"I didn't say it would be resolved for her," Zahira corrected. "Just that it would be resolved one way or another."
Biting her lip to not laugh, she gently squeezed Zuma a bit. "... well, your father is right there. You are very free to hug your brother, as he is your brother, but you do need to stop wrapping your legs around him. He is a boy and you are a lady. And ladies do not wrap their legs around young men, even if it's family."
Zuma's question though caught Zahira off guard though and the bite to her lip to stop her laugh suddenly was because she didn't know how to answer and was borderline painful. She did love Azhar, and rather deeply, but it was something she hadn't even told her husband. And the last thing she wanted was for Zuma to run off and tell her father that she had said she loved him when she hadn't told him herself. At the same time, she didn't want to disappoint her daughter and make her think love wasn't possible.
Quietly, Zahira kissed Zuma's head. "How I feel towards your father, and how he feels to me is complicated, my little one. But do know that I would never want to be with anyone else but your father, and I found myself very lucky to have him, and you, and Kozu, and Azah."