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Love someone who will wait for you like someone waiting with a bowl of water in hand to break his fast.

Jalaluddin Rumi

Her

It has been drizzling all evening and now the rain has gotten a little heavier and the night has blanketed the sky. She stands in the door of the veranda watching Eskander struggle with Laleh to bring her inside the house. She insists of enjoying the rain and he worries she'll catch a cold. Noura smiles at them as Eskander tries to shield her with his body from the rain.

Coming inside, she wanders towards her mother's room and knocks on her door, waiting until she's granted permission to come in.

"Nour, come over, janem."

She walks towards the bed where her mother is sitting, knitting something. She takes a seat beside her.

"What are you knitting, maman?" she asks her mother.

"A sweater for Eskander and Laleh's child."

She chuckles and circles her arms around her mother, putting her head on her shoulder.

"Isn't it too early for that?"

"Not at all. I've already knitted them socks and a cap. I've waited so long for this day. So let me be happy for my grandchild, aziz."

Against her mother's ecstatic expression, a small laugh escapes her. Her mother pats her on the cheek and places a kiss on her forehead.

"You'll know when your time comes."

She flushes at the remark and hides away her face. Although she wonders if her mother will be as ecstatic as now? She assumes she will be. She wonders if Adam will be as happy as Eskander? Again, she assumes that he will be.

Suddenly, she misses her husband. Does he miss her too? Suddenly she longs for him. She cannot wait for tomorrow when she returns to him.

 She cannot wait for tomorrow when she returns to him

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Him

He cannot sleep tonight. It wouldn't come to him. If not for her empty spot on the bed, his wife having set out for her home at the first ray of sun piercing the dawn as if having waited for the opportunity all her life, leaving the bed cold and empty for the night to come, it's the weather as well creating the chill in the air.

The rain has been falling for some time now. He had listened to it earlier when he sat down to eat dinner alone in their chamber, and now on the divan on the balcony as it keeps pouring. He wishes she could've stayed a few days more before visiting her home, rather than fleeing away as soon as they arrived in Baghdad. Maybe they could've watched the rain together.

He looks up at the sky where there are no stars in sight. He wonders if she's watching the rain fall too, like she watches the stars. He wonders if she misses him as he misses her. Adam smiles to himself.

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