Chapter Seventeen
Everything about the airport was too bright. Marissa's hand clasped in hers was warm and sticky, and Annabel hung on to it tightly, terrified of what might happen if she lost her daughter in a place where only half the people shared a language with her.
She had a few phrases in Arabic, but many of the airline workers spoke English. Getting a flight to La Guardia did not seem to be a problem, and even though it wouldn't take off for another few hours, Annabel was pleased to have it in her purse.
Once she had the ticket taken care of, she was able to tend to her daughter. Marissa's eyes were wide and afraid, and she stood as close to her mother as she could. She shyly looked away from children who wanted to play with her, and shook her head when Marissa offered her a treat.
"Mama," she said finally, "Why are we leaving? What about Adil? He'll be lonely without us."
Annabel thought for a moment, stroking Marissa's hair gently.
"Sometimes adults need a break to get some perspective," she said. "Sometimes we realize that people we like very much can be hard on us, and we need to think about what that means. It is not easy, but its what we do to make others happy and to keep ourselves happy and safe as well."
"I don't understand," Marissa said, but there was no fierceness in it, only a sad resignation. "I love Adil."
Her words caught in Annabel's throat, and for a second, she was afraid that she was going to cry.
"I love him too, sweetie..."
"Then why the hell are you leaving?"
Her head shot up and standing next to her was Adil, still wearing the rumpled suit from work and eyes fierce.
"Adil-!"
"What the hell are you two doing here? I left you in the penthouse, and when I come back you're gone?"
Annabel could feel her leashed temper snap, and she leaped to her feet, Marissa's hand still held in hers."
"You didn't leave us in the apartment, you stormed out after we had a fight," she hissed. "You left us! Do you think that that is what a good man does to the people who care about him? I= The things you said, is that what a good man who wants to be a father says?"
Adil fell back, his face pale, but Annabel followed him, eyes burning.
"You say that you want me to bear your child, and the first time that being a father becomes difficult, you do this..."
"Mama, mama, stop, it's Adil, he's not mean! Don't yell at him!"
Annabel looked down to comfort her daughter, but then all of a sudden, it was simply too much. The world swam, and then in a rush of pulsing lights, her vision went black.
***
She was aware of flashes. She heard shouting, and then there was a feeling of fast movement, two hands holding on to hers and a feeling f warmth and discomfort.
Annabel blinked, and somehow, despite her last real memory taking place in the airport, she was in a hospital bed. Before she could think to move or to cry out, she heard voices.
"But will she be all right?"
"Of course she will Marissa," said Adil softly. "She's your Mama, and she's one of the strongest people I know. She's not afraid to tell a sheikh when he has been wrong, and this will not hurt her. The nurse says she will wake up soon."
"I hope so. I already miss her."
"Me too," Adil said with a soft chuckle, and Annabel turned to look at them. Marissa was cuddled in Adil's lap, her arms around his neck trustingly, and when she saw her mother, she shouted with glee.
Annabel hugged her hard, telling her that everything would be okay, she was fine and that everything was good.
After a short while, a young woman with a child care badge showed up, offering to take Marissa to the play area, and then Adil and Annabel were alone. Annabel expected to see confusion and perhaps even anger in Adil's face, but his expression was carefully schooled, and she could read nothing from him.
"The doctors said that you had some blood pressure issues from your pregnancy," Adil said, his voice so level that she winced. "Nothing serious, nothing that cannot be controlled with medication and regular doctor's visits. You will be cleared to leave the hospital in the morning."
"Oh, that's good," she said, aware of how inane it sounded.
"It is."
The pause between them stretched out, and Annabel wondered how to begin. Then Adil spoke.
"Did you know?" he asked at last. "That you were pregnant?"
"Last night I took a test, and it was positive," she said softly. Her heart ached. After all of the pain of the last forty-eight hours, she thought that she could finally see more clearly now, and she wanted nothing more than to reach for Adil. She kept her hands folded in her lap.
"I am going to give you the rest of the money that I said you would receive," he said, and she gasped, her eyes opened wide.
"Adil! Why?"
"Because you deserve it. I brought you here... Annabel, I brought you here under the auspice of giving me an heir, but I wasn't even being truthful with myself. I want an heir, but I wanted you more."
His words struck her like blows, but she could only watch him mutely. Her heart was beating faster and faster, and she needed him in a way she couldn't even explain.
"I wanted you so much that I brought you all the way to a foreign country, you and your daughter both, and then I thought that everything was fine. I told myself it was, and I could not see the stress that I was putting on you."
He took a deep breath, and when he looked at her, there was something so painful in her eyes that she gasped.
"You were right," he said. "I am not fit to be a father, not now, and I thought that you being a good mother was enough. I am so sorry. While you were asleep, I apologized to Marissa, and she was good enough to accept my apology. I can't ask for more than that."
"I want you, and I love you, and I want to do the right thing for you, so I am letting you go..."
Annabel finally found her voice.
"Adil, come here, please."
Like a man lost, he came to stand by her beside, and she took his hand in hers.
"Adil, fatherhood isn't something that you just have conferred upon you. It's something that you earn, through hand-holding, through being there when you are needed, through love."
She took a deep breath.
"As far as I am concerned, you have started to earn it."
He looked at her, eyes wide.
"I love you," she said, her voice shaking. "I have for a long time now, but I was afraid that you only wanted me for the child I could give you. I was afraid that you would be a bad father to that child, and I could not tolerate that, not in a million years. But Adil, I promise you, it is a process. You will learn, you will grow, and if you truly want to be, I know that you can be an amazing father."
"I want to be a father, and I want to be your husband," he said, and Annabel stared at him.
"I can't be the sheikha of Sakhi..."
"You can," he said fiercely. "The sheikha is who I marry, and damn the conventions about her being noble. I am the sheikh, and my will is law in this matter at least."
He looked down at her, taking her hand in his.
"Marry me," Adil said urgently. "Become the wife I need to rule this land well, and be the mother to my children. Marry me so that I can be a father to the child that you carry within you and to Marissa, who I already love so much I cannot stand.
"Annabel, I need you and love you in ways that go beyond anything that I have ever experienced before. Say you love me as well. Say that you will marry me."
Annabel could feel a deep warmth open up inside her, and she struggled to sit up in the bed. Adil folded her into an embrace that she knew would last a lifetime, and she started to laugh even as her eyes filled with tears.
"Yes," she whispered, "Oh yes, I love you, I love you, and I want you, and I will marry you. We will be a family, and we will love each other very much!"