Chapter 56: Please, Please let me marry her.

*

"The prayers I sent to the heavens, 

have all been answered. 

In the form of you"

-2am-

*

The Yabia wedding reception rolled by smoothly with less to no problems at all. The guests left on a good note and the Zaeef family were tired as ever. The following day, the boys helped clear out the barns and take down decorations with the girls. Grandparent Zaeef along with Qaidah and Aahil were returning home via the midnight flight that very day while the boys were to depart the following day.

Amidst the busy day, Yahyah found time to talk to Qaidah and Aahil before they left for Gold Coast. He had dragged the two to have lunch with him before they left. Of course, others were confused but he convinced them to let him go out with them and that he'd explain everything later. So now they were at the local diner with a very fidgeting Yahyah and two confused parents.

"Speak child. You are worrying us" Qaidah told him and he let out a nervous laugh. Aahil grinned at him before turning to his wife. He knew. Qaidah shared a glance with Aahil and nodded anyway. She folded her hands in front of her, waiting for him to speak.

"I think I found the one" he blurted out, causing Qaidah's eyes to widen and Aahil to grin even more widely (If it was possible). Qaidah blinked rapidly and gaped at her husband who seemed to know about this too.

"Who?"

"Nahal" Aahil and Yahyah answered together. Aahil chuckled after him while his wife rolled her eyes at him and turned her attention to Yahyah who was blushing.

"Nahal as in Aanabia's sister?" she asked, just to be sure. Yahyah nodded at her, confirming it. She let out a slow smile which morphed into a grin a few seconds later. Yahyah watched their expressions while withholding his breath. Are they okay with it?

"That is-" Qaidah was speechless. She felt like the twins as she liked to call Yahyah and Yazdan, had planned this out. Two best friends marrying two sisters. How amazing would that be?

Yahyah, on the other hand, took her silence as a bad thing. He chewed onto the insides of his cheeks with a frown.

"You are not okay with it?" he asked Qaidah and Qaidah's gaze snapped up to him. She did not realize she was silent. She let out a small smile.

"Of course not, Yaha. We love you and we want you to be happy. If Nahal is that, then alright" she said, glancing at Aahil who held her hand on the table before nodding at Yahyah.

"If you know she is the one, then why not?" he told him. Yahyah let out a sigh of relief, leaning onto the table with almost tears in his eyes. I don't know what I would do if they said no. Qaidah sensed this and ruffled his hair with a soft smile.

"Who you love, we'll love her too Yahyah. You know that. And Nahal is an amazing girl. I know you both would fit perfectly together" she told him and Yahyah blushed even brighter, peering at her from underneath his long lashes like a shy little boy. Qaidah let out a laugh at this.

The waiter arrived with their food and they dug in. Yahyah felt like a huge burden had been lifted off his chest. They accepted her.

"Have you told Zaiha?" Qaidah's question caught him off guard. He placed his spoon and fork on the plate and turned to them.

"She knows. She had asked Hifzah aunty for her hand in marriage, though I am not sure if it was for real or not. Even asked Nahal for her opinion on when the Nikah should be. But she didn't exactly talk to me about it" his voice drifted off by the last sentence. Qaidah gave him a small smile and placed her hand over his. Anyone could see that she loved him very much.

"I can talk to her. We can formally ask Hifzah for Nahal's hand in marriage." She told him and he nodded at her with a grateful smile. Aahil smiled at the two before picking up his phone.

"I am messaging Kayan to postpone all our flights back until I say so" he informed them and Yahyah grinned while Qaidah nodded. They continued with their lunch.

-

After lunch, when they returned; there were a lot of questions raised. Qaidah asked them to keep it at bay and that she would inform them when the time is right. With her sassy self, none of her children dared to question her. Qaidah informed grandmother Zaaef about it who informed grandfather Zaeef about it.

Qaidah had taken out time that day and talked to Zaiha about it. All in all, by the following day, they were at Yazdan's place to talk to Hifzah formally about the proposal. Aanabia, Amyrah and Kulthum were upstairs with Nahal while the elders were downstairs. The boys were not at the Yabia residence but rather at Yahyah's place. Zamaairah had to leave for US that same morning.

Yahyah paced the floor with a can of soda in his hands while the brothers watched him do so. Yazdan wanted to laugh at his misery but he knew well enough not to. Yahyah was in a vulnerable state and best leave him alone. 

Kayan was busy on his laptop, Karmaan was on his laptop too (probably studying or worse, hacking) while the twins were watching TV with Zul.

"Quit pacing. You are giving us a headache, Yahyah" Kayan told him, without looking up from the laptop screen. It's the brightness of the screen giving you a headache, not I. Yahyah kept the thought to himself.

"It'll be fine, Yaha. Mom is there. She will handle everything" Yazdan told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Yahyah eyed him with doubt but Yazdan squeezed his shoulder firmly, reassuring him that everything will be fine.

"Okay. Who's up for a match?" Safwah asked, standing up and stretching out. Since their flights were cancelled, he was bored at Yahyah's place. Yazdan turned to his younger brother with a curious look.

"What match?" he asked and Safwah shrugged, pulling out a rugby ball from the nearest rack. Yazdan grinned at Safwah who grinned back.

"I call dibs on Sahl and Yazdan" Safwah shouted while Kayan and Karmaan groaned. Yahyah rolled his eyes.

"I see how this is. Fine. Karmaan and Kayan bhai in mine" Yahyah told Safwah who laughed maniacally. Zul, who had no idea why his brother and best friend were staring each other down, cleared his throat. The boys turned to him with sheepish smile.

"So which team?" Kayan asked him, shutting the lid of his Macbook Pro and placing it neatly on the desk. Karmaan placed his Macbook beside Kayans and turned to Zul. Zul shrugged, holding his hands up in surrender.

"How about I referee? I can't really play rugby, you see" he said meekly and the boys laughed, Yahyah ruffling his hair.

"Sure"

And thus the boys ran outside to the large backyard of Yahyah's. They made a line using the rope found nearby which would be their goal and randomly gauged the middle of the ground. Zul blew the whistle and the captains (Yazdan and Yahyah) leaped up to get the ball. Yazdan hit the ball with his long hands, causing Sahl to catch it. The boy ran, avoiding tackles from the other team before passing it to Safwah who ran to the goal, only to be tackled down by Yahyah. No mercy.

The game continued at an intense rate, so intense that the ringing of the phones by the garden went unheard. Because all the boys failed to answer the calls, the elders back at Yabia estate began worrying. That was until they arrived at Yahyah's place, only to see the boys drenched in sweat, sun burnt and dirty. Literally. They had mud and grass (even pieces of leaves and flowers) stuck to their clothes and hair. They smiled sheepishly from the dog pile they were on the ground (due to the tackling of Yahyah). Unfortunately Kayan, Sahl, Safwah, Yazdan and Yahyah were wearing white which now did not look so much like white. Amyrah was pissed that her husband decided to play rugby with white t-shirt one while Qaidah was merely amused that they made it out without breaking a limb or two.

"I see this is why none of you were answering the multiple calls we dropped" stated Qaidah and the boys, who now stood in a line, looked down in shame.

"Who's idea was this?" asked Aahil, rubbing his temples. He wanted to laugh at his sons, but he knew his wife would throw a fit if he did so. All of them automatically pointed to the troublemaker Zaeef, also called Safwah. Safwah feigned innocence turning to look at them with a vile expression.

"And here I thought we don't give up on each other" he muttered while the others shrugged.

Yahyah looked at Qaidah with a hopeful expression. The woman saw his look and smiled brightly."They said yes" The boys erupted into loud cheers, as Safwah and Zul tackled Yahyah into a bear hug. The boys turned to the rest of the family (Qaidah, Aahil, Grandparent Zaaef, Kulthum, Amyrah and Aanabia) with grins. The ladies threw their hands up in surrender.

"Don't even dare" Qaidah warned them. Aanabia watched her husband beam at her from in between his brothers. Of course he would play. Aahil turned to his wife with a smile.

"Head inside ladies. Time for a game" he told them "-Unless you want to play?" He asked them. The ladies frowned at the boys before shaking their heads and walking back inside the house. Aahil turned to the boys. "I am going to change. Once I return, we are starting it again" The boys groaned. They knew Aahil was damn good at Rugby and the opposing team stood no chance.

Aanabia was surprised at this while Amyrah laughed at her shocked face. Kulthum grabbed their hands and pulled them with her into the house.

"Let them play. They always do this" she informed Aanabia who nodded. She felt bad for leaving Nahal and her mother back home but she had to be with her in-laws too.

"Tomorrow after Zuhr it is then?" Kulthum questioned and Aanabia nodded at her with a smile. Her sister was getting married and she was ecstatic for it.

-

Zuhr came real fast the following day. The families were at the Sawarah mosque, praying for the well being of both the new couples, as well as the already existing ones. Hifzah was at the verge of tears, for she had given away one daughter to The Zaeef's and happened to be giving away the second one to Yahyah Rashad. She knew from what she had seen in Yahyah all this time, that he would keep her very happy. But a mother would always have her insecurities over their daughters going to another home.

Zaiha was happy for her son, it did hurt her though; when Qaidah and Grandmother Zaeef were the ones telling her about Yahyah and not Yahyah himself. But she hoped, so sincerely hoped that Nahal would be able to mend the broken bridge between the mother and son.

Yahyah was nervous about the whole process and Yazdan tried his best to calm him down. To no avail that is. Yahyah still fidgeted time to time. He had not talked to Nahal since the day his family went to ask for the proposal and he chose not to. It's not that he didn't want to, he did. The heavens knew he did. But he was just too........ shy. The word was foreign to him but somehow it occurred with Nahal (Yazdan teased him a lot about it though)

Nahal was fine (At least she was trying to appear fine), but her heart was in a marathon and had it not been for the Air Conditioning of the Ladies Salat Hall, she would be a sweating mess. Aanabia was beside her, holding her hand through it all. Nahal wore the dress that Zaiha had gifted her upon the proposal (turns out either mother's actually know best or Zaiha just knew this day was coming so she had shopped in advance, Yahyah would never know) The two sisters awaited the commencing of the Nikah ceremony anxiously.

Finally the imam cleared his throat at the mic and everyone went silent. He then began his little speech about why they had gathered after Zuhr. He talked about spouses and about the different aspects of Nikah. Finally he concluded with a thought that If Allah wills it, It shall happen. He then moved onto the actual Nikah of Yahyah and Nahal.

Yahyah was anxious, so anxious that the Nikah felt like a blur to him. He had said YES rather loudly much to his dismay. Soon after, Nahal was questioned the same to which she answered a yes, very much like a lady. The imam then concluded with Dua before they all moved to congratulate Yahyah. Since Yahyah grew up here, almost everyone at the mosque knew him. They congratulated Yahyah as well as Yazdan on their Nikah's.

Nahal and Yahyah were married. Finally. 

*****

Yes. Finally. hahah. 

Sorry for the late one guys. My internet was toooooooo slow last night so I had to use my phone and this chapter was on my Laptop, bleh. :) 

So instead, I had a great time replying to your comments on the last chapter yesterday! :) 

| To My Panda's in India: |

| PLEASE STAY SAFE. My prayers are with you guys. ❤ |

| R - C - V |

xx, 

-Aalihha.