As he and Maheer rounded the corner, Saad hadn't expected to bump into his father.
His father looked shocked to see them rushing inside. For a moment, their eyes met. His father looked tired. Saad hadn't realized just when the towering figure of his father had gotten shorter than him.
His father was getting old, wasn't he?
His strong back which used to carry Saad around the house was in constant pain now. His dark hair was now full of greys and whites.
For a minute, Saad and his father just stood there. Face to face. In complete silence. Both were taking in each other's appearances.
Twenty-seven year! Saad had twenty-seven years worth of memories with this man. From the first day of school to college graduation- his father was in every memory.
And all of it was a lie.
"Can I talk to you, son?' His father said after what felt like ages.
So now he wishes to talk?
"Maheer, why don't you go inside and talk to Murtasim?" Saad whispered to Maheer and signaled her to go inside.
Maheer looked awkwardly between the father and son. She looked like she had something to say. Instead, she just sighed and walked inside without arguing.
"What do you wish to say?" Saad's voice sounded rude even to him. His father looked startled. He wasn't expecting that surely.
Had he ever talked to his father in that manner?
"I..." His father trailed off in a low voice. He looked like a lost child. "I am sorry, Saad."
That was it. That was the only thing Saad wished to hear.
He could feel the dam of emotions inside him start to crack. His nose burned as he noticed his father's old shoulders shake.
He was crying.
"Your dad was young and stupid, Saadi," His father murmured through the tears. " Do you know that your mother had two consecutive miscarriages before she was able to carry her baby full term? But that blessing soon turned into a nightmare. The baby, a little girl, didn't even get to live a full hour after birth."
Saad's eyes stung with unshed tears. His hands were now around his father's shoulders. He hated seeing people cry. Especially people he loved.
"Your mother and I were just so tired, son. We just wanted a child. Yet all we got was backhanded comments and taunts veiled in sympathy. You don't even know the horrible things they would say to your mother, how much she would cry." His voice sounded distant as if remembering something he wished to forget. "Then she got sick. She wouldn't sleep properly, wouldn't eat, wouldn't even talk to anyone!"
"Your Maa's sister-in-law, on the other hand, had a healthy happy pregnancy, and that made things even worse. Your mother.......I thought I would lose her!"
"So we decided to adopt you." His father's voice broke a little as he continued to narrate his story. "We loved you. Your mother and I- we loved you so much. You were our child. We had the documents and everything."
"Our lives got better. Your mother was happy again. Smiling, laughing, talking - she was slowly healing. You were healing her, my child."
It all seemed normal until now. But Saad had a bad feeling. He felt like there was more to the story.
"Then why do you look so guilty, baba?"
His father's breath hitched. So there was something more.
YOU ARE READING
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
Fanfiction"Sometimes Saad wanted to feel special too. Sometimes Saad wished life would shock him too for once by giving nice things to him. Is it really too much to ask?" Fate reunites Saad and Murtasim during the most chaotic phases of their. Face to face...
