"Kainaat! Bhabhi! Kainaat bhabhi!"

My amused eyes met Inaya's panic-stricken gaze as soon as I entered her room,

"Did you need something?"

She groaned at my question, "That dress is too heavy!"

"And?" I asked again, wondering what the problem was.

Inaya blinked, "That dress is heavy, how do I handle it with the even more heavy jewellery?"

I chuckled, "That was the reason you were calling me for?"

She nodded furiously, and I shook my head, "You are the bride, my love. You have no choice,"

She made a face at my words, "I can't wait for this to end."

"Oh, my love, this is just the beginning."

She rolled her eyes when I winked at her, and I laughed before proceeding to help her with her dress. A few minutes later, Zaidaan's cousins entered the room to help her, and I walked out when one of them told me that Ammi was searching for me.

"Uff, Kainaat," Ammi said as soon as she saw me, "you aren't ready yet?'

I bit my lip, "I was helping Inaya,"

She motioned with her hand for me to go back to my room, "Get dressed and join me here, you're our bahu, you must get ready, go, go. "

Chuckling, I did as I was said. Fifteen minutes later, I adjusted the orange dupatta on my side before turning to Muskaan and prying her hands off the sequins on her dress. Muskaan was in awe with the dresses everyone wore, thanks to the bling and shine of desi wedding wardrobes.

I placed a small bow-tie on her head, which matched the yellow skirt she struggled to walk in. As Samar, one of Zaidaan's cousins, came in to see if I needed help, I asked her to look after Muskaan, to which she happily agreed.

Samar held Muskaan's hand in hers as we walked out, with Mehek in my arms, wide awake.

Upon reaching the living room, I found my family already seated. Husna took the baby from me as soon as she saw me, and I left after greeting them to reach Ammi. The house was filled to the brim with relatives and friends, as fairylights and orange and red flowers adorned the walls and floor.

I found Ammi with Zaidaan's phuppo and chachi. Abbu had three brothers, one of them beeing Tayajaan, and one sister, while Ammi had just one brother from her side of the family. Zaidaan's mami was nearby, and she shot me a kind smile as I passed her to greet phuppo.

"Assalamualikum,"

She placed a hand on my head, "Walikumassalam, you are even more pretty now."

I smiled shyly and sat down beside her, just as Muskaan came running and kept her head on my lap, standing against my legs.

Chachi aw-ed at her and tried to make small talks with the kid, while Phuppo gave me a small smile, she was bout to say something, before Husna came over and placed a a giggling Mehek in my arms. Muskaan pouted at her and Husna pinched her cheeks, lifting her up.

Phuppo's attention was now completely on Husna, "Rubina, who is this?"

She didn't bother whispering the question to Ammi, and Husna looked her way, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

She gave me a look that said, very clearly, 'save me', but I suppressed a chuckle and answered phuppo,

"She is my sister, phuppo ji, Husna, this is Zaidaan's phuppo."

Husna shot a tight-lipped smile and muttered her salaam, to which phupo's face beamed,

"MashaAllah, what are you studying, beta?"

And as the usual string of rishta-perspective questions were fired at Husna, she quickly made an excuse of tending to Muskaan, who was as peaceful as ever in her arms, and walked away as fast as possible.

Before I could follow her, phuppo stopped me, peering at Mehek,

"Is this your second child?"

I nervously chuckled, "ji, phuppo, this is Mehek."

She gave a bright smile in reply before Chachi said, "But she isn't your own, is she?"

My lips parted in surprise as Phuppo's smile wavered, and before I could stop myself, I said,

"No, chachi ji, she is my own."

Hugging Mehek closer to me, I was about to walk away when Ammi placed a firm hand on my arm, which indirectly meant I had to control myself. Ammi then gave a low laugh before saying,

"Kainaat is right. Mehek is the daughter of this family."

Phuppo sighed beside ammi, "The child is a part of this family, Aima, regardless of blood relations."

She made her statement clear, referring to chachi by her name, and I shot ammi and phuppo a grateful smile.

Chachi nodded their way before excusing herself, and Ammi patted my hand before following her.

Phuppo shifted closer, "Are you okay?'

Not knowing how to answer her as my heart thudded against my ribs and Mehek moved in my arms, I just looked down at her, and nodded at phuppo. She gave me an encouraging smile,

"Don't worry about your chachi, she's a good person. She had a tough time in her days with having a baby, and when she had Is'haq, she was very happy. She had always had Inaya in mind for her son, and so did Is'haq. But well, Allah had other plans, and she still hasn't come to terms with it."

My eyes widened at this piece of new information. But that was still no excuse for such an ambush. So there was more to Sami Bhai and Inaya's tale than Inaya's dreams and goals and Sami's reluctance.

As I fell silent after that, I wondered how love seems so easy from the outside, and we never know what goes on inside the premises of two hearts.

Love isn't the same for everyone, life isn't the same for everyone. Some fly, some fight. And in between, we learn how to live, how to love. And somehow, even after all of it being just the same one thing, it's different for every person. What happens in love, is only understood by the one in that love.

I sighed as I tried to burp Mehek once she had been fed. Patting her back, I left my room to find the festivities beginning. As the girls sat around Inaya, Husna, who mastered the art of mehendi, worked her magic on Inaya's hand. The smell of fresh henna filled the room, and I sat beside Fariyal.

The men were outside, and were restricted to come inside. And just as a shadow of a figure passed by the entrance, my eyes widened. Fariyal didn't know Abaan was here.

Turning to Fariyal, I grabbed her hand, and not knowing how to say, I blurted out in a low voice,

"Abaan is here."

She just blinked at me, "And? What should I do?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but then shook my head as I said, "I don't know. Don't do anything, just...?"

She heaved a breath at my tone, "Kainaat, I'm okay."

I fought a frown, but didn't argue back.

Dholak's geet filled the chatter of ladies, and my mami kissed Inaya's head in adoration, feeding her some sweet. I smiled at the sight, and Fariyal placed an arm around my shoulder, giving me a side hug. I looked at her, and we shared a smile before I chuckled. Husna squeezed the two of us from behind, before my mamma motioned for Husna to meet someone who I was sure would send a rishta once Inaya's Nikah was done.

I looked around me, at Muskaan who sat giggling amidst her aunts who pampered her to no end, at Husna who shyly greeted one aunty as mamma went on to praise her, at Fariyal whose heart I couldn't protect. I looked at Inaya, who had her gaze down, her cheeks pink and an aura of sheer happiness surrounding her. I looked at Sahar Bhabhi, who politely talked with everyone as Sahil tried getting her attention. I looked beside me to find Sahifa leaning against me and patted her head.

My in-laws, my family, and everyone around me. I looked at the baby in my arms, and then I kissed the top of her head.

And when I looked up, I met Zaidaan's eyes, who stood in the doorway.

It seemed like he was looking at everyone the way I was, and I felt satisfaction surge through me at how happy we all were. It was in this moment that I realised how much I missed this place, and its people.

So when I muttered a string of Alhamdulillah's under my breath, it didn't come as a surprise when Zaidaan gave a lopsided smile, and walked away.

That was our communication. A conversation. And once again, I smiled to myself. Some things are said without having to say anything.

A few minutes later, I made my way to the kitchen to grab water for Mehek, when I stopped at the voices from in there.

"You can't blame-"

"It was still not right!"

I inched deeper into the wall at Faroyal's voice, which was quivering at the end.

I could not see her, but I could see Abaan who was looking down, almost...like he was ashamed of himself. I furrowed my eyebrows, eavesdropping was not my thing, but this...

"I'm sorry. We were married, I thought- I didn't-"

But Fariyal was quick to cut him off,

"This thing called marital rape exists. And you did just that. The fact that we were married did not eradicate the fact that you would always have to ask for my consent before you..."

Abaan's face dipped lower and I watched as he took a step further from her,

"I'm sorry. Please,"

"It was assault. And I can't believe I was a fool enough to still stay with you. I believe I didn't know it was all wrong until you asked me to abort our child. Our child. Do you have any idea what you stole from me?"

Abaan said nothing, and I leaned my head to catch a glimpse of Fariyal.

I must go in. I should make them known of my presence.

And yet my feet refused to move, and my throat parched up.

Fariyal now stepped ahead,

"You stole my daughter from me. Our daughter. I couldn't abort her, but I didn't want her to grow up with a father like you. I didn't want to raise her on my own. Yes, I was a coward. But I was a coward because of you. You ruined a perfect family we could have, Abaan. Y-you...you ruined me."

For once Abaan looked up, and I couldn't read the emotions on his face,

"Why did you give her to Kainaat?"

Fariyal now stepped dangerously close to him,

"Did you not understand a word I spoke in the past seven minutes?"

Abaan blanched back, and turned his back to her,

"She is a good mother to her, isn't she?"

Fariyal blinked, and so did I.

"Muskaan," I heard Abaan say, "is beyond happy. The way she looks at them- at Zaidaan and Kainaat, I...I wouldn't- I can't-"

He shuddered as he took a deep breath, and Fariyal watched him with a curios expression.

He turned to look at her, and she hurriedly looked away, wrapping her arms around herself as he said,

"Fariyal, forgive me."

She glared at him, but before she could even breath, in the blink of an eye, I gasped as Khalifa Bhai tackled Abaan to the ground, grounding him painfully.

And then it went out of hand, one second Bhai was on top of Abaan, and the next it was the other way around, until I couldn't differentiate between them.

"Fariyal!" I gasped out as I reached her side, watching with a horrified expression as she tried to stop them both- unsuccesfully.

It wasn't until Zaidaan and Sami bhai entered the scene at my call that we managed to get the two men back on their feet, and I flinched when I saw the busted lips and black eye, and Abaan clutched the side of his stomach.

"What the hell happened here?"

Sami bhai grit his teeth as he asked that, and Khalifa bhai wiped his face with the back of his hand as I placed a hand on his arm,

"He cornered Fariyal,"

Fariyal's eyes widened, "No! He didn't-"

She faltered at Khalifa Bhaiya's glare, and Abaan didn't answer back. I didn't know if I was more shocked at Khalifa Bhai's fight or Abaan's silence.

And a part of me felt extremely sorry for him.

I looked at Zaidaan, and his entire face was filled with a pain I had never seen.

I nearly cried.

Fariyal on the otherhand did not try hiding herself, instead rushed out a second before her tears spilled. I thought of following her, but my feet refused to move, and my eyes couldn't stop searching everyones faces. The silence was deafening, and I couldn't stop my heart from beating any faster, no voices were heard for several min-

"Inaya must not know of this. Both of you will leave from the backdoor with Zaidaan and return fresh. Okay?"

I blinked at Sami bhai as he spoke. I would've shot him a teasing warm smile had it not been for the mess.

"I will co-"

"You will go back with Sami," Zaidaan said.

I opened my mouth to protest, but he raised his eyebrows and shook his head. I sighed, I had no choice.

Muttering under my breath, I followed Sami bhai out,

"What happened?"

He whispered to me, and smiled at an aunty that passed by us, I followed suit and then blurted it all out. Unlike me, he wasn't shocked.

"But why?" I asked.

Sami bhai said nothing.

I reached Inaya's side again and found Fariyal already there. I shot her a comforting smile, and she shook her head, clearly disturbed. Her thin, frail arms tried circling around herself but then shuddered and fell on her lap. It wasn't until Muskaan walked up to her and offered her a sweet, did Fariyal smile- or tried to- and picked the toddler up, placing her on her lap and kissing the side of her face.

And that one kiss, even from a distance, had more emotion than all the kisses I showered my child with.

I felt a pang in my heart, like someone had stabbed me with a knife. And then my mind suddenly flashed an image of Aima chachi,

But she isn't your own, is she?

And the knife in my heart twisted, until the pain spread through my pain.

I shook my head.

Muskaan and Mehek were my daughters. And I loved them. It didn't matter whose womb was their home before my arms. I loved them, I always had, always did, always will, and they were mine, and nothing in the universe could ever change that.

Absolutely nothing.

I took Mehek from Ammi and sat beside Fariyal, who held onto Muskaan like her life depended on it. She turned to me, and her eyes shone with a layer of tears. Glazed. With gratitude.

She nuzzled her nose in Muskaan's hair, and her gaze lifted to meet mine, sideways,

"Thank you,"

She choked out, and I squeezed her hands as I muttered back,

"Thank you."

I shifted closer and shot Husna, who had questions swimming across her face, a look that told her I would tell her later.

Inaya was smiling like she never had, and as the hustle and energy of the night increased with every second, so did my worry over what was about to unfold.

Little did I know, my worries were the least problematic thing to follow next.

****

I had thought my chemistry exam is tomorrow, and was in hysterics today morning because I had just one day (today) left and many more chapters to complete.

ha ha, thought its tomorrow.

No one was amused.