Elm Creek: A Readymade Family, Volume 1

8

EIGHT

March 1998

The early spring afternoon was cool as Hâroon, school bag slung over his shoulder and a textbook in his arms, exited the doors of college after classes, making his way toward the parking lot where his pickup waited. It was his senior year of college and he had just months left before graduation. It also meant he had to put in as much effort as possible to achieve the results he hoped for. His future was set—heir of Elm Creek Farm and assistant manager. Once he graduated, he’d be working on the farm full time instead of just a few hours at a time between school and studying for exams.

Once he’d located the vehicle, he tossed his belongings into the backseat, got in, and started off for home. As he drove, his thoughts turned away from school and toward his two children. The twins had just turned two last month and were his pride and joy. They both strongly resembled him, which Lila appeared to resent, with auburn hair. Ibrâhîm had inherited Hâroon’s leaf-green eyes and Yusrâ took after her mother with eyes of aquamarine-blue—the only feature she seemed to share with Lila. Though Ibrâhîm was often a whirlwind of chaos that reminded him of almost three-year-old ’Abdullâh, Maryam’s son, both seemed highly intelligent and were reaching their milestones quickly.

He pulled up before the main house several minutes later, parked, and switched off the truck. After grabbing his things, he made the quick walk from the front of his parents’ house to the cabin-style home behind it. When he entered, he could hear the familiar high-pitched voices of his children, accompanied by their mother’s lower tones.

In the last two years since the twins had been born, he and Lila were somehow managing to get along, even if he no longer felt any inclination to form a relationship with her. Even on days she seemed particularly nice, he didn’t dare trust her. She was a manipulative actress who only did what suited herself. She was at least an adequate enough mother to the children, especially considering she hadn’t wanted them in the first place, but she was far from the kind of wife he’d wanted.

He entered to the sight of Lila seated in an armchair as she supervised the twins who played on the floor. Curly-haired Ibrâhîm was sitting in the midst of colorful construction blocks which he banged on the hardwood floor. Across the room from him, Yusrâ, whose wavy hair was styled into pigtails, was rocking a baby doll. Lila seemed more interested in the magazine she was looking at than engaging with the children, but she was keeping an eye on them as she turned the pages.

Hâroon couldn’t particularly tell if she was actually happy with the responsibility of caring for the two children, but she seemed to take pride in their accomplishments as he did. She’d also stopped sneaking off and leaving them with his mother while he was away. He assumed she’d taken his old threat about having his mother house-sit seriously. But she usually left as soon as he returned home to see her friends. Since she wasn’t being sneaky about it and his mother didn’t mind watching the children if he needed to study, he didn’t complain.

Ibrâhîm was the first to notice his presence. “Daddy!” In typical Ibrâhîm style, he jumped up and ran so fast, he tripped over his own feet, landing on his rear at Hâroon’s feet. “Ouchie.” Then he looked up at his father with bright green eyes, stretching out his arms. “Up!”

“Ibby, shh!” Yusrâ scolded. “Baby sleeping!”

With a grin, Hâroon set down his things and and lifted him, settling him on his hip. As Ibrâhîm snuggled to him and smacked a wet, sloppy kiss to his cheek, Hâroon smiled. His dreams of a loving marriage and relationship with his wife had crashed and burned a long time ago, but he had the assurance that his children loved him, feeding the yearning for love and acceptance that he would never receive from Lila.