Page 45 of Falling for the Queen Mother

"She's in the palace nursery." Emilia pointed over her shoulder. "I can go get her."

Alaina shook her head. "No. I'm not serious, though if you ever need someone to watch her, please be sure to let me know. I've been known to take care of a baby or two. It's been a while, but I think it's probably going to come back to me pretty quickly."

"I would imagine."

Motioning toward the seat across from her desk, Alaina took a seat in her chair. "There is no rush for you come to work. You are more than welcome to take as much time as you need to feel comfortable working part time."

Emilia shifted in her seat. "I'm ready to start working whenever you want me to. I know the daycare in the palace is excellent and I'm close if they should need me for any reason. I can stop in to see her or check the cams whenever I feel the need."

Leaning forward onto her forearms, Alaina looked straight into Emilia's eyes. "You are under absolutely no obligation to start work until you feel ready. If that's not for another month or two or three, then that's how long it takes."

"But I'm already living and eating here," Emilia protested. "I have almost no expenses, but I still need some income and I don't want to take advantage of your kindness." She stared at her hands where the were knit together in her lap. "I would tell you if I truly wasn't ready to start, but I am." Emilia looked up. "I promise."

Alaina wasn't quite certain she believed the young mother, but didn't want to question her authenticity. She would be certain to keep the schedule light and give plenty of time for adjustment for both mom and baby.

Emilia took a breath. "What exactly will I be doing for you?"

"To begin, you'll be a junior assistant. You said you don't have any real experience as an assistant or in a secretarial position. You also said you're good with technology, word processing programs, spreadsheets, and things of that nature. You'll be one of the assistants to my Royal Archivist. She's incredibly capable, but has chosen to stay in the position for a long time, despite every attempt I've ever made to promote her. She likes working for me, but also loves the archival portion of her job. She enjoys working with younger assistants and seeing them learn and grow. She'd be an excellent teacher in a different universe. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen her not teaching someone something." Alaina shifted and sent a quick message. "She'll be here in a minute."

She'd already discussed all of this with Kay. In truth, Alaina didn't need another assistant, not with her low key schedule since being widowed, but was never a bad idea to have someone young in the pipeline. Someone learning the ropes. If, God forbid, something happened suddenly, there would be another member of her staff to step in. In the little bit of time she'd spent with Emilia, Alaina expected great things from her. It wouldn't be a shock if one day, she worked her way to top aide for Frederick or Elise - or if she took the skills she learned in the palace and translated them into a leadership role somewhere else.

The door whispered open as Kay walked in. She'd already seen Alaina that day, but curtsied again anyway. "Good afternoon, ma'am."

Alaina stood and Emilia followed suit. "Kay, this is Emilia. She's the new junior assistant we spoke about the other day."

Kay held out a hand to Emilia. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Emilia looked like she was tempted to curtsy toward her new immediate supervisor, likely more out of nervousness than anything else.

Alaina managed to smother her desire to smile. "Emilia, I leave you in the capable hands of Kay. She'll make sure you have everything you need."

Emilia did curtsy again. "Thank you again, ma'am. I truly appreciate the opportunity."

"I have no doubt that you will prove yourself worthy of the faith I have in you." Alaina nodded toward both of them as they left her office.

That was one thing taken care of. What else did she have on the schedule for the day?

She still hadn't heard anything new about the list of people who'd had access to the archives or if they had any ideas about what might have happened to the original painting.

Should she text Nathaniel? Make dinner plans? Avoid him all together?

A big part of her would prefer the last option. The night before had caught her off guard, and it must have done the same thing for him. It wasn't to say she regretted anything, not truly, but she did wish that they had made a more reasoned choice rather than getting carried away.

Alaina closed her eyes and prayed for wisdom. She had talked to all of her children about it, but not in depth. Not as though this relationship would become real and Nathaniel would be their stepfather for the rest of his life.

What would they think about that? Had any of them, besides Frederick - and Victoria, even met him? She hadn't met any of his children or even spoken with them on the phone or through video chats. They should probably fix that sometime soon.

Technically, legally, what happened the night before didn't actually change anything.

Emotionally? Philosophically? Ethically?

That was a different story.

What else could she add to her schedule to keep her mind off of it for the rest of the day? Another meeting? Two? Three?

Maybe a visit to a children's hospital or early childhood education center or even going for a long drive all by herself. Well, if she could talk her security team into letting her drive and only following her in a separate vehicle.

The odds of that happening were slim and no visits were planned to anywhere. Perhaps if they were already out of the city, but not inside it.