Malika Bashir had a darkened view of the world. Ibrahim Ahmad refused to see anything but the light.
Soon, a friend from the past appears at Ibrahim's doorstep and a mysterious set of letters are left in his bedroom. Old conflicts are raised and ne...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A couple weeks passed. The grey clouds cleared space for a clear blue sky. The cool, restless breezes were once again replaced by warm wind.
It was late into the night when Layla posted into the WhatsApp group of the girls that her mother went into labor. Malika was still in her floral pajamas when Salman drove her to the hospital.
They found Layla in the waiting room outside of the Labor and Delivery unit. Malika hadn't seen her since Layla confessed about the letters. A knot formed in her stomach at her sight. Still in her house attire and her wispy curls running wild, the girl looked up from her phone.
"Thank God," Layla let out a cry.
She stepped towards her, and Malika could see the hesitation in her feet. But as soon as the two friends embraced, Malika could see the visible relief descend on her face. The months of conflict between them became a small mishap in the bigger scale of things.
"Mom went into labor and Dad's out of town. I was freaking out."
For the first few hours, the girls were in the room with Yasmine Fayyad as she went through the early stages of labor. As time passed, the mother's pain worsened. Salman tried to offer the ladies chips and coffee as comfort before being thrown out into the halls.
As the nurses prepared Yasmine for delivery, the father made it just in time. It was almost dawn when baby Azar Fayyad was welcomed into the world. By then, Dahlia and Ibrahim had also arrived along with a few of the Fayyad's relatives.
Layla was in full scrubs when she walked out into the waiting room - filled with people eagerly waiting to meet the newest member of the family - holding out the newborn for everyone to see. Salman was FaceTiming someone as Layla showed the baby on the screen.
"Who's that?" Dahlia asked under her breath, gesturing to the man on the screen.
"Kaveh, Layla's brother," Malika responded. "He lives in London."
The baby was a tiny, red-faced thing. Dahlia thought she barely looked human, but Malika could swear she saw Layla's charm in her swollen face.
It was almost morning when the Bashirs and the Ahmads were ready to leave. Layla was yawning as she walked her friends out. Malika could feel the exhaustion from the lack of sleep seeping into her own bones.
"God, I can't imagine having a baby in the house," Layla said. "I was always the baby of our house. I don't know how to be a big sister."
"None of us do, actually," Malika said.
"It's okay, we'll figure it out together," Dahlia added.
Malika squinted her eyes as she stepped into the parking lot. The sun seemed to shine too bright after spending the night in the windowless waiting room. Just as they were about to part ways, Ibrahim called her out.
