"There is already too much hate going round. Be different and spread some love."- Amalk807

A connection.

A heartfelt connection.

That is exactly what Yasir and his beautiful daughter Minha shared.

Minha identified with each and every of Yasir's qualities and the last thing she ever saw was her father's disability.

For her, Yasir was nothing short of a hero, a friend, a role model and best of all, was that knew him as the man who loved her mother with all of his heart.

The best part of the little girl's day was definitely the time her father came back from work and today wasn't any different.

The second the doorbell rang, she ran down the stairs as fast as her tiny legs could carry her and of course, without any doubts, while skipping a stair at a time.

She jumped into her grandfather's arms as soon as the door opened and Hussein knowingly smiled to himself when the first and only question she asked him was...

"Where is Baba?"

"He wasn't behaving at work so I gave him some time out," said Hussein and threw back his head in laughter when she gave him one of the best disappointed looks a four-year-old could pull off.

She immediately wiggled out of his arms the minute she heard Khaleel's car pull up in the driveway and as Hussein made his way into the house, he couldn't help but ask out aloud...

"Is there anything one can do to make Minha love Yasir just a little bit less?"

"Same question bro, same question!" muttered Yumnah to herself but loud enough for her to earn a chuckle from Yasmin.

Yasir carefully opened the car's door, his heart racing against his chest as he keenly listened to his daughter's familiar tiny footsteps get nearer and nearer towards him and a huge ass smile broke out on his face when she, quite out of breath, came and stood right next to the open car door and whispered...

"Baba!"

"Asalam aleikum Habibty," he said, his hazel eyes sparkling with happiness which was nothing comparable to the happiness in his daughter's even darker hazel eyes.

"Waleikum salam Baba."

"How was your day, Hayati?"

"Fine!" she whispered shyly as she played around with car's window button and Yasir smiled to himself when he heard the sound of the windows getting rolled up and down.

"Won't you ask your Baba how his day was?"

"How was your day?" she asked as her hands playfully moved to now, fidget with the car's lock.

"It was really great. Me and your Khalo Khaleel 'accidentally' ate the lunch grandma sent for your grandpa," said Yasir and laughed when he heard his daughter let out a chuckle which of course was nothing but music to his ears.

Minha cutely covered her mouth with both her hands as she laughed with her father, her eyes drifting to her Khalo Khaleel who silently sat in the driver's seat, watching them and the minute their eyes met, he playfully stuck his tongue out at her to which she ended up laughing even harder.

"Now, can you help me get inside?" asked Yasir, a different kind of twinkle settling in his eyes when he felt her take his large hand into her small one and gave it a gentle tug.

She then in the most adorable, most endearing way helped guide him towards the house as Khaleel quietly followed them, totally oblivious of the fact that her father already knew his way home by heart and that he only did this charade every single day just for her.

"Baba?" she called out to him sweetly as they neared the house.

"Yes Hayati?"

"Guess what Mama is hiding in the fridge!"

"What?" asked Yasir amusedly.

"Guess!"

"A UNICORN!" he said excitedly and grinned when he heard her giggle.

"Noooo."

"AN EASTER BUNNY!"

"Nope."

"Ummm...HER MAKEUP!" said Yasir enjoying every bit of their conversation.

"Nope!"

She then tugged at his blazer and he immediately crouched down to her level, a smile lighting up his face once again when she whispered into his ear...

"PINEAPPLE TART!"

"No way!"

"I saw it and I could even smell it," she said cutely pointing to her nose, having taken after Yasir when it came to pineapples and even more specifically, pineapple tarts.

"What shelf?"

"Number two."

"Now that's... my girl," he said, holding up his hand for a high five to which she delightfully high fived back.

They then slowly made it into the house, Minha's tiny hand still tightly wrapped around her father's and as soon as she had 'helped' him settle on his most favourite part of the couch, she too got on the couch, scooted close to him and said...

"Baba!"

"Yes Hayati?"

"Do you know what I got in school today?"

"No, what did you get?" he asked, listening to her keenly and answering all her questions with absolute patience.

"A marble."

"Whoa! Where did you get one?"

"Liam gave it to me. Il go get it," she said as she hurriedly got off the couch and dashed up the stairs at the speed of lightning.

"WHO IS LIAM?" growled Yasir and Khaleel who was seated close by couldn't help but palm his face.

"Liam is a KID who goes to KINDERGARTEN with your daughter who is also a KID," said Yumnah with an eye roll as she handed her husband a cup coffee and as she proceeded to hand Khaleel his, he said...

"OH MY GOD. For me? Really? You didn't have to..."

"Okay," she said as she began walking away with his coffee much to Khaleel's disbelief.

He opened his mouth to make a snarky remark only to be interrupted by Yasir.

"Ummm guys, we were talking about this LIAM..."

"Were we now?"

"Yeah!"

"I wonder...," said Khaleel as he sat back on his chair a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Wonder what?" asked Yasir confusedly.

"Nothing. Il just ask Minha herself," said Khaleel as his eyes settled on Minha who ran back into the room and excitedly placed the tiny marble into her father's hand.

"Minha?"

"Yes, Khalo Khaleel?"

"Is there any boy called Muneer in your class?"

"Muneer?"

"Ummm Minha, here Hayati, go show grandpa your marble," Yasir quickly interjected and both Khaleel and Yumnah put their hands over their mouths to prevent themselves from bursting into laughter.

"Hmmm. Minha and Muneer. Even their names match. I TOTALLY SHIP THEM," said Khaleel absolutely loving every single second of Yasir's discomfort.

"Il be the one to SHIP you and that too, to a non-existent address," said Yasir as he quietly shipped sorry sipped his coffee having mentally murdered both Muneer and Khaleel a thousand times.

Yumnah then stood up with a sigh took Yasir's empty cup, which he gratefully handed to her with a loving smile and then headed to the kitchen.

"Il go get myself a coffee too and give your evil Yumnah my still pending snarky remark," said Khaleel and laughed loudly when Yasir replied with...

"Please kindly SHIP yourself from here before I kill you without any regrets whatsoever."

Khaleel hurriedly made his way to the kitchen as fast as he could since he was dying to give Yumnah his SAVAGE comeback before he forgot it which he did because the minute he entered the kitchen he was taken aback by the different types of cupcakes and doughnuts that covered the kitchen's worktops.

"Whoa! Whose coming over?" he asked as he put the kettle to boil.

"My friends are coming over tomorrow," she replied, a small smile on her face.

"REALLY!!!!!!...sorry...I...I mean really?"

"Yeah."

"Like who?" he asked eagerly, his heart beating thunderously against his chest.

"You don't know my friends, Khaleel."

"Just tell me."

"But you don't know them..."

"Can't you just tell me? I need to know."

"Why?" she asked as she raised one of her eyebrows questioningly, her hands on her hips.

"I need to know the people who go in and out of this house. For security reasons you know..."

"Since when did you join the secret service?"

"Gosh, just tell me already. Is that too much to ask for?" he said as he poured hot water into a mug.

"Okay fine. Well, there is Nazia..." said Yumnah and rolled her eyes when Khaleel immediately interrupted with an overly loud...

"BLEH"

"There is Mariam..."

"BLEH."

"Laila."

"BLEH."

"Hafsa..."

"BLEH."

"There is also As...," began Yumnah but stopped so that she could carefully pull out a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies from the oven.

"AS...WHO?" he asked impatiently, his breath hitching as Asiya's face crossed his mind.

"Asfiyah."

"WHAT?! Are you sure?"

"Yeah but wait, are you looking out for someone specific?" she asked, doubt settling in her heart just for a mere few seconds but was quickly wiped away when he instantly replied with...

"I don't know your friends Yumnah then how can I look out for someone specific?"

"Well then, that was the last one."

"WHAT? There has to be more."

"Those are the only ones coming over. Now are their names enough or I should I tell them to bring along their certificates of good conduct as well?"

"Are you really sure you aren't forgetting someone?"

"Khaleel..."

"Like think harder. I can wait..."

"Khaleel..."

"Just try and remember. It's totally okay to forget. I won't judge!"

She stared at him for a few seconds, inhaled deeply and at the top of her lungs, shouted...

"Babaaaaa!"

"Psshhht...like I'm scared," said Khaleel as he leaned back against the kitchen counter, picked and an apple from the fruit basket and took a big bite from it only for him to instantly choke on it because in a split second Hussein entered the kitchen, a worried look on his face.

"What is wrong my dear?"

"Khaleel is disturbing."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"What are you doing in the kitchen?" asked Hussein an intimidating look on his face and Khaleel immediately gulped.

"I...I...I...came to help. Its Sunnah to help women in the kitchen and I..."

"Yumnah my dear, is dinner ready?" asked Hussein not even letting Khaleel finish.

"Not yet Baba."

"PERFECT. What do you need in order to prep tonight's dinner?"

"Ummm, thinly sliced onions, chopped tomatoes, grated carrots, thinly sliced bell peppers and some finely chopped parsley," said Yumnah loving where this was heading.

"Great. Khaleel can do all that."

"WHAT? No way. This is so unfair. You always favour Yumnah..."

"Those onions better be THINLY sliced or I will come and teach you SUNNAH myself," ordered Hussein afterwich he left the kitchen, a satisfied and happy look on his face.

Khaleel then turned to face Yumnah, picked up a sharp knife and pretended to slit his throat. He then pointed at her with the knife and said...

"You just called for war. Sleep with your eyes open!"

***

ONE WEEK LATER...

A standstill.

A literal standstill.

Everything stopped for Yasir when his phone rang with that one particular, most awaited ringtone. A ringtone he had set more than four years ago. A simple ringtone that took him back to the most dreaded moments of his life.

It took him back to the very day...

His Akhi went missing!

He picked up the call with trembling hands and with a voice laced with nothing but fear, said...

"Hello?"

"Sir, we found him!"

"Where is he?"

"In The United States."

"Is he okay? Are you sure that its him?"

"POSITIVE."

"I...

"What do you want us to do Sir? Should we bring him?"

"NO! Just keep an eye on him for now. I will get back to you."

With his hands still trembling, his heart racing against his chest, he picked up his office's telephone receiver and quickly pressed on the button that connected him to his personal assistant Max.

"Sir?"

"Max, I want you to right this instant browse through my contacts and immediately connect me with a certain Imran Fareed."

"On it, Sir."

He then passed his hand through his in order to calm himself down and quickly picked the phone the second it rang again though this time he approached things with a much more relaxed demeanour.

"Hello?"

"Imran, its Yasir here. Yasir Hosseini."

"Broooooooo. What's up? Long time, no see?"

"Says the person who moved to the USA without looking back!"

"I heard you got married. Couldn't handle the heartbreak."

"You owe me a wedding gift and a very old birthday gift if I'm not wrong."

"Tell me what you want..."

Yasir remained silent for a few seconds, took in a huge breath and said...

"I FOUND AKHI."

Silence.

It took Imran a few seconds to get over his shock after which he asked...

"What? When? Where is he?"

"In the United States."

"What?! Il go get him. Doesn't matter where he is..."

"No Imran. This how I want to do things. Now listen very carefully..."

Yasir cut the call a huge smile on his face and a different kind of twinkle in his eyes.

A twinkle that had been lost for more than four years.

A twinkle that only formed when he was with his Akhi.

His brother, his best friend, his everything!

The smile on his face widened as he picked his phone to call Khaleel.

It was high time his Akhi came back home and that too...

HOSSEINI STYLE!

***

PLEASE DO VOTE AND COMMENT

THOSE WHO FORGOT IMRAN, CHECK CHAPTER ONE.

THIS IS IT GUYS!

THE FINAL CHAPTER.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT.

THANK YOU FOR BEING SO PATIENT WITH ME AND FOR GIVING THIS BOOK A CHANCE.

IM REALLY EMOTIONAL NOW THAT ITS OVER.

IL MISS YOU ALL...

ASALAM ALEIKUM