Chapter 10: His Daughter

Lydia's house wasn't that far from my mum's and in about ten minutes or so I had arrived. I took out Hamza's baby seat from the boot and put it back into the car, tying it in properly and picking up my phone that had two missed calls from the private number and a message from Justin.

'Mates called me out. Another time. Say hi to your mum :)'

I smiled and sent him an okay I before putting my phone in my pocket and walking to the front door.

"As salamu alaykum, mum." I called as I walked into the kitchen.

"Wa alaykum Salam." She answered as I gave her a kiss.

"Where are Hamza and Hafsa?" I asked.

"Fayza's giving them a bath. We baked cookies and they made a mess." She said with a grin.

"Why am I not surprised?" I laughed as I put my bag down on the stool and untied my hijab before walking to the bathroom, hearing Hamza and Hafsa laugh loudly as they splashed about in the bathtub.

"As salamu alaykum." I said to Fayza.

She replied my greeting and I told her what happened today as we washed one baby each. The kids were busy playing with each other and their bath toys so they weren't really intrigued in our conversation at all.

"Do you want to hear his excuse?" She asked me softly as she held the bath nozzle over Hamza and washed off the soap before handing it to me as she wrapped him in a towel and held him to her chest.

"I do, I always have. But he doesn't deserve to explain himself." I replied honestly.

She exhaled as she slowly rubbed the towel over Hamza's head to dry it as I washed the excess soap off Hafsa before taking her out also.

"Just pray for the best." She said giving me a smile and I nodded.

"You pray for me too." I said, laughing yet still being sincere and she chuckled.

"Will do."

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After Fayza and I dried and dressed the kids, we went to the car and prepared to leave to the shopping centre.

I had promised Hamza two nights ago that I would take him shopping to buy toys and so I was fulfilling that promise

I had promised Hamza two nights ago that I would take him shopping to buy toys and so I was fulfilling that promise.

"Where are we going, mummy?" Hamza asked as I tied him into his seat before leaning over and checking Hafsa's to make sure Fayza had tied it right.

"Relax, I'm not five." She muttered as she rolled her eyes.

"Clearly, otherwise you would have fit in the middle easier." I laughed, watching as she glared at me from the middle of the two baby seats she was squashed between.

"Remember what I promised you at grandpa's house before we went to bed and we couldn't do it yesterday?" I said to Hamza with a smile.

"Toy shopping!" He cheered and I laughed, kissing his head as I nodded.

"How come mummy didn't pwomise me toy shopping?" Hafsa said with her adorable little pout that she always did as well as crossing her arms over her chest.

I smiled at her and walked to her side. "Because you were sleeping, princess." I said as I held her face and kissed her cheeks. "But don't worry," I said softly. "I promised you while you were sleeping."

Her eyes widened as she looked at me with hopeful eyes. "Does that mean I get toy shopping too?!" She asked and I nodded, winking at her which made her laugh happily.

I drove to the store, slowly since my mum absolutely loathed fast drivers. She was the only person in the world I would slow down for.

We got out and the kids went psycho, jumping up and down, cheering and laughing in absolute excitement as we walked into Toys R Us.

"I'm going to buy a Batman toy!" Hamza told my mum as she led the way to the marvel section.

"Can I buy a car toy?" Hafsa said as she smiled up at me.

I nodded at her with a sigh.

Hafsa had inherited Zaid's infatuation with cars from even a very young age.

She wasn't into barbies and dollhouses. She loved car toys. Specifically the ones where you build the railway and then the little toy car goes through little obstacles.

She had always wanted a remote control car but I told her that was a no-no as I was afraid she would run it into her brother or herself if she couldn't control it properly. Zaid's favourite pasttime was cars and racing.

He had taught me how to drive and that was the reason behind my current impatience with slow drivers.

I shook the thoughts out of my head as we walked through Toys R Us for over an hour. Hamza bought two marvel action figures and a Tonka Truck Set and Hafsa had gotten a car rail as she had said along with a Cars movie set and a teddy bear.

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We were sitting in McDonald's, Hamza and Hafsa playing on the playground as I was sitting with my mum and Fayza.

"Mum?" I said as she hummed. "You think I should tell Zaid, don't you?" I asked her. "About the kids I mean."

Fayza looked at my mum with wide eyes. "You do?" She asked.

"I think every child deserves to have a mother and a father."

Fayza scoffed. "Come on, ammati. Sumayya is a better mum and even a better dad than he could ever be."

I smiled at her.

"I'm not saying she isn't. Think of this from an outside point of view, girls. Forget all the pain he put you through. You both love your dads very much. You know the bond between a father and his children is one of the biggest blessings both the child and the father can have. My poor sweethearts shouldn't, nor do they deserve to be deprived of that." She said before continuing. "I'm not saying forgive him. But he has a right, even religiously, to know about his kids and these kids have the right to know their dad."

Fayza stayed silent, looking like she was in thought and at that moment, as if God had sent me a sign, a baby in front of me fell and started screaming for her dad.

"You're right." Fayza said softly. "They need a dad."

"And I need time, okay?!" I said, feeling overwhelmed as I stood up and walked to the bathroom, needing to refresh and wash my face.

Were they right?

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