As planned, we had to leave the next morning for my in-laws place. Last night, I had packed a small duffle bag for my clothes only as Ahad had told me that he had enough clothes over there to last him for a few days for when he stayed over. Aunty had called and invited us early in the morning so we could all have breakfast together as Zoha appi and Sameer bhai had come over to their house last night as well.

As far as I know, Sameer bhai's father had passed away a few months before his marriage to Zoha Appi and his earnings had been equally divided between the three brothers and one sister. Their mother lived with the oldest son who was in Manchester with his family and the three brothers didn't get along much either so Sameer bhai was pretty much alone over here. His married sister lived in Karachi and they would occasionally visit each other when they got time.

I wanted to dress up light but my husband requested for me to wear a somewhat fancy dress because, as he said, 'his eyes were deprived of seeing me in my desi glory' since I had been wearing western clothes for all of our stay in Islamabad and Murree so he personally hand-picked a frock that ended at my calf and had narrow fitted trousers underneath and a dupatta. All the pieces were burgundy in color with golden embroidery and lace in different places. I paired it with a golden khussa and golden earrings.

*khussa: flat pumps with embroidery and/or sequins on top.

I had my pins and clips scattered in front of me on the table since I planned to tie my hair in a bun with a few loose strands curtaining my face from the front. I took a Bobby pin and held it between my teeth to keep it open as Ahad came and leaned on the dresser with his arms crossed.

Ahad had showered early in the morning today and wore a blue jeans with a white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up in his own style.

"That's a lot of pins, what are you doing?" He seemed completely clueless even as I twisted my hair to put them up in a bun.

"Tying my hair up in a bun." I mumbled in a funny voice with the pin still in the mouth.

"Keep them open, they look good." He smiled at me to charm me into giving in.

"It's good to have a change, Ahad. Just for today, I'll keep my hair open the rest of the days." I secured my hair with a few pins before twisting the front strands between my fingers and letting them flow down my face.

"Are you done? I'm really hungry right now." He whined like a baby and I patted his chest.

"There, there. It's okay let's go now." I turned off all the lights of the house as he followed behind me with my duffle bag in his hand that he offered to carry.

We sat in the car and after two minutes, Ahad's phone rang but he gave it to me to attend. It was my mother in law.

"Asalam Alaikum, beta. Where are you both?" She was most likely expecting Ahad to pick up as she called on his phone.

"Walaikum Asalam, aunty. It's me, Nawal. We're almost there." I politely told her with a smile.

"Oh okay, please come quick. Everyone is waiting for you both to arrive so we can have breakfast. Allah hafiz."

"Allah hafiz." I said and she hung up.

"Well, looks like everyone is throwing a fit because of us." He laughed at my choice of words before pulling into the driveway of his parents' place. Their house wasn't more than a 7 minute drive away.

Aunty, like last time, pulled us both in a hug together as she patted our backs and left a kiss on each of our cheeks. This time, Ahad's arm came around my back and hugged me too. Then, I hugged Zoha Appi from the side as her baby bump wouldn't allow me to do it any other way. Rumaisa hugged me too while Uncle ran his hand over my head and Sameer Bhai nodded his greeting at me.

On the breakfast table, aunty opened a hotpot from which steam rose as she pulled out parathe for everyone and I internally chuckled as Ahad basically drooled at the sight. In this world, no one cooked better than your mother and I totally understood his reaction. She had cooked several dishes as options for everyone and we all started eating with light conversation surrounding the table. I helped aunty pour the tea and everyone's cups and having such a desi breakfast made me truly happy after eating fancy breakfast from the hotel buffet every morning for the past few days.

After we were done with breakfast, us ladies picked up all the plates and put them in the sink and joined the men in the living room. Rumaisa, who sat next to me, gently nudged my arm with her elbow, drawing my attention to her then whispered in my ear to come along with her.

"Bhai, I'm stealing your wife for a few minutes, if you don't mind." Ahad shook his hand dismissively and Rumaisa led me up the stairs and into a room that I guessed was hers.

"What happened?" I asked, lost as to why we were here away from her family.

"Bhabhi... I wanted to talk to you about something." She looked away hesistantly and maybe a little shy too but I shrugged it off and placed a hand on her shoulder to encourage her.

"What is it? Don't be reluctant to share anything with me." Usually, such private talks between a bhabhi and nand meant bad news because many bhabhi and nand relationships were not nice and friendly but Rumaisa and I were different.

"Umm, mama called everyone here because she's worried about my marriage. I'm turning 24 in a few months and she wants me to be wed-off so her responsibilities regarding her kids are finished, I don't mean it in a bad way, trust me." She was fiddling with her fingers in her lap and though me and Rumaisa were nearly the same age, I acted like an older sister to her. I wasn't all mature and wise like the others but Rumaisa was much more naive and pampered, considering she was the youngest between three siblings and Ahad and Zoha along with her parents had given her all the love they had and everything she ever asked for.

"And you don't want to get married?" I added.

"No, it's not that. I don't exactly have an issue with getting married but I kind of like someone..." Okay, now I definitely didn't expect that. I never had a serious enough interest in anyone before that I would consider marrying them, just normal crushes so I didn't know how to help her. I wondered why she didn't talk to Zoha Appi about this, she had liked Sameer bhai before their marriage even if they didn't talk much.

"Okay... And who is this person and how far have you both taken it?" By tone was gentle so she didn't feel like I was judging her because it wasn't my place to do so.

"We aren't dating or anything. We haven't even talked on texts or calls or anything. It's just that I had a small crush on him but as I spent more time around him, his personality attracted me. It's not that I would die if I didn't get married to him but I would like it if I got married to him. He doesn't know about this." She said with a small smile on her face and the mild dreamy look in her eyes confirmed that she was genuinely interested in this person.

"And does your family know this person?" I wondered if he was a cousin of hers or some relative. I didn't know many of their relatives so I refrained from including myself to the sentence.

"Yeah, just don't kill me please bhabhi." She pursed her lips and I raised an eyebrow to encourage her to continue. Why would I kill her?

"I sort of like your brother, Rauf."

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(A.N): Interesting cliffhanger, right? I wonder how Nawal will react. Please vote and comment <3