Elm Creek: A Readymade Family, Volume 1

18

EIGHTEEN

As Hâroon had already assumed would be the case, Lila was not back when he and the children returned to the hotel. Not long after their return, he recieved a call from Dr. Carson’s clinic informing him he had an appointment at twelve the next day.

After thanking the female voice—most likely a nurse—on the other end of the line and confirming Ibrâhîm’s presence tomorrow, he hung up. Then he returned to the children and engaged them both in playing with the toys and games he’d brought along. He encouraged Ibrâhîm to stack the blocks instead of throwing them like he usually did.

“No, Ibrâhîm,” he said, grabbing his hand before he could throw a yellow block across the room. He forced him to place it on the tower they were stacking instead. “Good job.”

Across the room, Yusra cradled her favorite baby doll and hummed, looking the perfect picture of a tiny mother. “Play time is over,” she said in a firm, adult-like tone. “You can play tomorrow. Now, it’s time to sleep.”

Hâroon smiled, wondering how much of that conversation she’d copied from things he’d said to her and Ibrâhîm while getting them ready for bed.

When the sun started to set, he started getting the children ready to sleep. He put the toys back into the diaper bag with Yusra’s help, while Ibrâhîm entertained himself by jumping on the bed. Then he led them into the small kitchen to make dinner. After he poured each of them a bowl of cereal with milk, they sat down at the table to eat. As usual, Hâroon had to help Ibrâhîm to keep the messes to a minimum. Yusra ate alone with just a few spills here and there.

After he and the children finished eating, he bathed and dressed them in turns to put them to bed.

“Mommy didn’t come back,” Yusra said as he tucked her in.

“I know,” he said.

“Is she going to come back?” Yusra asked worriedly.

“Of course, hon,” he consoled her. “She’s just late. Don’t worry.”

Despite his words, Hâroon was torn in two about what to do; this was normal behavior for Lila, but they were also in an unfamiliar place and something could have happened to her.

She is so thoughtless about other people, he thought. She could have at least called from a pay phone to let him know she was safe and would be late. As much as he disliked her, he didn’t want anything to happen to her.

It took a long time to get Yusra to sleep; she kept worrying her mother wasn’t coming back and asking questions Hâroon couldn’t answer. When both children were finally asleep, Hâroon stayed up to wait for Lila. He was still on the fence about reporting her missing. Once he revealed that she normally stayed out late back home, they were unlikely to investigate until she’d been missing for a few days at least. A full-grown adult did not require the immediate action a missing child did.

He tried calling her GSM, but she didn’t answer. That wasn’t unusual either. When he needed to get in touch with her, she always ignored him. With a sigh, he set aside his handheld device and then waited.

Several hours after the children had fallen asleep, he heard banging on the door. He rose from the armchair he was sitting in and glanced through the peephole. One could never be too careful when away from home, especially with two children in the room. He was relieved to glimpse Lila on the other side.

He unlocked the door and let her in. One glance at her told him everything he needed to know. She was perfectly fine and she’d been her selfish, thoughtless self as usual. “Where have you been?” he hissed. “It’s one thing to be out late where we live and you have friends, but we don’t know anyone here. I wouldn’t even know if something happened to you or not.”