25

I don't like him.

He's not my daddy.

We don't have a father.

Zayed could still hear his kids' angry declarations.

They hate him!!

Just like he hates his father.

They hate him for hurting their momma just like he hates his father for hurting his Mom.

And they are fiercely protective of their momma! Just like he is protective of his Mom!

He was still driving around the city not knowing what to do or where to go.

He had almost driven into a nightclub but changed his mind at the last minute.

The last thing the kids need to know is that their father is a drunkard.

The last thing Aveline needs is a drunk husband.

His brain stopped working.

Two days.

Just two days it took to turn his world upside down.

Two days ago, he was at the wrong party. Or so he believed.

All it took was a flight home and to meet The Arif Mehboon face to face. And Boom!!

It turns out he is the villain.

A man who accused his wife of infidelity.

A man who used his wife in the most cruel way and turned away from her.

A man who left his teenage wife pregnant with a set of triplets.

God!!

How is he going to set things straight?

And the call from Basim hadn't helped either.

"You found Ava? How fast!" Basim had muttered.

"Well. I didn't have to find her. I knew where she was," he said.

"You knew where she was all along?" Basim couldn't hide his surprise.

"Well. She works here in Maxwell Industries."

"Damn it Zayed!! You knew all along and you never mentioned it. I just hope she didn't take you back!! She has this stupid habit of forgiving you for anything and everything!!" Basim muttered furiously.

He didn't mention anything about the triplets to Basim.

Why ?? He has no idea!! Maybe because he didn't want the whole family to rain down on them. He is not ready to share his family. Not yet.

It was almost ten at night.

He should go back to Aveline's place.

He is pretty aware that neither Aveline nor the kids want him there.

But does that matter to him?

No!!

He is a man on a mission.

To win his family back!!

As if you had them in the first place.

Complying with them won't get him what he wants.

And he wants his kids.

He wants Aveline. More than anything else.

And he would move heaven and earth to make that happen!!

There is no point in sulking like a pathetic wimp.

The old Zayed would have done that.

But he is not that Zayed anymore.

He is ZAZ. The Zayed Ahmed al Zidra.

He always goes after what he wants.

He opened his phone when it binged with a message

'Zayed. This is Ava!! The kids are off to bed and I am about to. If you plan to come back, please don't ring the calling bell and wake them up. A spare key is placed under the plant pot on the front stairs. And you can use the room upstairs or you can sleep on the couch in the living room.' He read.

He saved her number as 'wifey'.

Of course he is going back.

As soon as he reached Aveline's home, well their home, he found the spare key under the said plant pot.

He took it and opened the door without making any noise, and he kept the key inside his pocket.

Which man didn't have the key to his own home.

Obviously not him!

He went and checked upon the kids first who were fast asleep.

He found his bag in a corner and found himself a pair of shorts and sweatshirt and changed into it immediately.

He saw the door to Aveline's room was open and a smile crept up on his lips.

Of course she wouldn't want him to sleep on the couch, though that's what she said.

He went straight to her room and found her peacefully asleep on her bed.

He got into the bed and pulled her into his arms.

She didn't even stir.

And he was thankful for that.

He doesn't have energy for another fight.

All he wanted was to sleep with his woman in his arms.

And it would have happened, if not for the five year old little girl wriggling herself in between him and Aveline, a few minutes later.

Do they have antennas to sense his presence, he wondered.

How do they come crashing down whenever he is in a five metre radius of Aveline.

It's a mystery.

Zada was followed by one of the boys who got on the bed on the other side of Aveline and snuggled against her, not before throwing a deadly glare his way.

Like seriously?

Is this what all men with kids face!

No privacy with their wives, he brooded.

He finally closed his eyes, only to open it five minutes later when he felt something poking his cheeks.

He opened his eyes and looked into a pair of eyes so much like his own.

One of the boys was looking at him in question.

"Who are you?" He whispered and felt pathetic.

Which father couldn't differentiate between his sons!!

"Zahir" he said in a tone that said 'are you kidding, isn't it obvious!!'

"What are you doing in momma's bed?" The little one asked.

"That's where daddys sleep," Zayed replied in a matter of fact tone and the boy frowned.

"Why are you here in your momma's bed? All three of you?? You got your own room!!" Zayed pointed out.

"We sleep with momma to protect her," the little boy said, jutting his chin up in a proud look.

"Protect her from what??"

"Sleep monsters," he said.

"Sleep monsters?" Zayed parroted.

"Yes. They make momma cry at night. So we sleep with momma to protect her from sleep monsters," the little one said.


And his gut clenched!! Aveline used to cry to sleep. Because of him.

And these five year olds had stepped onto what was his duty.

To protect !!

"Maybe I can help from now onwards in protecting momma? How about that?" Zayed asked.

"No. We three are enough to protect our momma." Zahir said and got in between him and Zada and turned away from him, as if a conversation never happened between them.