3months later

Afrah

She felt an overwhelming urge to simply drop the potato salad onto the table and run away. If a few dishes broke, it wasn't her problem. She could feel his eyes on her and she only prayed her jeans had not rolled up weirdly or her camisole had not ridden up giving anyone an inappropriate view of what may have been beneath her top.

She had known Raees would be there. How could he possibly miss the giant braai the night before Yusuf's wedding. What she hadn't considered was that it would be the first time he would be in their home as her friend as well. It was a very odd experience catching his sly half smile whenever he caught her looking or having him let her know that he liked the heels she was wearing even though he thought she could impale someone with it.

But it was kind of nice too.

It was nice returning his half smiles and to threaten him impending impalation if he tried feeding her parrot one more time. She could hear him laughing from the garden as he tried correcting her audacious butchering of the English language...

She didn't actually care.

She felt a shift in their friendship ever since that night.

It was the slightest of changes, barely even noticeable by either of them, but it had culminated into a most wondrous form of happiness that either had ever experienced. They weren't in a relationship and they were not best friends but they had formed an easy friendship that had allowed each one to confide in the other. It was simple and easy and it made her smile to receive his ridiculous memes or argue when he insisted he was right even though he was clearly wrong. There were numerous times when she had to screenshot actual articles just to prove that she was right and he was not and still he would refuse to believe her.

It was worse still when he was the one proving her wrong... he would gloat for days.

It was easy between them. They simply knew each other and that was that.

Almost everyone had left by the time she sat down with her cup of tea. Between Yumna being almost a week overdue and Israa and Ismaeel being more of a disaster than a help, a huge chunk of the work was left up to her. She had finally settled down on one of the tables with her mother and grandmother when she felt his shadow over her. She thought better of scrambling to put her shoes back on, knowing she'd just attract more attention from her grandmother than necessary and tried to drink her tea with all the grace and poise that had been instilled in her.

"How are you Aunty Zubaydah?" she tried not to smile into her cup as she heard his voice, only looking at him as if he were the same Raees he had been all those years ago.

Her mother gasped as she took him in. She hadn't seen him in almost 3 years and time had been very, very kind to him. "Look at you!" she stood up, gathering him into a large hug. She had missed him... God, she had missed him. He had been such a usual part of her household growing up that she had gotten used to just having him around. "Why don't you come to visit anymore?"

"Work, Aunty Zubaydah." He said, wrapping his arms around her. "You know how it goes."

"How's everyone at home?" Afrah noticed the way his eyes dropped as he heard the word home before he smiled quickly, covering it up.

"They're all well."

"I thought you were going to get married before Yusuf, you know. I had my dress picked out." Her mother joked, trying to cover up her slight blunder.

"You can still wear it." He replied easily, his glance shifting fleetingly to Afrah as he said it.

"Where... it doesn't fit me anymore."

"It's too big now, ne?"

Even Afrah giggled at how impossibly smooth he was. Her mother could only blush, swotting his shoulder. "You and your mouth..." she shook her head at him. "What happened to that girl anyway?" she asked, referring to Adeela.

"I guess she wasn't my cup of tea."

"I guess so." Her mother mused.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Aunty Zubaydah. It's a bit of a long drive home."

"Okay." She gathered him into one last hug, rubbing her hand gently through his hair as he hugged her back. She knew hugs... she knew the way he kids hugged her when they needed to be held just a little tighter and right now she knew that Raees needed that hug more than anything else in the world.

She sat down again, catching Afrah's gaze on her. "What?"

"Nothing." Afrah took a sip of her tea. "Where's my hug?" she teased, smiling slyly as she looked down at her cup once more.

"Go you!" her mother laughed, reddening as her sisters in law turned to look at her. "I don't want to hug you." she took another biscuit from the plate before her, watching as Afrah stood up to stretch out the kinks in her back. She felt this overwhelming sense of nostalgia collide into her. Her kids were little- still playing their stupid games in the garden, running away from Afrah as she chased after them happily in her walking ring. They would come in dirty and stinky with their mud balls and dissected worms and all she could do was smile as they placed it happily on her floor as if in offering to her...

And now they've all grown up. Her Afrah would be leaving her soon as well. She was sure of it... once one got married- they all got married. But she wanted to hold on to her for just a little while longer.

Just a little while.

Afrah squawked loudly as her mother grabbed her waist, pulling her taller frame down onto her lap before she hugged her to her warm body. "I love you, Afrah." Zubaydah said, kissing her softly on her cheek.

"I love you too." She nestled against her mother for a few seconds, forgetting that she wasn't a little kid anymore and she was almost a headspan taller than her mother. For those few seconds, she was her mummy's baby all over again and it was just them most glorious feeling in the whole world.

"Okay," her mother nudged her gently away, "Go now. You're getting heavy." Her mother joked, standing up to start clearing up the tables.

"Eish," Afrah said, looking affronted. "Broke my heart Mum. I can hear the cracks from here."

"Shame." Her mother swatted her bottom, urging her to get a move on. "I'll get you cellotape and you can fix it up, okay."

"Heartless, Mum." Afrah clutched her chest, laughing loudly as she dodged another swat to her bottom.

She hadn't realised it then but the memory of that moment would forever be embedded in her heart and throughout her life, whenever she needed it, she'd feel the same warmth that she felt just then and it would brighten up her heart as the sun brightens up the earth.

Sumayyah

If only her parents could see her now...

She looked out the window of their hotel room, smiling sadly at the vast garden below. Her aunties had cooed over how beautiful she looked and how Yusuf was such a lucky man but in that moment, she just couldn't will herself to smile at their kind words. More than anything, she wanted her mother's frail hands on her cheek and she wanted her father's large arms to encompass her- keep her safe.

No one could compare to them.

She had moved on with life but their presence had always lingered on in her heart. There were days when their memories had warmed her mind, forming a smile on her face that would last till she went to sleep at night but there were days, like today, when their loss had paralysed her and she could not move except to wipe stray tears from her cheek. She wished, with all her heart, that they were there to see her. Her mother had always imagined what she would look like on her wedding days. They would both lie on her bed, picturing her gown and the table décor and the food.

Her dress would be white with lime green embellishments. Lime green was always their favourite colour. It wouldn't have a train but the skirt would be full and big and her mother always said that when her husband sees her, he would want to look only at her. Nothing else would grab his attention but her...

Her mother's dreams had come true. Her dress was white and full and she had woven a lime green sash through the specially made loops on her waist. The only ornamentation she had needed was a pair of diamond studs that her mother had gifted to her and a simple gold chain that had dropped down into the neckline of her dress.

That was all she wanted.

She hadn't realised that her aunties had moved slowly out of the room neither did her ears prickle at the silence that had descended upon her. Her gaze lingered on the same patch of white roses that were blooming below her window.

She could almost pretend that her parents were there, looking up at her...

She didn't hear the slight creak of the door as it opened nor the soft footsteps of upon the light wooden floors.

He had stepped closer and closer to her, his eyes raking over the image she made...

Heaven made

She looked down at his touch, feeling his fingers over her own for the first time. It was soft and gentle and he held onto her as if she were made of the most delicate petals known to man. She turned slowly in his arms, looking up at him.

Her husband

She smiled thinking those words. He was her husband... she wasn't alone anymore.

His lips were warm, pressing softly over her knuckles.

"Beautiful."

Absolutely beautiful.