Islamic stories

BABY BOOM

PART ONE
After 26 years of marriage and having 2 beautiful children, the last thing on Raeesa's mind was having a baby. At the age of 50, she had settled into a free and content life. Both her children had grown up and didn't need her anymore. Aslam was 25 and he worked for an I.T company. At the age of 23 Sarah was a new bride.

Raeesa was happy that she and her husband, Riaz, finally had the time to concentrate on each other. Although they were not very rich, they were comfortable enough to close the shop now and then, and slip away for romantic weekends.

When Raeesa missed her first monthly cycle, Raeesa didn't bother about it. "It was probably just the onset of the dreaded menopause." She was not overly concerned, because she felt fine. No hot flushes, no dizziness and no fatigue.

However, 4 months later her thoughts had drastically changed. Her periods were still glaringly absent, and she felt nauseaus and miserable. She felt 100% pregnant. Riaz was skeptical. She was wary and they both stressed over what the children would say. After all,it should have been Sarah surprising them with such news.

"Sarah! Aslam! Your mother and I have some news for you." Riaz held Raeesa's hand. He loved her more than anything in this world,and although a new baby had been a daunting prospect, the 2 of them had actually become excited about the precious gift Allah had blessed them with. Now the difficult part was telling the children. They could not delay anymore as Raeesa would soon begin to show.

Concerned, Sarah asked, " what's wrong mummy? Earlier I heard you being sick in the bathroom. I hope it's nothing serious."

Raeesa reached over and took both her children's hands into her own. "No! I am not sick. In fact, I'm more than okay.
We have good news for you both!"

Puzzled, Sarah and Aslam looked on expectantly.
"We are going to have another baby!"

PART TWO

"Good lord dad! Stop joking! C'mon tell us what the good news is," Sarah giggled "That's a good one! ANOTHER BABY!"
Raeesa looked at Riaz. The 2 of them remained silent waiting for Sarah and Aslam to calm down and actually absorb what they had been told. Aslam looked at his parents.
"Wait a minute. Your'll aren't joking? Your'll are actually serious! No jokes!"
"Yes son, your mother and I found out about a week ago. It was a shock at first, but now we are happy to be accepting this very precious gift from Allah."

Sarah stood up angrily, "Your'll are so old! How could your'll be so shameless? How could your'll do this to us? Did your'll even stop to think about how this will look to my in - laws? Gosh! Your'll are so selfish!"

Sarah stormed out of the house and drove off leaving a trail of smoke in her wake. Aslam also stalked off angrily.

Hurt and dejected, Raeesa turned into the warmth of her husband's arms. Although they had anticipated a bad reaction, Sarah's words cut a deep wound. She was their child, but so was this little miracle growing withen her.

As the pregnancy progressed, many complications began cropping up. Raeesa's blood sugar levels seemed to be spiking, and she was in and out of hospital. The added emotional turmoil did not help. Aslam had eventually accepted the pregnancy, but Sarah had cut off all communication with her parents. Raeesa felt the emptiness of losing her daughter. She felt even more guilty, because it was as if she was choosing one child over the other. CAN A MOTHER EVER CHOOSE?!?!...

At 30 weeks the doctor called Riaz into the hospital. He explained that the situation was grave and the chances for a normal delivery were very slim. At the same time anesthetic was equally dangerous for Raeesa. Riaz should prepare for the worst. There was very little hope for both mom and baby.