Chapter 29

Nadia wiped at the lone tear that made it to her cheek as she watched the car that took Mama and her entourage to the airport. She had never thought this was how she was going to be feeling when they left, but for the first time, she felt so sad and homesick. They had told them that they had made the decision of being married for three months and if it didn't workout, then they would have to go their separate ways. That had obviously gladdened their mothers hearts, for they kept praying for them that Nadia wondered if Allah hadn't even already answered their prayers.
From behind, Hussain entwined their hands and she turned to look at him. He flashed her a soft look and he needn't mention the calming words he had weaved in his mind, she had seen them all through his look. The past few weeks had been a rollercoaster for her and she needed some time off, alone. She was glad that Sohila was taking so much care of Baby H that she sometimes that to call her to bring him so she can feed him. If not, Nadia knew with the baby and the baby's father, she'd have gone crazy by now.
"Nadia you should go and get enough sleep, okay? Hussain, take her to her room and come, I want to talk to you about something." He wrapped his hands around her shoulder as if he had been waiting for that command and Nadia wanted to pull away from his hold but she knew even though it seemed as if Hajia wasn't staring at them, she had her maternal instincts that would make her want to be sure if everything was going to be alright with them.
The moment he closed the door of her room, she slipped away from his hold with an exasperated look in her eyes. "Thank you for escorting me back. You can leave." She had been sulking her face since a day ago, Mama had to stay for one more day for her but she still wasn't acting alright. And now that they had already left, Hussain knew she would blame him for everything.
She walked to the bed and sat down, unfolding the blanket for she planned to sleep so well until her eyes got tired. She wasn't praying for her to be careful of the amount of sleep she would get and hunger wasn't something that bothered her these days. She laid on the bed and pulled the blanket over her chest.
Hussain sat down beside her on the bed and he carefully placed his hand on her shoulder. Even though she had closed her eyes to show him that she was indeed going to sleep, he knew she must've been feeling so down today. "I'm sorry," he blurted out. One of the things he had learnt from Hassan was to apologize even when you're clueless of what you've done wrong and even if you know what was wrong and it still wasn't your fault, apologize nevertheless.
She opened her eyes softly, flashing him a heated look. "I'm in no way interested in your apology, I just want you to get out of my room. Turn the lights off for me on your way, please." She clasped her back shot and he understood this to be one of her terrible mood swings. In the early days of their marriage before Hassan got a hold of all her habits, he had a hard time understanding her that he would sometimes call Hussain and tell him everything that had happened two days ago to see if he could detect where he had done something wrong, but everything was perfect. Before, he had told Hassan that she might be homesick and it was better after he took her home. And now, he knew just what was wrong.
"What about visiting them before we leave?" He said carefully, after he had calculated everything, for the last thing he wanted was to promise something which he couldn't keep up to with her.
"We leave or you leave? Look, nothing you say or do will make me feel better, please just leave. And have you forgotten what you've said? I'll have to stay with you throughout these three months before you'll let me go, I'm certain you're not the type to break your promise over something this flimsy." She was fighting her tears back, he could see. And right there, he felt bad for stopping her to leave with them. If he had known this was how sad she would be, he would've let her leave even if it were for two days.
He found her hands behind her blanket and held them delicately, even though she was trying to pull them out of his hold. "I didn't know you'd be feeling this way after they left. I don't know..." He let his words trailed off, thinking carefully of his words. "I should've let you leave with them even if it's for two days. I guess it has never occurred to me that you have a family before mine and you still love and you're bound to miss them. I'm sorry for not relating to your emotions, Nadia." He sounded so sincere that she looked up at him and saw the remorseful look on his face.
She sighed and nodded her head, and no matter how she wanted to stop her tears now, they pushed out of the cushion of her eyes in force. He lifted her and have her sitting upright before he pulled her to his body and hugged her firmly. "You won't break your promise, right?" She said amidst tears and he nodded his head with a soft smile.
"Yes, we'll visit them before the week runs out, Nadia. And no, this isn't something flimsy for me not to break my promise for, it's your emotions we're talking about, Nadia." He kissed the top of her head and she sighed. She knew Hassan was the perfect husband for her, she loved him with every passing second and she knew she would do that until her last breath, but there were things that only Hussain could get. Words that only him could ever say to her and feelings that only him could invoke within her. He just knew the perfect way to comfort her in a way that she'd have to forget she'd been in pain.
She lifted her face from his cheek with a smile now lingering on her face. "I should start packing my clothes then." He chuckled and nuzzled his nose on her, relieved that she had at least felt better.
"We'll only be there for two days, so you don't have to pack much. Like Hajia said, you haven't been getting enough sleep, you should do that now."
She gasped and yanked herself away from him as though she had been touched by Hajia and her palms instantly closed her mouth. "Hajia asked you to meet her, Hussain! You should leave now, it's been long since we came in."
He chuckled at the terrified expression on her face and tried to pull her to his body but she pulled back, rolling her eyes at him. "I'm sure she'd understand that a husband has to take care of his wife first. I couldn't leave you in that position."
"The time for consolation is over, any minute from now she'd think that..." She let her words trailed off, shaking her head to push the thought of Hajia thinking they were doing something away from her mind. It was something to be pregnant with Hassan's baby and something entirely different for her to be so comfortable with Hussain that Hajia will begin to suspect something was going on with them.
He threw his head back and laughed. Nadia watched him and he laughed and she wanted to keep on doing that for the rest of her life. He looked so boyish and charmingly beautiful that she didn't know what else to do, how else to feel apart from what she was already feeling in her heart. "You laugh beautifully, Twin." She blurted out without knowing she did and Hussain paused his laughter and that was when he saw the amusement in her eyes.
"Should I laugh some more then? That way I could enchant you into doing things with me that Hajia will certainly suspect us?" She punched his shoulder lightly while she laughed.
"Really, you shouldn't keep her waiting, Hussain."
He clutched at his heart, "You just called me Twin and I'm back to Hussain in a matter of seconds?" Not that he didn't love it when she called him that, it was the most beautiful his name had ever sounded.
She smiled amicably at him and laid back on the bed, "You knew that was a tongue slip. Off you go, I'll sleep." He pecked her lips and she smiled at him, "Know your limits, Captain Alkali."
He stood midway and watched her with a look in his eyes which Nadia wasn't able to decipher. "You've never called me that, Nadia." From his voice, she knew he loved the name and would love her to call him that over and over again.
"Call you what? Twin?" She chuckled at the look he flashed her because they both knew what he meant.
"I've got to kiss you for that name." And he didn't wait for her reply when he merged their lips together and her laughter got muffled with his lips that made it sound as though it were a moan. Nadia wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as she relished the feeling of being kissed by him. He had always given her the best kisses.
He broke their lips and she smiled at him and pulled the blanket all over to her face. "Now, that's it. Go and meet Hajia."
"Sleep well, Singleton. You might wake up to find me cuddled next to you."
She heard him moved toward where she kept Baby H's things and it was clear that he was going to take them to Sohila and she smiled at the second family Allah had blessed her with. They were just so nice and loving that she wouldn't have asked for better family in law apart from them.
"You better not, Captain." She said lazily, answering to his last statement.
"Maybe I should kiss you again." There was joke laced on his tone and he laughed when she faked a snore to tell him that she was already past asleep. He moderated the temperature of the AC for her, turned off the lights before he silently closed the door for her.
He met Sohila in Hajia's living room as she fed Baby H, a smile immediately warmed his face and he sat beside them, "How's my baby doing?" He leaned onto his face and softly pecked his forehead. He loved the baby so much that Hussain wondered if it was possible to love a child that much.
Sohila playfully pouted her lips, "We aren't going to answer this question, right my baby? Because it's obvious Abbi is more into Ammi now to even know whether we've been fine or not."
Hussain softly smacked her shoulder, "Don't turn my son against me, Hila. Here, the things you said you needed." He handed them to her and she called the maid to take them to her room. Slowly, Baby H's things were taken to her room that Sohila knew a day would come when Nadia would wake up and found nothing that belonged to the boy in her room.
•
Nadia woke up from her sleep and fount out that it was already late in the evening. How did she sleep that much? Nevertheless, she enjoyed how she slept as though she were a baby and when she laid her eyes on the bedside drawer, seeing his wristwatch was enough evident that he indeed slept next to her, just that he left for the mosque before she woke up.
The thought of him sliding next to her into the blanket and cuddling her up was so sweet that she couldn't stop herself from smiling and she went to the bathroom afterward. She was hungry to the point that she couldn't wait for the maids to bring the food for her when she walked to Hajia's chamber.
Someone was holding Baby H and her face immediately lit up when she saw him, "Oh baby! I've missed you!" The person holding him turned to her with a warm smile on her lips and when Nadia saw that it was Mufeeda, she nearly lost her balance, reason unknown to her.