The Natural

August 1981

"C'mon Angela! It's Friday night! You can't still be working!" complained Michael as poked his head into her study.

"You know the senior Vice President is retiring next month! I've got a real chance at this promotion Michael! Think about the benefits! The increase in pay, more time off…" she started to say when he cut her off.

"Like you use any of it… the last time off you took that wasn't maternity leave was for our

honeymoon!" he practically shouted.

"Keep your voice down! Jonathan is asleep! And you know that's not true! I take off plenty of time during the holidays and over the summer, which you wouldn't know because you're off in some jungle somewhere during those times…" she said as she stood up, throwing her glasses on her desk.

"I'm just asking for tonight okay? How are we going to try for another baby if we never make the most of our alone time?" he practically pleaded.

"Oh alright… this can wait until tomorrow…" she said as she turned off the lights and walked with him back into the living room. They quickly turned off the lights and locked the front door before heading up the stairs and into their bedroom.

Michael got right down to what he wanted from the start, taking no time for romance or foreplay. Angela, on the other hand, wanted to freshen up and headed into the bathroom. She changed into one of her satin nightgowns and washed her face. She took a quick glance in the mirror. She finally liked the view looking back at her in the mirror. Jonathan was almost four years old but it took her close to a year to lose all the baby weight. Even then, things were still far from perfect over the next couple of years. She smiled back at herself and headed back into the bedroom.

"My goodness you look beautiful…" he said as he looked her up and down.

"You're not too bad yourself…" she said as she crawled into the bed. No sooner did they start kissing when their bedroom door swung open and a tiny voice called out for Angela.

"Mommy! My tummy hurts… I don't feel so…" said Jonathan as proceeded to throw up all over their carpet.

"Oh no sweetheart!" said Angela as she ran over towards Jonathan as he started crying.

"Oh gross… wait is that a stomach bug? I go on my trip in two days! I can't get sick! You take care of him Angela! You're a natural…" said Michael as he grabbed his clothes and started out of the room.

"Can you at least clean up the bedroom? I'll take him back to bed…" she said with irritation as she rolled her eyes at her useless husband. Some days, well most days, he acted more like the sperm donor than his actual father.

"Alright sweetheart let's get you changed and back to bed" she said as she led him to his bathroom to clean him up. He managed to make it to the bathroom before throwing up again, much to Angela's surprise. She knew by this time it was a stomach bug picked up from one of the many kids at his preschool, which meant the whole household from Michael to the housekeeper and babysitter to she herself were likely to get it. What a weekend, she thought to herself.

"Ok Jonathan you are cleaned up! Let's get you into bed…" she said as she scooped him up and carried him back to his room. She heard Michael cursing in the bedroom and had to hold back laughter. Parenthood fit him about as well as domestication fit her.

"Mommy don't leave me!" pleaded Jonathan in a weak sounding voice as he held out his hand.

"I'm right here darling… I do need to go and get a bucket and washcloths in case you get sick again. I'll be right back" she said as she headed to the hall closet and got what she needed. She glanced at the old grandfather clock in the hallway and saw it was just half past nine. She knew it was only the start of a long night.

For the next hour, Jonathan continued to get sick, Angela having to clean up and comfort him all by herself. By the last round, he had worn himself out but wanted some ginger ale.

"Okay sweetheart I'll run downstairs…" she said, wondering if Michael could pry himself away from his peaceful slumber to watch him for two minutes.

"No Mommy! Take me with you!" he cried as he reached out and held his little arms out to her. Knowing Michael would be useless and it would go back and forth for at least ten minutes or more trying to reason with him, she conceded and picked him up, grabbing his pillow and a blanket to head downstairs. She placed him on the sofa on the pillow and covered him with the blanket.

She headed into the kitchen and found a can of ginger ale. It was the last one- she knew she would need to send Michael out tomorrow for more as she guaranteed they would need more soon. She was able to find some saltine crackers too behind a few boxes of Crunchy Crawlers. She grabbed herself a glass of water and headed back into the living room. Despite being so sick, Jonathan looked so adorable cuddled up under the blankets.

"Here you go sweetheart!" she said as she sat down next to him and handed him the glass of ginger ale to slowly sip. She helped him sit up and take small sips before laying back down. She wiped his brow with a washcloth as he closed his eyes.

She couldn't help but notice the similarities between Jonathan and her father Robert. She had wished Michael had agreed to using Robert as a first name, but was just happy after eighteen hours of unmedicated labor that he agreed to it as a middle name.

"Mommy's just going to turn on the television for a bit okay?" she asked as he opened his eyes, but soon closed them and fell into a deep sleep. She was exhausted herself but the thought of carrying him upstairs and potentially upsetting his stomach was too much for her to risk.

She flipped through the channels but nothing good was on. She stopped on a baseball game and decided to keep it on for background noise.

"Cardinals and the Dodgers?" she said out loud. Baseball was of zero interest to her but she knew there was a new athletic sports company that recently signed with Wallace and McQuade. She figured maybe she could pick up a few pointers and possible ideas for a future campaign, hopefully solidifying her chances as the new Vice President. She grabbed her pencil and pad of paper and started jotting down notes.

"What is an RBI? Nine innings and both sides get turns each round, no inning. The white squares are bases but the one in the middle is home plate? Oh forget it! I'll never understand this game!" she huffed as she put down the pencil and paper.

"It's the bottom of the ninth, two outs. The Cards are down one to nothing. The tying run is coming to bat. Micelli has been red hot since coming up from the majors two months ago. First pitch… in the dirt ball one…" said the announcer.

Angela pulled the blanket over Jonathan and grabbed another one to cover herself. She was about to turn off the television when there was some excitement in the game.

"What a hit! That's gonna be extra bases! Look at Micelli turn on the gas! That ball went all the way to the right field wall! That's going to be an easy double for Micelli… oh wait a second! Coach Wolff is waving him on to third! Here's the throw from the right fielder! It's going to be close!" shouted the announcer.

Angela watched the player run towards the white square, the base maybe? The other player was blocking him from getting to it. Her attention was drawn to what she thought was going to be a collision.

"Oh it's going to be close! Micelli has a determined look on his face! What a natural athlete! Here comes the throw it's going to be close! Oh my gosh… Micelli's down! He slid right into third baseman Cey's knee, his shoulder taking the most of the impact. Oh this isn't good! Micelli is down! He's grabbing his shoulder and writhing in pain! Oh no…" said the announcer.

"Oh no… he looks like he's in so much pain! I hope he's okay…" said Angela as she was glued to the television.

"The team trainers are on the field. The game is officially over as Micelli was called out but no one has moved off the field. The Dodgers players have all taken a knee as they look on. Micelli is not getting back up. You can see the pain written all over his face! I hope this isn't a career ending injury but this does not look good folks! They are bringing a stretcher onto the field as they are trying to stabilize that shoulder. This is not good folks, not good at all…" said the announcer.

Angela was just glued to the screen as she watched them take the injured player off the field. She had no idea why but there was something about the player, number twelve… or was it twenty four? Maybe thirty five…? She couldn't seem to remember the number on his jersey but she was sure she'd never forget the look of pain on his face. The television turned from the game to the nightly news. She took it as her cue to turn off the television and try to sleep. She checked on Jonathan one last time before she settled in on the sofa, hoping he slept peacefully until morning.

February 1, 1992

"Are you sure you are okay Tony? You were passed out for a few minutes. I really think I should have called an ambulance…" said Angela as she cuddled up with Tony on the sofa, each holding onto a cup of tea, an old blanket covering them both.

"I'm fine Angela. Other than my ego being bruised that is…" chuckled Tony.

"So you never answered me… who's Jo-Jo?" asked Angela as she looked up at him skeptically.

"Alright… so when I was passed out…" Tony started as he explained the dream he had. Angela listened intently, picturing that alternate universe and wondering how in any lifetime she wouldn't recognize Tony as her true love. Just then, she had a flashback to a night so many years ago. It came back to her in bits and pieces… Jonathan being sick, a sports campaign, the game… finally the realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Oh my god Tony!" she said as she sat up, bringing him to a sitting position. He looked at her with a worried expression.

"What Angela? Are you okay?" he asked as he put down their cups of tea and grabbed a hold of her hand.

"I saw it! I was watching the baseball game that you got hurt! Jonathan was sick with the stomach flu and Michael was his useless self. I brought him down here so I could get him some ginger ale and I turned on the television to the game! I had a sports campaign I was trying to get ideas for when you came up to bat! I saw the coach wave you from second to third and that collision! I can't believe I forgot about that! I can still remember the pained expression on your face…" she said as tears rolled down her face.

"You were watching? I can't believe it! Gosh that game… that's one I'll never forget for as long as I live… as much as I'd like to…" he said sadly.

"To think from that day forward our lives changed forever…" she said as she snuggled back into his side.

"For you? I mean my career ended that night but what happened for you?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Well Michael left for his 'two-month' business trip and didn't come back for two and a half years. I knew my marriage was over from that point on, even when he came back for the last time before you guys moved in. It was a freeing time. I made Vice President the next month and my career really took off. It was a whole new ballgame at that point, no pun intended…" she said with a chuckle.

"Talk about our two paths diverging completely that one night! I'm just so thankful all of that happened, no matter how painful it was and that my dream today was just that… a bad dream…" he said as he pulled her closer.

"Me too Tony, me too… thankfully it's all worked out the way it was meant to be…" she said as they leaned into one another, kissing until it was time to head up for bed.

The end...