//Aisha

I yawned slowly and lay my head down on Aneel's shoulder. He looked down at me with a frown before putting his arm around me. He cheek was softly pressed against my forehead.

"You're quite hot, Aisha. Are you coming down with something?"

I shook my head and looked up at him. "I'm fine. It's just hot in here."

"Liar. It's not. Come on, I'll tell Saif to drop us off." I placed my head back on his shoulder so he wouldn't move.

"Stay. Let Amma scare Affa more about childbirth. They'll come and tell us when it's time to go." He kissed the top of my head and sighed.

"Babe, I really think you're coming down with something. You have a high temperature."

"Stop worrying, Aneel. I'm fine. Now let me rest." He held my other hand with his free one, playing around with the fingers. I slowly closed my eyes.

After a few quite minutes, I heard my mum call for me. I wasn't exactly sleeping but to others it probably would have looked like it. I didn't respond knowing she would want me to do something and I was tired so...not happening.

"Aisha I called-oh. When did she fall asleep?"

"Just five minutes ago. I think she is coming down with something, though," Aneel muttered as he raised a hand to my head. Once his hands dropped, Amma raised her hand.

"Yeah. She has a temperature. She needs to go to sleep properly."

"I'm fine," I said with a groan.

"I'm fine my ass. Get up, you're going home and going to sleep properly. Saif!"

"Yes Amma?"

"Take them home please."

"No, it's fine. If you guys want to stay more then we'll just take a cab. It's alright."

"Nah, it's cool. She needs to go to sleep anyways, and her feet is starting to swell up."

After we all said goodbye to everyone, with me half asleep, we went to the car. Priya and Said came with us. I know Bhai wanted to drop her off but Mariam was crying a lot and would only quieten down on his lap.

Priya and Said were the first ones we dropped off because they lived quite close to my mum's house. Me and her talked quite a lot today. It didn't feel weird or awkward because I just saw her as a person. Not as Aneel's ex-wife.

Aneel kissed the top of my head and I closed my eyes again. "You excited for tomorrow?"

"No. I'm scared." I was just going to lift my head up again and ask why when he stopped me. "We'll talk about it at home, yeah?"

"Okay."

The journey was pretty much silent since everyone was tired. Saif dropped my sister off home and then started on our journey home. Again, silence. Not that i minded because the headache I had was killing me. My eyes felt so heavy but when I did close them, it was as though I had bricks laying on top of me. Do I close them or open them?

"Babe, go to sleep if you want to."

I shook my head, holding him tighter. His body was giving me warmth and I was freezing. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the pain at the back of my head. His hand would always touch my head every few minutes and he would always drop it with a sigh. His arm around my shoulder pulled me in tighter to him. His fingers grazed my shoulder, going around in circles.

"Aisha?" he whispered against my ear. Well as close as he could to my ear since I had a scarf on. I wanted to open my mouth and respond to him or at least open my eyes but they felt to heavy. "No mate, she's sleeping." He must have been talking to Saif.

"She must be tired. Amma's been chasing her around and making her do a bunch of stuff," Saif said with a laugh. "But urm." He sounded serious now, all trace of laughter vanished. "Has she...has she told you about her dad?"

Aneel's hand gripped onto my shoulder. His cheek was back against my forehead. "Coward," he hissed. "That guy doesn't deserve to be called a father. Not hers, not anyone's."

"Okay...the thing is..." Aneel kissed the top of my head, softly.

"I promise I won't let anyone hurt you ever again," he whispered so quietly. I almost never heard it myself.

"The thing is, they have these cousins coming around. Nafeesa was meant to talk to you about this today but she was busy. These cousins, they blame the girls for breaking up the family. Amma even blamed Aisha for a while and so did Bhai. Everyone blamed Aisha for everything."

I wanted to scream at him to stop. I wanted to scream and tell him not to talk about this anymore. I didn't want to go over all of that again. But at the same time, I need him to tell Aneel because I knew I wouldn't be able to.

"They are coming round and so we just want you to be with her. Just stay beside her and deal with the day's she cries. Honestly, they practically torture her when they come. Just please promise me that you will stay with her all the time they are here? And promise me that you won't get angry at her for crying all the time during their stay? She's like my little sister and I would do anything to protect her. Last time Bhai kept an eye on her but not that much since their relationship wasn't that good. I would do so but I have Nafs to look after and she's pregnant so I'm never gonna take my eyes off her."

"Why on earth are they coming round if they give so much grief?"

"Their from Amma's side. Family-"

"Family my fucking ass!" Aneel practically screamed and it took everything in me to not flinch back. "Family don't torture each other. They don't make each others lives a living hell. I don't care, when they come I ain't giving her permission to go and see them."

"Aneel, they would give Amma hell for that."

Aneel went quiet and I could hear him breathing heavily. Feel him even since I had an arm around his chest. "I don't want to see her in pain," he whispered. "I don't want to see her cry and know that I can't do anything to help. I don't want that."

"Aneel..."

"No, Saif. I'm not letting her go through that. I'm not willingly going to force my wife into being humiliated in front of everyone. If I was you, I wouldn't let Nafeesa go either. You guys have been married for almost a year, she is pregnant and you are her husband. You can rightfully tell her no and she has to listen to you."

The ride was now silent. No one was talking and I didn't blame them. What else was there to say? I groaned when I felt the car harshly stop. Saif swore under his breath and that made me smile. Road rage.

"Aneel," I groaned.

"Yes?"

"Can you open my eyes for me?" He chuckled and I smiled. At least he wasn't angry anymore. "Are we almost home?"

"Almost, babe. Almost." I slowly opened my eyes and found him staring down at me. He smiled before kissing me cheek. "Sleep well?"

"Slept like a baby," I lied. I lay my head down again on his shoulder, looking out the window. I saw the familiar shops but they were soon replaced by the tall building.

Home.

The car stopped and we both got out slowly. I noticed Aneel's jaw clenched as he looked down at the ground, waiting for me to come out. Was he angry at what Saif said? Or was I taking too long?

"Thanks for bringing us, man. And for today."

"Anytime man. Reminds me when I used to be a minicab driver. Good times." I finally stood still on the ground and Aneel smiled at me. He put an arm around my waist, pulling me into him. "Anyways, I will leave you. You need to go to sleep, misses. I will see you guys soon."

We both waved goodbye and made our way to the door. Saif rolled up his window and drove away. Once we were in the lift, Aneel slowly turned me around and rest his forehead against mine.

"I love you," he whispered. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." I quickly saw his smile before he leaned down and gave me a kiss. His hands were both on my waist and he pulled me towards me.

"Fuck! I've been wanting to kiss you all night." He quickly kissed me again and stopped when the lift did. We both got out and went through the doors to find a tray of food on the mat outside. Aneel chuckled and lifted it up. "Shepard pie. Amazing." Aneel stuck his hand out so I took the keys off him and opened the door. I went ahead of him and turned on the lights so he could see where he was going. I took off my scarf and went to go and find Aneel. He was still in the kitchen and was digging the fork into the tray.

Once he kissed me again, he pushed me away with a frown. "Go away from me, seriously."

"What?" I looked at him, confused on what just happened.

"I'm not kissing you again. You're too tempting." I let a small blush settle on my cheeks as I looked at him. "Seriously, Aisha! Even when you're fully covered."

"I can't help it," I said with a smirk. I wrapped my arms around his waist and looked up at him. "You're too easy."

"I suggest you get off of me. Don't you dare start to tease me because I won't let you go for a while." He dug the fork into the Shepard pie again and raised it to my lips. I opened my mouth and tasted the food.

"It's cold," I said whilst wrinkling my nose. He chuckled and leaned down to kiss my nose.

"I guess I have to stop myself tonight. But damn you're so fucking beautiful, I don't know how I'll do it."

"You will do it." I put my hands at the back of his neck and he narrowed his eyes at me.

"You're teasing me on purpose. Get your hands off me." I stepped back with a smile, raising my hands in the air. He huffed and looked away. "Good."

"You need to learn to control yourself mate. Can't keep me away from you forever."

"Fuck it, just come here. Let me suffer the night." He opened his arms and I slowly walked into them. "You should really go to sleep."

"Depends, are you gonna tell me why you're scared for today?"

He sighed and leaned back onto the counter. "Can we get ready for bed and talk there? I find that that is our therapy room sometimes." I rolled my eyes and tried to lean back but his arms were secured around my waist. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For giving it a try with Priya. And being okay with us pairing her up with your brother. It means a lot."

"It's okay. I'm gonna try and be more open with your friends if I can. And you can't be the only one putting in effort with my friends and family."

"Technically you don't have much friends. Actually, I don't think you have one," he said as though he was deep in thought. I rolled my eyes and pushed myself back enough to get out of his hold. "Aw, baby, I'm sorry," he said whilst laughing.

"Shut up, Aneel. I'm gonna go and wash my face, get changed and get ready for therapy."

"Oh, so I get a view on the change?"

"You can go and give yourself a cold shower. Try and keep that inside your pants." I turned around and started walking away. It didn't take long till his arms were wrapped around mine again. I heard him inhale and lay his head on my shoulder. I carried on walking till I was in the room.

"I love you so much. Honestly, you are truly amazing. I love the fact you are coming out your shell every day."

"Aneel, I need to get changed, let me go."

"Never!" He tightened his arms around me and laughed. "You look beautiful like that."

I looked down at myself and blushed. It was just a simple t-shirt and skirt. I looked...normal. Like I always do. Aneel kissed my cheek before slowly letting go. His hand went down to my bottom and he gave it a little tap. "Aneel!"

"What?" he laughed. I turned around to see his innocent face. My cheeks were now flaming as I stormed past him. "Can't blame me. You have a great bum, your highness."

"Shut up, you pervert." He pulled me back into his arms and smiled. "Aneel, I sometimes worry about you."

"What did I do?"

"You are really perverted sometimes. Is that even normal?" He chuckled and kissed my neck.

"Who wouldn't be perverted when they have you in their sight? That little sexy body of yours -very flexible sexy body."

"Stop! Seriously, let me go and wash my face and everything." Aneel sighed and kissed my shoulder.

"Do you think she's gonna be disappointed in me?" he mumbled against my shoulder. I put my hands over his.

"I think she will be very proud of you. Look where you are now. Stable job, nice house, married."

"But what about my past? What if she doesn't want to know me because of that?"

I slowly turned around and saw him looking down. "Aneel, a mother loves her children no matter what. Listen to me, she will love you unconditionally, alright? Worst case scenario, she gets a little upset but all she will need is a little time."

I squeezed my legs together hoping that the need to go to the toilet would go away. I could go now but Aneel needed me. He sniffed and when I lifted his head, I saw the tears in his eyes. "I don't want her to be upset with me."

"Aneel..."

"I just want her to be proud of me. I don't want to make her upset. I want her to be happy."

"And you will do just that. I don't think she will care about the past right now. What matters is that she found you again and both of you have each other. Nothing else would matter. You are someone to be proud of. Look at where you were and look at what you have become now. No matter what happened, you two finding each other would be the most important thing."

He nodded his head and I wiped away the tears that had fallen. He pulled me into a tight hug and exhaled. "You're right. Thank you." I felt his hands travel down to my waist when he pulled away. "You can go to the toilet now," he said with a small laugh. I didn't waste a second making my way to the bathroom.

Since my clothes were in the bathroom, I got changed again. "Aneel, can I have my wipes please?" I heard him open a draw or two before his heavy footsteps made its way to the door. He pulled the handle but cursed when he found it locked.

"Gonna kill you. Why would you do that?" he asked when I opened the door. "I'm proper thinking the door is open and when I go to push it I just get hurt."

"Like you really got hurt. Your muscles must have protected you quite a bit."

"Oh, you notice these?" he said, flexing his arms. I leaned against the doorway as I raised my eyebrows at him. Still couldn't do just the one raised eyebrow. "You love them really. Where else would you be other than these strong, muscular arms?"

"At home. In bed, wrapped in my duvet." For the second time that day, he narrowed his eyes at me and handed over my wipes.

"These arms won't wait for you when you come to bed. Just remember that. They won't hold you all night even when you come right near them. You brought this upon yourself."

"I think I can live with that."

"Fine. Remember this."

Once I had wiped the make up off my face, brushed my teeth and washed my face, I went into the kitchen to put the food in the fridge. Aneel had a bad habit of not putting anything in the fridge and then they would go bad. I then went around the kitchen and took a note of everything that we needed to buy before putting the list on the fridge.

I saw Aneel with his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling. He was quietly humming to himself; probably a song.

"Shall I turn off the light?"

"If that's not too much." I rolled my eyes and turned off the light. I took off my robe and put it behind the door. He didn't once look my way but carried on looking ahead at the ceiling.  It was only when I got under the duvet did he turn, and that was the other way.

I frowned and placed my head on the pillow. He was taking this way too far. Fine, if he wanted to be like that then so can I. I looked back at him once and sighed. He looked at me before turning to face me completely.

"Good night," I whispered before turning back round. He sighed and I soon felt his arms around me. He pulled me towards him, kissing my shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I love you."

"You're such an idiot you know that? You didn't have to take it that far."

"I was proving my point," he murmured against my neck. "But then I saw you were upset so I decided to hold you like I said I wouldn't." I shook my head with a small smile before tilting my head backwards. He pecked my lips and grinned. "You taste minty."

"Its called brushing your teeth."

"Meh, so did I. I have a spare toothbrush in the kitchen for whenever you take too long."

"Really?"

"Yes. You saying you're gonna be quick doesn't actually mean you're gonna quick." He tightened his arms around me and sighed. "I love you."

"I love you too." His hand slowly moved from my waist when he leaned over to turn off  the lamp.

"Goodnight, babes."