Unbreak Me

★CHAPTER SIXTY★

LEIA
Over the next couple of days, my routine significantly changed. I was discharged from the hospital two days later than the initial date and it had been a month at home now. A month of sleepless nights. A month of exhaustion.

I couldn't complain, though. Not when I saw Abdar Rahman's face and some strange light flicked open inside me. Not when he was this cute ball of chubbiness; the fat-creases between his arms and legs were quite obvious and his cheeks were hued a deep pink. Believe it or not, he had occasionally—very occasionally—opened his eyes and they were larger than life and a brown so beautiful, it stole my breath away each time.

Everyone in the house had fallen in love with him.

Even now, Labeeb held him somewhere in the house. I wouldn't know; I hadn't been able to get up from the bed. My routine consisted of eating, barely sleeping and feeding.

Just this morning, I looked at myself in the mirror and I was shocked. My face seemed drained of all blood—which, by the way, the entirety of my body was facing. I had a feeling I was low on iron. Again. But I wasn't going to ask Dad to get me a few shots of it because let's be honest, it was expensive and buying diapers was already quite costly. My needs could be fulfilled later.

That wasn't the shocker. It was this . . . thing I had become. I had always been thin and now, my body was all over the place.

I groaned.

How would I even lose all this fat now? I had never thought of myself ever dieting.

I sure needed it though.

You just want to look pretty for Zayn, my conscience taunted.

It was true. I couldn't deny that I was disappointed Zayn hadn't appeared yet. Maybe he was just giving me space, knowing the kind of pain I was in. Most days, I could barely cope and it had been impossible to allow close contact with anyone. Mom literally hadn't bothered hugging me for comfort anymore.

All in all, I was a total mess. A fat one at that.

After that, I decided to go on a diet and it lasted for about two hours before I found myself gobbling down food like a freak.

Huh.

Whatever.

Food was life.

I was still counting the days. How long would Zayn take? Was he in trouble? If not, why wasn't he here yet? It had been forty-two already.

By now, I could walk around and be comforted without a lot of pain. My back still felt sore and I had a feeling it would be that way for a long time.

I was flicking the phone between my hand, thoughts far away when Labeeb came running and dumped Abdar Rahman into my lap.

That could only mean one thing.

"Clean him, Api," he looked annoyed. "Why does keep doing . . . that?"

I made a disgruntled noise, telling him to fetch wet wipes and clean diapers. He flicked up his nose and ran away.

Only parents could handle their kids' worst parts. Not that this was bad. It was natural, and well, it would take some getting used to.

After my son was all clean, he grinned happily and I rubbed his tummy in affection. I was still playing with him when Dad came into the living room with Mom's support.

"You shouldn't be walking this much, Dad," I bit my lip in worry.

He waved a hand, sitting with a wince. "I have something important to talk to you about."

Immediately, I knew it was about Zayn. Had he called? My parents had been pretty chill about my divorce and had it not been for Zayn, it wouldn't have been the case. They were reassured that I would tie the knot again.

If I was being honest, I felt relieved too. A lot of burden had been taken off from my shoulders.

"If it's about Zayn," I started, "Then what he said is true. I did agree to marry him. He's a good guy." The best, I stopped myself for saying.

It dawned on me that I was crazy in love. Was I being blindsided? What if this was some prank too? A sick bet?

The food in my stomach was threatening to spill out.

"I can see your thoughts racing," Dad observed and I nervously fiddled with Abdar Rahman's feet. "For what it's worth, he seemed sincere. I don't know him that well, Leia, but I have a feeling you do. This is completely your choice. You still have time to say no."

I loved Zayn, I kept thinking. It was because of our childhood spent together, the secrets we'd shared with nobody else but each other, the comfort we'd sought in each other. It was his beautiful eyes. His smile. I liked his personality. We got together well. Most of the time, at least. He was so sweet. And I could go on.

There were things I disliked too, of course. Like his choice in friends. The stupid bets. His crude language—which, thankfully, he refrained from nowadays.

I opened my mouth to tell Dad that, yes, I was sure I wanted to marry him when Mom barged into the room, saying, "I think he's here."

What?

"Who's here?" I questioned, though I had my suspicions.

My heart was beating thunderously and the hair along the back of my neck stood on end. It was as if my body was already aware of his close proximity. I shivered.

Dad sighed. "That's what I wanted to tell you. Zayn called yesterday. He said he'd be here today. And well . . ." Dad pointed to the door.

In a sudden rush, I realised I was in my PJs and my hair was down. Not down like, down but I wasn't wearing a headscarf. I pushed to my feet, plucking Abdar Rahman off the sofa too.

"Is he at the door?" I screeched. "Oh my God, did he see me?"

I couldn't look back at the door. I just couldn't. What if he was standing there?

I always wanted the unravelling part to be epic—something out of a movie. Not like this.

Dad shook his head and I let out a sigh of relief. Oh wow, that was stressful.

"I'll go get ready, then," Meaning: let me go wear my curtain.

Dad offered a nod, and I fled.
•••
Thank you for your feedback, guys! I do realise that there are A LOT of chapters when there could be less but as I mentioned it's because I write on Webnovel mainly and there most books have upto 800 chapters!
I've thought of updating differently here. I'll write more in one chapter from now on :)