Chapter 11: The Way We Were (Part VI)
"Yes!" Sam practically shouted. "There is so much about the little trip to Jonathan's camp that we don't know. Something happened in that motel room you all shared during that storm, didn't it?"
"Was it actually you two who kissed that night at Kissing Rock and then you made up the whole Ingrid thing to throw us off?" she continued.
Angela's and Tony's eyes met quickly in the way that had become so ingrained in them for communicating especially back when the kids were young. Tony raised his eyebrow slightly, silently asking Angela exactly how much they should tell the kids about that unforgettable night in the grungy little motel room.
Knowing how close they had come to permanently changing their relationship but being glad in the long run that they had resisted the temptation to do so because, as they had discussed much later, neither one of them was prepared for what that would have meant in their day-to-day lives back then.
"Mom, Dad, c'mon," Katie said impatiently. "Even I know that there has to be more than what you've mentioned in the past. More than just having to share a motel room because of the storm after you went looking for make out rock or kissing rock or whatever it was and discovered that it was Dad and some girl named Ingrid."
Tony squeezed Angela's shoulder to let her know that he was ok with the whole truth coming out now especially because it ended up being a bit of a turning point in their relationship.
"Well," Angela said softly. "We didn't make up the name Ingrid. That's what I told your dad my name was that night when we met up at Kissing Rock…" she said letting the revelation hang in the air.
"Oh my god!" Sam said unable to contain her shock and glee. "I knew it. I mean I knew it had to be you two. But, wow, talk about fate intervening. That's pretty unbelievable and makes it even more incredible that we're all sitting here now!"
"I know, sweetheart," Angela said smiling. "Your dad and I were really good at ignoring what was right in front of us for a very long time."
"In fact," Tony said with a grin. "I told Angela that night, before she told me she was Ingrid, that everything Mona had said about fate pushing us together as kids and then as adults was ridiculous. I guess I was wrong!"
"Thank God!" Katie said with a laugh. "Otherwise, where would that leave me? But, Mom, why did you lie about your name?"
Biting her lower lip, Angela rolled her eyes at her foolishness back then, and said, "I was afraid that Tony would kiss and tell, and if it wasn't good then everyone would know. I had also just seen Casablanca three times, so Ingrid just popped out!"
"Ay-oh-oh-ay," Tony said with a grin. "You were more than good. Like I said before, you had an extra set of lips!"
"That's my mother you're talking about!" Jonathan said grinning while rolling his eyes.
"Enough about that!" Sam said. "What happened in the motel room?"
Angela's face started to turn a slight shade of red as she remembered back to that fateful night. She, wrapped in that white bedsheet, and Tony in nothing more than a white bath towel around his waist. As she told him years later, it had taken all of her willpower to keep things platonic because she had realized that night how badly she wanted to be with him. And yes, back then, it was more physical than emotional although that seed had been planted as well. He had confessed that he felt the same way, and it had taken all of his willpower, when she came out of the bathroom wearing nothing but that fitted sheet, to not pull her into an embrace and start kissing her senseless.
"Ok, ok." Angela said. "Yes, our relationship almost changed that night especially since we ended up having to share the one functional bed in the room."
"Again?" Katie squealed. "You all ended up sharing a bed again so soon? Wow! Not that l like to think of my parents doing that, but man, knowing you two had the hots for each other that must have been some kind of willpower!"
"Like I told your mom back then," Tony said with a wink, "I would have made a great monk. But, yeah, it was hard for us because, as we've now established, fate did seem to be relentlessly pushing us together. However, even though we agreed that night that things could be good between us the way they weren't, we knew the timing still wasn't right. And, to be honest, I still couldn't see myself with someone like Angela for the long haul."
"Why not, Dad?" Katie asked softly. "It was so obvious that you all belonged together and now look at you."
"True, Katiebug, but you have to remember that I was still her housekeeper, even though we had become good friends by that point, and I was just a guy without a college education trying to make ends meet. It just didn't feel like we were on equal playing fields," Tony said as he looked at Angela bashfully.
Angela leaned over and kissed Tony softly on the lips before saying, "Let's just say it was hard for both of us back then. I had my own insecurities about why someone like your dad would be interested in someone like me who lived and breathed her work and was much too serious most of the time."
"Man," Katie said with a shake of her head. "You two really were infuriating back then." Looking between Sam and Jonathan, she continued, "I think I'm beginning to understand why this was so hard for the two of you!"
"It was hard because by then Jonathan and I could see that they liked each other as more than just friends," Sam said with a sigh. "And then things got even more interesting when we all went out to California for Jonathan's dad's wedding…"