Page 34 of Passion and Deception

Maggie crossed her arms over her chest. “So, you’re going to let our precious daughter sit in her poop? Not very fatherly of you. What happened to your evolution to a more enlightened man? Are you seriously going to tell me that only women are supposed to change diapers? Aren’t you trying to convince me that you’ve evolved?”

He shook his head, his jawline grim. “You can change her,” he said, then walked purposefully towards her as if he was going to hand her over.

Maggie backed up and lifted her hands into the air. “Nope! This is all you. Possession is nine-tenths of the law.”

Ramit looked at her, then at the changing table, horror dawning on his handsome face. “But I don’t know how to change a diaper,” he admitted quietly.

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Ramit, you are a highly intelligent man. I googled you. You have overseen peace negotiations with your neighbors, managed very promising trade agreements, and have managed your country’s economy with brilliance.” She paused, one eyebrow raised. “Are you seriously going to tell me that you can’t figure out how to change a diaper?”

He blinked at her , then asked, “You researched me?”

She felt the heat stain her cheeks, but shook off the pleasure. “Ramit, your daughter needs her diaper changed. It’s a bonding experience, believe it or not. So go ahead and help her by wiping her butt and then put on a new diaper.”

Ramit looked as if he wanted argue further, but Nadia cooed slightly, grabbing Ramit’s attention. He looked down at his infant daughter and something tugged at his heart. He could no more ignore that adorable smile than he could cut off his own arm.

“Fine!” he grumbled and headed over to the changing table. “What do I do?”

He watched Maggie smother another laugh, but she walked over and positioned herself at the end of the changing table while he stood beside it.

“You’re going to help me, right?”

Maggie shrugged, leaning a shoulder against the wall. “Only because the nurses in the hospital helped me. Otherwise, I’d let you learn the same way I did – by searching the internet for answers.”

He glanced at her with those dark eyes and her heart turned over in her chest. “I’m sorry, Maggie. I truly am sorry that you’ve had to learn to do this all on your own.”

Maggie’s mouth softened. She was such a sucker for this man! She’d had a year of heartache, and he stormed her home, literally and figuratively, and offered a few kind words, and she was ready to forgive him.

Shaking herself, she gazed down at Nadia. Their daughter had to come first. “First of all, keep a hand on her belly the whole time so that she doesn’t roll off and fall.”

Ramit did a double take at that instruction and his hand flew to Nadia’s tummy. Instantly, the little lady’s arms and feet started dancing and he heard Maggie chuckle.

“She…enjoys this process?” he asked, not sure that he could believe what he was sensing. Surely changing a baby’s diaper wasn’t fun for the baby any more than it was for the parent!

“Sometimes she hates it, sometimes she loves it. We play a lot while getting cleaned up,” Maggie explained. “So yeah, generally she likes it unless she’s hungry and impatient.”

He felt like an imbecile as he carefully unsnapped her onesie, keeping his hand on her belly the whole time. “Okay, what do I do?”

She verbally walked him through the process and Ramit had to concentrate to understand the instructions. He wished he had six or seven hands, but finally, after two ripped diapers, he got one perfectly wrapped around her adorable butt.

When it was all over, with Nadia’s legs snapped into a clean onesie, he sighed with relief. “I’m never doing that again,” he vowed.

“Sure you are,” Maggie replied, reaching out to lift Nadia into her arms. She lifted her daughter higher into the air and Nadia giggled and shrieked happily as Maggie kissed her round tummy. When Nadia was settled into Maggie’s arms, she continued, “Nadia poops several times a day, plus the wet diapers. She’ll need your help several more times today.”

Ramit shook his head. “No, that task will be delegated to the nanny that my staff will hire. They’ve already set up interviews for the next few days and a temporary nanny will meet us at the airport.”

Maggie heard the words, but they didn’t make any sense. “Airport? And what nanny?”

Ramit stared at her and her stomach tightened at the sudden tension in his features. Whatever he was going to say next, Maggie knew she wasn’t going to like.

“Maggie, you and Nadia need to come back to Ditra with me.”

“Why? What would be the point? I have only one more week before my leave is up.”

He shook his head. “No, Maggie. I need both of you to come to Ditra with me. You’ll be safe there.”

“Safe? What’s the danger here? Other than you and your team breaking into my house!”

Maggie held Nadia close now, stroking the back of their daughter’s fuzzy head. She kept shaking her head as Ramit took a deep breath and kept going.

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