Hotel Vendome

“It’s just between us,” Natalie assured her, wishing she could tell her about the in vitro fertilization that morning, but it was too soon. “Have you seen him around today?” Natalie was missing him, alone in their apartment.

“Yes, he was in his office writing letters to the guests, apologizing for last night. And he’s been in the lobby a lot today, reassuring people and telling them how sorry he is. People have been pretty nice about it. But they still don’t like it. You don’t want them to think there will be bomb threats whenever they stay here. But I think most people were pleased that we evacuated and didn’t take the chance. Better inconvenience them than risk blowing them up,” she said bluntly, and Natalie smiled.

“Yeah, I’ll say.” She was glad it wasn’t today. She didn’t want to move.

“I’ll call you later and see how you feel,” Heloise promised, and then she went back to work.

Hugues came up later than usual that night; he’d been busy all day smoothing ruffled feathers about the bomb threat. And he was concerned about her when he came in.

“How do you feel?” He looked worried, and he knew that if she got pregnant, particularly with several babies, he’d be even more so. This was a big deal, particularly at their age.

“Fine. Nothing weird. Just a little cramping.” But they had warned her that might happen, so she wasn’t worried. She smiled at him, and he bent down to kiss her. In his spare moments he had thought about it all day, imagining what it would be like to have a baby with her, and a little one running around, or more than one. He was beginning to like the idea, and it made him feel young.

Two days later Natalie went back to work, and life went back to normal. The hotel settled down. She went to her office every day. It seemed like an endless two weeks waiting to take the test. They told her she could do it at home, and then she’d have to come in for a blood test and a sonogram. And once a pregnancy was confirmed, she would have to switch to an obstetrician. Their job was to get her pregnant, not to follow her once she was.

She had bought a pregnancy test and had it in a drawer in her bathroom, waiting for the big day. She was so nervous about it that after she peed on the test stick, she just sat in her bathroom and cried in anticipation of the news. She was going to be so disappointed if it hadn’t worked, and so stunned if it had. She had hardly dared to hope for the past two weeks, but it was all that she could think of. And she tried not to talk about it too much with Hugues, but it was on his mind too. After she did a pregnancy test at home, she was going to have a blood test to confirm her HCG levels.

She was holding the stick in her trembling hand and looking at her watch. It was time. In fact, it was a minute longer, and she hadn’t looked yet. And then finally, holding her breath, she did. She stared at it in utter amazement and burst into sobs. There were two pink lines just where they were supposed to be. Two strong bright pink lines, just the way the instructions said. She was pregnant!

Chapter 21

WHEN HUGUES CAME up from work the evening Natalie took the test, he saw that she’d been crying. She’d been crying on and off all afternoon, totally overwhelmed by what had happened and thrilled beyond belief. The moment he walked in, she burst into tears again, feeling stupid, and he rushed toward her. He knew immediately what the result was or thought he did. He assumed she had taken the test, since he knew this was the day, it had been negative, and she was bitterly disappointed. He rushed to the couch where she was lying and took her in his arms immediately and held her as he consoled her.

“Darling, we’ll do it again. I promise. Remember what they told us. Some people have to try three or four times. The next one will be the right one,” he said, saying anything he could think of to comfort her, and she kept shaking her head, which he thought meant she didn’t believe him. And then suddenly she was laughing through her tears. She looked hysterical to him, and he was getting worried. “Natalie? Are you all right?” And then she nodded.

“Yes, I am. I’m pregnant!” She squealed with delight and hugged him, as he looked stunned.

“You are. I thought …”

“I don’t know why. I’ve been crying all afternoon. I’m so happy, I think I’m crazy.” She had never been so emotional in her life, and he was shaking when he held her and kissed her. He hadn’t thought it would mean that much to him, but suddenly it did.

“My God, it worked the first time. When do we go for the sonogram?” He wanted to know how many babies there were and how careful she had to be. He was going to guard her and their babies with his life.

“Next week. We won’t see much. Just the number of embryos and sacs.” It would show them how many babies had held.