Dedicated to Muslimah-Warrior

Staring incredulously at her cellphone, Mrs. Hauwa's words of encouragement resurged into her mind. She was really missing her husband a lot already. She also wanted to inquire if he arrived back home safely. Her mother was right. She should never allow her ego get in the way of their relationship - she smiled and dialed his number on her cellphone. "Assalamu'alaykum, habibi." She greeted, immediately he received the call.

"Wa'alaykum salam." He replied in his usual calm voice and much to Maryam's disappointment. He didn't sound happy to speak to her - she was pained by this.

"Sorry for not calling earlier." She apologized. "Hope you arrived back home safely."

"Alhamdulilahi, I did, few hours ago." He replied.

"How's Zainab? My regards to her please."

"InshaAllah." He muttered. "Where is Manal? Is she close by? I want to speak to her."

"She's in the living room with Sumaiya." She replied. "Hold on, I will get her on the phone right away."

"Thank you."

"Manal! Manal! Come over here. Abi wants to talk to you." She yelled, placing her hand on the speaker.

Manal came running euphorically into the balcony few seconds later.

Maryam handed the cellphone over to her, but not without putting it on speaker first.

"Assalamu'alaykum, baby." Came Sa'eed's voice and unlike the tone he used for her, he sounded really happy to be talking to his daughter.

"Wa'alaykum salam, abi." She replied. "I'm angry with you. You promised not to leave me behind, but you did just that."

"But you were sleeping." He remarked.

"You should have woken me up." She whined.

"I should have." He agreed with a chuckle. "Is my baby still angry with me?"

"Yes." She replied curtly.

"Don't worry, I will make it up to you soon, insha Allah. Am I forgiven now?" He inquired.

Manal seemed to be having a thought whether to forgive him or not. She finally spoke up after a minute or so. "Yes."

"Thanks, baby." He replied. "Hope granny and everyone else is fine."

"Yes."

"...and, I hope you're taking care of ummi like we discussed?" He questioned.

Maryam's eyes shimmered in elation. In spite of their differences with him, he still cared for her. A lot. Swiftly, she collected the cellphone from Manal. "I miss you so much already, habibi." She voiced. She wished she had not taken the decision. She would be with him right now, but then again, she wouldn't have been able to have a hearty talk with her mother. Indeed all things happen for a reason. "I miss you." She repeated.

"Alright..." He trailed off.

"Alright?" Maryam's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as she queried.

He chuckled. "You were the one who wanted to get away from me so badly."

Maryam remained quiet - what could she say? She knew he was absolutely right. Now she would have to bear the consequence of her action alone. She only wanted to hear him admit he also missed her, but apparently, her wish was not going to be fulfilled.

"How are you?" He suddenly asked out of the blue. "I hope you're taking care of yourself as well as our babies."

The way he pronounced 'our babies', sent butterflies erupting in Maryam's stomach. She tended to forget all about their little second bundle of joy most of the times. She wrapped a hand around her abdomen, which was starting to protrude already and smiled. "Alhamdulilah. They are both alright. How are you?"

"What can I say?" He asked. "You left me."

"You wanted me to leave." She retorted. "You didn't even attempt to stop me from leaving even once."

"Your mind was already made up and me stopping you from leaving, would only make you angrier." He remarked. "I didn't want that to happen."

With glossy eyes, Maryam smiled. How did she end up getting such a caring, religious and considerate man as her husband, despite all of her flaws? "Thanks for understanding me, habibi. It means a lot to me. Uhm...goodnight?"

"I need you to kiss Manal goodnight on my behalf."

"I will." She smiled.

"Goodnight then. I miss two so much as well, habibty. Come home soon." With that, he ended the call.

Maryam smiled amidst tears - she did hear it after all. She knew her Sa'eed would never be able to ignore her even if he tried. He loved her too much for that.

"Are you and abi having a fight?" Manal asked all of a sudden.

Maryam wiped her face swiftly and plastered on a duchenne smile. "Of course not, baby. I just miss him so much. Don't you miss him as well?"

"I do." She replied. "When are we going back home?"

"Tomorrow, insha Allah." She replied.

"Yay!" Manal cheered as she ran away.

"Soon, everything will be fine between us, habibi. I will make up for all the times I have disappointed you and just like ummi advised, you will be getting back the woman you married seven years ago." She promised. It was finally time for her to let go of anything that posed as a threat in the way of their relationship. She vowed to make Sa'eed also proud of having her as a wife. Just the way she was about him.

~~~~~~

Not longer than thirty minutes later, Mr. Omar returned. As expected, he was astonished to see Maryam and Manal in the house unannounced. "Abba!" Maryam greeted him with a hug.

"Get me my glasses." He remarked jocularly. "When did you arrive?"

"Few hours ago." She replied.

"What didn't you call me? I would have returned immediately."

"Ummi wanted to, but I told her not to disturb you and that you will be back sooner or later."

"Wow! What a pleasant surprise!" He exclaimed. "Where is my little princess?"

"I guess she is with Sumaiya in the balcony."

"Alright." He took a seat on the couch. "Why the sudden visit? I hope everything is fine."

"Yes, abba. I missed you all a lot." She replied, knowing fully well, Mrs. Hauwa would tell everything to her husband immediately they meet.

"Same here. Are you sure everything is alright? You've never visited unannounced before."

"Nothing to worry about, abba." She reassured.

"Alright, if you say so." He smiled. "Is your husband around?"

"He had some work to do at his place of work, so he left immediately he dropped us off. He wanted to wait for you, but he couldn't." She explained.

"That's unfortunate. I would have loved to have a little chat with him." He voiced.

"Perhaps some other time, insha Allah."

"You've come to stay for a while? How about your job at the hospital? Are you on leave?" He inquired.

"No." She replied. "I'm no longer a nurse. I quitted some weeks ago."

"You did?" Mr. Omar asked, surprise written all over his face. "Now I'm sure, something is definitely wrong. Why did you quit your job? I find this hard to believe."

Maryam pressed her lips into a thin line. "I had to abba. The job is time demanding and Sa'eed doesn't want me to work, so?" She shrugged.

"He was the one that forced you to quit?" He questioned.

Forced? - that was one thing he never did - maryam thought. He used other methods to make her stop working, but he never for once, forced her to quit. He was considerate enough to make her see the reasons he didn't want her to continue working and fortunately, she did.

"He didn't force me. He would never do that. I quitted on my own freewill."'

For some inexplicable reason, Mr. Omar smiled.

Maryam could only wonder what was going on in his head.

"That's so considerate of you." He remarked. "Given how passionate you were, I never thought you'd quit so easy. I'm impressed by your thoughtfulness."

"Thank you, abba." She gave a closed lip smile.

"Where are the rest of the family members?" He inquired.

"Ummi fell asleep few minutes ago and Sumaiya, I think she's still with Manal in the balcony."

"Alright then. I will be in my room to take some rest as well. I'm fatigued."

"Alright." Maryam replied and her gaze trailed behind him as he maneuvered out.

Maryam heaved a deep sigh - how much she missed her habibi! The things she wanted to tell him. She couldn't wait to return back home and start their lives anew as newlyweds. Voluntarily, her hand began to stroke her now protruding belly. "Hey baby! Are you a girl or a boy?" She chuckled. "I will have to ask habibi if he wants us to find out or not." She could recall when she found out she was pregnant with Manal and how happy Sa'eed was when he found out. Happiness was an understatement even. He loved children and masha Allah, he was good with them.

Breaking free from her trance, her gaze trailed around for Manal. It had been a while she last saw her. She stood up and headed to the balcony again. She hoped she was alright.

Walking into the balcony, she sighted Manal seated on a stool, with a tablet in her hands - obviously it was sumaiya's. She shook her head. "It's time to pray and then sleep." She remarked, startling her a bit.

"I'm not done ummi. I haven't defeated the monster yet." She replied, obviously referring to the game she was playing.

"No." She shook her head. "It's almost past your bedtime."

Reluctantly, she dropped the tablet on the floor.

"Where is aunty Sumaiya?" She enquired.

"She went out to buy some candies for me." She replied.

"At this hour of the day? You definitely cannot take them." She sighed. "Let's go."

"But ummi-"

"Let's go, Manal." She repeated sternly. "Okay?" She added the last word softly, after having realised the way she spoke to her. She took her tiny hand in hers and together, they went to the room. Mrs. Hauwa was no longer sleeping there. Perhaps she woke up and went back to her own room.

"Go and perform ablution in the bathroom." Maryam ordered.

"But I have already done that." She replied.

"Have you offered isha prayer?" She questioned.

"Yes. I prayed with aunty Sumaiya," she answered.

"Oh! Okay. Come to bed then. You should sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow." She remarked. She couldn't wait to finally see her husband again. It had not been even a day yet and she was already missing him terribly. Then and there, she realised he was her everything. A misunderstanding with him, was like a thorn piercing her heart and few hours without him, was like a decade without him. She just wanted to get home and feel the warmth of his embrace once again.

"Really, ummi?" She asked, her eyes glistening with joy.

"Of course." Maryam drew her closer to herself. She couldn't help, but wonder if Manal would miss her the same way when she happens not to be around - in spite of how difficult it was to admit, she knew what the answer to that question would be. A 'no.'

"Yay!!" She remarked excitedly.

"Do you miss abi that much?" She asked.

"Yes." She nodded.

Maryam smiled - it sounded weird even to herself, but the truth remained; she was jealous of the affection Manal had for her father. She knew without a blink of an eye, she would choose him over her anytime, any day. The realisation wasn't an easy one for her to digest, but it wasn't anybody's fault, but hers. She will have to work hard to make up for all the time lost with her daughter - she made a mental note of that.

Recalling what Sa'eed told her over the phone, she kissed Manal on the cheek. "Let's pray before you sleep."

"Aren't we going to talk to abi? Please call him, ummi." She pleaded.

"No, Manal." She refused. "He must already be asleep. We don't want to disturb him, do we?"

"No." She shook her head.

"Good." She smiled, ruffling her hair. "Now, let's pray."

Before they could finish saying their duas, Manal had already drifted off. Maryam stroked her long, sleek hair lovingly. "I love you so much, baby. I might not have shown you this in the past, but things have changed now. I will make it up to you." She fought back tears and wiped the corners of her eyes. Looking back into her past, she realised she had achieved a lot in her career, but what did she achieve as a mother to Manal in all these years? Distance. She may not necessarily say it to her, but she knew for a fact, she wasn't as close as a daughter is supposed to be close with her mother and as much as she wanted to forget Sa'eed's words, it was already engraved in her heart.

You only gave birth to Manal. You're not her mother - she drifted off to sleep, with the words lingering in her mind.

~~~~~

Early the next morning, Maryam was set to leave Minna for Abuja. She didn't go back to sleep when she woke up for subhi prayer. She got herself as well as Manal ready. She went to her parents room as well as Sumaiya's and woke then up.

"Do you have to leave so early?" Mr. Omar inquired, while they were walking her out.

"Yes, abba." She replied curtly.

"I still think you should have informed Sa'eed first. He would have happily come to fetch you." Mrs. Hauwa spoke next.

"I know." She answered. "But I want to surprise him." She whispered the last sentence to her. She smiled to herself. She could only imagine how surprised and happy he would be at the same time.

"Wouldn't boarding a public fare be stressful and dangerous for the both of you?" Mrs. Hauwa voiced. "We've been hearing of kidnap cases these last few days. I'm worried for the both of you."

"We will be just fine." Maryam smiled reassuringly.

"I would have taken you all the way to Abuja, but unfortunately, I can't right now due to my weakening eyesight. My doctor gave me orders not to drive too far."

"I understand, abba." Maryam smiled.

"Come on." Mr. Omar motioned. "I will drop you off at the garage."

Maryam hugged Mrs. Hauwa and then Sumaiya before getting into the front seat of the car.

From inside the car, she could see Sumaiya saying something she couldn't quite comprehend to Manal, before opening the car door for her.

"Safe journey." She muttered.

"Safe journey. May Allah protect the both of you." Mrs. Hauwa prayed.

"Amin." She replied. "Say bye to granny and aunty." She said, turning to Manal.

She waved at them before Mr. Omar drove off.

~~~~~~~

Assalamu'alaykum/hi!

Maryam is finally returning back home 😀💃💃

Will she be kidnapped? Lol 😂

What will Sa'eed's reaction be when he sees her?

Lots of love deey_jah