Page 64 of Once Upon A Time

In his arms, Dieter held a very young child.

Not a baby, but achild.

The child’s pale blond, almost silvery, hair curled around her ears, and she clung to Dieter’s neck with chubby little arms. Her dress was pink gingham with lace.

Wulf reached out to him. “We’ll take care of it. We’ll take care of you and Alina now, and we’ll take care of the problem.”

“I still can’t believe I didn’t see it.” Dieter set the child on the floor, where she glared at her unsteady legs. “How could I miss something like this?”

“No one wants to believe such things,” Wulf told him. “We’ll take care of it.”

Flicka couldn’t take her eyes off the child.

Theverylittle girl.

The baby toddled over to Flicka and patted her knee with her baby hands. She said, “Mama?”

Flicka looked up at Dieter, who was watching her even though Wulf was still talking to him. She asked, “Who is this?”

“My daughter,” Dieter said. “Alina.”

“Your daughter?” Flicka asked. “I didn’t know.”

The baby said, “Mama!” and patted Flicka’s knee more insistently. When she saw Flicka was looking at her, she held her arms up.

Even childless Flicka knew what that meant, so she picked the baby up, bracing her against her hip. “Hi, baby.”

“Hi.” Baby Alina patted Flicka’s shoulder. “Hi, Mama.”

“Why does she keep calling me Mama?” Flicka asked Dieter.

“She’s just a baby,” he said. “She doesn’t know names. Everybody is Mama or Dada.”

Alina stuck her fingers in her mouth, pulling her lips aside to reveal tiny pearls inside.“Toof!”

Flicka bounced the child on her hip a little, and the baby’s green eyes creased as she grinned.

Wow, if Flicka had been the guy and Dieter had been the girl, she would have accused him of being knocked up when they broke up two years ago.

Two years ago next week, as a matter of fact. It had been right after her big June cotillion that Flicka had thrown in London every year except this one.

Flicka asked Dieter, “How old is she?”

He said, “Fifteen months.”

“Fifteen months?”

Flicka did the math quickly, almost instantly.

The baby was fifteen months old.

Her mother would have been pregnant for nine months.

Twenty-four months.

Two years.

Exactly two years.