"I got a call from Miss. Harrison today." Afra said to Hisham as she served him dinner. "She said that there's a parent meeting at Silver Stars tomorrow."
"I was expecting a call from Miss. Harrison ever since I heard about the annual trip." Hisham said. "At what time the meeting will be held?"
"At twelve-thirty in the afternoon." Afra said as she sat on a chair next to him, "Will you be able to attend the meeting?"
"Yes, but I think it'd be better if both of us could attend the meeting this time," Hisham said thoughtfully. "Because we both should know all about the tour. There shouldn't be any confusions about it. Do you think you'll be able to go with me?"
"Why not?" Afra said with a smile, "I'd like to know everything about the trip too. I'll be ready at twelve twenty pm, Insha Allah."
"That's good," Hisham said and looked around. "Where are the children? I didn't hear any noises from the upstairs since I got back from work."
"They both fell asleep earlier today," Afra said as she placed a fried fish on his plate.
"Hmm... it's just eight o'clock now." Hisham said. "Did they already have their dinner?"
"Yes, they did" She replied. "I fed them both and read them a bedtime story before making them go to bed."
"Did something happen?" Hisham asked her with concern. "You don't usually put them on the bed before eight-thirty, right?"
"Thasneem seems to have a fever," Afra said, looking worried. "I think she needs to take bed rest. But she wouldn't go to bed unless Maryam went to bed with her too."
"She fell yesterday in the nursery, didn't she?" Hisham asked her.
"Yes, Mrs Perera had bandaged her knees," Afra said with a sigh. "I undid the bandages and cleaned her wounds in the evening. They are not much deep and they seemed to be healing. Maybe she's feeling feverish because of the wounds."
"Anyway, we'll keep an appointment with the doctor in the evening tomorrow," Hisham said as he got up and washed his hands. "It's better to get her checked by a doctor. Maybe you shouldn't have sent her to the nursery today. why didn't you just keep her at home?"
"I told her to stay home." Afra protested. "But she doesn't want to stay without Maryam. She thinks it'll be boring at home without her."
"They both have become very much attached now," Hisham said with a nod. "Which is a good thing. But I'm afraid, Neem will become lonely if Maryam happens to go to Fahad someday."
"What do you mean?" Afra asked him with a scowl as she handed him a napkin, she hated to believe that something like that could happen. "I'm sorry to say this, Afra," Hisham said, understanding how she feels. "But you have to accept that something like that can happen in the future. She's his daughter. We can't be selfish if he wants her back."
"Of course, we can't be selfish if he wants her back." She repeated his words adamantly as she took the dishes away from the dining table. "But please, Hisham don't talk to me about it before something like that happens. I don't want to think about it now, because I love Maryam a lot! I'm her mother now. You are hurting me by saying these things."
"Hey Darling, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry!" Hisham apologised immediately, diving in front of her to look at her face. "I was just saying that because Fahad seems to be wanting to talk to Maryam more often now. He kept ringing me now and then while I was in my office to remind me to get him a video call to talk to Maryam. And it made me realize that he has started to think more of his kids presently. I'm so sorry if I had hurt you."
"Well, it's a good thing if he has become fond of his kids now," Afra said thoughtfully and walked past him to keep the dishes in the kitchen counter. "It shows that he has somewhat overcome the disaster that occurred in his life. He has moved on a little bit and started to accept the present situation, Alhamdulillah."
"Yes, Alhamdulillah," Hisham said, leaning on the kitchen counter. "I feel happy to see this good change in him too."
"But that doesn't necessarily mean that he would want us to hand him back his daughter," Afra said with a sulky look and Hisham laughed at her.
"You and Neem look so much alike when you both are arguing." He said and shook his head with a smirk. "She surely got it from you! I wonder who'll be destined to pick a life long fight with her."
"I'm afraid, you'll have to grow old to find that out!" Afra said with irritation. "Hisham! you are so annoying, you know? Stop making comments like that while discussing a serious subject, will you? Also, I don't always pick fights with you. It's you who picks fights with me."
"Really?" He raised his brows at her still with that same smirk. "It's because I love annoying you. I married you to annoy you for all my life, Miss Gorgeous."
"Of course, that's the sole purpose of your life, isn't it?" Afra said, folding her arms with fake anger. But she giggled without being able to hold it for long.
"Okay, let me help you with the dishes," Hisham asked her.
"No, I can do that by myself." She said with a smile and turned the tap to let the water flow inside the sink. "Go and find another job to do, Mister."
"I don't have_" Hisham got interrupted by the noise of someone pulling a chair in the dining room and they both peeped inside to see who it was. Maryam sat alone on a chair with her big brown teddy bear.
"Seems like I've got a job to do now," Hisham said to Afra with a smile and left the kitchen.
"Hello, it looks like someone is up already," Hisham said as he sat down on a chair next to Maryam and she looked up and smiled at him.
"I couldn't sleep," She told him with wide eyes. "And my Teddy Bear got very hungry."
"Oh, I see..." Hisham said and bit his tongue playfully. "Did you forget to give him his supper?"
"Yeah," Maryam replied, her luminous brown eyes shining with humour.
"What does he wants to have?" Hisham inquired her. "Fried fish?"
"No." She shook her head and her long brown curls danced behind her gloriously.
"A piece of cake?"
"No."
"Maybe a cookie?"
"No"
"A boiled egg?"
"No! no! no!"
"Hmm... Let me think for a minute." He said, looking at her as if she's a puzzle which needs to be fixed, and it finally clicked him. "I suppose, your Teddy Bear wants to have some milk, am I right?"
"Yes!" She nodded her head with a radiant smile.
"Okay, I'll be back in a minute," Hisham said and went into the kitchen to pour some milk in a glass.
"Honey, someone wants to have a video chat with you!" He said as he handed Maryam a glass full of fresh milk.
"Who's that?" Maryam inquired him.
"You wait and see, will you?" He said as he opened his laptop in front of her on the dining table. He opened the Skype chat and rang Fahad who answered the call immediately.
"It's Uncle Fahad!" She said excitedly as soon as she saw him on the screen.
"Hello, my Little Princess!" He called her with a pleasant smile. "Assalamu alaikum! Nice to see you!"
"Wa alaikkum salam!" Maryam said with a smile and took a sip of her milk. "Nice to see you too, Uncle Fahad! How are you doing?"
"I'm fine, Little Princess!" He said, watching all of her movements with great eagerness. "How about you?"
"I'm fine too..." Maryam said and paused to take another sip of her milk. "But Neem is not. She's having a fever."
"Oh. poor girl." Fahad said, looking worried. "Where is she now?"
"She's sleeping upstairs," Maryam said, nodding her head towards the staircase.
"Hmm... I hope she'd get well soon, in shaa Allah." He said, "What did you learn in your nursery today?"
"We learned to name all the flowers today," Maryam told him brightly. "Also, we coloured some of the flowers with pastel colours. I'll show my art book to you when you come to visit us next time!"
"Sure, I'd love to see the pictures coloured by my Princess too!" Fahad told her enthusiastically.
"But my friend Mu'az is very good at colouring the pictures with pastels than me," Maryam told him with a serious look on her face. "He coloured a picture of a rose flower with pink and blue colours and Miss Woods said that he's very artistic."
"Masha Allah, I'm happy to hear that!" Fahad said with a smile. "Are you guys getting along well?"
"Yeah..." Maryam said and looked around to see if Hisham was there. "Dada, you've poured too much milk into my glass!" She complained when her eyes found him in the corner of the dining room. "I can't drink all this. Can you please give this milk to our Kitty?"
"Why don't you drink some more, dear?" He asked her without stepping forward from where he stood.
"No, I can't." She said and got up from her chair.
"You've got a white moustache, Little Princess!" Fahad notified her with amusement and Maryam wiped her mouth with a grin.
"Alright, I think it's time for you to go to bed now," Fahad said, feeling slightly disappointed. But he understood that she wanted to leave. "I'll talk to you another time, Princess. I love you a lot!"
"Love you too, Fahad Uncle!" Maryam said and ran to Hisham who carried her in his arms.
'I'll help you to get close to your children, brother.' Hisham promised to himself as he took her upstairs to read her another bedtime story to help her to go to sleep.