One Way or Another (Al-Ameen Family #2)

Beach Day

The kids all made a plan to take a trip down to a beach house on Saturday since the weather was supposed to be really nice. I helped prepare everything on Friday and on Saturday I morning, we woke up at 6am, got ready, and everyone was in the cars by 7:30.

I got shotgun in Yusuf's Range Rover and Ali and Navsheen and Armaan-who were visiting for some weeks during their school vacation- joined us. Navsheen fell asleep in the back seat when the car hit the road and Armaan seemed to be in his own zone with his headphones in and eyes closed. They had just gotten in yesterday so their tiredness was expected.

Ali seemed to be a bit off since yesterday. Once I was sure the two siblings couldn't hear us, I turned in my seat and faced him. "Devar saab?"

"Yes bhabhi jaan," he looked up and carefully put a smile on his face. I almost faltered a bit when I saw his smile. It wasn't Ali; it was almost just a shadow of him. For the first time ever, I saw him smile without it lighting up his face. It hurt almost just as much as when Yusuf did that.

"I need your help with something but we can't let this old guy know," I judged Yusuf's arm playfully. He looked over to protest but when he saw my expression, he just snorted and focused back on the road.

"What?" Ali raised an eyebrow, instantly looking more like himself.

"When we get there, remind me to tell you," I grinned. His eyes twinkled with mischief and he nodded, pointing to Yusuf in question. I nodded back, to which he crossed his heart and winked.

"I don't know how I feel about you calling her 'Bhabhi Jaan'," Yusuf frowned.

"Oh sod off. When Aisha bhabhi came, Zayed and Omar got her. When Kismat bhabhi came, Safiyana and even Ayaan got her. When Zinat bhabhi came, you got her. So now, Inayah bhabhi is all mine!"

"Aww, Ali," I leaned over and pinched his cheek. "I'll always be your bhabhi."

"Okay so question," Yusuf interjected again. "Who will call your wife bhabhi jaan?" he asked Ali. The unease showed on his face again, spoiling what was going on. My devar saab was dealing with lady problems.

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We got to the beach just as noon hit. We set up blankets and chairs underneath a couple trees. Sufyan was sound asleep so he started a little nap area in which his dad joined him instantly.

I joined Kismat bhabhi in her attempts to find a hiking route. We had a map of the area but it was a bit out-dated and so we'd have to explore.

"Just walk through those trees and see what you guys find," Aisha bhabhi suggested, pointing an opening in the trees a bit away from us. Ali and Armaan wanted to go fishing and so they'd gone to inquire about the boat rentals with Yusuf and the other guys.

"Alright, let's go," Kismat bhabhi shrugged.

"You sure you'll be okay?" I whispered to her, pointing to her stomach.

"Let's see. If it's too rugged, I'll come back," she decided. Along with Navsheen and Safiyana bhabhi, we made our way towards the trees. The shade made it a little cooler than needed and we all shuddered from the sudden change in temperature. I handed Kismat Bhabhi my shawl insistently.

We got a couple minutes into the hike before we stopped. There were two ways we could go but the map didn't indicate which one to take, oddly enough.

"Let's take the right one. It sounds less horror movie-esque," Navsheen muttered.

"And left sounds totally horror movie-esque?" Saf snickered, leading the way to the pathway on the right.

10 minutes later, we were lost.