Masqué Chapter 26. *FINALE*

Every time I end one of my stories, a piece of me dies, honestly. I fell in love with every character I created and of course, hated every evil character I created as well. Every story has an end, not all stories have a happy ending but I believe happy endings do exist.

Lets say that this ending will be bittersweet.

Dedicated to: @MMutairy for the beautiful Las Vegas pictures she sent me of masks! And of course, dedicated to all you other beautiful readers who have supported me so much, I can never thank you enough. <3 You truly make writing a joy for me.

-

After 4/5 years..


"Galbe, akeed ma tabeen ayeeblich shay men el jam3eya?" My husband asked me in a tender voice. His dark eyes were caring, full of fear over the child that was nestling inside my stomach. His eyebrows were arched naturally, his tanned skin surrounded his handsome features, a strong nose, thin yet seductive lips and his hair had gotten shorter over the years, showing how his masculinity had grown.

"Ma abe shay 7beeby, la t7aty." I smiled weakly up at my husband, patting my hand over his arm, trying to reassure him I was fine.

"Ma ra7 a6awil, okay? Etha 9ar shay, digay 3lay, okay?" Saif looked nervous on leaving me alone in the house for the first time in weeks. He had a white Armani shirt that was smudged with some dust because he was busy trying to build up the baby's crib.

"Saif." I laughed lightly. "Eljam3eya yemna w betrid in 15 minutes, shnu bi9eer feene etha khaleitny brou7y for just 15 minutes?"

"7aram akhaf 3la murty w binty?" Saif said defensively, trying to cover up his smile. His gentle fingers stroked over my 9 month old pregnant stomach, my cheeks had become fuller and my toes were swollen because of the pregnancy, every bone in me ached but the joy of feeling a little life growing inside of you was unbelievable. It was worth all the pain.

"Yal romancii enta, al7een rou7 yeblena aghra'9 7ag el bait, 9arlek sa3a w enta ga3d tis2alny if I'll be okay." I laughed again, my cheeks reddening. Even after two years being married to him, I still grew shy around him. We had been engaged for a year, our parents allowed us to marry once we both turned 20. By then, Saif was able to take a teaching job at the school he used to go to when he was a teenager.

Our house was in the same men6e8a as our Grandmother's house, this made it easier for Gran or our parents to visit us whenever they felt like it. No one ever left me alone, they would keep cooing at my pregnant stomach, trying to speak to the little baby growing inside of me. Bibi and Turki were in college. Turki's studying engineering in KU whilst Bibi's studying textiles in AUK. Nawaf is still studying medicine and is secretly planning to propose to Bibi, once he finishes studying and has a job of his own.

A7mad was still in prison and my fake parents practically disappeared. Asmaa and her family were ashamed of A7mad, they practically escaped the country and decided to live in their apartment in London, which meant Asmaa was currently working in London.

"Okay khala9 khala9 barou7." Saif chuckled, his smile brightening his whole face. He leaned down to brush his soft lips over my forehead, kissing it lightly. I smiled at him as he walked out of our two story house.

We had the baby's room decorated with pink and white, and so now we were waiting impatiently for the baby to slide out of me. I stood up from the soft sofa I was laying on and walked slowly to the kitchen. I was suddenly craving chocolate.

Da-la-ling ling! 

My blackberry buzzed against the kitchen counter.

Chocolate had to wait, hmpf. 

Incoming call: Bibi (sis) :*

I pressed my blackberry up against my ear as I tried to walk back into the kitchen.


"Amaaaal." Bibi shrieked into her phone, causing my eardrums to want to explode.


"Athouuuni Bibi!" I laughed. I pulled the fridge open, digging my head into the cool fridge, my eyes hunting for a chocolate bar. I found a Kit Kat behind our KDD juices, I reached for it and pulled it out.

"Bayeelich al7een, okay?" Bibi said. I could hear the happy chattering of her university friends in the background.

"Okay yalla, Saif mu mawjoud, ohwa bel jem3ya." I said with my mouthful of crunchy yet delicious mouth watering chocolate.

"On my way now." Bibi said before hanging up. I looked at the clock and read the time: 4:21pm.

I decided to change out of my teddy pajamas that Saif always laughs at and wore a maternity floral shirt with my favourite comfortable leggings. Every few minutes, I'd feel a sudden pain erupt out of my stomach.

"Ya rabee, shfeech entay, haday a39abich." I rubbed my bloated stomach, whispering to the baby.

"AMAAAAAL." Bibi's voice echoed through the house.

"Bismellah ma midach, bsr3a yeitay." I looked up and found a taller, more feminine Bibi walking towards me. She had fitted leather leggings and a loose long sleeved shirt that had studs on them. Her face was framed with a cool grey 7jab, showing off her beautiful womanly features. Did I also mention ena Bibi t7ejebt?

"Dageit 3leich w ana bel sayara, already on my way." Bibi snickered evilly before pulling me in for a gentle hug.

"Shloun el baby?" Bibi asked, looking at my big stomach, her eyes full of love.

"Zeina bas 3a9abeya, kil digeega she has to kick my belly." I rolled my eyes, a smile breaking onto my face. I pushed my long hair back into a ponytail, suddenly growing queasy.

"Amal, if you're going to vomit then go to the bathroom now. The shirt I'm wearing cost me 50kd, don't ruin it." Bibi noticed my queasiness, her words making me want to laugh.

"L-la2 bas Bibi.." I held my stomach, another pain erupting out of my stomach, silencing my urge to want to laugh. Bibi quickly grabbed me by the arms, steadying me, keeping me from falling.

"Amal! Shfeech?!" Bibi's face was alerted, full of fright. Her playfulness melted away once she noticed my face was crying out with pain.

"The baby.. is coming." I forced the words out, my face twisting in pain. I looked down and noticed that my leggings were drenched with water.

My water broke.

-

-Saif's POV-
  
I urged my legs to pump faster, I was running down the halls of the hospital. I had just gotten two calls, one from Nawaf giving me bad news and then Bibi's call, giving me good news.

I was looking for Amal's favourite strawberry juice in the super market when my blackberry vibrated in the pockets of my shorts.

"Saif.." Nawaf's voice sounded troubled.

"Nawaf, shfeek?" I suddenly was full of worry. Was it Amal? Did something happen to her? 

"Yedetna bel mustasfha, she had a heart attack." Nawaf's voice quivered through the phone.

"Shnu?" I held the gasp in but my eyes suddenly filled with tears, I let go of the trolley I was pushing and stalked out of the super market. Nawaf explained that Gran had a weak heart due to her old age. I couldn't tell Amal, she was carrying our baby girl, I couldn't put more stress on her.

I was in Gran's room in the hospital when the second call, from Bibi, alerted me.

"Saif, bsr3aa ta3al Al Hadi hospital!" Bibi panicked.

"Ana al7een bil Hadi.." I said in a confused tone, did Bibi find out about Gran? I stared at Gran's lifeless face, her eyes drooping down, her body connected to multiple wires that pushed different kinds of medicine into her.

"Huh.." Bibi suddenly froze, sounding quizzical.

"Bibi al7een gouleely sh9ayer!" I cried into the phone, trying to bring Bibi back to what she wanted to say. Nawaf was sitting next to Gran with our parents. I decided to leave the room to talk to Bibi properly.

"Amal, she's having the baby!" Bibi cried back into the phone, she was panicking again. Beads of sweat were trickling down my neck, my blood ran cold as I heard Bibi's words.

"WHAT?" I nearly screamed into the phone.

"BSR3A TA3AL. Level 3, waiting room." Bibi screamed back, hanging up on me without another word.

I didn't wait to tell anyone else. I actually didn't have time to think about telling anyone else, my mind was filled with alerts, telling me to get to Amal as fast as I could.

I decided to run for it.  

Our baby. Our little Razan.

Those words kept playing over and over again in my head as I was urging my body to run faster. I waited impatiently for the elevator to take me to level 3, my fingers kept drumming against my legs, people kept turning to look at me but I kept my eyes down, imagining the pain Amal was going through right now.

I finally reached the waiting room. Bibi had her head dug into her legs, Turki was next to her, his hand rubbing her back. Turki was much taller now and his skin had darkened, he looked more of a man than the little boy I used to know.

"Saif." Turki quickly stood up once he saw me. I was sweating, my chest was heaving but I wanted to see Amal. I had to see her.

"Weinha?" I said in between heavy breaths.

"They're performing the surgery now." Bibi looked up at me, her eyes full of fearful tears.

"3amaleya? Laish 3amaleya?!" I urged Bibi to answer me, my heart was beating furiously inside my chest.

"Ma y9eer natural birth, the baby isn't positioned right in the stomach. It's a C-section." Bibi tried to calm me down, telling me it was perfectly normal, that it was going to be fine.

I kept pacing back and fourth in the waiting room. The surgical room was right in front of us but we weren't allowed to walk in, not allowed to see Amal or the surgery that she was going through.

After a few hours, one of the doctors finally approached us with a troubled expression. He had ash blonde hair and dark blue eyes that were framed with aging wrinkles.

"What happened? Is she okay? Is the baby okay?" The questions kept piling.

"The baby is fine but Amal lost a lot of blood.." The doctor began to speak but all I heard was "Amal lost a lot of blood". My ears clogged up and all I could think was:  

What did that mean? Stop telling me stupid medical information my mind won't process, tell me if she's alright or not!

"IS SHE OKAY?" I nearly yelled at the doctor, my voice trembling.

"Saif calm down." Bibi rested a hand over my arm, trying to calm me down but I couldn't calm down, knowing that Amal was in there, close to death.

"We need someone with the same blood type as her from your family." The Doctor told us in a strained voice.

"Me, take my blood." I quickly offered.

"What blood type are you?" The doctor asked. I handed him my ID and the doctor shook his head in disappointment.

"You're not the same blood type as her."

"I'm the same blood type." Bibi quickly spoke up. I looked around at Bibi with a shocked expression on. I knew for a fact that she wasn't related to Amal by blood but she had the same blood type as Amal nonetheless. The doctor ushered Bibi to a room where he could run tests before drawing blood from her body.

It was a long night. I stayed in the waiting room impatiently. It took hours and hours, the process of trying to fill Amal with the new blood and having to prepare our baby girl.

I got the chance to see our baby. Amal was still in the surgical room, I couldn't see her yet. I walked over to the baby room where they held all the newborn babies. My eyes raked over the babies, trying to look for my own baby girl.

I gave the nurse the name and room number. The room smelled like medicine and baby powder, it had white lighting and the nurses held friendly smiles. One of the nurses pushed a little baby casket which was over the trolley to the clear glass window.

I peeked down and the little baby girl in front of me took my breath away. The baby girl's eyes weren't fully open, they were slightly drooped but I peeked at her large chocolate eyes, giving her a little smile. She was dressed in the pink outfit we got her a few months ago. She had Amal's cheeks but my straight nose, her eyes were the exact same shape as Amal's and I could see a little dimple that wasn't so obvious. The baby's face was still swollen but her eyes peeked up at mine.

"Mashallah." Amal's mother breathed out next to me. I turned to find Turki, Nawaf, Amal's parents, my own parents all staring at my little baby girl in awe. All of their eyes were full of happy tears, just like my own.

Amal, if only you could see Razan right now.

I could feel my heart break inside my chest, causing a pain to fill over my chest. I was aching for Amal to see her own baby girl, she was the exact replica of her. There were hints of myself in our baby but Razan was all Amal. I left the baby room and sat back on one of the chairs in the waiting room, letting my own tears spill over as I was sitting by myself.

I mentally prayed, over and over again.

A tap on my shoulder startled me. I looked up and found the same blonde doctor standing over me. I noticed Amal's parents sitting next to me in silence, I hadn't noticed their presence.

"She's okay." The doctor gave us a smile and we all sighed in relief, my prayers had been answered. "She's drugged so she's still half asleep, would you like to see her though?"

I didn't answer, I stood up in a heartbeat and forced the doctor to lead me to the surgical room. I walked in, ignoring the smell of anesthetics and blood. Amal was laying down on a stretcher, her hair beautiful long hair was up and covered up. Her eyes were slightly open, her full scarlet lips looked swollen and her face was ghostly pale.

"Amal, galbe." I whispered, taking a step closer to her. My fingers found hers, the gaps in between her fingers perfectly fit mine.

"Mmm." Amal groaned, there were wet tears on her cheeks. I brushed them off with the back of my hand, I dug my face into her lap, holding tightly onto her hand, covering it with soft kisses.

"Saif." Amal murmured, her fingers blindly touching my face.

"Eee 7beebty, kanii." My face broke out in a smile as I looked up at Amal again. Her eyes were slowly shutting down, her face twisting in pain every few seconds. The nurses left us alone for a few minutes, I took a step closer to her and brushed my lips over her soft ones. I gave her a small peck, letting her fall asleep, not wanting to wake her up and cause her to feel the pain from the surgery.

They laid her in her bed in the patient room, closing the doors in her bedroom, not letting anyone disturb her. I felt at peace, seeing Amal, seeing her alive. el7amdellah ya rab.

"Saif." Nawaf's voice crept up behind me. Amal's parents and girl cousins were with her I was forced to stay out of the room.

"She passed away." Nawaf sadly stated.

I knew who he meant. Our Grandmother, our beloved Gran..

All I could do was stare at Nawaf's depressed face, unable to utter a word.

"The nurse came in, she thought Gran was asleep but when she checked her pulse, she had passed away." Nawaf's voice cracked, his eyes filling with tears. "Allah yer7amha."

"Allah yer7amha." I murmured to myself, the news slowly dawning in on me. Only Nawaf and I knew about Gran, we left it that way, we didn't tell the others until they left Amal's side. Their happiness melted away once they heard the news.

A life for a life.

Gran had passed away at the time when Razan was born. I was depressed, emotionally destroyed by the news but deep inside me, I was still at peace. Gran had passed away peacefully, she faced no pain and it was her time. This is what God wanted, He had a reason for everything, I didn't question Gran's death, all I did was thank God for blessing me with a new life, my little Razan.

Gran would be ashamed of us all if we remained depressed, she would have told us to celebrate Razan's birth instead of crying over her death. I wasn't going to let Gran be disappointed in us, I did what she would have wanted me to do.

Thank God and live.

Live with the new family Amal and I created.

It was bittersweet.

-

 Amal and Saif raised their baby Razan together. They decided to go on with the baby shower, celebrating Razan's birth and then having a beautiful funeral set for their beloved Grandmother. Their Grandmother had passed away but God had gifted Saif and Amal with a new baby girl, they had received a new life after losing a beloved one. Non of them tried to forget their Grandmother, they'd remember her everyday, her presence, her footprints, her scent drifted around them in her old grande house. Bibi and Nawaf had eventually gotten engaged once it was time. Turki was in his own adventure, he's currently in America, for a break before coming back to Kuwait to work as a computer engineer. Ghalia was working in Switzerland as a lawyer whilst Fawaz had met a beautiful French woman while he was in Rome for the summer, he married her after a year and she had converted to Islam. Gran's house was never sold off, to this day, every one the relatives still visits the house every Friday for zwara, just like how Gran would have liked it.


-

I will start a new story soon, I know what I want to write about but I haven't planned everything out. As for skinny love, my collab blog, I'm still unsure. I really loved writing this story for you guys, my stories are never too long, my posts are usually long and so, that's why my chapters either end at 20's or 50's like my first story. I hope you guys loved the story as much as I loved writing it, it was sad for me to write the ending but I believe the ending fit the story perfectly, I hope you guys think so too.

Comments? c: xo