Chapter 29: Are You Sure It's Love?

"I think I'm beginning to understand what was happening with you two with all the little stops and starts and other people getting in the way," Sam said shaking her head. "You were totally sublimating your feelings by going out and dating, but my guess is, you both knew, in the back of your mind, that it was never going to go the distance! I mean first Angela with Geoffrey and then, Dad, it wasn't too long after Angela's wild phase when you ran into Frankie at that street fair in Brooklyn, right?"

Frankie. Tony hadn't thought about her in a long time, and a part of him wondered where she'd ended up, and if she'd ever gotten married or had kids. He and Angela had fallen back into their "just friends" zone after they had again agreed silently that they weren't ready to go there yet and possibly risk their friendship and everything else that depended on it. But, there was still that undercurrent of attraction that was on full display as they worked side-by-side in Mrs. R's booth at the fair with a promised "date" to go by the sausage and peppers stand later. And then Frankie had popped her head up, and everything changed.

He hadn't thought about her since high school, but the minute he saw her at the fair, something hit him. Maybe it was remembering the fact that she was pretty much the only girl who wouldn't date him back then. At any rate, he was so surprised to see her that he couldn't help but find out what she'd been up to all these years. And she had done well; putting herself through school and becoming a partner in a Wall Street law firm. And, of course, she looked more gorgeous than ever.

That flirty banter that they'd had in high school seemed to come back naturally as they caught up on old times. And before he knew it, they were dancing and then the look in her eyes when she said she admired him for what he had done to make his and Sam's lives better followed by her declaration that she was dying to be kissed. He admitted to Angela years later that he had gotten caught up in the moment, and that he never intended for things to go any farther. But then came the auction, and before he knew it, he was at Frankie's ostensibly to clean her apartment.

And that's what he had done…at first. But as the weekend went on, he began to realize that she might just have the qualities he was looking for in a partner (thanks to Angela's influence on him). Frankie was successful and gorgeous, down to earth, and definitely wouldn't be waiting on him hand and foot. They had the same background, and it just felt so easy to be with her. Plus, she was an amazing cook and somehow knew all his favorite Italian dishes (he suspected Mrs. R had something to do with that). And, he had to admit, the two nights that they spent together, were extremely satisfying and uncomplicated. But then, the alternate universe he had been living in came crashing down when Angela called to ask about the dishwashing detergent. He immediately thought about the family he did have and how, besides Sam, it included Mona, Jonathan and of course, Angela, no matter what their current relationship status was, and how he wasn't ready to completely break it up.

Maybe though, it would be ok to test the waters a little and date Frankie because, well, because he liked her and there was obviously something between them. And that had been his plan until she had ended up proposing to him right before he left to head back to Connecticut. The whole drive home, his mind and emotions were in turmoil, and he was very glad that this was his little secret to ruminate on. Or so he thought before walking in the door at 3344 Oak Hills Drive only to find that Frankie had left him a pretty explicit message that Mona called him out on when he tried to play it off as no big deal after she asked him what he was planning to do.

It was only much, much later, almost right before their wedding, that Angela admitted to him what finding out about Frankie's proposal had done to her. The emergency session with her therapist had finally gotten her to admit out loud that she did indeed love him. And how she had come home prepared to finally confess only to be interrupted by…

"Dad, earth to Dad," Sam said leaning over to swat his bicep. "You were far away there for a minute. We all know what happened with Frankie, but I've always felt that there was something you didn't tell us. You and Angela acted very strange the next couple of days."

Tony immediately looked at Angela and raised his eyebrow; silently asking whether they should finally let Sam, and the others, in on what almost happened.

Angela gave a tiny shrug of her shoulders. She wasn't sure how Sam would react, even all these years later, and she still wondered what would have happened if Sam hadn't interrupted them.

"Well, sweetheart," Angela began slowly. "I was worried about losing your Dad, losing his friendship and the potential of whatever else, and I knew I needed to talk to someone objectively about it, so I ended up going to see my therapist."

"Really?" Katie said chiming in. "Wow. I mean I've heard about Frankie over the years but didn't realize how serious it was."

Angela glanced at Tony in time to see the pained look on his face. She knew that it still bothered him that he had caused her to panic even though they had talked through all of it years ago.

Squeezing his hand, Angela went on, "It was serious, but it brought me a lot of clarity as well. I was able to admit out loud that I loved Tony which, even though it was due to a stressful situation, felt like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. As did the fact that I thought I was ready to tell him. That is until, well…"

"Until what, Mom?" Jonathan asked intrigued. He had no idea that things between his mom and Tony had taken such a serious turn back then.

"Well," Angela said uncomfortably. "I came home, and Tony and I started talking and just as I was ready to let him know, Sam, that's when you burst through the front door with your news about Tiny's son Elvis, and then..."

"What?" Sam exclaimed aghast. "I ruined your chance to tell Dad that you loved him and for the two of you to have gotten together four years sooner? What an idiotic teenager I was. I am so sorry, Angela."

"No; don't be, honey," Angela said quickly. "You didn't know, and somehow your Dad and I were still able to let each other know how we felt without actually saying it," Angela smiled as she thought back to Tony's misquoting of Shakespeare's MidSummer Night's Dream, and how that had led to the implicit understanding between them that yes; it was love.

Angela's mind then wandered back to late that night when she and Tony had both ended up in the kitchen for a cup of tea because neither of them could sleep after the heightened emotions of the day. They were sitting at the kitchen table, letting the water boil, when Tony quietly took her hand in his, and they just sat in companionable silence for a while; neither knowing quite what to say before realizing that maybe nothing more actually needed to be said. After all, they had already said it in their special way...

"Are you sure it's love? Positive…"