The time was flying, and Mary was hating it.
It was already half of Ramadan and there were so many things to ask and to thank Allah Subhanu Wa Ta'ala. There were so many deeds to do, to get a huge reward from. The time was already not enough and then there was this exam season. No one likes exams, and if it is thrown at you in a month, where time is never enough, and you still have so many things to do, then exams are a curse.
They got cursed by it.
The only good thing was that not so many girls get to study with their husbands, especially when it's a genuine one. "What. Is. The. Answer. To. This. Question?" Mary asked two hours before the exams, sitting in their bedroom. Aaryan took the book from her, stared at the question for half a second, and then casually said, "This one," pointing at the right option. Before looking at the book, she stared at him, so jealous.
Well, Aaryan had read about a hundred books on each subject so he was meant to be someone extraordinary "What about This one, this, and this, and this too, and this" she pointed at like twenty points on the book including some empty spaces and instead of answering Aaryan laughed "This" he softly pinched her nose with his fringes "This, this and this and this too and this" he said pointing at like ten places on her face and she giggled "Stop messing, Diamond and let me study" He said stopping at her chin
"You don't need to study" Mary rolled her eyes and Aaryan just laughed
For the entire way to the university, Mary was glued to the book while Aaryan was peacefully driving. Stepping onto the university grounds, they found three of their friends there, and all of them were looking equally nervous. "I don't think I can do it," Raheel said, forgetting the Bro.
He was definitely anxious "Relax, Ray," Taha said while not sounding relaxed himself and Haroon agreed with Taha with the most nervous node
Aaryan stood in the middle while the other four stood at his sides. "Have you recited The Three?" He asked and the four of them nodded vigorously
"Ayat-ul-kursi?" He asked
"Done" they replied in a collective scream
"Salawat on Prophet Muhammad (SAW)?"
"Done"
"Al-Fatiha?"
"Done"
"That's it, my friends, we are going to nail this exam, In Sha Allah," Said Aaryan with absolute confidence "In Sha Allah" they looked a little relaxed now
Aaryan held his wife's hand and they took their way to the exam hall
•••
When Aaryan entered their room, in the evening, he found Mary devastated on the floor. His eyes widened when he saw her crying. "What what what happened?" He ran to her, absolutely panicked. Mary didn't say anything, not even when Aaryan looked like he would start crying himself.
"What happened, My love?" He fell behind her. "I got my periods," she said while crying. Aaryan appeared to be a bit relaxed. He breathed calmly and moved closer to her
"Hey, Diamond," he called silently.
Mary had so much to say to him right at that moment, but she could not say anything. "Can you walk? Do you want me to carry you to bed?" No, she didn't want it. There was something else she wanted to say so badly but her words were not arranging "Should I buy you some chocolates? Should I take some hot packs?" She shook her head in no "A massage? Painkillers?" No, no, no, nothing could fix this, nothing could fix her.
"Tell me, Diamond, what should I do for you?" In the moment when she wanted to cry her pain out, Mary felt like crying tears of happiness because her husband could not bear a single tear in her eyes.
"What should I do, Aaryan?" She heard herself saying in the cries
"What do you want me to do, My love? Tell me what can I do, I will help you with everything," he said, holding her hands.
"I can not fast," She broke into tears. "What?" He asked, a little confused, "What am I supposed to do? I can't fast"
It had been breaking her. This was the thing she had been trying to tell him. "Hey," Aaryan called, slowly. "Aaryan! What should I do? I want to fast! I don't know, I don't want these periods, not right now! I want to fast!" She yelled, thrusting her feet against the floor and crying like a child.
Aaryan hugged her, and she cried louder, "I don't know, I just want to fast. I can't waste my days!" She was screaming and her body was shivering from the pain.
Aaryan didn't say anything but hugged her. After a moment her body stopped shaking. He held her up in his arms and helped her to lie down. Aaryan removed her shoes and unpinned the hijab she was still wearing, but Mary never stopped crying.
"Listen to me, Diamond," he said slowly. Mary tried to stop crying just to listen to some sort of solution she was expecting him to make. "When you are on your periods, your body is weak, and you are in pain. How are you supposed to stay hungry for the entire day?" He asked softly, but Mary got angry because this was not a solution. "I don't know anything. I can fast. Seriously, Aaryan, I am so strong!" She said confidently and tried to sit up but the cramp hit her so hard that she fell back to the bed and hurt her head "Mary" he said her name, a little angry now "I can, I really can" she repeated herself and the action but this time Aaryan held her before falling "Look at yourself" He raised his voice further
"Aaryan, I really–"
"Mary, you should not say it. You cannot fast, and this is not a punishment for you but a blessing in this stressful time." He made sense, he completely made sense, but Mary wanted to argue. She opened her mouth to rebel, but Aaryan placed a finger on her lips "Don't say anything, okay?" She was not okay and there were so many things to say, so she could just fast but in the end, she said nothing.
Aaryan then did everything he said. He got her chocolates, relaxed her with a massage, placed hot packs on her crumbling belly, and stayed by her side for the entire time. She felt the pain fading little by little but the ache never left her heart. She stopped saying it aloud when Aaryan told her to but her inner voice didn't stop.
No one can understand this pain because there wasn't a cure to this ache, at least not by any medicine. She couldn't sleep at night. All she was thinking about was how at midnight, when she would wake up, she wouldn't be able to fast, and then, for the entire day, she would not be able to pray. It was cracking her entire being.
Aaryan didn't sleep either. He was checking on Mary every minute "Are you okay?" He asked again and again, and she shook her head in no, like every other time. "Do you need anything?" He sat up "My heart is hurting, Aaryan" Mary was still crying, her tears didn't stop even when Aaryan held her for hours "Diamond—"
"No matter how many times you tell me it is okay, I can't tell myself it is okay, Aaryan. My heart is not at ease"
Aaryan looked stressed. Mary never wanted to put him in this situation but she was unable to control herself. She wondered if there was someone else in place of Aaryan he would have shut the door and gone out
But this was Aaryan
Her Aaryan
And she was his Queen
"Okay, My love, let me recite Al-Fatiha to you" Mary nodded. She needed it, she needed her soul to be fixed, and only the Holy Quran can fix her at that moment. Aaryan once again hugged her, and then he started to recite one of the most beautiful Surahs of the most beautiful Book "Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem. Alhamdu lillaahi Rabbil 'aalameen. Ar-Rahmaanir Raheem" His voice was healing. This surah was healing. Mary felt like the pain in her heart was leaving with every verse, Aaryan was reciting "Maaliki Yawmid-Deen. Iyyaaka na'budu wa lyyaaka nasta'een. Ihdinas-Siraatal-Mustaqeem. Siraatal-lazeena an'amta 'alaihim ghayril-maghdoobi 'alaihim wa lad-daaalleen" She felt okay. She felt amazing. Her heart was calm. It was peaceful.
"Are you feeling better?" Aaryan asked slowly and this time she finally nodded up and down "I will recite it to you until you fall asleep" She nodded again, vigorously this time, and then Aaryan recited it so many times that she forgot the count but Mary didn't sleep and this time it was because she wanted to keep listening to his voice. So, she forced herself to stay awake until
It was the time of Tahajjud
When Aaryan's phone rang from the alarm. He panicked for a moment and then jumped to turn it off, but Mary heard it and when she realized why he did it, she said the words of her heart like a cry, "Ya Allah, it's time for Tahajjud and I can't pray." Aaryan cried with her this time. There were unshed tears in his eyes. He wiped her tears for the hundredth time in the night and kissed her between her eyes.
He got up from the bed.
He left her side to pray alone and it was once again killing her.
When Aaryan was praying, she sat on the bed, just behind him. She was looking at him while her legs were hanging on the bed, almost vigorously hitting the floor to exchange some of the pain with physical pain.
After he was done praying, Aaryan didn't stay at the prayer mat and made Dua as usual. Instead, he stood up, walked to her, and sat on the bed by her side. Aaryan took her hands and wrapped his palms over the back of them and then he raised both of their hands together for Dua.
Aaryan made Dua in her hands silently, making her feel like she was included in the prayer. After a moment, he brushed her hands over his face gently as if it was Mary who just prayed Tahajjud. She was now crying tears of happiness because she could not think what she had done to get blessed with Aaryan "What did you ask for?" She asked while her hands stayed with him "For you, forever" She was going to spend the whole night crying "You are going to get punishment for making your wife cry this many times" Aaryan nodded and smiled "It's okay as long as you are happy" Forgetting the pain she hugged him. "You are the best thing that happened to me," she said "I love you, Aaryan"
"I love you too, Diamond"
•••
Aaryan took extra of his most extra care of her in those days, and she was able to pass that time with his support.
But it didn't end there because it was almost the end of the Holy Month. "So you're telling me, it's the 27th of Ramadan today?" Mary asked in anger, sitting on a couch, in the living room. Aaryan nodded his head in answer. "So you're telling me that there are only two or three days left?" Her anger rose, and he nodded again. "But this is so fast, Aaryan. It was just yesterday– okay just a few days ago since Ramadan started and now it's already the end" All the fury was gone and she was whining now "It always happens, literally every single time because we can never get enough of it" No matter how he says it she was still angry; frowning "But I don't want it to end so soon. I want to fast for more days"
"We are going to fast for more days. Remember? We have a week of fasts to make up for?" This time, Mary nodded, and she was okay with the answer, but "That won't be like this. It won't be Ramadan." She sighed. "Well, there is something else after Ramadan, too," Aaryan said, and Mary knew he was just trying to divert her mind, so she just looked at him and didn't reply, "Eid." Okay, she was excited, absolutely excited about "Eid!" She yelled like a child, "Yeah, your first ever Eid, and you are going to love it, Diamond." She smiled brightly.
"We need to prepare for the Eid, right?" Mary was indicating a specific thing "Yep, we are going shopping tonight." Mary jumped from the couch as if it was the night already. "Tonight, Mary. Sit down. We are not going right now". She listened, but her excitement was peaking.
"Amy told me so much about Eid, and I am super, super excited!" She exclaimed, and Aaryan was chuckling so badly at his wife, acting like a two-year-old.
"What did she tell you?" he asked
"About the beautiful traditional dresses, about Hina, that Amy would apply on my hands, the feast with family and—" she stopped for an instant, stared at Aaryan with huge eyes, and spoke again, "And Eid money!" Aaryan was not smiling now.
"Yeah, the elders give it to kids." He sounded extremely suspicious to her, and Mary stopped smiling too. "But Amy said you are supposed to give the Eid money to me as well." She remembered her clearly saying, but Aaryan was denying it. "Huh? Really?" He looked confused, and "Huh?" She did too, and then he burst into laughter. "I am just kidding. Of course, I will give it to you, as much as you want" Her smile was back again.