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Taif

I returned to the hospital the next day.

But I wasn't there to meet Dr Fawad. I was there to see if I could see Iman there again. She was a medical student, so maybe she was doing an internship or something here. 

Those dark eyes, that lock of dark hair that fell in her eye that she repeatedly kept brushing away.

If only I knew her surname, I would search for her on social media. I winced at my own creepiness. Why was I considering stalking a girl on social media?

I put my hands on my hips as I stood in the hospital lobby, not knowing what to do next. I had come here without thinking. Ammi aur Baba bohat khush hongay mere is pagalpan se.

*My parents will be very happy with this craziness of mine. *sarcasm*

After years of working hard to maintain my excellent grades for my medical education, I had ended up in a hospital to look for a girl that I barely knew.

I had chosen to specialise in the heart for the sake of my parents, laikin mera apna dil to kahin aur hi jaake atak gaya hai.

*But my own heart has gotten stuck somewhere else.

The son of such hard-working parents had ended up here, like this.

"Are you okay?" The receptionist called out to me, probably realising how lost I looked.

I walked over and cleared my throat. "I'm looking for a girl...her name is Iman. She might be an intern here or...?"

She looked amused. "I'm afraid we can't disclose any such information."

I turned to walk out of the hospital, feeling like a complete fool. I got to my car and unlocked it, and then I heard a familiar voice.

"Appi, are you guys in the waiting area? I'm coming up there." 

I turned and saw Iman herself heading from the car parking towards the hospital building, speaking through wireless headphones. Wearing jeans with white trainers and an oversized white shirt with 'Edinburgh' written in glittering gold letters across the chest, Iman looked casual yet stylish. Her hair was loose and looked damp from a shower, and she wore hoop earrings as well as a nose stud.

"No, Mama and Papa will come later." She continued speaking, without noticing me. "You want something from the shop?" 

"Iman!" I called out.

She looked around, surprised, before her gaze finally landed on me. "You?" She continued her conversation on the phone. "Appi, I'll call you in a bit."

I grinned.

"Future boss cancelled meeting again?" She raised an eyebrow.

"He rescheduled." I shrugged. "I will meet him next week."

"Just don't freak out again if he cancels." She muttered. "Surgeons are busy people, you know." She began to walk away.

"Wait." I had no idea what I was going to say to her, but I didn't want her to leave. 

She turned to face me, questioningly.

"Never mind." I sighed.

She looked at me like I was the biggest weirdo that she'd ever seen, and then walked off.

Why am I such an awkward dork?

****

Fawad

Mina helped me put on my suit jacket. There was an important meeting that I had to attend today, so dressing formally was a requirement.

"You look very handsome, considering that you're about to be a Nana Jaan, Ma Sha Allah and In Sha Allah." She spoke, sliding her arm through mine.

I looked down at her in surprise. "What?" 

She smiled up at me. "Congratulations! Hania's going to be a Mama."

"Our Hani?" I couldn't help smiling. I immediately thought of that cute little baby who used to climb up all over me, and clung onto me tightly whenever Mina tried to take her away.

Mina had tears in her eyes. "It's hard to believe, right?"

"Ma Sha Allah." I said. "May Allah bless her and her family. Ameen." I freed my arm and wrapped it around her. "But you...a Nano?" I chuckled. "That sounds hilarious."

"Hey, I'll be the coolest Nano ever, In Sha Allah." She said. "Mina Nano."

I laughed harder, shaking my head, feeling an immense amount of happiness. Alhumdulillah, Ya Rabbil Alameen.

"Speaking of our daughters growing up..." She looked at me, pointedly.

I sighed, knowing what she wanted to say. "Mina, no. I was so glad when Iman chose to focus on her education and career, so please don't press on this."

"Aur agar pasand agaya woh usay?"

*"And what if she likes him?"

"Did she say something?" I turned to face my wife, who looked a little sheepish.

"He's a fan of yours, so he looks up to the right people at least." She tried to justify. "And I'm not saying ke rishta pakka kar aayein Iman ka us ke saath. I'm just saying that find out if he's a good guy." 

*"That fix up Iman's marriage to him."

I didn't reply. I glanced away thoughtfully, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Why are you hesitating?"

I looked at her again. "Bachi hai woh abhi."

*"She's still a child."

Realisation seemed to dawn on her, and she leaned against me. "Oh. The usual feeling of the father that his daughter is growing up too quickly. Especially when it's about the baby of the family." She tilted her head back to look up at me. "But on the other hand, you wouldn't want your daughter associating with the wrong kind of guy, right? Jaan, he's a medical student who hopes on becoming a cardio-something surgeon, like you! That itself earns him a lot of points."

I chuckled at the 'cardio-something' comment of hers. She still forgot the word sometimes. "Fine. But don't pressurise me on this too much, okay? If I'm not a hundred percent satisfied, drop it, okay?"

"Your wish is my command, jaan." She smiled angelically at me.

"If only that was true." I kissed her forehead, before grabbing my phone and wallet. "Come on, let's go."

"You're forgetting something." 

I turned to look at her and saw her holding up my car keys. I winked at her. "How will I ever manage without you, Mina?"

As we headed down the stairs, we passed by the photos that Mina had hung up on the wall beside the staircase. My eyes landed on the photo of me and Mina with baby Hani, and I couldn't help smiling. She was barely weeks old, and our parents had insisted that we had a professional photo taken of the three of us. "She's going to be a mother? It's so unbelievable." In the photo tiny little Hania's cheeks were pink and she was sleeping peacefully in her mother's arms. I had my arm wrapped around my wife and we were both smiling down at our firstborn.

"In a few months time, she and Hamza will be holding their own baby like this, In Sha Allah." Mina slid her hand through mine. 

"Jaan, she could barely go anywhere without you." I said. "And now look at her, Ma Sha Allah. I'm so proud of her." 

"Me too. She's come a long way." Mina sniffed, her eyes glued to the family photo. "May Allah always bless Hania, Hamza and their baby. And may they always live a happy and blissful life together. Ameen."

"Ameen." It was difficult to be the father of daughters sometimes. They had grown up as total Papa's Girls, even though Hani had been just as much attached to her Mama. And although I was unbelievably happy and thankful to Allah that Hania was happily married and settled in her own life, I miss the days when I came home and two squealing little balls of energies launched themselves at me. I have no idea how some people considered daughters burdens, because Hania and Iman completed me and Mina. I couldn't even imagine not having them in our lives, and we had wonderful years raising them.

"I can't wait to pamper my grandkids." Mina laughed. "They used to complain to our parents about us? Now, I'm going to get them back." 

I laughed as well. "Revenge will definitely be sweet."

****

Hamza

I scratched my head in confusion. Hania had asked for a slice of cake, but there were so many flavours. Which one would she prefer? I couldn't call her because she kept her phone on silent while in the waiting area upstairs. The nurses got annoyed when they heard the ringing of a phone, and for good reason. The patients' rooms were close by and the phones disturbed them. 

I texted her, hoping that she was scrolling through it like any other bored person does in today's times.

<Hamza: What flavour?>

I had to perform the husbandly duties for my pregnant wife craving cake.

"You look confused." 

I turned and saw my father-in-law approaching me, looking amused. "Assalam Alaikum, Uncle."

"Walaikum Assalam." He said. "I saw you in here as Mina and I were coming in. I thought I'd come and congratulate you. Bohat, bohat Mubarak ho, Hamza." He gave me a hug and patted my back.

*"Congratulations to you." 'Bohat' means 'a lot', but it made no sense if I literally translated it in English.

"Khair Mubarak, Uncle."

*"Congratulations to you too."

"I recognise that expression." He chuckled.

"She asked for a slice of a cake, but I forgot to ask the flavour." I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Get every flavour." He shrugged casually. "She'll pick whatever she likes, simple. Hania usually likes..."

"Red velvet cake." I finished for him. "But it depends on her mood. Sometimes she prefers the coffee and walnut cake, or sometimes the fudge cake." I gave up. "Yep, I'm getting them all."

"She's just like Mina in that sense as well." He smiled, fondly. 

I paid for the slices of cake, and we headed towards the lift. "I can't believe that a doctor just advised me to get all slices of cake for his own daughter."

"Nope, a husband experienced in all this advised you on how to handle a tough situation." 

I laughed. "Thanks, much appreciated."

As the doors began to close, we heard someone call out. "Hold the doors!" 

I immediately pressed the button to open the doors, and a young guy in his mid-twenties rushed in, wearing a lanyard around his neck and carrying a textbook. His hair was a mess and his glasses were splattered with rain drops. "Thank y..." His eyes widened as he saw Fawad Uncle, and a second or two later, his jaw dropped open slightly. "Dr Fawad Ali?" 

I looked curiously at him. Who is he and why is he acting like a star-struck fan? And then a thought occurred to me. No, that would be too much of a coincidence!

"I'm sorry." The guy shook his head. "I'm Taif. Taif Bukhari." He held out his hand towards Uncle. "We had a meeting which you had to cancel."

Fighting hard not to smile, I looked at Hania's father who now seemed to have realised that he was meeting the guy his younger daughter seemed strangely interested in.

Fawad Uncle shook his hand politely.

"I have great respect for you and your work." Taif was blabbering on like a fanboy.

If he ends up marrying Iman, I will give him a tough time. I chuckled internally. 

Bechara.

*Poor guy.

It was hilarious, the three of us being here at the same time. If Taif ended up with Iman, he'll always remember how he met his future father-in-law like an awkward schoolboy meeting a film star.

Hania was going to love hearing this.

****

Taif

This time I had come to the hospital to fill out some paperwork, and instead ended up meeting the Great Doctor himself, while I looked like a complete mess. I'd looked neater after playing football with my friends after school. Now my hair was everywhere, my shirt was untucked, and my glasses were wet with rain. 

Why? Why out of all the days did I have to look like this?

The guy next to Dr Fawad seemed amused by this. Was I missing a joke?

"I'm sorry about cancelling the meeting. I had an important emergency surgery." Dr Fawad sounded professional.

"No, I understand! You don't have to apologise." I was so nervous that I was trembling.

There was a ping as we arrived on a level, and I realised that in the rush I hadn't selected my own level, which was on a lower floor now. Drat!

"It was nice to meet you." Dr Fawad told me. "We'll meet again in the rescheduled meeting." Nodding at me, he and the guy beside him began to head out, when I saw Iman coming down the hallway. She didn't see me, but instead focused on the two men leaving the lift.

"Assalam Alaikum, Papa." She said, just as the lift doors closed.

Papa?!!

****

Well, Taif now knows, but this must be really humiliating for him.

In the original version of BT, only two more chapters would have been left, but I am still undecided about how to proceed, considering the stories of their Lahore cousins. I'll let you know as soon as I decide.

Thoughts and comments?

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