Dina

    I set down his mug of coffee and wrapped both hands around my own. Peering over Farouz's shoulder, I said, "Dissociative identity disorder? Sounds stressful?"

    He set the stack of papers on the coffee table and slumped against the couch, "it is. When this guy walked into the appointment a week ago I didn't think he was in this much trouble."

    Farouz has been back at work for a month now. School, for me, started in a couple weeks. So while I was binging Netflix and going through a book each day, Farouz was neck deep in appointments and work. "What is it?" I asked, setting my mug down. My thumbs rubbed circles into my husband's tense arms, and he slid down until his head rested on my shoulder. It's been exactly a month, two weeks, and four days since the wedding and already, Farouz and I adapted to life together. Everything worked like a well oiled machine. Already, I feel more at home with him than I've ever felt before. I love him, and the fact that we haven't said that to each other doesn't change it a bit. There is no doubt that what we have is unbreakable, and that's thanks to the blessing of God.

    "When a person suffers a really traumatic experience, it's like their brain takes over in order to protect them from the trauma." He stopped just long enough to turn and plant a kiss on my collarbone, "so their brain literally creates entirely different people that can help the person live with the trauma. And they all share the same body."

    I watched him take a sip of the coffee, then sigh. "I don't understand."

    He laughed, "it's really hard for the mind to comprehend. Okay, think of it like this." Farouz turned to face me, and took my hand. "Your hand represents your body. Let's say you were kidnapped, okay? And your kidnapper required you to make dinner every night, but you don't know how to cook. This," he held up my pointer finger, "is you, the person in control of the brain when you were kidnapped. Since you can't cook, your brain took over and created him" he held up my thumb, "he can cook."

    "He?"

    "These people can be boy or girl, whatever is needed to keep you alive."

    "So they are literally different people sharing a body?"

    "Yes, they could be a male or female, three years old or fifty."

    "That doesn't sound real."

    "I know!" his eyes shone with excitement, "it's super rare, only happens when the events are too traumatic for even the brain to deal with. And I have a case!"

    "How do you even fix that?"

    "Therapy, all of them have to talk and agree to merge together. Poor kid, he's miserable. Has no control over his life."

    "Well," I kissed his lips and they tasted like coffee, "if anyone can do it, it's you."

    Farouz said nothing, his eyes bore into mine and he only smiled. Then his arms went around my torso and I was on his lap. My fingers twirled his curls, and just as our lips were about to meet– "Farouz!" Aladdin's voice made us both jump. He rang the doorbell and continued to yell, "Farooooooooouz!"

    My husband groaned, his face rested in the crook of my neck, "we could just ignore him," he suggested.

    "No," I laughed, standing up and walking to the room, "go see what your friend wants."

    Just as I shut the door to the bedroom, the front door opened, "hey man," Aladdin spoke, "do you, by any chance, have a suit I can borrow? I have an interview for an internship."

    "Al! Mashallah man that's great! Look at you getting your life together. Of course I do, give me a minute."

    Just as I was walking away from the door, Aladdin said, "hey I didn't know your in laws were in town."

    They're not. "They're not," Farouz laughed.

    "Yeah they are? I ran into them at the supermarket! One of the boys, Zaid I think, recognized me from the wedding. They're on their way here."

    I didn't hear Farouz give a reply, but a second later the bedroom door opened and he walked in, "you're parents are coming?" Farouz asked in a hushed voice.

    "I didn't know! This is so out of character they usually call beforehand."

    Farouz bounced on his heals and said nothing. Then he walked into the closet and walked out with a suit in hand. "Here you go Al, good luck on your interview, tell me how it goes. Allah be with you."

    "Sure thing dude, I'll call you later."

    The door closed, and when I walked out, Farouz was standing in the middle of the living room looking genuinely perplexed. "You okay?"

    He nodded, half in a daze, "um, is there anything out of place? This is their first time seeing us in over a month I don't want to make the wrong impression." Farouz started buzzing around, picking up things then putting them somewhere else. The house was clean, I made sure of it this morning. Why is he acting like this? This is different from the calm and collected man I've been living with.

    "Hey, hey!" I pulled at his arm to stop his pacing. My hands reached up to his cheeks, "calm down, it's just my parents. What are you so nervous about?" But his mind was elsewhere, and I sensed his panic rise. "Farouz!" I yelled, pulling at his shirt, "what's going on?"

    "I'm...I'm..." he tried without success to steady his breathing, "It's just– I'm not good at this, family situations. Families don't like me. But...but I want to be g-good for you I want them to like me."

    "Honey, they love you. Or else they wouldn't have let you marry me." I laughed, trying to cheer him up. "Who says families don't like you?" He wouldn't stand still, Farouz shifted from one foot to the other and his eyes swam across the house. "Do Al's parents not like you?"

    "It's not them."

    "Is there a patient whose family didn't like you?" He shook his head. "Your family?"

    He stopped moving, except for the shaking of his hands, Farouz stood completely still. "Look at me," I directed his eyes to mine, "not all families are like that. I understand that it can be hard, but I'm your family now. My family is your family and they love you."

    "I don't want to disappoint them," his voice wavered.

    I took a deep breath, seeing him like this shook me, "you won't. You're perfect for me Farouz. I'm happy with you, you're a good Muslim who pleases God. They know that. We all know how amazing you are, why can't you see that?"

    Farouz dropped his head, "I need them to like me."

    "They do like you," when he looked away a tear finally left my eye, "give yourself some credit."

    "You, them, you're the closest I've ever felt to a family. A home. What if... what if I do something wrong? And it all goes away again."

    "Baby," that was the first time I called him that, but he looked so helpless and I could feel myself being as helpless as he. "It's not going away, ever. I'm not that easy to get rid of."

    He laughed, finally. Then rested his forehead against mine, "what did I do to deserve you?"

    "I don't know," I smiled, kissing him hard, "but God must really love you."

    Farouz laughed again then pulled me into a deep kiss. This time, he was the one to pull away, "I'm gonna go buy a cake or something, for us to serve with the tea."

    We walked to the door, I grabbed his phone and slid it into his pocket, "good idea. Don't take too long though they'll probably be here soon."

    "Mmm," he planted a lingering kiss on my temple, then walked out with a cheesy grin on his face. The door swung shut behind him and I went to get rid of the now cold coffee.

    I had just finished praying Asr when the doorbell rang and I heard my little brother say, "surprise!"

    "Ali!" he ran up to me the second I opened the door and threw all his weight into a hug. "Oh I missed you bub! How are you guys?" I asked, hugging Zaid as well.

    "Alhamdulillah," Zaid smiled, planting a sweet kiss on my cheek, "we miss you."

    "I miss you guys too," I laughed. Going to hug mama I said, "why didn't you guys call? I could have cooked something!"

    "You didn't cook?" My dad asked after I greeted him, "you just leave your husband hungry?"

    My mom hit his arm, but I let out a light laugh, "no baba, we felt like having pizza today." To my brother's I said, "we have a few slices left you want them?"

    "Aw yeah!" Ali yelled, running into the kitchen.

    I took my mom's hand and lead them to the sitting area, "please sit you guys must be tired. I'll be back in a second," then I followed my brother's to the kitchen.

    Zaid thanked me for the food right as my mom asked, "well where is our son in law? Is he at work?"

    "Oh no," I said as I poured two glasses of orange juice, "he's just out buying a few things."

    As I walked out, mama said to papa, "you hear that? He doesn't have her do all the shopping!"

    "When they are married for as long as we are, I'll start listening to you."

    Mama rolled her eyes, then to me, she said, "oh jazakallah (may God reward you/ thank you) I really needed a drink."

    "Of course," I sat down, "now, why didn't you guys call?"

    Father shrugged, "it was a last minute decision, I have a training here at the University tomorrow and so I brought them all to see you."

    "Well I'm glad you came," I said honestly.

    A familiar jingle of keys was followed by Farouz stepping into the house and smiled at my parents, "Assalamualaikum! Welcome to Austin," he said merrily, "I'm so happy you decided to visit."

    He set down the sweets and greeted my dad with a hug, "how are you son? Is my daughter treating you well?"

    "She's treating me beautifully," to my mother, he extended his hand, "I hope the road wasn't to tiring for you."

    Mama scoffed and pulled him into a tight hug, "oh I haven't gotten old yet!" she laughed.

    Farouz' eyes filled with panic, "I didn't mean to... I wasn't calling you–"

    "She was joking," I told him, taking his hand and pulling him to sit next to me.

    "You should know from living with Dina that most of our talk is joking," my father said, smiling at Farouz.

    I felt the tense muscles in his back relax, "so that's where she gets it? Sometimes having a serious conversation with her is a real challenge."

    "Farouz!" Ali yelled, running out of the kitchen and enveloping him in a hug, "I missed you!" Ali's always been a hugger.

    "Aw man!" Farouz laughed, "you've gotten stronger! What have you been eating?"

    "Pizza," Ali giggled, "it's very healthy."

    "Oh I don't think that's true buddy, but whatever makes you happy."

    Zaid calmly walked up to us and said, "Salam Farouz, how are you?"

    They shook hands as Farouz replied, "alhamdulillah, how are you Zaid? Ready for 10th grade?"

    "No," my brother groaned, "is it just me or are the summers getting shorter."

    "Oh they're getting shorter," Farouz and I said together.

***

    Amity ran up to my mom, "I missed you so much!" she squealed, "it's so nice to finally see my best friend again."

    "Rude," I gasped.

    My best friend rolled her eyes, "oh come on, we all know I love your mom more. Plus she didn't abandon me after she got married!"

    "What? I literally spent all of yesterday with you!"

    "Only because Farouz had work," Amity shot at me.

    "Oh shut up," I threw a cushion at her. "Get up and come help me make tea."

    Mama spoke up, "oh let her sit with me!" she pleaded, "I haven't talked to Amity in so long."

    "She's my friend!" I yelled with offence.

Farouz nudged me, "I can help while your father prays. Let the two friends catch up."

Huffing, I stormed to the kitchen and Farouz followed me, laughing. "Stop it," I pouted, filling the kettle with water.

"Are you actually upset about Amity?" he asked seriously.

I cracked a smile, "no, I love how much my mom gets along with her."

"Well," he handed me the tea bags, "you almost had me convinced."

"Mmm," while the tea was on the stove I said, "how are you feeling?"

My husband continued to smile, "what do you mean?"

"I mean are you okay? After what happened before they got here, I just... I want you to be comfortable."

Farouz reached over and squeezed my hand, "I'm wonderful. It was just a moment of weakness that's all."

"Farouz."

"Dina."

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Hide your feelings from me."

"There's nothing to hide love."

"Stop." I placed my hand on his face and made him look at me, "I'm your wife, and you're a terrible liar."

He sighed, "I'm sorry. I just don't want you to worry."

"If I don't worry about you, then who will I worry about?"

"I'm okay," Farouz said, "honestly, a little on edge, but it's going better than I thought."

"Wallahi? (swear?)"

"Wallahi."

He ran his hand through my hair, "good."

"What about you?" he asked, rubbing circles behind my ear.

"What about me?" I laughed, "I'm wonderful."

"Dina."

"Farouz."

He hooked his fingers onto my pants and pulled me closer. At that moment I thanked Allah that we were standing in the one spot hidden from the living room, because if anyone saw us I think I'd faint. "Don't forget," he warned, "I was your doctor." When I shrugged, he said, "I know how much anxiety your family causes you."

My eyes darted to the living room, everyone was busy laughing and talking. He's right, I've been shaky ever since they walked in. I wanted, more than anything, to prove to my parents how capable I am of taking care of my husband. Father always joked about me being too clumsy to keep myself alive, and part of me was afraid he'd say something today. "They don't do it on purpose," I mumbled, "it's just how they were raised."

"I know," Farouz replied softly, "but that doesn't mean it's right."

"They don't know any better," I defended, "it's the cultural barrier, I'm just sensitive. Plus they haven't said anything–"

"Dina, I'm not accusing them of anything. I respect your parents just as if they were my own. They're amazing people and I know they don't mean to hurt you. But they still do sometimes, and I just need to make sure you know I'm here okay? I have your back, always."

I nodded, and as I was about to reply, the kettle started whistling. "Tea's ready," I pulled back and went to turn off the stove. "And Farouz? Thank you."

That night turned into one of my favorite nights. My parents were full of laughter and jokes and they kept all of us entertained for hours. We all drank tea and snacked until my two brother's fell asleep. Farouz fit right in, he talked with my dad about work and sports and anything that came to mind. My entire family was together in one place. Mom, dad, Farouz, Zaid, Ali and Amity all sat around me, laughing and playing until none of us could keep our eyes open. Then my parents went into the guest room, Farouz blew up the air mattress for my brothers, and I walked Amity to her car.

    "Tonight was fun," Farouz said as we got into bed, "I've never experienced anything like that. They give off such a warm feeling."

    Nodding, I said, "they're honestly my favorite times, makes me appreciate everything I have you know?" Farouz hummed a reply, then an idea popped into my head. "Hey Farouz?"

    He slid down until he was laying on the bed and turned to face me, "hmm?"

    "Maybe we should... go visit your parents sometime."

    Silence, he just looked at me for what felt like eternity. Then, turned around and threw his arm over his eyes, "don't."

    My heart thumped in my chest, "don't what? Farouz I really think it's time you–"

    "Dina," his voice was sharp, demanding. "Let's not ruin a good day, okay?"

    "But–"

    "We'll talk about this later, okay?" His voice went up, I could tell the topic was making him mad but he was trying not to let it show. "I'm really tired," Farouz turned away from me, "good night Dina."

    I slid under the blanket, turned off the lamp, and tried to fall asleep.

A/N: Hey everyone!! I'm not dead, still very much writing and updating. I couldn't upload last week because I was on a school trip for the weekend. And THEN!! I've been trying to upload this chapter for hours but wattpad isn't working for some reason :/ I had to use my phone, so if there are any funky mistakes.. please tell me!

So there are changes happening in the plot, any theories? What's up with Farouz? What's gonna happen next? Best answer gets a dedication!

This chapter goes go @chocolatesummers because you have the story a chance!! Thank you :)

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Until next Friday,
Salam