Aziz-e-Dilam عزیز دلیم

three

The month long honeymoon was eventful to say the least. Who doesn't like Europe? The vineyards of southern France, the Irish Moors, the Scottish Castles, the Vatican cathedrals, the ancient Greek ruins: they were a couple of nerds alright.

They were not total killjoys and did all the touristy stuff as well: the handholding, the stolen kisses, the cheesy pictures and most importantly the walks by the significant water bodies; be it a lake, a river, a sea or the ocean. They did it all.  Paani zaruri hai Babu!

Hania's favorite part of the vacation was Musa's surprise. He knew she was a dork and reason why he had planned visits to all the Game of Thrones locations! She couldn't believe that Croatia was King's Landing!

The most hilarious moment of the journey was when they were seated beside a couple of old ladies on their flight to Austria. They experienced slight turbulence and Hania was reciting some surah for protection.

After it was declared safe to remove the seatbelts, one of the ladies asked them,
"You are a Muslim?" To which they replied positively. The ladies mock shuddered and said, " oohhhhh! Terrorists" and started laughing.

Hania being Hania politely asked them, " where are you from?" The ladies did not detect the underlying sarcasm and proudly replied, " we're Germans." She eyed Musa and together they mock shivered,
" ooohhh Nazis!!" That shut them up for the entire flight.

What a blast it was for a month. She relished their alone time and their visits to all the marvels but now she was homesick. She needed her Mama, her Baba and she needed her Duaa Ammi! She wanted her nephews and wanted to keep tabs on the third baby as well.

Musa had sensed her cantankerous mood and snarky comments and had booked the first flight home. They were now at the baggage claim waiting for all the extra luggage that she had amassed during their trip. She's going to spoil his brothers rotten!

After finally clearing the customs, they now looked for Rashid Bhai their driver. He should have been here by now because their flight was delayed by an hour. His head was going to split. The grumpy baby in the front row had cried non stop for 3 hours.

What he saw gave him a migraine. The entire pagalon ka hasaptal was here. His siblings! They were grinning ear to ear and Bakhtiyaar had a very irritated look on his face. It was going to be a long drive back home!

"Bhabhi Maa!" They ran and engulfed Hania in a group hug. Zohaib wiped away fake tears and Behroz patted his back more like gave him a Heimlich maneuver.

" Bas kar chottey, bhabhi ko saans lene dein. Apne vatan ki khushboo toh lein zara. Bhabhi iss gobar se jee bhar liya ki Behroz ko bhi bheju?"

Shahveer then hugged Musa and whisperd in his ear, " bankrupt hue ya hum kasar poori karein?" Musa twisted his ears and without saying anything sat in the SUV. He was too tired for this.

"Bhai, ye bandar kal se excited the aaplogo ke aane ke liye. Subah see tayyar hokar baithe the. Rashid Bhai ko inhone pagal kar Dena tha, isliye main lene aaya hu." Bakhtiyaar explained like the obedient brother that he is.

The boys helped stow away the luggage. Musa sat beside Bakhtiyaar in the front and Shahveer claimed the seat beside Hania. Behroz didn't want to miss out on the fun but knew Zohaib also wanted the same. A game had to be played!

" Zoh, wo dekh uss ladki ne apna tissue gira diya. Bhaiii, tujhe dekhkar shayad number likh ke phenkha hai. Kya baat hai mere Sher!" Behroz slyly started his work.

Zohaib quickly got down the car and went in search of the said girl. Itni straight forward ladkiya Haweli ke aas paas bhi bhatakti nahi hai. This was his only chance. But there was no female present for miles!

He turned and saw Behroz quickly claiming the third spot in the middle row and now he had to sit alone in the last one.
" Kamine. Tujhe toh main ghar jaakar dekh lunga. Sab se chun chun kar badla liya jayega. Meri kamzori ka fayada uthaya gaya hai. Mujhe insaaf chahiye!"  He screamed at them and they guffawed in response. Even the eldest brothers managed to crack a smile at this. Oh it was good to be back!

He sat in the back and put his head in the middle row. He wanted to be a part of the gossip too.
"Psst, bhabhi" Shahveer whispered in a conspiring tone. Hania looked at Musa who had nodded off, her poor baby! She then paid her full attention to her Dewar. "Bolein"

" Ye jo itne hafte Europe ghume hai aap dono,  hum kya godhbharai ki tayyariyan shuru karwa dein? Eshal appi ke saath aap ka bhi function nipta lete hai ek hi kharche me?"

Shahveer and Behroz high fived each other and Zohaib not wanting to feel left out also tried but almost fell on Veer. That earned him a smack on his head from his older cousin. Hania was flustered not knowing what to say to such scandalous questions.

"Agar abhi main piche aagaya toh sabka janaaza zarur niklega, ek hi kharche me." Musa warned them.

"Bhai aap toh soye the na?" He turned around and and started his overacting," Zoh tu direct kyu nahi puch leta hai, hume middleman banane ki kya zarurat hai?" Turning to Musa again he pleaded.

"Ye mujhe nahi jaan na hai, Zoh ne puchne ko kaha. Nalayak bata Bhai ko." Veer tried to pin the blame on him because they were in the danger zone and Musa won't be able to reach that far back.

"Bhai, main nahi." He was silenced by Musa's eyes. He whispered to his dhokebaaz brothers," Saalon, ek toh mujhe shaamil bhi nahi kar rahe ho aur upar se ilzaam? Waah jee waah! Ghar chalo, Eshal appi se shikayat lagata hu tum dono ki. Wohi tumhe theek karti hai."  Zohaib was irritated now. All the blame and no fun!

Musa just glared at them and nodded at his wife who was trying not to smile at their banter. His wife was soon going to be a Pagal Panter!

Bakhtiyaar never took the bait. That's how he maintained his peace which was a difficult task in their house. He has achieved the impossible.

The rest of the ride was quiet or as quite as it  could be with them. They reached home within the next hour and after greeting everyone went straight to lie down. Jet lag was a bitch!