IMTIHAAN اِمْتِحان

one

" Allah paanch minute bhi paanch saal jaise lag rahe hain!" Zafiraa murmured to herself as she looked at the timer.

The plastic stick staring back at her from the sink, as if taunting her for being impatient.

She took deep breaths in to calm herself down, looked around the washroom, counted the tiles on the walls; one hundred and twenty to be exact, folded unfolded her clothes to pass the time.

Zafiraa looked at the timer again and only two minutes had passed!

Wallah!

And just when the timer showed the last thirty seconds, she chickned out.

" Allah! I can't do this. I can't see this alone!" She whispered softly and feeling the tears in her eyes, chucked the pregnancy test at the back of the vanity cupboard. Behind her sanitary napkins where she was sure her husband wouldn't venture.

But the timer went off and blared loudly in the dead silence of the morning, probably waking up her husband. And she was right!

" Zafi?" She heard his muffled voice from outside and a smile made way on her lips.

Despite her anxiety and uncertainty and nervousness, she felt calm. One word from her man and her heart had slowed down its pace.

" Jaana?" He called out again.

She immediately discarded her clothes in the laundry bin and walked out to the man of her dreams.

" Jee?" Zafiraa blushed when she saw her husband's bare back covered with her nail marks, his body tangled in the sheets.

" Mujhe akela chhodkar kaha chali gayi thi?" Abu Bakr mumbled sleepily, his head buried in her pillow as if holding her.

" Kaha jaaungi? Aapke paas hi toh hoon" Zafiraa sat down beside him on the bed and cooed softly, her fingers brushing away his hair from his forehead.

" Mujhse door nahi raha karo tum, saans lein nahi sakta hoon main tumhare baghair" Abu Bakr told her truthfully, now shifting his head in her lap and holding her waist loosely.

All while still being under the effect of sleep!

Zafiraa sighed in gratitude and thanked Allah for giving her a man like her husband. They may have been married only for two months now but it felt as if they've never existed beyond each other!

" Jaan hain aap meri" she raised his hand and kissed his palm lovingly.

" Aur tum meri" he smiled sleepily, snuggling up in her lap even more.

" Aapne uthna nahi hain?" She asked after a while of silence.

" Koi kaafir hi hoga joh apni biwi ki baahon ko chhodkar uthna chahega" he was now awake but still laid in her embrace.

" Aaj kuch zyaada hi mohabbat nahi jaag rahi hain, Mir Sahab?" She teased him and yelped when he flipped them over.

" Mohabbat toh maine beintehaa ki hain apni Zafi se. Aaj se nahi, humesha se hi" he ran his nose on her face and smiled feeling her shudder beneath him.

" Humesha karenge?" She asked him slowly.

Abu Bakr looked up from her neck and held her face in his palms, looking deep in her almond coloured eyes. The eyes that have always held him captive!

" Humesha karunga" he whispered just for her ears, his fingers caressing her cheeks ever so softly.

" Mere shohar!" She called him with love and threw her arms around his neck.

" Meri Jaana!" He rolled them over and laid with her body plastered on his.

" Ab sou jaaon kuch dair. Itni subah bhi bhala koi uthta hain!" He reprimanded her playfully and pulled the covers over them, despite her protests.