“I’d feel a lot safer with you in bed, with no contractions,” Sasha said honestly.
“Me too,” Steve said in a firm voice as he held his wife’s hand. “Can you give her the shot?” he asked, trusting his daughter and grateful for her help. She had been wonderful about it. She went to get it and came back a few minutes later, and Charlotte didn’t even feel it. Sasha had a nurse hook up a fetal monitor, and everything was looking good. She noticed that the baby was big, but they said it wasn’t twins and it didn’t feel like it, just a big baby.
Sasha went back to the nurses’ station then to see what was going on.
“You just can’t stay away from this place, can you?” the nurses teased her, and Sasha noticed that it was five o’clock, and she called Alex to tell him where she was, and promised she’d make it to the dinner on time. She still had plenty of time to dress. And then she went back to check her stepmother again. The contractions were persistent, but slowing down a little. She waited two hours and gave her another shot, and sedated her, which she thought would help. By then it was seven, and she was going to be late for the dinner. She still had to bathe and dress.
The contractions stopped almost completely at eight after the second shot, and by then Charlotte was dozing, and Sasha told her father she should spend the night at the hospital. She could go back to their hotel the next day, but for now Sasha wanted the nurses to keep an eye on her and the monitor, and her father agreed.
“I think I should stay with her tonight,” he said in a whisper, and Sasha nodded. His two daughters were at the hotel with the nanny. He was going to miss the Scotts’ rehearsal dinner, but hopefully he’d be there tomorrow to walk her down the aisle, and she said as much to him.
“Of course.” It was eight-thirty by then, and there was no way she could go home to dress. Alex had been texting her for the last hour, and she kept promising him she’d be there and not to worry. She couldn’t miss her own rehearsal dinner the night before her wedding, and she couldn’t get home to change. She only had one choice, to go as she was. It was better than missing it entirely, and she knew they weren’t sitting down to dinner till nine.
She took a last look at Charlotte sleeping, and told her father to call if they needed her, and she told the nurses the same thing. And then she flew into the elevator in her scrubs, hailed a cab on the street, gave him the address, and told him she was in a huge hurry. And as they drove there, she realized that Charlotte had just solved a major problem. She couldn’t come to the dinner or the wedding, and Muriel would never see that she was pregnant or have to deal with her looking young and beautiful. And her mother would only have to put up with her father for one night, not two, since he was staying with Charlotte tonight. Yes! she thought to herself, as they pulled up in front of the Metropolitan Club, and she paid and jumped out, and ran through the door. She was tempted to say to the liveried doorman as she ran by, “Did someone call a doctor?” but she decided to behave, and walked into the beautiful room filled with flowers at the dinner organized by her soon-to-be in-laws, in scrubs and sandals. It was either that, or arrive at ten, when they finished dinner. She saw Alex’s look of surprise out of the corner of her eye, and her roommates’ as she went to find Helen to apologize.
“I’m so sorry. My father’s wife went into preterm labor, and I’ve been at the hospital with them till now. I couldn’t get home to change.” Helen smiled broadly, and gave her a warm hug.
“Don’t even think about it. You look adorable. I love your hair. How is she?” She was an amazing woman, and Sasha hugged her again as Alex joined them.
“I think she’ll be fine. I admitted her for tonight.”
“What happened?” Alex asked her, jangled and shocked at what she was wearing.
“It was either this or my cut-off shorts. I went with this. Or come after dinner. Charlotte went into preterm labor.”
“And they called you?” He was stunned, although he knew nothing should surprise him anymore—her mother, her sister, bad divorces, or preterm labor.
“Who else would they call in New York?”
“They could have gone to the ER. It’s our rehearsal dinner.” He seemed a little put out, but his mother was fine about it.
“I know. I’m sorry. I love you. But look at it this way, she’s not here tonight, and she can’t come tomorrow. I put her on bed rest. And now my mother won’t go nuts.” He laughed at the silver lining. And then after asking Helen’s permission, she went up to the podium, from where Alex’s father and some of the guests would be making speeches after dinner. And Sasha picked up the mike and spoke to the room.
“Good evening, everyone. I’m the bride. Until tomorrow, my name is Dr. Hartman. And I wanted you to know that, as my close friends and family know, these are the only clothes I own,” she said, pointing to her scrubs, and everyone laughed. “But please don’t worry. My sister is lending me a dress for tomorrow. And thank you to the Scotts for this wonderful dinner.” She put down the mike then and ran to her table to take her place next to Alex.
“I hope that’s not true,” he said, serious for a minute.
“What?”
“That your sister is lending you a dress for tomorrow.”
She laughed. “Wait and see.”
Valentina was wearing a spectacular, very short gold dress that night, and was there with Bert. He was proud to be at her side.
Helen had done the seating and had put Muriel at their table, and she made a point to spend time talking to her. Muriel looked like she was having a wonderful time. She caught up with Sasha later with a disapproving frown.
“Why didn’t you wear a dress?”
“I got stuck at the hospital on an emergency,” she said blandly, and her mother walked away shaking her head.
The speeches went smoothly, and were very touching, particularly by her roommates, and Alex’s father. Her father was going to speak at the wedding, and Ben, the best man.
She and Alex parted company after the evening, so she wouldn’t see him until the wedding. She was spending the night at the loft with the girls. And she called the hospital on the way home to check on Charlotte. They said she was sleeping soundly, the contractions had stopped, and they had rolled a cot in for Sasha’s father. All was peaceful.
And Sasha went back to the apartment in Hell’s Kitchen for her last night as a single woman, with her best friends.
Chapter 24
The big day dawned blue and gold and sunny on the fourteenth of June. It wasn’t too hot or too cool, and Sasha was nervous all day. Her father and Charlotte had gone back to the hotel, and her father said she was resting and propped up in bed.
The hairdresser came at three o’clock to blow-dry Sasha’s hair, and do the others. And she got her makeup done at four. She had bathed before they arrived. Sarah had made sandwiches for everyone, and Sasha couldn’t eat. She was too excited. Her mother had offered to come downtown to help her, but Sasha didn’t need her or want her, and she discouraged her. But Valentina was there, looking fabulous. Bert was going to meet them at the church. Amazingly, she was still seeing him three months after they had gotten back from Arizona, and Valentina insisted it was “the real deal.” At least he kept her out of trouble. She’d been taking him to events and parties with her, and he was having fun. He was still with the NYPD, and the talk of his unit, with his supermodel girlfriend, and they were in the press a lot. Valentina seemed a little more normal now, and didn’t seem as hell-bent on shocking everyone. He toned her down a little, and she had put some jazz and glamour into Bert’s life. They had been mentioned on Page Six several times. They referred to him as supermodel Valentina’s drop-dead gorgeous bodyguard. They were a striking pair.