© All copyrights belong to StarsAndMoon1447 on Wattpad

*

Jasmina

I looked at Sadia Bhabi, a little confused because she barely wanted to look at my face most of the time, let alone talk to me.

"You've made mistakes, I've made mistakes..." She began like we were characters in a film. "But the important part is 'regret' and 'repentance'." 

I had no idea why she was acting like a villain in a TV drama that has been running on TV for years.

"Can you just get to the point?" I snapped. It felt like my spine was going to crack any moment, because the pain was so intense.

"I want to clear up my conscience, Jasmina. I owe you an apology." She couldn't meet my gaze. She frowned. "What's wrong with you?"

I had doubled over with intense pain in my stomach now and was in tears. "Ammi..." 

She rushed over. "Where is it hurting?" 

"Iman..." I stared sobbing. "Please save my Iman..." I was terrified that I was losing my daughter. I started desperately praying to Allah, from the bottom of my heart. "AMMI!" I screamed out before losing consciousness. 

****

Fariha

"Did you tell her?" Arhaan Bhai hissed at his wife. 

Ahad, Ammi and Afreen Aunty had taken Bhabi to the hospital, while the rest of us waited around at home, nervously. 

"I didn't..." Sadia Bhabi whispered back, eyes wide.

"Well, it's a damn big coincidence that this happened while you were in the room with her." Arhaan Bhai shook his head.

"Arhaan, why are you behaving like that?" Asad Uncle had overheard, as we were all gathered in the living room.

"I pushed Hania intentionally." Sadia Bhabi blurted out. "And I was asked by Arhaan not to tell Jasmina that." 

"You what?!" Asad Uncle frowned. "You pushed a little girl intentionally? A toddler?" 

I couldn't help doubting Sadia Bhabi as well. 

"I'm going to check on the kids." I stood up and headed upstairs. Currently Zoya was looking after Hania, but she had said that the toddler wouldn't fall asleep without her mother. 

I felt weird entering my brother's room, but that was the only place Hania would sleep, with her nursery occupied. Hania was sitting up, talking in gibberish, while Zoya say beside her, looking exhausted. 

"She isn't falling asleep!" Ahad's wife groaned. 

"Let me try." I sat down on the other side. "Phupho ki jaan, my Hani doll, it's time to sleep. Come on." I made her lie down. 

"Mama." Hania stared up at me with her wide eyes, that were basically a complete copy of her mother's. 

"Mama aajayein gi, baby." I began to gently pat her on the chest. "But Hani should sleep."

*"Mama will come."

For a few peaceful moments, Zoya and I felt that Hania was going to fall asleep, but then my niece got up and stood up on the bed. "Mama!" Fat tears immediately started falling out of her eyes and she started sobbing. "MAMA!" 

"Hani..."

"Mama!" She got off the bed before we could stop her, and raced to the wall near the window, which was covered with family photos. "Mama!" She stared up at the photo of her parents on their wedding day. "S'eepy Hani. Mama." 

"I don't cry too often," Zoya said. "But this is very sad. The poor girl is sleepy, but she can't sleep without her mother." She looked at me. "Do you think she senses that something's wrong?" 

"Maybe." I got up and headed to Hania to pick her up. "Come on, Hani." I kissed her cheek and led her to bed.

"I have an idea. Let's take her to the nursery." Zoya suggested. "The more she is in here, the more she'll miss Jasmina. I can put her to sleep there."

"Please, Zoya. I have to feed Zaid, otherwise I would have..." 

"No worries." Zoya stood up. "Come on Mamu's Hani Jaani. Mumani will put you to sleep, like earlier." She looked at me serouisly, dropping her voice. "We should keep reciting supplications for Jasmina."

I nodded. "Definitely. After I feed Zaid, I will sit down and start making duas. May Allah bless Bhabi and Iman with good health. Ameen."

"Ameen."

****

Jasmina

"Please save Iman. Allah!" I kept repeating. I didn't care what happened to me, as long as my Iman was okay.

"Jasmina, your baby is fine." Dr Charlotte, my gynaecologist reassured me. "You just had a panic attack. Your back pain was so severe, that it might have triggered it. But you are okay, and your baby is okay." 

"Alhumdulillah." I closed my eyes as tears ran down the side of my face as I lay in the hospital bed. 

"However, I am concerned about the back ache a little, which is why I'm recommending complete bed rest indefinitely." She said. "We'll discuss in future appointments if that changes, but for now, you need to take it easy." 

"Complete bed rest?" I repeated. "With a toddler?" 

"Well, you mentioned that your family is here for now, so maybe they can help." She suggested. "I realise that since your husband is a doctor, things are tougher to manage, but Jasmina, you need to find a solution to this, for the sake of...Iman, did you say her name was?"

I nodded.

"I didn't see Dr Fawad out there." She said. "I wanted to speak to him as well regarding this."

"He's in surgery." I replied. "But my mother and mother-in-law are out there as well, and they're both doctors- well, retired doctors." I didn't even mention Ahad Bhai, because obviously this was not something that I wanted to discuss in front of him. 

"You come from a medical background, huh?" She looked amused.

"Don't even ask. I won't even be surprised if this one is a future doctor, because it runs in her blood from both sides." I said, referring to Iman.

"Well, for that, you need to take very good care of her." She advised me. "Let me speak to you mother as well, in the meantime."

"Okay." I put my hands over my stomach, protectively, now feeling weak with relief. Today I had genuinely thought that I would lose Iman, and that was not a feeling that I wanted to feel again. 

Why am I always severely scared about losing my baby during my pregnancies? Is this normal, or is this just a Mina thing?

****

Zafar

It was very, very late, but none of us were able to sleep, so I made coffee for all of us that were awake: me, Fariha, Ahad and Zoya Bhabi. As usual, it was the four of us.

When we were kids, Afreen Aunty and Ammi Jaan both used to call me and Ahad 'night owls'. The only difference was that I still didn't mind waking up early, whereas Ahad had to be practically dragged from bed for school. 

We were sitting at the kitchen table, when we heard the front door open, and a few seconds later, Fawad Bhai came into the kitchen, looking tensed. 

"Assalam Alaikum." The four of us greeted him in unison, sounding like a choir.

"Walaikum Assalam. Is Mina upstairs?" He asked.

"Yes, and Hania's in the nursery, before you worry." Ahad called out because Fawad Bhai had rushed out after hearing the word 'Yes'. 

"This is too disturbing." Zoya Bhabi said, when we'd all settled down with our mugs of coffee. "How did Sadia Bhabi find it in herself to harm little Hani doll?" 

 The ladies sat on the narrow two-seat sofa, while Ahad and I were on the chair at the desk. 

"She wasn't her own blood niece, that's why." Ahad's jaw was clenched. "I swear, if I'd been there..."

"Dude, I'm a policeman and I couldn't do anything. What would you have done?" I was taunting myself.

"Well, physically nothing, but verbally a lot." Ahad took a sip of his coffee. "How dare anyone intentionally hurt our Hani Jaani?" 

"I think we need to intervene. This is too much, guys!" Zoya Bhabi spoke up. "A child of our family was harmed now!" 

*I swear, I get confused with these Bhai/Bhabi titles, so if I make a mistake, forgive me. I've already noticed that I did it a few times, but it was corrected. Well, as long as no spouse calls their husband/wife Bhai or Bhabi, it doesn't really matter. :D

"Hania's father knows." I said. "No matter what we want to do- or what we should have done- it's not our call. It's his call to decide what he wants to do." 

"I'm just worried about Bhabi finding out." Fariha shook her head. "She was so terrified at the thought of anything happening to Iman today..." Her eyes filled up. "Ya Allah, I can actually feel her fear."

My phone buzzed and I frowned. Grabbing it, I glanced at the message on the screen. It was from Dua, my sister.

<Dua: Bhai, Taimoor Bhai has landed in Lahore. He'll be visiting in the morning.>

Oh, s**t.

I sighed. "One problem isn't over, and another one has started up."

"What's up? All okay back home?" Ahad looked concerned.

"Taimoor Bhai has landed in Pakistan, and will be visiting in the morning." I rubbed a hand over my face.

"He's here already?" Fariha looked at me surprised. "I thought he wasn't getting back until after we returned home. Where will he stay?" 

I shrugged. "I legit have no idea."

"Wait, your pr**k of a brother who abandoned your family and took all your parents' saving?" Ahad knew the full history, of course. "Ya Allah khair! When a character returns after years away, it's bound to cause drama, especially a negative character."

"Did I rub off on you?" Zoya Bhabi laughed. "I thought I was the drama expert." 

"Oh, you definitely rubbed on..." Ahad began, cheekily.

"Oh, hey!" I interrupted loudly. "Too much information, you shameless dude!" 

"Chill, Grandma. We're all married adults." Ahad chuckled. "But you guys get my point. I'm getting bad vibes from the return of the evil brother." He grabbed a photo frame from the desk, casually, and his amused expressions faltered. "Why can't we just get rid of all the problems in our life and be happy like old times?" He set the photo frame down and I saw that it was a photo of Fawad Bhai and Jasmina Bhabi when they were newly married. He had his arm around her shoulders, while her one arm was around his waist and her other hand was on his stomach. They both looked happy and incredibly in love. "Jazzy has the She-Devil after her, and Arhaan Bhai is married to the said She-Devil." 

"We had good times." I smiled, leaning back in the chair and staring up at the ceiling. The Ali and Sheikh family had been good friends anyway, but because I was Ahad's best friend, he always used to drag me along with him to their families' gatherings. 

My eyes automatically moved towards Fariha. She was finally starting to look like her pre-Umair self again- the same carefreeness and the same smiles and laughter. Ma Sha Allah. The period between had been nightmare for her, but together we were sorting through the problems.

I then glanced at Ahad, who had gone down a very dark path, but Alhumdulillah, he had returned to us. I'm not bragging, but I had fought a lot to get him back. He was my best friend, and I had almost felt responsible for him, especially as a policeman. I hadn't always succeeded, but all that mattered now was that he was reformed, and was now the same 'good bad boy' from childhood, if that makes any sense.

"I'm jealous." Zoya Bhabi whispered. "I wish I had friendship like that when I was growing up. But I hardly got along with anyone my age because everyone was annoying."

"Yep, definitely made for Ahad." I grinned at my best friend. "He loved himself and hated everyone but me, in our year."

"Dude, I'm sorry to break it to you, but I hated you too. You were just a bit more tolerable than the rest of the idiots."

"Excuse me, but I was also in your class!" Fariha glared at him.

"You were an exception, Fariha. I don't call girls idiots anyway." Ahad said, apologetically. 

"I wish there was a device that detects that you're about to say something stupid and stops you before you can...oh wait, there is! It's called a brain." Zoya Bhabi facepalmed, shaking her head at her husband.

"Since I met you, my heart is the only thing that works hard. My brain is lost in just thinking about you." Ahad got down on his knee in front of his wife so suddenly, that we all just blinked at him, surprised.

"Have you started up your own cheese factory?" Zoya Bhabi leaned forward,

Fariha cleared her throat. "I would say get a room, but Hania's sleeping there." 

"There are other places, I'm sure..." Ahad winked at his wife.

"I'm going to go in the kitchen and pretend that I didn't just witness this." I stood up. "Coming, Fari?"

"Sure." She stood up as well and looked at the couple. "Behave. My sons are just in the living room across the foyer." 

Fari and I headed out, and I wrapped an arm around her, before whispering in her ear. "Maybe Ahad's right...It's a big house, Ma Sha Allah." 

"I'm not getting a 'quickie' with you while my parents, brother and sons are present under the same roof." She nudged me lightly with her elbow. "I'm not against making out a little though." She gave me a cheeky smile.

"I'll take it." In the kitchen, we set the coffee cups in the sink, before heading towards the door that led out to the utilities room. We closed the door inside and I pressed her against it, trapping her between my arms. Leaning closer, I pressed my lips lightly against hers. 

She put her hands on my cheeks, deepening the kiss. Soon her hands began to tangle themselves through my hair. 

Why did I never notice you before, Fariha? You were always beautiful, with a kind heart. I guess at one point I'd thought that she was a brat, and I could think of one scene in particular.

I chuckled, unintentionally.

"What?" She pulled back, panting, and looking confused.

"You really were such a brat, Fariha." I stared at her, adoringly.

"What?" She had no idea what I was talking about.

****

We were at the Sheikh family home, and Ahad and I were playing cricket in the garden, when the Ali family had arrived (minus Fawad Bhai, who was in London for his studies).

"That's not the car that I wanted, Papa!" Fariha's annoyed voice came into our ears, and we turned to look. 

Fariha had newly received her driving licence, and apparently, her parents had chosen a new car for her, rather than asking her for her opinion. 

"What's wrong with that car?" Fatima Aunty asked a sulking Fariha.

"It's not the cool car that I mentioned." Fariha was pouting now. "Papa, I hardly ask you for anything this expensive. Please..."

"No. Like Fawad accepted his first car, the one that we chose for him, you should do." Ali Uncle replied.

"That's because his car was already cool!" Fariha said. "You know what? I'm going home."

"Fariha Ali, if you don't stop your tantrums right now, you'll end up with no car!" Fatima Aunty snapped.

The moment the three had disappeared into the house, Ahad and I burst out laughing.

"There's not a bigger brat in the world than Fariha Ali." I had said as I tried to calm myself down.

"Yes, there is. Jasmina." Ahad burst into a new fit of laughter, causing me to do the same. "That sister of mine would throw a fit over the wrong brand of chawal for dinner."

*Chawal: rice.

We laughed so hard that I felt like I would collapse.

****

"How do you remember that?" Back in the present, Fariha looked awed. 

"Because now that you're my wife, I try to remember all the moments that I'd witnessed, that defined Fariha Ali, now Fariha Zafar." 

"I'm not the girl who throws tantrum over the wrong type of car anymore. That memory doesn't define me anymore." She spoke softly, but seriously.

"No, it doesn't." I grabbed her hands. "But it does remind me that you've become a completely different person since then. You've become sensible, more mature and more responsible, and I'm saying this from the bottom of my heart, you have become an incredible, dream wife." 

"You've bought me so close to saying yes to a 'quickie'." She smiled before pressing her mouth against mine once more.

We didn't go all the way, but we did spend a lot of time in the utilities room, making out like teenagers did in western tv shows and films.

For a while, I forgot about the potential problem waiting for us in Lahore, in the form of my brother. I'll deal with it tomorrow, In Sha Allah, as he'll be visiting tomorrow.

For tonight, I was only going to focus on Mrs Fariha Zafar, my beautiful wife, who was currently clinging onto me, as if for dear life.

****

Ahad

"Let's go for a drive." I stood up. "Jazzy doesn't drive these days, but her car keys are out there."

"It's going to be Fajr in like forty minutes." Zoya eyes were wide with excitement.

"You only live once, Zoya Ahad Sheikh." I held out my hand and she took it, looking as eager as I felt.

I grabbed Jazzy's car keys from the key rack in the kitchen, and then we headed out, sneakily.

I learned to drive and got my licence here during my time at university. However, it was a bad idea to go driving in a new place without GPS, which was exactly what I did, the idiot that I am.

Initially, neither of us realised, because we were having a great time driving around at night. 

"Ahad, we should get back. It's almost Fajr." Zoya yawned. "I want to just pray and fall asleep."

"Okay, well..." I paused. "Oh, s**t."

"What?" 

"I have no idea where we are." I looked around. "Where did we come from?" I glanced around at the dark residential street. 

"Enter the address in the GPS on your phone, genius." She pointed out, lightly slapping my arm.

I looked at her, sheepishly. "I don't know the address by heart." 

"Are you serious?" She looked horrified. "Ahad! It's your sister's home!"

"And? It's a different country! I don't go around memorising addresses you know. It's all about knowing the directions."

"Which you don't." She groaned. "Great, now we're going to have to call and disturb someone." 

I smiled. "A few times I ran out of petrol in the middle of the night while out with friends. Arhaan Bhai was the one I called. This was before his marriage, of course." And suddenly, I really missed those days. 

Yes, Jazzy and I fought a lot, and yes I used to find it unfair how she always got away with things. But the bond between us three siblings was something that our parents were incredibly proud of. And now, the tensions had automatically created distances between us.

"Ahad, just have faith." Zoya noticed that I was suddenly feeling down. "In Sha Allah, all will work out for the best."

"Not in Sadia Arhaan Sheikh's lifetime." I couldn't help muttering.

"Ahad..."

"It's cool." I sighed. "Babe, do you mind calling Zafar from my phone? I really don't want to disturb Fawad Bhai or Jazzy right now." 

She nodded and dialled Zaf's number.

I wish things could go back to the way they used to be.

It was true that one bad apple could spoil the barrel. Sadia Bhabi had caused serious damage to our family, and I don't know about anyone else, but I wasn't willing to forgive her for that.

"He's not answering, and neither is Fariha." Zoya sighed. "We can either just drive around all night, or we're going to have to call someone else."

I pulled up in a safe space, and asked for my phone, which she placed on my palm. "It's time for a little blast from the past."

I dialled my Arhaan Bhai's number. He'll be getting up for Fajr anyway. "Bhai, your brother needs help again." 

****

Jasmina

When the door to my bedroom burst open, Ammi and I jumped, startled. I'd been lying on my side, and she sat beside me, caressing my head. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Ammi." Fawad's voice had made me sit up. "I didn't realise that you were here."

"Allah!" Ammi quickly grabbed her dupatta and stood up. "I'm so sorry, Fawad, beta. I'll go." 

Wait. Did he just call her 'Ammi'? A small smile appeared on my lips. 

"No..." He looked sheepish. "I would ask you to stay, but I have literally nowhere else that I can go."

Ammi was looking so embarrassed that I felt bad for her.

"Ammi, calm down. It's just Fawad." I said, softly. "You're acting like you barely know him."

Ammi gave me a 'What do you know' look. I then realised how awkward it must be for her to be in her daughter and son-in-law's bedroom, especially in his presence.

"Mina, what happened to you?" Fawad looked at me, and I instantly knew that he was trying to take the discomfort away from my mother. 

And it worked. "You talk to her, Fawad beta, since she never listens to anyone else. She'd been in severe pain all day, but she didn't utter a word about it."

"Iman's okay, in my defence." I muttered, weakly.

The look Fawad gave me made me want to hide under the duvet. My husband is glaring angrily at me because he's so much in love with me. How hilarious.

"Well, she's been ordered complete bed rest now." Ammi said, making me groan internally. "I'm willing to take full responsibility of Hania, don't worry about it. But this girl can't get up from bed." 

"If she does, she and I will have serious issues." Fawad's expressions were hard to read at that point, but I knew that he was dead serious. When it came to my health and safety, as well as our daughters', there was absolutely no compromise. Ever. There was not even a ghost of a compromise, he was that strict. 

Being loved this much was not easy sometimes. 

Who am I kidding? I love being loved this much. 

"I'll leave you to it. Good night." Ammi came around and kissed my forehead. "May Allah bless you and your family forever. Including our little Iman. Ameen." She left the room and closed the door behind her.

"Before you say anything, you being mad at me would cause me more stress." I said, quickly. "For our Iman's sake, be kind."

He came over to the bed, silently.

"Fawad, seriously. I'm not allowed to be told off right now. I'm too fragile." I looked at him, wide eyed. "Anger is bad for my health now and should not even be directed at me!" 

"Kahan se seekhain hain itne dramay?" He looked amused as he stood there, arms crossed over his chest.

*"Where did you learn all these dramas from?"

I stared at him silently for a few moments. "You're not going to tell me off?" 

"Jaan, just tell someone the next time you're in pain." 

"My back was killing me already." I admitted. "And when Sadia Bhabi came to tell me something, I don't know, my back pain somehow just got worse and then I suffered from a panic attack when I started feeling worried about Iman..."

"Sadia Bhabi came to tell you something?" He looked angrier than I'd ever seen him. His usually calm façade was replaced by a quiet rage. 

"Yeah, something about clearing her conscience..." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Jaan, do you know something about this?" 

"I'm just going to have a shower." He said, quickly. "Hospital germs and all." 

He was keeping something from me. I could tell that by how he was suddenly avoiding my gaze, and how he had quickly change the topic. That was a new and strange experience for me, because usually Dr Fawad Ali was always honest with me, as I was with him.

"Fawad, kya chupa rahe hain aap mujhse?" I asked, anxiously.

*"Fawad, what are you hiding from me?" 

"Nothing, I'm just tired, Mina." He kept his back to me as he spoke, before heading into the bathroom.

Did he just lie to me? What is he hiding from me?

****

Fawad

One person's action can cause a domino effect. 

Sadia Bhabi's actions had not only caused further tensions, but now I had to lie to my wife about it. 

As I stood in the shower, I felt like punching the glass, the wall, anything. One thing I hated more than anything in the world was lying, especially to my loved ones...especially to Mina.

The girl had always been so honest with me that sometimes I'd wondered if she was even capable of lying. And I, in turn, had always told her everything just as honestly. 

But after today's incident, it was even more important that Jasmina didn't find out about the Hania Incident. I would protect Hania with my life, and would never let this happen to her again, but I also couldn't risk my wife and my other daughter by telling Jasmina about this.

Kaisa baap hai tu, ke tere hi chaat ke neeche, kisi ne teri beti ko jaan booch ke nuksaan pohanchaya, aur tune kuch kiya bhi nahin? My inner voice taunted me.

*What kind of a father are you, that under your own roof, someone intentionally harmed your daughter, and you didn't even do anything about it?

I had to do something. Sadia Bhabi had already harmed Hania, and now she was going to harm Mina and Iman. 

I guess I'm going to have to ask Arhaan and his family to leave.

As much as I valued my friendship with Arhaan, my wife and daughters came first, always and forever.

****

Mina was asleep by the time I came back out, so I slept till Fajr, after which I heard Ahad and Zoya in the hallway.

I got up and headed out. "Guys, I'll take Hani now." 

"Bhai, it's okay." Zoya smiled politely at me.

"That's fine. You guys get some rest." I said. 

Zoya went inside to get Hania.

"I'm sorry, Bhai. Sadia Bhabi is technically our family, and I feel like I should apologise." Ahad began, uncomfortably.

"Firstly, you don't have to apologise, Ahad." I replied. "And secondly, an apology is not going to fix what she did. Her mistake is just too huge to be forgiven by a 'sorry'. I'm going to ask them to leave."

He looked stunned, and Zoya returned with a sleeping Hania. She handed her to Ahad, who handed her to me. 

"Good night." I told them both and stepped back into my bedroom, before lightly closing the door behind me.

"Who are you going to ask to leave?" Mina looked up at me from the bed, sleepily.

I groaned silently and forced the lie out of my throat. "I was just telling Ahad that I had to ask some unruly family members to leave, at the hospital."

The look on Mina's face made it clear that she didn't believe me, but she didn't argue or try to prove me wrong. She just nodded and turned on her side, with her back towards me.

Ya Allah, forgive me. Mina, forgive me. But I can't risk losing you and Iman. I will tell you when the timing is right, I promise.

Domino Effect.

Sadia Bhabi's acts were damaging the very basis of mine and Mina's marriage: honesty and trust.

I was going to have to have that serious talk with Arhaan later today. 

****

Family politics is like a contagious disease, one which not only affects others, but also spreads out and damages other areas of the body- in this case, family.

Would Fawad and Mina's relationship face the side effect of Sadia's politics?

Would Sadia end up telling the truth to Mina, or would Fawad kick the family out before that?

Thoughts and comments?

Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote!