UNEDITED!!!
...Everyone just met everyone. Wow
"My sweet sweet grandson." Fatima said with a smile as she collected Aayan from his father.
"Your sweet sweet daughter in-law." Jasmine hugged Fatima.
"Yes my sweet sweet daughter." Fatima twinged Jasmine's cheek.
"Aw, that hurts." She feigned.
"Your bitter bitter son." Muslim made a face as they turned to look at him.
"You're too big, Aayan has replaced you."
"We'll give birth to a girl next, so she replaces Jay." Muslim gave his wife a sardonic smile.
"See Hajiya, he's so shameless. Please, take this innocent baby and leave this grown up."
"That's exactly what I'm going to do." She giggled as she offered them seats, "sit down all of you."
"You didn't tell me you were coming, I would've kept something for you, maybe a snack or something." Fatima said, smiling.
"Oh it's nothing." Jasmine dismissed.
"Where's Humayd? Or he isn't back yet."
"Yes we'll go pick him now, the—" Aisha interrupted Muslim.
"As-Salaamu alaykum."
The three adults in the room answered.
"Good evening." She nervously looked at Jasmine as she directed her greetings to the both of them seated on the same couch.
"Evening, Aisha. How's work?" Muslim replied.
"Fine." Aisha all the while had her attention on Jasmine to study her reaction, who only turned her face away to her mother-in-law.
"You look pretty today." Muslim commented, "what's the occasion?" He wiggled his brows, "who came?"
"Your in-law." She whispered but everyone heard her and she knew it. She just decided to be confident.
"My in-law?" He turned to face her, intrigued. "When are you bringing him to me?"
"To do what?"
"To see your elder brother and his wife." He looked at Jasmine. Clear, he didn't see who came.
"You mean, wives?" Aisha corrected to do away with the other topic.
"Yes. When are you bringing him? You know that he needs to see me before seeing uncle Usman, right?"
"You're just keen but he has to see the elders first. I promise to bring him but not soon."
"Come on, Aisha—"
"Oh baby Aayan." She went and collected her nephew from her mother-his grandmother. "It's been a while since I saw him." She excitedly twirled around with him and disappeared into the house with her hamper.
"We're not staying for long so you bring him back." Muslim yelled and Aisha yelled back an 'okay'.
"Jasmine is travelling to Mykonos in less than week and she insisted I bring her to see you, she wouldn't let me rest." He glared at her.
Fatima giggled, "I know why." She stood up and went to the kitchen.
"Here." She kept a basket that contained food flasks in front of Jasmine. "And the recipe," she handed her a paper.
"Oh you're the sweetest mother-in-law ever." Jasmine squeezed her into a hug.
"No I don't understand." Muslim eyed them, "you mean I'm excluded in this?"
"Obviously, man." Jasmine hit his chest playfully.
"If this isn't dambu." Muslim said as he opened the the biggest flask. "yeah that's my mama's specialty." He said when he was sure it was the said dambu.
"You could've talked to me, I know how to do it." He told Jasmine.
Jasmine's face squeezed. "Yuck! The last time I ate your food earned me a ticket to spend the night in the toilet."
"Say the truth and shame the devil." Muslim laughed hard and Jasmine laughed too. For that moment, it was the only thing the mattered. "So all this secrecy between you and Hajiya is just to come and collect dambu."
Muslim was really exaggerating the matter, it wasn't that funny. "You must be crazy for laughing at this little matter like this." Jasmine hit him lightly with a throw pillow.
"So, what's the idea of going to Mykonos." Fatima asked.
"For a vacation and to bond with Humayd." Jasmine quickly answered although Muslim didn't even attempt answering.
"Maybe you all should go as a family." Fatima suggested.
"No I'll have to stay back with Ummulkhayr, she's not well." He said the last part a little hesitantly. Jasmine's eyes shot up to look at him and her eyes said, must you always be toxic?
"You know you all need to bond too, right? You're a completely new family that needs to know one another." Fatima pushed a little.
"I'm thinking of hajj later." Muslim said as though he didn't intend to.
"Sounds like a nice idea. But the kids?"
"Will stay with their grandma." Jasmine said, yet again, quickly.
"Not bad." Fatima chuckled.
"We'll get going." Jasmine said after a while of silence. "I've found what I'm here for." She gestured to the food basket.
"Aisha!" Fatima called.
"Yes, they're leaving?" She yelled form the interior and nobody answered her.
"She's using your son to send lockets and Snapchat streaks." Muslim laughed as he told Jasmine, referring to Aisha who had her phone in her hand.
"Now must you expose me?" She glared at her brother. "And besides, I blur his face or use a lovely emoji on it so don't panic." Aisha winked at Jasmine.
"Don't buy that Jay." He whispered in Jasmine's ear.
"Who's side should I take now?" She inquired with a smile.
"Mine." Aisha yelled carefully and Muslim glared at her, then turned to Jasmine with a smile.
"See baby, take my side. She doesn't even want to bring her boyfriend to come and greet us." He looked at her and found her sending him playful glares.
"Who sides with a dolphin?" Jasmine smirked at Muslim and attempted to stand up.
He pulled her by the waist making her get closer to him. "A fish of course." He gave her a wry smile.
"I'm no fish so I'm siding with Aisha." Jasmine said and flashed Aisha a smile.
"That's my sister-in-law." Aisha went to her side and gave her a side hug.
"May I have my son now that I need to leave?"
"Here you go." She handed her Aayan.
"My baby." Jasmine nuzzled Aayan's cheek.
They bid their byes and left, the declining the offer of seeing them off.
"Wait, Muslim?" Jasmine halted as they approached the car they came with, seeing the way he squinted his eyes and squeezed his face.
"What?" He turned and smiled at her, holding the food basket.
"Are you okay?" She looked closely at him. He was about to speak when she spoke again. "Don't lie to me." Her tone was daring.
"It's just a slight malaise." He reached for her back but she refused to walk with him.
"Migraine." She said, and it wasn't even a question. "You're sensitive to light." He kept quiet.
"Let me drive." She reached out her palm for him to drop the car key. She snatched the key from him and walked him to the car.
She drove them to go pick Humayd, that they weren't staying for long.
Muslim laid on the reclined seat, his eyes shut as Jasmine dismounted the car to the inside then later came back holding Humayd's hand who had his little bag with him.
"Maama where is Aayan?" Humayd had asked her.
"He's in the car." She replied as they walked towards the car.
"Is he sleeping?"
"No he's not." She smiled at him. "Did you miss him that much?"
"Yes. Baby Noor is very small and she's always sleeping so I don't play with her I only look at her." He said, referring to Eira's daughter. She opened the door for him. "Baby Noor is beautiful." Humayd said and his eyes glowed as he said it, making Jasmine's smile wider.
"Is she?" She asked and Humayd nodded. Muslim who also heard the conversation smiled.
"How do you feel?" She inquired from Muslim before she invited the car.
"It's slightly intensifying." He said honestly as his wife drove towards the wide opened gate.
"Is he sick?" Humayd didn't know how to address Muslim and thought it was wise enough he used pronoun although he didn't know what it was, in his little sense, he only did his best to avoid the name.
Jasmine chuckled and said, "yes, Paapa has headache." Humayd registered the name.
"Sorry Paapa." Humayd touched Muslim's head who smiled warmly at the little boy.
"Paapa will be fine." He gave him a smile.
"Maama, can you please buy me sandwich and ice cream in the place that mom used to buy for me close to my school to eat in school or go home and eat after school?"
"Whoa." Jasmine chuckled at Humayd's long sentence. "Yes why not, we'll get it." Her smile dropped as she remembered how much Hafsat loved sandwich making her fall in love with it also.
Throughout the drive to the restaurant, Humayd was blabbering about how sweet aunty Sa'eeda, aunty Aidah, grandma and grandpa had been to him.
"Will you come with me?" She asked Humayd and he declined, he was sleepy.
She went to get the sandwich and ice cream for all of them, getting everyone's preferred flavours respectively. They had many orders so it took a little long time, but it didn't matter.
Coming out of the restaurant, she realised it was getting dark outside.
She found the occupants of the car sleeping and she was left alone in the silence to drive back home so she turned on the radio and a romantic music was playing lowly.
She heard Muslim moved from his seat, she saw him inching towards her through her peripheral view and the next thing, he rested his head on her laps.
"Your back is going to hurt that way." She was concerned.
Smiling, he said, "trust me, this is more comfortable than my previous position." And she didn't say anything.
"You smell good." He commented.
"Thank you." She said and a serene silence followed, filled with the gentle whirl of the air-conditioning and the music playing on a low volume.
Muslim adjusted to look up at her and almost immediately, she stooped at a traffic and looked at him downwards. His fingers trailed the side of her face and his palm came resting on her cheek. "You're so beautiful, Jasmine." He smiled.
"Those eyes...those eyes are so artistic, so bewitching." She blinked and let him look deeper, drowning in them, her crystalline light brown eyes so limpid that he could see through them. "They intimidate me."
A car honked behind her and that was when she realised the light had turned green moments ago. She apologised under her breath and accelerated.
"Your skin..." his voice was barely above a whisper but she could hear him loud and clear. His hand traced her face and her jaw, then shifted her veil and traced her neck. "...the warm tingling sensation of your skin, the texture...are you an angel, Jay?"
Jasmine smiled, a little smile but that smile held really powerful happiness. If not for the fact that they needed to pray maghrib, she would've kept on wandering around the city and enjoy the moment to the fullest, while it lasted.
He heart dropped when it came to her that he would do the same with another woman. That seemed to never sit well with her.
She paid attention to the road, looking forward to when she was travelling out of the country, for good.
"Get up, let's go in." Jasmine patted Muslim and he sluggishly rose up.
She picked Humayd on her shoulder and Aayan in his basket.
Muslim went to Ummulkhayr's part immediately they went inside, he was to be there.
"Jasmine is going for a vacation." Muslim started. "You're my wife also, choose where you want to go or I can give you the money, you do what you want, huh?" He went close to her and hugged her from behind.
"I don't want to go nowhere." She turned to look at him. "I need to stay for my therapy, I can't take risks, I'm trying to fight this but just stay with me, for the rest of my life." She blinked away tears. "Let's make memories now that my life is probably about to end. At least, I get to spend it with you. I don't want to go anywhere." She finished and he made her turn to face him, then hugged her.
"I know I didn't plan this." Muslim said and stopped.
"This isn't how you wanted your life to be, I know. I'm sorry I ruined anything, I should've gave up to death in my coma, I shouldn't even have came into your life."
"No don't say that, you did what no one else has done to me. If I don't love you for anything, I would love you enough for that."
"I'm sorry I'm hurting your Jasmine." Her voice shook, she was crying.
Muslim gently pulled away and said, "should we tell her?" He hopefully asked.
"No please. She'll pity me and I don't want that, being pitied is not what I need." She shook her head. "I don't want anyone else to know about it. Maybe when I die, everything will fall in place, hopefully."
Muslim wanted to tell her that she had a long life ahead but he knew it's wouldn't work, they both knew she, Ummulkhayr, had lost all hope, she was already despondent.
Despaired.
Keeping everything aside, the betrayal she experience alone could kill her but maybe it wouldn't.
"I agree that you aren't going anywhere but when Jay comes back, we all are going for hajj, the three of us." He picked her forehead and she smiled warmly.
"It's fine, may we live long enough to witness that." She smiled again, faintly.
"Come I have your therapy." Muslim said with an enthusiastic smile to ease the melancholy in the air. Ummulkhayr followed him.
Muslim sat on the couch and patted his laps, she laid her head there.
"If you'll cover your head for the whole world, you shouldn't do that for me, you shouldn't be insecure around me, Khayr. I accept your insecurities with pride." He took of her cap and kissed on her insecurity, he looked at what she was insecure about with adoration.
"Tell me, how was your day?" He asked as he ran his fingers soothingly on her scalp, massaging it.
"I've been so tired today, just like everyday. My whole body is aching, I literally did nothing in this house. Been so tired to the point that I felt too lazy to even order for food, but I pulled it nonetheless." She chuckled at the last part.
"What did they say in the hospital? Any improvement?"
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What are your thoughts, lovelies? I