July 10, 1946
San Francisco, CA
Doris and Blanche Nixon lived in a house that Alice could only describe as extravagant. She and Lewis got out of their taxi cab together, the warm summer air filled with the scent of blossoms. A handful of trees lined the hill they found themselves on, the next houses a few car lengths to either side of the edge of their lawn. Doris had told them to be ready for lunch when they landed. Alice's stomach growled as she stood on the sidewalk.
"Welcome to sunny California," Lewis told her. He grinned and gestured to the house. As he did so, the front door opened and his mother stood in the doorway. He grinned. "Speak of the devil."
Alice laughed at him. She picked up her suitcase and followed as they walked up the driveway. Lewis had told her about their multiple properties; Blanche preferred this one, a bit away from the bustle of the city, whereas the main house was on Lombard Street. She hadn't quite understood the extravagance of it until they'd driven past and she'd seen the crooked street.
"You look lovely, dear," Doris told her, offering a kiss on either cheek. "You as well, Lewis."
"Same to you, Mrs. Nixon," Alice told her. They stood in the hall, Alice putting her suitcase on the floor to the right of the door and listening to the laughter further in. One was definitely Blanche. The other she didn't recognize. "I hope we aren't late."
"Not at all," Doris assured her. She turned to Lewis and pointed him to the rooms upstairs. "Take the bags up, Lewis."
He scoffed out a laugh but did as he was told. As he disappeared upstairs, Alice followed Doris Nixon further inside. It wasn't a particularly large house, but the windows were tall and the ceilings too. When she walked into the kitchen at the back of the house, she could see down into the city. She also found Blanche grinning from ear to ear where she sat at the table beside a young blonde woman.
"Alice!" Blanche shot up from the table and gave her two kisses. "I'm so glad you could come out here. Alice, this is Peg, Peg, this is Alice, my brother's wife."
"Hi!" Peg got up from the table and offered a kiss. "Pleasure to meet you. I've heard so much about you."
Alice chuckled. As she eased herself into a chair across from Peg, she looked at Blanche. "Oh, no."
"Only good things," Peg insisted.
"Lewis!" Blanche called. "Get in here."
It didn't take long for both Doris and Lewis to move into the dining room with them. Both looked happy, Lewis significantly happier than she remembered him looking since the reunion. It just added to her mental list of reasons she wanted him to leave the Nixon Nitration Works. She knew Dick wanted out. Since Stanhope had pulled the gun on him, he'd been loathe to stand in the same room with the man. Alice couldn't blame him.
"Look at you three, already getting acquainted," he teased. "I better watch out."
"Nice to see you too, Lew," said Peg. She laughed. Standing out of the table, Peg shared a kiss with him in greeting. "Been awhile."
He agreed. "Too long." Slumping into the last chair at the table, he gestured to Peg. "How's your fiancé? Still in medical school?"
Peg grinned. With a nod, she pointed at Blanche. "We were just talking about him. BJ's good. He's still at Stanford."
"Not quite Yale."
Alice poked him. "Would you stop?"
He ignored her. "When's the wedding?"
"We're not sure. We're thinking of waiting until he graduates, before he goes into Residency." Peg sighed. Taking a drink of iced tea, she changed the subject. She turned to Alice. "So, I understand you're from Paris?"
"Yes." Alice smiled. "I lived there before the war."
Peg grinned. "I've only seen pictures. I've never been to Europe. Though I'm in no rush now," she added. "Given the war and all."
Blanche agreed with her. But Lewis and Alice just exchanged brief glances. They heard Doris shout something from the front doors about running out somewhere, but soon turned back to Blanche and Peg's chat.
"So, are you two thinking about moving out here?" Peg asked, turning back to them. "BJ and I have had our eye on this plot of land in Mill Valley. But it doesn't look to be going up for sale any time soon."
Blanche smiled. "Peggy, you have to wait for it. It's the perfect spot."
"I know. We will," she said. "But you two?"
Alice turned to Lewis. He shrugged and answered for them. "Not at the moment. I'm still working at our company outside New York City."
"So East Coast it is for us," Alice agreed.
Blanche frowned. She circled the rim of her glass with her finger, not responding. The prospect clearly didn't sit well with her, that Lewis would stay there for the foreseeable future. Alice wondered how many times she'd begged Lewis in her letters for them to move out West. She'd asked Alice only once.
"No accounting for taste," Blanche murmured. But then she just shrugged. "Once we eat lunch, we should walk around the city. Alice needs to see the sights."
They all agreed. Peg told them she had until about five, at which point she needed to meet BJ in Sausalito. They'd planned a date night.
Blanche and Peg helped make lunch when Doris returned, and soon all five sat eating. They kept conversation away from Stanhope, though Doris asked for updates on how both Alice and Lewis were doing at the company. Neither mentioned the incident at the party. They kept it civil, doing their best not to slander the former husband of Doris Ryer Nixon.
Doris spoke about her newest philanthropic efforts, about the mingling and networking she'd been doing for the past three months. At her story, Blanche's smile dropped, and she picked at her food. Alice wondered why.
"Mrs. Nixon you never fail to amaze me," Peg told her. "I can only hope to be half the woman you are."
She smiled. "Don't worry, Peggy. I'm sure you and your fiance will do plenty of good. He's going to be a surgeon after all."
"The best surgeon," Blanche agreed. And then she grinned. "And someday, you'll be the best mother."
Peg laughed. "I can only hope."
It felt nice to sit there and listen to them talk. Lewis carried on the conversation, asking about various names that Alice had only heard of in stories of the West Coast. Ruth's brother came up once. He still worked for Doris.
"And when are you two going to start a family?" Doris asked. She pointed at Alice. "You two aren't kids anymore."
Alice's drink froze against her lips at the question. She and Lewis made eye contact. She put down her drink. Her hand shook as she let go. "Well. That's why we're here, actually."
"No." Blanche put her own drink down and then laughed. "You're pregnant?"
She smiled. "Yes."
Peg clapped and Blanche stood up from her chair, sending it flying backwards. "Oh my god." She grabbed Alice in a hug. "I can't believe it!" Then she crashed into Lewis. "You bastard! Not telling me!"
"Congratulations," Doris said. She grabbed her son in a hug first, a few tears on her cheeks, and then turned to Alice. "Congratulations," she said again.
"Thank you," Alice said.
"When's the baby due?" Peg asked, offering her a quick hug. "When did you find out?"
"Due in February," Lewis told them. He started grinning. "Don't be jealous it took so long to tell you. We haven't told anyone, not even Dick."
Alice had been keeping it to herself, and Lewis agreed. It had taken some time to adjust to the news. When she'd found out, she'd nearly had a heart attack. Not that she didn't want a child; Alice had always wanted to be a mother. Or she had, back before the war.
But then she'd gone to war. Every time she thought about bringing a little life into the world, she panicked. She didn't want the baby face the same hatred that she had, the same twisted life. She wanted the baby to be happy, to be free, to know a life without despair. And she wasn't sure she could do that. She felt too broken herself.
She knew Lewis had thought the same. She hadn't told him at first. She'd given herself a few days to process it, to wonder how to break the news. He'd been as shocked as she had. It wasn't like they'd been trying to avoid having a child. But now that it was here, it was real... it was terrifying.
Coming to San Francisco to see Blanche had been their way of trying to figure out how to tell their friends. If they could tell his mother and sister, they could tell Dick and Harry and Ron and George. Kitty was pregnant too, they'd recently found out. Just a week before, Kitty and Harry had called them up with the news.
It was then that Alice knew they needed to tell their friends. So after San Francisco, after they'd figured out what exactly to do, she intended to call George, and Harry, and Bill. They planned on telling Dick right away in person. And then they'd figured out the next step.
Alice grabbed Lewis' hand as they all stood out on the sidewalk. It wasn't a far walk to more bustling streets. Blanche still grinned from ear to ear, walking next to Peg a few feet in front of them.
"Ready?" Alice asked him.
He nodded. Then he smirked, gesturing ahead. "After you, Mommy."
Mommy. The term made her anxiety sky rocket. But she had better get used to it. In about seven months, that would be her new name.