Danielle Steel - Fine things

“Are you sure?”

“No … I didn't even think of it till just now …but I'm almost sure … I just kind of forgot while we were at the beach.” But she suddenly realized that she had skipped a period while they were there. She was four weeks late. But she'd been so sick she hadn't even noticed. And the doctor confirmed it to her the next day. She was six weeks pregnant, he said, and she rushed to the store to tell Bernie the news. She found him in his office, looking at some reports from New York and he looked up the minute she walked through the door.

“Well?” He held his breath and she grinned, pulling a bottle of champagne from behind her back.

“Congratulations, Dad.” She set the champagne down on his desk and he threw his arms around her with a whoop of glee.

“We did it! We did it! Ha ha …you're knocked up!” And she laughed and they kissed and he picked her up off her feet, as his secretary wondered what they were doing in there. They didn't come out for a long time, and when they did, Mr. Fine looked extremely pleased with himself.

Chapter 14

He went to New York alone on his usual fall business trip. He had to go to Paris after that and he thought the trip would be too much for her. He wanted her to rest, keep her feet up, eat healthy food, watch TV and relax after school, he said. And before he left, he told Jane to take care of her. She was stunned when they told her about the baby at first, but after a little bit she was pleased.

“Kind of like a big doll,” Bernie explained. And she was equally pleased that he wanted a little boy, and said she would always be his favorite little girl. She promised to take care of Liz while he was gone, and he called them from New York when he arrived. He was staying at the Regency because it was close to the store, and he had dinner with his parents the first night he was there. They met at Le Cirque, and Bernie walked in with a quiet smile, and saw them sitting at a table waiting for him.

He kissed his mother, sat down, ordered a kir, and his mother looked at him suspiciously.

“Something's wrong.”

“Not at all.”

“You got fired.”

This time he laughed at her, and ordered a bottle of Dom Perignon as his mother stared at him.

“What happened?”

“Something very nice.”

She didn't believe a word he said, and then observing him cautiously: “You're coming back to New York?”

“Not yet.” Though he wished that he would, but even that was eclipsed now. “Better than that.”

“You're moving somewhere else?” She still looked suspicious and his father was smiling. He had guessed their news and the two men exchanged a knowing look as the waiter poured the champagne, and Bernie raised his glass to them.

“To Grandma and Grampa …mazel to v.”

“So?” Ruth looked at him, confused, and then suddenly, like a bolt of lightning striking her, she fell back in her seat, staring at him with open, startled eyes. “No! Is Liz …she's …?” For once in her life she couldn't find the words, and tears sprang to her eyes as he nodded with a broad smile and touched her hand.

“We're having a baby, Mom.” He was so pleased he could hardly control himself and his father congratulated him as his mother jabbered incoherently and they sipped their champagne.

“I just can't imagine … Is everything all right? … Is she eating all right? …How does she feel? … I have to call her when we get home.” And then she suddenly thought of Jane, and looked at Bernie with worried eyes. “How is Jane taking it?”

“I think she was a little shocked at first. I don't think it dawned on her that we might do something like that to her, but we've been spending a lot of time explaining it to her, telling her how important she is to us, stuff like that, and Liz is going to get her some books to deal with whatever negative feelings she has.”

His mother scowled at him. “You're beginning to talk like one of them…. Californians don't speak English anymore. Watch out you don't become one of them and stay out there.” She had been worrying about that since he left, but now all she could think of was her grandchild on the way. “Is Liz taking vitamins?” She turned to Lou, without waiting for her son to respond. “You should talk to her when we call tonight. Explain to her what she should eat, what vitamins to take.”

“I'm sure she has an obstetrician, Ruth. He'll tell her what to do.”

“What does he know? For all you know she's going to one of those hippies in the pie plate shoes, rubbing herbs on her head and telling her to sleep naked on the beach.” She looked at her son ferociously. “You should be back here when the baby is born. He should be born in New York Hospital, safe and sound, where he belongs and your father can look into everything.”

“They have very good hospitals out there, Ruth.” The two men were smiling at her. She was beside herself. “I'm sure Bernie is keeping a good eye on everything.” And he was of course. He had already been to the doctor with her, and he liked the obstetrician she had found through a friend. They were going to do Lamaze training eventually, and Liz was determined to have the baby naturally, with Bernie helping her and holding her hand. It still made him nervous thinking about it, but he didn't want to let her down and he had every intention of being there.

“Everything's fine, Mom. I went to the doctor with her before I left. He seems very competent, and he's even from New York.” He knew that would reassure her but she wasn't listening. She was listening to something he had said first.

“What do you mean, you went to the doctor with her? You stayed in the waiting room, I hope.”

Bernie poured her another glass of champagne and smiled at her. “No. It doesn't work like that anymore. The father is part of everything.”

“You're not going to be there for the birth, are you?” She looked horrified. She thought it was a disgusting trend. They were doing it in New York too, and she couldn't think of anything worse than a man watching his wife give birth to a baby.

“I plan to be there, Mom.”

She made a face. “That's the most disgusting thing I ever heard.” She then lowered her voice conspiratorially. “You know, you'll never feel the same way about her again if you see the baby being born. Take my word for it. I've heard stories that would make you sick…. Besides”—she sat up again with a dignified sniff—“a decent woman wouldn't want you there. That's a horrible thing for a man to see.”

“Mom, it's a miracle…. There's nothing horrible or indecent about seeing your wife giving birth.” He was so proud of her, and he wanted to see their baby coming into the world, he wanted to be there to welcome him or her. They were going to see a movie of a baby being born, so they both knew what to expect. None of it seemed disgusting to him, just a little frightening sometimes. And he knew Liz was a little nervous about it too, even though she'd had one child, but that had been six years before. But it all still seemed so far away to both of them. They still had another six months to go, and they could hardly wait. And by the end of the meal Ruth had not only planned the entire layette and suggested the best nursery schools in Westchester, she was urging him to make his son go to law school when he grew up. They drank a lot of champagne and she was a little tipsy when they left, but it was the nicest dinner he had had with her in a long time, and he conveyed Liz' invitation to them. And he was just drunk enough himself that the prospect of having them stay with them didn't even frighten him.

“Liz wants you to come out for the holidays.” He looked at both of them.

“And you don't?”