Together Ever After ~ An Asfiya Fanfic (Complete)

Priceless Moments

With the responsibilities of the hospital increasing as it expanded, both Asfand and Zubiya thought it would get difficult to balance work and home, especially now that their little one was growing up, she required more attention. However, with the huge amount of help from their family, most days passed by like a breeze.

Zubiya sat down on the bed with Amaal in her lap. Asfand was working on his laptop trying to gather references for a complicated case that had cropped up, while Zubiya tried to put Amaal to sleep. Growing kids are never easy to handle, and Amaal was no exception. She was a fast learner and just at 11 months, had already started to walk around a little, making it more difficult for her parents to contain the little baby's excitement. Much to their satisfaction, their daughter was a happy baby most of the time. She rarely cried or got irritated, except for when she had teething pains, got too hungry or sleepy. Otherwise, she was an absolutely adorable little angel.

"Oho Amaal! Beta ab so bhi jayein. Kitni raat ho chuki hain." Despite Zubiya's best efforts, she lay wide-awake, playing happily in her mother's lap. Asfand lifted his gaze from the laptop screen and turned towards them.

"Kya hua? Nahi so rahi? Lao mujhe dey do." He kept his laptop aside and took Amaal into his arms, but it seemed like she had decided ditched the idea of sleeping wholly. Instead, she cheered up even further and started playing with Asfand's glasses. Both her parents laughed at her cute little antics.

"Asfi? Amaal ki pehli saalgirah aa rahi hain. Aap ne kuch socha hain?"

"Haan socha toh bauhat kuch hain, par abhi tak deicde nahi kiya. Socha ke pehle tumse, maama aur baba se mashwara kar loon. Then we can come up with a plan."

"Hmmm. Waise aapne socha kya hain pehle yeh toh bataein?" She knew Asfand's taste and already had an inkling of what he was planning.

"Ab meri beti ka pehla birthday hain. It's going to be nothing short of a grand event. Family, friends, hospital staff aur baki sab honge. Mujhe lagta hain theme kuch aisa hona chahiye jo Amaal ko pasand aaye." Zubiya laughed out at his remark.

"Achha? Asfi, Amaal na abhi tak eik saal ki bhi nahi hain. Usey toh har cheez achhi lagti hain. Uski pasand abh humein kaise pata chalegi?"

"Mujhe toh pata hain. Bright colors, mickey mouse aur baba ka chashma. Right Amaal?" Amaal looked up to her dad and smiled innocently. She always smiled when somebody called out her name, especially when it was Asfand. Zubiya warmly looked her husband and daughter.

"Mujhe kabhi kabhi hairat hoti hain, aap dono ka rishta dekh kar. Log kehte hain ke maa apne baccho ko sabse zyaada samajhte hain. But they haven't come across someone like you I guess." Asfand smiled back at his wife. She was overwhelmed with gratitude and joy when she saw how much Asfand adored their little one. To him she was the most precious thing in the world. Maybe that's how a father's love is. But she spent all her life unaware that such kind of a bond even exists.

Zubiya was lost in her thoughts when all of a sudden a voice broke her trance.

"Bubba!"

Asfand gasped at what he heard and Zubiya almost jumped with joy.

"Did she just-"

"Haan Asfi! Usne baba bulaya aapko!" She had said a few words before, but this was the first time she said 'Baba'. The parents were so excited that they almost looked like little children themselves.

Afterwards, they finally managed to calm themselves down, and could not wait to share the news with the rest of the family the next morning. Amaal had also begun to feel drowsy. She threw her arms around Asfand's neck, resting her head on his shoulder and dozed off. Asfand patted her on the back to make her comfortable so she could sleep peacefully.

If one had to capture happiness in a frame, it would be this one, with their small little family and nothing but sheer happiness.