Her Accepting Heart by Ayesha Ally ( A.M.I )

3

3

The night seemed long to both Basheer and Samiha because they haven't spoken as much as they usually did before going to bed.
   When they got up the next morning they were not feeling too good, and to top it off, Basheer's mother decided to phone them to let them know that she would be coming to stay over for a few days.
   A few days for her, meant like a month atleast, but Samiha was too drained out by her husband's words of the night before to bother much.
   "Please don't let on your true feelings while Ma is around, I don't want sarcastic comments flying all over the house..." Basheer said as he brushed his thick black hair away from his forehead.
   Samiha nodded absentmindedly and carried on with neatening the corners of the bedding.
   "Love...don't let it play on your mind. Maybe Nazmira would get her own transport soon in'sha'Allah." He went to stand beside her and was relieved when she leaned against him.
   "Aameen...I sure hope she does." She breathed out as she listened to her husband's steady heartbeat.
   Basheer put his arms around her and placed his chin on her head.
   "I love you so much and I really appreciate everything you turn a blind eye to, for my sake, for the sake of keeping the happiness in the house." He murmured.
   Samiha tightly shut her eyes and wished that the future were not so dreary.
   When the kids and Basheer's mother arrived, the tension eased of enough so that they could enjoy the afternoon.
   Basheer made sure that his wife's thoughts never strayed to the dreaded subject and thankfully nobody had  brought it up.
   "Samiha, would you please take me to the top shops one of the days? I need to buy a few things from there." Her mother-in-law's chirpy mood made Samiha wary, but she felt good, knowing she was spared the glares of the elderly woman.
   "Of course Ma we can go whichever day you'd like." Samiha smiled.
   "Monday and Tuesday is out of the question, I have therapy, so may be Wednesday or Thursday." She continued reading the magazine she picked up.
   Therapy. Ever since her husband passed on, Gulshan needed some sort of mental therapy to keep herself occupied or she would have a breakdown.
   Samiha understood where she was coming from because she herself needed therapy when her brother had lost his life in an accident at the young age of eighteen.
   "Jee, you can't miss therapy for anything." Samiha relaxed immensely because she knew that her mother-in-law's stay was not going to be strenuous as it sometimes was.
   After some more small talk everybody called it a night and dispersed into their rooms.
   "See, Ma is not so bad as she like to make herself seem. I think it's just age and her past hassles that's made her the way she is." Basheer sighed when he got under the duvet.
   "Hmm, she was different today. Maybe the therapy is having a good effect on her after all, just as the doctor hoped it would." Samiha cuddled closer to him and fell off to sleep.
   And the few days to Thursday flew so fast that Samiha had totally forgotten about the 'lift club' job her husband suddenly found himself doing.
   It was after fajr salaah that Basheer went into the bathroom to shower and change...and Samiha found herself frowning.
   "You're very early today, have a meeting or something planned?" She questioned as she did up his tie.
   "No, but you do know if I don't leave early, I'm going to get late to get to work because..." he trailed off, but she frowned harder.
   "Because?" She shrugged.
   "I need to drop Nazmira at her office which is a couple blocks away from mine. And you know traffic..."
   He saw her hands drop to her side from his tie in an instant and his jaw clenched.
  "Look babes, if you don't trust me, I'm good for nothing. Please have faith in me and send me off with a smile..." he begged, and she found herself doing just that...
  

Ayesha Ally