40

"Ava, dear, these are your outfits for today's evening party" Rosalie said bringing Ava out of her thoughts.

She had woken up early this morning and had avoided looking at Zayed whenever he came anywhere near her.

She was too embarassed to face him after her wanton behaviour last night.

She still couldn't believe she had let him do that to her.

How could she forget all the heartache she went through in the past.

She knew she shouldn't let him get close.

She knew he doesn't deserve that.

But her body has a mind of its own and it deceives her whenever he so much as touches her.

"What party??" Ava asked confused as she hadn't known of any party.

"A business party Ava. Ahmeds had signed a deal with a neighboring Arabian island country with major oil reserves. So we are hosting this party in honor of The Sheikh and Sheikha of Alazhar. Also, it is high time we introduced the next set of Ahmed heirs to our people" Rosalie said with a smile.

Ava took the outfits from her mother in law and was about to walk towards the bedroom, when she heard the excited squeals of the triplets accompanied by the joyous barks of dogs and the faint purr of

a cat.

She looked up to see Kate standing in the living room smiling at the triplets who are having a boisterous reunion with Rocky Bruno and Maggie.

"God!! No!!" She heard a groan and saw Zayed looking at the sight with a pained expression on his face. She just couldn't help but chuckle at that, earning a glare from him.

"Hyder! Hyder! Who let these dogs inside" she heard Salim shouting for his second in command standing on the couch with his hands held in front of him in defense mode.

Oh my god!! The great wall of Salim Ahmed al Zidra is scared of dogs!! That is news for her.


Who would have thought, the King of an Arabian nation, who fearlessly rides stallions and fights enemies, is scared of a small puppy!

"Salim!! What are you doing?? Get down from the couch" Camille said making Salim glare at her.

"Take them away" Salim yelled at no one in particular.

"You are yelling at everyone just because they are staring at you. Imagine my plight to wake up with two dogs and a cat draped around me" Zayed told his elder cousin brother, in a 'so far you are lucky' tone.


"Uncle Salim. Please don't shout. You are

scaring poor Rocky and Bruno." Zian told his uncle who is trying to scare away his beloved pets.

He could bear with anything. Anything at all.

But no one hurts his pets.

"Me? I am scaring them? Unbelievable!" Salim hissed looking at his nephew in disbelief.

"What is this big brother? You call yourself the great wall of SAAZ. And you are scared of a little puppy. Shame on you brother." Basim said making a funny face.

"Shut up Bass" came the pat response from the older brother.

"What is SAAZ?" Zada asked in confusion

"SAZ means Salim Ahmed Al Zidra" Camille
said.

"And why are you calling him the great wall of SAAZ. Uncle Salim is not a wall" Zahir asked frowning in confusion.

"We call him the great wall of SAAZ because he is our elder brother and he always protects us. And we all listen to him too" Basim said earning a nod of understanding
from the triplets.

"Now stop with the unnecessary talks and remove these creatures from him at once" Salim screamed at Basim

"Salim, please relax. I will handle this" Ava told him and turned to the triplets with a

stern face.

"Zahir, Zian, Zada. Take them to your new room. And don't bring them out okay until I say so" Ava ordered

"Momma, no" they whined and Ava maintained her stern face making them pout.

All three bent their head down and walked towards their new room, the pets trailing behind them making Salim sigh in relief.

*******

Zayed was waiting, at the foot of the stairs leading to his wing in the palace, for his wife and children to join him so that they can move out to the ballroom and join the others for the party.


They are taking an awful lot of time to get ready.

He looked up when he heard the chirping and saw the triplets standing on the top of the stairs.

Zada in the middle and the boys on either side of her. And Aveline standing just behind them.

His sucked in a breath at the sight of them.

The boys are wearing little tuxedos just like him. Aveline and Zada are wearing similar evening gowns.

Zada came barreling towards him with an excited look on her face.

"Do I look like Momma??" She asked twirling around making him chuckle.

"No princess. You look like papa" he said making her pout.

"But I wanted to look like Momma" she said touching her hair which is tied exactly like Aveline's is done.

"Why not daddy??" He asked with a mock frown.

"Momma is so very beautiful right" Zada said in an obvious tone

"That she is" He said, his eyes momentarily meeting with Aveline's

"So papa doesn't look good haa??" He asked making a sad face.


"No, no. Papa is also beautiful" Zada said hurriedly, worrying that she had hurt her father's feelings.

Aaha! That's a great improvement. Zayed smiled to himself...

"Then why" he asked with a sad face.

"But you are a boy. Zahir and Zian are also boys. So they look like you. I am a girl. So, why do I look like boys" she asked pouting and Zayed laughed out loud at his daughter's cuteness.

"That's because you are my daughter and you are triplets. So you all look alike. Maybe the next baby can look like Momma" Zayed said winking at his daughter.


"Next baby?? Are we going to buy a new baby??" Zada asked clapping her hands in excitement.

"Zayed" Aveline hissed at him in a warning tone which he decided to ignore.

"Can we buy a boy baby??" Zahir chipped in

"No. We can buy a girl baby. Who looks like Momma" Zada argued with her brother.

"But I want a boy baby" Zahir said frowning seeing that his sister is not simply agreeing to his wish


"There are already two boys here. So we will buy a girl baby" Zada argued folding her arms across her chest and glaring at

her elder brother.

"Boys are cool" Zahir said using the new word his Uncle Basim taught him that day

"Can we buy a baby dinosaur?" Zian who had been silent all this while asked making his parents laugh out loud.