The sleek black limo carefully pulled into the driveway that led past the Sheffield mansion and to the guest house. Niles sat protectively in the back seat beside his new daughter, with C.C. on the other side of the baby's car seat. C.C., who was no stranger to extravagance, thought the limousine was a bit much just for a ride home from the hospital, but Niles was adamant; he wanted to keep an eye on his daughter, and didn't want to have to concentrate on something as mundane as driving.
C.C. fumbled with the closures and straps on the infant car seat. "Why in the world…" she mumbled as she encountered yet another harness slot, "are these cages necessary?"
"For safety, my dear," Niles interjected, as he reached over and helped her release Prudi from her enclosure.
"Well, it's a wonder you and I and all the babies of our generation ever made it home from the hospital safely, considering they didn't have such contraptions then" C.C. shot back as she gathered Prudi in her arms. The couple walked to the front door and Niles opened it. To their surprise, Fran, Max and Grace were waiting inside, and the living room was decorated with pink balloons and bunting.
"Surprise!" they called out in unison. The trio simultaneously crowded around C.C., trying to catch a glimpse of the baby. C.C. smiled and held Prudi out to Grace, who cuddled her close and stared down at the sleeping face.
"She's so beautiful!" she said in awe.
After everyone was hugged and greeted, Fran brought out the champagne (sparkling grape juice for C.C., who was nursing) and everyone found a seat in the living room. Prudi still slumbered contentedly in Grace's arms. C.C. shrugged her jacket off. "Is it me, or is it hot in here? Is the air conditioning broken?" She walked over to the thermostat. "It's set for 80 degrees!"
Grace spoke without looking up. "I didn't want the baby to get a chill."
Niles looked around at the room and sighed. "This is one thing Grandmother missed."
"What's that?" C.C. asked, confused.
"Grandmother bore her children at home, in the bedroom. I guess that was the way in her time, but she missed the excitement of bringing the baby home."
"By the way, C.C.," Fran spoke up, "I hope you don't mind, but I bought a few things for the baby…."
"Oh, Fran, that wasn't necessary…."
"Well, you know how I love to shop, and Neiman Marcus has such cute things for newborns, and Jonah and Eve are already too big for that really cute, tiny stuff…oy, I couldn't resist, so shoot me!"
C.C. smiled resignedly and gently took Prudi from Grace. "If you all will excuse me, I think it's time this young lady had some lunch and a nap." She retired to the nursery and was taken aback. "A few things!" Nanny Fine had truly understated the situation. The nursery, which had previously been tastefully decorated and stocked with the basic baby supplies, was now bursting at the seams with mobiles, decals, onesies, bibs, sleepers and toys boasting every character imaginable from Blue's Clues to Teletubbies to Winnie the Pooh.
C.C. sighed, pulled a boppy from the groaning heaps of baby things, and settled herself into the rocking chair. As Prudi nursed, C.C. looked down at her daughter and smiled. "Your Aunt Fran means well, I guess, but I hope to God this wretched excess doesn't end up influencing your sense of style. Remember always that you are part Babcock."
Her daughter fed, C.C. placed her gently in the crib, and turned up the volume on the baby monitor. She returned to the living room and put on a brave face, when all she wanted at that moment was a nice, long nap.
"…it only makes sense, now that the baby is here," Fran was saying.
C.C. sunk into the overstuffed loveseat next to Niles. "What makes sense?" she asked, as Niles passed a plate full of cheese and crackers to her.
"The wedding," Fran explained, somewhat vaguely.
"What wedding?" C.C. turned to Niles. "Do you know what she's talking about?"
Niles shifted in his seat and tried to conceal a grin. "Fran seems to think that now would be the perfect time for me to make an honest woman of you. As if a mere mortal could accomplish such a task…oomph!" he finished as C.C.'s elbow met her target.
"You haven't told them?" C.C. asked Niles as he gingerly rubbed his side.
"No, my dear, I thought we should tell them together."
"Tell us what?" Max and Fran asked in unison.
There was an uncomfortable pause and then suddenly C.C. and Niles started speaking together. They both stopped, then looked at each other and laughed. C.C. nodded at Niles to continue.
"Well, you see," he said slowly, looking from face to face, "we are already married."
"What!" the three Sheffields gasped.
"C.C. thought it best to be legal before we boarded the plane to come out west. For insurance purposes and such, you know."
"How romantic," Fran muttered under her breath.
C.C. ignored the comment and explained, "Judge Russell Mael had an apartment in the same building as me, so Niles went to City Hall and got the license, and one Sunday afternoon Russ married us."
"It was quite romantic," Niles went on. "The judge and his wife had a barbecue out on their balcony for us afterward."
Fran's eyebrows had been knit since the beginning of the conversation. She reached out and grabbed C.C.'s left hand.
"You don't even have a wedding band, what kind of ceremony could it have been!"
"We had more important things on our minds at the time, Nanny Fine, er, Fran," C.C. said with exaggerated patience, as if she were talking to a child. "We were in the midst of packing and making arrangements to move to California, remember? Neither of us had the time to browse through jewelry stores."
"When it comes to jewelry, there's always time," Fran said, wagging a finger under C.C.'s nose.
"What exactly is the difference?" C.C. said with the infinite weariness of someone who was sleep-deprived. "Niles and I were both there, we know we're legally married, end of story. What difference does one additional piece of gold matter?"
"If that's what they wanted, I don't see anything wrong…" Grace said quietly.
"I have so much to teach you," Fran interrupted, squeezing in between C.C. and Niles, and putting her arm around C.C.'s shoulders. "OK, I know what it's like to have a newborn, in fact I know what it's like times two!" She gave her unique honk of laughter. "So you're going to be too busy to plan a proper wedding…"
"Nan- er,Fran, I already told you, we're married, we've had our wedding."
"Not a real wedding," Fran corrected. "We need to invite both your families, and have a cake, and a band, and…do this thing right…." her voice drifted off as she rose from the love seat and started making elaborate party preparations. C.C. looked to Niles silently for help. Max caught her glance.
"C.C.," Max said to her, "would you please come with me to look in on Prudence? I want to.., um, make sure the monitor is working. It's a different type than we had…."
C.C. followed Max to the nursery, confused. Instead of going inside, Max turned around in the hallway and grasped C.C.'s hands. "I don't want to wake the baby," he said, "but I did want to talk to you."
"What about?" C.C. asked, a bit irritated.
"The wedding. Your wedding."
"Max, have you gone deaf? Have I not already said three times that…."
"C.C., please," Maxwell held a finger to her lips. "Fran has been going a bit stir crazy lately…"
"You mean to tell me with toddling twins she doesn't have enough to keep her busy?"
"No, it's not a matter of 'busy', it's a matter of normal adult interaction and conversation. I've been keeping longer hours lately, as you know…Lifetime is proposing a made-for-TV movie of one of our off-Broadway plays, and the network is talking about re-casting the neighbor in the sitcom…to cut a long story short, I've been away from home a lot, and Fran seems to be lacking companionship. I get home long after dinner, we talk a bit, but I'm sure it's not enough. Planning a big party would lift her spirits enormously. Talking to caterers and such would give her a break from Baby Einstein, you see?" He ended his sentence with a tone of pleading.
C.C. thought a moment and sighed heavily. She no longer had any romantic feelings towards Maxwell, but nevertheless, she couldn't resist his big brown puppy eyes.
"OK," she relented, "if you insist. We'll have a freakin' wedding."
Max clasped her hands, leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Thank you," he said simply.
When C.C. returned to the living room, Grace asked anxiously, "you guys were gone a long time, is Prudi alright?"
"She's fine," C.C. assured her. "And you're obviously going to be an overprotective godmother." They both laughed. "Fran, I've thought about it, and you're right; why should we deny ourselves the opportunity to collect presents? Go ahead, go crazy, throw us a wedding."
She sat back down next to Niles, and he squeezed her hand. They surreptitiously exchanged a glance. "What in the world have we let ourselves in for?" was the unspoken question between them.