Prince Baby

“No,” Seth said, slowly, embarrassed to admit in front of his older brother that he didn’t know much about his ex-wife.

“Read the article. She talks about being raised by nannies and missing things like close girlfriends because she was educated at the palace. She laughs about never getting sent to the principal’s office or having a chance to be a ‘bad girl,’ but if you read between the lines what she’s saying is that her childhood was hard. Maybe too hard. She may not want her son to live that life, and while she’s here you might be able to prove to her that with a ‘commoner’ for a father, Owen doesn’t have to.”

Seth glanced up sharply. “You think that if I play my cards right, she’ll give me custody?”

“Not forever, but maybe until Owen is fourteen or so. Her childhood was what she missed. She didn’t mind being royal once she got old enough to have a sense of responsibility.”

Seth snorted. “Oh, she has a sense of responsibilities, all right. King Dad snapped his fingers and she went running home.”

“That works in your favor, Seth,” Pete insisted. “She knows how committed Owen will have to be when he gets old enough to assume his royal duties. So you need to show her that you could give Owen the normal life she didn’t have in the only space of time in which he can have it. While he’s a child.”

Seth glanced over at Ty. “What do you think?”

“He may never join the family business, but at least we’ll keep him out of purple tights and a fur-trimmed velvet robe until he’s fourteen.”

Seth laughed, but Pete said, “And when he’s fourteen, we don’t have to give him up easily. We can still file for custody. The trick will be getting the time right now to convince the princess that Porter, Arkansas, is the best place for Owen to have a real childhood. And that means you can’t settle your visitation discussions until you’ve proved to Lucy that you will raise Owen in an absolutely normal environment.”

Seth snickered. “Right. I wouldn’t know a normal environment if it bit me in the butt. Once our parents died, Ty, Cooper and I lost our normal environment.”

Ty shrugged. “Compared to Lucy’s life, yours is normal.”

Pete said, “Ty’s right, Seth. Compared to her life, yours isn’t that odd. You might have money, and your house might be big, but it’s still in a quiet, safe small town where Princess Lucy’s son probably wouldn’t need a bodyguard.”

“She hates her bodyguards.”

“Exactly! So while she’s living here, all you have to do is show her Owen would have a very normal life if he lived with you.” He nodded toward the article in Seth’s hands. “And whatever you do, don’t even breathe the word nanny…”

“He already did,” Ty said, “and she shot him down.”

“Let the idea stay down, Seth. She talks in the article about not knowing her mother because she was raised by nannies, and I think that’s your key. She does not want this kid raised by a nanny. So you have to learn how to change a diaper, take your turn getting up with Owen at night, feed him when he cries. And when you’re not doing those things, make dinner, keep the house clean and do laundry.”

Seth’s eyes widened. “I have a maid…”

“Give her a paid leave.” Pete turned to the kitchen door. “Your assignment for the next few weeks is to pretend you are just an average guy in an average town, who will raise his son in an average home so he can be an average boy.”

“Great,” Seth said sarcastically. “Should be a piece of cake.”

Chapter Three

Five minutes after Madelyn and Lucy returned to the kitchen, Seth’s house began to fill with people eager to see the new baby. Seth was glad when Ty suggested they leave the noise and confusion and hide in the garage, but he was surprised when his older brother took Sabrina from Madelyn’s arms and also asked Madelyn’s dad to join them. It wasn’t until Ty returned from a side trip to his SUV with Sabrina’s diaper bag and spread a clean blanket on an empty worktable that everything came into focus for Seth.

“Penney might be the Gentry family strategist,” Ty explained, referring to his future mother-in-law. “But Ron was a sergeant and he knows all about boot camp and basic training. So he’s going to teach you how to care for a baby.”

Ron laughed. His once brown crew cut had grayed but he still had the muscular arms and chest of someone in the military. In under a half hour, using Sabrina as a model, he taught Seth enough baby-care basics that he could change a diaper, feed a bottle and burp with the best of them.

But Ron didn’t stop there. “If your objective is to demonstrate to Lucy that you can give your son a normal life,” Ron said, sounding as if he was briefing troops for a battle, not preparing a new dad for an encounter with the mother of his son, “then you have to prove that parenting is a natural fit for you. That means you’ve got to be involved with Owen’s care right from the get-go. So I suggest you take the baby from Lucy as soon as your company leaves. That will give Lucy a break and also prove you can slide into the role of dad as if you were born to it.”

Seth agreed, but even though Penney and Ron, and Ty and Madelyn and most of the morning guests left just after noon, a steady stream of visitors—women from one end of Porter to the other who came bearing gifts—never stopped. Seth didn’t get two minutes alone with Lucy or his son. Forget about generously caring for Owen to give Lucy a break. There were so many women ogling Seth’s baby that even Lucy didn’t get to hold Owen. That evening, a small crowd actually gathered to get the baby ready for bed. Seth was lucky he got to kiss his son good-night before they hustled him out of the room.

But Seth didn’t panic. If he wanted Owen to play in Little League, have friends, walk the streets of a town without fear or paparazzi, then he had to prove to Lucy that he could take very good, very normal care of their son. So he sneaked into the laundry room with his cell phone and called Ron.

“Here’s what you do,” Ron said after Seth explained why their original plan hadn’t worked. “Owen’s probably going to get up about ten times tonight. That doesn’t sound like good news except by then, all the company will be long gone and Lucy will be alone. So you’ll get your chance to prove yourself. You don’t want to look obvious by running into Lucy’s room the first time Owen cries, but I’ll bet she’ll be damn glad to see you at 2:00 a.m. Plus, taking your turn with the baby is a very gentlemanly thing to do. Not only will you give Lucy a break, but also you’ll show her that you intend to teach Owen to be a gentleman.”

Liking the two-birds-with-one-stone strategy, Seth stayed awake until Owen got up the first time, around midnight, to make sure he could hear the baby’s cries so he could take his turn. Confident Owen was loud enough to awaken him, Seth went to sleep. But in what seemed like only a matter of minutes, he felt the warmth of the sunlight streaming in between the slats of the lemon-yellow horizontal blinds on the windows of the spare bedroom he was using and he bounced out of bed.

It was morning! He’d slept through the night! He hadn’t heard Owen cry!

He scrubbed his hand down his face, then jumped into jeans and pulled on a T-shirt before he grabbed his cell phone to call Ron. He wasn’t a complete idiot, but with the exception of Sabrina, he’d never held a baby in his life. He’d also never dealt with a new mother. He could “guess” what his next move should be but he didn’t think he could afford the risk that he would say or do the wrong thing and alienate Lucy even before they’d spent twenty-four hours together. It was better to be safe than sorry.

When Ron answered, Seth simply said, “I never heard Owen cry.”

“Easy, there, big guy,” Ron said with a laugh. “Don’t panic. You still have plenty of opportunities to chip in and help out. Especially in the morning.”

“Yeah, right. The baby’s in Lucy’s bedroom. It’s one thing to go in in the middle of the night when the baby’s screaming and she’ll be glad to see me. It’s another to barge in in broad daylight.”

“That’s true, but you can turn the whole situation around if you bring her a cup of coffee. She’ll think you’re being a good host, but she can’t hold Owen and drink coffee, so you offer to take Owen and finish whatever she’s been doing, like feeding him or burping him or changing his diaper. And, voilà, you look like a natural at being a dad.”

Seth said, “Okay,” then disconnected the phone and scrambled down the hall. Unfortunately, even before he reached the middle of the back stairway that led to the kitchen, the scent of fresh coffee greeted him. Confused, he rushed down the remaining steps and found Lucy sitting at the table, holding Owen, as she flipped through the Sunday paper.