He did as she'd asked, and entered the bedroom that was decorated in pink and blue streamers. Confused, Tony asked "What's with the streamers?" And then he saw it. The onesie on the bed. 'Baby Micelli, est. 1992.' "Angela, does this mean you're pregnant?"

"Yes, Tony, I am. Remember how I went to the doctor last week when I thought I'd had some bad food?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I got the call back on Tuesday that I'm pregnant. I had them triple check the results, and they came back positive all three times."

"Wow! I'm in shock!"

"A good shock..."

"Yes. Of course! I'm thrilled, sweetheart! Come here!" He embraced her and tenderly kissed her on the lips. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"I wanted to surprise you. I wanted to tell you in a special way."

"Well that you sure did! Angela, I couldn't be happier!"

"I'm so glad, Tony. I was so happy and so scared when I found out. I mean, I'm 40 years old, and our kids are nearly out of the house. But this is also something I've wanted for the past several years. I thought Billy was 'ours'. That he was our only chance. But now I have this baby growing inside of me, our baby."

"I really love the sound of that - our baby. I can't wait to see what a beautiful baby he or she will be! When should we tell the kids? And Mona?"

"I want to wait until we're both there together. Based on what I was told, I'm about 6 weeks along. So when we head home for Thanksgiving I would be nearing the end of my first trimester. That'd get us out of what the doctor said is the 'danger zone' in my pregnancy. So we could tell them then."

"Okay, I love that idea. Do we want to share with anyone else?"

"Until we tell the family I'd like to keep it on a need to know basis."

"Good plan sweetheart. Now how about we continue with our evening activities, and celebrate our little one..."

"I could go for one of your massages right about now."

"As long as you don't fall asleep before reciprocating..."

"I won't make any promises!" she stated smiling seductively.

The next morning they awoke tangled up in sheets and hotel robes. Neither wanted to get out of bed, but Angela was starting to feel queasy and bolted to the bathroom just in time. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

"Just some morning sickness, honey. The one part of pregnancy I didn't miss."

"I'll run down and grab you some ginger ale and crackers. That always helped to settle Marie's stomach when she was pregnant with Sam."

"Thank you, Tony. I'm sorry I'm ruining our day."

"Not at all! I'll be right back."

While Tony ran out to grab breakfast and ginger ale, Angela jumped in the shower to freshen up. By the time he returned she was dressed and flipping through the cable channels on the hotel TV. "Anything good on?"

"Just the local news and reruns of 'The Brady Bunch'. Oh, thanks for the crackers and muffins."

"I wanted to get something that wouldn't upset your stomach. I figured muffins were fairly tame too. I'm going to jump in the shower quick, but I'll leave the door unlocked in case another wave of morning sickness comes on."

"Thanks, Tony. Always thinking about others. One of the many reasons I love you."

"I love you too, mi amore."

After breakfast they packed up their bags and headed out towards Dubuque. They decided to skip Des Moines and get back to Branford a day early so that Angela could have an extra day of rest before flying out on Wednesday.

"There are definitely some good prospects here in Dubuque. And it's less than an hour to Branford. What do you think, Tony?"

"I agree. The space on Western Street looks like a good option. A walk up like the Manhattan office is. And the rent seemed to be pretty affordable."

"I can call the leasing office on Monday. I'll call Jack when we get back home. He sent me a list of prospective Midwest clients, a handful are within a few hours of here. I could start reaching out to them in the next couple of weeks."

"Easy there, superwoman. Let's take this one step at a time please. Call Jack and call the leasing office. But let's wait until you have a space before you start calling prospective clients. The exception to that is of course Ocean Spray, who I know you were reaching out to before we started looking at spaces."

"You're right, of course. I guess I'm just excited about making this a reality. Putting down some more roots here. Someplace we can raise our baby too. It's really feeling like home."

"That's the first time you've called Iowa 'home'."

"I guess it is. Between the new office, the baby, and us being here together, it truly is."

"I love hearing you say that. I'm so glad you're here now too."

"Are you okay if we just head back home instead of going to the hotel? I could use a good nights sleep in our bed."

"Sure. Let me just stop by the hotel to let them know they can release the room for the night then. Do you want to grab some dinner here, or go to the one restaurant in Branford?"

"Either is fine. Just nothing spicy. I don't think my stomach could handle it."

"Ok, let's hit the road then!"

They found a little cafe just outside of Dubuque, so they stopped there. Tony had the meatloaf plate, while Angela stuck to some chicken Alfredo. No dessert tonight, though they still had the cannolis from Chicago they could have later if they wanted.

Angela fell asleep on the ride back, so instead of heading right back to the apartment Tony stopped at the store to grab some ginger ale, crackers, noodles, and few other staples he figured they may need on hand in the next few days. When he got back out to the car, she was still asleep. As he put the groceries in the trunk, she stirred. "Where are we, Tony?"

"Sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to wake you. Just grabbed a few groceries before heading back to the apartment."

"Sorry I fell asleep. How long was I out?"

"About an hour. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just feeling a bit groggy. I'll be fine."

"We'll be home in a few minutes, then you can lie down while I unload the car."

"Sounds great, my love."