Better Late Than Never

56

Ayman found it miraculous that he woke up when the last alarm for Tahajjud rang at exactly twenty minutes to Fajr.

It took a lot of strength to roll over and pick his phone so he could turn the alarm off. He pushed himself up to a sitting position and sleepily pulled up Ayra's contact. He clicked on the dial icon and brought the phone to his ear. The call rang for a while and he was about to end it, thinking she wasn't awake, when it connected.

Her groggy voice reached his ear a moment later, slight ruffling on her end. "Hakeem?"

Ayman cracked a small smile, the remaining sleep slowly leaving him. He cleared out the rasp in his throat. "Hi, Asķim."

"Tahajjud?"

He hummed. "Yep. We have about eighteen, seventeen minutes until Fajr. Can you make it?"

"Yeah, In Shaa Allah." She sounded adorable and it warmed his heart. "Thank you...Ummi?" Her voice got softer and Salama's voice was low but Ayman picked it up. "Ummi, Tahajjud." There was a little conversation before Ayra spoke again clearly. "Okay, I'll go and wake Baba."

Ayman took that as his cue to get out of bed. He was on his feet when she spoke again. "Hakeem?"

He headed towards the bathroom, the floor cool beneath his feet. "Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"There's no need for that."

"God, I'm going to need to sleep throughout today."

He smiled, switching on the bathroom lights. "Like I have constantly promised, I'll ensure it happens. Is 6:30AM still good for my family members to come get you?"

A door clicked close on her end. "Can we move it to 7:30? I'm really exhausted and I need at least thirty minutes to close my eyes after Fajr. That won't hinder anyone's plans, right?"

"No, not at all. I'll talk to Mama and Aunt Bisan. I have some errands to run after Fajr too so it works out well."

"What errands are you talking about?"

His smile was way smaller and way softer. "Someone wants toast for breakfast and we didn't get to pick up bread last night so...I need to get my wife flowers too. She's coming home and I want to welcome her with them. Ah, there's also bakhoor to burn. I still haven't picked out what to wear."

"That's a very busy schedule." Her smile was evident in her voice. "I'm sure your wife is going to appreciate it."

"I hope she will."

"She's definitely going to."

"In Shaa Allah." He sighed. "We need to pray."

"We do. I'll see you soon In Shaa Allah."

"In Shaa Allah. I love you, Leilani."

"I love you too."

♠

Whatever was left of Ayra's belongings that would go with her to her new home was packed into a black medium sized box and taken down alongside Ibtihaj's to the awaiting vehicles.

Ayra, with red rimmed eyes and a flushed face, smiled at her best friend as she entered her room which they'd been sharing. Ibtihaj's face was soft. "Do you want me to carry extra tissues?"

Ayra shook her head, discarding her hijab to reveal the chocolate brown ASOS full hemmed maxi bandeau she wore underneath. She folded the hijab and put it on the bed, knowing her mother would pick it up later.