Author's note: Dear readers, sorry for letting you wait so long for this to continue. The muse must've been busy elsewhere until she finally came back to me. There are two more chapters on the way, and this time it won't take me that long to update. As always, I appreciate your comments.

17

"They're here! They're here!" Lynnie shouted through the entire house.

Mona and she were the only two people remaining of the bridal party from the day before. After Tony and Angela had left the nightclub, Jonathan and Emily had been next to grab their belongings and head home - they had a child-free night ahead of them and wanted to enjoy it. The others had stayed for a little while longer, listening to the great music, enjoying the cocktails, and some dancing. Mona had done her best to keep an eye on teenage Lynnie. She had even abstained from flirting with a handsome, gray-haired gentleman who was sitting on a bar stool in an airy manner, giving her the eye. Angela would've patted her on the shoulder, hadn't she been otherwise occupied.

At some point, the Fergusons and Wittners had left for their homes, and so Mona, Sam, and Lynnie had also left the club. They had taken a cab to 3344 Oak Hills Drive, but they had been in such high spirits that none of them had been able to go to sleep. So they had ended up at the kitchen table in their robes and had chatted and laughed, contemplating about the love birds and their wedding night. All PG 16-ish, of course, since Lynnie was still too young to openly talk about sex. Sam had stayed overnight in Fairfield but had taken an early train back to New York City, so the newlyweds' welcoming committee consisted only of the youngest and the oldest member of their family.

Lynnie tore the front door open and found her father and Angela deeply involved in a kiss. "Oh, hi! Uh, sorry," she mumbled and giggled away her embarrassment.

"Aren't you afraid of getting an overdose?" Mona ragged them, but silently rejoiced to see them express their feelings so openly.

"There's never too much kissing, Mona!" Tony explained, strengthening his words with another quick peck on Angela's mouth, then lifted her effortlessly and carried her over the threshold.

"Aaaawww," Lynnie uttered with a rapturous look on her face. "That's so romantic, Dad!"

"I'm glad you spared me the fireman's lift this time."

Tony pretended to catch up on that. "Want me to carry you upstairs?"

"Oh please!" Mona exclaimed, "Children are present! And besides, haven't you had enough of this since you left the club?"

"Angela wanted to take a bath, Mona! That's why I offered to carry her upstairs!"

"Alone?"

"Mona!"

"What?"

"Children are present!" Tony said, winking in Lynnie's direction.

"Dad! Mona! I'm not a baby anymore. I know very well what wedding nights are for."

"What do mean 'very well'?" overprotective Tony now looked at his daughter sternly.

"Oh my, not from experience, Dad. Would you please loosen up!"

"I need a drink," Angela now said to end the conversation and passed from view into the kitchen, Mona at her heels, leaving Tony and Lynnie alone in the living room.

Tony turned to his daughter, "Have you been to the appointment with your mother today like scheduled?"

He was afraid that Lynnie had canceled. Again. She had already done that twice, much to the chagrin of both her parents. Kathleen and Lynnie were supposed to meet and talk to a family therapist because it had become clear very quickly that mother and daughter weren't able to talk to each other without reproaching and abusing each other. They hadn't been getting anywhere just talking, so Angela had proposed to ask for professional help and had recommended a family therapist. Tony hadn't been happy that Kathleen had scheduled the appointment for the day after the wedding because he knew she had done it on purpose. But he really wanted them to make up because he also knew that if Kathleen and Lynnie went along better it would also make Angela's and his married life easier.

"Yes, Dad. I promised I would go, and I kept my promise."

"Good girl," Tony replied, somewhat relieved. "How did it go?"

"Okay."

"What did you talk about?"

"General stuff."

"Can you be a bit more precise than that?"

Lynnie wasn't really in the mood to tell more. It had been a rather uncomfortable meeting. Her mother hadn't been very cooperative, but touchy and iffy, unwilling to answer the therapist's questions openly or without reservation. Only when Lynnie had threatened to leave had she begun to take the whole thing a bit more seriously.

"Well, it was our first session. He just asked me about mother-daughter-moments I remember."

"And?"

"What can I say, there weren't so many, at least not so many I could think of. I was six when you split up. I told him about the time we were at the zoo and she bought me that stuffed polar bear I wanted so much. Then there was the family vacation in Florida. I think it was the happiest week of my childhood. We stayed at a motel close to Disney World with that huge king size bed, and I was allowed to sleep in the middle between you two."

"We took you to Disney World and all you remember is that you slept between us in the motel?" Tony was flabbergasted.

"It felt like family, Dad. Something I had always longed for. I had seen what Emma's family was like, and I wanted to have just the same. And I got it for a whole week in Florida. The three of us were together for a whole week, without Mom having to work or the two of you arguing. All I wanted was this week to last forever, but when we got home, everything returned back to normal. She was going her separate ways and it was only you and me again"

"I'm sorry, Sweetheart. I always tried to give you the kind of family life every kid should have."

"I know, Dad. That's why you married Mom in the first place."

Tony sighed. He had tried and failed. "Is that all you can remember from your childhood? A trip to the zoo and Florida?" He had given up his friendship to Angela, had almost lost her, all for his idea of giving Lynnie a happy family life. Had it been all for naught?

"He asked me about mother-daughter-moments, and these are more or less what I remember. Had he asked about father-daughter-moments, I would've still been sitting there." Lynnie smiled and pursed her lips. "I also remember Mom sitting next to you when I woke up in the hospital after my accident. I was quite surprised to see the two of you together. I remember her anxious face and her red eyes and that I thought, 'Wow, she's worried, she cares about me after all.' And although I was in pain, I was happy."

Tony cringed, although what Lynnie had just said about father-daughter-moments warmed his heart. His sacrifice had not been for naught. Lynnie had had a good childhood, only that it hadn't been like what other children had. He had been mother and father to his first daughter and had been more or less the same to his second. What filled him with dismay was that seeing both her parents at her sickbed had surprised Lynnie and had made her happy. Wouldn't that be the most natural thing for a child, to find her parents at her side in a moment of agony? Not for Lynnie. For her, it had been one of her happiest childhood moments. It truly cast a light on the state of their family life at the time. They simply hadn't been a family. At least not in a way Tony had wished. He was afraid that this therapy would unearth more unpleasant realities such as this. He only hoped that Kathleen took it seriously and that she would help Lynnie accounting for the past.

"What did your mother have to say to that?"

"Actually, Dad, it's kind of confidential. I don't want her to spread what I'm saying in there, so I'm won't do it either. It's only between her and me. Understand?"

"You're right. Sorry for asking. Just let me know when you want me to be there, or if there's anything I can do for you. Okay?"

"Okay, Dad. Thanks."

Angela helped herself to an iced tea, and when she slammed the refrigerator door shut, she looked right into a pair of inquisitive eyes.

"So?"

"So what?" Angela asked although she was quite sure what her nosy mother was dying to press out of her.

"How was it?"

"How was what, Mother?" Angela unwaveringly continued to play dumb.

"Well, what do you think? Your wedding night, of course!"

"What makes you believe I would tell you?"

"You told me about your first wedding night, although there wasn't so much to tell. Why shouldn't you tell me about your second?"

"Maybe because I'm no inexperienced spouse in my early twenties anymore?"

"Angela, be honest! Deep down you want to share this with me, don't you? I'm your mommy! I'm your most trustworthy confidante in this!"

"Of that I'm not really sure, Mommy." Angela still hesitated.

"Oh, come on! I can tell by the look on your face that your second wedding night outdid the first by far. Do I really have to worm every single word out of you?"

Angela couldn't suppress a blissful smile, and that put the final nail in the coffin; there was no way she'd escape her mother's investigation anymore. "Ha! There it is! That says it all! You might as well tell me everything now, my dear daughter," Mona said smugly.

"Alright, alright," Angela finally gave in. It was no use trying to stop her mother from further interrogating. She sat down at the kitchen table, let out an appreciative sigh, and cast her eyes down shyly. "It was...it simply was..." she started.

"It was what?" Mona almost burst of curiosity.

"Magic, Mother. It was magic," Angela eventually said and beamed at her. "The sex...uh...has been great all these years, but last night was different. Tony and I were so deeply connected."

"Well, sure you were!"

"I meant that more in the figurative sense!" Angela rolled her eyes.

"But not only I hope!" Mona just couldn't stop doing it.

"No, Mother...not only."

"Good."

Angela wasn't to be deterred by her mother's blunt remarks. She was still delving in last day's as well as night's reminiscences, a night which hadn't only given her the sweetest physical pleasures but had also been an unprecedented spiritual experience.

"I thought I knew everything about him after so many years. We were so happy with each other, securely rooted in our relationship. We alraedy lived like a married couple, so I believed that marriage wouldn't make such a big difference. But it does. It really does! After what Tony had said to me in front of the altar, after having spoken our vows and exchanged the rings, I felt as if we were chained together, in a positive sense. Not that I needed that additional commitment from him. I knew he would never leave me again. But having shown it to the world in a way, telling everyone that we want to stay together forever, is giving me an inner peace which really surprises me, Mother. I could imagine that reaching the summit after a dangerous, long, and exhausting hiking expedition makes you feel the same way. You start without knowing what will be ahead of you. You struggle and lose your faith on the way. There are moments you think you'll never going to make it and you almost give up, but you decide it's worth fighting, so you pull through. And then you reach the summit cross, and you finally realize what you have been looking for, what made you go through all that trouble. All the pain, the doubts, and the fears fall off of you, and this moment only feels so sweet because the climb was so hard. You realize you were meant to come here, and your life is never going to be the same. It will be enriched by this moment forever. And then you look into your partner's eyes, and you see he feels the same way. And having gone through this together makes the moment even more valuable."

Mona smiled. Angela was happy, happy in a way Mona had never seen before. "So you don't regret having finally married Tony," she established. "It took you long enough to accept his proposal."

"Oh no! Definitely not! It was the second best decision of my life; second after having decided to hire Tony."

"You had made that decision much faster," Mona reminded her daughter. "Well, I practically talked you into it. Into hiring him, not marrying him. I convinced you to marry him," she concluded proudly.

"Thank you, Mother," Angela said, embracing Mona. "Thank you for helping me through the difficult times of my life. Like my teenage years, after Michael had left me, or through my rough times with Tony. You were always there for me. I appreciate it a lot!"

"Well, that's what mothers do for their daughters," Mona said with a smile, stroking Angela's cheek. But then her eyes became empty, she looked away, stoop-shouldered. "Only when you needed me the most, after your father's passing, I failed. I wasn't able to ease your grief because I was so busy coping with mine. You were the one who saved me back then."

"Well," Angela whispered, her tearful voice trembling, "that's what daughters do for their mothers."

Mona couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She would never forgive herself that she had left her 14-year-old daughter alone after the loss of her beloved father. Mona had been drowning in her own sorrow, unable to help Angela cope with the dramatic events. Furthermore, she had relied on Angela to guide her, to take her by the hand and pull her out of her self-pity. The girl had lost her adolescence in the process. She had grown from an awkward teenager into a young hands-on, energetic woman, who not only arranged her late father's matters and balanced her mother's chequebook, but who also developed a vision of what she wanted to accomplish in life. Nothing and no one had been able to discourage her from following that plan, her plan to become a success, like her father had been a success; not the schoolmates who had made fun of her, not her first husband who had never really supported her, not her fellow ad execs who had tried to put obstacles in her way. Angela had stubbornly pursued her life plan on her own until the right person had come into her life to go along with her, and that person was Tony.

"We're both lucky, Angela."

"Yes, we are."

Suddenly the door swung open and Tony unwittingly destroyed the sweet, emotional mother-daughter-moment which were so rare between Mona and Angela and therefore so precious.

"Ladies? What are you whispering about behind my back? Are you already turning to your mother for comfort because of your inattentive husband, Angela?" he joked and chuckled, but was the only one laughing. When he saw two pairs of eyes looking at him reproachfully, he self-consciously answered himself, "Probably not!"

Mona recomposed herself faster than Angela. As a matter of fact, she was thankful for Tony butting in, as she tried to hide her soft side most of the time. But this had been a moment she enjoyed. Despite her constant nagging and teasing, she loved Angela dearly and seeing her being married to Tony had been her wish for so many years that now that it had become real, it softened her up. She squeezed Angela's hand in one last sign of affection, winked at her, then she participated in Tony's stupid wisecrack about being an inattentive husband. He had never been inattentive; well maybe once, and it had cost him seven years together with Angela. But that he could've been inattentive ever since he had spoken these wonderful words at their wedding or sung that beautiful love song in the club was simply unimaginable.

"No, actually 'inattentive' wasn't the word your number one girl has used. It was something beginning with an 'm' and ending with 'agic'." A mischievous grin showed up on her face.

"Mother! What happened to 'I'm your trustworthy confidante in this'?"

"Angela, you didn't really believe me, did you? I thought you knew me better than that!" There she was again: good old teasing Mona.

"You told her about our wedding night?" Tony asked Angela aghast.

"Not in full detail!"

"Well, I'm glad to hear that! What about my privacy?" he pouted.

"Oh, don't be such a sissy, Tony! Your privacy has been protected, don't you worry! Angela didn't have to tell me anything anyway, the moment she walked through the door I knew your wedding night was a blast."

"How?"

"I remember how she looked after her first wedding night with that jerk. This time her demeanor was that of an infatuated teenager and not of a disappointed bride. I just put two and two together and let my rich faculty of imagination compose a wild night of passion and lust."

"I'd appreciate if you tamed your rich faculty of imagination, Mona! Angela and I don't want to be background actors in your voluptuous fantasies."

"Lighten up, Tony! You're far too prudish for my voluptuous fantasies!"

'If only she knew,' went through Angela's mind, but she kept her mouth shut this time.

Angela stood at the sink and brushed her teeth. She couldn't believe that she was indeed a bit nervous. What was she nervous about? She knew the man who was waiting for her in the bedroom for more, than two decades, she was in an intimate relationship with him for ten years, she was married to him for two days, and they had already been through their wedding night. So why for heaven's sake was she nervous?

Was it because their day-to-day life as a married couple was about to start? Last night, she had still been in an exceptional state, being influenced by the wonderful wedding ceremony and Tony's romantic love song. She had felt like the princess in a fairytale. But today she was in her house. Well, it was their house for many years now. They had lived like a married couple for the last ten years - only without a wedding certificate. They had even lived like a married couple in the pre-Kathleen years - only without a wedding certificate plus without having sex. She had expected the marriage to be not much of a change, and now she was surprised that it seemed to have changed yet so much.

Mrs. Anthony Micelli - that sounded so nice. She couldn't get enough of being called by that name.

"Mr. and Mrs. Micelli, welcome to the Country Heart Hotel".
"Mrs. Micelli, did you enjoy your stay?"
"Have a safe trip home, Mrs. Micelli."

Only hotel people had called her Mrs. Micelli so far. And Tony, when he had first made love to her as his wife - "No one makes me feel the way you do, Mrs. Micelli!", or when he had given her a kiss after waking up the next day - "Good morning, Mrs. Micelli". The sound of that name was like a symphony to her.

Angela hadn't anticipated that she subconsciously longed for being Tony's wife so much. How could she have convinced herself so long that marriage wasn't such a big deal? That she didn't need to be married to someone? That she was independent and self-sufficient enough to remain unmarried? Well, that might have applied to the financial side of it, she didn't need the financial security of a marriage, but it obviously did not apply to the emotional side. It felt so good being married again. Having someone scream out to the world that she was desirable and worth to be loved. Having someone tell her he would always be there for her, come rain or come shine. Having someone commit himself completely to her. She knew that Tony had been devoted to her before as well, and she had been to him, utterly devoted, but with tying the knot they had reached the final destination.

She spat out the toothpaste and rinsed out her mouth. When she spotted Tony sitting on the bed in his pajama bottoms and a tight shirt with reading glasses on his nose, deeply involved in a sports magazine, she had to laugh.

Tony put the magazine down and looked at her above the rim of his glasses, "Hello there, Mrs. Micelli!" Aw, there it was again, that wonderful sound!

He scrutinized her from head to toe. Angela wore a silky nightgown, not too sexy but not really modest either. Silk always did it for her. The flowing fabric accentuated her curves, and she had chosen one that ended above her knees, not below.

He patted on the spot next to him, her side of their bed. It had become a marital bed now. Why was the wording so important to her all of a sudden? She had never had problems calling Tony her boyfriend, or life partner. She might have called him her spouse or even husband once in a while, but only when she knew that if she had not called him that it would've entailed a lot of complications. Like when he had been in the hospital for a minor knee surgery and she had wanted to get information about him. She would've been asked to show some kind of proof that they were allowed to give her that information, but by asking "How did my husband's surgery go?" it had never been necessary.

Was their marriage only meant to make their lives easier? To eliminate situations like this? Was it simply handy to be married?

No! Definitely not! If that were the case, it would not have taken ten years until he had proposed, and she would not have needed several weeks and serious talks with her mother, her son, her two step-daughters, and not to mention her shrink, until she had finally accepted.

"So, now that we're married, we will be reading in bed?" she teased him.

"I just tried to pass the time you spent in the bathroom. You disappeared in there for almost half an hour. What did you do other than washing your face and brushing your teeth?"

"Thinking."

"Thinking?"

"Yes."

"About what?"

"About what it possibly means to you that I'm your wife now."

"Angela, you are so much more to me than just my wife," Tony said. "You're my friend, my best friend. I never had a better friend. You're my partner, my cohabitant, my housemate. You're my confidante and soul-mate." Then he added in a more sulky voice, "And last but not least, you're my lover and my object of desire."

"Well, that's a very impressive list. I'm flattered. Which one do you like best?"

"Oh, I love all of them. But if you want to know which one I cherish most, it's the confidante." A look at Angela's astonished face told him he had surprised her. "Don't get me wrong, Baby, I love to have sex with you, but having someone whom I can share everything with, my happiness as well as my sorrow, is my most valuable treasure. We know each other better than any other person. I've told you more secrets about me than Father Marconi. For example, you're the only one who knows how scared I was to go back to college. Geez, I even talked to you about not being able to sleep with Gina. Remember? Back then, when we you were mostly only my boss?"

"It was a bit awkward though, to have a conversation like that."

"You were so cute, trying to ease my mind about not being able to...you know...be a man. I was surprised at myself for having skipped the opportunity to go to bed with a young, attractive woman. It was the first time I realized that women like Gina weren't my type anymore, but rather..." he trailed off.

"Women like Meryl Streep."

"Women like you, my Dear!" Tony answered fondly. "But I know a lot about you, too. I'm the only person who knows that you almost gave Michael custody when Jonathan was little. And no one had seen you struggle after losing your job at Wallace & McQuade like I did. You even turned to me about whether or not you should marry Geoffrey. Isn't it wonderful to have someone to share all this with? I've always seen it as a sign of your trust that you confided in me."

"Oh Tony," Angela whispered, unable to cope with the emotions overwhelming her.

"Having you as my wife now is the high point of having you as my confidante. It's as if we've reached the peak together. It's been a long climb, tough and curvy. And parts of it we had to master without the other. But in the end, we made it together, Angela. And the idea of sitting with you on top of that mountain, hand in hand, watching sunrise after sunrise, makes me happy and content."

Angela stared at him. That had been almost the exact same image she had used trying to explain to her mother how she felt about finally being married to Tony.

"Oh my God, that's so beautiful, Tony," Angela's eyes were overflowing with tears now. Tony was the most sensitive man she had ever met. He really and truly loved her. And she really and truly loved him.

"Hey, Sweetheart, I didn't want to make you cry."

"I'm not crying."

"Yes, you are," Tony said, brushing the tears off her cheeks. "I have to thank you for sticking around all these years. For believing in us the way you did."

"Oh Tony, I think we started to be an 'us' from the moment you stepped over the threshold. I remember that when you talked Jonathan into bringing Wilbur upstairs, I already felt a connection to you. I hadn't even hired you yet, but it seemed as if I was already hooked on you. You talked me out of sleeping with Grant before the board's decision whether or not I was to become president of Wallace & McQuade later that night. I mean, if that wasn't already an 'us', I don't know what would be."

"Now that you mention it, Angela, there's still something you've kept a secret from me all these years," Tony noted.

"What do you mean?" Angela honestly didn't know what he was talking about.

"Did you ever sleep with Grant after you became president?"

"Oh, this. Well..."

"I see! So you did!"

"Yes, so I did. We had an affair. But it didn't last very long. It was too superficial and hollow, no true feelings involved. There never was an 'us' between Grant and me."

"Was there an 'us' between you and Michael?"

"Yes, I guess there was. At the beginning. But it eventually disintegrated into a 'you and me', and that's something else."

"Do you feel like there ever was a 'you and me' between us? I mean apart from...you know." He was alluding to his 'K-years', when he had been so far away from Angela.

"Tony, I think we always were an 'us'. Even while you were married to Kathleen. Ironically, it was Lynnie who kept us together. She talked to you about saying hello to your once best friend. Remember? And then her accident of course. Not that we should be thankful for it, but it brought us back together. First, when you came to me to ask for money, and then, when the two of you came to Fairfield to finally say hello."

"You're right. When I was sitting in that last row at Jonathan's graduation I had to hold on to the armrests hence I don't jump up and run right over to you. The magnetic pull was still there. All I wanted was to be with you, all of you, but especially you."

"Why didn't you join us?"

"I didn't dare to. I hadn't been invited for a reason, and I didn't want to spoil Jonathan's special day with my presence."

"You wouldn't have spoiled it, Tony. I was thinking a lot about you for the entire day. You were missed. More than Michael actually. At least I missed you, Jonathan was still being irreconcilable I think."

"I could see your discontent although I was so far way. I knew how difficult it must've been for you to see Jonathan missing both his father figures at his graduation."

"That's what I meant with saying that we never stopped being an 'us', even at a time our lives weren't in sync."

"They are in sync now!"

"Oh yes, they are. Very much so!"

"Hmm, do you want me to show you how much?" Tony started loosening the silky ribbon at the front of Angela's nightgown.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Climbing to the summit together," he alluded to what he had said earlier, smiling about the ambiguity of his words.

"Are we taking the long and curvy road or the fast track?" Angela asked.

"We'll see." With this, Tony started to kiss Angela's cleavage he had just exposed. "Long and curvy is fine to me, as long as we finally get there."