Twice Upon Qadr - A Shot At Love **EDITING**

Chapter 2

Hana Ismail lay on her stomach in front of her youngest nephew, Muhammad, her camera in hand, poised and ready.

"Hamoudi! Muhammad habibi look at Amtu!"

"No!" the two year old exclaimed before throwing a teddy bear at her. She quickly lowered her beloved camera, taking the toy in the face.

"Now Hamoud we don't throw things!"

"I sorry Amtu," He said, before kissing her on her cheek, and she laughed as he turned back to his toys. She waited a few seconds to make sure he was completely engrossed, before scooting closer to him, tilting the camera at an angle upwards, and snapping away.

"Hey!" the baby exclaimed in astonishment as the flash went off, and she moved with a laugh as he tried to grab the camera. She changed modes on her camera, looking at the picture she had taken, frowning when she realized it was blurry. But Hamoudi was staring at her distrustfully now, so she would have to bide her time before she took another shot of him.

"Hamoudi, can Amtu play with this?" she asked, holding up a firetruck, and he regarded her with a conflict flashing across his face, as if he wanted to grab the toy and claim it for himself. But eventually he gave her a grin and nodded.

"Ya! I have this one." he said, holding out a large boat, and she smiled encouragingly at him.

"Good! Let's play then!" they played for a few minutes, before Hana gently set down the toy, and lifted up her camera, trying not to make any sudden movements that would alert her nephew to her plans. Thankfully he remained absorbed in his game, and she slid down onto the ground, lowered the camera, turned off the flash...

"Hana what are you doing?"

Her sister Ilham's questioning voice coming from the doorway almost made Hana miss the shot, but thankfully she managed to snap it just in time before Hamoudi glanced at her in slight annoyance, and as she sat up, she looked at Ilham, giving her a large grin.

"I was taking a picture of Hamoudi!"

Ilham laughed and sat down next to her youngest son who gave her a smile, before climbing up into her laugh, and resuming his playing. Ilham kissed him on the back of his head, before she quirked an eyebrow at Hana.

"Why do you need to be on the floor?"

"I was trying to get a new angle." Hana said sheepishly, "I've been making a collage of black and white photos and the way he was looking at his toys was so cute, and I wanted to get a picture looking up at him at an angle like the camera was a toy."

"I see," Ilham said with a smile, "did you get any good shots?"

Hana straightened out her legs, and extended her camera towards her sister.

"This one is pretty cute."

Ilham took the camera, trying to keep it out of the baby's reach, and smiled widely.

"Aw it's beautiful Hana! Can we get a copy for his baby book?"

"Of course!" she took the camera back, scrolling through the pictures before giving it back to Ilham. "This picture of Lulu and Hisham is cute too!"

Ilham grinned at the picture of her husband and her daughter, before lowering the camera slightly so that Hamoudi could look at the picture too. Hisham was holding Layla on one shoulder a large smile on his face, and the little girl was gripping her father's hair, her face a mixture of fear and excitement.

"It's adorable!"

"What's adorable?"

Ilham's face lit up with a huge smile as her husband came into the room, and she swiftly handed Hana back her camera, rose to her feet, and shifted the baby onto her hip so she could greet Hisham properly. As he bent to kiss her, Hana dropped her gaze to her camera, trying to ignore the pang in her heart. She loved her brother and his wife, but it was so obvious that they were totally in love, their three children only seeming to increase their affection for each other, and the more time she spent around them, the lonelier she felt.