Only In Jannah

Prologue

Khalils POV

I fell on my knees with open arms waiting for the four year old running towards me with a hug.
"Daddy" she squealed as she crashed into me.

"How are you Honey?" I picked her up holding her tightly to my chest "Did you miss me?" she quickly nodded "How much?"

"This much" she spread her arms wide apart making me giggle. I walked into the living room of my cousins home and sat on one of the Sofas.

"Assalamu Alaikum" Jalila, my cousin from my fathers side walked in holding a tray of refreshments.

"Wa'alakumus salam"

"Khalil, you're welcome. When did you get back?" she asked dropping the tray on the center table before finding herself a seat.

"I came directly from the airport, I missed Honey too much" I replied pulling lightly on her cheek. We continued chatting and Honey wouldn't stop telling me about everything I missed for the past one month that I had been away. I took out a doll from the shopping bag I came with and handed it to her.

"Go play with your new doll okay?" She jumped off my lap and ran inside.
"How are you?" I asked my cousin.

She took a deep breath before replying "I'm okay" but deep down I knew she wasn't okay, she was far from it. Three years after the death of her husband and she was still finding it hard to move on.

Jalila and I spent most of our childhood together for the seven years we lived in Nigeria before moving to Virginia, she never really got along with Mahmoud. He was bigger than us and liked to bully little Jalila even though she was a few months older than him. After moving to Virginia, Dad would bring them for the holidays and that helped strengthen our friendship. I was even closer to Jalila than her older brother, Ibrahim. We talked almost everyday, she knew everything about me and I knew everything about her. Jalila got married five years ago and a year later welcomed Amal to her little family, I always loved children especially girls and whenever I went to visit I would joke around saying I was her dad, I gave her the name 'Honey' and it stuck, everyone now calls her that.

Eight months after Amal was born, her father died in a plane crash. We were all devastated, I remember Jalila crying to me asking what she would tell her daughter if she asked where her father was. That was when I took the decision to become Amals father, I had nothing to lose.

"Everything will be fine in sha Allah, may his soul rest in paradise" she gave me a shaky smile "Ameen"

"We have a little problem, Dad wants me to get married to late Hassan Abdulqadirs daughter. How will we make Honey understand?"

"I really don't know Khalil" she covered her face with both palms "I knew this would happen at some point, I just didn't think it'd be so soon. I mean, she's going to start asking questions soon. The other day she asked why we don't live together, says her friend said real parents live together"

"Hey" I moved closer "Calm down, its okay. Everything will be fine, we won't tell her anything for now and for the time being I'll be here till she falls asleep and when she wakes up you just tell her I left for work, okay?" Jalila sucked in a breath and slowly nodded her head.

"Everything will be fine" I repeated.

"Okay"

***

I drove back home with a lot on my mind, the flight from Virginia was far from peaceful. Dad had dropped the marriage bomb on me too soon and he wasn't giving me a choice, he already had a bride picked out for me. I didn't have a problem with an arranged marriage but I wasn't sure if I could handle it so soon, I didn't know how to go about the whole situation.
"Jacob, bring in my luggage" I said to the security at the gate, he nodded and ran towards the car.

"Husband!" Mahmoud stood at the front door with a big grin plastered on his face.

"Fuck you bruh" I glared at him icily as I shoved him to the side and walked into my house, I could hear him laughing hard behind me.

"This is why you should've gotten married since but no, you don't even have a girlfriend" Mahmoud said following closely behind me, we both entered the living room and sat on adjacent chairs.

"Do you think me accepting is a good thing?"

"As long as she's not hideous" he replied, I raised one eyebrow at him making him grin at me "I'm serious, everything comes after beauty. If she's fine then it will probably work"

"Not everything is about looks brother, so what if she's beautiful and she happens to have no morals and manners? Yes I would appreciate a little good look but that's not at the top of my list

The only thing motivating me is her father, I knew him and he was a very calm and collected man so hopefully she has his habits"

"You have a point there" he said bobbing his head continuously "But still, I want a beautiful wife with everything else extra"

"Believe me brother, Hidaya is a goddess"

***

I ran my palms down my face saying Ameen, the nikkah had been solemnized. I was now a married man and I had only seen my wife once before, it was during my first visit to Nigeria five years ago after Dad made me the CEO of his company. I was in Lagos, learning all about the business and had stayed at a hotel for three days, Alhaji Hassan asked me to have dinner with his family, he said good food made everything better and I couldn't agree more.

I received a very warm welcome from his wife, she looked very young and still had her youth looks. She had taken her time to prepare dinner herself and it was delicious, we had just finished eating when Alhaji Hassan called out to his daughter.

"Why didn't she have dinner with us?" I asked before she came out, Alhaji Hassan laughed saying "My precious gem is a shy one"
And when she came in wearing a golden brown gown on her petite body with a cream veil wrapped around her head I had to stop my mouth from going wide agape, I could see the hint of shyness in her brown orbs when our eyes met. She didn't let it last for a second, immediately lowering her gaze causing a smile to form on my lips.

"Good evening"

"Evening, how do you do?"

"How do you do" That was it, she turned to leave. I caught the look on her fathers face as he watched her walk, he didn't even hide his love for her. It was strong, stronger than anything I had ever witnessed.

"What is her name?"

"Hidaya" His smile reached his eyes, he was at peace whenever he thought if his daughter "My precious gem"

"That's a very interesting name Sir" he laughed "I know, she is a very interesting girl when you get to know her" I nodded my head.
"I'll take your leave" I got on my feet and headed outside being followed by Alhaji Hassan himself, we said our goodbyes.

I drove home with the image of Hidaya glued to my eyes. Her father's precious gem, the split second our eyes met for haunted my senses. I would've never thought that five years later I would be married to that same precious gem.

xoxo hairanumar

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