Two days she was passed with her mind on the disturbing speculation. Rakia went to the doctor for a checkup and got permission to leave early on the pretext that she was going to the hospital to see her father. It wasn't a complete lie, but she had another purpose. When she arrived in Oregon, she immediately went to the gynecologist's office after checking in for today's exam. "Do you remember the last time you had your period?" the doctor asked as he prepared to check Rakia's blood pressure with a cuff. "A month ago, and I think it's the end of this month," Rakia said her guess. The doctor gave her a pregnancy test kit and told her to go to the bathroom in the room. With her heart pounding, Rakia went to the toilet and used the test kit correctly. Not daring to look at the result after using it, she handed it to the doctor. Rakia looked at the doctor with a sense of apprehension, her heart pounding now audible in her ears. The doctor smiled, picked up the test kit, and showed it t
A week after her doctor's appointment and the news that she was pregnant, Rakia did her best to look normal. However, she had to work hard to hide her morning sickness, not only in the morning but also in the afternoon. She went back to the same doctor and complained about the morning sickness that came every day. "Could you prescribe something to reduce it? It's kind of annoying and it ruins my mood at work." As Rakia poured out her heart, the doctor smiled. "Hang in there, the morning sickness will stop after the second month. Eat something sweet after morning sickness, like dates. It's better than other sweets because it doesn't risk raising your blood sugar." Rakia just nodded as she listened to all the advice the doctor had to say. "If you like milk, it can also be a solution for morning sickness. There are some pregnancy milk products that have the effect of reducing morning sickness." Rakia nodded and was about to go to the supermarket to buy the pregnancy milk. Fortunatel
"Habibti... Wake up." Dashtan said as he woke his wife, who was still fast asleep. It was the first time he had seen his wife wake up later than usual. Rakia just squirmed and mumbled something incoherent. Dashtan smiled at the woman's childish behavior. "Hey, wake up, do you want me to eat breakfast alone?" Rakia's hearing seemed to have fully recovered, even if sleepiness still gripped her. She clucked, then laboriously lifted her eyelids. She saw Dashtan's figure only in faint shadows. "Five minutes," Rakia said in a typical sleepy tone. Dashtan smiled again. Rakia exhaled loudly through her nose, then struggled to shake off her drowsiness and open her eyes fully. "I want to take a pass today," Rakia said, which made Dashtan frown. "Why are you sick?" The man immediately checked his wife's forehead, face, and neck. Rakia shook her head weakly, then said, "I'm just... Lazy." "Lazy? You're not usually like this." It was the first time Dashtan had heard the woman make such a rid
Rakia smiled as she sent her approval letter to the office where Liam would receive it. Ever since she had married Dashtan, her relationship with him had been very distant, and she thought Dashtan had warned her not to interact with him too much. Still, she liked his outgoing personality and responsiveness, except for how he found her too pushy. Rakia thought Liam was the kind of man who was very honest about his feelings. She picked up the signal of his feelings for her, but unfortunately, she was already interested in Dashtan. Rakia's cell phone rang with Liam's name on it. Rakia picked it up. "Yes, hello.""Hi, are you okay? I was surprised to get your permission letter, is Dashtan with you?" Rakia smiled at the man's onslaught of worried questions. "To be honest... I'm not feeling well, but don't worry, I just need to rest, Dashtan is in the office, I told him earlier not to worry." Rakia smiled even though Liam couldn't see it. Liam could be heard to sigh. "I think... You're
"Wow... All this food looks so delicious," Rakia said as she looked hungrily at everything on her mother's table. She even licked her lips a little with the tip of her tongue. She was starving now and wanted to fill her stomach very much. Rakia sat in one of the chairs across from Pedro, who sat in the head of the family chair. In contrast, Dashtan sat in the chair beside her, and Adeline sat across from her daughter. "Happy birthday, sweetie; I don't think we've celebrated anything for a long time." Adeline was visibly moved, her eyes filled with tears. Rakia, who was spooning food, turned her attention to the woman momentarily, putting on a playful pout to amuse her mother, who finally laughed while wiping away the tears that had escaped her eyes. "Ooo... Come on, Mom, don't cry; I'll cry too," Rakia pleaded, knowing that if she let her mother get lost in her emotions, she might also cry. Fortunately, the food on the table was a good distraction. Dashtan was surprised to see his w
Rakia awoke at three in the morning with a rumbling stomach. She gently pushed Dashtan's arm around her belly and moved from the room to the kitchen. She paused at the granite countertop and yawned before resuming her steps to prepare food. He then opened the refrigerator and looked at what was inside. The clusters of red grapes tempted her to pull two grapes from the stalk and pop them into her mouth one at a time before she returned to looking at the other food. The frozen potatoes made her decide what to eat. Rakia left the four-door refrigerator open to get a plate, then picked up the frozen potato, still in its plastic wrapper, in the transparent drawer of the fridge. Sometimes, she arranged the contents of this refrigerator. Still, more often, Mrs. Hunt did it, thinking about going shopping and adding some of the food she needed. Since she was often hungry lately, she ate a lot. Before frying the potatoes, which were still half frozen, Rakia decided to have a warm drink. She ma
Rakia was stirring her milk when morning sickness struck. She quickly moved to the nearby sink and vomited. She tried not to make too much noise, but no matter how hard she tried, Dashtan's hearing could still pick up the sound of her vomiting. Rakia washed her mouth after vomiting enough to make her lose energy. "Tell me what's wrong," Dashtan asked as she gently massaged his wife's shoulder. Rakia remained silent before finally turning to Dashtan and looking down. They were silent momentarily, waiting for each other to speak, but Rakia was the first to break the silence. "Do you love me?" Rakia leaned her butt against the sink and folded her arms across her chest. She looked at Dashtan, who was waiting. "I do," Dashtan replied, momentarily making Rakia widen her eyes. Then she moved closer to the man. "What did you say?" Rakia asked again. "I love you," Dashtan said, then looked down and smiled, embarrassed. Rakia felt confused but more happy. "Look at me, Ash!" Rakia said sof
Dashtan followed Rakia to their room and found her sitting in front of the dressing table, smearing her face with skincare. Rakia, who saw the man’s arrival, immediately looked sarcastic and finished her activity in front of the mirror. She got up and intended to leave the room, but when she passed Dashtan, she was surprised by the man’s action of kneeling in front of her. “Please, don’t leave me, Rakia... You are everything to me; our marriage means so much to me. I promise I will let Dalilah go.” Dashtan spoke with his face lowered deeply. Rakia sighed harshly; she just stared at the man with all her thoughts raging. She thought about discovering the truth about Dalilah herself, but for now, she didn’t want to see Dashtan around. “If I matter to you, please, just for once, let go of all that ego, but if you can’t, it’s better to let go of me,” Rakia said with her eyes starting to tear up before she cried, she quickly walked away from the man. She went to the kitchen to occupy hers