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

Chapter 65

“Hello ladies! I am glad you could make it!” he said, glancing at Ayah with his eyes twinkling, and Ayah blushed slightly before turning her attention towards the spread of food.

“Everyone, this is Hana and Ayah. Hana and Ayah, this is George, Lila, Kennedy, Thomas, Casey, and Rose!” he exclaimed and after everyone had been made introduced, they sat down on the blanket, eating and talking happily and excitedly. It was interesting when a couple of times they got interrupted by fans taking pictures and asking for autographs, but other than that they had a wonderful time.

“Okay hurry we have to keep up with the schedule!” Freddy exclaimed as they finished cleaning up their picnic, and Hana laughed.

“Are we going to be rushing like this all day!?” she exclaimed, and Houssam and Freddy exchanged glances before nodding.

“Yes!”

Six hours later, Ayah and Hana came into their apartment, dropped on the couch and let out deep content sighs.

“I can’t believe how much we did today!” Hana exclaimed after a few moments, and Ayah laughed.

“I’m surprised I can feel my feet!” she slid off her shoes wincing slightly. “I feel like we walked for years!”

“I think climbing the stairs of The Empire State Building was the worst part! I so am not in shape!”

“Well Houssam would have carried you if he could!” Ayah teased, and Hana laughed.

“Yeah well Freddy looked ready to buy you all of Times Square! You practically broke his heart when you wouldn’t let him buy you that bracelet!”

Ayah laughed before her face grew somber.

“I wanted to. I really did. But I couldn’t. I mean I’m just setting myself up for heartache here. He isn’t even Muslim.”

“You never know what’s going to happen!” Hana exclaimed, and Ayah smiled.

“Yeah I guess. What was your favorite part of the day?”

Hana smiled. She couldn’t pick just one part. The whole day had seemed like a dream. She had thought it would be weird having Houssam and Freddy’s handlers with them, but it was actually really a good thing. They were never left alone, but at the same time, it wasn’t awkward of uncomfortable.

In addition to going to The Empire State Building, they had stopped by the Central Park Zoo, and taken a ferry ride to see The Statue of Liberty. They had passed through Madison Square Garden, taken quick pictures at the Chrysler Building, the MET, and Washington Square Park, before having lunch at The Hard Rock Café, wandering around Times Square where Hana had bought little presents for everyone back home, and stopping at M&M World for some chocolate. All and all it had been an eventful and long day, and Hana still was feeling like it was a dream

She had no doubt in her mind now that she wanted to be with Houssam, and even though he acted silly around Freddy, she could see that he really had matured. At first she couldn’t pinpoint what was different about him. But there was something in his eyes. When he looked at her, there was a wisdom that hadn’t been there before, and she wondered what had caused such a change in him.

“I can’t just pick one moment. There were so many.”

Ayah smiled.

“I know. Me too. Well I’m beat. I’m going to go to sleep!”

“It’s only five in the afternoon!” Hana exclaimed with a laugh, and Ayah shrugged.

“Yes but I feel like we’ve been out walking for years.” She said with a laugh, and once her friend had gone into her room, Hana booted up her laptop, intending on catching up with her emails, and finishing the article that was due on Monday.

As she clicked on her inbox, she smiled to see an email from her brother, from Ilham, from Yusra, and…from Houssam.

She clicked on Hisham’s first.

Salaam baby sis!

How are you? How is everything? Nothing new here just at home with the kids. I never realized how hard it is to deal with them, especially when Hamoudi gets into the candy! SubhanAllah may Allah swt reward my wife because she is an angel! So tell me more about your new job! Is Houssam’s manager paying you well? Will you get royalties when the magazines pick it up? How is Houssam doing? Is everything settled? *insert teasing winking face* Say salaam! I have to go now, Hamoudi just threw a handful of crayons in the microwave!

-Hisham

Hana laughed loudly, before clicking on Ilham’s.

Dearest Hana,

Ya Allah how much I miss you! I feel so lonely! The children miss you as well. Layla is always asking why you aren’t here to take her to class. She would now be in your age level, and she said she wishes you were here to be her teacher. But Alhamdulillah your replacement is doing well, even though no one can compare to you! So Hisham told me about your new photography job! That’s amazing MashaAllah! How’s it going with Houssam? Shall we expect an announcement anytime soon!? Just kidding….well sorta. Hurry it up please, I want to take wedding pictures before I get too big :) MashaAllah your brother has been a big help around the house, although he can be kind of clueless. For some reason he let Hamoudi microwave crayons! I tried to clean it but I think it would be better if we just get a new one! So anyways, write back soon, I can’t wait to hear about everything!

Lots of Love!

Ilham, Dawud, Layla, Hamoudi, and baby girl Ismail <3

Okay. Now she was in tears after hearing about the happenings. She knew she shouldn’t open Yusra’s but well…

Lovely Hana,

How are you habibti?! I haven’t heard from you in so long! We all had dinner the other day, and agreed that it wasn’t the same without you! Kareem misses you too. I had to take Ayyoubi to the doctor, and needed a babysitter for Kareem. He kept shrieking for his Khaltu Hana, and gave poor Maria such a hard time. Lol it was kind of funny in retrospect. Anyways, Houssam told me that you are taking pictures for him and Freddy. That’s awesome MashaAllah! By the way, even though he would kill me for telling you this, you totally made his life by showing up at that stadium. It was so hard for me to keep your arrival a secret from him, but his response made it all worthwhile. InshaAllah I hope things are going well between you guys, and things get settled soon. I have always thought of you as a sister of my heart, let’s just make it official.

Love you lots, and Amir and the babies send their salaams.

P.S. Eman wants to know how your new roommate is doing!?

Hana felt a small pang at the thought of someone else babysitting Kareem, but she was glad to have heard from Yusra. It had only been two months since she had left, but she missed them all dearly.

Now for Houssam’s email.

Hana,

Today was amazing.

Freddy sent me this picture to send to you.

I think it’s awesome.

See you Tuesday.

-Houssam.

As she clicked on the attachment, her eyes widened in surprise. She hadn’t even realized Freddy had taken the picture, she had taken thousands today, and it surprised her to realize how nice it was. It was a picture of Hana and Ayah standing on the bow of the ferry looking eagerly towards The Statue of Liberty. The wind was blowing their Hijabs, they had their arms linked, were smiling largely, and just looked like they were having the time of their lives.

It had been a wonderful day.

As she began to type her response, it didn’t escape her notice that every single one of the emails from back home had mentioned her and Houssam settling things, and she herself couldn’t but hope that it would happen soon.