Hope for All chapter 36
Tony and Angela arrived at the baby furniture and headed inside. They were greeted by a saleswomen named Laura as they walked in the door.
"Hi! Welcome to our store! My name is Laura, how can I help you?" she asked in a bubbly voice.
"Hi Laura. We'd like to see your section of baby furniture, specifically cribs. We are expecting twins in the early fall and want to start working on the nursery" said Angela as she rubbed her belly.
"Oh twins! How exciting! Okay! Let's take a look at some of the nursery room furniture sets" she said as she walked them through the showroom.
"This is one of our most popular models. It comes with a crib, two dressers, a bookcase and a bassinet. An extra crib and bassinet can be added. It comes in white, pink, blue and brown. We have financing plans if you are interested" said Laura.
"What do you think Tony? I think we'd need to be a little creative with that space but I think it would all fit. What do you think about getting the furniture in white?" she asked.
"I think I'll have my work cut out putting it all together!" he chuckled.
"The dressers and bassinets come pre assembled so it's just the cribs and bookcase that would need to be assembled" said Laura.
"Eh oh, oh eh! I'll put it all together! Nothing I won't do for these two little ones!" he said as he rubbed her stomach.
"Okay it's settled! We will take the set plus an extra crib and bassinet, all in white. How long until everything is delivered?" asked Angela.
"If we put the order in now, it should be delivered in about four weeks" said Laura.
"That's perfect! Next week I'll start clearing out the room and get Jonathan and Samantha to help paint whatever color you two decide" said Tony.
"Okay! I will get your order ready now! Just give me a few minutes!" said Laura as she walked back towards the front of the store.
Tony and Angela walked around the store, looking at more of furniture and baby gear. They found a flyer with a list of must have things for the baby. Tony knew Wendy, Isabelle, Mona and Samantha were planning her a baby shower in a few weeks so he tried to get her to agree to wait for the rest of the things like car seats, strollers and other baby stuff. They found a section of rocking chairs and each tried a few out. Angela found one she really loved- a wooden glider with soft padding. They agreed it would be good to have in the nursery and added it to the order form once Laura came back over. They paid for everything and headed back to the car.
"Well that was pretty successful if I do say so myself! How about we head home? We can take Samantha back here and the other department stores later in the week. We can pick out paint too so maybe next weekend I can get started on the room" said Tony.
"That sounds good to me! That rocker really got me tired! I hope it has the same effect on them!" she laughed as she put her hand on her stomach. Tony followed suit and followed the movements of the babies. He leaned over and kissed her before heading home.
By the time they got home, Angela could barely keep her eyes open to make it upstairs. She was soon fast asleep as Tony headed to start cleaning out his old room. He had slowly been moving his stuff out of the room and either into their bedroom or into the attic. He didn't know exactly where they would put his furniture- maybe in the basement or try to sell some of it. He could probably get a good price for a lot of it in Brooklyn. He made a mental note to ask Angela when she woke up. He was really in the groove and lost all track of time. He pushed all his furniture into the center of the room, making it easier to paint next weekend. He was so engrossed in his task that he didn't know Angela was in the doorway watching him for a few minutes.
"You know you could have called some of the guys to help you do that you know…" said Angela as she walked to where he was leaning up against the dresser.
"I know but I'd like to get this room painted next weekend if possible and then figure out what to do about this furniture. I'll need their help then for sure" he said.
"What do you want to do with the furniture? Store it? Sell it? Or maybe donate it?" asked Angela.
"That's a good question! Maybe we can see if either Jonathan or Samantha want to trade out any of their furniture first, then maybe we can donate it? If I get the guys to help, I'll give them first dibs" said Tony.
"Sounds like a plan! I'm starved! I think I'll go grab a snack!" said Angela.
"Angela! You are resting the rest of the day- on this floor! I'll go and get you some snacks okay? I'll bring up a bunch of your favorites!" said Tony as he kissed her and went downstairs. Angela just shook her head and smiled. She took a few moments by herself in the room to envision what the room was going to look like once it was finished. She could picture all the furniture in place in the room, books in the bookcase, blankets and toys placed neatly around the room. Her last vision brought tears to her eyes as she pictured Tony sitting in the rocker, cuddling two tiny babies in his arms. It brought her such joy and happiness to picture what their lives were going to look like in a few short months.
The following day, Angela and Samantha began planning the theme for the nursery. Since the genders were still a surprise to everyone but Tony and Angela, they decided on a gender neutral theme of the ocean. Samantha went with Tony to look at paint and picked out a sea foam green color for the walls. They made plans to go Monday after school and working from home to the stores to look at decor and the furniture they picked out.
After lunch, Tony took Jonathan to a local car dealership. Tony opted to look at the Dodge Caravan first and if he didn't like it then head to see the Plymouth Grand Voyager. They pulled into the dealership and were greeted by a salesman named Tom. Tony couldn't help but notice Tom was an attractive man- dark wavy hair, deep brown eyes and he seemed to be fit too. He was secure in his masculinity and of course in Angela's attraction to him, but part of him was happy Angela was home.
"Hi there! My name is Tom and I am the Associate Manager. How can I help you?" asked Tom.
"Hi Tom. My name is Tony and this is Jonathan. We are hoping to see the Dodge Caravan. We are going from a family of five to seven in a few months. My wife is expecting twins in the early fall" said Tony.
"Oh wow! Congratulations! That's so exciting! If you don't mind me asking, what are you driving now?" he asked.
"I'm driving a Jeep and my wife has a Jaguar. The jeep is very new but my wife's car is probably five or so years old" said Tony.
"That's a coincidence! I used to work at Jaguar up until last year! Maybe I sold your wife her car!" laughed Tom. Tony smiled and nodded at Tom before looking at the Caravan he wanted to see.
"Here let me show you our brand new model for the Caravan. It's a perfect family car with spacious seating and trunk space" he said as he showed them the car, going over all the specifications.
"What do you think Jonathan? You like it?" asked Tony.
"Yeah it's cool! You can get to the trunk from the backseats!" he said as he climbed over the last row into the trunk.
"Can we take it for a test drive? I'd like to show my wife and daughter if possible" said Tony.
"Sure thing! Let me get the keys and then you can meet me out front" said Tom as he walked back into his office. Soon they were on the road and headed to the house. Once they pulled up, Tony honked the horn and a short while later Angela and Mona came out. Tony, Jonathan and Tom got out of the car.
"Angela! What do you think? It rides so smoothly! It will definitely fit all of us plus two car seats" said Tony.
"It's incredibly safe and very spacious. A perfect family car- congratulations by the way!" said Tom.
"Thank you- you look familiar. Have we met before?" asked Angela.
"I'm not sure. Your husband mentioned you bought a Jaguar a couple of years ago. I used to work at the local dealership" he said.
"Tom! That's right! You sold me my Jaguar! I was with my best friend Wendy, who convinced me it was time for an upgrade. We took the Jaguar to show my Mother in fact" said Angela as she was cut off by Mona who went to stand by Tom.
"Of course! I remember you both now! How's the Jaguar? Have you been happy with it?" asked Tom, completely ignoring Mona's attempts at flirting.
"Oh yes… even when a certain someone painted it Diablo red! I look forward to being able to fit behind the wheel in a few months!" she chuckled.
"Diablo red? Wow that's a bold choice! That must have made heads turn!" he chuckled.
"So… back to the car… if you don't like this one, I still want to check out the Plymouth Grand Voyager…" said Tony with some annoyance in his voice.
"Okay, okay! How big is the trunk? It's got to fit a double stroller plus all the baby gear. What is the safety rating?" asked Angela.
Tom explained to the family all the specifics, including the high safety rating and spacious trunk. The family looked inside the car, while Tony pulled Angela aside.
"What do you think? I can still look at the other dealership, see other options, from other salesmen…" he said as he looked over at Tom.
"You… you can't really be jealous of him? I spent a total of an hour or two with him over five years ago! And besides… have you seen me recently? What man besides you would even look twice at me right now? So reign in whatever insane, insecure thoughts you are having okay? This is the perfect family car for our family…" she said.
"I know, I know… you're right as usual… well about everything except any man not thinking you are beautiful. I've never seen you more beautiful… you put all other pregnant women to shame…" he said as he leaned over to kiss her.
"Alright Micelli… so can we strike a deal?" asked Angela as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Alright Tom… would you like to come into the kitchen and talk more about the details?" asked Tony. He agreed and headed into the kitchen with Tony and Angela. Mona huffed off to her apartment when she realized Tom's attention would otherwise be taken. They negotiated back and forth and were working towards a deal, when Angela made an offer.
"Tom… would we get a better deal if we traded in the Jaguar?" asked Angela. Tony and Tom both wore identical shocked expressions. Tony was the first one to speak.
"Angela! That's your car! You can't give it up!" shouted Tony.
"We really don't need three cars, one of which being something we can't put infants in, two people who for the first at least few months won't be away from us for almost any period of time. I'm not saying I'll never get another Jaguar, but I think it's time for an upgrade. So Tom… if we trade in the Jag, do we have a better deal?" asked Angela.
"If you are willing to part with it, yes it would give you a better deal. I remember how you liked to negotiate! That Jaguar almost ended up costing me money once we were done negotiating! So if you are on board, we can head back to the dealership and start the paperwork!" said Tom.
"Tom… can you give us a minute?" asked Tony. Tom nodded in agreement and headed back outside.
"Listen Angela… you don't need to do this! We can manage the payments without it. I'll be getting a part time job in the fall to help pay for things around here. It won't have to fall all on your shoulders" said Tony.
"I know Tony and believe it or not, this isn't about the money. I bought that Jaguar when I thought my marriage to Michael was over. I needed a change and Wendy helped me realize it. That car represented a new, fresh start for me. Little did I know what was waiting for me on the other side of my front door just a few short months later" she said as she reached over and took his hand in her own.
"Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that we would be here together- in love, married and soon to be parents of twins. It's more than I could have ever imagined. We've come to a place in our lives now that we need a change, an upgrade. And it's going to be the best upgrade of our lives…" she said as she smiled at him with that smile he found himself more and more not being able to say no to.
"Alright Angela… it's settled. We will get the Caravan and trade in the Jaguar. I'll see how we are going to manage getting the Jaguar there and both cars back here! Maybe I'll trade out Jonathan for Mona so she can have more time to flirt with Tom and then can drive my car home!" he said with a chuckle.
"Sounds like a plan sweetheart! Samantha and I did a bunch more planning for the nursery while you were gone. She's out now with Bonnie at the mall. I think I'm going to lay down for a bit and then try and get some work done. When you get home, maybe we can figure out dinner" she said as they both stood up from the table.
"Don't work too hard and make sure you rest enough and have some snacks!" Tony said as he kissed her goodbye, heading out to seal the deal with Tom.
Angela grabbed herself some water and snacks as she prepared to head upstairs to rest. She thought back to that day so many years ago when she took that chance with a new car. She really had no idea it was the start of a brand new life for herself- one she was thankful everyday of her life for and knew it was only going to get better.