The journey of Ahlam and Ayman ✔️

Ahlam's POV

6 months later

Alhamdulilah, life is better than it has been in these last few months. I have come to terms with baba's death, and accepted that he has gone to a better place. It's a hard pill to swallow when death occurs suddenly.

Me and Ayman have just moved into our own house which we brought a little after baba's death. Alhamdulilah where we live in the UK, it isn't too hard to get a deposit on a house. With mine and Ayman's joint savings we managed to buy a beautiful house between both mama's and my in laws. Which is perfect! The house is absolutely beautiful. It has five big spacious bedrooms and a huge living room and kitchen.

Decorating and renovating the house has been my dream ever since I was a teen. Interior design is something that I've always been interested in and I got to do that with our house. It looks absolutely amazing mashallah!

With both me and Ayman being back at work and juggling buying house stuff, it's been difficult but great at the same time. I guess it's kind of taken my mind off things and has kept me busy all the time.

"Do the samosa's look done?". "Yeah they look ready to me! Fry the chips next". Today we've been in the kitchen since the morning, we are holding our first dinner party. I'm excited it's the first time that everyone will get a full house tour. Ummi and Abba are coming! And Afiyah and her family.

Mama has found it tough getting over baba's death, which is totally understandable his death was very sudden. Me and Ayman literally begged her to come and live with us in the new house. But like her stubborn self she stood her ground and is still living at home. But she's not alone, Mama became part of the fostering community in our area. And is now fostering three siblings. They're sooo cute! The two twins girls are aged 5 and are called Akhirah and Amal. And their brother is 3 years old and is called Hudhayfah. They are the cutest kids ever! Me and Ayman usually spend Saturdays over there, playing with them. Today they are coming with her to our house.

Subhanallah, mama is going to get soo much reward for looking after the orphans. Their story is absolutely heart wrenching, parents both died in a car crash and are now left with no family. In the Hadith it has been narrated by Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), "I and the one who looks after an orphan will be like this in Paradise," showing his middle and index fingers and separating them. (Sahih al - Bukhari).

In Surah Baqarah there is an ayah which discusses about how the Ummah should expend and, one of which is on orphans. "Whatever you spend of good must be for parents and kindred and orphans and al-Masakin (the poor) and the wayfarers, and whatever you do of good deeds, truly, Allah knows it well." (Quran : 2:215).

I had just finished off making the last curry, we had prepared enough food to feed a mass. I creeped behind Ayman and hugged him with all of my might. I shifted so that we were chest to chest. I got on my tippy toes and pulled his head down so that his lips met mine. As the kiss intensified I could feel my knees growing weak. My legs were on the verge of giving out on me because of the passion, when Ayman's arms quickly swooped to the rescue. When we both pulled apart for air, I looked up to see Ayman's shocked face. I knew why he was shocked, it's because it's the first time I ever initiated a kiss between us I made sure to speak all of my unspoken thoughts and feelings into the kiss. Dealing with the grief of baba's death kind of made us drift apart a little, I'm not even sure how he dealt with how much of a mess I was.

"Thank you", I whispered in a quiet voice against his chest. I could feel Ayman's index finger lifting up my chin so that my eyes can meet his. "For what love", he spoke in his husky voice. "Thank you for putting up with me, thank you for being my teammate on the darkest of days, thank you for being my rock. Even though we've only been married a short six months, you have fulfilled every one of your promises that you wrote on the letter that you gave to me on our Nikkah. You said that you promise to be my  anchor when Allah Swt tests us, you promise to hold me close when times get tough, you promise to be the best confidant when I'm seeking your advice. And that you promise to be the the light to my darkness.And you have stuck to your word and for that I love you sooo much Ayman. As a teen when I first discovered what Tahajjud was, I always made dua that Allah Swt would grant me a husband which would be beautiful inside and out. And I always doubted that I'd find a great husband. But alhamdulilah, alhamdulilah I have indeed been granted a spouse who is beautiful inside and out! You make me feel on top of the world. I wish I could have said it in a better situation, not looking like a mess surrounded by food. But it's something that I've wanted to confess for a while now. I love you with my whole heart baby. I could feel the tears running down my face.