Chapter 1

"You sure it's love?" "Positive."

Those words were still echoing through Angela's mind as she stumbled over to the couch and sat down. Had she and Tony really just admitted that they were in love with each other? Sure, it was in the "unique roundabout not quite able to admit the truth" language that had developed between them, but the underlying meaning was clear. Angela suddenly felt such a sense of relief. Tony had turned Frankie, the Italian beauty, down in favor of her; she almost couldn't believe it.

Part of her wondered what would have happened if Sam hadn't burst through the front door when she did, but maybe that was fate intervening again as a sign it wasn't quite the right time. At least they'd taken another baby step forward, and Angela had faith that "their" time was coming soon.

As the following days and weeks went by, she was hyper aware of the subtle changes that were starting to take place in her relationship with Tony. None more so then when she and Tony decided to play matchmaker and get her cousin Christy together with his old friend Lyle. What had started out as a complete disaster ended with the two of them married and also pushed Angela and Tony closer together at the same time.

It started with Sam and her mother being giddy when they thought Tony and she were going out on a date. Of course that wasn't the case, but the way she and Tony both so quickly denied it was definitely a case of "the lady doth protest too much" (Shakespeare suddenly seemed to be everywhere when it came to their relationship!). Following that came their roundabout discussion about "how the house likes flowers" and agreeing to not take each other for granted so often, then finally, Angela finding herself on Tony's lap at the hockey game. Between realizing what kind of "state" that put Tony in and their acknowledgement about what great matchmakers they were, it was obvious that their relationship was changing.

"Hey Angela," Tony said at breakfast, the Friday after Lyle's and Christy's wedding, before the kids and Mona had come down to eat. "We haven't caught a movie together in a while, and I saw that Overboard is still playing at the local theater. Want to go tonight? Not for nothin', but it looks funny, and I swear there's a character that looks just like Mona!"

Tony, too, had noticed that he and Angela seemed to be growing closer ever since their "private talk" when he'd told her that he wasn't going to marry Frankie. She seemed completely flabbergasted until they admitted, albeit without actually saying it, that they were in love with each other. Turning Frankie down had forced him to admit to himself that he couldn't marry her because he was in love with Angela and had been for awhile. And everything that happened since then, culminating in the wedding between Christy and Lyle, only reinforced it.

Tony found himself wanting to spend more and more time alone with Angela, but he knew it had to be in a casual, as normal as possible, way. The last thing they needed right now, as things slowly evolved between them, was a meddling mother or inquisitive kids watching their every move.

"I would love to, Tony," Angela replied with a smile. "I could use a good laugh. It's been a long week."

"It's a date then," Tony responded with a wink.

Later that day, Tony was so absorbed in his thoughts of what was happening between him and Angela that he almost didn't hear the doorbell over the sound of the vacuum. Who could that be? It was too early for the kids to be home from school. They wouldn't ring the bell, anyway.

"Frankie, what are you doing here?" Tony asked, surprised, after opening the door. This woman sure liked to show up unannounced on his doorstep.

"Hi Tony. I'm sorry I didn't call first, but we need to talk," Frankie replied, very matter-of-fact.

"Ok," Tony said gesturing for her to come in.

"There's no easy way for me to say this, so I'm just going to say it. I'm pregnant, and it's your's."