Epilogue – St. Loius, Missouri, one year later

"Hang on a sec," Davey interrupted with a laugh, "You're your wife's housekeeper? Sounds more like you're a well-kept boy toy."

Tony's longtime fear was materializing in front of him, but he wasn't fuming with embarrassment the way he once might have. Instead, he was ready. "And you're your uncle's go-fer, I mean 'assistant vice president.' What's the difference?" he asked his former teammate from across the table.

The other former Cardinals, who were all sharing a beer as they caught up on their lives, turned their attention back to Davey. "The fringe benefits, for one," he replied with a smirk.

But Tony wasn't deterred. "I don't know about that. The way I hear it, your wife sure enjoyed that business trip to Paris you took last year right around your anniversary."

That shut Davie up real fast, and Tony was grateful Angela had shared the details of her conversation with the other wives while the "old timers" had been checking into the reunion. But being intentionally mean just wasn't in Tony's nature. "Listen, Davey, and fellas, I have a wife I adore, I'm in college full time, and yeah, I take care of things around the house while she runs a successful business that she built from the ground up. I don't need your approval to know I'm the luckiest guy in the world."

Before he could stand up to make a dramatic exit, Mike interjected, "My in-laws bought my house." When Tony paused, he continued, "I never told anybody because I was ashamed.I was a pro baseball player, so everyone thought we must be loaded. I couldn't admit how little a back-up right-fielder actually got paid."

Burl nodded knowingly. "Kim and I used the inheritance from her grandfather to start my construction company." He looked at Tony, "We all got help somewhere along the way, so if you and Angela found a way to pursue your dreams, then more power to you."

Chastened, Davey relented as well, "Yeah, damn straight. You're right, Tony, I had a job waiting for me at my uncle's firm—and he put me through college when I was done playing ball."

Tony had to hold back tears as he looked around at his old teammates. "Thanks guys, that means a lot." He stood up then, and offered a toast, "To old friends, and new opportunities." After a long swig, he continued, "Now, excuse me while I track down my wife."

He was striding across the lobby toward the elevators when he was waylaid by distant memory with a southern drawl and wave of red hair.

"Hey, stranger. Thought I might see you here," Betty crooned as she sauntered toward Tony.

"Betty, wow, hi," he sputtered, gobsmacked by her presence – and his own failure to anticipate it.

"Aww, you can offer a better greeting than that for an old pal like me, can't ya, Tony?" she purred as she tried to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him into a kiss.

But Tony recovered his wits and unwound her just as quickly. "It's good to see you, Betty – been a long time. But I need to get upstairs to my wife. Maybe I'll see you at the banquet."

Making his escape into the just-arrived elevator, Tony exhaled with relief and resolved to avoid being cornered by her again. Betty had never been the subtle sort and had pursued him relentlessly, which led most people to conclude they had been having an affair. Only Tony knew the truth, and he never felt right about his role in furthering the gossip. It wasn't a mistake he was eager to make again.

Shaking off the encounter, he arrived at his and Angela's room where he found her just getting out of the shower.

Angela glanced over at him as she rummaged through her carry-on. "Have a nice time catching up with the guys?" she asked.

Instead of getting an answer, she found herself spun around and pinned against the counter in a plundering kiss. "What was that for?" she gasped breathlessly, suddenly hungry for more.

"I'll fill you in later, but basically, for not letting my fragile masculinity stop us from getting here."

"My pleasure," she offered back as they made their way toward the bed. Tony loosened the belt at her waist and watched the terrycloth robe fall to the floor.

"Do you have any idea how sexy you look in a robe?" he rasped. His clothes soon joined it, and they fell upon the sheets with a singular focus.

Later, with Angela dozing beside him, his mind drifted over the past year. How much had changed! After their fateful conversation on the couch, Tony had embarked on a journey toward college. He spent months making preparations by exploring Ridgemont University, gathering application materials, and studying for the admissions exam. Then, on the day he received his acceptance letter, he'd dropped to one knee, with the letter still in his hand, and proposed to Angela. With the whole family watching, she'd said yes without hesitation. The kids had been ecstatic. Through the simplified view of life only the young can possess, they believed marriage between their parents was, as Sam had put it, "a no-brainer." Or, as Jonathan said, "We called it after your first date."

They had gotten married in a small ceremony at Fairfield's newly restored Colonial Meeting House a week before classes had begun. It had been a small but pristine ceremony followed by an intimate dinner with no more than a dozen friends. It had been perfect.

Step by step, they had moved from one stage to another as they built a life that worked for them. If Joanne Parker squawked about knowing there was something going on the whole time, or if a fussy executive looked down his nose at Tony's dialect, plenty of others piped up about what a lovely couple they made and sang their praises as supportive and modern partners.

Though still undecided on a major, Tony thrived in an environment that valued knowledge and learning as much as he did, and he and Angela finally shared their home and their lives in the truest sense of the word. His old bedroom became his office, and Angela's room became theirs after some mutual redecorating. If it took a few weeks for everyone to adjust and feel at ease with the new arrangements, well, it was only to be expected.

Then, some months after the wedding, Sam lashed out after a rough day working at the Bower Agency during her school's career week, which seemed to churn up feelings of envy and longing when her friend Bonnie had bonded with Angela at the office. Her eventual apology led to a confession that she had long thought of Angela as her mother. It was raw, honest, and heartfelt admission that brought them all to tears — and afterward, Sam ceased using her mom's given name altogether. A day later, Jonathan followed suit when he called out a quick "Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad," as he rushed out the door to school. It was clear he'd practiced it, and the delivery was a little less than casual, but as the door slammed closed, Tony and Angela couldn't hold back their tears of joy. Another bond in their family had been forged.

Now, a little more than a year after that fateful Saturday afternoon that had irrevocably changed their lives, they were in a place they had scarcely let themselves believe possible. Life wasn't perfect, to be sure – It never is. They fought over busy schedules, conflicting responsibilities, time constraints, and of course, money. Tony still wasn't comfortable thinking of Angela's income as his, and he avoided personal purchases that exceeded what he knew he could have afforded on his former salary. But they never thought of giving up. At the end of the day, figuratively and literally, they were together, and they closed out each day talking about tomorrow.

When the invitation for the baseball reunion had arrived, Tony found himself irrepressibly excited to introduce his wife to the guys who had been a central part of his days as a professional ballplayer. Their lives had taken them in different directions since their time with the Cardinals, which made the trip to St. Louis a bridge between Tony's past and the present he was still learning to embrace.

Now that they were in St. Loius, with the banquet less than an hour away, it occurred to Tony that even if their relationship hadn't changed on that crazy Saturday afternoon more than a year ago, he certainly would have wanted Angela, as his friend, to accompany him to the baseball reunion. But as he took her hand and brought it to his lips, noting the diamond wedding band on her ring finger, he knew that nothing compared to the privilege of having her by his side as his wife. For that gift alone, delivered by way of a pesky cat and wayward can of waterproofing sealant, he was the luckiest man on Earth.