She didn't want to get out of bed, even when the glow of the sun had washed the walls of the room milky yellow. By the window, she heard the sipping sound and smelled the strong scent of fresh coffee. But she was too lazy to open her eyes and look.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Ten thirty,"Shehryaar answered.

Zoha rubbed her eyes and shuffled in bed.

"When did you wake up? Isn't it little early?" she said, yawning mouthful.

"You know I don't miss a day, no matter what," Shehryaar said, turning away from the window and looking at Zoha. He was sipping on coffee, holding a solid gray colored mug.

"I thought you were too tired after the trip." Zoha lifted her head from the pillow and sat up against the headboard. Her hair were slipping from the loose bun she made before going to bed.

"Yeah.But it was fine. I woke up at nine."

"Hmm," she said, sitting idly with her arms resting on the blanket that covered the lower half of her body.

Shehryaar placed the coffee mug on the bedside and hunkered next to the bed.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, picking her bony hand from the blanket and encasing them in his warm ones.

Zoha's head was leaning slightly on the side and her gaze was lowered.

"Better," she said, lacking the feelings.

"How did you sleep?"

"Good. The bed was really comfortable."

"Me too."

Zoha peeled her gaze from the blanket and directly looked at Shehryaar. "I love it," she admitted.

"I know you do," he said. "I see it in your eyes now."

"It feels like I always lived here."

"Because it was meant for you."

"Nothing seems strange. It's..it's like as if I have come here before. I slept her and ate here. I don't know...it's this feeling of familiarity that pulls me in. Or it's something else." Bewilderment was etched in her eyes.

"Maybe you imagined it?" Shehryaar said.

"I know I haven't imagined it. It's..." she trailed off. "I don't know, Shehryaar. I can't put it into words."

"It's okay." He rose up and leaned in to kiss her head. "I am glad you feel more connected. That's how I wanted you to feel like." He smiled at her.

Zoha looked up and implanted her eyes on him. "Thank you."

"For what?" Shehryaar said.

"For.." she paused and fell thinking.

"Zoha?"

"For everything," she softly muttered and met her eyes once again with Shehryaar. "You mean so much to me."

"You don't know how much I love you," he said. "I could never leave back. Not even in my wildest dreams."

"That night when I dreamed about you leaving, I got really scared. That's when I realized how much you mean to me. I couldn't live without you for even a day."

"Now we have come here. It's the biggest blessing. We will start all over again. I never want to see you sad or talk about anything that makes you sad. You have to promise me." Shehryaar offered his palm. "Will you?"

Zoha unhesitantly placed her hand on Shehryaar's palm and said. "I promise. As long as you are with me I will never be sad."

"You mean it."

"I mean it," she repeated it.

"That's how I want to see you," he said.

Zoha nodded lightly.

"Good." He stroked her head and dropped a kiss on her smooth forehead. "Now tell me what you would like for breakfast?"

Zoha's eyes glinted with contentment. She stretched her arms, releasing the haggardness and sighed.

"Whatever is available." She mounted her knees and placed her folded arms on it.

Shehryaar got up and began thinking. "What is available?" he said nearly to himself.

"Anything. Nothing too special." Zoha propped her chin on her knees, frivolously smiling.

"Hmm." Shehryaar kept thinking.

"Why are you thinking so hard? There is nothing in the kitchen?" Zoha said, flipping aside the blanket.

"I was just thinking what is something I know how to cook."

Zoha slipped her feet to the floor and picked her dupatta from under the pillow. "Let me see what is in the kitchen." She got up from the bed and started walking towards the door.

"Hey, hey." Shehryaar grabbed her hand as she passed by him. "Where do you think you are going?" He looked at her.

"Kitchen." Zoha's loose bun slipped open as he jerked her back.

"Really?" he asked, staring right at her. "Like now you are going go to the kitchen?"

"So?" Zoha stared back.

"No tell me first thing. Are you serious?"

"No you tell me, does it look like I am joking?" Zoha felt like laughing, looking at the abrupt seriousness he wore on his face.

"You are not going anywhere. Sit here quietly," he said.

"But why?"

"You know the reason very well."

Zoha thought.

"As far as you are pregnant I am not letting you do anything. That's why. Now you understand?" he said.

Zoha facepalmed. "We haven't even been to the doctor. You are not hundred percent sure."

"Is that so? Then let me make an appointment today."

"It's not that I don't believe in bari ammi," she lowered her gaze and her voice became softer. "But it's important to make sure of it by going to the doctor."

"I know. I want to be sure of it too," Shehryaar said. "But despite that I know you are."

"Acha?"

"Of course."

"Itni khushi hai?"

"Why would I not be happy?" Shehryaar said. "I love kids."

"I can tell by your excitement."

"Toh bus tayyar hojana. Hum kal he doctor ke pass chaltey hain," he said, swiftly changing his soft tone. "I will look up the doctors today and immediately make an appointment."

Zoha's lips curved into blessed smile.

"For now you are not doing anything. You tell me what you want for breakfast and I will make it for you." He made her sit on the bed, clasping her shoulders.

Zoha looked up at him, as he stood in front of her.

"Anything is fine," she said.

"Okay," he said. "I will go in the kitchen. You are staying here."

"Okay baba."

"It won't be that long," he said and deserted the room.

*************************

Later in the day Shehryaar showed Zoha around the house. He toured her upstairs where there were two bedrooms. One of them was Zafar's. He kept his little space devoid of heavy furniture. There was one bed queen size bed with plain colored sheet and comforter spread over it. Across from it there was a LCD tv fit in the wall. And by the blinded windows there was a medium shelf that was mostly empty, except for the few books that were slanted in the sideways position. It reminded Zoha of the large shelf in the study room back in Pakistan, which was packed with various books that nobody really read.

The second room was emptier than the other one. The floor was carpeted and the walls were painted nicely. But there wasn't much furniture. There were muslin curtains waterfalling on the window, a simple hardwood desk set against on one side of the wall, and a random wicker basket topped with the matching lid, sitting in the corner like a small sad child. The room had a dim atmosphere, with pale glow of sun.

"What is this for?" Zoha asked, surveying the place.

Shehryaar was standing on the threshold, looking at the small room that seemed to serve no significant purpose, at least no longer.

"Well," he said. "This used to be filled with my stuff. My video games, my clothes. Over there." He pointed at the desk. "That was where I did my homework and studied."

"Was this your room before?" Zoha asked.

"Kind of. But I didn't sleep here. It was always the one downstairs."

"Were you often alone at home when barey abbu was out?"

"Yeah pretty much. Sometimes I invited my friends over. We jammed around."

After they looked into the room, Shehryaar pulled the door close. He told Zoha that there was a bathroom down the small hall. It had one big bathtub. He didn't take her to show inside and neither Zoha insisted to see. They turned their way around and headed downstairs.

On the ground floor, there was a L shape kitchen with a countertop where they could eat on the high chair. Further down in the house, there was a den and another small room that was of no use. Through the french doors they stepped out in the backyard. But it was too cold. Zoha instantly wrapped her arms around herself and fisted her hands.

"You won't have to come out here until summer," Shehryaar said.

"It's really nice."

"Yeah. It will be much nicer when there will be more leaves and flowers." He gave one long look at the grass and the plants that had dried up. "I used to water them in summer when there were no schools."

"I would love to take care of them."

"I know you would."

"It's really cold," Zoha said, rubbing the side of her arms.

"Let's go inside."

When they came in, Shehryaar closed the screen door behind.

"I know this place is smaller compare to the one in Pakistan," he said.

"But I like that it's not too big," Zoha said.

"It's enough for two people and now three." Shehryaar went to the kitchen, opened the fridge and pulled out a water bottle. He grabbed the glass from the cabinet and washed it in the sink.

"How many years had it been since barey abbu came here?"

Shehryaar filled half a glass with faucet water and then poured some fridge water in it. "I think around.." He thought. "Maybe like..twenty, or twenty two. I forgot."

"That's a really long time," Zoha amazed.

"Yeah it has been." Shehryaar tilted the glass over his mouth and drank the water.

Zoha pulled out the high chair and sat on it.

"He managed it pretty well," she said.

"He would rather live alone and do things himself than having someone else do it for him," Shehryaar said, after he finished drinking water. "He is used to it."

"I really like this quality of barey abbu."

"You should tell him that."

"I will."

Zoha leaned her elbows on the countertop and looked at the immaculate kitchen. She was in love with how everything was set. There was nothing out of place, except for the fry pan on the stove and some packet of spices. She didn't know when Zafar left in the morning, otherwise she would have seen him cooking. She was hoping to wake up early next time so she could see him. It was really fascinating for her.

"Do you want to eat something? Like snacks or something?" Shehryaar proffered.

"I am kind of full," Zoha said.

"With what?"

"The lunch we ate."

"You barely ate anything." Shehryaar gave a look. "You have to be kidding me."

"I don't feel like it."

Shehryaar hunted in the pantry for the snack. There were bunch of spices and stock bought in advance. He looked in a big tupperware on the floor which seemed to have something to munch on. He pulled out an inflated bag of honey barbecue chips and shoved the plastic container back inside in its place.

"At least daddy had this." He opened the chips in a typical style as soon as he got his hands on it.

"What kind of chips are those?" Zoha asked.

"Honey barbecue. Want to try?" He offered her.

Zoha unhesitantly plunged her hand in the bag and came away with two crispy chips.

"They are pretty good. Little sweet." Shehryaar was already crunching on them.

Zoha ate one and said, "yeah, they are good."

"Have some more," he said.

Zoha took some wordlessly. Then she got up and started to head towards her new room.

It had been two days since they had came over from Pakistan. All the suitcases and luggages were filled up, placed on one side, waiting to get unpacked. She thought she could spend this afternoon organizing her closet with her and Shehryaar's clothes. It was inconvenient to keep unzipping the suitcases and picking what to wear.

"Shehryaar!" she called him from the room. "Can you help me with the heavy stuff?"

Shehryaar showed up, without answering. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Zoha had already tilted the suitcase on herself and was about to drag it towards the middle of the room.

"I'm gonna fill the closet with our stuff," she said. "Can you help me with the rest of the suitcases?"

"You couldn't wait until I came over." Shehryaar took the suitcase from Zoha's hand and lugged it all by himself.

"Which side do you want?" Zoha opened the closet. "Then I will pick the other one."

Shehryaar laid the suitcase on the floor and then looked over to what Zoha was talking about.

"It doesn't really matter. You can pick whichever one you want," he said.

Zoha studied the space inside the closet and tried to figure whose clothes occupied them better.

"I will give you the left side. And I will take the right side," she said. "I think I will need more space for my heavy wedding clothes."

"As I said whichever one you want."

"Okay." She abruptly turned around to the suitcase, sleeping on the floor. As she was unzipping it, her temples suddenly started throbbing with pain.

"I can help you with the setting too," Shehryaar said.

Zoha sat on the bed and clasped her forehead. "Shehryaar, my head is hurting," she complained. "It's getting bad."

"What? Are you okay?" he asked.

"It happened all of a sudden." Zoha started massaging her head in hopes of alleviating the ache.

"Lay down if it is bad," he worried.

Zoha got up and went over to the side of the bed. By the time she placed her head on the pillow, she started to feel dizzy.

"Shehryaar, I feel weak. My head is spinning." She closed her eyes and kept massaging her head.

"Let me bring some water." Shehryaar rushed out the room.

Zoha was restless. She didn't understand what was going on. A minute ago she was perfectly fine and now she was holding her head, dealing with the growing pain.

"Shehryaar," she cried.

"Coming," he responded in hurry.

Zoha lifted her head from the pillow and sat up on the bed, impatient.

Shehryaar dashed back to the room and helped Zoha with the glass of water.

"Here." He gave it to her and sat next to her on the bed, placing his arm around her back.

Zoha drank some water and gave it back to him.

"What happened?" he asked, confused and concerned.

Zoha laid her head on Shehryaar's shoulder and closed her eyes. "I don't know," she said, faltering.

Shehryaar patted her head and stroked her hair away from her eyes.

"Is it getting worse?"

"After drinking water I feel a little better. But it's still hurting," she muttered.

Shehryaar enclosed her in an embrace and massaged her head with this one free hand.

"I felt similar kind of headaches back in Pakistan," she added. "They would get really bad and then slowly go away like it wasn't there in the first place."

"We definitely need to see the doctor before anything happens," he said. "This is not good."

As Shehryaar was massaging her head, she felt some relief. She was liking the feeling of his hand mitigating the pain.

"Can we go tomorrow?" she asked.

"We can. But we have to make an appointment first."

"What if we just go like that?"

"Then we would have to wait longer."

Zoha kept her eyes closed and gained pleasure from the lulling feeling.

"Don't worry, I will tell the doctor the situation and she would look us first." He kissed her head and squeezed his arm around her.

"Hmm." Zoha nearly fell asleep.

"Do you want to sleep on the pillow?" Shehryaar loosened the arm grip.

Zoha lightly nodded her head and slipped out of his arm to the pillow beneath her head.

"I think you should rest. Don't worry about organizing the clothes. They are not important right now." He relaxed her on the bed and watched over her.

"It happened all of a sudden. I didn't know," Zoha said.

"Hmm."

"Will you stay by my side?" she asked, opening her eyes a little bit. "Please?"

Shehryaar looked and thought. "If you wish." He went around the bed and sat next to her.

"I don't want to be alone," she said.

"When are you alone? I am always with you."

"I know. I want you to stay by my side until I feel better."

Shehryaar placed his hand on her forehead and soothingly started massaging her head again. "Do you like it?" he said.

Zoha nodded. "It feels good."

Shehryaar kept doing it as she liked.

After a moment of silence, Zoha who had nearly fallen asleep, spoke. "Shehryaar?"

"Yes?"

"Do you want a boy or a girl?"

Shehryaar was quiet.

"If the doctor said I was pregnant," she said.

Shehryaar smiled. "It doesn't matter. I would be happy with either."

"Still."

"I want a baby girl."

"Me too."

"First girl is like a daddy's princess."

Zoha opened her drowsy eyes and glanced up at Shehryaar. "I wish our first child is a baby girl. I would be really happy," she expressed.

"In Shaa Allah."

Zoha smiled, as Shehryaar looked in her direction. "In Shaa Allah," she said softly.

Shehryaar picked her hand from her side and pecked a kiss on it. "Whatever happens will happen for the best," he said.

"Yes," Zoha said.

*************************************************

Hey guys!