An Echoing Race.

Chapter Thirty Seven.

Please see Author's Note at the end (:

#Chapter Thirty Seven#

"So it's settled then? Two months until the nikah and then another three months until the wedding?" baba confirmed with everyone in the room and we all nodded.

"I think that sounds perfect," khalto said excitedly, clapping her hands together.

"And you are happy with this final decision?" baba asked Tariq and I.

"Yes we are," Tariq answered for the both of us and I nodded along with him.

For the last two hours we had all been discussing the best time for us to carry through with the nikah and wedding and I had to admit that I was quite happy with the end result. Usually something would pop up or coincidentally be in the way but this time, it was like Allah was paving the way for us.

Two months was the perfect amount of time to plan the nikah, which I would most likely do in a nice hall. It would be small just like the fatiha, with only close family and friends attending. However, I still needed time to ensure everything looked pretty and I had my dress. The next thing that I had to take into account was the media. Baba had advised that we pick one person from each media outlet and they would have approval to come and take photos of Tariq and I for a maximum of half an hour before they'd be dismissed.

If it were up to all of us, we wouldn't want them there at all but we had to accept that the media plays a big part in our life and instead of brushing them off - which usually resulted in more violence anyway - we might as well work with them to make things easier.

Hopefully, this way, we wouldn't be bombarded with a hundred people from the same outlet trying to photograph us. It was an attempt to keep things under control and I prayed that on the day it did work.

Three months from the day of our nikah to the wedding gave Tariq and I a lot of time to get comfortable with each other before the big day. Personally, I didn't quite like the idea of signing the marriage contract and then having the wedding soon after. It was too much of a jump when it came to both communication and intimacies. One second you can't touch or say anything out of line and the next, bam, you're married and living together.

The concept didn't sit well with me and I was happy that Tariq had acknowledged and agreed with my thoughts when I voiced them. He also believed that these three months would allow us to grow, communicate and learn about each other more intimately and that when time for marriage and living with each other did come, it wouldn't be a major shock or transition.

Our two week holiday for our honeymoon would lead us into the new year as we were now past the halfway mark, and once we returned, we would have a complete month before Ramadan started.

So it seemed, that everything was working in our favour.

So far.

Alhamdulillah.

I let out a breath of air as I leaned back against the couch, relieved that we had finally spoken about this.

I was in my own little world for a while, just contemplating and envisioning the future, when I was broken from my reverie by baba standing up.

He asked 'amu and khalto to follow him outside because he wanted to show them something. A few seconds later Ziad and Sarah went to check on a crying Abir and Lia left to make us all some tea to wind down with.

That left only Tariq, Elisa, Samir and I in the living room.

"So what's new Elisa?" She was awfully quiet tonight.