Page 22 of Sheikh's Quarantine Triplet Baby Daughters

"I'm still a foreign woman. I'm still who I was, and from what I know about Alraed, that still means something."

"I have offered my country every part of me for the last five years," Samyar said, his voice level. "I have given them more than I thought had to give during this pandemic. I find that I am not willing to offer more."

There was a long silence, but Samyar was patient. It felt as if he had been waiting for Diane for five years. He could afford to wait a little longer.

On the other side of the door, she stirred, and as Samyar stood, she opened it. Her face was red and blotchy, she had thrown on a towel to cover her nakedness that made him realize he was still bare, and his heart beat for her, longed for her, knew that only she would do.

"We're going to figure this out," she said, and he ached for how tired but determined she was. "It's not good for kids to have parents who don't know where they stand, is it? Before they're born, we need to make sure we know what we're doing."

Samyar offered her a tender smile, and it felt as if the sun came out when she gave him one in return.

"We'll figure it out," he said firmly. "We will. Diane, I—"

The confession rose to his lips as naturally as breathing, but Diane reached over to cover his mouth with her soft palm. He could smell both their bodies on her hands, and before he knew what he was doing, he nuzzled her, making her laugh reluctantly.

"Let's leave off on the feelings part," she said, her voice firm. "We have enough to figure out in the time to come."

"But—"

"I'm not ready for that," she said, and reluctantly Samyar nodded.

"It's there," he said. "If you want it."

There were a dozen emotions that fluttered over her face, so many as if she had turned a box upside down and sent them scattering. Then she was calm again, serious, and her hand drifted down to rest on her belly.

"We need to figure out who we are and what we're doing first," she said.

Samyar saw the wisdom in that. He understood that the world was a complicated place and that no one, not even kings, always got what they wanted, or even what they needed.

At the same time, he knew how he felt, and he knew what he was ready to do to keep Diane and to make her happy. The rest could wait.

He nodded, and took Diane's hand again, bringing it up to his lips for a gentle kiss.

"How about a shower, and then some food? It seems as if we have a lot to talk about, and we probably shouldn't do it in bed."

"No matter how much that sounds like a good idea," she muttered, and Samyar laughed out loud.

It was pure Diane, and he would always love that.

* * *

In the end, there was not a great deal to be decided on. Samyar was resolute on the fact that his children would never want for anything, and to him, it seemed simple that of course their mother would never want for anything either. Diane objected, because, as she put it, she didn't want to be paid for being a mother, but he had stopped that immediately.

"You are not paid for being a mother," he said sternly. "You know that children are most secure when their parents are. If your children live in luxury, but they see their mother struggling, what would that do to them?"

In the end, they had simply agreed that they needed to be slow and to be careful. Samyar had to admit when pressed that he had no idea how his people would take her presence in his life. The only thing he did know was that he refused to let it affect them.

"But it will," Diane said, giving him a long and level look. "It absolutely will. This country belongs to you, but you also belong to it. It's that simple."

"Belonging somewhere does not mean that that place owns me," Samyar said fiercely, taking her hand in his. "And if it thinks it does, I will fight."

He thought she would turn away from him, but instead she nodded. He could still see the fears that shadowed her eyes, but there was a slight flicker of hope there as well, that possibly there could be a future of them together, and his heart sang.

In the end, with the world so uncertain, they could only agree on two things.

The first was that their children deserved the best, no matter what came.

The second thing was that they would be careful with each other, do their best, and take things as slowly as they needed to.

It would do.

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