Second update for the day....of you guys are good, we don't have to wait for Friday.
You know me, I'm easily bribed.

200 votes on both chapters and you'll see a chapter on Monday 🌚
Fair trade?

Happy reading........

••••••

Jawad had decided to leave Waleedah and Layla to themselves which was why he ended up at the Barkindo house. He had stepped out of Huda’s way after giving her a fist bump because she was waiting for them outside. He didn’t know for how long she was there or if she had rushed outside at the sound of the car, he didn’t stay to find out though and with the excuse that he was too hungry for her cheery mood that afternoon, he slipped inside leaving her with her brother.

Fahad took it quite personal saying it was punishment for annoying him in the car, he had shrugged not arguing with that fact.

Barr. Salima had ignored both of them and when they got too loud in her opinion, she sent them away saying they were distracting her from finishing a snack she was making for Khadijah before she got back.

Nabila was in her room taking a much needed nap after they returned from the hospital, Abubakar Barkindo had gone up to change after his wife ‘mistakenly’ hit the bowl of flour near him. Of course it didn’t matter that her hand was inside the bowl but he couldn’t well argue with her, there was a reason she was one of the best lawyers and owns a firm.

The girls and Ja’afar were having a lazy day which consisted of annoying Adnan until he got tired and sent them out of his room, then playing games and deciding which of Ja’afar’s outfits were not as cool as he thought.

“Fahad I have something to tell you but you have to be open minded and well, fast minded.” Fahad sat up, then clicked save on the file he was reviewing on his laptop.

Being absent from work was fun in the moment but the pile of work he would always meet after made him think of selling the company and retiring at thirty one, but he knew retirement wouldn’t work for him. He is the type of person needs to keep his mind busy, not even talking of coping mechanisms or blocking out his thoughts, he was just made to be active and he has accepted that.

“You sound like you’re going to tell me you have a terminal illness, are you okay or has the last screw finally gotten loose?” The look on Jawad’s face told him he was not joking.

“Okay, you’re actually serious. What is it?”

Instead of replying he handed him a photograph which he accepted albeit reluctantly. He didn’t look down at it when he asked what it was.

“Just look at it.” He rolled his eyes at the lack of information before doing as he was told.

“Why do you have ummi’s old picture? Where did you even find this?” he said in awe, looking at a much younger Dr. Sakinah.

“Look well.” Fahad stared at the picture then, studying it well before he breathed out a laugh.

“Right, it is aunty Fatimah, still doesn’t explain what you’re doing with it. What year was it though? She couldn’t be older than Aneesah here right?” Jawad huffed out a frustrated breath before grunting in exasperation.

“Don’t you see anything notable about her?”

Fahad shook his head no still staring at the picture wanting to see if anything distinct has changed from the first time he glanced at it.

“She looks a lot like ummi here though, you can actually see that they might be more than sisters.” He kept the picture on the chair he was sitting on wanting to get back to his work. He had actually thought Jawad had something important to say.

On second thought, he picked his phone and checked the time to see if it was time for asr. He’d said he would pick Khadijah up after congregational prayers from her parents’ house. He ended up taking her to Sadiya’s, after said person reminded her of her nephew that was more than eager to see her, she had said together they would go to see their parents and as much as he wanted to let her spend the day with her family, he really wanted to see her.

Something about the conversation he had with Jawad made him anxious to see her, he wanted to analyse more and see if she was actually as fine as she seemed. He didn’t want her to become one with the pain and though he didn’t know how to identify how that is, he still wanted to try his best to make sure she is fine. Or at least he told himself.

“Are you seriously day dreaming when I’m having a level ten important conversation with you?” Jawad’s displeased face made him shake his head and try to put on an expression that looked interested in whatever he wanted to say.

“No of course not, what is it about aunty Fatimah again?”

“You know she is my mum’s cousin right?” he nodded slowly, trying to see why that was surprising.

“It has been mentioned once or twice.” Even Huda knew that but pointing that out at that time wouldn’t be a smart move.

“Have you ever wondered where Farhan’s father is?” he paused for a brief moment before shaking his head and nodding immediately after.

“I guess he passed away, she has never mentioned him and neither does ammie. I have no business asking so what is wrong?”

“Now I want you to compare these three pictures and tell me what they have in common.” He shrugged and stretched out his hands to take the small sized photographs. He was very close to telling Jawad to just spit out whatever he wanted to say but he played along.

He looked down at the two coloured photographs then added the one black and white one that showed a Fatimah Batool as a teenager.

“This is black white and these ones have old age colourings, what point are we making again?” he knew if Jawad was the violent type, he would’ve gotten a fist to the face but he had to say the glare he was receiving sufficed for it.

“You don’t see anything strange in it.” He looked down at the three small sized photos again, that time not letting the ridiculousness cloud his gaze.

His eyes widened when he saw what Jawad was trying to say.

“Wow, she also has heterechromia.” He stated trying to tell the colour of her eyes from the photographs but it was almost impossible.

He tried to picture her but came up blank because her eyes were dark, like her twin sisters’. At least that was how it was the last time he saw her.

“So, it is not as rare as they make it out to be.” He muttered as an after thought still looking at the photos.

“You don’t notice anything different in the three photos?” he nodded, now looking annoyed at Jawad’s riddles.

“Take this.” He took another small sized printed photo from him.

“I have multiple questions about where you got them from, just so you know.”

“From my mum’s things back in Kensington,” Fahad raised a brow in question. “I was clearing the place out. It is about time anyways.” He added the last part in a little over a whisper.

“Okay so we have two baby pictures, two black and whites and two not very recent ones. If you’re trying to tell me Farhan looks like her as a baby I’m not buying it.”

Jawad laughed but it sounded strained. “You don’t see anything different or similar in the pictures?”

“Of course it is similar, it is the same person.” Another strained laugh.

“It is two different people man and before you look at me like I have lost my mind. Just take a look at this.” He handed him an envelope. “I saw the picture there.”

He took it after dropping the pictures beside him with one last glance but it still looked exact to him. He was already planning how to deal with Jawad if he found out he was playing some kind of game with him.

Fahad stared at the perfectly written calligraphy thinking to ask the person that wrote it to teach him their penmanship. He was waiting for a dear sir/ma or maybe dear Anisa but was surprised when he saw the first line.

My heart hurts as I write this to you Anisa, I wonder how one can be overjoyed and saddened with equal force. I finally got to see her again and no, they didn’t bring her to me. He sent me a photograph of my daughter, my sweet angel. I know it is strange that I chose to write to you when I know I can just call but I don’t think I’ll be able to speak, and you always said I expressed myself better when I write. My daughter turned two today and it pains me to not be there with her, it pains me to know that I missed her first step and first word and every other first.
I know I have asked this multiple times and you may be tired of answering but do you think I did the right thing by letting go of her? Sure she had lost a child too but is it worth it making me go through the worst thing imaginable to any mother? Separating a daughter from her mother for a fault that isn’t theirs? I want to keep this photograph with me but seeing it hurts so I’m sending it to you, I know you’ll keep it safe.
There are other copies because I know you’ll ask but do you see anything familiar in this one. Whatever happens, at least I can say she looks exactly like me.

He looked up at Jawad when he saw the name at the end of the letter, Jawad was already nodding even before he voiced his question.

“She had—or is it has a daughter?” he took the two baby pictures again, with the knowledge that they were two different people he could note a few differences.

One was certainly taken years before the second and he could see the difference in clothing too.

“Who is she and where could she be? Who took her and wait, that means Farhan has a little sister?” the words were leaving his mouth before he registered them, he was even surprised they were comprehensible.

“That was my exact question too, we both know she has people to get her back from whoever it is that took her so I decided to do a little digging. I mean going through more of my mum’s stuff and I found this photograph after going through years of dust by the way so kind of thank me for that.”

Fahad rolled his eyes before eagerly reaching for the photo in Jawad’s hand, he didn’t care to think why he was supposed to thank him too curios to know more about Farhan’s sister.

The photo he collected couldn’t be more than twenty years old, he didn’t even think it was that old but just an estimate. The smiling girl in the picture was at most ten and something about her was familiar but he couldn’t place his finger on it.

He tried to wrack his brain but the only thing he kept seeing was her mismatched eyes. He has never thought something as small as a photo could interest him so much but his heart was beating very fast in his chest and he could see a slight tremor in his hand from the adrenaline he was feeling.

He picked one of the pictures from before, the black and white one with a much younger smiling Fatimah and if not for the age, you could swear it was the same person.

“Their smile is so….exact.” Jawad nodded and took in a deep breath.

“Give me your phone.” Without much of an argument he handed it to him and since he knew his passcode, he unlocked it and started scrolling.

“Take a look at this.”

“Why are you going through my gallery?” Fahad muttered as he took the phone back.

He had to stop himself from smiling when he saw the picture Jawad had opened but it made him wonder what it had to do with their conversation.

“How did you even know I had this picture of Khadijah on my phone?” he paused, realization dawning on him. Jawad who didn’t notice him rolled his eyes.

“I was there when Layla sent it to you.”

“No.” was the only thing that left his outh.

He picked the first photograph Jawad had given him and noted the woman’s smile then compared it to Khadijah’s picture when she was twenty. Layla had told him it was a few months before her wedding, she was smiling at something Sadiya was saying. Layla had told him the whole story behind the picture and he revisited it hoping it would make the last five minutes of his life erase itself.

“But…h….how is this possible? It can’t be?” he stuttered, still comparing the two pictures.

It couldn’t be a coincidence because no two people have the same exact smile and the eyes.

“Her—“

“Contacts.” Knowing that was what he was going to ask, Jawad replied and Fahad exhaled a breath through his mouth.

“How did I miss this? They look so alike? How did nobody notice? I have multiple questions.” He ran a hand through his hair before getting to his feet.

“Where are you going?” Jawad asked following his heed.

“If there is one person that would confirm this to me then it is my mother, she knows aunty Fatimah as much as your mum did.”

“That makes sense.” Jawad nodded in agreement then followed his back.

The walk to the kitchen seemed never ending and when his mother saw the look on his face, her forehead creased in worry.

“What’s wrong? You both look like you’ve seen a ghost?” she asked, closing the oven and taking off the mitts in her hand.

“Is Khadijah Farhan’s sister?”

“Really, didn’t I give you time to process this before blurting it out?” Jawad stated looking at Fahad like his brain wasn’t working well.

The latter would’ve missed his mother freezing before regaining her composure had he been paying any attention to Jawad.

“Why would you ask me something like that?” she let out a laugh he could only describe as panicked.

“Ammie please let’s not do this right now. Khadijah is going to her parents and if this is true then what Sadiya had told her a few weeks ago is also true and I don’t thin—“

“Wait, wait, wait, what do you mean Khadijah is going to her parents? I thought you said you dropped her off at her sister’s place.” She was already dialling her phone as she spoke.

“This is bad.” Jawad muttered seeing the look on both mother and son’s face. “I’ll get you your car keys.” Fahad was already out of the kitchen before he even fully turned.

*****

Fahad was the least bit surprised when he found Khadijah in Sadiya’s house and the pain in her eyes was expected but it didn’t lessen the ache he felt in his chest.

Sadiya got up and left the two of them with the excuse of checking on the twins, Abdulrahman was in Abuja so it was believable but they all knew it was just what it was, an excuse.

“I was waiting for your call,” he closed his eyes and called himself all sorts of names for starting the conversation that way.

All the practice and planning in the car, that was the most he could let out.

“I erm,” she cleared her throat. “I was carried away, sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologise Dee.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Are you okay?” his voice dropped an octave when he spoke.

He waited for a minute, or five he couldn’t tell but she looked lost in her head. Like she didn’t know if she was fine or not, it was doing very little to soothe the tightening in his chest.

“No,” her voice came much later, thickened with emotions. She spoke so lowly that he would’ve missed it had he not been paying close attention to her, he read her lips more than hear her.

His legs carried themselves and he found himself squatting beside her. He whispered her name urging her to look up at him.

Fahad held her hands hoping that would help her in some way, he didn’t know what to classify it as because she heard a soft sob. He has heard her cry more times than he would like but there was something different about the way she way she sobbed then, he thought maybe it was her hands that were trembling in his.

When the cries didn’t subside he sat beside her and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her.

Nothing he could’ve said at that moment would relive her of whatever she was feeling so he didn’t try saying anything, scared to say the wrong thing.

They stayed that way for a long while, she moved back when her cries subsided.

“You think I cry too much don’t you?” Khadijah said her voice still hoarse from all the crying she has been doing since they got back.

“You’ve not seen Aneesah that’s why.” she tried to smile but it fell immediately after.

“I’ve actually never seen someone who cries as beautifully as you do.” She laughed then but it sounded like a scoff before getting to her feet and exiting the room. She came back not up to a minute later her face slightly wet and the scarf on her head moved back a bit of her hair showing.

“Do you know what fixes everything?” she squinted in question making his breath catch in his throat. He has actually never seen someone look so beautiful after crying for long, because she seems to have been crying for a while.

“Ice cream.” She managed an eye roll before nodding.

Sadiya walked back in with Adeel in her arms holding a toy in his hand. He started reaching out for Fahad when he saw him, which made Sadiya laugh a bit because he didn’t like people picking him up.

“You’re leaving?” Khadijah nodded, Fahad only followed suit though his attention was on the toddler that was still trying to get out of his mother’s hold.

“We’ll talk then, Innalillahi Adeel stop that.” She pulled his hand from her veil that he was dragging with him in his escape.

“Dee, please just try to talk to them.” She told her sister, assuming she told Fahad.

She seemed out of sorts still when they walked to the car and even on the drive.

If there was one person she held on the highest pedestal in her life was her father because she believed he couldn’t do anything wrong, he would never disappoint her she had thought, in the long run forgetting he was human too.

She wasn’t giving herself credit but she handled it quite well because thinking of it then she could have blown things out of proportion but that wasn’t her type of confrontation, she was the calm type and would never fight when angry. She would rather leave and clear her head before choosing to breach the topic again when she was level minded, which was why she left her parents’ house after hearing what she did.

As usual she had told Sadiya what she heard and her sister told her it couldn’t be possible before suggesting they go ask their father if it was true, she reminded her of the day she told her their father had another wife, Sadiya had gone quite before saying she didn’t exactly know much after that. She didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news obviously.

What exactly was she even angry for? Shouldn’t she be happy that umma wasn’t actually her mother but no matter how much she tried to convince herself it was the best it didn’t stop the burning in her heart, it didn’t nothing to ease the anger growing inside of her.

Whatever reason they had to do what they did, they all had no right.

“You have steam coming out of your ears,” Fahad stated confusing her and making her to look for it before she realised and sent him a glare. “I’m serious really, we really should get that ice cream before you melt the car.”

She glared at him again before huffing and looking out the window only then realizing the car has stopped moving and they were outside an ice cream parlour.

“What do you want angry bird?”

“You have a horrible taste in nicknames, mango.”

“Alright.” Fahad alighted the car, the smile still on his face.

Khadijah slumped her back into the leather seats of the car a small sigh leaving her lips, for the few moments that Fahad was with her, she could’ve sworn everything dulled from her mind until it seemed like only a figment of her imagination. He felt like peace and she was scared to be used to his presence, to get used to having his shoulder to rest on and his arms embracing her