The Room, Unslept in
A/N: Time for Chapter 21! These two need to talk before getting married. I originally thought this was going to be one chapter, but realized they needed more than a superficial conversation, so you are getting a surprise fourth part of this conversation because it was important to cover all these topics.
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 21: The Room, Unslept In: An Evening on the Beach, Part IV
July 2, 1993 (Continued)
Angela rolled on to her side and caressed Tony's cheek. "Tony, I couldn't stay," she said apologetically and softly. "I felt like I failed at another relationship, like I couldn't do anything right in a relationship. I couldn't support you like you supported me all these years. I felt so guilty … so damned guilty. Tony, I missed my life here in Connecticut. I missed running my business. I missed the clients. I missed my son. I missed Mother. I couldn't stay out in Iowa for three years. I was already losing myself out there. I was starting to resent you and that job. It was only supposed to be until mid-June., Angela's voice trailed off as Tony listened to her.
After thinking for a minute, she continued. "Once I saw your excitement about the job, I knew I had to get out of there. I didn't want to be the cause of you giving up your dream job after everything you'd given to me for my career. I left before we would've wound up in bed together again. That wasn't a way to have a relationship. So, I packed up and went home. The silence when I got home was overwhelming. I didn't know how I'd make it without you by my side anymore. And I certainly didn't know I was pregnant when I left. Oh, Tony, I missed you so much it hurt physically not to be with you any more. I hadn't experienced anguish like that since I lost my father. Tears rolled down Angela's cheeks as she recalled for Tony what her two months alone were like. She saw tears roll down Tony's cheeks, too.
Tony reached out to caress Angela's hair and twirl it around his fingers. "Angela, those two months were hell for me, too. I missed you so much. The nights were so long. I couldn't make love to a job." Then he hesitated. "Angela, what about the baby? We started to talk about this when I came home but then dropped it. What were you going to do?"
"Tony, I still don't know how to answer that question. I hadn't decided what to do. Mother pointed out that if I went through with the pregnancy and didn't tell you, that you would've figured it out when you came back to visit Samantha and Hank. She had a good point there."
Tony let a soft chuckle slip. "Yeah, Mona would think of something like that. Angela, what would you have done?" Tony pressed her a little harder for an answer.
"Tony, I didn't want you to come home because of the baby out of obligation, as we've already talked about. I couldn't handle not knowing if you came back for me or the baby."
"Angela, I'm aware of your insecurities, but I don't know how you could've ever questioned my motivations where you and a baby were concerned. We had already talked about all of this in Iowa back in January. Having a baby together seems to be a theme that's followed us almost as long as we've known each other, even before we were a couple. You have to know that I would've come home for you. I already told you that during the banquet everything became so clear to me that I don't know why I stayed in the first place. He looked her deep in the eyes and told her again, "Angela, I don't want to live without you. You are my future, and you've been my future for a very long time. Having this baby is a bonus we didn't expect, and I love the both of you with all my heart. But I came home before I knew about the baby, and I'm grateful I did."
"Tony, the chances of me getting pregnant were so low, you remember we talked about the percentage being around 25%. I was still in shock," Angela contemplated out loud.
"Ange, I'm Italian, you should've realized you had a better chance just because of that," Tony kidded her. "You remember what I said that judge in South Carolina."
The air needed to be lightened, and that statement by Tony did it. Angela laughed out loud remembering that awkward conversation in that South Carolina judge's office.
"Okay, okay, maybe my chances were higher than average," Angela went along with Tony. Then she thought for a moment and gave Tony her long answer.
"Tony, I was in shock at getting pregnant so fast. Remember I'm not as young as I was when I was pregnant with Jonthan. I got scared. I wasn't sure I wanted to raise a child by myself. I wasn't sure I'd be healthy during this pregnancy. I didn't have you by my side. So, yes, I thought about having an abortion. Tony, we still have to go through the amniocentesis in a few weeks. We still don't know if the baby is healthy…."
Tony listened intently to Angela voice all of her concerns and what went into her thinking the past few weeks. He was laser-focused on everything she was telling him and didn't interrupt her train of thought and conversation. He let her get it all out.
"Tony, you can say something if you want," Angela offered him stopping to take a breath.
"Then what I want to say is I understand all of your concerns. We'll cross the amniocentesis bridge when we get to it. I want you to tell me how you're feeling," Tony said in support.
After thinking some more, Angela offered her response to him about what she would've done. "Then my answer is this. Tony, I would've called you to tell you to come back to Connecticut for Jonathan's graduation. He deserved to have his 'father' there. I didn't want Jonathan to suffer because we broke up. I know he called you, and my heart broke for him when he found out you weren't coming back here. Once you got back here, I would've told you about the baby. If I hadn't, I think Mother would've said something. I still don't know how she kept it to herself as long as she did. And if she hadn't told you directly, she surely would've hinted at it enough to make you realize what she was trying to tell you."
Angela moved off her sand pillow and moved over to Tony to lay in his arms with her head on his chest. He put his arms around her to comfort and hold her cozily. They were both relieved that this sad chapter of uncertainty was laid to rest once and for all. She didn't want to ever question Tony's motives for coming back home again.
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"Tony, we need to get going soon, but there is one thing left that we should talk about," Angela started.
"Tony could read Angela like a book, too, and had an idea what she wanted to talk about so he started the conversation so she wouldn't have to. It was his issue and not hers.
"Angela, I'm sorry I was so stupid and egotistic about money."
"Yes, well you did say you were a jerk that night you came home from exposing your well-chiseled abs and whatever else you exposed to the entirety of Fairfield County," Angela agreed sarcastically. Then Tony added something she couldn't quite hear.
"Samsawmetherewithherfriends," Tony mumbled quietly.
"What did you say, Tony? It sounded like something to do with Sam."
"Samsawmetherewithherfriends," he mumbled again but a tiny bit louder.
Her eyes grew very wide as the realization of what Tony just told her hit her, albeit as a very long phrase all stuck together. "Oh, my gawd, did you just say that Sam saw you there with her friends?" Then came one of Angela's deep, loud laughs. "You never told me that."
"Okay, Angela, I already felt like a jerk, I didn't need it rubbed in. I was already so embarrassed confessing to you what I had done," Tony said turning a shade of pink even after these past few years."
"Sam never told me either," Angela revealed.
"I swore her to silence," Tony told her relieved that Sam never let the cat out of the bag.
"Oh, Tony," Angela said shaking her head in disbelief. "You were the person who encouraged me to open The Bower Agency in the first place. You're the reason The Bower Agency exists! Why would you want me to close the agency so you could be the breadwinner in the family? I had already told you I wouldn't mind if you mowed lawns in Central Park. You already knew that I didn't care who earned what in our family. Your stubbornness almost broke us up," Angela said frustrated.
"Angela, after you went upstairs so upset I thought about what I had said to you. I realized I was being an idiot – again - and that I did want to be with you. No, I never expected to fall in love with a successful businesswoman, but I also never expected to go to college and become a professor. I never believed that someone like you could fall in love with someone like me, an unemployed father, who used to be a big-time major league baseball player who used to drive a fish truck that now cleaned the toilets in your house."
"And I never thought you could fall in love with a boring, ad executive who could count the number of wild oats sowed on one hand," Angela told him back.
"Angela, despite what you think, you are not boring. You're the best friend I've ever had in my life."
"And you're mine, too, the very best friend," Angela kissed Tony as she told him. "We never lost ourselves as friends after becoming a couple. The friendship grew even deeper because then we knew EVERYTHING about each other," she added. "You had some awkward moments that year, but deep down I knew it was coming from a place of uncertainty with everything going on during that time – getting engaged, your pending graduation, Sam's sudden wedding, and then ….," Angela wanted to add.
"Angela, through thick and thin, you always loved me," Tony gave her a kiss.
"Of, course … I've loved you for a very long time," Angela wanted to confirm that the conversation they had on the beach didn't change anything.
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Tony looked down at his watch knowing they wanted to get home before midnight. "Before we leave, let's have a toast to our future," Tony announced realizing they hadn't gotten to any of the bubbly yet.
They sat back up, and Tony poured Angela a flute of Ginger Ale then he propped up the can in the sand so it wouldn't fall over on the blanket. He popped the champagne bottle and poured himself a bubbling glass of champagne.
"To the love of my life, I'll love you forever. You are the Angel of your name, and I'm so glad you're mine," Tony toasted Angela.
"Tony, that was beautiful. You're the love of my life, too. I'll love you forever, more than you'll ever know," Angela toasted Tony back.
They joined their arms around each other and drank their respective drinks with a joint, "To us!"
They started to hug and kiss each other. From the boardwalk came a whistle along with some teenagers yelling at them to go get a room.
"Hardy-har-har," Tony yelled back at them. "Ay oh – oh ay. We're getting married tomorrow, cut us some slack," Tony yelled back towards the boardwalk.
"Yeah, well it looks like you're starting the honeymoon already," the kids yelled back to him.
Angela started laughing and told Tony that they really should get going.
Tony helped Angela up after cleaning up the items still on their blanket. They made their way back to the Jeep arm in arm. They drove home in very comfortable silence each taking in their evening in their own way. Both of them were confident they had talked about what needed to be said and were ready to move on to their new beginnings.
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They made sure they had gotten home before the 3rd not wanting to see each other before their wedding later the next day. Angela strolled into the house with Tony carrying the picnic basket and big towel. He put everything away, even bringing the blanket down to the basement laundry area. When he came upstairs, he gave Angela a kiss.
Then he left with Angela following him out the backdoor. Chirping crickets could be heard in the humid night air. Tony went up the stairs to Mona's apartment to spend the night with the guys. Tony, Hank, and Jonathan were all spending the night there while Angela spent the night in the house with Mona and Samantha. They looked reverently at each other before parting realizing that this was the last night they'd be a single unit. "Good night, my Sweetheart. I can't wait until I can finally, legally call you Mrs. Micelli."
"It's a beautiful name, and I can't wait until you call me Mrs. Micelli for real. Angela Katherine Micelli. I always thought it had a musical sound to it… I really can't wait," she said as she slowly closed the back door."
The End – Chapter 21 of The Room, Unslept In – An Evening on the Beach, Part IV
Chapter 22 coming soon – a wedding at last!