Title:- Tantamount
Word Count:- 225
He was Iqbal's splitting image since the day he was born. His every feature matched that of his father, and as Sehmat held him, she could not help but feel overwhelmed. The infant's wide eyes were strikingly like his father's, looking at her in wonder, his little hands reaching for her. It had not sunk in completely, not yet— She was his mother, Iqbal his father. She wondered for a second how he'd have felt if he had known.
The little one was still looking at her, still trying to reach for her, and then, the most random thought crossed her mind. When had she last met Iqbal's eyes? And then, For the first time since the last seven months, her mind went to the one moment she had locked away in the back of her mind. She exhaled sharply, averting her gaze from her son's deep brown eyes.
She did not want to think about it. Not now, not ever. It would haunt her for the rest of her life, how these same pools of brown had searched her own, how his eyes had exhibited the betrayal he had so clearly felt. She didn't know how she would ever be able to look into her son's eyes without seeing Iqbal, his accusing gaze upon her, asking her, "Was any of it true, Sehmat?"