Twice Upon Qadr - A Shot At Love **EDITING**

Chapter 14

Number 12 in Spiritual! YAY Alhamdulillah! :D Thank you everyone for all of your support! <3

Ilham placed Mohammad in the cart, buckled him in, and put down her purse next to him before smiling at Hana.

“So, where should we start!?”

Hana laughed, and shrugged her shoulders.

“You’re the master chef! You tell me!”

“Well I’m thinking we should make grape leaves and Maqluba, and a nice salad and maybe a cake or some brownies? Ooh look the potatoes are on sale!”

Hana laughed, and followed behind her sister as she rushed towards the produce. They were having a ‘date’ night at Hisham and Ilham’s tomorrow evening. Every month, Yusra and Amir dropped off Kareem at one of their parent’s houses, and Hisham and Ilham did the same with their children, and they got together for a night of dinner and games and relaxation and fun. As Houssam was in town he had been invited, and Ilham, being OCD and needing an equal number of couples, had invited Hana.

Well at least that’s what Hana had been led to believe. Secretly Ilham was trying to put her matchmaking plan into action. Now that she had gotten the idea into her head that Hana liked Houssam, nothing was going to stop her until she was giving a speech at their wedding!

Granted she had no idea if Hana really liked him or not, but in all honestly that wasn’t really important. In Ilham’s mind, it was already a done deal.

Hana on the other hand, was trying very hard not to freak out. It was different seeing Houssam at the Masjid, and being with him in a house for a few hours playing games. She wasn’t sure how she was going to handle it, and more than once it had been on the tip of her tongue to tell Ilham that she couldn’t come. But part of her wanted to see him in that situation. Where he was relaxed and with friends and family and having a good time. She, of course, hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him, especially after their little run in in her classroom. He hadn’t let her read what he had written yet, saying, with that adorable crooked grin on his face, that he wanted to wait until it was perfect before he showed it to her.

“What do you think about doing a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting?” Ilham asked, breaking into Hana’s thoughts.

“Oh sounds great.” She said with a weak smile as Ilham began to put cake mixes in the cart.

“Cake!” Mohammad screeched, and Ilham laughed, kissing her son on the nose.

“Yes habibi Mama is making cake tomorrow!”

“I have some?” the baby pleaded, and Ilham laughed again.

“InshaAllah habibi Hamoudi!”

Hana was quiet as the cruised up and down the aisles of the grocery stores, Ilham putting things in the cart here and there. Finally she couldn’t take it anymore. She had to ask.

“So how goes finding Houssam a wife?” she said trying to sound not really that interested. Ilham bent into her purse on the pretense of trying to find her phone, but she was actually trying to hide her smile. Once she had gotten herself under control, she looked at her sister, her face neutral.

“Not great actually. He keeps rejecting everyone we suggest.”

“Oh.”

Ahhhhhh!

“Yeah but we will keep trying. He is a great catch after all. Don’t you agree?”

Hana narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her sister, but Ilham merely stared back at her, her eyes wide as if she was trying to portray her innocence.