Love At First Sight

29

"Wait! What?" Safina asks sitting up.

My mom drags me and makes me sit between she and my sister.
"What are you talking about?" Ammi asks.

I turn to Safina.
"All this time we've thought you had the problem because the report says so but it was all forged, you were never infertile"

She just stares at me in shock.
"No that can't be true, how did you know?"

I huff "I felt something was off since I saw his reaction to Safina's results, any man in his position should be excited but he was in shock and he didn't seem happy. There could only be two options, either something else was up or he lied about wanting kids but we all know Sadiq loves kids, more than Safina does. He was even planning on raising his sister's son. So I found one of the hospitals they went to and I saw the doctor. I told him that I knew he lied about the results saying you were unproductive and if he didn't show me the real results I'll report him and make sure he loses his license".

I get out the original doctor's report and hand it to Baba. Ammi held Safina as they both cried.

"It's true" was all Baba said.
"He's sterile and his father knows" I say.

Baba looks at me frustratedly "His father knows?"
I nod "He was the one who came to see the doctor personally regarding the issue"

"That's why—he—he kept buying me all those things I knew—it all started after we found out. When he'd—he'd buy me jewelry, new phones, changes my car every year and gives me whatever I wanted. He was trying to make up—" she trails off as she silently sobs.

"I called Sadiq to come over"
"No!" Ammi says abruptly "I want this solved differently, call him and cancel"

I stare at her "Why?"
"Abdulrazaq just do it" she looks at Safina "Does he know you're here?"

She shakes her head.
"Good, tell him I asked you to stay here for a few days since I'm not feeling too well" she turns back to me "Call him now".

I walk out and call him.
"Hello, Sadiq?"
Brother, I'm on my way."

"Something came up, can we meet another time?"
"Uhh—Sure. Can I call you back? Your sister is calling"

I nod "Okay then"

I go back in and find Ammi and Baba seated side by side, Safina left the room.
"I should go, I have a few things to take care of"

Ammi was out of it, deep in thought.
"Okay, we'll talk later" Baba says back.

I nod "But when are we going to discuss this with their family?"
Ammi raises her head and looks at me "We need to think things through tomorrow she can go back for now".

Baba turns and looks at her in disbelief.
I shake my head "I'm not letting my sister sleep in his house one more day. She was discredited and belittled. They blamed her and treated her like she's nothing so there's nothing to think about".

"Mind your tongue!" Baba stands abruptly "Don't talk to your mother like that".

I take a deep breath "I'm sorry but I can't watch her go back".
"Well she is" Ammi adds "We have to deal with it maturely, we don't want people finding out".

"To hell with people finding out!" Baba shouts startling her "They shamed and humiliated my daughter for 5years. They hurt her, they made her go through so much agony for such a long time" his voice gets low "My baby girl—for 5years" he turns to Ammi "She's not going back there! And we're solving this tomorrow, with a divorce! To hell with their stupid reputation!" He walks out angrily.

She bursts out crying.
I walk over and sit next to her "It's going to be okay, it will all be solved inshallah".

"This—it's my fault—both my children are suffering because—I failed you two" she says sobbing.
I put my arms around her "No, you haven't failed us, our paths can't always be clear, at least Safina has survived this one".

She looks at me "And yours is for life, being married to Khairat"
I shake my head "I might not have admitted it but it's not a bad thing, In a way I feel more at peace now".

She smiles "I'm glad to hear that. You should go home, it's already 6pm. I'll go comfort your sister and then your father".

I nod "Take care of yourselves and cry together, you two always feel better when you do that".

She nods "We do"

::

I sit on the couch.
It's 8:38pm, I stopped by the mosque and prayed Maghreb and Isha'i before coming back home.

"You're back" Khairat says when she comes in.
I nod.

She walks over and sits next to me, placing her hand on my thigh "Is everything okay? How did it go?"

I huff "As you can imagine they're all in pain"
She gasps "So what did the report say?"

I huff looking at her sadly, I felt miserable. The fact that my sister had to live those 5years in despondency and anguish just to protect their stupid ego, I let her marry him.

"I let my sister marry than man and—I let her be part of a family that hated and broke her, me!"
She puts her arms around me, I lean my head on her shoulder.

"It's going to be fine, at least she's home now, in the midst of the people that would do anything for her, inshallah that's the end of it".

I nod.

I thank God I married Khairat every minute that passes by. I forgot how much of a relationship we had, she wasn't just my girlfriend, she was also my best friend, one that meant the world to me.

Talking to her is so easy and I don't have to keep hiding my emotions like with Iqram. Iqram sees me like an idol, like I'm perfect and it's difficult to talk to her and show emotions around her.

I hoped it would change after we get married but it's still the same, apart from my violent side which I hope she never witnesses again, she still looks at me the same way she did the first time she saw me, the look in her eyes.

Even when I try to talk to her that's the look I see.
It's hard to keep up and be myself around her, I don't want to disappoint her, I don't want her regretting the first time we met or marrying me.

I'll be perfect for her.

::