“Much.” She answered before Teddy could. “And your brother is going to make an excellent doctor. He took my pulse and just from that, he told me I was pregnant.”
“What's the prognosis?”
“At least twins. Possibly triplets.”
But Brad could still see that his brother was worried, and despite the bravado and the gaiety it was obvious that Serena was still troubled. A moment later, when she went to the bathroom, he looked at Teddy. “Well? Do you think I should call the doctor?”
“You want to know what I think? I think that the minute Greg marries that little bitch tomorrow, you two should get the hell out of New York and go somewhere healthy and pretty and just take it easy. She's been through a lot just getting here, from what you've said, and from what I gather from her. Just get her out of New York, away from the family, and go relax with her somewhere before you settle down in San Francisco.”
Brad looked thoughtful. “That might be good advice. I'll think about it, Teddy.”
“Don't think about it. Do it. And my other advice is not to leave her alone here for a second.”
“You mean in New York?” Brad looked surprised.
“I mean even in this apartment. She needs you every minute. She's in a strange country, with strange people, and she's more scared than she lets on. Besides which, she's pregnant, which is emotionally difficult for some women in the beginning. Just be there with her, Brad. All the time. I think that's what happened today. She just got upset, and you weren't around to turn to.”
It sounded unusual for Serena, but Brad was willing to buy it. She had certainly fallen apart radically that morning in his absence, and there was no other way to explain it.
“What are you two plotting?” Serena emerged again with a suspicious look directed at Teddy, but from the look in his eyes and the obvious calm on Brad's face she knew that he hadn't betrayed her.
“I was telling your husband to take you on a honeymoon right away, like tomorrow.”
“I don't think I'm eligible anymore.” She looked at her stomach and pretended to pout and her husband pulled her toward him and sat her on his lap.
“You're going to be eligible for a honeymoon with me for the next ninety years, lady. Would you like that? I thought Teddy had a good idea.” She nodded slowly.
“Don't you want to stay here?” She looked thoughtful as she asked him and he shook his head.
“I think we'll both have had enough by the wedding.”
“Why don't you think about it before you decide.” But Teddy burst into the conversation with a direct look at Serena.
“I think it's bad for you to be here, Serena. You need fresh air and rest, and you won't get that in New York. How about it? Are you going?” He looked at them both and Brad laughed.
“Christ, one would think you're trying to get us out of here.”
“I am. I have friends coming to town next week, and I need the guest room.” He grinned impishly.
“Where shall we go, Serena? Canada? The Grand Canyon? Denver on our way west?” None of it was familiar to Serena, but Teddy looked at Brad thoughtfully.
“What about Aspen? I spent a few weeks there, visiting a friend last summer, and it's fabulous. You could drive there from Denver.”
“I'll check it out.” Brad nodded, and then looked at his wife. “Now, let's settle something else. I want you to stay in bed tonight for the rehearsal dinner.”
“No.” She shook her head quietly. “I'll come with you.”
“Shouldn't she stay in bed?” Once again the elder brother turned to the younger, and both were amused.
“I'm not a doctor yet, B.J., but I don't think she has to.” He looked quietly at Serena then. “But it might be a lot smarter.” He knew that she would know what he meant. But suddenly Serena knew that she would not give up another battle to that woman. She had got at least one of her papers signed and she was assured that Serena would not leave Brad and attempt to run off with the family fortune, but as for the rest of it, she would not be beaten yet again. If they hated her, she had to learn to live with it. But she wouldn't be shunned and forced to stay in her room like some dismal little mouse whom everyone had rejected. They thought that she was a tramp and a harlot and a maid and Lord knew what else, and if she didn't show up, everyone would think that Brad was ashamed of her. Instead she would go, and stand at his side, and make everyone look at him with envy. Her eyes danced as she thought about it, and she looked at her husband and her brother-in-law with a look that managed to combine both mischief and hauteur.
“Gentlemen, I'm coming.”
23
When Serena came down the stairs of the apartment before the rehearsal dinner, it was easy to believe that she was a principessa. For the glimmer of an eye, even her mother-in-law looked slightly awed. She was wearing a shimmering white silk dress, woven with threads of gold, draped over one shoulder and falling in a gently draped cascade of shimmering folds. The dress fell straight from her shoulder to her feet, and didn't show her slowly enlarging waistline. She looked like a goddess, as she stood beside her husband, with a white flower in her hair, gold sandals on her feet, and her lovely face made up to perfection.
Teddy whistled and even Greg looked more than a little stunned.
The group left together a few minutes after they had assembled in the front hall, the three brothers, their parents, and Serena. Pattie and her parents were meeting them at the club, where a private room for the rehearsal dinner had been arranged.
The groom's mother was wearing a floor-length red satin dress with a little cape in the same fabric, which she had ordered from Dior, and her white hair looked startling in contrast, as she swept into the car, with Greg and Teddy on either side. Her husband chose to sit on one of the jumpseats in the limousine, and Brad and Serena sat in front, which at least kept Serena away from Margaret, a fact for which Teddy was thankful, as he attempted to maneuver things that way from the first. He had promised himself that he would do all he could to make Serena's evening bearable. Since her husband didn't know what agony his mother had caused, the least Teddy could do was be there for her. Serena was deeply grateful to him once again, as their eyes met, and she knew he understood and would not betray her. It was extraordinary to realize that she had only finally met him the day before and they were already fast friends. It was as though he were her brother too, and always had been, as she glanced into the backseat and caught his eye and he grinned at her.
“Flirting with my brother?” Brad whispered it in her ear in the front seat and she shook her head with a little grin.
“No. But it's like I have a real brother.”
“He's a good kid.”
“So are you.” She beamed up at him, and he kissed her gently on the tip of her nose, as she wondered if his mother was watching. It was odd, and unpleasant, to think of oneself always observed, always hated, always resented, even now that she had signed one of those papers. It was incredible to think that that woman had actually tried to get her to sign a paper giving up not only her husband but her child as well. She grew quiet again as she thought of it.
“Are you feeling all right?” Brad was quick to ask her.
“I'm fine. You don't need to worry. I'll be fine tonight.”
“How do you know?” He was only half teasing.
“Because you're here.”
“Then I'll see to it that I am every minute.”
But later in the evening, that was less easily arranged. His mother had placed him at a table with the rest of the wedding party, and since he was the best man, he was sitting on Pattie's left, and Teddy was also at the same table. Serena was put at a table with several older couples and a number of very homely girls, all of whom had known each other for years and spoke almost not at all to Serena. And she couldn't even see Brad or Teddy directly from where she was sitting. She felt as though she were stranded in the midst of strangers, and where he was sitting, Brad felt exactly the same way. He was particularly annoyed at the seating, which had been arranged by his mother. Sitting him next to Pattie seemed a tactless thing to do, but traditionally, as he was the best man, no one could really find fault with his sitting next to the bride. The maid of honor was seated next to Greg, and all of the other bridesmaids and ushers were seated down the sides of the table. On the whole it was a very convivial evening, and Brad managed to talk a great deal to the girl on his left, a tall girl with red hair who had gone to school with Pattie at Vassar, and she had just returned from a long stay with friends in Paris, so at least they had something in common and something to say. She had also spent several years in San Francisco as a child, so she knew that city, and she told him some of the things she thought he needed to know before moving out there, about parts of town that were more or less foggy in case he didn't want a house on the base, ideal spots to spend a day on the beach, places to fish, favorite parks, wonderful places to go with children. None of it was very serious conversation, but it gave them something to talk about and it relieved him at least of having to talk to Pattie, until he suddenly found himself alone with her right after the dancing started, the redheaded girl having been claimed by the usher on her left, and Greg having gone off with the matron of honor. It left Brad, next to Pattie, with almost all of the others on the dance floor, and it suddenly seemed very uncomfortable to be seated next to her alone.