𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐙𝐈𝐑 ✓

| redeemed |

❛ To err is human, to forgive, divine ❜

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Brown guilty eyes searched through the crowd of school children for its coolness. The quiet emotion of love that has now become a part of oxygen he breathes begins to choke him as his five year old daughter steps out of the car with her mother.

It had been a couple of months since Mehrul left Murtaza's house and was staying at Zohra's along with Maisha, while Shahzaib moved in with Murtaza, came to his aid and helped with everything in the hopes of maybe he could undo all the times he'd wronged his son. It certainly wasn't as easy as it seemed but the father-son duo were putting efforts to make it work and find a common ground and ultimately everything paid off.

Moreover Murtaza began implementing many things—that he never cared about earlier—into his daily routine, all with the intention to become a better person for his girls. They deserve better and he's going to be that for them.

Additionally, his enthusiasm for learning about Islam intensified when he discovered a couple of islamic books in Mehrul's room one night. He read them all, the more he read the more it pleased him. He was enchanted by the beauty of his own religion that he had been so inconsiderate to all these years. Now he knew the reason behind the long invocations his wife made all those times. She was seeking this divine peace. From then on he repented and prayed for a future with his wife and kid in it. He wanted to be a good muslim, a good son, a good husband and a good father all for the sake of Allah. For he is The Al-Ghaffar, The An-Naseer, The Ar-Raheem.

****

This morning, as usual, he was seated in his car, across the street from Maisha's school watching her cheerfully jumping up and down with her mother who struggled to manage her over enthusiastic daughter on this very important day. It was Maisha's birthday and it looks like she'd decided to make the whole world known. That kid with two pigtails had Murtaza's eyes filled with tears, he just wanted to embrace her one more time. Kiss her forehead and wish her happy birthday. 

His lips trembled as a lone tear fell on his cheeks, thoughts of all the times he could have done that and much more, plagued his mind and plunged him deep in that haunting pit of regret and mortification, that he'd been struggling to climb over. 

Everyday seeing his daughter and wife from afar pained his heart. Although Maisha wasn't aware of him being around them, Mehrul knew he'd come there everyday to see them but she chose to ignore. However today she could see in his eyes, the sincerity, love and longing towards Maisha she'd always craved to see. The pained look on his face was intolerable, so when their eyes met and as usual, he passed a small smile her way, Mehrul took the opportunity to nod at him and gestured to him to come and meet his daughter, as she couldn't find the strength to be heartless anymore. 

Murtaza's face lit up that instant and he wasted no time to jump out of the car and reach the other side of the road. When Maisha saw Murtaza, she was surprised and a little bit shocked but when her mother smiled in assurance and nodded to go ahead, her face broke into a beautiful smile and to everyone's surprise she launched herself into Murtaza's arms and buried her face in his neck. 

Murtaza froze, his face twisted in pain and happiness altogether. His daughter was in his arms again, clutching him as her life depended on him and he did the same to her. 

"I missed you baba" Maisha uttered, with her face still buried in his neck. 

"I missed you more mera baccha" Murtaza rubbed her back and gently placed a kiss on top of her head.