Chapter 30: Together Is Good

Stifling a yawn, Sam said, "I know we all probably need to think about going to bed soon, but maybe just a little bit more? I don't remember a whole lot of things happening between you all, or either of you dating anyone, after the Frankie incident, well unless you count that Kelly woman that Dad sort of dated, until Angela, you told everyone in your sleep that you loved Dad," she finished with a grin.

"No way," Katie said, her eyes as big as saucers. "How did that happen?"

Tony glanced at Angela as they both thought back to everything that had transpired after their thinly veiled confessions of love. Sam was right, on the outside it didn't appear that there had been anything major transpiring between the two of them, but there were a lot of little things that really seemed to solidify them as best friends and more.

Tony remembered the whiplash engagement and wedding between his friend Lyle and Angela's cousin Christy, and the conversation at the hockey rink where they confirmed to Lyle and Christy how good it felt to have a partner for all the little things, and how they both knew, they were actually talking about themselves. Tony's cheeks grew red as he also remembered how good it felt to have Angela sit in his lap as they talked; well, a little too good as it turned out. That was definitely the first time she understood what she had the power to do to him.

And how it wasn't too long after that when they'd had to band together as a parenting team to deal with Jonathan acting out after he skipped from sixth to seventh grade. That had been a rough couple of weeks for all of them, but he was still proud of how Angela had handled it, and of course, he couldn't help but think about their little flirtation when he'd snapped her bra before running up the stairs. She was hot on his heels, and he turned around, in the upstairs hallway, just in time for her to crash into him. He'd kept them both from falling and then silently pulled her into his room. He whispered into her ear that she seemed to bring out the teenage boy in him, just like at camp, and she responded by pulling his head to hers for a kiss that seemed to last forever until she pulled away and sashayed out of the room with a wink.

"Oh wait," Sam said interrupting their reverie. "I almost forgot that you two spent the night together up on that billboard not too long after the Frankie thing. Before we get to Kelly, judging by everything we've heard over the past two days, I know something must have happened while you were alone up there," she said coyly.

Angela's face grew hot as she thought back to her surprise fear of heights phobia that had emerged when she'd gone to talk to Tony about the job in Washington, DC that he had just been offered. Even though the idea of him and Sam moving away made her heart ache, as his best friend, she always had his best interest at heart and wanted to make sure that he really gave it enough thought.

She felt a little better after they'd initially talked about it, but then came the realization that they were going to have to spend the night together in the same sleeping bag, and thanks to the wind, it would be without the tent. She wasn't quite sure what to expect as they'd grown a lot closer and a lot more flirtatious, since the previous two times that they'd shared a bed. At first, they had just laid there quietly, her head on his should, but then she had started giggling as she thought about how they seemed to keep getting themselves in these predicaments that forced them together. After Tony had asked what was making her giggle, and she had replied that it was nothing, he had leaned over and silenced her with a deep kiss. Before long, they began lightly exploring each other as Tony's hand moved down her body, over her clothes, with a light caress of her breasts, before he cupped her rear end and pulled her closer to him. Meanwhile, she was caressing the hard planes of his chest and stomach through his sweatshirt, and it all felt so damn good. Tony though eventually pulled back and whispered to her that they probably shouldn't give all of Fairfield a show. Sighing in agreement, she snuggled back up to him, and they eventually fell asleep.

The next morning, they woke up all intertwined, but knowing it wasn't the time or the place, Tony gave her a quick kiss on her forehead before they untangled and got ready for the day as best they could. They talked a little bit more about Tony's job offer, and Angela finally felt satisfied that he was making a decision that was in his best interest. Of course, it didn't hurt that he basically said, in their special way, that he couldn't imagine his life without Jonathan, Mona and her.

"So, all you did was talk?" Katie asked after Tony and Angela had relayed what had happened while conveniently leaving out some of the more intimate details.

"Yes, we were still capable of acting like best friends and just having a conversation with each other," Tony said shaking his head.

"Ha, ha," Sam said smiling. "A little bit after that is when Kelly came along, right?"

"Who's Kelly?" Katie asked.

"She was a woman that I dated briefly or at least tried to date," Tony said with a smile. "But for some reason, even though she had a great personality, was really into sports and, yes, she was pretty, I never really felt anything for her. Something or someone kept getting in the way," he finished as he nudged Angela's shoulder. "Plus, it turned out that she had abducted her little girl, Melissa, from her ex-husband, so that definitely put an end to anything else."

"Oh, that's awful," Katie said. "Do you know what ended up happening to her?"

"Your dad and I supported her through the trial and custody hearing after she and Melissa went back home, and last we heard, which was many years ago, she had turned her life around and was doing ok," Angela said.

"Didn't your Uncle Aldo, Aunt Rosa and cousins come from Italy soon after that?" Jonathan asked trying to move the conversation along.

"Yes," Tony said. "I'd almost forgotten about that."

He thought back to how, after he'd told them that they were wrong in their conclusion that he and Angela were together, his young cousin Maurizio declared that he wanted to marry Angela. That had led to a very awkward conversation between him and Maurizio where he'd had to confess that there was something, albeit still a confused something, between him and Angela. And then, how he'd had to basically promise his Uncle Aldo that he and Angela would probably get married someday. While he'd said it to placate his uncle and aunt, deep down he knew that's where their relationship was headed if they ever got the timing right.

"You actually said that Dad?" Katie asked clapping her hand over her mouth.

"He actually did," Angela said blushing as she thought back to how shocked she was when he told her that's what he had whispered in his uncle's ear. Well, shocked, but overjoyed at the same time. While they continued to show and tell each other how they felt, in their special code, the confirmation that is where he saw their relationship going at some point made her heart beat a little faster.

"Well, that kind of explains why Dad did what he did the night I went to prom with Jesse," Sam said with a wink.

"You knew?" Angela and Tony said in unison as they looked over at Sam shocked…