Chapter 9: The Way We Were (Part IV)
"Jonathan, what do you mean?" Angela asked surprised. "He's your father. I was still married to him at the time. We hadn't seen each other in over half a year."
Angela thought back to the rocky relationship that Jonathan and Michael had throughout Jonathan's childhood. After the near custody battle when Jonathan was eight, Jonathan only saw his father once or twice a year until he turned 18. After that, there had been a few years where she knew they didn't see each other or really talk. Michael had a hard time when Jonathan first announced he was gay.
She was glad though that they had a decent relationship now. As much as she couldn't stand to be around Michael and at times couldn't even believe that she had ever loved him or been married to him (although after truly falling in love with Tony she realized that she had never really been in love with Michael), they had created an amazing son together for which she'd be forever grateful. And, since Michael and Heather had never had their own children, due in part she was sure to the fact that Michael had never really gotten past his own selfishness, she was happy that he had at least finally realized how lucky he was to have Jonathan.
"Yeah, but, things were going so well until he showed up," Jonathan continued. "I mean, Sam and I could tell that you and Tony were starting to really become friends, and I was really starting to look at him like a dad. Then Dad came back and you acted like nothing had happened and we were a happy little family. And we almost lost Tony and Samantha."
"What?" Katie said incredulously. "What do you mean you almost lost Dad and Sam?"
"Dad, did you quit when you found out that Angela was still married?"
"Not exactly, Honey," Tony said quickly. "Although, I was not thrilled that your mom neglected to tell me that part when I first signed on to the job," he said throwing a quick glance at Angela. The two of them had spent a lot of time discussing Michael when it came to his relationship with Angela, the events that had unfolded when he returned and in California when they all were guests at his wedding to Heather, and even more so when it came to his relationship with Jonathan. Tony didn't like the guy but was still grateful to him for his part in bringing him and Sam back to 3344 Oak Hills Drive and for later dropping the custody battle before it went too far and for finally accepting his son as gay and realizing that it didn't matter in the long run.
"Sam and I had to give them some space to try and be a family again, so I had a short-lived gig at another house in the neighborhood," he said thinking back to how lonely and miserable he and Sam had both been after Michael had given him the boot.
"Jonathan," Angela interjected. "It was a very confusing time for all of us, but you were so young and since we were still married, we needed to give it one more try especially when your dad actually got a job in Manhattan that would keep him around. But, I think I knew deep down that we had just grown into different people and that it wouldn't work in the long run."
"I think, buddy, what that showed all of us is that we had already started to become a family. Your mom and I realized that we had started to build a real friendship and that we wanted to be in each other's lives and if I remember right, I think you and Sam were pretty happy to see each other when we visited and eventually came back," Tony said with a grin.
"Just a friendship, Dad?" Sam said teasingly. "That's all it was at that point?"
"Yes, Sam," Tony said dryly. "At that point, even being actual friends seemed a bit taboo. Like we were already crossing that employer/employee line. Not that I wasn't attracted to Angela," he said winking, "but at that time, there was nowhere for it to go."
"And vice-versa," Angela said. "I was attracted to your dad, but we both really cared about our friendship and this quasi family that we were building. And, if you remember, we'd already had a few recent incidents where this budding friendship we had was tested with the repainting of the Jag and then the incident at the party with Jim Peterson."
Katie opened her mouth to ask who Jim Peterson was as she had heard plenty, all in good fun, about the Jag incident over the years, but then thought better of it and let her mom keep talking.
"Most of all, I was just glad to finally have the closure I needed with Michael so that at some point, I could possibly move on with someone else," she said glancing up at Tony with a smile.
"So, when you two ended up spending the night together in my bed a few weeks later, it was all in the name of friendship?" Sam asked smirking.
"What?" This time, it was Katie who shrieked…