Just Make Du'aa

• e i g h t e e n •

Dina

"Thank you guys so much the food was delicious!" Farouz shook Jalil's hand as we stood at the door, "it was so nice to see muslims in a strange town."

Jalil's smile widened, "always a pleasure to see Muslim's enjoying the town, please come back if you have the chance."

Farouz's fingers intertwined with mine as I said, "we will definitely try. Thank you!"
Amira gave me a small hug before we left, "that was nice," Farouz inhaled, "how's the day going so far for you?"

"Amazing!" I exclaimed, "what next?"
He seemed to hesitate, but with an exhale, Farouz said, "I'm going to tell you because I feel like I might have to convince you to go through with it." My eyebrows rose with curiosity and slight fear, "scuba diving."

I let the silence sit between us, for a few seconds all that could be heard was the sand shuffling around our feet. "Scuba diving?" He nodded, "You're serious?"

Farouz's smile dropped a little, but he was quick to compose himself again, "why not?"

"Honey I can't swim."

He shrugged, "you said you can swim under water."
"This is different! It's too deep, I'll drown."

"You won't," his voice took on a pleading tone. "There'll be professionals there, and I won't let you."

"That's very sweet Farouz but I don't think I can do it."

"Dina I–" he let go of my hand and shuffled his hair around, "fine, we can do something else."

His expression didn't look fine though, and he was suddenly very interested in the patterns our feet were making in the sand, "you're sure?"
My husband nodded, giving me a halfhearted smile, "this is your trip, and you should have fun with what we do."

Guilt climbed into my chest, "what about you? Did you want to go?" He shrugged, "Farouz, you have to talk to me."

"It's whatever," he huffed, then his voice softened, "sorry, that was rude. I just thought you'd like it you know?" Under his breath, Farouz said, "I planned it all."

"Awe," the word slipped from my lips before I could hold it back. Guilt filled my entire chest, I forgot how much work he probably put into this. Planning every detail to make sure I'm happy throughout the entire trip. Farouz never said it, but he needed me to enjoy this trip, for him. In a way, he was still apologizing for what happened. My rejection to all that time and money he spent is inconsiderate and selfish, but he's still willing to change plans last minute so that I can enjoy this. "This is your trip too," I said, pulling him to a stop, my thumb rubbed small circles into the light beard on his chin, "let's go, just don't let go of my hand when we're down there okay?"

Farouz said, "we don't have too, it's your choice," but the light was back in his eyes and I couldn't bear to put it out again.

"My choice is what makes you happy," I gave him a light kiss on his cheek and his smile returned, "plus, I have to live a little right?"

"Right," Farouz hugged me to him, "you won't regret it, I promise."

Tilting my head to look at him, I said, "I believe you."

***

Getting to our destination took about twenty minutes, but it all flew by, and the next thing I knew I was sitting on a boat with open water all around me. An oxygen tank strapped to my back and my legs dangling in the water. "Remember," the man incharge, Cooper, spoke, "don't mess with your mouth pieces, my men and I will be near, so if anything goes wrong just wave us over. Enjoy your time, remember, keep your legs moving and you'll stay afloat. Don't touch any of the sea creatures, no sudden movements, and the sharks are not a threat."