A lone tear traced its way down his cheek. I looked up at him, and with one final sob, lifted my hand and wiped it dry with the tip of my thumb.
"I love you, Ehsaan, my strength, my world. And nothing and nobody can ever do anything to change that...
The whole Uncle Yaseen soap opera was now gladly behind us and life is moving on as normal. Perhaps most importantly to mention, is that Ehsaan and Amma have now made up, their beautiful mother-and-son relationship too strong and tightly bonded to be permanently shaken by a worldly affair. The distance was killing them both, and neither were at peace until the day when their sadness caused them to simply fall back into one another's arms. Deep down they'd both forgiven each other for their shortcomings long ago, but, like mother - like son, they were too stubborn to show each other that.
Alhamdulillah, now we had moved on, and the festivities are rolling into full play. Sami and Rima have exactly one week till their wedding day, and today, everyone is coming over to our house to make the wedding favours. Ehsaan decided that it would be nice to make a family get-together out of it, so he and I had spent the previous night shopping frantically to be able to put together a nice table-spread for whilst we work. I was standing in the kitchen, unpacking the various cheeses and crackers as I waited for my husband to get home from running some last minute errands. The day was going to be productive and a great fun, and I was looking forward to the celebrations that would unite two of the most important people in my life. But despite the excitement, my mind was distracted by the immense cramping that my time of the month had brought me, leaving me hot and bothered and unpleasantly tired due to the uncomfortable night I'd had. I opened the cupboard to take out the wooden charcuterie board, which, much to my dismay, was on the topmost shelf, meaning my petit stature couldn't reach it from where I stood on the kitchen floor. I cleared the worktop so I could climb on, and just as I was about to heave myself up, I yelped as two large, strong arms, embraced me from behind and lifted me up so the wooden platter was within reach.
"Ehsaan!" I giggled as I realised he'd sneakily been watching me for a while.
"Yes darling?" he asked distractedly as he tugged on the satin belt of my dressing gown, causing it to flow open in a waterfall of silky material, revealing my flattering pyjama set below.
"Hey, what are you doing?" I laughed as his familiar hands enveloped my cheeks and he stole a kiss from me.
"Stop talking!" he groaned, making me laugh further.
"Ehsaan, focus! We have a busy day today, we can't afford to have a late start!"
"But darling I want to -" I silenced him with one last kiss before turning back round to arrange the tableware. If there's one thing I love doing, it's hosting – and I am a complete perfectionist, which means that I needed to get a move on if I have any intention of getting things done to my standards, on time. I quickly glanced behind me to see Ehsaan leaning against the kitchen island simply watching me with a mischievous smile on his face.
Another pang suddenly racked through my abdomen, causing me to almost double over from the severity of the cramp. I gasped, leaning against the counter with one hand and clutching my stomach with my other.
"Woah, darling what's happened?"he worriedly asked as he rushed over and rubbed my back.
"Nothing, just a cramp. I'll be okay in a minute" I reassured him.
"I've never seen you in this much pain over a cramp before. Are you sure you're alright?"
I nodded my head, in shock at how much that had hurt. "I don't know why this period has been so awful, but I'm okay, I promise." I said, smiling up at him and giving him a gentle peck to ease the panicked expression on his face.
"Well regardless, I'm running you a hot bath. We'll deal with all this later" he said, pointing at the vast array of foods I was yet to prepare. "Come on".
He led me upstairs and went into the en-suite as I fingered through the endless rails in my closet to figure out what to wear today. He came in behind me and pushed down the top of my gown to place a lingering ...on my shoulder beside the spaghetti straps of my pyjamas.
"It's ready for you my love, I hope it helps." He whispered into my ear as my heart leaped at his cuteness. Still, all this time after being together, we are like innocent newlyweds, constantly blushing under each other's loving gaze and butterflies soaring within us. His character never ceases to amaze me, and being in close proximity to him still made my heart beat sporadically and yet I felt free and secure all at the same time.
* * *
I had just finished laying out the charcuterie board, my sharp eye for detail ensuring every piece of food was placed with precision, when the doorbell rang.
Rima had arrived with her arms full with boxes of candies and bits to fill up her wedding favours. Ehsaan had laughed and taken them off her, pointing her in the direction of the kitchen before taking over and emptying her car of the many, many bags and boxes. We placed it all in the spacious sitting room and unpacked them as we waited for everybody else to arrive. Rima's parents got here next, followed by Mama and Saffa, then Baba and Sami. We all talked and laughed over tea and snacks, then got to work making the beautiful favours that would be gifted to each guest on the wedding day. She had opted for a white and pastel colour theme with vintage pink and baby blue and pretty mint green details. We filled the boxes and I was on duty of personalising each one, along with her invitations, with my neat and cursive, calligraphy-style handwriting. As everyone was busy enjoying the atmosphere, I got up to snap some pictures of the process that I could add to the scrapbook of memories I was making as part of her wedding gift.
The sun had now set and Sami and Ehsaan had left to go and collect some food for us all to eat as the rest of us packed up the favours into their respective boxes ready to be distributed on the big day. Between now and then, we had multiple get-togethers scheduled with all our extended families to celebrate the new couple, so wehadahectic week ahead.
But none of us would have it any other way, for we are all over the moon for the soon-to-be couple, who I am eternally grateful for, who deserve all the happiness this world has to offer, and more.
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"And ˹remember˺ when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more."
Quran 14:7
One of my favourite ayats from the Quran... as are all the others that I include at the end of these chapters... Do you like seeing them there? I hope they act as good reminders to us all, because they really are beautiful ❤️
Also, who's ready for the festivities to begin? I am!
