The Room, Unslept in
A/N: Time for Chapter 33! The last days(s) of the honeymoon.
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 33: Once Upon a Honeymoon, X Bliss
Saturday, July 10th, 1993
"Do you know what today is Angela? Tony whispered sweetly.
"Oh, I have a good idea," she said back to him dreamily and in that low register her voice only ever revealed to Tony.
"Happy One Week Anniversary," they both said at the same time.
They were both laying on their own pillows holding hands reminiscing about their wedding that had only been one week before. The comforter was all the way up hugging their bodies since they had put the air conditioner on the night before to get some relief from the humid stuffiness the room had acquired after they were gone all day. It was only beginning to get light outside. "Jonathan's toast was so lovely," Angela lovingly remembered out loud.
"We raised a fine young man, Angela," Tony humbly boasted.
"Tony, it was you who gave him a wonderful father role model to look up to. Thank you. I'm so proud of Jonathan."
"Angela, he was a joy to help raise."
"Sam was a joy to help raise, too. We've got ourselves a great pair of kids," Angela said assuredly.
"Tony," Angela started hesitantly. "I noticed we've been talking more and more about the baby as the days have gone by this week."
"It's getting more challenging to ignore him or her, especially after seeing all those babies at the Zoo yesterday," Tony admitted.
"But, Tony, I'm really scared that something could be wrong. We don't know because I haven't done the amniocentesis yet," she said with consternation. Then Angela's eyes grew wide with surprise as she stopped talking for a moment, making Tony wonder what was going on. Then she suddenly started talking again, "Oh, my …. Wait! … Tony, I think I felt the baby for the first time. But it's too soon." Angela rushed her hands back under the comforter down to her mid-section trying to place them over where she had just felt something.
Tony, getting excited, probed Angela to describe what she was feeling, half enthusiastic and half nervous at the same time, "Angela, what did you feel?"
"Tony, it was so faint, but it felt like flutterings," Angela said cautiously.
"Didn't Dr. Nicholas give us some brochures that said that mothers sometimes feel their baby move earlier in a second pregnancy? Maybe that's it," Tony offered showing his support. Then Tony put his hand over Angela's hoping she'd be able to help him feel the baby even knowing it was too soon for anyone besides Angela to notice.
"It's definitely something I remember feeling with Jonathan, but it started at 22 weeks. I'm only 15 weeks now – well, almost 16 weeks."
"It's also your second baby, like the brochure said. This baby wants to talk to us sooner," Tony said to his anxious wife. "Sweetheart, we have to believe that everything is going to be alright. Look where we've been and where we are now," Tony attempted to alleviate the uncertainty Angela was experiencing. He wasn't sure he was being successful so he decided to try something else.
Tony moved the comforter so he could scoot out from under it. He moved himself further down the bed and laid beside Angela. He was laying on his side on his elbow rubbing her tummy where he could feel the small baby bump. "Do you hear that Baby Micelli? Your mommy is worried about you being healthy. She's not alone in the worrying department. We both want you safe and healthy, and we can't wait to meet you in December. We're going to learn more about you in a few weeks, but we already love you very much. You've got an entire family who can't wait to meet you."
Tony's tummy rubbing and confident voice was a calming tonic to Angela. His touches always were. She started to stroke Tony's hair at the same time she was wiping tears from her face.
"Thank you, Sweetheart," Angela murmured to Tony.
Soon Tony's hand left her mid-section and wandered further down past her waist. "Tony if you're about to do what I think you're about to do, don't stop," came Angela's amorous voice from further up the bed.
He turned his head towards Angela with a grin and whispered to her, "My pleasure… after all, who am I to argue with my wife on our one-week wedding anniversary?"
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"Tony how did we ever stay apart for so long?" Angela once again questioned Tony with disbelief in her voice after they both managed to regulate their breathing. This topic was forever going to be a question that neither had a real answer to, but wound up creating many interesting conversations whenever either of them quizzed the other about it.
"Angela, didn't you ever notice that after Sam and I had been living with you for a while your hot water bill seemed to go down and not up, even with a teenaged girl living in your house?"
"Huh?" Angela asked confused wondering why plumbing would suddenly pop up in their conversation.
The room was silent except for cars honking and the occasional police whistles outside their hotel window. The silence continued until Angela realized what Tony was telling her, and then she burst out laughing. In fact, Tony was amused watching Angela gain this new knowledge and enjoyed watching her eyes grow wide with realization until they were both laughing. "Oh, Tony, that must've been so uncomfortable …and so cold," Angela commiserated with him.
"Well, it wasn't as uncomfortable as the situation that caused the need for that cold shower in the first place," Tony explained still laughing. "I couldn't help it living with such a stunning, sweetest smelling, gorgeous, beautiful, generous, beautiful woman."
"Okay, sated husband, I love when you call me beautiful twice," she told him smiling as she turned to give Tony a kiss on his cheek. "What are we going to do on the last day of our honeymoon?" Angela wondered out loud as they settled back onto their fluffy pillows, and the sound of laughter slowly melted away. Tony pulled the comforter back up again to keep them warm as he cuddled next to Angela.
"I want us to have a full day of activities today, what would you like to do?" Tony asked wanting Angela to pick their activities.
After thinking for a few moments, Angela rattled off a list of activities that she thought would make a perfect day together. "I'd like to start out with breakfast downstairs again. Then maybe we can visit MOMA today. That's another museum I haven't been to in a long time. Then I'd like to have a nice dinner someplace and maybe some dancing to some romantic jazz music."
"Great ideas. I'm sure that can be arranged. Let me call the Concierge and get their suggestions for dinner and dancing for later," Tony happily told Angela. "You can shower and get ready and I'll call downstairs."
Angela settled on orange, loose-fitting shorts, including the button down short-sleeved blouse it came with. She added ankle socks and tennis shoes giving her a look that continued to belie her age.
By the time Angela came out of the bathroom, Tony had their entire day planned out, telling her that the Concierge had made a surprise reservation for them. He explained that it had excellent food, music, and a great dance floor. "I told the Concierge that it sounded perfect so she made us a reservation for 7 tonight. That'll give us enough time to spend at MOMA, come back here, and change for the evening."
"Tony, I love it, but I wish I knew where that surprise dinner was going to be. I'll go watch some TV while you get ready." She went into the living area and then went to open the door to pick up the New York Times. She put the paper on the coffee table and reached for the remote. She flicked through some channels settling on CNN to catch up on the news.
Tony also dressed in shorts and a button-down shirt. Once he was ready, they both went downstairs and had another wonderful, filling breakfast in the Palm Court. Then they left for the Museum of Modern Art walking a few blocks south.
Tony bought them tickets after waiting on a short line. Then they went to the first exhibit they saw in their brochure: A Century of Cinema Selections from the Museum's Special Collections. Both being classic film lovers, they eagerly walked through the exhibit. They stopped in front of the large photo of Mary Pickford. They talked about Mary's role in the Silent Era of film and discussed her films before moving on to a large poster from the 1933 film Flying Down to Rio. Both enjoyed seeing the poster from the first film Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers danced in. They had watched that film together awhile back and held hands while staring at the poster. The last stop they made at the exhibit was the poster for Citizen Kane. This was another film they had spent hours watching together mesmerized by the camera angles that Orson Wells had used to create the classic. "Rosebud" they both said to each other in unison.
Then they moved on to another exhibit, Selections from the Permanent Collection of Painting & Sculpting. They moved slowly along the path of walls with several works from Paul Cezanne: The Bather and Still Life with Apples.
Staring at the apples, Angela mentioned that she was getting hungry again. Tony chuckled and told her they'd go get something to eat at one of the MOMA restaurants after finishing the exhibit.
They moved on to a Toulouse-Lautrec piece, La Goulue at the Moulin Rouge and then Paul Gauguin's The Moon and the Earth.
After seeing all the art pieces, they wanted to look at, they went to get a light lunch. After looking at the brochure, they settled on the Museum's sixth-floor Carroll and Milton Petrie Terrace Café. They were happy with their choice since the café served smaller plates and small desserts. They settled on a cheese and crackers tray, small salads, and some chocolate pudding for dessert. They found a clean table amongst all the people eating and talking and brought their tray over after stopping to get silverware and cups of hot tea to go with their lunch.
After sitting awhile enjoying their lunch and talking about the exhibits they'd seen so far, they threw out their garbage and went to another exhibit, Masterworks from the Collection Pre-1945, where they saw additional pieces from Paul Cezanne and an artist they hadn't seen previously in the other exhibit, Henri Rousseau. They finished their day at MOMA looking through the exhibit, Latin American Artists of the Twentieth Century."
They made a brief stop at the Museum's Design Store and looked at all the items the store was selling. Angela picked out a colorful scarf she liked. Tony found a book he found interesting about Impressionist painters and took the book and scarf to the cash register and paid for the two items. Then they leisurely walked back to The Plaza and went back to their room to freshen up for dinner.
"Put on something special tonight," Tony told her pulling out his own best suit for the evening.
"Tony, you're being so mysterious… where are we going?"
"You'll see," he continued being mysterious not wanting to spoil the surprise for the evening.
Angela selected a knee-length dressy black dress with sleeves that lay slightly off her shoulders. The dress was a little bigger around the middle, so it was something that she was comfortable wearing. She finished off her outfit wearing black shoes with shorter heels. Then she added a comb with small pearls to her hair. She let her tresses fall gently down her back. When they left the lobby of the hotel, Tony pulled the doorman over to get him to hail a cab for them making sure Angela didn't hear where they were going. The doorman discreetly told the cab driver that pulled up where to take the well-dressed couple.
When the cab driver pulled up to the front of the entrance to The Rainbow Room, Angela gasped. Tony paid the cab driver, and Tony got out of the cab to help Angela out. Then they walked into the art deco building.
Tooony, this is so …. so…," Angela was speechless as they rode the elevator up to the 65th Floor.
"I wanted us to have the best last evening of our honeymoon, and when the Concierge mentioned she found a last-minute cancellation, I jumped at it. Angela. I love you so much, I wanted to make our last Honeymoon evening special."
"This entire week has been so special already," Angela emphasized her enthusiasm for the time she'd spent with her new husband over the past week.
The elevator door opened and they walked into a beautiful room. They walked up to the Matre'd stand and were welcomed. Tony gave the man standing in a tuxedo their names and told them there would be a 15-minute wait. They were walked over to the bar until their appointed reservation time. Tony ordered them two sparkling waters topped off with both a lemon and a lime.
"To us," Tony offered. "To us," Angela said back to him. They both took sips of their water and placed the glasses down on the little round table they were standing by.
Soon, the Matre'd came back to find them and walked them into the main dining room. They were greeted with floor to ceiling windows surrounding the room with views of the city all around them. "Oh, Tony, this is beautiful."
"A beautiful place for my beautiful wife," Tony offered as he walked with his arm around Angela's lower back as they moved further into the room until settling at a white-clothed table near one of the windows over-looking the Empire State Building.
The Matre'd handed them both menus to peruse before their server came over. A few minutes later their server, Henry, came over and welcomed them to The Rainbow Room. They were asked if they had ever been there, and both said they hadn't been. Henry told them what the specials of the night were and asked what they'd like to drink.
To start out their evening together, they both ordered drinks, Tony a House Wine and Angela a virgin cocktail. Their server also filled their glasses with ice water and brought them a small plate of lemons.
After enjoying their drinks for a few minutes, a bread basket was brought over that had hot bread and fresh whipped butter.
Henry came over to take their orders. They both asked Henry what he would recommend. Sounding delicious, they both selected Henry's suggestions. Tony settled on the Filet Mignon with baked potato and asparagus. Angela settled on the Dover Sole Meuniere with boiled parslied potatoes and pureed celery. They both selected Wedge salads.
There was an orchestra playing and couples started to dance. Tony asked Angela if she wanted to dance, and she replied with enthusiasm for a few rounds around the dance floor.
They got up and moved to the center of the dance floor. Tony took her in his arms as they danced closely to the orchestra playing two light jazz songs. Then they walked hand-in-hand back to their table.
Their salads soon arrived. Several servers walked by to refill their bread basket and their water glasses. Henry came back and asked them if they wanted their wine and cocktails refilled. Both answered in the affirmative really enjoying the drinks they selected.
After about 30 minutes their main dishes arrived. Both agreed that the food was wonderful and they should come back again – maybe for an anniversary dinner in the future. For dessert Tony decided on a lighter dessert of homemade ice cream. Angela selected the Baked Alaska. They wound up sharing each other's desserts because they both wanted to taste each other's desserts after they arrived.
After letting their meals settle in their stomachs, Tony suggested they dance again. Angela told him that she needed to freshen up first, so she went off to the Ladies Room. Tony waited for her return while watching the couples dancing and enjoying the music floating through the room. He was glad he let the Concierge make the reservation for The Rainbow Room. It exceeded their expectations.
Angela returned to their table, and Tony took her hand and led her back to the dance floor. The orchestra continued to entertain the guests with music from Frank Sinatra. Ella Fitzgerald, Glenn Miller, Nat King Cole, and Billie Holiday. The orchestra took a break enabling Tony and Angela to go back to their table for a brief rest. When the orchestra started back up, they went back to the dance floor where Tony continued to hold Angela close and twirl amongst the other couples. They also enjoyed the view outside as the sun set.
As the night wore on, the orchestra focused on slower, more romantic music causing Angela and Tony to get even closer. They moved around the room full of windows that overlooked the city skyscrapers all lit up. They got closer and closer.
"Tony, I want to ravish those rakish lobes of yours," Angela breathed into his ear.
"…and I can't stop wanting you either … we should probably go back to our room," Tony proposed in a broken voice.
"Tony, you are still sooooooooo easy," Angela said repeating what she had told him that strange night at The Fairfield Inn, when their supposedly romantic night turned into a small nightmare.
Without hesitating and without further words, Angela and Tony went back to their table. She picked up her purse laying on her chair hidden by the large white table cloth, and Tony paid the bill. They headed to the coat check stand and picked up Angela's shawl. Carrying her purse as Tony wrapped the shawl over her shoulders, they went back to the elevator and headed back down. A cab was driving by Rockefeller Center and stopped when Tony went to the curb to hail it down. They both got into the cab for the short ride back to The Plaza. They spent the entire time in each other's arms looking out the window as they people watched. When the cab arrived back to the entrance of The Plaza, the doorman opened their doors to let them out. They walked through the nearly empty lobby and rode the elevator back up to their floor. Once they got into their room, Angela told Tony that she wanted to get out her dress, shoes, and pantyhose. Then she yawned and stretched, kicking off her shoes. "Tony, I want to shower first after all that dancing."
"Sure, honey. I'm going to relax while you're showering."
Later in the evening after getting out of the shower, Angela went to her dresser drawer and pulled out a book. She went back out to the couch where Tony was still sitting. He had removed his tie and jacket by then. He was about to pick up the TV remote, but heard Angela tell him to wait. "I've got something for you … well for us," she told him.
"What is it? Tony asked as he looked up at Angela breathlessly arriving in the living area in a beautiful low-cut turquoise negligee he had never seen before. "Wow!" he uttered to her.
Angela walked by Tony and held out the book to him. He couldn't help but chuckle at the DH Lawrence book she was holding. He continued to stare at her.
She sat down next to him duplicating the same positions they were in the last time they held this book and read passages to each other, an activity that quickly escalated into something neither was willing to act on back then. Tony had an inkling as to what triggered his new wife to do this, but decided to ask anyway. "Angela, what made you bring that on our honeymoon?"
"Since we've been reminiscing about our lives together over the past few weeks, I thought I'd bring out something more fun. When we last sat on our couch reading this to each other, it was obvious we both wanted a different outcome than reading Dr. Seuss. I thought we could redo that evening and create the outcome we both wanted then."
"Oh, and what outcome was that, Angela?" Tony teased her.
Not wanting to mince words, she bluntly answered, "It was obvious we wanted to rip each other's clothes off. Here's our chance. This time no family is around, it's only us, so rip away! Then I can also ravish your lobes."
Tony's eyes grew wide, again, almost on automatic now as his new wife continued to surprise him with her sultry, sexy ideas. Even though they lived together, Tony hadn't experienced so much confidence from Angela as he had recently.
"Let's read the same passages again then," Tony went along with this scenario knowing it was about to have a much more fun conclusion.
Ready for some fun, Tony turned to Angela and wet his lips, ready to do some reading. "Mrs. Micelli, let's read some DH Lawrence and rip some clothes off."
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"Tomorrow, we leave this cocoon of bliss," Angela told Tony with a twinge of sadness in her voice. After reading the same passages again, they ripped each other's clothes off. Then Tony lifted her off the floor and carried her to their bedroom. Angela got to ravish Tony's ears, and Tony returned the favor. Then they ravished the rest of each other. Now they were laying on the bed in each other's arms again.
"That was a very creative way to talk about our honeymoon."
"They don't call me the Cookie Queen for nothing, Mr. Tye-Dye King, " she told him confidently. "It has been the longest we've ever had with no one to interrupt us. It's been only us this whole week – no family, no campaigns, no advertising slogans, no teaching, nothing. Just us. It's everything I've dreamed of for so long. We've never had this kind of time together, not even when we were in Iowa, when we still had people coming in to the apartment all the time. This has been pure bliss being together doing whatever we want whenever we wanted to do it."
…and now one final thing before we go to bed. Remember when we were on that train to Washington…?
"Yeeeessss, of course I do," Tony reacted interestedly. "I was ready to throw caution to the wind with you, Angela, if I'm being honest right now."
"Tony, I know that," she told him sheepishly. "I heard every word you said that night. It was all I could do to keep pretending I was asleep that night. I wasn't ready yet. Even though we had gotten so close again by then, especially after our trip to South Carolina. I wasn't ready. …and Tony…?"
"Hmmmm?" he asked wondering what else she was going to tell him about that excruciating night of no sleep while fraught with desire for the woman he was lying next to on that train.
She giggled remembering the next morning. "Tony, what if we had lost ourselves as friends that night? Don't you remember Mother and Samantha walking in on us the next morning. I wasn't ready for their reactions when nothing happened. … I sure as hell wasn't ready for their reactions if something HAD happened … and if you'll remember, you were too tired that night."
"Aye oh, oh aye, Angela, I'm never too tired for you. But that wasn't the place for a first time to be with you, Angela. Not after all the years we waited to make love. You deserved the most romantic place like the bed 'n breakfast we went to a few months later."
"Tony, we wound up exactly like we were meant to," Angela reiterated to him. "I wouldn't trade a moment of our lives together."
"Neither would I, sweet wife," Tony said.
They soon fell asleep exhausted from their full day – and full night.
The End – Chapter 33 of The Room, Unslept In – Once Upon a Honeymoon, X, Bliss
The exhibits Tony and Angela walked through were actual exhibits being shown at MOMA at the time they visited. I wish the website had better photos of the cinema exhibit they walked through. I knew they would've enjoyed that particular exhibit.
Now it's time for this couple to go back home and to their everyday lives. Next up a chapter I had written months ago queued up waiting for its turn to be published.
Chapter 34 coming soon (very soon)