Dedicated to sameshaikh123

The drive to the hotel was spent in silence. Mariam was quite excited to meet her to-be 'son'. To get to know him and hopefully spend some time with him.

Mariam had always wanted children of her own. She couldn't understand what it was that attracted her towards children.

Maybe it was their innocence that, shone brightly on their beautiful faces. Whatever it was, Mariam just completely adored them. No matter whose children they were. She loved Zahra, Shehnaaz's daughter just like her own. And now she couldn't help but feel extremely delighted to meet baby Zahaan.

While Mariam was busy in her own little, happy bubble, Zeyad was downright nervous. He was nervous because Zahaan had never met anyone before except for his father, grandparents, and his nanny, Stacy and Zeyad preferred it that way.

He didn't like it when celebrities or social elites flaunted their children and introduced them to publicity at such young ages.

Him being one of the famous and successful businessmen, Zeyad had his fair share of stardom.
Many Canadian high-class families had approached him for the hands of their daughters in marriage.

But, of course, Zeyad refused them all. None of the women were what he was looking for. He wanted his wife to be sweet, loving, caring, understanding, and most importantly a practicing Muslim.
He wanted her to be a good person and to be the best mother to his son, Zahaan.

Zeyad removed his gaze from the road straight ahead and looked over at Mariam. She was looking out of the window, at the busy streets of Mumbai. She looked so peaceful and happy. Like, meeting your to-be husband's son was the most exciting thing in the world. Like, she couldn't wait to get over there and shower him with unlimited kisses and love.

Zeyad sighed. As the drive to their hotel became shorter and shorter, his anxiousness grew higher, his mind filling with all kinds of questions and 'what ifs'.

"I am so excited to finally meet him," Mariam spoke, bringing Zeyad out of his depressive thoughts.

"I am also really glad that you actually agreed to do this," she added.

"That is no issue. Of course, I would have agreed to it, Mariam. You are going to be his mother and Zahaan needs to meet his mother." He said smiling, but to Mariam, his smile seemed less bright and more forced.

Something felt wrong in the way his eyes looked worried.

Like, something was troubling him but, Mariam couldn't place her finger on what exactly was it.
Was he not ready for this? Did he not wish to have them both meet each other? Thought Mariam.

Finally developing some courage and voicing her thoughts, she spoke up- "Is something wrong? Zeyad?"

The car came to a sudden halt, only, it was not sudden. They had reached their destination and Zeyad looked even more tensed than before if, that was even possible.

"....we uh-we can go back if you are not ready for me to meet him, I understand," Mariam whispered sadly.

Zeyad looked at her and felt like a completely heartless person. He was making her feel undeserving and it wasn't his intention. If anything, he wanted them to meet each other and like one another.

"No, Mariam. It's not like that. You have to believe me when I say, that I have never let anyone other than my parents and myself near Zahaan. He is very important to me. He is the only thing I have left as a part of my late wife."

Mariam released a breath that she had been holding in anticipation. "I understand. But, I want to let you know, that I am ready. I am ready to be his Mother. To love him, take care of him when he wakes up at night or when he is sick. I-"

"Stop, Mariam. You don't know what you are talking about. He- he is..... " he hesitated before continuing." Zahaan, he is..... he is special"

"Every child is special, Zeyad" Mariam offered.

"No!" Zeyad said a little too quickly and Mariam quirked up her left eyebrow in a silent question. "No, I-uh, I meant of course every child is special but he is different" was all he said before getting out of the car and walking to open Mariam's door for her.

Thanking him, she got out and followed Zeyad to the lobby of the ridiculously expensive hotel as the Valet parked the car.

                          ***

Mariam and Zeyad stood outside the suite in which Zeyad was staying.

Saying that both of them were nervous would be an understatement. They were beyond nervous. Mariam was so anxious that she felt like, she might faint any moment now and she could feel the anxiety radiating off of the usually calm and composed man beside her.

The CEO was too nervous to even realize that he had been tapping his foot non-stop as they stood outside the dark brown door to his suite. The maroon, printed carpets in the corridor muffled the rapid tapping of his shoes.

Taking a deep breath after glancing at the beautiful young woman stood beside him, he opened the door.

The room was huge. Mariam thought. Too huge for only one person. There was a wooden table in the foyer with a vase with fresh, pink roses in it and a few paintings were hanging from the walls. The foyer leads to a hall like a sitting area, with a light brown couch with matching love seats and a huge center table.

Parallel to the couches was a huge flat-screen TV hung from the wall. On the left side of the hall was a door that Mariam assumed to be the bedroom.

From where she stood next to the couch, she could hear the noise of a baby babbling which made her smile and an unfamiliar voice of a woman.

"Please have a seat. I'll bring Zahaan out, he's with his nanny" Zeyad said as he came to stand next to Mariam.

Mariam did as she was asked and sat on the plush couch, waiting patiently but excitedly for Zeyad to bring his son out.

After waiting for twenty minutes straight, Mariam began to feel uneasy. What was taking him so long? Did he not want them to meet? Mariam's earlier doubts all came crashing back to her as she sat there waiting.

Shutting the door behind him, Zeyad rested his head against it.

This was it. It was now or never. 
There was no point in prolonging the inevitable now. After protecting his son from the outside world for all these months, it was time he started introducing him.

Heaving a deep sigh, he walked further into the vast bedroom, toward the crib that he had specially asked for. Zeyad knew the owner of the hotel and was good friends with him. They had done business together and so was given all the luxuries one could ask for.

"Oh, Mr. Ali" Stacy said as she stood up straight after feeding Zahaan his formula "you're back early".

"Yes, I have someone I would like  Zahaan to meet, my fiancé actually".

"Oh. I had no idea you were getting engaged" She said sadly and Zeyad felt bad. He was quite aware of Stacy's not so secret crush on him. Although she would flirt with him every opportunity she got, she was a great nanny. She wasn't that old, in fact, she was in her early twenties like Mariam.

Zeyad would have considered marrying her for Zahaan's sake, if only she were from his community, but Stacy was an atheist and Zeyad was a religious man. As religious as he could be at least.

"We came here for this very reason only" he explained to her raising a dark eyebrow, "I thought my mother must have mentioned it"

"No, Sir. I was only asked to pack for a week for Zahaan and myself and that we were coming to India. It's none of my business really, anyway" she smiled at him and backed away from the crib.
"Congratulations, Mr. Ali".

Zeyad picked up his son and watched Stacy walk out of the bedroom and a few seconds later heard the suite's room slam shut.

He sighed once again and looked at his baby boy. "You look very handsome today," he cooed.
"let's go meet your new mommy," he said, playing with his onesie  
clad, small feet.

He opened the door with the hand that wasn't cradling Zahaan and made his way to Mariam, who looked like she was about to throw up

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," he said and saw Mariam jump with a squeak. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"Sorry again. I didn't mean to scare you".

"That is alright, I was just startled. I thought you weren't coming out" she said whispering the last part making Zeyad frown.

"Why would you think that?" he questioned.

"Um, I don't know," she mumbled timidly. She did not know what to tell him. How could she tell him that she thought he was not ready yet, without sounding stupid.

Zeyad felt guilty for making the poor innocent girl feel such. It wasn't his intention.

"Here," he said as he held Zahaan for Mariam to take a look at.

Mariam raised her eyes from her feet and gasped, feeling the air get knocked out of her.

She stared open-mouthed at the beautiful little boy, that had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. They were a color so unique like she had never seen before. He had stormy grey eyes, a small button nose, and cute cupid lips. He was simply that most handsome baby ever.

But, that's not what caught her attention. It was the small device attached to his left ear that did.

Mariam looked up at Zeyad who was staring right back at her, his eyes blank, his face holding a blank expression too, as he waited for Maria's next move. Waiting for the pitiful look he had expected to wash over her soft features, but it never came.

Instead, he was stunned when she smiled a breathtaking smile, love, and adoration shining clear in her brown eyes. "May I?"  she asked as she held her arms for Zeyad to hand her the little bundle of joy.

"He is beautiful" Mariam whispered as she cradled him in her arms, smiling so big, that Zeyad thought her face might just break into two.

He found himself smiling equally big when he saw her holding Zahaan like he might break and staring at him like he was the most precious thing in the whole world.

Zeyad felt proud. He was proud of himself that he had chosen the right girl. He had a feeling that he will not regret this.

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Sooooooh, here it is.
I am so sorry for the delay, I was actually trying to write longer chapters but I can't seem to be able to do that yet.
I hope you all like it.

Let me know what you think.
:)