Saad's pov :

"Now are you even going to tell us what happened or just sulk here like a kid?" Bhai asked me, plopping down on the bed beside me. I turned my face to stare at him, an involuntary sigh escaping my lips. Looking back down at the file in my left hand and a pencil in my right hand, I realised I had drifted off with my thoughts in another world, and abandoned my work.

Keeping the pencil in the file and closing it, I pushed it on the coffee table in front of me, deciding to work on it later on. Bhai forwarded a mug of tea towards me, and it was then that I noticed him holding two mugs of tea in his hand. Grabbing it, I smiled at him gratefully.

It had been a few hours since we arrived here and it was going to be Zuhr soon. Alayna was sleeping in her room, and I was kind of thankful for that. Because I didn't want her to give away anything to bhai, bhabi or mama, baba.

Mama and baba didn't even know anything about my nikkah yet. And I was scared of their reaction. I didn't want Alayna to disclose anything to them. I wanted to be the one to tell them about it. I wanted to be the one to endure their warth, if there was any. I didn't want them to take their anger out on Alayna.

I would have to ask her to keep this a secret somehow, I thought. But I didn't even know what I would have to do or say for her to keep it a secret, since she was still just a kid and they were so innocent and pure. Just asking them to keep a secret felt like a sin. Like I did something which I was never supposed to do. Actually, maybe I did something which I wasn't supposed to do. I felt like I had tainted her innocence and it was all my mistake in the first place. Ya Allah, what would I do now!? My head felt like it would explode from all these thoughts.

And if it was about telling bhai and bhabi about whatever happened there, then I didn't know. I didn't know how to tell them or what to tell them. I wasn't ready to tell them about it yet. Maybe I would tell them, but after a while?

Rubbing two fingers on my forehead, trying to cease the headache, I sipped my tea. "It's nothing bhai, don't worry about it much." I told him, looking down.

"Chote..." He was about to say something but trailed off with a sigh, nodding his head. "Accha. I'm going to leave that topic for now. But just for now, understood? I'm here for you, always remember that." He patted my back with that, a small assuring smile on his face.

I smiled back at him while nodding my head. I wanted to tell him that I knew that. That I knew he wouldn't ever leave my side and would be with me till the end, but I stayed mum. I felt drained. It seemed like all of my energy was sucked out of me and I didn't even know how to get it back.

._._._.

The atmosphere of the house was filled with laughter and delicious amora. Mama was in the kitchen with bhabi, making something 'special' because her kids 'just returned from a week long trip' and 'they haven't eaten anything properly because they look so weak'. Although I doubted that was true because I think I actually gained a bit of weight since as far as I remember, I was stuffed by ammi quite a lot.

But since I couldn't tell that to mama and argue with her, I would just have to cope up with having even more food. And there went my plan of going on a diet once I was back home.

"Baba stop!" Alayna squealed, giggles escaping past her lips and her eyes squeezed shut.

"Naah ah ahh! I have to make it up for the time you weren't here." He replied, tickling her even more, earning more giggles from her.

I turned my gaze away from my laptop with a small smile on my lips to look at them. A chuckle escaped bhai's lips as he too stared at them, amusement clear in his eyes. Shaking my head, I turned back to work on the project at hand. I had to complete it, it was due from quite a long time now.

"Bhai please help me." Alayna wheezed pleadingly.

"And what will I get in return?" Bhai asked her while folding his arms, enjoying her state.

"Bhabi." She muttered through gritted teeth, earning a laugh from baba while bhai just shook his head, already expecting something like this from her.

"I love how sarcastic she can be at times." After overcoming his laughing session, baba replied.

"Then can you please let me go now?" She requested, her eyes pleading.

"Nope, not yet." After that, there was another round of squeals and laughter.

"Bhai please help!" She pleaded, now tears leaking from her eyes.

"You won't take my side so I won't help you anymore." Bhai replied in fake annoyance.

"You... guys are so bad!.. I- I will... complain to bhabi... about you both..." She wheezed in between her breaths as she tried to get away from baba.

"Yeah, and what will your bhabi do?" Bhai asked her, amused.

"Mere baare me kya baatein ho rahi hai yaha?" Bhabi entered the room with a smile, drying her hands.

(What are you guys talking about me?)

"Sirf aapke baare me nahi, meri to do bhabiyan haina." Her reply made my actions halt. My head snapped in her direction, shocked. Ya Allah, what was she talking about!? I had to stop her. No, I needed to stop her!

(Not only about you, I have two sister-in-law's.)

"Do bhabiyan? Wo kaise?" Baba questioned, confused. My gaze turned to look at him as I slammed my laptop shut, getting up to go to her.

(Two sister-in-law's? How?)

"Aapko-" Before Alayna could say something, bhabi interrupted her, making me halt in my place.

(You-)

"Baba aapko mama bula rahi thi. Aap jaake dekh lijiye kya baat hai." She told him quickly, panic clear in her voice.

(Dad, mom was calling you. Will you go and see what's the matter.)

"Haa jaake dekh leta hu lekin pehle meri pari ki baat to sun lu." He replied, making me panic.

(Yeah, I will see but let me hear what my fairy has to say first.)

"Aap uski baatein baad me bhi sun sakte hai, wo to waise bhi aise hi bol rahi hai. Aap pehle jaake mama ko dekh lein, warna wo naraz ho jaingi." Bhai tried to intervene but it seemed like today was just not my day.

(You can listen to her later too, and anyways she is just blabbering stuff. First go and see what mom has to say or else she will get upset.)

"Nahi mai aise hi nahi bol rahi, sach keh rahi hu. Aap meri baat to sune." Alayna interrupted with a pout, glaring at bhai. Not being able to take it anymore, I went towards her and hoisted her up in my arms. "Bhai-"

(No I'm not just blabbering stuff, I'm telling the truth. Listen to me first.)
(Brother-)

"I forgot to tell you something." I interrupted her before she could say anything else. Glancing at bhai and bhabi, I silently hoped for them to handle the matter here.

"Lekin aap mujhe baad me bata sakte haina?" She pouted, trying to get down from my arms.

(But you can tell me that later, right?)

"Jee, lekin ye zaruri hai." I muttered, taking her out of the room, towards her room.

(Yes, but this is important.)

"Aisi bhi kya zaruri baat jo yaha nahi kar sakte?" Baba inquired, about to follow me.

(What's so important that can't be told here?)

"Rehne dijiye baba. Aap pehle mama ko dekh lijiye..." And I was out of earshot after that.

(Leave it dad. Go and check on mom...)

"Kya hua bhai. Aapko kya batana tha mujhe?" Alayna questioned just as I put her down on the bed. Glancing back at the door, I turned to look at her, not knowing what to tell her.

(What happened? What do you want to tell me?)

Sitting on the bed with a sigh, I ran my hand through my hair. "Wo... Aap mera ek secret rakh sakti ho?" I requested while looking at her, nervous about her answer.

(That... Can you keep a secret?)

"Jee bhai. Maine aapka purana wala secret bhi to rakha tha na!" She beamed.

(Yes. I kept your last secret too, right!)

Confusion filled my mind as I looked at her with a frown. Which secret was she talking about? "Konsa purana wala secret?" I asked her, trying to remember if I ever told her any of my secrets.

(Which last secret?)

"Arreee, aap itni jaldi bhul gaye? Wo ring wala, yaad aaya?" She replied with a frown of her own while looking at me, dejected.

(You forgot about it so soon? That ring one, remember?)

"Oh." And I thought she forgot about it, that's why none of them mentioned it. But I was wrong. A sigh escaped my lips as I nodded my head with a smile.

Oh wait, this reminded me, I hadn't yet returned that ring to her! Oh God! What would I even do? If I remember correctly, Amira told me that her sister asked her not to lose that ring. It must have been special to her and she might be worried, trying to find it! And here I was, being careless with that ring! God!

"Accha. Ab meri baat dhyaan se suno. Mai nahi chahta ke aap wo baat kisiko bhi batao, mai sabko khud bataunga. Theek hai?" Looking at her intently, I told her before asking her, just to confirm her answer.

(Okay. Now listen to me carefully. I don't want you to tell anyone about that, I will tell them myself. Okay?)

"Konsi baat?" Knitting her eyebrows, she looked at me, confused.

(About what?)

"Uh... Wo... Waha par... Jo kuch bhi hua..." I stuttered, not knowing how to actually tell her.

(Uh... That... There... Whatever happened there...)

"Kya hua? Bhai mujhe samajh me nahi aa raha hai ke aap konsi baat ke baare me baat kar rahe hai. Waha to bohot kuch hua tha." Was she pulling my leg or she actually didn't know what I was talking about?

(What happened? I can't understand what you are talking about. So many things happened there.)

"Mera matlab mere nikkah ki baat?" I elaborated while rubbing the back of my neck, flabbergasted.

(I mean about my nikkah?)

"Oh... Mama aur baba ko abhi tak nahi pata uske baare me?" She inquired, looking at me with wide eyes.

(Oh... mom and dad don't know about it yet?)

"Nahi..." I trailed off.

(No...)

"Accha... Lekin phir mai kyu nahi batau?" Her questions make me feel like banging my head at my stupidity somewhere. Obviously she was going to ask me questions, she was a curious kid.

(Okay... But why shouldn't I tell them?)

Taking a deep breath, I replied with a small smile, all the while asking Allah to forgive me for my sins and for lying. "Kyuke I want to give them a surprise. Accha idea haina?"

(Because I want to give them a surprise. Nice idea, right?)

She looked at me with confusion filled gaze, her lips pulled in a thinking manner while a frown adorned her face, unsure about whatever I said but nevertheless, humming in response. I knew she had a lot of questions, about so many things, but for now, I would have to let that slide. She would have to let it slide. I smiled in relief, feeling a bit of the weight being lifted off my shoulders.

Getting up from there, I headed out of the house, to the lawn, where we had a few chairs and a table set up. Just as I sat down, bhai and bhabi came out, looking worried. A tired sigh escaped my lips as I looked away. I think I needed to tell them what happened there because it felt like this situation was getting out of hand.

Settling on the chairs around me, bhai looked at me sympathetically before asking me. "What did you tell her?"

"That it's a secret and I want to reveal it to them myself." I replied curtly, my mind busy contemplating the weightage of my actions.

"Don't worry Saad, we are with you and here for you. Everything will be alright, In Sha Allah." Bhabi told me soothingly. After that, there was silence for a while, all of us busy in our own thoughts.

"Bhai, bhabi, I want to tell you something." I broke the silence quietly, glancing around the lawn before looking at the door. Thankfully, it was closed.

"What is it?" Bhabi asked me, leaning forward with a curiosity filled gaze. And then I told them. I told them whatever happened there after they left, hoping to get an excuse, an answer, anything.

._._._.

They both were looking at me with their mouths agape. I turned my gaze away from them, not knowing how to face them anymore. I waited for them to say something, anything, because their silence was killing me. No actually, it was making me feel awkward.

"Now are you guys even going to say something or just keep quiet?" I asked them, annoyed, when I couldn't take it anymore.

"Oh no, it's just too much to take in. Let us process it first before saying anything." Bhai told me, coming out of his lala land.

"Ya Allah, I can't believe it! How can she even do that?" Bhabi finally uttered with utter confusion, rage and concern, all at once in her voice.

"What are you guys talking about? Who can do what?" Before any of us could say anything, mama intervened, coming down from the porch with a tray in her hands, baba and Alayna following behind.

Panic struck me once again as I frantically looked at bhai, hoping they didn't hear our conversation. He gave me an assuring smile, silently telling me not to worry much about it. That we could handle it all. I exhaled a long breath, trying to calm my racing heart beat before giving them a small smile.

"Oh nothing much mama. Just a video we saw on the internet earlier." With a smile, bhabi replied quickly, composing herself.

"Accha, abhi bhi kaam ki baatein ho rahi hai? Wo to hamesha hoti rehti hai, baad me bhi ho sakti haina." She replied, shaking her head before keeping the tray on the table and taking the empty seat beside me.

(I see, still talking about work? You guys always talk about work, you can talk about it later too, right?)

"Nahi mama, ye kaam ki baatein nahi hai. Hum to bas aise hi..." With a nervous laugh, bhabi replied, glancing at bhai.

(No mom, it's not about work. We were just...)

"Accha jo kuch bhi ho. Abhi ye sab baatein nahi karo. Abhi to bas chai piyo aur enjoy karo." She told us sternly, passing me a cup of tea, which I took with a smile, thankful that they didn't hear anything.

(Okay whatever. Don't talk about it now. For now just drink tea and enjoy yourself.)

._._._.

Now I was kind of wishing that she should have heard our conversation. At least she wouldn't be here, pestering me to meet another girl, which she had started liking.

"Saad, baat to suno meri. You already know this girl, so mujhe lagta hai wo tumhe pasand aayegi." Her words made me squeeze my eyes shut. Now who was she talking about?

(Saad, listen to me. You already know this girl, so I think you will like her.)

"Mama..." I groaned, rubbing two fingers on my forehead, wishing I should have told them about my nikkah. Actually, it still wasn't late, I could still tell them about it. It was a great opportunity. But just the problem was that I didn't know where my wife and mother-in-law disappeared!

"It's Shanzay, your colleague. You remember her, don't you? She is also our family friend, remember?" Mama interrupted me once again, making me look at her in shock. What was she talking about? Wha-? How? What was even happening here?

My gaze flickered over to bhai and bhabi as I looked at them helplessly, despair clear in my eyes. They gave me sympathetic looks, shaking their head at mama's antics and my helplessness.

Glancing at baba, I saw him already looking at me, observing me keenly. I quickly composed my posture and expression, hoping he didn't find out anything or I didn't look suspicious.

"Are you even listening to me?" Mama asked me once again, turning my face toward her, turning my attention with it. I looked at her, contemplating my answer.

"Maria, baccha aaj hi to apni trip se wapas aaya hai, aur tum uske aate hi shuru ho gai. Thoda to sabar kar lo, usko aaram karne do kuch waqt, phir puchte rehna jo puchna ho." Before I could say anything, baba intervened, saving me from answering her questions.

(He came home today from his trip Maria, and you have already started pestering him. Wait for a while, let him rest for some time, then you can ask him whatever you want.)

I passed him a grateful smile as mama sighed, nodding her head. Smiling at her, I leaned my head on her shoulder, closing my eyes, trying to get some peace from this chaotic world and now, even my chaotic mind.

._._._.

"We are so sorry." Bhabi muttered sadly while looking at me apologetically.

"It's okay bhabi, it isn't your fault. None of this is your fault." I replied, closing my eyes while leaning back and heaving a sigh.

"Yeah, I know. But still, I feel so sad and bad for you."

"Hmm..." I hummed, getting lost in my thoughts once again.

"But you know, I'm sorry about something else too..." She added, making me curious. I peeked at her, opening one of my eyes.

"What is it?" I asked her when she didn't say anything else.

"I... Think... Mama is actually serious about this girl who she was telling you about." She replied, closing her eyes and leaning back on the couch. A groan escaped my lips as I squeezed my eyes shut. Ya Allah! This was seriously not happening right now! I heard bhai snicker, making me glare at him in annoyance.

"Best of luck chote. Not everyone is as lucky as you, getting the chance of getting married again. That too, to another girl." He told me, but regretted as soon as the words left his mouth, as he earned a glare from bhabi.

"Oh so you think he is lucky?" She asked him leaning forward, all the while looking at him.

"Uh- um... I- I mean to say that..." He stuttered before trailing off, the colour of his face draining as he gulped. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." He quickly added, looking at her hopefully.

"Getting married to another girl is being lucky? Haina?" She asked him once again with a sweet smile this time. I was confused, torn between amusement and terror. I didn't know if I should be enjoying this argument, more like interrogation, or if I should be worried for my brother's safety and future.

(Right?)

"Haa... Nahi... Mera matlab hai..." And I knew he was gone. He should have thought before replying anything.

(Yeah... No... I mean...)

"All the best bhai. You need it more than me at the moment." Chuckling, I got up from the couch and winking at him, I left the living room, giving them some 'privacy.'

._._._.

The next day arrived and went, I still don't know if I should say like a breeze or like a wind. While one is soothing, the other is harsh. The day was uneventful, but the memories which kept me at bay, weren't.

I kept remembering her, even if I tried my best not to, I just couldn't help it. I usually found myself lost while doing my work or trying to complete my project. It was unusual for me, I had never been like this before. And it was kind of scaring me to be honest. I wasn't even sure if I would be able to find them but yet here I was, being like this. I wondered if she was experiencing the same thing.

The doorbell rang, indicating the arrival of someone. Since mama was in her room, I headed out of the living room to open the door, wondering who it might be. It was past magrib already, and I didn't remember calling any of my friends.

As soon as I opened the door, I was greeted by frantic bhabi. And as soon as she noticed me, she beamed in excitement before looking around, as if trying to find someone. I looked at her, confused at her weird behaviour.

Earlier, mama and bhabi went to someone's house to meet them, and after a while, mama returned but bhabi went to meet one of her friends.

"Mujhe andar to aane do, I have something to tell you." Bhabi told me in excitement while moving me aside and heading towards the living room. Shrugging, I closed the door before following her.

(Let me come in, I have something to tell you.)

"Kya hua bhabi? Aap bohot khush nazar aa rahi hai." I asked her, sitting on one of the couches.

(What happened sister-in-law. You look very happy.)

"Arreee yaar, baat hi kuch aisi hai kya batau!" She laughed, happiness radiating off her as she looked at me mischievously.

(Oh man, what should I even tell you!)

"Accha, kya baat hai?" Looking in her direction, my gaze flickered to her face before settling on the wall behind her as my thoughts once again started drifting away.

(I see, what is it?)

"You won't believe it! Mai-" She was saying when we heard another doorbell. I glanced at her before glancing back at the door. Giving her an apologetic look, I stood up and went to open the door, wondering who it might be this time!

(You won't believe it! I-)

._._._.

▪ What do you think will happen now?

._._._.