Married Without Love novel Chapter 27

||Mishal's POV||

My brother stood in front of me, beside my parents and stared at me with a shocking look but there were many emotions in his eyes; happiness, excitement, and guilt.

"Mishu..," He whispered, happily and emotionally.

I felt a small single tear escape from my eyes but none of us moved. It was like the time was stopped and it also forced us to stop in our positions.

"Do you know each other?"

Amma bi's voice pulled me out of my shocking yet surprising state. I looked away from Numan and noticed his father in law was looking confused while pa was staring at me in disbelief and ma was at the verge of tears.

Slowly, Zayaan put his warm hand on my back which was making my heart pleased to know he was there for me. I turned to look at amma bi who was standing beside me with her friend, the bride's grandma.

"She is...," Pa tried to speak but he didn't know how to complete this sentence because he never called me his daughter.

"My sister," Numan completed the sentence and stepped forward with a big and warm smile.

Everyone around us stilled except Zayaan, Numan and me. I felt Zayaan's shaking in anger which made me a little scared because I didn't want him to create any scene here, on the big day of my brother.

I put my hand on his arm in fear and looked up at him. His eyes quickly moved down on me and he relaxed a little by seeing the fear in my eyes. I shook my head shortly and slowly and mouthed 'please don't'. Zayaan pulled me with him and made me sit down.

After helping me to sit down, he stood straight and turned to look at everyone with a sharp look.

"We will talk about it later," He spoke in anger and fisted his hands.

I looked at my parents slowly and saw ma tried to take a step near but pa grabbed her wrist quickly. I noticed the tears in ma's eyes and a want to hug me. I bit my quivering lips and slowly looked down before my own tears started to flow.

"He is right. We will talk about it later. And specially you, Mr. Ahwab Shah," Amma bi said, sternly and firmly with a nod.

Pa's eyes were blazing with fire but he nodded his head. I noticed from the corner of my eyes he pulled ma roughly with him. I looked at Numan who was smiling softly at me then he went back to his bride.

"I will be back," The bride's father said, quickly and disappeared in the crowd.

Amma bi's friend, who was also the bride's grandma, also went behind his son. Amma bi quickly sat beside me and held me hand gently.

"Are you OK, dear? If not, we can always leave," She said in concern and put her hand on my cheek gently.

"No, amma bi, I am fine. I just want to see my mother," I told her and my eyes moved to search for my ma who I couldn't find.

A glass of juice appeared in front of me which made me look up at Zayaan who was holding it but wasn't looking at me. I slowly took it from his hand and took a sip of it.

"Mishu," I heard my brother called me and he appeared in front of me with his wife.

Both had a big smile on their faces as they looked at me. I noticed Numan turned to her wife and looked at her with love in his eyes.

"Meet Qirat, my wife. And Qirat, meet my sister, Mishal," Numan introduced both of us with a smile.

Qirat smiled at me softly and leaned down to hug. She pulled away from the hug and looked at me with happiness.

"I have heard so much about you from Numan. It's really nice to meet you," She said, politely.

I looked behind her at Numan who was smiling widely and his eyes were gleaming with pride and joy.

"By the way congrats," Qirat said pointing down at my bump.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Let's take a picture," She said, excitedly and pulled Numan with her.

They both stood behind the couch where I was sitting and called a photographer to take our picture.

"Um... Excuse me! Why don't you also sit beside your wife," Qirat said to Zayaan who was standing next to me like a bodyguard.

Zayaan looked down at me then slowly sat beside me. On my right side was amma bi and on the left side was Zayaan and behind me was my brother and Qirat. We all smiled as the photographer clicked our pictures except Zayaan.

• • •

The reception was almost over and everyone was leaving one by one now. My eyes searched my ma for the nth time who was standing beside pa with a forced and tired smile. My heart was carving and calling my ma and right now all I wanted was a hug from her.

Since my childhood, I carved only for my mother's hug but never got a hug from her. Ma's eyes connected to mine and I saw a longing look in her eyes and her lips curled up in a small smile.

She looked from me to behind me and I felt a presence behind me and rough yet gentle hands placed on my shoulders. I moved from ma to behind me and looked up at Zayaan who was standing behind me.

"I want to meet my brother one last time," I whispered, slowly.

He nodded his head and helped to stand up and took me where my brother was. When Numan noticed me coming to him, he smiled at me and walked to me. Numan pulled me in his arms and wrapped them around me.