Hamdan
I finish buttoning up my waistcoat and do one last adjustment to my tie. Looking at my watch, I realize we still got some time, hopefully Layla is almost ready. I leave the bedroom to go look for her in the dining area where the hairdresser set up her things to work. The knot in my stomach is getting more tight and is not even close to its worst, but it has always been the same for me during every race day. The hairdresser is still working on Layla but seems to me that she's almost finished, so I go stand in front of my wife to get her opinion on my look.
Layla lets out a sharp exhale when she sees me. "Oh, you look so handsome!"
"Thank you," I smile proudly. "I still need to put on my morning coat and top hat, though."
She giggles. "Honestly, I feel like we're putting on costumes for a play or something."
"Oh, believe me," I grab a chair to sit before her. "We will see some interesting looks today."
The hairdresser takes Layla's hat from the box on the table and starts adjusting it on her head.
"Tilt your head, please," the hairdresser requests.
Layla follows the instructions and then covers her mouth to let out a deep yawn.
"Are you still tired?" I ask her.
"Kind of," she tells me. "But this is insane, I slept for twelve hours! How am I supposed to get back to work once we're in Dubai?"
"You'll probably feel better by then like Dr. Evans said," I remind her.
"I really hope so."
"Did you take your prenatal vitamins?" I ask her.
"Yes," she does a small eye roll. "It's the second time today that you have asked me that."
"How does it feel?" The hairdresser asks Layla.
She shakes her head slightly. "I think it's good."
"Are you sure? Let me just put a couple more pins on this other side, just to be safe."
Layla tilts her head to the other side and smiles at me. Is this real? Is she really my wife? My pregnant wife? I still have to pinch myself sometimes, it all happened so fast. Well, it actually took a long time for all of this to happen, but once we decided to stick together everything happened at the speed of light. When I wake up in the morning, I like to take a few moments to watch her, just to appreciate her peaceful face and soft breathing and every time I have to say to myself yes, this is your life now.
The hairdresser is finally done and Layla stands up to do a twirl, making her pale pink dress dance briefly in the air. It is made out of some soft fabric I cannot name, falling right below her knees. Her hat, in a matching color, has flowers coming from underneath to the side of her face, highlighting her eyes beautifully.
"Do I look ready for my first Royal Ascot?" She wonders with a big smile on her face.
I stand up to kiss her on the cheek. "I have to show you something before we go."
She thanks the hairdresser and I take her back to the bedroom where we both stand by my bedside table.
"Earlier this morning, while you were still asleep," I begin explaining. "I went for a run with Ali and Abel and on our way back we passed a little store that caught my eye."
Layla raises her eyebrows. "Okay," she says, apparently not knowing where I am going with this.
"It was a baby store."
She gasps.
"I couldn't help myself." I confess.
"What did you get? Show me!" She urges with a sparkle in her eyes.
I open the top drawer of the bedside table and retrieve the small white box. Holding it with one hand, I slowly take the lid off.
"Aw, Hamdan," she says when she sees the tiny bunny slippers inside. "They are adorable," one by one, she takes them out of the box and places them on her palm. "So tiny!"
"Whether it's a boy or a girl, the baby can use them, right?"
She ignores my question and lowers her voice to a whisper. "There's little bunny ears on them."
I laugh. "Yes, they have little bunny ears."
She pecks me on the lips. "I love them."
"I really want to go baby shopping with you," I let her know while putting the slippers back in the box.
"I hadn't thought about it, but we could find a store a bit away from here, so we could do some shopping in private. Because back home, there's no way we could get away with that."
"Let's do it! Sometime this week, okay?" I suggest.
Once we're in the car on our way to the racecourse, my fingers keep drumming on the top hat I carry on my lap until Layla puts her hand above mine.
"I'm nervous," I admit to her.
I have a gut feeling we might win the Gold Cup this year, but that race won't happen until the day after tomorrow, on Ladies Day, and the anticipation is killing me. I wish I could skip these 48 hours and be there already.
This reminds me about another thing I cannot wait for.
"Hey," I say to Layla. "Do we really have to wait another three weeks to see Dr. Evans again?"
"Yes," she replies, elongating the e.
I let out a dissatisfied groan.
"You truly want to hear that heartbeat, don't you?" She guesses.
"More than I want to win the Gold Cup."
When we arrive at the Royal Enclosure, we head straight to our box, which is filled with family, friends and horsing partners. After a while, Layla discreetly lets me know that she's too tired to keep meeting people and goes to sit in a quiet corner with Maryam. I check on her every once in a while and now I'm starting to wonder if an event like this could be too much for her, we never anticipated how fatigued she was going to feel.
"I could ask Saeed to take you back to the hotel if you want to." I offer her.
She shakes her head. "No, I want to at least see one of your horses race."
"Okay," I look at my watch. "Races will start soon but let me know if you change your mind."
I hear my father call my name and I go to shake more hands. My main interest in the Royal Ascot is definitely at winning races, but a lot more happens over these few days every Summer. Partnerships and business deals are made, the horse racing industry moves billions around the world and every important player is here and, like every other business there is, it is all about who you know.
Finally, it's time for the first race and Layla and I take first row places at the balcony.
She grabs the binoculars excitedly. "I can't see them."
"They're too far away but you will see them soon once the race starts," I explain.
She lowers the binoculars to look at me. "They'll do great," her fingers scratching my cheek tenderly.
We are winning this race, I know it.
Everything is ready and the race starts. My eyes are fixed on the flat screen nearby, glued to our champion Blue Point and our jockey wearing blue. Right away they are in the leading group, the screams and cheers from the crowd intensify with each passing second. The race will only last a little over a minute but it always feels like a lot longer to me when one of ours is racing. Blue Point takes the lead. Inside my head, the noise fades out and my fingers curl into tight fists. Another horse catches up as a close second. Come on, boy. The gap between them gets narrower and my heartbeat goes up to my ears. Come on, Blue Point! Both horses cross the finish line at incredible speed and I cannot tell if we won or not until Layla comes to hug me.
"Namoos, my darling!" She tells me.
Everyone in our box is cheering and smiling and I look at the screen again to see our jockey celebrating on top of Blue Point.
"Yes!" I grunt through my teeth and give my wife a series of kisses on the cheek. My hand goes down to her stomach for a brief moment because I feel that this has everything to do with our baby.
In the midst of the celebration, I lose sight of Layla and find her later on, again with Maryam.
"Do you want to come to the trophy ceremony?" I ask her.
"I'll catch up with you later, I want to eat something first," she replies.
Having multiple small meals throughout the day has been helping her with the nausea, so I head down with the guys and wait on the grass for the trophy ceremony. The Prince of Wales will be handing it and that's the cherry on the cake. Throughout the years, I've had the opportunity to exchange a few words with him several times, and he has the best sense of humor, I really like him.
"Off to a good start, Sheikh Hamdan. Make sure you leave some trophies for other stables." Is what he tells me while giving me the silver trophy.
"Not sure we can do that, your highness."
We share a laugh and pose briefly for the pictures alongside the Duchess of Cornwall as well.
After going back to the guys and getting more congratulations and greeting people I haven't seen in a year, I step aside to see if I can manage to call Layla and find out where she is, but before my finger can tap on the call button, I get a slap on the back.
"Namoos, brother!"
I look up and see my good friend Amir.
"Hey!" We exchange a hug. "How are you?"
"Not as good as you are," he jokes, as one of his horses was racing as well.
"What can I do?" I reply with a big grin. "Don't be a sore loser."
We go all the way back to Sandhurst and have remained close since then, so it's all in good competitive fun. And then, I notice his sister standing next to him.
"Princess Nafisah," I take my hat off to greet her with a slight head bow.
She follows suit with a smile. "Sheikh Hamdan."
We continue discussing the races and horses, since they are both quite the experts on the matter. It was one of the first things Amir and I bonded over at Sandhurst; our love for the horses. And princess Nafisah never misses a racing event either. They are both children of the King of Saudi Arabia, and the horsing tradition also runs deep in their family.
Amir appears to see someone in the crowd and excuses himself for a moment to go speak to them. I carry on the conversation with the princess but I'm a bit uncomfortable about the fact that she's alone, I can only spot a couple of men from her security, fully dressed to the Royal Ascot code. I look around looking for my uncle, or Saeed Hilal or anyone, but they are nowhere to be found. I have no problem with talking to her, I could talk about horses for days, but I know her family is very traditional and I don't want to seem disrespectful. She seems not troubled at all but I know from Amir that she's the rebellious one of the family.
Soon, my saviour arrives. Layla shows up suddenly and wraps her hands around my arm.
"Hey... I couldn't find you." She tells me.
It's all good now that my wife joined us, we only have to wait until Amir comes back so we don't leave the princess alone.
"I was about to call you." I reply. "Let me introduce you, princess Nafisah, this is my wife; Sheikha Layla."
Layla casually extends her hand to the princess. "Nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you as well," the princess replies with a smile.
I can immediately tell something is off, Layla is an educated person that knows the protocol very well and if she didn't call her princess or your highness like she should, it was deliberately, and the princess seems to have replied in the same fashion as she was addressed first.
"I'm so sorry I missed the wedding, by the way." The princess tells Layla. "It must have been delightful."
"Oh, I'm sorry, were you on the guest list?" Layla wonders. "I wasn't in charge of that so I couldn't tell."
What is she doing?! Why would she say something like that?!
The princess blinks repeatedly. "Oh, well... I'm still sorry I missed it."
"Yeah, it was actually delightful like you said, wasn't it darling?" Layla asks me.
I clear my throat. "Uh... yes, yes it was."
Am I in trouble? Did I do something wrong? Because the tension in the air and in my body is making me feel that way.
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Finally! I had a draft ready for a few days but I didn't have the time to put the final touches on this chapter until now.
What do you think about Amir and Nafisah? What's going on there? Poor Hamdan is already feeling guilty and he doesn't know why, haha!
Thank you for reading!
Sophie.