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“What are you doing here!” I exclaimed, stepping back to look at them.
My mother giggled. “Well, Ahmad called us the other night and asked if we were up for a visit. He sent the jet for us early this morning.”
I turned to Ahmad. “You did that for me?”
“I told you I’d do anything to make you happy.”
I walked over and cupped his face before pressing my lips to his. “Thank you.”
“No thanks needed.”
“That pilot,” my father said, shaking his head. “Did you break that man’s nose, Nala?”
“Is he still complaining about that?” Ahmad asked.
“We had to hear about it for fifteen minutes before we took off.”
Ahmad shook his head. “I’m sorry about that. I guess Carl has a grudge.”
“Anything we should be concerned about?”
“No, sir. He might be mad, but he’s not stupid. Come on, let’s eat.”
My parents washed their hands and went to make their plates. As we were fixing them, my mother leaned over and whispered to me.
“Why are there so many utensils? Is he a germaphobe or something?”
I snickered. “You don’t know the half of it, Ma.”
I was so happy to have them here. Maybe this would give them a chance to really see Ahmad and I as a couple. I knew my father still wasn’t completely sold, but he was trying, and that was all that mattered.
After breakfast, my mother and I headed out to the pool for a little while. Kari was obsessed with her playroom and wanted to go back upstairs, so I let her have at it. She suckered Ahmad and her grandfather into going with her. That was going to be interesting and awkward. The first time he heard Kari refer to him as Papa Ahmad, I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head.
We were on a FaceTime call and Kari was so excited as she told him all about meeting Ahmad’s family and it slipped out. He didn’t say anything while she was on the phone, but once she went to take her bath, he laid into me with the questions. I was sure he would talk to Ahmad about it face to face. I just prayed that he would be respectful.
“Soooo…” my mother said, looking over at me. “I take it things are going well?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You look happy, Nala.”
“I’m very happy, Mom. Ahmad… I don’t know what to say about him. I know this isn’t the ideal situation given the circumstances. I know maybe it wasn’t the smartest decision, but I love him.”
“You love him?”
“Yes. I love him. Kari loves him and he loves us too. He’s been so good to her, Mom. The man I see with her is nothing like the man we met. She brings out a softness and an almost childlike part of him. Just last night, she had him singing along to Moana.”
My mother laughed. “Disney can pay that child for all the times she’s watched that movie.”
“Right! Ma, we’ve grown so much since we’ve been back here. It’s been like having my own little family. I have peace and freedom with Ahmad that I never had with Slim, and it doesn’t come with a cost to me.”
She smiled softly. “I’m happy to hear that.”
There was silence between us for a moment before I spoke again.
“He wants us to move in here.”
“Here?”
