Chapter 5: Surprise! It's a Girl! (Part III)
"Both-we-what?" Tony said confused looking down at their joined hands that were resting against Angela's stomach. When he looked back up at her, he saw that her eyes were filled with unshed tears, and it hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Oh my god. Angela, you're pregnant?" he asked with a hint of wonder in his voice.
Nodding her head slowly, she bit her bottom lip again and took a deep breath before speaking.
"I'm pregnant," she confirmed; the word still feeling foreign on her tongue. "I didn't know how to tell you because I knew the minute I did, you would rush back here in order to do the right thing. Don't get me wrong, I've wanted nothing more than for you to come back. It's been almost impossible living here in this house without you. However, I also knew it wouldn't work if that's why you came back."
Taking another deep breath, she continued, "I feel like I'm in a dream with you sitting here having realized that, with this incredible job on your resume, you can and will find a good and rewarding teaching job in the area. I'm just so happy," she sobbed.
Gathering Angela in his arms, Tony stroked her back as she cried. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry it took me this long to figure it out. As soon as you left, deep down I knew I had made the wrong decision. This baby is all the confirmation I need to know I'm making the right choice now."
Pulling back a little so he could look into her eyes, he continued, "I know we haven't talked about having our own kid very much since we actually got together, but that's because I was just afraid it may not happen. We're not exactly spring chickens here. But, I want this with you and have wanted this with you for a long time."
"Oh Tony," Angela said having finally gotten her crying under control. "I've wanted this with you for so long too but was afraid it was too late as well. I'm still in a little bit of shock but am so grateful and excited."
"Me too, baby" Tony said with a grin. "But Angela, I have to ask. I mean one of the reasons we knew it wasn't going to happen was because you were still taking the pill, weren't you?"
Angela's eyes flitted around the room as she thought about how to phrase what she had to say next because she knew it was going to be painful for Tony to hear.
Taking a deep breath, she started haltingly, "I. I just was so depressed and sad, and I don't even know what, those last couple of months in Iowa. I'm sorry Tony. I know this isn't easy to hear. I guess one of the ways that manifested itself was that I stopped taking care of myself. Or at least stopped taking as good of care of myself as I normally would. I know you noticed some things, as you mentioned that last night in your office, but it just became hard to function much more beyond getting up and dressed every day and going through the basics. I stopped taking my birth control along with my vitamins or even really caring what I looked like outside of making sure I at least looked presentable so that you wouldn't suspect how I was really feeling."
"Angela, I-I-oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry," Tony said his voice catching. "Yes, I knew something was wrong, but I was too caught up in how well everything was going for me to see how much you were suffering. I-"
"Wait Tony," Angela said interrupting him. "It's not your fault. It's not either of our faults. We tried so hard to make it work. I wasn't trying to get pregnant. I just didn't care about much of anything, and I also figured that at 42 almost 43-years-old, there wasn't much chance of it actually happening."
Grasping his hand again, she said with the hint of a smile, "I think this is something else we had to go through just like when 'we explored our options' a few years ago to see if there was more to our long-term relationship than being in a car with a flat driven by a blind nun."
"Angela," Tony breathed before pulling her close for a long slow passionate kiss. "I love you so much, and I can't wait to have this baby with you."