Destiny - مقدر

- Epilogue -

"Family is not an important thing. It is everything." - Michael J. Fox 

I finished the end of her plait, watching as her beautiful, long, brown hair swirled into a plait that snaked down her back. I picked up the sparkly purple bow from the floor and clipped it to the end of her plait, watching as it hung from side to side like a heavy weight on her hair. I pressed stray strands of hair back onto her head and tapped her back. "All done!" 
She turned around and smiled at me, her gapped teeth being revealed as she grinned largely at me. "Silly mummy, you forgot to put the ribbon in!" She giggled picking up the lilac ribbon from my lap. She loves it when I plait the ribbon in her hair but it seemed I had forgotten. "Sorry Yasmeen. Next time?" I said, lifting her into my lap as we sat in the lush grass of our large garden. She nodded so frantically that I thought her neck would snap, "Okay, mummy. Next time." 

She smiled at me again, her large green eyes sparkling as she did. They weren't the same shade as Daniyal's green eyes, they were lighter, but just as beautiful. She is the exact mirror image of him, that much is obvious. I'm so glad at least one of my children were gifted with his emerald eyes. It warms my heart to see them. I see so much of him in her that it only makes me love her more than I already do. Her plait flicked onto her shoulder and hung like string down her chest. "Butterfly! Mummy, look, a butterfly!" It came out more like 'butterfwy' in her adorable, over-excited voice but my mind had been programmed to understand her all the same. Her finger immediately darted up into the air and followed a butterfly that was slowly fluttering around in the summer air. It had beautiful pink wings that came back and forth as it flew around us in slow circles. Yasmeen jumped up from my lap, "Butterfly! Come back, butterfly!" She squealed, bouncing around with more energy than a battery. 

I lay my legs out on the grass, giggling as my beautiful baby girl ran around on the grass, laughing and singing to herself as she chased the butterfly. For Yasmeen, happiness is simple. It's hugs with her mummy and playing pretend games; it's an uplifting story at bedtime and the knowledge that her daddy and I have life all taken care of. Food is always available, she has a comfortable bed. She has friends to play with. We walk in the woods and splash in the stream. She doesn't care what the time is unless she's hungry. Sure, she throws a fit when her brain can't understand this world, I'm sure I still do that too. Sometimes she screws her face up and stomps her feet, goes red in the face and waves her hands; but then my tantrums don't look pretty either - not that she ever sees them. I called her Yasmeen, after my mother. I was eager for her legacy to live on, for me to never forget about her. So when I found out I was having a girl I was absolutely ecstatic. She doesn't know that her name has a deeper meaning, nor does she know my mother's story, our story. I plan on telling her when she's older, when I'm sure she'll understand. I want her to understand what this life has taken from me and what it could take from her too. When she's older... for now, life is simple. I want to keep it that way, protect her from the harsh reality of this world, for as long as I can. 

"Yasmeen! Don't go too far!" I yelled as she pranced around the garden towards the red hibiscus bushes. Before I could yell at her again for straying too far from the garden, Daniyal pushed open the wooden gates and made way for our second child, Hassan to run through. His large hazel eyes doubled in size as he ran to me, stumbling over in oversized cricket gear. He tripped onto the grass with the weight of Daniyal's black leg pads and his helmet rolled onto the grass. He chuckled as Daniyal lifted him back up and he continued to run towards me. 

"Hello mummy!" He giggled, pulling the leg pads off, struggling with the surface area of his cricket gloves. "Come here." He scooted forward, to my instruction, and I pulled his gloves and leg pads off, lying them beside us. Daniyal held him arms out wide and Yasmeen, from the other side of the garden, ran into them, jumping like a rocket launching into space, into his arms. Daniyal embraced her and lifted her into the air. "Hey princess! Have you been good for mummy?" 
She giggled, "Hello daddy. Yes, I have! Mummy did my hair all pretty..." She twisted her head so Daniyal could  see the long plait and the bow that I had put into her long brown hair. Daniyal gasped and tickled her, "Wow, now you look like a real princess!" He carried her towards us whilst she giggled and sat down beside me and Hassan. "Guess what I did, mummy!" Hassan said, jumping around giddily. I laughed, shaking my head at my silly boy. "What did you do?" 
He gestured with his hands, "Daddy let me bowl today, and when I threw the ball, all of daddy's friends started cheering at me!" 
"Wow! Really?" 
"Yeah! One of them said I was the next great cricketer of Pakistan!" 
"That's amazing, beta. I'm so proud of you." I kissed his forehead and ruffled his brown hair, that had become a chaotic mess under the cricket helmet.