The house that Muhammad found was a fully furnished three-bedroom apartment, with a living room, a kitchen, and a toilet in each of the rooms. He was absolutely in love with it, and could already envision their life in it. He showed Mummy and Maryam the picture of the house, and they all loved it, saying it was beautiful.

He made the purchase the day after, he didn't want anyone to buy the house before him, because the house attracted a lot of people. Even though it was on the expensive side, judging by the location and setting of the house, it was all worth it. The best part about everything was that the house was furnished, now they can just move in without any hassle.

He stopped by the hospital to submit a file before heading to Kaduna. He went straight to the director's office, where he submitted the file, signed some papers before heading to his office.

He was on his way there when he heard a familiar voice call him from behind. "Dr. Muhammad," He turned and found a nurse, doctor Haisham's fiancée smiling brightly at him. "Yusra," he shifted to meet her gaze. "How are you?" He asked. "I'm fine, how are you? It's been a long time."

He nodded, "how is work?
"Work is fine." She looked at him smiling widely, her eyes twinkled with irrepressible mischief, "so I heard you got married, who is the lucky bride?"

"Her name is Maryam, you don't know her." He waved his hand off walking off towards his office. He knows Yusra, she will just disturb him now with her unending questions. She followed him regardless. "So when did you tie the knot? How did you meet?"

He looked at her and chuckled, shaking his head. "We got married last week and she's my cousin. Does that answer your questions?" He asked. She nodded, "for now yeah." Muhammad chuckled and turned to walk away, when she stopped him again. "Oh I almost forgot, Doctor Haisham is calling you to his office."

"I'll be there in a sec." she nodded and walked off. Muhammad entered his office which was all clean and neat. They must have been cleaning it despite his absence. He closed the door after him and breathed in the familiar minty smell of his office, his eyes following everywhere. He hadn't realized how much he had missed this space until now.

"Bismillah," he muttered as he heaved into his chair, glancing at his mahogany desk that was heaped with files. "I told Lauryn time and time again to stop keeping files on my table," he frowned, then opened a file drawer and began arranging them all at once. He was out of breath by the time he was done. He got up, taking two files along with him, and headed for the door.

~~**~~
A loud yawn escaped her lips as she walked down the stairs heading outside where their next event, the Kunshi was going to take place. The bride and everyone else will be getting their henna applied.

The 7 hours of sleep she got was apparently not enough for her. She went to sleep late last night talking to her husband on the phone. She was sleepy, but Muhammad insisted that he wasn't tired of talking and didn't want to get off the phone with her, she eventually ended up sleeping off.  When Muhammad heard her snore, he chuckled and just couldn't get off the phone again.

She woke up around 3 am and found that he still hasn't disconnected the call and had fallen asleep. She smiled, "I love you." She said and cut the call.

She looked beautiful rocking a brown A-shaped gown, with a light purple veil draped across her shoulder, a pair of gold earrings, a black Valentino slippers.

Her two friends walked beside her holding her arms as they walked out. "We're going to be having a small karaoke night as the henna gets done, it'll be fun." Ummita whispered excitedly in Maryam's ear. Maryam could only nod, as she wasn't in the mood for small talks, her anxiety grew as she thought of what day it was tomorrow. She was leaving for Abuja tomorrow, the thought alone freaks her out.

They finally made it outside to their garden where it was to take place. Some of her friends and cousins already got their henna done by their separate henna artist, and they now were all working on setting the mic and speaker.

Ummita helped her to a bench where her henna artist was seated waiting for her. "Ina wuni Amarya." The artist greeted with a huge smile. Maryam smiled back and sat down. "Ina gajiya, ya aiki?"

They chatted for a while, the artist was a very chatty and interesting person. Yasmin, Jannah, and Aisha came by later on, all hands hanging out as they waited for their henna to get dry. "Amarya, how was your night?" Aisha plopped herself down on the bench next to her.

Maryam eyed her, her lips twitching by the corner. "It was all fine until a certain someone decided to disturb my beauty sleep." She said. Jannah and Yasmin both started laughing. "In my defense, I was asked to wake you up because you needed to get ready for the event, you were getting late." Aisha said, "Sorry though, I know how much you despise it when someone wakes you up." She added with an apologetic look on her face.

Maryam shrugged nonchalantly and looked at their henna. "Y'all your henna looks so good."

They smiled and showed her more of it, flaunting it around. "Yours is looking even more amazing even before it is finished," Jannah said ogling at it. "Ya Muhammad will be wowed Wallahi." Aisha commented, "gashi daman he loves lalle." She added.

She turned her head to hide her smile. "Su Ya Maryam manya." Yasmin said playfully.

They all started teasing her again. Right then, she remembered something. She looked at Jannah and raised her eyebrows sporting a mischievous smirk. "Yauwa Jannah I saw a little something-something that day." She was tired of them endlessly teasing her, she wanted to have them have a taste of their own medicine.

"What?!" Jannah retorted, suddenly conscious. Yasmin and Aisha turned their attention to her, "what is it?" They asked curiously, looking between them.
"I think our sweet Jannah has a crush." Maryam winked, grinning at her. Jannah knew then exactly what she was talking about. She never thought someone had seen her that day.

"Tell me about it." Ya Fatima suddenly peeked from behind them. "Aargh!" Jannah palmed her face and groaned. They all started laughing. "I caught her openly staring at Farhan that day, I think he got her real good." She whispered the last part, giving Jannah's shoulder a nudge.

"Kunsan Nima I saw her but I just decided to ignore it, ashe I wasn't the only one that saw her." Yasmin laughed. Jannah blushed, "Now I won't ever hear the end of this."

"But you know it's not her fault, did you see the guy? He is hot!"
"Wallahi kuwa, his British accent, goodness!"
Maryam didn't say anything, she just watched as they bantered.

Siddiqa came over holding a remote, "What song should we play?" "Body!" They chorused then looked at each other and laughed. She chuckled and put it on.

Then they all started singing the song, jumping around in the process.
🎶 "Have you seen the state of her body?!"
"Mad! If I beat it I ain't wearing a Jonny eh, Adeola when I roll with the geezer," Maryam also joined in.
🎵"Is it me or the lifestyle sweetheart?"Actually, I don't give a shit, I'm a rapper now might as well live with it." 🎶

————————————————
At around 7 pm, after everything was finished, after all the dancing and everything, they all went back to the living room upstairs and continued chatting and playing around.

"-she told me to get out of her class, and never come back again." Anisa finished laughing. They all burst out laughing, exchanging comments. "Next time you will not try to act smart with a Physics lecturer," Maryam said popping a piece of orange in her mouth.

"I was in this class one day when..." Maryam zoned out when her phone beside her started vibrating. She looked and found that it was her husband calling. You finally remembered me now. She excused herself and got up. "Aww, it's Habibi Qalbi." Lola teased laughing. Maryam eyed her as she got up and walked to her room, closing the door after her.

"Hey baby," Muhammad said as soon as she picked the call. "Hey. How was the trip?" She asked running her hand over her neck that was a bit sore from all sitting. "It was fine Alhamdulillah."
"I've been trying to call you since this morning but you were unreachable." She bit her lips to prevent all the words she had bundled up to say to him earlier from spilling.

She was annoyed when she tried his number countless times earlier but they kept saying it was unreachable. "I know, I know, I also tried to call you but it didn't go through, it was probably network, sorry."

"Oh," she breathed, visibly relaxing. She was realizing how deep her feelings for Muhammad are every day.

"Are you back yet?" She asked.
"Yeah I came back earlier, I wanted to see you as soon as I came, but I slept off. I was so tired."
Maryam smiled and hugged her arm around herself. "Sannu fa, I also wanted to see you but didn't know if I could." She whispered shyly. It took a lot of courage to say that but it was the truth. She has been thinking of him all day, and couldn't wait to see him.

Muhammad chuckled softly and hummed. "You could if you want to, I belong to you after all."

She ducked her head shyly as if he can see her. "I want to." She finally said her skin tingling. "As you wish my queen." He then disconnected the call.

"Hello?!" She said when she heard silence on his side. She looked at the phone with raised eyebrows. What is he going to do? Was he coming here? She was kinda joking. "Oh Allah," she whispered, dropping the phone beside her on the bed. She massaged between temple and curled up, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the soft sound of music coming from the living room.

She stayed like that for a couple of minutes until she heard someone push the door open. She looked up and found her husband closing the door after him. She sat up, staring at him in disbelief. "You came," she whispered, goosebumps erupting across her arms.

"Of course, why won't I when you called," he whispered smiling confidently. Maryam's lips parted as she watched him walk towards her. He looked gorgeous. He was dressed in a white shirt that hugged his figure, his rolled-up sleeves revealed his bulging arms paired with black slacks. Maryam's heart beat a little faster as he flashed her that famous smile of his.

He gazed at her cute face that was adorned with little makeup, her eyes that widened a little when she saw him walk in made him chuckle a little. She didn't think he would actually come.

He pulled her into a warm hug when he reached her, intoxicated by the fruity scent on her. "I missed you." She whispered, laying her head on his chest, inhaling his musk-based cologne. She could hear the sound of his heart beating rapidly in his chest. "I missed you too." He removed her headtie and nuzzled her hair that was oiled and perfumed.

She wrapped her arm around his waist. He smiled weakly and pulled her closer until his forehead gently rested on hers. "I love you, baby." He whispered breathing heavily. Maryam looked into his eyes as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you too honey poop," she chuckled and bit her lip, her pulse racing.

Muhammad groaned softly and brushed his hand over her cheeks. "You promised." He nudged his head forward until his lips softly brushed hers. She shivered under his hooded gaze, feeling heat creep all over her body.

Maryam didn't know what to do, all she knows is she didn't want him to stop. She pulled his head closer, and he met hers halfway. He closed the gap between them, letting his lips press on hers. The feeling was far more than he expected. It was strange, yet nice at the same time. Just out of the world. Warmth covered them as their hearts beat in sync.

He kissed her softly, she reciprocated what he was doing. They kissed and pulled out after a while, both breathing heavily. They gazed at each other before he joined their lips again, kissing her a little harder than the first time. He nudged her backward until she fell on the bed.

"You look so beautiful." He whispered kissing down her neck that was exposed. Maryam moaned connecting their lips again. Muhammad groaned running his hands up and down her back. He pulled her zipper down all in while without breaking their kiss.

He separated their lips to pull her dress down and take a breather. "Baby," he groaned placing small kisses around her neck. "Muhammad..." She whispered feeling a tingling sensation around her body. He pulled her dress down and pushed her back to the bed. Something snapped in her bringing her back to her senses. She quickly pushed him away and moved to the far end of the bed. Muhammad looked at her with confusion written all over his face. "What...why?" He asked eyes sparkling with desire.

Maryam parted her lips trying to catch her breath before she looked up at him. "We can't." She whispered. He raised his eyebrows questionably. "Not here." She added looking sideways.

Realization dawned on him as he looked around, they were still back at his parent's house. He groaned silently, running his hands over his face. Maryam quickly zipped back her dress, surprised that they just did that. It felt different, magical.

She sat there trying to control her erratic breathing, her eyes hooded with desire and her heart all over the place. She winched when her finger came in contact with her lips.

She looked up and found him pacing around, his hands on his face. "I'm sorry," she croaked, feeling guilty for stopping him, but it had to be done. He shook his head and looked over at her. His heart galloped at the mere sight of her. The way her chest rose and fell, the way her lips parted to suck in breath greedy for some air, her hair that was all over the place, the same hair that his hands were running all over a while back, her flustered expression.

"No, no baby, I am sorry, I wasn't able to control myself. I'm so sorry." He walked over and sat on the bed. "I just...you're just so captivating."

She looked away blushing. He then noticed her hands which he didn't seem to notice earlier. "Oh Masha Allah, let me see that." Maryam smiled and moved closer to him, bringing her hands up to his line of sight. He smiled when she showed him her palm that was adorned with red henna.

He took her hands and kissed her palm. "I love it, it looks so nice Masha Allah." Maryam couldn't help blushing, she has been anticipating this moment, she wanted to do whatever will make him happy.

"Muga na kafan," he whispered pulling her dress away from her feet. "Look how nice it looks on you, it just adds to your beauty." He pressed a kiss on her forehead. "I love it, thank you."

Maryam 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝘩𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝘩𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝘩𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝘩𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠.

~~**~~
How was it?
I sure enjoyed writing it. I'm sorry it took so long, but I needed to get my inspiration from somewhere. And I did, so here it is.

With love, Fatima🦋