by Holly Rayner
She would miss so much.
Their child would learn the proper ways to greet heads of state and how to interact with other royal children. Ahmad would teach them about the history of Al-Yara and the royal family’s lineage. And Joanna would know nothing about any of it.
Wouldn’t it be better if she was around for some of that? Wouldn’t it be best if she could take part in that aspect of their child’s life?
He sat back in his chair, thinking.
He thought about her talk of college. He had pictured his child in an American elementary school, but he hadn’t really considered college. After all, that was a decision the parents couldn’t make for the child.
But they could be an influence.
He had agreed, in the contract, that the child could be educated in America. And he still saw nothing wrong with an American education. But now, he was thinking about his own time under the tutelage of the royal tutor. Sitting with all his cousins in one room, receiving lessons that were tailored to his specific needs.
And his own college education, which had taken place at Sepha College in the city center. His days at the beautiful wood-paneled library, learning about the history of his country. The day he had graduated with pride, surrounded by his entire family.
Maybe he wanted that for his child.
Would Joanna renegotiate?
If their child graduated in America, it was doubtful that the royal family would attend.
But there would be an American family to think about, too.
How is everyone possibly going to be a part of this child’s life? he thought. How is this going to work when Joanna and I are so far apart? When we know each other so little?
And how would he be able to stand being away from his child for nine months out of every year?
He picked up the phone before he could stop himself and dialed the number that by now was becoming familiar.
“Hello?” She was ever so slightly out of breath.
“Am I getting you in the middle of something?” he asked, instantly on the alert.
Every time he spoke to her, he found himself being more attentive, listening for differences in the tone of her voice, trying to make sure that she was all right.
“I’m just walking through the airport,” she said.
“Trying to make a flight?” he asked. “Should I let you go?”
“No, it’s the opposite,” she said. “I just landed.”
“Where are you today?”
“Maui.” She laughed. “Can you believe it?”
“What time is it there?”
“Eight thirty.”
“You’re kidding,” he said. “It’s eight thirty here.”
“In the morning, right?”
“Yes.”
“We’re on opposite sides of the world.”
He was silent for a moment, thinking about that.
“Joanna,” he said, “what’s going to happen with the baby when you’re off on all these trips?”
“My mother will look after him. Or her.”
“Are you sure?” Ahmad asked. “Your mother doesn’t even know you’re pregnant yet. What if she says no?”
“She won’t say no,” Joanna said. “She’s always wanted a grandchild. This is going to be huge for her when she finds out. She might feel strange about it for a little while, because it happened without her knowing. But she’s definitely going to want to be a part of the baby’s life.”
Ahmad sighed, wondering why this didn’t make him feel any better.
“Maybe the baby should live with me during the school year?” he suggested. “You could take summers off work with the money I’m giving you, and then you’d be able to be a full-time mom.”
“That wasn’t the agreement,” Joanna said, sounding slightly agitated. “You said I’d have custody during the school year. You can’t go changing things now that we’re committed.”
“I’m not trying to force your hand,” he reassured her. “I’ve just been… I don’t know. Thinking.”
“About what?”
“About what it’s going to be like to be a parent,” he said. “What it’ll be like to have a kid who lives on the other side of the world. I don’t like the idea very much.”
She hesitated.
“I can understand that,” she said. “I wouldn’t like it either, if you were going to have primary custody. But you’re getting what you want out of this, don’t forget. You’re getting the inheritance from your uncle. You’re going to be able to start your airline.”
“I know,” he said.
“Have you told your family yet?” she asked.
“No,” he admitted. “They’re going to be angry. They’ll say it’s because I thwarted the intent of the will. The money was probably supposed to go to the first person to settle down and start a family, not to the first person to technically produce a child. But that’s not what it actually says.”
“And they won’t like that you took advantage of the loophole,” she said.
“Umar especially won’t like it,” Ahmad said. “He’s been gloating about that money, lately. He thinks it’s as good as his.”
“That must be annoying,” Joanna sympathized.
“It’s impossible. Our whole family had dinner together on Friday—”
“You do that every Friday,” she commented.
“That’s right,” he said, impressed that she had remembered. “Anyway, Umar was talking on and on about the stock market and how foolish anyone was who invested in something they couldn’t control, and he had the gall to say that when he inherited Uncle Hakim’s money, he would be putting all of it in low-risk savings accounts.”
“What did your parents say?” Joanna asked.
“They just nodded and told him they thought that was a wise idea,” Ahmad said.
“That must be infuriating,” Joanna said. “I don’t have any siblings, so I can only imagine.”
“The baby won’t have siblings, either,” Ahmad said.
“Half-siblings, maybe. If you have other children.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Wouldn’t that be strange? Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable if I had a whole family here, and then my firstborn was only a part of it during the summer? They might start to feel like I didn’t want them around or something.”
“I’m not saying you don’t,” Joanna said. “I know you’re excited about this, just like I am. But the main reason you’re doing it is to get the money, right? That’s what it’s really about for you?”
Hearing it put so bluntly felt like a punch to the gut, and yet Ahmad couldn’t honestly say that she was wrong. He had only embarked on this journey as part of an attempt to claim the inheritance from his uncle, to be able to start the business he had always dreamed of starting.
But still…
“Maybe I feel differently now,” he said.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“It’s all real now,” he said. “It changes the way I think about it. This isn’t some hypothetical baby that I need to have if I’m going to inherit. This is my actual child. It exists. It’s going to be born, and it’s going to be part mine. Part of me.”
“I think about that all the time,” Joanna said.
“You do?”
“Of course,” she said. “You’re not the only one who made an impetuous decision, getting pregnant the way we did. I wasn’t planning on having a baby anytime soon. But once I learned it was now or never… well, what could I do?”
“Do you worry?”
“I worry about being a single parent,” she said. “I worry about all the day-to-day responsibilities of having a kid. It’s going to need so much. And right now, I feel like I’d give my arm to make sure our kid has the best life possible, but what if I can’t? What if something’s beyond me?”
“I’ll always make sure there’s enough money,” Ahmad said.
“It’s not the money I worry about,” Joanna said. “It’s the time. What you sa
id about me leaving our kid with my mom while I’m out of town… that’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about. If I was married, that wouldn’t be a problem. I’d be away, but the kid would still be with a parent.”
“You know,” Ahmad said carefully, “there’s a house in the suburbs here I’ve been thinking about buying.”
“Another rental property?” she asked. “You told me the one on the beach was earning well for you this month.”
“Maybe a rental property,” he said. “It’s a really nice place. But it isn’t beachfront.”
“Then you’re probably not going to get as many vacationers,” she said.
“I had another idea for it, actually,” Ahmad admitted.
“What’s that?”
“What if… what if you and the baby were to move in?”
There was a long silence. Then, the background noise of the airport she was in disappeared.
“Are you still there?” he asked.
“I’m here. I’m in a private phone stall. Ahmad… what?”
“What if I bought the house and you and the baby moved in? Then, we could all be together. I could have custody while you were flying, and there wouldn’t be months at a time where either one of us couldn’t see our kid. Wouldn’t that be better?”
“Ahmad…”
“I know. You live in America. It’s your home. And if you tell me this is off the table, I’ll drop it. But is it something you’d consider?”
She didn’t answer.
“You wouldn’t have to be a single parent,” he said. “You’d always have someone around to help you.”
“What would your family think?” she asked. “Wouldn’t it be an affront to them to have me right in their own backyard? They’re not going to like that we did this. You said so yourself.”
Ahmad’s heart soared. She wasn’t rejecting the idea outright.
“They’ll adjust,” he said. “They’ll have to. They’re going to accept my child, so they’ll have to accept my child’s mother, even if they don’t like the way we went about this.”
“I hope you’re right about that,” Joanna said.
“So you’ll think about it?” Ahmad said. “You’ll consider moving here?”
“I don’t know how this happened,” she said. “This phone call really escalated.”
“But you’re considering it.”
“Yes,” she admitted. “I’m considering it. I don’t know what it is about you, Ahmad, but you have a way of getting me to consider things I never planned on doing.”
“Should I buy the house?”
“No!” she said, laughing. “I haven’t made up my mind yet! You’re so cavalier with money sometimes. Give me some time to think. And even if I decide to do this, I’ll want to look at houses before you buy anything.”
“All right,” he said.
“I have to go check into my hotel, now,” she said.
“I’ll send you an email,” he replied.
“Good,” she said. “Then I’ll have something to read before I go to bed.”
“Write me back?”
“Of course.”
Chapter 13
Joanna
It was odd to be sitting at the airport and not preparing to board a plane, but Joanna had to admit that there was something relaxing about it, too. She was usually in such a hurry when she came here, and she wasn’t used to this more relaxed feeling.
Because of her status as a flight attendant, she had been able to pass through security even though she wasn’t holding a ticket, and now, she was waiting at the gate. She had purchased a soft pretzel and a massive cup of soda, and she was taking advantage of her last few minutes on her own to enjoy them.
She didn’t know what Ahmad would think of her eating less-than-healthy food while she was four months pregnant with his child, and if he asked her to modify her diet, she would respect that. But there was nothing wrong with having a treat right now.
Through the window, she saw the big international jet taxiing up to the gate. She had been tracking its progress online, and now, she got to her feet and made her way over to the jetway.
At four months pregnant, her belly was slightly distended. It wasn’t enough that any of the strangers around her would have known she was pregnant. But for Joanna, it felt like walking around with a neon sign flashing in front of her declaring that she was with child. She had developed a telltale habit, too, of resting her hands on her little bump, as if that would protect it from harm somehow.
Her mother had been out of town for the past two weeks on a Caribbean cruise, a much-deserved vacation. But she was back in town now, and Joanna had the next couple of days off of work. There would be no way to avoid spending time together. And the moment her mother saw her, Joanna knew she would know about the pregnancy.
It was time to tell the truth.
She had asked Ahmad to come with her without very high expectations, thinking that of course, he wouldn’t do it. He was a sheikh. He was too important. He wasn’t going to travel to Pleasant Hill, Missouri, to meet her mother and help explain their decision to get pregnant.
So, she had been absolutely floored when he had said yes.
“We should do that together,” he’d said. “I’d like you to meet my family one day, too. And I want to know the woman who’s going to help raise the baby.”
“I’m sure she’ll want to know you, too,” Joanna had said, astounded.
It was true that she and Ahmad had gotten in the habit of talking to each other more and more over the last four months. Lately, it felt as if he was the only person who had any idea what was going on in her life, and he had confessed to feeling the same way about her. But the thought that he would make such a long journey for her sake… she couldn’t believe it.
Now, here she was at the Kansas City airport, waiting for him to step off the jetway and into her ordinary world.
When she saw him, she felt a little shock. She had forgotten how attractive he was. His bright green eyes, dark skin, and muscled body stood out among the crowd of pasty American travelers getting off the plane. She watched as his eyes scanned the room, looking for her, and she took notice of the way his expression changed when he finally spotted her.
It was a look of pure joy.
She swallowed the last bite of her pretzel and waited as he picked his way through the crowd of passengers to her side.
“Joanna,” he said, and swept her up in an unexpected hug.
The last time they had bid each other farewell, it had been with a handshake. Now, he was greeting her with a hug. It surprised her, and for a moment she allowed herself to luxuriate in the feel of his body against hers.
She had forgotten how deeply attracted to him she was.
The embrace lingered for a moment, as if neither of them wanted to let go. It was Ahmad who pulled away first. He held her at arm’s length and looked her up and down admiringly.
“Look at you,” he said.
She felt nervous, shy in a way she hadn’t since she was a teenager.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Your baby bump!” he said. “You’re not very big yet, of course, but I can see a difference. How are you feeling? Good, I hope?”
“Good,” she agreed. “Mostly just really hungry all the time. My doctor says that’s normal, and I should go ahead and eat when I’m hungry, as long as I’m keeping it relatively healthy.”
“What’s relatively healthy?” Ahmad asked.
“Getting all my vitamins and nutrients,” she said. “I have a pregnancy diet recommendation list taped to the fridge at home, and I’ve been eating everything I’m supposed to.”
“I hope you’re eating things you enjoy, too,” Ahmad said. “Nutrition is important, but it’s also important to keep yourself in good spirits.”
She held up her soda cup. “Not much nutrition in this.”
“What is that?”
“Grape soda.”
“Grape soda?”
> She glanced at him. “Haven’t you ever had it?”
“I’ve never even heard of it!”
She laughed. “I suppose it’s time you were introduced to American cuisine. Come on.”
She took him to the food court.
Ahmad stared around in wonder. “Which of these places is American?”
“Kind of all of them and none of them.” She pointed to the taco place. “That one would say it’s serving Mexican food, but it’s all Americanized. It’s not what they really serve in Mexico. And there’s Italian, and Chinese, and look—Middle Eastern.”
They waited in the line, Ahmad examining the selection of dishes and laughing.
“That’s not tabbouleh! Bizarre.”
He tried to pay for the soda Joanna ordered for him, but she waved him away.
“You’re a guest in my country now,” she said firmly. “I’ll buy the drink.”
“Fair enough,” he said amiably.
They made their way out to the car. Joanna tried not to look at Ahmad as she put it in gear and backed out of her parking spot. The fact that she was driving a sheikh around was nerve-racking, to say the least.
“Does your mother know I’m coming?” he asked.
She glanced over at him briefly. “Are you nervous?”
“Not exactly.”
“You are!”
“Well, I want her to like me,” he said. “And I don’t want her to think I’m taking advantage of your position or anything.”
“She won’t think that,” Joanna said.
But deep down, she wondered. She had had the same worries. This pregnancy was so unconventional. What would her mother make of it? Would she fault Joanna for having entered into this arrangement?
The hour-long drive to Pleasant Hill passed in companionable silence, with Ahmad staring out the window at the Missouri landscape and Joanna turning over and over in her head what she was going to say to her mother when they arrived. Finally, they pulled up outside her mother’s house, and Joanna parked the car.
“She knows I’m bringing a friend over,” Joanna said. “But that’s all she knows. Let me do the talking, okay? It’s better if I try to explain this.”