Elm Creek: A Readymade Family, Volume 1

5

FIVE

The mid-August morning was warm and bright as Hâroon stood in the bedroom that he and Lila would be sharing by nightfall—which he couldn’t deny he was looking forward to—in the company of his parents. The old cabin-style home his grandfather had built for ’Alîyâ and Yahyâ when they’d married had been offered to him as the residence he and Lila would share, because his wife and brother could not live under the same roof.

It was the day of his nikkâh—a day he’d doubted would come several times in the past two months. He and Lila met many times and had frequent sit-downs that occurred almost every weekend—always chaperoned by ’Alîyâ and Maryam. But when they were together, topics connected to their wedding or marriage were rarely discussed, unless his mother or sister intervened. Despite her claim that she wanted to marry him, she seemed reluctant to consider the proposal or setting a wedding date.

By the end of the month, concluding that she really didn’t want to marry after all, he’d suggested they part ways and considered asking his mother to find a girl who actually wanted to marry. Then he’d been taken by surprise when Mrs. Kendall called ’Alîyâ and said Lila had accepted the proposal.

Hâroon was ecstatic. He’d had his doubts that a wedding would take place at all, or at least one between him and Lila, but it was finally happening. As expected of his mother, a firm believer of keeping engagements as short as possible, she had organized the nikkâh quickly. The men would have a simple dinner at his parents’ house and the women, mostly because Lila had been horrified by the simplicity, were having theirs at a fancy, expensive dinner hall that had definitely put a dent in his savings. They would meet to officiate the nikkâh with Imâm Muhammad O’Connor before then.

Hâroon couldn’t wait. He was looking forward to all that marriage would bring, especially a companion to share his life with and eventually children. He hoped to have the kind of marriage his parents did. He dreamed of a home of laughter and love, a wife who was affectionate and supportive. He hoped Lila could be that wife and that they’d spend many happy years together.

Hâroon looked over the renovated and refurbished cabin-style home his parents had lived in up until his grandparents had turned over the reigns of the farm to Yahyâ and taken up residence in a suburban home. The early years of his parents’ premature marriage had been spent between the four walls, and the way they kept exchanging glances and smiling reminiscently made him realize the small house was special to them. He hoped he and Lila would make equally good and pleasant memories.

Everything had received a fresh coat of paint and new furniture had been brought in to start off his new life with Lila at his side. Plumbing fixtures had been updated and even the kitchen had received a makeover. His mother and sister planned to see to some decorating before he and Lila arrived to give things a more romantic look in celebration of the first night together as husband and wife.

Hâroon deemed it best not to ask what they planned on doing or he’d just be embarrassed. It was Ya’qoob who liked to ask awkward questions that led to embarrassing answers—like when he’d asked Imâm Muhammad the signs of a girl reaching puberty when he was thirteen, leading to a conversation about the menstrual cycle that Hâroon hadn’t wanted to hear.

“Everything looks good,” ’Alîyâ said as she glanced toward the mahogany king-sized bed in the bedroom, already made. “I think we’re done here. Maryam will come by later and we’ll do our last minute decorating. Let’s relax a bit before evening.”

The group left the house and Hâroon locked it up and gave the key to his mother. She promised to return it as soon as she and his sister were done. Then they returned to the main farmhouse for some rest.