Chapter 14: An Innocent Question

That night, Poornima tucked Ayat and Aarhan into bed before lying down beside them.

The room was dimly lit, and the silence felt heavier than usual.

Ayat turned towards her mother.

The ten-year-old had heard every word spoken in the living room.

Softly, she asked,

Ayat: "Ammi..."

Poornima smiled gently.

Poornima: "Yes, my princess?"

Ayat hesitated.

Ayat: "Will we... get an Abbu?"

Poornima was speechless.

Before she could answer, six-year-old Aarhan hugged her arm.

Aarhan: "Will someone call me his son?"

Poornima's heart broke.

She hugged both children close to her.

Poornima: "Why are you asking that, my babies?"

Ayat looked down.

Ayat: "When there is a Father's Day celebration in school, everyone brings their Abbu."

Her voice became quieter.

Ayat: "I always say mine is busy... because I don't know what else to say."

A tear slipped down Poornima's cheek.

Aarhan spoke innocently.

Aarhan: "When my friends fall down, their Abbu picks them up."

He looked into his mother's eyes.

Aarhan: "If I get a new Abbu... will he pick me up too?"

Poornima couldn't hold back her tears anymore.

She kissed both of their foreheads.

Poornima: "I don't know what Allah has written for us."

She gently caressed Ayat's hair.

Poornima: "But I pray that if someone comes into our lives..."

She looked at both her children lovingly.

Poornima: "...he should never make either of you feel alone."

Ayat whispered,

Ayat: "Will he love us?"

Poornima smiled through her tears.

Poornima: "Only Allah knows that, beta."

Aarhan yawned sleepily.

Aarhan: "I don't want toys."

He cuddled closer to his mother.

Aarhan: "I just want someone who will hug me and call me 'my son.'"

Poornima closed her eyes, holding both children tightly.

In that quiet room, a mother's heart prayed only for one thing—

Not for herself...

But that her children might one day experience the warmth of a father's love they had been denied for so many years.