The 22-Year Friendship

Ch. 17: Settled in & Expecting What?

Me and James spent our honeymoon in Hawaii. It was beautiful, and it was a pleasant two weeks we spent together. We walked on beach, enjoyed the food, and met lovely people. James planned all the nice activities that we did, with a little help from Elvis.

When we came back from Hawaii, we were greeted by our family. Everyone wanted to know how our honeymoon was. A whole party was planned at my mother's house, and it was really fun. My mother wanted to know intimate details, but I was certainly not an open book.

On September 15, 1960, James and I went searching for a house in California. We both wanted our house close to our families and a closed-off property for the safety of our future children. We felt that our personal life should be private, and we liked it that way. We spent hours looking at houses, but finally, we found a winner!

The mansion was located in a gated neighborhood in Beverly Hills, CA. James and I didn't really expect ourselves being so interested in a mansion, but this mansion was beautiful! We got a tour of the house, and it had a total of 20 rooms. There were eight bedrooms, six bathrooms, a spacy kitchen, and five extra rooms. The backyard was huge, and had a breath-taking view of Beverly Hills. There was also a spot for a lounge, and a pool. We immediately bought the house, and moved our things in.

[October]

We were already settled in our nice mansion in Beverly Hills. Our families would visit once a week, and we enjoyed the company. All of our friends had been to the house except for Elvis. I found out he was filming his latest movie, Flaming Star, and decided to invite him and his co-star, Barbara Eden, to our house. They were happily greeted by our new Rough Collie puppy named Ruby. We gave them a tour of our house, and Elvis played the piano while Barbara and I had a quiet conversation while he played. Barbara was so nice, and actually lived very close by. We talked about our marriages. After being married for two years to husband Michael Ansara, she wanted to have children. We planned a future play date for our children to come!

I visited the set of Flaming Star once a week. I enjoyed seeing the production of Elvis' movies, and he was grateful for the support I gave him. Barbara and I would always chat when I came. Lately, I was feeling a bit nauseous, and Barbara suggested that I should go to the doctors.

"Lilly, you may be pregnant!"

"Shhh! I may have ate something that made my stomach feel this way. However, I won't dismiss the possibility that I may be expecting. I'll take your advice."

"It would be delightful if you were expecting a cute little boy or gal."

"James isn't home, but I'll go in two days to find out."

It was the day to head to the doctor's office. My doctor, Dr. Olivier, was curious on why I was visiting the office.

"Lillian Preston- Or shall I say Mrs. James Prescott? Congratulations on getting married two months ago."

"Thank you, Dr. Olivier. By the way, I still go by Lillian Preston."

"I see! Well, what brings you here today? Did you injure yourself in some spectacular dance number?"

"Oh.. no! Surprisingly not. I've been actually feeling nauseous lately. I don't know if my stomach doesn't like something I ate, but a friend of mine thinks I may be expecting a baby."

"Well, we can do tests which will take an hour. What do you think?"

"OK, let's do it."

Dr. Olivier conducted the tests with a nurse, and I waited. I was anxious, but excited to hear the news on whether or not I was expecting a little one. An hour went by, and Dr. Olivier came back into the room holding the results of the tests.