Sophie (The Boss 8)

"You're also old enough to make your preferences known and respected," Neil said, confirming my suspicions. "And custody arrangements, as you know, are difficult when parents live in different countries."

"It would have never come up in the first place if not for recent events with Olivia's grandparents,” El-Mudad added. “Your mother and I agree that the two of you should choose your living arrangements. You knew that when you chose to live in New York."

"Neil would adopt you in a heartbeat if we thought there was a threat to our relationship with you," I promised. And for all that I cherished my time sans kids, I would never turn Amal or Rashida away. "I hope you understand that even though I talk a lot about not wanting to be a mom or not being a mom, that doesn't mean I don't love the two of you. Just in a cool aunt kind of way."

"Bold of you to assume we think you're cool," Amal said with a cheeky purse of her lips.

"You did leave her a rather large opening there, Sophie," Neil said with a chuckle.

"So," Rashida said, pausing briefly to chew her bottom lip. "You're not going to adopt us. But is it still okay if I call you dad?"

"I-" Neil stumbled a moment, trying and failing to contain his emotions. "Of course, you may, my sweet girl."

She beamed at him across the table. El-Mudad dipped his head and smiled proudly.

“But none of you can mention any of this to Olivia,” I instructed them. “Not about the dad thing, Rashida. About the adoption.”

“Yes,” Neil agreed. “We want to be able to speak with Olivia and make sure she understands what all of this means.”

Both girls nodded in understanding.

"Well, if this fairly simple conversation that three adults whipped into a crisis is over, I think I'll check on Molly. See if there's anything I can lend her to make her feel better," Amal said, pushing back her chair.

"Lend her what? Balmain heels?" Rashida snarked.

Oh god, we were going to have two of them soon.

Amal narrowed her eyes. "I have some fairly effective acupressure patches that could help. I'm not entirely flawless. I get seasick sometimes, too."

"Can I camp out on the pool deck tonight?" Rashida asked. "I want to sleep under the stars."

El-Mudad raised his hand to motion to the steward beyond the glass doors. The young man moved quickly to come inside. El-Mudad told him, "My daughter would like to sleep under the stars. Please makeup one of the couches on the pool deck. And station a female attendant on watch over her. I'm worried it may get too cold."

He was also just as protective as Neil when it came to his daughters’ safety at the hands of men. The steward quickly agreed and went off to do as he'd been told.

That would never not feel strange to me. It was why we didn't have full-time staff lurking around the house. It weirded me out to give orders and have people jump to do them.

"I'll get my stuffies," Rashida announced with a squeal, scampering off.

Well, that went..." Neil said once the door closed behind her. He raised his eyebrows and blew out a long breath.

"Way, way better than expected," I finished for him. "And shorter. I mean, I didn't think they'd freak out, but I didn't know how they would react. I probably wouldn't have been super positive about a big change like that at their age."

"My girls have been through many big changes," El-Mudad reminded us. “For once, it’s nice that it’s a positive change.”

“I suppose that now,” Neil interrupted himself with an inhale. “Now, all we have to do is consult...Olivia.”

“And the clock is ticking, now that the girls know.” I dipped my finger in my water glass and circled the rim until the eerie humming annoyed Neil enough that he cleared his throat forcefully. I shook my hand off. “Sorry.”

El-Mudad leaned his elbows on the table, his hands clasped in front of his mouth. “She’s probably still awake. We could tell her now.”

“If you’re ready,” I tacked on quickly.

Neil gave me a withering look. “If I weren’t ready, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”

“Point,” I conceded. “Bitchily made point, but still, a point.”

“We’re ready,” El-Mudad announced for all of us. “Let’s go.”

Olivia’s suite was on one of the lower decks. I’d initially intended for the boat to be a sexy escape for adults only and possibly our very chic adult friends. As a result, Olivia’s was the largest of the guest suites and, of course, adjoined Mariposa’s room. Though it was large as far as cabins go, it was still smaller than the nursery at home, and the fact that it held a queen-sized bed made things even more claustrophobic.

“We just got done with our dessert, and now she’s just putting on her pajamas,” Mariposa told us, just before a flush came from the bathroom.