Fatima Takes Sides

There are three things Jamila didn’t expect during wedding planning:

1. Her ankles to disappear at week 20.

2. Aayan being surprisingly opinionated about napkin colors.

3. And Zara… summoning their mother like she was starting a civil war.

Jamila was lying in bed, a cooling cucumber eye mask on her face, humming to the twins who were currently training for a UFC match in her womb, when she heard heels, not just footsteps, but the unmistakable, high-maintenance click of Zara’s "I-mean-business" Louboutins.

“Jamila, sweetie,” Zara called from the living room. “We need to talk. Immediately. Before you commit social murder.”

Jamila sighed. “I don’t have the energy for whatever this is. I’m retaining water, not opinions right now.”

Zara burst in anyway, dressed like a Vogue article titled “Billionaire’s Sister Takes Over the Wedding and Everyone Cries.” “Good. Because I have enough opinions for both of us. And Mom is on her way.”