Chapter 53: An Appropriate Person…

"Marty Petersen," Angela said, giving Tony a knowing look.

"Marty, who?" Katie asked, confused.

"Yes!" Sam said, a grin spreading across her face. "He's the reason that you all got in trouble with the IRS, but more importantly, he's the reason we found out you were legally married!"

"Wait…what?" Katie said, practically shrieking. "How do I not know about this? You actually got married before I was born?"

"Oh yeah," Jonathan said. "I remember this now. We all kind of hoped you might just stay married. I mean, it sort of would have made sense."

"Jonathan," Tony said, giving him a pointed look. "We weren't going to stay married just because we signed in to a hotel in South Carolina as Mr. and Mrs. That would have never been the way I would have wanted to do it," he continued looking back at Angela as their thoughts transported them back to that confusing time after they found out about their "surprise" marriage.

Tony remembered explaining to Angela in the car on the way to the airport, after they'd quickly packed, about how his Uncle Carmine had been able to obtain an annulment to get out of his first marriage. He was glad though that Angela hadn't asked for any details about Uncle Carmine's second marriage after what he'd accidentally said back at the house.

Angela agreed that an annulment seemed like the best course of action to try and put this whole situation behind them. She couldn't help but smile thinking about how, if there wasn't such a serious IRS issue tied to it, this whole thing was kind of funny and a little prophetic. Her mother and the kids had gone completely overboard, but she knew that was just a sign of how badly they wanted her and Tony to be together. Especially with the gift her mother had gotten them! Angela couldn't help but smirk and shake her head. If her mother only knew what had transpired between them in the past before the Kathleen situation. They definitely didn't need any help in the romance department.

The plane ride to South Carolina had been relatively relaxing, all things considered. She and Tony silently agreed not to talk about the elephant in the room, instead lapsing into their mundane, run-of-the-mill everyday conversation about the agency, school and the kids. Angela was still thankful that they'd been able to salvage their friendship after everything had happened, and she felt it starting to really flourish again.

It wasn't until they were in the rental car on the way to the courthouse that she really started to think about what they were about to do. Of course, this would never have been the way she would have chosen for it to happen, but the fact that they were actually married made her heart beat a little bit faster. Is that what she ultimately wanted? Was she ready to actually take that step? Had her heart healed enough to be able to trust him and trust that this is what he wanted too and that he wouldn't let anything or, more like anyone, get in their way again? Angela knew and had told Tony as much, that if they did take that step, it would have to be forever, which meant marriage.

Had the universe conspired yet again to give them a big push in that direction, just like it had pushed them together twenty years after their first kiss at camp? Angela sighed as she realized that, in spite of the universe, this is not how she wanted to get together with Tony. Their romantic relationship shouldn't be born out of a legal technicality. She wanted them to do it the right way and for everything to unfold naturally with a proposal from Tony when the time was right.

"Penny for your thoughts," Tony said after he heard Angela sigh in the passenger seat next to him.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. I was just thinking about how we can never predict these strange situations we seem to keep finding ourselves in," Angela said quickly, hoping Tony wouldn't see through her little white lie. But, he seemed to be absorbed in his own thoughts.

Tony turned his eyes back to the road as he, too, was thinking about what was about to happen. He knew that he was finally ready for something more with Angela, and he kicked himself again for having really sabotaged their chance for that. Sure, they had rebuilt their friendship, and he could again feel that undercurrent of static electricity running between them, but is that all there would ever be? Angela seemed so eager to go through with this annulment. Was that a sign that he really had hurt her to the point that she'd given up on the idea of them ever becoming a couple? This isn't the way he would have wanted their romantic and married life to unfold, but hadn't Angela made clear that if she were ever ready for them to take that next step, then it would have to be forever? What if they did just stay married and keep it to themselves until they got to the point where it made sense to let everyone know? Tony shook his head because, in his heart of hearts, he knew he wanted them to do it the right way. Plus, the family would probably never forgive them if they kept something like this a secret.

"Ready?" Tony asked, turning to look at Angela after he'd parked the car in the courthouse parking lot.

"Ready," she answered back with a tentative smile. Tony couldn't help but give her hand a quick squeeze as they walked into the building…

Thirty minutes later, they were back in the car on their way to dinner before they would then check into the hotel for the night.

Tony couldn't help but sneak a look over at Angela and smirk, reliving their little exchange in the judge's chambers after the judge signed the annulment papers. She didn't kiss on the first date? Tony knew that wasn't the case, however he was just happy that this whole thing was behind them and they could be their normal and slightly flirtatious selves.

After they were seated and had ordered their food along with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, they settled into a companionable silence for a couple of minutes until Angela got up the nerve to address the elephant in the room.

"Tony, we made the right decision with the annulment, right?" she asked quietly. "I mean, even with all that nonsense with the kids and Mother, it's pretty obvious what they would like to see still happen between us..."

Tony sighed before responding, "Yeah, Angela, we did. This would be no way to start a relationship or a marriage, and I meant what I said back there. When I marry an appropriate person, I want it to be on my terms, not because someone told me I have to or because I signed some piece of paper mistakenly."

Angela did not miss the look he gave her when he said the word 'appropriate'. It was obvious in the judge's chambers, as well as now that while he was still trying to respect her wishes about being ready for a relationship, his mind was already there.

"I agree. I know you know that I was the one who proposed to Michael, and look how that turned out! I mean, being forced into something instead of letting it happen naturally does not make for a solid relationship foundation."

"So, why don't we do something that does come naturally to us?" Tony said with a smile nodding in the direction of the dance floor of the restaurant where a few other couples were dancing to the music from the small jazz band that was playing.

The rest of their dinner was spent in easy, light-hearted conversation before they headed to their hotel.

"This isn't the same hotel as last time, is it?" Angela asked with a giggle. "Not that we'd make the same mistake again."

"Ay-oh-oh-ay," Tony said with a laugh. "Definitely not." He couldn't help but think back to that trip they'd made last year to Charleston for another one of his old-timers' baseball conventions. He didn't want to be presumptuous in thinking that what had happened between them in St. Louis would happen again, so he had made sure to reserve them separate hotel rooms. Of course, once again, the universe seemed to intervene when the hotel lost the reservation and could only provide them with a room with a king-size bed. But, they had behaved themselves, and he really had slept on the floor. Angela was unusually stressed about an upcoming campaign and ended up bringing some work with her. And unlike the romance they had found in St. Louis, that magic just didn't seem to find them on this trip.

But here they were again in the same city, yet everything was different between them this time. There was no question that there would be separate hotel rooms now. Tony couldn't help but wonder where they might be if he hadn't screwed everything up. Would they be dating, engaged, or even married? They certainly wouldn't be in the situation they were currently in.

"Dad, so what happened after the annulment?" Katie asked, shaking her head in amazement. She still was having a hard time believing that her parents had found themselves married yet had chosen to have it annulled. It really was a miracle that they had gotten together at all.

Tony thought back to how after they had checked in to the hotel and brought their suitcases to their rooms, they'd come down to the bar for a nightcap. But that's all it had been. They had then gone back to their rooms, and Tony had given Angela a hug before they parted for the night. It was obvious that they both wanted more, but Tony could still see that hint of uncertainty in Angela's eyes as he reminded himself again that he was following her lead.

Angela had wanted to pull him into her hotel room and just throw caution to the wind. But, it felt like things were more complicated than ever, in spite of the annulment, and she wasn't ready for forever yet. However, she was definitely getting closer, especially with what played out when they all traveled to Washington D.C. a couple of months later…