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Epilogue
Two months later
It was the last day of the school year, and Laila was packing up her homeroom, carefully filling a box with the French and Spanish maps, the flags and the photos she’d pinned to the bulletin boards at the beginning of the school year. She’d already packed her books in another box, and she had one remaining box for the contents of her desk.
Amira, Farah, Cyra, Hester and Mitra sat at the desks in the front corner of the room, chattering away in accented English. The girls had made amazing progress learning English since they’d arrived at her high school. When they were alone, or with their families, Laila suspected they spoke Pashto. But they always spoke English when they were around other students. Or Laila.
All of her families had been resettled in Madison, with the exception of Bahram. He’d stayed behind at the relocation center. The liaison had explained that Bahram had valuable information, and they wanted to get as many details as they could from him. Laila suspected they’d also wanted to vet him more thoroughly.
She’d driven Nahid, Amira, Darius and Farah to the compound every Sunday to visit him. They repaired their relationship with Bahram after a few weeks, and now they were eager for him to come home to Madison, but every week he’d told them to be patient. Staying behind in the center, helping the soldiers with information he’d gleamed about the Taliban, was a small price to pay for being allowed to come to America.
She hoped, when they visited him again this Sunday, he’d have some idea of when he’d be released.
She’d pushed hard to make sure all the girls ended up in her school district, and she loved seeing them every day. Loved how well they were acclimating to a very different life than the one they’d left behind in Afghanistan.
Amira had confided that they all missed Al Kamen and their friends in the village. And that their parents were still adjusting to their new lifestyle. But they all realized how difficult their lives would have been if they’d stayed in Afghanistan.
Laila saw their parents regularly, and knew they were struggling to get used to life in the U.S. She did whatever she could to help them and had managed to introduce them to a number of other Afghanis in the city. She hated to see them struggle, but she knew they hadn’t had a choice. They’d made this move for their daughters and had probably saved their lives.
Laila was sure Nahid and the other parents had moments of despair and frustration, but she also knew they’d made friends in the Afghan community. Former emigres had been eager to help the new arrivals. The parents and children had left friends behind in Al Kamen, but so had the emigres. They knew how difficult it was to acclimate to a different culture, and they worked hard to integrate the parents and their children into their lives in Madison. They’d even helped the adults find jobs.
As she emptied the drawers of her desk into the remaining box, Laila heard Amira and Farah squeal. Looking up, she spotted a grinning Jase standing beside Bahram, his arm slung over the boy’s shoulder. Bahram wore jeans and a Game of Thrones tee shirt, along with black Chucks.
“Bahram,” she said with a wide smile as she hurried over to the boy and Jase. “Are you here to stay?”
Bahram nodded. “They told me yesterday I could leave today. I asked one of the soldiers to call Jase and see if he could pick me up,” he said with a smile. “I wanted to surprise everyone,” he added shyly.
Laila threw her arms around Jase, her ridiculously large engagement ring glittering beneath the classroom lights. “Thank you,” she whispered into his ear. “This is the perfect way to end the school year.”
“Bahram and I thought so,” Jase said, tucking her against his side. He nodded his head at Bahram. “You gonna go surprise your mom and Darius, too?”
Beaming, Bahram nodded. “Yes. As soon as these girls are ready to go.”
Laila smiled, knowing how thrilled Nahid would be to see her oldest son. She turned to Amira and the other girls. “You all have my phone number,” she said. “Call me anytime. We’ll try to get together frequently.”
The girls nodded and promised to keep in touch. Then all five of them crowded out the door, with Bahram in the middle of the huddle, and they disappeared down the hall.
She turned to Jase and wrapped her arms around him. Kissed him deeply. “Thank you for bringing Bahram home. I know Nahid and her kids will be very grateful.”
“Glad to do it,” he said. “He’s a good kid. Sometimes kids have to wander off the path a few times before they find their way. I think Bahram will thrive in Madison, and I look forward to watching him grow up.”
As Laila reached up to kiss Jase again, Amira poked her head in the door. “Do you know when the wedding will be yet?”
She turned in Jase’s arms and smiled at the girl. “We’re still trying to figure it out, but you’ll know as soon as we do. Some of our closest friends work for a security company, and we have to figure out when they’ll all be available. It’ll probably be a spur-of-the-moment thing. Out at our farm.” She grinned. “Very casual.”
“Don’t forget to tell us when,” Amira said.
“You’ll be the first ones we tell,” Laila assured her. “And of course you’ll all be invited.”
Amira’s grin lit up her face, then she dashed down the hall toward her brother and her friends.
“You know I can’t wait to marry you,” Jase murmured, nuzzling her neck.
“I know, and you can show me how much when we get home.” She brushed a kiss over his mouth, then eased away from him and picked up the two lightest boxes. “Let’s get these in the car so we can head out to the farm. Check and see how the new horses are doing.”
“I was watching them today. They’re all getting along great with Mirage. And the therapists are arriving tomorrow to begin working with the horses. The new house for the vets is ready and waiting for them. We’ll get our first clients in a few weeks.”
As they walked down the hall, Laila bumped her hip into Jase’s. “Are you excited? Scared? Worried?”
“A little of each,” he said. “But mostly excited. I can’t wait to start the next part of my life.” He smiled down at her, and Laila saw endless love in Jase’s eyes. “Can’t wait to marry you.”
“Right back at ya, bae.”
Holding each other’s gazes for a long moment, they finally smiled and walked down the stairs, completely in sync.
They’d been in sync, connected, from the first moment they met. And Laila was sure their connection would only grow stronger and more unbreakable as the years went by.
* * * * *
