Five years later...
Zaid leaned against his desk and watched as Samarah, clad in her best pink party dress, crawled on all fours across the floor of his office. She stopped halfway, reared up on her knees, and neighed.
Alim stood reposed against the doorway, watching her curiously. "Were you like this when you were a child?"
"I never pretended to be a horse," Zaid said. "I wasn't that fond of pink, either. But there are some similarities."
So many that Zaid often forgot he wasn't Samarah's biological father. They had the same temperament, the same headstrong, indefatigable will. But theirs was a bond beyond blood, one that connected them at their very souls.
The office door opened and Harper bustled in, still dressed in her hospital scrubs, her hair pulled back in a no-frills ponytail. Her eyes landed on Alim, and she faltered. "Oops. Sorry," she said. "I didn't realize you were in a meeting."
"Come in, Sheikha," Alim said, motioning her inside. "He's all yours. I was just leaving."
He disappeared out the door, and Zaid reached for her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, relishing the way their bodies fit together. She couldn't believe it had been five years. Five years since she'd first held that tiny life in her arms. Five years since she and Zaid had renewed their vows to each other, meaning them even more this time. Meaning them for life.
Harper felt a familiar tug on her leg. A pretend horse in a pink party dress. She bent down and scooped her up.
"Lunah is going to help you get ready for your party while I talk to your father," Harper said.
Samarah shook her head. "Horses don't have to get ready for parties."
"Do horses get to open birthday gifts?"
She thought for a moment. "No..."
"Then perhaps you should not be a horse until tomorrow."
Samarah thought for a moment, then nodded. Harper set her down and she ran over to where Lunah was standing, waiting for her.
Zaid wrapped his hands around her from behind and pressed his lips against Harper's neck. "You're late."
She turned to face him. "I had a last-minute appointment."
She reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out a small square photograph. Zaid recognized it immediately.
Emotion swirled inside him, stirred by the impossibly tiny life captured on film. The image of his son or daughter. A new addition to the family he'd longed for his whole life. The family he still couldn't believe he had. "You're pregnant."
Harper's mouth grew into a wide smile, unable to contain her excitement. "Looks like."
"So the last minute appointment..."
"Was mine, yeah." She bit down on her bottom lip. "I know we decided to wait until Samarah was older...I hope you're not too disappointed."
He pulled her to him and held her close, the swell of emotion in his chest blooming into joy. "Of course I'm not disappointed. We're going to have a baby."
"A baby," Harper repeated, letting the happiness overtake her. “Looks like Gulzar might get an heir, after all.”
Zaid shook his head. “That’s not our decision to make,” he said. “Our sons and daughters will have the world open to them.”
“Even if they want to be circus performers?”
Zaid laughed. “Even then.” He bent down and kissed her slowly, deeply. "I love you. To the end of time and back again."
"I love you, too, Zaid. So much.” She rested her head against his chest, enraptured by the warmth of him, by the beat of his once broken heart. “And I always will."