Chapter 63: Who Is The Boss?

"It wasn't that bad, Sam," Tony said, shaking his head as he stirred the large pot of soup on the stove.

"Dad, you moved into my dorm room!" Sam responded, rolling her eyes but with a grin on her face.

"What?" Katie asked incredulously. "Dad, you moved out?"

"For one night," Tony responded.

Giving Angela a look, he continued, "But I think we need to go back to a little before then if you all really want to understand what was going on."

"Well, I definitely want to," Katie said. "Especially since it seemed like things were going so well after you gave Mom her engagement ring. Like you all had finally settled into being together and engaged."

"That's true," Angela said with a soft smile. "But then, the agency hit a bit of a rough patch financially, and it ended up spilling over into our everyday lives," she continued as she thought back to what started out as just a professional issue but ended up being the catalyst for a pretty tense time between her and Tony…

Katie was right, though. Angela was so proud to wear and show off her ring after Tony gave it to her, and they settled into a really romantic and sweet period in their engagement. But then, the economic recession occurred and eventually seeped into the advertising world. At first, it was just a couple of smaller clients pulling back on their advertising budgets, but then it really started to spiral. And it came to a head in both her professional and personal lives when Reed Hamilton canceled the campaign for his new soap product.

At first, when Tony suggested putting himself in charge of the budget, she resisted, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it made sense. Not only because he had experience living on a tight budget but also because, if they were truly going to be partners for the rest of their lives, it probably was about time for them to really start sharing the household financials.

But then, everything went off the rails culminating with that ridiculous Molly Moo Cow creamer set. Angela knew, though, that was just a symptom of the actual problem. And realistically, she and Tony shared the blame. He'd gotten carried away and a little too controlling with the finances, and when she began to really feel the pinch, instead of talking to him, she'd tried to break free by sneaking around secretly shopping. After all, shopping had always been her go-to pick me up when she was feeling depressed or stressed.

Angela couldn't help but smile though when she thought about the talk she and Tony had once she finally let her guard down and confessed her fears to him. He was so tender and caring. This was the Tony she had fallen in love with, and hearing him say he would love her even if they lost everything made her heart swell though it didn't quite take away her worries about the future of the agency. But it reminded her that, just like when she lost her job, they were a team. She remembered what happened next so vividly.

He pulled her into a hug even though she was still being immature and pouting about the Moo Cow. Though, feeling Tony's strong arms around her made her start to forget about everything else. Especially when he whispered in her ear that he knew something she loved and that never cost anything before grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the stairs.

"I don't get it, Mom," Katie said, interrupting Angela's thoughts. "It sounds like you all worked through that issue, so how did that lead to Dad spending the night in Sam's dorm room?"

Tony sighed as he thought back to how that small crack in their relationship widened considerably in the next week, mostly due to his actions. Although, when he and Angela really talked about it years later, they realized they both were to blame to some degree. They had gotten very comfortable in their relationship by this point and started to take each other for granted. Angela was always scheduling things for them to do together since they were both so busy during the work week between her agency, his school schedule, and still managing the house and the kids (plus Mona). Angela just assumed that he would be happy to spend time with her no matter what, and he was at first. But then she stopped even asking him if it was something he wanted to do, and he felt his freedom disappearing. Ironic since it was only a few months ago when he'd been obsessed with being around her, and now she seemed to be obsessed with being around him. Of course, it didn't help that he chose then to start listening to his idiotic friends, who only confirmed that, at least from the outside, he looked like he was henpecked.

And, like a jerk, instead of talking to Angela about how he was feeling like she had just done with him only a couple of weeks earlier with her fears about her business, he reverted to being immature and tried instead to break free from being under her thumb by "showing" her who was boss. Of course, that backfired, and again, instead of dealing with it like a mature adult in a committed relationship, he walked out and ended up spending the night in his daughter's dorm room. A fact Angela didn't even realize until he finally crawled back home the next morning, and they hashed it out.

Tony remembered the conversation they'd had that night snuggled up on the couch together. Of course, this was after he acquiesced and ended up going shopping with her, but it wasn't dresses that she had modeled for him. In fact, he was very much looking forward to the second viewing of what she'd bought, hopefully later that night.

"Tony," Angela ventured as they sat curled up together. "Is it really that bad doing some of these things together even if they aren't your favorite activities?"

"Ay-oh-oh-ay, anytime you need a shopping buddy like today, I'm your man. Your only man," he said teasingly, leaning down to kiss her soundly on the lips before continuing, "No, it's not that, necessarily. It's more the assumption that I want to do everything you want to do without even asking me. And I realized that I should be asking you to do things too. It shouldn't be all on you to plan everything we do together. I guess my brain still has a hard time wrapping itself around the fact that we are really free to do whatever we want together without having to couch it as something we're doing as 'friends.' It's still hard for me to adjust sometimes after seven years of hiding our true feelings about why we were doing certain things or going certain places together."

"Me too, Tony," Angela said, snuggling deeper into his embrace. "And maybe that's why I went a bit overboard with the scheduling. It was the heady knowledge that we don't have to hide anymore. We'll find the right balance, though. Even though we're engaged, I know we're still trying to find our way."

"So, you worked through everything, then?" Jonathan asked, bringing both Tony and Angela back to the present.

"Well, mostly," Tony replied as he remembered that it wasn't too long after that when he'd accidentally mixed together ammonia and bleach, ending up unconscious on the kitchen floor. He'd had the most vivid dream about how his life would have turned out had he not hurt his shoulder and continued to play professional baseball. That really reinforced to him that money can't buy happiness, especially when it became obvious that Sam, Jonathan, Mona and especially Angela weren't part of his life, at least not in the way he needed them to be. Thank God it had just been a dream or more like a nightmare.

But then came another true test of his and Angela's relationship when he developed an acute allergy. In the end, even though it turned out that he was just allergic to a certain type of glue, it forced the two of them to confront some of their fears and doubts about getting married. The conversation they started in the living room resurfaced as they lay in bed later that night since they hadn't fully resolved it downstairs.

"Tony," Angela ventured, not wanting to rehash what they'd already talked about but still feeling like further discussion was warranted. "I hadn't really thought about your paycheck and what it represents. I mean, I don't have to keep paying you per se. Maybe it would make more sense if we just started sharing my checking account. After we're married, everything will be joint anyway."

Tony took a deep breath as he realized that what Angela was saying made sense. What was the point now of having her cut him a check each week from that account just for him to deposit in his account? After all their discussion lately about wanting to be partners and share more things together, it only made sense for them to actually start sharing their finances.

"You're right, Sweetheart," Tony said, pulling her closer so that her head could rest on his chest. "We're partners in every sense of the word now, so it's time to really start acting like it. I can be ok with that, even if takes me a little bit to adjust."

"Speaking of what we were talking about downstairs," he continued, lazily running his thumb up and down her back. "What were you starting to say before I cut you off? Not for nothin', I realize I've done that a lot lately, which isn't fair to you."

"I, umm, well," Angela said softly, not willing to meet his eyes. "I know we talked about this after we got engaged, but I guess I'm still worried about having more children. That you are going to want that someday, more so than maybe now, and I'm not going to be able to give it to you."

"Sweetheart," Tony said before placing a kiss on the top of her head and then reaching down to interlace his fingers with hers. "I meant what I said then. If we are able to have a child together, nothing would thrill me more. But I love you and want to be with you so much that I will be ok if doesn't happen. Or, if we can't have our own kid, maybe we look into making it happen a different way. I think having Billy, even though it turned out not to be forever, reinforced to both of us how much we love raising children together, no matter how they come to us."

"Oh, Tony," Angela said, leaning up to place a searing kiss on his lips as his hand began to caress all of her curves and work its way down her body before reaching the hem of her nightgown pulling it up. Soon all the uncertainties they both still had took a back seat to things they were much more sure about when it came to being together.

"Sometimes I'm still amazed that you all made it down the aisle eventually," Sam said with a smirk.

"Speaking of 'making it down the aisle,'" Angela said softly as she leaned over to squeeze Sam's shoulder. "Are you sure you want to talk about what came next when you and Hank eloped?"

"I think we should. As I said earlier, I don't want to hide from our memories and talking about them will keep them fresh for me, Mattie and Maria," Sam said as unbidden tears sprang to her eyes. "It was a crazy time, but I wouldn't change it for the world now."

Tony walked over and put his hands on his daughter's shoulders before looking at Angela as they thought back to everything that had happened with Sam's wedding and how it had ended up affecting their own relationship…