by Ella Brooke
Chapter Eleven
After an intimate bath and then another leisurely round of lovemaking, Annabel finally fell into a deep sleep, curled on her side and her fingers twined with Adil's. Though Adil was aware of a pleasant ache throughout his body and though the fact that he had stayed awake throughout their trans-Atlantic flight, Adil found that he was having difficulties following her. Her hand felt too good in his to release her, so instead of getting up and pacing, he simply lay in the bed.
He had been sheikh for a long time, and throughout these last years, he felt he had a good instinct for what it was he should do. Some people might call it listening to his gut or his common sense, but his father had often called it the voice of his heart and his honor. He was a man bred for service to his country, and that had its consequences.
He knew that the 'right' thing to do, the expected thing to do, would be to return to the city. There were affairs there that needed him, and there was only so long that he should be away.
However, the voice in his heart insisted that he was in the right place. T Here was no place in the world that was more appropriate for him than this spot alone. This was where he belonged, and of course that was patent nonsense.
Adil glanced at Annabel, her cheeks still flushed slightly pink. He hoped that he had not been too hard on her. She had responded with an enthusiasm that made his heart sing, but it had been a while for her. He reminded himself that she needed gentle handling, and he might have stood a chance of remembering if she couldn't drive him wild with a single touch.
He would stay for at least a little longer, he decided. He understood that the more time that he and Annabel spent doing a very pleasurable activity together the better their chances for conception were, and surely that was an acceptable reason to stay. What he was doing with her was ensuring an heir for his throne. That counted for something, surely?
Finally a little more peaceful, he settled into the bed next to her. She made a pleased noise and snuggled closer in her sleep, nuzzling against his chest in a way that he couldn't help but find adorable.
I need her.
The words drifted through his head, strange and foreign. He had never needed anyone in his life, and it seemed strange in the extreme that he would start now.
Still, he couldn't stop himself from stroking a tender hand along Annabel's long dark hair. He didn't need her, but heaven above, she was appealing.
***
Annabel didn't know what it said that this was the second time she had woken up disoriented and with only a limited idea of where she was. Instead of being on a jet cruising high through the sky, however, she was resting on a bed that seemed to be acres wide.
She was also alone, and it took her a few moments to figure out why that was alarming. Adil was meant to be her with her, but instead, she was alone. There had been a few mornings that she found herself alone after Iain, and those had always been filled with a kind of despair tinged with self-loathing.
She was older now, however, and she took a deep breath. There was nothing that said that Adil was bored or disgusted with her, that he was doing anything like that. It took a little bit of optimism, but she went to shower and brush her teeth in his bathroom, and then, slipping on her clothes from yesterday, she ventured into the manor.
She found Adil and an awakened and alert Marissa in the bright breakfast nook. Adil had shown her the more formal dining area last night, but she had been drawn at once to the nook, lined on three sides by floor to ceiling windows. In the bright mid-morning light, she could see a craggy lemon tree outside, the yellow fruit a cheerful contrast to the green leaves.
"Really?" Adil was saying in a tone of deep interest. "I did not know that's how a cow gets milked."
He looked up at Annabel with a look that was utterly grave.
"Marissa is telling in exquisite detail over our breakfast how a farm works."
"Ah, yes," Annabel said with a laugh. "Before she... well, a few months ago, a friend was going up to a farm upstate for a delivery, and invited us to tag along. We got... a surprisingly intimate view of dairy farming."
"Very valuable," he agreed. "And coincidentally enough, Marissa and I are sharing some fresh cheese and fruit for breakfast. Do you care to join us?"
The cheese was new, soft and very mild, making it the perfect complement for the cut fruit on the table. It was all delicious when served with the thin and lightly crisped flatbread in a small covered basket, but what struck Annabel was Marissa's animated expression.
"How are you feeling this morning, pumpkin?" she asked, and Marissa smiled at her.
"Good, Mama. Adil says that there is a pool close by, and that if we are feeling up for it, we can go wherever we like. We don't need to take the train, or wait in any lines, or anything. Can we go after breakfast?"
"Well, we'll see, sweetie," she temporized, regarding her child carefully.
Marissa's fatigue could come on suddenly. At the very beginning, she had often started the day bright and happy only to fall prey to aches and weariness a few hours later. At that point, Annabel had thought it was hard enough, but then later on, she used to yearn for those days, as Marissa could never seem to wake up entirely, and even when she was up, everything was at least ten times more difficult for her precious girl than it needed to be.
Marissa at least took her mother's cautious answer well. Instead, she focused on her mother's hair.
"Your princess hair is back," she said with pleasure, and Adil raised an eyebrow.
"Princess hair?"
"Her hair is long and pretty, like Rapunzel's," Marissa said happily. "She's not had it down in forever."
Annabel pushed her hair behind her ears, slightly self-conscious. It was true. She had worn it down more when Marissa was well. It became harder to deal with long loose hair when she might need to carry her daughter or to tend to her. Today, however, it simply felt right.
"I'm glad its down," Adil said, ostensibly to Marissa, but his eyes were on Annabel. "It's beautiful."
"My mama's beautiful," Marissa declared, and Adil nodded gravely as Annabel blushed.
"What are you doing today, Adil?" she asked, trying to change the subject. "When I saw that you had gotten out of bed early, I thought there was a chance you'd be closeted away working..."
Adil shrugged easily, a slight smile on his face.
"I did, a little. I got up not long after dawn, and I did get some work done. When I started to feel a little hungrier, I came down to see what the chef had left for us, and I heard Marissa stirring. We decided jointly that you should d be allowed your sleep, and here we are."
"Well, thank you very much for looking out for Marissa, but that was not a lot of sleep you got."
She heard what she had said, and she thanked heaven that Marissa was still too young to wonder how Annabel knew how little sleep the desert sheikh had gotten.
"You need a nap later on," Marissa said sternly, and it was such a good imitation of Annabel's voice that both Annabel and Adil had to choke back laughter.
"Do I?" asked Adil.
"Yes," she responded, nodding firmly. "Don't worry, it is not so boring when other people nap with you. Mama and I will nap with you, and you'll see, time will fly by and you will wake up all refreshed."
"Well, I wasn't sure that I liked the idea of taking a nap on my own, but you do bring up an excellent idea of a group nap. If I can take one with you and your mother, yes, it's a deal. Naps for all later on."
Annabel took another bite of the excellent cheese, and she reminded herself that this was not a dream, not really This was real life. She was sitting in a beautiful hacienda in real oasis, across from her daughter and one of the most handsome men that she had ever met. It was real, and thinking of the night before, it was amazing.
This falls squarely into the realm of too good to be true, something inside her cautioned. All of it, the sheikh's kindness, the fact that Marissa is looking brighter and more energetic than she has in weeks, there's got to be a
nother shoe dropping soon. You are too happy, and that means that you are not going to be ready for it.
She pushed the voice away. She had lived under its pall for too long, and right now, she could not bear to let anything get in the way of her joy at seeing her daughter so cheerful.
It wasn't just Marissa though. Though she participated in the breakfast conversation, talking about the things they could do since Adil was free of work, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Dressed in a pair of loose drawstring pants and a worn T-shirt that hugged his chest as if it was painted on, he was an astonishingly good-looking man. However, with his hair still rumpled from bed and a slice of cantaloupe in his hand, there was something peculiarly sweet about him.
He's at home, she realized suddenly. Their exchanges had been charged while they were still in New York, and now she wondered if that had been part of her wariness. There was something harder about him when he had been away from his home. Now that he was in the land where he was born, there was something loose and easy about him, something wonderfully light.
"Do I have some fruit juice on my chin?" he asked, and she blinked a little.
"No," she said with a smile, "not at all."
***
Three days after their arrival at the hacienda, Annabel finally allowed herself to think that Marissa was better. She still got tired in the evening, she still went to bed without a fuss, something that would have been unthinkable before all of this had happened, but she was better.
She woke up in the morning and bounced out of bed, she could run up and down the length of the halls without wearing out in two minutes, and the smile on her face was bright enough to put the sun to shame.
"With your permission though, I would still like to bring her to the hospital at the resort town," Adil said when she mused about it one night. "I think we would both feel better if she has a full panel and check up done to make sure that all is well."
"I certainly would like to make sure all is well," Annabel said with a smile. "So you would too?"
Adil smiled wryly, shrugging.
"I would. It's strange. Before coming to the hacienda, I think that I would have been a little wary about spending this much time with a child. Strange considering why we are here, but there it is. Now, though... well, she does find a home in your heart very quickly, doesn't she?"
Annabel couldn't keep from touching his face gently, a soft smile on her lips just for him.
"She does. You are very kind."
Adil looked slightly embarrassed by his words, but he still nuzzled her hand gently.
"Someday, she will be the sister to the sheikh. She is my family. That is not a bond that changes."
He started to kiss her after that, running fire down the side of her neck. She had submitted to the sensations with a sigh, but afterward, his words rang in her head, long after he had fallen to sleep.
There would be a lifetime bond between Adil and Marissa, and that comforted Annabel more than she could have said. Though she had always been fierce about the fact that Annabel was hers and hers alone, the fact that her daughter had no other close relatives to care for her was terrifying.
There were just so many ways a small child could slip through the cracks, so many things that could happen to Marissa should something happen to her. It was a weight that she had carried ever since she became a mother. For some reason, however, it was mysteriously gone now, and she thought she knew the reason why.
She had had some vague idea that Adil would simply send them to the hospital, perhaps via the elegant black car and the driver that came around sometimes. However, he surprised her by driving them himself, and he kept Marissa cheerful when she started to get fussy about seeing one more doctor. She had had a rough time with doctors recently, and seeing them more often did not seem to make it any easier.
Dr. Singh was a kind-faced older man with an easy manner, and he was more than happy to keep Annabel in the room as he ran his tests. His eyebrows raised slightly when Marissa demanded that Adil be present as well, but at Adil's slight nod and Annabel's permission, he continued easily.
The tests took the better part of the afternoon, and when they took Marissa away to be x-rayed, she glanced at Adil.
“I have to admit, I'm feeling pretty guilty right now,” she said. “I didn't expect you to spend the whole day with us.”
He shot her a curious look. At some point, he had taken her hand in his, and a part of her leaned into the warmth and comfort.
“Why not?”
She made a vague motion with her free hand.
“I don't know... because you have a country to run? Because even if there will be a relation between Marissa and our son someday, there isn't one yet?”
The look he gave her was stern.
“Annabel, I know that you do not have a fantastic picture of me from when we were in New York, but believe me. I do take my duties seriously. I want to make sure that Marissa is well. I care about her.”
For some reason, his declaration brought tears to her eyes, and she reached up to wipe them away hurriedly before he could see. Adil was a sharp-eyed man, however, and he offered her his handkerchief before taking her by the shoulders and turning her towards him.
“Tell me, now, what's the matter?” he asked softly. “Why the tears?”
She took several deep breaths, trying to make sure that when she spoke, she would not choke or sob. When she finally calmed, Annabel found that she could smile at him, even if it was a little tremulous.
“I don't think you know how long I've wanted to hear someone say that,” she murmured, “That they care for my daughter. That they want the best for her and that they want to take care of her.”
Adil looked at her for a very long moment, and it was difficult to read him just then. There was some sadness in his eyes, but there was also some longing there as well, and underneath it, a kind of fierce protectiveness that made her shiver and warm at the same time.
“I think,” he said, drawing her close for a brief warm embrace, “that there has been too little care in your life as well. You know that I want to look after you as well.”
She couldn't think about his words for too long. If she did, Annabel knew that she would simply start to cry. However, just then Dr. Singh came back in, leading a cheerful Marissa by the hand.
“He let me look at all of the buttons and switches before I had to get the scan,” Marissa said happily.
“Oh, I'm glad it was fun,” Annabel said. It was so rare to see Marissa looking so pleased in a hospital.
She figured that the doctor would let them go, but in a surprisingly short amount of time, he called them to his office to give them the results. The speed and efficiency of their treatment astonished Annabel, and she realized all over again how different Adil's life was from hers and Marissa's.
“Well, I do have some very good news for you,” he said without preamble. “Your daughter does have some respiratory difficulties, and she might have them through her young adulthood, but they are easily treated. Tell me, did you live in a cold climate before you came here?”
Annabel blinked, and nodded.
“Yes, we came from New York. It was winter when we left...”
“Ah, that explains it. Cold air can be a bit hard on lungs as small and as delicate at Marissa's,” he said kindly. “The proper medication and the warm and dry climate of Sakhi, and Marissa should make a full recovery.”
“A... full recovery? You mean that she'll... she'll be able to run and play and enjoy herself?”
“Of course,” the doctor said. “I understand where you were worried, but...Ms. Lister?”
Annabel couldn't keep the tears back. The relief she felt struck her like a fist as months of fear and worry lifted away from her. Marissa was going to be fine. Marissa was going to be able to do everything she wanted, Marissa was going to get to grow up.
“Mama? Mama?”
“It's okay, pumpkin, Mama's fine, I'm just... so happy.”
/> Even as she tried to reassure her daughter, she couldn't stop herself from crying, and Adil was the one who saved the day by thanking the doctor and leading them out. Instead of getting back into the car, he herded Annabel and Marissa to the small park behind the hospital, where there was a small artificial pool, some lush trees and some benches. He set Marissa to counting the ducks, a task she took very seriously, and he sat with Annabel on the bench.
She tried to apologize again, but he only pressed her head against his shoulder.
“Let it all out,” he said firmly. “I have the idea that you have not been able to do so before.”
It was true, and after hearing those kind words, she had no choice. She sobbed on his shoulder until her head ached and eyes felt as if they were full of sand, but her heart was a thousand times lighter. It felt like forever, but it likely only took about fifteen minutes before she got herself under control.
“Thank you,” she said finally. “For... for all of this. I do not know if I can repay you...”
“Never think of repaying me,” he said, brushing a few strands of her hair out of her face. “I am happy to do it.”
Together, they went to comfort a worried Marissa, and as they went off to find an excellent restaurant that Adil had heard of, Annabel wondered at how bright the world looked and how beautiful it could truly be. When she knew he wasn't looking, she kept glancing at Adil, and she began to understand, with both dismay and an inevitable feeling of warmth, that she was completely in love with this man.
Chapter Twelve
When Annabel looked up four months later, she was realized it felt as if she and Marissa had been in Sakhi forever, while simultaneously feeling as if no time at all had passed. After they found out about Marissa's diagnosis and began her treatment, her daughter improved by leaps and bounds. With the strength and eagerness of the very young, she wanted to explore everything, and she finally, finally had the energy to do it.
It was Adil who suggested that she start attending afternoon sessions at the pre-school in the resort town. Marissa fell in love with the art and math classes at first site, and when Annabel started to figure the cost out of the first part of Adil's payment to her, he waved them away.
