Deen Queens

eleven [asiya]

ASIYA

"What do you think, mi vida?" Asiya asked her daughter, spinning around with a giggle as she showed off the dress she was wearing. She'd spent all day carefully sewing on tiny embellishments to shape into little flowers, dotted across the chest area until she shone with every sun ray. Sofia gurgled in response, chewing on a rattle as her mother danced in front of her.

Asiya had scoured the internet until she found job vacancies in small locally owned boutiques and thankfully, had managed to get a position as a customer assistant in one of them. Whilst searching for a crèche to place Sofia in whilst she was at work, she'd come across one that was looking for a lunchtime assistant which quickly became job number two. Asiya knew she needed a third job, perhaps in the evenings, to cover their expenses but she didn't want to be away from her darling daughter for most of the day.

And that's where the dress idea had come from. The boutique she found herself working in was owned by Lara, a budding fashion marketing student who'd been left a hefty inheritance and was always on the lookout for new designers to represent. What Asiya really needed was an opportunity and that could only occur with a portfolio – hence the hours spent on the beautiful gold dress draped over her body. She'd been drawing, cutting, hemming and stitching non-stop since she'd decided to put a portfolio together. After all, she had enough determination to climb the highest of hurdles.

"Do you think maybe the girls would like to model the rest of the dresses I'm making for this collection, Sofi, mi precioso?"

Sofia only wailed her arms around in reply, squirming from where she lay in a cocoon of blankets and toys. The days following the event at the mosque had cemented a friendship that felt more like sisterhood between the four girls and Asiya had found herself thanking God at the end of every prayer she prayed five times a day. How wonderful it felt to have people that truly cared about her and her daughter, for the sake of nothing but love and kindness.

The girls had been sending each other messages constantly, about everything and anything. They'd had serious conversations as well as forming stupidly pathetic inside jokes that made them all giggle uncontrollably. Sending photos of mundane parts of their day-to-day lives had quickly become normality, no matter how insignificant they all were. She now knew exactly what the new trainers Leena had brought looked like, knew the fluffy pillow obsession Layla seemed to have and had seen multiple baby photos of Becky with her twin brother. And amongst it all, Asiya had found herself growing lighter and lighter until true happiness seemed to burst beneath her skin.

It had been a long time since Asiya had true friends.

Grabbing hold of her old phone, she typed a quick message, finger's tapping rhythmically. They had all arranged to meet up the following week and she couldn't wait to see the three girls again. And most of all, she'd managed to convince Leena to allow the two children to have some play sessions with each other. Sofia had barely had any interaction with any children before and the way little Yusuf chattered to her with pure affection had warmed her heart. It would be good for the two kids but mostly, it would be good for the two adults. Perhaps Leena could model one of the dresses for her, once it was complete.

So, which one of u babes is up to model my dresses for me once they're done, eh???:D:D

Just as she was changing out of the first beautiful dress she had painstakingly created, Sofia began to fuss, squirming on her blankets and shrieking. Her mother giggled, mumbling Spanish lullabies as she settled the two of them on the worn sofa. She lay back, unbuttoning her blouse and attaching her daughter to her breast with a smile. At the very beginning, just like many babies with Down's syndrome, Sofia struggled a lot with feeding and needed a nasogastric tube inserted. Although she knew it was the best thing for her daughter, every time it was carefully pushed down her little nostrils, Asiya had felt sick. Thankfully, over time the two of them had worked out a rhythm and breastfeeding had gotten both much safer and easier.