Probably the longest chapter I've ever written lol. I I hope you guys like it. Please make sure to leave your comments, vote and tell me what you think.

If you haven't checked his first lady, my new story already, make sure to check it out. It's got fawad and burak soooo!! The first chapter is posted and your feedback will be appreciated :))

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Anaaya

07:15 am.

The sound of his breath and the deep sighs every now and then assured her that he was in pain.

He had been. The whole night.

It feels like my body is on fire.

He would repeat again and again. Anaaya didn't know what to do, she had called the doctor in a hurry and he had simply told her that this was how it was going to be.

That this was the way he would heal. It would be painful. The medicines were of high dosage. She had to take care of him and not panic, everytime he would complain about fever or pain or any other thing for that matter.

Hassan hardly complained about being sick. He never had.

Infact, Anaaya could remember that one time he had fallen off the stairs and he had still acted like it was nothing. He had carried Abaan on his back, the whole time they were in the zoo and when they had came back home, she had noticed his swollen and bruised back.

He still went to work the next day, as if nothing had happened.

So she knew that he must have been in utter pain to complain of such.

She hadn't really slept, what if Hassan woke up in the middle of night? To pee? Or what if he suddenly got sick? She stayed awake, she hardly got two to three hours of sleep after Fajar time, when her ohone started to vibrate.

She jolted up on reflex, picking up her phone and entering the children's room, just so she wouldn't wake Hassan up.

She exited the children's room as well and leaned against the railing, picking up the call.

"Hello?" She groggily greeted.

"Anaaya? It's Donald Grover." Her eyes widened.

Why was her boss calling her at this time?

"Yes ofcourse, how are you, Sir?" She mumbled in a rush, nervous all of a sudden.

"I didn't call to share pleasantries with you. I called to ask you to either start working or I can fire you." She gulped at his crude tone.

She could have told him to fire her and fuck off but her job had helped her pay all of Hassan's hospital bills. Which she knew he would whine about as soon as he got a little better.

She could imagine him yelling at her, asking why she didn't use his money from his account.

Besides, her publication company was too small of a business to pay for the luxuries that she liked.

She could hear Mr Grover's words and she didn't interrupt him.

"I don't want to fire you, Anaaya. You became my youngest Senior Editor because of how talented you are. But you can't just-" She interrupted him this time.

Maybe he didn't know about Hassan.

"Mr Grover, I'm not sure if you understand but my husband got into a serious car accident and I submitted a leave-" She tried to get herself excused but the man butted in before she could even complete her sentence.

"Yes, I know. But it has been three months and business doesn't wait for anyone."

"Mr Grover, please. You know how much this job means to me and-"

"That's why you went behind my back and opened your own publications." She sighed.

Leave it to this man to bring it up now. After a year.

"I didn't know I had to inform you of it." She said lamely. She really had no other response to his statement.

"Well, you did. But that's not the point right now. Either you come back to work or either I can fire you."

"Please, Mr Grover. I can't."

She couldn't go back to work right now.

Sarah had left, the new nanny search hadn't even begun, Uncle and aunty were still in Newyork and to top it all off, Hassan was still not healthy enough to be left alone.

"I want you edit the complete magazine issue of this month, people of your department aren't getting paid to do your work." She frowned at his rude words.

The diva inside of her wanted to snap.

"I've never disappointed you. I've always done the best job, I've been a great boss too. And you're putting all of that aside just because I got a leave?!" She exclaimed.

"You got three maternal leaves in the past five years, Anaaya. That says volumes, don't you think? I'm not saying you haven't been an excellent one, but you can't neglect work." He shot back. She ignored the hidden compliment.

She knew if this were any other employee, he wouldn't even have called. He would have fired her. And here she was, on a paid leave.

Anaaya stayed silent. She was so grateful for this job. She loved it. Yes, it was hard and sometimes even too crazy but she didn't hate any aspect of it.

She was getting paid for not working, there was no argument she could put in front of her boss right now.

"Alright, that silence speaks a lot. You don't want to leave your job but you also want to stay at home. I've emailed you the work for today, I need it by 12." She heard him state.

"What?"

"Good bye Anaaya. Take care." He ended the call and she sighed.

She sat on the desk near the railing, her laptop on the table along with a coffee mug.

She was still typing on it, when her eyes glanced at the time and she noticed the sudden silence.

--

07:54 am.

"Fuck!" She groaned, realising that it was almost half an hour left for Abaan's school and he hadn't even woken up yet.

She entered the room and saw the twins fast asleep, Aira's cot, which she had temporarily put in their room, carried the little girl who was fast asleep too.

Thankfully.

She walked towards Abaan's bed, shaking him just slightly.

"Abaan, baby..wake up. Hey, hey.." She tried to wake him up as she held his arms and tried to lift him.

He struggled against her, groaning as he kept his eyes shut.

"Come on buddy, you gotta wake up for school hmm? You'll get late."

Abaan lifted himself up, only to lay across her lap, his head against her chest and she smiled in pity.

She hated doing this. She hated waking him up for school when he looked too damn innocent.

"Okay, fine..five minutes." She mumbled as she saw him still asleep.

A five year old was not as easy to carry as a three year old. So she waited for him to get a minute or two of sleep and then shook him again.

He didn't wake up.

"Let's go downstairs, okay? We can get you ready there."

She clicked her tongue and finally lifted him up in her arms, he was heavy but her gym classes had paid off as she managed to carry him downstairs.

She spotted Maggie in the kitchen, eyes swollen as she cooked something on the stove.

"Maggie? Why didn't you wake him up?" Anaaya questioned as soon as she came in sight.

"Good morning, Anaaya. I had a nice sleep too, thanks for asking." She responded sarcastically, chuckling.

"Keep your sarcasm to yourself." Anaaya replied.

"What crawled up your ass today?" Maggie questioned yet again, it was a little inaudible but still Anaaya could hear it.

"My stupid boss." She told her.

"Just go and bring his clothes, will you?" Maggie nodded, leaving the kitchen as she walked towards the stairs.

"Sure, oh and I was preparing his lunch box, that's why I didn't wake him up."

Anaaya shook her son one more time.

"Okay. Abaan, come on love. You can sleep when you come back home." Finally, the boy whined but got up, looking at his mother with half open eyes.

"There he is," Anaaya greeted with a smile.

"Now, what do you say when you wake up?"

"Salam, mama."

"Good boy." She kissed his head and made him get off her lap.

Maggie brought his clothes and toothbrush downstairs, while she cooked his breakfast, Anaaya quickly changed him and made him sit on the dining table.

"Mama, can you drop me today?" He asked.

Anaaya bit her lip.

"I would love to, Abaan. But your baba needs my help. Hmm? And I have office work too."

"But you both used to drop me everyday." He argued.

"I know, and we will. Soon. I promise." She hoped that it would be soon.

She remembered how hurriedly they would leave the apartment, they would drop Abaan in such a hurry too but they would go to work with each other, they would say goodbye to each other and then go for work.

It was more of a habit than anything.

Anaaya looked at the way Abaan frowned, face turned into a pout.

"No pouting, give me a kiss." He gave her a small kiss and Maggie brought breakfast in the meantime.

Anaaya put the milk, bread and egg in front of him. She held the glass out to him and he took it begrudgingly.

"Here, drink your milk and I'll put your books inside your bag."

She was arranging his bag when Maggie came towards her.

"Maggie, you drop him in his class, right?"

"Yes, Anaaya. I don't leave until the teacher arrives, chill." She nodded.

"Thanks Maggie, I don't know what I'd do without you." And it was true.

If she had to do it all alone, she would have probably been in a psych ward right now.

"Ofcourse."

"Come on, Abaan. Aunt Maggie will you take you to school today. And maybe, I'll pick you up. Will that be okay?" She held out her hand as he finished the last bite of his breakfast and she looked at his face, it was still unhappy.

"Yes."

Anaaya knelt down, cupping his face.

"Heyy, look at me. What does mama do when you get sick? Or when your brothers are sick?" She asked him softly.

"You take care of them." He replied.

"And what does baba do?" She questioned again.

"He takes care of them."

"And who is sick now?"

"Baba." He told her.

She wiped the crumbs of bread on his face with a tissue and kept talking to him.

"And what do we have to do?"

She wanted him to understand on his own and she hoped that he would. It wasn't as simple as 2+2 but it could be.

"Take care of him."

"Why?" She asked again.

He remained in thoughts for a while, speaking only after a few minutes.

"Because we love him." He said slowly. Anaaya nodded, her demeanour encouraging him.

"And?"

"He loves us." This time, he didn't hesitate and a big smile spread across her face. She kissed his head.

"My smartest baby. You're so intelligent. Have a good day, okay?"

She bid him goodbye and went back upstairs, ready to work on the stupid magazine issue again.

-

08:55 am.

It was only half an hour later as Anaaya had a phone stuck to her ear and hands typing furiously at her laptop.

Her mother in law walked upstairs, looking at Anaaya with a frown.

"Anaaya, there is no more bread in the fridge, no milk in the corton and absolutely no flour to make a paratha. Your father in law needs breakfast and-"

Well good morning to you too Aunty. Thanks for all the help, telling me things that I already know.

"I know, aunty. I just saw it." She replied.

"Well, now what?" Anaaya couldn't reply as she went back to her phone call.

"Uhh,-hello? Yes, Ryan, I edited the first half but you need to send this back to the writer and tell him to rearrange it, make it less offensive. Yes."

"Right, ofcourse. Mhmm, don't worry."

"Anaaya-"

"Just a sec, aunty." She told her as she kept on talking on the phone.

"Yes, what were you saying?"

"That would be so great, I mean Donatella's words should be printed in the front, not at the back. This is the first time she's telling everyone why she sold versace, we need it to be bold and known. Exactly." She explained, typing and clicking away

Her mother in law stood leaning against the wall.

Why won't she just quit? Why work when there is no need? Why not stay at home and take care of my son? My grandkids?

Her mother in law had thoughts swarmed up in her head but she didn't want to start a whole new argument so she kept quiet.

"Okay, let me email you the first half and I'll send you the other later. Tell Mr Grover that I have done half of it."

"Thanks, Ryan. Have a good day. Bye." She finally put her phone down and looked at Hassan's mother.

She gave her an apologetic smile.

"Jee aunty, I know groceries are finished almost, I texted Maggie, she knows what to bring. Just wait for a while."

"But you should be careful, Anaaya. What about the children? You can't just ignore these things." She heard in response.

I'm not irresponsible. I'm just burdened with several things at one time and it is not easy.

She wanted to say but she bit it down.

"I know, I'll be careful next time. Do you want tea? Coffee?"

"No, I don't want powdered milk tea, Has Hassan woken up yet?" She peeked at their bedroom, spotting the dim lit room.

"No, he's still sleeping. It's good that he is, he needs it."

"I guess so." Her mother in law walked back downstairs and Anaaya exhaled a sigh of relief.

--

10:00 am.

When the clock showed ten, she was almost halfway through her work, there was still a lot of redesigning and editing that she had to do, along with writing a fresh piece for the first vacant spot, but as she saw the long needle strike ten, she stood up and entered her bedroom.

She switched on the dimly lit lights and laid her eyes on her husband.

Hassan, had been wide awake for a while now. His eyes kept staring at the ceiling. The only aspect of his life that hadn't changed.

It was still the same. White and brown.

Anaaya switching on the lights hadn't deviated his attention from the ceiling.

"That ceiling is not going to change, you know." She said softly, entering the room and gazing at him.

"What?" Hassan mumbled, not understanding her words.

"You keep staring at it." She said, moving forward and putting the tray on the table.

She sat on the edge of the bed.

"Good morning." She greeted him with a smile.

She looked tired herself but the doctor had repeatedly told her to stay as positive in front of Hassan as she could.

His mind needed to be healed as much as his body.

"Morning." He replied, staring at her face. Something he had been doing quite a lot lately.

She put the back of her palm against his forehead, checking his fever. He still seemed to be burning up.

"You still have fever." She commented. Hassan frowned but didn't say anything.

Maybe he wasn't in the mood to talk today.

"The doctor said its common, I texted him again this morning." She told him next, she leaned forward, kneeling against the bedside table as she opened the drawer and took out all his medicines.

Maggie entered the room with a bowl of water. Since he had fever, the doctor had advised them that Hassan shouldn't walk for a day or two, just rest.

So Anaaya used the water to help him wash his face and brush his teeth too. She hadn't done anything of this sort before. Hassan's scowl clearly showed that he wasn't happy with it.

"You need a healthy breakfast and then you need to take your meds." She put the food in front of him.

"Here."

Hassan didn't move an inch, infact he gulped, as if contemplating what he was saying and what he wanted to do.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, putting her hand on his cheek.

"My whole body hurts." He openly admitted and then looked down, as if he was ashamed, as if his ego was stripped down or something.

"Open your mouth." Anaaya instructed, holding the spoon filled with oatmeal.

"I'm not a child." Hassan said instead, looking away.

"I know. Open." Her tone might have been firm but it was Hassan that she was dealing with.

She sighed, lowering down the spoon.

"You suffered a very bad accident, Hassan. It's a miracle that your body parts are working. It will get better and the pain will go away." She promised him.

She hoped that all those promises she had been making lately would actually be fulfilled.

Hassan nodded, opening his mouth begrudgingly as he took the first bite of the oatmeal.

He took about three to four bites before giving up.

"Bus." He mumbled, saying no more.

Her Hassan had always been such a lover of food, he was a total foodie with a fast metabolism. Anaaya always loathed how much he would eat and not gain a pound.

And now, he was refusing to eat even if it was for his sake.

"And you said you're not a child. Eat up." She made him drink half a cup of milk after he had finished eating more than half of the oatmeal bowl.

"No more." She heard him say.

It was nothing. The medicines were of high dosage and he needed food right now, healthy food at that. She was merely following the nutritionist's diet plan for him.

"Hassan, you need to eat a good meal so you can have those heavy medicines. Please." She pleaded.

He glared at her.

"Glaring at me won't make me go away. Eat, please." She said again and Hassan sighed, opening his mouth.

"Good."

After finishing with breakfast, she gave him his medicines. She sat with him for a while before remembering how her mother and father in law still hadn't eaten anything. She stood up.

"Do you want anything else?"

"No.."

"Okay, your mother will come upstairs and I have to go take care of a few things. Will that be alright?"

"Yeah.." His one word answers were making her upset but she bit it down and leaned to kiss his cheek.

She wanted to kiss his lips but somehow she knew that he wasn't ready right now.

--

11:25 am.

Maggie threw the bills on the table as Anaaya typed on her laptop downstairs.

"They were all in the mail, Anaaya. I don't understand how you wouldn't see them." She stated, Anaaya looked at her in exasperation.

"Because I never do. I only did groceries and Hassan handled everything else."

Only now she was realising how much part Hassan played at home, how much work he did even though he was always busy with his office.

"We can pay online though? Yes?"

She asked Maggie, she hardly knew anything about the bills as she inspected them.

"I think so. Oh and the groceries are still in the car, the driver said he'll bring them up."

"That's okay, just cook Uncle and Aunty some breakfast, they've been waiting for too long." She told her and went back to typing.

"Sure. What will you eat?" Anaaya shook her head at the query.

She felt like barfing right now.

"I'm not really in the mood."

"Anaaya. If you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to-" Before she could even complete her sentence, Anaaya heard Aira's shrill and she knew that the girl had woken up.

"Aira's awake." She stated, getting up with a sigh.

"I'll come with you, I'll clean up the kids room." Maggie stated.

Didn't she have to cook breakfast?

Anaaya knew Maggie was in no mood to hear criticism from her mother in law, who hated her parathas and omelette.

She didn't say anything though, she just nodded. They were walking up the stairs when her phone vibrated in her hand.

"Hello?"

"This is she." She mumbled as she picked up Aira who hushed down as soon as her mother picked her up.

"He's doing well, now. Ofcourse not completely healed but-" Anaaya frowned, looking at Maggie who stared back.

"Oh, okay..what time?"

"I suppose you'll be having dinner with us then?"

"Great, see you tonight." She ended the call.

"Who was that?" Maggie enquired as she cleaned up the twins' beds who were now playing with their grandfather.

"Jessica Waters. She's a name partner at Hassan's firm." Anaaya informed.

"Okay, why's she coming?"

"Not she. The firm's name partners and senior partners are coming to check up on Hassan, to visit him."

Maggie smiled, not understanding why Anaaya was frowning at this piece of news.

"That's good, right? I mean, they're his friends. He might feel better." She said back, dusting away the dirt and swiping at the bedsheets.

"They are, but they're not. Hassan once told me that people in corporate law are vultures." Anaaya told her.

She remembered what Hassan had said.

They're vultures, Anaaya. They don't care who you are and what you do. They'll jump at your weakness and bring you down. The corporate works is cruel.

"They're not coming to check up on Hassan. They're coming to see if he's good enough to be a name partner."

Anaaya announced, suddenly more worried than she had been ever since Hassan arrived home.

"They're coming to check if he's even good enough to be a lawyer anymore." She said more to herself than to Maggie.

"Oh My God."

"What if they-do you think he could handle it?" Maggie brought up her concern.

"No, I don't think so."

Law was his life, it was all he knew. If he lost that, Anaaya doubted he would ever be the same.

-

What do you think?

Do you like the story so far?

If hassan doesn't stay a lawyer anymore, what do you think he should do??

Hufff I'm tired. This was so freaking long man!!

OK byeeee!! Love you.