Anything Could Happen

The Families or My Fiancè?

Chapter 26.

Delnaz's POV

We had supper as usual. Father and Uncle Reşit spoke about football and Aunt Hamida and Mother discussed Ismet's teething powder (yes, he had a new tooth popping out every other day) and his upcoming visit to the clinic for another round of immunity boosters. I was the odd one out. Mother hadn't told Father about Fuad yet. She was probably waiting for the right time. I pushed my food around my plate and sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"What's wrong, Delnaz? You keep making that funny noise with your breath."

"It's called sighing, Rahim."

I giggled at Uncle Reşit. He never ever rolled his eyes at Father but when he did, it was very amusing. Most of his actions tended to be exaggerated anyway.

"Actually, Rahim, I needed to tell you something about Delnaz. We'll discuss it later," Mother said.

"Oh no, please, do tell us now, Delnaz is like a daughter to us so we would like to know too, isn't that right, Reşit?"

Uncle Reşit glared at Aunt Hamida. Her sharp tongue usually ruined the mood but Mother and Father chose to ignore that.

"Very well, then. Delnaz has a friend that she would like us to meet," Mother smiled at Father knowingly.

Father, however, looked more confused than anything.

"And who is this friend?"

"Hush, Hamida! No need to overstep your boundaries, now."

I silently thanked Uncle Reşit for always saving me in scary and awkward situations. Take this incident for example; I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me.

Mother said no more about my friend and for that, I was more than thankful.

~●○●~

Later that evening, Father called me to the kitchen. Aunt Hamida and Uncle Reşit were in their bedroom. When I walked into the kitchen, Mother was feeding Ismet a mixture of soft, shredded chicken and mashed potatoes. I had to say; Ismet really loved his food and lurched forward everytime the spoon was being brought to his lips. This made me giggle.

"Delnaz," Father's voice boomed, "we need to have a word with you."

This was the first time, in a long time that I actually noticed the stress on my Father's face. His greying hair reminded me of grey rain clouds that were heavy with water. They carried this water just as people carry stress. When they couldn't take it anymore, it began to rain. Similarly, people just became overwhelmed and tended to lose it. My father was clearly stepping on the grey area between sanity and insanity. I hoped that this news about Fuad and I wouldn't push him over the edge.

"Sit down, Delnaz."

I obeyed my father and sat down next to Mother, who seemed strangely calm. I waited for Father to explode into one of his usual fits of rage.

But this time, he decided to surprise me.

"Delnaz," He sighed, "your mother told me about your 'friend' and we would like to meet this friend."

"Really? You would?"

I was truly stunned. It had never occurred to me that Father would allow another boy near me, let alone into our house. Father shuffled around the kitchen looking uncomfortable at my sudden burst of eagerness. Mother decided to speak up for him.

"Yes, we really would. Wouldn't we, Rahim?"

Father remained silent. It was obvious that he really didn't want to meet Fuad. The problem was that he didn't have anything to judge Fuad by so he would have to wait till the actual meeting before approving or disapproving of him. Shukran Allah for that. I couldn't see any faults in Fuad but my family might have. I just hoped that everything would turn out well.