Chapter Thirty-One: Full House

"She looks like my dad's girlfriend," Natalie said of the model on page nineteen. Six girls were huddled together in Sam's room, looking through an old Playboy Magazine that Suzanne had swiped from her brother's stash.

"Did you meet her, Nat?" Dinah asked, turning her attention to her friend. Sam bit the end off another Red Vine and listened again to the story she had heard a few days earlier.

"Yeah, Patrick and I went to her place for dinner. She's so young! And my dad is acting like an idiot. He dyed his hair and started wearing tight ripped jeans. It's pathetic."

"Your poor mom," Alicia sympathized. "Getting replaced by a hot babe like that." She shook her head.

Sam thought of how Angela had held her head high and gone to Michael's wedding to Heather. "She'll be better off in the long run."

Linda was downstairs, commiserating over a bottle of wine with Mona, Angela, and Sheila in the parlor. Their conversation was interrupted from time to time by screams from the monster movie Patrick was watching with Jonathan and Seth.

"It hasn't sunk in yet, Cassie," Linda consoled Mona. "He just left yesterday."

"That's true. I just thought I would be more upset to see him go." Mona hadn't cried since Ricky left, in contrast with the buckets of tears she shed during their road trip to Santa Fe.

"You're not used to being tied down anymore, Mom," Angela remarked.

"And I won't be tied up, either. Not for a while, anyway," Mona jested. She was pleased to have a new audience, since her family usually dismissed her with eye rolls.

Angela noticed the empty glasses. "I can open another bottle," she suggested. "How about the cab you brought, Linda?"

"Oh yes. I think you'll like it, Jess," she said. Mona and Sheila nodded their approval.

The house felt peaceful, despite being full of people and pierced by giggles and shrieks from upstairs. Josh and Tony had gone bowling a couple of hours earlier. Angela worked the corkscrew in and pulled it out without spilling a drop. She exhaled in relief and carried the open bottle back to the group of women.

"Any word on your job, Jess?" Sheila asked.

"They were still accepting applications through yesterday," she said. "When Nate and I went to lunch, he told me nothing had come in that I should be worried about."

"You had lunch with Nate again?" Mona confirmed. She was unaware of Tony's suggestion that Angela allow him to retain some hope.

"Yes, I did, Mom. Perfectly innocent," she said. "I know how to string a man along."

"Well, I know that much, dear."

"Think we should check on the girls?" Linda asked.

"Oh, they're fine," Angela said. "Have some more wine," she pushed. They continued talking and commiserating about micromanaging bosses, cheating husbands, absent boyfriends, stubborn kids, and annoying husbands.

As Angela struggled to open a third bottle of wine, she heard Tony open the front door. Josh had apparently become the designated driver. The two men found her in the kitchen. "Did you knock down all the thingies?" she slurred, putting down the bottle and gesturing with the corkscrew in hand.

"He bowled a two-thirty-eight, didn't you, Bobby?" Josh asked. Tony was unsteady on his feet, but absolutely locked into a staring contest with Angela. "Let me get that for you, Jess," Josh offered, taking the corkscrew out of Angela's hand and opening the bottle. He took it into the parlor without a word to the couple, pouring into the ladies' glasses and sitting with them for a minute to assess the situation.

Angela bit her lip and leaned back against the counter. "So you did good, huh?" she murmured, drawing him closer so he could hear over the random noises echoing through the house. "Maybe you should teach me your tricks." She trailed her fingers down his exposed forearm, looking down at his strong hand.

He leaned against the counter, caging her in. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" he said, gazing at her lips. He shifted his weight to one hand and brushed her hair from her face with the other.

"Yeah," she exhaled, all thought escaping her mind.

"Maybe I shouldn't have opened that bottle," Josh mused, returning to the kitchen. "You guys are sloshed," he said. "I'm going to watch the rest of the movie with the boys," he decided when Angela and Tony ignored his presence.

"Come with me," Tony whispered, pulling Angela into a darkened stretch of hallway. "Shhh!" he admonished her when she giggled.

"How many beers did you have?" she asked, leaning against the wall and playing with a button on his polo shirt.

"Four, I think. How much wine did you have?" he asked, grabbing her hip and digging his fingers into the swell of her ass. He neglected to mention that the bowling alley served liters.

"Three. Big ones," she said, licking her lip unconsciously. They melted into a heated kiss, neglecting their hosting duties for a few minutes.

"Break it up!" Mona shouted. "Boys and girls, go to your corners!" she continued.

"I'll miss you," Angela whimpered as her mother pulled her away from Tony. They grabbed each other by one arm, wiggling their fingers dramatically as they lost contact.

"Until we meet again, my love," he called. Once she was out of sight, back in the parlor with the other women, he went to the couch, intending to watch the second of the two horror movies the boys had rented. Instead, he passed out after a few minutes, drooling onto his shoulder.

"That's why you shouldn't drink," Josh said to Patrick with a shrug.

x

The next morning, Tony and Angela nursed headaches over coffee as various parents arrived to pick up their daughters. After the Woodmans and Linda and Patrick had left, the teens had spread their sleeping bags around the living room. Now, the chaos had been quelled. "The community college catalog came yesterday," Angela said, once the last girl was gone.

"Oh, good." He flipped through the booklet. "I can take Introduction to Literature on Tuesday and Thursday nights and College Math I on Monday and Wednesday nights," he said, looking up at Angela. He had begun working typical business hours, in addition to the occasional Saturday, allowing him to prepare dinner most nights and join the family for Church on Sundays. The couple worked out the financial issues together, finding that his reduced hours offset her increased salary almost exactly.

"Sounds good, sweetie," she said, taking a sip of coffee and rubbing his back. "Those classes will be transferrable, right?" she confirmed.

"Yes, they should. I'll be mindful not to waste credits. It's going to take at least five years to finish my degree part time."

"I'm really proud of you for doing this, Bobby," she told him.

"Even though you're going to be a single parent during the week?" he asked.

"I won't complain as long as you're in my bed every night," she said with a wink.

"Sorry about last night. I just had so much beer…."

"It's fine. Don't you remember our discussion last Thanksgiving?" she asked.

"You said it doesn't happen with you," he laughed.

"Well, I lied. It happened in Vegas." she reminded him. Brian Thomas had probably gotten drunk to avoid sleeping with her, or at least avoid remembering it.

"Oh right. You did lie. Well, I'm going to make it up to you tonight," he promised, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Don't you two ever talk about anything but sex?" Mona griped. "Some of us are in withdrawals."

"Sorry, Mom. Hey, when do you think you'll be switching to the dinner shift?"

"Any time I want. The general manager is dying to get rid of Buffy the Bimbo."

"Beginning of June? We're both going to be at work all day and Bobby's going to be at school Monday through Thursday evenings. I'm going to need your help with the kids and the house during the week all summer."

"Yes, wicked stepdaughter," Mona mocked.

"Hey, I'm your real daughter," Angela protested.

"Are we sure about that? You look nothing like me," she argued.

"I look like your mother. Besides, what's our motto in this house?" Angela asked as the kids came down the stairs.

"Genes are funny," the four family members chanted in unison.