Our Space

Chapter 43

Sami stared wide eyed at his mother sobbing hysterically. He was at loss as to how to comfort her.

"I'm going to be left all alone," she cried.

"You won't be left alone. I know Manahil and she would never leave you alone. Besides, you have us," Radia said soothingly. She sat next to her, holding her hand.

"She's moving with her in-laws and you two are moving further away from me. I'm going to be all alone."

At that moment, Sami felt a dislike towards his father that he'd never felt before. He looked at Radia and wondered how he'd ever be able to live with himself if he left her alone. He wanted to ask his mother to live with them. It was probably a better idea to speak about it with Radia before voicing such a suggestion.

"You can live with us," Radia said, as if reading Sami's thoughts. He wanted to kiss Radia for suggesting it for him.

"No no, I can't come and intrude in your lives like that. It's not fair on you," Sami's mother responded, wiping away her tears. Sami leaped from where he was sitting and crouched in front of his mother, taking her hand. He sat on his knees by her feet and looked into her eyes.

"We'll be more than happy for you to live with us," he assured. "Besides, we'll be living in Radia's old house soon. The place may be too small for her family but it'll be quite spacious for us. There are three bedrooms, you can easily take one and there would still be room for more." Sami's mother freed her hands from Radia and Sami. She then cupped Sami's face and kissed his forehead. 

"When will there be more?" She asked and Sami could see Radia shying away.

"We're trying," Sami replied. The truth was, they'd only agreed upon trying recently. They felt comfortable enough and Radia was ready to quit work for a while if they had a baby.

"And I could help you if I was with you, right?" Sami's mother asked, so full of hope. Sami smiled and nodded. She then turned towards Radia and took her hand again. "Are you sure you'd be okay taking an old hag like me in?" 

"Don't say that," Radia said, hugging her. She started crying again, though these tears seemed to come more from joy than fear of being alone. "We'd love to have you with us!"

"Thank you," Sami's mother replied, hugging both of them.

When Sami and Radia left to return home, Radia kept her face turned away from Sami. He tried to speak to her but she wouldn't respond. Sami wondered if she regretted their decision of letting his mum stay with them. He began to feel anxious and decided to remain quiet until they got home.

When they finally got home, Sami confronted Radia, only to see tears well up in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Sami asked, feeling concerned.

"It's your mum. She... she's so much like you in some ways. When you were looking at each other, in some way it was like there was a mirror between you. There's so much darkness and pain in both your pasts and I feel so helpless. I wish I could just go back in time and take all that darkness away," Radia cried, leaning her head on Sami's chest. He held her close, shaking his head at her antics.

"Don't you get that you're helping us come out of that darkness. You can't go back in time but thanks to you, our futures look bright," he explained, kissing her cheek.

"Oh stop it, you give me too much credit," Radia said and Sami smiled, kissing her again. There was a short silence before Radia moved back and whispered, "Carry on."

"Carry what on?"

"The compliments."

"You asked me to stop."