Mistaken Perception

Chapter 26

Chapter 26 (Final chapter)

~A few years later~

Aisha was sprawled across the deck of her cousin Zainab's mansion. She had been reading but was now soaking up as much of the sun as she could. Since Yunus had taken the kids into the city, she could take her hijab off and relish in the beautiful Italian weather.

"There you are," exclaimed Zainab as she came out and let the three-year-old twins loose in the huge backyard.

With giggles and laughter, Samer and Samira made a dash for their play area.

"I came to enjoy the sun," said Aisha with a smile, closing her eyes as a gentle breeze came and played with her hair.

"I'm glad you guys came for the summer. I think the kids would have been bored out of their minds without Musa and Misky," sighed Zainab, coming to sprawl out next to Aisha. But unlike Aisha, she had her eyes glued on the twins.

"Ya, Abti said it would do us some good. I think he meant mostly me, but who can pass up a summer under the Tuscan sun," laughed Aisha.

"This isn't Tuscany," giggle Zainab.

"You get what I mean, it's literally an hour away, right?" asked Aisha turning to face her cousin, propping her head on her hand.

"About 2 hours and something from Venice to Tuscany. Should we go tomorrow?" asked Zainab with excitement.

"We can take the twins and just disappear for the day," she added with a giggle sitting up.

Aisha laughed at her excitement.

"You're not planning on letting Yunus know? Won't he worry?" she asked, shaking her head at her cousin's suggestion.

"Why would I do that? It's him I need a break from," she sighed dramatically.

Aisha laughed.

"Please, I don't think you could last a day without your husband," she teased.

"Oh no, I said nothing about surviving on my own. Absolutely not, may Allah give that man a long and healthy life. He just irritates me every now and then," she shrugged.

"Ameen, that's the oddest way of saying you love him to bits," laughed Aisha.

Zainab smiled and wiggled her eyebrows.

"I love that man to bits... it don't mean he don't irritate me to death sometimes," she laughed.

"Well, I'm glad your marriage is stronger than ever," smiled Aisha, as she laid back down.

"What about you?" asked Zainab.

Aisha opened one eye to look at her with a frown.

"Oh, come on... you knew we would talk about it... or that I would need to ask you about it. How many eligible, respectable, Muslim, kind men did you turn down this year?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"They weren't the right ones," Aisha sighed.

"You didn't even give any of them a chance," scolded Zainab.

"I did too. I even considered Abdallah, but he was better off with Nasreen. Their wedding was beautiful," said Aisha.

"Yes, I'm sure. My point is you didn't even let him know," scolded Zainab.

Both cousins glared at each other for a few seconds until Aisha sighed in defeat.

"He was a great guy, believe me, I could see that, and I entertained the possibility... but it felt like I would settle for less... which had nothing to do with him or his character or any of the other men, it just all felt wrong," Aisha said twisting away from her cousin.