Halaal Love

Chapter 45

Assalamualaikum. . . :)

Habibah's POV

Since today is weekend and I have my holidays during the weekend, Omar and I decided to visit to my parents' house to announce about my pregnancy as well as to visit them and check on them.

Last night, Omar has already talked to his parents and asked them to come to my parents' house this morning. They agreed and said that they'll be there at 8.

Now it's already half past 8. Omar and I have just gotten ready. After I place my phone inside my purse, we head downstairs. I grab an apple from the fridge before heading out of the house.

As the quote says, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!" Even though I know that we can't keep a disease away, we(humans) can always try.

Omar walks out of the house after me and locks the door behind him, placing the key under the carpet.

We get in the car, fasten the belts and head out of the parking lot, towards my parents house. Hani and Hana have been texting me since early in the morning, asking about what's the announcement that I'll announce? I still keep the secret anyway, as Omar and I have agreed to keep it as a secret.

As soon as we arrive in my parents' house, Hani, Hana and Amira come to greet me, not noticing Omar's presence.

"Ehm, I'm here," he waves in front of them, causing them to turn and look at him.

"Oh, bro!" Amira hugs him while Hani and Hana shake hand with him. "Come on in!"

We head to the backyard, where everyone has gathered. Initially, I notice Yaqub from afar. He's sitting on a small chair, talking to Yahya, which is kind of peculiar because in times of gathering, Yahya usually isolates himself and would rather play games in his ipad. However, I approach Yaqub anyway, shocking him by hitting his shoulders.

"Yaqub!" I squeal. When he turns around, my jaw drops. . . "Er, Jassim?"

He scratches his head, perhaps feeling awkward and shocked too. "Hi."

"Haha! Look who's trolled," a familiar voice booms behind me. I turn around and hit his arm continuously, feeling my cheeks heating up even though Jassim is now a brother-in-law.

"You dork! I'm embarrassed! Dorky!" I scream while Yaqub contiuously laughs.

"What's going on?" Omar questions from behind us all, his eyes going wide at the sight of his brother. "Jassim?"

I'm sure it's awkward for them both. Since Jassim left to America because of us, he didn't attend our marriage and we never contacted him since then.

"Hi bro," Jassim walks towards his younger brother, shakes his hand and pulls him into a short and quick hug.

"When did you come?"

"Just yesterday," he flashes us a smile. "I'm here to tell mom and dad that Rania's family are coming here next week for vacation, so I thought proposing her next week would be fine." We all stare at him wide-eyes.

"Er, Rania? Rania our old friend? Rania Yousef?" I question. Rania and Jassim used to fight a lot, Jassim even used to call her 'chubby bunny' because Rania was really fat during our childhood. But now, after looking her pictures, I believe Rania has grown up into a beautiful lady, with her light brown eyes and sweet-tanned natural skin, she looks really pretty.

"Yeah. . . That Rania."

"What about Alifah?" Omar questions. If I'm not mistaken, Alifah was Jassim's ex-fiancee.

"Er. . . She broke the engagement. Didn't you know?" Omar shakes his head. "But I told Habibah!" Omar stares at me.

"Ah, you told it before the marriage. So I thought that you've told Omar yourself and since it's none of my business, I didn't want to tell everyone so."

"It's okay. Let the bygones be bygones." Jassim smiles. It feels like there's something that cheers him up a lot. I have no idea if it's because of Rania, or nother thing, but I'm glad that he has come accross an honest, faithful girl with deen. In shaa Allah, Allah will guide them to wedding and bless them a beautiful family. . .

• • •

After cooking fried tofu and chicken, grilling fillet Hamour and making vegetable soup, we set the backyard for the family. The men set up the carpet and the table while the women run back and forth from the kitchen to the backyard to bring the dishes. I grab the rice cooker itself with a cooking glove, since it's still preetty hot, and try to bring it to the backyard—but halfway through, Omar comes to the rescue.

"Oh my, it's heavy. How do you handle this?" He groans.

"It's okay. I'm not as weak as you think!"

"Right, okay. Let's go, everyone's waiting." We head out to the backyard together. Omar places the rice cooker on the table and sits beside me. Our parents sit side by side; the two twins, Amirah and Jassim sit with each other. I realize that Jassim gets along well with Yusuf more than Yaqub. Maybe because both of them had gone through the same test—being broken by their own fiancee. A secret that only my family knows is that; Yusuf was engaged, a year before my marriage, however, his fiancee broke the engagement with the reason that she's going to continue her studies in Australia and she couldn't cope long distance relationship. Ever since then, Yusuf seems neglectful of relationships with women other than his family. Maybe he's hurt, or maybe he has a trauma—we never know. He's pretty much an isolated and silent person. In fact, he's the only member of our family that we never know what's going on with him.

Omar and I are the only ones who eat silently—it's a habit.