Page 17 of The Nicolaides Baby

“Yes, Mara’s an exceptionally beautiful child.” He wasn’t falling into that trap.

“Of course, but I meant Rowan.”

Leo cut his eyes over at his mother while Libby grinned and his father stayed out of it by digging back into his food.

He shifted in his seat. “Mother—”

“I like her,” Libby interrupted. “And I love Mara.” She frowned slightly. “I’m going to miss her when they leave.”

“I would assume she’ll stay until after Lukas leaves the hospital.” At least he hoped she would. He was sure she’d want to make certain Lukas was settled here at the villa.

Mara’s laughter grew closer as she and Rowan came up the stairs. A breathless Rowan said, “Mama almost has you.”

He watched with some amusement as Mara appeared on all fours at the top of the steps with Rowan grabbing her around the waist from behind. “Gotcha, mischief!” She turned the little girl in her arms and hugged her tightly. Mara wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck, saying in a rather put-upon tone, “I not mishif, Mama. I Mara.”

So, it was back to that again. He found himself smiling, so he schooled his features and took another sip of cooling coffee.

“Good morning, everyone. Sorry we’re late.” Rowan smiled at them and walked over to the table while his family greeted her. A highchair waited for Mara, so Rowan set the bag she had slung over her shoulder down and got the little girl settled. His mom fixed a small plate of food for Mara and brought it over to put on the tray. “Oh, thank you, Charlotte.”

“You had your hands full.”

“Oh, with this one…” Rowan shook her head and let out a little laugh while handing her daughter a small spoon she’d pulled from the bag. “Look what Gan brought you.”

To say he’d been surprised the day before when he’d heard Mara calling his parents Gan and Paps would have been an understatement. It had given him a warm feeling for her to refer to them as her grandparents. He supposed it made him think of how it would be when Lukas was old enough to call them that.

Of course that’s what it was.

“How are you settling in, dear,” his mom asked as Rowan went over to fix her own plate, the sway of her hips in her navy capris holding his attention longer than it should have. He glanced at his mother who was giving him that sneaky grin again, so he turned his focus to spreading some jam on his toast.

“Just fine.” She turned toward his mother with her plate in her hand, a sad smile on her face. “There’s a lot of memories, and I see Sierra in every corner. She’d truly made itherhome.” A slight frown marred her expression as she walked back to the table. “And the room you’ve set up for Mara is lovely, but you’ve gone to way too much trouble. I promise she was fine sleeping with me.” She sat down next to her daughter in the seat Sierra usually used. “We’re only here for a few more weeks and I hate to see you spending so much money unnecessarily.”

“I enjoyed it. Besides, it might be used again one day formygranddaughter,” his mother said with another grin at him. “Right, Leo?”

Libby giggled, and even his normally reserved father let out a gruff chuckle.

“I’ll leave that task up to Libby… In about ten years.”

“Ten years! I plan on marrying and having babies well before I’m thirty.”

Leo laughed while his father informed her she wasn’t and his mother and sister tried to override his protests by telling him he was being overprotective. Leo turned with a grin to ask Rowan her opinion but found her face pale and eyes stricken until she caught him looking at her. She gave him a slight smile before reaching down and pulling a spouted cup of milk from the bag.

“Oh my,” his mother said, grabbing his attention away from Rowan. “We need to leave in less than an hour and I’m a mess.Someonedidn’t let me finish getting ready before it was time to eat.”

His father gave his mother a slow smile, his eyes full of heat. “Well,someoneshouldn’t have looked so delicious this morning.”

Libby let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh, come on, you guys!” She turned to Leo, saying conspiratorially, “You know they’restilldoing this. Right?”

He leaned over the table toward his sister and mock whispered. “Doingwhatexactly?”

“You know, talking about…about…”

“You’re sure they’re justtalkingabout it?” He loved messing with his sister. She was just so easy to embarrass.

“Of course not. I know they’re…” Libby’s face flushed all the way up to the roots of her dark brown hairline with hints of red. Their parents burst out laughing. “Never mind. No one needs to think about that.” She scowled over at Leo and grumbled under her breath before shoving another bite of egg in her mouth. He didn’t quite catch what she was saying, but he was fairly certain it wasn’t complimentary.

About that time, Libby’s phone rang, so she left the table to answer it and then went inside. His parents both got up and followed, with his father grabbing his giggling mom’s butt as she walked in front of him. He shook his head. Libby was right. No one needed to think about that. But he had to say, he hoped one day to be just as enamored with his wife as Gregorios Nicolaides was with his after more than thirty-seven years.

He couldn’t help but look over at Rowan who was grinning after his parents. She caught his gaze and then went back to finishing the last of her food. Mara… Well, Mara had finished—with what she hadn’t eaten covering her large bib. She even had bits of egg in her hair. She gave him a toothy smile before picking up her cup and taking a drink.

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