The Room, Unslept in

A/N: Time for Chapter 16! These two continue to make plans for their future, but we're moving forward. (Be sure to read the Author Notes at the end of this chapter to see what's coming soon).

PS – I don't own any of the characters from Who's the Boss? I also don't own the song(s) I use in this story. I also don't own the dialogue I sometimes use in the chapters. I've tried to pick songs that remind me of Tony & Angela and their relationship. If you'd like to hear them, check out YouTube – you can find just about everything there.

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Chapter 16: The Room, Unslept In: The Story of Us

After a wonderful breakfast full of waffles, eggs, chicken sausage, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and fresh-brewed coffee, everyone helped to get the dishes piled into the dishwasher and the table cleaned. Even Angela who hadn't been eating much before long car rides indulged in the waffles not able to resist the heavenly smell they emitted. Extra whipped cream was a given for her waffles and she had found the aluminum can right in front of her place setting.

There was an air of comfort, contentment, and excitement amongst everyone sitting around the dining room table on this particular Sunday morning. The conversation was light and carefree with everyone catching up on events happening in the next few weeks.

"Have fun, you kids. I wish I could be there to see Mrs. Rossini's face when she sees the both of you together," Mona said regretfully. "But I sure won't miss getting my cheeks pinched by her," she added as she shook her cheeks.

"I'll tell you all about it later, Mother," Angela promised.

After gathering the two white envelopes holding their wedding invitations, Tony and Angela piled into his black Jeep for the ride into Brooklyn. It was Angela's first trip to Brooklyn in months. She took in the scenery going by as Tony drove closer and closer into the city. Part of her was so excited, and part of her was focused on the to-do-list in her mind that needed to be completed imminently. She was also tugging at the shirt that was getting a little tight around her mid-section, leading to thoughts of needing to shop for some looser fitting clothes.

"Are we going to tell Mrs. Rossini about the baby?" Tony asked Angela as he watched her shift in her seat. The question brought Angela back into the present causing her to think about how she wanted to approach this.

"Nah, let's keep it between us right now. I don't want people to think you came home because of the pregnancy."

"Okay, Angela," Tony told her softly as he patted her leg realizing how sensitive she was about the subject.

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Mrs. Rossini's jaw dropped when she saw who was standing at her front door.

"Tony! What are you doing here?" Mrs. Rossini exclaimed in that beautiful Brooklyn accent he missed so much.

Angela had been standing hidden in the hallway not wanting to interrupt or disturb the reunion between Mrs. Rossini and Tony.

Tony turned towards Angela and motioned her to come to the front door.

"Angela! Oh, wow! I'm so happy to see you two together after … Are … you … together?" Mrs. Rossini asked them tentatively.

Angela handed Mrs. Rossini a large white envelope and asked her to open it telling her the contents would explain everything to her.

"Oh, I'm so happpppppy for the both of you. Tony, you came home to be with your love! That's so romantic... Oh, I'm going to crrrrrry," she insisted. In the meantime, she attempted to pinch Tony's cheeks and then moved on to Angela's.

"Please don't cry, Mrs. Rossini," Tony begged, embarrassed by the waterworks being shed.

"Is Billy around? We need to see Billy, too?" Tony asked trying to distract her from the crying.

"Yeah, Tony, I think so," she sniffed from the tear-shedding. "I don't think Mrs. Napoli is out right now. But come in first. I want to hear the details," Mrs. Rossini urged ushering them into her apartment. Both could smell delicious food being cooked in the kitchen – it was Sunday after all. She offered them food, but they told her that they were full from breakfast. But it was Mrs. Rossini, so she went into the kitchen and brought out coffee and a coffee cake she just happened to have sitting on her kitchen counter. Then she went back into the kitchen to bring out cups and plates, knives, forks, and spoons.

Tony and Angela sat down on the couch and filled Mrs. Rossini in on their wedding plans. As they expected, Mrs. Rossini offered to cook for their wedding. They couldn't turn her down. So, their catering needs were now taken care of, too. Once the catering details were discussed and finalized, Tony and Angela went to seek out Mrs. Napoli.

Billy came running to the door when he heard who was there.

"Tony! Angela!" Billy hugged them tightly. Billy had missed the both of them so much.

"Billy, we have a happy reason coming to see you. We're getting married Fourth of July weekend, and we still want you to be our Ring Bearer," Tony told the little boy who seemed to have grown like a weed since he last saw him.

"Hooray!" Billy shouted hugging Tony again and then moving onto Angela. How they missed that little boy being in their lives.

Angela handed the wedding invitation to Mrs. Napoli ensuring that she knew that she was also invited to the wedding along with Billy. They figured that Mrs. Rossini or one of Tony's friends could drive them all out to Connecticut.

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Monday dawned bright and sunny. Birds could be heard chirping outside their window. As difficult as it was to tear herself away from Tony lying in bed, she needed to get to the office to meet with Ms. Moore from the summer wear account. It had been nothing short of a triumph to sign the company and get all the legal work done in such a short amount of time to get their campaign up and running. She really did have the best lawyers and design team she thought.

Moving out of their bed woke Tony up since she had to detangle herself from him. He pushed some pillows up against the headboard and rubbed his eyes open. "Do you want me to get you some breakfast before you leave?"

"Tony, I don't have much time this morning since I've got that early morning meeting," Angela answered back telling him she'd grab some juice on the way out.

She went into the bathroom to quickly shower and dress. When she walked back into the bedroom, he wished her a good day at work. "Thanks, Sweetheart," she told him. "I'll see you later. Remember, I'll be back early in the afternoon, arriving on the 2:47 p.m. train."

"I'll be there. Do you want me to bring anything for you to snack on, he asked her?"

"No, I'll pick up something at the train station. I'm still not comfortable eating anything before I ride on the train, but I'll get something anyway," she informed him. She walked over to his pillow and bent down to give him a good morning kiss.

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Angela was in her office at The Bower Agency sitting at her desk. The meeting with Lia Moore was productive. She had another happy client. She was looking through some other work she needed to sign off on when her phone buzzed. When Angela picked it up, Mona announced Peter Gerber and Jon Petrie from Encanto Records were standing by her desk to see her. She told her mother to send them in.

"So glad to see you," Angela told the both of them, taking off her glasses and standing up to shake their hands. . "I'm glad the campaign is getting the results you were looking for," Angela told them warmly. Peter and Jon came over to sit at Angela's desk as she sat back down.

"Thanks, Angela. We are very happy with everything, and we'll probably want to do another campaign next season." Changing the subject, Peter added, "We heard you're getting married in a few weeks and wanted to get you something for your wedding." Her Mother had obviously told them that she was getting married and whom she was marrying. Not to mention all the photos of her and Tony on her desk, it was pretty obvious who she was marrying. Peter held no hard feelings for what happened several years back between them. He had a feeling back then that she had been hurt by someone and was glad he was there to offer comfort at the time.

Angela smiled and told them they didn't have to do anything like that. Peter and Jon told her they wanted to. They then proceeded to tell her what they had in mind.

"We want to do something unique for the both of you. You really helped us develop a strong, winning campaign that we know made us a boatload of money, so we want to show you how much we appreciate it. That and the fact that there was the man who helped save my life when I was choking in that restaurant we were in a few years ago," Peter added. Angela squirmed at the memory of that weirdo Christopher.

"We want you and Tony to pick out 10 songs that you want to gift to each other and to write why you selected those songs. Then pick 3 of the same songs that the both of you want on each other's CDs. We won't look at your notes, but they'll be printed as liner notes with the CDs we'll create for the both of you. You can send the write-ups to us via Profs email, and we'll send them on to the producer. The production team will sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement, so you won't have to worry about any of your information getting out. We'll also take care of all the copyright clearances."

Angela gasped at the generosity she was feeling at such a romantic, nostalgic gift offer. "Wow. I'm so touched by your offer. Let me talk to Tony and get back to you. When would you need our list and notes by?"

"Sure, you can let us know. We'd need everything by next Wednesday to get it produced on time," Peter told her.

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Angela left work after a small, light lunch. She was so happy she was having a day with no morning sickness. She and Tony needed to go to the Fairfield City Hall for their marriage license. She'd helped Tony gather all the needed paperwork Sunday evening, and he had it with him when he picked her up at the train station. They drove to City Hall on Old Post Road and met with the Town Clerk. They provided the documents the Town Clerk asked for and finally got to sign their marriage license. They looked at each other. The satisfied looks on their faces told each other how they were feeling in this momentous moment.

As they walked out of the white colonial building, they stopped on the stairs and kissed each other while holding the newly created license. "Another step closer to our wedding, Tony," Angela said wistfully as she squeezed the hand she was holding. Even after they got into the car, they stayed parked and stared at the document not believing it was real.

On the way home, Angela told Tony about the offer made by Peter and Jon for a wedding gift

"Marone a mi," Tony expressed in complete surprise. "What a gift! Angela, I love that idea … putting those songs on a CD for posterity." Angela filled him in on what they needed to do in time for their wedding. "Tony, I know this is really important, obviously, but I really want us to focus on Jonathan, too. His graduation is only a few days away. We need to make sure he doesn't feel overlooked with the wedding and baby plans," Angela appealed to Tony.

"Of, course, Angela. Let's go over your checklist for Jonathan's graduation after dinner tonight."

"I'll make sure Jonathan stays in tonight so we can finalize the plans for graduation day. Oh, Tony, my baby is graduating from high school in a few days. I can hardly believe how fast the time went by," Angela reflected both somberly and happily at the same time.

"I know, Angela. That's how I felt on Sam's graduation day."

"Now, we'll both get to do it all again," Angela added in amazement as they pulled into the driveway.

"We sure will," Tony told her enthusiastically.

The End – Chapter 16 of The Room, Unslept In – The Story of Us

Chapter 17 coming soon

Author's notes:

1) Profs email was a pre-cursor to the email we have now. It was used in the early 1990s. (The first time I ever used it, I was in awe that notes could go through the computer in seconds instead of mailing the note or having to make a phone call.)

2) Now onto what inspired me to do this music gift. First, I am a HUGE fan of classic films. Two of my favorite stars from the 1930s is a team of operetta singers (they were much more than that, actually), Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. I grew up watching their films along with knowing their story about how they got along very well, but how they married other people, and each couple never had children. I had always been suspicious of the story, though, but couldn't figure out why. Even their deaths were suspicious, with Jeanette passing away in January of 1965 and Nelson following so closely behind in March 1967 – it was as if he couldn't live without her. Five years ago, I found out that the story I grew up with was a lie, and in actuality, they fell madly in love, but MGM (LB Mayer) wouldn't let them get married, and the real story was covered up (including 8 lost pregnancies she had with Nelson). Anyway, I digress. A book was written about their true story – a relationship that lasted 30 years. Within that book was a story about how Jeanette put together an album for Nelson and included songs that meant something to her about their relationship. The album came with a write-up about why the songs were selected. That's how I wound up with this idea for Angela and Tony to have CDs created of their favorite songs that meant something to each of them. I hope you enjoy what I come up with. … but you'll have to wait to read what I come up since it's a wedding gift and won't be opened until they get married.