Happy Birthday: A Novel

for losing her.

“Thank you,” she said as she stood close to him. “Thank you.” And with that, the others joined them, and they spent the afternoon talking to April and Mike’s friends and her employees from the restaurant.

The last of the guests left at four o’clock after an excellent lunch, and several very touching speeches, notably one by April’s father, where he said how proud of her he was and that this was the best shotgun wedding he’d ever been to. Everybody laughed loudly. There was no point pretending it wasn’t.

April tossed the bouquet just before she left. And with a firm hand and practiced eye, she threw it straight at her mother, who caught it with a startled look.

“Now what am I going to do with that?” she said to Jack, who was standing next to her as she held it, and he laughed at her discomfited expression. She looked like she was going to throw it right back at her daughter. She wasn’t ready for that yet.

“Save it,” he said easily. “You never know when we might need it. The next time they ask me to move to Miami, I might force you to marry me and go with me.” He didn’t ask her “what if,” and she didn’t say she wouldn’t. She was enormously touched and impressed by what he had done for her in refusing the network’s offer. He had done it for himself too.

And then April and Mike departed to their room at the Carlyle. When the last of the guests left, Valerie took off her shoes and smiled up at Jack. It had been a beautiful wedding, and a magical day, not just for the bride and groom, but for them too. He put his arms around her then and kissed her, and she sank against him with immeasurable relief. She had been terrified of losing him, and brave about it. She felt as though they had won the Super Bowl on this one, and she felt very, very lucky and blessed.

In their honeymoon room at the Carlyle that night, April and Mike had ordered room service and were watching a movie. April was happy but exhausted, and they chatted about the details of the wedding, and what a wonderful day it had been. They both agreed that her mother had given them a perfect wedding, and April looked over at her husband with a grin.

“And I even managed not to have the baby!” she said proudly, as though she’d had something to do with it. And for once it was hardly moving, as though it was worn out too. It had been a memorable but very long day for all of them.

“Try and not have it tonight either. As long as we have the room, we might as well enjoy it.”

“I’ll do my best, but I can’t promise anything.” Her dress was tossed over a chair, and she still had the lily of the valley in her braid. She was still a bride, and not yet ready to be a mother. At least not tonight. She wanted to enjoy their honeymoon.

“Are you having contractions?” he asked, looking worried.

“No more than usual. I think we’re okay for tonight.”

He relaxed when she said it, and he would have loved to make love to her on their wedding night, but he didn’t dare. She was so close to delivering that he was afraid to start something if he made love to her, and neither of them was up to dealing with her having the baby that night. They were exhausted. Instead they were happy to eat omelettes from room service and watch movies. She called her mother to thank her again before they went to sleep, and Valerie sounded happy.

“I think she’s okay again,” April said to Mike as he started to fall asleep. April knew that something had been bothering her mother, but whatever it was, it seemed to be over now. April was glad, she wanted her mother to be happy. “I wonder if they’ll ever get married,” she mused, but Mike didn’t answer. He was already sound asleep and snoring softly.

Chapter 23

April went back to work at the restaurant on the Tuesday after the Memorial Day weekend as though nothing had happened. She was just as busy and energetic, although she seemed to be slowing down a little, not that most people would have noticed. But Mike did — he knew her better. She seemed a little bit more tired, and it was harder for her to get up in the morning, but she kept on going. By Friday, he teased her that she was obviously never going to have this baby, and it was clearly all a trick to get him to marry her. They had been married for six days, and were very happy.

He came to visit her on Friday afternoon when he finished work, and she was working with the plumber and the electrician in the kitchen. She had just purchased a brand-new stove for the refurbished kitchen, and she was excited about it as they pored over the brochures. Mike came up behind her and put his arms around her.

“How are we doing?” he asked her cheerfully. He was looking forward to spending the weekend with her, and who knew, maybe they’d have the baby. Her due date was the next day, although babies never came on time. She could have another two weeks to wait, according to her doctor, but April didn’t mind. She had lots to do.

He noticed that she was holding her back as she talked to the electrician. Mike asked her about it as they left the restaurant, and she said she had pulled something that morning, but it was nothing. They went for a walk as they left the restaurant and she was rubbing her stomach, and struggled more than usual to keep step beside him. And then she stopped and held tightly to his arm as he watched her. Something was happening. She looked different, although she insisted she was fine.

“Then what was that?” he asked her suspiciously when she stopped again.

“Just a cramp. I carried some boards out to the Dumpster.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head, but at this point, if she had the baby, it was fine. “I’ve been having them all day,” she added, and he looked at her and laughed.

“I think maybe you have denial. Has it occurred to you that you might be in labor? I’m no expert, but you have all the signs.” He’d been reading about it lately, just to prepare himself. She had back pain, “cramps” that were probably contractions, and she was having trouble walking when she had them. He suggested they take a cab home, and when he hailed one, she doubled over. This time it was a contraction, there was no question about that. And she couldn’t walk or talk.

“Have you been timing these things?” he asked, as she got into the cab with him.

“I don’t have my watch on. I forgot it on the sink this morning.”

“April,” he said, trying to feign a calm he didn’t feel. Suddenly he was panicked. What if she had it in the taxi, or alone at home with him? What would he do? He took a breath and tried to talk to her calmly. “I think you’re having the baby. Let’s go to the hospital and have them take a look.”

“That’s silly,” she said at the look on his face, and then she had another pain, and she stopped talking to him again, and his suggestion didn’t seem so silly. When she thought about it, she had been having cramps all day, and her back was really hurting now. She could feel pressure bearing down on her, and she looked at him with wide eyes. “Maybe you’re right,” she said softly, holding tightly to his arm, as he changed the address he had given the cabdriver and told him to go to the hospital instead. And this time he timed the contractions. They were regular and three minutes apart. She looked terrified when he told her. “I don’t think I’m ready,” she said in a nervous voice.

“Yes, you are,” he said soothingly as she looked at him with wide eyes, suddenly worried about him too.

“What about you? Are you okay? If this is it, are you in, or do you want me to call Ellen?”

He didn’t even hesitate. She was his wife, and this was their baby. “Don’t worry about it. I’m in. I’m fine. And so are you.” He held tightly to her hand and continued to time the contractions. They had gotten longer and harder since they’d gotten into the cab. “It’s a good thing I showed up, or you might have had the baby on the floor of the restaurant. Didn’t you think about what was happening?” She shook her head.

“I was too busy. I just figured I pulled a muscle this morning.”

“Some muscle,” he said, looking distracted as they got caught in Friday afternoon traffic and he told the driver to hurry. “I think my wife is having a baby.”

“Please, not in my cab, sir.” The driver looked imploringly at him in the mirror, and Mike told him to go faster. April had stopped talking completely by then and was grimacing in pain as she clutched him.

“Do you want me to call your mother?” he asked, and she nodded. There was no question in either of their minds now, she was having the baby. The contractions were coming fast and furious, and she had probably been in