Gereksiz İntikam

59

TANIYA’S POV

The light filtered in through the blinds—soft, golden, warm.

I woke up slowly, the ache in my body still lingering, but my heart… lighter than last night. Shoaib was gone—maybe for coffee, maybe just air—but he had stayed. And that meant something.

Then I heard the gentle knock.

A pause.

Then the door creaked open.

And there he was.

My Dawood.

In his tiny green sweater, hair messy, eyes too wide for his small face—holding a banana in one hand and his favorite stuff elephant in the other.

He stood there quietly.

Like he was unsure if he should come in.

I opened my arms.

That was all he needed.

He ran—clumsily, a bit too fast—and launched himself into my bed, into my chest, into my soul.

He buried his face into my neck. No words. Just breath.

I wrapped him in my arms, holding him close, kissing the top of his head over and over.

“My baby,” I whispered. “Mamma missed you so much.”

He didn’t answer.

He never had the words to Tell me his feelings.

But he placed his hand on my belly.

Slowly.

Carefully.

Like he already knew.

I stared at him, heart thudding.

“Do you know?” I whispered.

He didn’t look up. Just pressed his ear against my stomach and lay there. Listening.

I felt tears slide down my cheeks.

Somewhere in that moment, everything melted.

The fear.

The confusion.

The doubt.

He lifted his head and placed a soft kiss on my belly.

Then looked at me with his quiet, unfiltered eyes.

“tani Maa,” he said.

That one word—simple, soft, sacred—shattered me.

He had said it before, yes.
But now?

Now it felt different.
Now it felt like he chose me.
Fully. Completely.

I cradled his face in my palms. “You’re my whole heart, Dawood. You always will be.”

He blinked slowly and nodded once. Like he understood every word.

I didn’t know what the future held.
I didn’t know how strong I had to be to raise two children in this storm.

But in this room, in this moment—
With Dawood pressed to my belly, my arms wrapped around him, and my body still carrying a second heartbeat inside me—

I knew one thing:

I was not alone.

And neither were they.

---

The dining table was unusually full this morning.

Shahjahan Maa sat at the head, her tasbeeh moving slowly in her fingers. Anam Khala poured chai for everyone with a practiced hand and tearful smile. Danish bhai sat next to her, absent-mindedly peeling an orange for Dawood.