by Leslie North
An hour later, they were miraculously in the car. Rafael sat next to her, running through all the airport protocol again. But Felicity couldn’t focus. Hope was squirming in her car seat, fussing, obviously tired. It was a little too early for a nap, but…where was the bear?
“The bear,” she said, cutting Rafael off midsentence.
“What bear?”
“I need Hope’s bear, from her diaper bag.”
“Oh…” Rafael looked around, but there was no diaper bag in the car with them. “It’s packed with the other things in the back.”
Felicity took a deep breath and tried to put this in perspective. It was only going to be her first press appearance with Rafael. So what if her daughter had a complete meltdown because a grown man hadn’t been able to infer that the diaper bag should be in the seat with them?
“Can you climb in the back and get it out?”
Rafael laughed. “No. With the press following us? That wouldn’t be a good look.”
She had been right. It was going to be a very long life.
In the seat next to her, Hope started to cry.
* * *
Hope was winding up by the time the car pulled onto the tarmac, but at the last moment Rafael leaned over her and pointed out the window, his hand right at Hope’s eye level.
“Look, Hope,” he said, his voice easy and casual. “Cameras.”
“Camma,” said Hope, but her eyes followed his finger, and then her attention was out the window at the gaggle of photographers ten feet away from the car. They were sequestered behind a velvet rope with three security staff members patrolling the line, but they were already taking pictures.
Felicity’s heart pounded. Her frustration over the diaper bag had distracted her from any anxiety this far, but now—
She darted a hand up to her hair, but Rafael caught it in midair. “You look beautiful,” he said, and something inside her melted.
“Thank you,” she said stiffly, another wave of nervousness overtaking her. “Is it time to go?”
“Yes. They’ll open my door first, and I’ll go around and engage the press. You’ll begin walking to the plane with Hope. Remember, one wave. You don’t need to do any more than that.”
She’d been so irritated with the endless repetition of protocol, but now Felicity was grateful for it. She leaned over Hope and undid her buckle. “Come on, baby,” she said, putting a smile on her face. “We’re going to take a little walk to the airplane.” Rafael’s door opened and he climbed out. “There goes Rafael,” she said to her daughter. “He’s going to answer a few questions.”
The driver helped her climb out with Hope in her arms, then guided her around toward the carpet leading to the plane’s airstair.
Rafael was standing in front of the cameras, and as he turned his head, Felicity got a glimpse of his confident smile. One of the photographers caught sight of her behind him and called out her name, then all the cameras were flashing, people calling to her.
Felicity had to stifle the urge to run behind the car and hide. Instead, she smiled benevolently at Hope, who was pointing and babbling at the photographers. She could almost see how the photos would turn out, and all at once she understood the intention behind the rack of clothes and the hair and the makeup. This was how the royals did it, wasn’t it?
Another swell of flashes from the cameras, and Felicity lifted her head to see Joy rolling up the carpet, her chair guided by one of the security staff.
She looked gorgeous.
Felicity hadn’t been paying attention enough to know that the staff had also coordinated an outfit for Joy that was similar, but not identical, to Felicity’s. Her heart swelled with pride. The three of them—the two sisters and her daughter—would make a pretty picture. Felicity waited for Joy to catch up, then the two of them waved to the press together.
“Isn’t this incredible?” Joy said to her with a laugh. “Two girls from Iowa, getting on a plane with a king.”
“I never saw it coming,” said Felicity.
“Oh please,” teased Joy. “By the way, you’re forgetting protocol. You’re supposed to be going up the airstair already.”
She’d waited too long, and now Rafael was coming. He swept in, smiling broadly at them. “Let’s go, ladies,” he said, the slightest hint of impatience in his voice. He spread his arms as if to take them all in, a monarch and his family.
The photographers let out a cheer that rose to a wild note. They were loving this.
But Hope wasn’t.
The camera flashes were so bright and so unrelenting that they’d gone from entertaining Hope to scaring her. The little girl clung tightly to Felicity’s shoulders, and she could feel her daughter’s body tensing. Felicity turned and hustled toward the plane, trying to keep a smile on her face.
“Mama,” Hope cried. “Mama, Mama. Bear.”
She didn’t have the bear. One of the security detail was charged with getting the diaper bag onto the plane and into Felicity’s seat, but they had to get there.
“Bear!” Hope screamed in her ear.
She took the first step onto the airstair, and that’s when Hope lost it.
Felicity’s daughter let out a howl that carried over everything—the noise of the photographers, the noise of the plane, everything—and threw herself backward.
“Sweetie, we’re getting the bear,” she said, trying to be heard over Hope’s screams. “Honey—” It was futile, and now Hope was thrashing. She tore her headband from her head and threw it to the ground. Unbalanced in her high heels, Felicity teetered on the edge of the stair. Only Rafael’s grip on her arm saved her.
“You’ve got to fix this,” he gritted out into her ear. “You’ve got to get her onto the plane.” His tension filled the air around her, and she could understand why. The picture-perfect scene was falling apart.
“All right,” Felicity said. There was only one thing to do that would draw everyone’s eyes away from her daughter. So she turned on the stair and kissed Rafael.
Right there.
In front of everyone.
He let it go on for a long moment, then pulled back, his face a mix of irritation and desire. “Didn’t they tell you? We’re not allowed to kiss.”
This life—it might not be worth it after all. Maybe Rafael should feed her to the media and save himself.
4
It was far easier to exit the plane with a sleeping baby, Rafael discovered. It was past midnight when they landed, and under the cover of darkness, they swiftly came down the airstair and stepped right into the waiting SUVs. Unlike in the States, there was a line of five cars waiting for them—Rafael chose the third one at random. The caravan whisked them off through the capital and to the palace.
Despite the late hour, there was a small crowd gathered outside the drivers’ entrance.
“What are they doing here at this time of night?” Felicity asked, resting one hand on Hope’s little knee. The toddler was still asleep in her car seat.
“It’s members of the media. They’ll have been watching for us to return, but since there wasn’t any fanfare when we arrived, they’ll run a story tomorrow about how we secretly deplaned. There were protestors waiting on the ground at the airport. The motorcade timing went off without a hitch so they’ll be upset they didn’t get a chance to engage.”
They pulled up to one of the back entrances of the palace, one that had a direct corridor to his private residence. Rafael climbed out and stretched, Felicity following close behind. She rubbed at her eyes. This was a moment he could take advantage of.
“Let me carry Hope inside,” he said, and before Felicity could protest, he’d gone around to the other side of the vehicle and reached in to unbuckle her. Felicity hovered nearby as he lifted her carefully out of the seat. The toddler’s head lolled forward, and he pressed her cheek to his shoulder.
She was burning up.
“She’s hot,” he said, marveling at the wave of worry that washed over his skin. “It feels
like a fever.”
Felicity had stepped away for a moment to gather the diaper bag. “Oh no,” she said. “I thought she felt a little warm when we got off the plane, but—”
At that moment, Hope lifted her head from Rafael’s shoulder, looked at him with glassy eyes, then threw up all over the front of his shirt.
He froze.
Rafael had two nieces, thanks to his brother Armin, but the girls had been adopted into the royal family when they were six. And his other brother, Artur, was expecting a baby with his new wife, but the child hadn’t been born yet. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before. Not that he was expected to deal with, anyway. For one long moment, his mind drew a complete blank.
And then he sprang into action, walking quickly into the entrance of the castle. There was one small tick against the pavement, followed by another—and then Felicity hustled up next to him sans her high heels.
“Oh, poor baby,” she cooed, reaching up to smooth Hope’s hair. “And poor you—”
He led them down the hall and into the first door on the right, which was the entrance to his quarters. Past the entrance was a large living room and he took Hope over to the sofa, laying her down against a pillow. Some of his staff had come in behind them, and as Felicity knelt down next to Hope, one of them went for a thermometer. It took them less than two minutes to determine that yes, she did indeed have a fever—and a fairly high one.
Rafael went to change his shirt, coming back in clean clothes to find Felicity still fretting by the side of the couch. Hope rested against the pillow, looking quite flushed. “Maybe some Tylenol,” Felicity said, and someone jumped to get it for her. “But in the meantime…” A frown crossed her face.
“What is it? Do we need to call in a doctor?” He still felt at a loss.
“I don’t think so, but Joy can’t be around Hope.” Felicity glanced up at him, her eyes wide. “Or around us, either, if we’re going to be caring for Hope and exposed to her germs. Joy’s immune system was compromised after a surgery she had last year. I’m worried about containing the sickness.” She looked around as if she were going to find her own rooms right there in the living room. “Where should we go? Where are we going to sleep?”
“Don’t worry,” Rafael said. “I’ll talk to the nurse. She can get Joy settled in her own suite. We’ll stay here in mine.”
Felicity blinked at him. “Here?”
“Yes. If you’re worried about spreading the infection, then this is the best option. The nanny can step in once Hope is recovered.” He’d offered Felicity an entire staff to care for her sister and Hope, and though she’d agreed to a more robust team to help her sister, she insisted on caring for Hope with the help of a single nanny.
“All right,” said Felicity. “Do you have a…room for us?”
He laughed, keeping it quiet so as not to disturb Hope. “I have plenty of rooms. I can have my staff move in some nursery furniture within the next fifteen minutes.”
Felicity shook her head. “Hope won’t sleep in a crib when she’s sick like this. She’ll only sleep soundly when she’s held.” It was true—the little girl was already stirring on the sofa. Felicity’s head dropped forward for a moment. Rafael could tell she was exhausted. It had been a long flight, and she was in a new country.
“Go change,” he said to her. “Have a shower. I’ll hold Hope until you can get back.”
She hesitated. “Are you sure?”
He lifted Hope gently into his arms. “I’ve got this.” Hope curled into his shoulder, and Rafael sank into the sofa. “Go. We’ll be right here.”
Felicity waited another moment, but Hope’s breathing settled back into the even rhythm of sleep. “Okay,” she said. “It’ll be all right.”
The moment she left the room, he wasn’t so sure. Hope felt so small and precious in his arms. Rafael found himself hanging on every breath.
He was almost afraid he’d break her.
* * *
He didn’t know how long she was gone. It could have been a few minutes, or it could have been hours—all Rafael remembered was becoming aware of her footsteps padding back into the room, accompanied by a wave of the scent of shampoo. His staff kept all the bathrooms stocked with delicious-smelling soaps and shampoos, but none had ever smelled so good as this one did coming off Felicity’s still-damp hair.
She came and sat behind him as he shifted his weight, adjusting some of the pressure on his arms. He kept himself in excellent shape, but sitting here still beneath Hope’s sleeping self had made his arms ache in an entirely unfamiliar way.
Felicity gave him a wry smile. “Stiff arms?”
“Of course not,” he said, though he couldn’t help returning the smile.
“I can take her.”
He swallowed. “I’d rather you didn’t,” he said softly. He felt her quiet acceptance in the air between them.
“At least let me help you move her.” She stood up, and with expert hands, lifted Hope and set her down again into a different position, all without waking her up.
“Should we get her into clean clothes?”
Felicity looked ruefully down at the two of them. “I think she mostly missed her own outfit, but you’re right. She could stand to have a new pair of pajamas and a sponge bath.” Felicity had changed Hope into comfortable pajamas not long after takeoff. A matching outfit was one thing for the jetway, but it was another for a long plane ride.
It seemed like magic to Rafael, the way Felicity was so sure of herself when it came to Hope’s care. She went out of the room for another few minutes, coming back with warm washcloths and a fluffy towel. Somehow, she managed to undress Hope, bathe her with the cloths, dry her, and dress her in a fresh pair of footie pajamas without so much as making her open her eyes. Felicity had such gentle hands.
Rafael couldn’t remember if she’d always been that gentle. He knew she’d already had a kind nature when he’d known her before, but motherhood had forged her into someone stronger and softer than the Felicity he’d known.
“You’re good at this,” he murmured as she gathered up the washcloths and towel and handed them off to the last remaining staff member, who walked soundlessly away with the laundry. “I always thought you might be.”
“Oh, please.” Felicity laughed quietly, settling in next to him on the sofa. “You never thought about what I’d be like as a mother. We were preoccupied with…other things.”
“But you always cared.” He looked down into Hope’s slumbering face. “It didn’t surprise me that you went back to the States for your sister. It only surprised me that you chose to cut all ties before you left. I thought—” His throat tightened. “A part of me thought you’d bring her back here.”
Felicity was silent for a long moment. “Well, I did, eventually.”
“Yes.” He huffed a laugh. “Though these aren’t exactly the circumstances I imagined.”
“I don’t know,” said Felicity. “Sometimes I think our imaginations are overrated.”
“How do you mean?”
“Sometimes, I’ve wondered what it would be like to be famous. But after getting a taste of the rules and people always taking photographs…” She shook her head. “Now I know that my imagination was totally off base.”
“You haven’t even been here a full day,” joked Rafael. “Don’t discount it yet.”
Felicity let her head fall back against the back of the sofa. “It’s been the longest day of my life.” She sat up again, looking down at Hope. “But not all bad.”
“You two will be fine,” Rafael said. “Perhaps you’re not schooled in the ways of royalty, but I don’t know anything about caring for children. I’m bad at this.”
“I wouldn’t call it that.”
“What would you call it?” He looked into her sparkling eyes.
“Unpracticed,” she said, a playful smile on her lips. “Really, Rafael. I only gave you a few minutes of instruction and now you’re holding the baby like a pro.”
&
nbsp; He frowned. “She’s sleeping. I don’t know what to do when things get tough.”
Felicity waved this off. “Tantrums come and go. You didn’t recoil or get angry when she threw up on you, so I’d say you handled the diciest moment like a real professional.”
Pride and affection looped themselves together in his chest and squeezed. Felicity leaned closer, reaching to brush a lock of blonde hair from Hope’s forehead. Then she leaned down and kissed the same spot.
Rafael couldn’t help himself. He leaned down and kissed Felicity’s forehead, too.
She sat up, surprise written on her face, and they stayed like that for a quiet, magic minute. He’d never felt so close to another person—to another pair of people—as he did right now, with Hope resting comfortably in his arms and Felicity only a breath away.
“Thank you,” he said gruffly.
Her eyebrows lifted. “For what?” A tentative little grin flitted around her mouth.
“I—”
Hope stirred in his arms, letting out a tired little whimper, and the moment was over.
Felicity reached for her daughter, and he reluctantly gave her up. “It’s probably time to get her into a real bed. Though I’m not quite sure where your guest rooms are…”
He stood up, his arms too empty. “I’ll take you right there. Would you prefer a queen-sized bed or a king?”
Felicity blinked. “You have guest rooms with a king-sized bed?”
“One or two,” he said.
She looked across at Hope, who had curled onto her shoulder and was snuffling her nose into her mother’s shirt. “Whichever one’s farthest from your room,” Felicity said. “I wouldn’t want Hope to—she might be up quite a bit tonight.”
“Your wish is my command.”
Rafael gave her the closest room, but as he went into his own massive bedroom, part of him wished he’d invited her there instead.