The Scars They Hide

Chapter Thirty-Four - Day One of Forever

Chapter Thirty-Four - Day One of Forever

Lutfiyah woke up to two sensations the next morning. A light tickling on her face and a heavy arm across her waist. She smiled as she felt a small finger run over her lips then her nose and forehead. The sensation was accompanied by a soft whisper naming the body parts the finger touched. As the finger traced her forehead, she opened her eyes and her smile bloomed into a full grin when they caught sight of her daughter. May lay peacefully watching her, continuing to run her index finger over her mother's face until she saw her open eyes.

"Mama," she said, pausing in her tracing but still whispering. "Uncle Jaafi is in our bed!"

She said it with much urgency, eyes darting to the arm slung across both of them.

Lutfiyah sighed dreamily and lifted herself slightly, using her fingertips to push his heavy arm off. She was used to waking up to sprawled limbs over her body; she was a mother to a toddler after all, but she was not used to seeing a sleeping man in her bed and she took a moment to savor it.

He slept with a slight snore, nothing loud and disturbing like her father, May and her both agreed on that, but enough to know there was someone there. He slept without a shirt and May seemed to be just as fascinated with this as she was though not for the same reasons. Well, maybe the same reasons but not the same feelings that was for sure. And she said so.

"Mama, Uncle Jaafi has no clothes on!" she exclaimed, eyes wide and panicked as she realised the dire circumstances. She began to pull the covers up, struggling as they were slightly trapped under his body. He grumbled a little and slung his arm tighter around the child, pulling her to his side. She squeaked in shock which seemed to wake him up immediately.

"Uncle Jaafi, you have no clothes on. And Mama's hair is showing. Don't look!" she screeched, still struggling to pull the covers up and save the adults some shame.

Lutfiyah was too busy laughing to handle the situation, only thinking that if she'd had May panicking at Fajr time, it would have been easier to wake him up. Just a few hours earlier, she'd discovered that waking him up for fajr was no easy task. No easier than it had been the first time anyway. He'd apologised profusely when he finally woke up and promised that he'd set his alarms and avoid her having to go through such moments every morning.

Her attention turned back to the scene in front of her when May's panic turned into squeals of delight as Jaafar smothered her in kisses. "This is my bed now too, May. Your Mama is now my wife."

He was grinning so hard around the word that it made her chest ache.

May turned her eyes to Lutfiyah, seeking assurance. Just because Uncle Jaafi said so, it didn't mean it was true because Lutfiyah herself hadn't said it. She'd explained the situation to the child before they'd gotten married but she supposed that things like sleeping together and apparently not wearing certain items of clothing had not been covered. It was, after all, completely new to her as well.

The morning continued on a similar vein of happiness as they got ready for the buffet breakfast downstairs, smiling at each other in the mirrors of the double basins, May giggling as she wrapped herself in her dragon bathrobe and ran around the hotel suite that she was determined to investigate before they left. Now that everyone was awake, she deemed it safe to use her voice at its loudest capacity.

They couldn't do much after breakfast except shower and get ready for the airport. Lutfiyah quickly phoned her father to speak to him and assure him that everyone was safe and sound. And also to see if he'd slept well because he'd seemed to be the only one more panicked about the previous night than she.

Their trip to the airport was uneventful, May lighting up the cab with her chatter, her movements only restrained because she was strapped into the car seat. Everything went smoothly at the airport, Jaafar holding May through all the long lines at the airport, showing her her passport and explaining all the new things in the bright building. It was a day full of new experiences for her and she seemed delighted by it all. This was when their good luck seemed to run out.

Truth be told, Lutfiyah was still exhausted from the day before and half an hour into their flight, she found herself nodding off, hoping only to wake up for meals and to adjust her position. Unfortunately, she couldn't manage a full sleep despite the fact that Jaafar had booked Business Class for them. Lutfiyah couldn't believe how comfortable it made the flight. She loved travelling but sleeping against an airplane window was not the most pleasant of experiences no matter how advanced one's neck pillow was. The experience was better this time but sleep just would not come.

Dazed and frustrated from the lack of sleep, she barely remembered the trip from the airport to their hotel as it was night and May had been cranky the whole cab ride through. The lines at customs had taken forever and they'd had to go read salaah and use the bathroom, wait almost an hour for their bags and once they'd finally reached outside the airport, the driver Jaafar had arranged had forgotten to bring the car seat they'd booked. Another half an hour went into sorting that problem out so by the time they'd reached their hotel, booked in and entered their room, Lutfiyah was almost in tears.

Jaafar tipped their bellboy and sighed heavily before he turned to Lutfiyah and smiled so softly at her, she felt her eyes moisten immediately.

"Oh baby," he whispered, pulling the finally sleeping May out of her arms. He kissed her - their - daughter's forehead then leaned over to kiss hers and slipped an arm around her, hugging her to his side. She sagged against him, turning into his chest almost automatically and felt an actual tear slip out.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled into his chest. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

She felt him shaking his head. "It's okay. We're tired and it wasn't the most pleasant arrival to the city but we're going to settle down and just relax okay? Maybe eat something and unpack. Come on."

And that concluded their first day. It hadn't gone the way either of them had expected but they had reached their destination, finally gotten something to eat and after hot showers and changing into comfortable pyjamas, they were finally in bed.

The hotel had provided an extra sleeper that could be pushed into the room and the couch in the lounge also pulled out into a bed if needed. May, after opening her eyes and assessing the situation, was all for sleeping on the single mattress. There was something about new sleeping arrangements that tickled her fancy. This left the bed free for them and Jaafar had wasted no time in pulling Lutfiyah to him as he leaned against the headboard and kissed the top of her head.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked, in a gravelly whisper.

Lutfiyah took a deep breath, taking her fill of his delicious scent and snuggled into his chest, melting as he tightened his arm around her. "Much better now that I've eaten and showered. I'm just so exhausted."

She felt rather than heard him sigh as he sagged back. "Tomorrow we sleep in and then we can start exploring after brunch. What do you think of that?"

She smiled against his chest. "I think that's a splendid idea. Let's hope we get lucky and May is tired enough to sleep in with us."

They chatted for a bit longer, Lutfiyah becoming more and more drowsy as the time passed until Jaafar tucked her in with a soft kiss and a whispered salaam.

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I legit have no excuse for this extremely late update. I just hit a bad writer's block, I guess. So just, take this and go. I have nothing else to say.