Am I the only one in this family who isn't blind? And, yes, we are a family, even if after three years Tony and Angela haven't got their act together and made it official. He may say he buys flowers for "the house," but I know what all these little gestures mean.

And yet, he's dating that woman, that lawyer! It's been a month now and shows no signs of ending. There hasn't been a threat like this since the Geoffrey Fiasco. In fact, this may actually be worse, because Geoffrey never really bonded with Jonathan, and Frankie acts like she's Sam's new best friend.

Yes, I've talked to Angela about it, for all the good it's done. She said it's important for Sam to have another successful female role model besides herself. Also, Sam can talk to Frankie about growing up in Brooklyn. And, I think this is the biggest appeal, Frankie remembers Marie and can tell Sam about her. Of course so can Tony, but Frankie's memories are different than Tony's. They were little girls together, playing hopscotch and jacks and all that.

This is why I can't talk to Sam directly about it. I would come across as an ogre trying to interfere with her precious friendship. I can't say that I think Frankie is using her in order to get a tighter hold on Tony. Sam would be hurt and insulted.

And then what if Tony does actually marry Frankie? I would've interfered with the stepmother-stepdaughter bonding. Angela claims that it's natural for a woman who cares about Tony to care about Sam, but all those other women Tony dated as a widower seemed positively indifferent to Sam. (Well, other than her sixth-grade teacher of course.) Angela has become like a mother to her, but not out of any ulterior motive. See, that's the thing. If this was a natural occurrence, well, I wouldn't be thrilled, but I would let it go. There's something so calculating, so lawyerly, about Frankie.

I almost blew my top when Tony told me he invited Frankie to the wedding. Lyle and Christy's wedding.

I got my hopes up last week when Sam and I walked in on Tony and Angela talking about romance and sparks flying. Of course, I should've known better by now. They were fixing up my niece Christy and the doctor who fixed up Tony's shoulder when he injured it playing for the Cardinals. To my surprise, Christy hit it off with Dr. Lyle and now they're engaged! I had no idea she was such a fast worker, but then it was only her fourth date, ever.

So now there's going to be a wedding in this house, but not the one I was rooting for. If Christy lets Frankie catch the bouquet, I'll strangle both of them. Of course, Angela caught her friend Isabel's bouquet last year, and that indirectly led to Geoffrey proposing, so maybe if I'm lucky someone other than Tony will propose to Frankie.

And, yes, Frankie is Tony's girlfriend, so I can't tell the best man that I forbid that woman to be at my niece's wedding. But I am going to have to find a way to break this up before I'm going to their wedding.

Meanwhile I'd better go upstairs and see if the blushing bride needs any auntly advice about the wedding night...

...Good Lord, even Angela wasn't that innocent at 30. Or 20. Well, hopefully the book Christy has will answer all her questions. I wonder if I should go grab an extra copy of The Kama Sutra off my book shelf and wrap it up as a wedding present. No, there's probably not enough time.

I settle back on the couch between Jean-Claude and Pierre. Yeah, I have more dates for this wedding than Christy had dates in the '70s.

Tony is sitting next to, ugh, Frankie, who is of course as big a hockey fan as he is. We're all watching the game since the wedding's not till four. Well, everyone but Angela and Christy.

Then the game goes into overtime just as Angela comes downstairs to check on things. She does not look happy. I think I'm the only one who notices her storming back upstairs. I wonder if I should go with her. Well, I'm pretty comfortable where I am, between the two French jocks. Or is it Jacqueses?

Then a few minutes later she returns, chasing after Christy, who goes over to the groom and says, "Lyle, I'm ready to get married now." But he's too into the game to acknowledge her. So then she says, "Lyle, you're ignoring my needs. Sudden death is no way to start a marriage."

Ignoring her needs? Uh oh, that sounds like Angela-speak!

"Honey, could this just wait till it's over?" he asks.

"It's over," she says and heads for the door.

Angela tells her, "Christy, it's just a little delay. Don't do something you'll regret."

"No, there's a principle involved here. He's putting the most important day of my life on the backburner because of this Neanderthal sport."

Great, now she's quoting Angela to Angela! I get to my feet to put a stop to this, but Frankie is faster.

"Christy, Angela is right. Don't do anything you'll regret. Lyle is a great guy and you two seem perfect for each other. What if it turns out he's the only man you'll ever love and you lose him because of a silly misunderstanding?"

"Well, I guess that makes sense, but who the heck are you?"

"I'm Frankie, Tony's girlfriend."

"But I thought Angela was—"

Then Sam and all the guys, including the minister and the photographer, leap to their feet cheering. I guess we won.

Lyle rushes over to Christy and takes her hands. "Sweet-Cheeks, I'm so sorry about that. Will you please marry me now?"

"Well, I guess that's why we're all gathered here together today."

Tony beams at Frankie. Double ugh!