TURN OF FATE, cl16

03.

CHAPTER THREE.
CHENNAI.

It was almost 10 in the morning when she reached her house. She waited for a few minutes, collecting herself before ringing the bell. She smiled when she noticed her mom had opened her door but it faded when she took in her appearance. He did it again.

"Dari!" Her mom, Alisha Hamza rushed to hug her daughter. She felt a few tears from her Mom dripping, wetting her shirt. She hugged her mom as tight as she could. She felt her own tears blurring her eyes. "I missed you too, mumma."

After pulling away, she immediately received a smack on her shoulder. It wasn't that painful but Dariyah winced for dramatics. "I'm back after a whole year and you just smack me? Where's the love, woman?" Dariyah glared at her mother. She talked to her in Urdu, her mother tongue.

"Where's your shawl?" Alisha asked her daughter, noticing she was only wearing a top and loose jeans with no shawl in sight.

Dariyah rolled her eyes before getting in, her mother smacking her hands to stop her from picking up her suitcase. Alisha picked up her daughter's suitcases on her own. Dariyah pushed off her mother softly before picking them up herself as she noticed the slight wince coming from her mouth.

Dariyah grew confused as she noticed her mother's suitcases sitting on the floor with all her clothes on them. "Where'd you go before me coming?"

"I didn't go anywhere but we're going now." Dariyah was still confused on what's going on.
"What do you mean?"

"You're going to be an Aunt!"

"But for that Didi must be pregnant?" Dariyah took in a moment to realise the situation. Alisha gave her youngest daughter some time to realise it. "Oh my god! Didi is pregnant?!"

Alisha jumped around with her daughter. "But that still doesn't explain the packing" Dariyah exclaimed, still jumping around with her mother happily.

"It's because we're going to London to look after her." Dariyah halted as soon as she heard her mother. "No."

"What do you mean no?" Alisha came to a stop after noticing the excitement flown after her daughter's face.

"Why does she even need to be looked after? She's like what just two weeks now? What's there to be taken care of? I came here for a break. Not to take care of Miss Overdramatic."

"Dariyah." Alisha looked at her daughter with a pleading look. "She's alone there. Faraz has to go to work. She can't do all of it alone. And she isn't two weeks pregnant, she's about four month right now—"

"Four months?! Why didn't she told us about this sooner?!"

"Sameeha thought it'd be all right to do it on her own. She was scared of being bombarded with calls if the news got out in our family. You know the hatred she has for our family, didn't you?"

"Yeah, if she had told you. But that' wouldn't have happened if she had told me!" Dariyah couldn't help but feel a bit hurt that her own sister didn't tell her she was pregnant despite the sisters had a strong bond and called or texted every day.

"She knew you'd have flown to her right after you knew. She didn't want to make you worry." Dariyah knew exactly what her sister had meant by that. Out of everyone, it was her sister who knew about her condition. She didn't want to tell, but her sister found out when she attended the call from Layla instead of Dariyah during her visit to Abu Dhabi six months ago.