Hope for All- chapter 24
Tony and Angela walked hand in hand into the main area of the resort. An attendant brought them into a separate bridal area for them to freshen up. Angela's bladder was ready to burst, so a bathroom stop was well needed. The attendant brought them a glass of champagne for Tony and a glass of ginger ale for Angela as well as a tray of hot hors d'oeuvres. When Angela came out of the bathroom, she sat down on the loveseat. Tony sat down next to her and grabbed their glasses.
"Here's to the most beautiful, gorgeous, sexy new bride. Never in a million years would I have thought I would be lucky enough to find someone like you- to build a life together, raise our two children with, fall in love and have two more amazing children. You are just the most amazing woman and I love you Angela" he said as he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. He placed his hand on her stomach as she wiped away tears that had fallen.
"How many more times are you going to make me cry today? I've lost count!" she laughed as she put her hand on Tony's. "Here's to you owing me big time for the last minute vows!" she said as she smiled and lifted her glass to Tony's. Each took a sip from their glasses and placed them back down. Tony grabbed a napkin and took a bunch of Angela's favorite appetizers and handed them to her and then took some for himself.
"Okay Mr. and Mrs. Micelli, it is time to head into the reception. All of your guests are in the reception hall. Please come with me" said the attendant.
Tony stood up first and helped Angela up. Angela grabbed her bouquet and wrapped her arm around Tony's as they headed for the hall. The attendant led them to a double set of doors. They could hear people talking on the other side of the door and then suddenly the voices went quiet.
"This is it. You ready to get this party started?" asked Tony.
"Yes… as long as there aren't anymore major surprises!" laughed Angela.
"We shall see…" he said with a wink.
"And now, put your hands together for the new Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Micelli!" said the DJ as the doors opened to a beautiful room with a dance floor, lots of pink roses, a DJ set up in the corner and tables set up around the dance floor with all their friends and family. The song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship came over the speakers as they walked hand in hand into the hall. Tony led Angela through the crowd, waving and shaking hands with the guests until they got to the center of the dance floor.
"I'm so glad I found you
I'm not gonna lose you
Whatever it takes
I will stay here with you
Take you to the good times
See you through the bad times
Whatever it takes
Is what I'm gonna do
Let 'em say we're crazy
What do they know?
Put your arms around me
Baby, don't ever let go
Let the world around us
Just fall apart
Baby, we can make it
If we're heart to heart
And we can build this dream together
Standing strong forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers
We'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us
Nothing's gonna stop us"
Tony and Angela fell into their all too familiar embrace on the dance floor as the first song ended and a new one began. Tony smiled as the first chords of the song began. Angela instantly knew which song Tony chose as their first dance as tears formed in her eyes… "It Had to Be You" by Frank Sinatra. Angela laid her head on his shoulder as Tony pulled her in closer. They swayed to the sound of the music as they listened to the lyrics.
"Why do I do just as you say
Why must I just give you your way
Why do I sigh, why don't I try to forget
It must have been that something lovers call fate
Kept me saying I have to wait
I saw them all, just couldn't fall, 'til we met
It had to be you
It had to be you
I wandered around, and I finally found
The somebody who
Could make me be true
And could make me be blue
And even be glad
Just to be sad- thinking of you
Some others I've seen
Might never be mean
Might never be cross, or try to be boss
But they wouldn't do
For nobody else gave me a thrill
With all your faults, I love you still
It had to be you
Wonderful you
It had to be you
For nobody else gave me a thrill
With all your faults, I love you still
It had to be you
Wonderful you
It had to be you"
Once the song ended, Tony pulled back slightly and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. She responded and deepened the kiss as a round of applause erupted from the guests. Tony escorted Angela to their table and pulled out the chair for Angela. Mona, Samantha and Jonathan came over to the table and gave each of them a hug.
"Nice song choice Dad! Of course you'd dance to Sinatra!" laughed Samantha.
"Yeah well I didn't exactly pick the song. Technically it was Angela's choice. Couldn't have picked a better song myself" he said as he reached over a placed a kiss on her lips.
"I'm going to give you two the benefit of this being your wedding and all, but once this is all said and done, all this lovey dovey stuff has got to go. It's nauseating…" Mona said as she rolled her eyes and grabbed her stomach.
"Mother! There can never be too much love!" said Angela as she curled into Tony's side.
"Alright alright! When are we having dinner? I'm starving! I learned my lesson from the Ferguson's wedding and barely ate any appetizers!" shouted Jonathan.
"The salads should be coming out soon and then the main courses. Just be patient buddy!" laughed Tony.
Jonathan rolled his eyes as Samantha put her arm on his shoulder and walked him back to their table, Mona walking behind them. They were seated with Mrs. Rossini, Al and Bonnie. Each of Tony's and Angela's friends made up the other tables. The salad and main courses were served as the guests enjoyed one another's company. Tony and Angela were lost in their own little world. Finally, once the tables were cleared, the DJ came over the loud speaker.
"Alright everyone! Time to put on your dancing shoes and come up and join the happy couple. Tony has put together a playlist of songs dedicated to Angela and their love story. So to start off the night, Tony and Angela, please make your way to the dance floor!" shouted the DJ.
Tony took Angela's hand and helped her up and onto the dance floor. The first bars of the first song started to play. The chords of the song "After All" by Cher and Peter Cetera started to play as they joined together on the dance floor. The lyrics seemed to float around them.
"After all the stops and starts
We keep comin' back to these two hearts
Two angels who've been rescued from the fall
After all
That we've been through
It all comes down to me and you
I guess it's meant to be, forever you and me, after all"
Tony and Angela swayed back and forth to the music. They took breaks so Angela could rest when some of the faster music started to play. Throughout the night, the DJ played more of Tony's playlist, playing songs such as "At Last" by Etta James, "Your Song" by Elton John, "Say You, Say Me" by Lionel Ritchie, "We've Got Tonight" by Bob Seger, "You Are" by Lionel Ritchie, "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper, "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon, "Unchained Melody" by The Righteous Brothers, "When I'm With You" by Sheriff, and "The Way You Look Tonight" by Frank Sinatra. As each song played, Angela found herself falling more and more in love with Tony, if that was at all possible.
Tony made sure he danced with both Mona and Mrs. Rossini. He opted against any of the traditional dances as he knew it would be too difficult with both his mother and Angela's father not being there. He did pick a song for Angela and Jonathan and he and Samantha to dance to as the DJ called up the family. As the family took their places on the dance floor, the first sounds of Rod Stewart's "Forever Young" came over the speaker.
"May the good Lord be with you
Down every road you roam
And may sunshine and happiness
Surround you when you're far from home
And may you grow to be proud
Dignified and true
And do unto others
As you'd have done to you
Be courageous and be brave
And in my heart you'll always stay
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young
May good fortune be with you
May your guiding light be strong
Build a stairway to Heaven
With a prince of a vagabond
And may you never love in vain
And in my heart you will remain
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young
Yeah
And when you finally fly away
I'll be hoping that I served you well
For all the wisdom of a lifetime
No one can ever tell
But whatever road you choose
I'm right behind you, win or lose
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young"
All four sets of eyes had tears in them as the song ended. Even Mona had to wipe away some fallen tears as she watched her family on the dance floor. They walked off the dance floor as the resort staff wheeled out the wedding cake.
Tony and Angela stood in front of the cake for photos. The cake was a beautiful three tiered cake, chocolate cake covered with vanilla buttercream icing. Pink roses wrapped around the cake and cascaded down the sides as though spilling into each layer. Tony and Angela were handed a knife, which they both took in their hands and placed on the cake. They cut the first piece and placed it on a plate. Tony took the fork, put a small piece of cake on it and placed it in Angela's mouth, not without giving her a devilish look like he might take the rest of the cake and smash it in her face. She gave him one of her perfected Angela stares, stopping him in his tracks, as she burst out laughing. She reciprocated, taking a fork full of cake and placing it in his mouth.
"Kiss her already Micelli!" yelled Philly. Both Tony and Angela laughed and kissed quickly as they still had cake in their mouths.
"Weak Micelli! You can do better than that!" yelled Eddie, which prompted an extra loud laugh from Emily at the other table. They made eyes at each other, giving one another a knowing look, similar to the one they gave each other years ago.
Tony put down the plate, grabbed Angela in his arms and placed a deep, passionate kiss on her lips. Cheers and whistles could be heard all around from the guests. Angela and Tony deepened the kiss even further, forgetting momentarily the room full of guests.
"Alright you two get a room!" yelled Mona as she put her arms around Samantha and Jonathan.
Slowly, they pulled away from one another. The resort staff took away the cake so it could be cut and handed out. Tony and Angela found their seats again.
Leaning over to Angela, Tony whispered in her ear, for only her to hear. "Angela, I think we need to start figuring out a game plan here to make a quick exit. Even a fine wine needs to be aged before it's uncorked… but I'm ready to be uncorked Angela!" he said seductively as he moved her hair off her neck and began to kiss from her jawline down her neck. She let out a soft moan as his hands soon found her inner thigh.
"Tony! What about the guests? We've barely seen them all night! And the cake is still coming!" she said. Tony knew if he continued his exploration of Angela's body, she'd eventually give in, which, after a few more moments, is exactly what happened.
"Okay okay! Let's take the cake to go, make our way around to say our goodbyes and head back to the suite" she said as she gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
Tony and Angela walked from table to table, saying their goodbyes. Tony was very anxious to get moving, which was very comical to most of the guests and more than a little embarrassing to Angela. Finally, then ended with the family's table.
"Oh I'm so happy for all of you!" cried Mrs. Rossini as she bear hugged Tony and Angela. They moved on to Mona and the kids, giving them all hugs. Angela was crying now, thanking each of them for all of their hard work helping Tony plan the wedding.
"Thank you all for everything. I couldn't have planned this any better. This is a day that I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life!" she gushed as they all entered into a big group hug.
"Alright kids. Like I said earlier today, Mona is in charge! Well at least in theory, still use your best judgement! We will see you all tomorrow! Have a good night" he said as he gently led Angela towards the door. She gave the kids and Mona one last kiss and hug and headed out with Tony. He grabbed the two wrapped up pieces of cake, his tux jacket and Angela's bouquet.
"Are you ready Mr. Micelli?" she said seductively.
"More than you can imagine Mrs. Micelli, more than you can imagine" he said as they linked arms and walked together towards the door.