Savor the Rewrite: chapter 14 Who's the Boss?
By the end of that night, Al was packed up and ready to move into the guest house at Bonnie's house. Angela and Tony both couldn't fathom how her parents would allow Al the screamer to move in but neither questioned it, worried that if they said something, he would remain a permanent resident of 3344 Oak Hills Drive.
Angela was able to finalize the Le Fizz campaign and sent the final proposal Monday morning. She let Tony know he was the inspiration for the whole commercial. He couldn't wait for it to come out in a few weeks and see just how she managed to sell that horrible drink.
The next few weeks seemed to go by with relative ease. Angela was now seventeen weeks pregnant and really starting to show. She had purchased a few maternity outfits a few weeks back but knew in the next week or so she would need to make another trip for a bigger purchase.
She also started what Tony realized was nesting. It seemed like every day she had a new task for him to complete- clear out his old room, clean up the attic, pull down any baby stuff that was stored in the attic, put it all back when she realized it was too old and outdated, pick out paint for the nursery- the list seemed to never end. He didn't mind it so much until her requests seemed more like demands. Still, he knew she was just hormonal and tried to keep up with her needs and wants, putting his own aside.
The first week in February, Tony picked Angela up early from the train that Monday and headed to her doctor's appointment. He helped her out of the car and headed into the waiting room. They had done the amniocentesis the week before and were going to get the test results during the session. Both Angela and Tony were very nervous, but agreed to be as open and honest with each other no matter the results.
"How are you feeling sweetheart?" he asked as he put his hand on her stomach.
"I've got to use the bathroom again! Other than nervous about the results I'm okay" she said.
"I know sweetheart but remember… whatever happens we are going to be here for one another…" he said as he leaned over for a kiss.
"Angela Micelli?" said a nurse as she and Tony followed her into an exam room. Angela's vitals were taken and she was able to give a urine sample. They brought her to the exam table for the ultrasound. Tony helped her up and held her hand as the technician started up the machine. Soon, the baby came into view on the screen.
"Does everything look okay?" asked Angela.
"So far so good! Measuring at approximately seventeen weeks and five days. Looks to be about five inches long and and about six ounces. You can see how the baby is well developed right now and kicking their legs" said the technician.
"Hey little one! They are going to be an athlete with those kicks! I can't wait to feel you little one!" gushed Tony.
"The past two or three weeks I've begun feeling flutters. He or she is really moving around a lot!" said Angela as she teared up. The technician finished up and printed out sonograms for them to take. Once they were finished, the nurse led them into the doctor's office.
"Hi Tony and Angela! So the sonogram looks good! The baby is developing very well! I reviewed the amniocentesis results and everything looks good there too" said the doctor as Angela and Tony both let out audible sounds of relief.
"Thank goodness! We were really worried this past week" said Tony.
"So while everything was good with those results, your bloodwork came back showing a slightly elevated white blood cell count. It's not a dangerous level so I'm not overly concerned but I would like to have you come back on Friday for a repeat urine test plus bloodwork to make sure the levels don't get any worse" said the doctor.
"Is…is this something to be concerned about?" asked Angela as she grabbed onto Tony's hand. He gave her hand a squeeze as he looked over at her before turning his gaze back to the doctor.
"I can't tell you not to worry, you will do that anyway. It could be a UTI since the baby is growing bigger and putting more pressure on your bladder. If it is that or any other infection, we can give you some antibiotics and you will be fine. Infections can pose serious complications for you and the baby if left untreated. That's why I want to monitor you closely to make sure if it is something, we treat you quickly" he said.
"Should she go on those antibiotics now just in case? Or bed rest?" asked Tony.
"No none of that is necessary. Just go about your regular routine. If you experience any abnormal symptoms, call the office or go to the hospital. Otherwise, we will see you back on Friday" he said. They both nodded and headed out of the room, checking out and heading to the car.
"Okay Angela… I want you to take it easy this week! If you start to feel any different you need to let me know so we get you checked out. I don't want anything bad to happen to either one of you…" he said as he rubbed her stomach.
"I know Tony and I'll take it easy this week I promise. I do have a lot of things scheduled to do though…" she said as she tried to think of ways to get everything she needed to done and still take time to rest.
"Whatever it is Angela, I'll do it! Just let me know. I don't want you to have to do anything more than you need to…" he said.
"Alright… I'll see what I can give to you to do this week… thank you sweetheart…" she said as she leaned over for a kiss. Tony started the car and drove them home.
Angela spent the rest of the week alternating between working from home and going into the office. At first, Angela was reluctant to give Tony any errands to do; however, after he persisted, she relented and gave him a to-do list that, while started out small, soon grew to a very detailed, long list. By Friday morning, while Angela was nice and relaxed for her repeat bloodwork, Tony was frustrated and exhausted.
He decided early Saturday morning he needed to get some fresh air and called the guys to play some basketball. He wrote Angela a note and left it on the nightstand for her to read once she woke up. She read the note and had a fleeting thought he had forgotten their appointment with the decorator for the nursery. She pushed the thought out of her mind as she started her day. However, when Tony still wasn't home fifteen minutes before the appointment, she began to worry, standing by the front window looking out for him as Mona sat on the sofa reading a magazine.
"He's going to be late! Why isn't Tony here?" she asked.
"Maybe your face in the window is scaring him away…" said Mona as Angela turned and gave her a dirty look.
"Yeah that's the one! Oh you know Tony! He wouldn't be late unless it was something very important…" said Mona.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Tony was walking on his hands into the kitchen, completing a bet he made with the guys. He gloated and collected his money. He was celebrating with his friends when Angela walked through the kitchen door.
"Tony! Where have you been all this time?" she asked with some concern.
"Angela! We won! We were celebrating! We won!" he shouted.
"Yeah! Tony scored the winning basket!" said Ernie.
"He's my idol!" said Al as he patted him on the back.
"Congratulations but we are supposed to meet with the decorator for the baby's nursery…" she said.
"Oh we are?" he asked.
"Yes Tony! We marked it on the calendar!" she said as she went to get the calendar off the refrigerator.
"Oh yeah… there it is… in big letters too…" he said as he knew he was in trouble.
"How could you forget?" she asked as tears began to form in her eyes.
"Well… well the guys they dragged me out for Mexican food and you know how the guys are!" he said as he motioned for them to back him up. They all finally got the hint and began to back him up, Angela not buying a word any of them said.
"It won't happen again… honest!" said Tony.
"Okay but you better get dressed! We don't have much time…" she said as she headed back into the living room.
"Okay! And hey by the way… I'm really, really sorry…" he said as he poked his head through the swinging door.
"Okay…" she said with a smile as he headed back into the kitchen. He was met with all the guys making retching sounds.
"What? What?" he asked.
"I'm really, really, really, really sorry! Really…" said Tiny sarcastically.
"Hey! There was a time you would have just said we went out for Mexican! Back off! But I guess your ah… combination plate don't got no frijoles…" laughed Ernie.
"Wait a minute! What's that Ernie?" said Tony as he started to get in his face.
"Face it Micelli… you're henpecked!" said Vinny.
"You used to be my idol…" said Al.
"Wait I am not henpecked!" he said. Just then, Angela called for him in the other room.
"Right behind you sweetie!" said Tony as the guys started making clucking noises. Tony tried to calm them down but it wasn't working.
"Ya know… I never thought I'd see it. Tony Micelli under a woman's thumb… are you sure you're Italian?" asked Al.
"Wait a minute! You guys are just jealous because I have a woman who cares about me, who I got to not only marry me but have a baby together!" said Tony.
"Well I have a woman who cares about me but let me tell you something pal! I'm the one who wears the pants! She cooks, she cleans! I can stay out all night and never get any lip!" said Ernie smugly.
"Ernie… you live with your mother…" said Tony. Ernie tried to explain but Tony wouldn't have it.
"Let me explain something to you. Angela and I we're equals! Nobody's in charge! I mean in this marriage we both wear the pants!" said Tony as Mona walked in.
"If they both wore the skirt, we'd really worry!" laughed Mona.
"All I can say is when you put that ring on her finger, she put the ring through your nose…" said Tiny. All the guys continued to hound Tony, telling him how things would only get worse until Angela had complete control over his every move. He kicked them all out once Al started quoting Dylan Thomas.
"And so ends another meeting of the brain dead poet's society…" said Mona.
"It's really late! I… I mean Angela's just gonna have to learn that ya know I'm not gonna rush…" he said as he started to walk past Mona.
"Have fun telling that to a hormonal pregnant woman… I'll start planning your funeral now…" said Mona as he headed into the living room. He made a mad dash to the stairs but was stopped by Angela.
"Tony! You're not ready! The decorator will be here any minute!" said Angela.
"I'm just gonna shower and change!" he said as he started up the stairs.
"Ah Tony you probably want to wear a nice sweater and pants. I've heard the decorator is a little high strung…" said Angela.
"Okay no problem!" he said.
"Maybe the red sweater!" she said.
"Okay…" he said with some irritation in his voice.
"It goes really well with your eyes…" she said.
"Hey Angela… what about my underwear? Boxers or briefs?" he asked sarcastically.
"Your briefs are in the wash…" she chuckled. "Are you okay?" she asked when he didn't laugh back.
"I'm fine… it's just that I'm not used to you telling me what to wear…" he said.
"Oh I'm not! I… I was just making a suggestion!" she said.
"Oh… okay! Fair enough, fair enough!" he said as he turned to head upstairs.
"But make sure not to cut it this close next week when we go to the ballet…" she said.
"The ballet?" he asked facetiously.
"Yes! Remember how I told you I dreamed of being a dancer after I saw the ballet when I was little? You promised to take me if they ever came back to New York! I figure this was our last chance to go see it before the baby comes…" she said.
"Oh yeah, yeah… it's just that I didn't think it would happen anytime while I was living…" he said with an eye roll as he started up the stairs.
"I see you don't want to go…" she said as the tears started to fall.
"No, no! I'd go it's just that we have a basketball game that day and then we were supposed to play poker right after… it might be one of the last guys' nights out I get before the baby comes…" he said.
"Tony you're always playing basketball with the guys! Just once can't you tell them you're going to the ballet?" she shouted, the tears being replaced with anger.
"Oh yeah… I'm gonna tell a three hundred pound teamster and his buddies I'm going to the ballet!" he said, the week's worth of frustration at being micromanaged bubbling to the surface. Mona walked into the room as their argument continued. Angela continued to explain to Tony why the ballet was so important to her as a child. Mona chimed in, making fun of Angela.
"Alright Mona enough! No making fun of Angela!" said Tony as Mona rolled her eyes.
"Ever since you two got together, you're no fun. About as much sense of humor between you as Ma and Pa Ingalls…" said Mona.
"Despite everything… I still love the ballet… and I think it's important for a married couple to share each other's passions…" she said as she moved in very close to Tony, her voice dropping an octave or so.
"Sharing's good…" he said as he thought of all the ways they could share each other's passions upstairs in the bedroom.
"But if you don't want to go…" she said as she started to walk away from him until he pulled her back to him.
"No, no! I said sharing's good…" he said as his body was now flush against hers, as much as it could be with her baby bump.
"I'll go…" he said.
"You sure?" she asked, knowing she had won this one.
"Yeah… I'll just skip the poker game and come home right after basketball…" he said.
"Oh thank you!" she said as they pulled each other into a hug. Tony gave her a quick kiss and soon headed upstairs to get changed.
They met with the decorator who gave them what Tony thought was the most ridiculous, overpriced quote to redecorate his room for the nursery. Every suggestion he made to either put his own ideas in the mix or to try and save money was met with distain from the decorator, followed by agreement by Angela. Finally, he just learned to grin and bear it, his frustrations continuing to grow.
Angela's doctor called her the following Monday and said the levels remained the same. She needed to come in for more bloodwork for her appointment the following week. Angela again made multiple laundry lists of chores for Tony. By Saturday, Tony was in such a need to get out of the house, he practically ran to the basketball court.
After the game, the guys headed back to the house. Tony had won the game despite taking an elbow to the head. He sat down at the table, his head still hurting from the game and from the reminders he would miss the poker game with an all too naive Al. The banter started again with the guys ragging on him for being henpecked. Finally, the guys had enough ragging on him and left as Tony headed into the living room.
"Oh Tony you're on time!" she gushed.
"Yeah yeah… I'm gonna shower and change and then it's off to Swan Lake…" he said sarcastically.
"Oh silly! It's not Swan Lake! It's the Nutcracker!" she said.
"Tell me about it…" he said with an eye roll.
"What?" she asked with some irritation in her voice.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I… I just need an aspirin ya know. I took an elbow while we were playing the game. Look at that shot I took…" he said as he pointed to his forehead.
"Oh that's really nasty. Does that hurt?" she asked as she touched the bruise, causing Tony to yell out in pain.
"Of course it hurts if you're gonna pound on it!" he shouted.
"Tony… do you feel well enough to go tonight?" she asked, real concern in her voice.
"Oh yeah I'll be… ya know, do we have anything stronger than an aspirin?" he asked as he tried to sound as pathetic as possible.
"Oh you're really hurting aren't you?" she said as he walked over to the sofa.
"Well yeah but what kinda man am I if I can't stand a little cranial pressure ya know…" he said.
"Oh Tony gosh sit down! I hope you don't have a concussion!" she said as the tears formed in her eyes. Tony realized he might be going a bit too far.
"Oh no I doubt it…" he said.
"Well I'm going to call the doctor…" she said as she went to stand up.
"No, no! You're overreacting! It's just a bump…" he said, thinking he missed his shot at staying home.
"Well I think you should stay home anyway…" she said.
"Oh well then you'd have to go to the ballet by yourself. I don't want you going alone Angela" he said.
"Oh no that's alright I'll just take Mother!" she said as Mona gagged on her water. Mona tried to get out of it, but Angela insisted.
"You've only just begun to know pain!" said Mona as she could see right through Tony's charade. She begrudgingly headed back to her apartment to get changed, leaving Tony to relax on the sofa with a smug, satisfied smile on his face.
Mona and Angela decided to drive to the ballet. The intermission had just begun when Angela's guilt at leaving Tony and her worry that something was wrong got the best of her so they headed back to the car to drive home, missing the second half of the ballet.
Meanwhile, the guys came back over to get Al's wallet that he had forgotten earlier. They were surprised when Tony was home, thinking he would have been at the ballet. After the past two weeks of feeling smothered and henpecked, he decided to fight fire with fire and made up the story about how he put his foot down with Angela. He figured she wouldn't find out and he needed to make some headway with reclaiming his masculinity with the guys. His plan would have worked had they not convinced him to have the poker game here as well as order pizza. The pizza delivery girls were getting a bit too close to all the guys as Angela and Mona walked through the front door.
"Tony!" shouted Angela as she took in the scene before her eyes. The girls practically on their laps, Jonathan sitting there being negatively influenced by the guys, smoking cigars in the house… she wasn't sure what was making her blood boil more. The blatant fact that Tony lied bold faced to her was winning out.
"Well heck! Now it's really a party! Angela's back! And early to boot!" he said as he tried to undo some of the damage already inflicted.
"Ah drop the act! You're dead!" said Mona. Tony tried to pull his foot out of his mouth as he escorted the pizza delivery girls out of the house.
"I can't believe I fell for that story about you not feeling well enough to go tonight…" she said.
"Not feeling well? That's not the way we heard it!" said Ernie.
"I seem to recall something about the king of the house laying down the law!" laughed Tiny as Tony realized he was in deep trouble by the angry look on Angela's face.
"Is that what you said your majesty?" she said sarcastically.
"Oh your majesty! That was good! Well, not exactly…" he said as he gave the guys a dirty look.
"I see…" she said as she headed into the kitchen. Tony left the group and followed her into the kitchen.
"This isn't what it looks like…" he said.
"No? It looks to me like a bunch of guys drinking beer, smoking cigars, flirting with girls and playing cards…" she said as she turned away from him.
"Well sure on the surface…" he said as he tried to lighten the mood.
"But if you look deeper you'll see that it wasn't my fault! I mean they just showed up! What could I do?" he asked.
"You could've told them no… had no trouble saying that to me!" she shouted.
"Wait a minute Angela! Who… who's the one that said I should stay home in the first place?" he responded.
"I only said that because I thought it might make your head feel better! I wanted you to be there with me Tony! It meant a lot to me but obviously spending time with me doesn't to you…" she said as the tears began to flow.
"Angela calm down! Do you think I planned this whole thing? Called the guys and told them to come over because Angela's gone?" he asked.
"I… I don't want to hear about it! I don't care how it happened I just want everybody out okay?" she said as she wiped away the tears in her eyes.
"No…" he said, the past two weeks worth of micromanaging and nitpicking finally getting the best of him. He knew this would only deepen the fight but he felt he had to stick up for himself.
"No?" repeated Angela in disbelief and anger at his refusal.
"That's right! Those are my friends out there and I'm not throwing my friends out!" he said as his confidence started to grow.
"Oh really…" she said as her anger grew.
"That's right yeah! And let me tell you something! You throw my friends out, you throw me out too!" he said.
"No need to throw you all out…" she said as she turned away from Tony.
"Well that's more like it…" he said.
"I'm leaving Tony… you'd rather flirt with younger girls, hang out with those neanderthals out there, come up with some ruse to avoid spending time with me… I get the picture Tony…" she said as she walked out of the kitchen and past the poker game.
"Wait Angela! Don't leave!" he said but she was already up the stairs.
"Ah looks like the little woman is upset…" started Ernie.
"Shut up! This is all your fault! I take that back! It's my fault for listening to a bunch of guys who collectively haven't had a date with a real women, not their mother, in decades! What was I thinking?" he yelled. The guys all tried to reason with Tony, trying to get him to calm down as Angela headed back down the stairs with a small bag in her hands.
"You're… you're actually leaving?" asked Tony as the color in his face drained.
"I'll be back tomorrow. I… I just need some air…" she said as she walked out the door.
"Alright fellas! Game is over! Leave now before the hotheaded Italian throws you out!" laughed Mona. The guys all grabbed their money and belongings and headed out the front door. Jonathan grabbed his money and headed upstairs leaving Tony and Mona alone in the living room. Anger started building up inside of Tony as he started pacing back and forth.
"I'm telling ya! When love walks in, respect and compassion go flying out the door! It all becomes an ugly struggle for control! Like two crazy people fighting over the steering wheel of a runaway car!" he yelled.
"You wanna talk about it Tony?" asked Mona.
"I don't wanna talk about it…" he said not very convincingly.
"Well I won't push it then…" Mona started as Tony continued his tirade.
"Ya know… men and women… they… it just doesn't work! We should live on separate continents ya know! And only meet on neutral territory like… like Switzerland! And then only to perpetuate the species!" said Tony.
"Sure… way to take the fun out of it for everyone! And if my recent memory serves me right… you and Angela have 'perpetuated the species' and I don't remember you complaining about it!" laughed Mona.
"I thought she only wanted to love me… but no that wasn't enough! She had to take control of every facet of my life!" he said.
"Well it's a dirty job Tony but someone's gotta do it…" said Mona.
"It's just Angela's got me so crazy and so upset!" he practically shouted.
"So you feel like she's controlling your life…" she said.
"Exactly Mona! Exactly! It's all coming down just like Tiny and Ernie and the rest of the guys said. At first I thought they were wrong, but now I see they were right!" he said.
"You've been discussing male female relationships with them?" asked Mona.
"Yeah! None of them have any woman problems!" he said.
"None of them have any women Tony! At least the kind you don't have to add air to…" she said with a smirk.
"They were right this time though! I mean ever since we got married she's changed! She doesn't even trust me anymore!" he shouted.
"First of all, it's not since you got married- it's been no more than a few weeks. Your wife, the one you let walk out of here, is hormonal and nesting as she's carrying your baby. And secondly, can you blame her right now for not trusting you? She walked into a practical bachelor party complete with girls, smoking, poker and of course her underaged son with a front row seat! And to top it off, once you were caught, you acted like a child! The biggest point in all of this being, telling me all of this isn't gonna do any good! You should really just go and talk to her! If not tonight then first thing tomorrow morning…" she said.
"No way! I'm not crawling back to her! I've got my pride!" he said.
"You're pride but not your bride… or your baby… is it worth all that?" she asked as he couldn't answer her.
"I take your silence as agreement. Alright Mr. Prideful… enjoy that empty bed tonight…" she said as she walked out of the house to her apartment. He spent the rest of the night thinking about his conversation with Mona. He tossed and turned in the empty bed until he got so frustrated he took a pillow and blanket and headed downstairs to the sofa. By morning, he had only gotten a few hours of broken sleep.
Angela had faired no better, tossing and turning in the Fairfield Hotel room bed. She woke up exhausted and with some back pain she hadn't remembered from the day before. She also felt a bit chilled but managed to get herself out of bed and packed up. She knew she had to face Tony eventually, the sooner the better, as she headed out the door.
Tony was just finishing folding the blanket and rearranging the pillows on the sofa when Angela walked in. She put her bag down and walked over to him.
"Looks like you got as good of a night's sleep as I did… you look exhausted Angela…" he said as his guilt began to take over.
"Yeah well… I guess we both didn't sleep well apart…" she said.
"Look Angela… I'm really sorry about yesterday. I just felt like you've been micromanaging everything in my life- what I do, where I do it, what I wear… I just felt smothered. Despite that, I shouldn't have lied to you…" he said.
"I'm sorry too Tony. I shouldn't have tried to force you into doing something you didn't want to do. I just wanted us to do things like we used to do before we got together. I never had to push you into spending time with me…" she said.
"You never tried to control me before we got together…" he said as he got irritated again.
"I am not controlling you!" she shouted, her calm demeanor gone.
"Oh you're not controlling me? Take a look at this calendar!" he said as he headed into the kitchen, Angela following right behind him. Mona was sipping her coffee as Tony took the calendar down and pointed to all of the events she had them scheduled for until as he stated, the millennium.
Finally, Mona had had enough and broke up the fighting. She pointed out the obvious reasons why each was upset with one another and convinced them to see the other's side to come to a compromise.
"So when you hit a little snag like this, just remember… neither one of you is much of a catch…" she said.
"Go away Mother…" she said as Mona shook her head and walked into the living room.
"Now we can make this work now can't we Angela?" he asked.
"I think so… I think all we have to do is compromise…" she said.
"Right! And you know where we start? We start with our schedules! C'mon over here and let's take a look here… alright let's take a look…" he said as they went through a bunch of dates. They each had things they were scheduled for in the upcoming weeks. They both started to get frustrated again until they saw today's date open for both of them.
"Oh I forgot to write golf with Ray…" he said as he penciled it in on the calendar.
"But you know what? I'll cancel it! And I won't take no for an answer!" he said as he erased it.
"Let me explain something to you. I want to do today whatever it is that you want to do today okay?" he said as Angela got every excited.
"You mean it?" she asked, still not believing him.
"Absolutely Angela!" he said with a smile as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him.
"Oh Tony this will be great! You can come with me to the spa while I get the mothers to be package! Then you can come to the department store to help me pick out more maternity clothes! This is going to be so much fun! You can sit down while I try on the new clothes and I'll model them for you!" she practically squealed with delight as she went into the living room.
"Fore!" said Tony as he swung a pretend golf club and headed out the back door, not waiting to be dragged yet again to another boring afternoon clothes shopping with Angela.
"Tony… I was thinking we should head to… Tony? Tony?" she asked as she came back into the kitchen. She looked around, knowing he couldn't have come through the living room since she was just in there. She opened the back door in time to see Tony's jeep reversing down the driveway. Just then, Mona walked into the kitchen.
"He didn't seriously leave to go golfing! After all we talked about! How could he?" she shouted as she slammed the back door shut.
"Oh he's dead meat!" laughed Mona.
"I hope he plans on sleeping on that golf course tonight… ohh… ooh!" winced Angela as she suddenly grabbed her stomach in pain.
"Angela, are you alright?" asked Mona, worry very present in her voice.
"I… I don't know… ouch!" she said again as Mona helped her sit down in the chair.
"I don't like this at all. I'm taking you to the hospital. Let me see if I can find Jonathan or Samantha…" she said as she ran into the living room. All Angela could do was rub her stomach and try to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.
To be continued…