Page 36 of Sheikh's Quarantine Triplet Baby Daughters

"Did you like it, though?"

"I'll be honest, I think when they're separated halfway through, I probably would have quit if you hadn't told me that they get a happy ending."

"And it doesn't ruin it to know that they get a happy ending?" he asked, and after a moment of thought, Diane shook her head.

"No, not at all. It makes all of this okay. If you know that things are going to end happily, it makes the rest tolerable. Is that a silly thing to think?"

"No, not at all. But most importantly did you reach the part where the sheikh finds his lover with the song that he wrote for her?"

"Yeah, honestly, that was great. I cried a little."

"Pregnancy hormones?"

"For once, no! It was just… genuinely moving. The music was a part of him, and he wanted it to be a part of her as well, and it was just really good. I mean, come on, what girl doesn't want her boyfriend to play her a song on the guitar?"

Samyar grinned widely and before she could ask him what was so funny, he reached down and pulled up what looked like a medieval lute, running his fingers down the strings lovingly.

"Oh no way," Diane murmured, staring at the scene.

"I have a friend who is a professor of music over at the university," he said. "He put together a version of the song that the sheikh in the story plays for his lover. May I play it for you now?"

Diane knew that it wasn't hormones that made tears prick at her eyes now. She couldn't do anything but nod, and Samyar strummed a complicated chord before he opened his mouth and started to sing.

The song was beautiful, and she had just enough Arabic so that by the end, she was crying copiously and not even trying to hide it.

"It's beautiful," she managed, and Samyar smiled.

"So are you," he said. "I'll be back to you as soon as I can, my darling."

Then there was no choice but to hang up because he had a press conference, and Diane thought it was just going to be a normal day until Camille sent her a text in all caps saying, "YOU ARE AMAZING."

She started to text Camille back to ask whether she had mis-sent the last message, but then Camille started to send her articles of local publications, magazines and newspapers, talking about her passionate writing about motherhood and love and womanhood, and how eager they were to have her as a part of Alraed.

For several moments, Diane had no idea what was going on. She wondered if Camille had hired a ghostwriter or something to manage a public statement for her, but then she read an excerpt posted in one of the articles, and she recognized her own writing, the journaling she had done, that she had sent to Samyar, typos and all.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "I'm going to kill him, I'm going to—"

Before she could figure out her threats, Camille sent her a link to a video cued up close to the end. It took her a moment to recognize the airy office where Samyar had been doing his press conferences since being in isolation, and hesitantly, more nervous than she had been in her life, she pushed play.

"—and of course, that won't be tolerated. I am more than happy that Diane Warner's work has touched so many people in this country. That is the woman that I know, and the one that the palace has come to know during this time of terrible adversity. That is the courage and thoughtfulness of the woman who has suffered me in her life for a long time, and it is only the beginning of what an amazing person she is. I will only say this one more time. Ms. Warner is an amazing person, and she will no longer be slandered without cause in this country. She has done nothing but be herself, and that is something I will protect."

"Does this mean that a romance is in the offering?" asked a rather nervous-sounding reporter, and Samyar looked down, a slight smile on his face.

"That is a private matter, and I am allowed to keep it private. However, shall we say, I have hopes?"

The video ended, and Diane's heart leaped in her chest. She cupped her hands over her belly, which had grown significantly rounder in the time since she had discovered her pregnancy.

"Hope," she said. "Yes, we can have hope."

* * *

It was still another two days until they were ready to come out of isolation. Neither of them had shown any symptoms, and things were now as safe as they could be.

"Life makes no guarantees," she said the night before the isolation was due to finish. "We can only do our best."

"I hate that," Samyar complained. "I want nothing but guarantees, both for myself and the people I care about. But darling, what I will guarantee for you is this: I will always care for you. I adore you, and that is not changing."

She could only nod, and the next day, when Dr. Ramamurthy came to give her a quick exam and to declare her healthy, she knew that everything was changing on the other side of the door.

After Dr. Ramamurthy left, Diane changed into one of the soft dresses she had grown to love during her pregnancy; long and simple and comfortable. Without quite knowing why she did so, she braided her hair. It had grown longer than she preferred, but the braids looked good around her face, she thought.

There was a part of her that wondered why she was bothering, and another part of her knew.

When she opened the door to the corridor, Samyar was there, down on one knee and offering her a velvet box opened to reveal a deep red ruby ring.

"I'm not waiting any longer," he said. "Diane, I love you. I love you with all my heart, and I have never stopped. I will never stop. Will you marry me?"

This time, Diane's eyes didn't fill with tears. She could only laugh with joy as she dropped down to her knees as well and throw her arms around Samyar's broad shoulders.

"I love you," she whispered. "I love you, I love you, and yes, I will marry you."

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