Chapter 16

When Tony woke up the next morning he found himself alone in bed. A short moment of disorientation made him almost jump out of it, but he relaxed when he heard Angela talking quietly on the phone. Relieved, he rested back on his pillow and stared at the ceiling, silently smiling. The night he had shared with Angela had been incredible. Their lovemaking had eliminated all earlier doubts. After their open talk on the bench there was no going back. From now on they would only be moving forward and he never wanted to step back again. Tony heard the phone receiver clicking and knew she had ended her call. A second later she was back, pulling off her robe and sliding under the blanket. Tony wrapped his arms around her and he felt simply happy.

"Was our lovemaking so bad that you didn't want to wake up with me, my beautiful?"

Angela laughed softly. Nothing had been bad last night. It was the most beautiful night ever. After they had come back to their room they both needed proximity and had sunk on the bed together. At first Angela got anxious when Tony had taken her clothes off, piece by piece. Tenderly and carefully he had explored every part of her body. Being seven months pregnant made her question her physical appearance. But Tony had taken away all her fears and had made certain that she knew she thought she was the most desirable woman he'd ever seen and the way he had shown it to her had brought back her self-assuredness. They had made love cautiously and their intense feelings for each other made them more deeply connected than ever. They had looked in each other's eyes while making love in exquisite slow motions and when they both reached undreamed heights of ecstasy they had been pressed together and neither of them wanted to let the other go. Angela hadn't been able to hold back her tears of happiness and neither could Tony. Their tears had mixed and he had kissed her hungrily and desperately.

"Seeing and feeling you at my side this morning was wonderful, Tony. Why did we waste so much time?"

"I don't know, baby. I really don't know. The past months without you and our uncertain situation was… it was horrible for me."

"For me too." I'm feeling so bad about the lost time."

"I never want to lose time with you again. I just can't! I'll quit my job in L.A., Angela. I've already lost the last three months of your pregnancy. I can't imagine not being there for you when our baby is born and it's impossible that I'll leave you alone in Fairfield after you've given birth. No, Angela! I can't leave you alone again. I'm going to quit as soon I'm back home. It'll be difficult to find something similar around Fairfield but I don't care." Tony rested on his elbow and stroked her belly with light circles. There was no way that he would separate himself from her. Never again.

"You… you would do that? You would give up everything you've achieved in meantime? For me? Without having a job in Fairfield?" Angela was overwhelmed, her stomach did flip flops.

"Sweetheart, I'd do anything for you! If you don't need a housekeeper there is another possibility," he smiled and painted a smiley on her bare belly with his finger.

Angela giggled and held his hand. "That tickles. What possibility?"

"I could mow the lawn in Central Park."

Angela stopped giggling immediately. "Oh, Tony," she murmured close to tears. Turning on her side, she looked in his warm brown eyes. "You're a wonderful man." She snuggled closer to him and decided to tell him what she had just settled on the phone a few minutes earlier.

"Tony?"

"Hmm?" Tony had shut his eyes and was still daydreaming with Angela in his arms.

"I talked to mother on the phone. She needs to do something for me."

"Like what?"

"She needs to organize my schedule," Angela hesitated shortly, "and she would like to run the agency, at least for a time." She breathed in. What would he say to her suggestion? Tony, what would you say if I moved to L.A? Do you want me there?"

Tony opened his eyes and looked into her questioning eyes. "Do I want you there? Angela! Of course I want you there! But how would it work? You can't leave the Agency, can you? Not for such a long time. I still have spring semester and summer school to teach on my contract."

"But you need this job, Tony. I don't want you to quit. You never know whether you could get an opportunity like this again or not! All you've worked so hard for could be lost. I don't want that burden on my shoulders or on yours! I need to reduce my working time anyway and I can do some work from L.A. I have those new clients in San Diego; all I need is a phone and a fax. I'm flexible, Tony. Although you told me once that I'm not," she explained, grinning.

Tony couldn't believe what she told him, that she would give up on the agency for so long to let him fulfill his contract. "Angela, are you sure you want to do this?" I mean there is not much space in the small little beach house, it's not like Oak Hills Drive," he asked uncertainly, "and I do apologize. You're the most flexible woman I ever knew."

Angela laid her hands on his cheek and pulled him closer. "I don't need space, it's just the opposite I need. I need you close to me. Please, say yes and it will be proved that my inflexibility is gone forever."

"How can I resist such an offer? And I'm not just thinking about you in the beach house, I'm thinking of kissing you right now and making love to you again."

"I guess, we'll find a solution for both, " she kissed him deeply.

"So our baby will be a surfer?" he murmured between two kisses.

"I'm sure 'he' or 'she' will like the ocean. I'm good at giving swimming lessons," she answered low voiced. How could he make her feel like this? She was on fire when he touched her breast and closed her eyes to give herself to his knowing hands.

"I don't want to leave this bed for the rest of my life," he whispered in her ear.

"Well, I will. I can't wait to make love with you without this huge thing."

"This huge thing is our baby!" Tony protested, "and I love making love to you no matter how you look. You're always beautiful."

"You don't know how I'll look when I'm eighty."

"Angela, I will always love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Angela took his hands which had been resting on her hips in hers. "So will I," she whispered and squirmed a bit restlessly. There was something on her mind and she didn't know how to bring the subject up but there was no way out, it had to be said.

"Tony, about the rest of our lives…. You… You aren't thinking of marriage, are you?" Angela asked anxiously. She knows he was a kind of old-fashioned man and had his difficulties accepting the fact that the world had changed.

"Wouldn't you be ready to say yes?" He stroked her face and placed his hand under her chin. There wasn't a thing he would like more than to marry her, but maybe it would be too fast for her.

"Tony, I just cancelled a wedding with Andy a few months ago. I don't feel ready to think about a wedding again."

"So you want to live in sin with me?"

"It isn't a sin to love somebody, and I love you," Angela placed her hand on his bare hip.

"I love you too," he mouthed in her ear, very aware of her soft hand on his body, "and I promise I'll wait until you're ready to be asked." He leaned in and kissed her, " but I insist on Micelli as the last name and I want you to know that I am ready to marry you. Just give me a hint when you are too, I'm prepared."

"You're prepared?" she asked, not really understanding, " what do you mean?"

"The wedding rings are waiting for us in Fairfield."

"Oh, " she said and a wave of happiness floated over her, " you mean the rings I found in your drawer are… they are….you bought them for us?"

"I see you found them," Tony smiled and started kissing her neck.

"Why did you leave them behind?"

"I wanted you to find them, I wanted you to wonder about them."

"I did find them and I thought a lot about them," she murmured, sighing under his kisses, "when did you buy the rings?"

"I bought them a short time after I broke up with… you know. I was so sure that it was merely a matter of time until you kicked Andy out of your life but you thumbed your nose to me."

"The rings are beautiful, Tony. So plain and classy. Why did you chose those rings especially?"

Tony laughed and made a mysterious face.

"I thought those rings were exactly the opposite from what we are. They are pure and simple where we are unbelievably complicated."

"I couldn't have made a better choice and I promise I'm going to wear my ring some day. Give me some time."

"As much as you want and need," Tony whispered, "but one more question. What will happen to Jonathan if you stay in L.A?"I thought, you wouldn't want to leave him alone for that long," Tony said, drawing his index finger between her breasts. With her pregnancy they had grown and he loved to place his hands on them, slowly twiddling her nipples with his thumbs.

"Tony, I can't talk to you when you're doing this to me," she uttered, her breath speeding up, "I'll give him a ticket whenever he wants and he can stay for some weeks after he finished school. Tony… you don't know what you're doing to me." She pressed herself to him.

"Hey, do you think I'm a man who doesn't know what he does? I know exactly what I'm doing," he teased her.

"I'm sure, you do," she whispered and then the talking stopped and the touching started and if they hadn't become hungry after all, they would have stayed in the bed for the rest of the day.

Epilogue

Angela sat on the terrace in a rocking chair and watched the waves which were rolling on the sand. She was nursing little Elena who was three months old and her parents thought, of course, that she was the cutest little baby that had ever been born in the sat close to her, stroking the fluffy hair of his newborn daughter with one hand and Angela's cheek with the other. The deep sun was falling down in the ocean and switched the daylight into an orange fire sky. The past year had been a whirlwind of events, but since Angela had moved to Santa Monica everything had become relaxed and calm. The birth of baby Elena had strengthened their sense of togetherness and finally all problems had vanished into nowhere. Only a few more weeks and they would go home, home to Fairfield and to the rest of the family. The months Tony and Angela lived together in the beach house had been wonderful, but both admitted that they missed their former life in Fairfield a lot. Jonathan and Samantha had flown over a few times and both had been enthusiastic about their cute little sister. The smallish beach house had almost burst from the seams at those times, but the crowding made them all closer than ever. They all looked forward to a brand new life.