on."

"Good!" Lynnie nodded, than waved the waiter over. "Excuse me, one more bottle of red wine please, and you may bring the dessert now."

"I'd be glad to, Miss," the waiter replied with an appreciative nod. Seldom had he seen a teenager this mature.

While the rest of the party was still trying to gather their thoughts, Tony joined Angela on the patio. She was leaning against a pillar, her arms folded in front of her, staring into the darkness.

"Here you are, Angela," Tony said in his soothing voice, "I brought your coat. It's cold outside, Honey." He put the coat around her shoulders, stroked her upper arms gently a few times, then whispered into her ear, "I'm sorry."

Angela turned around, her facial expression earnest. "Why is she doing this all the time, Tony? What is she trying to achieve? Does she really want you back? Is she still in love with you? Or does she simply want to make me feel bad? I don't get it!"

"I don't know, Angela. I've never really understood this woman." Tony took a few steps away from Angela, putting his hands in his pockets. "Maybe she thinks that as long as we're not married, there's still a chance that we might get back together, I don't know. But I don't care, because all I have to say to this is that I don't want her back. I'm in love with you!" He turned around to meet Angela's eyes. "Why don't you marry me, then she'd know that we belong together for good!"

"Tony, I don't want to marry you just to wave away Kathleen. If I marry you, it's because I love you and because I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"But I thought you'd do that already!"

"I do, Tony, you know I do. Let's just not talk about it tonight, okay!?"

"Okay." Tony pulled her close and leaned in for a kiss. As soon as his lips touched hers, Angela surrendered and their kiss became fervent and passionate, then gentle and loving again at the end.

"Mmmm," Angela moaned, "your kisses are like a sweet remedy."

"I'm a good kisser, aren't I?" Tony grinned.

"The best!"

They fell into each other's arms and laughed. Maybe they wouldn't have, if they had seen Kathleen hiding behind a thick bush. She had come outside to have a cigarette to calm down her nerves after being berated by her own daughter. Then she had heard the familiar voices and hadn't been able to withstand the temptation to eavesdrop.

'Don't count me out of the game just yet, you two!' she thought to herself, 'You might've won this round, but the condemned live longer!' A plan was already forming in her head, which gave her a great deal of self-satisfaction. She left the scene with a devilish grin on her face, safe in the knowledge that she wasn't done yet.

Angela was sitting at her desk at The Bower Agency. Thinking about how yesterday's birthday party had turned out gave a goosebumps. If Lynnie had asked her yesterday whether she despised her mother, she would've said yes. Why couldn't she just vanish out of their lives like Michael had vanished out of hers after their divorce? Would it really change if she married Tony? She doubted it. Poor Lynnie! She had wanted to bring everybody closer together, but the exact opposite had happened.

Angela was still lost in thoughts when she heard someone yelling, "Hello?" in the entrance hall. "Hello! Anybody here?" Angela peeked at her watch. It was past 6pm already, all of her staff had left the agency. She remembered that her mother had excused herself to make a lengthy phone call to fix a date with her latest squeeze, a grey-haired but still good-looking journalist in his late-sixties. So she got up to see who was there and almost dropped dead when she recognized the caller.

"If you think that now that you stole my husband from me you can have my daughter too, you're mistaken, Angela! When the two of you get married, I will take Gwendolyn to live with me!" Kathleen came right to the point, without any prefaces or courtesies.

"Kathleen? What are you doing here? Can't you just leave me alone?"

"No! I won't let you steal all the people who are dear to me!" Kathleen explained her being there. "One after the other. First Tony, and now my daughter."

"I stole Tony from you?" Angela asked, raising her eyebrows. "It amazes me how you're twisting the facts, Kathleen!" She shook her head. Lifting her chin she continued, "I didn't have to steal Tony from you, he came to me on his own free will. You're mixing things up here I'm afraid. You were the one who tricked him into marriage and blackmailed to take Lynnie away from him if he didn't break off his friendship to me."

"Be that as it may, but Gwen is mine! She's my daughter. No matter how many years she lives in your house, she's my flesh and blood!"

"I've never interfered with Lynnie and you. I know that a child of divorce needs both parents."

"Oh, how overly generous of you! Always so noble and perfect, Angela, hovering above the rest of us!"

"What are you talking about?" Angela furrowed her eyebrows.

"People like you think the world belongs to them."

"People like me?"

"Yes, people like you! The so-called 'upper class'! Just because you live in big houses, go to private schools, join country clubs, and run businesses, you think you can have everything anytime and anywhere. Come on, Angela, admit it! It bugs you to this very day that I had the edge over you with Tony, that you were outwitted by someone of my social class."

Angela stared at her in complete bewilderment. Was she really serious with what she was saying?

"You know what, Kathleen? I wonder whether you've ever truly loved Tony, or whether this has been nothing but a challenge for you."

"A challenge I won!" She grinned self-satisfied. "And will continue to do so!" Kathleen stared at Angela with burning eyes. "And I'm warning you! Don't you dare drive a wedge between my daughter and me by telling her about today's little chat."

Angela's knees started to turn to jelly upon hearing the hostility in Kathleen's voice. What had she done to arouse so much hatred within this woman?

"You used an unborn child to carry out your goals and now you're willing to use your daughter once again as leverage. You don't care about anybody's needs but your own, Kathleen. But this time it's not going to work, I'm afraid. Lynnie is not a baby anymore. She's a smart and strong young woman who is able to decide where she wants to live. You might've been able to manipulate Tony and me, but with Lynnie you'll be left standing, I'm sure. But don't you worry, I won't tell her anything about this unpleasant conversation. Not because you told me so, but rather to protect Lynnie. I don't want her to find out what a calculating and manipulative person her mother is."

"Too late, Angela! I've just found out!"

The voice they heard made both women's blood run cold immediately. Angela and Kathleen had been so caught up in their argument that none of them had noticed the two teenagers standing in the entrance hall of the agency, staring at them with wide eyes and open mouths.

Lynnie and her friend Emma had been on a shopping trip after school through some of New York's most trendy boutiques and had ended up in Angela's office because Lynnie had wanted to ask her for a ride home. She hadn't expected to find her mother there of course, bickering in the reception area. The girl had dropped her shopping bags, which were now scattered right and left beside her feet uncared for, and wasn't able to believe what her mother had said.

Until now, Lynnie had tried to remain impartial. She had listened to what her mother had told her, and to what Angela and her father had told her, trying to make up her very own interpretation of the past. She had simply refused to believe that her Mom had used her as a means to bind her father. But now she wasn't able to keep up the illusion any longer; she had heard it coming from her mother's mouth herself. She had never loved her just on her behalf! She had been conceived, born and raised only to manipulate her Dad.

Lynnie's world started to tumble and she felt a large black deep gap opening up under her feet threatening to devour her. She used to have a quick tongue, but at this moment she lacked both the words and the energy to confront her mother. She turned on the spot and ran from the premises, leaving her shopping bags behind right where she had dropped them. Emma gave Angela, whom she also knew well, a quick glance, then darted after her friend without saying a word.

"Great! That's what comes of it! Now you did manage to make me fall out with my daughter! I hope you're happy now!" Kathleen glared hostilely at Angela once more, then flipped her hair and left the agency with bounding strides, her nose held up high. In an attempt to regain the equilibrium the unjustified accuse threatened to take away from her, Angela took two quick steps up to her mother's desk and collapsed into her chair. Her face was all pale and her breath shallow.

"Inhale deeply, Dear!" Mona told her. "Inhale, exhale! Inhale, exhale!" She underlined her words with inhaling and exhaling deeply herself.

"Did you hear what she said, Mother?"

"It was impossible not to hear it, Angela! I bet the pharmacist at the corner knows now that Tony proposed. I'm just a bit disappointed that he found out the same moment I did. Why didn't you tell me?"

"That's the least of my problems now, Mother! I have to find Lynnie, the poor girl must be devastated."

"Emma is with her, let her be. I can imagine she prefers to not have any adult around at the moment anyway."

Mona sat on her desk right in front of Angela who was still sitting in her mother's chair. She scrutinized her, staring at her until Angela's eyes finally met hers.

"Why haven't you told me that Tony proposed, Angela? I'm your mother. I deserve to know."

"There's nothing to tell. We won't get married."

"You didn't accept?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Angela sighed.

"Not because Kathleen doesn't want you to, I hope!"

"No, of course not!" Angela replied indignantly.

"So? Why then?"

After a short moment of contemplating whether or not it was wise to tell her mother about her misgivings and why the thought of getting married to Tony made her sad and not happy, Angela poured her heart out to her. She told her everything, from her feeling of inadequacy because she hadn't been able to give Tony a child, to the burning ache she couldn't get rid of that Tony, Lynnie and Kathleen were connected through the bond she so badly missed. From the pain of having lost so many years with Tony she still felt sometimes, to the regret which tormented her soul once in a while that she had been too proud of fight harder against Kathleen all those years ago.

"My poor baby!" Mona said full of compassion, "Why don't you seize this chance then, Angela? Tony has more than made up for his indiscretion, don't you think? He has thrown roses at your feet whenever and wherever possible. You share your life with him - and to my greatest joy your bed as well! - for so many years now, what's so weird with marrying him eventually? I don't understand!"

"I don't understand it either, Mother. Maybe I don't want to take Kathleen's place as his wife."

"Oh, you wouldn't be doing that. The imprint she's left on Tony's life it too insignificant for you to worry about."

"And here you are mistaken. The imprint she's left is so big that I will never be able to fill it." Angela sounded disillusioned.

"You mean Lynnie?"

"Of course I mean Lynnie!"

"What's so special about her, Angela? I don't get it! Marie has left him Samantha, and Michael has left you Jonathan. People your age bring assets from previous partners into their relationships."

"Well, you can't really compare Lynnie's situation to Sam's and Jonathan's."

"Why not? If you hadn't escaped from Kathleen yesterday but socked her right on the jaw, you would've heard what Lynnie said."

"What did she say?"

"That she loved you!"

Angela stared at her mother, and Mona gave her a moment to let that sink in before she topped it with telling her how the girl had asked her mother to leave if she wouldn't be willing and able to stop being so rude.

"Tony and you can call yourself lucky that you get along so well with all three kids. You are a picture-perfect patchwork family! New age sociologists would take great delight in presenting you as a role model for modern cohabitation. Now gulp down your hard feelings about Tony's odyssey with whatsherface and allow yourself your own share of happiness. You deserve it, Angela!"

"I don't know, Mother."

"Why on earth are you so self-conscious about Tony and you getting married? You fit perfectly with each other. Tony's been in love with you for almost 25 years, and you with him!"

Angela had literally hung at her mother's words during her deliberations. And she couldn't deny that she had a point. If she was honest with herself, she had to admit that it was easier to blame Kathleen for having interfered with her life planning than facing the circumstances as they were and making the best of it. And the best was Tony! There was no doubt about it. And Lynnie belonged to him just like Sam belonged to him, and Jonathan did to her. Her mother was right. Why had she never seen it this way? They were good together, all five of them, better than many 'normal' families in which all members were blood-related. And they had a life-experienced, red-haired and quick-witted grandmother to top it all!

Maybe that was their secret? That they chose to share their lives, free and unbound, that they were committed through love and devotion, and not through biology? As a matter of fact, the logical continuation of this line of thought would be that Tony and she also didn't need a wedding certificate to prove their commitment to one another. But if Angela looked deeply into her heart and soul she knew that she had dreamed of becoming Mrs. Anthony Micelli for the longest time.

"Angela, I can see that you're contemplating. Good! But remember not to think too much, Dear! It's a mistake you've made too often in your life."

"Thanks for reminding me, Mother, but you can relax. I believe I'm on course just fine," Angela said with a smile on her face and a warm, fuzzy feeling in her stomach.