When we arrived at Jannah's family house, it took me so long to get out of the car. In fact, I was terrified of rejection, I was afraid that Jannah's mother would disapprove, because if she does that would be our end.

This time I was betting my whole life, my future and my heart.

If I don't get a blessing today, I will lose Jannah forever, because I knew that Jannah would never take any step against her mother's wishes even if it kills her.

" Aren't you going to go inside, Mr Wayne?" Matt's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

" Oh... Yes.. Yes" I said leaving the car.

" I'll go visit some old friends, call me when you are done sir " Matt said.

" Wish me luck Matt" I said buttoning my jacket, and fixing my hair with my hand, trying to hide the effect of travel on my appearance.

The front door to the garden was open so I let myself in.

As I walked to the door of the house, my sick mind kept bringing up my worst fears.

" What if they were right? What if I'm not mature enough to handle the responsibilities of marriage? What if I let Jannah down? What if I break her heart? What if my mother knew and kept haunting us? What if....? What if...?" the questions kept whirling inside my head until Hassan's voice cut them off.

" James, Come on in " he said welcoming me inside.

As I entered the house, an overwhelming sensation of nostalgia took over me.

I remembered that Table where I first sat down to take lunch with Jannah's family, it was then when I felt my heart fluttering for the first time.

I remembered that staircase Where I always waited fer Jannah to Come down like a princess.

I remembered when I came to apologize for the bet, and Jannah stormed up the stairs.

I remembered when I asked Jannah's mother for a date and she declined.

I remembered when I told her that I wanted to marry her daughter and only then she agreed for me to go on a date with her daughter.

" James... James, Where have you been man?? " Hassan's voice helped me snap out of it.

" Oh sorry man, memories" I tried to make it less awkward.

" I understand.. Listen man.. I spoke with my mother and I think trying to convince her is going to be a hard job, she still remembers what your mother did when you porposed years ago and we agreed, she think that nothing has changed and your mother's reaction is going to be the same " Hassan explained.

" No Hassan, everything changed, I'm a 29 year old fully grown man, who happens also to be the CEO of one of the finest multibillion dollar companies in America, My mother no longer has control over my life " I said.

" I understand James, she may not try to hurt you, but she may try to hurt us, we are not as rich or as powerful as your family " Hassan said.

" I'll protect you, I care about whoever Jannah cares about, her family is my family " I said.

" James, you also understand as a muslim, you should be good to your mother even if she were the devil, she is your mother after all " Hassan said.

" I won't be a bad son, I understand, after all I'm Seeking Allah's blessings in this marriage " I said.

" James, one final thing, I need to make sure, are you sure that this is love? Not infatuation? " Hassan asked.

" If this is not love, then love is a myth " I said.

" And my job is done here, let's get the mother, It's her turn now" Hassan said, trying to alleviate the heat of the moment.

Hassan left me sitting alone in their living room, suddenly I felt a touch on my back, it startled me.

I looked behind me, and it was Jannah 's grandmother on a wheelchair.

" So the pretty boy is back!! What took you so long??" she said.

" What?? Well.. I think... Life" I said in confusion.

" I heard you want to marry my granddaughter, Well, then you have to understand that if you hurt her, I' m going to kick your ass pretty boy" she said.

I didn't know what to say, so I just kept my mouth shut.

" What can I say James? We always stick for each other as a family, be careful " Jannah's mother voice grabbed my attention.

I stod up extending my arm for her to shake her hand.

" Sit down son, Hassan gave me an idea about why you are here " she said.

" Yes, ma'am, and if I get your blessing I'll be the luckiest person on earth " I said, with my heart pounding against my chest wall like a drum.

" Look son, before anything, I need to make somethings clear about my daughter. Jannah has shared a very special bond with her father, he was her rock, he was her only friend, she was the closest of our children to him, so when she lost him, she lost a part of her heart, she gave up on love, she destined herself even from us, losing him broke her, so she decided to make a distance between her and the people she loved, a distance she called her safe distance, a distance that can give her the chance to grieve the loss of a loved one without being broken, she decided to love less people so she could have a lesser chance of being broken. Of coarse distancing yourself from your loved ones just because you don't want to get broken by their loss is a childish decision to make, It's like a child who gets a wound from a toy so he decides to give up on playing, but that was Jannah's decision, that was her life until you came along, I thought you could be her gateaway from the prison she created for herself, I didn't mind her heart gets broken by you because she needed to know that this is life, I saw something in you, you were lost just like her, you needed her strength, she needed your passion, you completed each other, so when you came to me more than ten years ago asking for her hand in marriage I instantly agreed, I even let you go out on a date with her, but not shortly after, your mother came to me to threaten me and my family, she threatened to make my worst fears Come true, and my family were all I had, after losing Mohamed, I couldn't imagine losing them too, so I asked my daughter to keep away from you, then her memory problems started, she started suffering from severe PTSD, we thought we got over the accident but we were wrong, I saw it as a blessing that I didn't have to go through my daughter's heartbreak on a daily basis, but seeing you trying to contact her in every possible way, broke my heart, I felt like a villianess in your story, I may have secreatly wished that you may somehow manage to get out from under your mother's control an reconnect with her, and you did... " she said.

" Can I understand that you are giving me your blessing, ma'am? " I said.

" Son, let me finish my words, I need you to promise me that you are going to protect my daughter and chirich her like your own, I need you to promise me that you are going to be not only a husband for her but also a father instead of the one she lost, a brother she leans on, and dear friend she is not afraid of sharing her deepest secrets with, that you will listen to her complains however silly they may seem, that you are going to be her backbone, I need you to promise me that you are going to be her safe zone, a place to hide in from the world, a fort to strengthen her defence against the world, promise me that you will never let her down, never hurt her physically or emotionally, never look down on her problems even if they looked so trivial in comparison to your multibillion company problems, promise me that you will understand her anger and her jealousy, promise me that you will love what she loves and hate what she hates, promise me that you will support her career and success and chirish them as your own, promise me that you will help her be a pious muslim, promise me that you will never drift this family apart and take Jannah for yourself only... " she started to cry.

" Mum, that's alot of promising " Hassan tried to alleviate the tension.

" Hassan let me finish, this is my daughter's life " then she turned to me and continued " Jannah has been through a lot in her life, she doesn't desrve to have a bad husband too, either you celebrate the phenomenal person that she is, or let go " she said sternly.

" I understand ma'am, I promise you, you have my word " I said.

" Then you have my blessing son" she finally said.

Finally, my panicking mood came to an end.

Finally my heart was beating regularly and my lungs were filled with oxygen.

Finally I'm starting to see my dream coming true.

Me and Jannah, ending up together.

Suddenly the grandmother made a strange alarming sound, that literally made me jump out of my seat.

" James, don't panic, It's just the Egyptian way of celebration " Hassan tried to calm me down.

" I'm sorry... I thought there was somthing wrong " I said.

" You also need to understand how different our cultures are, you maybe a muslim now but this doesn't abolish our differences son " Jannah's mother said.

" Mum, give him a break" Hassan said.

" No, I understand Hassan, I also thought about this " I said.

" So should we call Jannah and tell her about the news? " Hassan suggested.

" Yes, but I want to surpise her, so how are we going to get Jannah here without exposing our plans? " I said.

" I've got an idea!!" the grandmother said.

I was going though my shift when I got a phone call from Hassan.

" Jannah, your grandmother is really sick, we need you immediately " Hassan said.