Zehnaseeb ✓

t h i r t y - e i g h t

[Enjoy!]

I gasp, "It's Abyan's birthday? Really? Allah, I missed it again?"

I hear Sehar aapi, "Stop nodding, she can't see you Abyan,"

"Ji," he uses his words.

"I'm so sorry. How old is Abyan now?"

"Chaar."

I gasp, "Chaar saal ke ho gaye ho tum? Itne bare?"

His voice grows up cheery, "Yes. Mama said I can stop wearing diapers at night. I doesn't ruin the bedsheets for... mama how much?"

"Didn't," she corrects him, "two months,"

"Two months." He hyperventilates and talks with so much emotion. I still can't figure out he's a real human being, he's grown so much and he has learnt so much.

I laugh at the unnecessary information, but it's cute how happy it makes him.

"Really? Two months? Wow. That's like a big guy."

He goes on about all the gifts he's been given and it's so hard to think that this human being was nowhere when I got married to Azaan. He was non-existent and he just appeared one day and decided to change everyone's lives.

"But you know, no one gifted paw patrol shoes uhhhh," I'm sure he'd straight up say it but his mama's around.

"Mhm, I get the point. When is Abyan coming to my place so I can give him his gift?"

"Yayyy!! Mama said she is busy this week but we will go meet Sawera on Thursday if Abyan's a good boy."

"Thursday is so far, won't you miss me?"

I thought he was silent because he was sad and missing me, but he was actually thinking of a solution.

"Why don't you come to my house?"

He's never said that before.

"My house is so so big, this big," he gestures a lot and rarely ever talks to someone on the phone. He doesn't realise I can't see him. "Mere paas aik mama hain, aik dad, one dadi ammi, one dada abbu, one phuppo, aur main— Nahin mere paas chaachu bhi hain."

"I'm sorry, I'm busy as well. I can't come."

"No, you will come to my house. I'll show you my room, my car bed," he gasps "and mama gotted me Rubble's lamp it do paw patrol light on the top of my room."

"Rubble? Mujhe toh lagaa aap ko Chase passand hai?"

"Mama says there was no Chase but I'm sure she forgetted."

He says forgetted with so much confidence. Bhabhi told me to correct him but I find it too cute to correct. His urdu is even cuter. I'm glad they're teaching it to him and he knows it's a different language, because I didn't and I used to speak in it even in school.

We both have a laugh and Sehar aapi's probably not around anymore because I don't hear any justifications.

"Aap ke chaachu kaise hain abbh?"

"Ttheek hain. He played soccer with me and he cheated and he said he winned but— maine khela achha, I doed this," he pauses and definitely moves his foot in some way "he said that isn't allowed but I seen him doing it too but he said it's allowed for him because he's big. I said I'm four now."

"What did he say?"

"He do—did:" he definitely shrugged, "he did this."

"Okay, but no cold anymore?"