He took her to bed then, and she spent the night with him. She remembered to call her sisters, and said she was okay, but didn't say where she was. Tammy was convinced she was with Chris, and they didn't want to call.
She and Chris both went back to the house in the morning, looking a little sheepish, but happy to be together again. Her sisters threw their arms around him and hugged him, like their long-lost brother. It was a happy reunion for them all.
“Welcome home,” Sabrina said softly as she kissed him, and Beulah barked frantically and wagged her tail like a metronome.
Chapter 26
March was an exciting month for them all. Tammy was having a great time with John Sperry, and on St. Patrick's Day, she got a call she would never have expected in a thousand years. The network had an idea for a new show, and they wanted her to develop it, for prime-time TV, out of New York. It was about three young women living together-they were a doctor, a lawyer, and an actress-and the crises that arise in their lives. They were going to shoot it and base it in New York. They wanted big-name actresses in it, and important visiting actors on the show. They already had sponsors for it, and they wanted Tammy to produce it. It was just like what she had done in Los Angeles, only bigger and better. It was exactly what she would have wanted, if she had dreamed it up herself. She couldn't believe her good luck. It was a fabulous opportunity. She accepted it immediately. They wanted it on the air by the following spring, which meant she would be staying in the city, even after they gave up the house. And she realized it probably meant she would sell her house in L.A. now, and buy something here. A brownstone of her own. Maybe her sisters could even live with her, since their current arrangement had worked so well.
The network already had an office for her, an assistant, and a secretary. She could pick her own associate producers. They were giving her carte blanche and a budget that blew her mind. All they wanted was an Emmy down the road, and they felt certain she could win one for them.
She couldn't wait to tell John as soon as she left the office. They wanted her to start by June, and her schedule was her own. It allowed her to give the show she was working on a decent three months' notice to find someone else to produce Can This Relationship Be Saved? It's Up to You! It was probably the worst show she had ever worked on, but she had actually enjoyed it a lot more than she expected to. And in a way, she'd miss some of the people she'd worked with. The show had served her well, kept her busy, made her some decent money, and it had only taken six months for something better to come along. The new show was the biggest opportunity of her career. And when she told John, he was ecstatic for her. He said he had known nothing about it, and Tammy believed him.
“It's going to be the hottest show on the air,” he confirmed to her. They talked about it animatedly over lunch, and she told her sisters as soon as she got home that night.
“Cool!” Candy said excitedly. She was leaving the next day for a two-week shoot in Japan. It was big money for her, and she had already made plans to visit Paul at Brown when she got back. Annie was happy with Brad. Chris was back. All was well in their world.
Her sisters congratulated Tammy on the new job. And she gave notice on Relationship the next day. Irving Solomon was sorry to lose her, but he told her that she had done a great job with his show, and pulled the ratings way up. It was what Tammy did best.
Annie was supposed to graduate that month, but Brad had convinced her to extend it and train with a seeing-eye dog. She wasn't enthusiastic about it, but she said she'd try it. She had picked out her own chocolate lab, and would graduate in May with the dog. Baxter left school at the end of March, but they promised to stay in touch. He had become a very special friend, and had made school better for her right from the first. Now he was passing the baton to Brad, who wanted her to teach several art classes in the spring. Both history and painting. She didn't see how she could paint without seeing, but Brad suggested she do abstract work, and see how it went. She had discovered that sculpture wasn't her thing, but she liked working with pottery and a kiln, and had made some beautiful pieces she gave to Brad.
The best thing they did when Candy got back from Japan in early April was plan a trip together. Tammy and John organized a ski trip in Vermont for all of them. They spent a weekend at a house he rented. Everyone skied except Annie, but she had a good time going for long walks. She had brought her new dog up just for company. They hadn't done their training yet. She had named her Jessica, and she was very sweet. She got along with all the other dogs in the house.
The ski weekend was utter perfection. Annie rode the ski lift up and down. And Brad took Annie skating at night, which she had always loved, and found she could still do, as long as she held his arm. They had a fantastic time, and Paul had even driven over from Brown to be with Candy. Sabrina and Chris had never been happier. They were comfortable with their new agreement. Nothing would change until the sisters gave up the house in four months. And then she and Chris would move in together. And all of them had spoken to their father when he got back from his honeymoon in Las Vegas. He said everything was fine. They were planning to see him soon, but were giving it some time before they did, for everything to settle down.
And on the last day of the ski trip, they agreed to take a trip together the next summer. They wracked their minds about where, until Annie suggested a boat. She had always loved boats and was an avid sailor. They agreed to a price they could all put in it, and planned it for July. Brad, Paul, and Annie would be out of school, and Chris and Sabrina could take time off. John said he could steal some time. Candy would be back from the couture shows and Tammy could make her own schedule while developing the new show. The only big decision they faced was what kind of boat, motor or sail. They could hardly wait.
Two weeks after their ski trip, the girls called their father and invited him to lunch. They met him at the ‘21’ Club, and he looked uncomfortable the entire time, even more than he had before. The last time, when he told them about Leslie after Christmas, he had looked panicked. This time, as Sabrina agreed later, he looked embarrassed.
He waited until the end of lunch again to tell them. It was a shock for all of them, but nothing really surprised them anymore. He finally got the words out, and told them Leslie was having a baby in November. She had just found out, and they thought it had been conceived on their wedding night, a detail they didn't want or need.
“You leave me speechless, Dad,” Tammy said. “Good luck, I guess, but can you see yourself bringing up another child? I can't even face doing it at my age. You'll be seventy-eight years old when it goes to college.”
“I can't deprive Leslie of having children,” he said calmly. “It's very important to her.”
“I'll bet,” Candy said. Once Leslie had a baby, she had far more rights if they got divorced, but no one said it to their father. He had to have a few illusions left. He was convinced that they had married for love. And who was she to say they were wrong? Sabrina hadn't even reacted when he said they were having a baby. Compared to everything else that had happened to them in the past year, the baby their father was having wasn't the end of the world. Sabrina was just grateful it wasn't twins.
Annie's graduation from school was very moving, and was attended by everyone's family and friends. Annie had done a huge amount of work toward her diploma, and was doing well with the dog, although they still needed to do some more work.
She had asked her father to attend the graduation, preferably without his wife. At first he was very hurt by the request. He still wanted them to warm to Leslie, but then he realized that Annie's request only meant that what they really wanted was to be with him, not share his love with his new wife. None of them mentioned Leslie's pregnancy, or her at all in fact. They wanted to continue to pretend that the situation didn't exist for as long as they could. After November, that wasn't going to be possible at all. It wouldn't just be about Leslie then, but about their father's baby with her. Sabrina said it was a terrifying thought, and the others agreed. Their father with a new baby was a daunting prospect. He seemed so old to have more children. It was lucky that Leslie was young.