Twice Upon Qadr - A Shot At Love **EDITING**

Chapter 34

“Moo Sam?” he asked, and Hana nodded.

“Yes Amu Houssam is here. And Khaltu Hana.”

“Na?” he asked again, and Hana laughed.

“Yes that’s right. You’re going to be with us.”

“No,” he said with a shake of his head, “Mama!” he exclaimed before his lower lip started trembling.

“Oh no. Here it comes. The neighbors are going to think I’m beating the child up!” Houssam groaned, and Hana hurriedly reached into her purse.

“Kareem habibi, you can’t cry if you want this lollipop!” she exclaimed, showing the baby the piece of candy. Kareem’s lip stopped shaking, and he just stared at Hana with unshed tears in his eyes as if he didn’t know if he could trust her. But when she took off the wrapper and handed it to him, he took it in his little hand, and put it in his mouth, smiling at the two of them.

“Are you telling me the little punk just wanted candy?!” Houssam asked in disbelief, and Hana laughed.

“I think he just was confused. He is used to seeing his parents at night and us during the day. It probably threw him off when you came in instead of his mom. Maybe he just needed the two of us to feel safe.” She said quietly, and after a moment, Houssam nodded.

“That makes sense. Thank you so much.”

“It’s not a problem.” She said, and when she tried to put Kareem back into his crib he shrieked, and she picked him up again. “Okay I guess I won’t be able to leave until Yusra and Amir come back. Do you know when that would be?”

“Well Amir just text me and said that they gave Yusra some shots to stabilize her inflammation levels, and that in another hour they should be home.”

“Habibti. What caused her to be like that?”

“Well her illness was already not stable, but I guess the baby didn’t help.”

Hana’s eyebrows raised.

“Baby?! Oh my god Mabrook!”

Houssam grinned.

“Oh I was supposed to keep that a secret. Yusra wanted to tell you. She’s going to kill me. But Barak Allahu Feeki!”

“Aw that’s so amazing MashaAllah! Kareem, do you want a brother or sister?!” she asked the little baby, and he nodded, even though Hana knew he had no clue what she was talking about.

“Why don’t you go sit down in the living room? I’ll stay upstairs.” He suggested, and she nodded, before taking her bag from him. As she stepped to leave the room he put out a hand to stop her. “I didn’t say it before, but I’m sorry.” He said quietly.

“Thank you.”

He gave her a small smile before stepping aside so she could leave. As she came downstairs, she turned on Barney, and settled on the couch with Kareem. A half hour later he had finished his candy and was asleep in her arms, and forty five minutes later, she heard the front door open and soon Amir and Yusra appeared in the doorway.

“Oh Hana! Habibti thank you!” Yusra exclaimed rushing forward, and Hana handed her the sleeping baby. Yusra brought him up to her chest before kissing his head. “My poor baby.” She muttered, before motioning towards Hana. “I hope he wasn’t too much of a trouble?”

“After he got a lollipop, he was okay.” She said, and both Amir and Yusra laughed. “Are you okay though? What happened?” she asked in concern, and Yusra sighed.

“My body apparently mistook the baby as a threat. You know its not stable as it is, an autoimmune disease being that the body is attacking itself.”

“SubhanAllah! Will you be okay?!” Hana exclaimed, her heart beating fast for she was terrified that Yusra was going to say that she lost the baby. While one of the benefits of all of this heartbreak was that she had mastered the art of escaping horribly awkward and sometimes painful situations*, she didn’t know how to handle this one.

“InshaAllah habibti. They just said I need to rest a lot more than I did with Kareem. Make Du’aa for us!” she exclaimed, and Hana almost cried in relief.

“Of course InshaAllah!”

“Come habibti, let’s set you up in the guest bedroom.” She said and Hana’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh my dad said he would pick me up at Fajr, and there is only an hour before then.”

Yusra put her hand out, and shook her head.

“No, you are going to stay here and rest. Habibi tell her she is going to stay here and rest!” she exclaimed turning to look at Amir, and he grinned.

“You are going to stay here and rest Hana!” he exclaimed, and Hana gave a resigned laugh.

“Okay. Barak Allahu Feekum.” She said as she followed Yusra upstairs. As they passed by one of the bedrooms, Yusra paused to open the door, and Hana quickly looked away as Houssam’s sleeping form came into view. Even sleeping he was beautiful.

“Oh oops! I didn’t know he took this room.” Yusra said embarrassedly, quickly shutting the door and leading Hana to one down the hallway. Once inside, she showed Hana where the towels and shampoo in the bathroom were, and after giving her an extra blanket, she gave Hana another hug, and left, closing the door behind her.

Lucky for Hana she was still wearing her pajamas under her Abaya, and after getting under the covers, she sent a text to her dad telling her she was going to stay there. She was just about to fall asleep when her phone buzzed indicating she had an email and as she clicked on the icon, Houssam’s name popped up in the inbox. Her heart began to beat fast, and she hesitated before opening it.

Thank you again for saving me. You’re brilliant. I can’t tell you how sorry I am for our whole fight, and I’m glad you are talking to me again.

It was lonely without you.

By the way I answered all of your questions the way I should have from the beginning.

Forgive me for being so stupid?

-Houssam

*thanks Bunnicula0!