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****
Ahad
I drove home, happily. It was done. I was officially ready to open up my own clinic. I couldn't wait to go home and tell Zoya about it.
As I was driving down a less busy road, I spotted Fariha and Omar standing at the bus stop, with Zaid in his pram. Omar was in his school uniform, white button down shirt and grey shorts, and he had a white bandage around his knee. His hair was messy and he looked like he was in pain. I pulled up my car in front of them and rolled down the window. "Assalam Alaikum! Can I drop you somewhere? You okay, Omar?"
"Walaikum Assalam." Fariha replied, glancing away. "That's okay. Thank you, Ahad. We'll manage."
"I fell, Ahad Uncle." Omar muttered. "It really hurts."
"Fariha Bhabi, where are you going to take him in the bus when he's clearly in pain." I said. "Please get in."
She looked surprised that I called her 'Bhabi'.
"You're Zafar's wife, so you're like my Bhabi." I said. "And you're Jazzy's Nand, so please, let me drive you."
"Thank you." She helped Omar get into the front passenger seat, and I got out to help her fold Zaid's pram. Thanking me again, she got into the backseat, holding her two-months-old baby son.
It was so hard to believe that this was the same Fariha Ali, the girl who used to drive around in air conditioned cars, first with drivers, and then by herself after she learnt how to drive. "Home?"
"Yes, please."
I got my phone out. "Let me just let Zafar know."
Again, she looked surprised, but she didn't say a word.
While Zafar's tone was formal with me on the phone, he thanked me warmly once he realised that I was helping his wife and kids.
"I really appreciate it." Fariha spoke up after I hung up.
"Don't worry about it. I wouldn't want Zoya or Jasmina to end up in this situation." I glanced at Omar. "Cool bandage, dude."
"Thanks!" Omar grinned, surprised.
"True sign of your bravery." I nodded in approval as I focused on the road.
"Zafar Papa says that big boys don't cry." He told me proudly. "And I didn't cry!"
I smiled. Zafar was truly a great man, and clearly he had managed to win the hearts of Saad and Omar as well. "That's very cool, man. Very cool."
Omar chattered on happily for the rest of the way, and the atmosphere was actually quite relaxed, despite the tension between me and Fariha.
****
Jasmina
*The point of view that you all had been waiting for*
I was at a restaurant with my mother-in-law and Hania, and Ammi excused herself to go to the restroom, while I fed my daughter, who sat on a high chair.
Hania was concentrating hard on the small bits of fish fingers resting in a bowl on the high chair, and I found that very amusing. "What are you staring at with so much concentration, baby?"
"She's wondering if these are enough to share with her Papa." A deep, warm voice replied from behind me, making my eyes widen.
I turned. "Bhai!"
Arhaan Bhai, the eldest Sheikh sibling, walked over to me, grinning. "Assalam Alaikum."
"Walaikum Assalam!" I stood up and he gave me a one-arm hug. "Were you trying to sound like Fawad? You think I wouldn't be able to tell that it's not his voice?"
He chuckled. "I wanted to see your overexcited look, but I guess you have gotten smarter over the years."
"You're hilarious." I rolled my eyes.
"Assalam Alaikum, Hani doll!" He reached down and ruffled Hania's hair as she ate a piece of fish finger.
"Smarter? I could have told the difference between your voice and Fawad's even when we were kids, let alone now, when he's my husband."
He just grinned again, before glancing down at Hania. "Ma Sha Allah, she has grown up so much." He glanced around. "You here on your own? I was passing by and I saw you through the window."
"No, I'm with Fatima Ammi."
"Trying to impress the mother-in-law, huh?" He teased.
"We actually bond quite well now." I shrugged.
"Well, it's good to see you." He said, quietly.
"How are Bhabi and the boys?" I asked. It was hard to believe that I was meeting and greeting my Arhaan Bhai like we were old acquaintances rather than siblings who used to be so close.
"Alhumdulillah, very well." He smiled. "Ismael keeps pinching Ibrahim because of sibling rivalry."
"Aww, I can't wait to see them."
"Arhaan beta?" Ammi returned.
"Assalam Alaikum, Aunty." Bhai bent his head down in front of her so that she could run a hand over his head in greeting.
"Walaikum Assalam. How are you? It's been such a long time. You barely stop by anymore!" Ammi shook her head.
"Sorry, Aunty. I've been busier than usual, especially with a baby and a toddler at home."
"He still calls regularly though." Ammi told me. "He's such a good boy, knowing that Fawad isn't around, he always checks up on us."
I smiled, proud of my brother.
"Fawad would do the same for my parents, Aunty. And not just because they are his in-laws."
We chatted for a while before Bhai left, saying that he had to be somewhere. He promised to come over to the Ali family home later.
Ammi and I continued with our lunch, as Hania gazed around the restaurant, chewing her fish fingers.
My mother-in-law and I were just discussing Hania's birthday plans, when her phone rang.
"I know it's bad manners to answer the phone while eating," Ammi glanced at her phone. "But it's Saira, so it must be an emergency." Looking worried, she answered the phone. "Assalam Alaikum, Saira..." She listened with a frown. "Allah! Did you take her to the hospital?"
I looked up, sharply. Was it something to do with Fawad's Dadi? Ya Allah!
"Okay, I'm coming. I'll try and get through to Ali as well." Ammi said. "Keep calm, okay? You need to take care of her. I'm coming." She ended the call. "Fawad's Dadi has been suffering from high fever since last night, and she isn't eating anything. I need to go over, Jasmina."
"I'll come with you." I blurted it out without thinking. However, I didn't regret it. Firstly, Fawad's Dadi was our buzurg (elderly), and my parents have taught me to always respect our buzurg because they are blessings. Secondly, Fawad adored her, and vice versa. In his absence, it was my duty to fulfil his responsibilities, as his wife. He would have definitely gone over if he was here. And thirdly, I didn't blame Dadi for whatever happened with me, and if Ammi was willing to go to her, despite everything, I should too.
Ammi was looking at me in disbelief.
"She's our buzurg, Ammi. And I'm just doing what Fawad would do."
In my case, my husband had brought out the best in me. He had helped me grow, made me more mature and responsible, and frankly, he was an incredible role model as a human being. Ma Sha Allah. And I tried to do things the way I think that he would. I'm not embarrassed of that. A spouse can help you grow and improve and get on the right path in life, and if you actually end up getting a spouse like that, you're truly blessed, like I was. Alhumdulillah.
Ammi smiled, proudly. "Fawad is incredibly lucky to have a wife like you. And yes, I'm the one saying that."
I got emotional hearing those words. It's unbelievable how important a Saas' acceptance or approval is to a Bahu.
****
We drove over to Dadi's house with the family driver. She lived in the older, less modern path of Lahore, where the roads were much bumpier. It is our sad reality of our society that only places that are accessed by the richer people are looked after. Some parts of the city seem completely neglected.
As the road got bumpier, I held onto Hania tighter, regretting not bringing her car seat. My little madam seemed to love it, though. As she bounced in my lap with each bump, she giggled.
After what seemed like forever, the driver pulled up into the familiar narrow road that led to Dadi's house. We headed down an even narrower alley and stood outside the grey gate that led inside.
"There won't be a repeat of last time." Ammi promised me, before knocking on the gate.
I wasn't sure whether she was talking about when she'd abandoned me here, or the way I'd been treated in general by Saira Phupho, my father-in-law's sister.
"It's unlocked!" Saira Phupho's voice came from upstairs.
At the unusually high stairs inside the house, that led up to the portion of the house where Dadi resided, Ammi took Hania because it was difficult enough for me to climb up these steps while being five-months-pregnant, but with my daughter, it would have been impossible.
Till the time we reached the stairs, I was nervous about facing Saira Phupho again, especially with Hania around. I couldn't stop thinking about how she'd tried to keep my newborn Hani away from me. But by the time I reached upstairs, I was gasping for breath and just wishing to lie down.
Baby, you're already making your Mama exhausted. How will you be when you're actually born, In Sha Allah? I usually have conversations with my unborn baby in my head.
Saira Phupho had come out to meet us, and had already started a serious discussion with Ammi, by the time I reached upstairs. One of her hand was on Hania's head, but her gaze was on my mother-in-law. As soon as she noticed me come in, she looked at me, and her expressions hardened.
"Assalam Alaikum." I said, politely.
"Walaikum Assalam." Her gaze quickly moved down to my stomach, before she looked up at me again. "Congratulations to you and Fawad."
"Thank you. How's Dadi?"
"Not very well, I'm afraid." Saira Phupho sighed.
Ammi headed into Dadi's room, and I slowly followed. Dadi was lying on her charpai, covered with a thin blanket. Ammi and I sat down beside her, and Ammi took her hand. After the initial greetings, we waited patiently as Dadi struggled to say something.
"I...I want to apologise to the two of you." She muttered. "I've allowed a lot of unfairness against the two of you."
"You're our elder, Ammi Jaan. Don't apologise." Ammi squeezed Dadi Jaan's hand between both of hers.
"I agree." I added.
"Is this little Hania?" Dadi looked at Hani, who stood on the floor beside Ammi now. As soon as Dadi glanced her way, Hani came to me, resting her head against my stomach, shyly. "Ma Sha Allah! S-She's like you now, Jasmina beta."
Ammi got up and checked Dadi's blood pressure. Papa had supplied Dadi with all necessary medical products like first aid kids, blood pressure reader and even a machine to check sugar. As she did her check up, I took Hania out of the room and out into the open space between the rooms.
While Hani played around, talking to herself, I looked around and flashbacks filled my head, and not the good kind either. As I looked at the bathroom, one of the few positive memories filled my head, I had been standing at the sink, washing my hands, back when I was newly married.
As I turned on the tap and washed my hands, my husband walked up behind me, resting his hand on my hip.
I gasped. "Fawad!" I turned to see a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"As a doctor, I should know the importance of washing your hands, especially before eating." Trapping me between his arms, he leaned down to wash his hands. I was stuck between him and the sink, in a weird hug. My chin was resting on his shoulder, our bodies pressing together.
"Fawad!" I whispered.
As he began to pull away, he gave me an unexpected kiss. I was too surprised to pull away, and to be honest, the kiss was too good for me to pull away from.
"I've never enjoyed washing my hands this much." He kissed my forehead, before turning and walking out.
I felt hot just thinking about that. When are you going to get here, jaan? I'm waiting desperately for you.
Ammi came out shortly. "Jasmina, Ali is on his way. Why don't you go downstairs with Hania and have some rest?"
"Ammi, it's okay. I'm fine."
"Come on, Jasmina, you've done half the day's exercise just by climbing up those stairs." She smiled weakly. "And it's going to be Hania's nap time soon anyway. I'll take her down the stairs for you."
I don't know why, but I was suddenly feeling very uncomfortable being here. I felt like I was being dragged into the old dramas again. And this time Fawad wasn't even with me to protect me and shield me from it.
At least Papa was on the way. Like his son, he had zero tolerance for this nonsense as well.
****
Fariha
I was just finishing changing Zaid's nappy when Zafar returned home. "Assalam Alaikum!"
"Walaikum Assalam!" He leaned down to kiss the top of my head. "Let me just go and wash my hands quickly."
There was a basin at the other side of the veranda, and he went over there to wash up. He returned a few seconds later and reached out for our son. Lifting him up in his strong arms, he kissed Zaid's forehead.
"Now, I am going to wash up." I stood up, grabbing the nappy bag. "After that, would you like me to heat up the lunch I prepared in the afternoon?"
"No, I'm just going to have a cup of tea with some cake rusks." He said. "But after I've changed."
Once the two of us were sitting on the charpai in the veranda with our tea and snacks, and the boys were inside doing their homework, I asked Zafar the question that had been bothering me for a while. "Have you forgiven Ahad?"
He looked at me, eyebrows furrowing together. I loved his thick eyebrows, they made him look even cuter somehow. "For what?"
"For what he did to me." I put my hand on Zaid's chest, lightly patting it as he briefly opened his eyes.
"He did you wrong, Fari. It's up to you to decide whether you forgive him or not."
"I almost don't want to, because of what he put my family through." I sighed. "The questions and taunts that my parents faced, and the damage to the friendship with the Sheikh family, something that I know my parents and Bhai value a lot." I looked at him. "But I found you because of that, and now we have our perfect little family, so yeah. I'm going to forgive him."
"Forgiveness always relieves the burden on the soul." He nodded.
"I suppose I'll have to thank him in a way." I put my hand on his. "If I'd married him, I would have lost out on the real love of my life."
"Mamma! Saad is using the tablet!" Omar shouted out from inside the room, breaking us out of that little rare 'us time' that we had found ourselves in.
"Am not!"
"Liar!"
I sighed and got up and headed inside, where Omar was working as normal, and Saad was looking a little sheepish as he leaned against the pillow on the bed. I walked over and lifted up the pillow and saw the tablet hidden underneath, with Saad's favourite car racing game in process.
"If you do something wrong, at least admit it." I frowned at Saad in disapproval. "Not only where you using a tablet during homework, which I've warned you against before, but you're not being honest with me about it."
"I hate you!" Saad glared at Omar.
"Saad!" I told him off now. "Apologise to your brother, or you won't be allowed to play on this tablet for two weeks."
"Mamma!" Saad moaned.
"Now." I tried to put on serious expressions which made it clear that I meant business.
"Sorry." Saad muttered.
"Homework first, then anything else." I walked out of the room holding a tablet.
When I came outside, Zafar on the phone with someone...on my phone actually, and he looked concerned.
"Okay, Ammi. We'll come there as soon as possible. Allah Hafiz." He hung up.
"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting back down beside him.
"That was your Ammi, Fari. Apparently, your Dadi's not well at all."
I put my hand on my chest, my eyes widening. "What? What happened?"
"High fever, lack of appetite and she can barely lift a finger because of weakness."
"Ya Allah!" I stood up. "I have to go."
"We'll all go." He got up as well.
"No, Zafar." I shook my head. "Please stay home with the kids."
He studied my facial expressions for a few moments, before sighing. "Fariha, this is not the right time for that."
"It's always a right time for a mother to think of what's best for her kids." I argued. "And I don't want to take my young kids to that house, not after everything Bhabi and Hania were put through."
"Fariha..." He put his hands on his hips, sighing.
"Woh us ghar ki poti thi aur uske saath woh haal kiya ke newborn bachi ko uski maa se dur rakha, to ghar ke nawason ke saath kya haal hoga?" I pointed out.
*Poti/Pota: Son's daughter/son
Nawasa/Nawasi: Daughter's son/daughter
The concept is that the son's children are considered a part of the family, whereas the daughter's kids are considered a part of her husband's side of the family. It doesn't happen in every household, but it is quite common. Fariha is basically asking that if the poti wasn't treated right, by being kept away from her mother as a newborn, why would the nawasay be treated right.
"And if anything happens with my sons,I won't have as much tolerance as my Bhai and Bhabi managed to have. Remember, Bhai is much more patient than I'll ever be." I turned to head inside to grab my things. "I'll call you if needed."
I knew that he disagreed with me, but he didn't say a word, probably because he didn't want any argument at this time, or maybe because he understood my point.
"I'm not happy with this either, Zafar." I told him once I came back out. "But Omar, Saad and Zaid are my priority. I'm going, and you can visit later, and that's enough."
"You're taking a decision as their mother, and I totally respect that."
I smiled, feeling extremely grateful to have him as a husband.
Good husbands are hard to find in these times.
****
Dr Fawad Ali
Mina is going to kill me.
I glanced around our bedroom, sighing. She always complained that I was responsible in all other areas of my life, but when it comes to keeping our room tidy, I was hopeless.
I had to leave for Pakistan in a couple of days, and I had tried to start packing, but each time I gave up halfway because flopping down onto the bed looked too tempting. It's rare to actually just get time to lay down on the bed and do absolutely nothing but eat and watch useless TV.
I frowned at the mess that I had created. My shoes were randomly kicked off in front of the wardrobe, there were piles of clothes everywhere, as I'd been trying to sort out what to take and what to leave behind. The bed wasn't made, and hadn't been made even a day since Jasmina and Hania left.
"How have I survived thirty-three years, I have no idea." I shook my head, irritated at myself. As a doctor, I should at least care about cleanliness. I gazed longingly at the bed for a few moments before groaning and walking over to clean the mess.
"What the actual hell?" A short while later, I discovered an empty mug of coffee under a pile of clothes. "Oh, so that's where the mug disappeared to."
"Aadat daldi hai apne mujhe apni, Mina, meri jaan." I muttered as I began to fold up the clothes that I intended to take to Lahore.
*"You've gotten me used to you, Mina, my life."
My phone started ringing and I wondered if that wife of mine actually had a sixth sense and she somehow knew that I was thinking about her. I grabbed it and looked at the caller ID. It was Ammi. "Assalam Alaikum, Ammi. How are you?"
"Walaikum Assalam, Fawad." She spoke quietly. "Beta, your Dadi is not well. We're taking her to the hospital."
"What? Why? What happened?" I asked, worriedly.
"You know she fell down a few times within the last year, and her health has drastically deteriorated since then. Apparently, she caught a cold and now she's got a high fever that won't go away."
"May Allah give her good health. Ameen. Is it something to seriously worry about?"
"Your Papa is pretty worried, Fawad." She sighed. "Agar ho sake to jaldi aajao, beta. Tumhare Papa aur hum sab ko tumhare hone se tassali mil jaati hai."
*"If possible, come earlier, son. Your father, and all of us, feel better with you around."
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I have a surgery in the morning, Ammi. The earliest I can leave would be tomorrow night, if there's a direct flight. Otherwise, it would have to be on the originally planned time."
"See what you can do, beta."
"Okay, I'll have a look. I'll pray for her. Just look after each other, okay?"
"Okay, keep me updated about your travel plans." She said.
"I will." I paused. "Ammi, are Mina and Hania okay?" I couldn't help thinking about how Mina would have felt if she'd had to go back to that house.
"They're fine. I sent them both for a nap downstairs."
"Downstairs? Will they remain there while you go to the hospital?" It was natural of me to be worried after Mina's past experience there.
"Now's not the time to think about that, Fawad." She said. "Saira's too distressed right now. We should all show some consideration and empathy towards each other, rather than worry about past matters."
"I know, but how can I not worry? The last experience almost destroyed my marriage and put my wife through severe stress."
"I'll look after them both. Just trust me, okay? Fariha's on her way here anyway. She'll stay with Jasmina."
"Okay. Keep me updated on Dadi's health."
"I will. Allah Hafiz."
I prayed for Dadi's health, but I also hoped that nothing went wrong this time.
But the thought of my pregnant wife and my toddler daughter being there was making me feel...very uncomfortable. Like something was about to go wrong.
Ya Allah, keep my family safe. Ameen.
****
Are Fawad's instincts right? Will something go wrong?
Will Dadi be okay?
Fariha made a good decision to forgive Ahad to move on with her life. Do you agree with her decision?
Does it feel like Arhaan has changed?
Thoughts and comments
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