A Visit to Joe's Tiki Bar
Ironically, the year 1994 had the same calendar as the year that Sleep Talk, Sweet Talk aired. So, I'm going with that – Angela's birthday was on a Friday – May 20th . It doesn't mesh with the Gemini sign Tony said she was, but there were a lot of inconsistencies in the show …
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A Visit to Joe's Tiki Bar – A Birthday Update
Their baby was five months old already, and Tony and Angela couldn't have been happier since she was born. They were both exhausted, but they couldn't deny that they were happy. Angela made the tough decision to take a year's leave so she could spend ample time bonding with their daughter. She never had that opportunity when Jonathan was born worrying some young, male co-worker would take her job while on maternity leave. Knowing this would be their one and only baby, she didn't want to let this chance pass her by to spend time with Katie. Originally, she planned on taking only three months, but she had thought long and hard about it and even discussed it with Tony on their honeymoon, and she changed her mind.
She also knew she had a capable group of people at The Bower Agency working for her, and she already knew they could handle running the Agency after she moved to Iowa and left them in charge once before. Tony was completely on board with the decision. While he looked for a permanent new job, he spent time substitute teaching at the Fairfield District schools. That left him with plenty of time to spend with Angela and Katie. They knew they were lucky to have this time and didn't want to squander it. By the time Katie came along, Tony had long since tamed his ego about wanting to be the primary breadwinner in the family.
Every so often Angela would spend time in her home office speaking to Jack. Tony had put a bassinet and changing table in the office so Angela could bring Katie in there with her. She'd spend time talking to Jack, rocking Katie in her bassinet, and going over accounts and any new potential clients so she wouldn't go back to work needing to catch up on everything at once. She was truly content to let Jack and her team handle things but never stopped keeping up with everything at the office and offering guidance and direction when it was needed. The agency was a part of her, and it was her choice when and if she wanted to work.
A few months had passed since Valentine's Day and their trip back to Chez Rene. Tony wanted to do something different with Angela for her birthday. This year's birthday was different because it was their first as husband and wife – a far cry from the prior year when they were both apart, broken up, and broken-hearted. It was also a far cry from Angela's first birthday they spent together when they were both drunk, leading to their flour fight in the kitchen culminating in that incredible kiss.
They got a rare night out together for her birthday when Samantha and Hank offered to watch the baby for the night, and he drove them to of all places, Joe's Tiki Bar.
Earlier in the Day - May 20, 1994
Angela woke up to the sound of Katie's cries coming from the nursery through the baby monitor. Tony stirred next to her, but she was awake before he could even open his eyes. She whispered to Tony not to get up. Then she plied her head off Tony's chest and shifted herself to get off their bed. She managed to get up while trying to suppress a big yawn. She very quickly walked to the bathroom, washed up, and put on her bathrobe.
When she walked out of their bedroom over to the nursery, she noticed the door partially open already. Her mother was sitting in the rocker with the baby in her arms. She'd gone downstairs and brought back a bottle to feed Katie with. Noticing the diapers in disarray, she knew that her mother had already changed her, too. She also noticed sweet smells of baby powder adrift in the room.
"Mother, what are you doing in here?" Angela asked her, groggily.
"The baby woke me up, and I knew it was your birthday, so I wanted you to get some extra sleep."
"Mother, how thoughtful of you. You must really be happy being a grandmother again," Angela stated quietly staring at a content Katie in her mother's arms.
In a rare, poignant mother-daughter moment, Mona took Angela's hand when she walked over to them and told her how happy she was that she and Tony had finally gotten married and how lucky they were to have had a baby. "You know, living with the two of you stealing glances at each other for all those years and having those accidental moments of, shall we say, two volcanoes erupting every so often without ever acting on those impulses, was driving everyone here crazy. You know there was enough electricity in this house to light up a small city," Mona teased Angela as she had told Tony all those years ago.
"Mother!" Angela exclaimed embarrassed and turning a bright shade of pink.
Mona lifted her fingers to her lips to remind them both that there was a baby starting to doze off in her arms.
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"Tony, the food was wonderful, what a delicious birthday dinner!"
"Happy birthday, Sweetheart! How'd you like to stop for a nightcap before heading home?"
"Sure, it's still early, and Sam and Hank are watching the baby tonight. What were you thinking? You know I'm not drinking anything yet so wherever you pick will have to include some great virgin drinks, too."
"Oh, I've got something in mind," he said mysteriously. "Sit tight and rest while I drive us there."
Angela raised her eyebrows not knowing what Tony had on his mind, but she was too tired to give it much thought or ask any questions. She sat back and closed her eyes while Tony drove them to their destination.
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Angela gulped when Tony told her they were just about there and to open her eyes.
As they pulled into the parking lot of Joe's Tiki Bar, Angela's mind raced back to that night of her birthday six years before as she was sitting on a bar stool looking away from the door of the bar. She hadn't noticed him walk in. When she heard Tony's voice, her stomach did flip flops. She turned back away from him absolutely mortified knowing that he heard her utter those words out loud while sleeping. But as usual, nothing came of it, and they went back to the status quo after Tony weaseled his way out of revealing his true feelings for her again. She hadn't done much better letting him know that her utterances were how she really felt about him. Joe had been right; she wasn't ready back then. Maybe if Samantha hadn't walked in on them when she was trying to tell Tony how she felt, she might've gotten the words out months before that night at the bar.
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Joe couldn't believe who had walked into his bar. He hadn't seen them since the night Angela had divulged her sleep talk secret about her housekeeper to him. He'd always wondered what had happened to the couple who seemed to be hiding the truth from each other and weren't quite ready to reveal their true feelings yet. Even Mona hadn't returned to Joe's after that night. At some point, Angela had told Mona about her trip to Joe's, and not wanting to be questioned about Tony and Angela, Mona had avoided going back there.
"It looks like the two of you actually woke up," Joe said pointedly to the them.
"Indeed, we did," Tony said as they walked further towards the bar with his hand low on Angela's back. Tony reached into his pocket and brought out his wallet. He proudly opened it up to reveal a photo of him and Angela on their wedding day and a picture of Katie right next to it.
"You two REALLY did wake up! Congratulations, you two," Joe offered genuinely. "Thanks," they both answered in unison.
Angela and Tony took a seat at a little round table in between the door and the bar. Joe took their order and went back to get their drinks.
Without a long wait, Joe brought them their drinks along with a bowl of beer nuts with a single candle burning in it. "On the house," Joe told them. "As congratulations on your wedding and baby."
"Thanks, Joe," they offered at the same time again.
Angela looked up at Tony giving him the same longing look she had so many years before in that bar.
"You know what I wished for, Tony, don't you?"
"Yeah, I kinda figured it out, Angela. Go ahead and blow out the candle, it's dripping on the nuts again," he laughed, then whispered in her ear, "Ange, this birthday night is going to end a lot better than that one did," he promised her, causing her to blush. Then continuing, "although we did manage to salvage what was left of your cake after Mona and the kids got a hold of it."
"Yes, eating the 'La' was delicious." Angela responded, remembering how her cake had been ravaged before they made it back home.
Just as Tony was going to remind her again that the candle was melting in the nuts, Angela took Tony's hand, closed her eyes, made her silent wish, and blew out the candle. She still didn't want to share her wishes out loud, still being very superstitious about them.
After she blew out the candle, Tony took her in his arms like he did the last time they were at Joe's and wished her a happy birthday. "Happy birthday, 'La'" Tony giggled to her.
This time, she was able to say thank you with a deep kiss. Then she pulled back and asked Tony something she had wondered since that night.
"Tony, why did you ask me if I'd ever been to Dubuque that night?"
"How'd you remember that, Angela?" he asked her surprised that she remembered the question he asked her out of left field as they were leaving the bar that night.
"I kind of remembered it after we moved out to Iowa. For some reason, that comment came to my mind. It almost foreshadowed what happened to us."
"The day of your birthday, when you heard Mona and I talking in the kitchen about what you said the night before, we got into a deep conversation. Mona said that there was enough electricity in our house to light up a small city, and I denied it at first… thought about it for a moment and suggested …maybe Dubuque."
Angela gasped because that's what Mona had told her earlier in the day. "Mother just said those very words to me this morning when she was feeding Katie in the nursery. So that's how that question came up." She laughed. "Fate has certainly entered our lives quite a bit, hasn't it?"
Before Tony could answer her, some music came on, Anne Murray singing, Can I Have This Dance?"
"Angela, come dance with me."
She got up and put her arms out. Tony drew her close as the song started.
"I'll always remember, the song they were playing
The first time we danced, and I knew
As we swayed to the music, and held to each other
I fell in love with you
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Could you be my partner every night?
When we're together, it feels so right
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
I'll always remember, that magic moment
When I held you close to me
As we moved together, I knew forever
You're all I'll ever need
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Could you be my partner every night?
When we're together, it feels so right
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Could you be my partner every night?
When we're together, it feels so right
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?"
After the song ended, they sat back down at their little table to finish their drinks. Angela went to the ladies room, and then they left telling Joe that they'd be back again.
Tony drove them back home. They walked into an empty house with some low lighting brightening the living room just enough for them to head back upstairs.
"It's so quiet here with Jonathan and Mona out and the baby spending the night with Sam and Hank," Angela observed.
"Oh, it won't be quiet for much longer," Tony hinted as he took Angela's hand in his. They walked into their bedroom together, and Tony lived up to his promise of making this birthday so much better than the one she had all those years ago. But one thing didn't change. Anyone walking by their bedroom would've heard Angela shout out, "Tony, I love you!" But this time, they'd also have heard Tony shout back to her, "Angela, I love you, too!"
The End: A Visit to Joe's Tiki Bar – A Birthday Update
Author's Note: I always thought it would be so cool for Tony to take Angela back to Joe's as more closure to that awkward, mortifying birthday Angela had. They would've been in such a different place by then.
