𝓜𝔂 𝓫𝓪𝓫𝔂, 𝓶𝔂 𝔀𝓲𝓯𝓮

30# JABI

THE KHALIL RESIDENCE,
ASOKORO.
JANUARY, 2022.

Breaking the news that they were moving to Jamilah went a lot more smoothly than Jamil expected.

It could've been because of a temporary loss of decision-making skills induced by the meat, or because of the incident with his aunt earlier, but Jamilah had just agreed.

She'd regained her sight completely late into the night, and settled into her side of the bed to sleep.

Of course, the concept of 'sides' only existed in her conscious state.

Once her breath evened out, Jamil would pull her past her side, and into his, tucking her into his arms.

He slept a lot later when she was in his arms.

Because it was then his mind would wander, from Jamilah to the shirt he'd lost years ago, to Ayman, and back to the woman.

And when drowsiness took over, he'd go to sleep.

Most times, he'd wake before her and return her to her side. But sometimes, she'd be the one to wake up first.

And even though she must've noticed that she'd moved from her side, into his arm, she never brought the matter up when he woke up.

They'd settled into some kind of game; feigning negligence.

Sometimes, when she'd sleep in and he stroked her face, he'd notice the shift in her breath, see the fluttering of her eyes beneath the thinness of her eyelids that let him know she was awake.

He'd know she was awake.

But she didn't know that he knew that, so he'd pretend to be oblivious to the fact that she was awake too.

Sometimes, she'd be sly. She'd pretend she was stretching in her sleep and draw closer to him.

And Jamil was never able to contain himself in those moments.

He'd feel the smile pull at his lips, and wouldn't even try to suppress it.

But lately, he was becoming greedier.

Now, when she stretched herself towards him, so he'd stroke her cheek, he'd want to call her out on her pretence.

To tell her that he knew she was awake.

To tell her to look at him if she wanted his touch on her face.

To tell her that she was the least person that required shyness around him.

****
Today was different.

Today was.........daring.

Today, Jamil craved his wife in ways he didn't know if she was okay with.

Today, when he'd played with her cheeks and eyes, when he'd grazed her lips and caught the sound of her relaxed sigh, his lips met the base of her neck.

It was just once, and it was brief.

But he'd felt her jerk in surprise for the briefest moment, before going still again to continue her pretence.

Jamil smiled.......then got to work.

***
His entire day was spent in commute. From Asokoro to Jabi, where they'd be moving.

The trucks had already moved the bulk of their load, but Jamil had to get stuff for Jamilah.

It was customary to get Kayan lefe, boxes that contained clothes of all sorts, jewellery, perfume and cosmetics before the wedding.