Yours, Eternally

Ehsaas (Realisation)

"Stop stealing my sandwich!" I frowned at him. "And no, I'm good." 

"Why not? Remember how much fun it was on our Friendventure?" 

"It was just you and me there, not an entire household." I sighed. "And besides, this sofa is too comfortable and I don't want to move."

"You never want to move, pregnancy or not." He reached down and tugged at a lock of my hair, making me swat at his arm, annoyed.

"Zain, you're like an annoying fly right now." I said, as he again reached down to tug at my hair.

"Okay, but I will be shirtless." He teased. "And I did see Wajiha in the garden earlier."

I tensed up immediately and jumped to my feet. I'd already determined that his cousin, Wajiha, was harmless. Yes, she checked him out a lot, and acted like she had a huge crush on him, but she was only twenty, basically a kid compared to him. 

But the thought of her seeing him shirtless made my blood boil.

"If she is out there, you'd better delay swimming." I warned him.

"Enjoy you glass of juice in this air-conditioned room." He gestured around at the room. "I'm going swimming, either way." He gave me a wink and a grin, before walking out.

"Zain!" I followed him. 

But instead of heading towards the back garden, he headed up the stairs.

"Are you going to jump into the pool from the terrace?" I asked, confused, as I continued following him.

"I was just going for a shower and wanted to see your reaction regarding Wajiha, Trouble." He replied, without turning around. The amusement in his voice was very obvious though. 

"You're so mean!" I shook my head.

Once we got to our room, he turned and looped the towel around me, holding each ends, and pulled me closer. 

"Ab tak to tumhain ehsaas ho jaana chahiye ke tumhara Zain kabhi bhi publicly shirtlessly nahin ghoomay ga dobara, kyunke sirf tumhain haq hai use us halat main dekhne ka." He whispered, the towel dropping down to the ground as he wrapped his arms around me, instead.

*"You should have realised by now that your Zain won't ever publicly go out shirtless again, because only you have the right to see him like that."

I looked up at him, completely in awe. "You've changed a lot since we met, Zain. Ma Sha Allah." I put a hand on his cheek. "Not that you were a bad person before, but it's good to realise that haya isn't just for females in Islam."

*Haya: modesty. This includes your dress-up, your behaviour, etc. 

He kissed my forehead. "Meri besharmi sirf aap ke liye hai, meri Shaytani ki Malka."

*"My shamelessness is just for you, my Queen of Mischief." 

I rolled my eyes, but was grinning as well. "You're an utter and complete weirdo, but I love you more than life itself." 

"I love you too, Trouble." A mischievous look appeared on his face. "Want to join me for a shower? It is incredibly hot out there, so a shower should help. Plus, we need to think of the planet and save water." 

"I already had a shower an hour ago." 

"It's not illegal to have one more than once you know." He was arguing for it like he was a lawyer in court. "In fact, you're not even wasting water, since I'll be showering anyway."

"Zain, you're too much, you know." I smiled. 

****

My first trimester had completed, so I now had a small baby bump. In the shower, as he put his hands over the bump, it was such an intimate moment that I wanted to cry.