Dear readers. I don’t usually reply to hate and negative comments (Alhamdulillah I have been blessed not to receive too many), but I have gotten a few recently, and noticed some on other stories I have been reading, and I have to comment. I write my stories, for me, and I know my other friends on Wattpad do too. If someone else can benefit Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah. But ultimately, it’s my outlet, its my way to get out my feelings and thoughts and emotions. So when you so carelessly comment and say the first thing that pops into your head without thinking about it, it does have an effect on people. Especially those who try their hardest to perfect their writing for YOUR reading pleasure! I won’t go any further into this because I feel it is a waste of my time to get angry over people who don’t have consideration, but I will say this. To each their own. You don’t like the story, don’t read it instead of saying hurtful remarks. :) It’s very simple!

Thank you to all of my readers who know that there is a difference between being helpful, and just plain mean <3 As the book is coming to an end soon, I hope I still have my loyal and amazing readers stick with me through the rest of it, and into the third one! (Can anyone guess who the third one is about?!)

Stay awesome!

Yusra looked up from the little bundle in her arms as her hospital room door opened, and as her family trickled into the room, she beamed at them.

“Mama!” Kareem exclaimed practically propelling himself out of Amir’s arms. However as he spotted the little face peeking out from the blanket, he came to a halt, before burying his face in his father’s neck and staring at his mother suspiciously.

“Salaam everyone!” Yusra exclaimed, and suddenly they were all swarming her, kissing and hugging her and the baby. Her mom was the first one to take him out of her arms, and she took the opportunity to pull Kareem onto the bed with her, hugging him tightly. He immediately snuggled into her chest, eyeing the bundle wrapped in the blue blanket that was being passed around the room.

“Yusra! You’re a hero! Almost twenty four hours! How do you feel?!” Ilham exclaimed, kissing her cousin on her cheek, and Yusra gave a weak laugh, brushing her older son’s hair away from his face.

“Exhausted,” she admitted with a large yawn, and her dad came to put his arm around her.

“Shall we leave you to sleep?” he asked worriedly, and she shook her head.

“No, stay for a little bit.” She pleaded, but suddenly her father had lost interest in talking to her for he was too busy taking his new grandson from his wife.

“Amir! He looks just like you!” Ilham squealed as her Uncle handed her the baby a few minutes later, and Yusra laughed.

“Just my luck! All this labor and he looks nothing like me!”

Amir laughed, and sat down next to his wife, pausing to place a kiss on her forehead.

“Hey Kareem is your spitting image! Let one look like me!” he joked, and hearing his name, Kareem sat up on his knees, peering anxiously at the new baby.

“Baby?” he asked pointing, and Yusra nodded.

“Yes that’s right Kareem!”

“My baby?” Kareem asked pointing at himself, and everyone laughed.

“He’s your baby brother.” Amir said, and Kareem’s eyes widened before he grinned.

“He’s a nice baby?”

It came out as a question, and as everyone laughed again, Yusra looked around the room.

“Where is Houssam? And Hana? I wanted to wait until everyone was here before we officially introduced him!”

“Um they should be right up.” Ilham said a little bit awkwardly, and true to her word, a few seconds later Hana appeared in the doorway.

“Yusra!” Hana exclaimed, rushing forward to hug her friend.

“Oh Hana! You are an angel to watch Kareem for us!” Yusra exclaimed before bursting into tears, and Hana stopped in her tracks.

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked worriedly, and both Amir and Yusra’s moms started to laugh.

“It’s totally normal for her to be overemotional right now.” Yusra’s mom explained.

“All the hormones.” Amir’s mom added.

“Ew I don’t want to hear that!”

Yusra’s eyes lit up as her brother entered the room, and he grinned at her before bending to kiss her head.

“Houssami!” she exclaimed.

“Hey habibtit! Where is he!? My new mini me!” he boomed, and as he turned around to find the baby in Hana’s arms, he folded his hands behind his back, turning awkwardly around to look at Yusra. “How are you feeling?” he asked, and she shrugged slightly.

“A little tired, a bit overemotional, but other than that, so happy.”

“Yallah habibti, we’ve waited long enough! What’s his name!?” Amir’s dad exclaimed, and Yusra reached out her arms for her son. As Hana gave him to her, she held him up slightly laughing as Kareem gently poked his arm.

“Everyone, this is Ayyoub Rashid Malik.”

A murmur of approval went around the room.

“Why did you chose Ayyoub?” Ilham asked curiously, and Yusra smiled, before settling the baby in the crook of her brother’s elbow.

“Because whenever my sickness gets the better of me, I remember Prophet Ayyoub (AS) and his patience. I just thought it was fitting.”

“It’s beautiful.” Her mom reassured her, and she smiled, dabbing at her eyes again.

“Why are you crying love?” Amir asked in amusement, and Yusra shrugged.

“I don’t know. I guess saying his name made it official.”

“And the twenty one hours of labor didn’t?” Ilham teased, and everyone laughed.

“So looks like you didn’t get to name anyone, huh Amir?” Houssam joked as he rocked the child in his arms, and Amir laughed.

“After what she went through to bring him here, I wouldn’t dare to even try to pick a name!”

The little group stayed in the room for another ten minutes before Yusra began to drift off to sleep, and after placing the infant in his crib next to his mother, one by one they left the room, Amir taking Kareem down to the cafeteria for some lunch, Ilham getting back to her family, and all of the parents leaving back to their own homes.

That of course left Hana and Houssam.

“He’s beautiful.” She said as they stood outside Yusra’s room and he nodded.

“MashaAllah.”

“MashaAllah.”

An awkward silence fell over them, before she gripped her purse strap tightly in her hand.

“Well I should get going.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

“Look Houssam, I don’t want us to fight. But at the same time, all we do is fight. About things that we shouldn’t be fighting about. In all honestly, sometimes I feel like we fight about total….” She hesitated, and he tilted his head in amusement.

“Were you going to cuss?”

“No!” she exclaimed with a scowl, and he laughed.

“You so were! Haha oh my God!”

“Stop!”

He folded his arms across his chest with a grin before his face became somber.

“Okay, we fight a lot. But we are also great together when we aren’t fighting, and you can’t deny that.”

“But are we going to spend our whole marriage arguing!?”

Houssam shrugged.

“Who knows? We might suddenly surpass Yusra and Amir in the greatest couple department once we are married!”

Hana’s mouth quirked up in a smile.

“Okay, I really have to go for class, I’m going to be late if I don’t hurry. But I’ll have Hisham call you when the three of us can meet.”

He winced slightly.

“Yeah okay. Salaam Hana.”

“Walaikumasalaam.”

***

“So what we can learn from this, is that you may plan, and I may plan, but who is the best of planners?!”

“Allah!” The class cried in unison, and Hana nodded in satisfaction.

“Bravo Alaikum. MashaAllah!” she put the board marker back down, and walked over to her desk, picking up a book. “So turn to your blue workbook and work on pages fifty eight through sixty one until your parents get here.”

As the class groaned, Hana smiled, before sitting back down at her desk, taking out the tests the kids had done earlier in class and beginning to grade. She had gotten through about five when there was a knock on the open classroom door, and as she looked up, her eyes widened in surprise.

“Kalthoum!?” she asked in astonishment, and her well for lack of a better word, friend, lingered in the doorway.

“Hi Hana. Sorry to bother you. I was just passing by the Masjid and I knew you had class, and I thought we could talk for a few minutes?”

“Um, well come in.” she said, motioning her forwards. “Back to work!” she ordered the class who was staring at the new comer, and after much grumbling, they did just that.

Kalthoum took a seat next to the edge of Hana’s desk, and gripped her purse tightly across her lap.

“So how have you been?” she asked after a few moments of silence, and Hana raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Fine. Alhamdulillah. You?”

Kalthoum nodded.

“I’ve been okay.”

“Good.”

As another silence fell over them, Hana tapped her pen on her desk, wondering why Kalthoum was there.

“I’m sorry Hana!” Kalthoum blurted out.

Well that cleared that up.

“Really? For what?” Hana asked, even though she knew very well what Kalthoum was talking about. She just wanted to make her friend suffer.

And yes, she knew it was mean.

Kalthoum shifted.

“For everything. For behaving the way I did. For breaking off a lifetime friendship for a guy. For selling you out like that.”

Hana nodded, not really sure what to say.

“Do you forgive me?” Kalthoum asked after a few moments of silence, and Hana hesitated.

“I forgive you. But as to if we can be friends again,” she shrugged, “I’m not sure.”

Kalthoum eagerly gripped Hana’s hand in her own, her eyes clouded with tears.

“Oh please Hana! I’m so sorry! I donated all the money I got from the tabloids to the Masjid, I’ve repented like a billion times. Please tell me what to do to make things right!?”

Hana was quiet for a few moments as she contemplated what to say. Kalthoum had hurt her pretty badly. She had assisted in tearing up her and Houssam’s characters, and she had betrayed her. But if Kalthoum was honest in her repentance…

“Just give me some time. I won’t be able to just jump right back into being friends. Too much has happened. But maybe over some time.”

Kalthoum nodded.

“Okay. InshaAllah I hope everything will be okay with us! I miss you!”

Hana smiled.

“Thank you.”

After Kalthoum had gone, Hana, finished graded her papers, albeit slightly distracted. Soon class came to an end, and after the last of the children had been picked up, she packed up her bag, locked the classroom door, and set out towards her car. Halfway there her phone rang, and as she took it out of it’s side pocket, she felt her heart sink as she looked at the screen.

“Hello?”

“Hana?” came a choked up voice, “It’s Abdullah. I just wanted to let you know, my mom passed away.”