Destined Hearts

Chapter 44

Madeenah's POV

I am feeling so tired even though I hadn't done much today. There was this deep tiredness in my bones. I didn't understand it.

I am in the kitchen just cooking a simple chicken fettuccine pasta. He enjoyed it the last time I made it so maybe he might feel up to eating it.

I am shredding the cheese in the pasta sauce when I feel a wave of dizziness overcome. The spoon clatters on the stove as I lose my balance. I shoot my hand out to steady myself but nothing is in reach. I'm about to fall to the floor when an arm wraps around my waist and holds me up.

I sag against Muhammad's chest as he holds me up. "Madeenah? What's wrong?" He asks frantically.

Before I can answer he lifts me up and settles me on the island counter and cages me in with his arms.

"I'm fine. I just got a little bit dizzy that's all." I place my hand on his shoulder.

"Let's go to the hospital." He says and moves to pick me up but I catch his hands.

"No. I'm fine. It has passed."

"We are going." He says.

"Muhammad no. It's no use. You were feeling worse than me and you didn't go so I don't want to go." He still looks worried as he stares at me. "I'm fine, I promise."

"Sit here. I'll finish cooking." He says finally.

"You don't know how to cook that." I chuckle.

"Of course I do. I learnt how to cook in my uni days." He picked up the spoon and mixes the cheese I had shredded into the pasta sauce.

"Oh you mean a lifetime ago." I tease.

He turns to glare at me over his shoulder and points the spoon at me. "Don't even start."

I laugh, "I can handle cooking it. Besides it's almost done. Just to add the pasta."

"Sit down there or I'm actually taking you to the hospital." He doesn't even turn to look at me as he pours the pasta into the pan and begins to mix it in with the sauce and chicken.

"You are so bossy."

"It's part of my job description."

"Are all CEO's like this?"

"I was talking about being married to you." He glances at me over his shoulder.

I gasp dramatically. "I don't need to be bossed around."

"Yes you do. Your father warned me of how stubborn you were and how you needed a firm hand." I could hear the amusement in his voice.

"He would never."

"I think his words were in fact 'My pompi is as stubborn as a mule so you might need to be firm and strong against her to make her listen.'"

"Oh my god. I am not that stubborn." I argue.

He doesn't even say anything but just arches a dark brow at me. I roll my eyes. "Fine maybe just a bit."

"Did you forget what happened last week with you and Inayah?" He asks.

"Let's not talk about that." I cross my arms as I swing my too short legs.

"You sat down in silence with her for almost two hours because she refused to do her islamiya homework." He reminds me.

"She was being stubborn." I defend.

"And you were too." He dishes the pasta into two plates for us.

"I had to because you were letting her manipulate you." I grab forks from the drawer between my legs.

"I was negotiating with her. Now that is a necessity in my line of work." He sits down on one of the island chairs then helps me slide over and onto the one next to him.

"Which line of work exactly."

"CEO, husband and father. I realize I can't exactly win arguments with you both." He chuckles.

"At least you are learning." I pat his arm consolingly.

"You're not serious." He takes a bite of his pasta and I follow.

"Mmm. You aren't bad at cooking." I muse when I savor the bite.

"You did most of the work." He points out.

"I saw all the spices you added. This is your creation." I take another bite.

"Just eat your food." He grumbles.

And I do. We don't say much as we both clear our plates. When we are done he puts our plates in the skin and then comes back to basically carry me to the living room where he settles us on the couch. His back is to the armrest and I'm sitting in between his legs with his arms wrapped around me and my head right under his chin.

"This is nice." He mumbles.

"It is." I haven't forgotten about what I wanted to talk to him about but right now I'm too tired to argue and honestly I just want to snuggle with my husband.

"I missed you, you know." He murmurs into my hair.

"It was only a day." I muse.

"It was a day too long."

"You can be such a baby sometimes."

I squirm when he tickles me in retaliation.

"I am not." He growls in my ear making me giggle. "Just because I miss my wife?"

"Yes." I squirm in his arms.

"So you are saying you didn't miss me then?" He says softly, placing a kiss just below my ear. He always seems to love doing that.

"I'm not saying that."

"So what are you saying?"

I turn around to look at him, bringing our faces just an inch apart. I lean in to give him a peck before I smile at him. "I missed you."

"That's what I like to hear." He pecks me before I turn around in his arms and face the TV that he now has switched on.

"No we need to continue our binging of grey's anatomy." He says as he puts on the show.

He settles me more in his arms as we both watch the TV while still being so engrossed in each other.

As he slips his fingers under the hem of my shirt and strokes my skin, and using his other hand to drag down my hair, something hits me in the moment.

I love him. I'm in love with him. I think I have been for a while now. And honestly there is no use denying it anymore.

I love everything about him. Maybe not the part where he hides things from me but every part of him i love. I love the busy CEO. I love the caring son. I love the stern brother. I love the easily manipulated father. I love the affectionate husband. The caring one. The funny one. The frustrating one. I love him as a whole.

"Muhammad?" I call.

"Hmm." He hums, as his fingers graze further up.

"I—" I pause and contemplate actually telling him. I can't just say that to him when we just started being good. It's too much. I haven't even finished registering this new change talk less of him.

"What is it?" He asks and grips my chin to face him.

I search his eyes for a moment. This beautiful dark eyes. I take a deep breath before I say, "I like you."

He doesn't say anything for a moment and the air feels charged with something... more. He searches my eyes and my whole face before a slight smile appears on his lips. He leans down to kiss my forehead and linger for a bit before he speaks.

"I like you too."

I smile. "Also I need more books."

He laughs. "I knew something was coming."

"But I'm done with all the ones in my shelf. I actually should just have a library of my own."

"Yes ma. Whatever you want."