The Scars They Hide

Chapter Thirty-Eight - Contentment is Better than Happiness

Chapter Thirty-Eight - Contentment is Better than Happiness

Lutfiyah and Jaafar's first argument was unsurprisingly about May. Lutfiyah felt that Jaafar was spoiling her too much and Jaafar felt that she was being too controlling, forgetting that she had a co-parent now. Lutfiyah refused to back down because she was set in the ways she wanted to bring her child up and Jaafar felt that she needed to let the reigns go for her own good.

It ended up with Jaafar walking out in a huff and Lutfiyah furiously baking too many cupcakes.

Luckily for Lutfiyah, Jaafar happened to be the kind of person whose anger evaporated with some space and he came back an hour later, cheerful and ready for tea. For some reason this made her more angry. He should be fuming like her, not giving her neck kisses that made her shy and happy!

It took a few days but they reached a compromise. It wasn't the ending of their arguments but it set the precedent for the rest of them. Jaafar always walked out before anyone's voice could be raised and it gave both of them time to calm down and discuss things in a rational manner. Lutfiyah also learned to win some arguments by just agreeing with what Jaafar said which blew off any steam that built up. Many of these ended with Jaafar staring at her in exasperation which predictably led to heated kisses and bedroom activities.

Whether it was their honeymoon phase or not, Lutfiyah could not have been more content. Some might say that happiness is the peak but being happy was a state of mind, she rather thought. You could be happy but still wish things were different. Being content was the peak. It was being happy with the way things were with no feeling of needing to change anything.

Months later when May had to start school, Lutfiyah didn't know who cried more. Jane, Jaafar or herself. It was a mess and May seemed to find the entire incident far too amusing for the adults' liking. They had agreed to send her only part-time until she turned five but it was still difficult to realise that her baby was all grown-up.

Lutfiyah also could not believe that time had passed by so quickly. It was soon to be one year that they were married and she felt like she could still remember meeting Jaafar like it was yesterday. At the same time, it felt far and out of reach.

She felt a touch on her furrowed brow and her face melted into a smile.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Jaafar asked, leaning hiw hip against her desk and smiling down at her.

"A nickle for a kiss?" she asked in reply, puckering up her lips jokingly.

He grinned and dropped a kiss onto her forehead before tickling her sides and making her shriek with laughter. "You never need to ask for kisses." Then he lifted a brow. "That's from a really old song. A really really old song."

She rolled her eyes and nodded. "One of my friends from college would always reply with that line whenever anyone asked that question. Eventually she admitted that it was some song that her parents considered special and would always use those lines at home and that's how she picked it up."

He nodded and shrugged. "Seems legit."

She pinched his thigh but he only laughed before he stood up. "Come on. I'm taking you out for lunch."

Lutfiyah looked around her office and sighed. She could use a break and honestly, nothing was better for getting her mind clear than some alone time with her husband.

They walked to the park nearby and found a quiet spot under a tree, the day-time traffic rather quiet for a Tuesday afternoon. She supposed that it was getting chilly.