SEVEN YEARS LATER.
"Habibi!" Aaima shouted from inside the room, "please can you help me zip my dress up, my hand can't reach it" she whined struggling to get hold of the zip behind her dress, "habibi",
"Babe what's wrong" Idris came into the room holding their 4-year-old son,
"please help me zip this up" she pleaded turning her back towards his direction, Idris released his hold on 'Hafiz'- their 4-year-old son. He fiddled with the zip just to tease her. He shifted her hair to the side to plant a small kiss on her neck. Aaima's breath hitched by his action, even after 5 years of their Marriage he still had that effect on her- I know you might be wondering how they got Married, well, Idris just came to her house on a blessed day when he was tired of keeping his emotions to himself, he asked for her hand in Marriage from her mum and she agreed since Idris has been her love from day one- "id-ri-s what are you doing" she stammered as she spoke, "look Hafiz is here" she said in a muffled tone,
"common he's not even looking" Idris said placing another kiss on her neck, "ok, ok I'll stop" he laughed when she elbowed him on the stomach, he took the zip all the way up before turning her to face him, "it's done" he declared smiling,
"thank you" she mouthed before picking up her veil to wrap it around her head, "have you packed the coolers into the car?" she asked Idris,
"Yes I've, we are good to go" Idris gestured by rubbing his palms together,
"that's why I love you habibi" she pecked him on the cheek which brought a smirk on his face. Aaima crouched down to Hafiz who had a stick sweet in his mouth, "you're excited to go to Aayan's mum house right?" she asked smiling,
"yaayy" Hafiz clapped happily, "aayan and waleed are my good friends, we will play" he jumped doing a dramatic turnaround for his parent,
"good, perfect" Aaima rubbed his arm before standing from her position, "only Allah knows what Nadia feeds this kid that always makes him excited to visit there" Aaima giggled facing her husband who is a lot taller than her,
"only Allah knows really" he smiled, Aaima carried Hafiz into her arms as the three of them walked to the car.
Aaima and Idris are going to drop Hafiz over at Nadia's place before they went to visit her father in prison. Well, Aaima father's sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment after Aaima, her mother and brother came kneeling to ask Idris for forgiveness. At first, they avoided Nadia and Idris because they couldn't face them, but they still wanted their father to live, so they didn't have any choice but to ask for forgiveness. Idris still didn't feel at peace when yunus was sentenced to death. Since they were the bereaved, they had a choice of choosing the punishment for yunus. Nadia and Idris forgave yunus and choose life imprisonment for him instead of death sentence.
****
Nadia opened the door when she heard the door ding, "Hafiz" she smiled as she picked the cute little fair complexioned boy from his mother's arm, she pinched the bridge of his nose before pecking him, "Aaima, ya Idris welcome" she opened the door widely for them, but they weren't entering,
"sorry Nadia we have somewhere to go we only came to drop Hafiz" Aaima smiled,
"no problem, it's okay I don't care as long as my baby is here" she pressed her lips to Hafiz's cheek again causing him to giggle loudly,
"ohh because we are old right?" Aaima asked,
"wow, thank God you know" Nadia joked holding her stomach tightly as she laughed when she saw Aaima's reaction, "ya Idris what are you feeding my friend see her cheek" she said causing Aaima to blush, "why are you blushing, you didn't allow me to complete my sentence" she said facing Aaima, "I meant to say, see her cheeks how it's flat" Nadia chuckled,
"I'm still in love with everything" Idris said drawing Aaima closer to his body,
"oya you guys bye" Nadia said holding the door knob, "it's not your fault it's because my Habibi is on a trip, if not, you can't be oppressing me like this" she scrunched her face in their direction causing them to laugh loudly,
"see you later nadeey" Aaima and Idris waved their hands in her direction, she waved in return smiling before closing the door. "Hafiz boy, let me take you to the others".
****
"If I call your name, you'll answer 'yes ma' with your loudest tone" Nadia said to the 5 kids who sat on a mat facing her, "Hafiz!"
"Yes ma" the little boy shouted,
"move here" she pointed to her side, "amrah!",
"yes ma" the little 4-year-old girl answered placing her hand on her waist before cat walking towards where Hafiz stood - she really took after a mother 'basma', it was still very surprising how basma and Fahad (Aaima's elder brother) ended up together,
"waleed!"
"Yes ma" the 7-year-old kid answered, he is specimen of gentility, he's Nadia's and Abdallah's first son,
"Aayan!"
"okay" the little 4-year-old boy said standing from his position, he was the total opposite of his elder brother 'waleed', he's someone who always does opposite of what he's told to,
"the instruction was to say -yes ma-" Nadia scowled at her overly dramatic son,
"yes ma" Aayan answered in a lazy tone - he hated being corrected also - before standing with the others,
"Bashir"
"yes ma" the 5-year-old stood up dusting his hand, Nadia didn't know which was more surprising - was it Basma and Fahad union or Aaliyah and Qasim's - Bashir was a carbon copy of his mother 'Aaliyah' facially but a copy of his father character wise,
"okay you all are my escort to my today's outing, I want you all to behave yourself" Nadia paced round them as they all turned their eyes as she moved to avoid letting her out of their sight, "behave yourself, repeat after me",
"Behave yourself" they all shouted in unison except for Aayan who had to add the 'repeat after me'- he surely got his stubbornness from his father Abdallah definitely not Nadia,
"good" Nadia clapped her hands, "Now we will all walk to the car" she stood behind them as they all ambled with their little feet towards the Sienna car. Nadia had to get a large car because of the love she had for children, the kids parents always dropped their children over at Nadia's house every last weekend of the Month, it was like a tradition they formed unknowingly, Nadia being the kids lover that she's makes sure to enjoy every moment with the little creatures Allah blessed her with - well before they won't be little anymore - she'll surely miss their childhood when they're grown. "Are we ready guys" she asked facing them where they all arranged themselves in the back seat,
"yes" they all replied in unison,
"great" Nadia turned on the ignition. She was having an interview with a TV station, but she couldn't leave the kids alone at home, so she took them all with her "here we come" she said throwing her fist in the air as she drove.
****
"I'm sorry Idris for what I did" yunus duck his head downward,
"I've told you father for the umpteenth time that I've forgiven you" Idris declared placing two spoons of the jollof rice that Aaima prepared on Yunus' plate, "mum can you please explain this?" Idris turned to face Aaima's mother,
"dear, Idris has forgiven you, he doesn't like it when you still ask for his forgiveness" Aaima's Mum explained to her husband,
"thanks mum" Idris muttered feeding Aaima with a morsel of waina dipped into the vegetable soup,
"what of Basma and Fahad" Aaima asked after gulping down water to push the food hanging in her throat,
"I gave Fahad a call, he's on his way" Idris declared,
Aaima watched how her family were happily eating the food she prepared. They made themselves happy. Even though they were in a bad situation, they turned into a happy moment. Seven years ago, she never knew her life would head in this direction - sure Allah Has a hidden plan for us all.
****
"Welcome to today's session of 'women and their achievements', My name is Zarah Muhammad, and I'm the anchor for today" the interviewer who wore a flowery gown with a veil wrapped over head announced looking at the numerous cameras and light shining, "with me here today is Nadia Suleiman Abdallah the director of triple A café" she announced with the camera turning towards Nadia's face, the audiences at the backstage clapped which Nadia smiled in return while slightly bending her head. "So Mrs Nadia welcome to the show" the interviewer turned to face Nadia, they were seating on a one-seater sofa that faced each other with only a few spaces left between them,
"thank you miss" Nadia replied shyly,
"oh no you can call me zarah" she looked into the white paper she was holding, "I'll ask you few questions if you don't mind" Zarah chuckled,
"no, no, not at all" Nadia giggled slightly,
"OK, how did you manage to achieve such great height in just 28 years of age?" Zarah asked crossing her legs,
"uhhm well, if I ask myself that also, I usually find it difficult to answer. I just sum it up to Allah's blessings, with the unending help of my supportive husband and family" Nadia answered placing her two hands lying on top of each other on her crossed knees,
"wow Masha Allah" Zarah smiled before proceeding with her questioning," how were you able to juggle career life and family life without causing a rift between the two?",
"you just have to outline time for the two, know which is more of a priority. As for me, my family is more of a priority, so I don't let my work life affect it, I assign more time to my family than work" Nadia said resting her back onto the lush orange sofa,
"I'm really learning a lot" Zarah nodded her head, "You're a mother of two kids, did child bearing create a hassle in your life at any point?"
"No it didn't, though occasionally I get drained from the stress, but I know that's perfectly Normal" she giggled before continuing, "I love kids a lot, so I made attending to them a fun activity for myself"
"I'll definitely try making it fun when I give birth insha Allah" Zarah chuckled, "but hope it is actually fun like you mentioned?",
"well, truthfully... just a little" Nadia described with her thumb and index finger facing each other with a little space between,
Zarah stifled her laughter before she continued, "last question before we go, how would you describe your life in the last ten years and who has been your greatest motivation over those years?"
"uhmm..." Nadia started, "well, a mixture of fun, happiness, sadness, love... let me stop there" Nadia muttered chuckling, "then my greatest motivation is my husband Abdallah"
"that's great, it was nice having you on the show today, Mrs Nadia, I'm sure the viewers learnt a few things from you, thank you for honouring our invite"
"you're welcome" Nadia mouthed,
"that's all for the show today, see you next week on another episode of 'women and their achievements', bye" Zarah waved at the camera which Nadia followed.
****
"I'm bored" Amrah muttered, the kids were all seated in the car with the glass rolled down,
"me too" Aayan said placing his two hands on his cheek,
"same here" Hafiz and bashir uttered,
"I think I've an idea" Aayan said putting his two feet on the back seat chair,
"Aayan get your legs off, mum has warned you to stop doing that" Waleed corrected,
"fine" Aayan rolled his eyes adjusting his position before continuing with his conversation, "let's all hide in the boot, then if mum comes, she'll be scared if she doesn't see us",
"I like that" Amrah shouted in her tiny voice, Amrah and Aayan are the two kids that can't be left alone because they are always up to something cunning,
"good" Hafiz jumped,
"yes" Bashir also concurred,
"I'm not doing anything like that" Waleed interjected being the eldest in the setting,
"please, I'll call you ya waleed if you agree" Aayan pleaded pushing his lower lips forward,
"please"
"please" all the other kids joined in filling Waleed's ears with pleas,
"fine I'll do it" Waleed rolled his eyes, "but I'll tell mum if she returns that it's your idea"
"whatever" Aayan mouthed making sure it didn't get to waleed's ear.
The kids entered into the boot from the back seat one after the other, when they had all entered, they huddled forming a circle with a sly smile on each of their face.
Nadia picked up her keys from her bag, she opened the door, but was surprised to not find the kids inside, "Amrah, Bashir, Hafiz Aayan, waleed" she called, but none answered, she was about to check another place when she heard stifled laughter. Nadia nodded her head, she knows the children always plot different activities, so she played along, "why are they not here, I'll just have to take this ice cream alone",
"what" one of them muttered, "I'm here" Aayan said coming out of their hiding place, "I'm here mummy, where's the ice cream?" he asked exasperatedly, the rest kid followed behind Aayan,
"I'm here also"
"I'm here" the kids screamed,
"well I don't have ice cream with me" Nadia smiled victoriously, "for hiding like you guys did, No ice cream again for you guys" She said turning the ignition on,
"no" they all whined in unison,
"Aayan this is all your Fault".
****
Nadia swerved her car into the compound of her house, she went to open the door for the kids who sat in the back seat, they all had a scowl on their faces because she told them she wasn't going to get them ice cream - well that serves them right. They all walked into the living room.
Nadia went up the stairs to change the clothes she was wearing, she was about to enter into her room when someone dragged her hand, she released a shriek in fear, causing the person to use his hand to cover her mouth.
"Abdallah" Nadia said against his hands, "when did you arrive?" She asked with her eyes widened when he released his hands from her mouth,
"shh, just shut up and kiss me already, I've missed you" he muttered against her lips that were close to his,
Nadia bit her lips as she brought her head forward to connect their lips. Their lips touched each other slightly when suddenly,
"mum, dad, what are you doing?" Aayan asked watching them inquisitively,
"I was just about to kis-" Nadia quickly closed Abdallah's mouth with her hand, she scowled at him before crouching down to Aayan's height,
"nothing dear, we were discussing how we will get you ice cream" she declared picking him up in her arms,
"yayy" he clapped his hands,
"I surely like that kind of ice cream" Abdallah whispered into her ears,
"shut up!" she hit his stomach,
"ouch, you don't love me any more" he winced in pain as they walked down the stairs,
"Alhamdulillah you know" she blushed rolling her eyes at him.
THE END
I'm finally saying the final good bye🥺, I'll surely miss writing this story.
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June 7th 2022.
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