Happy Birthday (27 page)

She told her mother he was back. And Valerie told Pat. Jack
was relieved for her. He just hoped the guy was reliable and stuck around. Jack and Valerie came to have dinner with them one Sunday night. Although Jack had been leery of him, he admitted to Valerie afterward that he liked him.

“He seems like a bright guy. I just hope he treats her right and doesn’t run out on her again.”

“So do I,” Valerie said, looking concerned. She had just bought a whole set of baby furniture for her grandchild, and Jack had teased her about it. But she was getting used to the idea.

She and Jack had planned a trip to Europe for early May, and they were leaving in a few days. They were going to travel for several weeks. London and Paris were on their itinerary, and a weekend in Venice. Jack called it their honeymoon. It was the perfect time of year for both of them to get away, since she was on hiatus and he had time off. They were still bouncing back and forth between their apartments, and couldn’t decide where they wanted to live. So they stayed in both places, and decided where to spend the night, depending on their mood and schedules the next day. It seemed to work for now.

Valerie had hesitated about the trip at first with April so pregnant. But April had insisted her mother go, and now that Mike was living with her, Valerie was less concerned. And April said that if she started having any early warning signs, she’d call her mother and she could come home. Valerie had finally agreed.

The night before they left, they had dinner with Mike and April again. Valerie told April about the furniture she’d ordered for her, and April was touched. And Valerie warned her not to have the baby before she got back. She was still nervous about going.

April and Mike had discussed his being at the birth, but he wasn’t sure. He was afraid it might be too much for him, and April wasn’t pushing, but said she hoped he’d be there. If he wouldn’t, Ellen had volunteered to go as April’s coach.

Valerie called April on the way to the airport, and told her again to take care of herself and call immediately if there was any problem. She looked so vulnerable and so pregnant now. And her due date was only five weeks away. Suddenly it was all going very fast. Valerie planned to be back two weeks before the baby was due to come.

That afternoon April saw her doctor, who said everything was fine. April had told her that Mike was back the month before, and the doctor was pleased for her. She said the baby was a good size, and it was in the right position. April had had another sonogram but the baby’s back had been turned and they couldn’t see its sex, and April had decided not to check again and be surprised instead. It didn’t matter either way, as long as it was healthy. She was still hoping for a girl, and Mike was just as hopeful for a boy named Sam. April kept insisting it was a baby girl named Zoe.

On the way home late that afternoon, she stopped for a cup of tea with Ellen, who was between patients and happy to see
her. They talked about pressure points and things she could do to bring on labor, if she was overdue. April felt like she was ready to deliver now, and was already starting to have contractions if she worked too long, or was on her feet all day and night in the kitchen, which the doctor said was normal and didn’t mean early labor or anything wrong. April was worried about who would cook in her absence when she went to the hospital. She didn’t totally trust the sous-chefs to do it right without her.

“I have this vision of you having that baby in the kitchen, trying to fill your orders at the same time.” Ellen laughed.

“It could happen. Maybe I could have it at night after we close, and be back in time for lunch,” April said, smiling.

“You’d be just the one to do that,” Ellen told her as she left. And April went back to the restaurant to start dinner. She had already done most of the prep work before she saw the doctor.

April smiled to herself as she started work, knowing that by then Jack and her mother were in Paris. He had been a wonderful addition to her mother’s life. Her mother said she didn’t want to marry him, she didn’t need to. They had agreed that they were comfortable with the status quo, and neither of them had any desire to get married. In their hearts, they already were. They had been inseparable since December. Jack said it was the longest relationship he’d had since his marriage, and it was for Valerie too. And by far the best one.

They had a particularly busy night at the restaurant. Mike was out, having a long, elaborate dinner, for a review: She liked going with him sometimes, but they had too many reservations
for her to join him. The restaurant was doing better than ever, and their reservations were a month out now. At this rate, she would pay her mother back earlier than she’d hoped.

Everyone in the kitchen was working hard that night, the dining room was full, and one of the sous-chefs was working the pans. April had her back turned when she heard a scream, and turned around to see a wall of flame on the stove. One of the pans had caught fire, and it had already leaped to a stack of towels that were in flames, as one of the sous-chefs threw them to the floor and stomped on them. While he did, the fire on the stove got even more out of control. One of the waiters was in the kitchen, and grabbed the fire extinguisher and pointed it at the stove, and in her panic, April took it from him and aimed it at the stove herself. But the fire wouldn’t abate, and was getting worse. People were screaming, and Jean-Pierre ran in, and tried to pull April away. She pushed him off, and was aiming the fire extinguisher steadily, but the whole kitchen was in flames by then, and people were running out of the restaurant.

April could hear fire engines in the distance, but they weren’t coming fast enough. Jean-Pierre and the others were screaming at her to leave, but she wouldn’t. The restaurant that was her baby and first love was going up in flames, and she wouldn’t leave it. The fire had leaped into the dining room through the open door, and the sirens kept getting louder. She felt her arms and the back of her hands burning, and suddenly there were men in the kitchen, finally, with hoses and water everywhere. The kitchen was thick with smoke, and a man in a
black coat was carrying her out. Her head was swimming, and people were staring at her when they set her down on the sidewalk and put an oxygen mask on her. She kept fighting to get up, she could still see the flames inside the restaurant, and they were shooting water everywhere. The restaurant was going to be destroyed and she was sobbing, as two of the waiters knelt beside her and wouldn’t let her stand up.

She heard the firemen call for an ambulance then, and shouting to someone that she was pregnant. All she wanted was to get up and go back inside. She was crying so hard she couldn’t stop. The ambulance was there minutes later, and just as she was fighting them not to take her, April fainted. One of the waiters had called Mike on his cell phone by then. They said the restaurant was on fire, and looked like it would be destroyed, and April had just been taken away by ambulance, but they didn’t know to which hospital.

Mike called 911 frantically and they told him to go to the Weill-Cornell burn center. All he could think about was April and their baby. The waiter had told him that she had fought the fire herself and wouldn’t leave until the firemen carried her out.

Mike literally bolted out the door of the restaurant he was reviewing, and ran out into the street. He hailed a cab and was at the hospital in less than ten minutes. April was in the trauma unit, and he told the woman at the desk that she was eight months pregnant.

“Yes, we know,” she said calmly. “There’s an obstetrician with her now.”

“Is she in labor?” He looked panicked. What if the baby died? Or April did? He didn’t even know how badly hurt she was.

“Not that I know,” the nurse at the desk answered.

“I want to see her!” he said, looking desperate.

“She’s in cubicle 19C.” She pointed to the double doors and he flew through them, and found himself amid a sea of people with gunshot wounds, heart attacks, head injuries, and the people with them and ER personnel, and then he saw her. She was unconscious, with an oxygen mask on, her hair still in a braid, her enormous belly sticking up, and they were treating the burns on her hands and arms. She had an IV in, and two doctors and a nurse were with her.

“I’m her husband,” he said, without even thinking, and he meant it. “How is she?” April was deathly pale, and they were monitoring the baby. The heartbeat sounded strong.

“She took in a lot of smoke. Second-degree burns on her arms. How pregnant is she?” the obstetrician asked with a look of concern.

“Thirty-five weeks.”

“She may go into labor. The baby is fine for now. Your wife’s having some respiratory trouble. The baby may decide to bail if your wife is too distressed.” Mike didn’t know whether to scream or cry. He wanted to shake her for trying to fight the fire herself. How could she be so stupid? But she looked so sick and so frail as she lay there that he couldn’t be angry at her. He just stood there and cried as he watched her helplessly. They worked on her for over an hour, and she finally came around, but she was coughing
and throwing up and having trouble breathing. And the obstetrician reported regular contractions ten minutes apart. Her water hadn’t broken, but they weren’t happy with the way things were going. The only good news was that the baby’s heartbeat was staying strong.

They kept her in the trauma unit all night, and Mike sat with her. She was too out of it to talk to him, and she had an oxygen mask on her face, but she knew he was there. They gave her something to try to stop the contractions, and by morning it had worked and they had stopped. April looked absolutely awful, and the stench of smoke was everywhere in the room they put her in to treat her. They kept the oxygen mask on her until that night, and said it was as much for the baby as for her.

Mike had called April’s father, to let him know what had happened. He and Maddie came to see her that afternoon. They had gone by the restaurant and told Mike in a whisper that it looked terrible. But so did April. And that evening Mike called her mother at the Ritz in Paris. April hadn’t wanted him to call her before. She didn’t want to spoil her trip. It was midnight in Paris when he called. He told Valerie what had happened and that April was out of danger. The restaurant was a shambles, but her daughter was going to be okay, and so was the baby. They thought she’d probably have to take it easy for the next few weeks so she’d get to full term.

“Oh my God, how did it happen?” Valerie sounded shocked, and he could hear Jack in the background asking questions. She was upset he hadn’t called right away, but she knew her daughter
and how stubborn she was about not upsetting her mother, and correctly suspected April hadn’t let him call.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t there,” Mike said, sounding exhausted. “A pan fire, I think.” Several of the people from the restaurant had come to see her that day. And they said the damage to the restaurant was almost total, as much from the water from the hoses as from the fire. April had done all she could to stop it, including risk her life, but she couldn’t. They had insurance, but it was going to be a huge job to rebuild the restaurant, and he knew April would be heartsick over it. But the most important thing was that she hadn’t lost the baby. All night Mike had feared this would be their punishment for not wanting it, and maybe now they’d lose it, but they hadn’t. He was so grateful that both April and the baby were alive, he didn’t care about the rest.

“I’m coming home,” Valerie said firmly. “I’ll take the first flight out in the morning,” she said, as Jack nodded approval. Mike assured her that April was all right, just slightly burned and very shaken, but he readily understood that Valerie wanted to come home. She asked to speak to April, who took his cell phone from him. They had just taken her oxygen mask off. She barely managed to squeak out a hoarse croak but told her mother she was okay, and didn’t want Valerie to return. She insisted she was fine and promised that Mike would keep them informed. She said they would stay at his place now, and gave Valerie the number. April insisted she didn’t want them to curtail their trip, and said there was no need.

Valerie turned to Jack as soon as she got off the phone and burst into tears. It took her a few minutes to calm down, overwhelmed with terror and relief.

“What happened?” Jack asked her as he held her. From what he’d heard of her end of the conversation, it didn’t sound good. But April was alive.

“The restaurant burned down,” Valerie said as he held her. “April tried to fight the fire herself, and burned herself, and almost had the baby.”

“I’ll call the concierge and get a flight back right away!” Jack said, looking as worried as she did.

“April doesn’t want us to,” Valerie said, still in his arms. “Mike said she’s okay, and he’ll keep us posted. She sounds awful, but she’s not in danger, and the baby is okay too. Maybe we should wait and see how she is tomorrow. It may upset her more if we go home.” She knew her daughter. And she had to admit that it didn’t sound like they needed to leave, but it was certainly upsetting. And she knew April would be devastated about the restaurant. She’d just have to be patient while they rebuilt it.

“I’ll do whatever you want,” Jack reassured her. “Stay or go back.” He kissed her and Valerie nodded gratefully. In the end, they agreed to wait and see how April did in the next day or two before they made the decision.

Mike stood looking down at April once the oxygen mask was off. He didn’t know whether to strangle her or kiss her, he was so relieved that she and the baby were okay.

“How could you try to fight the fire yourself?” He had tears in his eyes when he asked her.

“I’m sorry, Mike … I thought I could stop it, but it went too fast and it was too hot. They were caramelizing something, and it got out of control.”

“You almost had the baby last night.” Her hand went instinctively to her belly as he said it. “You were having contractions every ten minutes. They stopped it,” he reassured her, but he wasn’t letting her out of his sight again until she had the baby. “I told them a lie last night,” he said then, “and I want you to make an honest man of me.”