INSEPARABLE II

XXVII

Prem stared blankly at the night sky full of bright stars. He wondered how he could fulfill his promise to take Zora the following morning to see the horses while also shielding him from the rest of the family.

"What's my son thinking so deeply at this hour?" Prem's mother's voice caused him to look up to his side. His parents seemed to have just returned from a late night walk when they found him at the stone steps of the palace entry way lost in thought.

"Nothing, Ma." Prem smiled at her.

"There's definitely something." She stated taking a seat next to him one step higher.

Turning towards her, Prem put his arms around her and closed his eyes. He needed it more than anything else in that moment.

Circling her arms around her son, his mother took him into a warm embrace and kissed the top of his head. "Tell me what it is." She said softly stroking his shoulder as his father simply stood at the side watching.

Prem had been caught so off guard by the news of Zora that he still hadn't been able to truly come to terms with it. Something in his mother's affectionate grasp unleashed a whole new set of emotions inside him. In the past 24 hours, he had been nothing but an emotional mess, crying so easily that he was afraid they would remove his title of a warrior if anyone saw him. And yet, his eyes filled to the brim once again and he pressed an escaping tear into his mothers chunni.

His act did not escape his mother though. "Prem.." her voice was clouded with concern when she gently moved his face away to get a look at it. Her son was crying. "My baby." She caressed a tear away from his cheek. Kissing his forehead, "what's wrong?" She whispered.

Quickly stepping up to them, Prem's father placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Prem..." the worry in his voice was audible as well.

Prem sighed. "I...have to tell you both something." He couldn't think anymore so he said it as it came to his mind.

"Yes. What is it?" There was urgency in his father's tone.

"Not here." Prem sniffled. "Let's go to your chambers." He said shuffling to get up.

Now anxious, his parents immediately stepped back and let him take the lead. Once inside the palace, Prem called the first servant his eyes fell on and asked him to summon Hakam to his parent's room.

Minutes after they got settled into his parents magnificent chambers, Hakam showed up at the door with Lady Sahib Kaur Brar's scroll in his hands. Between the time Hakam walked over from the door to him, Prem thought of a thousand different ways he could begin the conversation. He thought of a hundred different sentences he could say to ease them into the shock they were about to experience but couldn't quite bring himself to mouth any of them. So he did what was the easiest...he simply handed the velvet scroll to his parents and waited for them to absorb its words.

At first, they simply widened their eyes, then their mouths fell open due to sheer astonishment. Eventually Prem's mother's hand moved to her heart and her eyes grew moist. Tears from both pairs of eyes dripped down onto the document they shakily held by the time they finished reading it.

At an utter loss of words, his crying parents simply sat frozen in silence in the moments that followed. Prem slipped the scroll out of his father's hand and set it aside. He reached forward and took into his hold one hand from each parent. Looking into their eyes, "I have a son..." he choked up, "and he's here." His voice trailed off.

Pulling him into her hold, his mother sobbed with an unbreakable grip around him. Sniffling softly, his father put a hand on the back of Prem's head to both bless him and console him.

Hakam stared at the ground as the three most powerful members of the mighty Dhaliwal family of Kurral cried inconsolably.

When they were able to get a hold of themselves, their first question was the same as Prem's from the night before. "Where was Zorawar?"

Prem told them of the chambers he had kept Zora in and suggested they meet him the following morning. Only his parents demanded he take them to their grandson that very moment as the morning was far too long of a wait.

Giving in, Prem escorted them into Zora's chambers and Rajjo rushed to rise from a sleeping Zora's bedside to greet the senior Dhaliwal's. She bowed but the senior couple were far too entranced by the sight of their grandson to notice or respond.

Tenderly seating themselves on the bed next to him, they carefully touched him. Prem's mother placed a gentle hand on his forehead and caressed back his curly hair. Both pairs of eyes remained moist throughout the meeting.

Prem watched his mesmerized parents stare at his son in an angelic oversight. Though the news had been nothing short of shocking, they were elated to see him.

"He's perfect." They told him as soon as they stepped out of his chambers. "He looks just like you!"

The night was impossibly long for them. The anticipation to see Zorawar again, speak with him, and finally hold him kept them up all night.

Noor showed up for breakfast with a much dimmer smile the following day. Her glow was missing but she did her best to be a part of the family. Prem had missed breakfast today as well. Noor wished he wouldn't neglect himself in the process of avoiding her. She would happily eat alone in her chambers if it meant Prem would join his family again.

After very cautiously introducing Zora to his grandparents as the parents of his newest friend, Prem and Hakam spent sometime getting Zora accustomed to his new surroundings. Prem had spent all three of his meals with Zora yesterday and knew he wouldn't be able to hold himself back from doing it again today. Zora was a friendly kid. By the time they finished breakfast, he agreed to become best friends with Prem and Hakam if they fulfilled their promise of taking him to visit the horses.

He was absolutely enthralled by his parents' horses so Prem took him out on Toofan while Hakam followed closely behind on Badshaah. He rode back with Hakam while both the friends pretended to race each other for his entertainment. He was beyond elated.

It was only when they returned to the stables that they saw Veer and Kabir standing next to one of their own horses. When Prem's cousins noticed the baby version of him in Hakam's arms, all they to do was look into Prem's eyes and he spilled it out before them.

"You're looking at my son." Prem had choked up to their utter astonishment as Hakam distracted the child away from them.

Prem explained everything from the letter to them in their dumbfounded states. At first they stood frozen in disbelief, but after a good look at Zora's face, tears of happiness rained down their cheeks as well and they rushed to hug Prem. Veer said he would send a letter to his wife to return immediately with the kids as she was visiting her parents' house. Kabir, on the other hand, was simply over the moon to have found another nephew.