Falling For Haneef

Finale.

( 4 years later )

" a round of applause for the new business managers in town" Daddy says as I and my bestfriends walk into my home to meet all our family members in our living room with glass cups. The squeal that escaped our lips on seeing all of our family members could deafen anyone, luckily we all have healthy ears.

Our families had arranged a small welcome party for us and we couldn't have been happier. Four years been away from all these faces hasn't been easy, well of course, Daddy and Saleem visited from time to time but it really hasn't been easy. Literally everyone's present, the DanLadan's, the Farouq's, Juwairiyah's family and my in-laws.
I've missed everyone, even though our stay in Georgia for four years was quite a thrilling adventure, there's no place like home.

Everyone's all grown up now, even I grew a few inches taller. Mufeedah is 8 now, and damn she's gorgeous already, Ma sha Allah. Khairiyah and her two adorable kids are also present and my oh my, I can't help but be dazzled. Everyone's looking so beautiful.
We used to talk on video chats back then but nothing beats the real deal.

I, Juwairiyah and Tayibah finally bagged a Bsc in Business management from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. It's a beautiful city I tell you, we would go on tours during holidays back then and make new friends, literally enjoy ourselves. During holidays where we didn't come back to Nigeria, we'd go on vacations to different states in the US. We couldn't get enough of Georgia, every single site to see there, we saw. We visited parks, historical gardens, zoos, the popular world of coca cola aquarium, and an aquarium. Our best site was six flags over Georgia because of the rollercoaster rides, we cried each time we rode any of the rides.
We visited Los Angeles of course, Memphis, Chicago, Dallas and Birmingham. Hopefully more, In Sha Allah.

" So, when am I seeing my gallery?" I ask Daddy after giving him a tight hug again. " Your husband is handling it" He answers and I can't help but smile sheepishly. I and Saleem got married after the lockdown, it was a parlour wedding but Alhamdulillah, I appreciated it, it was what I wanted. We had already started our classes online during the lockdown and once it was over, before we finally left for the states, Saleem and I got married, immediately after our parlour nikkah, we had a photo shoot session alongside a feast. Social media only got got see the wedding pictures of the only daughter of the owner of Alims Textiles and the Son of Mr Idris Yahaya, one of the Heads of Ladan Shipping Group who's now the newly appointed CEO of Ladan Shipping Group and a pilot.

It took a lot of convincing from Haneef's father and his father to get him to accept studying about the business environment for two years before finally being appointed. I didn't have much influence on his decision to take on the CEO position, all I made him know was that I was going to support him in all his endeavours and no matter how busy he got, he was always going to have time for his family. Well, he's the CEO, he can work from home and he now flies passengers only twice a month, the airline he's working managed to adjust his shifts and everything's turning out great.

Our convocation was just three days ago and here we are, rebuilding our lives in Nigeria all over again. I'm not taking over Alim's textiles just yet, I'm going to be a managing director for the meantime, which gives me time to work on my pieces for my new art gallery that Daddy promised to gift me years ago. I won't have much work on my hands though, I and Saleem made a pact to always put the our relationship and the family we're going to build first before business and I'm happy that it's all going smoothly. we haven't been able to conceive yet and it's not because of birth control pills, it's mostly because we follow my cycle carefully.
Extra carefully, lol.
Having a kid while in school wasn't really the best of ideas even though we could handle it if it happened, we planned right and now we are letting go of that plan. It's time to welcome mini us.

After catching up with everyone for hours, we all begin to retire to our various homes, including I and Saleem. We're still staying in the same area as daddy and Tayibah, it's just a short drive away. I would have been sadder leaving Daddy alone but he and my bestfriend are living their best life as a new couple, they got married during the holiday before our last semester and they'll be heading for their honeymoon right after Juwairiyah and Reedo's wedding.
It's cute how our first relationships were our only relationships that led to marriage. What more genuine and stress free could someone ask for?.

" I've missed my home" I squeal happily as I walk in front of Saleem holding my suitcase into our living room and throw myself on the soft couch I personally handpicked. " We've missed you as well" He answers behind me and heads towards the stairs to our bedroom. He built the house during the lockdown, it's a 5-bedroom duplex with two living rooms and a really spacious compound. We have cleaners and security men to help take care of house. I took care of all the interiors and we made our beautiful home, it's large though but it's going to be our family home. All our memories as a family are going to start and end here In Sha Allah.

Since we both had an exhausting day, we snuggled up together in bed enjoying each other's warmth before we drift to sleep. I've never felt safer.
" it's nice to be beside you like this" He silently whispers into my ear. " It is, well luckily it's going to be for each day of our lives now" I respond.
" In Sha Allah. I've missed you so so much"

" me too" I answer with a soft smile. " It's nice that we're finally living all the plans we made. I hope it's going to keep on being like this subsequently"

" We're going to do everything we can to make it happen In Sha Allah"

" In Sha Allah" he says and as I gaze upon his eyes, memories from when I saw him that very day he came to collect my work for his mom. We both haven't changed much, he's still as charming as ever. " Ready for forever?" He says gently and plants a kiss on my forehead. " I've never been more ready"

( A week later )

Juwairiyah's wedding has exhausted me, all the events, even though they've been more than fun, have been exhausting. First was the Henna lunch, then the family picnic, then the football match, then the barbecue night, before the cocktail dinner and Kamu. Luckily today's the last day, the daurin aure was in the morning and it's already evening time, the wedding dinner.

The way she cried in the morning after it was announced that she was married to Fareed brought tears to my eyes, I didn't cry that much when i tied the knot, even with the little tears I shed, Tayibah and Juwairiyah laughed at me cruelly, it's cute that I can't do same. We've grown this much together, may Allah continue to bless this bond we share.

The music in the background dies down and the hall becomes a bit quiet as the MC finally announces the arrival of the bride. The groom had already made his grand entrance with his best men behind him and now, it's now our turn to dance in.

We picked a trendy song by burna boy - it's plenty and as soon as the Dj dropped it, I and Tayibah got in the mood and revealed our money stacks for spraying, it's gonna rain dollars.

And it did happily rain dollars. Our vibe was contagious and others began to join in and I finally found myself dancing with my husband spraying me mint dollar notes.

As I paused for a second and looked around me, all I could see was genuinely happy faces of my new family. We've been through a lot together, we've hustled and struggled to be happy and yeah, we've been blessed. I hope the blessings continue to fall on us like this. And as new this phase starts, I have high hopes, if anything ever goes wrong, at least I still have them by my side, along side all the memories we shared and are going to share.
I can't be more than thankful for all what I've been through and I have now.
Alhamdulillah!

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THE END

Okay, so how was that ending?.
Not my best but I think i did try 😁. I procrastinated this book a lot, but Alhamdulillah I'm done now. I hoped you enjoyed reading. Thank you for all the support you guys❤ and a special shout out to latifatoyiza my dear, you pushed me to finish this book and yeah, this ending is specially dedicated you. Thank you so much for pushing me this hard❤

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