The lawn was adorned with strings of multi-color light woven around the trees. The lights made everything look serene and magical. The red, white, yellow, pinks of the flowers brimmed with brightness as the lights sparkled over them. 

 The lush green grass was trimmed to perfection and felt like a soft carpet.

Colorful balloons were hung around the lawn leaving a festive atmosphere. 

"Maya, is the cake ready?" Her mother shouted across the house.

"Almost done, Ammi." Maya stopped the whipping machine and yelled back over the noises of the children. She added some blue food coloring to the cream and mixed it together incorporating air into it.

When the cream was ready, she decorated the cake creating an ombré effect. The bottom was the darkest shade with the colors getting lighter till the top of the cake. She angled her head and stared at it and then blew out an inaudible sigh in satisfaction. It had turned out the way she wanted.

Her shoulder and neck muscles were aching from all the work but it was worth it. That day it was her nephew, Uzair's second birthday and that bundle of joy had captured her heart with his toothy smile.

"Can you pass me the piping tips." Maya requested the maid as she covered the top of the cake with cream and spread it out evenly with a knife. "The petal shape ones."

Putting the cream in a piping bag, she carefully decorated the edges of the cake. She was making a cake after a very long time, so she had been a little doubtful of her skills. Upon Areesh's insistence she had acquiesced and decided to go for it. 

She was surprised that she hadn't baked anything for a long time. Maybe it was because she onky baked when she was feeling happy. She wasn't sure of the connection but she hadn't made any cakes after that inicident.

She blew out a heavy sigh and shook her head focusing on the task at hand.

"This looks yummy."

Without turning around she smiled slightly before moving her concentration back to the cake.

"I'm going to make a mistake if you're going to keep staring." Maya mumbled, feeling his eyes on her.

"How do you know I'm staring?" Zayan said incredulously.

She turned to loom at him and took in his appearance. He was wearing a black leather coat on a white T-shirt and paired it up with casual jeans. 

"I can feel  your stare." She said.

Zayan chuckled. He wasn't staring. He was just looking. Her sleeves were rolled up till her elbows and her hair was in a loose messy bun with a few strands coming out and falling on her eyes. That was her typical hairstyle he had noticed.

Her forehead was creased in concentration as she carefully garnished the cake.

 "I never knew that you could bake." He verbalized his thoughts. Maya irritatingly moved her bangs away from her face as she piped the cream. Noticing her annoyance, he stepped closer to ber and moved the strands away from her forehead and tucked them behind her ear. He could feel a slight change in her demeanour at his action, but she didn't comment.

"What do you know about me anyway?" She said with a small smile without looking up at him.

"A lot." He replied without much thought.

"Yeah," she said slowly, her hand pausing in mid-movement as she met his eye. "That's true. You know things no one knows."

He sighed. He knew what she was hinting at but didn't say anymore. When he stayed quiet she averted her gaze and bent her head again continuing to pipe dollops of the cream on the cake. 

"How does this look?" She asked eyeing the cake. She felt like something was missing.

"Amazing." He said simply, making her smile but she still stared at the cake thoughtfully.

"Can you get me the sprinkles from the fridge?" She asked him while piping out a fancy 'happy birthday' with cream in the center of the cake.

"This?" Zayan turned with a bottle of choclate chips towards her.

"No. These are choclate chips. I need the colorful sprinkles." She laughed.

"I can't find that." He said as he rummaged around. Maya shook her head and leaving the piping bag on the counter went towards the fridge. She had just moved a few things when she found the bottle of the multicolored sprinkles.

"Oh." 

"Yeah, oh." She said as she shook the bottle of the sprinkles at him.

"Maya?" 

"Hm?" She looked at him as she added the sprinkles to the cake.

"I'm glad you agreed to come." Zayan said making her look at him.  Maya had been so reluctant to go, not wanting to face her brother or even talk to him.

It had taken a lot of arguments from Zayan to convince her. His practice as a lawyer was coming in handy, he had said after she had finally agreed.

"What would Uzair think if his phopho doesn't come to his birthday?"

"He can't think." She'd said making him roll his eyes.

"What would your family think if you don't go?"

"They would think that I'm sick." She had said in a duh tone.

"You're not sick." He had a triumphant smile on his face making her roll her eyes this time.

"They don't know that, do they? You can say that I was extremely sick and I couldn't even move from the bed." 

"Then everyone is going to think that I am such a bad person not taking care of my wife."

"Okay, maybe I'm not that sick, but I'm still sick."

"I am not going to lie to anyone."  

"Don't you lie in Court? Think of this as a case you have to win."

"I don't lie. And what does this have to with my profession?" He raised his eyebrow.

"All lawyers lie." 

"No they don't. And you won't be able to pay my fee anyway."

"You're going to charge your wife a fee?"  She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. I don't mix my profession and personal life. And if you're not going, I'm not either." He said in a tone of finality. "And if I'm not going, Mama isn't either."

 "Why on earth are you not going?" She almost snapped at him, feeling annoyed. "You're Uzair's Mamoo and Mama is his Naani. What will everyone say?"

"What will everyone say if his phopho doesn't go?" Zayan said as a small smirk formed on his face.

"Stop trying to trick me. And what you're doing is very childish." 

"I don't even understand why you don't 0)want to go. Clearly, you are not sick and you can get off the bed."

" You know why I don't want to go."  She said averting her eyes from him.

"I don't, Maya. Would you please enlighten me?" He cross-questioned , raising his eyebrow daring her to tell the truth.

"I don't want to talk to bhai, that's why. If he didn't come to see me, I don't want to see him either."

"Now that's childish Maya."  He said repeating her earlier words. "You're not going for him anyway."

Maya sighed heavily. That was true. She was not going for her brother anyway.

"Zayan, why are you doing this?" She turned to look him in the eye. Why did he care? What would he get out of this?

"Doing what?" He frowned

"This. What's it to you if I don't go?"  She frowned.

"Maya, when I said we're in this together, I meant it."  He said softly. "I really think you should go"

"Fine!" 

"Maya, you should go-" Zayan started

"I said fine!"

"Oh." He laughed.

"Yeah, I'm glad too that I came." She paused decorating the cake and turned to look at him, thankful that he had convinced her. Had she stayed home alone with her thoughts to accompany her, she would have become so depressed. At least here she didn't have time to think. It was ironic that her own thoughts were her biggest enemy.

Zayan taking the opportunity dipped his finger in the bowl of creaam and then licked it.

"What are you doing?" She frowned moving the bowl out of his reach.

He stepped closer to her to get another dollop of the ice blue cream. 

"C'mon!" He said as Maya moved farther away.

"Nope." She smirked as he moved closer trying to get the bowl. She was scared she was going to drop it with proximity and she could literally see herself in her mind's eye dropping the bowl with all the cream adorning the kitchen's floor instead of the cake.

"Mh-mmm." Someone coughed making them snap their heads towards the door. Areesha stood their with her arms crossed and an amused smirk on her lips. 

Zayan frowned before realizing the position they were in and quickly moved away from her scratching his head awkwardly.

Maya's ears turned red and she cleared her throat thinking how Areesha would have misunderstood everything. She glared at Zayan from the corner of her eye.

"It's not what you think-" Maya started, seeing Areesha's teasing smirk.

"I didn't say anything." Areesha raised her hands, her smile speaking for itself making Maya feel even more awkward. It was ironic how there was really nothing between them. Nothing of that sort anyway.

"Why did you come?" Maya changed the topic.

"I didn't even think anything, I promise." Areesha said clearly amused at her attempt to change the topic.

"What do you want, Areesha?" Zayan asked, refusing to be intimidated by her smirk.

"I'm sorry to disturb you but is the cake ready? The guests are about to come." Areesha said, her smile still in place.

"Yeah, almost." Maya said as she quickly turned back towards the cake and piped smaller spheres onto it, avoiding Zayan's eye as he pretended sipping on a glass of water.

***

"This is amazing Maya." Fawad commented through a mouthful of the cake. The guests had all left by now and it was only family. They were enjoying the cake which was left for the end.

"Thanks bhai." Maya replied softly, he heart warming all of a sudden. Everyone had complimented the cake, but when it came from her brother it was different. She could feel Zayan's eye on her but she didn't look at him.

"Yeah we wouldn't have had this cake if you didn't come." Zayan said. He had surprisingly loved it too even though he was not a big fan of desserts. He was more to the side of spicy stuff so it was new for him to take more than a small piece.

"Why wouldn't she come?" Fawad frowned at her.

"I- I was a little sick, that's why." She fibbed turning to look at Zayan whonhad an apologetic look on his face.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Fawad questioned in concern.

"Yeah I'm fine." She said not looking at him.

"Maya, you were sick that other day too. Did you visit a doctor?" His face showed his love and concern for her.  He cares. Her heart had whispered to her.

"I'm fine bhai. It was just a little headache." She reassured him with a lie, not wanting him to know that she was reluctant to come to her own home. 

He nodded slightly and before he could say anything else, Maya turned to her mother.

"Ammi, what was that aunty saying to you about me?" She changed the topic quickly.

"Who?" Her mother frowned, unable to remember.

"The one with the red and gold dupatta. You were talking to her and I heard my name. Who was she?"

"Oh, that's Tanzila bhabhi. Her family moved in our neighbors just a few weeks ago so we invited her. She was asking for your rishta for her son." She chuckled, clearly amused.

"So what did you say?" Maya asked.

"I told her that my daughter's married." She laughed. "What else would I say?"

"Yeah." Maya chuckled at her stupid question. She was married.

"Then she started asking how long you've been married and all. I don't know why people love to gossip." Her mother shook her head. "She also asked if you have kids yet."

Maya suddenly coughed out the juice she had been drinking.

"Seriously?" Why was everyone so curious about that? 

"Yeah that's what people talk about. What else was she supposed to talk about? Politics?" 

She caught Zayan's eye in that moment. He was looking at her with an amused yet reassuring smile and it was almost as if he could read her thoughts.

She smiled back at him. Why is everyone after that? her smile said.

He smiled back at her. Don't worry yourself about it. She tilted her head slightly, letting him know that she had understood his message.

Areesha cleared her throat at that moment making her head snap back at her. She has the same teasing smile on her face making Maya roll her eyes. She looked around to see that no one else had noticed. Thank God!

"Maya?" Fawad grabbed her attention.

"Yes?" She said cautiously as she turned towards him.

"You're happy, right?" He said in a low tone audible only to her. 

"I-I don't know." She said unable to say anything else. She wasn't happy, of course she wasn't. 

"You don't know?" He questioned with a frown.

"Bhai-" she started in an aggressive tone but then calmed herself down. "Why are you asking me this now?"

"Shouldn't I be concerned about you?" 

"Yeah, you should be." She smiled. It was a fake smile. She knew it and he knew it too but he didn't comment on that.

"You didn't answer my question Maya." Fawad said placing a head on her shoulder, genuinely concerned. "You're happy, right?"

"Does it really matter?" She said blankly.

"Of course it matters." He said incredulously. "Maya, you're worrying me. Is Zayan good with you?"

"Yeah." She nodded taking a glance at Zayan who was now conserving with her father. Just as she looked at him, as if on cue he glanced at her too.

She held his gaze for a few brief moments before turning back to her brother.

"So you're happy?" He pressed.

"I don't know. I haven't thought about it." She said with a tone of finality. She could see the concerned, worried look on his face but she didn't care. She wanted to, but she didn't like he hadn't cared all those times ago.

"Maya-" Fawad started before she interrupted him.

"I-I need to use the washroom." She said quickly, and without waiting for his reply she hurried out of the room leaving him confused and worried.

***

"How's Uzair baby?" Maya was cooing at him in a baby voice making him laugh. The elders were talking among themselves while Maya tried to help Areesha feed Uzair.

She brought the spoonful of rice to his mouth.

"Come on, open up." She said pressing the spoon to his lips. He shook his head at her obstinatly making baby voices to her.

"You don't want to eat this?" She asked him and he shook his head again. He shook his head at everything they said to him so she wasn't sure what he was saying.

"Okay come on, one last bite." She pleaded and made the spoon come to him like an aeroplane. "See, the aeroplane is coming to Uzair, and Uzair is going open his mouth for it!" Uzair still kept his mouth tightly shut making her frown at him.

"Is your aeroplane going to make these rice taste different?" Zayan commented from beside her. "Why are you feeding him this stuff?" He made a face at the boiled rice.

Sighing Maya put the plate away. 

"Okay, so does Uzair want to eat cake?" Maya brought cake towards his mouth, and he opened his mouth to it. 

"Aww! Uzair likes the cake."

"See! He's sick of this tasteless food." Zayan told Areesha with a smirk.

"Normally, he doesn't eat sugary stuff but maybe its his phupho feeding him so he's eating it." Areesha said with a smile. Finally, he was eating something.

"He doesn't like sweet things? Seriously? I'm disowning you Uzair! You can't be related to me." She said making him laugh showing his small pearly teeth. He had the cutest laugh in the world that made her forget all the worries she had.

"Okay, Uzair where's phupho?" She asked stuffing another piece of cake in his mouth.

Uzair pointed his finger towards her making her smile brightly. "Wow, he knows me!"

"Okay, where's Uzair's Mama?" For that he pointed towards Zayan in a confused way. Even his confused look was heart so cute.

"Ask him where's Eeesha." Areesha rolled her eyes. "He picked that from Fawad when he calls me Areesha. He can't speak 'R' yet so he shortened it to Eesha."

"Where's Eeesha?" Maya asked the baby and he immediately looked at his Mama making them all laugh at his antics.

"Bhai should start calling you Mama for him to learn then." She joked making them all groan as they imagined it in their heads.

"Tell him to clap his hands." Fawad told her enjoying himself thoroughly. His sister had come over after a long time. She was really the sunshine of their home and it was so empty and quiet without her.

"Clap you hands, Uzair." She asked him giving him a kiss on his chubby cheek. He immediately clapped his hands. "He's so cute."

"I'm taking him home with me." Maya said pulling his cheeks making him scream.

"He's being a shareef bacha right now. Usually he's such a shaitan." Areesha told her making her laugh at his antics. He was transfixed by the colorful buttons on her dress and tried to pull them off.

Zayan came forward to kiss his cheek making the baby frown.

"I think he doesn't like stubble." Maya commented, amused seeing him make a face whenever he tried to kiss him.

"You're good with children, Mashallah." Zayan commented in a low voice after Areesha had taken a grouchy Uzair for his nap time.

Maya turned to look at him with narrowed eyes remembering the earlier comment made by the unkown aunty.

"I'm just saying." He said in defense. 

Maya didn't say anything but she felt good after a long time. She was glad that she didn't react the same way as she had done before. Maybe it was because Zayan supported her about the issue. It was so odd that now she wasn't that affected by what other people said because of what he had told her about also not wanting to have kinds just yet. It was extremely odd but she chose not to overthink about it and let it be for once.

***