TWELVE
Within a couple of days, Mia, Rami, Aziz, and Rami’s family members, landed back in the city where Rami and Mia had met. The doctors had cleared Mia and the baby to fly, though they cautioned her to pay attention to any unusual pains or aches she felt which could be an early warning of complications.
Amie was waiting for them at the airport. As they exchanged hugs and joyful tears at the new baby meeting his maternal grandmother, Mia was surprised at the change in attitude showed by Rami’s mother, Amal. “I wish we could have gotten you to the hospital, Amie. I know that a mother’s presence can be such a relief when a woman is giving birth,” Amal said.
“I appreciate that, Amal, but even if it hadn’t happened so suddenly, my health would have made flying almost impossible,” Amie replied. “I’m just so relieved that nothing went terribly wrong.”
Even before the flight, Mia had realized that in the wake of Rami’s father’s death, his fami
ly seemed to have become closer to each other; the fact that they had been so welcoming to her and baby Aziz warmed her immensely. She couldn’t quite reconcile Amal’s current caring, comforting presence with the cold reception she’d received back when Rami had announced their engagement.
“You’ll be staying with us, I hope,” Amal said, as they made their way out of the airport. As she had only recently given birth, the airline had insisted on providing Mia with a wheelchair at both ends of the journey. Still aching and sore from her delivery days before, Mia did not protest.
“Are—are you really sure you want us to stay with you?” Mia glanced down into the bundle of blankets that held her son, not wanting to bring up Amal’s previous threat that she would disown Rami if he didn’t sever ties with the woman bearing his child.
“Absolutely, I insist.” Amal replied.
“It would make a lot of sense,” Rami pointed out, and Mia glanced at him in surprise. “We need to sell off as many of my father’s properties as possible. If I sell my home, that’s money that can go towards closing out the estate. I wouldn’t worry about it; there’s a lot of room at my parents’ house.”
“Exactly. Even if we all live there, it won’t be cramped,” Karima said.
Mia remembered the huge, sprawling mansion she had gone to when Rami had brought her to meet his parents. She definitely agreed that the home was large enough to house the entire family; she just wasn’t certain how much she would enjoy living under the same roof as a woman who had previously denounced her for being a commoner.
“And that way, we can help you take care of little Aziz,” Karima continued.
Rami’s sisters had already shown their enthusiasm for helping with the infant. In the days before the flight they had been more than happy to watch him while he slept, giving Mia the opportunity to bathe, sleep, or eat unencumbered. Rami’s younger brothers had already started planning adventures with their new nephew—though most of their plans would have to wait years to come to fruition.
Mia glanced at her mother, wishing that she could speak to Amie privately to get her opinion.
“I think that sounds like an excellent solution,” Amie said, as if reading Mia’s mind. “As long as you don’t object to me visiting regularly.”
“Not at all!” Amal smiled warmly at Mia’s mother. “We are family now, after all.”
Mia suppressed the urge to shake her head in pure shock at the change in Amal’s behavior. She focused instead on getting through the airport. Listening for the slightest sound from her infant son, the chatter of the family faded into the buzz and clamor of the airport.
Following the invitation to move into the family home, Mia began seeing more evidence of Rami’s family’s new, more modest circumstances. Rather than a limo coming to pick them up, Rami had arranged for a van to take them home from the airport. “Well at least it’s nice and spacious,” Karima commented as they loaded their luggage into the back of the vehicle and started to pile in. The company had provided a car seat for Aziz and even though Mia knew that it was the safest place for her new son to be, she still hesitated to put him down—she loved the feeling of the tiny little bundle in her arms.
“How are you feeling, sweetie? Are you recovering okay?” Amie asked.
Mia smiled and leaned against her mother as the van pulled away from the curb. “I’m tired, but the doctors said I’m absolutely fine, and should be fully recovered within a few weeks.” Mia blushed slightly, remembering that the doctor had told her she should not have sex with Rami for at least several weeks. She had only torn a little bit in delivery, and her stitches were healing as expected, but she hadn’t yet become accustomed to everything about her body suddenly being public news.
“Aziz is such a happy baby,” Amal said, beaming down at the infant who was sleeping peacefully. “I’ve barely heard him cry since he was born.”
“A happy baby is a wonderful thing,” Mia’s mother agreed, stroking her daughter’s hair lightly.
By the time they had arrived at Rami’s parents’ home, Mia wanted nothing more than to curl up in the bed she and Rami would be sharing and go to sleep. She was still exhausted from giving birth, and hadn’t been getting a great deal of sleep. Even though his siblings and mother all fussed over her and the baby, little Aziz was insistent on nursing every two hours, although Rami or one of his sisters sometimes bottle fed the baby with her milk.
Mia decided that right now, seeing her mother was more important than sleep. She managed to stay awake and alert long enough to give her mother the news about Rami’s family’s change in circumstances, and the fact that Rami, as the executor of his father’s estate, would be selling off the family properties and doing everything he could to close out the debt that his father had accumulated.
“It is a shame that you won’t have the life of luxury that you were expecting,” Amie said, giving her daughter a hug. “But you and I both know that it doesn’t take vast amount of wealth to have a loving home.”
“I’m just glad that I’ve still got a little cushion from what Rami gave me back when I was going to be his surrogate,” Mia admitted. “In terms of the future, maybe one or two of Rami’s father’s businesses can stay afloat long enough for him to take them over and bring them back into profit.”
Mia watched as Rami’s mother took over the difficult task of informing the household staff that their services would unfortunately no longer be needed. “I know this is very short notice,” Amal said, looking genuinely saddened by the news. “We will be able to keep you on for two weeks from today and no longer. Of course I will be happy to provide excellent references for all of you; if I hear of anyone personally who can use someone on their staff, I will absolutely give them your names.”
A few hours after they had arrived, Mia’s mother went home, begging exhaustion, and Mia found herself cuddled up in bed with Aziz. As she nursed the infant, Rami was only a few feet away, hard at work on consolidating and liquidating his father’s properties and businesses. She fell into a contented doze, happy that she was no longer worrying about whether or not she would stay with Rami—the last few days had brought everything into focus.