Number 12 in Spiritual! YAY Alhamdulillah! :D Thank you everyone for all of your support! <3

Ilham placed Mohammad in the cart, buckled him in, and put down her purse next to him before smiling at Hana.

“So, where should we start!?”

Hana laughed, and shrugged her shoulders.

“You’re the master chef! You tell me!”

“Well I’m thinking we should make grape leaves and Maqluba, and a nice salad and maybe a cake or some brownies? Ooh look the potatoes are on sale!”

Hana laughed, and followed behind her sister as she rushed towards the produce. They were having a ‘date’ night at Hisham and Ilham’s tomorrow evening. Every month, Yusra and Amir dropped off Kareem at one of their parent’s houses, and Hisham and Ilham did the same with their children, and they got together for a night of dinner and games and relaxation and fun. As Houssam was in town he had been invited, and Ilham, being OCD and needing an equal number of couples, had invited Hana.

Well at least that’s what Hana had been led to believe. Secretly Ilham was trying to put her matchmaking plan into action. Now that she had gotten the idea into her head that Hana liked Houssam, nothing was going to stop her until she was giving a speech at their wedding!

Granted she had no idea if Hana really liked him or not, but in all honestly that wasn’t really important. In Ilham’s mind, it was already a done deal.

Hana on the other hand, was trying very hard not to freak out. It was different seeing Houssam at the Masjid, and being with him in a house for a few hours playing games. She wasn’t sure how she was going to handle it, and more than once it had been on the tip of her tongue to tell Ilham that she couldn’t come. But part of her wanted to see him in that situation. Where he was relaxed and with friends and family and having a good time. She, of course, hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him, especially after their little run in in her classroom. He hadn’t let her read what he had written yet, saying, with that adorable crooked grin on his face, that he wanted to wait until it was perfect before he showed it to her.

“What do you think about doing a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting?” Ilham asked, breaking into Hana’s thoughts.

“Oh sounds great.” She said with a weak smile as Ilham began to put cake mixes in the cart.

“Cake!” Mohammad screeched, and Ilham laughed, kissing her son on the nose.

“Yes habibi Mama is making cake tomorrow!”

“I have some?” the baby pleaded, and Ilham laughed again.

“InshaAllah habibi Hamoudi!”

Hana was quiet as the cruised up and down the aisles of the grocery stores, Ilham putting things in the cart here and there. Finally she couldn’t take it anymore. She had to ask.

“So how goes finding Houssam a wife?” she said trying to sound not really that interested. Ilham bent into her purse on the pretense of trying to find her phone, but she was actually trying to hide her smile. Once she had gotten herself under control, she looked at her sister, her face neutral.

“Not great actually. He keeps rejecting everyone we suggest.”

“Oh.”

Ahhhhhh!

“Yeah but we will keep trying. He is a great catch after all. Don’t you agree?”

Hana narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her sister, but Ilham merely stared back at her, her eyes wide as if she was trying to portray her innocence.

“I guess.” Hana responded, attempting to sound disinterested, and Ilham resisted the urge to smile again.

“So no one has caught your eye?” Ilham asked, and Hana frowned slightly.

“No.”

“Aw come on Hana! I’m your sister! You can tell me!”

“It seems you already think I like someone.” Hana said and Ilham hesitated before shrugging slightly.

“Well I mean everyone has crushes now and then, and you’ve never, in all the years I have been married to your brother, told me about anyone you liked! Are you telling me in almost ten years you haven’t had crushes on guys?!”

No.

She had a crush on a guy.

“Why are you all of a sudden interested in who I may like?” Hana asked, and Ilham sighed impatiently.

“Because Hana! I want you to be happy! Don’t you want to be happy!?” she demanded, and Hana smiled.

“Of course I do. But Naseeb is Naseeb, and when the time is right, Allah swt will bring him to me. There is no use in talking about it and overthinking things.”

Now if only she could fully convince herself of that. There had barely been a single moment in the past two weeks where he hadn’t been on her mind.

“Well yeah of course Naseeb is Naseeb, but if you like someone, you have to say you do! People can’t just read your mind!”

“Ilham, what are you getting at?” Hana asked, and Ilham just stared at her for a few seconds. A big part of her wanted to just outright her sister if she liked Houssam. But another part of her knew how sensitive Hana was, and if she did like Houssam, she would admit to it on her own time.

“Nothing,” Ilham said pushing the cart again, “I was just curious.”

It was kinda awkward between them as they finished the shopping, but as Ilham was not one to hold grudges, and liked to talk, by the time they got into the car to go home, she had forgotten about things and was talking excitedly about tomorrow’s festivities. Hana smiled and nodded at all the right parts, but her heart just wasn’t into it anymore.

***

“AsalamuAlaikum everyone!” Houssam exclaimed cheerfully as he followed his brother and sister into Hisham and Ilham’s house.

“Walaikumasalaam! Welcome, welcome!” Ilham exclaimed ushering them inside, and after she hugged Yusra, Hisham stepped around her to hug Houssam and Amir.

“Where should I put this?” Yusra asked, extending the dish she was holding.

“Oh come put it on the dining room table. You didn’t have to bring anything habibti!” Ilham exclaimed, and as her and Yusra disappeared into the kitchen, the three men took a seat on the couches.

“Did you have a hard time evading the paparazzi?” Hisham asked.

“I spent the night at Yusra and Amir’s last night so Alhamdulillah we didn’t run into them.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah I think I am going to have to move in with them honestly. My only hesitation is it will give us only a little more time before they find us and I don’t know if we really want Kareem’s face plastered across the internet.”

“InshaAllah we will just take precautions when we go out with him.” Amir said. “Don’t worry about that now, we just want you to be comfortable.”

Houssam smiled, and leaned against the couch.

“So what’s been new with you Hisham?”

“Nothing really. The car has been making weird sounds, so I was wondering if you could take a look Amir?”

“Sure,” Amir said rolling up his sleeves, “let’s go now.”

“Houssam can you come get this plate from the top shelf?” Ilham called and Houssam grinned.

“You two go on without me. Unfortunately duty calls!”

Hisham and Amir went into the garage, and just as Houssam went into the kitchen, Hana came down the stairs, her camera and her portfolio in hand. There had been a big talent competition that the youth groups had put on earlier in the week, and she had gotten amazing shots. She was planning on showing them to Houssam and asking his opinion on which ones she should use in the newspaper.

You know, if she got enough courage to.

She laid out the pictures on the desk that was in the corner of the room, studying each one carefully, and removing the ones that were too dark or had someone blocking the lens.

“What are you doing?”

She practically hit the ceiling at how high she jumped. For such a big guy, he sure could be quiet!

“Um, I’m looking at the pictures I took of the talent show.” She said turning around to look at him, and he grinned before throwing himself on the couch.

“Awesome! Can I see?!”

“Sure.” She quietly pushed back from the desk so he could see the pictures from where he sat, and he leaned forward.

“Wow Hana these are amazing!” He exclaimed, and she blushed prettily, as he let out an impressed whistle.

“Barak Allahu Feek.” She said quietly, and his eyes flickered towards her for a second before he looked back at the pictures.

“No I am serious. These are like professionally done! You need to get a job doing this!”

Hana gave a small laugh.

“Well I have been trying, but for some reason no one wants to hire a photojournalist with absolutely no experience.”

Houssam laughed loudly, before he started gathering the pictures from one end and she did the same from the other. As he handed her his pile, their fingers brushed slightly, and she nervously yanked her hand away.

“Oh sorry my bad.” He said placing his pile on the table, and for some reason it hurt her that he didn’t even seem phased by it.

“I’m going to go see if Ilham and Yusra need help.” She mumbled quietly, and he nodded.

“Cool, I’ll go check on Amir and Hisham.”

As they both went their separate ways, Hana leaned against the doorway outside the kitchen, trying to catch her breath. It was too much. She couldn’t be around him anymore. The more time went on, the more it was painfully obvious that he saw her as nothing more than a friend.

Or worse.

Hisham’s little sister.