“We’ll see,” she said, with a Mona Lisa smile.
“I assume you don’t want to work now?” he questioned her.
“Well, you’ve got post-production now, so you’ll be busy till February, and we don’t have a new screenplay. The baby will come in June, and I could go back to work pretty soon after that,” she said, and he nodded. “And you’re not going to want me in every picture anyway. You can do the next one without me, and I’ll sit on the sidelines getting fat.”
“Excellent idea. But I’ll want you in the one after that, unless you get too fat of course.” She swatted him then and he laughed. He thought she had never looked more beautiful. He felt again the tiny bump that was their baby. It was the most exciting news of his life, and he had never loved any woman more.
* * *
—
Antonia called to tell Lara about the baby after she told Hamish. She had wanted to tell Hamish first, but Lara was the closest thing she had to a mother, and Lara was ecstatic when she heard the news.
“Oh, darling, that’s wonderful. How do you feel?” She had never had children, nor wanted them, but she always celebrated the news for others, particularly Antonia.
“I feel great. And Hamish is thrilled. I think he wants to have me carried around on a litter so nothing goes wrong.” Antonia didn’t tell her whether or not to tell her father. It was up to Lara. The subject of her father no longer came up when they talked. It was better that way, and there was nothing to say.
“I can’t wait to see it. I hope it’s a girl,” Lara said excitedly, and when they hung up, she ran into Brandon in the kitchen. It was Sunday and he was reading the paper, and looked up when Lara walked in. She was smiling broadly.
“What’s up?” He smiled back at her, in a good mood.
“Antonia’s having a baby. She’s three months pregnant. Isn’t that great news?”
She beamed, and his face went cold immediately.
“For whom?” he said, picking up his paper again with a sour expression.
“For them of course, and for us. It’s a new life, that’s always a good thing and a blessing.”
“I hope it’s not a girl, or it’ll be a tramp like her and her mother. It’s in their blood.”
Lara stared at him as though she couldn’t believe what she’d heard. “Please tell me you don’t mean that.”
“Of course I mean it.”
She was shaking as she looked at him. “Brandon, you lost your wife sixteen years ago, for whatever reason. I don’t know if she was a good person, or as bad as you say. And in the last year and a half, and actually long before that, you’ve managed to lose your daughter, and pushed her away in every way that you could. And she’s not a whore or a bitch or a tramp or a slut, or any of the things you call her and her mother. And my guess is that she’s probably nothing like her mother. I do know one thing. Antonia is a fantastic person, and a lovely human being, and you’ve treated her badly ever since I’ve known you. I’ve made excuses for you for years, even to Antonia. I can’t anymore. Watching you try to systematically destroy your own child makes me sick, for you and for her. You’re so full of poison, you don’t even know what you’re seeing or who she is. I’m not going to sit here and listen to you vilify her baby too. If you can’t even be warmed by that and be happy for her, and your own grandchild, then you’re even sicker than I thought.” She walked out of the kitchen then and didn’t say another word. She went to her closet and pulled out a suitcase, and laid it on the bed.
He came in a few minutes later to see what she was doing, and was startled to see the suitcase. She was packing.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m leaving. I can’t do this anymore. You’re a sick man.”
“Oh come on, you’re not going to let Antonia ruin things for us, are you? She destroyed my marriage to Fabienne when she was born. We can’t let her ruin ours too.”
Lara turned to face him squarely after she closed her bag. She was only taking basics for now. “Antonia didn’t ruin anything, then or now. You did. I have no respect for you after the way you’ve treated her. And I’m sure Fabienne didn’t help. I’m leaving you, Brandon. I want a divorce.” His eyes opened wide. “And you can relax, I don’t want a penny from you. I have everything I need. I’ll pick up the rest of my things when I find an apartment.” And with that, she picked up her suitcase, walked out of the apartment, and rang for the elevator. He didn’t follow her or try to stop her. He stood rooted to the floor, and stared at the door. He never thought Lara would do something like that to him. But he hadn’t expected Fabienne to leave him either, and she had. Lara was a good woman, and he knew it. He sat down in a chair in their bedroom and started to cry. As he saw it, all the women in his life had betrayed him, starting with his mother, by dying or leaving, or changing into something they hadn’t been before. And now Lara was one of them too, and was leaving him alone.