Sabina POV
"AVINASHHHH..." my dad calls out getting up from the sofa, as I follow him while Avinash runs down the stairs.
"Yes Uncle." He says as my dad looks at him visibly shaking with anger.
"You're healthy now. You should go to your own house." He says taking a deep breath as Avinash looks at me. I nod, knowing Dad will want time to process this.
"Yes... Yes... I'll get my stuff and..." he says ready to go upstairs.
"No. NO. Shyam will take your stuff later, now you... you tell him to drop you at your apartment." My dad says as Avinash just nods and walks out where Shyam was cleaning Dad's car.
"Dad, If you think I'm a disgrace to you... I'll move abroad. Quietly. Nobody has to know anything." I say, feeling guilt crawl up my throat as he turns to look at me.
I was like a child, caught scribbling cuss words on the desk with a compass, whose teacher had called her parents before suspending her.
"My daughter's happiness." He says as I look at him shocked.
"Dad?" I say as he points to the couch as I sit and he joins next to me.
"I blame myself for... your wedding to Karan, and what you had to endure. I chose him for you."
"Dad, no..." I go to say as he raises his palm for me to be silent and listen.
"There were so many signs over the years that he wasn't the right man, but I was quiet. Why? Because society..." he says putting his hand over my head in blessing.
"Now, if a man makes you happy and I can see how he didn't ask me once, why I was doing what I was doing when I kicked him out of this house. He respected me enough to not question my decision, so I can respect your decision to not get married." He says as my mouth falls open.
"Dad?" I say with tears ready to stream down my eyes.
"But that's not how Naina will react, and you know it. If your father gets to know... Your mother will have to answer to her brother at how she raised his daughter. There will be questions and she will need some time." He says as I hug him tight.
"You're my father. I don't care about him." I say wiping my nose on his sweater, still in his arms.
"If you ever talk about leaving me forever and settling abroad, I won't be your father. Got it?" he says patting my back and I nod.
"I love you, Dad." I say as he chuckles.
"I love you too, Sabina. Now call Avinash and tell him why I kicked him out and he can't visit until Naina is okay with it." He says as I nod.
"Will she be okay with it?"
"We are more modern than you give us credit for." He says as I smile kissing his cheek and picking up my phone as I heard the door open and the car leave our house.
+++++++++++++++++
I dropped Danish home, went ahead with my site visit, and stopped at Avinash's apartment. I explained everything that I couldn't on the phone and made dinner for him.
I drove home, as it was almost dark. I parked and entered noticing mom and dad on the roof.
Mom has arthritis and going up the stairs is a full time workout for her. I walked into the living room and noticed my son's eyes glued to the TV screen.
"Good evening, Danish."
"Evening, mom." He says not looking up from the animated characters fighting on the screen. I throw my bag and run up the stairs straight to the terrace, hiding behind the door as I try to hear.
I try to make sense of the conversation. They were talking about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. How they lived happily for so many years and broke up a small time after the wedding.
"But the kids were adopted." My mother says as Jeet argues.
"I don't think all were adopted. But what I mean is, kids these days don't like to be bound by rules and regulations. Even the Indian Supreme court made a rule that kids from couples in live-in regulations will have the same rights as a child born to a married couple." He says as I hear my mother take the name of God thrice.
"That will be an illegitimate child and an abomination to the rules of the society," she says as I feel a sob rise in my throat as I clutch my belly.
"Naina, Sabina has gone through a lot." He says as my mother's voice mimicked a hawwww.
"What do you mean?" she says, as my father interrupts.
"I think, we need to change our mindset with that of the society, I think we should allow her to have a live-in relationship and have a family. Avinash is a nice guy and he makes her happy."
"Avinash doesn't have a stable family, Jeet. He said to me, how he's afraid to be like his parents. If he's married to Sabina, they will be legally connected and he will think twice before doing anything." She argues.
"Karan was from a good, stable family, and what did he do? Do you think he thought twice before hitting our daughter or kidnapping his own child?" my father says as my mother falls quiet.
"I sent Avinash home. I lied. He's not sleeping in his room. Think about it Naina. I'm 70 and have what 10-15 years left, these kids have a whole life ahead. Let them live like they want to." He says as I hear his footsteps and I run down the stairs to my room and shut the door, collapsing on the floor behind the door and breaking down into tears as I hug my knees.
If this is how my mother reacted to a live-in relationship, I wonder what she will say when she'll know I'm pregnant.
+++++++++++++++++++
The next two days were slow and tensed at our house.
It was 8:30 am when I decide to stop by Avinash's apartment before going into work.
"What are you doing?" I ask as he had half his walk-in closet thrown on his bed.
"I'm having dinner with my fa... Advocate Bajwa." He says as I look at the option.
"So, why are you behaving like a girl before her first date." I say collapsing on the bed.
"What if his wife hates me? Oh my God, what if I've fucked his wife? I can't tell him that his second wife is a cheater too." He says sitting on the couch, with an olive green tie hanging at the back of his plaster.
I get up with an amused smile and find my phone.
"Let's search him on facebook and we'll see if you've ever met his wife."
After 10 minutes, I showed him a picture as he reacted.
"I don't think so. She's not my type." He says as I role my eyes.
"You really should give me credit for being this supportive of your past, but this is as far as I go. What the fuck is not your type now? It's me. I'm your type. You have no type. It's just Sabina Ratan" I say as he shakes his head.
"Sorry... just..." he says and comes to me, sitting by my side. I sweep his hair away and kiss his forehead.
"You got this..." I say as he nods.
"I love you..." he says as I nod.
"I love you too." I say as he puts his forehead against mine, his good hand resting on my belly.
YOU ARE READING
Her Sanctuary
General FictionSabina was disliked by her own parents, when they got a girl on the second attempt as if getting a boy was cracking UPSC, but she was loved. Just not by her biological parents and that hurt. Her sheep of a husband betrayed her and their son for mon...
