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26

Life was slowly coming together. Everything was starting to make sense. Today was Bhabi's gender reveal. Zara and I had organized a small little party with close friends and family. For the past couple of weeks, Zara and I dedicated ourselves to making this perfect; we planned out every detail.

"Beta, can you help me tie my hijab?" Maya Aunty, Bhabi's mom, asked.

After Bhabi told our close family and friends, we flew out Maya Aunty. Not only to take care of Bhabi but also to the Baby. She was the sweetest, and we all wished she moved here, but she doesn't want to leave Dubai.

"Of course!" I said, loosely tying the Blue scarf around her head.

For the dress code, everyone was told to wear white with accents of either Blue or Pink, representing which gender the thought the Baby was going to be. Maya Aunty had on a cute Blue hijab because she thought the Baby was a boy. Meanwhile, I had a pink Hijab and pink heels because my Fupi intuition thinks the Baby is a girl.

"Come down quick; they're coming soon!" Aunty said, leaving the room after I fixed her hijab.

I adjusted my lacy-white maxi dress and slipped on my pink heels. Over the past couple of months, my appearance has changed. I gained another 15 pounds, and I wasn't mad about it. Old me would've been so upset - and for a couple of weeks, I was. But I realized how much better I looked and how much better I felt having a tummy and soft arms. It was all me. Instead of focusing on weight, I focused on being healthy. I'd work out twice a week and eat healthy. I didn't even restrict calories. I just ate what made me happy.

We had decided to host the baby shower in our backyard. Bhai, Bhabi, and the rest of the guests would be coming soon. So we got to work.

By the time we had finished, the backyard looks beautiful! We went for a minimal but still bright look—lots of earth tones and yellows. We had lots of white balloons and the giant balloons that wrote out "BABY RAHMAN," we had gotten this very long dining table and took it outside, we even had a seating arrangement, with little cards with everyone's names on each plate.

"They're here!" Zara screamed.

Everyone stood back while Zara and I opened the door.

"The next time you walk out of this door, you'll know if you're having a girl or a boy," I said with a wink letting Bhabi and Bhai come in. As they walked into the backyard, they both gasped, and Bhabi started to cry. "Come here, Oh Allah, I have the best sisters ever!" She said, hugging Zara and me as she sobbed into my shoulder.

"So, you like it?" Zara asked

Bhabi lifted her head and looked at Bhai, and in sync, they both replied, "Love it."

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Eventually, the rest of the guests came, and now we all were seated outside, about to reveal the gender. Nobody knows the gender. We gave the lady at the party store the paper with the gender and told her to fill the white balloons with Pink or Blue confetti depending on what the note said.

Bhai and Bhabi both stood in the middle of the garden, waiting for Zara to bring the Balloons. Bhabi looked so pretty with her white maxi dress, making her belly pop through. She had decided to wear a Blue hijab and Pink shoes as she said, "I don't care as long as they're healthy." Bhai was wearing a white dress shirt and a pink tie. He said the same thing as Bhabi, but he had a feeling they were having a girl.

"Appi!" Zara yelled from inside.

I went in to find Zara pacing, Rukaiya and Fatima trying to calm her down, and Zayn looking like he doesn't know what to do.

"Where are the Balloons?" I asked

They all moved over and revealed the popped white Balloons with Pink confetti sprawled around the floor.

"It's a girl..?" Zara said slowly.

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I was fuming! What are we going to do? Everyone was waiting outside! I was about to tackle Zara when a voice stopped me.

"It's okay. I already called the party shop. They're making the Balloons right now. I'll go pick them up," Zayn said, as Zara quickly scrambled to fix the mess.

Wow, He's a fast thinker, that's for sure. Everything was under control. Everything would be okay and I calmed down, "How did it happen?" I asked Zara.

"Well, I was carrying the Balloons, and my hijab started to slip, so I took my hijab pin out about to fix it, not realizing I had balloons in my hand, and then *POP*," She said sheepishly.

I exhaled. There was never a dull moment in this household.

"Okay, you three distract everyone. While I go get the Balloons," Zayn said about to leave, but then he turned around, remembering something, "Wait... I didn't bring my car..."

"It's fine. I'll go get them," I said. This wasn't even his mess to clean up. Why was he so nice?

"But I gave them my contact information..."

"So...?"

"They won't give them to you without me..." What kind of policy was this?

"Both of you go then!" Rukaiya said with a smirk. I was not going with him alone!

"Fine, Zara, come with us," I said as we all headed to my car.

Thankfully, I had parked my car on the street and not the garage, or else we wouldn't have been able to get due to all the vehicles in our parking lot.

I hopped in the driver's seat, Zara in the passenger and an awkward Zayn in the back. I drove so fast; I'm shocked we didn't get pulled over.

Before you know it, we had successfully managed to get the balloons. I had entrusted Zayn with them as Zara is now a balloon murderer, and we got home.

"What took you so long"? Bhai asked as we rushed into the backyard. Ignoring him, I handed the balloons to Bhabi.

"Pop them," I said. We gathered and took many pictures, and then they popped them.

Both of their reactions were priceless. Bhai started running around, and Bhabi kept crying. It was then that I processed the fact that I was going to have a niece. "You ready to be a Fupi Zara?" I asked, nudging her shoulder as we watched Bhai and Bhabi hug.

"Yeah, but I also can't wait to be a Khala," She said, smirking. I groaned. This is all that I ever heard. Instead of telling her my usual, I'm never getting married, I looked over to a thrilled Zayn, as he pointed to his Pink tie to Bhai, telling him that he was right about the gender. I looked down at my hot pink shoes and surprised myself by whispering, "Inshallah."

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ah character development, finally  ;)