© All copyrights belong to StarsAndMoon1447 on Wattpad

*

Originally published: 26th August 2020

Fawad's POV

I stood beside the bed, my hands on my hips, staring at Jasmina with my eyebrows raised. She sat on her knees on the bed, looking confused.

We'd just received a call from Ammi that a lawyer had visited their home that morning, and that Mina had contacted him regarding divorce.

"Why would I want a divorce?" My wife asked me.

"I don't understand." I sat down on the bed. "Why did the lawyer show up at the house then?" 

"If I had contacted a lawyer, why would he go to your parents' house?" She pointed out. "I would give my parents' address, or at the very least, Ahad Bhai's, considering the situation we had been in." 

I pulled her onto my lap. "Don't you ever think about divorce." I gently rubbed her growing belly underneath her shirt. 

"I would never." She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me.

Who the hell called the lawyer then?

****

Jasmina's POV

"You called the lawyer?" I asked in disbelief, later that day.

Nailah shrugged, casually. "Yes, I did. And?" 

"Why?" I blinked at my cousin, confused.

I had come over to my parents' house to meet Mars, my mother's younger sister who I hadn't seen in a while. I had been not-so-pleasantly surprised to see Nailah with her. 

"I heard that you and Fawad separated." She smirked. "I figured he finally realised what a nightmare you really are, so I called up the lawyer."

"We aren't separated, so buzz off." I frowned. "And if we did have any issues, how the hell did you find out?" 

"I overheard Arhaan Bhai and Sadia Bhabi discussing it." She tossed her long black hair over her shoulder. 

Allah! My parents don't know about our argument, and Nailah is certainly going to tell them, with a lot of  exaggeration.

Why does every family have at least one relative like her?

"What is wrong with you?" I snapped her. "Get a life." 

She roughly grabbed my arm and hissed into my face. "You don't deserve a second chance with him." 

She was clearly crushing on him, hard. Actually no, she was full on lusting after him.

I rolled my eyes and walked away from her and out of the kitchen. Creating unnecessary drama.

"There is she." Mars came out of the living room, slid her arm through mine and led me back inside, where Ammi and Bhabi sat on the sofas, lounging around. We were about to watch Arhaan Bhai's wedding video, and I had gone into the kitchen to make some popcorn, which I now carried in a glass bowl. "You have that pregnancy glow, and you look even more beautiful, Ma Sha Allah." 

"I can't wait for both my grandchildren!" Ammi said, excitedly. "I'll be a Dadi and a Nani almost at the same time, In Sha Allah." 

"You're getting old now, Appi." Mars teased her.

Nailah also came into the room and took a seat on the armchair, sulking.

"What's wrong with you, Nailah?" Mars asked her. "Cheer up a little." She looked at Ammi. "Her parents are starting to look for a groom for Nailah as well. Ahad and Arhaan have a lot of friends, if they know anyone suitable, let them know, Appi." 

"I will speak to them." Ammi nodded. 

"Why are you all so hell bent on marrying me off?" Nailah snapped. 

"Nailah, beta, I thought you wanted to get married. Your Ammi said..." Mars began.

"I wanted to get married a few months ago." Nailah glared at me. "But the guy that I wanted to marry chose someone unworthy, and married her." 

"If he married her, then she was clearly not unworthy." Mars was grabbing a handful of popcorn, so she had missed the hateful look. "She was what Allah had planned for him, his destiny." 

My cheeks warmed up.

Nailah stood up, almost looking tearful. "You know what, I'm going upstairs." She rushed out of the room, and soon we heard her run up the stairs.

"She was into Fawad, wasn't she?" Ammi asked, quietly.

Mars looked at me, alarmed. "What? Seriously?" 

I didn't look at them, just focused on the paused video.

"She has had a crush on him since childhood." Ammi explained. "She always used to run around after him, and at that time it was adorable." 

"Well, even it it is true, Appi, she should get over it now." Mars grabbed my hand. "He's almost like her brother-in-law now. If she still feels something for him, it's now disturbing and not adorable." She sighed. "Look, Appi, she's still our niece. We need to make her understand, as well as make sure that she doesn't do anything wrong."

Like call a divorce lawyer, pretending to be me?

We continued watching the video, and after we were done, I got up. "Fawad will pick me up later. Until then, I'm going to go and have a nap." 

When I got to my room, I found something on the floor by my door, a square piece of paper. As I lifted it up, I realised that it was a photo, placed face down. There was something written on the back: 'A loyal man doesn't deserve a disloyal woman'.

I turned the photo around and was surprised to see a photo of me, Jeremy and Elena, standing by the road, with gorgeous Scottish mountains in the background. Jeremy had one arm wrapped around my shoulders and the other around Elena's waist. We were all grinning at the camera, happy and carefree. The random tourist who'd also parked nearby had smiled as well as she took our photos, and had told us to 'enjoy your carefree days'.

I walked over to the desk and set the photo down on it. 

Culturally and religiously speaking, I should never have let him hold my hand or put his arm around my shoulder. He was a non-mehram and had not been allowed to lay a finger on me, technically speaking.

*Mehram: a man you're not allowed to marry as per religion, example father, brother, son, etc. After the Nikaah, a husband also becomes a mehram.

I realised that I had to do something that I should have done a long time ago. I owed my husband an explanation. I'd told him about my crush on Jeremy and I'd ended up leaving for London, wanting to be with him, but he deserves to know that although I hadn't seriously crossed my limits with Jeremy, our friendship had involved moments like this, where we'd held hands and he'd wrapped his arm around me. It may not seem like a big deal to someone who wasn't a part of this culture or religion, but it was a big deal to us. 

I know that I would have wanted to know if Fawad had a female friend who he was this close and open with.

I knew that Nailah had written the note on the back of the photo as I recognised her messy handwriting, but she actually did me a favour. It was important for me to discuss this subject with my husband and I hadn't realised this until now. 

****

"Your Ammi makes amazing food." Fawad scooped some aloo keema onto his plate. 

*Aloo keema: Minced meat and potatoes.

"Where do you think I got that talent from?" I grinned as I handed him a roti. 

After finishing his shift, he had picked me up from my parents' house and we had returned back to our flat. Ammi had packed up some dinner for him.

"You? Jaan, I need an Imodium every time I eat something you cook." He teased me.

"Great, so now I don't have to cook." I shot back. "Maybe you can get your Ammi or mother-in-law to give you something to eat each time you're hungry." 

"Maybe I should complain to your Ammi about the way you're treating me." 

I made a face at him and he laughed. 

For a while, we sat and ate in silence in our living room, watching some game show on TV. 

"Nailah called the lawyer." I told him. 

"She's back?" He groaned. "Why can't the psychos in our life stay away?" 

"She had a crush on you since childhood, apparently. And Ammi knows about it." I paused. "So, anyway, there's something I want to talk to you about." I got up and rushed out of the room.

"Where are you going?" He asked, bewildered.

"Be back in a sec!" 

I grabbed the photo from the bag that was in our bedroom, and returned back to the living room. "Here." I set the photo down onto the table in front of him.

He glanced down and immediately frowned. 

"This is the kind of friendship that I had with him." I spoke softly. "We held hands, he wrapped his arm around me. I was  very young then, and I took everything very lightly, but now that I'm married, I realised how wrong I was." 

"We weren't married then." He shrugged, trying to remain calm. But I knew him very well, and I knew how much he hated this. 

"But I was your fiancee." I carefully studied his expression. Apart from his clenched jaw, he had no emotions on his face. "And as my husband-to-be, you wouldn't have liked it." 

"Mina, I don't think we need to dwell in the past." 

"But I think you deserve to know the truth." I knew that it was a difficult topic, but it had to be said. There had to be nothing hidden between us. "I didn't think twice about ruffling his hair or grabbing his hand, and once he even gave me a piggyback right in our first year of uni." 

He stopped eating, glancing away.

"So that's it." I shrugged. "That's all of it. I know that I behaved in a way that's not appropriate to our culture or religion, and I'm sorry about that, but I promise you, that's it. I never kissed him, less alone anything more." 

"I know, Mina. You've already told me that." 

"I just wanted to be honest with you." I sounded like a small kid after she'd been told off. 

"Thank you." 

I looked up and saw him look at me in an adoring manner. "You're not mad at me?" 

"Your honesty is what made me fall in love with you, jaan." He said. "I cannot be mad at you for that." He stood up and began to clear everything up.

"It's okay, I'll do it." I got up as well and started to help him.

"You go and get ready." He gave me a quick kiss on the lips. "I'm going to take you out for ice cream."

I gasped, happily. "Do you know how much I love you?"

This seemed like a small thing, but in reality, this issue made our relationship and our bond even stronger.  

****

"Ooh, this is cute!" Sadia Bhabi held up a yellow baby onesie. "What do you think?"

"It's adorable." I smiled.

A couple of weeks later, Bhabi and I had come out shopping, where our husbands would be joining us after work. 

The two of us were wandering around, and I am astonished at my self-control, because even though I wanted to buy everything I liked, I refrained myself. I still remember the lecture I'd received from my mother before marriage about careful spending, although I doubt that Fawad would ever tell me the same, especially when it came to our baby. 

Who am I kidding? He won't even say anything, even if it comes to my shopping?

"So, are you guys going to find out what you're having?" I asked Bhabi, picking up a pink lace dress and falling in love with it instantly.

"No, but Arhaan really wants a girl." She saw the dress in my hand and clutched her chest. "Aww, that's so cute." 

"How about we buy it and whoever has a girl keeps it?" I suggested.

"What if we both have a girl? What if neither of us do?" She raised an eyebrow.

"If we both have a girl, then my niece can have it." I smiled, handing over the dress to her.

We walked around in silence for a while, occasionally gushing over a cute baby outfit.

"Jazzy?" 

"Hmm?" I looked up at her and saw her gazing longingly towards the maternity wear section. 

She looked at me, seeming almost shy. "Arhaan is taking me out on a date this Friday, and I wanted to get something special to wear. Would you help me pick something out?" 

"Of course!" I slid my arm through hers and steered her towards the fancy maternity outfits. "Where are you guys going? You need to select something based on where you're going."

"I have no idea, probably some fancy restaurant." She blushed. "But it's been a while, and I'm really looking forward to it."

"Can I just tell you something that I've probably repeatedly told you, but I would never stop saying it?" 

"I guess...?" 

"You guys are so cute together, Ma Sha Allah." I said. "And Bhai is crazy about you." 

She waved her hand dismissively, but I could tell that she was very pleased. 

"Bhabi, do you trust me?" 

"Of course I do!" She looked puzzled.

"Let me select the outfit for you." I said. "And you don't get to see it until you're home, and you don't get to return it either." 

"Jazzy..." She looked wary.

"Please." I pleaded. "I swear, it'll be worth it." 

She rolled her eyes but nodded. "I'll just wait outside the store for you." 

She walked off, holding her back slightly.

I glanced around the section, thoughtfully. "Hmm..."

I chose a dress that was Bhabi's style, and was ideal for a date. It was gorgeous and I almost wanted it for myself, but I knew that it would really suit my sister-in-law.

****

When I came outside, Fawad and Arhaan Bhai had joined Bhabi, and the three of them were laughing and talking.

"Assalam Alaikum." I said, smiling.

"Walaikum Assalam." They both replied.

"We were just asking Sadia if she was feeling okay." Bhai told me. "She's letting you choose an outfit for her." 

"What's wrong with my taste?" I asked, defensively. "I'm, besides Bhabi, the most stylish one out of all of us." 

I handed Bhabi the bag. "Do not, under any circumstances look inside this until you're home." 

Fawad took the remaining bags from me. "Did you leave anything behind in the store or did you buy everything?" 

"It's for your baby, so you technically owe me one." I pointed out.

Both the guys burst out laughing.

"How do I owe you one?" Fawad shook his head at me, amused.

"Well, I saved you from having to do a lot of the shopping with me, as I did so much of it already." 

They all laughed now, and with a chuckle, Fawad pressed a kiss against my forehead. 

Bhai cleared his throat. "Her elder brother is just right here." 

"Like I care." Fawad grinned at him. "She's my wife, bro, get over it."

Laughing and talking, the four of us walked around the shopping mall.

"Is that Ahad?" Bhabi pointed across the mall, past a seating area. 

We all glanced over to where she was pointing, and saw Ahad Bhai standing outside an electronics store, staring longingly at a brand new smartphone in the display window.

The four of us exchanged looks and walked over. 

Arhaan Bhai's eldest sibling side took over as we approached our brother. "Assalam Alaikum, Ahad. You want that?" 

Ahad Bhai turned to face us and we all greeted him, to which he replied.

Arhaan Bhai has always spoilt me and Ahad Bhai. He always got us whatever we wanted, much to our parents' disapproval sometimes, but he said that it was worth it, seeing the smiles on our faces. 

"I..." Ahad Bhai looked embarrassed.

"Come on." Putting a hand on his younger brother's back, Arhaan Bhai led him into the store, even as Ahad Bhai protested.

I couldn't help smiling as I saw Arhaan Bhai buying the phone for Ahad Bhai.

"I'll pay you back for it." Ahad Bhai looked at our eldest brother gratefully.

"I'll slap you if you even think about it." Arhaan Bhai told him in Punjabi. 

They hugged and I felt tears in my eyes. Blinking them away, I walked up to them. "How dare you hug without including me?" 

They both held out an arm each and pulled me in for our familiar siblings' hug. 

"You just have to get involved each time, don't you, shorty?" Ahad Bhai teased me, looking emotional.

"Of course." I grinned. "Pampered princess of the family, remember?" 

Arhaan Bhai ruffled my hair lovingly. "You want anything, pampered princess?" 

I smiled up at him. "Thanks, Bhai, but someone else is responsible for spoiling me now." I glanced over my shoulder at Fawad, who stood beside Bhabi as they both smiled at us.

My husband winked at me. 

"Ahad, I think it's about time you came back home now." Arhaan Bhai told him. "We need to talk this out with Papa and Ammi, but I know that they both miss you like crazy, even if Papa doesn't admit it." 

We all laughed at how Papa always acted tough, while he was a complete softie on the inside.

"Join us." Bhabi said. "We're all going to have something to eat."

"Are we?" Arhaan Bhai asked her, teasingly. "When did we decide that?" 

"When I said that we're going to eat, just now." Bhabi replied in a challenging way. "Is that going to be a problem, my dear husband?" 

Fawad and Ahad Bhai chuckled.

"You need to stay away from Jasmina." Arhaan Bhai joked.

"Good idea." Fawad nodded, approvingly. "She's a terrible influence."

"Hey!" I gasped out as everyone laughed at my expense. 

****

"Is that Zoya Hamid?!" Bhabi gasped, eyes widened as she glanced at someone seated a few tables away from us in an Italian restaurant.

"Who?" Arhaan Bhai looked confused.

"Zoya Hamid! The star of the show that Jazzy and I watch!" Bhabi said, excitedly.

I dropped my fork and it clattered onto my almost empty plate, as I stood up to have a look. "Where?!" 

We watched a drama series 'Ek Nayee Duniya' (A New World), and Zoya Hamid played the lead in it.

Indeed, it was her, her curls bouncing around her face as she laughed at something that her companion, a young guy, said. Her narrow almond eyes were beautifully lined with eyeliner and she wore a natural coloured lip-gloss, but otherwise she seemed to have no make-up on. 

"It is her!" I said.

"Jazzy, don't you dare." Arhaan Bhai warned me. "Sit back down!" 

"I need a selfie, at the very least. Come on, Bhabi!" I grabbed my sister-in-law's hand.

Bhabi eagerly rose up, but Fawad pulled me back down.

"Let them eat in peace, jaan." He said. 

"But..." I was almost pouting, feeling disappointment inside me.

"Jasmina, respect her right to eat without being hounded by fans." Arhaan Bhai told me.

Let me tell you one thing; if Arhaan Bhai pampered us both, Ahad Bhai pampered me as well. He stood up and glanced over his shoulder.

"Let me talk to her." Ahad Bhai nodded at me and Bhabi.

Bhabi and I watched wide eyed as he went up to Zoya Hamid's table.

****

Ahad's POV

She was pretty- no, she was bloody gorgeous. I always felt nervous as I approached Zoya Hamid's table.

"Hi." I grinned at her, using as much of my charm as possible. "This is going to sound like a terrible pick up line, but it's not. My sister and sister-in-law are huge fans of yours and are desperate for a selfie with you." 

Zoya looked up at me, and as our eyes met, I felt a weird spark between us. She seemed to feel the same, because her smile just froze on her face and we locked gazes for a few seconds. 

"Zoya is on holiday right now." Her companion told me.

I didn't even look at him. "I understand that you probably hate being hounded by fans everywhere, but you don't know my sister. When she gets overexcited she acts like a child, and she will run over here, squealing." 

Zoya laughed, surprised. 

"Zo..." Her companion frowned.

"It's okay, Tahir." She dismissed him and stood up. "Sure. One selfie." 

Tahir seemed to getting red with anger, as his hands curled into fists.

"Relax, bro. High blood pressure can be dangerous." I chuckled.

"What are you, a doctor?" He asked, sarcastically.

"I am, actually. Dr Ahad Sheikh." I glanced at Zoya as I introduced myself. Tahir looked gobsmacked.

"Zoya Hamid." She smiled at me, and we walked over to where my siblings and their spouses sat.

Jazzy's lips were pursed and her eyes were wide and sparkling, and Bhabi had a huge grin on her face, as Zoya and I stopped beside our table.

Jazzy jumped up to her feet, unable to resist a small squeal. "Hi! I'm a huge fan!" 

Sadia Bhabi also got up. "I'm Sadia, and this is Jasmina."

"I told you she'd squeal." I grinned, glancing at Zoya. "Jasmina's my sister and this is my Bhabi. And these two guys, who look absolutely mortified by their wives' behaviour, are Arhaan Bhai, my elder brother, and my brother-in-law, Fawad Bhai." 

"I'd be delighted to have a selfie with you both." Zoya grinned at Jazzy and Bhabi. "And I could tell that she's your sister. She has the same smile, and the same sparkle in her eyes as you do."

I smiled.

After they were done with the selfie, Zoya and I stared at each other for a short time. 

"It was nice to meet you, Dr Sheikh." She said. "And all of you, actually." Nodding, she headed off, back towards Tahir, who was glaring at me.

"What the heck was that?" Jazzy demanded. "Were you actually flirting with Zoya Hamid?! And, more importantly, was she flirting back?!" 

"Oh, grow up." I said, lightly. "We weren't flirting."

"Bhai, I'm clueless when it comes to this stuff, but you totally were." Arhaan Bhai said, leaning back in his chair.

When I turned to glance over my shoulder, I saw that Zoya and Tahir had left, and I felt disappointed, wishing that I had gotten her number.

"Can you imagine if Ahad starts dating her?" Bhabi said, excitedly. "We can go on set, Jazzy!" 

"She's hyper enough as it is, Bhabi." Fawad Bhai told her. "Don't add to it, please."

The rest of us laughed as Jazzy lightly smacked his arm.

I stuffed my hands in the front pockets of my jeans. Zoya Hamid. 

It's been a while since a girl had intrigued me so much.

****

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