Maryam was seated in the living room watching a TV show, when she heard the sound of a car entering her compound, followed by the sound of the doorbell ringing. "Who could that be?" She wondered.

"Nafisa," she yelled and she appeared before her within seconds.

"Yes?"

"Check who is at the door," she ordered.

Nafisa nodded. "Okay.*

She sauntered to the door and twist the knob and opened the door. Her brows furrowed as she sighted a middle aged woman — a woman she had never seen before. 

"Good afternoon, how may I help?" She questioned.

"Good afternoon to you too," the replied sarcastically.

"Who are you?" Nafisa asked in arude manner. The unknown woman was agitating her with her presence. She still had lots of work in the kitchen to do.

"I am—"

"Who is there, Nafisa?" Maryam inquired from the living room. She had heard Nafisa talking to someone, but her words were incoherent to her hearing. She stood up and went to have a look for herself. Her eyes widened in surprise and her lips curved into a smile. "Mum!!" she squealed and embraced her. "Please come in. Why didn't you allow her in, Nafisa?" Maryam questioned, throwing a glare at her.

"I didn't—"she began to speak, but was cut off by Maryam.

"It's fine. Bring her luggage inside," she ordered. "Let's go upstairs, mum."

Maryam led Hajiya Aisha, her mother in law to her room.

"Why didn't you inform us you were coming today? Maryam asked as they got into the room. "I would have prepared all of your favorite dishes beforehand."

Aisha smiled — she didn't doubt the things she said, for she always did, whenever she visited. She was more like a daughter to her than a daughter in law and she respected her a lot.

"I wanted to surprise you all...where is Sa'eed?" She inquired.

"He's not back from work yet and he won't be back till later in the evening," she responded.

Aisha heaved a sigh. "When will he be back?"

"Around 7:00pm to 8:00pm," she replied. She wanted to just call him on phone and ask him to return home earlier, but she decided against it. She knew he would be busy with work. She didn't want to be of disturbance to him.

Nafisa came in with Hajiya Aisha's  luggage. Wirelessly, she dropped them beside the bed and walked out.

"I don't recognise that girl," hajiya voiced.

"Oh Nafisa? I forgot to introduce her to you. She's our new maid." She responded.

"Maid?" Hajiya asked, her voice laced with surprise.

"You sound surprise. It's not as if I  don't have a maid before. Besides, I need one to help out with the house chores and to babysit Manal.  She was hired just recently and she's really very hardworking and well behaved," Maryam praised. She face palmed as realization suddenly hit her.  "Forgive me for rambling, I totally forgot get you something to eat—"

"I'm not really hungry now. Maybe some other time." Aisha reassured with a smile. Her mother in law was totally different from many others. She wasn't the typical kind of a mother in law in movies.

"No, mum. I will prepare something for you myself. I will be right back." she excused herself and headed to the kitchen to prepare a quick meal for her mother in law.

Not more than an thirty minutes, she was done preparing a pot of noodles, garnished with carrots and cabbages. She fetched some quantity in a bowl and put it on a tray, then poured some water in a glass cup. Neatly arranged on a tray, she took it upstairs to her. "Sorry for leaving you all alone. Here is the food." She served it to her.

For someone who claimed she wasn't hungry, she started digging into the food almost immediately.

Maryam smiled and continued gazing at her as she devoured her meal.

"When is my little baby coming back from school?" She inquired. She seemed impatient to meet her granddaughter after a long time.

"She will be back in"  she took a glance at the wall clock. "-thirty minutes," she replied.

"Alright."

"How is Zainab and ya Ahmad doing?" She inquired. Zainab and ya Ahmad were Aisha's children. Zainab, the youngest child and Sa'eed's only sister. She was eighteen years old undergraduate. Just like her mom, she respected Maryam a lot. Ya Ahmad on the other hand, was Sa'eed's elder brother and Hajiya Aisha's first child. He was already married and had three children — a set of female twins and a son.

"They are both fine, alhamdillilah," she responded.

"Hassana, Hussaina and Faisal; how are the children?" Maryam asked. It had been a long she last saw them. If she could recall, the last time she did, was when the twins were six and Manal four.

"They are all fine—" Aisha beamed. "-they were at my house few days ago."

For the next thirty minutes, mother and daughter got engrossed in catching up.
•

Nafisa was in the kitchen washing used plates, when someone began to bang pm the door. Without a doubt, she knew it had to be Manal. She rinsed her hand under the running water and ambled out of the kitchen.

opening the door, Manal walked into the house, gloomily, probably exhausted from school.

Nafisa rolled her eyes. "Your grandmother is around." She informed.

A grin appeared on the little girl's face. She dropped her lunch box on the floor and ran all the way to the guest's room. "Granny!" She squeaked and ran into her open arms.

"How is my cute little girl doing?" She wrapped her arms around her tiny frame and showered kisses on her face, before pulling her back and making her sit on her laps.

"I am fine, granny." She responded, grinning from ear to ear.

"How was school today?"

"I did my homework my myself," she said, proudly. To her, she had earned a great achievement.

Maryam smiled.

"My baby is really very smart," hajiya praised, making Manal's eyes lit up. Just like every other kid, she loved compliments. "She took after her granny."

"And our teacher taught us a new poem today," she beamed.

"Really? Let's hear it. I want you to teach granny the poem,"

"Okay, granny, repeat after me; I see the moon."

"I see the moon."

"The moon sees me."

"The moon sees me."

"God bless the moon."

"Good bless the moon."

"And God bless me."

"And God bless me."

Maryam couldn't help but admire the granddaughter grandmother moment. "Nice poem, Manal." She intervened. "Go to your room, have a bath, change and then you can come back. Ask Nafisa to help you."

"Okay, ummi," she replied and jumped down Hajiya's laps.

•

On that day, the house became livelier with Hajiya Aisha around. Sa'eed returned home some minutes past eight PM and was surprised to see his mother. It was an unexpected, but a pleasant visit.

In the two days Aisha stayed with them, she took good care of Manal and babysat her instead, and it was a huge relief for Nafisa. She didn't like taking care of her anyways.

When Hajiya Aisha was set to finally return home, the whole family
were saddened, but knew she wasn't she had to leave.

Sa'eed promised to visit her with his wife and child soon. With that, she left them in peace.