Hassan Saleh and Abla Hasan keep their eyes trained on the three dark-featured boys zipping between the aisles at their grocery store, which just opened for the morning.
Saleh, 42, sports the harried look of a father at work with his sons.
Zein, 11, is a sixth-grader at Culler Middle School. Yman, 7, is in first grade at Clinton Elementary. And Taym, 4, who still goes to day care, insists that Pepsi doesn't contain sugar and refuses to remove his coat.
Their family members are scattered in Syria, where the government and Islamic State militants are killing women and children, and in Jordan and Turkey, where millions of refugees who have fled their home country sleep in crowded camps and overwhelmed cities. Many hope to someday settle in America.
Saleh, Hasan and their children are already here, and trying not to leave.
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"We're still concerned with ourselves, our safety and our kids' safety," said Hasan, a professor of Arabic language and culture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The couple first came to the United States with their oldest son in 2007 and have remained here on temporary visas. Their youngest boys were born here and are U.S. citizens.
Hasan has applied for permanent work authorization, which would allow her and her family to stay without risk of deportation. That process is supposed to take four months, she said Saturday, but they've waited more than a year.
"After the Paris attacks, I'm sure that is going to take a hundred years," Saleh said.
His immigration status is contingent on his wife's, and her temporary visa is set to expire in May.
"If I couldn't stay, I couldn't go back to my country," said Hasan. "That is something I'm sure of, and I'm more concerned I'm going to lose this job I love."
She left her teaching position at Damascus University to come to America, and Saleh left his 10-year career as a flight attendant for Syrian Arab Airlines. Quitting without permission is a crime in Syria, Hasan said, and she fears her family would be arrested at the airport if they returned.
The family feels at home in Nebraska.
Saleh opened his grocery store, Damascus Market on 27th and P streets, last December. Hasan is teaching four classes this semester.
"We are in a safe situation," Saleh said. "This is common sense — as a dad, as a mom."
