I know I'm late, woke up a bit under the weather but let's keep pushing guys

Says the loml LH.

It's the end, or the beginning of the end🌚 hehehehe
See what I did up there?

Happy reading 🤣

••••••

May you never be at the mercy of anyone, May others not hold the key to your success & May your happiness not lie in the hands of others.

May you never be amongst those who life would have no dimension, may you continue be guided by Allah.

May Allah continue to protect us and our family.
Ameen

Juma'at Mubarak

••••••

The ringing of a phone had Khadijah waking up with a resigned sigh, she has been awake for a few minutes but didn't want to get out of bed. Whoever the caller was didn't understand that it was too early for that, whatever it is they wanted.

Her eyes bulged when she saw the time, she wasn't the type to sleep in that's why it surprised her.

Before she could finish lamenting to herself about how she has lost it since she was waking up by noon the phone started ringing again.

"Layla," she muttered softly to herself then reached for the device and sure enough she was the one calling.

"Hello?"

"Are you just waking up?" she mumbled an incoherent reply and got up from the bed, noting Fahad was not beside her.

Why didn't he wake me?

"Oh my God! What have you done with my friend?"

"Layla." She drawled which only made said person laugh.

"You phone was off last night and I wanted to be the first to call you," she hummed but didn't say a word as she searched for the cap she slept with on the bed.

"Happy anniversary." Khadijah smiled before thanking her. "Where is hamma?"

"I don't know, probably downstairs working or something." She stifled a yawn then opened the door and walked out.

"Tell him I called and have fun, I love you."

"I love you too," Layla was saying bye but she stopped her.

"You're coming back for good next week right?" the last time they saw each other was almost four months ago and best she knew, she was finishing the program in a week.

Layla hesitated before replying. "I don't know Dee, probably but I'm not really sure. Maybe I'll just sign up for another year."

She shut her eyes before humming.

"I hope you choose what's best and what you're most comfortable with, I'll be happy for you either way."

"I know you will, thank you baby or am I not allowed to call you baby anymore?" she rolled her eyes trying so hard not to laugh.

"Yeah? Hamma's Canim or is it Askim? Oh I know it is Oaisara" she could imagine Layla wiggling her eyes brows and knowing she just wanted to pull her leg she chuckled.

"Goodbye Maryam." She could hear her protest but she didn't wait to hear the end of it before hanging up, a small laugh left her lips.

She heard her phone ring again almost immediately and half expecting it to be Layla she shook her head and kept walking. The first place she went to was Fahad's office expecting him to be there but it was empty, it actually looked like he didn't enter since it was how he left it the night before.

The kitchen probably, she thought to herself and started heading there but stopped on her tracks when she saw it empty.

She went back up to wear something hoping so she could check outside, if maybe he decided to stay in the garden.

When she got to the room she changed her mind and showered first then dressed in a peach abaya with stones in a darker shade, she pulled her hair into a low bun then did a quick turban.

She heard her phone ringing and went to pick it up only to find the security calling, it meant there was someone at the door. She wasn't expecting any visitors.

"Hello," she said into the phone putting on studs on her ears, then her usual two rings and the added bracelet.

"Good afternoon ma'am, are you expecting a delivery from—"he stopped and asked the man which store.

"No,"

"Oh sorry," she could hear another voice speaking in the background but she couldn't hear what he was saying.

"That it wasn't you that ordered, someone said to deliver it." She almost rolled her eyes.

"Does the person have a name? Just have him drop it off, Anita will come and get it." She said on second thought already dialing the maid on the house phone, it was probably one of her siblings or from Fahad's side. She started receiving anniversary gifts since the day before.

When she hung up she sat on the bed and started going through her messages, which were more than the usual.

Another one came through when she was replying Amrah, Baraka's sister in law who she guessed was also her childhood friend but not exactly in the sense.

She smiled seeing Fahad's name pop up, it meant he wasn't home. She ignored the rest and tapped on the single F with red heart, Kamla had been the one to change on one of her numerous visits and she hasn't had the time to change it, to be honest she didn't want to change it.

F❤️: My love.

It was all the message said but she felt her heart rate picking up.

Since that night almost two months ago, he has gotten even extra for the lack of a better word.

True to his word though he did take her out on a date and then always leaves a handwritten note in places he knows she would be, on days she would go to work it was mostly in her car, on her day offs, it was either her office or the kitchen on the coffee machine knowing that would be the first place she would go to. She didn't find that day's own but she knows it wouldn't be hard to find.

The endless deliveries of flowers, she had been at her mum's place one day when they got the bouquet. Two actually one addressed to her and the other to her mother, apparently he was winning the son in law game. Each bouquet was signed with a term of endearment in a different language, she still hadn't asked him why different languages but that was because she didn't want to have that conversation. She wasn't ready for it.

She wasn't ready to accept that maybe she too was in love with him, Sadiya had pointed it out on the second week when they went out together and he kept texting her, she hadn't realized she was smiling until the phone was pulled from her hand.

Sadiya had looked at her with her brows furrowed.

"What are you smiling at? The message just says hi."

If that wasn't enough, there was a day he'd called her when he was away with Jawad on a two day business trip she didn't want to go on after he pleaded with her to join but she had been sick and that made him give up but she had fallen asleep when they were talking and when Sadiya woke her up, the first thing she did was pick the phone to keep talking to him.

She wasn't hearing the end of it either and her amazing sister made her promise to tell him or she would, she didn't know how that would happen because he had to know.

There was no way he wouldn't know, she knew herself and she didn't know she was clingy until the day she had to sleep by herself, it felt uncomfortable that she had to call Sadiya and go over to her place, the phone incident had happened there.

She pulled herself from her trance and quickly replied with a yes, she stared at the single word feeling like it was too plain, she added with:

I woke up and you were gone.

Instead of a reply her phone started ringing. She glanced at the mirror checking how she looked before shaking her head at herself, it wasn't even a video call.

She put the phone to her ear trying to keep her smile at bay but she couldn't, especially when the first he said was, "Babe."

She sucked in a slow breath, making a mental note to remind herself that she would never get used to how he calls her that on the phone sometimes. Her thoughts deserted her and she couldn't find a reply.

"Am I getting the silent treatment now? Okay love I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye, I'll be back in a few minutes." What he said gave her time to get her mind working again.

"It is not that," her voice was no less than a whisper and when he spoke again, she knew he was smiling.

"Yeah? So what is it?" she could picture him giving her a boyish smile. "You just wanted to hear my voice? I don't mind I've been wanting to hear yours too."

Khadijah huffed out a breath this time and instead of replying to his assumption, she said something else entirely. Sadiya telling her she was in love was different from him showing it and making her accept, worse he wasn't even trying.

"When will you get back?" she mumbled, playing with the ring on her finger.

"By two," she calculated, it was roughly an hour and maybe fifteen minutes. She could survive it.

"Okay, be safe."

"I love you." she hung up immediately then turned to look at the mirror the smile still on her face. She could recognize the person staring at back at her and their identical smiles, she just couldn't accept that it was her. It all feels different, everything was different with him.

Instead of going to make herself breakfast she leaned back on the bed, letting his scent that always seemed to be in the room envelope her.

Anita, the house keeper a lady in her late thirties brought the package that the delivery man had dropped.

"Thank you." Khadijah said getting up from the bed, she collected the wrapped basket and set it on the center table.

"You're welcome ma'am, happy anniversary." She thanked her again with a smile before sitting and unwrapping it.

It was a full breakfast buffet, she looked for a card and wasn't surprised when she found one.

Happy anniversary favourite, may joy and peace be the only thing you ever know in your marriage. I love you, try giving Barkindo a run for his money, he has a lot of it.
I'm still holding our date against you.

Love, Dahlia.

She smiled seeing the perfect drawing of a heart, her stomach grumbled reminding her it was almost one and she hasn't had breakfast but she waited for a few more minutes saying she wasn't going to die from then, she snapped a picture and sent it to Layla before forwarding it to Victoria who still handled her social media pages so she could thank Dahlia for her, she was doing much better but she was sure she wouldn't ever want to stress herself with that.

Layla's call came through immediately and she laughed to herself.

"You are evil I swear to God." That made her laugh harder and she muttered a sorry though she sounded anything but sorry.

"How can you do this to me? I was eating my poor bread and coke in peace but you had to be evil and do this." She rolled her eyes at the obvious lie, this was the same Layla that always posted pictures of her food every single day because food is the number one thing in her life.

"Sorry my love, I just had to show you. She is so sweet." Layla mumbled incoherently.

"I'm actually happy for you but I still hate you, oh my God. I really want to eat all of it, did I just peek scones?"

"Yes actually, a whole pack of them. I'll save you some for when you come back." She could feel the glare from where she sat but it didn't faze her.

"I'm sending my gift next week because you hurt my feelings, you broke my heart." she laughed again, intentionally taking a bite from the scone and making a small sound.

"Bye, enjoy your day though I still feel hate for you."

"I love you too baby, kisses." She hung up after Layla made a crying sound.

She received a group video call immediately she hung up, it was Huda and Aneesah, Manal, Kamla and Afnan. She was surprised when she saw Nabila beside her sisters but it was a welcome surprise.

"Okay I'll go first because I'm the youngest and her favourite." The other girls argued but still Huda got her way, she always gets her way.

She read out a long anniversary wish and when she finished she told her she had it typed out and sent in her gift pack.

"We wanted to come since morning but uncle Fahad said you're sleeping and we shouldn't wake you," a feeling she has become accustomed to feeling whenever he was mentioned fluttered in her stomach.

"We're still coming to spend the day with you." Kamla was the one that said that.

"That is found offensive to some of us that can't be there." Afnan cried out. Khadijah listened to them arguing but didn't bother interrupting them.

They all went quite one time and she raised her brows in question before asking what happened, they all chorused nothing and she watched as they all hung up, she stared at the blank screen in surprise, she understood why they did that when she felt a hand over her shoulder.

"Hey you," Fahad murmured kissing her cheeks.

If he looked down he could see the goose bumps rising across her skin but he was more focused on her face and seeing the smile on her face.

"Hi," she whispered softly.

He let go of her and walked around the couch then slipped in beside her.

"I thought you said until two." Khadijah asked adjusting her turban, he nodded and pulled her close.

"Yes I was supposed to stay until then but I heard your voice and this is much better." He adjusted his sitting position so she almost laying on his body, she didn't even think of moving back.

"Have you eaten?" she shook her head and he moved her a bit so he could look at her face. "Why not? It is almost one baby, we've talked about this."

"I ate a scone." He gave her a look that told her he wasn't finding it funny.

"You should be eating," he was about to get up when he noticed the basket that was sitting there.

"Dahlia sent it over."

"Yeah I know, I was there when she was—"he stopped when he saw how she was looking at him.

"Oh, you went to her place?" she asked moving from his hold, she reached for the box she had taken a scone from only for his hand to stop her. He intertwined their fingers.

"Yes," she made another sound that didn't sound exactly excited or even like her when she didn't want to talk.

He smiled to himself knowingly rubbing circles with his thumb on the back of her hand.

"I'm going to eat Fahad," she muttered making a move to stand up again.

"I know, I'll feed you but first stop looking angry."

"Why would you think I'm angry? Do I sound angry? You're just seeing things." The words rushed out of her mouth.

"Okay love, you don't sound angry but you don't sound normal either. The meeting was there and she says hi, who do you think told her you liked scones?"

"Okay." She mumbled.

He stood up pulling her with him.

"Are you jealous?" he asked teasingly and she scoffed before stepping back and heading for the door, he picked the basket and followed her.

"What would make you think that? That ....that is.... Preposterous." He quickened his pace and got in step with her, he never knew that she could walk so fast in her life.

Seeing her all flustered up was funny especially because she likes acting all bossy and like she doesn't care but he has never met someone who pays attention to little details like her. Everything about her makes him fall deeper in love with her every day, seeing her jealous was the highlight of his day.

It wasn't Dahlia that was making her jealous, she wasn't the insecure type, there was something else and he wanted to know what.

Khadijah still refused to look at him and kept on walking though watching her step so she doesn't trip, she has read enough novels and watched enough movies to avoid the cliché almost falling down the stairs, they reached the landing and she made to head to kitchen when she felt his arms around her waist, successfully trapping her.

"Fahad," she muttered trying to step away.

She didn't even know why she was so upset, she wasn't jealous of course. The mere thought of it made her scoff, she wasn't jealous. Though the idea of him leaving her so early in the morning to go to Dahlia made her throat burn and her tongue acidic, but it wasn't jealousy.

"Baby," she ignored him trying to get him to release her, when she saw he wasn't going to leave her she sighed and let her body relax in his hold.

"See, so much better now isn't it?" she would never admit it to him and especially not when she was feeling an emotion that was foreign to her.

"What is making you angry about this? The fact that I was with Dahlia or that I didn't wake you up."

"Nothing, I'm hungry." He chuckled and pointed to the basket on the console.

"I'll feed you like I said but after you stop frowning," he turned her so she was facing and her angry eyes looked even cuter. He cupped her cheeks first then spoke softly this time, no longer teasing.

"I'm not." Her reply was curt.

Fahad sighed and stared at her again, she wasn't a complicated person so something about the morning didn't feel right to him. He mentally smacked himself when he realized what it was, she'd gotten in bed after subh prayers and she was cuddled up next to him, she seemed perfectly fine, God, he was so daft.

"I'm sorry I left without seeing you, I know how much it means to you." He could see the waves of anger leaving her. "You were the first person I saw, you just looked so peaceful and it would have been unfair to wake you up. I wanted to I mean it." He was speaking so softly, she closed her eyes at some point because the way he was caressing her cheeks felt too much, she still doesn't like looking him in the eyes especially when he gets like that, somehow she was scared of what she would find in his eyes.

"Are we good?" she nodded subtly, she wasn't even sure she moved but she meant to nod. "Can I get my morning kiss now?"

Her eyes snapped open and he winked, he let her move out of his hold this time and he picked up the basket but still kept her close by holding her waist.

Khadijah let him lead them to the kitchen where he placed it on the kitchen table then proceeded to look for plates to dish them out, he left her and went on to do his work.

She stood frozen in place listening to the voices in her head that have been sounding an awful lot like Layla and Sadiya, sometimes even Kamla.

There was no way to pinpoint when it happened but with Fahad's never ending support and therapy sessions that involved things that relaxed her, the narcissistic part of her mind had quite down vehemently and the ones that she couldn't block out, he'd taught her to ignore it or change it into something positive.

Each of his letters in the past two months contained something he liked about her that she didn't notice or has never paid attention to, she didn't know how he did it but for sixty days, probably more, he told her something he loved about her. If she didn't have more than a million reasons to love him, that alone would have made her fall in love with him.

So, you love him?

The voice sounded oddly like hers but she wasn't sure she said it, she probably did and to answer that, she looked around the kitchen and found him holding her favourite mug, he found her watching him and shot her a smile that she felt right down to her feet.

Really, what's there to not love about the man? Nothing, she actually couldn't find anything.

"What has you smiling like that? I'm quite competitive." She giggled, yes actually giggled and it surprised her too but she didn't let the smile leave her face even after that.

He shook his head then pulled out a chair for her, instead of sitting she turned around to face