Loving You

Chapter 19 - Family Love

We got up together and prayed Fajr (the morning prayer) before we snuggled up together in bed and fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning, I woke up gently and felt my husband's arms hugging me from behind. I realised how amazing it feels to be loved by such a great husband. His sculpted chest hid such a golden heart. And I could hear it beating, almost in sync with mine. I gently turned on my back and as I looked at him, I saw his lips in the shape of the goofiest, most adorable smile I had ever seen.

"Good morning, hubby." I said to Ali and he slowly began waking up. "Good morning, darling." He said gently as he laid on top of me and kissed my lips passionately. "Your smile is so cute, what are you dreaming about?"

"As a matter of fact, our honeymoon. More specifically what I am going to do to my beautiful bride once we arrive in that private villa and I lie you down on the bed and begin to kiss you, caress you, undress you..." I kissed him passionately to disrupt the rest of his sentence. "What a lovely way to shut me up." "Well, what can I say? I'm polite." He chuckled lightly.

"Speaking of our honeymoon, we have so much to do, we better start packing." "In order for me to pack for a honeymoon, I need to know where we are going you know." "Sweetheart, all you need to know is that it's a hot destination, 100% halal in food and culture, it's super private. So you should bring plenty of short, revealing clothes for our special time together." Said Ali, with a smile as he kissed me gently. "I actually don't own anything like that. I mean, even the robe and nightie I wore on our wedding night was something brought by your sister." I said to Ali. He kissed my forehead and smiled " in that case, let's go shopping, Zahra." "Ok I'm down." "Good, let's get ready for breakfast."

We got up, used the toilet, brushed our teeth, washed our faces and got dressed. I decided to wear a long sleeved purple floral top and a pair of white leggings with blue pumps and a cute purple hijab. Ali wore a graphic red T Shirt with a leather jacket with a pair of dark blue faded jeans and red trainers.

We went to the dining room where my mum was cooking up something delicious and Dad was setting the table. Abbas sat there, munching on a bowl of cornflakes and began smirking. "There's the beautiful and happy couple." Said Mum whilst pouring an omelette into a frying pan.

"MashAllah meri jaan. Indeed, how come you guys have arrived to breakfast all dressed up?" Dad enquired as he gave us both a big hug and a joyful smile.

"You know, Ali, before marriage, Zahra used to spend the entire day in her pyjamas, at home in bed, with the remote in her hand and junk food in her mouth. You should have seen the sight of her." Interjected Abbas jokingly from the other side of the room.

"Actually bro, it's that girl that I love. The girl who doesn't care what anyone thinks about her, who is comfortable being herself, who doesn't want to always conform to the harsh beauty standards, that's what I found most attractive about your sister." "Eugh dude I really don't want to know why you find my sister attractive." We both began laughing.
"And by the way, don't go thinking that's about to change just cos we are married. We are going to have plenty of relaxed, pj wearing, binge watching, binge eating days in bed together." I replied to Ali adoringly. He gently kissed my hand and said "sounds good, my love." He whispered in my ear and made me smile.

"We are going shopping, Dad before our honeymoon tomorrow."  I replied as we both took a seat at the table. "Oh that sounds like fun. Don't worry, I get it, my little princess does not want to spend time with her old man now that she's married and in love with her husband." Dad teased me as he popped his lower lip out in a sulky pout, bowed his head and sighed.

I knew he was just teasing me but I went behind my father's dining chair where he was sitting, wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek before pressing my cheek next to his and rubbing his shoulders. "Dad, I love you so much. I promise I will spend time with you guys as much as possible. In fact, let's go have dinner together as soon as I get back from my honeymoon."

"Mesum, let the poor girl enjoy her time with her husband as a newly married bride without feeling guilty or worried about us. We will miss her but inshallah she will come home all the time." Mum replied to Dad and tutted as she giggled. "You're right, Imaan dear. I know our little girl will never forget her father. My Zahra Jaani, I hope you have a wonderful time with Ali and please remember this is will always be your home."

He beamed at Mum and then me as he said these compassionate words and he held my hand that was still hugging him. "Aww thank you so much Dad, for everything." "Don't mention it, meri shahzady." He replied. I kissed his cheek once more and sat down next to Ali again. "Uncle and Auntie, rest assured that whenever you want to see your daughter, you can come to our house for as long as you would like or she can come here. In fact, I'll join her. I'd love to spend time with all of you and be considered a part of your family. Most of all, I would never want you to miss her or her to miss you." 

Ali said to Dad whilst nervously smiling and scratching the back of his neck. It made me smile when I observed and admired how courteous he was. "Thank you so much Ali beta." Mum replied, smiling from ear to ear with happy tears brimming in her eyes. "Yes thank you Ali, you were my son the day you married my daughter. I truly appreciate your kindness, you are a good husband and a wonderful person." Dad smiled and nodded at Ali.

"Hey this is all really nice but Okhty, Can I come shopping?" Abbas interrupted. "I don't know big brother I mean we are probably going to be very romantic together." I teased him as I wrapped my hand around Ali's arm. "Oh you mean like this morning when you guys were snogging?"

Ali nearly does a spit take with the glass of water he was drinking but then decided to gulp it down his throat in a hurry and my face turns a deep shade of crimson in embarrassment. I let go of my husband's arm swiftly. "How did you know that we were umm doing that?" I whispered softly so that Abbas could barely hear me. "I walked past your room and it was wide open. I'm surprised you stopped kissing long enough to get ready and have breakfast!" He replied with his mouth full of soggy cornflakes, a devilish smile creeping on his features.

"Abbas please behave yourself! It's none of your business because your sister is married and it is perfectly ok for them to be enjoying each other's company in private!" Mum shouted at him, scolding him like he was a child again which made me giggle softly and Ali was laughing too. "I'm so sorry beta, he can be so rude sometimes." Mum replied to both of us as she sighed gently and continued making breakfast.

"Trust me I know mum." I said as I felt much better about the awkward situation. Ali replied "Aunty it's fine honestly. Koi baat nahi. Not quite the conversation that I was expecting at the breakfast table but you know. Though my dear brother in law is being a little hypocritical as he was the one who told me to take care of his sister and make her smile. That's how I make her smile. I think Abbas actually feels left out as he has no one to do these things with. Maybe you should arrange a marriage for him, Auntie. You lonely dude? Shall I set you up mate?" He chuckled and the whole room erupted in a sea of laughter.

"Grubs up. Let us sit down, thank Allah for  our wonderful breakfast and dig in." Said Mum as she laid down some pancakes with an assortment of toppings, a fruit salad, a veggie salad, eggs with soldiers, scrambled eggs, omelettes and naan with curry, different cereals, milk and orange juice. We ate , talked and laughed together. Me and my husband helped clean up the table for Mum and told her of our plans. "That's great, sweetie have a wonderful time." "Thanks Mummy."

We quickly got ready to pray our afternoon prayers before we went to the car and I parked my wheelchair next to the driver's seat. "Ok seatbelts on, engine on, full petrol, I just need one more thing before we go." Ali gently kissed me. "Ooh I think you might want to do that again." "Ok my angel." Ali's lips kissed my lips in a passionate embrace. He gently stroked my cheek and smiled before starting the car and driving to the shopping centre.

Glossary:
MashAllah- All praise is to Allah. In appreciation of something good that a person has through God's blessings.
Meri Jaan/Jaani - My Life in Urdu
Inshallah- God willing in Arabic.
Meri Shahzady - My Princess in Urdu
Beta - Son/ Child in Urdu.
Okhty - Sister in Arabic.
Koi baat nahi - It's nothing in Urdu.