Falling Innocently

Chapter 22 -Home

Chapter 22 –Home

"Do not marry unbelieving women until they believe; a slave woman who believes is better than an unbelieving woman, even though she allure you. Nor marry (your girls) to unbelievers until they believe; a man slave who believes is better than an unbeliever, even though he allure you. Unbelievers do (but) beckon you to the Fire. But Allah beckons by His Grace to the Garden (of Eden) and forgiveness, and makes His Signs clear to mankind: that they may celebrate His praise."

-Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 211

Waliya was standing at the airport with Aahil's family. She knew that he was going to be unhappy with the fact that his parents were there, but she could not refuse them when they called her asked if they could tag along with her to fetch Aahil at the airport.

She didn't have it in her to tell them that it was against Aahil's wishes. She didn't want to be the one to make them cry or hurt their hearts. The morning that he was due to return home, they met her on the highway and together they drove to the airport.

Purposefully they arrived at least half an hour after Aahil's plane had landed so that they could be there as soon as he came out of the gates. International arrivals were always a hassle. Standing at the arrivals area, they were quite compressed against the stainless steel railing between two, larger families each waiting for their own to come out of the automatic gates. Aahil's mother, Husna, had her arm around Waliya's waist keeping her firmly to her side so that Waliya was not swept away in the crowd standing and waiting for their loved ones to return. It was a typical thing that any mother would do to keep their child to their side.

Signboards with different names were being held in the air by men in black suits, while families held flowers and teddy bears and more colourful cardboards with 'welcome home' decorated in a multitude of glitters and paints.

Suddenly, a group of fifteen or more children walked out of the gates, all dressed in black and maroon track suits, and then the crowds that had caged Waliya and her in laws in, dispersed. Waliya was happy and about to take a step to get some breathing space, but then another crowd came and stood next to her. It was tough competition to keep your spot on the front rows. With a sigh, she turned to face her mother in law. "Maaf," she said gaining her mother in law's attention. "I am just going to fix my scarf up," she added.

"Don't take too long, dear. He'll be out any minute now," she told Waliya, who then quickly ran off to the bathroom to fix her scarf up.

Husna Khan smiled at Waliya as she left and turned to her husband. "She doesn't even realise just how soon Aahil is going to walk out of those doors," she said. She was glad to have another daughter in law who was a lot like her own daughter.

"Why didn't you tell her he was going to walk out sooner rather than later?" her husband, Nadeem said.

Husna sighed and gave her husband an evil eye. "She has gone to beautify herself for her husband," she said in a somewhat annoyed tone. Husna may have been angry at her husband for being so blonde, but she was ecstatic that her daughter in law made every effort to please her son and keep him happy. Many times during his absence, she would just pop into Waliya and Aahil's home with short notice, and yet everything remained spotless. If she had given notice the night before or something, Waliya would have an array desserts and cakes on her table that were all homemade. "How could I tell her to stay?"

Nadeem shook his head. "You know that Aahil will want to see her first after that long separation between them. Even before he sees us."

Husna rolled her eyes at him. "Of course, I know that. I just wanted to see what his reaction would be like because I can see him walking this way." She was grinning at the prospect of his reaction.