Hannah watched as Tariq knelt before her, holding an engagement ring that he had been carrying on his person secretly for the last two months.

The pink radiant cut sapphire was flanked by two white sapphires, one on each side. The rare gemstones dazzled beautifully in the light and the sight of them threatened to temporarily hypnotise her.

At the insinuation of his words, she felt like her heart would break out of her chest. The love that she felt radiating from him threatened to bring her to her own knees. Seeing the look of love on her face gave him the extra push that he needed.

Taking a deep breath, Tariq asked, "Hannah, will you marry me..."

Before he could even finish his question properly, she blurted out, "Yes! Yes, I will marry you!"

Chuckling at her enthusiasm, he placed the ring on Hannah's finger. Tariq then stood and lifted her up in his arms. He kissed her soundly, his smile proud and wide.

"I must confess that a part of me thought that you may have said no," he whispered against her lips.

Playfully poking him in the chest, she replied, "Hey! I would not tell you I'd say yes then reject you, that's downright cruel."

"I know, but hey I am allowed to have my own self-doubts as well. Even when we're 100% sure, where proposals are concerned, I think every man has that brief flash of doubt," he kissed softly.

Hannah nodded in understanding, her eyes looking down at her left hand. Tariq's gaze followed hers, loving the way the ring looked on her finger.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"I love it!" she replied then asked, "Did you cut the stones yourself again?"

"Of course!" he replied, stating the obvious.

"I need to call Miks," Hannah said as she pulled out her phone to video call.

Mikayla's face appeared on the screen and as Hannah raised her hand to the phone's front facing camera, her best friend shrieked out in joy.

"Yes! Damien! Babe! Tariq finally asked her, I told you he would!" she shouted away from the phone.

Her husband came rushing into the room, his face appearing next to hers on the phone screen.

"Congratulations to you two!" Damien said then added, "I'm calling you now Tariq."

Kissing Hannah on the cheek, he left her to speak with Mikayla as his phone began to ring. He answered it with a laugh at whatever Damien greeted him with.

"You knew?! Hannah asked Mikayla.

Scoffing she replied, "Of course! Who you think gave him the idea for the aluminium case? Knowing your nosey ass, there's no way he'd have been able to discreetly walk around with it without you knowing."

"You snake!" Hannah laughed then added more seriously, "Thank you Miks."

"Aw hun, no need to thank me, this was all you. I'm just so proud that you didn't allow your emotions to overwhelm you, I can't wait to see you tomorrow when you land!" she said happily.

"Me too," Hannah replied.

Mikayla then moved away from the screen once again to shout at Damien, "Babe! Get off the phone and let Tariq get back to his fiancé!"

Upon hearing her best friend playfully scold her husband, Hannah could not help but giggle softly at her excitement. They said their goodbyes just as Tariq was walking back to greet her.

"Hello there, Mrs. Fiancée," he grinned as his hands rested on her hips, his eyes gazing into her own.

Smiling, she wrapped arms around his neck as she looked up at him, "Hello yourself Mr. Fiancé."

"I wish we could skip dinner and head back to the apartment, but I want to show off my gorgeous fiancée and her ring. We'll consummate our engagement later," his eyes danced with merriment as they headed towards the elevator.

————— ▲ —————

It was around mid-afternoon when Hannah and Tariq walked over to Damien and Mikayla's penthouse. Before the couple could properly walk through the foyer, an excited female scream was heard.

"Hannah!" Mikayla beamed as she launched herself against her best friend, kissing her about the face.

"Hey sugar butt," the blonde grinned while returning the embrace, her right hand squeezing at the generously shaped buttocks of Mikayla.

"Oi! I'm right here you know!" Tariq complained jokingly as he finished greeting Damien.

The Frenchman grinned and tilted his head to the side as he watched Hannah grope his curvy wife.

"Leave them be," Damien said in a hushed tone with a big smirk on his face.

Shaking his head, though his own gaze never wavered from the two women, Tariq playfully pushed his shoulder against his friend, "Such a perv."

"Not my fault, besides, our women are hot," Damien replied.

Nodding in agreement Tariq said, "Agreed."

Ignoring the men, the women continued to embrace for a while longer before parting. They were smiling brightly as their excitement calmed.

"Let me see the ring!" Mikayla gushed.

Obliging, Hannah showed her hand.

"Gods, it's even more beautiful on your finger," she replied.

Looking at Mikayla's own hand Hannah glanced up at Tariq, "Is there a reason both of our rings have three stones?"

Both of the women's engagement rings were similar in style, yet completely unique in terms of the types of gems used, as well as the way in which the stones were cut. The two men looked guiltily at each other.

"Well," Tariq started, "the three stones usually represent the past, present and future. And since you and Mikayla are practically like sisters, I figured that somewhat matching rings would be nice. That and I was told you favoured this design."

Slightly stunned, Hannah looked back at Mikayla who now also sported guilty look on her face as she grinned widely.

"How did I ever get so lucky?" she asked in somewhat disbelief as she exclaimed, "Group hug!"

It did not matter to Hannah that she did not have a good relationship with her parents. Her family was right here in this room and she could not have asked for better people. Not to mention Mikayla and Damien's parents and now with Tariq's own family, Hannah realised that her family was now even bigger.

"We're gluttons for punishment," Damien replied with a grin before he grimaced as Hannah elbowed him.

"Come on children, play nice," Mikayla said as they all walked towards the kitchen.

A few hours later, while Tariq and Damien were downstairs on the balcony having a drink, Hannah and Mikayla were in the upstairs master bathroom. The women were once again sitting on the window seat with various unopened boxes of different brands of home pregnancy tests in front of them.

"Round two?" Mikayla asked.

"Fight!" Hannah replied trying to imitate the voice of the Mortal Kombat reference.

They sat in silence while they held hands. Mikayla's head was resting on her best friend's shoulder. Hannah could not resist but place with a lock of her friend's curly hair, her finger idly playing with the coil.

When it was time, Hannah softly asked, "Want me to check this time?"

Shaking her head, Mikayla stood, "I'll do it."

Taking a deep breath, she straightened her shoulders as she approached the counter. Like before, Mikayla's five tests were resting to the right of the sink, while Hannah's test laid to the left.

As she looked over each one, she turned back and looked at Hannah, "Sorry," her voice breaking slightly as her shoulders slumped downwards.

"Miks..." Hannah rushed over and hugged her tightly.

The thought that Mikayla felt the need to apologise broke Hannah's heart. It was as though she were blaming herself for not getting pregnant. Wrapping her arms tightly around Mikayla, Hannah softly consoled her, whispering words of comfort into her ear while her best friend quietly cried against her shoulder.

"It's okay, shh, we'll get through this together, I'm never leaving your side okay?" Hannah said reassuringly as she continued more cheerfully, "Even if you have to shoot me up with D-Man's nasty sperm, I'm getting my god-child."

Like usual, Hannah's humour was always able to bring a smile to those around her as Mikayla burst out chuckling. The sadness in her eyes faded, as her tears of sorrow soon turned to tears of joy, while her laughter continued almost uncontrollably.

Snickering along Hannah added, "Whether it's your womb or mine, once one of us is pregnant, we're both pregnant!"

"Now that's what I call true love," Mikayla said when she could finally talk.

Nodding eagerly, she kissed her head then replied, "You know it!"

————— ▲ —————

The next five weeks passed faster than Hannah realised. She had been bombarded by numerous greetings of congratulations as word of her engagement to Tariq got out.

When they told Tariq's family the good news, they had been overjoyed and had flown out two weeks ago to visit them. Needless to say, having Jida Aziza roam around London with them was more fun than Hannah could have ever imagined.

Tariq's parents and grandparents had met Mikayla's mother and step-father and the way they interacted; one would have sworn that they all knew each other for years. Not to mention when Sophie and Daniel flew in for the weekend, the older couples put the younger once to shame with their vivacity.

Needless to say, the last few weeks had left Hannah a bit overwhelmed as well as exhausted. The question of when Tariq and herself would be getting married was a question that had been repeated more times than she would have liked.

Sighing softly, she leaned back in her chair as she sat in her office. It was just after lunch and she was looking forward to Trini Thursdays at Mikayla's later. The knock on her door pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Hannah? Your mum is..." her secretary began.

Not wanting to talk to her mother on the phone, Hannah quickly interjected, "Tell Marcia I'm out to lunch."

"That's the thing, she's downstairs in the lobby," the short woman said apologetically.

"Shit! I guess she got tired of me dodging her calls," Hannah replied as she got up and headed towards the elevator.

Walking through the large lobby of her company, Hannah immediately spotted her mother standing near the reception desk. The petite brunette looked tired but her eyes lit up a bit as she saw her daughter approach her.

Hannah looked nothing like her mother, she took everything from her father. Eyes, hair and even height. Her mother would painfully remind her that she was her father's child every time she got into a drunken rage.

"What are you doing here Marcia?" she demanded as she led her mother towards a corner.

"Well you weren't returning my calls!" the older woman countered before asking, "How else was I to get a hold of you?"

Narrowing her blue eyes Hannah asked, "I'm surprised you even remembered you had a daughter. I have not heard from you forever, what do you want? Are you and Robert getting a divorce or something?"

"And give your father the satisfaction? Never!" Marcia replied.

"So why are you here?" she questioned once again.

Her mother's light brown eyes glanced around before refocusing on her daughter, "I heard that you got engaged to that Maalouf boy. I wanted to warn you. Getting in bed with the Arabs is never a good thing. I mean it's bad enough you're best friends with that mixed girl."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Hannah all but screamed, "I'll have you know that that same non-white girl opened her home to me when my parents could have cared less about my happiness. Mikayla and her parents have been more of a family to me than you two ever will be!"

Taking deep breaths, Hannah tried to keep herself calm as she flashed a fake smile to some nearby co-workers who were walking across the lobby.

Looking back at her mother her eyes burning, "We have not had a proper conversation in years! You find out that I'm engaged and before congratulating me you come down here to insult my fiancé and his family? Are you fucking high? Did you come to my office drunk?"

"No!" Marcia said defensively.

The woman had the audacity to look surprised at her daughter's outburst. In her mind she felt like she was just being a good parent in looking out for her child's well-being.

Hannah paused once more, silently counting, attempting to hold her anger in check, "Listen, why don't you take a page out of Robert's book and keep your distance. Even if he's never agreed with most of my life choices, he's never openly been as disgusting as you are being right in this moment. Money might rule his life, but it's definitely better than living a life full of hate! Goodbye Marcia, please see yourself out."

With those last few words, Hannah walked off on her mother and returned back to the elevator. Upon returning to her office, she locked the door behind her and rested her head on her desk, finally allowing her tears to fall.

After a few minutes, she picked up her mobile phone and called Tariq who immediately answered.

"Hey gorgeous, what's..." he answered, his words dying as he heard Hannah sniffling over the phone, "I'll be at your office in 10 minutes!"

————— ▲ —————

"Can you believe Marcia?" Hannah vehemently spat as she stood next to Tariq in Mikayla and Damien's living room later that night.

They had just finished putting the finishing touches on the large white Christmas tree. The quartet decided that it would be a new tradition for them. Each going over to the other's house to help put up the Christmas tree. Since Hannah and Tariq were still living separately, it meant that they had two other trees to decorate still.

With a smile, they all watched as the decorations gleamed, the Christmas lights blinking at different intervals around the tree. Of course, there were lots of different shades of purple. At first Hannah thought that it may have been too much, but in the end when all the ornaments had been placed, the Christmas tree looked like it could have been something out of a magazine.

The activity had washed away most of Hannah's distress as she got lost in putting the various embellishments on. However, a part of her was still very much in shock at her mother's boldness and she could not help but comment on the earlier encounter.

"Don't worry about her." Tariq hugged her closer to him, "Besides, this Arab will take good care of you."

Nodding supportively Mikayla chimed in, "Indeed, and this mixed chick has got your back as well!"

"Indeed, don't forget the Frenchman honhonhon," Damien added with an exaggerated French accent.

At that Hannah lost it and burst out laughing, "Oh you guys!"

"It's their loss," Mikayla added as she moved over to where Hannah stood and tugged on her hand, "come, time for Round 3!"

"Fight!" Hannah said with another giggle as they disappeared up the stairs.

Damien and Tariq looked at each other and raised their glasses in the air in a silent toast. With satisfied smiles on their faces, they sat on the couch.

"So, did you ask her to move in yet?" Damien enquired.

Shaking his head, Tariq replied, "Not yet."

Taking another sip from his glass, "What are you waiting on? Christmas?"

"Something like that, I mean it's about three weeks away," Tariq chuckled softly.

"Well I suggest you hurry," Damien commented before adding, "I mean I rather just decorate one other tree; I don't care whose place it's at as to me, you guys are as good as married already."

Sipping on his own drink, "I know, we've actually been talking about it. She planned to put up an advertisement in the new year to find a tenant to lease her place."

"That's fantastic! I'm really happy that things worked out for you two. Who would have thought the four of us would have ended up like this?" Damien asked amusedly.

The smile never left Tariq's face as he replied, "Indeed!" After taking another sip from his glass he asked, "We're doing the same thing for your birthday this year on Boxing Day?"

"Definitely!" Damien answered, looking forward to the usual celebrations that involved lots of food.

While the men continued to talk downstairs, Mikayla and Hannah had made their way towards the master bedroom. The women's excited giggles and whispers could be heard as they excitedly talked among themselves.

"Okay, so my breasts have been feeling really tender these last few days," Mikayla said excitedly as they entered the master bathroom.

"And still no sign of your period at all yea?" Hannah asked.

"Nope, nothing for months, which is why I just decided to do the test every four to five weeks," Mikayla replied.

"Fingers crossed for lucky number three!" Hannah grinned as the say once again on the window seat and waited for the results of the pregnancy tests.

When it was time to check the results, Mikayla stood, a look of determination on her face as she checked all the tests. She soft gasped, her eyes widening as she turned to face Hannah, who immediately stood up and rush over to her.

"What is it? Are we pregnant?" Hannah asked unable to contain her excitement.

"Yes! Oh my God! Yes we are!" Mikayla squealed as she hugged her.

Hannah joined in with her own scream of excitement as she returned the tight embrace, too caught up in her emotions to fully register every word that had been said. Her blue eyes suddenly filling with tears of joy as her arms squeezed her best friend as the women rocked side to side.

"I can't believe that you're pregnant Hannah! I'm going to be an aunty!" her Caribbean slipped out as she cried happily.

The words that came out of Mikayla's mouth caused Hannah to stiffen as she suddenly stopped moving. Pulling back a bit so that she could look at the look of exhilaration on Mikayla's face, Hannah stuttered.

"W-wait, what?!" she said, suddenly finding it hard to breathe.