Excitement.

إِنَّ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ وَٱلْمُسْلِمَٰتِ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ وَٱلْقَٰنِتِينَ وَٱلْقَٰنِتَٰتِ وَٱلصَّٰدِقِينَ وَٱلصَّٰدِقَٰتِ وَٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ وَٱلصَّٰبِرَٰتِ وَٱلْخَٰشِعِينَ وَٱلْخَٰشِعَٰتِ وَٱلْمُتَصَدِّقِينَ وَٱلْمُتَصَدِّقَٰتِ وَٱلصَّٰٓئِمِينَ وَٱلصَّٰٓئِمَٰتِ وَٱلْحَٰفِظِينَ فُرُوجَهُمْ وَٱلْحَٰفِظَٰتِ وَٱلذَّٰكِرِينَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًا وَٱلذَّٰكِرَٰتِ أَعَدَّ ٱللَّهُ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا

For Muslim men and women,- for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in Charity, for men and women who fast (and deny themselves), for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in Allah's praise,- for them has Allah prepared forgiveness and great reward

(Aaya 35, Surah Al - Ahzaab)

* * *

The sun filtered through the large windows, illuminating the newly decorated room. Basheera,Raeesa and Roshan stood at the threshold of the room, admiring their work.

Raeesa was in her last trimester, anytime now she would be due, so they had decided to put their plans into action and were impressed with the result of their hard work.

Baby pink curtains hung from the  silver rod, suspended by iolet hooks, the curtains of both the windows  were swept aside, allowing the sunlight to filter through the large windows. A stunning, intricately carved  silver mirror was mounted between the two windows, two shelves were  fitted on the left side of the room, holding a basket of the babies toiletries and other necessities as well as some soft toys and books that were important for her to read regarding the welfare of her baby as well as herself,  below the shelves stood drawers, as well as a cupboard, the top of which was the baby's changing station, beside it lay the baby's carry basket that had been gifted by Roshan, a beautiful steel cot, with four posters on either side stood perpendicular to the drawers, gifted by Basheera, the organza white curtains were yet to be draped around the cot to give it a princessy look, for no doubt she would be their little princess who would be spoilt to no end, beside the cot stood a couch, covered in baby pink material, matching the colour scheme of the room, infront of the cot lay a plush, fluffy, soft pink rug and above the cot, suspended by an intertwined silver rope, hung a miniature chandelier, the exquisite crystals shone in the sun light, casting pretty patterns onto the walls.

Even though Uthmaan wanted the gender of the baby to be a surprise Raeesa had insisted that it was imperative to know the gender in order to shop accordingly, he finally gave in and allowed her to find out. They had argued and disagreed even more during her pregnancy for he had discouraged her from having a baby shower and a cake revealing the gender of the baby.

He had reprimanded her and advised her to buy other necessities with that money or give it in charity if she had nothing better to do with it, as celebrations like engagement parties, mendi functions, bridal showers and baby showers were all baseless in Islaam and if carried out, would be following the ways of the non mulsims which was strongly discouraged in Islaam and even though he had reprimanded her in the softest tone and the most gentle manner, trying to make her understand, her total  opposite mindset, her stubborn nature and to top it off, her pregnancy mood swings prevented her from understanding his way of thinking which lead them to countless disputes and arguments.

Eventually, much to Uthmaan's relief and Raeesa's dismay, they hadn't celebrated a baby shower, instead they put all their efforts into decorating the room before the arrival of the baby and like how Uthmaan had suggested, Basheera had encouraged Raeesa to donate  some extra money to an orphanage, that would put the money to good use. Surely they did need it more than she did, with the generous amount that she had donated alot of  important things could be bought for the kids.

When Raeesa along with Basheera  had later visited the orphanage to donate some more money, she had received a warm welcome from the kids, in the form of full blown smiles and  numerous hugs.  As soon as she entered, all of them showed gratitude to her for the new things they were able to buy.

When she witnessed the heart warming scene, her heart had swelled with pride, she was so proud and happy that Allah SWT had bestowed her with a husband who always thought of the less fortunate and opened her eyes to the world around her as well.

From that day onwards, she made a firm intention to visit the little kids whenever she had time and to donate as much as she could, for their gratitude, their smiles and the sparkle in their innocent eyes had softened her heart. Allah SWT had bestowed them with sufficient wealth and it was only right that they use their wealth to help the less fortunate, for wealth was also a test from Allah SWT and could be a means of man's destruction if not used in the correct manner.

The girls settled in the living room, devouring the take outs that they had purchased. They were absolutely  famished, designing a little princesses room was not an easy task, more so  because they had decided to do the painting, as well as the drilling, fitting in the shelves, the chandelier and mounting the mirror  and the frames all on their own. Surely they could afford professional people to do all that, but what fun would there be in that? They wanted to do everything from scratch with their very own hands.

After they had cleaned up the mess they created, the two girls stretched on the couches while Raeesa excused herself, going to the  guest bathroom downstairs. She paced the bathroom as sharp pains attacked her stomach, wincing  as the pains became  stronger.

She didn't want to scare the girls by informing them that she was possibly experiencing labour pains already, they would panic and force her to go along  with them to the hospital. There was only an hour left for Uthmaan to return from work, she wanted him to take her to the hospital , she would wait until he returned. Hopefully her water wouldn't break before that.

"So Naseera had been an awfully quiet girl in school. She minded her own business and never really socialised with people, only few of us who were close to her knew her crazy side. One day a boy came upto her, telling her how shocked he was about the letter and he was ready to give them a chance. She was extremely confused and she asked him what he was droning on about. He had told her that he found a letter on his desk that had her name written on it, asking him if he could go out with her.  She had been so furious at the poor boy, not realising it was a prank that someone else had pulled and he was totally unaware of it, she stood up and outright slapped him. We were all super shocked and there was literally pin drop silence in the entire class, the poor boy was slapped and humiliated  infront of the entire class for no fault of his own. Later on she happened to over hear a group of girls talking about who actually  wrote the silly letter, next thing you know , she dumped her whole cup of milkshake on that girls head during lunch break."
Roshan related the comical tale of her once quiete friend who became the centre of attention within one week.

Basheera laughed.
"Oh Allah, poor guy, he must have been devastated. I really don't know what enjoyment girls derive from pulling pranks on others, especially  those who don't even get in their way."

Roshan nodded.
"I know right, so Naseera was awfully embarrassed about slapping that boy and humiliating him infront of the whole class. Even though she wasn't one who spoke to the opposite gender, unless it was necessary, she thought it was binding upon her to explain to him what actually transpired and apologise for her rash behaviour. So, during recess she plucked up the courage to walk up to his group of friends, while we watched from a distance. What we saw had our mouths hanging in astonishment, instead of an apology and her walking away, she had slapped him once again and stormed off , her face red with rage . The only thing that was missing was the steam from her ears and she would resemble the WhatsApp angry emoticon."

Basheera giggled, she really enjoyed Roshan's company. She always had a thrilling story to relate.
"What happened?"

Roshan shook her head.
"He had accepted her apology, but had asked her if they really could date!"

Basheera laughed. 
"Oh no! What a douche."

"She was a sight to see that day, mumbling incoherent things, pacing the classroom with her hands balled into fists and constantly regretting 'touching' a boy twice in one week."

Before Basheera could respond, they heard Raeesa's strangled voice. They were so involved in their discussion they hadn't realised that she had been in the bathroom for quite some time.

"Girls! I need your help!"

They both shot up immediately, rushing to the bathroom with thumping hearts.

When they saw Raaesa clutching the basin for support, her trouser wet with some liquid, both of them exchanged panicked looks, not knowing what to do. No one had informed them what to do with a woman when her water broke and she was about to give birth.

Raeesa shut her eyes tightly, then fluttered them open glaring at the girls who stood still, gaping at her like two confused idiots.

"Why are you both staring  at me! One of you go and fetch some clean clothes and the hospital bag!"
She yelled.

Basheera dashed out of the bathroom, ascending the stairs two at a time, she frantically searched for a comfortable pair of pyjamas, made sure there were extra clothes and other necessities  in the  bag, zipped up the bag, grabbed Raeesa's phone and sped down the stairs, hoping that Uthmaan would arrive soon, she didn't know if she would manage to drive Raeesa to the hospital in her panicked state. She tried to calm herself down.

Calm down Bashi, she's going to give birth, she's not on the verge of death.

She came to an abrupt stop outside the bathroom, death! That thought caused shivers to run down her spine and a wave of pain to wash over her heart.

Death was no joke and to have a beloved taken away from you was not an easy thing to live with, if it were not for her Imaan she didn't know how she would cope, two people who were most beloved to her now resided six feet below the ground, only Allah knew the pain their death caused her.

She shook away her thoughts, this was not the time for deep musings, her friend was about to give birth!

She ran into the bathroom, setting her clothes on the counter, she noticed Roshan was not present.

"Where's Roshan."

Raeesa took a deep breath, motioning for her too exit the bathroom so that she could shower.

"Phoning my mother."

She heard, as she closed the door behind her. Just as she was about to leave, she heard Raeesa yelling.

"Phone Uthmaan please, we have less time!"

She quickly scrolled through the contact list, contemplating whether to give Roshan the phone. She had never even looked at Uhtmaan properly, it would be awfully awkward to phone him.

She slapped her forehead, her friend was going to give birth in the shower, if she stood here in contemplation.

She quickly clicked on the contact hubby.

He picked up after the second ring, greeting her in a sweet and loving tone.

"Assalamualaykum my gorgeous wifey! Do you miss me already!"

She cleared her throat awkwardly, quickly replying to him before she heard something else that was not meant for her to hear. 

"Umm uh...Waalykumsalam. It's Basheera, Raeesa's friend speaking. She wants you home immediately, it's urgent."

When he heard that, his embarrassment flew out of the window. He quickly muttered that he was coming, before he cut the call. 

Basheera informed Raeesa that he was on his way.

Both watched helplessly as she paced in the living room, stopping in between and taking  a deep breath while holding  onto her stomach.

After fifteen minutes when there was still no sign of Uthmaan, they lead her towards Basheera's car.

Just as she was about to climb into the car, his car screeched to a halt.

He climbed out of the car, walking towards her with long strides.

"Are you sure it's time and not another false contraction."

"Can you just take me to the hospital Uhtmaan!"

She gritted, annoyed at his silly question.

She did have false contractions twice  before, but couldn't he see how much of pain she was in currently.

Without another word, he hurriedly lead her to the car with the help of Roshan, skidding off while Basheera and Roshan followed him in her own car.

"The guy looks terrified!'
Roshan laughed, feeling sorry for her poor brother in law who had to deal with the wrath of a pregnant woman for nine whole months.

Basheera nodded, while changing the gears.
"It is the first time, so he will be!"

Once they had parked the car, they hurried towards the appointed ward, meeting Raeesa's father outside. Her mother and husband had gone in with her. Basheera and Roshan sat on either side of him, exchanging greetings and pleasantries. 

Basheera noticed his furrowed brows and his forehead creased with worry.

"Don't worry  Uncle Mahmood, she will be okay in Sha Allah."
She assured.

He nodded, passing her a weak smile.

His Raeesa was a sensitive and soft girl from small, one small cut and she would perform and demand affection and attention, she wasn't a tough and brave girl like his Roshan. He didn't know how she would manage giving birth, it was no tedious task. He had witnessed the pain his wife went through when delivering his two princesses. He just hoped Allah SWT made it easy for her. 

Two hours later, after immense pain, stress and fatigue, the family huddled around a drained out Raeesa, admiring the bundle of joy, wrapped up in a soft pink blanket. After being cleaned up, bathed and fed, she slept peacefully in her fathers embrace, while Basheera along with both sets of little Munnawara's grand parents amdired her with pride and joy in their hearts.

Raaesa watched them all with  a content smile, struggling to keep her eyes open. She had never in her life experienced such  excrutiating pain, and only Allah knew how she went through with it. After carrying a baby for nine months and going through  what she had a few hours ago, her love and respect for her mother increased ten fold.

Now she understood why a woman's status is so high in Islaam, it's because of all the pain and sacrifice they are put through. She gazed at her mother with love and adoration, her mother returned her tender smile.

Attiya and Roshan had not exchanged any words, she hadn't voiced her thoughts to her mother, but by the look in her daughters eyes, by the tender smile she wore and the countless emotions that reflected in her eyes, Attiya knew exactly what she was thinking, for she had once been in her daughters place, thinking the exact same thing while she gazed at her mother.

After everyone filed out of  the room, reluctantly. Uthmaan was left alone with his wife and his little princess, who had already captured his heart in her tiny fists. He placed Munnawara in the cot, wheeling it beside the hospital bed, pecking her cute little button nose before he turned his attention to his wife.

He grinned at her, his love and respect for her apparent in his expressive dark brown orbs.

After he had witnessed the difficulty a woman had to undergo whilst giving birth, his respect for his wife as well as his mother increased immensely. 

He held her hand in his own, softly caressing her face, he gently placed a kiss on the back of her hand and pecked her forehead, as she stared at him with love shinning in her eyes.

This was one of the most emotional and most memorable moments of her life, her little princess beside her and her husband looking down upon her like she was the most precious, most loved and most important thing in the entire world.  Unable to keep her eyes open anymore, her eyes fluttered closed, a small smile of contentment apparent on her fatigued face. Alhamdulillah she had been blessed in numerous ways.