Chapter 68 02

He had slept, longer than he had ever imagined. And this was the most calming sleep he had ever had since after Hassan's demise. He could feel her fingers roaming carelessly through his hair and he knew she was deep in thought, but it was what lulled him to sleep even more. When he stirred and tried to open his eyes, it was pitch black and the only light came from the kitchen. He heard the squirms of Baby H from her room and realized he had missed the boy. She had been so overprotective of the child since after their fight. He knew they weren't back to normal yet, but at least, they were on good terms now. He carefully sat upright when he noticed that she was sleep on the sofa and laid her to sleep comfortably. He took the hijab off for her and stared at the dress she had worn. He gulped down a lump in his throat and stared at how her skin glowed like that of a child. He had never seen this much of her skin and it was a sight to behold. So, that was why she had worn the hijab? It was a short gown that stoop just above her knees and the way she laid was revealing half her thighs and he just couldn't take his eyes off that. And the chest? He'd rather not fantasize over what he knew he'd never have. Baby H broke into a baby shrill and he quickly kissed her cheek and covered her half body with the hijab before he walked to the room. "Oh my baby!" He called out with a husky voice, a warm smile on his lips. "I've really missed you, my child." He scooped him into his arms and muffled a kiss on his forehead. "You're looking really healthy." Baby H chuckled in a childish way and Hussain chuckled along with him. Not for once, had he thought that he wasn't his child. Hussain felt that deep and sacrificial love a father had for his child and in his heart, he had no first child apart from him. "Let's get you something to eat, you're hungry, right?" Cradling him into his arms, he walked to the kitchen and quickly made a warm milk for him before he took his back to the room and began to feed him. He didn't know when she had walked into the room until he heard the sound of her stifling a yawn. He looked up and found out that she was holding the hijab in one hand and had never looked as relaxed as she did now. "Why didn't you wake me up?" She asked, her eyes glancing at the clock beside her bed. "It's past praying time." She said silently and he shot her a quizzical look. "Praying time?" He couldn't help but ask, and she nodded her head with a confused expression. "Yes, haven't you prayed even isha already?" She dropped the hijab on the bed and walked towards the bathroom. "I need to take my bathe and pray again. Make sure you keep him up because if not, I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight if he gets more than the sleep he should." Stifling another yawn, he turned to look at his flustered face. "You're looking pale. Did something happened?" She asked, not sure why he had that look on his face that looked so funny on him. "Are you praying?" He asked, gulping down a lump in his throat and she slightly rolled her eyes at him. "Am I not a muslim? Of course I pray..." Then realization dawned on her and she gasped softly before she placed both hands on her lips. "Oh god! Oh, yes. I stated yesterday in the evening." It was now her turn to be flustered. She quickly walked into the bathroom and heard the soft squeal that was certainly his voice, not Baby H's. She deliberately stayed a bit long in the bathroom, hoping that he'd give her the privacy she needed. But when she turned the doorknob, she saw that he was playing children's music on his phone for Baby H. She quickly got out of the bathroom, totally forgetting that the towel she had here was so short for her and she had only managed it because she was practically living alone. Well, before she decided to forgive him. "You can't play that for him, Hussain. Maybe Qur'an will be the better idea!" She said as she walked and stood beside him, snatching the phone away. He started from her toe, how fresh she scented with the perfumery of her shower gel and the tantalizing scent of her skin. And up to those thighs that made him gulped down a lump in his stomach and he could feel the automatic reaction of his body. And then came her chest, carefully stacked into her towel as she carefully placed her hand over them protectively. "Why?" He drawled when his eyes got to her face and there was a crimson red on her cheeks. Was she affected by his stare? But, he couldn't help. Not when he knew that she was now pure again and...well, he softly shrugged off his shoulders, thinking of all the things he wanted to do with Nadia. And he'd be damned if he wouldn't get all that the had been fantasizing about her for...years. Yes, to two years now, if he was going to be a bit truthful and precise. "It's not good for their brain. At least the Qur'an will open their brain, plus the protection it will provide and also..." She took her eyes off his face, off those eyes that stared hungrily at her and he wasn't even trying to hide what he was feeling. She had felt his eyes with each graze over her body and she felt as though she had been standing on fire. "It's better if you give me some privacy, will you?" She said, sitting on the vanity stool as she stared at how he had still been staring at her through the mirror. "Stop staring at me that way, Hussain. For god sake! At least hide what you're feeling!" She looked around for her hijab to cover her body from him but it was no where to be found. She stared up at him and shot him a heated gaze. "Please!" She screamed at the pitch of her as she palmed her face. "Stop looking at me that way!" She whined and he chuckled at how her voice sounded. "Which way am I looking at you?" He innocently asked, scooping Baby H into his arms as he walked towards the door. He knew clearly what would happen if he stayed in the same room as her while she was in that flimsy towel of hers. She looked so desirable that he would do anything to have her right at the moment. "You know the way. And you know you can't do anything, right? It's our agreement, don't even try to break it or do something close to it. The fact that I'm praying doesn't guaranty anything, okay?" She rolled her eyes at him and he chuckled. "Look at you, having all those dirty thoughts when all I did was just stared at an art masterfully crafted by Allah. I was merely admiring a masterpiece..." She screamed and closed her ears with her palms. He threw his head back and laughed while opening the door, "Let's leave Ammi alone, Baby H." She heard his laughter echoing through the hallway to the living room and no matter how she wanted to keep that expression, she burst into a peal of smiles and blushes. What had she done to deserve the Alkali brothers? They just knew what to do and say to get to the deepest core of your heart without even trying from their side. She quickly got ready and prayed her missed prayers. She couldn't get up from the praying mat, what Hussain did had reminded her of Hassan in ways she had never imagined it would and she didn't expect to feel this heaviness in her heart. She laid on the prayer as she rained du'as to the man she had loved and will forever love, while she thought about her future with his brother. Could she do this? Live with Hussain as if nothing had ever happened? As if Hassan had never existed? She cried a bit and when she heard the knock on the door, she quickly wiped at her tears and silently prayed that it didn't show on her face that she had cried. "Your dinner is ready, Ammi. Or, should it be served on bed?" He asked with a teasing tone and she chuckled softly, giving way for more of her tears to roll down. And isn't she lucky that all the brothers wanted to keep her happy? Yes, she knew they had had their fair share of bad things with Hussain, but it was obvious that he wanted her to be happy, and by his side. She didn't know how she came to that conclusion, but she did and she could swear she was right. A thought creeped into her mind while she got to her feet and she shrugged her shoulders, "He doesn't have to love me to want me by his side." She said to herself and opened the door, eying him with a warm smile. "I've never heard dinner served on the bed. Or, maybe, you mean something else?" Naughtily, she winked at him and brushed past him to the dining table, where he had magically prepared a healthy meal for them and Baby H played his baby gurgles to himself. "You cooked this?" She asked after he sat down, clearly amazed. Hussain nodded his head before he served her himself, "You've just began to pray for me not to leave you to reconnect with Allah. So, as the best of husband of..." She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Best husband indeed." Sarcastically, she flashed him a smile and Hussain chuckled. "Singleton, you'd definitely think of me as the best husband. You're clearly impressed just because I've cooked dinner, wait until I cook something in that precious womb of yours." She gasped and a blush ran to showcase itself on her cheeks. "Hussain!" She whined and tried to muster a serious expression but she looked flustered by his words. "Our rules, you can't break them." "But you can, right? Don't worry, we won't have any regrets even after we do. But now that I have you? I plan to keep you by myself for the rest of my life. No, that's too short for me, for eternity. Both in this dunya and akhirah, I want you to be my wife." The words, Ya Rabb! Was she hallucinating? Did she hear him right? It was hard to mask what she was actually feeling, but she did. She only shot him a pouted smile and began eating because she knew if she said a word, she might do it wrong. She might lay her heart for him and he wouldn't be the only one to be surprised. Even she herself didn't know what was in her heart for him, yet. She realized he hadn't been eating since and when she looked up, he was staring right into her. "Do I have something on my face?" He absentmindedly shook his head. He knew he should take his eyes off her now, if he didn't want to make the mistake of laying his heart bare for her to see. But he couldn't, staring at her eat and do everything was the mostly therapeutic thing for him in life.? "I look ugly, right? This pregnancy fat is still yet to come off, do you guys have a gym around here?" She asked, self consciously and her words brought him out of his reverie. "You look perfect, Nadia. Like, you've always looked perfect in my eyes. A day has never come when you look less to the perfection I've set you with in my eyes. And I just love staring at you because it has been the only thing I've done for years, it's like a comfort zone for me. And sometimes, I still can't believe that you're finally mine. To keep, to make a family with...and to love." Love, she thought this word was forbidden between them? And he looked as shocked and taken aback as she did. But he didn't look someone that had mistakenly slipped a word he shouldn't. He looked like someone...that had finally gotten a years kept secret in his heart.