The Marriage Counselor. (Woman x intersex)

forty.

Danielle in the MM.

UNEDITED

chapter forty:

Nour kept watching the clock as everyone crowded up the house. His father always disappointed them as children with his lateness, but Nour had a slither of hope that things would've been different this time for meeting the mother of his first grand child.

But as every minute passed, Nour felt the disappointment settle in his chest as he sipped his drink. Some of their neighbors were there, Danielle being able to meet them for the first time. They were nice as they introduced themselves as the kids ran around with each other. The music wasn't too loud, Nour making sure he would be able to hear the bell ring for when his father arrived.

The bell rang, Nour jumping up with nervousness and a child-like excitement, only for it to sizzle away and instead be replaced with annoyance as Taina stood with a large grin on her face and flowers in her hand.

"Hi, is Nura here?"

"Yeah. Come inside." Nour's voice was monotone as he stepped aside and let the woman in. She looked around with wide eyes, Danielle walking over and giving her former patient a tight hug.

"Taina! So good to see you. What are you doing here?"

"Well I'm actually here for-"

"For me." Nura's voice caused all of them to turn around, Taina's face turning bright red as her eyes took in Nura's entire appearance. After meeting at the indoor water park, the two women have been talking non stop. It was as if it was an instant connection, Nura playing hard to get while inviting Taina into her world at the same
time.

"I didn't think you'd actually show up." Nura chuckled darkly as she grabbed the flowers.

"For you? I'd show up anywhere."

Danielle and Nour watched as the two women walked off, Danielle smiling widely. Nour let out a shaky sigh which caused Danielle's ears to perk up while rubbing his chest.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'll be right back." Nour whispered before kissing her cheek and walking outside. He walked through the garden before slipping his spliff into his mouth and lighting it before pulling out his phone.

"Can you at least fùcking call? Your daughter may not care but I fucking do." Nour whispered harshly as he glared down at his phone before inhaling from his spliff. The mixture of weed and tobacco hit the back of his throat, the calm dizziness filling his body as he exhaled into the dark air.

"Nour." The sound of her God father's voice filled his ears but he didn't budge, instead staring ahead at the small pond full of exotic fish that swam around in the night.

"Nasir." Nour's voice was light yet full of the emotions that he kept trying to hide so desperately. The older man stood next to him, Nasir lighting his cigar as Nour continued to smoke his spliff.

"He's not coming, is he?" Nour whispered while still staring ahead. Nasir cleared his throat and sniffed before shaking his head. Nour chuckled humorlessly before spitting onto the ground.

"He sends his best. Says congratulations on the child and the fortune you've continued to bring to your family. He's on the next flight to Japan for a meeting."

"Okay." Nour's voice shook as he swallowed the lump in his throat. He felt like a child again, the constant disappointment turning into routine even as an adult.

"Nour, don't take it-"

"I'm not. Come inside, we've got food.." Nour mumbled something in Arabic that Nasir didn't pick up while walking back to the house. He ran upstairs and locked the bathroom door, washing his hands and face while staring into the mirror with teary eyes.

"Fuck it. You're good. You've always been and you always will be. Continue sending money to your sisters like the provider you are and keep it pushing. No point in trying to see if he'll step up now when he hasn't in thirty years." Nour whispered to himself before drying his face and adjusting his shirt.

He opened the door to see Nura standing in front of it with crossed arms. He sighed and tried to brush past her but she didn't let him, both of them standing at eye level considering Nura took off her heels after her third drink.

"He's not coming, right?" Nour shook his head causing Nura to scoff with a chuckle before sighing. Nour just stared down at the floor feeling hollow and it didn't go unnoticed.

"You're a father now. You do better than him and I'm sure you'll be okay."

"You don't think that's what I've been doing? Do you really think I want to be anything like him? To my daughter or to Elias and Mason? Fuck no. Fuck that. Fuck him." Nour's nostrils flared with aggravation as he continued to stare at the ground.

"He didn't even go to mama's funeral. What makes you think he'll show up for us even as adults? He left you to take care of everyone. You. Not even Nasir. It's always been you. Why do you think it would change now? Because you've met every supposed expectation he's had? Get it through your head, Nour. He doesn't want to be our father-"

"No. He doesn't want to be my father. You and the others had mama. I had baba until I didn't. Because at the end of the day, no matter how much grooming and training, I'm nothing more than a weird, disabled little girl who thinks she's tough in her eyes."

"Don't say that. Do not speak about yourself that way-"

"It's true, Nura! I heard it every day of my life. He taught me the game just to fucking abandon me because of what others had to say. His son has boobs. Who would take him seriously if I was parading around him all the time?" Nour sniffed, his chin trembling as he wiped his face with the back of his hand. Nura wrapped her arms around her brother who cried silently in her shoulder.

"I know you had it tougher than we did. No one is denying that. But stop making it hard for yourself and holding onto an expectation that he will never meet. It's time to take care of you now. You've got a beautiful wife to be, not one, but now three out of four children that absolutely adore you. Baba doesn't know what he's missing."

"Then why do I want him to so bad? What about Danielle? She's going to start asking questions about our family. She deserves to know our side for the sake of our daughter. What do I say? That my father abandoned me because he couldn't handle being around a child that everyone believes has a Jinn? Because of something I cant control?"

"Allah will deal with it. You know this. You are nothing more or less than human. Stop letting this affect you. We came to America, we built something to fall back on. I'm sure he's seething in his golden chair because he wasn't there and now you're above him. You could easily get him killed if you wanted to."

"Nour? Are you okay?" Danielle's voice spilled from behind the bathroom door. Nour opened it and she walked in to see Nura sitting on the toilet while Nour's face was flushed.

"Were you cry-"

"No. No I wasn't. Is everything okay? I'm coming downstairs so we can eat. I know you must be hungry." Nour asked as he cleared the cloudiness from his throat before walking off, leaving Danielle and Nura staring at each other with uncertainty.