Chapter 5
The next few days passed in a blur as Tony spent every free minute trying to organize his thoughts about Frankie's surprise pregnancy while also trying to act as normal as possible with the family. On that front, he knew he wasn't doing a bang-up job as he'd caught Mona looking at him with a raised eyebrow several times and Angela glancing over at him, an unmistakable mixture of sadness and confusion on her face. Tony knew he would have to come clean very soon.
Over the past few days, having had the time to really absorb and think through the situation with Frankie had led him to make a few decisions, at least for the time being and the next few months. It had taken him a while to admit it to himself, but he knew he would have to find a new job before the baby was born. He could probably stay on as Angela's housekeeper while he looked, but the logistics didn't make sense for the long term. And he had to put a stop to whatever was developing between the two of them. Despite everything they had been through, plus the obvious attraction and deep feelings they both had for each other, which they had all but admitted to recently, it wouldn't be fair to the baby, or to Frankie for that matter, to try and pursue something with Angela. Not that she would want to anyway once she found out the truth. Tony winced as he thought about what a shock this was going to be to her as well as to Samantha.
Sam…he had already rocked his daughter's world once when he moved them to Connecticut, even though it had turned out to be the best decision he'd ever made. They'd won the lottery with Angela, Jonathan, and even Mona. They all fit together like a real family, and Tony hated that he would be the one to break it apart. He was going to have to uproot her again, but he vowed to do whatever he could to have that not happen until after the current school year was finished. Even if it became too uncomfortable to continue living with Angela and they had to move out, he would try to keep everything as normal as possible for as long as was feasible. He knew Sam needed Angela in her life, especially as she continued to mature into a young woman. Tony firmly believed that, despite whatever was going to happen with his and Angela's relationship, the mother/daughter bond that had developed between the two of them was strong enough to withstand any situation, including this one.
"Dad, earth to Dad," Tony suddenly heard Sam say, pulling him back to the present. "Are you ok? You've been washing that same bowl since I came into the kitchen a few minutes ago. Did you even hear Jonathan tell you he was going next door to Peter's?"
"What? Oh, sorry, Sweetheart. It's just been a day," Tony said, shaking his head, realizing he needed to pull himself together.
"You've been acting kind of weird, Dad, all week," Sam said, giving him a once-over. "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"
"I'm fine, Honey, really," Tony replied. He looked down at his watch and saw it was almost five p.m. He needed to get started on dinner soon.
"Ok, sure," Sam said, unconvinced. "Speaking of dinner, I'm going to eat at Bonnie's. We're working on a big project, so Mrs. Munson invited me to dinner, and we're going to work on it after."
"Ok, just be home by 9," Tony called after her as she walked out of the kitchen.
Tony took a deep breath because he knew he needed to call Frankie now that he had the house to himself before Angela and Mona came home. There were still a lot of things to figure out, and it had been several days since she'd told him the news. He wanted her to know that he was on board, however that looked, right from the start.
"Hi Frankie, it's Tony," he said after she picked up on the third ring.
"Hi Tony. I had a feeling I might hear from you today," Frankie replied.
"Yeah, I've just needed a few days to sort through stuff," Tony said. "I've figured some things out, and I know there's more we need to figure out together. I was thinkin' I could come into the city this weekend, and we could talk in person. I need to head down to Brooklyn anyway. I've been getting a guilt trip from Mrs. R since I haven't made it down that way in a while."
"That sounds good to me, Tony," Frankie replied. "I've also had some more time to think, so yes, there's a lot we still need to discuss. Why don't you come to my apartment on Saturday afternoon? I'm sure Mrs. Rossini would love to feed you dinner that night."
"Ok, I'll talk to Mrs. R, but yeah, that should work," Tony said.
After they hung up, Tony decided that as much as he'd rather wait until after he and Frankie had talked, trying to keep this from Angela until then would be next to impossible. He knew she suspected something was up with him, especially since the last few nights, he'd skipped out on the nightly tea and talk that had become a ritual for them over the past few years. It felt terrible and a little lonely not being able to confide in her like he normally would. Tony hated to think that losing that closeness could become a permanent reality.
"Hey Tony," Angela said, popping her head into the kitchen just then. Tony was so lost in thought that he hadn't even heard her and Mona come home. "I have some work to finish up, so I'll be in my study until dinner's ready."
"Ok," Tony replied before taking a deep breath and continuing, "Hey Angela, after dinner, can we talk?"
Angela stepped fully into the kitchen and nodded slowly. "Of course, Tony. We can talk right now if you want to."
"No, let's wait till after we eat. Sam's at Bonnie's, so it will just be you, me, and Jonathan. Mona if she decides to grace us with her presence."
With a small smile, Angela replied, "Ok, whatever you want, Tony," before turning and heading towards her study.
Dinner that evening was a subdued affair as Jonathan gave up trying to engage both his mom and Tony in conversation when it became obvious that neither of them was paying much attention to him. Mona had stopped into the kitchen on her way out the door for a date with the latest man of the hour. Tony barely acknowledged her, making Mona wonder how much longer he was going to try to hide what he was dealing with from Angela. If she were to bet, she had a feeling that things at 3344 Oak Hills Drive were about to get very interesting starting later tonight.
Tony tried to string out cleaning up from dinner and doing the dishes as long as possible, but eventually, there was nothing left to wash and no surface left to clean.
Walking slowly towards the study, Tony quietly rapped on the closed door. Hearing Angela say come in, he closed his eyes briefly before opening the door.
Angela couldn't hide the nervous look on her face as Tony walked into the room. Gesturing towards the small sofa in the corner, she asked quietly, "Do you want to sit?"
"Yeah, sure," Tony replied, walking over to sit on one end. Angela quickly followed, sitting on the opposite end.
"Angela," Tony said, not knowing exactly how to proceed. "I, uh, I know you've noticed I haven't been myself this week. There's no easy way for me to say this. Frankie came by a few days ago to give me some news."
Tony stopped and forced himself to look at Angela. The fear and sadness reflected in her eyes almost cut him to the core. He knew that she knew what he was about to say.
"Frankie's pregnant, and the baby is mine."
