Chapter 99

She swallowed the painful knot. She needed to cry, not because of them, but because Amrah was right. "Amrah you're not going anywhere by this time. I can't allow you to leave now because I don't want mama to get worried about me. And please about telling her, that is not necessary. Please, I will find a way out. And it's not his fault. Someone accused me of aborting my child and he believed it because I once told him I wasn't ready to have a baby. I don't blame him for that too. Please don't judge him and don't question me for staying. I know there'll be a way out... somehow." Amrah dropped what she was doing and stood before her. She held her shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me that months back? Do you know how worried aunty is? You think she doesn't know something is wrong with you? You know you suck at hiding your feelings." Dalia chuckled softly before she hugged Amrah. "I will find a way to come clean and make things right with him. Just pray for me." Amrah broke the hug and beheld her gaze, smirking. "And it never came to your mind that your co wife might be behind the abortion. I mean come on.... The woman could pay to get you killed if she had the chance. And besides, the way this guy loves you there's no way he'd change to being a jerk without any reason." Dalia sighed and shook her head. "Amrah, I don't want any trouble. Just let me handle this, and promise you won't tell my mother." She rolled her eyes before nodding. "You win, but only this time." Dalia laughed heartily as she embrace her again. With each contraction came a pain that dominated Amira's entire being. In those moments, she regretted ever agreeing to have a baby. She shook her head wondering why she stopped taking her birth control pills at the first place. She would have continued taken it and fooled him but rather she did it Just to irritate her co wife now she was between life and death. When the pain passed it was only for a minute or so and she breathed with closed eyes, unwilling to re-engage with life outside of her own body. The room might as well have been empty for all the awareness she had, and when they did talk, touch, gain her attention she found it so hard. To reply, she had to find herself from the deepest recess of her own mind and drag herself forward, to use her voice, open her eyes. The midwife was telling her that it was time, time to push again. With a guttural grunt she did so and was told to stop, one was enough. She felt the baby crowning, the hot stretching of flesh and held her breath. Without any further effort the baby slid into the hands of the midwife. There was elation, a girl at last, and in the seconds she was there, nascent eyes opening, mouth rooting for milk. She rested her head back, gasping for air. Finally, she could rest and continue living the way she did before. A long while later after amira had woken up, she met her mother in the room together with Muhsin holding the baby as he rock her back and forth. She smiled at him, trying to keep her eyes open. She was still tired despite the fact that she had slept throughout the day. "Can I hold her?" She spoke weakly stretching out her hands. "No amira, you're not strong enough to do that. Wait after you've eaten at least." She looked at her mother before she shrugged it off and turned her gaze away. She knew why her mother did that; because amira doesn't know how to hold babies. She had never attempted it no matter how many times she was given a baby to hold. Not to be judged but amira disliked babies. Everything about them was stressful, in her opinion. They don't allow you to sleep, they cry a lot, some eat too much. They always make a mess. She cringed at the thought of that. She looked his way, he still had the baby with him. The sight was cute but she would never find babies something to be proud of. It was a waste of time and life destroyer. The next day, they got discharged after amira had thrown an unending tantrum to get discharged from the hospital. She was taken home and after the naming ceremony, she went back to her parents house even though she had begged muhsin not to agree with her mother about it. Muhsin sauntered into the house after he had dropped amira at her parents house. He walked in as he thought of the way he'd live for forty days or so alone with dalia. How was he going to resist being together with her, in the same roof without anything going between them. Impossible, he mused to himself. Just as he expected, he met her in the living room but she wasn't watching TV, she had books piled all around her. She looked stressed, lost weight; he noticed. She turned her head to his direction when she heard his movement. They both gazed in each others eyes longingly until she spoke. "Welcome back." But he never uttered a word, rather, he kept looking at her for a brisk moment before he walked passed her and headed upstairs to his room. The last thing he'd want was to have anything come between them and that was impossible if she keeps appearing everywhere he was.