The Price of Pride

Chapter 39

"Ayla? Aww, my baby girl." Reyhan smiles when she sees the child. "Come here, Sweetie."

Emir lifts her and sets her gently on the bed next to Reyhan.

"Be careful, Honey. Go slow so you don't hurt Mommy."

He holds Ayla so that she can give Reyhan a hug. Then he leans over and kisses Reyhan's forehead.

"Someone really missed you," Emir says, smiling at both his girls.

"I missed her too," Reyhan says, stifling a little bit of a groan when Ayla adjusts to settle next to her. But they quickly find a comfortable position with the little girl cuddled up to her, with her head on her chest and her little arm thrown across Reyhan. "This is perfect."

Reyhan holds out her free hand and sighs her contentment when he takes it and takes a seat on the other side of the bed.

"Absolutely perfect," she says again.

They all settle back and watch TV for a while until there's a knock on the door. A nurse pops her head in, a huge smile on her face.

"Do you have room for one more visitor, Reyhan hanım?"

Both Reyhan and Ayla let out a gasp when the nurse pushes in a baby cart. Emir just smiles and then goes to grab Ayla from the bed before she starts to get too excited and accidentally hurt Reyhan.

"Look at your baby brother," he says quietly, holding Ayla over the cart to see him. He grabs her hand when she reaches out to touch him.

"Let's go wash a bit first," he says as the nurse starts to lift the baby. "You don't want to give the baby any germs."

He finds himself holding his breath until the baby is placed into Reyhan's arms. But then the look on her face ... it lights up the whole room. A smile breaks across her face when she finally gets a look at her son. She lifts tear filled eyes and looks at Emir for just a moment before her attention is captured again by the baby she's holding.

"Daddy?" Ayla calls, a subtle reminder of what he's supposed to be doing.

He clears his throat and blinks away his own tears before giving Ayla a wink.

"Let's go get our hands squeaky clean," he says, poking her nose and making her giggle.

When they're done, they return to the room to find the nurse has left them alone. Reyhan is feeding the baby, a look of wonder still on her face.

"He's a miracle," she whispers. "An absolute miracle."

"You both are," Emir tells her. "And I can't believe I'm finally seeing you two like this. Seeing this is the answer to all of my prayers."

He looks away, not wanting her to see the pain in his eyes. The pain he had to endure during those past few days without her. Reyhan reaches out a hand to him and he takes it, bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

"Love will always find a way, Emir. Our love is greater than any obstacle anyone can throw at us," she reminds him. "We've been through so much, but look at us. We're together, we're happy, and we have this beautiful family now. No one can take this from us. No one."

"Not even my mother?" he asks guiltily. "In one second, she nearly destroyed me. If I had lost you and the baby ...."

"But you didn't lose us," Reyhan interrupts him. "Your mother tried her worst and it didn't work."

Emir gives her a weak smile before placing another kiss on her hand. He wishes he could agree with her. But he knows his mother. This wasn't her worst ... not by a long shot. He's afraid she won't stop. Not until someone makes her stop.