FAMILY

Teslim unlocked the door to her room and stepped inside with the urge to just collapse on her bed in tears. She knew that she was being hard on herself and more to her pain, she was being unfair to her husband. It was somewhat unreasonable but she couldn't help it. She felt sorry for her husband for not sparing him a chance to at least hold her again the last they met.

She missed his touch and warmth. She missed their usual display of affection, being able to laugh and talk to him. She hadn't done that in a while which anguished her. The last time they kissed was three months ago and those three lonely months felt like eternity. She fought the urge to pick up her phone and call him to tell him that she was sorry for her misbehavior, she missed him and she wished that they came back together. At that instant, there was nothing she wanted more than to share her feelings and worries with Ahmad, but her emotions were getting in the way.

Stepping into the room, she found Hannan on the couch with baby Fahad on her chest. The child was deep asleep as Hannan supported him delicately on her body. She had been watching Kids In The Wood, a Television series along with the other kids who sat on the floor in front of the TV.

Hannan looked up from what she was watching and her eyes met her sister. She gave her a small smile and when she didn't return one she knew instantly that something was wrong with her.

"Are you alright?" She asked and Teslim gave a small nod, quickly swiping under her eyes with her thumb. She stood up carefully and lay Fahad on the couch. As she walked up to her sister, she paused peering into her face.

"Are you crying, Teslim?" To her greatest surprise, Teslim burst into tears with loud sobs escaping her every breath, and Hannan feeling sorry and confused put an arm around her and pulled her onto her shoulder. Teslim couldn't hold back the urge to cry into her sister's shoulder as much as she wanted to stop herself. She was feeling overwhelmingly sad and internally wishing Ahmad was there to console her.

When Yaseera and Jaseem turned to look at their mother in concern, Hannan knew she shouldn't be crying in front of the kids, so she stylishly led her sister out of the room towards the living room. She sat her down in their mother's armchair that sat at a corner of the room, leading to the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Hannan asked anxiously and watched her burying her face in her palms."Did you fight with Ahmad?" Teslim shook her head, making Hannan even more curious. "Then what happened to you?" She pressed on but Teslim continued to sob her heart out.

Hannan decided to give her space, strolling back into the room to fetch her tissue. When she returned Teslim had calmed down a bit so she handed her the tissue.

She muttered a "Thank you," and dabbed her eyes. Hannan patted her back before reaching to sit on the armrest of the chair.

"Hannan," Teslim called with quivering lips and Hannan responded swiftly with a soft voice. "Yes," she peered into her eyes.

"I'm pregnant?" She said a fresh wave of tears streamed down her face, making a worried Hannan sit upright. "I'm three months gone." She added, wailing like a little child.

"Isn't that good news?" Hannan gave a puzzled expression. "Is that why you are crying?" She instantly grew impatient.

"I don't want to have the baby." She confessed and Hannan was almost paralyzed with shock upon hearing that.

"What?" She shrunk back a little with furrowed eyebrows. "What do you mean you don't want to have the baby?" She whispered, trying to process her sister's words.

"I can't have another child, at least not now. It's too early." Teslim murmured, cutting another tissue to dry up her face. Hannan stood up and slowly gave her sister some distance while staring at her like she was someone she couldn't recognize.

"So you are going to terminate the pregnancy?" Hannan was extraordinarily calm and careful with her words. She didn't want to spark up the already burning flame.

"What, no! You are unbelievable." Teslim almost exploded, but something stopped her from being aggressive and emotional. She was too drained to even express her plight.

"Excuse me!" Hannan reacted accordingly. She folded her arms across her chest. "I should be the one saying that because I don't understand what you mean by you can't keep the baby." She tried not to pressure her sister. She just needed more time to prepare a good lecture, already she had one coming up.

"I didn't say that. Don't misquote me, Hannan." Teslim protested with a huff. She remained silent and allowed her brain to register what she had said earlier. She knew that she might have passed the wrong message. She blamed herself for mincing her words.

Hannan stared at her sister as though she was expecting her to burst out, throw a fit, or become enraged and walk out on her any minute. She waited for her reaction, but she had none coming. Instead, she summoned Hannan to come sit by her side.

"Come here, come sit with me." She made hand gestures. Hannan examined her for a while with confusion evident in her eyes before pushing forward and returning to her former position.

"Now that I have your attention." She began saying, a little hesitant about how to start the conversation. "I'd like to say I'm sorry, for my sudden outburst. I know I've been a bit paranoid these days towards you and Mother." She went on and Hannan cut her short.

"You don't have to apologize." She interrupted with a raise of her hands.

"Please, let me finish." She shook her head, raising her hands to stop her sister from interrupting her again.

She admitted that she was wrong and made it clear that she was ready to make things right again with Ahmad, her mother, Hannan, and even with herself. She confided in her sister that she had been at internal war with herself: while she was ready to accept the reality, she thought she had some residual trauma from the past events that took effect in her life and now she was too scared to raise another kid. She feared she was tainted and had a psychological injury that could affect her parenting.

"I'm not just ready to raise another kid in this current state of mine. I don't have the mental capability to do that. Plus, Fahad is still very much an infant." She confessed.

"Did Ahmad know?"

"Know what?"

"About the pregnancy."

"I haven't told him." Even she had been dumbstruck to find out that she was pregnant. Hannan observed her features, her eyes lingering on the abdominal area. She didn't see any physical sign of pregnancy, or at least her stomach was normal size. Although her sister looked a little pale, little wonder why she had been sick now and then since she came from Kano.

"How come you didn't know you were pregnant all this while?"

"I've been seeing my period. How was I supposed to know." Her response made Hannan stare wide-eyed at her stomach region again, as though she couldn't believe her sister was truly pregnant.

"Then you have a big problem." She said under her breath. Teslim had made complaints to the doctor and he said it was a normal thing for some people to experience such odds during the first trimester of their pregnancy: it could be as a result of decidual bleeding.

"Nothing is wrong with me. I'm fine. It happened to me when I was expecting Fahad. I was two months pregnant, yet I saw my period."

"Doesn't it seem a little unusual?" Hannan pointed out with a mischievous smile. Though her sister's condition was strange she saw that as an opportunity to make fun of her. She felt it was a good way to ease the previous tension between them."What if it happens to be something ominous?"

"Hannan!" Teslim called with a warning glare. Holding an imaginary dagger over her head.

"What?"

"You don't take me seriously."

"Since when have I ever taken you seriously?" Hannan uttered playfully, preparing to run for it, just then they both heard a loud and prolonged cry, an indication that Fahad was awake.

"Oops! We have another pressing issue at hand. You better go check up on him before he screams the entire house down."

"This conversation is done." Teslim declared and rose to her full height.

As she walked to her room she checked her phone and found two missed calls from Ahmad. She was hesitant to call him back immediately. She planned to do that after attending to Fahad. She wanted to put the phone away when it rang. She couldn't help but smile when she saw who was on the line.

"Hello, Zayn." She said into the phone.

Hannan paused to look at her, upon hearing that very familiar name. Already she was heading upstairs to her room to observe her Asr prayer(mid-day prayer). She kind of wondered why Zayn had called her sister and what it was they had been discussing. She was a little taken aback by the sudden change in her mood as she spoke with him on the phone. She didn't like the way her face shone.

She entered the bathroom to perform ablution. Once done, she stepped into the room to pray, following it with her adhkar and subsequently, she went to make her bed. She realized that she had not been feeling too well so she lay on the bed for a few minutes before pulling the cover over her head.

*****

†Earlier That Morning †

†At Zayn's Family House†

At dawn, immediately after Fajr, Zayn had left the mosque a little earlier than he usually did. That was because he had a few important appointments to meet up with. He was busy carefully planning his day in his head as he walked alongside Imran in utter silence. He cast Imran a sidelong glance and noticed that he seemed to focus his thoughts elsewhere. He felt like he had something interesting going on in his mind and he couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking.

Imran slowly lifted his gaze to meet the endless morning sky which was devoid of stars. He hated how it reminded him of himself. Just like the starless sky his life had no sparkles, no colours. Everything seemed to be black and grey without her. He tried his best to forget everything that had happened during the past few weeks, but the more he tried the harder it got. Once again he was reminded of Hannan's words when he overheard her yelling at Salma.

Imran and I are just friends and that is all we'll ever be.

Her words were sharp, they pierced his soul and they made him mad. He was utterly pained, angry, and confused at her response: pained because they had been friends for many years and he never for once thought that she'd be so blunt with her words, angry at himself for not seeing then what he saw now, that she never had any interest in him and confused because he thought that she had always led him on. It had been more than a month now since they last spoke and she didn't bother to reach out to him. He swore not to do anything to change the situation unless she made the first move.

But then he had a second thought, what if he had been wrong about her? What if he had misunderstood her the whole time? He demanded answers, none of which explained why she hadn't called him ever since. He had never thought that a day like that would come when he'd be having second doubts about Hannan, and it was probably the worst situation to be expecting an apology from a woman. She was quite stubborn and he could easily end their unnecessary grudge by putting a call across to her, but his pride kept on stopping him from being the first to make a move.

Wait up! I take it back, it was the stress speaking.

Another bitter memory of that moment flashed in his mind. This one gave him hope. There she looked apologetic. He wanted to believe that she was sorry for her unruly attitude, perhaps she didn't mean it that way, it was a slip of the tongue.

They were almost home which was just a street away, Zayn stole a glance at him again, taking note of his cringed forehead and grim expression. It was strange that his younger brother was quiet for such a long time, all the way from the masjid. Then as they approached their house, lost in his thoughts, Zayn's voice broke through his reverie.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, the deep tenor of his voice startling Imran a little, making him lift his head and their eyes met, he averted his gaze and Zayn saw that something was contrastingly distinct in his demeanor which made him more concerned. It looked like Imran wasn't ready to express whatever he had going in his mind.

"It's nothing important." He shook his head, a little put off by Zayn's unwavering gaze.

"Really?" Zayn raised a questioning brow at him, stuffing his hands in his pockets as they both slowed their pace.

"I'm fine, really" He spoke in a soft tone which made his words almost believable. Zayn stared at him, a little longer than he would have wanted. His eyes almost pierced his thoughts, like he could see through him: all the filthy fibs he made an effort to conceal.

"You can lie to yourself all you want, but not to me," Zayn stated, a little disappointed at his brother's futile effort to hide his feelings and whatever was eating him up.

"To be honest, it's nothing serious." Imran ignored his curious eyes. It was not like he deliberately wanted to hide the truth from Zayn. If only he could talk to him about Hannan: He knew that Zayn had always looked at her without much regard. It would be pointless to bring up her topic with him, especially because he wasn't the kind that found interest in such a discussion.

"Is it something about your school?"Zayn guessed, concern glossing his tone as he remembered that his brother was supposed to resume school that very day. Imran shook his head again. " Did your girlfriend break up with you?" He asked teasingly with a sly smile as though he knew what was wrong with him.

Imran looked up at him, a small smile spread across his face. " Yes, she did." He played along jokingly and they both smiled. With the conviction that he was fine, Zayn threw an arm around him and pulled him into a side hug. Imran's hair brushed against his chin lightly. He took note of his height and smiled inwardly: He was only seven years old the last they hugged like that.

"Does it hurt?" Zayn asked snidely, burying his hand in his thick hair and ruffling it a little just like he used to when he was a little boy. He had their father's hair texture which was curly and soft.

"It hurts, painfully."Imran laughed. Zayn patted him lightly on the back before letting go of him.

"Don't worry, you will be fine. Whatever the situation is, just pray about it and watch Allah work in mysterious ways to put an end to your worries." He said out of innocence and concern, unaware that he was offering words of solace to his younger brother.

Imran nodded at that with a faint smile plastered on his face. He felt better afterward, maybe a hug was what he needed. They walked together in silence until they got home.

*****

A couple of minutes later, Zayn entered his father's old study room to fetch some research papers. He was on an errand for his father who granted him access to enter the room. No one had been in the room for years. His stepmother, Khadija saw him entering and stepping out of the room. Zayn had been going through some files when he noticed her lingering gaze. He ignored her curious eyes and then returned to enter his room.

He placed the files on his dresser before sinking into his bed, worn out. He tried to catch some sleep before heading out to work. He hadn't been feeling too well and he hadn't been able to sleep well either and on top of that he was still troubled about his grandmother's health. And not to mention, Teslim's health issues, which was something that had become a pang his head. His heart ached for her.

Moments later, there was a soft knock on the door, which made him open his eyes and sit up, waiting to see his mother emerge from there. She approached him with some delicate steps and a worried look. "You are not ready for work yet. Didn't Aliyah tell you that your food is ready?"

Zayn nodded, rubbing his eyes. She noticed his tired and heavy eyes. "Are you okay Habibi?" She asked with a glint of concern in her voice. "You didn't sleep last night. I saw you going up and down in your father's study room. Is everything okay, Zayn?" She sat on the bed beside him and placed a soothing hand on his shoulder.

Zayn shook his head."Everything is fine, mother."He placed his hand above her small hand, caressing it softly. " You worry too much." He smiled, tiredly. If he had his way he would like to stay back and rest for the day, but he had a long day ahead of him: a lot of work to do, so many patients to attend to, many people to visit and most importantly he had to meet with Teslim concerning her health. There was something crucial that he wanted to discuss with her.

"You hardly go home these days." She didn't fail to acknowledge, guessing it might have been lonely over there without his grandmother. "Is it because of Inna?" He nodded his head, a matter of fact. "You miss her, don't you." She asked, stroking his cheek.

"Of course, I do. I missed her chia tea." He uttered hushly, making his mother smile. She knew exactly what he wanted for breakfast "No one makes my tea better than her." He praised her. His mother leaned in to kiss him on the forehead. She smiled and then climbed down from the bed.

"Come let's eat, I had Nadia prepare your favorite tea." She informed him. Zayn nodded and slipped out of the bed, watching as she made for the door. Zayn waited for his mother to disappear before heading back to his closet to dress up for work, taking his time to pack up his stuff.

Stepping out of his room, he heard some quiet noise. He lifted his gaze to meet Aliya and Nadia strolling toward him. They were laughing at something on Aliya's phone, but when Nadia's eyes fell on Zayn she froze and her smile faded.

Nadia was one of his mother's relatives from Turkey. She had been staying with them since Zayn's arrival from the States. He remembered the first time he had seen her: when he accidentally dropped his keys, she had been the one to pick it up for him and ever since then, he had been seeing her around.

They had only spoken on a few occasions, mostly when he came by to eat dinner at home she was always there, trying to impress him with her cooking with his mother being the mastermind behind it all. He wondered what she had cooked this time. Seeing that she was smallish, it got him thinking that she was sixteen years old or so, the first time had seen her. According to his mother, she was some months older than Aliya.

Subconsciously, he allowed himself to spare her some attention, he saw that she was dressed up in a pink saree-like attire with her veil thrown over her shoulders. Her black hair fell loosely, almost reaching her waistline. She was easy on the eyes and she didn't even try. He acknowledged that for himself now and looked away.

When Aliya sighted Zayn when he wasn't looking in their direction, she pulled the veil over Nadia's head to cover her hair in an effort to help her brother lower his gaze.

"There, that is how you win him over, not the other way around." She whispered against her ears, hating the fact that Nadia derived pleasure in displaying her natural endowment before Zayn's eyes despite knowing that it was frowned upon. Nadia felt abashed. She adjusted her veil over her hair before stepping forward to offer her greetings to Zayn who was now heading in the opposite direction.

"Assalaam Alaikum, Dr. Zayn." She lowered her head out of respect for him. Zayn turned around to face them, answering her greeting.

"Wa alaikum salaam. How are you?" He replied, wearing an upward smile. Their eyes met and she darted her eyes, fixing her gaze on the floor before she responded. He had always known her to be the shy type.

"Anaa bikhair ashkurka(I'm very well, thank you.)"She spoke in Arabic language which was her first language. He saw that as usual, she was uneasy to look up at him. He had always known that he had a special place in her heart and it wasn't hard to detect that."wa anta(and you), how was your night?" She asked about his well-being just as she normally did.

"I'm fine, Alhamdullah." He answered with a relaxed smile. "Ainaa Bahar(Where is Bahar)? I have not been seeing him around lately." He asked about her younger brother who was her only sibling. Both of them have been raised in Pakistan, so they spoke only Arabic language and English.

"Bahar has gone back to Turkey with my mum." She informed him and he raised a brow.

"Oh, why did you not go with them?" He asked, knowing that they had both traveled down to Nigeria together with their parents. He kind of wondered why she was still around.

"Aunty Banu requested that I stay a little longer." She replied, fueling Zayn's curiosity.

Unknown to him, his mother had always wished that Nadia and Zayn would end up together, seeing that she was her cousin and she was from an upright background and an excellent cook. There was nothing she wanted more than to have a Turkish daughter-in-law who would encourage her son to learn about their culture.

She had once considered Aylin to be perfect for Zayn, but she was later discouraged about that upon learning that she had previously been married with a child. It might seem low, but she wouldn't want her son's first wife to be a divorcee or an impure woman. She wanted an innocent virgin for her son, after that he could have as many women as he wanted. When nobody saw anything wrong with that, Unm Zayn being someone who was particular about religion and culture saw that as an ill omen.

"Alright then, make yourself comfortable." He simply said, turning to take his leave, but was blocked by Aliya.

"Hey, big brother," Aliya announced her presence with a wide smile plastered on her face.

"It's Assalaam alaikum, Aliya." Zayn restrained himself from rolling his eyes, reminding her how he'd preferred to be greeted.

"Whatever, wa alaikum salaam." She responded reluctantly and even bold enough to throw a hand in the air which did not surprise Zayn at all. This was not the first time he had to correct her impolite behavior."Good morning, ya Zayn." she quickly added upon seeing his dark eyes.

"Anyways, ureedu an atakallama ma'aka (I want to speak with you)." She requested when she saw that he blatantly ignored her greetings.

"Bismillah, I'm all ears." He gestured toward the dining room, indicating to her that he was heading that way, and they followed suit with Nadia tailing behind them.

"Zayn, I have a huge problem," Aliya announced in an alarming tone as they strode across the corridor, making him look at her with the corners of his eyes. His sister's lugubrious expression tipped off Zayn that something lurked beneath her pessimistic words.

"You have my attention, Aliya." He uttered as if telling her to speak up and warning her not to lie to him or else she'd regret it greatly. Aliya understood that.

"I have an appointment with my Project supervisor today." She proceeded with her explanation."and I am shocked to find out that my car, which used to have a perfectly functional engine, will no longer start. Today of all days, this had to happen to me."

"So you want to borrow my car, so you can show off to your friends at school." He interrupted, helping her to finish the lies she had cooked up. She frowned because he didn't allow her to finish, she didn't even get to tell him the most important part of the story or lies which she thought would have sounded more convincing.

"What? No!" She denied his accusation. "Who said anything about showing off? I mean, who cares." She protested dramatically and Zayn heard Nadia stifling a laugh at her expense. "I just need to get to school on time and get this project thing over with.".

"What if I refused to lend you my car?" Zayn said cunningly, observing her facial expression. It looked like the drama queen would burst out crying any minute. Aliya always believed that she could get away with anything as long as it involved Zayn. He loved her too much to let her suffer, after all, she was his only sister.

"Please, it's just for today. And I swear, after today I will never come to you with this kind of excuse again" She whined and he smiled mischievously, he was enjoying the moment. He was ready to taunt her some more, anything to make her humble and learn some manners.

"I will give you some money for the cab. Try something new for once. I'm sure you couldn't even find your way to the nearest bus station." He said teasingly and her frown grew deeper. That was the exact reaction he expected.

"You can keep your money, I don't need it." The drama queen gave a frustrated sigh upon realizing talking to Zayn was a waste of time. "You don't love me anymore. I was your favorite, but it seems Imran has taken my place ever since your return from America."She quickened her pace and stormed off and Nadia hurried after her.

"Spoilt brat," Zayn said under his breath with a smirk. It was not like he could not give her one of his cars, after all, he had their tanks filled with petrol and were in good shape to run round the whole city. Aliya was too impatient to see through his sarcasm.

"Did anyone call me? I thought I heard my name." Imran came out of his room, walking ahead of his brother to catch a nice spot at the dining table. It was good to see that he was in a light mood compared to earlier that morning.

Soon after Aliya disappeared out of sight, Zayn went straight to the dining area where he saw his family gathered around the table to have their breakfast. The table was unusually full that morning, despite Grandma's absence. Some of his cousins and their children were around, making the house full and lively.

His eyes fell on his stepmother. Khadija sat at her usual seat which was beside his birth mother who was serving food. She looked up at him approaching them and smiled. Khadija stood up to welcome her son to the table and then pulled out a seat for him.

He walked up to greet her and the others. She kissed his forehead and felt his silky hair with her fingers. "How was your night, my child?" She inquired with concern in her tone. "Hope you slept well." She sank back into her chair and he sat next to her.

"It was beautiful, just like you, Alhamdulillah." He replied smiling, a closed-mouthed smile that his birth mother, Banu seemed to notice. She was about to ask the reason for it when Imran interrupted.

"Woah! What's going on here?" He narrowed his eyes at the sight in front of him, watching his mother and brother with green eyes. "It looks like you have forgotten you have a son who is in need of some love and care too. Why has nobody ever asked if I slept well last night?" He asked in an exaggerated tone, making everyone laugh at his drama.

"Don't be ridiculous, son." Imran's mother laughed. "You all know that Zayn has a special place in my heart, so don't compare yourself to him." She replied and Imran put his hands in his chest as though someone had shoved a dagger in his chest, piercing his heart.

"No Mother, of all places, you chose to wound me in the heart. It hurts badly." He said lugubriously, making his mother roll her eyes at his dramatic display. Zayn crooked a brow at him, smiling and wondering who both his siblings inherited this jealousy trait from.

"Since when did you become this envious?" He asked, looking closely at Imran."Perhaps you are conniving with the naughty one to overthrow me." He said, referring to Aliya. An image of her storming off flashed in his mind and he looked around to see that she was not there. Really? She was not going to eat because of a simple joke. He smiled at that." Just so you know, nobody can unseat me." He said cockily, leaning toward his stepmother.

"Ahh! I have never plotted against anyone," Imran raised his hands in defense, avoiding everyone's gaze and continued with his poem. "or joined forces with another to overthrow the glorious one. May my heart know no peace if I did any of such. All I ever wanted was some love and solace from the one I hold dear." He finished his performance. Zayn looked away from him and fixed his eyes on his mother who was laughing at Imran's poem.

"Don't be jealous, my love." Banu placed a hand on her stepson's shoulder, unable to contain her laughter."I'm here to give you all the love and comfort you need." She spoke with love, rubbing a tender hand on his back.

"Why would I be jealous of him when I got you, a beautiful angel and a great cook too? I win."Imran said and Zayn shook his head at him, labeling him a green-eyed monster. Banu smiled and leaned forward to kiss him to make Zayn jealous.

"I'm the real winner." Umm Imran declared.

"How so?"Aliya questioned, grabbing everyone's attention as she stepped in from the kitchen. She had been holding a brown tea mug as she approached them and was closely escorted by Nadia.

"I have Zayn."She replied, reaching to hold his hand. The corners of his lips twitched into a small smile. "I love Zayn as much as I love you both." She said, still smoothing his long delicate hand. "It's just that he has been away for such a long time. I have missed him over the years, so he deserved all the attention he is getting from me." She stood up and blessed him with a kiss.

"There you go, my king." Aliya came forth to place the mug on the table in front of Zayn. He was a little flustered at first, until realizing what was going on. "I made your favorite tea, using grandma's recipe. Don't worry, you will love it." She said politely.

"Imran, did you hear that?" He called out to his younger brother. Imran looked at him, pretending to be offended and he gave him a wicked smile. "If you want to be treated like a king then act like one."He joked, making Imran grunt and both their mothers laughed. Zayn smiled along with them, he seemed to be enjoying the spotlight.

"Eat your food, my dear, leave your brother alone." His mother instructed, putting some Samosa on his plate. Zayn reached for the tea mug, it was warm, just as he loved his tea and it smelled nice too. Much to his surprise, it tasted good when he sipped from it.

"Wow! Aliya, who could have thought you knew how to boil water." He teased her, and her smile faded.

"And it didn't end there, she went as far as using Inna's recipe. It must have cost her a lot." Imran played along, helping Zayn to shame their sister. Aliya shot him a death glare.

"I hope you did not go through all this stress to buy me." He said cockily, even though he knew that Nadia had been the one that prepared the tea. He took another sip. "If you did, then your effort shall be rewarded greatly because this is good." He praised her, letting her know how much he did enjoy her chia tea. There was a double meaning to his words which only Aliyah could detect. Those words were not for her, perhaps it was for another.

"It is only God Almighty that can reward greatly," Aliyah said, a subtle smile making its way to her lip.

"Really? What a shrewd remark." He took a bite of his Samosa. "I didn't know you took your Qur'an classes seriously." He said in between chews.

"She dropped out of hifz school," Imran murmured, speaking to no one in particular.

"Don't let me start with you." Aliya shot him a warning glare.

"And why is that, Aliya?" Zayn asked, a bit disappointed and he noticed her shifting uncomfortably on her chair.

"Don't mind him, he's lying. I didn't drop out. It's just that when I gained admission into school, I couldn't keep up with the madrasa (an Islamic school)."

"You need to balance it, you'll find time for your hifz school and college. Thankfully, you are about to complete your studies, so you are going back to hifz school."He finished saying and urged everyone to focus on their meal. He invited Nadia, who was busy helping at the kitchen, to the table. He praised her for a job well done.

Nadia bit her lips to subdue a sheepish smile as she stepped around Aliya to sit near Imran who was sitting opposite Zayn. She looked up at him and Masha Allah! He was handsome, even the way he tossed the remaining half of the samosa into his mouth made her heart tremble.

Over the years her feelings for him only intensified even though he never considered her great enough to be spared attention. She had secretly suffered for years, knowing that he only saw her as a close friend to his sister and he would never see her as anything else. It was painfully obvious and she had to get over him, but that was in the past now: His mother had promised to help her get him to notice her. She didn't see how that was possible, but today she had some hope, at least something to hold on to. He liked her cooking.

No matter how much Zayn tried to ignore it, there was something different about their sitting. His father and grandmother were missing from the gathering. Their home is not complete without them and he vowed to make it whole again. He looked down at the floor and that was when he noticed some swelling in his stepmother's feet.

Zayn inquired about the swelling and upon asking she informed him that it was as a result of diabetes that she had. She also complained to him that she had been experiencing back pain and some sleepless nights in the past few days. It stung Zayn to know that she was going through that much suffering. He didn't like seeing any of his mothers in such a state.

Zayn reached over and grabbed her soft hand in his, making his stepmother turn toward him."Don't worry, you will be fine. I'll make sure of that."He assured her and she nodded and mumbled. "Insha Allah,"

Khadija grew sad because she didn't like that disturbed look in Zayn's eyes. He insisted that he take her to the hospital for a checkup, though Khadija kept refusing but she later agreed. Zayn told her that he'd be coming back early from work to take her to see the doctor. Imran volunteered to accompany them, saying he'd skip school for her since it was the first day of resumption. Then Nadia offered to stay with Grandma at the hospital ward regardless of the fact that Zayn had already hired a nurse to do the job.

After breakfast, he spent more time with his mothers than he normally did, and during the entire time, they talked about their family with Innajo's health condition being the center of the discussion. Once it was time to go to work, he got up and picked up his stuff from the table. There was another round of blessed kisses from his mother and Khadija who was now accompanying him outside.

"Aliya!" He called, stopping at the door. Then Aliyah came rushing and he turned around to face her.

"Yes, I'm here." She answered from a short distance. He tossed his car keys at her which she caught in the air skillfully, feeling like a super goalkeeper.

"Wow! Nice catch," Imran said from behind, amazed at her reflexes. Aliya jumped out of excitement upon realizing she had Zayn's Nissan GT-R Nismo keys in her hands.

"Thank you so much, Zayn." She squealed with happiness colouring her expression. At this point, Zayn was already outside. They followed him to the garage

"Don't forget to take it to the car wash," Zayn instructed, climbing into his mother's car. Aliya grunted, not liking that she had to run errand for her brother in exchange for a ride in his car.

"You are taking Mum's car?" She asked.

"Of course, why else would I give you my car keys?" He retorted, hitting the wheels.

"See, I'm his favorite, he sacrificed his car for me," Aliya told Imran, teasing him with a smile and waving the keys before his eyes.

"You are not. Imran has always been my favorite." He yelled as he drove out of the garage. Aliya frowned, slightly annoyed at his response. He was only messing around with her, just to see that painful annoyance she wore on her face, and it wasn't hard to do that.

"Did you hear that?" Imran gave an evil smirk, turning to face his sister. "Those who live in glass houses don't throw stones." He said to her and she rolled her eyes at him.

Khadija looked at both of them and said,"Allahumma yahdeekum( May God guide the both of you)," She shook her head and stared at them.

"Ameen!" They both answered the prayer in unison.

"And have mercy on us, especially me because I am the innocent one." Aliya said before turning around and leaving Imran and his mother outside.

"Allahumma yahmaka(May Allah protect you)," Khadija said to Zayn, waving her hand in the air. Zayn raised a hand through the car window as he drove out of the gate. She stood there and watched his car go and gradually got out of her view. She smiled, her eyes glowing with tears.

"Ya Ummiy(Oh mother), What happened?" Imran couldn't help asking upon noticing his mothers's wet eyes which were of course, tears of joy. She smiled and looked at him.

"He is such a responsible and hardworking child." She said in admiration for him. Imran frowned with envious eyes. "May Allah reward him with a good woman." She praised, turning to take her leave.

"Stop making me jealous, mother. You glorify him too much."Imran whined, feigning annoyance." Sometimes you make me doubt if I'm your biological son. Zayn always seemed to get all the love and attention." He lamented, making his mother chuckle as he helped her to climb the perron of their front door.

She threw a hand over his neck, inching forward with some subtle steps, "Have you not been with me for much longer? Why complain about Zayn who is barely even home every day, unlike you."

"Yeah, but I'm the younger one." He murmured, holding the door for her to enter inside." One day he'd be married and get love and attention elsewhere, don't come running to me in the end." Umm Imran laughed at her son's words.

"Don't be envious of you brother, my child. You may be the one running to me in the end." She laughed, a heartfelt laughter that made him wish she never stopped laughing. As a good child that he obviously was, he liked to see his mother in a good mood.

★★★★★

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