The Moon and Her Stars

Ch. 40: Favorite Half

🎶"Dekho kaise tujhse main yun door chala gaya. Socha bhi nahin kya hoga tera jo main chala gaya. Haan phir kyun na aaye tum mere paas? Ke kaise tujhko yeh bataye ke hum jee nahin paye. Jaan leti thi teri meri dooriyan. Main teri hogaiyaan."

"Look how I have gone far from you just like that. I didn't even think about what will happen to you if I left. Then why didn't you come to me? How do I tell you that I wasn't able to live? The distance between us used to kill me. I've become yours."🎶

- Teri Hogaiyaan 2 | Vishal Mishra & Kaushal Kishore | Vishal Mishra

Ayaara's P.O.V.

I returned to the nursery with a warm bottle of milk and dismissed Elora before approaching my baby.

Yes, our baby was born!

"Meri jaan, my heart, my soul, my sweetheart, my lovebug, Mommy and Daddy's bear cub." I cooed before showering our radiating ball of light's face with kisses.

Aisha Amir, our baby girl, was the cutest little human I ever laid my eyes on. She was the most precious baby. She had the softest cries. Our daughter was gentle, easy, and already so reciprocating to love shown to her. She had jet-black hair like her father's, as opposed to my dark brown. She had both of our fair complexion. Her face looked just like mine when I was a baby, but her long eyelashes and stunning honey brown eyes came from Yasir.

Her tiny hands reached for my cheeks as my lips peppered her face. I scooped her up into my arms from her crib, "Ami se pyaar liye ja rahe hain, meri jaan?"
(You're taking love from Ami, my life?)

Yasir was incredibly supportive during the delivery, which was in February. He was by my side the entire time, stroking my hair and whispering words of encouragement to me. He didn't wince nor complain when I was nearly crushing his hand from how hard I was holding it. With epidural and a few pushes, our baby girl entered the world.

I will never forget the moment when the doctors placed her on my chest, her soft cries echoing through the room, while Yasir marveled at the sight. They let him cut the umbilical cord. Soon after, he called the azaan in her ears. Our baby, mine and Yasir's baby, was finally with us. Seeing him emotional when holding our tiny bundle of joy in his strong arms for the first time was something else. All of it was such an indescribable experience.

I held the bottle to the mouth of our now two-month-old and her innocent eyes watched me as she drank.

"Mmm, aap ne aap ki Dadijaan ke banaye huwe aap ke Abba ke mozay pehne huwe hain." I tapped on her tiny sock-clad foot with my index finger.
(You're wearing your father's socks made by your Dadijaan.)

Yasir's the best father. Seeing the love of my life transition into a father was an honor. Aisha is so blessed to have him. It's so moving seeing him so gentle and tender with her. I later found out when several people called to say thanks that he had sweets delivered to the homes of our close family and friends here in London and in New York to celebrate the arrival of our baby girl. He loved her to bits.

Abba came to London the week before Aisha's birth and he stayed for about a month. He kept saying that Aisha's my twin except for her hair and eyes. My brothers also visited their niece for a week, bringing loads of gifts, balloons, and flowers.

During my post-partum recovery, Yasir was very hands-on. He still is, as am I. When the both of us have to step away from Aisha at the same time for some reason while she's awake, Elora looks after her. She along with anyone who has seen our little angel is in love with her.

Once she was done, I burped her and rocked her for about 30 minutes. I slipped a pacifier into her mouth. Her eyelids soon grew heavy, blinking slowly—the tips of her butterfly-like eyelashes kissing the top of her cheekbones every few seconds. I felt like my heart could explode from how adorable she was.