Good For You (Al-Ameen Family #3)

Soon

Today was my second last day in India. I'd leave tomorrow night but for now, we were making the most out of our time here. I was flying back to England with Ayaan bhai's family and Zayed and Kismat bhabhi.

I woke up leisurely, no one there to annoy me in the early hours of the morning. I took my time showering, getting dressed, and feeling all weird inside. I looked in the mirror, stared for a minute, and then sat on my bed and sighed. I looked the same; same hair, same eyes, same cheeks, same big ass nose.

I felt different though. I felt older, more mature, or at the very least, more responsible. Which is saying something because I was more responsible than most people I knew.

There was a knock on the door and I yelled for them to come in. Navsheen strolled in, a soft glow on her face, her smile brighter than ever.

"Good morning Mrs. Al-Ameen," she chirped.

"Oh shut up, I'm keeping my last name," I rolled my eyes.

"Okay okay. Listen, we're all going out to the beach for the day, you're coming," she pulled me up.

"Why?" I whined. "I wanted to just relax and finish packing," I protested.

"No you have to come. You already broke Ali's heart by not telling him you were leaving so soon. The least you could do is spend one day with him," she tugged my arm so I was unwillingly walking with her towards the door.

"Did you ask my mom?"

"Of course I did," she mocked being offended by the thought that I could possibly think she wasn't on top of this. "Plus, you're married now. Your mom said she doesn't give two shits about what you do now that you're married," she snorted.

"She said 'two shits'?" I chuckled.

"Something like that," she waved me off. "Hum chale Phoophi (We're going)," Navsheen called out to my mom in the kitchen.

"Okay beta, sambhal kar jaana (Okay kids, be careful)," she bid us goodbye.

We walked to the other house where everyone was already piling into cars. I stood to the side with Aisha bhabhi and the kids as she bossed everyone around, telling them to put stuff in specific cars.

I picked up her youngest, Nimi, who latched onto my like a koala. She was adorable, always laughing. With barely two teeth in her mouth, she whistled most of her words.

"Hey," I turned to come face to face with Ali. She said hi to Nimi as well, shaking her tiny hand.

"Hi," I smiled back.

"You look very nice. I wasn't sure you'd come," he leaned against the car.

"Navsheen doesn't really do no for an answer," I pointed out. He chuckled, nodding his head in understanding.

"Chalo everyone, get inside. Three hour drive," Saf apaa yelled out to everyone.

"After you," Ali opened the door for me. I set Nimi down and had her waddle over to her mom before getting into the back seat. Ali slipped in beside me and beside him Armaan got in. When the car started up, Armaan fell over as if the car ran over a mountain and he let out a girlish wail. It pushed Ali onto me.

Ayaan and Safiyana sitting in the seat in front of us snickered, Saf apaa half-heartedly chided Armaan, glancing over at Ali and me.

I looked up at him to see him smiling mischievously. I pushed him away, fixing my dupatta. Yusuf bhai, the driver for our car, turned up the volume of the radio and everyone went into their own conversations.