Chapter 23
When Maggie looked up at Ramit, she was stunned by the awe in his eyes. The big, powerful sheik was staring down at their tiny daughter with a look of absolute surprise. The two stared at each other without moving.
“This is your daddy, Nadia,” Maggie said to their daughter. Then she looked up at Ramit. “Unless you are going to argue against her paternity?”
Ramit’s eyes flicked up at Maggie. He quickly shook his head, then stared back at Nadia. “No. She’s my daughter. I know this.”
Maggie noticed that his voice sounded a bit choked now. For some reason, that charmed her. However, she wasn’t sure what to say. In her head, she’d pictured her life without this man. She’d expected to raise Nadia on her own. So now, suddenly having him in front of her, was…confusing, to say the least.
“Okay,” she finally replied.
He seemed to relax slightly. “Okay?”
What was she supposed to do or say? Maggie shrugged. “Okay.”
Nadia still looked confused and unsure. Maggie looked down at Nadia and her heart ached. But she knew what she needed to do. “Would you…like to hold her?”
The tension in his large body increased tenfold. He actually stepped backwards and that amused her.
“No!” he rasped, even as he stared at the little lady hungrily. “She’s too…small. And delicate.” He backed up another step. “No. She’s safer in your arms.”
His fear seemed to ease her terror several notches and she actually smiled. “She won’t break, you know.”
Ramit’s dark eyes stared at the tiny bundle that gazed right back at him with identical dark eyes. “She might.” He stared a bit longer. “I won’t risk it.” Ramit cleared his throat and Maggie noticed that he clenched and unclenched his fingers.
She smiled at him, momentarily forgetting the anger she’d felt at his betrayal so many months ago. Right now, Ramit wasn’t the sheik with all of the power and money. Power that could truly devastate her life. Instead, he was just a man who wanted to get to know his child. A man who was afraid of hurting this tiny, precious life that they’d created together so long ago.
“Why don’t you sit down and I can put her in your arms? She might cry, but she’s actually used to being around other people. She has lots of visitors.”
Ramit looked up at her hopefully. “Will that work?”
She smothered a chuckle and nodded. “Yes. If you sit down in that chair, I can put her in your arms. Then you can hold her without fear of dropping her. Will that make you more comfortable?”
He glanced at the chair in question, then back at Nadia. She wasn’t angry now. Instead, her dark eyes were curious. Even a bit confused. Her little mouth was open as she stared up at him, both of them waiting for him to decide.
Ramit sat down, then stared longingly at the small baby. “How do I hold her?” he asked.
Slowly, Maggie lowered Nadia into his arms, releasing her daughter just as Ramit’s strong, gentle arms wrapped securely around her.
“Just…hold her. Support her head.”
“Why?” he asked, nervously looking up at Maggie.
She smiled gently and perched on the small ottoman. “Because babies aren’t born with muscles. In fact, most of their bones are all mushy.”
“That’s…wrong!”
She laughed and shrugged. “I don’t think that any woman would want a baby coming out of…” she blushed when his eyes moved to her eyes, then down to her hips. “Well, you know. A baby’s bones are soft when they come through the birth canal so that a woman’s…body…isn’t torn up. We’re flexible, but the softer bones help.”
“I thought that a baby was…well, stronger.”
“Nope. Not even their skull is fully formed until several months after they are born. And they aren’t born with muscles. They don’t need them in the womb since they are surrounded by amniotic fluid. They’re basically swimming until they are born. So, when they come out, they have to build up their muscles. And their head is the heaviest part of their body at this age. It takes a while for them to build up enough muscles to hold up their head.”
He held Nadia with one arm, then stroked the dark fuzz on the top of her head with his other hand. “Got it,” he replied, his tone revealing his awe. “She’s beautiful.”
Maggie smiled, then laughed softly at her…their…daughter’s fascinated stare. “She’s not crying,” she told him. “I have this theory that babies sense when they are safe. If I’m right, she feels safe in your arms.”
“She is,” he replied, and the words sounded like a vow. “She will always be safe!”
Maggie smiled, charmed by this side of him. “How did you find out about her?”
He shifted slightly and Nadia’s hands bobbed with the movement.
“Levi was in Ditar a few days ago. He mentioned that you were still on maternity leave.” He looked up at her. “I put two and two together and realized that you’d given birth to our child.”
Maggie shrugged, feeling a slight bit of panic. “Levi has been good to me and Nadia over the past few months. Emily and Ann come by pretty often to help me as well.”
“I ordered my staff to start interviewing for a nanny. And we’ll begin the process of hiring tutors as well.”
Maggie didn’t like the sound of that. “A nanny? And why is Nadia going to need tutors? First of all, she’ll be perfectly fine in public schools. The school district here is excellent. The high school in my neighborhood has a very high graduation rate and a high college acceptance rate.”
His large fingers touched Nadia’s tiny ones. The contrast was shocking. So were the similarities. Nadia definitely had Ramit’s dark eyes and his darker hair. Her skin was also a little darker than Maggie’s. It was a stark reminder that Nadia was no longer her daughter alone. Now that Ramit was in the picture, she’d have to share her tiny daughter with Nadia’s father.
The big question was how they’d accomplish the sharing.
“She will attend boarding school,” he announced.
Maggie’s eyes widened. “Um…no! She won’t!” Maggie announced and stood up, stepping away from the ottoman.