Cordy was less effusive than Del, more formal. “A new gal, that’s great news, honey. Did we meet her at your…at the…in December?”
“You can say it, Mama, ill-fated wedding. No, I didn’t know her then. But I’m sure you’re going to love her.”
“That’s nice, but you’re the one that counts. Do you love her? And are you sure? I don’t want you getting hurt again.”
Time to change the subject. “When will you begin teaching?” She wanted to wait until they met face to face to surprise Cordy with Robin. Since she’d recommended Robin to speak at Davos, she surely remembered her and thought highly of her.
“I’ll probably start mid-August so we’ll be moving sometime early August.”
“I can’t wait to see you both.” She hung up, turned to Robin and tickled her until they were both breathless.
“So what’s the story with the mamas?”
“They’ll be in New York Thursday for a few days. Cordy is going to be teaching at Columbia so they’ll move here permanently in early August.”
“Fantastic. Call them later and get their flight information. I’ll have Tanya pick them up.”
“Y’all are so sweet.”
“You dropped into Southern speak. Are you nervous about me meeting them?”
“No. Um, yes. Mama mentioning Micki made me anxious that you might—”
“Don’t.” Robin wrapped her arms around Lily. “Now that I have you, I’ll never let you go.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The Mamas
The maître d’ smiled. “Ms. DiLuca, so nice to see you again. Your guests just arrived a few minutes ago.” She picked up menus. “This way, please.”
White-faced, Robin ran her fingers through her hair, then smoothed her jacket. “Do I look all right?”
Lily smiled. Robin knew she must have asked her that a hundred times since they’d dressed, but she couldn’t help being nervous.
Lily adjusted the collar of Robin’s shirt “You look terrific.”
“Are you sure they won’t hate me?”
“Absolutely.” Lily took Robin’s hand and tugged her forward. “They’re going to adore y’all just like I do.”
Robin stopped short. “You’re nervous too, my Southern beauty.”
“Yes. I’m afraid y’all won’t like them.”
“No worries there. I already adore Dr. Alexander.”
“A teacher is different than a mother-in-law and Del can be a mite overbearing.”
Robin blanched. “Now you tell—”
The maître d’ cleared her throat.
Lily smiled. “Oh, sorry.” She squeezed Robin’s hand. “Come.”
As they approached, the mamas stood. Robin felt more anxious and unsure than she’d ever felt giving a presentation in front of hundreds of people; even her TED talk hadn’t been as scary. Lily’s hand on her back propelled her forward, but when they got closer the blood drained from her face. Again. Dr. Alexander was glaring at her.
She looked from one mama to another waiting for Lily to break the silence and introduce them. Then Dr. Alexander grinned and pulled her into her arms. “Dr. DiLuca, what a wonderful surprise. I never expected Lily’s Robin would be one of my most brilliant and challenging students.” She cleared her throat. “And I suppose it’s all right to say now, one of my all-time favorites.”
Robin blushed. Over Dr. Alexander’s shoulder, she watched Del and Lily grin, high-five each other, then hug. “Since Cordy seems to know her, Del, let me introduce Robin DiLuca.”
“Cordy darlin’, let me at this gorgeous Robin our daughter has found. She must be somethin’ if y’all are huggin’ her and looking like y’all won the lottery.”
Del spun Robin around and hugged her. “So nice to meet you, Robin, especially now that you have the Cordy seal of approval.” Robin didn’t think she could get redder, but she felt another surge of blood to her face.
Lily hugged Cordy. “Shall we sit?”
The maître d’ appeared immediately and handed Robin the wine list. She cleared her throat and looked at Lily, moved her eyes to Del, then Cordy. “Champagne?”
“What’s the occasion?” The mamas spoke in unison.
Lily and Robin locked eyes. Robin cleared her throat. “Maybe proposing champagne was somewhat presumptuous.” She took Lily’s proffered hand. “I’m in love with Lily and I’ve asked her to marry me. She said yes, but I would like your permission.”
The mamas exchanged a glance. Robin had never understood the meaning of the expression “the silence was deafening” until now. The mamas stared at the two of them. “Lily, are you sure? It’s so soon.” Cordy’s eyes went to Robin. “Nothing against you, Dr. DiLuca. Do you know…did Lily tell you about—?”
All fear gone now, Robin went into protective mode. “Yes, Dr. Alexander. I know all about it and I know that she worked hard to figure it out. I leave it to Lily to discuss her own feelings, but let me reassure you both, I am totally, helplessly in love with her, and while I don’t know what the future will bring, I’ll never intentionally do anything to hurt Lily and I would certainly never do anything as despicable and cowardly as that woman did.”
The mamas exchanged another glance. “Lily?” This time it was Del who spoke.
“I understand y’all are worried that I’ll make another mistake, but I’m sure this time. Really sure.” She kissed Robin’s hand. “I never told y’all I went into therapy to figure out what happened with Micki. I know you never took to her.”
Del looked at Cordy. “Oh, darlin’, we thought we hid it so well. Maybe if we’d been honest we could have saved you from—”
“No. Del, I’d convinced myself I was in love with her. But I’ve come to understand she was drawn to my perceived fame and fortune. I believe she loved the chase, not me. For months, I puzzled over why she waited so long to break it off. She was always bragging about me being a successful writer so maybe she thought that was enough reason to marry me. Or perhaps it was the money she thought I made as a successful writer.” She shrugged. “I’ll probably never know why she waited to dump me, but once I got over being embarrassed, I realized she’d saved me from a huge mistake.”
She smiled at Robin and kissed her hand again. “Robin is also persistent and persuasive, but she loves me, respects that I’m a successful writer, but, for sure, she isn’t after my money. I’m sure she’s the one for me, forever.”
Del nodded, but she glared at Robin. “How can you be sure about the money?”
Cordy laughed. “Do you remember the article I read you about students of mine who became billionaires?”
“Yes, of course.” Her eyes widened. “Robin?”
“Yes, ma’am. And my friend Katie Cooper. We built a technology firm after we graduated from Stanford and took it public a few months ago.” She stared into Del’s eyes, then switched to Cordy. “I love Lily and I want us to be married, something I never imagined for myself, but if you’re against it I’ll do my best to convince you we’re right for each other. I’m willing to wait until you approve. She’s worth waiting for.”
“Mama—”
Cordy held up her hand. “Just a minute, Lily, you dropped this on us from out of nowhere. You admit you almost made a huge mistake eight months ago and now you’re telling us this time is for real and we’re supposed to jump up and down and cheer. I know you don’t really need our permission to get married, but can we four spend time together while we’re in New York so we can get to know Dr. DiLuca before giving our blessings? I must say I’m favorably disposed.”
Lily opened her mouth, but Robin put her finger on her lips to still her. “Only if you call me Robin.”
Cordy grinned. “Only if you call us Del and Cordy.”
“It’s a deal. Should we seal it with champagne or would you prefer something else?”
“Champagne is fine for us.” Del was the one who answered.
* * *
Lily and Robin spent as much time as possible with Del
and Cordy in the next four days, going out for meals, walking in Central or Riverside Park or on the High Line. They talked and laughed a great deal. Conversations ranged from hot dogs to mathematical theories to New York City apartments to politics to business to whatever interested one of them.
Robin orchestrated dinner at Shazarak Saturday night so the mamas could meet their friends. Robin made the introductions. “Cordy and Del I’d like you to meet Dr. Katie Cooper, my best friend and business partner, and her fiancé, Dr. Michael Stein. Across the table is Jan Haskel, my other business partner, Dr. Nicole Summerfield and her partner Dr. Nora Tannen, and last but not least, Dr. Emma Novick. Dr. Annie MacDonald you already know.”
Cordy lifted her glass. “Good to see you again, Dr. Cooper, Dr. Summerfield and Dr. Novick. And, you of course, Annie.”
Del surveyed the table. “It looks like Lily, Jan and I are in the low-brow minority. This is an impressive group. All PhDs, Robin?”
They all laughed. “No, ma’am. Katie, Michael, Emma and Annie are PhDs. Nicole is a neonatal specialist and Nora is an ER doctor. Katie, Emma and Nicole were my suitemates at Harvard and Stanford.”
The dinner conversation was lively and varied, Michael joining right in with the women.
They stayed to dance, and it was clear that Lily got her love of dancing from her mamas. Once the music started, neither Del nor Cordy sat. They danced with each other and everyone else. Robin couldn’t believe that she was actually dancing with Dr. Cordelia Alexander, the professor she had worshiped when she was at Stanford. Jan fell in love with Del and couldn’t get enough of dancing with her.
At brunch with everyone the next day, Del cleared her throat and stood to speak. “Cordy and I would like to thank all of y’all for a wonderful weekend. Cordy knew some of you, but I’d like to say we’re both thrilled to see our Lily surrounded by such a loving group of friends. One of the best things about these last few days is seeing how in love Lily and Robin are and hearing from each of you why you think they belong together. Robin, sweetheart, Cordy and I have fallen in love with you. We couldn’t ask for a more perfect daughter-in-law.” She picked up her champagne. “Please join me in wishing Lily and Robin the happiest of marriages.”
Robin and Lily locked eyes across the table, then Robin raised her glass. “I know it’s not politically correct to love your mothers-in-law, but I’m the luckiest woman alive because by marrying the woman I adore, I get to share her mamas, two women that I have grown to love in a really short time. Thank you.” She sipped her seltzer as the others drank their champagne. Lots of tears were swiped away.
“Is Labor Day weekend okay for all of y’all?” Hearing agreement, Lily turned to the mamas. “I’ll call Belle and Ben to make sure they’re available. And let’s do the same with our other friends, Robin. Once we confirm the day we can start to plan the wedding.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Wedding
No church, no organ music, no people she didn’t know. Lily was adamant. Robin happily agreed. So the celebration on this brilliantly sunny day early in September was for them and their nearest and dearest—Del and Cordy, Ben and Bella, Lily’s brother and sister, Katie and Michael, Jan, Irene, her agent, Annie, Emma, Mei and her boyfriend, Nicole and Nora, and Winnie, Robin’s fifth Harvard roommate, and her date. Since Cornelius Carlyle was Lily’s uncle as well as her sperm donor, he’d been invited but was unable to make it. Not knowing about Robin’s wealth, he’d sent them two open tickets to Hong Kong so they could visit.
Tomorrow evening Robin and Lily would fly to Greece and spend ten days on a yacht in the Mediterranean with a female captain and crew. The Saturday after returning from their honeymoon, they would host a huge formal wedding reception for Robin’s business associates, her many friends from Harvard and Stanford and Lily’s friends from Chicago, Iowa, Alabama and California. On Sunday, they planned a more intimate brunch for friends who had attended the reception.
At the moment, though, everyone was on the terrace of Robin’s apartment sipping champagne and eating hors d’oeuvres in advance of the ceremony, which would be followed by a sit-down dinner under an awning on the terrace.
Lily stood in the doorway to the terrace watching Robin, her black hair glistening in the sunlight, her eyes flashing and her smile broad and contagious, as she hugged and kissed everyone. She circulated, but seemed to gravitate to Del and Cordy, who had opened their arms and their hearts to her.
A hand on Lily’s shoulder, then a voice in her ear. “You’re not changing your mind, are you, Lily?’
“Not a chance, Katie. Just admiring her and congratulating myself on my good luck.”
“That’s good, because she’s totally yours and that comes with responsibility.”
“She’s precious and fragile, I know.” She turned and hugged Katie. “You did a wonderful job with her.”
“I can’t take all the credit. Emma, Mei, Nicole, and Winnie were there for her too.”
“Well, y’all are wonderful. I promise I will never hurt her.”
“Well, then, I think you should get married today.” She put her arm through Lily’s and escorted her onto the terrace. “Here comes the bride.”
All eyes turned. Lily blushed.
Robin was at her side instantly and took her in her arms. “You look gorgeous.” They’d decided that Lily would wear a traditional white wedding gown at the big reception and Robin would wear a tux but that today would be informal. So Lily was wearing a filmy white dress in the style that Robin loved on her, a wrap-around showing lots of cleavage, and Robin was wearing white pants and a white peasant shirt.
In keeping with wanting a low-key celebration, they’d dropped the idea of asking Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to marry them, and Cordy had volunteered to become certified as a Universal Life Minister so she could officiate. At one o’clock, the time they’d set for the ceremony, Cordy cleared her throat. “Everyone, please sit so we can begin.” She waved to the chairs, facing the river, under a canopy erected to protect them from the sun. Lily and Robin stood just inside the apartment with Annie and Katie, while everyone settled. Then Bella started the song they’d selected to walk down the aisle together—Bette Midler singing “Be My Baby”—and the four of them boogied down the aisle to stand in front of Cordy, who waited with her back to the river. If anyone doubted that Dr. Cordelia Alexander approved of Lily marrying one of her all-time favorite students, they just had to look at her. Her normally reserved face seemed lit from within today.
She waited for the music to stop, cleared her throat and smiled at Robin and Lily. “I’m thrilled that you, Lily and Robin, asked that I be the one to marry you, but before I proceed I want to be clear. To me and Delphine,” she smiled at her wife sitting in the front row, “marriage is a forever commitment and we feel it’s important that our children find spouses who believe that as well. Robin, in the short time we have known you as our daughter-in-law-to-be, we have learned to love you, and we trust that by marrying Lily you are making a forever commitment to her and to our family.”
Robin squeezed Lily’s hand. “I am.”
Cordy smiled. “In that case, let’s begin.” She put on her glasses and opened the book she was holding.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Two Years Later
Five days ago they’d returned from three weeks in Mongolia, and last night they’d celebrated their second anniversary with the mamas and their closest friends. Now still in bed, they were enjoying Sunday morning in their new, larger Battery Park City apartment, Robin reading a mathematics book that Cordy had given her as a present at their anniversary dinner last night, and Lily updating her travel journal and pasting the pictures Robin had printed for her in their travel photo album.
Humming, Lily thumbed to the beginning of the album and smiled at the pictures they’d taken on their honeymoon in Greece, then New Year’s in Paris the December after they married. How audacious she’d been, making the reservations for the two of t
hem that July, not knowing whether they’d even be dating in December. Robin had turned it into a family celebration, so instead of the week alone in Paris that Lily had imagined when she made the reservation, everyone was there. It had been wonderful. And despite the crowd, as romantic as she’d imagined.
She turned to their trip to Davos. Robin and Cordy had both delivered impressive speeches and once again it turned into a family outing with Del and Ben and Bella, Katie and Michael, Jan and a boyfriend that trip, Annie and Emma and Nicole and Nora. Winnie and her husband came from Spain, where they were living, and Mei flew in from China, where she was working on a huge architectural project.
She flipped through the rest of the book—Hong Kong, China, Nepal, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, Spain, France, Italy, England, Germany, Israel, Hawaii, Tahiti. They’d done the traveling they’d dreamed of doing, done wonderful things and seen wonderful places. Now she was feeling the urge to settle down. She glanced at Robin. Was she ready?
She put the album down and picked up the Book Review section of the New York Times, but as usual when she had something on her mind, she found it hard to concentrate. She lowered her paper and studied her wife.
“We just celebrated our second anniversary, sweet Robin, and I’m hankering to make a baby. Are y’all ready?”
Robin peered over her book. “Does this have anything to do with Katie deciding to get pregnant?”
“Of course. Wouldn’t it be nice if our kids were the same age and could play together? Besides, we’ve been married two years, we’ve traveled the world like we wanted and done a lot of exciting things. It’s time to settle down.”
“I kind of like the idea of our kids getting together. Members of families usually have kids around the same time, right?” She leaned over and kissed Lily. “You know it’s not fair that straight people just have to have sex to have a baby, and we have to harvest eggs and grow them in a glass dish in a lab.”
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