'Dumhdurum' - Apink
Unedited
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Life was now more of a routine. Go school, go work come back and eat, do coursework and chill with the fam. He loved it though. His highlight of the day was to come and see Syra and Imran playing. Warmed his heart up every time. He remembered how sad Syra was the first few days of sixth form - she missed Imran a lot.
By now the whole school knew they were married with a kid. Zayn didn't want them to know because it was Syra who received most of the harassment, being called a sket, easy etc. She was never one to hold back a reply but it gets exhausting hearing the same bullshit all the time. He did his best to be there for her. As did her friends.
He was on his way to work when he recieved a call from Syra. He answered it.
"Assalamualaikum," Zayn greeted.
"Walaikumasalam. Zayn, you need to come home. Something came up. Please. Your dad is also saying screw work and come home. You need to see something." Syra sounded anxious, and her words allow sparked anxiety in him.
Panic laced his voice, "I'm coming, I'm on my way back. Is everything okay? Are you hurt? What about Imran?"
Dear God. What could it be?
"No, Imran is completely fine. He's sleeping. I'm fine too, but you need to come see something. It urgent, okay?"
"Alright. Try not to panic too much, okay?"
She took a deep breath, "Yeah, okay. See you, Allahafiz,"
"Khudafiz," He ended the call.
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Slamming the door shut behind him, Zayn stumbled as he rushed to get his shoes off.
"Syra?" he called out desperately.
"Here! In your old room!" he voice answered.
He thundered up the stairs, barrelling into his old room. He saw Syra sitting on his bed, rocking Imran.
"What's the matter?" he demanded, trying to remain calm.
She looked up at him.
"I... ummm. Just... take a look,"
She beckoned him over, patting the place beside her.
She set Imran on the bed, who squealed and kicked. Syra reached behind her to bring out two sticks from behind. Zayn took a closer look. And his heart stopped.
Two pregnancy tests.
Positive pregnancy tests.
Silence.
No. How?
How?
"Syra....this... how?" Zayn stuttered.
"Looks like I'm one of those few girls who even got pregnant even while on birth control," Syra laughed bitterly.
This couldn't be happening.
Syra. Pregnant. Again?
"I had been feeling sick for some days. I thought perhaps my period didn't come at first because I had girbwn birth and that the birth control was messing with my hormones, but I just wanted to see. And they both came positive. Strange - I got all negatives last time," she explained softly, looking down at her hands.
"Well because pregnancy tests were faulty before, so you should get a scan,"
His mind was in a daze right now. He would only fully accept it once he saw the ultrasound.
"I already did, so the ultrasound is later on today, in an hour. Your mum offered to babysit Imran," she said.
Zayn was at a lost for words. They were having a child. Again. Two children in one year. Still teen parents. He would be eighteen before this next child would be born. But he couldn't move out - who would take care of the kids while they were both in college? How would his mum handle both of them? What would his parents and her parents say to this now? One kid at such a young age - okay, learn you lesson. But getting her pregnant again just a few months later - he was never going to hear the end of it.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by a sniffle. He looked up at Syra to see her wiping her tears. Guilt filled him - here he was fretting over stuff while she would have to go through the most difficulty. He scooted over to her.
"Come here," was all he said.
He didn't know how to comfort her. They had just gotten used to having one child. And possibly another was on the way. They couldn't just dump their children on their parents.
He pulled her tight against him, letting her soak his shirt. He peered over her shoulder to see Imran who had fallen asleep, his mouth half open. His chest rumbled with a laugh.
It was a blessing from God. He didn't burden a soul more than it could bear. And with every difficulty, there is relief. They had taken the preventions, and when they didn't work, they would accept it. You couldn't use western labels like 'pro-choice' or 'pro-life' on Islam. It just doesn't fit into either, nor does it need to. Zayn narrated these thoughts to Syra, rubbing his hand over her back soothingly.
"We'll tell our parents when we get back, okay. That way we can be sure,"
She pulled back, nodding. She pursed her lips, then spoke,"You know Zayn, I hate being a burden like this on our parents. I want to move out, like even a cheap apartment, but we are young and not independent, so we need their help. I've decided. Imma keep attending sixth form. It's the near the end of December. If you count the months, the due date is gonna be after our exams. And I'll be home after that. I can take a gap year until they are a little older, and start an online course after. I can go do an apprenticeship, but I want to be home. I still have my henna business,"
Zayn smiled, agreeing with her. He loved how adapting she was, always coming up with a solution, taking everything in her stride. She didn't realise how strong she was. How capable. He couldn't have asked for a better mother for his kids.
"Why you smiling like a fool?" She asked, poking his cheek.
He looked over to Imran, then back at her,
"Just thinking about how our children are the luckiest to have you as their mother,"
Syra opened her mouth, at a loss for words, then closed it. She leaned over and kissed him quickly, before gently scooping Imran up and addressing him,
"I'm going to put him in his cot and give the baby monitor receiver to your mum, and then I'll get ready,"
"Sure I'll be waiting in the car," he got up to leave.
"And you're the best father and husband too, so I guess we all lucked out," she called out from behind him.
Zayn smiled.
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"Just lay back on this chair for me, Ms. Siddiqi, after you've pulled your shirt up," explained Nurse Kone.
Syra would have none other than her friend Isla's aunt do her ultrasound. And her monthly checkups. She also made Nurse Kone promise that she would be there for her birth. She didn't trust anyone else. Nurse K had laughingly agreed.
Zayn watched as she slid down with her lower stomach exposed. Nurse K applied some gel then got the rolling stick thingy and placed it on Syra's stomach. Zayn watched on the screen as a blurry black and white image appeared. Nurse K moved the stick about a little more until a shape focused on the screen. Zayn still couldn't see how it resembled a baby.
"You're ten weeks pregnant. And over here you can see..." Nurse Kone's voice trailed off.
Zayn panicked, leaning forward.
"See what? Is the baby okay?" Syra demanded.
"Yes. Of course. It's just, congratulations, both of you. You're having twins! In a months time, so four weeks from now, you can find out the gender of your babies! The due date for twins is slightly earlier than just one baby, so they're due in the middle of June," Nurse Kone announced, smiling at the two.
"I'll just go print these out for you - here's some tissue to wipe the gel away - and give you both a moment alone," she continued upon seeing both of their faces.
Zayn sat frozen on his chair as Syra took the tissue, wiped away the gel and pulled her shirt down.
After a few moments he spoke,
"They will definitely be born after our exams. I will be able to help more. Now that there will be two. And Imran as well. We are going to have to move out by the end of summer. I'll be eighteen so I will take a loan-"
"Zayn," Syra interrupted, going over to him.
"We sorted that out. We made that decision. Now it's time to relax. We'lol tell our parents and carry on normally. Enjoy the pregnancy and this time with Imran. We don't need to fret," she reassured him.
How can she not worry? He was sure his hair was turning grey with all the stressing.
No.
She was correct.
No point stressing.
They both had come to an agreement about their future, so they didn't need to waste any more time or energy worrying about that. They needed to live their life now, not overly worry about a future that was not even guaranteed and could change in a heartbeat.
"Let's go home," was all he said.
He was tired.
Wanted to go home and tell the news. Get it over and done with. Then spend time with his family. Imran was already growing so fast. It felt like time was slipping through his fingers.
So they went.
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Silence. Absolute silence. Zayn and Syra had gone straight to his in laws to announce the news in front of all her family. And this time, it didn't seem like they were taking things lightly.
"This is a joke, right?" said either Saleh or Ilyas.
Zayn wasn't bothered about them. He was waiting for her parents to speak.
"Amma, Abba...? We did what we could... it's not in our control. No way of contraception is a hundred percent..." Syra trailed off, feeling weird talking about stuff like this infront of her Asian parents.
Amma finally spoke up, "We understand that, Syra, kya ye Allah ka hukum hai. But it's a lot to wrap your head around as you just had a son. Now you are having two more even before Imran turns one. Of course we will support you. And we agree with your decision to move out after your college finishes." (That this is God's will).
Her father rubbed his salt and pepper beard before giving his input, "Zayn, your father said he will purchase the house for you. I will help with the other expenses until you are able to handle them on your own. And just as Asfandyar said, I am not asking for the money back, I want to help you, but if you choose to in the future that is completely up to you,"
"Have you told your parents, Zayn?" asked Malikah, bouncing Hassan on her lap as Hussain slept in Hamza's arms.
"No, not yet. They know something is up, so we decided to quickly drop by here and tell the news before going home and telling them," Zayn answered.
"Then you must be on your way, it's late as well," Amma said, getting up.
"Yes, we need to get back to Imran. I'll see everyone this weekend, In Sha Allah," Syra spoke.
Ilyas stood up, walking over to them, "I'll walk them to the door,"
Zayn sighed to himself. Just what he needed.
He and Syra gave their salams to everyone and exited the room to the hallway, walking down to the door. Syra sat on the stairs as she laced up her boots when Zayn approached Ilyas.
"Whatever has happened, has happened. I didn't do this on purpose. I did everything honourably, I married her, ready to take on the responsibilities that come with that. Most guys, even Muslim, would not wife her, and definitely not stay after knocking the same girl up twice. No one wants such responsibility before eighteen. And just know that Syra as well chose to marry me, and God forbid I did not force myself on her, so what you gotta act like something is stuck up your ass whenever I'm around?"
He honestly was tired of bullshit. So he was blunt with his words, but in a nice way.
Ilyas said nothing. Just crossed his arms and watched as Syra finished tying her laces, who was unaware of what just took place.
"Ight, see you tomorrow at sixth form, Ilyas," she told him, smiling as she tiptoed and reached up to ruffle his hair.
Ilyas smiled back, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He held the door open for her. As Zayn stepped over the threshold, he murmured, "I know. I have nothing against you. I just care for my sister. I'll get around soon. As will Saleh," and with that he closed the door.
That was enough for Zayn. He made some progress. He smiled to himself as he helped Syra onto his bike.
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Yup. This was the plot twist. Seems like I'm going to have to write a few more chapters than intended. I'm trying my best but I highly doubt that I'll be able to finish this before tomorrow. Oh well.
2210 words.