Hope for All chapter 72
Tony and Angela enjoyed the rest of the reunion before heading home. As promised, Tony and Angela planned a day in the city for Angela to go into work and then do some shopping. They decided to take Samantha and Jonathan out of school midday so they could avoid some of the traffic.
Tony was able to get a spot near the Bower Agency. Thankfully, the weather was pretty mild for late December and they could walk the few blocks from the office to Rockefeller Center later on. They put the babies in the stroller and bundled them up with extra blankets as they all headed into the office.
"Hi Angela! Welcome back!" said Jack as they walked into the main area.
"Thank you Jack! It's good to be back! How have things been?" she asked as all her staff came over to greet the family.
"Everything's been fine Angela! Same as you left it… minus finishing each day at 2:00pm…" said Mona sarcastically.
"She's joking Angela!" said Jack as she gave Mona a quick angry look before turning his attention back to his boss. "So these are the twins! They are so adorable!" said Jack as Angela and Tony picked them up out of the stroller.
"Yes! This is Matthew Jonathan and Anna Samantha! Both of which are going to be due to eat soon!" she said as she handed Anna to Samantha. She grabbed out two bottles that she was able to pump on the drive over as she got them situated. Once they were happily taking their bottles, Angela headed into her office with her team to discuss their new clients and her return part time to the office in mid-January.
"They are really starting to take the bottles! That will make Angela's job easier once she goes back to work" said Samantha as she burped Anna.
"It's going to make my job easier too! I have visions of this little guy screaming for eight hours straight, refusing to take a bottle!" laughed Tony as he grabbed onto one of Matthew's hands as Jonathan burped him. Soon, both babies were sleeping again in their strollers. Mona came out of the meeting and walked over to the family.
"It's like she never left… and I don't mean that in a good way! Tony… knock her up again please so she can be out on maternity leave again…" she said as she grabbed her coat and purse.
"Eh oh, oh eh! She can't be that bad…" he said as Mona gave him a death glare. "Alright, alright! At least she's not going back full time for a while!" he said as he pushed the stroller.
"Well I'm leaving early and going shopping… who's with me?" she asked as both kids jumped up off the chairs.
"Meet by the Christmas tree in an hour!" he shouted at them as they headed to the elevator. Just then, Anna started to cry.
"What's wrong little girl? You upset they didn't take you shopping? Am I destined to have four women in my life who are going to need shopaholics anonymous?" he chucked as he picked her up. She stopped crying and started smiling at Tony.
"Or did you just miss your old man? Don't worry… in a few weeks you'll be seeing a lot of me!" he chuckled as he walked around the office, eventually getting her back to sleep. Angela came out about a half an hour later as the staff headed back to their offices.
"I forgot how much I loved running a staff meeting! The ideas, the people… it felt so good!" she said as she sat down next to him.
"That's good! You'll be back here in no time!" he said as he wrapped his arm around her.
"So where is everyone? They abandon ship?" she asked with a chuckle.
"Shopping won out over waiting on the meeting to be over! I told them to meet us by the tree in a half an hour. When you're ready, we can head over and stop for some shopping" he said.
"Sounds like a plan! I'll grab my coat and purse and we will head out!" she said as she stood up, checking on the sleeping babies before grabbing her stuff.
"As nice as today was, I really am going to miss being with them…" she said as she put on their hats and wrapped their blankets around them.
"I know Angela but you'll start part time for a while! After the new year, we should figure out a schedule" he said.
"Yes I suppose we should… alright let's get out of here!" she said as they headed for the elevators. Soon they were walking down Madison Avenue, heading up over to Fifth Avenue towards some of the department stores. They stopped in Saks Fifth Avenue, mostly to window shop but Angela was able to find a purse she really loved.
"I think after the new year I'll head back to the Fairfield mall and see about some work clothes. I'm going to need some in between clothing until or I should say if I get back to my pre-pregnancy weight" she said.
"Angela… you're beautiful no matter what! It's only been fourteen weeks! Not to mention the nine months before that growing these two not so little ones! You'll get back there! You're almost there!" he said as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Not really Tony but I appreciate the compliment! Alright let's head out!" she said as they made their way to the streets, heading towards the tree. They spotted the family waiting outside one of the stores, bags in all of their hands.
"Alright troops! I want to get some photos in front of the tree!" said Tony as he posed them in front of the tree. He was able to get all four kids plus one of all of them as he charmed a tourist who happened to be passing by to take a photo.
"They were definitely from outta town! No New Yorker would've done that! Or given back the camera!" chuckled Tony as they tucked the babies back in the stroller.
"How about we find a cafe and grab some hot chocolate?" suggested Angela. The family was all in agreement as they found one nearby. They were able to enjoy the moment before heading back out to the car. Tony had called Mrs. Rossini earlier in the day to invite her to join them but she had other plans; however, she invited them over for dinner after their trip. They enjoyed a small Italian feast as they caught each other up on their holiday plans. When Angela mentioned their New Year's Eve party, Mrs. Rossini jumped on the chance to babysit, solidifying their babysitter.
The next day, Tony went to pick out a Christmas tree. His favorite tree from their past Christmases was the tree from the their third Christmas together. Minus Geoff with a 'G', it was one of his favorite all time Christmases ever. He found a tree similar in size and brought it home to set up. The Friday night before Christmas, the family gathered around the living room to help decorate.
"Who's turn is it to hang up the angel?" asked Jonathan as he found it in one of the boxes.
"I think you did it last year Jonathan so it would be Samantha's year" said Angela as she held Matthew in her one arm and trying to untangle the popcorn strands with the other.
"I think we should do a girls year and a boys year! This year Samantha and Anna can do it together!" said Tony as he finished stringing up the last strand of lights.
"She's advanced Dad but I don't think she can do that yet!" laughed Samantha as she made Anna giggle in her arms.
"It's just for photo purposes!" laughed Tony. "Alright! Let's get the popcorn up and then the angel! Almost done with the twin's first tree! I'll need lots of photos too!" said Tony as he grabbed the popcorn strands from a frustrated Angela.
"This is hard enough with two hands free… it's impossible with only one!" she said as she practically threw the popcorn at Tony. He knew better than to make any comments; instead he handed it to Jonathan as they were both able to untangle the mess and hang them on the tree.
"Okay Samantha and Anna! It's your turn to hang up the angel! Just hold her up high and we can grab a quick photo!" said Tony as he posed them by the tree. He actually managed to get one of both of them smiling before he lined them all up for photos.
"How many rolls of film have you taken in the past three months Tony?" asked Jonathan with a laugh.
"Kodak has started to offer him stock in the company!" laughed Mona.
"Hardy har-har! These kids have been well photographed and will continue to be well photographed! Alright! Time to make the cookies! Who's going to help me?" asked Tony as he looked around at each family member.
"No can do Tony… my date awaits… but I'll be back to taste test a few…" said Mona as she headed out the back door.
"I'd love to Dad but Bonnie invited me over to watch movies and drown her sorrows in chocolate milk and pizza. She just broke up with her boyfriend" said Samantha as she handed Anna to Tony.
"How about you Jonathan? You'll have to fight your Mom to lick the beaters!" he chuckled.
"Sure Tony! How many different ones are we making?" he asked.
"Well I'm planning on making at least four different kinds but with your help I might aim for six!" he said as Anna started to fuss.
"Well you two can get started on the cookies while I feed these two! Leave me one of the beaters for the triple chocolate cookies!" she said as she took back Anna.
Two hours later, Tony, Angela and Jonathan were enjoying takeout while the last batch of cookies were baking in the oven. The whole house smelled like a bakery. After dinner, the family enjoyed a quiet evening watching a holiday movie. The twins were able to be put down early as Jonathan headed up to bed, leaving Tony and Angela alone on the sofa.
"When was the last time it was just you and me? All the kids out, in bed or asleep?" he asked as he pulled her closer to his side.
"I don't even remember to be honest! How about we take advantage of our new found alone time?" she asked as she leaned in for a kiss. Tony responded by deepening the kiss as his hands started to explore her body. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him even closer to her.
"Tony… Samantha… should be home… soon… we should… go… upstairs…" she managed to say in between kisses. Tony quickly stood up, checking the front door to make sure the light was on for Samantha and the door was locked before pulling her up. No words were spoken as they headed upstairs to start their Christmas celebration early.
Christmas Eve was a flutter of activity for the family. Despite multiple trips to the stores for gifts, there were last minute items that needed to be purchased. Both babies hit milestones a few days earlier, holding their heads up when they were being held in a sitting position, grasping for their toys, increased babbling and starting to respond to their names. While this was welcomed by everyone in the family, it led to another sleep regression, causing Angela to have only a couple of hours of sleep the night before.
Tony was able to take the babies, who were both wide awake at six in the morning, downstairs to get a head start on the preparations for dinner so Angela could get some rest. They still had gifts to finish wrapping as well as attend the afternoon Christmas Eve service at church.
"Alright you two early birds! If you're gonna be up and ready to go, plus being this adorable, then you are gonna watch your old man start prepping dinner! And since Mommy is probably going to be a zombie outta a horror movie today, we will need to butter her up with something chocolate for dessert!" he said as he put them in their bouncers as he started prepping the food.
"So I fully expect you two to become world class chefs by the time you're five! Just gotta fight those Robinson anti-cooking genes first!" he chuckled as he started in on making the lasagna. An hour later, he had prepped most of the food as Angela stumbled into the kitchen.
"Sweetheart! You should still be sleeping! I'm fine with them!" he said as he poured her a cup of coffee and gave her a kiss.
"I've got things I need to do today and I just couldn't sleep. Maybe I'll take a nap later on…" she said as she gratefully accepted the coffee.
"I can't wait until I can get back to caffeine in the morning…" she said as she sipped her decaf coffee.
"Or anytime! I have no idea how you function on little to no caffeine!" he chuckled as he finished cleaning up the kitchen. "How about I make you breakfast?" he asked.
"That sounds wonderful! Anything to get me going…" she said as started playing with the twins. Angela and Tony were able to eat breakfast before the twins needed to be fed and Samantha and Jonathan came down. Angela took the twins into the living room while Tony made the kids' breakfast, plus Mona who stopped by a few minutes later.
By late afternoon, everyone was ready and dressed for church. Mona was the only family member that couldn't be convinced to attend, despite Tony's best attempts.
"Alright everyone! You all look so pretty and handsome!" said Tony as he looked at everyone.
"This tie feels like it's choking me! Do I really have to wear it?" complained Jonathan.
"Yes you do! The three of you look adorable in your matching ties! I can't believe I found a bow tie for Matthew to match!" said Angela as she adjusted his tie and Matthew's bow tie.
"Okay we have everything I hope! Two diaper bags, one stroller, four kids…" he started to say as Samantha interrupted.
"And a partridge in a pear tree!" she laughed.
They all headed out to the local church in Fairfield. Normally, they would have tried to attend one of the services in Brooklyn, but with the babies being so small and a winter storm threatening to start earlier than predicted, they opted to stay local. They made it through half of the service before Anna started to stir. Angela tried in vain to get her to calm down but she started to scream so Tony took her out in the waiting room.
"Little girl! What gives? You just ate and you don't need to be changed…" he said as he doubled checked she was still dry. He tried walking around the room but she just kept crying until he gave her back a few pats, letting out a burp.
"Ahhh we have a winner! You think you've got another one in there before we head back inside?" he asked as he burped her again. "There, that's better! No more tummy aches!" he said as he walked back inside and joined the family. No sooner did he sit down when Matthew decided to test out his lungs.
"I'll get him…" said Angela as she stood up and headed out to the waiting room. Another mother with a young baby stood up and joined her as both babies were crying.
"C'mon Matthew! Are you gassy like your sister?" she asked as she tried to burp him. He burped but continued to cry.
"Didn't think that was going to be that easy!" she chuckled as she tried to get him to nap.
"I don't know how you do it with twins! One is hard enough!" said the mother as she paced with her own crying baby.
"I have a wonderful husband and family who helps out a lot but even with them helping out it's hard! It's the lack of sleep that gets me the most" she said. Knowing Matthew's schedule was off and he most likely was hungry, she set up to start feeding him.
"I hope you don't mind" she said as she motioned down to Matthew as he started to feed.
"Not at all! I was just about to do it myself! Our schedule is totally off with the holiday!" laughed the woman.
"Their schedules are off too! Hoping we can get them back on their schedules after Christmas" said Angela. They spent the next ten minutes chatting and finishing feeding the babies when Samantha walked in with a crying Anna.
"Dad sent me out to hopefully switch with you! I think she might be hungry" said Samantha.
"Good we can trade! I just fed him for about ten minutes. He will still need to be burped" she said as she took Anna and handed off a now calm and sleepy Matthew.
"Well it was nice meeting you! Have a very merry Christmas!" said the woman as she headed back into the service.
"Well it looks like it just you and me little girl!" she said as she latched Anna. Angela was able to listen to the Christmas hymns that were being sung as she finished feeding Anna. Once she was burped and sleeping, Angela headed back in, just in time for the final hymn. They were able to head out to the car just as the snow began to fall.
By dinnertime, there was two inches of snow on the ground as Tony was taking the lasagna out of the oven. He had made the traditional feast of the seven fishes, making some appetizers as well as mains with different fish. Jonathan and Samantha helped set the table in the dining room. Angela was able to set up the bouncers on the chairs so the babies could sit at the table.
"Look at them! I think they like being at the table!" said Tony as he brought out the last dish.
"Next year they can eat the food too! I think Matthew is eyeing the lasagna!" laughed Jonathan.
"He's already inherited his mother's appetite…" said Mona as Angela gave her a look and an eye roll.
"I wonder if they will like the snow! It's really coming down out there!" said Samantha as she passed the salad to Mona.
"Maybe we can bring them out for a few moments tomorrow and see! My guess is no! Jonathan hated the snow until he was about three and then I had to drag him inside kicking and screaming!" laughed Angela.
"Samantha was the same way! Once I took her sledding, her love of snow began! Granted, it wasn't really sledding. We took old trays because we couldn't afford an actual sled. We still had fun!" said Tony.
"Next year we definitely need to take them sledding! And make a snowman!" said Jonathan.
"Or a snow woman!" laughed Samantha.
"Alright everyone! Let's dig in!" said Tony as they all passed around the food. They managed to enjoy each other's company and finish their meal by the time the twins started to fuss. Angela took them inside to feed while the family cleaned up.
Tony brought out the desserts plus five cups of hot chocolate while Samantha and Jonathan picked a holiday movie. They ended up picking Jonathan's choice of Scrooged. Halfway through the movie, Angela took the babies upstairs with Samantha to get them ready for bed. Once the movie was over, Tony and Jonathan cleaned up the remaining dishes while Mona headed back to her apartment. Jonathan headed upstairs just as Angela was heading back down.
"Well both babies are asleep and Samantha is already in her room. Hoping they both fall asleep soon!" she said as she walked over to Tony on the sofa.
"I hope so too and that they stay asleep! C'mon let's get the presents out so we can crash ourselves!" chuckled Tony as he led her into her office. A half an hour later, all the stockings were filled and the presents tucked safely under the tree. They stood back to admire the scene.
"I can't believe we have four children this year. This time last year, I had all but given up on adding to the family" she said as Tony wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I know you did sweetheart. I thought we still had a chance, although I didn't think a week later I'd have knocked you up…" he snickered as Angela lightly smacked his arm.
"Anyway… we truly are blessed this Christmas…" she said as she turned around, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"Yes we are… c'mon sweetheart. Let's try and get some sleep before everyone is up at the crack of dawn!" he chuckled as he leaned down for a quick kiss before heading up to bed.
Christmas morning came bright and early but no one expected the twins to be the last ones up. Angela must have checked in on them at least three times to make sure they were alright. Finally, by 7:00am, they began to stir.
"Merry Christmas my sleepy heads! Can this be the start of sleeping in for both of you?" cooed Angela as she picked them up and got them changed. Since the rest of the family were already downstairs making breakfast, she decided to bring them downstairs to feed.
"There you are! Our sleeping beauties finally arose! Looks like they are starving too!" chuckled Tony as he walked in from the kitchen and sat down next to her on the sofa.
"Yes they are! All that sleeping worked up an appetite! How's breakfast coming? I'm surprised they agreed to do breakfast first!" she laughed.
"Is it agreeing when I don't give a choice? No way were we starting gifts without these two! Besides, food before gifts isn't a bad thing! Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes" he said. Angela was able to finish feeding the babies as the family sat down for breakfast. By the time they had all finished eating, Samantha and Jonathan were sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to open up their presents.
"I say we head in and start opening presents! These dishes can wait until later…" said Angela.
"I guess so… alright let's go!" he said as Jonathan and Samantha made a mad dash into the living room.
"How many presents are for the babies? Did you clear out the baby store?" asked Jonathan as he eyed all the gifts for the twins.
"Eh oh, oh eh! It's their first Christmas! And it's not the whole store!" said Tony as he tried to defend his shopping spree.
"Yes I'm sure you left a few scraps and gifts for Tiny Tim's family…" said Mona.
"Enough you two! Alright I think Samantha and Jonathan should start" said Angela.
"What about the twins? They need to open up their gifts first!" shouted Tony as he took Anna from Angela.
"They can't even unwrap gifts yet! C'mon Dad we've been waiting all morning!" complained Samantha until Tony finally relented. They spent the next hour opening up all their gifts and taking turns helping the twins open their gifts. As predicted, both Anna and Matthew were more interested in the wrapping paper than the gifts.
"Here's one for Dad!" said Jonathan as he handed Tony a gift. It warmed both Tony and Angela's heart when he used dad for Tony.
"To Tony, Love Angela…" he said as he read the label, ripping open the wrapping paper. He opened the box to reveal the engraved frame with a photo of the four of the kids from the photo shoot.
"Our dad is our hero! I love it you guys! This is one of my favorite photos!" he gushed as he kissed Angela.
"I'm glad you liked it Tony!" she said as she adjusted Matthew in her arms.
"Okay this one is for Angela from Dad…" said Samantha as she handed her a small box. Angela was able to open the gift with one free hand, revealing the charm bracelet.
"Oh Tony! I love it! It's beautiful!" she said as tears came to her eyes.
"It's got one charm for each of the kids plus one for our wedding" he said as he showed her each of the charms.
"Hey! What about me? I don't get a charm?" asked Mona as she pouted in her seat.
"You're the bracelet that holds us all together!" said Tony as he tried to back himself out of a corner.
"Right…" said Mona sarcastically.
"Well I love it and will treasure it forever…" said Angela as she leaned over to kiss Tony.
The family finished unwrapping the gifts and enjoying sipping on hot chocolate. Tony spent the next two hours putting together all the toys for the babies, with help from Jonathan. They all found they enjoyed showing the babies all the toys, getting giggles out of both of them. By the afternoon, everyone had found sometime for a nap as the excitement of Christmas caught up to all of them. Angela and Tony did their traditional Christmas Lindy, embarrassing the family as usual. Tony was able start the Christmas dinner, prepping the goose, the sides and the dessert. By dinnertime, the family was able to get all the food out to the dining room. The babies sat in their bouncers.
"Tony this looks delicious!" said Angela as she looked at all the food on the table. She had a flashback to their third Christmas dinner, or she should say the leftovers Tony reheated for her after she got back from Geoffrey's mother's house. She should have never gone that night and left the family home, but that was all in the past now.
"Glad you're here for the goose this year?" he whispered to her as the family started digging into the food.
"How… how did you know that's what I was thinking?" asked Angela as she looked in awe at Tony.
"I just know these things Angela! And I'm very happy you are here with me for Christmas…" he said as he leaned over for a kiss as they enjoyed the rest of Christmas with the family.