Lucy smiled, proud of her gorgeous new son. “Would you like to hold Owen?”
Ty’s eyes widened comically and he shrunk back. “I’m just getting accustomed to Sabrina.”
“Your baby?” Lucy said, inclining her head in the direction of the little girl Madelyn held.
“Actually Ty got custody of Sabrina when his cousin and his wife were killed in a boating accident. So he’s still learning the ropes,” Madelyn explained, gently handing the little girl to Ty. “But I’m dying to hold Owen.”
Lucy gave the baby to Madelyn as Seth said, “Let’s go in the kitchen so I can make some coffee.”
Ty and Madelyn followed Seth down the short hall by the hand-carved oak stairway, and Lucy followed them. She wasn’t entirely sure she should be in on this discussion and as she reached the huge apple-green kitchen with the light wood cabinets, she decided she should take the baby from Madelyn and bow out.
Unfortunately, Ty was already talking. “And getting back to the gossip mill that squealed on you. You can expect Captain Bunny to be here any minute now.”
Lucy glanced at Madelyn. “Captain Bunny?”
Madelyn clicked her tongue in disgust. “Ty calls my mother Captain Bunny because my dad is retired military, but my mother more or less runs the show in my house. So since my dad was a sergeant, Ty gave my mother a few ranks up and made her a captain. She seems to like that Ty recognizes she’s in charge. The nickname is probably going to stick.”
Lucy laughed. “Ty, I don’t remember you being funny when I met you to discuss the terms of the mansion contract.”
“I wasn’t, but I’m changing.”
He cast a loving glance at Madelyn and Lucy’s heart squeezed with envy. She’d always known there was something missing from her relationship with Seth. This was it. She had loved that she and Seth were so physically attracted that they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, but in the month they were together, there had been no private jokes. No intimate glances. No closeness.
She stopped her thoughts. The very fact that she and Seth never got “close” was another proof that they were not meant to be together.
From the counter where he was pouring water into a coffeemaker, Seth said, “Ty, if you still have the list of prospective nannies you interviewed, I’d love to see it.”
But Lucy shook her head. “I don’t want my baby raised by nannies. I want to care for him. Besides, I thought the whole purpose of us being here was for you to have time with your son.”
Busy adding the filter to his coffeemaker, Seth laughed. “Lucy, I might want to spend time with Owen, but I don’t know how to care for a baby and I don’t think it’s something they taught in princess school.”
She stiffened at the slight. She might be a princess, but she was a woman and she had all the normal motherly instincts.
“A woman who lived down the hall from me in Miami had a new baby,” Lucy said, ignoring the insult to focus on the problem at hand. “When I realized I was pregnant, I asked if I could watch what she did and she let me. She taught me how to hold the baby, how to change a diaper, how to burp him. Then a nurse went over the basics again this morning at the hospital. Plus, I’ve read all the baby books. After a little practice, I’ll be fine.”
Ty shook his head. “Sorry, Lucy, but I’m afraid I have to side with my brother on this one. Your neighbor might have taught you lots of things, but you’re going to discover there are hundreds of details she couldn’t possibly have covered.”
“Yeah, Lucy,” Seth agreed. “Ty has had Sabrina since June. It’s taken me three months just to get accustomed to holding her.”
Lucy understood that she didn’t know every little thing about baby care. She also knew a nanny could certainly be very helpful. But a professional caregiver would also step in every time Owen cried and Lucy wouldn’t have the opportunity she needed to learn to handle him by herself.
“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!