"write poems of love from the love in my eyes and you'll never stop - gabriel."

Inaya had been tossing and turning in her position , hoping that sleep would overcome her and she would forget about the nightmare she had .

For some reason , it was getting really suffocating and she despertately craved some fresh air . She pushed the window open , feeling guilty that Hafsa and Afra would kill her for this . The air conditioner was switched on and keeping the window open , only let in more warmth than was needed .

It has been months now , but nothing has changed . The same nightmares awaken the darkness buried deep in her mind . The tragic event lives within her . No matter what she did , the memories existed . Questioning her sanity and mind .

Every night she lives the scene and every night the guilt ate a part of her , leaving her empty .

Without thinking much about it , she decided to call Mariam and tumble for her phone on the desk . Once she found it , she tapped her logs and called the first number there.

After a few rings , she heard someone's groggy voice .

"Ummi ? It's me ." She wrapped an arm around , the other one holding the phone against the ear .

"Inaya ?" Mariam still sounded sleepy , but upon hearing Inaya's voice she had woken up more .

"Qalbi , another nightmare ?" She gently asked , as Inaya nodded and leaned against the window .

"Ummi , I'm tired . Really tired now . I can't deal with them anymore ." Inaya sounded shattered , her voice barely audible as tears streaked her cheeks .

"Oh Allah ! My baby !" Mariam sounded heartbroken herself , controlling her voice from quivering too much to not let Inaya down .

Inaya on the other hand felt horrible that she had worried her mother without even having second thoughts about it . Of course , Mariam was aware of her nightmares . But over the course of time , things had started to fall pretty much into place and probably Mariam would have developed the feeling that Inaya was slowly starting to move forward in life .

She felt horrible to destroy that hope her mother may have had .

"Inaya ? Qalbi are you okay ?"

Inaya snapped out of her daze and tried her best to sound cheerful .

"Ummi , it's late now . I'm being a baby really ." Inaya chuckled , loud enough to convince Mariam . While still keeping an eye on the two on the bed .

"But , you just - "

"Ummi , I am being a baby . Sorry , I just confused a bad dream ." Inaya laughed again , staring at the dark sky .

"Qalbi , but you - "

"Ummi , I love you . So so so so much . Don't worry . I am fit and fine ." Inaya chuckled , feeling her sobs clog her throat .

"I love you too my sweetheart . But are you sure you're fine ? Just a moment ago - "

"Jeez , seriously , Ummi ! You're being overprotective again ." Inaya mocked her , hoping she wouldn't question her again .

"Girl , you are always saying that ." Mariam laughed along with Inaya .

"Now , ummi , go to bed . I'll talk to soon okay ? I love you . Assalaamualaikum ." Inaya chirped , biting down on her lip .

"Walaikumussalaaam my angel . Sleep well baby . I'm praying for you ." Mariam replied , still very concerned for Mariam .

"I'm seriously alright . You just go to sleep ." Inaya insisted .

"Okay okay . Kids these days really !"

Inaya chuckled over Mariam's ranting ."Assalaamualaikum Ummi ."

"Walaikumusslaaam ."

Inaya cut the call and crossed her arms over her chest , gaping at the unlikely large moon , shining down over the road of emptiness . Mariam had been pretty quick in disconnecting the call and that eased Inaya a bit .

"Will I ever be able to sleep properly ?"

"Okay , kids . Meet your uncle Franklin . My and Elsa's only brother ." Elsa had loudly introduced him over the lunch table , everyone staring at him . He had a bald head , a crooked smile and a somewhat menacing gaze.

Not long after the table had been set with steaming chicken , freshly made fruit salad and a lot of fighting between Sarah and Samantha over who sat where , the doorbell had rung . And just as frantically , Elsa and Valerie had stumbled over their own 'sister' baggy pants and almost fallen had their respective husbands not come to their rescue .

All together it was a beautiful morning with a lot of buzzing and activity everywhere . When Elsa and Valerie had let their brother in , it had all resulted in loud laughing , serious talking and soulful reconcilation finally . It seemed like some mental patients had been let loose but that was what was family after all .

All the girls stared across at the guy standing between Elsa and Valerie as they gleefully held on to each of his arms . The husbands behind them .

"So , girls , greet your uncle ." Valerie instructed , motioning them to stand up and greet him .

Sarah and Samantha even shook hands with him , while Afra managed to barely touch his hand and Inaya and Hafsa just very politely refused to shake hands .

Samantha , Hafsa , Agra and Inaya looked at each other mischievously , before breaking into a fit of coughs . Each one coughing louder than the other , until it became uncontrollable .

The last girl's night they had , everything ranging from their favourite actors to the most memorable childhood memory was discussed . And one thing stood overwhelmingly exciting than the other . When confronted , Sarah had completely turned into a red rose . Very hesitantly , after being shot with impeccable threats and warnings , she confessed her feelings for her cousin Derek .

"Girls !" Valerie shouted , staring at them in disbelief . "What's wrong ? Why are you all coughing like that ?"

Everyone had gathered around the table , getting seated . Gabriel took a seat opposite to Hafsa's . While she didn't seem to notice it , he still enjoyed watching her have fun with her cousins . While reaching out for the pancake platter , she found him reaching out for it too . That's when she noticed he had a knowing smile on his face , tugging the platter towards him . She wasn't the kind to loose , so she tugged harder until Elsa and Alexander shot them stern glances . Something about his smile and gaze fluttered her heart and she quickly served herself a helping and ignored his lingering gaze over her as she slightly lifted her niqaab only to push a spoonful of the pancakes into her mouth , before dropping it down over her face again . Sadness flashed across his features and Hafsa smiled with relief .

Niqaab was meant to cover your face . No matter what .

Sarah clearly was as red as a tomato , her head ducked . She fiddled with her fingers , earning a soft whistle from Inaya .

"I think somebody poisoned my juice ." Afra exclaimed , earning a smack from Elsa who was serving some pancakes to Franklin .

"I think my juice is not juice . It's a magic potion . That's why I'm coughing and dying ."

"Stop being melodramatic ." Gabriel shook his head in amusement .

The girls were stuck in an argument with Gabriel regarding who poisoned whom when Inaya nudged her partner , Samantha in the ribs . She turned over to face Inaya who then motioned her entire gang towards the scene .

Sitting right by Sarah's side was Derek , smiling appreciatively at Sarah .

Afra leaned over her arm , her smirk growing as she whistled in Sarah's direction . Sarah's eyes widened and the colour on her cheeks only grew darker and much more prominent .

Elsa smacked Afra again , as Afra grunted in pain ."Mom , why are you hitting me ?"

Everyone on the table were laughing , enjoying the scene and not beckoning anyone to stop . It had clearly been one heck of a day already , with everyone was having a lovely time .

Valerie and Elsa had engaged in pretty amusing conversations as they kept laughing . Victor and Alexander were involved in pretty serious talk , leaving the kids all to themselves .

They all had already been introduced back in the lawn , but Sarah and Derek hadn't talked much .

"Hi Sarah , it's been really long ." Derek immediately struck a conversation , hoping that she'd lift her head up .

"Hi Derek . Yes it has been ." Sarah softly answered back , feeling a little giddy just by watching him stare at her .

"Your hair has grown now ." He pointed out and she nodded curtly , biting her lip .

"Yes , it has . I've been liking long hair now ." She answered , tapping her feet nervously .

"I'm coming !" She shouted over the living room where her cousin gang had eloped to . "I think they're calling me . You can join once you've washed up ."

She pushed her chair back and dashed along the drawing room , feeling him gawk at her .

"No one called you though ." He chuckled to himself , offering to help the elders clean up the table .

Inaya and Gabriel had been a little stressed about the recent problem they had on hand .

And in order to verify their theory , they had a great plan on hand . Something that could perhaps clear things up a little .

"Guys !"

Gabriel stood up and clapped his hands loudly in the air , catching Sarah and Samantha's attention from narrating some horrendous tale to Hafsa .

Fortunately for him , Derek walked in at the same time and caused everyone to turn their heads in his direction .

When things had settled and Samantha and Inaya were done teasing Sarah , Gabriel ushered everyone to pay close attention .

"Now , to welcome Derek here to Saudi Arabia , Inaya and I have decided to visit the museum called Scitech ."

Derek pouted in interest ajd the girls shrugged .

"Trust me guys , it's not the best but it's extremely fun and relaxing ."

Inaya exclaimed and everyone nodded reluctantly .

"Yes , we've had a lot of fun there when we visited it the last year ."

Hafsa added , looking at both Sarah and Samantha .

Once all the elders had been informed , Derek and Gabriel immediately set to have a look at the car with Alexander who had offered to drop them while the girls decided to get ready .

It took them fifteen minutes to get themselves into the car and ready for the drive . Along the way , they witnesses date palms and beautiful flowers surrounding the road sides and fountains .

A round road caused them to fall on extreme sides , on Hafsa and Samantha , which in turn resulted in loud outbursts of laughing and cheering .

The building of the SciTech museum was anything but fancy . The large board held the name which was plainly stuck to a pole beside the building .

"Is that the building ? Are you sure we haven't come to an abandoned asylum ?"

Gabriel asked and received a good smack on his head by Samantha .

"And how many times do I have to tell you to not jump on conclusions ?!"

He didn't reply and quickly walked in with Inaya right behind him .

When she gazed behind her over her shoulders , she found their gang having a serious discussion without noticing  that Gabriel and Inaya had moved farther from them .

"Don't look around too much okay ? Stay concentrated . There are not many people around and that's a good thing for us ."

Gabriel nodded sternly .

"And you need to stay close to me alright . I will have to show you the guy once I spot him hopefully ."

And with that , they left the group behind and trailed into the high and wide interior surrounded with lots of artifacts and scientific experimental objects .

While Gabriel felt his concentration waver by how mesmerising the museum was despite its ruddy  exterior , he would instantly shift his gaze onto the faces of the moving crowd .

On the other hand , Inaya had made sure to keep herself engaged with their gang as well . She didn't want to attract unwanted drama and suspence . It was difficult though , as Gabriel unknowingly kept moving towards the other side while the gang decided to move upstairs .

She quickly caught a hold of him and pulled him along with them .

As they leisurely walked across the several physical experiments being displayed , Samantha excused herself to purchase some popcorn from a counter at the farther end .

"I'll come with you Sam !"

Afra shouted and ran holding her abaya slightly up .

Derek and Sarah had been busy in some light talking .

Inaya sided with Gabriel and talked to him in hushed tone .

"God , Gabriel , do you think you sighted him ? It's been two hours now ."

Gabriel sighed and scratched his head .

"Inaya , I swear , I saw him the last t —"

He stopped abruptly .

"What's wrong ?"

Gabriel grabbed her arm and looked into her eyes ; severely .

"Act normal ."

Inaya frowned .

"Yeah , but I am normal ."

Gabriel shook his head gently .

"He's right behind you Inaya . In an abaya ."

<< Assalaamualaikum everyone .

A lot of you (or anybody reading it ) may have noticed that , the book has completely changed now . Forgive me for being abrupt about this decision . It was all going fine until I realised that there was nothing to do as the book neared its end and absolutely nothing to look forward to . As a writer myself , I need to make sure that my book stays engaging and catchy all throughout its existence .

So I've added a couple of characters . I hope it isn't too difficult to follow along . I'm pretty sure you'll be able to memorize them all since they aren't that difficult .

Even then , if nothing seems to be working , I'll come to your rescue .

With love and Nutella ,
Jasmine ❤