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
“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.
He held her in his arms like blown glass, and they dreamed and talked late into the night, as he ran a gentle hand across her still-flat belly. All they could talk about were the babies they were going to have. And they had never loved each other more.
The blood test she had confirmed that she was pregnant. And the sonogram showed them what they wanted to know: three embryos in three sacs. She was pregnant with triplets. Hugues looked shell-shocked when they left the clinic. Three babies. He was going to be the father of four children. And Natalie looked equally stunned. They still couldn’t believe it had worked so easily and so quickly, but they’d been working on it for months. She had started taking the hormones in June. And their babies were due on the first of June, if they held that long. With triplets, it was almost a given that they would come early, or she could lose them long before that. The doctor had warned her that if she remained pregnant, she would probably be on bedrest. The next three months would be telling. And they had offered to reduce the number to twins or a single child, and she and Hugues had refused. It was all or nothing.
They both looked thunderstruck on the way home in the cab, and they had already agreed that they weren’t going to tell anyone until they knew the pregnancy was solid at the end of the first trimester. So they weren’t going to tell Heloise about it until December. Hugues hoped that she would be happy for them, now that she had accepted Natalie, but she would undoubtedly be stunned too, just as they were.
For the next three months, Hugues was busy averting a threatened strike of his kitchen staff, which took most of his attention and energy and some serious diplomacy to handle it, with advice from his lawyers. He dealt with other more ordinary employee problems too, and the occasional guest crisis. Heloise was busy at the front desk and wherever she was needed, and her romance with Brad was thriving. The hotel was extremely busy between September and Christmas, and they were fully sold out for Thanksgiving. And in their quiet moments, Hugues and Natalie talked about their triplets. So far, the pregnancy was holding. They had gone to the sonograms together, and seen all three babies and three heartbeats. She had the photographs they’d given her in a little folder on her desk, and she looked at them often, telling them to stay in there. And two weeks before Christmas, she had reached the magical three-month mark. Officially the babies were safe, but because there were three of them it was delicate, and whether or not she had them prematurely, and how much so, would be key. She was trying to work less and less at her office and relying more on her assistants, and she had wound up as many projects as she could and refused to take on new ones. All she cared about now were their babies.
Natalie didn’t want to wait another minute to tell Heloise and wanted to share the news with her. She’d been wearing loose shirts and tunics for the past month, but with triplets she was already starting to show.
They invited Heloise upstairs to dinner Saturday night, but she was seeing Brad that night, so she came up for lunch instead. He was studying for finals that day. And after talking to Hugues, he was getting interested in labor law.
Heloise looked great in tight black pants, tall black riding boots, and a soft white cashmere turtleneck sweater. She hugged her father and Natalie when she got there. She had noticed recently that Natalie was putting on weight, but she looked pretty anyway. She assumed it was due to the great hotel food and too much room service at night.
They talked about hotel business for a minute, and then Natalie couldn’t stand it any longer and broke into the conversation. Hugues was smiling proudly as Natalie told her.
“Hang on to your hat,” she said to Heloise with a big smile. “I’m pregnant. It’s triplets.” She got it all out in few words as Heloise stared at them in disbelief. She stood up as though she wanted to get away from them, and she looked horrified by the news.
“Are you kidding?
“We want them,” Natalie said, looking disappointed. “This wasn’t a mistake.”
“Why?” Heloise asked, as she paced nervously around the room.
“Why would you want to have babies at your age?” She looked from Natalie to her father and included them both in the question.
“Because I’ve never had them. And I wanted at least one before I was too old,” Natalie said honestly.
“You
“A lot of parents are these days. Women older than I am are having babies.”
Heloise collapsed on the couch and stared at them miserably. She made no comment. She had just gotten used to their being married, and now they were hitting her with three babies. “I don’t know what to say.”
“How about ‘Congratulations’?” her father said quietly. “This is going to be hard enough, particularly on Natalie, without having you beating us up too. Could you be happy for us? They’re going to be part of your life too.” He spoke to her very gently. He wanted her as an ally this time, not an enemy again.
“I don’t know what to think,” she said honestly. She didn’t know if she was jealous, angry, hurt, or just shocked. It seemed like a crazy idea to her.
“Neither did we at first. Three babies is a lot to wrap your mind around,” Natalie said, looking at her, “and I have to have them. If anyone should be freaked out, it’s me.”
“Are you?” Heloise looked at her curiously, as though she had suddenly grown two heads.
“Sometimes. I’m happy, sad, scared, thrilled, terrified, the happiest woman in the world, and all of the above. But bottom line I’m really excited, and I want this more than anything in life.” She reached out and touched Hugues’s hand as she said it, and Heloise felt shoved aside again. First by his wife, and now by their three babies. It was a lot to take in.
“Did this just happen, or is it something you planned?” Heloise asked her.
“We had them by IVF, in vitro fertilization. We worked hard at this. It didn’t just happen. It was our dream.” Heloise looked at her father as Natalie said it. She couldn’t imagine this being his dream too. It was obviously her idea. Her father had never said he wanted more children, quite the reverse. He always said that he was happy with the one he had and that was enough for him. And now they were having three of their own. It reminded her of her mother having two babies with Greg, after she abandoned her. It made Heloise feel a little sick. She stood up then and looked at them both.
“I think I need to think about this. Give me a little while to absorb it. I can’t deal with it right now.” It was better than her reaction the year before, when they told her they were in love. It was beginning to feel like every Christmas they hit her with another atom bomb. And this one was really big. She left their apartment quietly and went downstairs to her own. And then she called Brad. He could hear instantly that she was upset.
“What’s up?”
