The Sheikh’s Instant Family (The Safar Sheikhs 2)

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11

Amad insisted on stopping by Dubai on their way home from Paris, which was a concept so absurd to Vanessa that it made her laugh. The sleek, stylish towers crowded together on the Persian Gulf were awe-inspiring as their private jet descended toward the airport. And once they were out in the thick of things, moving through traffic in their sleek black car, Vanessa finally felt like Amad’s wealth was slightly more commonplace.

Their first and only stop on this one-night layover was the shopping center. Amad had raved about it so much for having all the finest stores and most incredible diversity of foods that Vanessa had to see it for herself. It even had bungee jumping. Indoors.

Vanessa updated her Facebook status about their quick stop in Dubai as soon as the plane landed. It wasn’t even ten minutes before a message came in. From her mother. With approximately thirteen exclamation remarks at the end: Where are you? I need to see you!

This would be way too easy to deflect. Thank God she was half the world away from her mother right now. She tapped out a quick response: “In Dubai, Mom. Like the status said.”

“Yeah, I got that, honey. What part? I’m here too!”

The realization slid cold and unsavory through Vanessa’s body. She stared at the phone for so long that Amad must have grown worried, because he nudged her with his elbow.

“You okay?”

She sucked in a breath, nodding. “My mom is here. She wants to see me.”

Amad blinked. “In Dubai?”

Vanessa nodded, staring at the words on the screen. She could only imagine the variety of reasons that would have brought her mom here, and they all had to do with some sort of rich boyfriend who didn’t mind her gold-digging.

And now here Vanessa was too. Gold-digging in her own way. Her stomach turned.

“Do you want to see her?” Amad asked, his voice softening.

“I—” Her phone vibrated with another message.

“Honey, this is so exciting! We can’t travel halfway around the world without seeing each other. You’re my only daughter, you know.”

The message was a spear to the heart, the same spear she used anytime Vanessa showed resistance or hesitation. You’re my only daughter, you know. Because Vanessa was supposed to have had a big brother. He’d died in the early weeks of infancy. And somehow, that fact that had been used against Vanessa her entire life in subtle ways.

And it always worked.

“We should.” Vanessa exhaled slowly as she typed out her response. To Amad, she said, “Then she can meet you, and we’ll break the pregnancy news. She saw our wedding pictures on Facebook, so that cat is out of the bag.”

“Cat is out of the bag,” Amad murmured. “English still surprises me once in a while. What a funny saying.”

Vanessa gnawed on her bottom lip as they drew nearer to the mall. She’d told her mother to meet them there—a safe, neutral, busy meeting place if there ever was one—and Amad had promised to look for her signal that it was time to go if things got uncomfortable. They had some time to kill before her mother arrived, so Amad insisted on window shopping.

They strolled hand in hand through the mall, pausing in front of glittering, gaudy displays of heels and elegant dresses, poking their fingers against the glass at funny mannequins posed in the most unreasonably chic positions.

When they came to a children’s store, Amad insisted they go inside. Vanessa agreed, and they perused the bright, clean space. Everything was overpriced, to her eyes at least, but when she came upon an impossibly plush elephant near the back, it was hard to walk away.

“He’s so cute,” Amad murmured into her ear as she stroked it.

“Maybe he can be our little baby’s special thing,” she said, glancing down at her belly. “What do you think, peanut?” She held the elephant to her nearly-non-existent belly, waiting for a response. “Do you like the elephant?”

“I think he said yes,” Amad said, hugging her from behind.

She tipped her head back to look at Amad, finding tenderness and a lot more waiting in his gaze. Her throat tightened.

“Let’s get the elephant,” she whispered, tightening her arms around the squishy animal. “It’ll be our first gift to the little one.”

Amad squeezed her shoulder as they wandered back through the store, heading for the cash register. Amad winked at her as he paid, and the employee wrapped the elephant in a shimmery tissue paper before handing it over in a large bag.

“Let’s name her Eleanor,” Vanessa whispered.