"Did you see what Bobby did---wouldn't introduce Sandy or let her take a bow. Just kept her in the background while he stood up and got all the attention. Pure jealousy, that's what it is. How rude can a man be to his wife? Never thought any man would have the nerve to do a thing like that."

The multitude of people who gathered at a big television affair several months ago were appalled at Bobby Darin's latest action. Celebrities in the audience had been called to come to the mike and take a bow. Bobby had stepped up and received the applause of the audience. But when Sandra Dee was asked to come on stage, Bobby had refused to let her go. They interpreted it in only one way: Bobby was keeping his famous bride in the background so that he, alone, would be able to hog the share of the family glory. Tight-lipped, Bobby heard the criticisms and said nothing. Although the comments about his highhandedness continued for weeks, Bobby still wouldn't explain why he'd kept Sandra in the background.

But there was a good reason. Only he and Sandy knew it---and they wouldn't tell, at the time.

Only the day before, they had learned that Sandra was going to have a baby. Knowing that Sandra was feeling weak and wobbly, in the way of new mothers-to-be, he wanted to keep her from any unnecessary excitement. And because they wanted to keep their precious secret to themselves awhile longer, he let the criticisms fall on his head without explaining.

Now that the news of their expected baby is out, you can't find a happier couple than these two. The coming baby has achieved a minor miracle of its own, for it has smoothed over many problems that were beginning to cloud the marriage of the young Darins.

For instance, Bobby had been taking over the running of Sandra's career to a great extent, and this had become a bone of contention between them. In a youthful attempt to be the head of the house, Bobby had been ordering Sandra around. At first, Sandra accepted Bobby's bossiness, but as it continued, she began to burn up. They were beginning to have words about this, but Bobby wouldn't change his ways.

Then came the news from the doctor, and Bobby simply melted. With his arms around Sandy, he said, "I'm the happiest guy in the world. I'll do everything I can to make you happy, too."

And that's what he's been trying to do. He's been catering to Sandy, sending her flowers, calling her from his set at Paramount to ask how she is and making sure she's comfortable and happy. He's even consulting her on plans for the future, letting her have her way on many things, where he might have insisted on having his own way in the past. Now the first thing on his mind when he enters the front door is Sandra, and how she is.

Glowingly, Sandra told friends: "He's sweeter to me than he's ever been. I think that being a father means more to Bobby than it does to most young men. He wants to do so much for a child of his own. He was so poor as a kid, he wants to have a child of his own to lavish things on. I'm afraid I'll have to keep Bobby from spoiling our child."

Sandra's pregnancy cleared up another point that was rocking the Darin marriage craft. Bobby had been telling Sandra how to run her career. He'd kept her from being as friendly and cooperative with the press as she used to be. Not only was he telling Sandra what to do, he was telling her producer what to do! This was also beginning to annoy little Miss Dee, who felt that her producer had been doing very well for her before Bobby came into her life.

With motherhood approaching, Sandra worried about her career. Would her fans, who liked her as a dewey-eyed teenager, like her as much when she would be a mother? Would her studio, who'd built her up as a teen-age favorite, be angry at her? Would her producer hold her pictures for her while she took timeout to wait for her baby? For the first time, Bobby realized how much Sandra's career meant to her. He decided that he would not try to inject himself in her work as much as he'd done before. Tensions between Bobby and Sandra eased.

But one of the nicest things the baby-to-be has done is to mend the rift between Sandra and her mother. There had been a noticeable chill between Mary Douvan, Sandra's mother, and Bobby. Mrs. Douvan has always been very close to Sandra, but she stayed away from the house and saw little of Sandy after her marriage. Bobby made practically no attempts to bring Sandra and her mother together.

So overjoyed was he when he learned of his own coming child that he told Sandra, "Now let's call your mother and tell her she's going to be a grandma." He went to the phone and was the one to give Mrs. D. the joyful news. She came to the house, and the three of them had a happy reconciliation.

Sandra's grown up a lot since she's learned she'll have a baby to take care of. She'd always been a helpless and fluttery girl, first depending upon her mother, to do everything for her, and then depending on Bobby.

"I'll have to grow up in a hurry," Sandra told her friend. "The baby's going to need a woman for a mother---not a child."

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