16| Ahad

We got into the car and I drove back towards our hotel and Nawal thought we were going back so she started whining about how she wanted to visit more places instead of staying locked up in our room. I assured her that we weren't going back to the hotel as she finally relaxed when I drove past it. A place a little high up from Mall road had a chairlift service going on so I planned to go there. Driving around here really tested my driving skills as I had probably made some of the sharpest turns of my life and dodged pedestrians on the roads as well. When I parked the car at the side, Nawal had looked around and observed that the place looked almost the same as where we had just come from. I told her that it was different and we were here to do something we hadn't done yet. I held her hand and led her down a seemingly never-ending staircase that led to the chairlift station and she gushed at the sight.

"Oh my God, are we going to sit in the chair lift?"

"Of course, I didn't bring you here to watch other people go on to the chair lift. You aren't scared of heights, right?" At that, her face turned solemn.

"I'm not exactly scared of heights but what if the chairlift falls? You won't be able to cushion my fall this time, Ahad." She sounded dead serious and that made me laugh.

"It won't fall, come on." We both stood in the not very long queue of the ticketing booth and purchased two tickets as we joined a very long queue to get to the chairlifts. We both sported the most bored expression ever as we stood in the line. I continuously tapped my foot in annoyance at how slow the queue was moving and Nawal just looked tired.

"This is so much work." She groaned out and put her head against my chest but the queue moved and the people in line behind us started yelling at us because we weren't moving. She quickly straightened up and stepped forward. When we were close enough to see people getting on and off the chairlifts, Nawal looked concerned and I asked what was wrong.

"The chairlift doesn't stop... How will I get on?" She nibbled at her lip and I patted her back.

"I can hold you and we can get on together or you can simply get on like every one else does." I shrugged in indifference.

We were now second in line and the family in front of us got on when the worker asked us to get prepared. I hooked my hand around her waist and counted till 3 until we both got on together. The worker ahead quickly pulled down our safety bar and Nawal finally opened her eyes. She had a death grip on the bar in front of us and clutched onto my thigh as well even though my arm was already around her shoulders. We were at an altitude of about 7,500 feet from sea level but I didn't tell her that. I tried clicking pictures but Nawal kept warning me to hold on tight to the phone so it didn't fall. Honestly, I was concerned about the phone slipping from my hand too but I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to capture such a view. Every time we passed through a two-end terminal where the chairlift bounced, Nawal's grip on me tightened and at one point I had to move my leg to get her to loosen her grip since I felt a bruise forming from the strength of her nails. The distance of the lift was a little over 3 kilometers long so somewhere in between, she had gotten used to it and was fully enjoying herself. Her pictures looked more lively and comfortable. There was a station at the top where people usually got off but it only had snacks so we decided to not get off and return back down instead.

After getting off the chairlift at our own station, we had an evening meal because we skipped lunch as we had breakfast late in the day. Nawal suggested we go back to our hotel room because she was tired and I was, too. When we reached the room, we both immediately passed out and it was 6 in the evening only.

I woke up a hour later, due to my phone ringing, and noticed that I had been locked in place when I tried to move. In her sleep, Nawal had rolled all the way over to my side so that almost half her body was laying on top of mine. Without moving her, I reached my hand out and grabbed my phone to see that mom had called so I called her back.

"Asalam Alaikum." She greeted and I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Walaikum Asalam, Mama. How are you?" I tried to be as quiet as I could be to not disturb my sleeping wife.

"Everyone is good here but why are you whispering?" She asked, confusedly.

"Nawal is sleeping and I just woke up so I don't want to disturb her," I told her as I instinctively ran my hand through her hair.

"You both were sleeping at this hour? Everything alright?" She sounded worried, maybe thinking that one of us had fallen sick or something.

"Yes, mom, everything is fine. We both were out the entire day, walking around so we fell asleep as soon as we got back to the hotel."

"Oh okay, all good then. I don't want to sound like a typical Pakistani mother but when are you both returning? I was thinking we could start looking for marriage proposals of our Rumi. She's of age now too. This isn't even something I should be bothering you with when you are away with your wife but I didn't want to trouble Zoha since she hit her fourth month a week ago and you're the only other child I have." I could just see her concerned face as she worried about bothering me. She had always been the type to protect us from any of her problems, acting like a shade for all three of us.

"Mama, you'll never bother me, just know that. As for when we're returning, I'd say in about two more days? I'd come early if it was only me but Nawal is with me so..."

"No, no, two days is fine. I miss you too so it's my selfish reason to have you here. Don't do anything that will upset your wife, okay?" I mindlessly nodded at her words before realizing that she couldn't see me. Nawal stirred in her sleep and wrapped her arm around my neck.

"I won't, not intentionally." Mama approved and then cut the call, saying that she taking too much of private time with my wife. I set my phone aside but in the process of doing so, I ended up hitting the lamp that caused it to fall to the floor and Nawal to wake up.

"I'm sorry, go back to sleep." I rubbed my hand over her head to put her to sleep again as I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth.

"I'm not a baby, Ahad. Doing this won't put me to sleep." She shook her head but didn't lift her head up from my chest, instead snuggled more into me. "You're so comfy." Her voice was muffled by my chest and I laughed at her behavior.

"You're too cute, jaan." She lifted her head to smile at me before falling back on my chest, not a baby for sure.

"Ahad, I think we've successfully ruined our sleep schedule." She sighed, rolling over to her side of the bed and closed her eyes.

SLIGHTLY MATURE SCENE AHEAD

"Hmm, I think I can help you with that." I said with a finger on my chin, looking thoughtful. I leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I can just keep you up all night." Her breathing had visibly gotten heavier as her face flushed red at my words. I left a small kiss over her ear then kissed her on the lips. Unlike our first kiss, this one was much more steamy and passionate. My hand rested on her hip as her hand looped around my neck. She ran her other hand down my arm, feeling it. Nawal's eyes were shut tight and my eyes fell to her pendant, the one I gifted her on our wedding night. Not once had I seen her remove it, telling me that she held it close to her heart. I lightly brushed my fingers on the chain of the necklace and her neck as she moaned into the kiss. I pulled apart, both of us breathing hard and unlike last time, she didn't shy away. Her cheeks were red and she looked like a disheveled mess, by being pressed into the pillow, and I'm sure I looked no better.

Instead of stopping there, I leaned back down towards her jawline and placed kisses all the way down to her exposed collarbones. She fisted my shirt as she threw her head back into the pillow, eyes shut tight. For the second time, I pulled apart and just stared at her flushed state as she slowly came back to her senses.

The heated session caused my desire towards her to skyrocket but I didn't want to force her into anything. We were just getting started and I wasn't even sure if she was ready for anything else yet so I brushed all such thoughts aside, cooling my mind.

Her small hand came up and smoothed out my shirt and she smiled at me. Even her smile was pretty like her, especially when she had just been kissed by me because her lips were all red. I grabbed her wrist before she could retreat her hand and placed it over my heart.

"Don't smile like that, it does things to me." My voice wasn't higher than a whisper and if it was possible, she blushed even harder and kissed the corner of my mouth.

We ordered dinner and ate it in bed because none of us wanted to leave each other and the bed. I had actually grunted in annoyance when I had to get up from the bed to collect our order. We both cuddled together as we watched some romance movie Nawal had chosen and even though I woke up only three hours ago, I was dozing off as she ran her hand through my hair repeatedly with me laying in her lap and she slumping down on the bed. When her hand stopped, I looked up to see that she had fallen asleep so I turned off the TV before sleeping beside her.

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