Just Make Du'aa

• t w e n t y • f i v e •

Dina

My hair became curlier after I cut it. For a while I was hesitant in how I felt about the change. A jolt of shock would run through me when I was shampooing and my hands found nothing below my ears. It's never been this short. Farouz suggested I go get it professionally styled, you have nothing to lose, he said. So I did just that. Amity and I went to an all women's salon on a weekend and I got a proper styled haircut like never before. I was worried about how the stylist would go about my hair, which now lay somewhere between curly and wavy. She made it to end about an inch below my ears. My black hair fell in curly waves and she assured me that styling it would require almost no effort. Then she asked if I wanted something new, and I jumped at the idea, feeling that new hair would somehow mean a fresh start for me.

And that's how I ended up with bangs across my forehead, a trend I'd never supported before. But as I looked at my reflection in the mirror at home, a smile spread across my face. The stylist told me to run an iron through my bangs every morning. It would take no more than thirty seconds. When I did just that, I fell in love with it. The bands weren't completely straight, but it tamed the curl so they wouldn't take over my face. And when contrasted with the messy yet somehow in place curls all round my head, it created a look that made me feel new, and full of air to breathe. Funny how a haircut can have so much power over a person's morale.

I saw Farouz in the mirror and my fingers froze in my hair, I must've not heard the door open and close. Now though, I was suddenly feeling embarrassed, and shy, not knowing how he was going to react to the new haircut. What if he hated it? But my doubts were instantly crushed when he let out a happy laugh, "oh wow!" Farouz paced over and ran his hands through my hair, pushing my bangs back, I felt his fingers brush through then fall onto my collar. "Mashallah," he gave me an awestruck smile, "bangs suit you. Very well."

"Really?" my face flushed, "they don't make me look like a kid?"

He lifted his eyebrows and bit his lips. Eyes roaming down my face and stopping at my lips, "Dina, trust me. You look very... grown up." Farouz let his hands slither down my body, and pulled me against him, his eyes filled with a teasing flare.

"Grown up? Really?" I giggled, "that's the best you can come up with?"

He bent down to my height and kissed me, his lips lingering sweetly, almost teasingly, before deepening the kiss. "Words wise," he breathed after pulling away, "that's the best I can do. But," he kissed me just below my jaw, "let me show you how much I love that haircut."

If all guys reacted to haircuts the way Farouz did, the world would be a happier place.

***

A date, for the first time in a long time Farouz and I were going out to dinner. He told me to dress up and he'd pick me up after he finished up with his work at the library. I was so excited. Things have been good for two straight weeks now. We were both busy with school and work, but we were happy together. It finally felt like the whole parent thing was behind us.

In regards to the baby, Farouz decided we were going to take her in. And that was slightly nerve wracking. She was due in a little under three months, and our lives would change forever. But in a weird way, I was excited. That baby is his sister, and she's going to be just as lovable and wonderful as my husband. We would take care of her together. She'll be part of our family. How can one be sad about a baby that precious?

Farouz was excited too. He tried to seem collected around me. But I saw it in his eye when he brought home sonograms and told me, in explicit detail, how his visit with the doctor went. He already dealt with everything legally, and he didn't see his mother at all. All of the medical stuff was through the doctor. Farouz also thought about the mother, religiously, he was required to care for her. And he talked to his lawyer and the hospital about it. But they explained that she had a very serious addiction, and the safest thing for her was a rehabilitation center. He'd go see her, once he was ready.