The Room, Unslept in

A/N: Time for Chapter 28! A dream of a honeymoon continued – filled with music and love and fun activities. This chapter delves further into The Story of Us, and the reveal of the songs that were selected as a wedding gift to each other. This chapter focuses on the final five songs that Tony selected for Angela.

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 or Spotify – you can find just about everything there.

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Chapter 28: Once Upon a Honeymoon, V, The Story of Us, Part 4

Thursday, July 8th, 1993 (continued)

Angela walked back into the living area and walked over to where Tony was standing with his tea. He gave her the cup so she could take a sip, too. "Would you like your own cup of tea, Angela?" Tony asked her.

"No, it'll just make me have to rush off to the bathroom again," she sighed. "I need to get used to my small bladder getting kicked soon and needing to go to the bathroom even more often."

Tony gave her a big hug again reassuring her everything would be okay and letting her know how much he supported her. Instinctively, he knew she remembered the jokes he'd made about her tiny bladder in the past.

"Let's go listen to the next five songs, Tony. So far, I've loved your selections. They tell a beautiful story about us."

First, Tony ran to their bed and grabbed a pillow and then took Angela's hand bringing them both to the couch. They took a seat with their backs to the pillows. Tony bent forward to put the pillow from the bed on the table and helped Angela put her legs on the pillow. "Thanks, Tony," Angela told him as she took the liner notes and her glasses from him and opened up the small booklet to the page where she left off. She turned the page to reveal the next song and started to read.

"Along Comes a Woman, by Chicago

Angela, the day that we took Samantha to visit Ridgemont College changed my life forever. Walking around the campus and showing Sam all the things the school had to offer got me thinking. Then you started talking about the meaning of your education and what it meant to you. That was the moment you inspired me to go to college. I knew I had to be more than I was. I wanted to make you proud of me. I knew then that I wanted to be more than a housekeeper and that college would help me do that. I thought maybe you'd think of me as more than a friend and housekeeper."

Angela took his hand in hers and told him emphatically. "Tony, I still remember that day, and I was so proud of you for saying you were going to college. You surprised all of us, but not really. You've always done things that made me proud of you. Look at all you did to leave your life in Brooklyn to give Samantha a better life. Look at what a confident young man Jonathan was becoming with your guidance and influence, and now he is going off to college at the end of the summer. Look at what you did for me, giving me all that confidence to open my own agency at a time I didn't know who I was anymore. All those things you did made me so proud of you, Tony."

Angela turned to look at Tony and lifted her arm to turn his head towards her. She moved his head towards her so she could give him a kiss. "I am so proud of you Tony! I told you before I wouldn't care if you mowed lawns in Central Park, but I know you cared, so, for your sake, it means so much to me that I was the one who influenced you to go to college."

Tony took her hand in hers and intertwined their fingers after he pressed Play on the remote to start the song. They listened intently with their heads bent towards each other. Every so often, Tony lifted their hands to his lips to give her a kiss.

Tony put the CD player on pause after the song played. He took a deep breath knowing they were getting closer to a part of the CD he wasn't sure how Angela would take. He eyed the table in front of him to ensure there were still tissues there. But Angela didn't notice the deep breath and started to read the next liner note that made her smile deeply.

"Stars in Your Eyes by Air Supply

Angela, our lives changed that night in Jamaica. I could feel us getting even closer after what we said to each other on that bench in Jamaica. Then came the night you surprised me in Brooklyn to visit when I was at Mrs. Rossini's. You know the weekend I had to babysit Mrs. Rossini's cat, Fiorello. We talked about life together and I could see the way you were looking at me with so much love in your eyes. I saw the stars in your eyes that night as we sat on the fire escape at Mrs. Rossini's apartment. I don't think you heard one word I said, but you didn't seem to care. I was thinking about Jamaica on that night. This song makes me think about how difficult it was not to lose control that night, but how much love I could see in your eyes."

"Oh, Tony, I was so in love with you by then. It had been two years since I confessed that love to Dr. Bellows. Us being alone on that fire escape so close to where you lived growing up and talking about a future together, even an unrealistic one, made me drift into a dreamworld. I wasn't paying attention any more. I was dreaming about what would happen if I did what I really wanted to do that night, but then I remembered our conversation in Jamaica and drifted back to reality. There were so many police cars and lights that brought me back to reality."

Knowing the next selection was going to be painful, Tony moved closer to Angela and put his arm around her. Angela slowly realized what was coming next and despite being so close to Tony, still had tears start to well up in her eyes before she even turned the page of the liner notes. But they had to move on with the song to get to the forever part of their lives. Even talking about this on the beach a few days earlier didn't make what was coming next easier. With all of that in mind, she bravely turned the page, took a deep breath, and began to read Tony's notes for the next song.

"Hard to Say I'm Sorry by Chicago

Angela, I know I picked another song from Chicago, but this one really hit me deeply, and it was the one I wanted to share with you. That spring and summer was one of two of the worse, most painful times in our relationship, and I knew it was my fault we were going through it. I knew I hurt you – I hurt me – I hurt us – I hurt our family. I was the one who was incredibly stupid. I was the one who did this. I'm so, so sorry. I wasn't sure if I wanted to put this song in here, but this is all part of our story together, and if I hadn't put it in here, I would be ignoring an important part of our relationship – the part that made me realize that you were the woman I wanted more than any other woman since I lost Marie. You were the one I loved so much and wanted to be with. It made me realize I needed to get back to us, even though there wasn't an official us yet. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for being you."

Angela hesitated to press play for a moment as she took in what Tony had written to her. She got up from the couch with tears running down her face and sat down on Tony's lap. They just held each other until she was ready to listen to the song. She could still feel the pain in the pit of her stomach. There was never going to be a time when this wasn't going to be painful. Tony reached over and passed a few tissues to Angela.

"Tony, here you press Play for this song, please," Angela requested as she handed him the remote control. He did, and they listened to Tony's apology song while holding each other through the entire piece, Angela's head in the crook of his neck. Tony put his head closer to her and occasionally rubbed her baby bump, grateful they made it through this dreadful time. When the song was over, Tony handed Angela yet another tissue while taking one for himself. Once they recovered from the song, Angela picked up the liner notes that she had dropped onto the cushion of the couch behind her and turned the page. She decided to stay on Tony's lap for the rest of the songs just because. He handed her some water.

The next song, she knew, was going to be a big reveal. After the emotional overload of the previous song, Angela was curious to find out what Tony had selected next. She slowly turned the page and read. She slightly blushed while reading the words Tony had written to her remembering their first night together at the bed & breakfast.

"Tonight, I Celebrate My Love, by Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack

Angela, I waited so long for you to be my lover. I'm still sorry I drove your car into the lake. That wasn't how I wanted our first time to be, but I also didn't think your car was an appropriate place to be for our first night together. I'm glad to we took the time to go somewhere so we could be alone just me and you to create a real celebration of love. I told you the morning after your birthday kiss that I wanted you to remember it, and you told me that I would, too. Believe me, Angela, I remembered it, and I still do. I always wondered if there was a racy blonde in there somewhere trying to get out. You leave me in awe each and every time we're together. You are so beautiful, so caring, and so special to me. I wanted this song to bring you loving words to let you know how perfect we fit together. I love you so much."

Angela had tears streaming down her cheeks for a different reason now. "Tony, that night was one of the most precious moments of my life. You're right, my car wasn't the right place for us to make love for the first time. Not after waiting for each other for seven years. Well, maybe not entirely seven years, but you know what I mean. Thank you for this wonderful selection."

Tony gave her a lingering kiss as Angela wandered to the next section of the CD liner notes. She gasped in surprise as she started to read the accompanying notes. Angela knew this was going to be the song that brought them to this very moment, but she wasn't expecting what she read next, quietly reflecting to herself on her own song list that was shortly going to be revealed. She quietly read out loud to Tony.

"I Drove All Night, by Cyndi Lauper & The Search is Over, by Survivor

I snuck in an extra song because I had to, Angela. These two songs represent how we wound up here now. I didn't drive all night, I flew all night because I had to be with you at that very moment. The moment that night at the teacher's banquet was when I fully understood I couldn't live without you any more. My search was over. It was you I needed more than any job could ever offer me. You sacrificed your own happiness for me! Waiting for you to open the door felt like ten hours. I didn't know what you were going to do or say when you saw me standing there. I only knew I had to come home right then, and I had to see you and talk to you and hold you again – forever."

Tony hit the play button and together they listened to the two songs that brought Tony home to Angela and their forever life together.

"Tony?"

"Hmm?"

"Tony, you don't have to drive all night now. In fact, you don't have to drive anywhere right now." Angela tapped him on his shoulder after he turned off the CD player because the next three songs were the ones they selected together.

"Hmm, Angela?" As he stared at her to understand what she was trying to tell him. He was starting to get the message she was trying to convey him. He didn't need any coaxing from her once he realized that.

He put the remote down. He reached over and took Angela's glasses off. Then he picked her up and slowly carried her to their bed, all of the emotions of the last hour and a half catching up with them.

"What about my songs?" he asked her with the excitement of a little boy who couldn't wait to open a gift.

"We can listen to them after we get back from afternoon tea," she promised him. "I want this more."

It didn't take much effort for Angela and Tony to recreate the feelings they had from Tony's song Tonight, I Celebrate My Love. …

The End – Chapter 28 of The Room, Unslept In – Once Upon a Honeymoon, V, The Story of Us, Part 4

Chapter 29 coming soon … the honeymooners continue their music reveal. It's time for Tony to find out what songs Angela picked for him. Thank you for continuing this journey with me.