“Zaman, now that we know our baby's gender. We should start looking for some good names for her.” Aabirah suggested while sitting beside him on the swing.
Zaman sipped his tea while looking at the setting sun and hummed in response.
“How about Zania?” She asked.
“No, that's my cousin's name.” He immediately dismissed the idea.
“Umm, Aadab.” She suggested another name.
“That's my cousin's cat's name.” Zaman dismissed the idea again.
“Then you suggest a name.” Aabirah told seeing him getting so choosy about their baby's name.
“Zamirah.” Zaman mumbled with a smile.
“That's a shipping of our names.”She exclaimed with a delightful smile.
“That's why our baby's name will be Zamirah. She will carry a part of us in herself and her name.” Hearing him say those words made her feel loved and blessed.
“I love you, Zaman. And Zamirah too loves you.” She kissed his cheek and wrapped her arms around him. Zaman kissed her forehead and kept staring at the almost red horizon.
💫💫💫
“Zaman, see my baby bump is getting bigger.” She beamed while caressing her bump.
“Oh, I see. C'mon, on the occasion of your bump getting bigger, give me a written test.” Listening to what he just said, her face fell.
“But, Zaman-” Zaman interrupted her protest.
“Keep your But aside and come here.”
With a grim look casted on her face, she moved to sit beside him on the couch. He handed her a list of questions.
“Attempt all of them.”
There were exactly thirty questions and she had attempt all of them. There was no internal choice either. He could have been considerate towards his pregnant wife by giving options between questions. She picked up her giant rough notebook and began scribbling answers. Those were the quietest two hours in their house.
“Done!” And she handed him the notebook.
“Good. You go to the lawn. I'll join you after checking your test.”
“So eager to see my test?”
“Yes, I want to know if my tutoring is worth it or not.”
“Zaman, it's undoubtedly worth it”
“I will see that. You go out.”
Aabirah left the room. But she was curious how much she will score.
💫💫💫
“Seventy out of hundred.” Zaman announced as he entered the lawn.
Aabirah was sitting on the swing. Zaman sat beside her.
“Not bad, wifey.” His arm went around her back.
“Thanks, I was scared if I will score good or not. I didn't want to disappoint you.”
“You didn't. Now I actually feel like I am a good teacher. And even if you wouldn't have scored well, I wouldn't have scolded you.”
“Why?”
“Because I believe that there are no bad students, but only bad teachers.”
“And you are not a bad teacher.” She moved to kiss his cheek.
“Oh, I am glad.” He smiled.
💫💫💫
Zamirah was now two months old. Aabirah looked at her peacefully sleeping daughter. She was so much like her father. Always calm.
Zaman had talked to their parents about taking care of Zamirah in the future when Aabirah will practice law and they gladly agreed. They saw it more as an opportunity than a responsibility.
Zamirah's small nap at the evening soon became Aabirah's tuition time when Zaman would be begging her to focus on her studies. But her attention will again and again go back to Zamirah.
“Aabirah, your exams are next week. You can't afford getting distracted.” Zaman had repeated this line quite a lot time. Her face would fall in sadness. But still she won't be able to concentrate.
Zaman entered their bedroom and saw his wife sitting near Zamirah's crib.
“Aabi, there's a test paper kept on the nightstand. Take it and attempt before Zamirah is awake.” Zaman told her as he removed his coat and tie.
Aabirah sighed but still she brought the paper and began writing answers on her rough notebook. Zaman took a quick shower and changed into comfortable clothes.
A hour or so later, she was done with the test. Zaman looked at her answers. Seventy out of hundred. Nothing much had changed, except for the fact that her handwriting seemed hasty. She wrote it very fast. Means she scored seventy even when she was in a hurry to just get done with the test. Means she could score better if she attempted the test with concentration.
“Don't hurry next time. You can score better.” He told her will checking the answers. Aabirah just hummed in response.
💫💫💫
“Thank you, Zaman.” Aabirah mumbled while resting her head against his naked chest.
“Thanks for sex?” He asked in confusion.
“No, thanks for being so supportive. If there was someone else at your place, he would have suggested his wife to simply quit studying. That's what happens most of the time.”
“If it happens that doesn't mean it should happen. And we are in the same field. If I am able to help you then why the hell not?”
“What if we had different fields?”
“Then I would have enrolled you in online classes maybe. Or YouTube is there. There are wonderful teachers posting lessons on YouTube.”
“Hmm, I am glad Dad got me married to a lawyer.”
“Really? You were literally crying on our wedding night that you didn't want to marry a man so elder than you.”
“That was a year ago, Zaman. Now I have understood that age really is just a number. It only means that you will die a little earlier than me and I will have a chance to remarry.”
“Oh, really?”
“Just kidding, Zaman.”
“You better be.”
“Accha, now let's sleep. Zamirah will wake up around dawn again. We need to catch some sleep before that.”
“Right. Good night.”
“Good night.”
•••
The End
•••
Thoughts 💭
•••
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