Less Than Perfect

{14} Color Me Stunned

Tanwir Sarker

Deciding to get married was one thing. The actual process was another. 

To this day, I remembered all the hassles and hurdles my little sister endured just to marry her high school sweetheart. Hell, I remembered Ibrahim's wedding like it was yesterday and all the judgmental looks his wife and he got for marrying outside their cultures. 

Given my predicament, I knew my future would fall into the same pattern. First thing was parental approval, which is why I enlisted Damon to be on standby before my parents came home. 

Amira was still with Kanza, hoping to break the news better with her family. I wasn't sure if our families would be opposed to any degree, but the lingering doubt manifested within until it grew into a spiral of webs, each marking a path to my damnation or creating an even more complex system. 

This was abrupt. I admitted that. 

But that didn't change how I felt. 

As I gazed at the look of wonder written across Damon's visage, I started to rethink the areas of my plan. Was I fooling myself? Did I really rush a woman into a marriage because of my own selfishness?

"So, can we rewind for a bit?" asked a puzzled Damon, scratching his stubble of facial hair on his chin. "You brought me out of my home, told me to leave my newborn son with your parents, and then dragged me into a sudden marriage proposal announcement? How the fuck did that happen?"

I rolled my eyes, raising a brow at his use of language. 

Damon shrugged, a smirk on his lips. "And here I thought I was the spontaneous one."

"It wasn't that sudden," I muttered under my breath. "Look, I need you here as damage control. Yusuf is fine."

"Damage control?" chuckled Damon, incredulously as he stretched against the couch, getting himself comfortable before the chaotic storm flew in. "This beats changing diapers for sure."

"Alright, Joker."

"Why am I here again?"

"I told you, damage control."

He blinked. "You were serious?"

"Damon, who jokes about marriage?"

"Well, how was I supposed to know that?" he scoffed in defense. "Your parents aren't going to flip out on you, so relax, man."

I continued to pace around the living room, glancing at the clock periodically. This was completely out of character for me, out of my spectrum of expertise. For every aspect of my life, I had more control, had more stability. I always had a backup plan, yet today I was out of sorts.

Sensing my qualms, Damon sighed deeply, his expression turning more serious than the carefree attitude I usually got from him. His evergreen eyes stared ahead as if far from reality, lost in a trance of his own memories, the time when he broke news of a proposal to our family as well. A faint smile touched his lips like dipping into a sea of light, radiant, pure, and warm, full of affection. 

"Remember how nervous I was when I came to ask for Amira's hand?" he laughed softly, shaking his head. "I was so sure that your father would shut me down, that he'd pull the culture card, or worse. I thought he would forbid Amira regardless of what she wanted because I wasn't the ideal Muslim man."

I sat across from him, knowing my pacing was doing no good to calm my anxiety, so I decided to focus on the soothing tone of my brother-in-law's voice, to hear him recount how he too dealt with a situation much similar to mine. 

Damon laughed again. "Imagine my shock when he left the decision entirely up to Amira. There was no pressure, no demands, and certainly no judgment."

"Baba is a very kind man," I commented, smiling at the very same memory. "Even I was nervous for you."