Immediately Fawwad came back from the mosque, he branched to his house. He took a quick refreshing shower and wore casuals before he headed back to his parent's house.

He found Walija and Maya in the sitting room when he walked into the house. Immediately Maya saw him, she ran up to him hugging him.

"Maya! What had Mami been feeding you?" he said to her while they walked hand in hand to the sitting room.

"You almost made me fall" he added and she laughed.

All that happened before Walija's eyes but she didn't uttered a word to them. She only greeted him when he was finally seated. After some few minutes, he left to Mami's room.

He found her on the praying mat reciting the Holy Qur'an when he entered her bedroom. He silently moved further into the room to where she was seated and sat beside her. He watched her with admiration as she finished reciting the Qur'an. She carefully closed it and placed it back to its place. She recited some duas and he joined her by saying 'amin' at the end.

"Good afternoon Mami" he smiled.

"To what do I owe this kind of visit?" She teased.

"Can't I just come and see my beloved mother when I wished to?" He pouted which made her laugh as he watched her smiling. He was full of happiness before he saw tears streaming down her cheeks.

What made him to panic even more was when he realised she was still smiling in tears.

"Mami?...what's wrong? Please tell me" he held her hands in his "have I said anything wrong?" He asked worriedly.

"No, my son. You did nothing wrong" she simply retorted.

"Stop crying then....you're scaring me" he said while he wiped away her tears.

She was silent for some minutes before she said, "I wasn't crying because something bad happened. What you just saw were...tears of joy my son"

"Are we expecting anything good?..perhaps, a baby brother for me?" He finished laughing but he immediately stopped when Mami's hard smack landed on his head. "Ouch! Mami! What was that for?" He winced in pain.

"That was for being naughty with your mother" she laughed.

"Maaamiiii" he whined "you know I'd always wanted a baby brother"

Ever since he was young, he had always wished to have a brother. When Hafsat was born he thought it as a boy but he was still happy cause he also didn't know how it feels to have a baby sister.

When Maya was born, he thought the same but he wasn't lucky enough to have a baby brother. But despite the fact that he wanted a baby brother so badly, he still loved his sisters more than expected. Since he knew he can never have a brother, he made Hussein his brother from another momma.

"You can't have a brother but you can always have a son" Mami teased but she looked serious at the sudden change of her son's expression.

"Are you alright son?" She asked.

He heaved a sigh and said "I'm fine Mami"

She just laughed and shook her head. She had been observing the relationship between the husband and wife but she chooses to not interfere until when they were ready to let her in. But deep down, she wasn't happy about it and whatsoever is going on between them, she wanted them to solve it between themselves and not include any third party in their marriage life.

"Um...you were saying something about tears of joy earlier. What's it about?" He tried to change the topic completely.

"Oh! that. Well, I was shedding those tears of joy because of you my son" she said and he just threw her a confused look. She smiled and continued. "I just realised how much I'd missed you...I missed how we used to sit and just have a mother to son talk...forgetting all our problems and laughing together.

It has been three years but it felt like a decade. I won't lie to you, those years were the most miserable years for me and especially your father. It...it affected him Fawwad. Both psychologically and emotionally" she heaved a sigh and continued.

"He became selectively silent and only speaks on rare occasions. I was afraid and contacted his doctor. After some checkups, it was discovered that he had high blood pressure due to over thinking and might lead to something drastic if not reduced. He was giving some drugs and by some prayers, God made it easier for us. We...we..we almost lost your father Fawwad" she finished in a bitter tone reminiscing the bad memories.

"All...all of this happened and no one even cared to inform me Mami?" He said in a hoarse voice with his eyes becoming teary.

"What matters more is that everything is finally falling back into place" she smiled.

"No...no Mami, Abby almost died all because of...me" he whispered as he felt the tears he was holding flowing freely on his cheeks.

Mami wiped away his tears and took him off guard into a warm motherly hug whispering soothing words into his ears.

"What should I do Mami?" He asked her while he was still in her arms afraid of letting her go.

"Ask for your father's forgiveness. Make him happy. Let him smile again because of his son. Show him that you're still worth his love and support"

He was about to speak when the shrieking sound of his phone startled him. He brought the phone out and it was Hussein calling him and he knew that they must've arrived.

"Yes, Hussein..... Alright" and he placed the phone back into his pocket and turned to his mother.

"It was Hussein. He is here with Meriam to see Walija"

"That's so kind of them" she smiled. "Go and welcome them. I'll be with you shortly"

"Alright my love" he teased and when she was about to smack him, he ran out laughing. He left her full of joy and thanking Allah for bringing back their son to them.

*****

When he got down, he was surprised to see them already seated in the sitting room with Hafsat and Maya.

"And why the heck did you call me?" He playfully glared at Hussein. "Couldn't you just send Maya or Hafsat to call me?" He face-palmed himself.

Oh, what a crazy friend I got!

"Can you just shut up?" Hussein retorted.

"Huh?"

"Good afternoon Fawwad" Meriam cut their little argument.

"Ohh" he rubs his head "I'm sorry Meriam I didn't even notice you...all thanks to your crazy fiancé" he emphasized the word 'fiancé' smirking at Hussein but he just shrugged.

"It's alright" she smiled.

"How was your trip?"

"It was fine....Alhamdulillah"

"Mami will be with you in a while" he turned to Maya "go and call your aunty Walija"

"Okay" and she hopped up the stairs.

Walija was on face time with Mubeen and Muhseen when Maya walked in. She informed her and left the room immediately.

"Okay guys we'll talk later" she told them before she disconnected the call.

She was wearing a black abaya (Arabian gown) with golden glitters. She just draped a veil over her head before she walked down.

"Meriam, Hussein... Good afternoon. You're welcome" she smiled as she sat down beside Hafsat.

"Walija, how're you feeling?" Meriam asked.

"Much better Alhamdulillah" she smiled.

Hussein also asked her about her health before Mami walked down. Hussein and Meriam crouched down and greeted her before she scolded them to stand up.

They conversed for some time before Mami asked Hafsat to bring them some refreshments. After a few minutes, Fawwad and Hussein excused themselves leaving the ladies behind.

****

"What's up?" Hussein asked when they were finally seated in the guest parlour just outside the main house.

"The bitch called"

"Oh God! that's great. Hope you didn't fuck up"

"I wanted to tell her a piece of my mind...but all thanks to you, I didn't" he glared at him.

"Do you think you can do all that through the phone?"

"Whatever" he shrugged "I just can't wait to get over this shit once and for all"

"It shall all pass brother... Have faith"

"What's the next step?"

"Since she always changes line, we have to wait for her call. She's eager, she won't take much time"

"Alright...thanks" he smiled.

They continued talking about business and random stuff before they heard the adzaan to Asr prayer. They performed ablution and moved to the nearest masjid (mosque) and prayed.

After they finished praying, they walked back to the main house.

"Mami...we're leaving" Hussein politely said to Mami when they joined them in the sitting room.

"So soon?" Mami asked and he just scratched his nape smiling. "It's alright" Mami chuckled "we are really grateful for such an honourable visit" she added.

Meriam gave Hafsat the package they brought for Walija before they said their goodbyes and left.

😿

❤