Chapter 10: The Way We Were (Part V)
"Oh my gosh, Bobbi Barnes," Angela said with a shake of her head. "I haven't thought about her in years."
"I think I remember reading online that she just died this past New Year's Eve; a few weeks before she would have turned 100," Tony said. "Man was she something else!" (RIP Betty White; thank you for being a friend!)
"Who is Bobbi Barnes and how on earth is she connected to you two sleeping together?" Katie asked eagerly.
"Now, hold on, Honey," Angela answered. "It wasn't like that. It was all a big misunderstanding. Bobbi was a local TV reporter who had her own human-interest show, and she was doing a profile on me showcasing the life of a busy career woman. Part of that included coming to the house in the morning to see how I started my day. Unfortunately, the day she showed up was probably the worst day it could have happened."
"Why?" Katie asked with a hint of glee in her voice.
"It's my fault," Sam said. "We'd all watched a 'scary' movie and Dad had Jonathan in his bed so that Mona could sleep over in Jonathan's bed to be there for when Bobbi arrived. You know her; never missed an opportunity to be on camera! Anyway, I had a bad dream and ended up in Angela's bed, since Jonathan was with Dad."
"However," Jonathan interjected. "Tony was snoring terribly, so I finally woke him up and told him that Sam had come in because of her dream. He figured that she had gone back to her room, so he ended up in her bed."
"Dad, didn't you realize that Sam wasn't in there when you got in her bed?" Katie asked.
"Well, I thought she was in there because there was a lump all curled up under the covers," Tony answered winking at Angela.
"Yeah, my lump which was definitely different than Sam's!" Angela said laughing with the hint of a blush creeping into her cheeks. "Sam ended up hogging all my covers, so I crawled into her bed before your dad came in. We didn't realize it until we woke up the next morning and…"
"And what?" Sam said eagerly. "See this is the part we never got to hear about. What happened when you both woke up together?"
Tony glanced at Angela before answering slowly. "Well, we were surprised of course and a little embarrassed. But, I think we both realized then how natural it felt to wake up together in the same bed, and I think that scared us both a little."
"And, not-for-nuthin', Angela, that nightgown you were wearing left very little to the imagination," Tony said teasingly.
"Daaaaad," Katie said rolling her eyes.
"Hey, I wasn't expecting to share a bed that night with my incredibly handsome male housekeeper," Angela retorted laughing.
"So, what happened with Bobbi and the show?" Katie asked.
"She was outside the door when your mom and I came out, so that of course, caused another panic. But, in the end, she didn't end up airing the segment at all. Mona had a little chat with her, and knowing Mona, it involved a little blackmail of some sort."
"Wow," Katie said. "It's like the universe was pushing you two together!"
"Oh, I think the universe definitely was," Sam said, "Especially around Angela's birthday that year."
Katie knew that her parents had shared their first kiss on her mom's birthday, but she had a feeling there was more to the story.
"We all know that story by now," Angela said quickly.
"Hold on," Sam said. "We know the basics, but Mona always implied there was more."
Angela's cheeks were now a deep crimson color as she looked at Tony and said, "Well, you're the one who kissed me, so why don't you start?"
"Ay-oh-oh-ay," Tony retorted. "No, you kissed me, and it was some kiss!"
"Well, what's the full story?" Jonathan asked rolling his eyes.
"It's true. Tony and I had both had a little too much to drink, when he decided to bake me a cake," Angela began cautiously. "And I admit, as we talked about how well things were going with our little pseudo family, we both got a little flirtatious. But, I'm the one who threw the flour first."
"Flour, what flour?" Katie interrupted. This part she had never heard before.
"Well," Tony said jumping in, "Your mom threw a little flour at me, and I threw some back at her, and we ended up with quite the mess in the kitchen the next morning."
"Dad," Sam said. "You're leaving out the important part!"
"Right," Tony said with a wink. "So in between all the flour throwing somehow your mom and I ended up in each other's arms and kissed."
"So romantic," Katie sighed grinning broadly.
"Well, I guess it was," Angela said, "But I ended up passing out on the floor, and your dad had to carry me up to my room which, from what I can remember, was a bit painful for both of us."
"So, that's it?" Sam said. "Mona really seemed convinced otherwise."
Tony and Angela exchanged another look before Angela took a deep breath and said, "Well, let's just say the next morning, I thought what had happened wasn't quite so innocent."
"But, I set her straight very quickly," Tony said. "I still meant what I had said that first night, and I would have never taken advantage of a situation like that. However, I will say that I think that's when we both started to realize that we were maybe in a little bit of trouble because there was something more between us bubbling under the surface."
"However, I know we both still felt that we couldn't risk the friendship that we had built, and we cared too much about the two of you," Tony continued, as he looked between Sam and Jonathan, "to do anything that could jeopardize those relationships."
"And, I think we both still felt that there wasn't any place for a relationship to go at that point," Angela said softly. "But, things between us shifted ever so slightly after that night and even more so a few weeks later with the incident at Kissing Rock…"