Danielle Steel - Hotel Vendome

When Natalie got into the taxi, she looked nervously at Hugues. “Do you think she knew something?”

“No,” he said, putting an arm around her to calm her. “I don’t think she’d ever imagine it. And we’re not doing anything wrong.” She had waited a lifetime for this, without even knowing that she had. Hugues had been giving her hormone shots for three months, which were making her seriously jumpy, and they were on their way to the fertility clinic they’d been going to, for the implantation of four fertilized embryos. They had retrieved her eggs and were putting them back, fertilized by Hugues’s sperm, today. The egg retrieval had been a painful process, today was going to be much easier for her. And then they’d have to wait to see what happened, and if the fertilized embryos would stay. They had wanted to try and get pregnant naturally, but at her age, with weak hormone levels, they’d discovered, her doctor had recommended IVF.

She was so anxious, all she wanted to do was cry, which she did the moment she got to the clinic. As soon as they led her into the room, she burst into tears, not because she was frightened but because she wanted so much for this to work. At her age, statistically they had a six to ten percent chance of success, which wasn’t high. But it was worth a try. They had discussed it for several months after Hugues proposed, and he had agreed since it meant so much to her. She had never wanted babies before, but now that she was in love with him, and married, it was all she could think about. He would have been perfectly happy not to have children with her, but he felt an obligation to her, since she had never had any of her own. He had Heloise, and that was enough for him. And it was a little odd now thinking about starting over again, with a baby or even several of them if she had a multiple birth. He was fifty-four, she was almost forty-two, and they were implanting four embryos that morning. They had decided that four embryos were the right number. More than that would have been dangerous for her and the eventual babies. She didn’t want a litter, and she would have been satisfied with one baby, as long as it was Hugues’s. They had agreed to say nothing to Heloise, not to upset her again. It had taken her six months to adjust to their marriage, and they didn’t want to rock the boat again so soon, and particularly if their efforts never worked. They were going to tell her only if it did.

Natalie had been praying for this and had even lit candles at church.

They implanted the embryos using an embryo transfer catheter, and Hugues was at her side. An hour later they were on their way back to the hotel. They told her to stay in bed that day and take it easy for a few days, no exercise, heavy lifting, or hot tubs. She had to continue taking progesterone to aid with implantation. And she could take a pregnancy test in two weeks. After that they would do a sonogram to see how many embryos had stayed. It was going to seem like an endless wait, and they had already told them that it might take several attempts. Many people didn’t succeed until the third or fourth, if they could afford it, which at least wasn’t a problem for them. It was a costly procedure, but their greatest fear was that it wouldn’t work. Natalie was obsessed with having Hugues’s child.

He brought her home from the clinic and tucked her into bed, just as he had Heloise every night for all those years. And he bent down and kissed her.

“Now you and our babies stay here,” he said gently. “Don’t get out of bed.”

“I won’t,” she promised, holding his hand. He had been so sweet to her about it, which made her feel even closer to him now, and she knew he was only doing it for her. She was terrified to move and lose them, so she stayed in bed all day. She was watching old sitcom re-runs on TV and having room service when Heloise called her on her cell phone.

“Where were you and Dad rushing off to this morning?” she asked, sounding curious.

“I had a meeting with a client at dawn in a weird neighborhood, and your dad offered to take me. I didn’t want to take the car or get stuck there without a cab.” At least it was a good story, and Heloise believed it.

“Where are you now? In your office?”

“No. I came back after the meeting. I’m in bed upstairs. I think I have the flu.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. Did you order stuff from room service?”

“Yeah, chicken soup. I feel a little better. It’s probably nothing. I probably got up too early.” She sounded all right, but she was determined to do what she was told and take it easy for the day. She was directing projects in her office by phone.

“Do you want me to send something else up?” Heloise offered, but Natalie said she was fine with what she had upstairs.

“What were you doing out so early, by the way?” Natalie asked her. “I hope you’re not running in the park at that hour, it’s extremely dangerous,” she warned her, and she’d noticed the running clothes. But Heloise giggled.

“No, I walked Brad to the subway.” She felt comfortable with Natalie now and liked having a woman to share her secrets. She was even more open with her than she had been with Jennifer over the years, but she was older now, and Natalie was closer to her age. “He spent the night,” Heloise confessed. She sounded almost proud as she said it and very much in love.

“Was that the first time?” Natalie was touched that she had told her, and thought it was great news. She loved the idea of the two of them together and thought it would be a nice relationship for them both.

“Yes, we held out till last night. The bomb threat did us in. We came upstairs, and that was it.” Natalie smiled as she listened. It had been quite an evening.

“Well, if it makes any difference, I approve.”

“Thank you. Just don’t tell my father. I don’t tell him stuff like that. He might be upset.” He hadn’t been thrilled with François, although he had accepted it. She was still his little girl.

“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!

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.