Changing His Ways

Chapter Twenty Four

CHAPTER | TWENTY | FOUR | UMAYMAH | POV

"And I was so excited for you to come home because everything was so boring and I missed daddy's cooking because it's the best thing ever!" I smiled at Laila as she carried on speaking, a yawn desperately trying to make its way out of my mouth.

We had arrived home 20 minutes ago and not 2 seconds later did the toddler run out from the living room and jump into my arms. She had been so excited for us to come back that she begged her aunt to let her come early to see us. Of course I was happy about this, but I was also really tired from the trip.

"Laila baby that's wonderful. We missed you too." I said sincerely and placed a kiss on top of her forehead before she burst into a fit of giggles, in turn making me laugh too.

Just at that moment Shoaib decided to walk through the door with a steamy plate full of macaroni and cheese. It made me laugh how Laila demanded food from Shoaib after just being in the house for 5 minutes - if I didn't know any better, I would say she truly was my daughter. Shoaib couldn't say no to her, like every time, and proceeded to make the dish for her.

"Here you go, dinner served for the princess." Shoaib took Laila from my arms and settled her down on the sofa before giving her, her plate and took a bow, making Laila giggle. "Make sure to blow because it's still hot." He warned her and watched contently as she listened to her father.

Meanwhile I laid back on the sofa and tried to close my eyes for a few seconds of peace. That is until it was disturbed by my husband itself poking my sides. I squirmed under his touch and began swatting his hand away, hoping he would leave me alone, but of course that didn't happen.

"Can I help you?" I asked, aggravated by my lack of sleep. All I wanted was to curl up in bed since the flight back had been long and not forgetting the time difference causing me to have a serious issue of jet lag.

"We need to talk." He stated and I looked at him only to direct my gaze at Laila who he was now watching.

She sat with her plate, blowing every piece of macaroni before putting in her mouth; she repeated this at a slow pace, but it meant that we didn't have to worry about her burning herself. I was confused as to why he was looking at her though.

"About Laila?" I asked, unsure of where this conversation was leading. Looking at her now, half her attention was on the TV while the other was on the plate of food in front of her.

Shoaib said and pulled me closer to his side which in return made me squeal, "yes, about Laila. I didn't realise that with all this going on and her coming to live with us will cause a problem." He turned his face away from the toddler and looked at me. I finally understood what he was talking about and the harsh reality put a frown on my face.

Me being in danger was something I could tolerate, but having Laila at risk by just being here wasn't something I wanted to think about. She's a toddler, barely five years old and unintentionally, she's having to deal with a family that has a number of problems. The thought itself was enough to make me want to regret taking the decision of letting her come live with us.

"What are we going to do? I'll never forgive myself if something happened to her." I noticed how my voice slightly cracked at the end and it seemed that Shoaib noticed too because he was now running small circles on my arm as a mean of comfort.

"We can always send her to her aunt until this is sorted." He suggested.

"But what if they go looking for her there?" I was now in semi panic mode, not knowing how to deal with a situation like this.

Suddenly Shoaibs hands went from around my waist to cup my cheek in his hand, "sh, you're thinking about this too much. If Ross is clever then he'll know not to go anywhere near Laila because we're going to have our best people watching her." He assured me and I slightly relaxed at the thought of my little girl being protected at all times, even with us.