NELLY'S WEDDINGPREPARATIONS

Two nights passed, and Nelly began to feel as if time itself was deliberately slowing down, testing her patience. Raed didn't arrive at his usual time, a time that had become more than just a visit, a time when a girl's heart was beating in anticipation of a specific man. She sat on the chair in Kamel's room, her legs fidgeting, her eyes darting towards the door every few seconds, as if Raed might emerge at any moment. Kamel watched her with long, calm gazes, but she paid him no attention. He seemed to live in this house like the dead, merely observing and witnessing a love story he disapproved of. His pain grew with each passing day as he saw his daughter's relationship with a young man who was sexually exploiting her right before his eyes. Then, suddenly, the doorbell rang. Nelly jumped from her seat and rushed out of Kamel's room, a smile spreading across her face even before her hand reached the doorknob. She opened the door. Raed was standing there, slightly exhausted, a little hesitant; He seemed a little out of character.

He entered, and Nelly closed the door behind him. Kamel could hear her voice in his room, a mixture of reproach and longing.

Nelly:Why were you late, Raed?

He answered without looking at her.

Raed:I didn't intend to come today.

Nelly understood perfectly what was weighing on his shoulders. She knew the fear that gripped him after they had crossed all boundaries.

She knew that he was no longer a young man visiting a sick person in his home,

but a man terrified of facing the truth he had created himself. Nelly and Raed headed to Kamel's room. They entered. The helpless man was lying on his bed.

But this time, Nelly saw a different stillness in his face, a cold, quiet silence.

Kamel was no longer alive.

Days and nights passed, and Raed continued to come. He came day after day, and Nelly greeted him with the eyes of a woman who had finally found meaning in her life. Every night they made love, surrendering to desire, living life to the fullest. Their small house overflowed with happiness night after night, as if each night brought another, as if a string of pearls had broken, releasing a flood of joyful evenings, one after another, without end. Love seeped into Nelly's heart, just as it had into Raed's, and they lived as if the world had been created just for them. Nelly forgot her family and their tragedy in Raed's embrace and their illicit affair. Then came a night that began with the same warmth, but in the middle of it, Nelly suddenly got up and rushed to the bathroom. She bent over the toilet, emptying her stomach as if she had lost control. Then she stood before the mirror, staring at her face; something had changed color, her features—a feeling that was neither illness nor exhaustion. She left the bathroom and walked to her room, where Raed lay on the bed. The bed.

She lay down beside him and said in a soft but unmistakably confident voice,

Nelly : I think I'm pregnant.

He turned to her, and the words that came from his lips were short, far too brief to carry any deeper meaning.

Raed: It seems I'm late.

He rose quickly and began to dress, his body moving faster than his mind, and headed towards the apartment door. Nelly rose after him, calling out:

Nelly:Raed, wait!

She stood before him in the living room, blocking his path with her slender frame,

and spoke in a voice trembling between pleading and anger:

Nelly: I'm talking to you. I'm pregnant. Can you hear me?

He stared into her eyes and said:

Raed:I hear you. I understand. Perhaps we should get married, shouldn't we?

She answered immediately:

Nelly: Not just married, but married quickly!

He stepped towards her, and she towards him. They embraced,

and exchanged a long, burning kiss, as if making an unwritten pact for a new future.

Then Raed left and closed the door behind him. Nelly stood in the hallway, her hand trembling on her stomach,

then it slid down her entire body,

and a wide smile slowly spread across her face,

before she returned to her room. Her steps were heavy with dreams.

Days and nights passed in a long, unbroken thread.

And Raed still came to Nelly's house, as he always did.

He would sneak into the house under the cover of darkness, approach her, embrace her, and make love to her with an unquenchable passion.

Every time he saw her, he displayed a love that seemed genuine, or so Nili believed.

Nelly's love for him grew as if her heart were fertile ground that never ceased to bloom.

And Raed, too, seemed infatuated with her, lost in her, surrendering to her presence.

But months passed, and Nelly's belly began to show.

Hiding the truth became impossible.

She knew that the conservative society they lived in would not be merciful to her.

And she knew that Raed, the man who had sneaked into her house every night, could no longer escape what he had done. Whenever she spoke of marriage, he would evade the topic, stammering, making excuses, as if the word "husband" frightened him more than the prospect of being exposed.

Then came that night.

When she stood before him and said clearly:

Nelly: Do you see my stomach? She's getting older. People will know. We have to get married in a few days, Raed.

This time, there was no escape in his eyes. He answered in an unexpectedly firm tone.

Raed: Tomorrow I'll bring the officiant to the house, and we'll sign the contract here.

His words were a mixture of reassurance and retreat, but Nellie clung to the former and ignored the latter. Raed moved closer to her, and this time he made love to her with a passion more intense than ever, as if he wanted to keep a part of her inside him, a version of her that would remain no matter how the days changed. When their breaths finally calmed, Raed left Naomi's house. The next day, Nellie moved around the house like a young bride preparing for the life she had long dreamed of. She wore a simple white dress, but its beauty doubled the moment it touched her skin. She decorated the house with flowers and ribbons and placed a large cake on the living room table. It read "Raed and Nellie." It wasn't just a cake; it was a declaration of a new life about to be born. Joy filled Nellie's heart so much that she felt as if She would fly, a wide smile coloring her cheeks with the softness of roses. Her hands moved lightly, and her soul trembled with anticipation.

This joy, this moment, is what she has waited for throughout years of pain years of loneliness, years in which she thought God had forgotten her. And today she believes that everything is about to begin anew.