Hana shot out of bed as the sound of her phone ringing interrupted her sleep. She stared around in confusion for a second, her eyes widening as she realized it was three in the morning. As she picked up her phone from where it sat on her bedside table, her mouth fell open as she saw Houssam was calling her. Why was he calling her!? At three in the morning?!
Normally she wouldn’t have even considered answering, yet it was three in the morning. What if it was an emergency?
“Hello?”
“Hana? Oh Thank God. Oh my God I’m so glad you answered.” He said the second she answered, and she was startled to hear that he was panicking.
“Is everything okay?” she asked turning on her lamp, and momentarily closing her eyes against the blinding light.
“Um no. Amir took Yusra to the hospital a few hours ago, and they left me with Kareem and he is screaming his head off and won’t even let me near him, and my parents are out of town and I don’t know what to do!” he exclaimed, and Hana realized that Kareem was indeed screaming in the background.
“Okay calm down. First of all is Yusra okay?”
“Well she said that something felt weird, and then she proceeded to throw up uncontrollably. So he took her in right away. Lucky for them I was sleeping over so they could leave me with the baby. But I guess seeing me during the day, and waking up in the middle of the night and seeing me are totally different things because he won’t stop crying. Please help me.” He pleaded, and she sighed.
“Okay, I’ll be right there.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, relief in his tone.
“Yeah of course.”
“I don’t want you to drive this late though.” He said worriedly, and she felt her heart constrict.
Why did he have to act so caring?
She was supposed to be mad at him.
“It’s okay you guys are just down the street from me, I’ll be fine.”
“Okay I’ll be waiting. Please hurry.” He begged.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can Houssam. Try to calm down otherwise you will make him freak out worse.”
“Okay. Salaam.”
“Wasalaam.” She said, wondering how she was going to convince her dad to let her leave the house at three in the morning. Lucky for her, her dad was praying Tahajud prayer, and agreed to drop her off, so after gathering up her things, including a few lollipops from the cupboard, she got in the car, and five minutes later she was standing outside of Yusra and Amir’s house. She hurried up the front steps, and she didn’t even ring the bell before Houssam swung it open, his face marked with anxiety.
“Oh my god I have never been happier to see a person more than I am right at this moment!” he exclaimed, and she stepped inside, taking off her shoes.
“No problem.” She was going to ask where Kareem was, but she could hear him screaming from his room, and as she climbed the stairs and went inside, her heart went out to see the poor baby curled up on his side in his crib, and bawling for his mother.
“I don’t know what to do.” Houssam whispered, and Hana handed him her bag before reaching over for Kareem.
“Hey Kareem. Hey habibi, what’s wrong?” she asked softly as she began to bounce the baby in her arms. At first he continued his cries, but soon he began to calm down, and he put his head on her shoulder.
“Mama?” he asked between hiccupped sobs, and Hana pushed his hair back from his face.
“Mama is coming. Don’t cry. You’re going to be with me and Amu Houssam!” she said, and Kareem raised his head to look at Houssam.
“Moo Sam?” he asked, and Hana nodded.
“Yes Amu Houssam is here. And Khaltu Hana.”
“Na?” he asked again, and Hana laughed.
“Yes that’s right. You’re going to be with us.”
“No,” he said with a shake of his head, “Mama!” he exclaimed before his lower lip started trembling.
“Oh no. Here it comes. The neighbors are going to think I’m beating the child up!” Houssam groaned, and Hana hurriedly reached into her purse.
“Kareem habibi, you can’t cry if you want this lollipop!” she exclaimed, showing the baby the piece of candy. Kareem’s lip stopped shaking, and he just stared at Hana with unshed tears in his eyes as if he didn’t know if he could trust her. But when she took off the wrapper and handed it to him, he took it in his little hand, and put it in his mouth, smiling at the two of them.
“Are you telling me the little punk just wanted candy?!” Houssam asked in disbelief, and Hana laughed.
“I think he just was confused. He is used to seeing his parents at night and us during the day. It probably threw him off when you came in instead of his mom. Maybe he just needed the two of us to feel safe.” She said quietly, and after a moment, Houssam nodded.
“That makes sense. Thank you so much.”
“It’s not a problem.” She said, and when she tried to put Kareem back into his crib he shrieked, and she picked him up again. “Okay I guess I won’t be able to leave until Yusra and Amir come back. Do you know when that would be?”
“Well Amir just text me and said that they gave Yusra some shots to stabilize her inflammation levels, and that in another hour they should be home.”
“Habibti. What caused her to be like that?”
“Well her illness was already not stable, but I guess the baby didn’t help.”
Hana’s eyebrows raised.
“Baby?! Oh my god Mabrook!”
Houssam grinned.
“Oh I was supposed to keep that a secret. Yusra wanted to tell you. She’s going to kill me. But Barak Allahu Feeki!”
“Aw that’s so amazing MashaAllah! Kareem, do you want a brother or sister?!” she asked the little baby, and he nodded, even though Hana knew he had no clue what she was talking about.
“Why don’t you go sit down in the living room? I’ll stay upstairs.” He suggested, and she nodded, before taking her bag from him. As she stepped to leave the room he put out a hand to stop her. “I didn’t say it before, but I’m sorry.” He said quietly.
“Thank you.”
He gave her a small smile before stepping aside so she could leave. As she came downstairs, she turned on Barney, and settled on the couch with Kareem. A half hour later he had finished his candy and was asleep in her arms, and forty five minutes later, she heard the front door open and soon Amir and Yusra appeared in the doorway.
“Oh Hana! Habibti thank you!” Yusra exclaimed rushing forward, and Hana handed her the sleeping baby. Yusra brought him up to her chest before kissing his head. “My poor baby.” She muttered, before motioning towards Hana. “I hope he wasn’t too much of a trouble?”
“After he got a lollipop, he was okay.” She said, and both Amir and Yusra laughed. “Are you okay though? What happened?” she asked in concern, and Yusra sighed.
“My body apparently mistook the baby as a threat. You know its not stable as it is, an autoimmune disease being that the body is attacking itself.”
“SubhanAllah! Will you be okay?!” Hana exclaimed, her heart beating fast for she was terrified that Yusra was going to say that she lost the baby. While one of the benefits of all of this heartbreak was that she had mastered the art of escaping horribly awkward and sometimes painful situations*, she didn’t know how to handle this one.
“InshaAllah habibti. They just said I need to rest a lot more than I did with Kareem. Make Du’aa for us!” she exclaimed, and Hana almost cried in relief.
“Of course InshaAllah!”
“Come habibti, let’s set you up in the guest bedroom.” She said and Hana’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh my dad said he would pick me up at Fajr, and there is only an hour before then.”
Yusra put her hand out, and shook her head.
“No, you are going to stay here and rest. Habibi tell her she is going to stay here and rest!” she exclaimed turning to look at Amir, and he grinned.
“You are going to stay here and rest Hana!” he exclaimed, and Hana gave a resigned laugh.
“Okay. Barak Allahu Feekum.” She said as she followed Yusra upstairs. As they passed by one of the bedrooms, Yusra paused to open the door, and Hana quickly looked away as Houssam’s sleeping form came into view. Even sleeping he was beautiful.
“Oh oops! I didn’t know he took this room.” Yusra said embarrassedly, quickly shutting the door and leading Hana to one down the hallway. Once inside, she showed Hana where the towels and shampoo in the bathroom were, and after giving her an extra blanket, she gave Hana another hug, and left, closing the door behind her.
Lucky for Hana she was still wearing her pajamas under her Abaya, and after getting under the covers, she sent a text to her dad telling her she was going to stay there. She was just about to fall asleep when her phone buzzed indicating she had an email and as she clicked on the icon, Houssam’s name popped up in the inbox. Her heart began to beat fast, and she hesitated before opening it.
Thank you again for saving me. You’re brilliant. I can’t tell you how sorry I am for our whole fight, and I’m glad you are talking to me again.
It was lonely without you.
By the way I answered all of your questions the way I should have from the beginning.
Forgive me for being so stupid?
-Houssam
*thanks Bunnicula0!