Prince Baby

“I’m a quick study.”

“So am I,” Ty said. “Yet I had a hell of a time. Right, Madelyn?”

“Only because you didn’t want to learn.” Madelyn faced Lucy. “I think Owen needs a diaper change. You do have spare diapers, right?”

“We have the things we got from the hospital.”

“Great. Let’s go change his diaper,” Madelyn said, nodding for Lucy to follow her out of the kitchen. “I’ll take inventory of what you have, so I can shop for whatever is missing.”

“That would be wonderful,” Lucy said, as Madelyn guided her into the hall and then up the oak stairway. “Seth said he set up everything for Owen in the master bedroom.”

“Good,” Madelyn said, walking down the upstairs corridor. “You should have the best room in the house.” She paused in front of the door and added, “I also knew we should get out of the kitchen before Ty bulldozed you into something you don’t want.”

Lucy laughed. “No one bulldozes me. Years of living with a king who is accustomed to everybody obeying him without question have taught me to handle just about anybody.”

“I was hoping you would say that,” Madelyn said. “But you’re still going to have your hands full holding your ground with Seth.” She glanced at Owen. “From the looks of things, you knew each other about nine months ago, and Seth has changed a lot since then. Don’t expect to be able to sweet-talk him into anything. If he really wants a nanny, you’re going to have a battle on your hands. And I haven’t seen him lose as much as an argument in at least eight weeks. Not even to Ty.”

Madelyn opened the door to the bedroom at the end of the hall. Stepping inside, Lucy gasped. Seth’s decorator had to be the most talented person on the face of the earth. Not only was the cherrywood furniture exquisite, but also the airy green geometric print bedspread and drapes managed to be elegant and masculine at the same time. Lucy could imagine that with his green eyes, Seth looked delicious tangled in the sheets, and she found herself wondering if his decorator had chosen this particular fabric and color scheme for that reason. She wondered if he’d slept with the woman, and quickly realized that the creator of this room might even be why Seth never came after her.

She fought the molten jealousy that rose in her by reminding herself that she couldn’t want a man who was totally wrong for her. Seth had deserted her. She’d actually had to debate whether he would even care to know she was pregnant! Worse, they disagreed about the nanny. Just like her father, Seth didn’t want to be a hands-on dad. He would foist the raising of his child off to a stranger.

“I’m glad Seth isn’t a pushover. Convincing Seth I don’t need a nanny will be good practice for arguing with my dad.”

Madelyn laughed. “All right. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I’m warned but I’m also very determined. My mother died when I was six, and because I was raised by nannies I never really knew her when she was alive. That will not happen with my son.”

Eyes warmed with compassion, Madelyn nodded and said, “Good for you.” Then she pulled off Owen’s diaper, tossed it in the pail beside the changing table and reached for another.

Lucy studied every move Madelyn made. Though she had plenty of diaper experience from her neighbor’s baby, and the nurse at the hospital had demonstrated even more basics, Lucy didn’t think it would hurt to watch Madelyn to see if she did anything different, anything unusual, anything Lucy should know. In fact, now that she was alone with her son, she was beginning to feel a bit panicked. She could burp, change a diaper and rock him to sleep…but what if something else happened? What if he got sick? What if he choked! Dear God! She didn’t know enough to be alone with this child!

Madelyn glanced over at her. “Are you okay?”

Lucy swallowed. “Sure.”

Madelyn studied Lucy for a second, then said very carefully, “In spite of what you told Seth and Ty, you really don’t know a whole heck of a lot about caring for a baby, do you?”

Fighting her panic because she didn’t want Madelyn to see it, Lucy shrugged. “I lived next door to somebody with a baby…”

“I know and the nurse at the hospital also showed you a lot of the basics,” Madelyn interrupted Lucy by finishing her sentence for her. “But, Lucy, Ty had a point. Things are going to come up that they didn’t cover.” She caught Lucy’s gaze and very kindly said, “You need some help.”

Lucy drew a breath. “Okay. You’re right. But I don’t want a nanny. I don’t want somebody who is going to step in before I can when Owen cries.” She drew another quick breath. “At the same time, I’m scared to death.”

Finished with the diaper, Madelyn slid Owen’s sleeper into place and began snapping the closures. “How long are you planning to stay?”

“In the U.S. or here at Seth’s house?”

“Here. With Seth.”

“I don’t know.” Lucy hedged, not wanting to explain that how long she stayed depended on how quickly her dad could close the legislative session. “Seth and I weren’t specific. We only agreed I would stay here while we talked about the visitation schedule. That would also assure that he has some time to get to know Owen.”

Madelyn lifted Owen from the changing table and cuddled him against her. “So, technically you could stay in this house indefinitely as long as you never come to terms on visitation?”

Confused, Lucy said, “I guess, but my father’s not going to let Owen live here forever and I don’t want to give Seth the wrong idea.”

“You won’t stay long enough to give Seth the wrong idea. Only long enough for his neighbors to teach you how to care for Owen.”

Lucy peered at Madelyn. “Seth’s neighbors?”

“The way I see this, you can’t let Seth know you can’t care for this baby or he’s going to get a nanny and then you probably won’t get the experience you’ll need to convince your dad you can care for Owen alone.”

Lucy nodded.

“But I can’t come here every day and help you. Seth would get suspicious.”

Lucy nodded again.

“But, every day while Seth is at Bryant Development, one of my mother’s friends could drop by under the guise of meeting the newest member of Seth’s family. And while she was here, she could give you baby lessons.”

Lucy pressed her hand to her chest. “It sounds perfect.”

“It’s close to perfect, but there is one potential glitch. To get the time you’ll need, you can’t have too much interaction with Seth or you’ll come to terms on visitation too quickly and the next thing you know you’ll be going home when you’re not ready.”

Lucy took a quick breath. “I can handle Seth.”

She’d stayed away for eight long months and she could most certainly keep her distance for a few days.

The second the kitchen door swung closed behind Madelyn and Lucy, Seth faced his older brother. “We have got to get a nanny. I don’t know a thing about caring for a baby.”

Ty shrugged. “I’ll send over my list.”

Seth shook his head. “It is not going to be that easy. Did you see the look on Lucy’s face when she said she didn’t want someone helping her care for Owen? She’ll fight tooth and nail before she’ll let me get a nanny, but I need a nanny if I’m going to get custody.”

“Custody? You’re going to try to wrestle custody from a king?”

“Not from a king. From Lucy. When I called Pete last night before I went to the hospital, I only wanted visitation. But this morning I called him again and told him I want out-and-out custody and he told me that meant I had to change the way I was looking at this. We can’t go at this from the perspective of Bryant Development against the monarchy. It’s just me and Lucy deciding what’s best for our son.”

“I don’t know, Seth…” Ty paused when there was a knock at Seth’s back door. “That’s probably Madelyn’s parents,” he said, grinning and shaking his head.

But when Seth pulled open the door, Pete Hauser stood on the threshold. Carrying about twenty extra pounds and going bald, Pete looked much older than his forty years.

“You have something already?” Seth asked, directing him into the kitchen.

“Not a precedent that gets you custody of your son,” Pete said. “But I had two legal assistants from the firm’s main office in Little Rock go online. They found virtually nothing on your princess or her country.”

“It’s a small island. I’m not surprised they found nothing—”

“I said virtually nothing.” He handed Seth some papers. “This is a printout of the interview with Princess Lucy of Xavier Island from Sophistication magazine’s Royal Issue. Did you know she didn’t like growing up as a princess?”