My Emir ✅

Chapter 45- Preparations

   Mariya let her gaze linger a bit on Mama Aisha's eyes that couldn't hide what her smile hardly did. The older woman met her gaze and had to look away quickly. She wanted to tell her mother-in-law that it wouldn't hurt to be vulnerable in front of them at times.

   " Mariya," Sultan called, making Mariya turn to him. He had to do something about the situation. " Is Eskander still around?" He asked.

   " Ē, Abba." She answered. " Should I call him for you?"

   " Yes." He confirmed.

    Mariya turned on her heels and made her way towards Zayn's room, where she knew he would be with Zayn and the other men. Eskander was quite surprised to hear that Sultan wanted to see him. Nonetheless, he honoured the call and made for the lounge. He was even more surprised at Sultan's enquiry about him. The older man had asked him if the date for his wedding had been set. He gave a positive answer and stated the date__ 22nd to 26th of February. Five days of festivities. It was only five months away.
    Sultan called him out for copying his wedding date and asked that he get invited to the wedding. They joked about it, and Eskander marvelled that the man had the nerves to joke when death was looming over him. Eskander got a bit emotional as he thanked Sultan for taking him and his father under his wing, which led to his success in his prime.

    Zayn walked in on their conversation and accused his friend of stealing his father from him. Sultan only laughed. He turned to Zayn, with a slight change in his mood. " I'll pretend as if I didn't read about the accident at the industry on the news today."
   All heads whipped towards him. Aisha had noticed a slight dampness in his mood, but she didn't speculate such a reason.

  Zayn let his shoulders drop in defeat. He really couldn't outsmart his father. His gaze dropped to the iPad beside his father. That answered all his questions. " We wanted to keep you out of this." He tried to explain. " We couldn't risk another heart attack. Besides, we're handling it well."

   " Yes, you don't need to worry about it." Mama Aisha chipped in as she handed him his pills. She also passed him a glass of water. He popped the cocktail of pills into his mouth and downed them with the water. He placed the now empty glass and looked at Zayn who was still on his feet.

   " I get that, and I'm proud of you all." Zayn would never get tired of hearing that. " With the way things are going, it's safe to say that I'm leaving everything in good hands. God bless you all."

   " Ameen." They echoed simultaneously.

   "Madallah. You two can take your leave." Mama Aisha prompted and asked Eskander to extend her greetings to his parents. He agreed instantly.

  Eskander got on his feet, joining Zayn.
Together, they left the lounge.

   

     *~*

    Sultan's death was inevitable, and they knew that. And he had advised them times without number, to stop grieving something that was out of their control. He took Eskander's wedding as an opportunity to see to it that his fate wouldn't stop them from being happy. He asked them to enjoy it to the fullest like the was no tomorrow. He didn't want to see them in despair. It took a lot of effort to soak Yasmeen into that mindset. He spent more time at home and very little time at work. His stepbrother, Hamza had assumed most of his workload. His broken relationship with him was slowing healing, and he liked it. Especially, when they sit at the gazebo on weekends to talk and reminisce about the good old days. His wife hardly ever let him out of her sight while he was at home, and he found it sweet. Nothing could ever beat the round family table sessions they had on the weekends. He cherished the laughter and chatter that rang within the walls of his house, knowing that one of them could be his last. They were trying their best to buy him more time. However, at the end of it all, everything was in the hands of God.
   One thing he always included in his prayers was to see the day Zayn would have his own child. He knew better than to pressure them to it though. He was content with all that he had, considering that Nazeera was only thirteen weeks away from her delivery date. He pretended as if Yasmeen hadn't started to talk a little bit too much about Fareed. He wanted also wanted to see if Haseeb would end up with Khayra's friend. Khayra had been an important figure in Zayn's life, and it was only right that he cherish Haseeb like he did to his sister who had been nothing but a breath of fresh air. He prayed to God, not to take his life while the suspense was at a heating point. Albeit, some days were hard on him. Those were the days he couldn't bring himself to put up a façade.
   It was scary how time soared fast when you didn't want it to. It has already been three months since he had that cardiac arrest, and he will forever thank Nazeera for her professional effort that fateful day.