Afraid To Fall In Love

Wedding Bells

"This is because you give these children too much freedom Fatima. Which bride goes out there days before her wedding? Thank God I brought Fanne with me for some proper scrubbing and spa. I had a feeling you would be this careless."

All this while Ammi didn't say a word. She tried as much as possible to show her respect to the woman. Aunty Jamila is Papi's elder sister. She hates that we aren't as traditional as she wanted us to be. Whatever that is. If we didn't know better we would think she came to make our lives miserable rather than celebrate with us.

She came along with her two daughters Nana and baby and then two middle aged women. I am guessing one of them is Fanne.

Right in the middle of the drama, Mamie's car pulled over.

"Alhamdulillah." Ya Amrah murmured from behind me as they came in.

"The mother of the bride has arrived." Ammi said playfully.

"Well Shattu..you are late." The old hag groaned.

Aunty jamila spent the whole day complaining about anything and everything. Whatever we did we were extra careful not to unleash the breath of the dragon lady.

The drama was unending. On one hand there was Umma and aunty Jamila, and on the other hand Nana trying to get Mahmud's attention. I have never really seen this side of her but who could blame her. I only knew the Nana that tortured us as kids even though she was only a few years older. Who knew that the witch could be nice.

It was my sister's wedding and I wasn't going to stand by and let anyone ruin it. We all had to put aside our differences and make it a memorable one.

It was 7:30 in the morning. Nana and baby had woken up every one in the room as they got ready for God knows what considering the fact that we slept very late last night because we had to make arrangements for the surprise bridal shower. Everyone was in on it except for Ammi, Ya Amrah and of course the dragon lady. It was going to be a long day.

Nasreen had gotten a dozen branded shirts. The balloons only needed to be blown. Amani and Baby worked on the decoration. We were using Papi's parlour for the bridal shower. It had the right space and no one would actually suspect anything. We were very discreet about it.

I ran through my check list a dozen times. We had only the pastries to worry about.I couldn't go out without an explanation besides it was like Anty Jamila was on to us so I called Mamie.

I met her in the room closing the door behind me. She had a very good plan though it included Mahmud in it. How he agreed to it remains a mystery.

He walked in shortly after I did looking very distracted as Mamie explained everything.

"God help me." I muttered behind him. Fortunately for us no one saw us leaving the house.

He glared at the way I drooled over the blueberry muffins.

"Good God." I moaned as I took another bite of the muffins.

We made sure the bride to be was distracted so we could finish the arrangements. After magrib everyone was in position. All dressed up but we had to cover the shirts. I wore a grey kimono on and went straight to her room where she had just had her shower.

"Papi asked for you." I smiled almost giving it away.

"What for?" She asked trying to get ready.

"How am I supposed to know?" I lied through my teeth as I left the room.

She entered the room. The lights were off so she proceeded to the middle of the parlour heading towards papi's room. That was when we all shouted "Surprise."

We had our little family moment that evening. I smiled watching the beast devour him muffins. We chit chatted for a while losing track of time.

"We have a big day tomorrow. It would be best if we all retired to bed." Aunty Jamila muttered as she yawned.

We all grumbled as to why she had to spoil the fun but she was right. The kamu starts tomorrow and we needed to get some rest.

I opened my eyes to what seemed like a market square. I thought i had over slept but when I unlocked my phone it was only 7:15am.I took my bath and got ready in a simple pink and purple Ankara dress and came down. More of our relatives had arrived and huge warmers were brought into the house by the catering staff.

Women kept trooping in as we helped with the arrangements. Amal also made it right on time. I haven't seen her in a while but there was no time to catch up.

"Ya Amrah!" I yelled barging into almost every room in the house. Finally I found her in Ammi's room with her friends.

"The make up artist is here." I went in yelling as the artist followed from behind me. I left them there to go take my bath as Mamie instructed. There would be no African time or so she blabbed.

I met the bride all dolled up. I could swear she had never looked this good in her entire life.

The Kamu was better than anyone had expected. There was laughter,lots of dancing not to forget the dishes, Mashaa Allah." A day well spent." I murmured to myself as I grinned from ear to ear.

After Jumma'at prayer,Amrah Abubakar Mansur and Umar Amin Paki were tied in holy matrimony.

"It's official." Na'eem ran into the house yelling at top of his voice. A lot of yodelling and teasing followed suite by the women in the house.

The dinner was far more amazing than the Kamu. I did a good job on the maid of honour speech though I cried through half of it almost ruining my make up and that of the bride.

The bride was conveyed to her husband's house after the welcoming of the bride by her in-laws. Soon after the house was empty. I kept wondering if really a wedding had taken place in the house.

I took out my phone  going through all the pictures Ya Amrah that I took as tears rolled down my eyes.

"Mashaa Allah." Umma spoke from behind me rubbing my back in circles.

"Wipe your tears my dear. This would be you someday."I let out a light blush as I thought of Nazeer's proposal and how special he made me feel during the wedding. I smiled and placed my head on Umma's shoulders daydreaming about how my own wedding was going to be like.