Brandon put all his energies into his work, so he had little time to spend going to dinner with friends. And he took time off on the weekends to spend with her. They went for walks in the park, movies together, and the theater occasionally. He took her out to dinner at popular restaurants, and introduced her to a life she would never have had otherwise. If it weren’t for Brandon, she would still have been a waitress in a Parisian café.
She teased him at times about how restrained he was in public, and around his friends. He was a lion in bed, but chilly with her in public, and she accused him of being an American puritan. She was overtly sexual with him whenever and wherever the mood struck her, which he didn’t like and told her so. It never slowed her down, and they frequently left dinner or a movie halfway through at her urging, to rush home to bed. He’d never had a relationship like theirs, or a woman he was as enchanted by. Sex was the driving force of what had brought them together, and the strongest bond they had formed, and he was enjoying it thoroughly, and thought it a good start for their marriage. In the far off distance, he could envision a house in the suburbs, and two or three children running around, but he was nowhere near ready for that yet. And she was still very young, at twenty-four, and wanted a career first, and said so openly. He didn’t mind waiting a few years for their married life to take a more domestic turn. They were both young enough to wait, and agreed there was no rush. And he wanted to build his businesses first.
Things took an unexpected turn when, four months after they married, Fabienne realized that she was pregnant, and considered it disastrous news. Her English was improving, she’d been intending to contact the agent again soon, and having a baby would slow everything down and interfere with her career plans. Brandon wasn’t thrilled at the news either. Abortion had just become legal in New York, and Fabienne suggested it, but Brandon didn’t feel comfortable about it, and although it was years sooner than he’d planned, he wanted children with her, to establish a lasting foundation to their marriage.
It took them a month of arguments and discussions, and tears on Fabienne’s part, but she finally agreed to have the baby as long as he understood that she was going to pursue her acting career, whether or not they had a child. He agreed to pay for childcare so she could, which softened the blow a little for her. With a baby, she felt like she’d be in jail.
Her plans to contact the agent were rapidly postponed. She was violently sick for most of the pregnancy, which did nothing to help her warm to the idea. She begged Brandon to let her have an abortion, as she lay too sick to get up on most days, and he refused to consider it. Nor would her doctor. It was far too late for a legal abortion. She was still throwing up several times a day when she was six months pregnant, and said she hated the baby that was making her so ill. It was the only obstacle between her and the career she had dreamed of all her life and thought was within reach now. Brandon was slowly warming to the idea of the baby, although he expressed it sparingly to Fabienne, who flew into a rage whenever he mentioned it.
She made no effort to prepare for the baby. Brandon had found a larger apartment for them when they discovered she was pregnant. It was large and sunny in a handsome building, and he had to hire a decorator because Fabienne felt too ill to take any interest in it. And it was Brandon who set up the nursery in his spare time on the weekends, while Fabienne lay in bed, too nauseous to move, and too angry to do anything to help. Her doctor said that she was one of those rare women who suffered from nausea twenty-four hours a day for the entire pregnancy. Brandon wondered at times if it was because she was so opposed to the idea of having a baby, but he never suggested it to her.
He was busier than usual for the last two months of the pregnancy. He had bought another company, which had great growth potential. It was located in New Jersey, with a factory in Pittsburgh, which he acquired with the deal. He was constantly on the road between New Jersey, New York, and Pittsburgh, and had an eye on another small company in Chicago. His ventures were multiplying exponentially, as his family was expanding.
Brandon was in New Jersey when Fabienne went into labor, and rushed home to be with her, as he had promised. The baby arrived promptly on its due date in August during a heat wave in New York. Fabienne had been lying on their bed like a beached whale for the last month, and had complained constantly about how miserable she was. He thought she had never looked more beautiful, but didn’t dare to say so. She cried every time she saw herself in the mirror and was terrified the baby would ruin her figure forever. All she wanted was to have it, and get it over with. She hired a baby nurse for the first few weeks, and had babysitters lined up after that. She was planning to spend her time getting her figure back, so she could start her career in earnest by the end of the year.