“Great.” Chandler Scott sounded delighted and as though he didn't have a care in the world. “See you tomorrow.” He hung up quickly and Bernie turned to Liz.
“He'll take it.”
“Do you think that's all he wants?”
“For now. I think to him that's a hell of a lot of money, and right now he can't see beyond it. The only problem with this, as Grossman says, is that he can come back at us again, but we'll just have to face that when he does.” He couldn't afford to have it become a monthly arrangement. “With any luck, we'll be living in New York when he gets hungry again, and he'll never find us. I think next time we'll skip informing your ex-landlady when we move, or maybe you should just tell her not to give out any information.” Liz nodded. And Bernie was right, once they were in New York, Chandler probably wouldn't be able to find them. “I didn't want to meet him at the store, because then he'd always know how to find us.” She looked up at him with grateful eyes and shook her head.
“I'm so sorry I got you into this, sweetheart. I promise I'll pay you back when I save up the money.”
“Don't be ridiculous.” He put an arm around her. “This is just one of those things and we'll get it all cleaned up tomorrow.”
She looked at him with sad, serious eyes, remembering the pain Chandler Scott had caused her, and then she felt a tremor run through her and she reached a hand out to Bernie. “Will you promise me something?”
“Anything you like.” He had never loved her more, as he sat looking down at her with her enormous belly.
“If anything ever happens to me, will you protect Jane from him?” Her eyes were huge in her face and he frowned at her.
“Don't say things like that.” He was Jewish enough to be superstitious, not as much so as his mother, but enough. “Nothing's going to happen to you.” Although the doctor had warned him that women sometimes got unusually fearful, or even morbid just before they gave birth. Maybe that meant the baby would come soon.
“But will you promise? I never want him to get near her. Swear to me …” She was getting agitated and he promised.
“I love her like my own, you know that. You don't ever have to worry.” But she had nightmares as she lay in his arms that night, and he was nervous himself as he went to Harry's to meet Scott with an envelope with one hundred hundred-dollar bills in it. Liz had told him to look for a tall, thin, golden-haired man. She warned him that he might not look like anyone he might expect to meet for this purpose.
“He looks more like you'd expect to see him on a yacht or as though you'd love to introduce him to your baby sister.”
“That's terrific. I'll probably walk up to some normal guy, hand him the envelope and he'll punch me … or worse yet, take it and run.”
But as he stood at the bar at Harry's, feeling faintly like a Russian spy on a mission, watching the lunch crowd arrive, he saw him immediately as he walked in. As Liz had said, he looked handsome and jaunty. He was wearing a blazer and gray slacks, but when one looked more closely, the blazer was cheap, the shirt cuffs were frayed, and his shoes were all but worn out. His con man suit was in serious disrepair, and he looked like an aging preppie down on his luck as he walked to the bar and ordered a Scotch straight up, and held it with a trembling hand, eyeing the crowd. Bernie had not told him what he looked like, so he had the advantage. And he was almost certain this was his man. He watched Scott chat with the bartender. He said he had just returned from Arizona, and after a few more minutes and half his drink, he heard him admit that he'd been in prison there. He shrugged with a boyish smile.
“Screw 'em if they can't take a joke…. Hell, I passed a few bad checks, and the judge went nuts. It's good to be back in California.” It was a sad commentary on the state's laws, and once again Bernie was sorry they weren't back in New York, as he finally decided to approach him.
“Mr. Scott?” He spoke in a quiet voice, and slid discreetly next to Chandler as he stood with his second drink in his hand. And he was obviously very nervous. At close range, he had the same blue eyes as Jane, but so did Liz, so it was difficult to say whose eyes Jane had inherited. He had a handsome face, but he looked older than his twenty-nine years. He had thick blond hair which fell over one eye, and he could easily see how Liz might have fallen for him. He had that innocent boyish air, which had made it easy for him to rip people off, and convince them to invest in his bunko schemes. He had been kidding people ever since he was eighteen, and his frequent arrests didn't seem to stop him. But he still had the naive look of a midwestern kid, and one could see how he might have tried to give himself the aura of the country club at one time, though he appeared to be down on his luck now, and he looked at Bernie with nervous, hungry eyes the moment he spoke.
“Yes?” He smiled, but only his mouth moved. His eyes were as cold as ice as they slid over Bernie.
“My name is Fine.” He knew that was all he had to say.
“Great.” Chandler beamed. “Got something for me?”
Bernie nodded, but did not rush to hand him the envelope, as Chandler Scott's eyes took in every detail of the clothes he was wearing. “Yes, I do.” The eyes then took in his watch, but he had been careful not to wear a Patek Philippe, or even his Rolex. He was wearing a watch his father had given him years before, when he was in business school, but even that wasn't cheap, and Scott knew it. He suspected that he had hit a live one.
“Looks like little Liz found herself a nice husband this time around.”
Bernie did not comment. He silently pulled the envelope from his inside breast pocket. “I believe this is what you want. You can count it. It's all there.”
He glanced at Bernie for the flicker of an instant. “How do I know it's real?”
“Are you serious?” Bernie was shocked. “Where the hell do you think I would get counterfeit money?”
“It's been done before.”
“Take it to the bank, have them take a look. I'll wait here.” Bernie refused to look worried, and Scott didn't look as though he was going anywhere as he thumbed through the hundred-dollar bills in the envelope. It was all there. Ten thousand dollars. “I want to make one thing very clear before you go. Don't come back again. We won't give you a dime next time. Is that clear?”
His eyes bore into Chandler's and the handsome blond smiled. “I get the message.” He drained his drink, set down the glass, slipped the envelope into his blazer, and looked at Bernie one last time. “Give Liz my love. Sorry not to have seen her.” Bernie wanted to kick him in the gut, but he sat very still. It was interesting he hadn't mentioned Jane once since they'd met. He had sold her for ten thousand dollars, and with a casual wave at the bartender, he strolled out of the restaurant and sauntered around the corner, as Bernie sat shaking at the bar. He didn't even want his drink. He just wanted to go home to Liz, and make sure she was all right. He was faintly afraid that he might show up to bother Liz, or try to see Jane in spite of the arrangement. But Bernie found it difficult to believe that he cared about the child. He had shown absolutely no interest in her.
He hurried outside, got back in his car, and drove to Buchanan and Vallejo. He left the car in front of their garage and hurried up the steep steps. He felt shaken by the encounter and he wasn't sure why, but all he knew was he had to see Liz. He struggled with the key, and at first he thought there was no one home, but as he looked into the kitchen he saw her. She was brushing the hair out of her eyes and baking more cookies for him and Jane.
“Hi there.” His face broke into a slow smile. He was so relieved to see her he could have cried, and she sat down heavily on a kitchen chair, and smiled up at him. She looked like a princess in a fairy tale, except for the enormous tummy. “Hello, sweetheart.” He went to gently touch her face and she leaned her head against him. She had been worried about him all morning, and feeling guilty because of the trouble and expense she had caused him.
“Did everything go all right?”
“Perfectly. And he looked exactly the way you said he would. I
suspect he's very hard up for money.”
“If that's true, he'll wind up in jail again pretty soon. That man has pulled off more scams and con jobs than anyone can imagine.”
“What does he need the money for?”
“To survive, I guess. He's just never known how to earn a living any other way. I used to think that if he put as much effort into something honest, he could have been the head of General Motors by now.” He smiled at her. “Did he say anything about Jane?”
“Not a word. He just took the money and ran, as the saying goes.”
“Good. And I hope he never comes back again.” She heaved a sigh of relief and smiled at Bernie. She was so grateful to have him, especially after the tough times she'd been through before him. She never lost sight of how lucky she was now.
“I hope so too, Liz.” But he wasn't convinced they had seen the last of Chandler Scott. He was just too slick, and a little too cheerful. But he didn't tell her that. She had enough to think about. He wanted to suggest adopting Jane to her now too, but he didn't want to burden her with anything until after the baby was born. She was so tired and so uncomfortable most of the time. “Anyway, just put it out of your mind. It's all over, finished, goodbye. How's our little friend?” He rubbed her tummy like a Buddha and she laughed.
“He sure kicks a lot. He feels like he's going to come any minute.” Her baby was getting so heavy and she was carrying it so low that she could barely walk now, and he wouldn't have dared try to make love to her. You could feel the baby's head pressing down on her pelvis, and she said she felt it constantly, pressing on her bladder. In fact, that night she had several sharp pains, and he made her call the doctor. But the doctor wasn't impressed by what she said, and they went back to bed for the rest of the night, although she couldn't sleep.
The next three weeks crawled by at a snail's pace, and ten days past her due date she was so exhausted she sat down and cried when Jane wouldn't eat her dinner.
“It's all right, sweetheart.” He had offered to take them out but Jane had a cold and Liz was too tired. She didn't want to get dressed up anymore and her hips hurt constantly. Bernie read Jane a story that night and took her to school the next day himself, eliminating the need for the carpool. And he had just walked into his office when his secretary buzzed him on the intercom, as he glanced over some reports from New York about their sales figures for March, which were outstanding.
“Yes?”
“It's Mrs. Fine on four.”
“Thanks, Irene.” He picked up the line, still perusing the reports and wondering why she had called. “What's up, sweetheart?” He didn't think he'd forgotten anything at home. He wondered if Jane's cold had gotten worse and she wanted him to pick her up at school now. “Everything okay?”
She giggled, which was a major change from her mood when he'd left that morning. She had been distracted and grumpy and she had snapped at him when he suggested they go out to dinner that night. But he understood how jumpy she was and how lousy she felt and he didn't get upset when she barked at him. “Everything's just fine.” She suddenly sounded excited and happy.
“Well, you certainly sound cheerful. Anything special happen?”
“Maybe.”
“What does that mean?” His antenna suddenly went up.
“My water just broke.”
“Hallelujah! I'll be right home.”
“You don't have to, nothing major has started yet, just a few little cramps.” But she sounded so victorious and he couldn't have stayed away. They had waited nine and a half months for this and he wanted to be there with her.
“Did you call the doctor yet?”
“I did. He said to call him when things start to happen.”
“How long does he think that will take?”
“You remember what they said in class. It could get going half an hour from now, or maybe not till tomorrow morning. It should be soon though.”
“I'll be right there. Do you want anything?”
She smiled at the phone. “Just my sweetheart…. I'm sorry I've been such a bitch these past few weeks. … I just felt so rotten.” She hadn't even told him how badly her back and hips hurt all the time.
“I know you did. Don't you worry about that, baby. It's almost over.”
“I can hardly wait to see the baby.” But suddenly, she was scared too, and when he got home he found her very tense, so he rubbed her back, and talked to her while she took a shower. And the shower seemed to get things started. She sat down afterwards with a serious look, and she winced as she got the first strong contractions. He made her breathe, and got out his favorite watch while he timed them. “Do you have to wear that thing?” She was getting grouchy again, but they both knew why from what they learned in the class they had taken. She was probably going into transition. “Why do you have to wear that watch? It's so gaudy.” He smiled to himself, knowing that she was getting closer. Her irritability meant this was the real thing.
He called Tracy at school and asked her to take Jane home with her that afternoon. She was excited to hear that Liz was in labor, and by one o'clock the pains were coming hard and fast, and Liz could barely catch her breath between them. It was definitely time to go, and the doctor was waiting at the hospital when they got there. Bernie was pushing Liz in a wheelchair as a nurse walked behind them, and Liz signaled to him to stop each time she had a contraction. And suddenly she began to wave frantically, unable to catch her breath as one contraction became two and then three and four without letting up, and she started to cry as they helped her out of the wheelchair in the labor room, and up onto the bed where Bernie helped her take her clothes off.
“It's okay, baby…. It's okay. …” He suddenly wasn't scared anymore. He couldn't imagine anyplace else to be, except with her, as their baby came. She let out a hideous scream as the next contraction came, and a worse one as the doctor examined her. Bernie held her hands and told her to breathe but she was having a difficult time concentrating and she was losing control, as the doctor looked down at her, satisfied with her progress.
“You're doing fine, Liz.” He was a warmhearted man with gray hair and blue eyes, and Bernie had liked him from the first, as had Liz. He exuded competence and warmth, as he did now, but Liz wasn't listening. She was clutching Bernie's arm, and screaming with each contraction. “You're eight centimeters dilated …two more to go …and you can start pushing.”
“I don't want to push … I want to go home. …” Bernie smiled at the doctor, and urged her to pant. And the next two centimeters went faster than the doctor expected. She was in the delivery room pushing by four o'clock, and it was eight hours since labor had begun, which didn't seem long to Bernie as he talked to Liz and quieted her over and over, but it seemed like an eternity to her as the pains continued to roar through her.
“I can't take anymore!” She suddenly screamed, refusing to pant anymore. But they were putting her legs in the stirrups now, and the doctor was talking about doing an epi-siotomy. “I don't care what you do…. Just get that baby out of me….” She was sobbing now like a child, and Bernie felt a lump rise in his throat as he watched her. He couldn't stand watching her continue to writhe in pain and the breathing didn't seem to help her at all, but the doctor didn't look worried.
“Can't you give her something?” Bernie whispered and the doctor shook his head as the nurses began to run around everywhere and two women in green surgical suits came in pushing a bassinet with a heat lamp, and suddenly it all became real. The bassinet was there for their baby. The baby was coming, and he bent low next to Liz' ear and encouraged her to breathe, and then push when the doctor told her.
“I can't…can't…hurts too much …” She couldn't take much more, and Bernie was stunned when he looked at his watch and saw that it was after six o'clock. She had been pushing for more than two hours.
“Come on.” The doctor was intent now. “Push harder …come on, Liz! Again …Now! …that's it…that's it…come on …the baby's head is crowning �
��he's coming through …come on!” And then suddenly along with Liz' howl of anguish, there was another smaller one, and Bernie stared as the baby's head came from between her legs into the doctor's hands, and he propped up Liz' shoulders so she could watch and push again, and suddenly he was there. Their son. She was crying and laughing and Bernie was kissing her and crying too. It was a celebration of life, and just as they had promised, the pain was almost forgotten. The doctor cut the cord once the placenta was out, and he handed Bernie his son as Liz watched, trembling on the delivery table as she smiled, and the nurse assured her that the trembling was a normal reaction too. They cleaned her up as Bernie held the baby's face next to hers, and she kissed the satin cheek of their baby.
“What's his name?” The doctor smiled at them both as Bernie beamed and Liz continued to touch the baby with wonder.
They exchanged a look, and Liz said her son's name for the first time. “Alexander Arthur Fine.”
“Arthur was my grandfather,” Bernie explained. Neither of them was crazy about the baby's middle name, but Bernie had promised his mother. “Alexander A. Fine,” he repeated, and bent to kiss his wife, with the baby in his arms, their tears mixing as they kissed, and the baby slept happily as Bernie held him.
Chapter 16
The arrival of Alexander Arthur Fine created a stir like no other that had occurred in the recent history of his family. Bernie's parents arrived, carrying shopping bags full of gifts and toys, for Jane, and Liz, and the baby. Grandma Ruth was especially careful about not neglecting Jane. She made an enormous fuss over her, for which Bernie and Liz were grateful.
“You know, sometimes just when I decide I can't stand her, my mother does something so nice, I can't believe she's the same woman who's always driven me crazy.”
Liz smiled at him. They were even closer now that they had shared Alexander's birth. They were both still awed by the experience. “Maybe Jane will say that about me one day.”
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