Chapter Three

Sayid thought Nadia must be asleep, so he slithered out of his shirt and pants and slipped into bed as quietly as possible. He had been working late all week, but his supervisor had promised him some time off soon. He was looking forward to a few days alone with his family.

Nadia immediately turned and rested her head on his chest, snuggling into him. "Are you awake?" he asked.

"Halfway," she said.

They talked to each other intermittently in their native tongue. There were long pauses between their words; they were like two kids at a slumber party, drifting in and out of sleep, tired but not quite ready to surrender.

Sayid was just about out when he heard, "Do you want to come?"

"Come?"

"For the twenty week ultrasound. Thursday."

"Thursday? Yes. I'm sure Hank will give me the day off." He stroked her hair lazily. "Is that when we get to find out if it's a boy or a girl?" He was awake now. "Nadia?"

He had just about assumed she had fallen asleep when she murmured, "I want to be surprised. We will have to wait until it's born."

"We? They could tell just me. I promise not to tell you. It would still be a surprise for you."

He felt rather than heard her as she chuckled lightly against his chest. "You will not be able to keep it from me."

"Of course I will. I can keep a secret."

"But," she said, lifting her head slowly to kiss his shoulder, "I will be able to see the truth in your eyes."

"I am a master at controlling my expression," he said.

Her laugh was more audible this time. She kissed him again, this time quickly on the lips. "Not with me, you're not. You know how well I can read you."

He sighed. It was the truth. Somehow Nadia had always known the deepest longings of his soul, even when she had been his prisoner. He did not know what gave such power to her vision. Was it her love for him? Or was it the love he had for her that made him so transparent? It did not matter. He was grateful to stand unmasked before the one he loved, to have a peaceful place to rest where games were not demanded, where disguise was unnecessary.

He pulled her close. "Then I wait," he said.

She smiled approvingly and rested her head again upon his chest. Her delicate fingers began to trail up and down his rib cage. "Have you thought about what name you would like if we have a girl?"

He had, as a matter of fact. He had thought that he would like to name his daughter after Shannon, as homage to the memory of one who had helped him to endure a difficult time, who had proved to him that he was still capable of love.

But Nadia most likely wanted an Arabic name and one with religious meaning. At any rate, he doubted she would want her only daughter to bear the name of her husband's dead girlfriend. It did not seem right to him to ask it of her.

"I have not thought much about it," he lied. "What would you like to name the child, if it's a boy?"

A long time passed before she answered. He was not sure if she were thinking, or if she had simply fallen asleep. When she finally spoke, she sounded uneasy. "I named Sigh after you. If we are blessed with a son, I…I would like to name him after Bashar. Would that bother you?"

"It would be fitting to honor your first husband in that way," he said. "He so honored me. Of course I would approve." He thought that now would probably be the best time to mention the name of Shannon, if he was ever going to mention it. But he remained silent.

"Thank you, Sayid," she whispered against his flesh. "I was thinking…if it's a girl…" She yawned. "I was thinking perhaps we could call her Adara, after my sister."

"Adara is a beautiful name."

"And for a middle name," she said, "we need not use Jazeem, as I did with Sigh. We could use Shannon. That is, if you wished." She felt his body twinge and asked, "Did I say the wrong thing?"

"No, no. You said the right thing." He drew her completely atop himself and kissed her deeply, tenderly. His lips broke from her mouth, and he kissed her cheek and whispered, "Adara Shannon. I like it very much." His hand trailed down her nightgown to its hem, which he began to draw up slowly.

"They sound lovely together," she said with another yawn. She covered his hands with hers and prevented him from pulling her nightgown up any farther. "I'm sorry, Sayid," she said, shifting off of him and laying her head again on his chest. "I'm very tired."

"I understand," he said. "I love you."

"I love you…" she murmured, and then he heard no more from her lips, but he felt her breathing even.

He rolled her gently on her side and pulled the blankets up to her shoulders, tucking them in tight around her. Then he slipped out of the bed and went to the bathroom. He removed his shorts and turned on the shower, opening only the cold tap before stepping inside. It wasn't cold enough.

Sayid awoke to the feeling of Nadia's fingers on his spine, a light tickling. Sleepily he reached behind himself and swatted her hand away. With one eye open, he saw the glaring red letters of the alarm clock: 6 a.m. "What are you doing?" he asked with annoyance. "We have an hour before the alarm goes off."

She huddled warmly against his back. He felt her lips tease his ears and then his neck; he felt her breath as she said, "I'm sorry for falling asleep last night. I'd like to make it up to you. But if you're too tired…" She shrugged and began to draw away from him.

"Wait," he said, turning and pulling her on top of himself. "I think you could manage to awaken me."

She pressed suggestively against him. He murmured his pleasure and closed his eyes for just a moment…just a moment…but the next thing he heard was the furious moan of the alarm. He rolled over, opened his eyes, and stared at the angry numbers: 7 a.m. He arose groggily and walked toward the sound of the running shower. Once in the bathroom, he turned on the sink and splashed cold water on his face.

He soon opened the shower curtain slightly and slipped in behind Nadia. She did not sense his presence at first; her eyes were closed and she was intent on feeling the warmth of the water as it splashed across her face. When she opened her eyes, his nearness startled her, and she jumped a little, slipping on the porcelain floor of the shower. He caught her and held her close, and then he kissed her.

"Can you make it up to me now?" he asked.

"No," she said. "You're the one who fell asleep this time. You're the one who must do penance."

"If I must." His hand trailed up her stomach and toward her chest slowly.

"But, Sayid, you will be late for work."

"I don't care."

She grabbed his hand and moved it to his side. "Then let's dry off and get in bed," she said urgently. "I hate shower sex. Someone is always left half in the cold."

He reached out for the faucet and turned it off abruptly. They climbed out of the shower and quickly toweled off before crawling under the warm, inviting blankets of the bed. They made love playfully at first, teasing one another, smiling, and sometimes even laughing, but soon their amusement turned to passion. When they lay together, spent and intertwined, they began to drift off to sleep.

A loud knocking on the door awoke them. "Mom! Dad!" Sigh called, "It's after 9:00. I'm already late for school."

When Sayid arrived over an hour late for work, his supervisor was, gratefully, nowhere in sight. But when he walked into his tiny office, Hank was there swiveling back and forth in his chair. "You're late," he said.

"Sorry," Sayid replied. "I had a thing…I had to do…for my wife."

Hank got out of Sayid's chair and motioned for him to sit down. Sayid put his coffee and a bagel on the desk and sat in the chair, waiting to see if he would be rebuked for his tardiness. Hank pointed to a stack of papers on his desk. "The big boss wants you to fill these out by Friday."

"What for?"

Hank shrugged. "Useless reports. But he thought now, when we're up against a big deadline, would be the best time to demand them. Sorry."

"But I need Thursday off. My wife is getting her ultrasound."

Hank looked down at the reports, and then he scrapped them off of Sayid's desk. "I'll have my secretary do them," he said. "And what she doesn't get done I'll do myself. You can have the day off."

"Thank you," Sayid replied as Hank began to walk out of his office.

His supervisor paused at the door, turned, and leaned against the door frame. "I know you hate this office work, Sayid. I'll try to get you back to hands-on tinkering as soon as possible."

"I would appreciate it."

"Would you and your wife and son like to join me and Nora for Christmas dinner?"

Sayid had just picked up a pencil and had begun working on some sketches. He looked up. "We do not celebrate Christmas."

"I know. But you do eat, right?" He glanced at the bagel and coffee.

"Yes, we do…"

"Good, because my wife makes an excellent ham." Hank began to walk out the door.

"Ummm…"

His supervisor stuck his head back in, and he was wearing a huge smile. "Just kidding, Sayid. No ham. Think about it. Let me know in a couple of weeks."

Sayid nodded and went back to work, but Hank still hadn't left. "I guess we have to serve dinner after sunset, huh?"

"Sunset? Why?"

"I thought you had to fast all month, from dawn to sunset," he said from the door.

"In December? No. Why?"

"Isn't it Ramadan?"

"That was in October this year."

"Then how come," Hank asked, "they're always talking about Christmas—Kwanza—Chanukah—Ramadan?"

Sayid shrugged. "Ignorance I guess."

"Or," said Hank, "maybe it's so Muslims won't feel oppressed at Christmas time."

Sayid really wanted to get back to work, but he did find himself smiling.

"Yes, yes," he said. "That tinseled pine tree in the lobby is quite oppressing me."

Sayid wondered what his supervisor did all day. Did he just stand in doorways and talk to people, or did he actually work from time to time? He supposed not many supervisors worked…most were never in the office but were always away on mystery meetings and luncheons, never answering their cell phones. At least Hank was around when people had a question, and at least he would answer immediately with a simple yes or no. Most people had to wait around hours, sometimes days, to get an answer out of a supervisor before they could proceed with their work.

Hank laughed heartily, gave his employee a mock salute, and said, "Have a good day, sir. I promise you I will not harass you for the rest of it."

Sayid nodded, but he did not believe his supervisor's idle vow.