I heard the loud noise coming from the room next to me as I rubbed the sleep out of eyes and moved my head from the keyboard that I found myself sleeping on. I looked at the uncompleted assignment that I slept through, and I looked toward my phone as I found twelve messages from Elian, and then I shifted my attention to the clock.

8 PM, it read!!

"Leave me alone, Khaled !" Emir yelled.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I walked to the room next to mine.

"My toy, he stole it!" Emir complained as he sniffed.

"Khaled," I looked at him, finding in his possession the toy Kerem bought for him. "give it back!" I ordered my little cousin as I tried to pull it from his grasp, but he ended up crying and running off to find his mother, I assume.

The confirmation to my assumption ran in my ears as my aunt started yelling, "What is wrong now?"

"Come here," I softly notified Emir as he held his toy tightly and hid behind me. Soon my three aunties came into view.

"How many times should I tell you to leave Emir to defend for himself, you won't be in school with him," My aunt, Seren yelled. "He needs to learn to defend himself" She finished.

I swallowed the anger I was holding and asked calmly, "Why is Emir here and not with his mother ?"

My aunt, Miray, started complaining before anyone got a chance to answer me, "Why didn't you come to the cafe today ?!" She started angrily.

"I overslept," I simply answered.

"Waj! Waj!" The sobbing of Emir behind me seized my attention and deprived me of completing my conversation with my aunt.

"Hey buddy," I said, picking him up. He was wailing uncontrollably. "I've got you."

"You wata me leave," He cried.

I held him to me. "I'm right here, buddy, I'm not going anywhere, and I would never want you to leave."

"W-Why you wata me to go to mommy?" He cried.

"Because she is your mommy and you gotta be with her.," I said, trying to find reasons for that creature that is his mother.

"You spoil him too much, Wahaj" Seren told me as both of my aunts nodded in agreement.

"I mean we didn't spoil you and you turned out fine," Noor, My aunt, stated.

Miray shrugged, "Try telling that to mom; she spoiled her rotten that is why she has the luxury to oversleep while we struggle." Miray returned to the fact that I haven't shown up to work today.

"I'm hwungry Waj," Emir said, rubbing his eyes.

While still carrying Emir, "What would you like?" I asked him.

"Cwheerios."

I headed to the kitchen with Emir in my hand as my relatives followed me into the dining room as they waited for me to serve them dinner; As a punishment for not going to the cafe today. I enjoyed cooking, so it was a win-win situation.

I was preparing the cheerios for Emir at first, and then I would make dinner for my aunts and grandmother. Still, unfortunately, she didn't come back in time for dinner, so I hid some in the oven for her and Eylul, my cousin, when they come back.I, them proceeded to go to the second floor and look at my phone as I found the unopened twelve messages from Elian.

Elian: Where are you love?

Elian: Why were you running from the professor's room?

Elian: Habibty, answer me, you know I get worried

Elian: Habibty, I am sorry I know you don't like me sending messages to you as we aren't officially married yet.

Elian: Habibty, tomorrow my mother will come.

Elian: We need to meet now, I need to see you

Elian: I will come to your house if you don't

The messages went on and on. Elian explained to me the reasons why he needed to meet with me now, but I needed my alone time since tomorrow Him, and his mother will come and officially ask for my hand in marriage. I left the messages unanswered and went back downstairs.

"Where is Mama, she is late!" Nour complained.

"Maybe Mrs.Chamberlain made her work overtime," Miray added, "It's not like Mama can say no to Mrs.Chamberlain,"

"Don't forget, she has served at that palace ever since she was a small child and never said NO to them, so I don't think she will start today," My aunts started complaining.

The vast mansion was run by my grandmother, and on occasions, we would join in and help her. Mrs.Chamberlain was the owner of that mansion. Even though she despised my aunts and my grandmother, I found it weird that she loathed me on a whole new level, which doesn't make sense since I never was allowed in the house when she was there.

"Don't worry Ma, I am still alive," Eylul stated as she barged in the house.

"SHHHHH," I hushed her, "Emir is sleeping," I whispered.

"I am going to kill you!!" Eylul shouted from the top of her lungs before my grandmother smacked her on the head. "Stop shouting so close to my ear, stupid,"

"Ouch," Eylul stated rubbing the bruise that formed on her head.

"After cleaning six bathrooms, four bedrooms, and both kitchens. This is what I get," Eylul kept complaining as my grandmother came over to me.

"Are you okay, darling ?" My grandmother asked worriedly as she put her hand on my forehead. "I am fine grandma, I just overslept," I explained.

"Sorry for that," I said to both grandmother and Eylul.

"It is fine as long as you are okay" My grandma kissed me on my forehead before marching to her room to unload her stuff.

"It is like she only has only one granddaughter," Eylul whispered before relying on her mother.

"Trust me, she only sees Wahaj," Miray said as Seren nodded in agreement. "I sometimes feel that we are invisible to her, and she can only see Wahaj."

I hear my grandmother laughing, "Why are you all so jealous ?"

"Because it is unfair, Ma," Miray said. "We are your daughters," she continued.

"This is because Wahaj is her only granddaughter from my brother," Seren explained as my grandmother's face began to turn into a frown. She hated talking about my late father. It was as if she wanted to forget his existence even though she never said anything about hating him.

"Wahaj, Go put Emir in his bed and go to sleep," My grandmother ordered.

"But, your food -" before I could continue, "NOW" She shouted.

I nodded my head and took Emir as I looked to the startled faces of my aunts and Eylul. After every conversation about my father; silent would creep the room, and I would be sent away. It was as if my father was a dangerous man, plus they were afraid to hurt my grandmother's feelings by talking about him.

*FLASHBACK *

We were in a basement, a mostly empty place covered in blood, A huge man who was stapped in the chest was there.

I climbed into the bed, wrapping my arms around him. He leaned into me, hugging me softly. "I love you, my shining light."

"I love you too," I said softly as best as I could for a five-years-old.

"I need to go," He whispered weakly.

"No." I started to sob.

"I'm tired, I can't fight this anymore."

"Noooo," I said sadly.

"Promise me something, Wahaj."

"What?" I asked.

"Promise me that you won't ever let anyone take that light away from you."

"I p-promise," I whispered.

END FLASHBACK *

I sat up covered in sweat, I looked over at Emir, and he was still snoring softly. Sighing, I got up and went to get a drink and went back to watching Emir sleep peacefully.

"Wahaj ?" Eylul called half-a-sleep in her bed.

"The same nightmare ?" she asked, trying to open her eyes to look up at my face.

I nodded. "I can't forget my father," I replied. I would always have the same nightmare of my father in an odd basement socking in blood. Every time I tell Mama Ghada this story, she ends up denying it ever happened and telling me that this was just childhood imagination and that my father leaving me caused me to make an excuse for him.

"Just get some sleep, tomorrow is an important day," Eylul said.

"Tomorrow Elian will bring his mother, and you will soon be married to the man of your dreams, Inshallah," Eylul said in a teasing manner.

I laughed. "Yes, Elian is the man of my dreams, but none of the three elder kids accepts that I would marry the janitor in my college and their father hasn't been dead for more than six months so I couldn't do that to them not that early," I explained.

"And why do you care?! At the end of the day, he used you as a token to get back to his wife, he married you just to make her angry, and then your husband would have returned to her and left you, but Allah took his Amana(Life) before he could do this," Eylul defended before she started accusing me again, "Didn't you marry him so he could pay for grandmother's surgery and the loans we took for the cafe,"

"Maybe you respected him, but I doubt you ever loved him," She said.

"Maybe you are right, but I did promise him to take care of his kids if anything happened to him," I began to vent, but as I looked toward Eylul she was about to return to sleep.

Gosh, this girl can sleep fast.

As for me, it was no use. I couldn't get back to sleep, even though I felt exhausted, as if I could sleep forever. I couldn't stop thinking of Elian and that basement, which became hazy every year that passes. Mama Ghada used to say that I used to talk about the basement for hours when I was younger, and as I grew older, I just remembered small stuff here and there.

Since I couldn't sleep, I decided to wear my sweater with a cap to cover my hair and run downstairs to make me a snack. My grandmother's Addis soup simmered on the stove, so I pulled out with some toast.

Just as I finished buttering a slice of bread, the doorbell rang. I hurried for the door, knowing that it was my cousin, who never really has a curfew, unlike us.

Before I could get there, the bell rang again, then someone started knocking rapidly. My steps faltered, and I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and quickly texted my cousin.

"Coming," I called as I approached the door.

I peeked outside the door and spotted Mellisa, my husband's first wife, accompanied by two men. One of the men looked huge; he was blocking the other, so I couldn't see him. He was broad-shouldered with dark hair and eyes. Mellisa drew my attention the most, her face was pale, and her eyes were red-rimmed. Her blonde hair was stringy, and she seemed visibly drunk.

I slid the chain on the lock before I opened it a crack. "May I help you?"

"Open up and give me my children. Now!" Mellisa hollered then lunged at me.

I quickly started to close it, when the first man placed his hand on the door, trying to stop me.

"Back off, I am carrying a gun," I lied.