Habiba was trying hard for freeing herself from his strong grip. On the contrary, Hamza was gawking at her shamelessly. His heart beat differently whenever she got closer to him. Emotions he felt that he never had before.
He again pulled her closer stopping her movement to get free. Their eyes locked, and Habiba saw something there, something in his eyes holding for her. A strange feeling crawled all over her body. She looked away from him but glanced back again when a sudden whimper left his mouth.
Her mouth gaped open when her eyes shifted to the right, stunned by seeing Zayn biting Hamza's hand that was locking her on his chest.
She got up when his hand loosened so did Zayn. Face contorted with rage, he climbed up on his chest and sat comfortably.
"Don't touch my mama." Zayn threatened him.
He threw a hostile glare at him much to his parent's amusement.
In a few seconds, Hamza understood the matter and that formed a smirk on his face. What happened next was too fastly that Habiba was so stunned to react. Hamza in a blink of an eye flipped over Zayn, placing him underneath, carefully balancing his weight on both of his hands so as not gonna hurt his baby.
"Your mama is mine, buddy." He said and smirked at the annoyed Zayn.
"NO," Zayn shouted and scowled in annoyance.
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No." Zayn started bawling as he had enough of that.
That time Habiba reacted quickly and rescued him from the giant and took him in her arms, throwing an annoyed look towards Hamza for causing her baby to cry first thing in the morning.
Hamza chuckled, looking at Zayn as if he had fun annoying him and that irritated Habiba to the core.
She looked away from him when his looks shifted towards her and he danced his eyebrows with a smirk to annoy her more. Folding his hand behind his head he made himself comfortable.
Zayn's crying stopped and he looked at his ma with a red face due to crying which caused him to have a runny nose.
Habiba cleaned his nose taking tissue from the bedside table nearby. Zayn adorably pouted getting attention and care from his mother and he started complaining about his baba.
"Baba pocha," he said
(Baba's bad)
Habiba laughed loudly at his saying.
Whenever Zayn tried to speak Bengali always amused her. And she became amused when Zayn mimicked his mother exactly the way how Habiba scolded him whenever he became naughtier.
"Yeah, Baba pocha." Habiba barely uttered those words in between her laughter not aware of someone's enchanted gaze at her.
Zayn smiled hearing his ma laughing and looked at Hamza as if telling him,
"See, Mama is mine."
His baba also acted surrounded as if admitting that, "Yeah, she's yours. "
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Daneen and Shahnaz Begum were in the kitchen, preparing breakfast, special dishes were also being made for the new members of the family.
"Dani, pass me the almond." Daneen went towards the cabinet to get the almond jar but got startled when she turned, and quickly caught the jar that was about to fall from her hand.
Shaking her head she gave the jar to her mother-in-law and nudged her to look behind.
Zaara was sitting on the counter, munching a cookie, dangling her legs, lost in her thoughts. The sudden act of her covering her face with a tint of blush on her cheek shocked the other two ladies as if she got shy about some invisible things.
Both the sas and bahu shared a look. Daneen smiled mischievously and went to her.
"kisiki yadoon main khoi hui ho?" Zaara looked startled for a moment getting a playful nudge from Daneen.
(Lost in someone's thought?)
She looked at Daneen and then at her mother to see her giving her a suspicious look which made her gulp.
"Nhi - Um-nhi-ab mai to bass cookies kha rhi hu." Zaara stuttered.
(No! I'm just eating cookies.)
"acchaaa... cookies kha rhi ho." Daneen teased her more as she knew whom Zaara was daydreaming about.
(Ohh...you're eating cookies.)
Her teasing sent a rush of heat to Zaara's face. She looked away from her.
"Yeah... Yeah, I'm eating cookies... AHH." Zaara screeched in pain as she bit her tongue while shoving the cookies in her mouth quickly.
Shahnaz Begum's suspicion turned to certainty at that moment and she was about to interrogate her stupid daughter about the blunder she had done again.
But in a split second, her stern face turned to a soft one seeing Habiba coming towards them but again a feeling of worry wandered over her face noticing the sulking Zayn in Habiba's arms.
When Habiba reached there, she was going to say her salam to them but was interrupted when Zayn literally flew away from her arms to his dadi.
"Dadi," Zayn cried out.
His wailing got everyone's attention and all four pairs of eyes were on him.
Shahnaz Begum once looked at Habiba to ask why he was crying but Zayn replied to her even before she asked.
"Dadi, I need a panda. But mama said no." Zayn pouted and complained to his grandma about his mother.
Tears pooled again in his eyes but she quickly wiped them away and looked at Habiba so did Zayn.
"See, she's looking at me like a monsteeeer." He dragged the word monster way too long that everyone laughed at his way of saying.
Habiba too laughed who was standing near the counter with a stern expression plastered on her face.
Zayn pouted again as everyone was laughing and no one considered his wish of having a panda to pet seriously.
With a defeated face, he hid his face on his grandma's neck. Zaara went to his side and tapped on his head. He peered at her from his grandma's neck and his eyes narrowed as he couldn't recognize the woman before him.
"Awee you're so cute!" Zaara cooed at his adorable expression and pulled his cheek. She leaned down and kissed his cheek softly.
He quickly snapped back away from her. Glaring at her, he rubbed his cheek harshly.
Clearly, he didn't like her kissing him. That again earned a chuckle from everyone except Zaara, who pouted in utter sadness. She couldn't believe that Zayn didn't like a sweet, bubbly girl like her.
"He doesn't like strangers touch unless he gets closer to them." Habiba's sudden appearance near Daneen startled her and she quickly looked away from zayn to Habiba, giving her full attention to Habiba.
Habiba frowned as she felt Daneen suddenly tensed at her arrival. Habiba noticed her going lost in thought every time she saw Zayn.
And she quite knew the reason behind that. But what confused her was that Dannen acted different before Habiba as if she had done some sin looking at Zayn.
"He's oddly obsessed with pandas." Habiba chuckled and said, to lighten the tense area around them.
Daneen smiled at her and looked back at Zayn who was getting annoyed by Zaara's constant pulling of his curly locks which earned her a scolding from her mother. Yet she didn't stop and annoyed him more by pulling his chubby cheeks.
Daneen boosted some confidence in her and tip-toed towards Zayn who was in his dadi's arms.
She gulped before speaking up, "If I take you to pandas. Will you come to me?"
With an ocean of hope, she extended her hand towards him, her heart was racing and her breath came quickly. Zayn blinked and looked at her confused, seeing another Stranger before him. His holds tightened around her dadi's neck, indicating his denial to be in her arms.
Daneen became extremely disheartened and she was on the verge of crying. She quickly went back to her position and began to cut the veggies she was cutting before. Swiftly wiping the tears that betrayed to come out but failed to hide that from Habiba.
Habiba's heart clenched at that, she felt sad to see her like that. She went to Zayn and whispered something in his ears. Suddenly Zayn's eyes brightened and he looked at his ma with widened eyes. Habiba smiled and nodded her head yes.
"Ammi," Zayn suddenly called out loudly Daneen stopped her task and looked at the source of the noise.
Before she could understand anything Zayn jumped on her and she too quickly held him tightly to stop him from falling.
That was the first time she held him, took him in her arms. Her heart was singing for happiness. In that moment of obvious joy, tears pooled in her eyes but she quickly wiped them away. She held him tighter, embraced him, inhaled his baby scent, kissed his head, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Ammi," Zayn called her sweetly when his mother informed him that the woman before him was his Ammi about whom Habiba was telling him since that morning.
He cupped her cheek with his small hands and called her again shocking both her and his grandma.
A slow smile worked its way across Daneen's face and into her eyes. Habiba too smiled so did her mother-in-law who was so happy for Daneen that tears brimmed in her eyes but she quickly blinked them away when Zaara entered the room, running with Candy in her hands, her pet cat, for whom to bring, she left the room earlier.
"Look at Candy. Isn't he so cute!" Zaara showed her cat to Zayn. Candy was the big cat with a long tail, and soft coats of white fur covering his body like a rug.
The cat was meowing softly, his tail hanging downward and twitching a little at times.
Zaara got even closer to Zayn but Zayn cried out again saying, "I don't want a cat. I need a panda."
Daneen Chuckled so did her mother-in-law who was again engrossed in cooking. Habiba helped her a little though Shahnaz Begum forbade her to do anything. Still, Habiba insisted so much that she agreed and told her to toast the bread.
"Don't worry honey. I'll take you to the pandas." Daneen assured him which made Zayn so happy that he kissed her cheek and got one in return from Daneen.
Candy meowed loudly that time and jumped from Zaara's hand and ran away from that place as if he was rejected and that made him angry.
Dannen Smiled looking at the departure cat and told Zaara, "Looks like you're cat got offended."
She chuckled.
Zaara didn't pay heed to her words but scowled at the scene before her.
"Bhabi, You were also a stranger to him. How he's in your arms then?" Zaara placed her hands on her waist and asked angrily as she felt like she was too rejected like Candy.
That angered her as well. Like cat like his owner.
"Tum jaisi batooni ladki Ko koyi pasand nhi karegi." Burak's sudden raspy voice due to sleeping was heard in the kitchen.
(No one would like a talkative girl like you)
What he said was like pouring ghee into a burning fire. Zaara became so angry that each cell of her body burned in anger, her nostrils flared, and she greeted her teeth. Eyes holding anger, she looked at him as if killing him throwing glares.
On the contrary, Burak didn't give any attention to the angry kitten. Ignoring her totally, he made his way towards Daneen for Zayn who was being restless to go to him.
And finally being in his favourite chachu Zayn giggled loudly when Burak rubbed his face and his beard tickled his soft skin.
Once again Zara's mouth wide opened. All anger vanished seeing the giggling duo before her. Her eyes followed their steps until they left the place. Her face saddened.
She pouted looking at her mom and said," Ammi, why he acts like that with me? He's closer to everyone except me."
Shahnaz Begum tried hard to stop herself from laughing but failed as laughter came out from her mouth and that made Zaara cry out loudly.
"No one loves me." Stomping her feet she cried loudly and ran away from there, shouting for her Baba as she knew she would get the love and attention she wanted, only from her Baba no matter what.
She left the scene leaving behind three women chuckling at her silliness.
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The whole Imtyaj family members sat together in the dining area to have breakfast. Hasim Imtyaj sat at the head of the table. On his left, his wife sat and his elder son was on his right side.
Habiba and Hamza were sitting side by side as she would be sitting there since then as her mother-in-law informed her.
A big plate with various kinds of foods was presented before her and Hamza.
"Today you both will eat from one plate. From now you both will be spending your whole life with each other In Sha Allah. May You two find tranquillity in each other and may Allah put love and mercy between you two." Everyone whispered a small Ameen except Zaara.
She again pulled Zayn's curly hair that she loved, annoying the poor baby who was having a good time eating fruits and sitting on Daneen's lap. He gave her his annoyed look yet that didn't work as Zaara smiled shamelessly and gave him a flying kiss which made his face twitch in disgust much to Zaara's bafflement.
Daiyal was looking at his wife repeatedly since he entered the room. After that horrific day in their life, he saw her genuinely smiling, interacting with family members, joking, and laughing for the first time.
His eyes shifted downwards and saw Zayn. A sad smile plastered on his lips and a sigh left his mouth. Shaking his head, he concentrated on his food.
Habiba was mesmerized by the behaviour of everyone in her new family. All of them were sweet and lovely. Daneen informed her beforehand of sharing food with her other half for today as it had been their family tradition for ages and all the couples followed before her and Hamza.
She was eating slowly as she oddly felt shy around the male members of the family. Yet she took a little portion of the kheer her mother-in-law made.
Everything was fine until Habiba coughed out loudly as food got stuck in her throat. Not looking at the person, she quickly took the water glass from the extended hand and drank the water in one go. Suddenly, she felt him rubbing her back which made a chill ran down her spine.
She turned to him more like glared at him. Hamza smirked looking at her and lifted one of his eyebrows, fascinated by the little kitten's angry face. Yet he didn't move his leg from her leg but kept touching it in a way that tickled her leg which was the reason behind the food getting stuck in her throat.
Habiba watched everyone busy eating. She tried to kick his leg but got in more trouble when he placed his leg over her, stopping her attempt to move his leg. She pouted and from the corner of her eyes she saw him smirking and that caused her hold tightened around the spoon she held, in anger.
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"Welcome to the family Habiba." Hasim Imtyaj said with a warm smile that made her smile too.
"Welcome Bhabi," Zaara also said smiling.
Habiba suddenly felt the warmth of the blush as everyone's attention was on her. They all were sitting in the living room when Hasim Imtyaj asked for all of them as he had something to announce.
Although Daniyal and Burak had to leave for the office. Hamza also left the house hurriedly after getting a sudden phone call.
Zayn was sitting on his grandpa's lap with Candy sitting peacefully on the armrest of their couch. Zayn was looking at Candy curiously and candy also meowed softly to get his attention as rejection wasn't found in his dictionary. That was why he had to be friends with Zayn and loved by Zayn at any cost.
"And about your reception," Hasim Imtyaj again spoke and continued saying, "That is going to be held in Pakistan, in my hometown."
His speech shocked only Habiba as Daneen and Shahnaz Begum were already aware of that.
Before Habiba could say anything Zaara screeched loudly out of joy and ran to her father. She hugged him tightly, squeezing Zayn in doing so.
Zayn made a sound of annoyance and pushed her and looked at her. Zaara didn't mind that as she squeezed his cheek leaning down and told," We're going to Pakistan Janu!"
She shouted louder than before causing Zayn's face to twitch in annoyance. Everyone laughed at his adorable face except Habiba who was again lost in her thoughts.
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A/N. Special thanks to my bestie reverie_of_moon for helping me writing those Urdu sentences💀
Please do check out her amazing book FINDING STARS IN SCARS. It's an amazing boo I'm telling you all guys💗💗😍
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Assalalamualaikum.
How're you all?
Let me know if you liked the chapter with 💜 purple 😍
Remember my parents in your duas.
Stay safe, stay blessed.