Together Forever

My Reciter.

"Has it been long enough?" I asked Jess as I watched her cook the rice.

She asked me to teach her how to cook traditional food and so that's what we were doing.

She looked up at the clock and the wall and sighed. "It's been over two hours so it should be okay." Jess replied.

I bit the tip of my finger and exhaled. "Right? Exactly. I'm going to call." I said as I shrugged, walking around the dining table to get my phone.

I couldn't wait any longer. I needed to hear what Hamza and Hafsa were up to.

As soon as I picked up my phone, the alert sound went off five times and I looked at the screen to see five messages from Zaid.

I quickly slid my finger across the screen and opened the messages to see four photos and a message.

Thought I'd put your mind at ease. My parents are in love. It took Hafsa half an hour to settle. Hamza just newly got comfortable. They both seem fine at the moment, alhamdulillah.

I opened the photos and a smile took over my face as I looked at them.

The first photo was them in the car. Hafsa was smiling at the camera whereas Hamza was simply looking at Hafsa's smiling face with no expression.

The next was a photo in their doorway, Hamza was in Halima's arms and he had a small smile on his face which made me happy. Kubra was kneeling beside Hafsa with a smile, mama beside her while baba was reaching to take Hamza from Halima.

The next was inside the house. The floor was filled with countless toys, mainly action figures and cars as well as building blocks. It looked like a play room and I wondered if Zaid had renovated one of the rooms of his parents house into a playroom for Hafsa and Hamza.

Knowing him, he probably did.

Halima was in between the kids, mama beside Hamza and baba was beside Hafsa as they all had smiles on their faces, playing with the toys.

The forth photo was I'm guessing the most recent and it was taken by Kubra since she was missing.

It was around their dinner table and they were having sandwiches, their sippy cups in front of them.

I smiled and like Zaid had said, my mind was at ease. "Look, Jess." I said, showing her the photos.

"So they're your in laws?" She asked, zooming in on mama and then baba.

"Ex-in-laws, yeah." I said, smiling at the screen. "Well, since we're still married, I guess they still are but you know what I mean."

"They never fully accepted me because we weren't a rich family, but they never disrespected me either. I just always felt like they wanted someone else as a daughter in law, but still, they're lovely people." I told her with a grin.

It was true. I always felt like mama and baba would have preferred someone else over me, but even though they weren't 100% happy with me as their bride, they knew I made Zaid happy and so they never treated me badly and always treated me like their own.

"They're my ex sister in laws. Halima and Kubra." I said, pointing at the photos. "They were like my real siblings that I never got to have."

"You have Justin now?" Jess suggested making me smile and nod.

"Alhamdulillah." I said, while texting Zaid back.

Alhamdulillah. Thank you. Their nap time is in half an hour. Update me.

I put my phone on the coffee table and helped Jess finish up in the kitchen.

While I was washing the dishes after having finished cooking everything, my phone rang.