Capítulo 520: Chapter 521: Elia
[Chapter 521: Elia]
Eric found himself momentarily puzzled, trying to recall that this was the name he had initially suggested for Joanna's unborn child. He had stumbled upon the name after remembering a particular skit, and it had initially carried a playful connotation. However, after that conversation, he hadn't mentioned it again to the two women, never expecting Joanna would hold onto it for so long. It was clear now that she disapproved of the name, which had always seemed frivolous, and now she could no longer contain her feelings about it.
Although Eric felt a mix of amusement and exasperation, he decided to go along with Joanna's sentiments and replied, "Okay, not Hawaii, not Hawaii. You can name the little one whatever you like; I won't interfere."
Joanna smiled faintly, as though a burden had been lifted, and after a moment of thought, she looked at Eric and softly said, "Hawaii... the name isn't very appealing."
"Yeah, it's pretty terrible. That was my fault. Once the little one arrives, you can take your time to come up with a lovely name," Eric nodded. He and the two women had never focused on the sex of the baby and continued to refer to it simply as 'it.'
Despite Joanna having no neurotic tendencies, her quiet demeanor led Eric to believe that her labor would take much longer than Virginia's. He had braced himself for an extended period of tiring wait. However, to his surprise, just a little over four hours later, the sweet cries of a newborn echoed from Joanna's room.
"Congratulations, Mr. Williams, it's a lovely little princess," a nurse told Eric as he stepped out from Virginia's room.
"Thank you, I appreciate your hard work," he said gratefully before entering Joanna's room. She had been moved to recovery, looking quite weak. Still, she hadn't slept; instead, her gaze was fixed on the nurse giving the baby a warm water bath.
After a while, the nurse finished cleaning up and brought the bundled baby to Joanna.
"Eric, this is my daughter," Joanna said softly, glancing at the little one's wrinkled face.
Eric squatted by her bedside, smiling as he replied, "She's our daughter."
"Yes, our daughter." Joanna smiled a gentle smile as she reached out, lightly touching the baby's cheek with her finger before quickly withdrawing it. A flicker of hesitation crossed her eyes before she looked up at Eric and said, "Eric, let's stick with Hawaii for the name."
"Ah..." Eric opened his mouth for a moment before chuckling, "Let's not. I didn't put much thought into that name back then, and you clearly don't like it."
"No," Joanna shook her head gently, her tone firm. "We'll name her Hawaii, Hawaii Williams."
Completely baffled by Joanna's conviction, Eric could only nod, "Alright, I did say you could choose the little one's name."
Joanna replied with a soft affirmation as she leaned in closer to the baby and called out gently before asking Eric, "What should her nickname be?"
Eric thought for a moment and suggested based on the pronunciation habits he had learned, "How about Elia?"
Joanna, noting that the nickname didn't bear resemblance to Hawaii, asked, "Does this nickname relate to Hawaii?"
He explained, "Of course! Following the pronunciation, maybe the nickname could be Haha, but I prefer Elia. Elia means sun in Italian."
Joanna didn't query him further about it, instead repeating the nickname a few times until satisfied. "Elia, that sounds nice. We'll go with that. By the way, how is Vicky doing?"
"With all these doctors around, she should be fine. But you know, most women take a bit longer on their first delivery," Eric replied.
Joanna nodded, "Yeah, you should go check on her then."
Eric didn't argue; he was also worried about what was happening on the other side. He stood, saying, "I'll have someone bring you something to eat, and make sure you rest."
"I know, just hurry over there," she urged.
...
Soon enough, Eric found himself in the other room, where Virginia looked a bit downcast. She had initially thought that her child would be Eric's firstborn, either a son or a daughter, but now it felt like her baby is going to be a younger sibling. Twelve hours had passed; with time running out, the baby might face danger due to oxygen deprivation. Doctors had discussed preparing for a cesarean, and at that moment, Virginia said nothing against it.
Suddenly, as if sensing their urgency, the little one decided it was time to make an appearance. After a brief consultation, the doctors cancelled the surgery plans.
Two hours later, a plump baby boy cried as he entered the world.
...
The simultaneous births of the two children created quite a stir. Despite multiple confidentiality agreements signed afterward, some information inevitably slipped out. However, due to the absence of photos or witness accounts, tabloid headlines referring to the birth of a Hollywood director's illegitimate child captured the public's attention, though larger media outlets remained cautious about making any premature reports. Most ordinary people dismissed the buzz as just another baseless Hollywood rumor.
That said, the media were far from oblivious. In a matter of days, the once-quiet East Hampton became abuzz with reporters from North America and even Europe, who swiftly zeroed in on the small estate Eric had purchased.
The house was already vacated, and the persistent reporters left empty-handed after days of waiting.
...
Meanwhile, Eric had relocated with the two women; this time, they went to the farm residence he had borrowed from Spielberg, Quelle Farm, who had just won an Oscar for Best Director. The beautiful estate was typically the Spielberg family's summer retreat, although he usually resided in Los Angeles.
With the newborns just a week old, both mothers had everything in order and, with several caretakers nearby, Eric found himself with little to do. Just two days prior, he had volunteered to change his son's diaper, which inexplicably sent the little one into tears, leading Virginia to promptly shoo Eric out of the nursery, forbidding him from approaching their baby.
The banter was light, but both mothers were adamant about not needing Eric's help anymore, leaving him with little to do. Preoccupied with their newborns, he finally had a chance to get back to work.
...
Besides the regular work documents coming in from Los Angeles, Eric began writing the outline for the upcoming film, Charlie's Angels. Additionally, he received word from Chris that the beta version of Hotmail had finally launched. Eric was eager to try out this new email service, even though he had been somewhat annoyed by Steve Mitnick's slow pace during testing. After using it, however, Eric was quite satisfied. Despite some limitations that caused issues with various sites, Hotmail handled everything smoothly and without any loading difficulties.
After testing Hotmail, he rapidly began sharing this new communication tool with those around him, especially the management at Firefly Entertainment, who quickly adapted to the online email system. Executives like Katzenberg started sending Eric numerous emails daily to discuss various matters.
Simultaneously, Hotmail's promotion linked directly through Yahoo's prominent interface, and with Yahoo and Internet Explorer coverage exceeding ninety percent of Internet users, Hotmail witnessed over a million registrations within just three days of launch. Thankfully, their servers were prepared to handle the traffic, avoiding any outages from surge loads. At their current growth rate, it wasn't out of the question that Hotmail could soon rival Yahoo and IE in terms of coverage.
Chris had once been concerned about the long-term viability of three companies, given that a consistent free service with no profitability model could eventually end in disaster. He worried about rising operation costs from the exploding user numbers, which might soon become unsustainable even for Eric.
Seeing the numbers grow so rapidly eased Chris's worries. Even if Hotmail capped at ten million users, he knew the potential for profit through email advertisements was significant. Furthermore, with millions of users, additional opportunities for monetization on the Internet would inevitably emerge.
Alongside Hotmail, a new official version of Internet Explorer launched as well. Previously in beta, the release signified the browser's complete technical maturity. Competing companies would find it nearly impossible to surpass IE's technological advantage in a short timeframe.
...
Sitting by the now-empty swimming pool, Eric lounged back with his legs crossed, a laptop resting on the roundtable. While he pondered these developments, his fingers danced across the keyboard, sipping coffee occasionally, embodying a serene and comfortable atmosphere. With the babies born, both Virginia and Joanna hinted to Eric that he was welcome to return to Los Angeles if he felt the need to attend to work matters, suggesting that staying here was not an obligation.
However, Eric was in no rush to head back to Los Angeles. Having been busy and tied down there for so long, he found that life here, apart from the bustle of the city, felt rather peaceful. With over half a month gone, everything seemed perfectly in order back home. As the boss, he decided to savor some time off.
With a soft beep, his laptop notified him of incoming emails, and Eric adeptly opened the browser to check his inbox.
Although Hotmail had yet to launch a dedicated client, users could already install plugins in IE for email notifications.
Besides a few women and closer friends, only senior executives at Firefly Entertainment knew Eric's private email address. Even though only department heads could access it, there were still many who reached out. Eric had advised against sending non-urgent emails, but he found himself inundated with updates and even some amusing gossip from the staff that made him chuckle.
One particular email stood out; it was from Jerry Bruckheimer. With just under two months to go until Jurassic Park's release, the film was entering its final promotional phase. The marketing and distribution efforts were primarily run through Firefly's distribution team, in collaboration with Bruckheimer himself.
As Eric was reading through the document, he noticed Joanna approaching, smiling as she carried a pot of coffee.
"I figured your coffee was about finished, so I made you a fresh brew," Joanna said, waving the pot as she stepped over several data cables on the floor to refill his cup. She then pulled up a chair next to him.
"Is Elia sleeping?" Eric casually inquired.
"She is, the sleepy little thing," Joanna beamed, glancing at Eric's laptop screen. Noting a few lines, her eyes widened in surprise.
Eric didn't hide his thoughts, pointing at the email content displayed on the screen. "At a promotional event yesterday in Seattle, a reporter asked why I wasn't participating in the Jurassic Park promotions. Jerry tried to change the subject, but then another reporter boldly asked if I had a love child. These people are getting bolder every day."
Jerry's email merely recounted the amusing incident from the Seattle event, but he also expressed concern. With Jurassic Park's release drawing near and word spreading about Eric's new child, Bruckheimer feared that some would exploit this moment for headlines leading up to the film's debut.
*****
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