"Mrs. Rossini!" Tony yells as they near her building.
"Tony?" They hear her before they can see her. That's when her head pops from the window. "Tony! Angela!" She yells from upstairs. "Come up!"
"She does have a loud voice.. doesn't she?" Angela whispers. Tony laughs.
"She's Italian, isn't she?" He winks. "Come on." He takes her hand and leads her to the entrance.
"TONY! ANGELA!" Mrs. Rossini shrieks, Angela cringes.
"MRS. ROSSINI!" Tony matches her volume.
"Hello Mrs. Rossini." It seems like she was whispering.
"Are you feeding her?" Mrs. Rossini tries to whisper. "Look at her.. skin and bones!" Tony turns white. "Of course.." Angela puts her hand on his lower arm.
"Yes, Tony is feeding me." She gives Mrs. Rossini a small hug. "I have no influence on my genes." Angela is usually used to her mother, she doesn't feel offended. Yet, Mrs. Rossini turns red.
"Ah yes, of course. But does he make enough pasta?" Mrs. Rossini tries to chance the subject.
"Ay.. Mrs. Rossini!" Tony was using his hands more than usual. "Do you even know me?" Mrs. Rossini waved him off. Angela grinned at him.
"Come here, come here…" Mrs. Rossini waves them to come to the living room. "Please sit down." Angela and Tony do as asked, they watch Mrs. Rossini walk back to the kitchen. They hear her moving everything around in the kitchen.
"You know she's going to feed you." Tony looks at Angela with a wide smile.
"I know." Angela's voice is calm
"You don't know Mrs. Rossini the way I do." Tony is getting giddy. "I know." Angela's voice even calmer than before.
"You're not worried?" He tries to get under her skin.
"Not one bit." The everlasting calm in her voice is taunting him.
"It's going to be a lot." He watches her closely for any reaction.
"Probably." He notices the slight smile forming on her lips.
"You're not worried?" He is too curious.
"No, Tony." She turns to look at him. "Why would I be worried? Because Mrs. Rossini is going to feed me? Or because it's going to be a lot of food? Because neither one scares me one bit." He wiggles in his seat. "I've known Mrs. Rossini for quite some time now. I know how she is. She is a lovely woman who loves taking care of people by feeding them." He looks at her with an open mouth. "It's Mrs. Rossini's love language." Angela smiles.
Tony squints his eyes, wondering who this wonderful woman in front of him is. She never ceases to amaze him. ~ She is like a wedding cake, you think you know what she is like by looking at her, but she comes with so many layers.. and she's sweet too.~ A tiny smile on his lips.
Mrs. Rossini comes out of the kitchen holding a large tray with Italian pastries. Angela immediately notices the cannelloni, it's one of her favourites. Tony smiles wide when he sees his favourites, bombolone, deep-fried doughnut with jelly inside. Mrs. Rossini's are the best, after his of course.
"Oh Mrs. Rossini, this is wonderful." Angela excitingly says.
"Well Tony told me about your sweet tooth." Angela looks at Tony. ~ He has spoken to Mrs. Rossini, about me?~ She questions herself but is interrupted. "And well.. what can I say.. I'm Italian, pastries are kinda my thing. The biscotto regina have been made by Mrs. Bianchi. I made the biscotto Umberto." Mrs. Rossini is covering all her bases. "Here." Mrs. Rossini hands Angela a plate with a cannelloni. "I saw you eyeing them." Tony laughs.
Their conversation is light-hearted and enjoyable.
"We have to go home soon, Tony." Angela breaks the conversation. "Jonathan will call home when he arrives in LA."
"You're right.." Tony gets up. "Sorry we have to go Mrs. Rossini."
"I'm sorry to see you go. Please don't be a stranger.. both of you." She gives them both a big hug.
"Should we pick up your mom?" Tony asks while they make their way down.
"Mother can find her own way home." Angela matter-of-factly says. Tony is impressed by her attitude. "I really want to make good time, I need to be sure we're going to make it home in time."
"Don't worry Angela, I get it. I felt relieved when Sam called me yesterday." He puts his hand on the small of her back again, it's such a tiny yet such an intimate moment they both love.
After arriving home, Angela immediately checks the answering machine. No messages. Relief washes over her, they've made it in time.
"You want me to make us something to eat?" Tony asks.
"Sure." She smiles.
"What would you like?" He asks.
"What do we have?" She answers his question with her own. They make their way into kitchen. Tony opens the fridge and looks around.
"We have half of a chicken, some bell peppers, onions and garlic. We could have some rice with that. Make it like a stir fry?" He pops his head back into the fridge. "Oh and I have a little salad left." He pops back up. "Is this okay?"
"Of course it is." She smiles. "I like the idea of not wasting our food." Tony goes to work. While Angela keeps staring at the phone. While the rice is boiling, Tony divides the salad on 2 small plates.
"Your entrée madame!" He puts the salad in front of her and sits down. When Angela finishes her plate, the phone rings. She jumps up and picks up the phone. "Jonathan?"
"Hi mom." A wave of relief washes over her.
"Hi sweetheart." Tony jumps next to her, making her share the receiver.
"Hey buddy, I'm here too!"
"Hey Tony! Are you guys okay?"
"We are!" They say in unison.
"How was the flight, sweetheart?" Angela is squeezing the receiver.
"It was good mom." She can hear the smile in his voice. "I'm just glad we made it to dad and Heather's now. I'm really hungry."
"Your stomach is still on New York time." Tony jokes. "Maybe you're dad has some toast or some fruit."
"Dad has crunchy crawlers." Jonathan whispers. "But I know better now."
"Attaboy!" Tony feels a sense of pride.
"You go eat something sweetheart. Thank you for calling us." Angela looks at a radiating Tony.
"I will, mom. I will try to call you as soon as possible. Bye mom."
"Bye Sweetheart."
"Bye Tony."
"Bye buddy."
XXX=
The rest of the week is quite uneventful. Angela is working hard, trying to get at least 2 of the potential clients. She knows the tech company is going to be the hardest. Echt potential client has a file, when she feels inspired she scribbles slogans on her notepad and puts them in the file. The slogans for condiment and juice company come out of her in ease. The third company is a specialised clothing brand company. She is surprising herself with the slogans she thinks of. But then.. the tech company., not one slogan. She desperately wants to gets this client, she needs to prove something to herself, she needs to prove that she can do this, all by herself. She has heard about the bigger tech companies, this one is a smaller name, she has never heard about it. But the more she reads, she realises she's been thinking the wrong way. This company is a game developer. These campaigns fill her days.
Tony, as always, keeps the house spotless, while maintaining his physic. Also trying to get some extra school work done. The kids have called them every other day or so. They've settled into their new routine quite comfortably, even though both of them miss the kids dearly.
A week after Jonathan has left, the phone rings.
"Bower residence." Tony happily says, hoping it is one of the kids.
"Hey Tony." Michael's voice brings him back to earth.
"Oh hey Michael, is anything wrong with Jonathan." Fear clenches his chest.
"No, no.. He's out to get some ice cream with Heather, he will be back later. I was actually looking for Angela. Is she there?" Michael sounds friendly, but Tony can't help but distrust him. "Hold on, she's in the living room." Tony covers the receiver then pushes the swinging door open. "Angela?" He hates having to disturb her. She's sitting on the couch, with the paper and a cup of coffee. She looks up at him of the rim of her glasses.. "Yes, Tony?" She smiles. He holds up the receiver.
"Phone for you, it's Michael." He sees a slight shock in her eyes.
"Michael?" She swallows the lump she feels forming in her throat.
"Don't worry Angela, Jonathan is fine. He says he wants to speak to you." She doesn't know why, but Michael wanting to talk to her, makes her more nervous than she cares to admit. Tony leaves the kitchen as she takes the call.
"Michael? Is.." She doesn't get the chance to finish the sentence.
"Jonathan is fine." Angela feels slightly annoyed by him interrupting her. "He's out with Heather. But he is the reason why I'm calling you." The pit in her stomach is growing. "Angela.." His tone of voice changes, almost harsher. "This is a curtesy call." She can hear her own heart beating. "I'm filing for full custody of Jonathan." She feels bile creeping up in her oesophagus, she can taste it. "I'm having my lawyer file the papers." Angela takes a sharp breath.
"I won't allow it." Her voice is calmer than she feels inside.
"You've had him for all these years. Now it's my turn." He coldly replies.
"The hell it is!" She nearly yells. Tony runs in and looks at her in shock and surprise. "You deserted him, Michael. I was the one who stayed, who stuck around when things had gotten too rough or maybe too boring for you." She is actually quite calm.
"That's not fair! I had my work!" Michaels snaps.
"Your work! HA! Who are you kidding Michael! When you came back to us, you couldn't wait to leave again. You left him twice. Also, he lives on the east coast, he has his whole life here. And you want to uproot him, while your wife is pregnant! Speaking of your wife, is she in on this? Because I remember a time where Jonathan throwing up grossed her!" She hears Michael swallow, she knows Heather is not completely on board with his plans.
"She loves having Jonathan around." He says.
"Now.. for a couple of weeks in your vacation. But having him live there, when she's just given birth to a baby.. that is a whole different story." She is so angry, yet sounds so calm. "My lawyer will contact yours." He calmly says. "Do you still have the same lawyer?"
"Let your lawyer contact me, I will give him or her the information of my new lawyer." She is trying not to go off on him.
"Goodbye, Angela."
"Goodbye, Michael." She slams the receiver. "Asshole!"
"An-ge-la!" Tony is in shock at her violence and her choice of language. Angela immediately snaps her head towards him. Her eyes so fierce, he needs to take a step back.
"Don't you start with me too!" All her muscles tense up.
"Whoa.. Angela.. I would.. no.." He stumbles, she puts up her hand. "I know Tony, I know." She has to hold her body weight up by a chair. She is hanging her head low. "Michael is filing for full custody of Jonathan." As soon as the words escape her mouth, she needs to sprint towards the sink, emptying her stomach. She is dry heaving, as bile seems to keep coming.
"Angela!" Tony is next to her in a second. All he can think to do, is hold her hair back as he starts caressing her back. Another wave of bile. "It's okay." He stupidly says while opening the faucet.
"Okay?" She lets the water run over her wrists, then washes her face. "Okay? Tony, Michael wants to take my baby from me! My son! The son I cared for when he up and left us. How is this going to be okay?"
"Because we will fight him tooth and nail." Angela looks at Tony.
"I can't lose my baby Tony." She just falls into his arms and cries. "I can't."
"Angela, you don't have to fight this alone." He starts. "I knew we shouldn't have let him go." His statement makes her pull lose, she just looks at him. "I told you he couldn't be trusted."
"He is his father, Tony! His ACTUAL father." She regrets the words as they leave her mouth. Tony gives her a hurt look. "I am sorry Tony.. I.."
"Is he now?" Tony interrupts. "Where was he these last years? Because as far as I can remember I was here and he wasn't!" Tony doesn't even try to hide his angered hurt. "What if Jonathan and the baby are too much to handle for Michael and Heather? Trust me when I say.. They will not dump their baby!" Angela slumps back into the counter.
"I know Tony. And if he were to get custody and he would send Jonathan back, that would break Jonathan, it will break his heart."
"Michael is not to be trusted." Tony is just as angry and scared as she is.
"I know Tony. Don't forget he left both Jonathan and me before." All of a sudden that old hurt has become a fresh wound again. "How could he have left us?" She is fighting the tears she feels welling in her eyes. Tony takes her into an embrace again. "I know Angela." He whispers.
"How? How do you know?" She just leans into him.
"I see it in your face every time Michael is near you." She doesn't know she lets on about Michael. "I know the hurt is real." He has started caressing her back again. Even though she is sad, she needs reassurance that only he can give her. The reassurance that he is here to stay and he isn't going anywhere, that he wont abandon them.. and most of all that he won't abandon her. "I'm here Angela and I'm not going anywhere." It's like he can read her mind. "And we will fight Michael on this, all the way." Everything in her wants to grab his face and softly kiss him. But she knows everything is too delicate at the moment. She just stands there basking in his scent and touch, this is enough.. for now. ~ Will he ever be mine?~ She is surprised how her mind can think about this as such a time. They stand there for quite some time.
Tony reluctantly pulls back first.
"Remember when Michael came back to you?" He asks. Angela cringes her nose and nods.
"I remember that's when you left." She softly says.
"Not by my own choice." Tony adds. "And I think that you know that."
"I know." She gives a weak smile.
"Do you remember how things were when Michael was back?" Her mind goes back to those days, physically those were amazing days. "Get your mind out of the gutter." Tony says as he sees her face. ~ It couldn't have been that great ~ He feels annoyance building up. Angela's cheeks turn rosy. ~ I'd make sure you'd blush all over. Like I told you once.. you would not forget.~ His eyes turn dark at his own thoughts. "Not that part." He says in an icy tone. His tone immediately intrigues her. "Remember what it was like to live with him again? What his expectations of you and your family were?" She physically cringes this time. "I see you do." His tone still cold.
"I know, Tony! I know!" She finally replies. "He wanted me barefoot and pregnant behind the stove! He didn't want a career wife. He wanted a stay at home, trophy wife." Her voice fierce and almost sad at the same time. "I am not!"
"I'd say you're so much better than that. " He looks at her. "And so much more!" ~ And hopefully you'll be mine one day.~
"Not for my ex-husband." She gives an even weaker smile. "But then again, he was.. no is not what I need. I need a supportive , loving and secure man by my side. A man to love me no matter how successful I am. A man who will love me for me. Who will love my son for who he is." She looks at him, her eyes burning into his, like she is saying 'I need you' without using the words. Tony is frozen on the spot. He feels each and every word she just said. He knows he loves her, he knows he wants her, he knows he would do anything to protect he and their family.. yet.. ~ she deserves so much better than I can offer her.~ Is what his mind is telling him, not realising he is already giving her all she needs.
"Okay Angela. It is going to be okay." Tony calmly says. At that moment, Mona walks into the house.
"What's up? What's going to be okay?" She asks. "What's for dinner?" Mona looks at her daughter. "What is it dear?" She moves closer to Angela, narrowing her eyes. "Oh my God, Angela what's wrong?"
"I just spoke to Michael." She starts. "He is filing for full custody of Jonathan." Mona start laughing uncontrollably. "What's so funny about that mother?"
"You think he stands a chance?" Mona snickers between the words. Then looks at her daughter. "Oh you think he does?"
"Mother, Michael is married, he has a wife, a baby on the way, a stable job and Jonathan loves him." Angela is being straightforward. "And look at me? Single, working mom, working more than 60 hours a week to try and make a success out of her own agency. My son is being raised by my housekeeper. I'm sorry Tony, you are so much more to us, but you know how lawyers will twist and turn this around and make it seem like I'm abandoning my son." Tony knows she's right, but it doesn't mean it doesn't sting.
"That's true." Mona sits down.
"Tea anyone?" Tony asks as both women nod.
"But you're forgetting one thing dear. He left his son not once, not twice but three times." Tony turns around.
"Three times?" He asks.
"First time when that no good son of a.. "
"MOTHER!" Angela interrupts. "Yeah, yeah.. when he left the first time. When he came back and you started acting al lovey dovey again." Mona makes a gagging motion. "And the third time when he asked you for split custody. He bailed because HIS new wife didn't want him. I'd like to hear him explain this to a judge. Also isn't there a law that he can't just get full custody? He can't just uproot Jonathan and keep him in California. No judge, in his right mind, would grant him full custody." Angela feels a sense of relief, for once her mother is right.
"You're right. Yet he could still file for split custody." She starts pacing and thinking. "He could try. But I think he'd have to move back east to stand a chance. Let's face it, Jonathan's who life is here. He is almost 12 now. He would probably also have a say in where he wants to live." Angela stares at her with an open mouth.
"I had never factored Jonathan into this." She paces again. "Would he prefer living with us or with Michael?" She asks herself more than anyone. Tony gives Mona a look. She looks back at him, then motions that Angela has gone mad. He smiles. "I mean Sam and him fight like cats and dogs at time, there he'll have a little baby brother or sister that is of his blood and that he can boss around." Tony grabs her shoulders, making her turn to face him. "He loves Sam and Sam loves him. Tea is ready, drink, then get in contact with your lawyer. Okay?" She nods.
"Oh.. Sam will be back tomorrow. What will we tell her?" Another wave of panic washes over her. "How would she feel about Jonathan moving out and living with his father?" Tony thinks for a moment.
"Angela, listen to your mother and listen to me. We are not letting go of Jonathan and Jonathan will not want to let go of us either. He loves us just as much as we love him. We are his home. We might not be as conventional as Michael and Heather, but there is no lack of love or respect in this house and he knows that."
The words of Tony and her mother sooth her. ~ They're right Angela.. They are so right, this is his safe place. He loves us and we love him. But it will be so hard for him if a judge makes him have to chose between his father and his mother.~ Angela sips her tea quietly, lost in her own thoughts. ~ Then again, he doesn't just have to chose his mother or his father. He has to also chose between Tony and Heather.~ She absentmindedly looks at Tony. ~I am confident that he'll pick Tony. Because he is who I'd chose. He hardly even knows Heather.. although she does seem so nice.~ Angela finishes her tea.
"I have some calls to make." She gets up. "I'll be in my office. Please don't disturb me." Tony and Mona watch her walk out the kitchen.
"She's going to need you Tony." Mona stares at him.
"She's going to need all of us." He replies.
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for my baby girl and my grandson." Mona says in a furiously motherly tone. Tony has never heard this from her. "I'm not going anywhere either. I am here to fight this fight with, for and beside Angela and Jonathan." His tone matching hers.
"Good. I need to know they get all the support they need." She leans back. "Dammit Michael Bower!" She curses him.
"I have faith in us, in our family, enough for all of us." He just looks at her.
"I hope Angela will feel just as confident as you are." She reaches out to his hand and squeezes it. "Thank you Tony."
A couple of hours later, Angela confidently emerges from her office.
"I've got a lawyer specialised in custody cases. She is supposed to be the best in the Connecticut area." Angela seems stronger and somehow fiercer than before. "She's a Fairfield local."
"Which one?" Mona asks popping her head from above her magazine. Tony puts down the book he is reading.
"Melissa Needle." She turns. "She is quite young and already has an impeccable reputation. She is the third generation of lawyers. She's working with her father. Her grandfather started the law firm. Her father is now the head of the firm, but he Is specialised in business law. That's how I know him, I called him and after explaining my situation he recommended his daughter. He said she sink her teeth in this case like a Pitbull." Angela breezes with a new found energy.
"Good." Mona gives a smirk.
"Really good." Tony smiles, knowing their already strong case just became a whole lot more secure. "You feel better Angela?" He asks.
"Much." She gives him a loving smile. "I will hang Michael by his balls if needed." Tony automatically grabs his own area.
"FINALLY!" Mona is happy Angela is finally giving Michael exactly what he deserves after all those years. "Now let's eat."
Angela looks at Mona and then towards Tony. "Thank you mother, thank you Tony." They both give her the 'for what' look. "For your undying support towards Jonathan and me. You don't know how much your support has strengthened my resolve in fighting this fight." She releases a big breath. "I'm so happy to have you here with me." Tony and Mona nod quietly.