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It sees us…or I assume Jordan because it bounds towards us, pouncing on Jordan happily.
“I left here when she was a cub. Came back last month for official duties and was surprised she still recognized me.” He chuckles as he strains under the weight of the domesticated tiger.
“Hey! That’s not nice!” Skylar complains. We have taken her friend from her. “Bullam! Come back. You must drink tea.” She points a cup at the tiger, who runs back to her.
It’s amazing how fearless she is with the animal. Her I am with my heart beating to the rhythm of a fast-paced action movie. There’s my daughter…feeding tea to a tiger.
We stay in that backyard a little while and I get to know Bullam the tigress. She was abandoned as a cub by poachers who killed her mother for her exotic fur.
She could barely open her eyes, then and was starving when the royal guards found her…somewhere in Bangladesh during a tour. They brought her home after Jordan bonded with her.
These were on some of his intermittent trips when he was still underground as a bodyguard in my house, and I didn’t even know.
Sometime in the night as we talk, Bullam comes over to me and nests herself between my legs, nuzzling against my stomach.
I’m startled, but everyone else is smiling.
“She knows you’re pregnant,” Ahmed explains. “And she loves the baby already.”
The tigress purrs, as if agreeing with what Ahmed said.
I slowly let my hand rest on her giant head and when it does, I begin stroking. Most of it is fur and I rub until it soothes me even more than it does her. She purrs in satisfaction.
“Well, if the tiger agrees, then anyone who disagrees should be put to death,inshallah!” Ahmed regards the sight in awe
“No…no…no death.” I put my other hand out, to emphasize my point. I’ve had enough of that word over the past few days.
“Of course not. He’s joking,” Jordan chuckles and pats me on the back as everyone laughs. Skylar is beside me as well and she has her head on one of my thighs.
Bullam’s head is on the other.
“I guess I have three children now,” I sigh.
“More will come,” Ahmed remarks cheekily, earning a scowl from Jordan, which later transforms into a grin.
“You both are disgusting,” Hakeem spews from the background.
“You get yourself a wife,Habibi. Stop being jealous,” Ahmed teases further.
Almost as soon as he says that what feels like catastrophe happens right before our eyes. A maid comes in and trips spilling hot drinks that were supposed to be served on Hakeem.
Everywhere goes dead silent and everyone regards her gravely.
Except Jordan. Jordan is smiling like a preschool child given candy by the teacher for being good.
The girl says something in Arabic, but it’s not an apology. It’s more like a scolding.
“Yasmin, come on, it’s not like that…” Hakeem pleads.
“You left me,ya rouhi,” the girl complains and when Hakeem tries to hold her, she slinks her arm away from his grip. By this time, the entire room is agog with excitement and laughter.
“Hakeem does have a wife after all,” Ahmed guffaws.
Yasmin leaves and Hakeem immediately follows her as they both begin talking out their issues.
The night continues in its merriment.
Somehow, oddly enough, I don’t feel like I’m in a strange place.
I don’t feel like I’ve traveled over five thousand miles away from everything I know, because if Jordan is with me, as well as Skylar and my baby, I’m home.
I’ve never felt so at home, at peace and in love and this…
Well, this is the beginning of my love story…not the end.
