Yes, he was destined to be a king. But as his mother scooped him into arms that had ached for ever, as Hassan wept and finally got to hold his son, he wasn’t a king, he was something greater—a baby, a miracle. With tears in her eyes as the family entered, Felicity was grateful for the arm that wrapped around hers as she and Karim both remembered the day they’d first held their own gift.
‘Georgie’s got her outside,’ Karim said, stroking his nephew’s cheek and blinking for a moment, remembering little Kaliq and praying he was safe and loved too.
Georgie had come to help with her niece. Felicity didn’t want a nanny, or a maid, she wanted her sister. And there was Azizah now, cooing and blowing bubbles in her auntie’s arms. Felicity scooped her up, surprised at how heavy she felt after holding Jamal’s baby.
They had chosen Azizah’s name carefully. It meant precious and cherished, which she was every day. Both her parents knew what a true gift she was. It had been a difficulty pregnancy. Karim had refused to listen to her pleas to attempt a normal delivery, and after her Caesarean Dr Habib had told Felicity that her husband had been right.
They had both listened, and they both learned from the other.
Karim could be a prince and a surgeon too, so long as at home his only duty was to love her.
‘Did I get here in time?’ Ibrahim arrived, neither present nor correct to meet the new King. He reeked of perfume, and Felicity smothered a smile as she spotted the smudge of a fresh bruise on his royal neck.
‘Go and tidy up!’ Karim growled to his younger brother, and Ibrahim walked off to do just that. Then Karim saw her pensive face and knew what was coming. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Fine. Can we talk?’
‘Sure,’ Karim said, although he wasn’t.
‘Could you watch Azizah? Karim and I want to go for a walk,’ Felicity said to her sister, and then saw Georgie’s pink face, and the rather wide eyes that lingered where Ibrahim had been. She had only been in the country for two days, and so far Felicity had managed to avoid them meeting, privately worried at the scandal those two might create. ‘Don’t even think about it.’
‘I’m not,’ Georgie said. ‘Here—give me Azizah.’
They walked in silence to the gardens, Karim in his navy theatre scrubs, Felicity in her pink maternity ones—just a nurse and a doctor walking and talking, a husband and wife enjoying each other’s company, but also a prince and his princess too.
‘You want to go back to midwifery.’ It was Karim who broached the subject, and for that she was grateful.
‘I enjoyed today so much. I knew I would. I’ve been looking forward to it.’
‘You miss it?’
‘Yes.’ Felicity nodded. ‘I didn’t think I would. I mean, Azizah is three months old now, and I love spending time with her—I can’t believe I want to go back to work. But maybe just one shift a week…’ She turned troubled eyes to him. ‘Is it impossible?’
A year ago the answer would have been yes, of course it was impossible. But times had changed since then.
He had listened to her, had let her lead him to his own conclusions and had told his father he could be both prince and surgeon. The news had been more acceptable, perhaps, because Jamal had announced she was pregnant…
He loved it.
He walked into the hospital in the morning and stretched his brain, and then came home to his family at night, which made his royal duties a doddle.
‘Of course it is possible,’ Karim said, hoping he’d catch his father in a good mood when he rang him in London tonight—though recently the King’s mood had been excellent! ‘Anything is possible,’ he said firmly.
But his words didn’t soothe her. Protocol Karim would take care of, but it was as wife and mother that she turned to him. ‘Can I be all four?’ she asked, and Felicity truly didn’t know the answer. ‘Sheikha, wife, mother, midwife?’
He took her by the hand and added to that list—tossed in a few balls more, knowing she would always juggle them. ‘Sister, daughter, lover and friend…’
There was peace in his soul as he gazed down at her.
‘Felicity, you can be anything you want to be.’
And she could…with Karim beside her.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3840-8
SECRET SHEIKH, SECRET BABY
First North American Publication 2009
Copyright © 2009 by Carol Marinelli
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.eHarlequin.com
Secret Sheikh, Secret Baby Page 14