The Villains

Happiness.

Me and Muhamad got married. We were so happy . The ocean in one of my eyes grew bigger and bigger but it couldn't burry the fire. Mariam and Mrs.Huda were so sweet . I helped Mariam with the house work , and Mrs.Huda cooked. Muhamad was working .

I loved him . Its been six months .

' Lilia? ' Mrs.Huda said.

' Yes? ' I said.

' Your mother called and she said she'll visit us tomorrow . '

I was surprised. My mother ? Why? What am I suposed to do? Muhamad . I need to talk to him . I can't take any decision without him.

He came home , had dinner and I was in my room .

' Go talk to Lilia. ' I heared his mother .

He came in after two minutes .

' Sweetheart? You okay? ' He asked.

' My mother is coming over tomorrow.'

' I know. ' He said.

' What am I suposed to do?'

' Nothing. I'll be here with you. My mother will tell her about you , and you'll see her. ' He said.

' But .. '

' Lili , she is your mother . ' He said.

' What if she tells Rami? '

' She wont . I promise you. ' He said . Kissed my forhead , and fell asleep.

I was laying down next to him , and I felt those kicks in my stomach. I was really scared and excited . The feeling that something , someone is growing inside of you is incredible . It feels like a butterfly inside your uterus. And the first kick is so adorable. Being able to talk to your baby through your womb and have the baby start to move around at the sound of your voice is incredible .

*****

The bell rang , I knew it was my mum so I left the living room .

Mrs.Huda opened the door . They sat in the living room and I could hear them talking .

' How are you Nadia? Where have you been? ' Mrs.Huda asked.

' Fine .'

' You don't look fine. Is everything okay?' Mrs.Huda asked.

' Abdulla passed away. ' She said.

' Oh .. I'm sorry . I don't know what to say. ' Mrs.Huda said.

' And Lilia .. ' She sobbed.

' What happened to Lilia ? ' Mariam asked.

' She left us . She ran away. '

' Why? ' Mariam asked , pretending that she doesn't know.

' Because of Rami. I don't know where she is. It's been almost a year , I don't know if she is alive or not. All this happened to her because of me. ' She said.

' Why because of you? ' Mrs.Huda asked.

' Rami used to hit her and I never stopped him. I regret it . '

' You didn't stop him so why are you regretting it now ? ' Mariam asked , while Muhamad came back.

He sat there with them , listening.

' Because I relaized that I was wrong. And after Abdula's death I didn't want to lose my kids too. But unfortunelaty I lost my daughter and Yousif barely talks to me now because he thinks Lilia is gone because of me. ' She said , crying.

' I wish that I could see her again and tell her that I'm sorry , I've changed. I miss her. I knew we all did wrong to her. But she was the one that brightened up the whole house and she was the noor of her father's eyes. She used to sit and tell Yousf about how he shouldn't miss his prayers , I felt so happy to see her acting like a mother with him , not a sister. I wish I could see her. ' She said.

I was listening to her and crying. I got out of the kitchen , walked to the living room and stood infront of her. Muhamad , Mariam , and Mrs.Huda were looking at me . My mother looked at me , surprised . She was crying , she hugged me .

' Lilia ! You're alive. ' She was saying.

' Thank you Allah for keeping my daughter alive. Where were you? '

I looked over at Muhamad with eyes filled with tears .

' Sit down.' Mrs.Huda said .

My mother sat down without taking her eyes away from me .

' I'm sorry Lilia . I'm really sorry for everything . ' She said.

' Mum forget it. I'm fine here and I'm happy . ' I said , looking at Muhamad.

' Tell me everything . ' She said.

I told her everything . The mountains and how we ran away. How I fell for Muhamad.

' And now they're married . Like we planned. ' Mrs.Huda said , laughing.

' Plan? What did you plan? ' Muhamad asked , surprised.

' Well , when we went to Nadia's we talked about you and Lilia . I wanted to tell you to marry her but then you went to the mountains . ' Mrs.Huda said.

' We didn't know that. ' Muhamad said , looking at me.

' But your plan didn't work instead we fell for eachother and now we're married . ' I said , laughing .

' And we're excpecting a baby. ' He said.

My mother was so happy about it. She kissed me.

' If you're happy , I'm happy. ' She

said.

' Don't tell Rami. ' I said.

' I wont tell him. '

' Can I visit you once a week? ' She asked Mrs.Huda.

' Sure.' She said , smiling.

And my mother left .

*****

The new baby born girl was Hiba.

Everybody was so happy . And Muhamad , he was really really happy. Seeing him happy was all I ever wanted. He saved me from Rami.

My mother visited us once a week. She was so happy to see her granddaughter . She said that whenever she talks about me Rami asks her to stop because he hates me and he still wants to kill me . Yousif came with my mum and he was happy , too.

Ahmad visited us with his family once a week , too.

We were all so happy . Smiles and laughter were everywhere until the bell rang.