I had barely finished fastening my hijab around my head when the doorbell rang.

"They're here!" I heard Zeinab squeal just before a succession of heavy footsteps padding down the hallway towards the front door.

Five seconds later, there was a burst of greetings and gushing voices filling our house, and I took one last look in the mirror before facing my family.

"Mariama! Ishti'tilak ya habibti!(I missed you darling)" I was immediately smothered in my Auntie Ola's arms, and as soon as we finished swapping three kisses, another auntie came and we did the same. Immi was at the door catching up in rapid Lebanese with her sisters and sister-in-laws, as some of my aunties were from my father's side too, and Baba was busy slapping the backs of my uncles as they arrived, exchanging salams.

"Mimi!" As soon as I saw my cousin Huda, I squealed.

"Hud-hud!" We squeezed each other to death, jumping up and down. Huda was only one year younger than me, and we were closer than ever.

When we broke apart, I was met with Huda's younger brother Haydar, who beamed at me through his long curly hair that fell into his sparkling hazel eyes.

"Mariam!" Haydar absolutely adored me, and every time I saw him I'd attack him with a million kisses, because he had the cutest cheeks.

"Oh, Haydar, habibi, ishti'tilak ikteer!" I exclaimed between kisses. I laughed when Haydar began wiping them off. "Too old for my kisses, huh?" I tickled his sides, and Haydar giggled.

"Yeah!" he cried, so I kept tickling him until more of my cousins poured into the house. I had so many, and I greeted them all with just as much enthusiasm as my two favourites who were Ola's kids. There were the twins who were a year younger than Zeinab, Layla and Lina, and I complimented them on how beautiful they had grown, since we hadn't seen them since two years ago, when they left for Lebanon. They only returned the end of last year, and their long shiny black hair had grown past their waists, yet I was still able to tell them apart.

"You've become just as beautiful, Mariam," Layla praised me, viewing me at arm's length.

"Oh, stop it, Layla," I flushed with flattery.

Layla frowned. "I'm not Layla, I'm Lina."

My eyes widened, and I looked between the twins, certain that I was right. It had to be Layla, because Lina had a rounder face, however, I sighed with relief when the two identical twins broke into mischievous grins. "Tricked you!"

I rolled my eyes. "Twins," I muttered.

It didn't take long for the whole house to swirl with chatter and tantalizing aromas of food that all my aunties and Immi were preparing while the uncles sat outside and smoked. Meanwhile, I was in the living room with all my girl cousins catching up on life and what we had been up to.

The twins were in the middle of telling a funny story about a goat that chased them down the street in Lebanon when Nasr, who had been hiding in his room this whole time, decided to make an appearance.

"Has winter ended already? We didn't expect to see you out of your cave until spring," I quipped, and Nasr rolled his eyes.

"Ha ha, very funny, Mims," he said as everyone laughed at my joke. "I just came out because I smelled –"

"Nasr!"

Haydar came out of nowhere and pounced onto my poor, defenceless older brother, almost knocking him over with the force of his tiny eight-year-old body.

"Whoa, hey, little man," Nasr ruffled his hair.

"I'm not a man!" Haydar suddenly burst out, leaving us all in giggles.

"So you're a girl?" Nasr chuckled.

"No, YOU'RE a girl!" Haydar shot back.

Nasr cocked an eyebrow, before looking to Huda. "Did you teach him that one, Huda?"

"You bet I did," Huda tossed her hair over one shoulder with a smirk. "So, Nasr, how was your hibernation?"

That shot us all into another stream of giggles, while Nasr frowned. "I'm gonna go find Amir."

"He's outside with the uncles," I gestured loosely to the door, but Nasr was busy sniffing the air like some sort of animal.

"Oh, man, I am starved," he groaned.

"One usually is after months of sleep," I commented.

"I'm not a bloody bear!" Nasr cried, before leaving the room. We were in stitches until we heard Haydar start chanting, "I'm not a bloody bear," while marching around the living room, and that was when Auntie Ola, his mother, came in.

"Habibi, what are you doing?" she asked him.

"I'm not a bloody bear!" he shrieked, and the expression on Auntie Ola's face was priceless.

"Who taught him this?" Auntie Ola swept her lethal gaze over all of us, and I swear I heard someone gulp. Maybe that was me.

"Nasr did, Mama," Huda responded in triumph. We always loved to try and get Nasr in trouble with the aunties because it was hilarious to watch.

"Ya Allah, that boy has to watch his mouth," Ola muttered as she went back to the kitchen.

"I'm bored," Huda sighed after we ran out of things to talk about. "Can we go to your room?"

"Mine or Mariam's?" Zeinab asked.

"Whichever one is better, duh," Huda replied, standing up.

"Mine then," Zeinab said before I could butt in.

We entered Zeinab's room, and it wasn't until we had shut the door that we realised that Haydar had somehow snuck in.

"Get out, Haydar!" Zeinab began to push him towards the door, when Huda stopped her.

"No, let him stay," when I glanced over at her, I noticed she was holding Zeinab's eyeliner pen and had a cheeky grin on her face. "Let's have some fun."

***

"Pirates don't wear lipstick!" Haydar cried.

"Yes, they do," Layla said.

"If they're a girl pirate," Lina tittered.

There was a knock at the door, and Nasr peeped his head in. "Hey, girls, dinner's re – what the hell did you do to Haydar?"

"He's a pirate," Huda replied flippantly.

"What kind of pirate wears lipstick?" Nasr scoffed.

"A girl one," Layla and Lina answered simultaneously.

"So, Haydar, who's the girl now?" Nasr chuckled.

"Still you!" Haydar shot back.

"Well, there goes the last drop of my masculinity," Nasr choked a fake sob, fleeing the room dramatically. Two seconds later, he returned and said, "Oh, yeah, and it's time to pray Maghrib."

There wasn't enough space for the whole family to pray in the living room, so the men prayed outside in the backyard while the women stayed inside. During the prayer it was hard to concentrate when I was buzzing with excitement from having my family over. Knowing that all these people loved you and watched you grow into the person you were today was amazing, and so I channelled my excitement into gratefulness to Allah for blessing me with such a large and harmonious family.

Food fights were inevitable at the dinner table, though not all of us could fit on it, of course. I decided to take my plate outside and sit with Nasr, Amir and Huda. The four of us always stuck together, while Zeinab took care of the younger kids inside. Our other cousin, Fouad, couldn't be here tonight since he was in America for his job. He was the oldest, and there were rumours that he was getting married soon to a girl he met in America. His mother Khadija had already approved of the girl, so we would be meeting her when she flies to Australia to meet the rest of the family and have the wedding here.

"I can't believe Foufou is getting married! Like, pretty soon that's going to be us," Huda remarked.

"Yeah," Nasr said vaguely, staring into the darkness that was our backyard.

The sun had set, yet there was still the dwindling light of the deep blue sky and the spattering of stars. The smell of argheli lingered in the air, overpowered by the smell of the food. It was the middle of autumn, and yet I shivered in the cold. Contrary to popular belief, wearing hijab didn't completely block out the cold, though it did help. If it weren't for Amir, I wouldn't have had to wear hijab, but he was a non-mehram to me, so I had to cover up. Other than that, I felt totally comfortable with my family, and I didn't have to worry too much about wearing fancy clothes, although there were a few fashion critic aunties.

"So, Mims, any proposals lately?" Huda nudged me, and I cringed, thinking of the near miss with Zaid.

"Well..." I trailed off, knowing exactly what Nasr's expression looked like.

"I heard that some guy at the mosque proposed to you, Mariam," Amir said, and I thanked Allah that it was both dark and cold for masking the blush in my cheeks.

"What?! Why didn't anyone tell me about that?" Huda exclaimed, eyes widening at me. Her curly dark hair framed her pale face and she almost looked crazy in the golden hued light coming from the window.

"Because it wasn't a big deal," I murmured, scraping the last bits of rice from my plate.

"Oh, come on, you were proposed to, how is that not a big deal?" Huda cried.

"She rejected him," Nasr snickered. "The poor guy's heartbroken."

"Mariam the heartbreaker," Amir chuckled.

I frowned at him. "No one's heartbroken. In fact, when I spoke to him last week, he seemed relieved that I declined."

"Wait a minute, he was relieved?" Huda sounded incredulous. "Is he blind or what?"

I laughed in flattery. "Oh, Huda, it's not like that. We both just want to focus on our studies first. Besides, our parents arranged the whole thing. We didn't get a say in it at all."

"I wouldn't say that," Nasr interjected. "I'm pretty sure Zaid told me he wanted to marry you and he was going to ask his parents."

I snorted with laughter. "That's not what he told me. He explicitly said that he wasn't ready for that...yet. And even if he were going to get married, he'd make sure that it was a mutual decision and that the girl felt the same way."

"Can I meet this Zaid dude?" Huda asked with a longing sigh. "He sounds amazing."

"Oh, yeah, Zaid is such a heartthrob," Nasr grinned, and I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic. "Mariam is head over heels in love with him and she doesn't even know it yet. That's how smooth he is."

"I'm not head over heels with anyone, Nasr, stop lying, it's haram," I snapped.

Nasr lifted his hands in protest. "Hey, I ain't the one who's lying, you are. To yourself."

Amir and Huda oohed while I just slugged my brother in the shoulder before standing up and heading inside to discard my plate in the sink.

"Mariam, do the dishes, please," Immi ordered me, and I didn't complain or object, because at least it kept me busy and distracted. Until Nasr, Huda and Amir came into the kitchen to get kirks from the fridge while giving me their empty plates.

"Sucks to be you, girl," Huda said condescendingly as she leaned on the bench, sipping her soda.

"Why don't you come over and help so we can get the job done quicker?" I suggested, and Huda sighed, setting her can down to help me. Meanwhile, Nasr and Amir sat on the kitchen stools, watching us slave away in the kitchen.

"I hate stereotypes," Huda said, poking her tongue at the boys as she furiously scrubbed at a plate. "It should be you boys washing these dishes instead of mocking us."

"But you do a better job of it," Amir insisted.

"True," I chuckled, and it took us only five minutes more to get all the dishes stacked before we could really have some fun.

There was never a family gathering that didn't include a little dancing, even if it was just Baba doing a parody of Maria Shashkova with one of Mama's scarves tied around his hips, which always made for great entertainment. I even got to piggy back my little cousin Dania, who was only five years old, giving her a bumpy ride around the house until I realised I probably should stop before she threw up. The girls and I had our own little party in my room, and we nicked one of Immi's hip scarves that jingled with coins and did our own belly dancing competition which Layla ended up winning. Once we got tired of that, we just took a bunch of selfies, some of which I sent to Yasmine, who was quick to text back.

Your cousins are gorgeous!

I replied with, Of course they are, since they're related to me! ;P

Instead of an eye roll emoji like I expected to receive, Yasmine texted, Hey, can I come over?

The idea of Yasmine coming over and mingling with my cousins had never occurred to me, and yet it was perfect. Sure. You can even stay the night if you want.

REALLY?

Ofc, just check with your parents first.

I'll be over before you can say Converting the Bad Boy.

Oh yeah. I had completely forgotten about that. It seemed so separate and unrelated to where I was now, and who I was with. Like a whole other world.

I literally screamed when Yasmine arrived, and I was quick to introduce her to all my cousins, who got along with her immediately. I didn't blame them; Yasmine was a very likeable person. Immi greeted her like a third daughter and my aunties spoiled her with questions. Apparently Yasmine's mum and Basmah knew each other, however Yasmine had never met Basmah or Amir.

As soon as Nasr saw Yasmine, his whole face transformed, and Amir seemed to pick up on this, for he nudged Nasr, inclining his head toward Yasmine, who was busy chatting away with Auntie Ola in Lebanese. Mostafa Amar was playing in the background, however no one was really dancing. The uncles were outside talking and smoking again while the ladies were seated in the lounge laughing and gossiping. Only Dania remained on the dance floor, dancing by herself with a smile on her face.

"Your future wife is here," I whispered teasingly to Nasr and he scowled at me. I wasn't fazed, though, because I knew it was true. Call it a gut instinct, or intuition, but I had a feeling Nasr and Yasmine were made for each other.

Yasmine greeted Nasr with a Salam and instantly they began talking, about what I didn't find out, because I was too far away to hear, standing with Amir and Huda.

"Ya Allah, they are so adorable!" Huda gushed, and I couldn't help smiling.

"I smell marriage," Amir whispered to us.

"Ugh, when will I find my own prince charming? It seems like everyone is meeting theirs now," Huda complained.

"Huda, you're still young, you've barely seen the world yet, so have patience," I advised her wisely.

Huda let out a choked sob. "But I suck at waiting."

"Then don't be a waitress," Amir quipped, and Huda poked her tongue out at him while I laughed.

"Hey, guys, what's so funny?" Yasmine joined us with Nasr following close behind, and when I told her, Yasmine cocked an eyebrow.

"Wow, I guess making lame jokes runs in the family," she said dryly.

"Why? Does Mariam make lots of lame jokes?" Amir asked with a smirk that quickly vanished. "Wait a minute...are you calling my joke lame?"

"I didn't call it lame, your joke called itself lame," Yasmine retorted, and Nasr guffawed.

"Oh, man, Amir, you've been exposed!" he said.

"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Amir shrugged, slinking off. Nasr soon followed him, while Huda played with Dania.

"Wallahi, Yasmine, you are basically part of the family now," I slung my arm around Yasmine, grinning at her.

"Yeah, you're the sister I never had," Yasmine squeezed my side, pressing her cheek to mine.

"In Sha Allah one day that'll become official," I said slyly.

"What do you mean?" Yasmine asked obliviously, but then she frowned. "Do I want to know what you mean?"

"Probably not," I replied cheekily, nudging her and pointing to Nasr, who had his arm around Amir and they were doing some kind of can-can by kicking up their legs one at a time. "But you can't deny the truth."

"And what's that?" Yasmine asked.

"That you guys are perfect!" I giggled, and I dodged Yasmine's slap to my arm she usually delivered when she was feeling embarrassed.

It took three hours for everyone to grow tired and leave, and it took twenty minutes to say goodbye. Honestly, that was a record, since last time we had a family gathering we were standing in the doorway for half an hour until we officially said goodbye. I guess we just wanted to savour the last moments together, because parting was such sweet sorrow.

I was glad Yasmine didn't have to leave, and we pulled out the air mattress for her so she could sleep in my room. Though sleepovers were supposed to be filled with fun and staying up eating lollies and watching movies, we were way too exhausted to even murmur a proper good night to each other.

As I shut my heavy lids, I thought of the last time Yasmine stayed the night, for entirely different reasons, though. That had been three months ago, and Yasmine had come so far from that unfortunate night. Alhamdulillah. She had been in such a bad state that I could only put my trust in Allah to assist me in guiding her, and I did, with the help of the Almighty, of course.

I then thought of Damian, and how I had been guiding him, because that was what I had been doing all this time, right? Offering guidance to a lost soul who needed it, but I could never know what was inside his heart, and whether Allah had intended for him to become a Muslim. Some people were so close to becoming Muslim, yet they never actually reached that point. Some people were Muslim already, but didn't practise it, and others would never taste the beauty of religion at all.

However religion wasn't a destination, it was a journey, and the destination was Jannah, if we succeeded with our deeds. And the last three months had been quite a journey. But I couldn't help feeling like we were running out of time, even if Damian's mother seemed to be still surviving, the bet was five months long, and I wondered if I could pull this off. Did Damian seriously think if I failed to convince him to convert that I would remove my hijab? Perhaps I should ask for more time, but time was a precious thing. No one knew exactly how much time we each had, which was why we had to live each day as if we were to die tomorrow.

Tomorrow...In Sha Allah.

***

"My mum's in hospital, Mariam," were the first words I heard as soon as I accepted the call.

"Oh my God, what happened?" I asked, bringing my fingers to my lips, stunned by this news. I sincerely hoped Karen was okay!

"There was an inflammation in her lung passages," Damian sounded hoarse, as if he had been crying before, and my heart sunk in my chest. "She couldn't breathe, Mariam, it was so scary..."

"She's okay now, though, right? She's breathing again?"

"Y-yeah, she's hooked up to some oxygen and the doctors said they're going to keep her in hospital until she is better," Damian informed me gloomily. "But who knows how long that will take?"

"The most important thing now is to not give up hope," I advised, taking a shaky breath. I didn't know why hearing this news about Damian's mother affected me so much, but I felt an emotional connection to people who were sick. I guess that's why I wanted to be a doctor.

"Hope..." Damian pronounced the word like it was something forgotten and distant. "Is hope all I've got now? What about God?"