True Purpose

c h a p t e r 11

Breakfast, Zaynab had admitted to herself, was interesting. It was her first morning with her in-laws and in this household, unlike in her aunt's, every single individual in the house had to be present during meals.

Zaynab got to meet three more members of the Zaydan family, and from her mother-in-law, she also learnt the order of the Zaydan siblings, and she also learnt her husband's age, which she didn't even know.

"Zaynab, these are my three other sons - Yasir, Hadid and Yahya," Rumaysah told Zaynab, gesturing to the three boys whom Zaynab saw for the first time. "So, basically, Hassan is the oldest at 26 years, followed by Yasir, who is 24. Then there's Huda at 22 and Yusra at 20. Then we have Hadid who is 17 and lastly, Yahya who is 13."

Zaynab didn't even know that her husband had brothers. She only knew about his sisters because she met them. It was a complete surprise that morning when Hassan took her down for breakfast and she saw three boys sitting at the table. These boys who happened to be her brothers-in-law.

After breakfast, Zaynab was dragged away by Huda and Yusra and they took her to the room they shared. They seemed to be very bubbly and good-natured. Zaynab thought they were a lot like Ava, but the only difference was that Ava knew Zaynab's back story and all, so her behaviour around Zaynab was a little more careful.

The girls' room was slightly larger than Hassan's, but that was expected because all this time, Hassan had a room to himself, while these two girls shared their room. There were two separate beds, and Yusra immediately pulled Zaynab onto her bed.

"So, Zaynab. Tell us about yourself," Huda asked, sitting on her own bed which was opposite Yusra's.

Zaynab let out a nervous laugh. "What do you want to know about me?" She asked.

"Anything! Like, what do you do?" Huda asked.

"Well, I'm a medical student at this local health science university. I'm on my fourth year. Tomorrow, I'll be back to attending my classes since its Monday," Zaynab replied.

"Wow!" Huda exclaimed. "So we'll soon have a doctor in the house!"

Zaynab couldn't help but smile genuinely at Huda's enthusiasm.

"Zaynab, how did you find my brother?" Yusra asked.

Zaynab's cheeks warmed at Yusra's question, because her mind immediately went back to everything that had happened earlier in the morning. She just shrugged shyly, not saying anything.

"Nuh uh! You have to answer!" Yusra said.

"He's a nice person. Hassan is a great guy," Zaynab replied, truthfully.

At that, both sisters wiggled their eyebrows at Zaynab, making Zaynab blush.

"I really can't believe Hassan is married!" Yusra said.

"I know right?!" Huda exclaimed.

Zaynab raised her eyebrows questioningly when they said that.

"You know, just two days ago, he was sitting on the floor, playing video games with Yahya, and then they started fighting over the snacks and food, and got into this huge verbal war with each other! Imagine, Yahya is literally half of Hassan's age! A 26 year old sitting and playing with a 13 year old. Okay, that's alright, but imagine a 26 year old arguing with a 13 year old over food!" Yusra narrated and shook her head in disapproval.

Zaynab chuckled. Now she had learnt that her husband was not only just a nice and religious person, but he was also very childish when he wanted to be.

"You know, Zaynab, from all of us siblings, Hassan is closest to Yusra. So if you want to know anything about him, ask Yusra," Huda said, smirking at Zaynab teasingly.