“I’m barely pregnant. I’m fine.”
“Girl, you are PREGNANT. That means you sit. You rest. You let us handle things.” She pointed the wooden spoon at me like a weapon. “Prime would kill me if I let you overdo it.”
“Well, Prime doesn’t know yet.”
“You gonna tell him when he gets here?” Serenity asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe. It depends on…” I trailed off. On how Yusef is. On whether this nightmare is actually over. On whether there’s even room for joy in the middle of all this chaos.
Serenity seemed to read my mind. “There’s always room for good news, Zainab. Especially now.” She grinned. “A baby? That’s the good kind of chaos.”
Mehar smiled from her spot by the stove. “I can’t wait to be an auntie… again I guess.”
“You’re gonna spoil this baby rotten,” I said.
“That’s the plan.” Her smile widened. “I’m gonna be the cool auntie. The one who lets them stay up late and eat ice cream for breakfast.”
“Great. Just what I need.”
We laughed. For a moment—just a moment—it felt normal. Like we were just three women cooking together, talking about babies and the future, pretending the world outside wasn’t falling apart.
Then my phone buzzed.
I snatched it off the counter so fast I nearly knocked over a glass of water.
Prime’s name on the screen.
“Hello?”
“I have him.” His voice was tired. Heavy. But underneath it—relief. “We’re on our way.”
I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe. Tears were already streaming down my face, blurring my vision.
“Zainab? You hear me?”
“Yes.” The word came out choked. Broken. “Yes, I hear you. You have him. You have my baby.”
“I have him. We’ll be there in an hour.”
“Is he okay? Is he hurt? Did Rashid?—”
“We’ll talk when I get there.” A pause. “Just… be ready. Okay?”
Something in his tone made my stomach clench. But I pushed it down. Pushed everything down except the overwhelming relief flooding through my body.
“Okay. I’ll be ready. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
The line went dead.
I lowered the phone slowly. Looked at Serenity and Mehar, who were watching me with wide eyes.
“He has him,” I whispered. “Prime has Yusef.”
Serenity screamed. Actually screamed, the same way she’d screamed when I told her I was pregnant. She grabbed me and pulled me into a hug so tight I could barely breathe.
“I TOLD you! I TOLD you he’d get him back!”
