Daylight was making a bright square on the window behind the curtains when Haya woke up. She stretched tentatively, remembering instantly—how could she forget last night?

Taimoor woke her up in the middle of the night when he pulled her into his arms and made love to her. His hands were rough and demanding, and she felt a desperation in him but she didnt reject him. She couldnt find it in herself to reject him. For she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Their lovemaking was wild and frantic. She loved making him lose control.

Thinking of last night ,Haya blushed different shades of scarlet. A hand was draped around her waist which kept her hooked to his body. How she loved it. Waking up spooned to him while he held her like she was something precious.

Haya turned her head towards him, smiling. Taimoor's hair were a mess, which she thought was her doing. God, how she had pulled on his hair while he kissed her . It was a wonder how he wasn't bald. Smiling at her joke, Haya ran her hand through his hair , trying to undo the damage she had done last night. That and because she loved running hands through his dark black hair, which were neither smooth nor rough. They were perfect, just like him.

Removing his hand , Haya decided to get up. They had returned to Islamabad after a week of Valima. Haya and Taimoor didn't want to leave Ammi and Abu behind . But the old couple insisted on been left on their on for sometime. They were likely enjoying the privacy they were getting.

After taking a bath , Haya stood there combing her hair in front of her dresser when she noticed her neck.

"Taimoor !!!!" Haya shouted staring at the red marks on her neck. "Huh" Taimoor responded from the bed. He was still not fully awake. He was laying, flat on his stomach , feeling content with how his life had unfolded. He had the girl he loved , she loved him back , his mom and dad were happy and planning to go on a vacation , Saman and Aiman were happy in their lives respectively. 'Life is good' he thought as he smiled looking at his wife ,who was staring at her reflection in the mirror.

Taimoor couldn't gauge her expressions. She sounded pissed when she shouted his name , but right now she was blushing and smiling as she looked at herself in the mirror . God, she is so pretty. Perfect and most of all mine, he thought as he eyed her dreamily not getting up from bed.

"Taimooor !!! Did you give me a hickey?" , she asked as she turned to look at him. Haya traced the red marks on her collarbone looking incredulous. While Taimoor stared at her and then at the delicate collarbone which was covered with the lovebites he had given her last night. "No",he denied as he ran his hand in his hair sheepishly. He was lying , ofcourse.

"Then what is this ?" She asks as she gestures towards her neck turning to face him as she came closer to the bed to let him look at those purple marks which were covering her neck.

"Hickeys . As in plural . You said a." Taimoor said as he gave his signature smart ass smile ,with his perfect white teeth showing. He was being a smarty pants right now. But she wasn't vexed. She had had grown too much in love with that smart mouth of his, which did wonders to her. Only thinking about the stuff, he did to her with her mouth made her blush.

Haya was flustered by the hickeys he had given her. She loved them. God , she loved each and every one of them. And she didn't want to hide them. At-least not when she was in her own room or when no one was at home. She wanted to roam around , wearing them as if they were a medal.

She would love to glance at them when she passed a mirror or just looking at her reflection which would have red spots on the neck. She was acting like a teenager but only she knew she had dreamt about getting hickeys.

Studying her ,Taimoor was looking at her intently. If she were in bad mood, Taimoor was probably going to get a lecture. He had half expected her to make a not so humored face , telling him to go on with the bullshit. But thankfully and surprisingly she hadn't. She just smiled as she turned back to the mirror, staring at the rest of them , inspecting the damage he had done.

"I love them. It's a good thing , Bua is on a week off. I don't want to hide them." She said as she gave him a bright smile.

"You do?" He asks confused. He wasn't expecting that. Her confession had him jolting up from the bed. All the sleep which was clouding his eyes disappeared as he stared at her with disbelief.

"Very much " Haya told him as she gave Taimoor a warm smile. She kissed his stubbled cheeks impulsively and then turned back to look at herself in the mirror.

She did that .Amazed the life out of him. Her eyes were glinting as she was looking at herself in the mirror, touching those purple spots unconsciously .

Taimoor stood there frozen for a minute. Who would have guessed that she'd kiss his cheeks and tell him ,she loved them instead of getting whole ape on him? He wasn't complaining, if he knew the hickeys were going to get this much appreciation, he was going to make sure, he'd leave them often. And a lot often. "Who would have thought you'd be this over the moon about getting hickeys and would want to wear them around like a medal. " Taimoor said as he reached her and stood behind her.

He kissed her hair which smelled like strawberries. It was a smell, which he had gotten quite familiar too . Despite strawberries not being his favorite, hell he did love that sweet smell that came from her hair. It sometimes made him lose sense of time and place and would take him back to their passions of night.

"It's actually not the hickey. Don't laugh okay! I can be idiot sometimes. Don't you dare laugh at my explanation. I swear I'd never share anything, if you do." Haya warned him. And Taimoor held his lips from smiling. He had to bite inside of his cheeks to not to smile. He knew some funny theory of her's was coming his way . And he was preparing himself for it.

"Okay!!" She paused and then began again. "So I love hickeys. They are special. See this , you bruised me. AND I swear these are the only bruises that I don't mind having. And you are right they do feel like a medal. " Haya said as she looked at him while he erupted into laughter after witnessing her cute serious expression. She was looking at him as if she had just explained some quantum physics. Only she could come up with theories like that and look so serious while explaining them . And it wasn't only the seriousness that caught him , it was the pride in her eyes.

"I hate you. I told you not to laugh."

"No, you don't. And I tried but you were looking so serious and cute."

"That still doesn't get you off the hook for laughing at me while I was explaining something pretty serious, here."

Every morning he woke up to discover something new himself which she loved. Yesterday , she had told him ,how much she appreciated his stubble . A day before that , she had shown her admiration for the veins of his arms which popped out. And a day before that her half-asleep-self had told him that his cologne drove her crazy. She had a list of things she appreciated a lot about him and the list kept growing with each passing day. It was funny how she loved stuff about him, he thought she wouldn't even notice. Hell, he himself didn't even notice.

"You my darling angel , deserve some more medals. And just for the record, I never wanna get off the hook ." he said as he dragged her to bed and she went willingly.

Few months later

Haya being her oh-so-clumsy self was cleaning the book rack in the lounge with a bright smile on her face. Shahmeer and Mariyam had shifted in Islamabad and were coming for a visit. But that wasn't why she was smiling like a goof. She was smiling because Mariyam was pregnant and Haya for the first time was going to meet her pregnant friend. She was happy for her friend. Although a little part inside was sort of disappointed that Mariyam was going to have kids before her although Shahmeer and Mariyam had gotten married after Haya and Taimoor.

Tiptoeing on the chair ,she moved forward to clean the cobweb which was on the edge of the bookshelf, when she realized how wrong that move was. But before she could do anything she she falling down. There was nothing that she could do about it . Everything was happening in slow motion. She lost her balance and tripped.

Haya was sprawled on the floor . Everything hurt but it was herself respect which was more wounded or that was what she thought until she decided to move her leg which refused to comply. A soul sucking pain traveled from her ankle to her upper limb. "Bua...." She cried as she waited for the help to come.

Sitting in her room with her foot resting of the pillow , Haya drank the juice which Bua had offered her when someone barged the door open with full force. Of course , it was Taimoor. And so she began preparing her self for the lecture which was due and well deserved.

Smiling weakly at him , Haya tried to gauge his expression. "Beta, Haya dislocated her ankle . And she won't even let me touch it." Bua supplied as she looked at Taimoor for help whose forehead was covered in deep and many glabellar lines( wrinkles on forehead). And according to her theory ,the more the lines the longer the lectured lasted.

"Shukriya Bua. App fikar maat karain. Ajj wese he apko bohat kaam hai . Main dekh leta hoon." ( Thanks Bua . You don't worry . You already have too much on your plate to do. I'll look after her.) Taimoor replied through his teeth after smiling at Bua who stood there.

Directing his gaze towards her , he clenched his jaw as he came to sit on the foot of bed.

"I don't want to go any Malashi. Do you hear me? I don't want to go back there ever again. I dislocated my shoulder and Mama took me there. They would have broken it , if it wasn't for Mama feeling my plight and asking him to stop. Mainay nai jana wahan .( I am not going there.)"

Bua was wringing her hands in agitation. She could barely stand to watch Haya in such pain. "You'll feel better if you scream," she told Haya as Taimoor placed his hand on her swollen foot. "I would?" She asked as her eyes shimmered with tears.

Taimoor looked into his wife's eyes, saw the tears, and said, "She will not make a sound."

He got just the reaction he wanted. Instantly furious, she shouted," You cant dictate me like that Taimoor. If I want to shout , I will shout. And if I want to be brave then I'll be brave. You, telling me to be brave doesn't count. I ...."

She didn't make a sound, except the deep in drawn breath when Taimoor gripped her foot and twisted it back to normal . The pain shot through her . So when he came beside her, she threw her arms around him and held tight until the pain subsided. It was over but it still wasn't. Burring her face in the crook of his neck , she cried for the pain she had felt earlier.

He wasn't sure which one of them was shaking more. Him with anger , or her with the after effects of pain. He was angry as hell . But first he was going to make sure that she was okay and then he was going to unleash the anger which he was keeping at the bay .

"It's over with," Taimoor whispered, his voice was hoarse with relief. He held her tight against him and couldn't seem to make himself let go. It was going to take some time for him to get over the scare of losing her. When Bua had called him to tell him that Haya fell down , Taimoor had lost it. The fear of her breaking her skull or something like that had taken over , forcing his brain to completely shut down. She had scared tens years of life out of him. The fear of losing her to her clumsiness was always there in the back of his mind. He kissed her forehead and then begged her to stop crying.

Haya wiped her face with her sleeve which was another bad habit . It would have gotten a thrashing from her mother if she were here. Looking up at Taimoor she said. "You're dying to shout at me, aren't you?" The moment Haya whispered that question ,she regretted that.

"Damn right I am," he admitted. "But I'm a thoughtful man, and so I'll wait until you have fully recovered." She knew he was thoughtful but not now. And although she wanted to believe that , she couldn't quite believe him that he would wait for her to get better.Healing of those damaged ligaments was going to take weeks. He wasn't going to wait that long. He was just waiting for her to quit crying to begin the lecture , he had prepared. "That is thoughtful of you," she agreed with a smile.

"What in hell were you thinking? Standing on the chair...... my God, Haya, you could have cracked your skull. Ali ko nai bol sakti thien ? ( Why Could you just ask Ali ?)"

He had only just gotten warmed up, and he continued to rant at her all the while he took the Voltaren-Gel from the drawer and began rubbing that on her foot. He stopped long enough to grudgingly admit that it wasn't nearly as awful as he'd first thought, but he went right back to shouting at her while he wrapped the bandage around her foot to keep it warm. By the time he was finished, her foot didn't hurt as much, but her pride had taken quite a toll.

"Ab ghar main Bua k sath sath ek Nanny bhi rakhni parae ge.( I am going to get a nanny for you.) You're never going to get another chance to scare me like this again."

She put her hand against his cheek, a simple caress that magically calmed him. Then she ruined it by trying to explain her actions, inadvertently getting him riled up again.

"I didn't deliberately do it . Galti say ho gaya .( It happened by mistake)."

"Galti ?( Mistake ) What are you ?Two ? Don't you get you are short ? "

"Now you are getting personal , Taimoor! Koi bhi jaan bhooj k apna ankle dislocate nai karta . ( No one dislocates their ankle deliberately.)

He closed his eyes and told himself for the hundredth time that she was all right. But thought of losing her had not only scared the hell out of him but it infuriated him at the same time. How had he allowed himself to become so vulnerable? But he knew that it happened the moment he had decided to fall for such a clumsily person.

"Shouting at me isn't going to accomplish anything." Haya told him as she folded her hands against her chest , not liking the lecture which got prolonged due to her input.

"Sure, it is," he snapped. "It's making me feel a hell of a lot better. Alot better!" He exclaimed.

She didn't dare smile, although she wanted to. He was acting like a child throwing tantrums, not listening to her . But guessing he would take grave offense if she did smile at him , she bit the inside of her cheeks . She wanted to soothe him now, not incite his wrath further.

"Will you please be reasonable?" She asked as she lifted her lashes to look at him.

"I am being reasonable. It's you , who haven't figured it out. It took me a while, but by Allah I finally have realized that ."

"Realized what?"

"That trouble and misfortune follows you like a shadow ,Haya . You're prone to injuries. I swear to God, you are the kind of person who would get striked by thunder or on whom a tree decides to fall."

"Stop exaggerating Taimoor. You aren't that bad." she muttered the latter part but he heard her and gave her a glare which should have forced her to shut up . But it didn't. "I'll admit that I have had a run of bad fortune, but—"

He wouldn't let her continue. "A run of bad fortune? Please! Last week you spilled the chai on yourself while drinking it and burned your left leg. Us say phelay(before that) you got electrocuted while plugging a charger, and before that it was what ? Ahhh you got hit in face by Ali while playing cricket . The ugly bruise below your eyes lasted for weeks. Do you want more Haya ? Because I can go on about your clumsy , unfortunate self. And please don't make excuses , I'm going to be damned angry."

"I burnt my leg but only because that mug slipped out of my hand when Mariyam gave me her big news, And its completely normal to be shocked or overwhelmed by happy news ," she said, believing she was being quite logical. "And everybody gets sort of electrocuted while plugging charger. Its not a big deal. Not everyone is invincible like you. And for the last time, Ali didn't hit me. It was my fault for not wearing the helmet. It was pure bad luck that it didn't heal fast, even though Bua forced that slice of meat with stingy smell of my face." Haya concluded.

"Invincible? I swear if your clumsy self continues with the not so fortunate incident my hair are going to turn grey!"

Taimoor turned away from her and stared at something behind her, brooding. He didn't say a word for several minutes.

"Why are you frowning at me ?" He asked her as he studied her furrowed brows.

Shrugging her shoulders, she looked at him as she said "Kuch nai. (Nothing) Just trying to imagine you with grey hairs. Is it going to be all grey or like streaks of grey hair surrounded by black hair ? I think I prefer streaks of grey hair and not all grey. Because all grey would make you look old. But don't you worry, I'd still love you. Black hair or not." Haya smiled in the end inadvertently .

His temper exploded. "Don't you dare go cute on me right now Haya! Yeh akhri baar ho raha hai.( This was last time. )" Haya nodded. But both of them knew that she was prone to such accidents.

Taimoor was worried sick while she sat there smiling as she imagined him with grey hair . He was beyond infuriated with her and with himself for getting distracted by her cuteness. She was a claustrophobic mess , and God help him for he loved her a lot. Sometimes he had this urge to bang his head in the nearest wall. Sometimes , like right now.

"You don't move, I'd just go check on Bua !" Taimoor warned her as he left the room leaving a slightly amused Haya behind him.

*******************************

Haya sat on the table, as she eyed Mariyam who was looking radiant. Shahmeer was pouring beans in her plate because they were nutritious while she complained. Mariyam had always hated beans.

Seeing the couple, Haya felt this urge to be in their shoes. I too want a baby. She thought to herself as she eyed the couple.

It was magical how a baby was growing inside her friend, and during the evening Haya had countless times touched Mariyam's stomach. Haya really couldn't believe it. But Mariyam could understand Haya's reaction. Haya was still Haya. She hadn't changed one bit. She was still the kid who got hyper when they saw balloons. And for that Mariyam was thankful. All the credit went to Taimoor, who kept her inner child alive instead of forcing her to change .

Smiling at Haya , Mariyam asked , "So when are you guys going for a baby?" And although by now she should have gotten used to that question , courtesy to the society aunties, Haya still wasn't. She chocked on food and felt Taimoor pat her back , which soothed her.

"We don't need a baby. Haya is a baby." He replied and began narrating her not so fortunate expenditures. Everyone laughed. Except her.

What does he mean ? We don't need a baby. Obviously, they did. And it wasn't about the need. She wanted a baby.