Chapter Thirty-Three - Honey, You're My Moon
The reception went by faster than Lutfiyah thought it would, people flocking to talk and hug and slip envelopes into her hands. Jaafar's sisters were a constant comfort, steering people off if they stayed too long, allowing Randy to make sure she ate and Sara to make sure everyone else did.
She assumed Jaafar was somewhere with the rest of the men, going through the same thing but on a lesser scale, and when he came to meet his relatives by the doors, not allowed in until all the ladies in niqaab had covered up, she saw the few relatives of his that had come, tear up like they'd lost a young son of theirs.
"Riyaad's family was the same," Sara said, rolling her eyes and laughing when one lady started to sob. "It's crazy. I bet you that before this day, they hadn't seen him for like months. Why are old ladies so dramatic?"
"When you become one, you'll know all about it. Besharm poiri."
Lutfiyah and Sara whipped around to see Zarina Foi glaring at them and Lutfiyah was irritated to find herself ashamed on her own wedding day.
"Did you eat nicely, Zarina Foi?"
She turned up her nose and said, "The potatoes were a little under-cooked. You know, when my Faizal got married, I did the cooking myself. To make sure the food we served our mehman was perfect. You can't trust caterers these days."
Upon seeing her distress and disbelief, Aqeelah swooped in like the brave eagle she was and steered Zarina Foi away, pulling her into a conversation about her son's wedding.
Sara opened her mouth but Lutfiyah shook her head. "Nope, not today. Today we are free from familial drama. Today we party like the normal people we are."
Sara burst into laughter. "That was so lame. Oh my god, so lame. How am I related to you?"
Lutfiyah stuck out her tongue. "I am a treasure."
"Yes, you are."
Lutfiyah almost jumped out of her skin as the words were whispered in her ear, goosebumps running up her arm at the sensation caused by the vibration of Jaafar's voice. He had removed his jubbah and was now wearing just his turban and kurta, his eyes lined with surma, like blue coals glowing down at her.
Sara smiled and blew her a kiss before wagging her finger in his face. "Down, boy. You're not allowed to be here. I'll be hearing all about the inappropriateness of it if you don't leave right now. You can wait an hour or two to see your wife. You've waited long enough to marry her. Go on. Out."
Jaafar groaned before a mischievous smile lit his face and he kissed Lutfiyah quickly on her cheek, his beard scraping against her skin, before walking away. She was too busy blushing to notice the scandalised looks the aunties were giving him as he walked out.
# # #
"I still don't understand why you are taking May with you. We'd have looked after her."
Lutfiyah smiled as she pointed her bag out to Riyaad for him to take to the car. "Jaafar insisted and anyway, I haven't been away from May longer than a work day, ever. She won't be able to handle a night away let alone a week."
Sara just nodded and helped her with the remainder of her things, insisting that she wasn't allowed to change and part of the romance of the wedding day was your husband helping you remove your gown. Anything that had to do with undressing was sending Lutfiyah into fits so it wasn't being explicitly mentioned.
Jaafar was waiting impatiently by the car, his eyes flitting to the door and back and Lutfiyah smiled as she watched him from the window.
"Why are you torturing him like this? He's obviously anxious to see you, and no wonder, with the way your reception dragged on."
She turned to her cousin in disbelief. "Excuse me. Did i just hear you blame me for the long reception when you were the one who planned it?"
Sara suddenly found herself interested in the ceiling and Lutfiyah grinned, rolling her eyes at her cousin's antics. They both startled at the knock on the door, Riyaad popping his head in with a sweet smile on his face. "Is the bride ready to go? I think your groom is getting worried out here."
Sara sent a triumphant smile at her. "This is why I married this man. We are of the same mind. Come here, you handsome devil."
Riyaad lat out an undignified squeak as Sara attacked him, pressing a loud kiss to his cheek.
They all burst out laughing before Sara shooed her husband out. "Give us a minute."
He nodded and walked away, leaving Sara to turn towards Lutfiyah with a soft smile on her face. "Open your bag."
She frowned but obeyed, unzipping her handbag before her eyes widened at the box lying inside.
"That's one. There's another in your luggage."
"Sara!"
She shrugged. "You'll need it. I explained everything to you. He knows what he's doing so most probably you just have to leave it on the bedside table without an explanation but it never hurts to communicate."
Lutfiyah could feel herself melt into the floor, her eyes unwittingly straying to the lube in her bag. God, this was embarrassing. And inevitable which only made it a thousand times worse.
"Okay okay. Yes, jazakillah for this."
Sara wrapped her into a tight hug. "Right, now go. You've greeted everyone ten times already, including your father, so hurry before your husband comes to collect you himself."
She nodded, took a deep breath and walked out the door.
# # #
The plan was to spend the first night in London and then catch their flight to Corfu the next day. Lutfiyah wasn't going to lie and say that she wasn't excited. Jaafar had wanted to keep the destination a secret but after much persuasion had realised that a surprise destination was not the best when a three-year-old was involved.
Speaking of, May had fallen asleep and was strapped tight in her car seat as they drove to their hotel, Riyaad humming in the front seat to whatever he had playing on the radio.
Any other time and Lutfiyah would have been the first to join her in the nap but today was different. Today she had the best company.
She glanced down at her lap, where their clasped hands lay, Jaafar's fingers entwined with hers, his thumbs rubbing soft circles onto the back of her hand. Sometimes he would lean down and whisper something into her ear, sometimes he would just kiss her where his lips reached her head and breathe her in. All of that time she sat in a heap of goosebumps and electricity.
They finally reached their destination, Riyaad chatting amiably with Jaafar as the porter unloaded their bags and they waited to get their room keys. Jaafar knelt down to lift May out of her car seat, unmindful of the way her little satin pumps kicked at his spotless kurta, kissing her head as she snuggled into his neck. Lutfiyah felt her heart clench so tight in her chest, she almost forgot to breathe.
After a slew of greetings and unnecessarily sly winks from Riyaad (she was going to kill him when she got home) they rode the elevator up to their room and waited as their baggage was unloaded and the porter left the room with a handsome tip and a big smile.
It was a large suite, the path from door to bedroom littered with rose petals and lined with tea candles. The bed itself was sprinkled with petals, their initials shaped out on each end of the bed, Jaafar's J on the right and her L on the left of the king-sized bed.
She frowned. "I sleep on the right side."
Jaafar turned to look at her then at the bed before he burst out laughing. "Okay, babe. You can have the right side."
She felt herself flush at the nickname and cleared her throat. "Where are we going to put May?"
She didn't know how this worked. This was their first night. What if he wanted to, well, do things? Where was May going to be? Surely not in the same room. Just the thought of that made her want to die of mortification. Yeah, sure other people probably did things with their kids in the room but like how was she supposed t-
"There in the middle, that's where she usually sleeps, right? Just clear the rose petals if they're in the way."
She felt a little pang when he said that because she wanted to take pictures, just something to remember the day, but she couldn't let him carry May for any longer. She was about to sweep the J to the side when she saw a flash. Her head whipped around and another flash went off, Jaafar grinning behind his phone at her, holding May tight to his chest with his other hand.
"Have to get a few pics to remember the day, right?"
She smiled at his antics and stepped aside to take his phone and capture a few more pics before he lay May down and proceeded to tuck her, no, their, daughter in. Sara had at least allowed her to change May into her pyjamas before they left so there would be no fussing when she got here.
He crawled off the huge bed, gha and how did even that look sexy, and stood to face her. "We have some duas and salaah to read, correct?"
She nodded.
"You want to change first?" he asked, nodding at her gown which as comfortable as it was, had begun to feel heavy on her.
She thought about it then shook her head. "I think I'd like our first salaah to be in my gown."
He grinned. "Okay. The musallahs are in the small blue bag. I'll just find the qiblah, okay?"
She nodded as he took his phone to find the correct direction, weirdly proud of him for having brought the mats even though she'd packed two as well.
She laid them out as indicated and waited as Jaafar took her hands.
"Ready?"
She nodded and he dropped a kiss to her head before going forward and beginning their prayer. After the two rak'aats and the dua, he waited for her to bring the milk she'd packed, watched as she poured it and drank from the bowl before offering it to him. He maintained eye contact the entire time, winking when he placed his mouth on the exact spot she had and took a sip from it. Then he slipped a finger under her hijab and softly tugged a lock of hair out, smiling shyly as he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.
"I didn't get to memorise it."
He read out the prayer then leaned forward as she too took a lock of his hair and grinned when she took his paper and read the prayer too, changing the pronouns where necessary.
Then it was time to go to the bathroom and change and suddenly she didn't know how she was going to get out of the dress because she couldn't unzip the first bit by herself and she didn't know how to ask him. He knocked on the door as she stared at the mirror in contemplation, having contorted herself in every which way until she realised that unless she wanted to tear the seam of her armpit, she had better call him.
"You okay? Do you need any help?" She heard him clear his throat. "I, uhm, not in any weird way, just to help unzip I mean."
There was an awkward silence.
"Oh god," she heard him whisper and she giggled despite herself, reaching forward to unlock the door.
"Please," she said shyly, turning around so that he could help her. She'd already removed her hijab, the pins tucked neatly into their container, the silk scarf folded and packed away.
She felt shivers run down her spine as he brushed a few strands of hair off her nape before leaning down and pressing a kiss to the top of her spine. She shuddered as his beard scraped on her sensitive skin and his warm breath played havoc with her nerves. He didn't go any further, unzipping her slowly before backing away and closing the door slightly.
She stepped out of her dress, her legs wobbling as she did. She gasped as his hand popped around the slightly open door but relaxed as he beckoned.
"We need to hang it up, right?"
She passed the gown over and leaned against the door until it clicked shut, grinning as she slipped out of the rest of her clothes and stepped into the shower.
She had never felt so alive in her life.
_________________________________________________________________________
Besharm poiri: girl without shame
Mehmaan: guests
Salaah: prayer
Musallah: prayer mat
Qiblah: direction that Muslims face to pray
Rak'aats: One raka'at would count as a full rotation of prayer and two would be the same thing repeated twice etc.
So I really have to apologise for this very late update. At first i was just very busy with assignments and life and then I guess, I just had writers block. But hopefully that's all over. Hopefully. Hope you enjoyed.
💕