For Her

Chapter Twenty Six: Goodbyes& Happy Endings

"Always and forever."

"So please don't cry, you know I can't handle seeing tears in your eyes."

It's true, he'd always freak out when I cried. I remember when we were 10 years old, I was crying because of my dad and when Ahmed saw me... he did everything in his power to make me smile again. That's how he was always like... I'm going to miss him and his goofiness.

Suddenly Aunty Sarah gave Ahmed a hug and kiss and started crying again.

"We're going to miss you." Hamid said in a sad tone.

"Bye, big bro." Amy added, joining the hug session.

"I love you guys."

Just as he was leaving, I turned around and accidentally bumped into someone. "Sorry," We both said at the same time. The pretty girl leaned down and grabbed my bag off of the ground. "Thanks." I responded once she handed it back to me. "Are you okay?" The guy behind her asked worriedly.

"Yeah Alhamdulilah I am. Let's go your brother is probably waiting," She responded as she fixed up her hijab. The pretty girl looked at me for a little while as if analyzing the look on my face with concern.

"I'm sorry to pry but, are you alright?" She asked me.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just saying goodbye to an old friend and it's taken a toll on me." I responded.

"I hope everything works out for you." She responded with a gentle smile. For some reason, it felt like I could understand her. As if she was holding a lot in as well and is trying to take it day by day.

"Thanks, you too."

They both then said salam and then walked away, they must be new here. Makes sense, I thought to myself with a shrug. "Come on." Amy said with a sniff. Oh no she's starting to cry again.

"It's okay Ames." I said reassuringly.

He'll be okay...

* * *

2 months later

A lot has changed over the last couple months such as, I got accepted into the university of Miami and my family is making both Zubair and I set a date for our wedding. We both came to the agreement that we wanted to only have the nikkah in a month and then the actual wedding ceremony in the summer. "Hey can you go check on Juwa for me?" Amran asked as she laid down on her bed. She's been up all night taking care of Juwa because she was sick. "Yeah, sure." I replied as I walked to where my niece was. Mashallah she looks so big now for just a 5 month old. Kneeling down, I picked her up and put her on my lap. I love spending time with her. She always makes me smile even when I'm sad.

"Hey cutie." I cooed as I rocked her back and forth in my arms. Holding her like this makes me think of when I have a kid of my own. How would it feel like to be a mother? Thinking about stuff like this makes me feel excited for the future."Assalamualaikum my habibties." Dad said as he walked inside the living room.

"Salam." Amran and I both responded.

He immediately walked up to Juwa and held her in his arms. "It's so weird, I never thought I'd see the day where dad would be holding my child. I should take a picture!" Amran got up and grabbed her cellphone. You know, I didn't see all of this happening either. If someone would have told me that dad would come back, we had another brother, mom was healthy  and I'd be marrying Zubair Hassan, I wouldn't have believed them. Allah does really know what's best.