CHAPTER | EIGHTEEN | UMAYMAH | POV

Shoaib and I both wave goodbye to both families from the door and watched them speed home in their cars. It had been two hours since we came back from the wedding, two hours since I asked if the little girl, Laila, wanted to stay with us.

Both families had been surprised and not to mention the shock on Shoaib's face when I went looking for him. Since we had come home with Laila and her aunt, we had constantly been discussing if this was the right thing to do. I was only 17 and Shoaib 18 but that didn't mean we were incapable of such a thing.

It took a whole load of convincing from her aunt and our families to let Laila stay overnight with us. Laila however, happily ran in the house with her curls bouncing up and down, claiming that she was excited to be with her mom again.

That's when everyone saw the seriousness of the situation. She already saw me as her mom and no one could deny how heartbroken she would feel if separated again.

"I think we should go check on her." I suggested to Shoaib and he gave me a bid to proceed upstairs.

As we walked upstairs to the spare bedroom I couldn't help but remember how silent my husband had been throughout this whole arrangement. It was surprising how he stood up for me though and said he didn't mind looking after Laila.

Before we could open the door to her room, I turned around to face Shoaib, "are you okay with this?" I had to know what he thought of this and that he wasn't just doing this because I wanted to.

"Of course. I've always wanted a kid and now we get one with no hassle." He teased and shoved my shoulder as he opened the door, leaving me to smile like a fool.

Inside the room was light since Laila didn't like the dark. In the middle of the double bed that was too big, slept Laila with her curls spread out on the pillows and one thumb in her slightly opened mouth. The sight was adorable.

Gently I moved over to her side to try and wake her up. She needed some food in her like the rest of us did.

"Laila, baby wake up." She must have been a light sleeper because within the next few seconds her eyelids started to flutter open, showing her green orbs.

For a minute she just stared at me and Shoaib, but also looked around the room as if trying to figure out where she was. Her nose crinkled which must've meant she was confused.

"Baby are you okay?" I asked a bit worriedly at her.

Her eyes snapped back to mine and it was just in time that I caught her smiling before she lunged herself at me, making me lose my balance and fall on my back on the bed. From behind us Shoaib's laughter could be heard and I couldn't help but smile.

"Mommy." Was all Laila said before I picked her up and settled her on my hips.

"We're going to go eat now. What would Laila like?" Laila looked at Shoaib in thought before finally speaking up.

"I want spaghetti! With those balls and sauce like mommy always makes them. Can we have that, please?"

"Of course we can. Come here." Shoaib took her in his arms and she happily settled her face in the crook of his neck.

The two of them began going down the stairs, talking about how they wanted their spaghetti while all I could do was watch them. Before I could go down with them, I needed to change out of my attire and something more...comfortable. There was also a problem with finding something for Laila.

Going into our own room, I began stripping off the dress, careful not to ruin any detail of it. If it wasn't the fact that I now had a daughter, this day might have gone a little smoother with less arguments and confusion. But hey, what's an Arab family with no drama?

The hijab which had been on my head since we came back was finally off and I was now in more comfortable clothes. Now all I had to do was find something for Laila to wear for the night while I washed her clothes. Let the search begin I suppose.

Rummaging through my side of the wardrobe, I looked for anything that could be small enough to fit the little girl. It took some time but I finally found a shirt that could pass by as a dress on her and happily I exited the room and down the stairs to the kitchen where Shoaib was filling the contents of spaghetti on a plate for Laila.

"Mm, this smells delicious." I entered the kitchen with a smile and they both looked up at me.

"Mommy come eat with us. Daddy made us food." I didn't have the heart to tell her earlier on to not call us that and even though I shouldn't be getting my hopes up, I liked it when she said those words.

"Yeah mommy, come join us." I rolled my eyes at Shoaib but nonetheless went to grab a plate and fill it up.

We were all now seated at the table and it looked like they were all waiting for me to join them. The shirt for Laila was now on the chair next to me and I'd have to change her after she was done.

"Don't forget to say Bismillah hayati." I reminded her, almost shocked to hear that I sounded like my own mother.

In front of me I watched her say the words before messily digging in to her food. Beside me Shoaib wore a smile and squeezed my hand under the table.

"You know, I think we can actually make this work. She seems to like us both." He said and I looked at him to see how sincere he was. He already seemed to be bonding greatly with Laila and so was I; sounding and caring like a mother should towards their child.

"We could. But we also have school. How would we take the time looking after her?" I didn't want to think about her because I just as badly wanted to keep Laila here.

"I already thought about that while you were upstairs. Why not let her stay with her aunt on the weekdays and with us on weekends? Obviously we have to go through the whole court procedure, but if she wants to stay with us then she can." It was times like this where I was surprised at how mature my husband was. A month ago he would never have showed this side to me.

"You've thought it all out haven't you?" I asked with a chuckle and I, myself began to start eating the noodles on my plate. Like always, Shoaib's cooking skills were beyond amazing and always left me wanting more.

For the rest of the dinner I would have liked to say it was quiet, but since our conversation I found out that Laila was a messy eater, and so I had to end up feeding her and wiping all the sauce she managed to get on her face every ten seconds. It was the longest and most tiring meal I've had.

"Okay now we need to get you changed okay? I'm sorry we don't have any clothes for you, so you'll have to wear mine." She seemed enthusiastic about this as she dragged me to the front room so she can get changed.

Laughing I began undressing her and putting her dirty clothes to the side as I slipped on my shirt over her tiny frame. It came just past her kneecap and looked like an actual dress on her, rather than a shirt. I was grateful; at least she can wear this till we sort out any clothes for her.

"Do you want to watch some TV now?" I asked as she settled on to the sofa.

"Yes please." I smiled and joined her, placing her on my lap this time. I was glad that she seemed to already have manners, so teaching her wouldn't be a problem at all.

Turning the TV on with the remote, I settled on watching SpongeBob with her since I liked it too and figured she would as well. I was right as the famous, yellow sponge appeared she began squealing his name and claiming how she was his favourite.

At the same time Shoaib decided to walk in with a bunch of snacks which I wanted to grab and stuff in my face, but we just ate and this wouldn't have been a good example for Laila.

"Do we need all of this?" I asked to Shoaib with narrowed eyes so that he could get the message and take everything back in the kitchen.

"Well you've never complained before." He said while laughing and placing the bowls down at the same time Laila went and grabbed a piece of popcorn.

"Laila you've just eaten. Maybe we can have some in the morning." I suggested.

The look on her face made me want to take everything back and let her eat the candy and chocolates that she wanted, but I needed to prove that I could look after her and not just succumb to what she wanted. Her eyes had now widened and her lips supported a pout which would have made it impossible to say no to.

"I'm sorry baby girl, but these aren't good for you." I said in a final tone.

Getting up I took the bowls with me and once out of sight I popped a few snacks into my own mouth. Laila couldn't have any but I could have as much as I wanted to. I felt a little evil knowing that this is what parents did behind their kids back.

With the bowls back where they belong and some in my stomach, I went back into the living room but stopped by the door to look at Laila and Shoaib having a little tickle war on the sofa. I could hear them from the kitchen but it was much better seeing upfront and close at how cute they both looked. Unbelievably Shoaib seemed to have great parenting skills already.

But then it hit me: what if we weren't good parents? It takes a lot more to look after a child than just cooking and tickling each other. Quickly I dismissed the thought and replaced the frown with a slight smile and walked back in.

"Hey there babies. Why you having fun without me? That's not fair." Laila giggled as a pout settled on my lips while Shoaib smirked at me, looking like he had something evil planned.

In a sudden I too was pulled down onto the sofa with them as a squeal left my mouth. I didn't have time to register anything else as two pair of hands began tickling each of my side. This was not fun. At all.

Screaming for them to stop seemed to be the only sentence I could form apart from the squeals and laughter coming out of my mouth. Thinking they would actually listen to me was a waste because they just carried on doing so.

What seemed like forever, they had finally stopped and all of us were successfully out of breath. Now that it was over I had to admit it was almost fun. Keyword being almost.

"Again, again!" I all but stared at Laila wide eyed and backed away from the toddler as she was about to put her hands on my sides again.

"No! I'll do anything, just don't tickle me." I said desperately and I meant it. I had learnt after today that being tickled isn't something I enjoy and is probably the worst means of torture right after taking away my food.

Both Shoaib and Laila looked at each other again with knowing eyes which left me curious. What were these two kids thinking of?

"How about one sweet and then we'll stop." Shoaib said. I couldn't help but glare at him but his cheeky smile feint falter at my look.

I weighed my options: deny them the rights of having chocolates and sweet goodies and have them tickle me till tears fell, or save myself the torture and give up.

The latter it is.

"Fine. But it's bed time after and only one candy each. Okay?" I said sounding stern and stood up to have them both follow me. Laila was up in Shoaib's arms while they watched me get out two candies for them.

I watched them scoff down the sweets like no tomorrow and tried my hardest to hide the smile threatening to show. Somehow it felt that Laila was needed here more than we thought - she was bringing a change in our lives, for the better or worse I didn't know.

Looking back at the two, they had now finished and Laila looked more content than ever to have a bit of sugar in her.

"Laila baby. Do you want to stay with us?" I asked, waiting for her answer.

She looked at me for a second before a smile broke out in her features, "yes!" I heard her squeal before she once again jumped forward to my arms.

***

What a short chapter this was! I'm sorry for that but a massive dedication goes out to percabeth1223 for having the most amazing feedback and being so hooked in this story and my other one ❤️ You were the reason I chose to finish off this chapter & I hope you enjoy.

I'm also sorry because the picture of Laila won't come up and it's so annoying! I'll try fixing it 😒