Come, Fly With Me

EIGHTEEN

Okay, before we get into this chapter, can we please just appreciate this gorgeous dress for a second - I would LOVE to wear it someday... anyways enough of me fan-girling over an outfit, let's get on with the story...

The quiet ringing of my fajr alarm woke me up, I reached out for my phone to turn them off and turned onto my other side. As I did, I noticed Ehsaan was awake, just watching me in silence with his head resting on his hand as he leaned on his elbow.

I smiled into my pillow,

"Assalamu alaikum"

"Wa alaikum salaam" he responded, "You sleep well?"

"I did, thank you for being there for me last night" I said as I recalled how I had cried last night in the bathroom before going to bed as I fully understood how my life was changing before my eyes. He'd helped me unzip my dress and waited for me patiently as I showered. When I re-emerged from the bathroom, I saw he'd ordered us dinner, so I sat beside him, the hood of my robe covering my hair as we ate.

"Hey, look here, you've got some -"

"Hey!" I squealed as he wiped away some tomato sauce from the side of my mouth, laughing. We talked about the day and how brilliant it was, and laughed for the rest of the evening. He knew how hard the rukhsati had been for me, and I could tell that he was doing his best to try and make me feel comfortable.

Alhamdulillah, considering how unfamiliar we'd been with each other before the wedding, everything was going smoothly. As the night drew to an end, we were seated beside each other on the bed, our backs leaning against the headboard as we read out the well wishes our friends and families had texted us.

I read Rima's message, quickly pulling my phone out of his sight as my cheeks flushed crimson at her message:

'Hey, hope all is going well with you both ;P What are you wearing? I hope you listened to me and took out something short and flirtatious... Okay I'm going to stop now before you kill me tomorrow! Enjoy your night (wriggles eyebrows) Love you!'

We scrolled through the rest of the messages, my smile fading as I reached those from my own dear family. I leaned my head back, shut my eyes and sighed, how am I going to live without them? I stayed like that for a couple of seconds before I felt a strong arm place itself around my shoulders, and as my head found its way to his chest, the rhythm of his heartbeat calmed me down. 

I don't know how long we stayed like that, but I remember vividly as he said to me, "You haven't left them, not really. I know it might seem that way, but you've just gained a new family - a bigger circle for both of us. Alhamdulillah we're blessed with the most amazing people."

"Promise me something please?" I whispered, still in his embrace.

"Anything"

"Treat my family like your own, love them and respect them and take care of them as you do your own. I've been so lucky to have been blessed with in-laws as amazing as your family, most girls aren't so lucky, you know? And in return, I promise you that your family are now mine, and no matter what happens, I'll take care of them all till my dying breath."

He leaned his head down till it rested on mine. "I promise"

I don't remember much after that, we were both so exhausted from the wedding, that we fell asleep shortly after.

It was time to get up and pray, and I stared up at Ehsaan, he moved and pushed my hair out of my face, tucking it gently behind my ears. I'd been so nervous about removing my hijab in front of him and allowing him to see my hair and last night when I finally did, he made me feel so comfortable, that I hardly even noticed. We lay in bed as he played with my hair and talked till sleep came over us both.