by Leslie North
Joseph took Aaliyah's hand in his and kissed it. “I think you enjoyed that a bit too much,” he teased.
“No, it was average,” Aaliyah replied blandly, trying to keep a straight face. He turned to her and raised an eyebrow.
“It did not sound as if you were having an average experience. I am surprised that the neighbours have not called the police.”
“Well, then, it’s a good thing that you are the police,” she said as she grinned. She had to admit that she enjoyed herself more than usual. She had been so aroused lately. She could not understand what was going on with her body.
“Yes, perhaps that is a good thing. Especially if you are going to be as loud as you were.”
“If you want me to be as loud as you thought I was, then you will have to try harder,” she teased.
“Try harder?”
Joseph pulled Aaliyah closer to him as she tried to wiggle out of his embrace. “Let me go,” she laughed as he started tickling her.
Joseph was laughing too and suddenly blurted out, “I want to marry you.”
Aaliyah stopped laughing and turned to face him. “What did you say?” she wondered if she had heard correctly. She sat up and stared at him. He had just said it without thinking. He had hoped to propose to her during a more romantic moment. “You want to marry me?” she asked.
“I do,” he replied.
“Are you asking?”
Joseph laughed. “I would have wanted to do it at more appropriate time, but yes, I am asking,” he said. Aaliyah jumped on him.
“Of course, I will marry you,” she shouted as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. She had never been so happy in her life. Everything was falling into place and finally making sense. Joseph laughed and held her tighter.
“Liya,” Joseph said softly.
“What?” she released him from her embrace to look at him. She held his face in her hands.
“I love you so much,” he said simply.
Aaliyah smiled. “I love you too,” she said and kissed him. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. They stopped kissing and looked up.
“Are you expecting anyone?” Joseph asked her.
“No.” She shook her head. “Maybe if we do not answer, they will go away,” she said. The knock sounded again.
“Aali!!”
Aaliyah recognised the voice, it was Sara. “Coming!” Aaliyah shouted back. They quickly dressed before answering the door.
Aaliyah's jaw dropped when she opened the door. It was not only Sara, but her entire family. They had all come, together. Aaliyah did not know what to make of it. “Come in,” she said softly. Joseph was shocked to see them all. He was especially shocked to see Mrs Botros.
“So this is where Aaliyah has been staying,” she said as she looked around. “Looks comfortable,” she added. Aaliyah looked at her grandmother for possible clues as to what her aunt was talking about. Fiddah hugged Aaliyah and kissed her forehead.
“My understanding is that the two of you are engaged?” Fiddah asked.
“What? He only just proposed, like five minutes ago. How did you know?” Aaliyah replied in surprise.
“He asked Amir and Tariq for permission to marry you,” Fiddah replied as she approached Joseph and kissed him on both cheeks.
“Did he?” Aaliyah was confused. She was not aware of that.
“Welcome to the family, son,” Fiddah said to him.
“What is going on, Sara?”
“Long story short, Tariq spoke to his parents. They apologised to Fiddah and here we are,” Sara replied. Aaliyah was still confused. Just what had Tariq said that had made her uncle and aunt apologise to Fiddah and accept Joseph? Either way, it was good news for her. It meant that the family war was over.
“Come here,” Mrs Botros called Aaliyah over. She took Joseph and Aaliyah's hands into hers. “I know that I am a difficult person. I will try to be easier from now on. Just please be happy,” she said to them.
“This family is full of drama,” Amir said, as he hugged his cousin.
“Tell me about it,” Sara agreed. There was always something going on.
“Aaliyah, you will have to return with us,” Mrs Botros said.
“Why?” Aaliyah asked. She looked as though she was about to cry. Her aunt rubbed her shoulders.
“You will stay at home until your wedding day. This will be the last time you stay with me as my little girl before I give you away,” she said as her eyes welled up. Tariq and Amir looked at each. Their mother rarely got emotional.
“Is she crying?” Amir asked Tariq.
“I think so,” he replied and raised an eyebrow. Fiddah slapped both of them on the back of their heads. They cried out and looked at her.
“Your mother always wanted a girl. When she got the chance to raise Aaliyah, she took her in and treated her like her own,” Fiddah said. “So of course she is emotional,” she added.
“It is just weird to see,” Amir said as he dodged his grandmother’s hand.
“Now that everyone is happy, can we eat?” Sara asked. Soraya looked at her.
“You seriously just ate like an hour ago,” Soraya said to her.
“Sara is always hungry,” Aaliyah pointed out. “I will make something,” she said. Joseph held her arm and stopped her from going to the kitchen. If she cooked, it would be disastrous.
“I will cook,” Joseph said and kissed her hands. Aaliyah frowned at him as he walked into the kitchen.
“Aaliyah, you cannot cook,” Mrs Botros said.
“I am learning,” she answered petulantly. Mrs Botros laughed and hugged her. Soraya and Sara went to help Joseph with the cooking. They also used it as an opportunity to speak to him and ask him a million questions.
The others stayed in the living room. Fiddah was watching Aaliyah. There was something different about her. Her skin was glowing. It all made sense when Joseph served dinner. She excused herself quickly and ran to the bathroom. “Looks like I am going to be a great grandmother again,” she said. Everyone whipped their heads in her direction.
“What are you talking about?” Tariq asked her.
“Aaliyah is pregnant,” she said.
“I knew something was different about her,” Sara said as Fiddah looked at her.
“But are you as well?” she asked her.
“What? Me? I'm not!”
“What is happening?” Mrs Botros asked. “Who is pregnant?”
“Sara and Aaliyah,” Fiddah said. Tariq looked at Sara and held her shoulders and asked her if she was with child.
“I am not pregnant,” Sara replied. She could not understand what Fiddah was talking about.
“Well you have been eating more than normal,” Soraya pointed out. Aaliyah reappeared in the living room rubbing her belly. Joseph rushed over to her.
“Are you pregnant?” he asked her.
“No, what? “ Aaliyah was confused. Fiddah smiled. She was never wrong about such things.
“Seems as if we need to make a trip to the doctor,” Fiddah said. Aaliyah and Sara both refused to go but she insisted. They ended up not eating and going to the hospital instead. The whole family waited in the waiting room whilst Aaliyah and Sara were examined. They returned to the waiting room to wait for the results.
“Can we at least go eat whilst we wait?” Sara asked. Tariq held her face in his hands.
“You have been eating more than usual,” he said to her. She frowned at him and smacked his hands away as everyone laughed at her.
Moments later, the doctor reappeared with a smile on her face. She looked at Sara. “Oh boy,” Sara said.
“Sara, you have baby number four on the way, congratulations,” she said. She had delivered all of Sara's babies. Everyone gasped and cheered.
“And you, my dear, are carrying your first child, congratulations,” she said to Aaliyah.
“What?” Joseph looked at Aaliyah as she sat there frozen. It hadn't even crossed her mind. He pulled her into an embrace and kiss
ed her.
“This is great news,” Fiddah said. Everyone congratulated Sara and Aaliyah. Everything had finally fallen into place. Aaliyah was so overjoyed. In the same night, Joseph had proposed to her, her aunt had accepted him and she had found out that she was with child. She could not be happier.
Epilogue
It took a month to organise the wedding. Aaliyah was thankful for her aunt and grandmother who helped her pull everything together as she wanted to marry before she began to show. The wedding was going to be held in Safad Village. Aaliyah wanted it to be there, since that was where he lived and it was going to be her new hometown.
Joseph's mother readily accepted Aaliyah. She had known about their love as teens and she had hoped that her only child would one day find the happiness he once had. She was overjoyed to find out that it was with the same person.
Aaliyah had asked Sara, Soraya, Keira and Kaleena to be her bridesmaids. It was an obvious choice. As they helped her dress on her wedding day, she couldn’t help but notice Soraya. “It seems that I am not the only one who is excited,” she said looking at Soraya. She had noticed her extremely positive mood.
“Of course. I am excited for you,” Soraya said as Aaliyah shook her head.
“No, there is something else going on with you.”
“Nothing,” Soraya said but she was just so giggly and could not keep it to herself any longer. “I am with child,” she blurted out. She had wanted to save it for after the wedding but Aaliyah had keyed in on her mood.
“What?” everyone exclaimed at the same time. They rushed over to hug her.
“So, all of you are pregnant?” Kaleena asked as she laughed. “Is there something in the water?”
“It does seem as if it were planned,” Keira said as everyone laughed.
They quickly finished getting ready and headed to the mosque. It was quite full when they arrived. Everyone loved Joseph and they were so happy for him.
Amir and Tariq smiled as Aaliyah walked down the aisle with her uncle. She looked so pretty. Malik also smiled. He had missed the drama since he was out of town, but he was glad it worked out well. Aaliyah was like a sister to him and he wanted to see her happy.
Joseph stared at Aaliyah as she walked toward him. She was so beautiful. He was so happy he stopped her car that day. He should have been off work already when the call came in from the bar. To think that if he had gone home, he would not have seen her again.
“You look beautiful,” he said to her as she stood by his side.
“Thank you,” she replied with a smile. They held hands as the officiant began the wedding ceremony. They were both so happy and eager to get married.
END OF BOOK 4
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“She's adorable,” Fiddah said to Tariq as Sara walked away. He was watching her walk with his usual blank face. He turned to look at Fiddah.
“Amir keeps saying that. I do not see it,” Tariq said and picked up his menu. Fiddah laughed.
“This is you we are talking about.”
He lowered his menu and narrowed his gaze at her. “I am not the problem here,” he defended himself. The waitress reappeared to take their orders. She was watching him and blushing whilst he was speaking to her. Fiddah watched the waitress turn red.
“When do you plan to marry?” Fiddah asked Tariq as soon as the waitress left. Tariq frowned at his grandmother.
“What brought this on?” He was confused with her sudden change of topic even though it was not the first time she had questioned him about marriage.
“The waitress was blushing when she was speaking with you but you did not even notice. Makes me wonder if you notice women.”
Tariq sighed before he replied. He was so used to women blushing in his presence that it did not even faze him anymore. The waitress came back carrying their drinks. Tariq sunk in his chair and watched her. She noticed him looking at her and she immediately started smiling. He raised one eyebrow. He waited for her to leave before he commented.
“Marriage is not for me and even if it was, she would not be my type,” he said and took a sip from his glass. Fiddah shook her head. For years, she had been trying to convince him to marry but failed.
“So what, you will bury yourself in the company until your death bed?”
“I like my job.”
“Too much! You need a life outside your job. You need a family.”
“I have one.”
“Of your own! I want great grandchildren. Do not deny me that!”
Tariq was never going to win this argument. Fiddah was tenacious. This was not their first time discussing his love life and it was certainly not going to be their last.
“How about you pick a wife for me?” Tariq said and grinned at her.
“Does that even make sense? Is it so hard to court a woman?” Tariq laughed gently.
Sara heard Tariq laugh. So it's capable of laughing, she said to herself. She turned her attention back to her food. It surprised her to hear him laugh. She had never heard it and never thought she would. He was so uptight and mean.
“Can you see me courting a woman?” Tariq asked Fiddah.
“There is no hope for you,” she replied. He grinned at her. “Don't you want love?” she asked.
“No.”
“What?”
“It doesn't exist.” Tariq was determined to stick to his beliefs. In his eyes, love did not exist. It was simply heightened infatuation. As he took a sip from his glass, he noticed Sara attempt to eat an olive but it fell back on the plate. No table manners even? She could not walk like a normal person. She talked too much. She had poor dress sense. And now this! What other weird trait was she going to exhibit? He watched her eat. He could tell that she was really enjoying her food. She sat up and licked her lips, then took a sip of her drink. When she was not eating, she was talking. It's as if she never stops. Tariq shook his head and looked away from her.
Sara was finally done with her delicious lunch. Food made her happy. As they were leaving, she made sure not to make eye contact with Tariq. It was not the case for Keira and Kaleena. They both stared at Tariq as they walked past. Tariq chewed slowly and watched them, watching him.
“Please stop staring at him,” Sara said feeling awkward.
“He's so handsome,” Keira said.
* * * * * *
There was a lot of work that needed to be done to get the new field up and running. Sara's workload tripled faster than she anticipated. Amir told her that they had to pull some long nigh
ts. Sara walked into his office to brief him on a report she had been working on. To her surprise, Tariq and Amir were both sitting on the sofa discussing the appropriate barrels to use. They both looked up when she walked in. It was the first time she had seen him since that Saturday at the mall. She bowed to them. Only Amir responded.
“Barrels for gasoline or crude oil?” Sara asked. They both looked at her and she realised that she had jumped into their conversation.
“Both,” Amir replied.
She pointed at one of the pictures and said, “Those carry more oil.” Amir turned his attention to the picture and picked it up. Tariq was still wondering why she had included herself in the conversation.
“Is that so?” Amir asked her. Sara smiled and nodded.
“Oh, I actually came in to brief you on this report,” she said as she handed him a file. She made eye contact with Tariq. He wore an expressionless look as always, which annoyed her. She could never guess what he was thinking. She looked away first, as she was getting uncomfortable in his presence.