Chapter 48

———————Valentine's Residence

——————————Los Angeles, California.

" She's getting married to the man she cheated on me with" I snapped as Ethan collected Kim from me. " You see that is your problem, how can you say you want her back when you still think she cheated, Khalid stop confusing yourself" Sophia answered.

" look Khalid let me ask you something, if you see Faryah what's the first thing that's going to come to your mind?" She asked. " the video" I answered almost instantly. " you see, it's not supposed to be like that, you love her, accept that she didn't do that, deep inside you I know you know the truth, Khalid think about it, even if you want to talk to her and sort things out, you won't know what to say, you need to find it in your heart to genuinely trust her and forget about what happened, even if it's not for her sake, for your daughters sake" She added.

I still couldn't wrap my hand around the thought that she and I had a daughter, I still thought the child was Khalifa's. That was possibly why they were getting married.

" but that child isn't mine" I said and watched her roll her eyes. " Man, the girl looks like you, there's obviously no doubt that that girl is your daughter" Ethan said. " stop acting stupid" Sophia said as she handed her phone to me.

It was a photo of a very cute baby girl. She had my lips and oh my goodness.

She was so beautiful. This was a combination of both I and Faryah. She was an epitome of beauty. " you know that Khalifa is a black man right?, is that baby even a tiny bit black?" Sophia asked and I shook my head and tears rolled down my cheeks.

I couldn't believe I let my child and wife leave me. I was a fool. We would've been a very happy family if only I had trusted her.

I wouldn't have lost grandpa if had trusted her.

What was going on my head at that time. I was acting like my father.

I let my child and wife leave me because I maltreated them.

They were supposed to be treated like queens because they were my queens and I sent them away because of a video I didn't even know came from where.

Anyone could have edited that video and I chose to believe it than to believe my very own wife.

What was I thinking back then.

What the hell was wrong with me back then. I let an amazing woman go.

" Khalid" Sophia called gently as she patted my back and sat beside me.

" Every human being isn't perfect, we all make mistakes and it is up to us to accept it, try and sort it out and move on, you need to accept your mistakes before asking for forgiveness, it's never too late Khalid, you still have time to sort things out, she isn't married yet. I wasn't happy at all when she told me that she was getting married, I really thought you two could sort things out and you'll be a happy family again but she looked happy that she was getting married, I had to be happy for her, she deserves it, I just hope that he treats her right, she deserves to be happy, you both deserve to be happy even if you're not together, if you talk to her and she doesn't call her wedding off, you need to accept it and move on, your family loves you very much and we'll always be by your side, we support you, we always will" Sophia said and hugged me lightly. " yeah man, we'll always be here for you, we need the old Khalid back with us" Ethan added.

" we love you so very much and we'll be here, never forget that" He added as they both hugged. They suddenly made me feel like an 8 year old that lost his bicycle to bullies.

" come on guys no need for the hug, I'm not a child" I said as I tried struggling out of the hug. " who said it's only children that need hugs?" Sophia said as she pinched my ear. " well ouch, and yes, I'm a grown man I can deal with this, don't hug me, Ethan get off me, be a man dude" I said as I pushed them off me.

" Khalid, you should stay for dinner, you can play with your niece while we cook" Sophia said as I took Kimberly from her. " Okay then" I answered as I looked at how cute my niece. She reminded me of when I and Neill used to play with Sophia when she was born.

We loved her so much.

She was so cute and still cute.

I wonder the face my child was going to have when I held her. I really needed to settle things with Faryah. It was never too late to apologize and I knew Faryah, she had a soft heart, she was going to forgive me and hopefully move on from everything. And possibly reconcile with me.

" Sophia do you know where Faryah is now?" I asked as I saw her and Ethan at the dining area. " well she's attending her brother's wedding in Nigeria, she found her family" I was happy. " Seriously?"

"Yeap, she found her family, well they found each other, finding her family wasn't as tough as she thought it was going to be, God has his ways" Sophia answered back.

I was genuinely happy for her. She had always wanted to know the truth about her past. Now she knew.

It was nice.

" she's in Indonesia ?" I asked again. " No, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that's where she bases now. She's actually a Malaysian-American, her father is American and her Mother, Malaysian, her mother is very beautiful Khalid" Sophia added.

I was going to go and find her, soon. I had to. My mind wasn't going to be at rest if I didn't talk to her.

——————Nigeria, Kaduna State.

———————————Kawo New Extension, Yoruba Street, 5:00pm.

——————————Umar Dantata Residence.

The Henna on my hands were amazing, I couldn't wait to show it to Khalifa. Today was Henna day, and tomorrow was the main wedding. Khalifa dropped me and Najmah off with his sisters, mother, my mothers, Firdaus and Miriam. Yes Miriam arrived with the dresses we were going to wear for the wedding.

The brides outfit was very beautiful, it made Raihanna look like a princess for once.

Raihanna had a sister, Nauwarah and a very handsome brother, Adnan. Her sister studied abroad too. Nauwarah was studying Medicine in England and Adnan was in his last year in High School. They called their high school Secondary school here. He was in Ss3.

Well all the Ladies were here, doing their Henna and talking. Raihanna had pretty many cousins and friends, a big family. Najmah was with Nauwarah, everyone welcomed us well here. I was never going to forget how happy Grandma Humairah was when she heard that I was going to be her Granddaughter-in-law.

She was mostly happy that I was beautiful and I was an Arabian.

Her family loved us so much.

They made me forget about what happened earlier with Khalid.

He finally called me up.

To tell me he wasn't going to sign the divorce papers. I mean I wanted to move on, what did he want from me.

It took months to get a little bit over the scar he placed in my heart and now, he suddenly doesn't want to lose me.

I really wanted to move on and forget about him. Why was he making things hard.

He said he didn't love me. He said to abort Najmah. He didn't trust me.

How can he possibly think that after all those, without resolving anything, I was going to be comfortable with him again.

For the past months, I hoped and prayed for him to call me, why was it when I decided to move on that he came back to me. Why!.

"Hey Faryah" Raihanna said as she called my attention to her. I was sitting in her room with Miriam and Firdaus. " Hey, sister" I said and smiled at her. " I called Khalifa, he's almost here, you need to talk with him, don't worry about Najmah, Firdaus and Miriam will take her home, I figured you need alone time with your future husband" Raihanna said as she held my hand. " I need that right now" I answered as I kept my head on her shoulder. " I decided to move on and he doesn't want me to, he's the one that told me to leave right" I said aloud.

"Hey, no matter how complicated things are going to get with Khalid, just know that you're getting married to Khalifa, you want to move on with him and we don't want to see you hurt again" Firdaus said. " But hey always have it at the back of your mind that Allah knows best, and your future has already been written down by Allah, so you'll just have to accept everything Allah has planned for you" Miriam added. She was right, very right.

" Yeah, I just have to believe and trust in Allah, that's what I always do" I answered.

I loved my girls.

So much.

" Assalamu Alaykum , Aunty Arafah made this and she asked for it to be given to you Faryah" Nauwarah announced as she slowly walked into Raihannah’s room. " Wa'alaykumussalam Nauwarah, Thank you so much, what is it?" I asked as I got up from where I sat. " It's actually a northern delicacy, we call it Dan wake, there is sweet grounded pepper for you to sauce it up, and garlic fried groundnut oil and Maggi, it's nice. Then by the side there's salad and beef sauce. It's nice really, and Adnan is going to be bringing some drinks here later, don't worry guys your plates are coming in soon" Nauwarah said as she handed me a flask, spoons and a plate.

" Kaman da gaske( as if it's true)" I heard Raihanna say to Nauwarah and rolled her eyes at her. " Ke danlah matsa( hey please stay aside), turanci na ne ba naki ba( it's my English not yours)" Nauwarah answered and rolled her eyes again. " Your language is interesting, what are you guys talking about?" Firdaus asked as she smiled at them.

" She was trying to use an accent she doesn't have" Raihanna answered. " She has a tiny hint of American accent actually" I said as I backed up Nauwarah. " Yeah she does, don't tease her, she's better than some people" Miriam added. " you're ganging up against me"

" we're not, we're just stating the obvious" I answered. " Thank you for that Faryah" Nauwarah answered as she smiled at us and left the room.

I sat on the big rug in Raihannah’s room and I opened up what was in the flask. " Let me be nice and help you mix everything for you, you see these green moulds, they're Dan wake" she said as she poured me some into my plate. It didn't look so appealing. " I know it doesn't look very beautiful but trust me, it's nice" Raihanna added. " Hey, Raihannah, your wedding tomorrow, I still don't get the full details on how it's going to be" Miriam said. " Goodness, okay see, tomorrow afternoon by 1:30 we're all going to head to the Sultan Bello Mosque, which is the main Mosque in Kaduna state, so they can officiate the marriage, anyone who wants to join can join but it's not compulsory, after the wedding has been officiated, we'll come home then we'll rest a little and then immediately after Salatul Asr we'll be heading to the reception, the reception will be in Big City Event Centre, do you know that it was very hard to get that event centre, but my mom is very influential so she got a hold of it for tomorrow evening for us, and the decorations are superb, they're simply amazing, they're great, and everything is set" Raihanna said as I watched her add oil and little salad to the side of my plate. Her wedding was definitely going to be beautiful. What every girl wanted.

But I wanted something very simple.

Nothing grand.

Just plain simple.

" That's cool, oh I can't wait to see handsome Nigerian men" Miriam said with a blush. " oh come on Ammie" I said as I rolled my eyes and tasted what was in front and MashaAllah.

It was good.

" It's nice right?"

" Yeah very nice.." I was cut off as Nauwarah and some other girls came into Raihannah’s room with trays. Raihannah’s brother was behind them. " Assalamu Alaykum, Lunch is ready, and Yeah Faryah, Ya Khalifa is down stairs, but Aunty Arafah told him you were eating so when you're done, he's waiting for you" Nauwarah said and I smiled at her. " Thank you Raihanna, can you please bring Najmah to me, now?" I asked and she nodded. " Sure, I'll just tell Aneesah to bring her here" She answered and I smiled at her. " Thank you very much" I answered and continued what I was eating. It was saucy, Najmah was going to like it and I needed to change her dress and diaper before I left, I needed to prepare her bottle and everything, I was going to miss my baby.

" They made tuwon masara for us, trust me, it's very delicious" Raihanna said as she went to meet Miriam and Firdaus. I continued eating and my mind ran to Khalid.

He was still holding onto me. He sent me away and he was still holding on to the last thing that connected us. I was already sure that he had seen photos of Najmah with Sophia and was pretty convinced that she was his daughter.

I was never going to forget when he told me to kill Najmah.

His words hurt me.

But here I was, still standing because I was a strong woman.

I still felt something for Khalid but I knew Allah had more planned for me. I was enjoying my relationship with Khalifa, I felt more comfortable with him and I knew that he wasn't going to easily lose trust in me like some people.

He loved me for who I was and he knows my story.

He stood by my side through thick and thin and all Khalid decided to do was to be a coward and run away from the problems he caused for himself.

Every single day for the past months, I longed and waited for him to call me, to text me to say anything or to even butt dial me, but I got nothing. I always checked up on him because he was my first love, I loved him so much but I wasn't for him.

He didn't even care to maybe secretly check up on me like I did.

All he did was engross himself in work and forget about his family.

And now that I wanted to cut the last string that attached me to him, he was trying to make things hard.

For us.

We really needed to talk and set things straight. I had already made up my mind. I was going to build a family with Khalifa.

I had tried my best to lead Khalid to the right path all he did was go astray.

He kept on going and going.

And no one wants that.

Every female wants a husband that is going to help her secure a spot in Jannah.

Every female wanted a good man not an asshole she was going to try changing for the better and the odds of him changing was depending on the love he had for her.

I didn't trust the love Khalid had for me anymore.

That's if he still felt something for me.

I couldn't bring myself to trust anyone in his family anymore.

And I know that if Grandpa Musa was alive, he would've supported me.

I knew he would and I wasn't going to regret anything cause Allah was with me. He was guiding me.

Always.

I wasn't going to deny Najmah the right to know who her real family was. But she deserved a father figure in her life. She deserved Khalifa.

He was a blessing sent to us by Allah.

" Najmah is here, she missed her mummy so much" I heard Aneesah call as she opened our door. She was a mess, her hijab was out of her head and her hair was a mess. Her dress, dusty and her face also. " You picked her up from a Junkyard hurricane?" Firdaus asked as she looked at Najmah. " she's a mess, but she had fun" Aneesah said as she walked in and closed her door. " She looks happy although, look at her eyes" Miriam said as she blushed at her.

" And her cheeks" Raihanna added.

" Bring her here, at least she didn't play hide and seek with you guys" I said as I stretched my arms out to her.

She crawled to me and I took a wipe from her baby bag and I cleaned her face.

She was ready to eat.

She liked it.

I ate and fed her as I listened to Raihanna and the others talking about tomorrow.

We were part of Raihannah’s bridal train. We were going to be dressed in grey lace and a very pretty headscarf. We were going to dance in and I wasn't really routing that but hey, any thing for the bride.

We finished eating and I decided to take my plates down to the kitchen, Raihanna already showed me where it was. The inside of the house was pretty much empty.

I thought I was going to come across Khalifa cause Nauwarah said he was downstairs.

I got to the kitchen and it was empty as expected.

There was a pretty big pile of plates in their kitchen sink.

I didn't like the sight of dirty plates and luckily they had a dish washer, so I carefully arranged the plates, cups and utensils in it.

I used the soap and sponge I found on their sink and I washed the flask and other things that couldn't fit into the dishwasher.

I didn't know where to keep all of them after washing so I left them in a big bowl I found to dry out and I took out the clean plates from the dishwasher and I arranged them on the kitchen counter. They were all clean.

" you know you really shouldn't have right?" I shook as I heard a voice from behind me. It was Grandma Humairah. She was about 80 years old but she still tried her best to look good, she looked 60. " oh grandma Humairah, Salamualaykum" I said as I dried my hands and went to meet her.

" Wa'alaykumussalam, why did you wash the plates?" She looked very much like Raihannah’s mother. " I came to drop some plates and I saw that there were a lot of them there so I just decided to wash them all, I really don't like the sight of dirty plates" I answered with a smile and watched her smile genuinely.

"This is why I like you for my Khalifa, kyakyawar baturiya mai tarbiya da hankali( a beautiful foreigner, with good manners and a good brain)" I didn't understand the last few words she said. " Faryah, you're still down here, I've changed Najmah and cleaned her up, don't keep Khalifa waiting" We heard Raihanna say as she came down the stairs. " Gwago Ina wuni( Grandma good evening)" Raihanna greeted. That meant good evening or afternoon. " Ah Ameriyar Bature, Ina gajiya, ki zo inga lalleen da aka maki( Oh, the new wife of a foreigner, come, I want to took a look at the henna that was done for you)" I didn't understand anything she said again. I watched as Raihanna came down the stairs with a big smile and went to her grandmother.

Their Grandfather wasn't alive. He died long ago.

" Faryah, you should go get ready and meet Khalifa outside with his mother" Raihanna said and I nodded. " Alright, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, sleep well okay" I said as I hugged her lightly. " In-sha ‘a-Allah, Grandma Humairah, I'll see you tomorrow" I bid. " Okay Faryah, Ma'assalam"

" Bissalam" I answered as I rushed up the stairs to take my flats and bag.

Raihanna was with her aunt, sleeping. Alhamdulillah.

I was wearing a black long sleeved dress today and a blue scarf and I wore black flats. Classy.

I took a blue handbag and I was set. I touched up my face a bit and I was ready to go.

" Bye Miriam" I whispered so as not to wake Najmah up. " why're you whispering?" She said out loud as she took her eyes of her phone and I saw Najmah move a bit. I frowned at ammie and she gave me an apologetic smile and I rolled my eyes at her and slowly closed the door.

I went outside the house and I sighted Khalifa and Mama Arafah under a small tree with some other women talking. More aunties of his.

Mama Arafah had 6 sisters and three brothers. All Grandma Humairah's children.

Pretty much.

" Assalamu Alaykum" I greeted all of them as I stopped where they all sat. " Wa'alaykumussalam" They all answered and smiled at me. They were obviously Mama Arafah's sisters. Three of them were here. " Ga wanda Khalifa zai aura nan, Faryah, baku gan ta ran Tuesday ba( this is who Khalifa is getting married to, you didn't see her on Tuesday)" Mama Arafah said to her siblings. " Oh Allahsarki, ga ta kyakyawa" I kept on hearing this over and over again since I met their family. It meant beautiful. " Wallahi, kai MashaAllah, Khalifa ka iya zapa( wow, MashaAllah, You really know how to choose Khalifa)" one of his aunties said. " Ah, Aunty Allah ne" He answered and smiled at me.

" Take care of her Khalifa please" Another woman said again. " You're a very beautiful woman Faryah and Arafah told me your story, we're your new family now and we're going to go through everything together okay" She added and smiled at me. " Thank you very much" I answered and smiled at her.

" well let's not keep you guys, you obviously have somewhere to go, we'll see you tomorrow okay" Mama Arafah said and I smiled at her. " Okay, we'll see you guys tomorrow, byeee" his aunties bid and we answered.

He held my hand in his as we walked to his car. He smelt so good. He was wearing jeans and a polo T-shirt with a cap and a Nike slippers. He was handsome. " I missed you, how're you?" He asked as he opened my door for me. " I'm okay, what about you?"

" I'm okay too, Alhamdulillah, Najmah is fine right?" He asked as he sat on his seat and closed the door. He took off his cap and smiled at me. " she is" I answered as I fell for his cuteness more and more. " Let me see your hands clearly now" he said as he took my hands and kissed my knuckles. " They're so beautiful" He said and I blushed. "I was eager to show it to you" I said and smiled widely. " they're beautiful"

" Thank you very much" I answered as he started his engine. " so we're going for ice cream now”‘ he said and I smiled. " Yayy, Thank you" I Loved the ice cream they had here.

" Anything for the love of my life" he said and pecked me as we left the compound.

" So Khalid called you?" He started and I sighed deeply. " Yeah he did, he doesn't want to sign the divorce petition" I answered. " Raihanna told me, it's upsetting you know"

" very"

" but look, nothing is going to stop me from getting married to you, only death, I'm always going to be by your side and eventually he'll sign it, you need to talk to him in person" Khalifa answered. " I definitely have to talk to him"

" We can do this" he said and smiled at me again. He strengthened me. " we will do this"

" Insha’Allah" we both said. I didn't want to think about my worries with Khalid when I was with Khalifa. I wanted to enjoy my time with my future husband.

Allah was definitely going to guide me. I just had to trust in him.

And I always trust in him.