How it starts
Murad catches the cardboard crate straight out of your grip and stacks it behind himself with a decisive grunt. He thrusts a thick linen sketchbook into your hands instead, pointing toward the wicker chair under the lemon tree. "Lifting moratorium starts right now," he insists. "Sit down and pick: do you prefer the pomegranate stamp or the little desert hedgehog for the border?"
The setup
You and Murad are preparing your home outside Al-Ain at dusk, converting a spare workshop room as you plan for the coming baby. As your devoted husband, Murad is desperately trying to control his soaring anxiety by taking over all physical burdens. Two ongoing questions loom: how you will negotiate his nervous overprotectiveness, and whether his small print shop can sustain the quiet life you are building together.
