It was a few hours later and the Khans along with Dr. Shehroze, Dr. Asifa and Dr. Haroon had reached their home in Islamabad. The house was all decked up to formally welcome and honour the newest addition to the family. This was the first big event, in many years, that the Khans were celebrating, on such a large scale. After what had happened on Usman and Lubna's 30th wedding anniversary, many years back, everyone in the family felt slightly uncomfortable while celebrating anything. Usman however, was very sure that he wanted Asfi's wedding to be a grand affair. He felt that it was the least who could do for his boy, who had worked hard and proven himself to be the best son, a competent doctor and had also proved his elder brothers innocence to the world, just as he had promised to, years ago.
Lubna and Usman were relieved and content to see their younger son, break free from the clutches of the past, get married and settle down with the woman he truly deserved and loved. They obviously missed Daniyal's presence on this big day, but over time, they had learnt to believe that their elder son, was always by their side.
Gaiti too, missed her husband terribly. However, she knew for a fact that, if Daniyal knew Zubia , he would have loved her too. She also knew that her cousin cum brother-in-law was truly happy marrying a beautiful soul, who also had become her best friend! All this made her the happiest she had been in years!
Lubna, Gaiti and Dr. Asifa escorted the new couple into the house and some basic rituals took place. Then, Gaiti showed Zubia around the house and later everyone had their dinner together, while chit-chatting about the wedding celebrations. After dinner, Gaiti escorted Zubia to her bedroom. Since Zubia had to travel, she had changed out of her bridal attire before the Rukhsati and wore a maroon coloured Anarkali that had golden embroidery all over it. Though this outfit was more comfortable than the bridal one, it was still pretty heavy. Though Zubia resisted, Gaiti insisted that she'd help Zubia touch-up her make-up. She also made Zubia sit on the bed, and set the veil on her head properly, so that her face wasn't visible at all.
Zubia was nervous, to say the least. Those rose petals all over the bed, the dimly lit room and the whole atmosphere that was created, made her feel that way. She had known her husband for a while now, she loved him and had started to trust him. However, there was a lot of unresolved trauma that she was still carrying with her. Though a part of her really looked forward to this muh dikhaayi rasm, another part of her felt frightened by the whole idea of it, because the first thing that popped into her head when she thought about it, was physical intimacy. Being so close physically, to the person who had such an intense impact on her, made her feel unsafe. She didn't know if it was the inexperience with it, or something else, but she didn't feel ready for physical intimacy yet.
Zubia snapped out of reverie when she heard the door-knob click. She quickly composed herself and stared at her lap.
Asfandyar walked into the room and closed the door behind him. He was extremely nervous too. He scratched the back of his neck while he walked towards the bed and sat himself down in front of his newly-wed bride.
"Hello Begum Sahiba!", Asfandyar said softly, with a wide smile, while lifting the veil and fixing the dupatta properly on Zubia's head. Zubia smiled shyly at his exclamation, while she stared at her lap.
"All good? Kuch chahiye toh nahi aapko?" Asfandyar spoke again. Zubia just nodded her head in negative, while she continued to stare at her lap.
"Meri taraf dekho toh sahi", Asfandyar said while he held the bottom of her chin with his hand and pushed it up lightly, so she would look at him.
"Ek secret bataaun?" He whispered as he moved his face slightly closer to hers. She gave him a questioning look in response
"Main bhi utna hee clueless aur nervous hoon, jitni tum ho", He continued whispering.
Before he could complete his sentence, he saw his wife who was shy and serious, suddenly break into whole-hearted laughter. Seeing her laugh like that, made him stop mid-sentence, almost automatically and laugh too!
After both of them had recovered from the sudden laughter attack, Asfand spoke again!
"Tumhe pata hai Zubia, Jab tum aise khul kar hasti ho na, tab tumhaare chehre par ek alag hee noor aa jaata hai, aur mera dil karta hai ke main bas tumhe dekhta rahoon, and unknowingly, main bhi tumhaare saath -saath hasne lagta hoon, bilkul vaise, jaise abhi hua! You know, I realised, hum ek-doosre ko taqreeban ek saal se jaante hai, but I havent seen you laughing enough! Par tum na ab kursi ki peti baandh lo, kyunki ab har roz main tumhe itna hasaaunga, ke roz sote waqt tumhaare gaal dard kar rahe honge!" Asfandyar said while he pulled Zubia's cheek lovingly.
"Maine bhi aap ko jyaadatar Hitler aur Ghengis Khan modę mein hee dekha hai vaise",
Zubia murmmured, loudly enough for Asfand to hear. He burst into laughter and spoke while laughing.
"Lo. Ab dekh lo haste huye!" He said while pointing at his own face. Zubia nodded, from left to right while smiling at her husbands antics.
"Achcha Haan.. tumhe tumhaari mooh dikhayi bhi toh deni hai, main toh bhool hee gaya tha!" He said while he opened the bedside drawer and took out a rectangular gift box.
"Honestly, Samajh nahi aa raha tha ke kya doon.. Main jaanta hoon, ki tumhe jewellery ka jyaada shauq nahi hai, toh tumhe kuch aisa dena chahta tha, jo tumhe sach-much pasand aaye, yaad rahe... Hope you like it, Begum sahiba!"
Asfandyar said, nervously. Zubia took it from him and gave him a reassuring look.
When Zubia opened the gift box, she saw that there was a photo frame with a picture of her parents in it. She stared at the photo-frame silently, for more than a couple of seconds and tears started flowing out of her eyes, once she actually realised what her Muh-Dikhaayi gift was. Yes, she did miss her parents, but the tears flowing out of her eyes right now, were tears of gratitude and happiness. She looked at her husband, through her teary eyes, as he waited nervously, to hear her thoughts about the gift, she couldn't help but wonder, what she had done, to deserve such a thoughtful and valuable gift.
"Sorry, Zubia. Mera maqsad tumhe iss khaas raat par rulaane ka bilkul nahi tha. Woh actually jab main tumhaari samaan pack karne mein help kar raha tha, tab I realised ki shaayad tumhaare paas apne parents ki ek bhi photo nahin thi, aur mein yeh bhi chaahta tha ke jaise humaare kamre mein mere parents ki tasveer hai, vaise hee tumhare parents ki bhi ek tasveer ho. Agar tumhe gift bura laga ho to...", Before Asfand could complete his sentence, Zubia pulled him into a tight hug and almost involuntarily put her finger on his lips, so he would stop talking.
"Thank you, Asfand. This is the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me. Mere paas vaqai apne parents ki tasveer nahi thi, aur main chahti thi ke ho. Aapne toh mere bin kahe hee meri khwaish poori kar di! This is so much more precious to me, than any piece of jewellery can ever be!", Zubia said after she broke the hug and cupped his face with her hands and looked at him intently. Asfand caressed Zubia's cheeks and kissed her on the forehead, almost instinctively and took her into his embrace once again. Zubia's head was on Asfands chest, and he had his hands wrapped tightly around her waist. This time, both of them were more aware of how close they really were to each other. This caused both of their hearts to race a little and now they were beating in sync. Just then, Zubia realised what position they were in and tried to slowly wiggle out of his hold. Asfand immediately loosed his hold on her and spoke.
"Achcha.. Tum jaakar change karlo.. Subah se itne heavy kapde pehen kar tang aa gayi hogi na.."
"Haan.. Mujhe naa hee inn cheezon ki aadat hai, naa shauq.. Shukar hai ke subah jo baalon ka jooda banaaya tha, voh rukhsati se pehle hee utaar diya tha maine. Pata hai pachaas clips nikli thi",
Zubia said with an annoyed expression and riled her eyes. Asfand couldn't help laughing while he admired his wife's cute-ness.
After Zubia had gone to the bathroom to change, Asfi too changed into his usual black kurta - pyjama. While he waited for his wife to come out, he thought about the conversation they had right before she had gone inside to change. He felt grateful about the fact that Zubia was now comfortable sharing these little things with him. He remembered how he had gotten jealous of Dr. Haroon a few months back, when he had seen Zubia sharing random things with him and laughing in his company.
After Zubia had changed and come out, Asfi asked her which side of the bed she preferred and Zubia said she was okay with either. Asfi settled himself on the left side of the bed, and Zubia on the right. Just as they hit the bed, both of them realised how tired they really were. Asfi wished Zubia goodnight and she responded. Both of them lay down facing each other. Since neither of them were not very accustomed to sharing a room or a bed with another person, they just stayed on their respective sides of the bed. Just five minutes in, and Asfi had already fallen asleep. While Zubia admired his sleeping form, she remembered how nervous she was before the Muh- dikhaayi. She felt grateful that it had gone very differently from what she had imagined. Though a big part of Zubia knew that Asfandyar understood her traumas, respected her choices and believed in taking things slow, she had gotten into a habit of assuming the worse.Now, when she reflected on her thoughts, she face-palmed herself internally and reminded herself once again, that Asfandyar was very different from all the other men she had interacted closely with all through her life. While she was engrossed in deep thought, she didn't realise when sleep engulfed her.
Hey guys!
The new chapter is up! Please do vote if you enjoy it! Looking forward to your comments too, they really keep me going!
Lots of Love