Abdulhameed 💗💗

My eyes flickered open and for a moment I almost forgot where i was before it suddenly hit me.

I'm married.

I sent a prayer to my lord for bestowing me another day to live before i checked the time. It read 11:34am.

Wow! How did i sleep for this long?

I quickly hopped out of the bed and strode into the bathroom.

I scrubbed my body with the khurkum hajja fati made for me before I jumped into shower.

After some minutes, i came out, used a moisturizer over my body and quickly donned a blouse and skirt brown ankara.

After i was done making the bed which was quite difficult because of its size compared to mine at home, i packed my hair into a low bun, tied my dan kwali, spritzed my body with a cologne and walked out of the room.

"Good morning, ma'am" Four uniformed ladies greeted as soon as I stepped on the last stair.

"Good morning" I smiled at them.

"I'm Cynthia, the maid that takes care of all the bedrooms" The first lady introduced.

"I'm lubna, The one in charge of all the bathrooms and laundry" The second one said.

"I'm Mary, the one that cleans all the sitting rooms" Said the third one.

"And I'm muntasra, the chef" The last lady said.

"Oh.. okay" I stuttered. Its absolutely normal for me to be stunned when we only have a single part time maid back at home. Isn't this the coolest thing?

"We will get to work now" The last lady said again "Your breakfast is ready, ma'am"

"Okay.." I uttered and followed the lady into the dining room.

Just like yesterday, many food warmers were already kept on the dining table.

"Ma'am, should i serve you?" She asked as she opened a food warmer, one hand rolled on her back.

So professional.

I quickly shook my head "No don't worry, i will do it myself"

"Okay ma'am, I'm in the kitchen if you need anything, you just have to press this button" She pointed at a red button on a landline.

"Alright" I gave her a short nod and she gently sauntered out.

I was almost done with my meal when i heard stomping and some voices. Khairi's and another which I couldn't make out who it belongs to.

"Khairi stop running"

"Noooo"

"I'm serious khairi stop and let me put your shoes"

"Mummy..?" Khairi said as soon as she ran into the dining room.

"Khairi" My eyes lit up at the sight of her. She looked so beautiful in her pink dress, with her wavy hair packed into a high bun. I instinctively stood up and hugged her tightly.

"Khai..." A young woman, who that voice obviously belongs to, paused when she saw me but suddenly grinned.

"Good morning, ma'am" She greeted respectfully.

"Good morning" I greeted back with a smile.

"I'm Rumaisah, khairi's nanny" She introduced.

"Oh hey!" I waved "How are you?"

"I'm good Alhamdulillah, you're so beautiful mashaa Allah" She complimented.

I chuckled "Thank you and you are also beautiful mashaa Allah"

She just giggled as though she didn't believe what i just said.

"And why were you two running around?" I asked, raising my brows at khairi.

"She doesn't want to put on her shoes, so she ran out of her room and i followed her" Rumaisah sighed "We do that almost everyday"

I Iaughed at khairi's mischievousness "Give me the shoes"

She handed them to me and i carefully sat khairi down on a chair.

"Its not good to be running around, you might trip and hurt yourself" I spoke as i put her the shoes.

"Sorry mummy" She apologized in her tiny angelic voice.

"Its okay" I kissed her chubby cheeks "Did you eat?"

"Yes but can i eat again with you?"

"Why not? Lets finish up my meal together"

We proceeded with the meal with rumaisah telling me some of khairi's stories. I've learnt she'd been her nursemaid since khairi was only two summers. She also told me about manal, and i really felt sorry for them.

It was so sad that khairi hasn't experienced that motherly love.. that loving feeling.. thus I promised to give it to her, to show her, through thick and thin, till I'm no more with abdulhameed. In shaa Allah!

"Salamu alaikum" Came the prince charming's voice.

"Wa alaikumussalam" We answered.

"Good morning sir" Rumaisah squatted.

"Morning" He replied with a nod.

"Ma'am, i will leave now" She said and quickly walked out of the room.

I turned my gaze to him as he settled on the seat across from mine.

"Good morning" I greeted.

"Morning, how did you sleep?" He asked piling two pancakes on his plate.

I slept crying and guess what? Its all because of you.

"Good Alhamdulillah, you?"

"Same as you" He replied, gently cut a piece of pancake and put it in his mouth.

"Good morning daddy" Khairi said with a toothy grin.

"Look at you, stop acting as if you're not the one that came into my room and ruined my peaceful slumber" He joked and she giggled.

He noiselessly proceeded with his meal as khairi started to tell me about her school and classmates and i listened intently.

"Are you ready?" He asked as soon as he was done with his meal.

"Yes" I nodded meekly.

"Where are we going?" Khairi asked.

"We're going to visit nana and the rest"

"Yay" She squealed and we both chuckled.

I hastily went up, took my veil and came down. I suggested we should trek since he stated that the first house we were going was only some few blocks away.

I couldn't find the right word to express how beautiful the place is. The white terrace houses, the beautiful flowers that adorned the sides of the street, the chirping of birds...... so serene, modern and it just connects you with nature. Mashaa Allah!

Once we reached our destination, abdulhameed pressed the bell.

"This is mama mariyah's house, my father's younger sister" He said and after a few minutes later, a pretty woman opened the door looking all peppy.

"Ahlan, Salamu alaikum" I greeted and before i knew it i was engulfed in a warm bear hug.

"Welcome my daughter, yalla please come in" She scooped khairi up and pulled me inside the beautiful house which smelled of oud bakhoor.

The living room is absolutely beautiful. The  chairs and the sofa we sat on have beautifully rolled arms as well as subtle curves at the back. The windows are adorned with curved Roman shades in a damask tone-on-tone that underlie simple pleated silk panels. All together, the curves convey a shapely beauty that ties the room together. The coffered ceiling and quiet palette continue the understated charm.

"How are you? in shaa Allah good?" She enquired.

"Yeah Good Alhamdulillah Aunty" I replied coyly.

"May Allah ta'alah always keep you well and fit my daughter"

"Ameen"

"Nana she's my new mummy" Khairi bragged.

"Really?" Nana as khairi just addressed her, feigned a shock expression.

"Yes" She flashed her a wide grin.

"Aren't you going to share her with me?" Nana said, brows shot up and arms akimbo.

"No" Khairi shook her head vehemently "I'm not going to share her with you, she's my mummy"

Me and nana burst out laughing.

"Nana, Did you even notice me?" Abdulhameed playfully raised his eyebrows.

"How will i notice you when my daughter is here?" She raised her eyebrows too and I couldn't help but chortle.

"I see, nana doesn't care about me anymore"

"Let me pamper my daughter first, i will get back to you later"

She turned back to me, held my hand in hers and started shooting questions at me.

How is he treating you?

Do you need anything?

Do you like the maids?

Are you happy with him?

And i made sure I answered with what she wanted to hear.

After hours of lingering around various topics, abdulhameed finally announced that its time for us to head to the next house.

Nana walked us to the door and looked around as though searching for something "Don't tell me you're not with your car?" She asked Abdulhameed with furrowed eyebrows.

"Yes, she suggested that we should trek so.." He shrugged, took already sleeping khairi from her and rested her head on his shoulder.

She slapped his arm and he winced "Nana, What was that for?"

"Why would you leave the bride trek? Do you want everybody to see her? Kaida ko kasa bai kamata ka barta ta taka ba idan da hali?" She scolded him.

"Its my fault, I was the one that insisted we should trek" I butted in.

"Habibty you shouldn't have, its kind of sunny, you might easily get a headache and you guys are with khairi" She complained giving us the 'What I'm I going to do with you two' look

"Haba don't worry nana, we will head back home immediately after we visited umm' manal and we will leave the rest till tomorrow if Allah permits" Abdulhameed said.

"Okay take care of yourselves, my bint I will send your gifts tomorrow in shaa Allah" She gave me a quick hug and we left.

We stopped in front of another house and Abdulhameed rung the bell again.

"This is manal's home, her father is my uncle, so basically we're cousins" He explained.

"Mashaa Allah, thats so great"

Few minutes later, another fair pretty woman opened the door, who was obviously umm manal.

"Mashaa Allah mashaa Allah, you people are already here? Come here bint" She enveloped me in a warm hug.

"Mashaa Allah please come in" She lead us in immediately we pulled away.

There were about seven girls of my age or younger in the living room and they all stood at the sight of us. I offered my salam before each and every one of them gave me a hug and introduced themselves. There were two manal's sisters, farah and amina; four daughters of aunty sakina, farida, aisha, maryam and khadijah; then aunty basma's daughter, Nadia.

They all circled me and to say i was nervous would be an understatement.

"Subhanallah she's so beautiful" Cooed one of the girls and i blushed crimson.

"I know right" Another girl squealed.

They kept complimenting and complimenting and I kept blushing and smiling till my cheeks started to hurt. I was so confused... did they not know that my marriage with Abdulhameed was arranged or were they only trying to be nice and act all normal with me? They should rather act cold towards me, don't ya think?

"Its time for lunch everybody" Umm Manal announced, placing a tray of doughnuts on the beautiful dining table.

We all moved their and settled down

"So tell us how you guys met" One of the girls said, which i was sure was Farida.

I instantly froze. Now, Its crystal clear they didn't know that the marriage was arranged. I looked at Abdulhameed and shot him that 'What I'm i going to say?' look

"Errrr..." I started nervously but he quickly beat me to it.

"I always see her pass by my office, twice or sometimes thrice a week" He said casually.

"Uhmm.. And how did you approach her?" Aisha questioned enthusiastically. They were all looking at us like some criminals.

"I've always wanted to approach her but couldn't, honestly because it was so difficult to move on after manal's demise.... one day after some hard persuasion from usman, i manned up and did" He said with a smile and I almost choked on my spit. God of mercy, so this guy knows how to cook up stories? How on earth did that all happened?

"Was she a tough nut?" Came another question from the girls. 

"Well.." He cleared his throat and locked his eyes with mine "When she first saw me, she couldn't keep her eyes off me... so i knew it wouldn't be difficult for me to woo her heart"

I shot him a deathly glare, unbelievably.

Great so greatt!

He smirked "On the contrary, it was really difficult.. so difficult that I almost gave up but I didn't.. a voice inside me told me to be confident in what i do. There may be tough times, but the difficulties which i face will make me more determined to achieve all objectives and to win against all the odds"

The girls awww-ed and i thanked Allah that umm Manal wasn't around, I would've just pray for the ground to open and swallow me.

"So.. here we are" He smiled broadly.

"Yess here we are" I said cheerfully and the girls aww-ed again.

Thankfully, they drifted into another topic and the place became lovingly pleasant; the sounds of laughter and playful jokes made me miss saf and mirah more.
.
"Umm khairi i will be leaving now" He said and my eyes almost got wide by the name he just called me with but I quickly mask the surprise look with a smiley face.

"I'll come with my car and pick you up, so that mama mariyah wouldn't skin me alive" He chuckled.

"Alright, see you soon then"

Umm manal came and gently pulled me up before she whispered into my ear "Habibty go and see him off"

"Okay" I blushed and walked out of the house.

Surprisedly, he was standing outside as if he knows that i was also coming too.

He walked over to me, his muscular and lean body towering me by two inches or more. He'd be at least six feet tall. The sunglasses he wore made him look more handsome and sexier.

'Get a grip on yourself missy' A voice inside my head yelled. I quickly looked away and stepped back a little due to our close proximity.

"You must be wondering about the reason behind their generous and friendly behavior towards you, i can see it in your face" He uttered.

I nodded.

"They didn't know the marriage was arranged, i decided to keep it enclose, i told them that the marriage was unexpected thats why you didn't see them with the kayan lefe and all..." He cleared his throat looking all serious "I should've told you all this earlier but what i'm going to tell you now is you should always try and act normal with me in front of them, savvy?"

I gulped hard and nodded.

"See you soon umm khairi" With that he sauntered away.

After some few minutes, i went back inside the house and met them all sitting in the parlor talking boisterously and i just found a spot and watched them with a smile.

Umm manal signaled for me to come. We went into her bedroom before she patted the space next to her "Come and sit here my daughter"

As soon as i sat... She opened a drawer, brought out a printed picture and handed it to me.

"Its manal" She said in a shaky voice and i just stared at the smiling beautiful lady in the picture. A carbon copy of khairi.

"She's so pretty mashaa Allah" I managed to voice out.

She nodded "You remind me of her the first time i set my eyes on you.. she always has a smile on her face just like you, soo gentle and beautiful"

A lone tears rolled down her cheek and I gingerly enfolded her in a hug "Shhh... In shaa Allah she's in a better place, May her soul continue to rest in peace"

"Ameen.. thank you so much, shukhran" She wiped her tears and cupped my face "She loved him so much.. she liked disturbing me with different stories about him.. Abdulhameed did this Abdulhameed did that.." She reminisced and chuckled.

"If only things could go as one plans but Allah, the most wise, is the best planner... Fatima habibty I can feel it in my guts that you're going to be a great light to Abdulhameed and khairiyah's life.." She smiled and opened my hand then placed something.

I checked and saw a twinkling sterling silver ring.

"She wanted to give it to him but she..." New set of tears streamed down her cheeks and I gently squeezed her hand trying to comfort her.

She continued when her tears subsided "I want you to give it to him.. as a gift from you to him.. please take care of them, they really need you"

"I will try my best Aunty" I managed to squeak out words as a lump rose in my throat.

Will I be able to do that?

Salam,
How you? How school? How home? How work? How your boyfrien? How your girlfrien? How your bes frien? Please let me hear a big ALHAMDULILLAH!

Well well well... i can't believe i've already reached chapter 10💃🏾💃🏾 and honestly I wouldn't have reached it this fast without your encouraging comments and votes. Thank you thank you❤❤

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Lots of love💕💕

Ruru❤