After the End (Tere Bin) (ON HOLD)

Horse Riding

The ride back home was uneventful. Meesam slept soundly on her mother's lap while Murtasim softly hummed whatever song played on the radio.

Despite the roaring thunder outside, Meerab's mind was at ease.
She realised that she felt secure perhaps for the first time in the 3 years since she got married.

Destiny loved playing with her.. she was sure of it. It had uprooted her life and tore her family apart, robbed her of her identity and dumped her in a new unfamiliar territory.. all to be wed to the man she loathed.
Now she couldn't imagine how she could ever have hated him. It seemed comical how the man who she deemed to be the cause of her misery had now become her partner, her best friend, her home. She chuckled at the irony.

"Kyu hass rahi ho?" Murtasim asked
(What are you laughing at?)

"Kuch nahi.. bas soch rahi the..."
(Nothing... I was just thinking..)

"Should I be worried" he teased

She rolled her eyes at him.
".. bas soch rahi the ki 3 saal phele agar muje koi kheta ki hum dono aise typical husband wife ke tarah picnic pe jayege, ya humare ek choti se beti hogi...toh mai uss insaan ko pagal khane mai bhej deti"
(... I was just thinking that If 3 years ago someone would've told me that the two of us would go on a picnic like a typical married couple.. let alone have a daughter together...I would've sent them to a mental hospital)

He laughed at the absurdity of her statement but agreed regardless.

"Zindagi bhi kamal hai na? Mere paas tum ho, meri meesam hai... bas aur kuch nahi chaiye muje"
(Life has a way of figuring things out for us doesn't it? I have you. I have my daughter. I couldn't have asked for anything more)

She smiled at that.

"... tum bhi.. kush ho na?" He asked, his eyes were fixated at the road ahead but his grip on the steering tightened.
(... you're happy too.. right?)

He knew that she had envisioned a different life for herself. A life that was the complete opposite of the one that she was living right now and a part of him still held himself responsible for that. Heck If they were a normal couple they probably  would have waited a few years before trying for a baby. They were still young afterall, they hadn't even been married a full year before Meesam was conceived.

But he didn't regret it one bit. He couldn't envision a life without Meesam in it and he was grateful to God that his life turned out the way it did. His only wish now was that it stayed this way.

"Haan Murtasim, mai kush hu" she smiled at him.
(Yes Murtasim. I'm happy)

But her smile didn't reach her eyes, and her words didn't convince him as they should have.

~~

The slight drizzle that they had started off with had turned into a raging thunderstorm by the time they pulled into their driveway. Murtasim got out the car and in quick steps made his way over to
Meerab's door

As Meerab stepped out, he spread his shawl over them, trying shield them from the weather the best he could. They rushed inside and went to there room where Meerab put Meesam in her cot and wrapped a blanket around her.

After making sure that she was tucked in tight she made her way over to the patio in the backyard.

Murtasim had already claimed his spot on one of their huge lawn chairs and had his feet perched up on the table in front of him.

She walked over to him and found that Mai had already brought hot chai for them.

God bless that woman. One of these days she was going to take her to the Khan Haveli. Meerab had gotten too used to her pampering.