Meeting You Again

Chapter 32

Tariq's POV

Was I really looking at her? I couldn't stop staring at her, even though my brain was in overdrive, trying to comprehend everything. I watched how her eyebrows were furrowed, her teeth were gritted, and her bottom lip was being bitten raw by her trying to carry me to the bedroom. I wanted to walk on my own, to stop leaning on her so much, but I couldn't.

I was enamored. This was really my Ayla.

Her hair was no longer in a long braid, decorated with golden flowers. She was no longer wearing

extravagant bangles and fine, heavily embroidered dresses. She no longer had the marking of our kingdom on her wrist, her golden nose ring was missing, and her eyes were no longer adorned with pearls. But this was my Ayla, no doubt.

The familiar chocolate hue of her hair was the same, the familiar twinkle shining in her eyes was the same, and the dignity, pride, arrogance, stubbornness, and presence she carried as Aayla Chauncey, daughter of the Duke Chauncey family, were all the same.

This was my Ayla, my wife, the mother of my unborn child, and my life.

She made me lie down on the bed and went to make me some food. She came back quickly, with hot chicken soup, and started blowing on it for me to eat. I felt my heart tingle and ache with the outrageousness of this entire situation.

After making sure Ayla was asleep last night, I went to the sofa and tried to sleep, in complete joy over how we were developing. The night was great, and I shockingly fell asleep really fast. But then, things took a weird turn, and it didn't feel like I was dreaming anymore. I saw something in my dream. Sorry, not just some things, but rather a lifetime?

It was fucking weird, and don't tell me why I think this, but I had full belief that what I just saw was mines and Ayla's past lives. This was the very intuition that got me to survive when I was fighting, and I was absolutely not going to ignore it.

And the way the dream ended...I never felt as much despair I felt in that one moment than my entire life. That's when I opened my eyes and saw Ayla. Different, but also the same as the one in the past. And I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This was our second chance, wasn't it?

"Tariq, why are you acting like this? You're scaring me?"

At that, I finally woke from my daze. I saw her carrying the bowl on one hand with the spoon in another, worry flooding into her eyes.

Ah. Was I staring blankly at her this entire time?

I pulled the blanket off of me, took the bowl out of her hands to place it on the nightstand, and pulled her into my embrace.

"What's wrong? Do you want to go to the hospital? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

I felt her warmth in my embrace, and knowing that she was in my arms, safe and sound, eased me more than I thought it would.

"Shhh Ayla. I'm fine. Let's just...stay like this for a while."

Luckily, she didn't say anything and just hugged me tighter.

I wasn't going to let a repeat of our last life happen. Not on my watch. We are going to remain happy, carrying our children, having a healthy family, and successful careers. As we always should've.

But I wasn't going to tell her about our past. I didn't want her to remember the pain. Just me carrying it was enough. With that thought. I felt myself starting to drowse off again, until Ayla woke me up and forced me to drink the soup.

It tasted good, warm, and felt like a blanket of comfort and adoration was covering me. By the time I woke up, I saw Ayla sitting on the bed next to me, working on her laptop, looking adorable with her thinking face. Kai was on the ground, playing with a toy. I smiled. Looked like she took care of everything, again. Now, in this life, I will take care of her and give her everything she deserves. To preserve that smile of hers, to preserve that happiness of hers, and to live the life we planned to back then. To make the damn best out of this second chance.