•||Ch22: A New Chapter of Beautiful Tale||•

||Daniel POV||

"Don't stare at me like this," I told her, focusing on the road.

I was driving back home after having a trial date with her which was full of her silence and daze expression.

Her situation looked so amused to me. I wanted to laugh but controlled myself because I wanted to take a little revenge when I helped her to pass the exams. I still remembered how hard she poked me and even few times pulled my hair.

"We know. No you know me since the final of 2nd grade. Then why don't I remember you?" She asked in a lost tone.

"Because of your poor memory and in 3rd grade I changed my section and block after sitting beside you," I answered her.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because I didn't like you at that time and was irritated by you," I replied to her with a smile.

She sat in the silence again with a frown on her face. There was a shake shop on the way. I parked my car on the side of the road and pressed a button to roll down the window. A man in a green uniform came to take our order.

"Which one?" I turned to ask Izzah.

"Chocolate banana," She replied in a daze.

She was still lost and tried to think.

"One chocolate banana milkshake and one strawberry milkshake," I told the man.

He nodded and went away. I turned towards her and looked at her lost expression.

"Don't think too much," I told her with a sigh.

She returned back to present and looked at me.

"I thought being in the same section with you, I would be more irritated and difficult to forget you. In the beginning I almost forgot about you completely but there were few boys in my class who had a crush on you and every few days later your name was on their lips so never forget you. All thanks to them," I put a stop on her guesses and told her the remaining story.

"But according to my understanding of you I don't think you fall for this beauty at that time," She said, suddenly becoming excited while pointing at herself.

"Well. In college. Coincidentally we both admitted in the same college and sometimes I ran into you but silently walked past you. Slowly I became your silent admirer and noticed you were actually a lazy person," I chuckled then continued, "Then this admiration converted into love I guess."

"I guess? You guess!" She looked at me and raised her eyebrow at me.

I hummed and sighed thinking about what happened before our marriage and felt guilty.

"Hmm. Before our marriage your father had a case. Criminal family's were quite dangerous and they threatened your father if he decides in the victim's favor then they will kill you. Your father came to our security company for you. At that time I just showed a little interest in you and my father took you as my life partner candidate. Then all this happened," I told her and pointed my finger at both of us in the end, back and forth.

• • •

We were having dinner at my in-laws house and my father-in-law and Izzah were sitting across each other but neither of them had talked to each other.

It had been five days since we went to our trial date and I told her almost everything except for a few things. Today after many struggles within herself, she finally decided to have dinner with her father.

During dinner, my father-in-law and I talked from time to time but his eyes were traveling towards Izzah and she was silently eating with her head down. But after dinner I skipped outside to give both of them time alone.

There were a few things which I didn't want to tell her, for example her brother. His death wasn't an accident but a murder planned by those people who threatened my father-in-law. I wasn't sure how she would handle it if she knew about this and also her father decided not to tell her.

Because in reality that accident was planned for her. I felt rage flamed thinking about that night and what would happen if she died.

Suddenly, in the silent night, my phone rang pulling me out of that night's accident.

............

"Good news. He finally decided to stop his breathing."

It was my dad who broke this news coldly with a cold chuckle.

............

I arched my eyebrow and felt one side of my lips curled up.

............

"He's dead."

............

He hung up the phone after telling me. I felt my heartbeat in relief like a heavy burden finally moved from it.

Finally after many years Haleef was dead who had been under torture of my dad since he killed my mother.

I closed my eyes and sighed feeling happy.

"Daniel. Dad's calling you," I heard Izzah's telling to me which made me open my eyes and turn to look at her.

I nodded my head with a smile and followed her inside. Her eyelashes were wet but there was a beaming smile on her face.

"I wish you both a happy and healthy married life. Thank you Daniel for taking care of her," Father-in-law said as I sat on the couch.

Izzah sat beside her father and looked at me with her bright eyes which were showing the level of her happiness.

"I'm staying here today," She told me.

• • •

"Daniel. It's your turn to change your son's diaper," I heard Izzah ordering me from our bedroom.

There was my shirt in my hand which I put down and walked to the closet section of our son. I picked his diaper and towel then went to the bedroom.

I picked the 6 months old Azlan who was giggling and went to the washroom while putting the diaper on the bed. To be very honest it wasn't my turn to change his diaper but it's completely fine as long as she was happy. The only thing she hated about babies was changing their diapers so I took this upon myself.

Azlan giggled as he looked at Izzah's tired face.

"Don't be naughty," I told him, turning him to face me.

He looked at me with his innocent eyes and slapped my face with his both hands softly over and over again with small giggles.

I sighed and let him play with my face and entered the washroom. I washed him but he waved his legs due to which water splashed around and it wet my shirt.

"Azlan," I called his name sternly and spanked his butt softly.

He looked at me with a frown and small pout.

"Don't cry," I whispered and tried to coax him but he started crying loudly.

I sighed helplessly and groaned, wrapped his legs in the towel and coaxed him again but he didn't stop crying.

"What you did now?" Izzah asked, looking at me with accusing eyes as she entered the washroom.

She took Azlan from my arms and held him in his arms. She coaxed him while glaring at me. He stopped crying in her arms in a few seconds.

"He's just a small baby. How many times I have to tell you not to scold him," She told me in anger.

"He did this," I answered her, pointing at the messed washbasin and at my wet shirt.

"So what. He is just 6 months old not 6 years," She said and went to the bedroom.

I cleaned the washroom and changed my shirt quickly and went back to the room. She was struggling with the diaper but she didn't know how to put it on. I held my smile and went towards her.

"Leave this to me," I told her.

She gave up and let me put the diaper. I was about to put the diaper when he peed on me. The shirt which I just changed was now wet again all thanks to my son.

"Oh my God!" Izzah laughed and looked at me with amused eyes while the little devil followed his mother and giggled at me.

If he wasn't shy of other people other than his parents and both grandfathers, I would have thrown him to the babysitters or Laila maa. When we had to go to the hospital or Izzah had to go to the college, we just handed him to one of the grandfathers.

I ignored Izzah and looked at him with the blank and flat face.

I picked him up and went to the washroom again. I removed my shirt and threw it aside and cleaned him first. I wrapped a new towel around him and went back to the bedroom.

I put him on the bed after Izzah changed the bedsheet and quickly put the diaper on him.

"How good it would be only if he was a daughter," I mumbled with a sigh.

"I'm telling you I don't want another baby. This one is fine. I can't bear the pain of childbirth again," Izzah said, handing me Azlan's clothes and baby products.

"It's OK. One is already enough," I agreed with her and put clothes on him.

It took me half a year to move her heart completely and accept me as her husband. Then we had Azlan while she was studying further and working in the hospital.

I knew other than Izzah how she bore the months before giving him birth and how many sleepless nights she had spent and how she struggled between pregnancy and studies. How much in pain she was on the hospital bed and after Azlan, she had to wake up in the middle of the night from her sleep to feed him.

After going through all this with her and seeing her in pain, I also didn't want her to go through this again.

In my opinion, our family was complete.