Chapter 39: Take Me Out to the Ball Game

A/N: Thanks everyone for all the great reviews of this story so far! It's so appreciated! I've tried to stick pretty close to what actually happened on the show and just provide some realistic embellishments where plausible and where further context seems warranted. This chapter is probably my biggest leap away from what played out on the show, but I wanted to stay realistic about what I've been building, as far as Tony's & Angela's physical relationship goes, before we get to the weird mess that was their relationship in Season 8. ;) Also, this chapter is probably a mild M, so you've been warned…

"We know you all shared a hotel room in St. Louis. Mona told us after she called the hotel and was patched through to Mr. and Mrs. Micelli's room," Sam said; a broad grin on her face. "I've wanted to ask for years what went on that weekend, but Mona always told us that we would find out when the time was right. So, I guess that time is now!"

"Mr. and Mrs. Micelli?" Katie asked raising her eyebrow. "I can't wait to hear this story!"

Angela felt Tony squeeze her shoulder as both their minds returned to that turbulent weekend in St. Louis at the Cardinals' Old Timers reunion. It started off innocently enough. After Tony received the invitation in the mail, he casually asked Angela if she would like to go with him. Angela practically leaped at the chance. Not only would it give her and Tony some true alone time, it would also give her a chance to learn more about Tony's life back then. After the confusion of the past six months, which had culminated with their make-out session in her hotel room at The Plaza, this trip would be a perfect opportunity for her to show up for Tony, as just his best friend, in order to keep them on that tightrope. Things had been going well between them lately, except for when they had let their competitiveness get the better of them recently in their tie-dye t-shirt booth at the flea market, but that had just been a momentary blip on the radar.

Of course, once they got to St. Louis, nothing went as planned. It still irked Angela when she thought back to how Tony had turned from his usual caring sensitive self into a self-involved jerk. At first, she was ok going along with the charade of being Tony's wife even to the point that she was willing to share a hotel room with him again just a few months after their night at The Plaza. But, as that first night went on and Tony grew more and more insensitive, culminating in his dance and kiss with that tramp Betty, she knew that she had probably made the wrong decision. Thank god though that her mother, after some gentle teasing about her and Tony sharing a room and her ridiculous metaphor about Tony needing to go to another bake shop, had been the voice of reason and talked some sense back into her about being there for her best friend. And then after the game, everything changed…

"Angela, what do you say we go out to dinner tonight, just the two of us?" Tony asked as he came out of the bathroom in their hotel suite, wearing a white hotel robe, fresh from his shower after the game.

"Are you sure? I mean it's the last night you can spend with the guys," Angela responded.

"Ah hell, I think I've spent enough time with them to last me until the next reunion. Plus, I still need to make up for last night. I was a world-class jerk, and I'm just glad that you didn't end up leaving," Tony said with an endearing smile.

"That would be lovely. I'm so glad I got to see my best friend play ball. You were amazing out there. You definitely didn't look or play like an old timer," Angela said teasingly.

"Aww, shucks, ma'am," Tony responded with a bashful grin. "There's this great area called The Hill with some amazing Italian restaurants, sort of St. Louis' answer to Little Italy. I used to go there all the time when I was playing with the Cards, and I'd love to take you to Charlie Gitto's, my favorite spot. And then maybe we can come back here and actually watch The Way We Were?" Tony asked hopefully.

"That sounds perfect," Angela said smiling. "What a wonderful way to end the weekend."

And dinner was perfect. They ordered an excellent bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon that paired just right with their food which was delicious. And, at more than any other point during the weekend, they were able to slip back into their comfortable, yet slightly flirtatious, best friend status. Tony regaled her with some relatively innocent stories from his playing days and also admitted that he really was at a happy point in his life. It had taken a long time, but he had made peace with how his baseball career had ended. Sure, he still thought about "what could have been" occasionally, but he was excited about the direction his life was going and was thankful for the deep friendship they had.

Angela remembered the intense look he had given her as he said that last part and realized, much later, that's when things started to take a turn for the evening. After dinner, they walked around The Hill neighborhood, hands clasped together, talking about nothing and everything, before catching a cab back to the hotel.

On the way to their room, they stopped by the bar to purchase a bottle of wine to have while watching the movie. Angela remembered how they had settled onto the couch in their suite, sitting next to but not too close together, as the movie started. She couldn't pinpoint exactly when things changed, but as the movie came to an end, she was lying back against Tony's chest while he had his arm around her shoulder.

"Such a wonderful but sad movie," Angela said sighing as the credits began to roll. "How can two people who love each other so much let it all slip away?"

"I would never let that happen," Tony said shifting them slightly so that he was now looking into Angela's eyes. "If you're lucky enough to find the right person and fall in love, you have to do whatever it takes to hold on to it," he finished softly.

"I agree," Angela whispered as Tony's face inched towards her before he went in and claimed her lips. Before long, she was lying on the sofa with Tony on top of her kissing her senseless.

"Tony, Tony, wait," Angela said breathlessly a few minutes later after his hand had moved under her sweater and was inching up her ribcage. Looking up into his brown eyes, now darkened with arousal, she continued, "We've been dancing around this for months or I guess even years. I mean that night at The Plaza wasn't that long ago. I know we both agreed that we need to stay on the tightrope for the time being, and I think we still do."

"But," Angela continued taking a deep breath, "I can't help but also feel that maybe we need to fall completely off, just once, so that we don't keep letting ourselves get carried away like this. It's obviously something we both want."

Tony tucked a lock of blonde hair behind Angela's ear before taking his own deep breath and responding, "I do want this, so much, but I don't want to lose our friendship either. Having you here this weekend has meant everything. I think you're right though. Maybe we need to fall completely off the tightrope to be able to stay on it in the future," he said softly.

Angela nodded slowly before Tony swept her up into his arms and deposited her in the center of the bed. They gazed into each other's eyes for a long moment; a silent acknowledgment and agreement that they were both ready for this to happen.

Angela remembered how Tony had taken his time with her. Kissing her lips and jaw while his hands slid her sweater further and further up until she was able to pull it over her head and throw it to the floor. He had then traced the outline of her lacy red bra before moving his hand to her back and undoing the clasp. It was the next item to hit the floor as he took one of her nipples in his mouth and began teasing it with his tongue. Meanwhile, her hands moved under his sweater gliding over all the hard muscles and planes of his chest. Tony then made quick work of his undershirt and sweater so that soon they were lying together chest to chest.

Tony's lips and tongue moved down Angela's body tasting her all over before getting to the button and zipper of her slacks. After he had them undone, Angela helped him out by shimming out of them as gracefully as possible while lying on the bed. Her lacy black panties soon followed, and Tony sat up and leaned back to take her in. She was as beautiful, if not more so than when he had accidentally walked in on her getting out of her bathtub a few years earlier; an image that would always have a place in his memory but that was about to be replaced with images of something he had barely dared to dream would ever happen. He quickly pulled off his jeans and boxers before again lying next to her.

"You are so gorgeous, Angela," Tony said as his finger slowly traced a tingly trail down her body until it reached her center. She was hot and wet as he began to stroke her up and down while his other hand caressed her breast. Angela, meanwhile, had taken hold of Tony's hard arousal and was stroking him as a deep moan escaped her lips.

"I want you so much, Tony," Angela panted as she felt an orgasm building. "Make love to me," she moaned.

Tony happily obliged, and it was like nothing he had ever experienced before. Maybe it was because of the clandestine nature of what they were doing or that he knew this was going to be their one and only chance for who knows how long, but the feeling of her body under his and of thrusting deep inside her was incredible. He never wanted it to end.

Eventually, they both came back down to earth and let their breathing calm and their bodies cool.

"That was...I don't even think I have words," Angela said softly with her head on Tony's shoulder.

"It was incredible, and as I told you way back when, I want you to remember it and now you will," Tony said teasingly as he softly kissed her forehead.

Sighing happily, Angela snuggled into Tony's chest before realizing that, since they had such an early flight the next morning, they should probably have the discussion, they both knew they needed to have, now.

"Tony, are we going to be able to put this genie back in the bottle? I mean, I already want to do that again," Angela admitted with a rueful smile. "Can we really go back to being just best friends?"

With a sigh, Tony raked his hand through his hair before saying, "Angela, I think deep down we both know that we're in this for the long haul, so I don't think this was our one and only shot. But, we need to get back on that tightrope, at least for a little while longer. I just started college, and your agency is busier than ever, so I'm afraid that if we did take that leap right now, neither one of us could give a relationship the attention it deserves, and we could end up losing everything. Plus, even though Sam and Jonathan are getting older, I think it would devastate both of them if things didn't work out between us. We know they both look at us as their two parents, and I don't want to ever lose my relationship with Jonathan just like I know you don't ever want to lose your relationship with Sam."

Angela leaned in to give Tony a kiss on the cheek before nodding her head in agreement, "You're right. We can do this, and we shouldn't force things. We should just let things evolve naturally, and I have faith they will. I don't want to ever lose my best friend; the one who supports me unconditionally, flirts with me occasionally and even dances with me. We can still dance together, can't we?" she asked reaching down to squeeze Tony's hand.

"Always," Tony replied. "I still need to be able to hold you from time to time. In fact, when we get home, I'm going to teach you that dance from the bar last night. There's only one person I want to dance that dance with now, and it's not Betty. It's my beautiful, blonde and incredibly sexy best friend."

"Hold it," Jonathan said bringing both Tony and Angela back to the kitchen at 3344 Oak Hills Drive. Tony and Angela smiled at each other as, while they had been replaying everything from that weekend over in their minds, they had been very judicious in what they had just shared with the kids.

"So, you're not going to tell us anything more specific than you got very close that weekend?" Jonathan asked arching his eyebrow.

"As your mom said, some things are off limits," Tony responded. "But you can interpret what we told you however you would like," he finished with a wink.

"So, if what we think happened did happen, what on earth really took place on your 'first date' a few weeks after you got back from St. Louis? Did you even go to a comedy club?" Sam asked skeptically.

"Well, yes," Tony responded his ears growing red. That night was not one of his prouder moments. All the kids knew currently was that he had taken Angela to the comedy club, and she had ended up punching the comedian after he wouldn't stop teasing them about their relationship. Of course, that again was the whitewashed version of everything that had actually taken place that night…