Dubai, United Arab Emirates
December, 2024
"You're almost there. We can see her head...In and out, Mrs Dantata. You're doing fantastic."
She could hear every breath she took in and every one she pushed out. The pain was searing and she tried to not think about it but it was impossible. Every push to get her little girl out sent her to the brink of death and brought her back. She held her husband's hand tightly, momentarily wondering if it would break it if she squeezed any harder.
He would not mind, she knew that much.
She followed the instruction of the labour coach and breathed. In and out. She could do it. She could get their little girl out. She just had to push some more. They could see her head, she could do it. She felt his fingers on her face, pushing her loosened hair back. The simple action caused her to open her eyes so she could look at him through her tears.
Zayd's smile was warm and his voice was soft. "You're doing great, sweetheart. We're almost there."
She felt the urge to push. "I'm not doing this again, Sa'ed."
He nodded. His smile stayed. "There's no problem with that at all. Let's just get her out first."
She stared at him for a moment longer before she gathered all the strength she could and pushed, a scream tearing out of her throat at the pain. It was the same routine; push, take a break to breathe and gather strength, push again. Zayd never stopped being supportive, softly kissing her face and hair at intervals.
Minutes later, the baby's head was out and she wondered if she suffered a tear because it hurt like hell. The little girl slid out easily after that and when the little miracle wailed, exhaustion weighed down on her body. They put her daughter on her chest and she could only stare in awe, the pain long forgotten.
She blinked back her tears. "Assalam Alaykum, sweetheart. You stressed the hell out of me but it's nice to finally meet you."
"She's looking like you."
She smiled at Zayd. "I think she's going to look like you."
He chuckled. "Let's not argue." He then kissed her hair for the thousandth time. "Thank you."
She closed her eyes, savouring the bliss of the moment. "You're welcome."
The door went open then and they turned. She smiled at the woman in the doorway who breathed heavily.
"I was about to ask how long it takes to get here from Riyadh. You missed it, Hanan."
Hanan smiled at the medical team and closed the door before she rushed to the other side of the bed.
"Yarah and Yazan were being stubborn." She told the new mother. "I was tempted to leave them in the hotel but I'm not wicked." Her face softened at the little girl. "Amal, she's pretty. She's going to look like you."
Amal glared at her. "Don't even try and side with your husband, you latecomer."
"I'm sorry!"
The doctors got their attention as the umbilical cord had to be cut. Zayd asked Hanan to do it and Amal gave her nod of approval immediately. Hanan's hands were shaky. With the doctor's guidance, she got the job done. The little girl was taken away for cleaning after being re-examined and Amal felt the absence immediately.
Hanan smiled, taking her other hand. "You'll see her soon. Just hang on a little...How did it go? I can't believe I missed it."
"I survived." Amal replied, flinching when she was asked to push one more time to deliver her placenta. "I'm never doing this again."
Hanan looked at Zayd. "You heard her."
He laughed. "Why would you say that to me like we expected this pregnancy? She's getting the implant after this so there's no problem. I'm not putting her through this again."
Amal rolled her eyes. "It's not like I didn't have an implant when I got pregnant."
His eyes narrowed. "Amal..."
She smiled at him. "I love you too, Sa'ed."
Hanan could only laugh.
~*~
They had never seen Amal's pregnancy coming. No matter how hard they tried, no one could explain it. Her contraceptive implant had been changed and it was as effective as it always was.
Mid-April, just a week after the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations, Amal had complained of having dizzy spells. Zayd asked her to go with him to the hospital but she dismissed it as being stressed with the sudden workload at the UN. It got better and she had no complaints until the month ended.
On the 7th of May, she collapsed in the kitchen and Hanan was the one who rushed her to the hospital because Zayd was out of the capital city. He had flown back immediately. It was in his presence the doctor let them all know that Amal was pregnant and she was dealing with mild anaemia.
Amal laughed when they told her. She told them it was impossible.
She did not laugh when the scan was carried out, revealing the gestational sac in her womb and the tiny growing seed in it. She freaked out and it took them a lot of time to get her to calm down. They all understood her fear. She did not want to lose another baby and then go through the aftermath after the five she had lost in the years she and Zayd had been married.
Like her last pregnancy, a lot of changes were made to her daily schedule. She was introduced to a new diet and administered a number of vitamins and supplements. She was also asked to stay off work which she was more than happy to do because she could barely function with the fear that things could go wrong at any moment.
The first trimester went by quite smoothly. She only allowed herself breathe a little better when she passed the five month mark. It became a blur after that. They moved into the new mansion Zayd built for all of them because they no longer liked staying in different houses, decorated the nursery with the help of every female they knew while things were constantly moved around to find permanent spots, shopping, check-ups and the last minute decision to not give birth in Nigeria.
When Zayd asked where she wanted to go, she let Riyadh slip past her lips without much thought. Getting their travel documents was easy. The doctors worried that she would stress the baby as she was far gone but Amal could not bring herself to care. She just wanted to leave.
They arrived Riyadh in the first week of November and they settled in quite nicely. The twins loved the new environment more than anyone else. A week to her expected due date, Amal asked Zayd to accompany her to the city of Dubai because she felt like shopping.
Mere hours after they landed, her water broke and they wound up in the delivery room of nearby Prime Hospital. Zayd had called Hanan as Amal dilated, hoping his second wife would be in Dubai by the time Amal began to push but the twins did not feel like leaving the house at Riyadh. As much as she was tempted to leave them behind, Hanan knew Amal and Zayd would kill her.
She met them in the labour room at least. That was good enough.
~*~
They named her Eysha Sa'ed Dantata after Amal's paternal great grandmother.
Eysha, which translated to 'Crowned', was to be Amal's name until her father decided the name Amal fit her better when he had laid eyes on her for the first time. Amal did not want her daughter named anything else.
Post-partum Amal was adorably cranky. She always struggled to stay awake and was more than happy to allow Hanan take care of the baby girl until her attention was unavoidably needed.
Zayd dealt with the twins who still held onto him as though he would disappear if they let him go. That did not stop him from taking care of Eysha too. Yazan did not quite like the new addition to the family. Yarah, on the other hand, was an overprotective goner. She never left the side of the crib, standing on the step stool she pulled there herself just so she could watch the little girl sleep. When Amal fed Eysha, she stayed beside her and watched with innocently curious eyes. Each time Hanan held Eysha, Yarah was there to gently pat the baby's head while Hanan smiled.
With each passing day, the youngest Dantata looked more like her mother. The only semblance she had with Zayd was her darker skin and her extremely soft curly hair. She smiled like him sometimes too.
They returned to Nigeria mid-January and Hanan was more than happy to get the twins in school because they had become a handful. Yazan was excited to go but Yarah did not like it one bit. Each time they had to leave, she would pout and stare at Zayd with big, teary eyes.
"Baba, no." She would whine. "I don't want to go."
He nearly gave in more times than he was willing to admit but home-schooling was definitely not an option. They would never successfully pull it off. The tears eventually stopped and although she was sluggish on most mornings, she gradually fell in love with the school routines. Every time they returned home, she dumped her things and went straight to wherever Eysha was.
"Do you not like Eysha?" Amal asked months later. She held Yazan in her arms. Both of them were by the open window. "You don't play with her a lot, Yazan. I'm a bit worried."
He rested his head against her chest, pouting cutely. His voice was small. "I like her."
"So why don't you play with her?"
"Yarah is always playing with her."
"Is that all?" He stayed quiet. She kissed his head. "You know I'm always going to love you, right?" He nodded and she kissed his head again. "If you feel as though I'm going to push you away because of Eysha, I want you to know that I'll never do that. She's a baby so she just needs a lot of attention but I still love you. I'm always going to."
He stayed quiet for another minute. Then his shoulders shook and she felt the dampness on her blouse. Her heart broke. "Yazan..."
"I'm sorry."
She turned around with him and walked over to the bed. She put him down on the edge before she squatted, taking his hands in hers. "Yazan, look at me."
He did and she smiled at him, letting go of one of his hands to clean away his tears. "I'm not mad at you. I was just worried because I thought you didn't like her. I don't want her to think you're an unapproachable brother. I have an older brother and it's the best thing and that's what I want for Eysha. I'm not mad at you, okay?"
He nodded, sniffling. "Okay." He sniffled again. "I love you, Mama."
She smiled and it lit up her whole face. "I love you too. Now stop crying, you're breaking my heart."
He giggled a minute later. When she pulled him down to tickle him, his beautiful laughter rang out, filling the whole room with warmth that seeped out through the open door. They were so lost in their bubble that they failed to Zayd and Hanan who stood at the doorway, watching with warm smiles on their faces.
Zayd stood behind his second wife, his arms circled around her waist, causing her to lean against him like she always did. She sighed. "At least we can relax. He doesn't hate her."
Zayd hummed in response. She leaned to the side, raising her head to look at him. He smiled at her. "I'm just moved by the scene in front of us, Nehita. I don't really have words to say right now."
"Do you want another baby?" She asked out of the blue.
His smile vanished. "You want another baby?"
She turned back to her laughing son and Amal. She shrugged. "Maybe. I've been thinking about it for about a week now. I want to know how you feel about it so it doesn't come as a surprise when I bring it up again."
He said nothing for the longest minute. Then he kissed her hair, causing her to smile. "If that's what you want, then it's fine."
"What do you want?" She turned around in his loose embrace so she could fully look at him. "What do you want, Sa'ed?"
"I want whatever makes you happy." He kept his eyes on hers and the intensity of his gaze would never fail to leave her breathless. "I'm always going to want that. So if you want a baby, Hanan, be rest assured I want one too."
She teared up. "I love you, Sa'ed. I really do."
His smile had its desired effect, erupting butterflies in her stomach that made her toes curl. "I love you too, Nehita. I really, really do."
It was easy for her to lean back, grab the door handle and shut the door so Yazan and Amal kept having their moment. She then pushed herself to the tip of her toes, pulled Zayd closer than he already was and kissed him, pouring everything she felt into the kiss. Zayd kissed her back, one steady arm left around her waist while the other went up to her hair.
She surrendered herself to him, her two week long secret on the tip of her tongue. She would tell him later, when they were all seated around the long dining table, that there was another life already growing in her womb; a baby she knew they were all going to love.
In the family lounge, Yarah held Eysha in her arms and read her a story. On the wall was a family portrait, all of them dressed in deep shades of blue with genuine smiles on their faces, Yarah's being the prettiest.
Back upstairs, Yazan squealed as Amal continued her playful assault on his sides. Outside the door, Zayd and Hanan pulled apart for air. He put his forehead on hers, both of them breathing heavily. A minute later, he leaned in and kissed her again.
Some secrets could wait, she told herself. They weren't going anywhere.
The End