"Who are you talking about? I flinched As I heard a voice from my back suddenly say, Ahh, you scared me, Eshal, I turned to look at her. She was standing right behind me with her hands on her waist.

"Forget that; you were finding someone." She asked and peeked here and there, then looked at me.

"May I ask who? She changed her tone to a teasing one and smirked at me. I rolled my eyes at her. "What? Where are those losers? Tell me I'm going to kill them!" she yelled. Her face flushed with anger; it was her reaction when I told her what happened.

"Relax. Calm down You know I can handle these kinds of jerks! But that guy showed up out of nowhere and helped me," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. I know how to fight; I have taken classes.

Then we heard the announcement that my flight was going to take off in 15 minutes. "Let's go; it's time," I uttered. Eshal side-hugged me with a gloomy face, nodding her head.

"Listen to me, you both; you both have to call me every day, and whenever I call, you better pick up my call, okay? Eshal spoke in a bossy tone. I and Saad looked at each other and nodded yes, agreeing with her.

"And you came here. She commanded, held my wrist, dragged me to a corner, and whispered, Listen, we will do a video chat every day! And if you meet him, if something like that happens, tell me, Every detail got it. She ordered me to get anxious. I know who she is talking about. I made whatever face But deep inside, I was nervous, thinking, What if we meet, God? Forget it, Afreen; I shook my head to remove such thoughts.

"If you both are done gossiping, we have to leave. Saad Spoke Looking at both of us, we walked towards him. He kissed Eshal on her forehead sweetly and was speaking something to her while she was nodding her head yes, like an obedient girlfriend.

"Take care of yourself, okay? I murmured, pulling her into a tight hug. She nodded, tightening the hug. Bidding bye to her, we boarded the flight. After 11 hours, we reached Islamabad, completed all the formalities, and headed to our homes. Saad had already called the chauffeur, so he came to pick us up. We are now in front of our house. "Let's go," I said, looking at Saad, getting excited to meet my family after so long.

"Yeah, it's time for some fun," he replied, rubbing his hands together. Smiling slightly, I nodded and got out of the car, but he halted in between.

"You go inside first; I'll just call Eshal and let her know we have reached her; if I don't inform her, she will kill me. He told me he was taking out his cell phone and acting like he was scared of her.

"Yes, she definitely will," I replied with a smirk, then strolled inside without waiting for him.

Finally, I'm home! I looked at my lavish palace in front of me, which I missed the most. I walked inside; there were two men in Army uniforms standing at the gate. I greeted them politely, and they opened the gate for me, obviously knowing me. As I marched inside, I saw the scenario in front of me that I missed the most: my lovely family. Everyone is having fun in the living room.

My father, Colonel Rayan Ahmed Khan, was moving here and there, holding his phone in his hand, concerned that maybe he was trying to call someone, maybe me. I haven't talked to them in hours.

And my mom, Ayesha Rayan Khan, I was trying to calm him down. I smiled looking at them, cuties. And my uncle, who's like a father to me, Usman Ahmed Khan (the older brother of my father), was looking at the stairs from where my aunty, another mother for me, Jannat Usman Khan (his wife), was dragging their son Kabir downstairs, and he was giving a glare to his son Kabir (my other cousin).

And the sister of my father, my aunt (Barkat Khan), whose husband was in the army too, got martyred, so she lives with us. She was serving breakfast at the table. I think it's time for me to surprise them—or should I say shock them?

"HELLO Everyone! I exclaimed loudly with a huge grin on my face, and their heads snapped towards me. They widened their eyes in surprise, and I giggled.

Afreen! Everyone yelled together. I laughed loudly, looking at their shocked faces, and without wasting any time, I ran into my mother's arms and hugged her tightly. She embraced me with the same intensity, caressing my head. Ah, I missed her warmth so much. Tears brimmed in my eyes.

"Now my turn, please. Dad shouted excitedly. I laughed between tears, breaking the hug with my mother, and I went into his arms. He hugged me tightly. "My kiddo, he whispered, emotionally kissing my head.

Dad, I'm not a kid anymore; I have grown up now," I said with a frowning expression, and he looked at me from top to bottom. He had a proud look on his face, and my heart felt happy watching him. I took out my white lab coat from my bag and placed it on his hand.

"I'm proud of you, my child. He whispered, staring at me. I side-hugged him, watching him get so emotional. "Now if the father-daughter moment is over, can we meet too? Aunt Jo joked about making the atmosphere lighter. Aunty! I yelled, sprinting towards her. "I missed having fun with you, I told her, hugging her. She's such a jolly and fun-loving person.

Even though I missed you a lot, I was so bored without you, she replied sadly, caressing my head. "Don't lie, Aunt, you had so much fun with me just a while back. Kabir reminded her. She gave me an apologetic smile before glaring at him.

"It's okay; we will have a lot of fun; just ignore that stupid guy," I told her. She nodded yes. You are not a kid anymore; you are a doctor now," Mom complained. Shaking her head, I rolled my eyes at her; she's still the same.

"Won't you meet us, baby? Daddy said, opening his arms, and I bobbed my head with a smile and sprinted to him. I embraced him tightly like a little rabbit, and he chuckled. ’’ I missed you so much, my baby, Mama murmured, hugging me from behind.

"Me more," I whisper, getting emotional hearing them. I don't know how my eyes became teary, and tears rolled down from my eyes. Mama kissed my head, wiping my tears with her thumb as she moved back. They are the closest ones to me; they have loved me like a daughter, and they are other parents to me; that's why I called them Mama and Daddy from childhood. That's how my family is! Everyone loves me like I'm their daughter. Maybe because I'm the only girl in this family, I'm thankful to God for giving me such a loving family.

"Why are you guys making me so emotional? I wailed like a baby, whipping my tears. Okay, stop it, everyone. Now don't make her cry anymore. Daddy responded playfully, holding me close and making me smile between tears.

"Won't you meet me, cousin? Kabir screamed in my ear from behind, suddenly scaring the crap out of me. Ahh, you idiot! I screamed as my hand went to my heart, calming my nerves. Then I ran after him; he was laughing loudly and enjoying teasing me. Behind me, Saad also entered, and he met with the rest of them, sharing an emotional hug with Aunt. He jumped on Kabir from behind, surprising him.

Ouch! Kabir yelled and turned back, punching his stomach and making Saad growl in pain. "You wait now! Saad yelled. Before darting after him, they were laughing and throwing pillows at each other. Then, they both whispered something to each other with naughty smiles on their faces. And before I could realise what was happening, a pillow landed on my face. Before I could act, another pillow landed on me.

"What the hell, you idiots? Why are you hitting me? I screamed at them with my puffed cheeks. Because we love to do it. They responded in union, high-fived each other, and grinned, showing their teeth. I gritted my teeth.

"You both just wait now. I ran after them to beat them blue and black. After a while of running here and throwing pillows at each other, we got tired. Huffing badly, we sat on the sofa between them. We looked at each other. And burst into laughter. We are all more like friends than cousins because we don't have too much of an age difference. I'm 24, and so is Kabir; I'm just 5 months younger than him, and Saad is 1 and a half years older than me.

Ahh, I missed this fun," Kabir let out with a smile, throwing an arm around my shoulder and pulling me in a hug. Sideways, I smiled at him. ‘’Finally, it feels like home again," Daddy said, looking at a messed-up living room while I chuckled and everyone grinned.

"nandini and Saad, go get some rest, you two; you must be tired," Mom ordered, lovingly smiling at me. I bobbed my head and strode towards my luxury master bedroom. My room is so comfy, and the floor is so fluffy. As my overprotective family put a fluffy carpet on the bed, I jumped on the bed. Laid down.

I looked at the pictures on my side table; it was a picture of him and me when we were both kids. We were hugging each other in that picture.

"You are still not here; I shouldn't think about you any more now; I have waited enough for you, "I murmured to myself, staring at the pictures in front of me. I had enough of this; I guess it's time to move on from this.