The Dawn Is On Us

C H A P T E R 2 8

M U S T A F A and Hoor stepped out of their bedroom together. Him being wheeled by a servant, as she followed the duo into the dining room. The dining room was huge. The centre featured a large glass dining table, with seats for twelve. To the left of it, was a built in wall unit, proudly sporting fine china dinner sets from behind the glass enclosure. The table was set with cutlery and white porcelain plates. Just by a glance, Hoor could tell they were the heavy ones. The kind that is soo expensive you would think a hundred times before buying it.

Hoor had pulled her hair into a bun, letting two strands softly graze her cheeks. She smiled at Alia, who entered with a train of maids carrying all sorts of food trenches.
"Assalamualikum aunty," Hoor smiled at Alia.
The old woman, pulled her into a hug,
"Waalikumassalam, dulhan. Aao betho," she pulled her to one of the seats, that had an empty space next to it.
The space was for Mustafa's wheel chair to roll into. Luckily, it had the same height as the dining table chairs, giving him easy access to the food.

The table was soon full of foods like chikar chollay, halwa puri, qatlama, fired eggs, and bread. All kinds of bread. It was a heavenly spread, resulting in Hoor to gasp in joy. In her twenty three years of life, she had never seen the table be laid with so much food in one go.

"Salam bhabhi. Kia haal hai?" Munazza asked, entering the dining room.
She was followed by the rest of her family, as they all took their respective seats. Not caring to exchange pleasantries with the new bride.
"Arrey mein theek hun. App sab beth jain. Raees aur Sajid bhi aatay hi hon gai," she winked at Rumaisa.
Till now, it was decided that Raees and Rumaisa would be wed next year. Abdur Rehman was yet to break the news, that Rumaisa had rejected Raees. Rumaisa passed her a tight lipped smile.

"Humein yaad kia hum hazir ho gai!" Raees cheekily spoke in his mother's ears, kissing her cheeks. He pulled his beloved best friend into a hug, passing Hoor a gentle smile.
"Arrey ladkay, Rumi keh saath beth ja". Alia winked.
She was not like typical mother-in-law's who had a problem with the husband and wife hanging out before marriage. Infact she would be glad if the did just that. But the two were shy and needed a little push.

"Jaisa aap kahein ammi," he winked back at her.
Sitting down next to his mangetar, who passed him a smile. A bitter smile.
"Chalein bhai nashta shuru karein. Bachun ko bhook lagi ho gi," Sajid, broke away from his conversation with Abdul Rehman and spoke.
"Han. Han. Hoor beta Bismillah karo," Alia hurriedly said.

Hoor passed them all a shy smile, grabbing the ladle and putting some chanay in her plate. She tore off a half of the nan, making a morsel for herself. Just before she could place it inside her salivating mouth, Raees interrupted her.
"Bhabhi aap bhai ko pehla niwala khilain na," he wiggled his brows.
"Nahin. Iski zaroorat nahi-" Mustafa tried to stop him, but was interrupted with Alia's cheers.
Hoor blushed, having no option but to feed him, she turned towards him. Forwarding the bite and placing it in his mouth. Catching a glimpse of his pearly white teeth that were perfectly aligned. Accidentally touching his lips with her thumb.