Kismat

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EID MUBARAK!!!!!!!

Assalamualaikum my loves.

First of all, I am so so sorry for not updating fast. I can't help it, I'm laden with so much school work and family things that I am not able to focus so much on other things as much. But here is a nice long chapter to make up for my absence and it comes with a few surprises that I believe you guys will love ;).

I'd like to retaliate that I will not be able to update very fast. It is difficult for me to balance all these things so please please don't be impatient with me, support me as I find my bearings.

Also, WE REACHED 2K READS. CONGRATULATIONS GUYS. I LOVE EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU, BECAUSE YOU'RE ALL TOO SUPPORTIVE FOR MY GOOD. xD

I want lots of inline comments, I absolutely love reading them. It makes me feel that you all also enjoy reading my book as much as I enjoy writing it.

Anyway, on to the chapter!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rizwan's POV

We walked in silence, the frosted leaves crunching under our synchronized steps. Cold wind blew harshly across our gaunt faces. The silence penetrated the fog dusted across my mind, allowing me to think more clearly.

Aapi decided that we would go visit Ammi the day after Khala and Khalu left. She knew that we wouldn't be able to handle so much emotional burden at once.

Hamesha hamari sochti rehti hai, pata nahi kab khud ki sochti hai.

I thought about this, mulling over it in my mind. Distantly, I worried that I wasn't reacting as I should be, finding out that the mother that I had assumed I had wasn't actually my mother, rather she was a woman I had no remembered interaction with. But then again, Nikhat hadn't fulfilled any responsibility towards our upbringing, not as a stepmother and most definitely not as a mother. All of that was completed mostly by Aapi.

It must've been so hard on Aapi and Ayaan bhai. Every time we brought up the subject of parents, which was rarely, it wouldn't have been Nikhat and Abbu going through their minds, it would've been Ammi and Abbu. How many memories would they have of a happier time?

Huma Khan

An unknown entity to me and Sabri, but yet, I felt her presence in almost everything that we did, in everything we have. It made me wonder if this is where Aapi got her strength from, if her quiet, demure mannerisms were all Ammi's. It made me wonder if Ayaan bhai's temperament was hers or Abbu's. It made me wonder what part of me belonged to Ammi.

In my thoughts, I'd fallen behind the rest. Ayaan bhai realized this and slowed his pace until he was side by side with me.

"Kya soch raha hai?" I looked up into his familiar features. The cold wind teased his hair until it was scattered all over his forehead. His normally cheerful face was set, absent of his usual grin. A dark shadow of stubble ghosted across his sharp jaw and the harsh grey slashes underneath his tired eyes supported his lack of sleep. I remembered that he'd recently gotten his heart broken by Rukhsaar and felt a pang near my ribcage.

"Just about how hard it must have been for you and Aapi to support the two of us, knowing that we didn't know what the truth was."

"Main nahi, sirf Aapi. Bohot se cheezon woh mujhse bhi chupa kar rakhti thi, mujhe pareshaan na karne ke liye."

"Nikhat ko toh hum vaise hi maa ka darja dete rahe." I voiced out

"Woh naam ki maa thi, chahe souteli ho ya hayatiyati. Uske, Abbu ke, apne, saare farz toh Aapi ne hi poore kiye. Nibhaati rahi, bina shikayat ke. Ammi se mashwara bhi leti rehti hai, yahaan aksar aa kar." Aapi and Sabrina turned around and motioned for us to hurry up. I could see Sabrina's pink nose and instantly knew it wasn't because of the cold. Ayaan bhai signaled them to go on and turned towards me.