He’s Amazing ~ Part 10 {Reloaded}

 

It was nearly half 5 the next evening and Khushi and Lavanya were getting ready to go to Arnav’s party. Dresses were draped over the sofa, the bed and scattered all over the floor. In the end, Khushi had chosen a dark green anarkali suit. The suit that she had picked was a relatively simple one, with a simple dark green and gold boarder running along the bottom of the dress and along the dupatta. Lavanya had picked a similar but slightly more simple one but in blue.

Both were doing their hair and their make up, looking to each other to make sure that they weren’t going overboard.

By half 6 both were completely ready to go.

 

“La, tell me honestly, how do I look?”

“You’re gonna knock him dead!”

“Are you sure? I mean I know you had suggested wearing a western dress, but I’m meeting his siblings for the first time, I just think traditional is a far safer option. I don’t know what his sister is like but from what he said, she sounds pretty traditional and I…”

 

Grabbing Khushi by the shoulders, Lavanya shook her slightly.

 

“Snap out of it, you’re spiralling. You look amazing and you’re going to knock them all dead. You look dressed up without being too dressed up and I’m sure his sister will appreciate the effort that you’ve made. Any way, tell me, how do I look?”

“As always, stunning! I swear you look so much better than I do!”

 

Playfully Lavanya shook her head.

 

“You need to relax and be more confident in yourself. When one feels confident, it shows on the outside. You just need to relax, take a deep breathe and truly believe me when I say you’re looking like fire. So, hhall we leave? It’ll take a while to get to the hotel, you know, its traffic time and we don’t want to be late.”

 

Nodding, Khushi looked at herself in the mirror once more and took a deep breathe as she picked up her purse. She could do this, this was going to be fine.

 

*****

 

A couple of minutes past 7, Khushi and Lavanya reached the hotel. Looking to each other, they asked one another if they still looked fine. Once they were sure they looked good, they made their way towards the hotel. As they entered the lobby and were greeted by NK, who beamed the moment he saw them both.

 

“Ah, Khushi, Lavanya! Come in, come in! I’ve been waiting for you to come for the last hour!”

“Hi NK!”

“Hey NK. Why were you waiting for the last hour, we were told 7?”

 

NK smiled sheepishly at Lavanya’s question and ran his hand through his hair awkwardly.

 

“I guess I was just eager to see you both again.”

 

Before he could say anything more, a voice drifted through the lobby.

 

“NK bhai! Where are you?”

“Di, I’m in the lobby, Khushi and Lavanya are here!”

 

There was a moment of stillness and then four people rushed out from respective areas, coming to greet the new arrivals. Khushi looked from one to another, the two women were both as beautiful as each other, one slightly taller than the other, with the slightly older woman displaying striking similarities to Arnav. The two men that had emerged were absolutely dashing, one displaying a similar facial structure to Arnav but only slightly.

 

“Hi, I’m Anjali! Arnav’s big sister.”

“Oh, er.”

 

Lavanya rolled her eyes at a dumbfound Khushi and put her hands together to greet the people in front of them.

 

“Namaste Anjali ji, I’m Lavanya and this is Khushi.”

 

“Khushi you can speak to me! No need to be shy!”

“Na-na-Namaste.”

“Chote wasn’t joking, you really are very cute.”

 

Khushi blushed and bought up the courage to respond but the other man, the one that looked lightly like Arnav, playfully nudged Anjali aside so that he could be standing in front of Khushi.

 

“Di, enough, let us meet Khushi too! Hi, I’m Akash and this is my wife Payal.”

 

Akash stuck his hand out and Khushi shook it and smiled at Payal. So this was his cousin and his sister in law. Meaning the man that was now coming towards Khushi was Arnav’s brother in law.

 

“Hi.”

“Hello Khushi ji, I’m Shyam, Anjali’s husband, Arnav’s favourite brother-in-law.”

 

“You’re his only brother-in-law!”

 

Khushi smiled as she watched Anjali nudge her husband, but before anyone could say anything more, NK came back and got everyone’s attention.

 

“Di, Jijaji, Akaash bhai, Payal Bhabi, enough of the introductions, let’s gets into the hall!”

 

The 7 of them made their way over to the grand hall which had been decorated for the event. It had blue lights and cream drapes. It was simplistic but classy, just how Arnav would like it. Khushi and Lavanya looked around in awe.

 

“NK, where’s Arnav, Khushi’s dying to see him!”

“He’s just got called from work, he had an urgent meeting that he needed to attend, but he’ll be here soon.”

 

Khushi felt both relieved and disappointed at the same time. She was relieved because it meant that she would have a little more time to speak to his siblings and get to know them so that she was more comfortable around them by the time he arrived, but she was disappointed because it meant that she would have to wait longer before she would be able to see him again. As Lavanya spoke to NK, Khushi walked over to Anjali.

 

“Anjali ji, haven’t any of the other guests arrived yet?”

“No, they will all arrive after 9. They may even be later if they want to be fashionably late which is what a lot of Chote’s friends like to do.”

“But Arnav said for me and Lavanya to be here by 7.”

“That’s so that we could all get to know each other. If you had come at the same time as all the other guests, it would have meant that I wouldn’t have been able to give you undivided attention as I would have had to make sure that I was attending to all the other guests as well.”

“Oh! Of course, yes that makes sense.”

“Any way, Khushi, please call me Di, seeing as you and chote will soon be tying the knot!”

 

Khushi was thrown off by this comment but before she could respond, Lavanya, who had come back to her side, responded for her.

 

“They will?”

“Of course they will Lavanya. Well that’s after Khushi finishes her degree that it. Marriage is important but that doesn’t mean education should be ignored!”

“I so agree with you! Khushi looks like I should start selecting my dresses!”

 

Khushi looked down and blushed. They were already thinking about getting her and Arnav married! And they didn’t even know her that well yet. She loved this family! But she also felt a knot in her stomach. Was this all going too fast? She hadn’t even thought about marriage at all, let alone with Arnav and now she was being told that this was something that they had already supposedly spoken and thought about?

 

“You know Lavanya, NK was talking about you quite a bit about you the other evening. I feel he’s quite taken by you as well. You never know, we Raizada’s can do anything at anytime, it might just end up being a double wedding!”

 

It was Lavanya’s turn to look down and blush.

 

“Di, Akash! Where the hell are all you people?”

“We’re in the hall Chote!”

 

Startled by his voice, Khushi looked at her dress, checking that she looked nice and took a deep breath. Arnav walked in and Khushi couldn’t help but gasp. He looked amazing. He was wearing a navy blue suit with a white shirt and a dark blue tie. He looked totally hot!

Arnav too was blown away looking at Khushi. Slowly he made towards her, holding eye contact the whole time as he closed the distance between them. 

 

“Yo, Nanav, we’re here!”

 

This bought Arnav out of his trance and made him break his eye contact with Khushi. Shaking his head, he looked to Khushi and then Lavanya, smiling as he approached them. 

 

“Hey, Khushi, Lavanya! You’ve arrived.”

“Happy birthday Arnav!”

“Thanks La!”

 

“Ha-ha-Happy birthday Ar-arnav.”

“Thanks, why are you so nervous?”

 

He casually wrapped his arm around her as he pecked the top of her head.

 

“Chote, it’s because we’ve told her about our plans!”

“What plans?”

“Your marriage plans!”

“Oh god, Di, I told you, its way too soon to think like that!”

 

Khushi breathed in relief. She knew she loved Arnav, but marriage was still something she didn’t want to think about. She still wanted to get to know him better, spend some time with him to get to know his little quirks and then, once she had finished her studies, then they could think about moving to the next level of their relationship. But for now she was happy with how they were. 

 

Everyone sat down and talked for a while, waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive…

 

*****

 

At half 9, most of the guests had arrived and everyone was wishing Arnav. Khushi hung back with Lavanya, watching everyone greet Arnav. It wasn’t until a tall, skinny, beautiful girl in a short dress walked in, that Khushi actually began to pay attention to the guests. The girl walked in, looking around at everyone that was there and the moment she saw Arnav, she flew into his arms.

Khushi gasped and turned away feeling stung. Who was this woman?

 

“What the hell! Khushi who the hell is that? She’s got her hands all over your dude! Stop her!”

“Lavanya, it’s probably his friend we can’t do anything!”

“Wanna bet? Yo! NK!”

 

NK walked over to Lavanya and smiled.

 

“Yes, what’s the matter?”

“NK, who’s the girl with Arnav?”

“It’s his childhood best friend, Pooja.”

“And why exactly are her hands all over ASR? Khushi’s feeling insecure and uncomfortable! And you can’t blame her.”

“Of course not, Khushi come with me!”

 

Reluctantly, Khushi followed NK but looked back at La, cursing her for doing this to her. Yeah she was feeling insecure but that didn’t mean she wanted to confront Arnav about it. She didn’t want him to think of her as a clingy, insecure girlfriend. She knew he wasn’t the type of man that would appreciate that. 

 

“Nanav! You left Khushi! She wants to spend some time with you as well you know!”

“Hey Khushi, sorry babes, just got caught up.”

 

“Ahem.”

“Oh sorry, Pooja, this is Khushi, Khushi this is Pooja, my best friend from when we were in kindergarden.”

 

“Oh, hi, I’m Khushi, Arnav’s… I’m his… Student from university.”

“Student?”

 

“Gosh, Khushi, you’re not just my student! Pooja, Khushi is my girlfriend!”

“Oh! Wow! Arnav! You’ve finally found yourself a girl! Aw darling, I’m so happy for you. Khushi you are absolutely beautiful, I’m sure he’s told you that, but really, I’m really happy for you guys. I hope that you have a proper future and not just dating and stuff.”

“Well di and the rest of my crazy lot want us to get married, so let’s see!”

“Wow, you’ve already told Nani, and she agrees?”

“Well no, nani, mamaji and mamiji don’t know yet, but I’m sure they won’t have any problems with Khushi.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they won’t!”

 

Khushi looked around nervously. So everyone in his family knew apart from those who really mattered. And not just that, but he wasn’t even trying to hide their relationship, he was telling everyone about them. What if the elders found out and thought ill of her? What if they didn’t approve. And there was still her family to think about! God, maybe this wont work! There were so many things that could go wrong. Khushi could feel herself spiralling but she couldn’t stop her thoughts. They just kept hitting her, one after the other and she could feel herself starting to hyperventilate a little. But before she completely lost control of her thoughts and her breathing, her thoughts were interrupted by Shyam.

 

“Saale Saab, hurry up, we want to make the official announcement and then we need to get this party started. Oh, Pooja ji, hello, lovely to see you again. Please come through. Khushi ji, come on, you are needed to!”

 

Arnav offered Khushi his arm and she took it gladly. Pooja looked at the happy couple and smiled.

 

“God, you’re both so cute.”

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, please take a seat. Firstly I would like to thank all of you for joining us today to wish my brother, who is 26 today. Big round of applause guys! Now as per tradition, Arnav bhai will dance with someone of his choice to the first song. Bhai choose your partner.”

“Khushi, will you give me this dance?”

 

Khushi took Arnav’s hand and they made their way to the middle of the dance floor. Pooja saw this and gasped. Every year Arnav had danced with her for the first dance. She knew that he had a girlfriend now, but even in then past when he had a girlfriend, his first dance at his birthday was always reserved for her. It was an unwritten rule. This was wrong. All wrong. How could he dance with someone else instead of her? Pooja knew she shouldn’t feel so strongly and that she shouldn’t let herself get this upset, but she couldn’t help it. This wasn’t right, this had never happened before?#

 

Arnav and Khushi reached the dance floor and the music came on. ‘Teri Meri’ came on and Lavanya silently had a moment. That was Khushi’s favourite song and she had always dreamt about dancing to it with her prince charming.

Khushi’s breathing had stopped when the music came on. Since this song had come out, it had always been a dream that she would dance with her Mr Right on this song and now it was happening? It was actually happening on it’s own accord?# She looked at Arnav who was getting ready. His arms were placed protectively around her and he gestured for her to place her arms around his neck. She did so and thought,

 

“Is Arnav truly my prince charming?”

Unwanted ~ Part 46

Arnav

I sat on the bed as I waited for Khushi. She was in the bathroom taking a pregnancy test. A few weeks had passed since we had decided that we were going to start trying for a baby. And when I say we had been trying, I mean we were really trying.

I like to think Khushi and I have sex regularly any way, even before we had decided that we were going to start trying for a baby, we were at it at least 4 times a week. Now it meant that we were at twice a day most days. It was great.

I looked at my watch, she should have been done by now. Almost as though she had heard my thoughts, Khushi stepped out of the bathroom.

 

“Well?”

“Negative.”

 

She looked slightly disappointed but not too disappointed. She was only a couple of days late, and we also knew that part of the reason could have been because she was coming off the pill and it would take a while before her body started to find a regular cycle again.

I wrapped my arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

 

“It’s okay, we knew what the chances were, we’ll keep trying.”

“Yeah, we both pretty much knew what the outcome was going to be this time. But it’s still a little bit disappointing.”

 

She shrugged her shoulders and then went back to her wardrobe to pick clothes for the day.

 

“It’s okay, we just need to keep at it.”

 

*****

 

Six months had passed since we had decided that we were going to start trying for a baby and so far, nothing. I could tell that it was starting to take a toll on Khushi as she was noticeably getting more and more disappointed each time the results came back as being negative. I too was starting to feel more helpless. We couldn’t understand why it wasn’t happening. Neither of us had thought it would be so hard to get pregnant considering our age, but apparently it wasn’t going to be as easy as we thought it was going to be. We had seen the doctor two months ago and she had said that everything was fine with the both of us, but had recommended that both of us start taking supplements, just to booth our chances.

So now, I sat on the bed, waiting for her to emerge, hoping that this was our month.

 

She came out a few minutes later, tears streaking down her face. I went over to her, wrapping my arms around her.

 

“Hey, it’s okay. We tried and if it’s not working then, we’ll go see a doctor and if there’s something wrong then…”

“I’m pregnant.”

 

It took me a moment to comprehend what she was saying, but it finally sunk in.

 

“Wait, what?”

“I’m pregnant!”

 

I couldn’t believe it.

 

“We’re having a baby?”

“We’re having a baby!”

 

Lifting her into my arms, I twirled her as we both let the moment sink in.

 

*****

 

We decided not to tell anyone about the baby until we had seen the doctor and got the news confirmed.

When we saw the doctor and got the news confirmed, we decided to wait until the 20 week mark just to be on the safe side. But we decided to tell Arushi. We both knew this was stupid, telling a child so early when things could still go wrong, but we couldn’t hold our excitement any longer. So we decided to sit down with Arushi and tell her.

 

The evening we got back from the doctors, we both went up to Arushi’s bedroom and sat down with her.

 

“So a while back you told us that you wanted a brother or sister, do you still want a sibling or?”

“I do!”

 

I looked to Khushi and she smiled. We hadn’t decided who was going to break the news to Ari, but I couldn’t contain my excitement and decided to go for it.

 

“Well you’re going to have a little brother or sister soon!”

 

Khushi looked at me shocked, I think she had expected me to ease into it a little more but she didn’t care too much. I knew she was excited as I was to get this news out there.

Arushi looked between us, her eyebrows raised. She was confused. I raised my eyebrows at Khushi, gesturing her to take over.

“What you’re papa is trying to say is that in a few months, we will be getting a baby, meaning that you will have a little brother or sister.”

 

We watched as Arushi processed the news. It was evident she was still a little confused, she looked between us trying to comprehend. We gave her the time she needed to process the information and then finally she turned to us, a huge smile on her face.

 

“I’m going to have my own little brother or sister?”

“Yes!”

 

We watched as she rejoiced and then she came to hug us, expressing her excitement. The three of us stayed huddled together for a while, speaking of the future and what it would be like when there would be another one of us in the story, we couldn’t wait for the future.

 

*****

 

*6 months later*

 

Things had been going well. We had told the family that we were having a baby and everyone was excited for the wait to be over and for our new addition to join us. Khushi was feeling a little nervous. It had been a while since she had last had to deal with a baby and sure still was unsure about whether she was ready to go through all that again. But she was excited regardless and couldn’t wait to meet our baby.

At the 20 week scan, we had had the option to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl, but we decided against it. We wanted to be surprised. It didn’t bother us whether we were having a boy or a girl as long as the child was healthy. It would have helped a little bit as it would have meant that we could have started buying the right coloured baby clothes and we could have started to decorate the babies room, but they were in inconsequential factors.

 

Everything was going well, and then it wasn’t. Khushi’s water broke at 6 and a half months and we had to take her into hospital. We had always been aware that the baby might come early but we hadn’t thought that it would be this early.

 

What happened after her water broke was a blur. I can’t accurately say what happened. All I remember was a whole lot of hullabaloo in the house as we all realised what was happening and what needed to be done. I took Khushi to the hospital, while Payal stayed back to pack Khushi’s hospital bag and then she joined us. Di and Jijaji were responsible for looking after Arushi and Mamiji offered to take over the kitchen to make sure that everyone at home was fed but also so that we at the hospital would also get food, which was delivered to us by Akash. Everyone had their fixed roles and knew what was required of them, but I found that I was struggling to work out what I needed to do.

 

Khushi and I had discussed what we wanted to happen on the day of the birth and whether or not she wanted me in the delivery room with her. I had insisted that I wanted to be in the room, but she had been firmly against the idea. It was just something she didn’t want and although I wanted to be in the room with her, I respected her decision.

So here I was, sitting outside the delivery room, waiting for some news about my wife and our new baby. It wasn’t long before Akash joined me. He sat down beside me, his arm around me.

 

“Weird huh? Your second baby but your first time going through this stress, how does it feel?”

“Stressful.”

 

I wasn’t trying to be funny, but apparently I was because Akash laughed.

 

“Don’t stress too much, it’ll all be fine.”

“I’m just worried because it’s so early. What if the baby is weak and…”

“Bhai, don’t worry about it. Sometimes babies are born up to 5 months early and yeah, they need to be put in an incubator, but they still grow up fit and healthy. You’re baby is only a little bit early, so if all is well, they won’t even need to be put into an incubator.”

 

I know Akash was trying to calm me, but something about the talk of incubators freaked me out. I didn’t want to have to look at my baby through glass, I wanted to hold them in my arms.

 

 

Time crawled by and  I felt myself getting more and more anxious. Akash had resorted to sitting beside me in silence because he realised he was stressing me out more than comforting me. I had called home, just to check on Arushi. She was doing fine but she just wanted to know when she could meet her new sibling. I told her that as soon as they were here I would have someone to bring her and meet the baby,  but for now she should go to bed and get some rest.

I hadn’t even realised that I was tapping my foot impatiently until Akash put his hand on my leg.

 

“Dude stop, you’re making my brain vibrate.”

“It’s taking so long.”

“You know, Payal was in labour for a whole 10 hours before Akshay was born.”

 

I looked at my watch, we had already been there for about 4 hours. If Khushi followed Payal’s example, it would mean that there would be a wait of about another 6 hours. I don’t know if I could wait that long before I saw my baby.

 

I watched as Akash drifted off to sleep in his chair. I too felt myself starting to drift but I was bought back to my senses when I saw a nurse and a doctor come rushing towards Khushi’s room. I got my feet.

 

“What’s happening?”

 

The doctor didn’t stop but the nurse did.

 

“We’ve been alerted by the sister inside that the baby is coming.”

“The baby’s coming?”

“Indeed. Are you the father?”

“I am.”

“Would you like to come inside?”

“My wife said she didn’t want me to be inside.”

“Okay, then please sit tight and don’t worry.”

 

She nodded before she too rushed inside. I listened carefully, it was still pretty quiet inside. I nudged Akash awake and told him that the baby was coming.

He put his arm around my shoulder.

 

“Not long now bhai and then you can meet your new baby.”

“I’m so excited but so nervous at the same time.”

 

Akash looked at his watch and got to his feet.

 

“It’s been a while since we last ate anything, would you like me to get you a sandwich or anything?”

“Yeah if you could just grab me a cup of coffee and any sandwich, that would be great.”

 

He nodded and then walked off and I pulled my phone out and shot Di a text, telling her that the doctor had arrived and that the baby should be coming soon.

Putting my phone back into my pocket, I waited for Akash to return. He got back relatively quickly and we both tucked into our sandwiches. I hadn’t realised how hungry I actually was until I started eating. As we were sipping our coffees Akash turned to me.

 

“So have you guys thought of a name for the baby?”

“We have a few ideas but nothing is solid yet. I guess when we see the baby, a name will just click into place.”

“That makes sense.”

 

For what felt like the hundredth time, Akash and I fell into a comfortable silence as we waited for news. This silence didn’t last long though as the piercing cry of a baby flooded the corridor. I stood up and pressed my ear to the door. It was coming from Khushi’s room! Our baby was here! I wanted to burst in there, but I knew that I had to wait. A few moments later, Payal stuck her head out.

 

“Bhai, you’re baby is ready to see you.”

 

I handed my cup to Akash and then prepared to go inside.

 

“Good luck bhai!”

 

I came back over to him and gave him a hug. I didn’t need to say anything, he knew why I was giving him this hug. He knew how much of a help he had been this evening and how he had kept me from spiralling.

 

I went back to the door and slowly pushed it open…

 

 

*Author’s note*

Hi all, hope you are all keeping safe. This is just a quick note to apologise for any grammatical errors there may be in this post. I just finished writing this today, the day that the post is going up meaning I haven’t had the chance to proof read. As I write this note, there is less than 3 hours until this is scheduled to go up, so yeah.

As always, thank you all for the love and continuous support. I would also like to take this moment to say that this story is almost at it’s end. I have not yet decided how I will wrap the story up but I do know that the next chapter of this story will be the last.

Again thank you all for the continued support and patience you have shown me and I will be back very soon with a new story. 

 

Unwanted ~ Part 45

Khushi 

He collapsed on the bed beside me, breathing hard, sweat plastering both our bodies. Taking a moment to let his breathing regulate, he rolled onto his side and gathered me into his arms.

 

“Arnav let go na, I’m all hot and sweaty.”

“I really don’t care, I’m used to it.”

 

And with that he snuggled closer to me and I felt his eyes flutter shut. I wrapped my arms around him and held him close. It wasn’t ideal and I was feeling super sticky, but once he got sleepy he would get off me again any way so it was fine.

A few months had passed since our renewal ceremony and everything was going well. Arushi had started school and she was settled in nicely. She had already made a whole lot of friends and wasn’t speaking about her friends from Mumbai as much as before. She had also got used to her new life here and wasn’t missing Raj as much as before either.

We were still in regular contact with Raj and he was doing well. In fact he was doing really well. He had finally agreed to marriage, and from the sounds of it, Veera mausi had found a girl for Raj and they had hit it off really well. So we were hopeful that there would be a wedding to attend very soon.

I felt myself getting sleepy and my eyes were drifting shut when I felt Arnav shift beside me. I thought he was moving back to his side of the bed to go back to sleep, but instead he propped himself up on his elbow.

 

“Khushi, I was thinking…”

 

I turned to face him and raised my eyebrow, urging him to carry on.

 

“Let’s have another baby.”

 

It took me a moment to realise what he was saying, but when his words actually made sense to me, I felt my eyebrows lift and I’m sure my expression showed how shocked I was feeling.

 

“You what?”

“I want a baby. Let’s make a baby?”

 

He came towards me again, his hand finding my waist and his lips closing on mine. I put my hand between us and pushed him away.

 

“You want another baby?”

“Yes, desperately.”

Pushing him away, I held the sheets close my my chest as I sat up.

 

“I didn’t realise you wanted another baby.”

“I didn’t either. But recently when I spend time with Akshay, I realised how much time I missed out on with Arushi and I want to rectify that. I mean I spend time time with Arushi and I am glad to be a part of her life now, but I really want to experience being the father of a baby.”

“You know that’s not a good enough recent. I mean, I understand that you missed out so much with Arushi, but wanting another baby just to make up for what you have lost isn’t a good enough reason.”

 

H sat up in bed and looked at me.

 

“Wait, I’m confused, do you not want another baby?”

 

I gathered the sheets around myself and sat up.

 

“It’s not that I don’t want another baby at all, it’s just right now, I don’t think I want another one. After years, I have this aspect of my life back. I’m a wife again, and I’m enjoying me time with you. Throwing another baby in the mix would just mean going back to full time mum mode. It would mean waking all hours of the night to feed the baby, to change the baby. Then during the day it would mean splitting time between helping Ari with her homework while handling a baby… It’s just a lot and I’m not sure if I am ready for that again.”

“That makes sense.”

 

I tucked myself into Arnav and stroked his exposed chest.

 

“We never really got the chance to be carefree newly weds. We never got that chance to just enjoy each other and we are getting that chance now. To throw another baby into the mix would just change all our lives again.”

“I understand, I get it, what you are saying makes sense.”

 

Arnav kissed the top of my head and we snuggled down into bed, letting sleep takeover.

 

*****

 

Despite Arnav saying that he understood my reasoning against having another baby, I knew that in his heart, he wanted another baby. He knew the implications that another baby would have, he knew that it would mean long days and potentially late nights. He knew that sex would probably be out of the question for a while. But I knew he still wanted a baby. He wanted to experience that stage of fatherhood and just generally, he just really liked the thought of having another child that looked part like him and part like me running around the house. But he respected my choice. After all it was my body and I was the one who would have to handle the pregnancy. He knew that I needed to be all in it and that I had to want this as much as I did, and right now I didn’t. So he chose not to press the matter further.

 

*****

 

Months had passed since the baby conversation had taken place. Everything was going perfectly. Arushi had fit into her new life almost seamlessly. One would never know that she hadn’t spent her entire life here or that she had only met these people in her life less than a year ago. Things were going well.

The baby conversation hadn’t come up again, but recently I had found herself really warming to the idea of having another baby again. Arushi was growing up and becoming her own independent little person. She was able to do most of her homework herself, she could dress herself and feed herself. She still needed me of course, but I was starting to feel a bit redundant and it made me realise how much I missed having a baby who was wholly dependent on me. But I still wasn’t sure if I wanted another baby just yet.

I felt her motivation behind having another child was selfish and I wasn’t sure if I wanted another baby because I actually wanted another child or if it was because I wanted to feel needed again.

But then I reminded myself of all the reasons why I didn’t want another child right now. It would take away from my time with Arnav and would have an impact on our relationship. It would mean that the kids would be at the forefront of my attention and Arnav would have to take a back seat and I wasn’t sure if she was ready for that yet.

But then I also knew that my biological clock was ticking and if I wanted to carry a healthy baby that wouldn’t take too much of a toll on my body, then now was the best time. I was confused, there were so many different factors to consider. It was something that I really needed to think about and I needed to discuss thoroughly with Arnav.

I also thought about the implications that a new baby would have on Arushi. Did Arushi even want another sibling yet? Would she be okay with another baby coming into the picture. Almost her entire life it was just me and here and then we added Arnav to the mix and then the rest of the family. She had already experienced a lot of change and had to accommodate so many new people in her life, would she be okay with another baby?

 

There was a lot that needed to be considered and I knew that I should start thinking about the topic more seriously.

 

*****

 

It was almost as though god had heard my dilemma because that very evening as I was putting Arushi to bed, Arushi asked me if she was ever going to get a baby brother or sister. I was highly taken aback by the question.

 

“What?”

“My friend, Priya, she said her mama said that they were going to get a new baby soon.”

 

Tucking Arushi into bed, I cuddled up with my baby.

 

“Do you want a little brother or sister?”

 

Arushi thought for a moment and then shrugged.

 

“I have Akshay and Shalini to play with.”

“That’s true. But would you want another brother or sister to play with?”

“Babies are no fun, they don’t move.”

“When they get bigger they move though.”

 

Arushi thought about this for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders again.

 

“I don’t mind.”

 

Snuggling down into bed, I watch as Arushi slowly drifted off to sleep. When I was sure she was fast asleep, I got up and went back to my own room and found Arnav sitting in bed watching tv.

While getting read for bed, I thought about all the things I  had been thinking about all day and the conversation that I had just had with Arushi. Getting into bed, I decided to speak with Arnav about it.

 

“Arnav, I need to speak to you about something.”

 

He got into bed beside me and wrapped his arm around me.

 

“Go for it.”

“I’ve been thinking about something for a while and I just… I wasn’t sure if I…”

 

He turned to me, his eyebrow raised. I never was at a loss of words so he knew whatever I wanted to say was something major. I took a deep breath and started again.

 

“I was talking to Arushi and she… She wants a sibling.”

 

I watched as Arnav processed what I said. I don’t think he was expecting me to say that and the confusion on his face was clear.

 

“What?”

 

I filled him in on the conversation that I had had with Ari earlier and I told him about all the things that I had been thinking about. A smile started forming on his face.

 

“So what I’m hearing is that you want to have a baby?”

“I mean, I’m not sure if I definitely want a baby, but I think we should start trying. I mean I never realised I wanted a baby until I found out I was pregnant with Ari and then she became my life. And beside, just because we start trying, it won’t mean that we will get pregnant instantly and I…”

 

I couldn’t finish what I was saying because he silence me with a kiss. I felt my eyes flutter shut and I melted against him. I felt him take control of my body and lowered me down onto the bed, moving over me. I felt him start tugging at my close as his lips moved off of mine and to the side of my neck.

I held the back of his head and pulled him closer to me, parting my legs and letting him settle between them.

As he pulled my last item of clothing off and undressed himself, he looked at me and smirked.

 

“So should we make a baby?”

“Let’s do it.”

Unwanted ~ Part 41

Khushi

A few days had passed since we had returned home and slowly things were starting to finally feel like they were fitting into place.

The first day when we had got here Arushi had been super overwhelmed after seeing everyone and had wanted to go straight back to Mumbai. But after explaining to her that this was our home, our real home and that we had to slowly get used to being here, she understood. But despite that, for the first few days, she did stay close to me most of the time, not really going to anyone else, not even Arnav.

Bedtime had been a hassle too. The bedroom that was next to ours, the day we got home, Arnav had made quick arrangements to get some nice pink bedding in for Arushi and had unpacked some of her toys so she would feel at home, but she refused to sleep in her bed. I’d said I would stay with her, and only then did she agree to sleep in her new room. The night after the first was a repeat telecast. She refused to sleep on her own, so I stayed with her again that night.

On the third night, she had fallen asleep in her bed on her own, but after maybe an hour or so, she came into mine and Arnav’s bed.

The fourth night however, she finally slept in her own bed, the whole night through. The nights after that were the same and we finally concluded that Arushi was starting to feel at home here. And now that Arushi was feeling better, it made me feel a whole lot better too.

Though Arnav had been trying to spend as much time with us as possible, he was struggling. As he’d been away for so long, his work had piled up and he was having to spend more time at the office than he was at the house. It meant that me and him got less time to spend together, but it was okay.

But it was also because he was out of the house so much that he hadn’t noticed that Di wasn’t okay with me.

At first, I hadn’t realised it myself, but then I noticed and I realised. If there was anyone in the house that didn’t seem happy that I was back, it was Di. I didn’t know why she was behaving like this with me, but I knew that I should try to address it as soon as possible. I had wanted to ask Arnav, but I didn’t want to stress him out. So I asked Jiji.

She hadn’t noticed it, she was just glad that I was home. But she said to just ignore it. She just put Di’s behaviour down to the fact that everything had changed and that it was taking her a while to readjust to it all again. Perhaps it was that, but it had to be something else too. But I was going to leave it for now. Right now my priority was my little girl and making sure she was comfortable here.

 

*****

 

As we sat down for dinner later that evening, engrossed in conversation, none of us noticed Nimisha and Pari slowly descend the stairs and come and stand before us, bags packed. Di was the first to react.

 

“Nimisha? What’s all this?”

 

Putting her bag down, Nimisha took Pari’s hand.

 

“I have decided that the time has come for me and Pari to leave.”

“How can you…”

 

She turned to me and gave me a funny look before turning back to Di.

 

“Pari and I have never had much of a place in this house. This has never been our home, and now that Khushi is back…”

“Nimi you don’t need to leave, you’re the mother of Arnav’s eldest child.”

 

At this point Arnav got to his feet, ready to protest, but was stopped by Nimisha shaking her head.

 

“I… I don’t know how to say this but Pari… She’s not Arnav’s.”

 

It took me a moment to realise what she was saying but as her words finally sunk in, I could feel anger starting to coarse through my body. Arnav was the first person to react.

 

“What did you say?”

“I said Pari isn’t yours.”

 

I turned to Arnav and placed my hand on his arm because I knew he was about to lose his top. He opened his mouth to say something but Di beat him to it.

 

“Nimi please don’t feel you have to say such things just because Khushi is back. Pari is yours and Arnav’s and no matter what happens that won’t change. Whether you are Arnav’s wife or not, Pari will always be Arnav’s child.”

 

If I wasn’t already mad at Nimisha, I would be mad at Di. What the hell was she doing and what the hell was her problem. But that was a situation for another point of time, now we needed to handle Nimi and get to the bottom of what she was saying. I turned my attention to her. I needed answers.

 

“Nimisha, stop playing games. Cut all the crap and explain yourself. Is Pari Arnav’s child or not?”

 

I watched as Nimi paused and composed herself. I already knew what she was going to say but I still needed to hear it clearly from her mouth.

 

“Arnav is not the father of my child.”

“You’re so lucky there are kids in the room otherwise I would slap you so hard I…”

 

Arnav put his hand on my shoulder and I knew that I needed to calm down. I watched as Jiji ushered the kids and took them into the other room. Everyone moved away from the table and we all moved over to Nimi. Nani was the first one to address her.

 

“I think we all need to sit down and you need to explain yourself young lady.”

 

We all moved over to the living room and sat down. Arnav sat down close to me, his arm protectively around me and his other hand resting firmly on my knee. I was getting impatient, this whole thing was being drawn out. And everyone was being so calm about it? She had just said that Pari wasn’t Arnav’s child, yet no one seemed to be reacting? We just needed to know what the hell was going on and then send this girl on her way.

None of us spoke, I think we all needed a moment to compose ourselves properly and mentally prepare for what was going to happen next. Nani took lead of the conversation.

As Nani questioned Nimisha, she began to explain herself, I felt my temperature increase and I could feel the same happening to Arnav too. His hold on me was getting tighter and I could tell it was only about time before he lost his cool.

But before Arnav could speak, I spoke.

 

“So you’re telling me, all these years, I stayed away, kept my child away from her father, and my husband away from his daughter for absolutely no reason?”

“I’m sorry…”

“You’re sorry? Sorry? Is that all you have to say for yourself? Do you even understand…”

“It was stupid, it was ill thought out and if I could take it all back then I would but I can’t.”

“Maybe when you first came up with this crazy idea you thought something of it, but why did you keep playing along all these years? Why didn’t you admit the truth sooner?”

“You were already gone and no one knew where you were. It didn’t feel like it was worth saying anything.”

 

At this comment, I could tell Arnav really got mad.

 

“Do you even understand the amount of tension and distress that you have caused? Even if Khushi wasn’t here, I deserved to know the truth. I always said Pari wasn’t mine, but you kept lying to all of us. For years, Payal hated me because I was the cause of all the problems. There have been tension between me and Di for years because I didn’t accept you and now you’re telling us… I didn’t deserve this. I didn’t deserve to be lied to for all these years.”

 

He shook his head and turned away from her. 

 

“I know, I know I have caused a lot of harm and it is naive of me to expect for you guys to forgive me, but I really am sorry.”

 

Arnav got to his feet and turned to leave. Just as he got to the bottom of the stairs, he turned back to Nimisha. 

 

“Make sure you take all your crap with you. Because after today I never want to see you anywhere near this house or my family ever again. If you leave anything behind, you’ll find it all at the dumpsite.”

 

Before she could reply though he was already gone. Nimisha turned back to me. 

 

“I really am sorry.”

“I can’t believe you and Ranveer… Just leave honestly. I don’t want to hear anything more from you and I don’t think anyone else wants to have anything more to do with you. Just leave.”

 

I got up too and left. I didn’t want to have to deal with this any more either. The whole situation was just insanity and now knowing that I had spent so much time away from my husband over a lie, it just made me so much more angry at myself for leaving. I should have stayed. I shouldn’t have been so weak. Had I just stuck it out, it would have been hard but perhaps it wouldn’t have taken Nimisha this long to admit the truth and for this chapter to have been closed. Because I had been weak, Arushi and Arnav had lost out on so much time together. 

As I made my way up to my bedroom, I knew I needed to apologise to Arnav too. I opened our door, I saw that Arnav was standing by the door to the poolside, looking out at the blue water. Closing our bedroom door, I walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. It took him a moment to realise that I was there, but I watched as he wiped his eyes before turning his attention to me. 

 

“Is she gone?”

“She’s going.”

“Finally.”

 

Taking his hand, I led him over to the old recliner and got him to sit down as I sat beside him. Wiping his eyes, I took his hand in my own. 

 

“Why are you crying?”

“I just… I don’t know to be honest with you. This is all just so much more overwhelming than I ever thought it could be. I always knew Pari wasn’t mine, but… Just hearing her finally say it… And then I just can’t stop thinking about all the time that we lost because of her…”

“I’ve been thinking about that too. Had she not done all of this, we could have been together the whole time. It’s just… Insane that she and Ranveer did all this and that they played along for so long. It just doesn’t make sense to me. They’re just both deranged.”

 

He half scoffed and half laughed as I said this. He turned his attention to me and looked into my eyes.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Cupping his face, I dropped light peck on his lips. 

 

“You have nothing to apologise for. If anything, I should be saying sorry to you. I shouldn’t have been so weak, I shouldn’t have left. I should have been here to deal with it with you. Had I stayed, this game of theirs wouldn’t have lasted so long, I’m so…”

 

He silenced me with a kiss. It wasn’t a peck like I had given him either, it was a mind clearing, soul stealing kiss. With one hand on my waist and the other on my face, he shuffled closer to me as he deepened the kiss. I let him. I felt his hand came down onto my thigh and I could feel his hand moving up slightly the longer we kissed. When I felt his hand creeping too far up, I had to stop him.

 

“Not now…”

“I need you.”

“I know and I need you too, but it’s the middle of the day and we’re not home alone any more.”

 

I watched as he moved back a bit, the irritation evident. 

 

“I miss when we were newly weds and when we were able to just lock ourselves away for an hour or two in the middle of the day.”

 

I shouldn’t have laughed, but I did. And he was annoyed that I was laughing but his annoyance melted away a moment later and he laughed with me.

He wrapped his arms around me and just looked into my eyes for a moment before he spoke. 

 

“You know, even when everyone tried to convince me that Pari was mine, I just knew she wasn’t. I felt like I was going crazy, I really started to doubt myself and sometimes I did think that maybe she was mine. But inside, I knew she wasn’t. It drove me crazy but I just knew it. Everyone in this house told me that I should accept Pari and Nimi but I couldn’t. I always just knew.”

 

Placing my hand on his knee, I gave it a squeeze. 

 

“You should always listen to your gut. If your gut told you that something wasn’t right, then you should know that something isn’t right.”

“I’m just so glad that I stood my ground and that I didn’t listen to them. Had I listened to them, I may not have you in my arms right now.”

 

I gave him a quick kiss and then rested my forehead against his. This was nice, this was right. This is how things were meant to be. How had we lived without this for so long? When we both finally came back to our full senses, we decided we should go back downstairs. As we approached the door though, he blocked it, and turned to me. 

 

“Just know though, you might have stopped me now, but tonight, we will do it. It’s been six years since we last made love in our bed and I can’t wait any longer.”

 

It took me a moment to put together what he was saying, but then I realised he had circled back to what I had stopped from happening between us not too long ago. Cupping his face, I dropped a quick kiss on his lips.

 

“I won’t make you wait any longer.”

 

*****

 

The rest of the day passed slowly. After Nimisha left, Di went up to her room and refused to see anyone. I wanted to speak to her, there was clearly a problem, and I needed to address it, but I knew that now wasn’t the time. It was clear the whole family were still trying to comprehend everything that had happened and that it would take them time to really accept it and move forward, but I was glad. It meant that Arnav and I could really try and move forward in our lives and we didn’t have to keep looking over our shoulders to see what Nimi was doing. 

As the evening crept on, the mood began to pick up slightly but I started feeling more and more nervous. It didn’t really make sense, because it wasn’t like it would be the first time that Arnav and I would sleep together, but the idea of doing it in our marital bed again after so long was causing me to be equal parts anxious and excited. 

Dinner ended and I put Arushi to bed. I stayed with her for a while, to make sure she was fully asleep before I got up to go back to our room. As I pushed the door open, I noticed the room was far darker than usual. Shutting the door and locking it, I walked further into the room and made my way over to the light switch and attempted to click it on, but as I went to flick the switch, Arnav stopped me and swept me off my feet. 

 

“Arnav…”

“Don’t turn the lights on.”

“But I can’t see anything, I can’t see you.”

 

He didn’t say anything, just bought his lips to mine and silenced me with a kiss. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I snuggled into him as I let myself kiss him back. I felt his arms tighten around me as he carried me over to the bed and gently put me down. Breaking the kiss, he reached over to his bedside table, and I heard him flip a switch.  Above our head, a string of fairy lights came on. They weren’t bright, they were the softest shade of white, just about bright enough that I could see him. Smiling I moved back into kiss him. Our lips met and he pulled me over himself, his hands on my waist, holding me close to his body. Involuntarily, my body moved against his, causing a friction to grow between us. 

When we came up for air, I rid myself of my clothes and he did the same. The feel of his skin against mine was still enough to give me goosebumps, but the feel of his lips and his hands on my bare skin was enough to make me feel like I was going to explode. Flipping me onto my bad, I let him overpower me and take the lead. 

As his hands touched me in the most intimate of ways, he stopped for a moment and looked into my eyes. 

 

“You ready?”

“Always.”

Jalebi ~ Part 40 ~ Last Part

Wrapping her arms around her husband, Khushi snuggled up to Arnav and smiled to herself.

 

“Happy second anniversary baby.”

 

It was unbelievable. Khushi still couldn’t believe that she and Arnav had already been married for two years now.

Over the last two years they had faced a number of hurdles, nothing major but just little bumps in their journey. For example, for extended periods of time, they were apart due to work. Only last month, Khushi had to go to England due to issues in her main office and Arnav couldn’t accompany her because he had to attend to business in Mumbai.
And even if they were in the same city, there were multiple times when Arnav got home so late that Khushi was already asleep, or sometimes Khushi would get home so late that Arnav was already asleep.

But they we’re grateful for the time that they did spend together and they understood the issues they had regarding timing. It was something that they had come to terms with over the years and had learnt to deal with.

Other changes that had taken place over the years was that Arnav had made Khushi co CEO of AR Designs. This meant that for any major decision that needed to be made, Khushi had an equal say in them. Initially she had straight up refused to accept his offer, but Arnav wasn’t prepared for her to say no.

Picking her phone up, the latest iPhone, gifted to her by Arnav on her birthday, Khushi checked the time and saw that it was still only half 5. Putting her phone back, Khushi pressed herself into Arnav, her body pressed into his. Taking his arm, she placed it on her waist and snuggled closer.

 

“Khushi what you playing at?”

“Are you awake baby?”

 

Turning in his arms, Khushi smiled as she took in his face.

 

“Hi.”

“Good morning. When did you wake up?”

“The first time you snuggled up to me and wished me a happy anniversary.”

 

Pushing himself up onto his arm, Arnav placed his free arm on Khushi’s waist and pressed a light kiss on her lips.

 

“Happy anniversary to you too baby.”

 

They both settled back down, holding each other close and allowed themselves to fall asleep again for another few hours.

 

*****

 

“Arnav can you please tell me where we’re going?”

“You’ll see any moment now! Be patient.”

 

Rolling her eyes, Khushi sat back in her seat again and looked out of the window, trying to work out where they were headed.

After a relatively quiet morning with the family, Arnav was now taking Khushi to a secret location where they would celebrate their anniversary alone. All Khushi had been told about their little get away was that she didn’t need to pack anything at all as everything they needed would already be there.

 

“You said I’d be able to see any moment. I don’t see anything mr Raizada.”

“You’ll realise right about… Now!”

 

Turning quickly, Khushi looked out of the window. It took Khushi a moment to take in her surroundings, but soon she realised, they were at the Raizada farmhouse.

Turning back to Arnav, Khushi watched as he smirked and she too couldn’t help but smile. They had only been here once, many many years ago. But the memories of their last visit were still fresh and very much treasured by them both.

As Arnav parked the car, Khushi looked at Arnav questioningly.

Once the car was parked, Arnav got out of the car and made his way to Khushi’s side and opened the door for her.

 

“Arnav why…”

“I wanted us to go back to London, to that hotel where we expressed our love for each other and where we spent our first night together, but the room we stayed at was booked and I didn’t know if it would be the same if we stayed at another room. So I thought I’d bring you here instead. After all, this place too holds special memories for us.”

 

She knew exactly what he meant and knew he was right. This place was special. More than special.

Taking hold of Arnav’s arm, he led them into the house. The moment they stepped inside, Khushi gasped as she took in her surroundings.

 

“Happy anniversary babe.”

 

His voice was low and husky, his desire evident. But Khushi didn’t notice. She was too busy taking in all the red drapes and the big balloons and the roses scattered all around.

 

“When did you…?”

“I got Akash and Payal to do it earlier today.”

“You got my pregnant sister running chores for you?”

“She offered!”

“Of course she did Raizada.”

 

Feigning anger, Khushi turned away but Arnav realised what she was trying to do. Wrapping his arms around her waist, Arnav held her close to himself and kissed the side of her neck.

 

“Either you can stop pretending to be mad at me, or I can take you to bed and you’ll forget all about your fake anger that way.”

 

Turning in his arms, Khushi playfully slapped Arnav’s shoulder.

 

“So what arrangements do you have for us?”

“Well first I have a cake for us to cut and then for you to eat.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll eat you later for dessert, don’t you worry.”

“Arnav!”

 

Once again, Khushi slapped Arnav’s arm and he laughed.
Taking Khushi’s hand, Arnav led her over to the table where the cake was waiting for them. Khushi looked down at the little chocolate cake and smiled at it.

Picking up the knife that was sat beside the cake, Arnav put it in Khushi’s hand and then held it himself as they cut the cake together. Arnav leaned in and took a bit of the cake and fed it to Khushi. Just as she swallowed the cake, he pulled her into himself and pressed his lips between hers, kissing her deeply. He could taste the chocolate cake that she had just eaten.

As he pulled himself away, Khushi giggled and hid her face in Arnav’s chest.

 

“I love this, all of this! It’s perfect.”

 

Arnav held his wife close to himself, smiling because he knew he did a good job. As they broke their hug, Arnav picked up a big brown envelope and handed it to Khushi.

 

“What’s this?”

“It’s your present.”

 

Taking it from Arnav, Khushi looked at it highly confused. Slowly, she peeled back the flap and carefully took the papers out. Arnav watched as her eyes moved down the paper, taking the information in. Her mouth kept dropping the more she read.

 

“No way Arnav, no way in hell. I can’t…”

“You can.”

“But this isn’t you’re decision to make. Nani ji… Mama ji…”

“I held a family meeting and consulted with everyone before I made this decision, they had no objections.”

“Arnav, this is too much I can’t…”

 

Going back to the papers, Khushi couldn’t help but feel slightly stressed but overwhelmed at the same time. According to these papers, the property they were stood in, was now hers. Arnav had gifted Khushi the Raizada farmhouse.

 

“Arnav…”

“The farmhouse was in my name before, now it’s in yours. Everything that’s mine is yours anyway so I didn’t see the issue to make this property officially yours.”

“I can’t…”

 

Taking the papers out of her hands, Arnav took Khushi’s hands into his own and pulled her towards himself.

 

“You can. I told you, I spoke to everyone and they have no objections. I know Shantivan is our family home, but in time I want to sign it over to mama ji and Akash so it’s officially their home. Whereas I want to keep the farmhouse for ourselves and Di.”

“But then Di’s name should be on the deeds too.”

“I did speak to Di about that, and she said she doesn’t feel that her name needs to be on these papers. She trusts you enough to know that there will always be a place for her in this house.”

“I don’t know what to say…”

“Don’t say anything, just kiss me and let us enjoy our anniversary.”

 

Khushi wanted to argue, to explain why she couldn’t accept this gift but then she actually thought about. Arnav was right. Whether it was in his name or her name, it would be theirs. After all, Arnav and Khushi were one.

Wrapping her arms around him, Khushi kissed Arnav, bringing him closer to herself. His hands moved under the folds of her sari as he started to push the layers away, getting to her skin. Khushi too let her hands move under his shirt, feeling his toned back.

Breaking the kiss, Arnav lifted Khushi into his arms. Squealing, Khushi held onto Arnav as he properly gripped onto her and slowly made his way up the stairs. Tucking her head into his chest, Khushi smiled and she recalled the last time they had been upstairs in this house. They’d spent the night together and then had a steamy shower together at ungodly hours. But Arnav didn’t take them to his bedroom, he carried on, taking them both up to the terrace.

 

“Arnav…”

“You didn’t think I was taking you to the bedroom were you? I mean I will take you there, but only after we recreate our last encounter that we had up here.”

 

Biting her lip lightly, Khushi hid her face back in his chest as she slowly made his way over to the canopied area and sat Khushi down on top of the silk sheets. He moved back in, slowly beginning to unravel her sari and letting it fall down beside them.

The act of undressing Khushi wasn’t as smooth as Arnav wanted it to be and he needed her help to take the pins out, but soon enough, Arnav was left with a semi undressed Khushi. She slipped out of her underskirt and then let Arnav take her blouse off.

Moving back slightly, he took Khushi in, sat there under the fairy lights in nothing but her satin underwear. He loved it when she wore black lingerie, it made her milky skin look absolutely pearly.

Stripping out of his own clothes, he watched Khushi and he put each item of clothing aside. When he had taken even item of clothing off except his boxers, he watched as Khushi’s eyes moved over his body and he smirked seeing her bite her lip.

Leaning in, Khushi captured Arnav’s lips between her own and she moved into him, resting her hand on his thigh while he gripped hold of her waist.

Getting a good hold of her, Arnav lay Khushi down against the silky sheets, his hand roamed over her body, feeling her exposed skin, nearing the waistband of her pants to remove them. Khushi broke their kiss and pushed Arnav off of herself.

 

“Hey…”

“Wait wait! I need to give you you’re present!”

“I can wait…”

 

Arnav was ready to move back in, to resume what they were doing, but Khushi shook her head and pushed herself off of the floor and grabbed hold of a blanket. Wrapping it around herself, she got to her feet.

 

“Give me in minute!”

 

Arnav was ready to protest but Khushi was already halfway down the stairs. Laying back, Arnav looked at the top of the canopy, waiting for Khushi to return.

She came back a few moments later, her handbag in her hand. Still holding onto the blanket, she kneeled down next to Arnav and opened up her bag and fished out a large brown envelope.

Smiling, Khushi handed over the envelope, pressing a kiss on his cheek at the same time.

 

“Happy anniversary baby.”

 

Taking the envelope, Arnav looked at it.

 

“What’s this?”

“Open it.”

 

Slowly opening the envelope, Arnav pulled out the file that was waiting for him within. It was a file with the Khushiyan branding on it.

Looking up, he looked at Khushi was confusion in his eyes before slowly opening the file.

He skimmed through the first page and then quickly flicked to the next, and then the next.

 

“Khushi…”

 

She’d signed over 51% of Khushiyan.

 

“Khushi…”

“You can’t say anything. You made me co CEO of AR and the owner of this house. The least I can do is…”

“But Khushi…

 

Taking the papers out of his hand, Khushi set it aside on the little patio that was beside them. Dropping the blanket that she was using to cover herself, Khushi slowly made her way into Arnav’s lap. Settling herself into his lap, she wrapped her arms around his neck and placed a light kiss on his lips. Arnav placed his hands on either sides of Khushi’s breasts, giving them a slight squeeze.

 

“I’ve not done this as a return for what you’ve given me, I’ve done it for my own reasons. A few months back, you said you wanted us to start our family, and I said I wasn’t ready for that yet. Well…”

 

Blushing, Khushi bit her lip as she slowly took Arnav’s hand and held it in her own.

 

“I… I’m ready for us to start our family now.”

“You are?!”

 

Hiding her face in Arnav’s chest, Khushi nodded shyly.

 

“I’m ready for us to start trying for our baby. And if I do fall pregnant, then I don’t want to have to be worrying about the business, or looking for someone to step in and take my place for me. And when we are blessed with a baby, I want to give all my attention to the baby, I don’t want to have to be worrying about needing to get back to work.”

“I get all that, but 51%?”

“If I left it as 50/50, then whenever you need to make decisions, you’d need to consult with me. This way, you won’t have to bother me.”

 

Arnav took in all the information that she was providing him with and thought about it all. She had a point and it was all making sense.

 

“Again, this is something else we can forget about today. Now, we should make the most of our anniversary.”

 

She was right, but Arnav knew there was no point discussing this at a later date. Khushi was exactly like him, once she had decided on something, nothing would make her change her mind after that.

Taking hold of Khushi once more, Arnav slowly lay her back down on the sheet and moved over her, his hand on her waist as he kissed her once more. He touched her over her underwear, getting a good feel of her before attempting to take her underwear off. It came off in one go and Arnav pulled it away and threw it aside.

Moving down her body, he trailed a line of kisses down her neck all the way down to her bellybutton. Khushi arched back, holding onto him a little tighter. He dropped his hand back down to her thigh and then let it slowly make its way to her inner thigh. He let himself carry on, feeling her shiver under his touch. Khushi held him closer, her nails biting into his skin as she pressed her face into his shoulder, her arms around him tight.

 

“Arnav…”

 

Her moaning his name was the undoing of his patience. Pulling away, he stripped her of her underwear and pulled away his boxers.

It was over two year ago when they had first made love, but to this day, every time they did it, it still felt like the first time. The feelings they felt, the way their bodies reacted… It always felt like the first time.

As they came together as one, Arnav and Khushi both sighed, the satisfaction of being joined so intimately taking over all other feelings. This was all that mattered. Them, their love, their being one… All of that mattered far more than wealth and their businesses.

 

Once they were hardheaded business people, concerned only about success. Now all they needed was love. Love and to be together.

 

~ The End ~

Jalebi ~ Part 39

Arnav and Khushi rushed around their bedroom as they made sure that they had all their things together.

 

“Come on Khushi, we have to be there in half an hour otherwise it’s going to mess up our air-plan.”

“I’m ready I’m ready, let me just check I put my bag of necessities in my bag.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Arnav stood by the door and waited for Khushi.

 

“Okay it’s there. I’m ready to go.”

 

Hari Prakash and Om Prakash came and grabbed hold of the luggage and followed Arnav and Khushi down the stairs. Getting into the hall, Arnav looked around.

 

“Where are Akash and Payal?”

 

Looking around too, Khushi spotted Payal and Akash’s bags by the door.

 

“We’re here bhai.”

 

Rushing down the stairs, Akash apologised as he came and stood by Arnav.

 

“Payal couldn’t remember if she packed our wardrobe key. So we had to go back and check.”

“Listen bro, I’m already sharing my honeymoon with you, don’t make me regret it.”

 

Laughing, both sets of Mr and Mrs Raizada made their way down to the car. Once they were all settled and all the luggage was in the car, they were off for the air field where the private jet was waiting for them.

Payal gasped as her eyes fell on the jet.

 

“Bhai, this is your jet?”

“Yep.”

“Wow! This thing is amazing.”

 

Placing her hand proudly in her husbands Khushi beamed up at him before replying to Payal.

 

“The outside is impressive, but wait till you see what it’s like inside.”

 

As the cabin crew took the bags away from the couples and loaded them into the jet, Arnav led Payal and Akash into the jet and gave them a quick tour. He explained how they’d have to sit in the proper seats during take off and landing, but after that they were free to move as they wish around the jet.

 

“Bhai you and Khushi Bhabi can have the bedroom section of the jet.”

“I wasn’t planning on giving you the bedroom but thanks for offering it up.”

 

When directed by the crew and the captain, the Raizada couples took their seats. Khushi laced her fingers into Arnav’s as the jet prepared for take off. She didn’t have an issue with flying, but there was something about everything that was happening that made her feel oh so nervous. Maybe it was the fact that she knew she was married and was about to go on her honeymoon, or maybe it was because she knew how much her life had changed, but something made her feel on edge.

Arnav locked Khushi’s fingers with his and then let their hands rest on his lap.

Payal squealed as the jet took off and Akash chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her.

As the plane stabilised and the cabin crew let them know that it was safe to come off their seats, all four made their way into the living area of the jet and took a seat. Arnav and Khushi sat together on one side, whereas Payal and Akash sat opposite them on the other.

Picking up the remote, Akash flicked through the channels before settling on a film. Payal cuddled up with him and placed a blanket over them.

 

Arnav turned to his side to find Khushi staring at the tv too. Leaning towards her, he whispered, “do you want to stay here and watch a film with these two or should we take things into the bedroom?”

 

Blushing, Khushi looked to Payal and Akash, who were completely absorbed by the film and then turned her attention back to Arnav. Locking her hands in his, she gestured towards the bedroom area with her eyes. Holding her hand tightly, Arnav got to his feet and pulled Khushi up with him.

 

“We’re going to go to the bedroom. See you guys before we land.”

 

And with that, Arnav pulled Khushi into the bedroom area. Looking around, Khushi found the bedroom area to look exactly the way it had done so the last time she had been in here. Turning her attention to the bed, she smiled as she recalled how she and Arnav had fallen asleep together. That had been first time they had shared a bed.

Pulling Khushi into his arms, Arnav placed his hand on her lower back, and used the other to push away stray hairs. Khushi wrapped her arms around Arnav’s neck and moved closer to him.

 

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

 

Cupping her face, Arnav leaned in and pressed his lips between Khushi’s, coaxing her lips apart gently. Patting her lips, Khushi gave Arnav the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. Moving his hands round to the back of her neck, Arnav pulled her back ever so slightly, causing her lips to part further. Running his hands down her body, he let them come to rest on her waist, and he pulled her closer still, making her hips touch his. Khushi placed one hand on the side of his neck and the other slipped under his shirt, touching the planes of his muscular back. She too slipped her tongue in between his lips, meeting his halfway.

As their kiss intensified, Arnav pulled Khushi even closer to himself to the point where there was absolutely no space between them. He moved his body against Khushi’s, pressing his groin against her pelvis.

As they came up for air, Khushi looked into Arnav’s almost midnight black eyes. Lifting Khushi up in one swift motion, Arnav placed her down on the bed and then pulled back so he could strip himself of his own clothes. Khushi’s eyes widened as he took his clothes off.

 

“Take your clothes off too.”

“But jiji and jijaji?”

“We’re on honeymoon. Who cares if they know what we’re doing while they’re in the next room.”

“But…”

 

Climbing onto the bed, Arnav silenced her with a kiss as he started fumbling with her clothes. To begin with, Khushi was apprehensive, but soon melted into the moment and allowed Arnav to undress her while she pushed away at his clothes.

Once all her clothes were off, Arnav lay Khushi back in the bed while he walked over to where he’d had his hand luggage put and opened it up. Khushi lifted her head and watched as he rummaged around in his bag. After a moment or two, he found what he was looking for, opened the box, took out whatever it was that he was looking for and then closed his bag up again.

As he came back to Khushi, she noticed what he was holding and smiled. Moving back over her, he placed a light kiss on her lips before covering her body with his own….

 

*****

 

Sitting close together with their arms around each other, Payal and Akash enjoyed the films that the jet had to offer. Payal rested her hand on Akash’s knee and looked up at him.

 

“Babe.”

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

 

Turning his attention to Payal, he looked down at her face and smiled. How had he not accepted her whole heartedly from the start? How had he been so fixated on Khushi and revenge that he’d almost neglected the amazing woman in his arms. Turning the tv off, Akash placed his finger under Payal’s chin and tipped her head up.

 

“I love you too.”

 

They moved in towards each other, their lips inches apart. But a loud moan made them jerk apart.

 

“What on…”

 

“Arnavv…”

 

The moaning subsided, and was replaced with other noises.

Payal and Akash looked at each other with wide eyes before Payal looked away blushing.

 

“Are they really…”

 

Payal hid her face in Akash’s jacket. The thought of her little sister doing what she was doing in the next room was something Payal wasn’t entirely comfortable with. And it was worse that Akash had to hear it too.

 

“Sounds like they’re having a good time.”

“Akaaaash! Can you not.”

 

Laughing, Akash pulled Payal into his arms and held her close. This was going to be a good couple of days, he could feel it.

 

*****

 

Lying spent, Khushi curled up into Arnav’s side, her face buried in his chest. He ran his hand along her arm, making her shiver ever so slightly at the sensation.

 

“Did you ever think we’d make love in the sky?”

 

Arnav smiled as he felt Khushi shake her head. He stretched his limbs out while Khushi snuggled up closer, feeling sleep start to take over her body.

 

“Go to sleep for a while, I’ll set an alarm so we wake up an hour or so before we have to prepare to land.”

Almost as soon as the words had left Arnav’s lips, Khushi was fast asleep. Tucking her in properly and making sure she was comfortable, Arnav swung his legs out of the bed and pulled his trousers back on before making his way over to his laptop bag and pulling out his laptop.

After briefly checking over all this emails and responding to all that that needed his attention, he switched the laptop off again and stowed it away. Pulling his trousers back off, Arnav got back into bed and pulled Khushi into himself. This was how things should always be, this was the good life.

 

*****

 

As the plane prepared to land, Khushi cuddled up to Arnav in her seat. After getting intimate, Khushi needed to be close to Arnav. He too understood this need for intimacy and wrapped his arm around Khushi and held her close to himself.

The jet landed and both couples prepared to get off and get their honeymoons started.

As both couples got off the jet, they were met with a gust of hot air. For someone like Khushi who had spent most of her life in England where the hottest it ever really got was about 30°c, the temperature in Dubai was a bit too much. She flapped her hands around her face, trying to cool herself down.

 

“Babe you okay?”

“I’m fine but it’s so hot! I’m sure it wasn’t this hot the last time we came.”

“It was a little cooler but it was roughly like this.”

 

Khushi wasn’t the only one that was struggling with the heat, Akash and Payal too found it very hot. But they weren’t about to let that that have a negative impact on their holiday.

 

*****

 

As their car pulled up at Grosvenor House, both couples looked up at the building in awe. This hotel was just another tall building, but the design of it was stunning, really something to be looked at.

Taking the lead, Arnav took Khushi’s arm and led them all into the hotel and got them booked in. To Arnav’s pleasure, he and Khushi had been placed on a completely different floor to Payal and Akash.

He hadn’t done this entirely intentionally, but he hadn’t wanted them to be right near them either. Once both couple were fully checked in, they made their way over to the lift and pressed the bottoms of their respective floors.

Payal scooted over to where Khushi was stood and spoke quietly.

 

“Make sure you guys keep it down when you get busy, don’t want the neighbours to hear.”

 

Eyes wide, Khushi head snapped back slightly as she looked at Payal.

 

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, keep it down! Me and Akash could hear you really clearly on the flight.”

“No!”

“Yup!”

 

Burying her hands in her face, Khushi felt her face go completely red with embracement.
When the lift pinged, Akash and Payal got out first, leaving and Arnav and khushi by themselves. The moment the doors closed, Arnav moved over to Khushi, covering her from the view of anyone else who may have got in.

 

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

 

Placing one hand on her waist and another on the wall behind her, Arnav leaned in and pressed his lips against Khushi’s for a slow and drawn out kiss.

 

“So we’re officially on honeymoon.”

“Finally!”

 

*****

 

Three days later when Arnav and Khushi finally arrived at their tree house in Chewton Glen, they couldn’t help but take in the difference. Dubai has been blisteringly hot, but here in England, there was a chilling breeze. In Dubai they had been surrounded by glamorous tall buildings, here, all that was around them were tonnes and tonnes of trees and the next tree house was miles away.

Once inside the tree-house, they both took in everything around them, enjoying the little touches that had been made when decorating the place.

 

“Okay, is it bad that I actually prefer this place to the hotel in Dubai?”

“No. This place is great!”

 

After exploring the storehouse a little, Arnav found Khushi in the little kitchen area making some tea. Wrapping his arms around her, he stood close to her, pressing kisses on her neck.

 

“Arnav… Tea…”

“It’s been hours, let’s go to bed.”

 

She knew exactly what he meant, and knew he didn’t want to sleep. Blushing, Khushi turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips between his as she gave him a playful kiss.

 

“What do you want to do in bed?”

He raised his eyebrow before leaning in toward her ear.

“How about I show you?”

 

His voice was low and husky, sending a shiver down Khushi’s spine. His intention were clear as day and she had no objections towards them.

Taking his hand, Khushi led the way as she made her way towards the bedroom area, her tea lay completely forgotten…

 

*****

 

“Khushi have you seen outside! It’s snowing!”

“Yes, I’ve seen the snow!”

 

Looking out over the forest, Arnav took in all the snow and how beautiful it looked outside.

 

“How are you so calm? Look at how amazing it looks.”

 

Walking over to the large window, Khushi sighed as she took in the snow.

 

“Arnav, I’ve spent years of my life in this country, I’ve seen snow plenty of times. And yeah it looks pretty, but now we can’t go into the hot tub like we planned.”

 

Arnav’s attention shifted to the little hot tub that was out on the balcony. It had snow all over the cover on the top.

 

“We can still go in, the water will be hot and I know how to warm you up any way.”

 

Khushi wasn’t even slightly shocked or taken aback by his suggestive comment. Since they’d been here the last couple of days, his bold statements came out constantly. And his statements were also constantly being backed up. Even Khushi had a sex drive, but Arnav’s was something else altogether. He constantly wanted it. But she couldn’t complain, she was enjoying it too.

Playfully slapping his shoulder, Khushi walked away.

 

*****

 

It was a little later the same evening and the snow was still falling. Arnav had gotten a fire roaring in the fireplace and was sat on the faux fur rug, looking into the fire.
Khushi came and sat down beside him, placing her hand on his thigh.

 

“Hi.”

 

He smiled as he turned his attention to her. She’d had a shower and so her hair was still wet. And instead of wearing her own clothes, she’d opted to wear one of Arnav’s t-shirts and seemed to have forgotten to put some pants on.

 

“Aren’t you cold?”

“I was hoping you could warm me up. You know, the way you wanted to earlier on.”

 

Arnav smirked as he pulled off his own t-shirt and pushed her down onto the rug.

 

“Arnav! I didn’t mean right here!”

“Why not right here?”

“Because…”

 

But her argument was forgotten about as he slid his hand under her shirt and squeezed her lightly, all the while kissing her neck. He let his hand trail down her body and came to rest on her inner thighs.

Shuddering at the feel of his hand on her, Khushi held onto him tighter, kissing him more intensely. Wrapping a leg around his waist, Khushi moved her body against Arnav’s, the wait to become one was starting to kill her.

Pulling off her shirt and pulling off his own clothes, lowered Khushi back onto the floor and slowly let himself touch her. The way her body reacted, one would think he inserted a live wire into her.

A fine layer of sweat lay on Khushi’s skin. The heat from the fireplace, the warmth from the rug and the intensity of Arnav’s actions were causing to make Khushi feel as though her entire body was on fire.

 

“Arnav… Bed…”

 

He was well aware of what she meant and what she wanted, but he knew neither of them would actually be able to move now.

Stripping himself of the last of his clothes, Arnav caressed Khushi’s body and checked one last time to make sure she really was ready for him. She was.

 

“Are you ready?”

 

Wrapping her arms around his more tightly, Khushi’s eyes fluttered open as she gave a little nod.
Arnav lowered himself over Khushi and kissed her slowly as their bodies joined in the most intimate manner, Khushi let out a sigh and wrapped her arms around him, holding him close as they carried on kissing.

As the act of love and passion took place, all either of them could think was that this was how their life was meant to be, how it was meant to be spent. Wrapped together so they couldn’t tell where one ended and the other started.

This was how life was and how it should forever remain.

 

*****

 

Author’s Note:

So I just realised that I had finished writing these chapters years ago and though I don’t like them as much as I did at the time, I have decided to just post them so that the story is complete for you guys.

I will be uploading the last part of the story within the next few weeks. 

Unwanted ~ Part 39

Khushi

After our failed attempt of spending the night together, though we’d said we’d try again soon, we hadn’t. Life kept getting in the way and we just hadn’t had the opportunity to try again.
Arushi had gotten the flu so I didn’t want to leave her at home, and I really didn’t want to take her with me to Arnav’s the first night we slept together again. Perhaps one would say I was a bad mother for wanting to leave my daughter, just so I could go and sleep with my husband, but I knew if Arushi was in the house the first time we did it again, I wouldn’t be able to give Arnav the full attention he deserved. So we wait.

Three weeks passed and after waiting for so long, we had made plans to finally spend the night together. In this time, I had decided to go back onto birth control and it also gave me time to mentally prepare myself to start engaging in a physical relationship with Arnav again.

It felt so weird when I thought about it. It felt like I was preparing myself for the first time, like this hadn’t happened between us before. But the experience was still exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. I wanted to be perfect. I wanted our first night to be perfect…

 

*****

 

When I got to his house, the first thing I noticed was the beautifully set table.

 

“What’s all this?”

“Some good food for my lady.”

“One could get used to this Arnav, your cooking is becoming a habit for me now.”

“Let it, if you want, I’ll keep cooking for you for the rest of our lives.”

“Arnav…”

“Please, take a seat.”

 

Nodding, I sat down and I waited as Arnav too sat down. Once he was seated, I served us both the food and we began eating, making small talk as we dined.

 

*****

 

After dinner, it was time for dessert. We gave ourselves a little bit of time to recover from the food we had eaten, but we both knew what it was that we really wanted tonight. When we were both ready, he took my hand as he led me to the bedroom before pushing me onto the bed. He came over me, his hand on my waist while his lips found mine.

His hands ran over my body and I wrapped my legs around his waist, bringing him into myself.

Realistically we knew that we should be taking this slowly, giving ourselves time to familiarise ourselves with each other again. But it had been so long, we’d been waiting so long that taking it slow was out of the question. We just wanted to go for it, to come together once again.

As his hands brushed over my naked skin, I felt myself shiver with anticipation. I wanted this, he wanted this… We needed this.

Moving off me, he pulled me up as he proceeded to undress me and I did the same. Hand on my cheek, he closed the distance between us again, his lips on mine, his tongue between my lips, pushing them apart. Locking his hand in mine, he lowered me back into the bed, as he moved over me…

 

*****

 

As I awoke the next morning, I felt super sore. I hadn’t thought that it would hurt quite as much as it did, but it felt like losing my virginity all over again. We should’ve gone slowly, but there was a sense of urgency between the both of us. It had been so long and taking it slow just wasn’t in the question, we just wanted to go for it.

But regardless of that, last night had been amazing. To be with him again, to be one with him again…

When I’d left home I thought I’d have all this back one day, but as time went on, I slowly had lost hope. But now…. Smiling to myself, I pulled the covers tightly around myself as rolled onto my back, staring up at the ceiling. Damn. We were actually together again!

Lost in my own little world, I didn’t even realise when Arnav came back into the room. He came in and sat down beside me. Pulling the covers around myself, I sat up and gave him a peck on the cheek.

 

“Morning.”

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

“I had the best nights sleep. I didn’t even realise when you got up.”

 

He gave me a cheeky wink.

 

“I did call you when I woke up but you were so tired out, you didn’t even move.”

“Wow really?”

“Yup, any way, seeing as your up, I’ve made you breakfast.”

 

I hadn’t even realised he’d brought food with him but he had. Reaching over, he picked up the tray he’d brought with him and held it for me as I sat properly.

 

“Pancakes!”

“Just the way you like them, with extra maple syrup!”

 

I ignored him as he smirked.

He remembered. He remembered that I used to love having pancakes made by him the morning after we had sex. I didn’t know why, but I just liked it. I used to find I used to crave pancakes after sex. Though I hadn’t felt it as much today, having the pancakes in front of me made me realise how much I wanted them.

I tucked into my food and he leaned against the headboard and smiled at me.

 

“Would you like some?”

“Nah, I’ve had my breakfast, you enjoy you’re food and then I want to talk to you about something.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

 

He just shook his head and pointed to the food in front of me. What did he want to talk about? I wanted to know now but I knew he’d never tell me until I finished my food.
Eating my pancakes as fast as I could, I kept a close eye on him, trying to work out what was coming. But I didn’t have the faintest of clues. Shrugging to myself, I finished my food as fast as I could and put the plate down.

 

“I’m ready, what did you want to say?”

 

Turning his attention to me, he took my hands in his own and looked into my eyes.

 

“You know I’m not always the best with word so I’m just going to say what’s in my heart. Khushi, will you and Arushi move in with me?”

 

He took me by surprise completely and it must have been noticeable.

 

“Were you not expecting me to say anything like that?”

“I just… I didn’t think… I don’t know.”

“Well, do you want to?”

 

I paused for a moment as I thought about it. Of course I wanted to move in with Arnav! The way we were living our relationship now, it made me feel as though they were a young couple, still only dating, and who had to plan well in advance before they spent time together. I didn’t want this. I wanted us to have a normal relationship like a normal couple. The answer to his question was a simple one.

 

“Of course!”

 

Letting out the breath he had been holding, Arnav threw his arms around me and hugged me tightly.

 

“I was terrified that you wouldn’t say yes.”

“Why wouldn’t I say yes? I was thrown, but I’d never say no.”

 

He pulled me into himself again, his lips on mine, his hands locked in mine as he took me down onto the bed again…

 

*****

 

When I got home after leaving Arnav’s, all I could think about was what was I meant to say to Arushi? And how was I supposed to ease her into the idea of moving in with Arnav. But I knew it needed to be done.

After me and Arnav we’re finally satisfied with each other, we sat down and had a mature conversation about me and Arushi moving into his place. We knew we wanted to move in together, because we were still together. And he made it clear that he wanted her to get used to having him around all the time before just throwing her into the deep end when we eventually went back to Delhi.

As I walked into the house, Arushi was already waiting and launched herself at me before I could even put my bag down.

 

“Mama!”

“Hey baby! Did you miss me?”

“Lots and lots and LOTS!”

 

Lifting Arushi into my arms, I carried her over to the living room before sitting her down on the sofa. I asked her how she spent yesterday evening and then what she did this morning. She told me about all of it before asking me about Arnav.

 

“Well your papa has said he will come to see you soon, but there’s something I wanted to talk to you about before that.”

 

She raised her little eyebrows the way Arnav does and I couldn’t help but smile.

 

“Your papa was saying that maybe it is time that we went and lived with him. But that’s only if you want to.”

 

For a moment, Arushi didn’t respond. I could tell she was processing the information. After what felt like half a lifetime, she finally replied.

 

“Live in his house?”

“Yes.”

“Both of us?”

“Yes of course!”

 

A wide smile played on her lips before she gave me a big hug.

 

“YES YES YES YES YES!”

“So you want to live with your papa?”

“YES YES YES!”

 

Laughing, I picked my baby up into my arms and held her close to myself. Finally, we were going to be a real family!

 

*****

 

A month had passed since Arushi and I moved into Arnav’s place and everything had been going amazingly. I had worried that it would take Arushi a while to settle in, to really get comfortable, but from the very moment she arrived, she was fine. She was just happy to have Arnav around all the time.

When we first moved in, Arushi didn’t sleep through the night. At 2am or 3am, she would come into mine and Arnav’s room to sleep with us, but she got over this quite quickly.

When we moved in, Arnav had already decorated the spare bedroom, all ready for Arushi. He had said he didn’t want his daughter to come home and feel like a stranger in her own house. We had brought all her stuff from Raj and Veera mausi’s house and put it in, and she had been ecstatic to find all her favourite things plus lots of new things.

When I had told Raj and Veera mausi that we were going to move in with Arnav, they had been upset of course, but they understood. They understood that it was finally time for me and Arushi to go home, to finally make up for all the time that we had lost with our family. So with a heavy heart, they accepted that we were leaving and they have us their blessings for our new start.

Being with Arnav all the time again, it felt strange originally. I felt like it was the first time that me and Arnav were living together. But that initial awkward stage didn’t last long. We were soon able to find our flow again, and everything was going great.

Initially, we had been worried to have sex because we didn’t want Arushi to hear us or to walk in on us, but after about a week, Arushi got accustomed to her new surroundings and she started sleeping peacefully through the nights again. And with her sleeping through the nights, it meant we were able to work on ourselves too.

Everything was going great.

 

*****

 

When Arnav returned home one evening, it was clear to me that he was tense. I asked him what the matter was, but he wouldn’t tell me, he just said that he wanted to wait until Arushi was asleep so that we could talk.

So I put Arushi to bed a little earlier than usual and then came and sat down with Arnav.

 

“What’s the matter, I haven’t seen you this tense in so long, is everything okay?”

 

He was tense and he was confused, that was obvious to me. But what the matter was, only he could tell me. I watched as he took a moment before turning to me.

 

“I need to go back to Delhi. I’d been putting off my return for months, but I can’t do it any more, I need to go back.”

“I understand. Of course! Everything is in Delhi. You’re home, your business, it’s understandable. Why are you so tense?”

“Because I don’t want to leave you and Arushi. And you said only the other day that you weren’t sure if it was time for us to go back.”

 

It made sense, of course. He had asked if we wanted to go back home soon and I had said that I wanted some more time. I had used Arushi as an excuse, but the truth was that I wasn’t sure if I was ready to go back yet. I didn’t know if I was ready to face my family and if I could deal with his. It had been so long and I… I just didn’t know if I could do it yet. But I could see Arnav’s tension and I knew I couldn’t be selfish any more, I needed to do right by him, instead of making things harder for him.

 

“Let’s do it, lets go back to Delhi. All three of us.”

“Are you sure? Arushi?”

“I think Arushi will be fine now. She has us. She’s comfortable with you and she’s good with new people any way. It may take her a while to fully get used to the change, but I think she will be okay.”

“But what if she isn’t.”

“It may take her time but it will be fine. And if she really struggles, then maybe we can just stay in our own little flat until she is accustomed to everyone at home.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

 

We talked through the plan, of how we could make things work, and after over an hour of discussion, we finally knew what we were going to do and how we were going to do it. It was finally going to happen, we were finally going home….

 

*****

 

Author’s note:

Just a short note to say, I hope this update is okay. This is the first chapter I’ve written for this story in over a year and so I was feeling it’s a bit shaky. Please do leave your comments and I will see you all again soon! 

Jalebi ~ Part 37

Taking in Rohan’s words, Arnav didn’t know if he should feel happy or if he should feel sad. It was obvious Rohan cared about Khushi. But Arnav knew that he definitely cared about Khushi more than anyone else ever could.

 

“I’ll take my leave.”

“No. No you have to stay.”

 

Unable to understand why Rohan would make him stay, Arnav tried to argue with Rohan. But he wasn’t having it. He wanted him to stay.

 

“I can’t.”

“You have to.”

 

The way Rohan spoke, Arnav realised that there would be no use arguing. He had to sit through the wedding, he would have to watch the woman he loved become someone else’s.

 

*****

 

Returning to the main hall, one of Rohan’s cousins approached him and told him that the auspicious time had arrived and that he needed to make his way over to the mandap.

Taking his seat at the mandap, he waited for Khushi to come over.

Offering Khushi her hand, Payal gave Khushi a little smile.

 

“Let’s get this show on the road.”

“Jiji I…”

 

Starting to panic slightly, Khushi realised the greater implications of what was happening. She was about to marry Rohan. Actually marry him. She would have to live with him, share a room, a bed with him…

 

“Jiji I cant!”

“What?”

“I can’t marry Rohan.”

 

Payal and Khushi were using hushed voices, but they caught the attention of all those around them. Rohan looked over, and he saw Khushi still at her seat.

 

“Now is not the time to get cold feet Khushi. You’ve had so much time to change your decision, you can’t do it now.”

“I know… But honestly Jiji I can’t.”

 

Feeling at a complete loss, Payal moved back slightly, trying to think of what to do.
Wanting to know what the delay was for, Rohan got to his feet and made his way over to Khushi. Putting his hand out to her, he waited for her to take it.

 

“Rohan…”

“Come on, everyone’s waiting.”

“I…”

“You’ve watched Kuch Kuch Hota Hai right? If you don’t come on, I’m going to drag you to the mandap.”

“I can’t…”

 

Realising exactly what Khushi was thinking, Rohan took Khushi’s hand and dragged her over to the mandap.

 

“Rohan…”

 

Those who hadn’t been paying attention before were paying attention now. Anjali saw what was going on and nudged Arnav.

 

“What’s happening?”

“Did he ask me to stay so I that he could make me watch him forcefully marry her?”

 

Khushi tried to get her hand out of Rohan’s, and struggled even more when she saw the mandap getting closer to them.

 

“Rohan please…”

 

She saw the mandap approach and she realised… This was it. She had made her decision and now there was no backing out.

But much to Khushi’s surprise, they walked straight passed the mandap and only stopped once they were a little further down. Arnav looked up again, trying to make sense of what was happening.

 

“What are you…”

“Today Khushi, I realised what love is. True love is when you are ready to sacrifice your happiness and what you want so the other person can be happy. I learnt that from a man who up until now I didn’t like at all. He made me realise that if you truly love someone, you should let them go if that’s what is going to make them happy. Arnav… Arnav taught me that.”

 

Turning her attention to Arnav, Khushi gave a little smile.

 

“Arnav is ready to let you go because he loves you truly and he thinks you marrying me is what you want and he just wants you to be happy. But I think we both know you’re only marrying me because you think that if you said no now, you’d be betraying me.”

 

Tears fell from Khushi’s eyes because Rohan was right. He was spot on.

 

“I’m sorry…”

“No I’m sorry. I should have realised and I shouldn’t have been so pig headed when making you choose. I knew the truth and I decided to overlook it for my own selfish reasons.”

 

Khushi felt her head spin as she took in Rohan’s words. What was the meaning of all this? Feeling slightly light headed, Khushi raised her hand to her head and tried to keep herself stable. She felt herself sway slightly and then the next thing she knew, she had a strong pair of arms around her.

Turning to her right, she saw Arnav stood beside her, holding her tightly.

 

“See, he was stood all the way on the other side of the room and he knew you needed him. I was stood right here and I didn’t realise. This is why you should make him your life partner. Put the guy out of his misery.”

“Rohan…”

 

Taking Khushi’s hand in his own, Rohan carefully pulled the engagement ring that he’d put on her off.

 

“I set you free.”

“I don’t know what to…”

“You don’t need to say anything to me Khushi. Turn to the saint of a man next to you, and ask him for his hand.”

 

Giving a little smile and mouthing her thanks, Khushi turned to Arnav and took his hand into her own. Looking at her, Arnav smiled before brushing away the tears on Khushi’s cheek.

 

“I screwed up Arnav. I thought I was doing the right thing but I… Will you marry me Arnav? After everything that I have put you through, do you think you can forgive me and marry me? I think we both know that I am yours. Only yours.”

 

Reaching into his pocket, Arnav pulled out the velvet box that Anjali had given to him a little while ago. Opening it and carefully taking out the ring, Arnav gently put it on Khushi.

 

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to put this ring on your finger.”

 

Taking her hand, he pressed a light kiss on her hand.

Smiling, Rohan mentally pat himself on the back. He did the right thing. As much as it hurt and as much as he wanted to marry Khushi himself, he knew he did the right thing. She was never his and she never would have been.

 

“Now now, let’s not get too caught up in the moment, there are still tonnes of people watching you.”

 

Taking her hand out of Arnav’s, Khushi wrapped her arms around Rohan and gave him a big hug.

 

“Thank you so much.”

“We’ve been friends for the longest time, if I didn’t have your back, who else would?”

 

Taking his turban off, Rohan walked to Arnav and placed it on his head.

 

“Be good to her bro.”

“I promise you, I’ll never let her or you regret this decision.”

 

*****

 

After giving the bride and groom a few moments to freshen up and to allow their families to take in everything, Arnav and Khushi’s marriage ceremony was well on the way.

The Raizada’s and the Gupta’s had been overjoyed by the change in events. Anjali had called Hari Prakash and asked him to quickly go out and get the supplies that she needed.

 

*****

 

Wedding done, bidaai done, Payal helped Khushi into the back of Arnav’s car as Akash got into the drivers seat.

Pulling Khushi into his arms, Arnav brushed her hair out of her face as he took her lips between his own and kissed her as though he’d never kissed her before. Taking hold of his collar, Khushi pulled him closer to herself as she kissed him back with the same level of intensity. His hands dropped to her waist as he pulled her onto himself, needing to get closer.

Breaking apart to come up for air, Khushi ran her hand along Arnav’s face and placed a little kiss on the end of his nose.

 

“I never thought… I thought we… I thought I lost you…”

“Sh, we’re together now, we’re married. That’s all that matters now.”

“I love you Arnav. I’m so sorry I…”

“Shh. I told you, it doesn’t matter any more. This is a new start.”

 

Cuddling up to Arnav, Khushi tucked herself into him and closed her eyes, feeling peaceful.

 

“Hey Khushi, remember the time we made out here. How about…”

“Don’t even think about it bhai!”

 

Laughing, Arnav reached over and poked Akash in the back of his head. Snuggling back down, Khushi tucked herself into Arnav and simply inhaled his scent.

Finally peace had been restored.

 

*****

 

After being welcomed into the Raizada house as the new Raizada bride, Arnav and Khushi were sat on the sofa with the family, waiting to be granted permission to go to their room.

 

“Whatever happens, happens for the best. And all that matters now is that Khushi bitya is home.”

“I told you Nani, I’d sort it and I would get her back.

 

Before anyone could say anything more, Anjali re-emerged from wherever she was and came to collect Khushi.

 

“Come on Khushi, I’ll show you to your room.”

“There’s no need Di, I can show Khushi to our room.”

“Hush chote. It’s a rasam. I showed Payal to her room after the wedding and I’m going to do the same with Khushi.”

 

Helping Khushi to her feet, Anjali turned away, leading her up to Arnav’s room. Arnav too got to his feet but was stopped.

 

“No Chote, wait. I will tell you when you can go up.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Arnav sat back down and was met with a whole lot of teasing from Shyam and Akash for being too eager.

Helping Khushi up the stairs, Anjali turned her attention back to her.

 

“How are you feeling?”

“So nervous and overwhelmed.”

“Are you happy though?”

“Of course.”

 

Teaching Arnav’s bedroom, Khushi gasped as she looked around the room.

 

“Di when did you…”

“Just because you and Chote got married at the last minute, doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t have made sure that everything was perfect.”

 

Looking around the room, Khushi took in the beautifully decorated room with flower petals and candles.

 

“But so quickly…”

“I got Akash to take a detour. Don’t think you and Chote realised that though did you?”

 

Blushing, Khushi looked down. No, she hadn’t realised. She hadn’t gone to sleep in the car, but she had drifted off slightly. It had been so long since she had last felt so content and at ease, that it was so easy to just zone out.

Leading Khushi over to the bed, Anjali was ready to help her onto the bed when Khushi stopped her.

 

“Di, I’ve been in this outfit for so long. I know it’s not the norm, but can I please get changed before he comes up?”

“Of course it’s fine. I completely understand. Would you like me to call Payal to help you get changed”

“No no, I’ll manage.”

“Okay, you get changed. I’ll send Chote up in half an hour. And I won’t come up with him so I won’t see you.”

 

Anjali gave Khushi a suggestive nudge with a cheeky wink, causing Khushi to want to curl into herself because she felt so shy.

 

Anjali left, leaving Khushi alone in Arnav’s bedroom. Well hers and Arnav’s bedroom. Khushi hadn’t had the intention to dress to impress Arnav, but now that Anjali had hinted at it, Khushi decided that she wanted to wear something special for him.

Picking up her suitcase, Khushi placed it onto the bed and went rummaging. She hadn’t brought many pieces of sexy nightwear because she hadn’t seen the need for it. But things were different now. She was married to Arnav.

Picking out what she wanted to wear, Khushi took hold of it and made her way to the bathroom to get changed.

 

*****

 

Sat back on the bed, Khushi had draped her dupatta back onto her head and had pulled it around her shoulders. She knotted her hands together as she waited for her husband to arrive.

A little while passed and then the door was pushed open and Arnav walked in. Quickly turning around, he locked the door behind him. With the door locked, he pulled the curtains on the doors to the poolside and then finally, slowly made his way over to his bride who was waiting on the bed.

Sitting down beside her, Arnav places his hand on hers.

 

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

 

Keeping his hand on hers, Arnav leaned in and placed a kiss on Khushi’s cheek before pulling away again. Slowly, he raised his hand to her dupatta and pulled it off her head carefully, letting it fall around her shoulders.

As soon as her dupatta was off, his eyes fell on the red sindoor that he had placed on her, marking her as his. He also saw that she’d taken off all her jewellery except her mangalsootra and her ring.

Clutching at the dupatta, Khushi tried to pull it around herself, suddenly feeling self conscious about her attire underneath.

 

“I can’t believe I have you in my bedroom, on my bed, as my wife. When I woke up this morning, all I could think about was how this evening you’d be married to someone else, but now…”

“I’m yours. I’ve always been yours.”

 

Biting her lip, Khushi blushed as she reached out to him. Shuffling closer to her, Arnav took hold of her dupatta and slowly pulled it away from her, revealing what she was wearing underneath. Or more correctly, what she wasn’t wearing underneath.

 

“Khushi…”

“I thought you would appreciate it if you didn’t have to take so many layers of clothes off of me.”

“You know me too well baby.”

 

Completely pulling the dupatta away and dropping it down the side of the bed, Arnav took Khushi in. Here she sat, on his bed, in nothing more than a deep red bra and panties. Taking her in, Arnav gulped.

 

“Shit.”

 

Feeling super self conscious, Khushi looked around her, trying to find something to cover herself with. But before she could reach out, Arnav had moved into her, pushed her against the pillows and his lips were on hers, his hands on her exposed waist.

Moving over her, he quickly unbuttoned his shirt and attempted to push it off. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Khushi pulled Arnav into herself, hooking her leg onto his, letting herself feel his body move on hers.

Keeping one arm around his neck, Khushi’s other hand found its way into Arnav’s hair, massaging his scalp with her fingers as they carried on kissing.

Pulling apart for air, Arnav pushed his shirt off, and then moved over Khushi once more.

 

“Arnav…”

 

Whatever she wanted to say was forgotten about as he started kissing her neck, all the while touching her breasts. His hands moved over the silk and lace and he could feel her pebbled nipples on his palms.

Arnav pulled back, and looked at Khushi who’s eyes were half closed.

 

“Khushi…”

“Hmm?”

 

Slowly opening her eyes, she was met with Arnav’s dark molten orbs staring into her soul.

 

“Are you ready for tonight?”

 

Wrapping her arms back around him, Khushi pulled Arnav to herself and whispered into his ear.

 

“Yes.”

Jalebi ~ Part 36

 

The long awaited day had finally arrived. It was finally Khushi and Rohan’s wedding day.

At the wedding venue, there was a great amount of hustle and bustle as everyone made sure that everything was in place and that all arrangements had been done properly. Khushi’s father, alongside Payal’s father, rushed around, making sure that the catering service had prepared all the food properly, while Khushi’s mother and Payal made sure that all of Khushi’s things were properly packed.

 

“Ma, Payal, you guys need to stop worrying. Even if I don’t have all my stuff it isn’t a big deal, in a weeks time me and him are moving back into my house.”

 

As Rohan and his family were primarily based in London, they didn’t have their own home in Delhi any more. As a result, it meant that Khushi didn’t actually have a sasural here where she would have to live.

For the purpose of rituals and traditions, Rohan’s uncle had said that they could welcome the new bride into their home and that Khushi and Rohan could stay there until they went for their honeymoon. Then, when they came back, they would move back into Khushi’s apartment.

Some girls dreamed to have a sasural, others not so much. Khushi found herself on this side of the spectrum, she was glad that she wouldn’t always have to live with in-laws. When Khushi thought that she may be marrying Arnav, she had been overjoyed at the idea of living with her in laws, of living with Payal. But now… Considering all the changes, she was glad for not having immediate in laws in India. It would mean that there would be less pressure on her. And she would have to feign happiness less.

 

“We know you’re going to be moving back into your own home, but you still need to make sure you have your things so you can stay there without any issues.”

 

Giving a noncommittal grunt Khushi turned away and Lalita threw her hands into her hair and turned to Payal. Khushi was driving her insane! She wasn’t making decisions about anything, she wasn’t getting a move on, she wasn’t doing anything! It was her wedding day, yet she was completely stoic about everything.

Nodding to her aunt, Payal signalled that she would handle it. Waiting until her masi left the room, Payal went over to shut the door and then came and sat beside Khushi.

 

“Khushi, what’s the matter.”

“Nothings the matter jiji.”

“Khushi…”

 

Letting out a sigh, Khushi turned to her cousin, letting her shoulders drop.

 

“It’s just all of this. I’m expected to constantly be smiling and to be that blushing bride, but I can’t. I don’t feel like smiling and as far as feeling shy goes, all these suggestive comments that everyone is making, I know they mean nothing, because I know I’m not going to be getting down with my husband tonight so…”

“I’ve said it to you over and over again Khushi, if this isn’t what you really want, there’s still time to walk away.”

 

Khushi knew that there was still time to walk away, but she also knew it was too late. The guests has started arriving, her groom was ready, she was ready. She couldn’t get cold feet and back out now.”

 

“How is he? Arnav I mean? Especially after the fashion show?”

“He’s been… Disturbed. He doesn’t really interact with anyone, Akash said he’s been keeping himself busy with work. But I saw the way his face fell when he realised that all of us were coming to your wedding today.”

“Did he say anything?”

“He didn’t say anything to me and Akash obviously because he knows we need to be here. But he did ask Di why she felt the need to come. She explained that your parents invited everyone on account if them being my in laws and that they had to go otherwise it would seem rude. I don’t think he was too impressed with that.”

 

Sighing, Khushi turned her attention back to the mirror and looked at herself. She knew she looked beautiful, but she didn’t look like the bride she wanted to be. And that was down to the fact that her groom wasn’t the man she wanted.

Placing her hand on Khushi’s shoulder, Payal looked at Khushi through the mirror, trying to tell her it would all be okay.

A little while later, there was a little knock at the door and Payal told whoever it was to come in. Anjali walked in tentatively.

 

“Di?”

 

Turning, Khushi looked up at Anjali, her eyes wide.

 

“Di, aap?”

 

Shutting the door, Anjali came and sat down on the stool by Khushi’s side.

 

“Hi Khushi, I’m okay, you?”

“I’m okay.”

 

There was a pause, a silence stretching out between the three ladies in the room. Payal decided that maybe she should give them some space so excuses herself. With Payal gone, Anjali felt herself loosen up a bit, felt a bit braver.

 

“You look beautiful.”

“Thank you Di… I mean, Anjali ji.”

 

Realising how inappropriate it was now to call her Di, Khushi felt the need to change the way she addressed Anjali.

 

“You don’t have to stop calling me Di. It may not have worked out between you and Chote but that doesn’t mean that I don’t still care for you. Please, keep calling me Di. I really like it.”

“Okay Di.”

 

Looking away again, Khushi realised that there was much that she needed to say, and something she needed to do.

Taking hold of her bag that was sat beside her, she fished in it until her felt the little velvet box under her fingers. Pulling it out, she took one last look at it before handing it back to Anjali.

 

“Can you… Can you give that back to him. I can’t keep it.”

 

Looking between Khushi and the ring box, Anjali felt at a loss. She didn’t know what to do.

 

“I can’t…”

“Please take it and give it back to him. I can’t keep it.”

“I think he’d want you to keep it.”

“I understand that, but if I held onto it, I’ll never be able to move forward in my life.”

 

It made sense, Anjali knew that. But she also knew that if she took this ring back, it really would be the end of Arnav and Khushi and she wasn’t sure it she was ready for that. But alas, she knew that she couldn’t be selfish and took the box from Khushi.

Tears fell from Khushi’s eyes as she handed the box over. It really was over.

 

“I’m sorry Di. I hope you know that I’m really sorry.”

“Sh, it’s okay.”

“And tell him I’m sorry as well.”

 

Nodding, Anjali got to her feet because she didn’t know how much longer she could remain here without having a breakdown on behalf of her brother.

 

“I wish you a very happy married life Khushi.”

 

And with that, Anjali left. The moment the door shut behind Anjali, Khushi get herself completely shatter. She had given back Arnav’s ring. Their relationship was done.

Sat alone in the room, Khushi waited for someone to come for her when there was a little knock on the door.

 

“Come in.”

 

Slowing pushing the door open, Lalita returned and took the seat next to her daughter.

 

“Mom…”

“Dekho Khushi. I’m saying this for the very last time, if this isn’t what is going to make you happy, there is still time to turn back. It’s not too late yet.”

 

Bless her mother. She had been repeating the same thing over and over again. She knew that Rohan wasn’t who she truly wanted to be with.

 

“I told you Ma, this is what I want.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing Khushi. I really do.”

“I do.”

 

*****

 

The main wedding ceremony was about to begin. The baraat had arrived and Khushi was seated beside Rohan on the stage. They greeted guests while they waited for the auspicious time to arrive. Looking around, Khushi took in all the guests that had come to the wedding. As she looked around, she saw an upset looking Anjali towards the back of the hall. Shyam has his arm around her, talking to her, patting her. She then saw Naniji. She too didn’t look entirely happy.

Carrying on round, Khushi’s eyes finally fell on her mother. She looked so pale, her smile so forced. Khushi knew her mother wasn’t convinced by what she had said, and it showed.

Sighing, Khushi turned away. But her attention was brought back when a whole lot of static played overhead.

Turning her attention the sound desk, she saw Arnav.

 

“Testing, can everyone hear me?”

 

There was a pause as Arnav waited for a response. People started turning his way to see what he had to say.

Feeling her palms start to go all sweaty, Khushi felt herself panic. What was he going to say, what was he going to do?

 

“What is he doing?” Hissed Rohan. Shrugging her shoulders, Khushi turned back to Arnav.

“Hi everyone, I’m Arnav Singh Raizada. Some people may know that Khushi and I were in business together before. I’ve come here today to wish her and Rohan a happy married life.”

 

Khushi watched Shyam and Akash daft through the crowd and make their way over to Arnav. They must have been telling him to come away, but he wasn’t done yet.

 

“I would like to present a song for the lovely couple.”

 

The guests, unaware of anything, began to clap, thinking Arnav was being sweet. But Khushi had a sick feeling in her stomach. Why was he here? Why would he come today? Why on her wedding day? Didn’t he realise how hard it was going to be any way without him actually turning up here?

But before any other thoughts could pass through Khushi’s mind, the music started up.

 

Of course, of course he would pick this song. The insinuations weren’t missed by the guests, many turned to Khushi, eyebrows raised. They knew what was going on here.

 

“Channa mereya mereya, o piya… O piyaa…”

 

Tears fell from Khushi eyes. Why would he do this? How could he… But Khushi watched as the tears fell from his eyes as well and she realised how he could do this. She’d hurt him beyond anything else.

Arnav kept singing the soulful lyrics, the guests completely swept away by him. When finally the song came to an end, there was a big round of applause for Arnav, as he took a little bow. Getting out from behind the sound desk, Khushi watched as Shyam put his arm around Arnav and led him away to where the rest of the Raizada’s were sat.

Looking away, Khushi turned to Rohan because she knew he would need calming down, only to find Rohan was no longer seated beside her. Turning back, she saw him, making his way over to Arnav.

 

Oh no.

 

If Arnav had created a scene, it meant Rohan was going to create more of a scene now.
By the time Rohan was able to make it across the crowd, Arnav had already started turning away to leave. He was at the door when Rohan places his hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

 

“We need to talk.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t be here any longer.”

“You came here today, now you have to wait until I dismiss you.”

 

Guiding Arnav back into the venue, Rohan steered him towards an empty room down the side. Pushing Arnav in first, he followed him in, shutting the door behind them.

Away from all the crowds and in the dim light, Rohan really took Arnav in. His eyes were red, he had large bags under his eyes, and his hair and beard were all starting to go slightly out of control.

Rohan had come in here with every intention to beat the crap out of Arnav for creating a scene on his wedding day, but looking at him now… Rohan felt for the man in front of him. The first time he’d met Arnav, every aspect of him was clean cut and perfect. Now, Arnav was the complete opposite. It was also evident that Arnav had lost a fair amount of weight.

 

“Why did you come here today?”

“I don’t know… I hoped… I don’t know.”

“What did you hope?”

 

Rohan watched as Arnav tried to answer. But there was no answer, just tears.

 

“Arnav…”

 

Wiping his tears away, he pulled on a smile.

 

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s up with me. I’m fine. I should leave.”

 

Turning to the door, Arnav was ready to bolt. He didn’t want to be here, he didn’t want to be sharing the same space or the same air as Rohan.

 

“Wait! Let me speak.”

 

Letting out a sigh, Arnav turned his attention back to Rohan.

 

“Do you love her?”

“What kind of a question is that?”

“It’s a serious one and one I need an answer to, right now.”

“I’d have thought it was obvious.”

“It was, up until you publicly called out yesterday for being a cheat.”

 

Rohan watched as Arnav turned away again, his cheeks the lightest shade of pink.

 

“I need to apologise to her for that. I didn’t mean to… I wasn’t drunk, but I’d had a few drinks to calm myself down and I guess… I reacted badly last night. I wanted to make it up to her, but I realise my song choice today wasn’t ideal either.”

“It wasn’t. Especially when you’re so transparent. I think all the guests realised that you’re in love with her.”

 

There was a pause. Neither men could think of anything to say.

 

“Just keep her happy Rohan, that’s all I ask. I know it must be weird, marrying her, knowing everything you know about us, but please. Be good to her. She picked you because she sees a future with you, so keep her happy.”

 

Once again, Arnav turned to leave but Rohan stopped him.

 

“I will. I’ll make her happy. I’ll bring her smile back again, and give her the happy ending she deserves. I promise you Arnav.”

Unwanted ~ Part 38

Arnav

Was I frustrated? Yes.
Was I starting to get super impatient? Yes.
Did I want to get sexually involved with my wife again? Fuck yes.

Initially, I had always made sure to keep a respectable distance between me and Khushi because I wanted to be able to focus on my relationship with Arushi. But now that things were going well for me and Arushi, I wanted to be able to focus on me and Khushi.

It wasn’t just the physical intimacy that I was craving, it was just being with her, speaking to her in person. She was always busy with work, or just busy being a mum. There had been a number of times when I had tried to make plans, but she wasn’t willing to commit because it meant leaving Arushi.

But tonight she was coming over. After much insistence, she had agreed to coming round to mine for dinner. I had just finish laying the table and was just waiting for the last curry to finish cooking.

Just as the curry finished cooking, the doorbell rang. Taking the food off the cooker and placing it on the table, I went to answer the door. There before me, stood Khushi with a box of jalebis.

 

“Hey, come on in.”

 

I let her in first and then shut the door behind her. With the door shut, she handed me the box of jalebis.

 

“I made these for you just before coming, so they’ll still be nice and crispy.”

“Thank you! I’ve been craving your jalebis for the last 6 years.”

 

She laughed, shaking her head as she made her way into the living room. I watched as she took her coat off and draped it neatly over the armrest of the sofa.

 

“Take a seat and I’ll just finish up with dinner.”

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

“No no, you take a seat.”

 

She nodded, sitting down. I went back into the kitchen and grabbed the last of dinner and put it on the table. Just as I was pouring water into our glasses, Khushi walked into the kitchen.

 

“Something smells amazing!”

“It maybe my lasagna or I could be my curry that I’ve cooked.”

“What kind of curry is it?”

“Its a cauliflower one.”

“Oh that sounds great!”

 

Checking the table, I made sure everything was here and then pulled a chair out for her to sit down.

 

“Dinner is ready my lady.”

 

Smiling, Khushi took her seat and I came and sat down opposite her. Let the sexual tension over fine dining begin.

 

*****

 

We finished dinner quite quickly and Khushi had insisted on helping me with tidying up. Because of that, we had tidied up quickly and now I felt at a bit of a loss. Khushi had already mentioned leaving, but I didn’t want her to go yet. I wanted to spend some time with her alone.

We were now sat on the sofa, drinking some coffee. I’d put the TV on for the sake of it being on. Khushi slowly sipped on her coffee and she sent out a text to Raj to check on Arushi.

 

“Is Arushi okay?”

“She’s fine. She’s gone to sleep and Veera mausi is with her.”

“So you’re okay to stay for a while.”

“Yeah, I can stay a little longer.”

 

She gave me a little smile and then went back to her coffee.

This wasn’t enough, nothing was happening. Somehow we’d run out of topics to talk about and this awkward silence was eating me up. I needed to do something. Something needed to happen. Otherwise this would have been a complete waste of time.

I put my mug down and so did she. I watched as she looked up at the clock and then at me.

 

“Arnav I…”

“I don’t want you to go yet.”

“But…”

 

I scooted closer to her. And then a little more. Enough of this waiting game. What was I waiting for?

 

“Arnav…”

 

Her breathing hitched as I shuffled that little bit closer to her, to the point where there was no longer any space between us. I placed my hand on her knee and I looked into her eyes. I needed to make sure…

She looked straight back at me, her eyes wide with confusion. But she didn’t move.

 

“Arnav…”

 

I moved a little closer to her, my hand moving further up her thigh. I leaned into her and finally her confusion melted away and she gave me a little nervous smile.

 

“I’ve been dying to kiss you.”

 

My sentence came out low and quiet, a whisper almost.

 

“I’m dying for your kiss.”

 

That was all I needed. She wanted this as much as I did, and she wanted it now. I closed my hands around her thigh and moved right in, my lips hovering over hers. Her eyes fluttered shut and then I closed my own. I felt her shudder slightly as our lips met, and her lips felt like they didn’t know quite what to do. But I wasn’t about to break away now.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer to myself, pressing my lips further against hers. It took her a moment but she fell into the kiss, her lips easing apart as she started kissing me back. Her arms found their way around my neck and she pulled me further into herself.

I felt my brain start going fuzzy as I started losing myself in the kiss. My hands found her waist and I leaned further into her, making her lean back. I kept going until I was half over her.

We kept kissing, my hand moving along her body, while she ran her hands in my hair. She hooked her leg around my waist, pulling me even closer to herself. I wanted to get closer to her, to touch her, but this angle and this location just wasn’t working, I couldn’t fully get into the mood.

I broke the kiss when we needed air, and then I pulled her up. Getting off the sofa, I scooped her up into my arms.

 

“Arnav…”

“Bedroom.”

 

I waited for her to protest, but she didn’t. Carrying her in my arms, I made my way towards my bedroom. She wrapped her arms around my neck and started kissing my face again.

See at one point I had thought that maybe she didn’t want me as much as I had wanted her, but now, the way she was reacting, it was evident that she had been waiting for this as much as I had.

Once in the bedroom, I put her down onto the bed and then went back to take my shirt off before coming back over her.

I moved her kameez to the side a little, exposing her waist and I placed my hand on her. I felt her shudder slightly before she leaned up to meet my kiss again.

My hands ran all along her body and she did the same. I moved back again and found the edges of her kameez and pulled it off. Her eyes snapped open as she felt me undress her and she sat up, covering her body.

 

“No…”

 

I looked at her, and I could see that she didn’t feel comfortable. Grabbing the blanket at the end of my bed, I draped it around her body. Maybe it was too soon for this, maybe it’d been so long that she just needed some more time.

 

“What’s wrong?”

“I just…

 

I moved closer to her and wrapped my arm around her.

 

“It’s okay, if you don’t want to, or if you’re not ready, it’s fine. There’s no pressure.”

“It’s not that… I do want to… I’ve missed you so much and I’ve been waiting for this but…”

 

She was tense, I could tell. I wrapped my arm more tightly around her and held her close to myself.

 

“If there’s something bothering you, you can talk to me about it.”

 

She looked down and I waited for her to response. She took a little breath and then looked at me.

 

“I just… I’m not like what I used to be, I’ve changed…”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean my body… It’s nothing like how it was all those years ago. I’m not… I’m not sexy… I don’t look sexy…”

“Hey.”

 

I moved my arm off of her and looked at her. What did she mean she wasn’t sexy? Had she seen herself? How could she think…

 

“I’m fatter and I have stretch marks and I…”

 

I placed my finger on her lips, stopping her from talking.

 

“Khushi, stop. I know you’re not the same as you used to be. I can see the difference but just because you’ve changed doesn’t mean you’re any less sexy than you used to be. Khushi, I don’t expect you to be the same! Six and a half years have passed. We’ve gotten olden. Heck, you’ve been pregnant and have given birth to our child. I know the changes that come with that.”

I moved back into her, slowly peeling away the blanket that I had placed around her.
I felt her shiver, but I carried on. I needed to tell her what I thought about her.

I placed my hand on her exposed stomach, tracing my finger along the barely there stretch marks.

 

“These marks… These symbolise the change your body has gone through. They symbolise your journey from a woman to a mother.”

 

I pushed her back slowly, laying her down back onto the bed. I moved over her, my hands on her waist, trailing down to her hips. Maybe I was imagining it, but I’m pretty sure her hips were wider than they used to be, but I wasn’t going to say, just in case I was wrong.

I placed little kisses on her belly before moving back over her, homing in on her breasts.

 

“You’re breasts… I used to think they were perfect before, but now… Bliss, pure heaven. I used to think you were womanly before but now… Fuck Khushi. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Looking at you right now, looking at your breasts… You have no idea how hard it is to keep my control.”

 

She opened her eyes and looked straight into mine.

 

“You really think… You still find me sexy?”

“I find you sexier than ever before.”

 

I watched as a little smile played on her lips before she pulled me back to herself.
I settled myself down between her legs, my hands on her breasts, kneading them gently.

I pulled her off the bed and reached behind her. Unclipping her bra, I carefully took it off her before throwing it over my shoulder. Her breasts fell loose and I felt my control go out the window. Through clothes it was evident that she’d filled out a lot more. Seeing her like this…

I felt myself snap completely. I was on her, a nipple between my lips, my hand on her other breast. She fell further back into the bed, sinking into the mattress as she clutched onto my hair, bringing me closer to herself.

I let my hand trail down her body, letting myself caress her stomach before moving lower.

Her breathing got heavy as I rolled her nipple with my tongue and caressed her over her panties. This was happening. We were happening.

She pulled me up to herself just as I was ready to push a finger into her.
She pulled me towards herself, pressing a kiss onto my lips before breaking away.

 

“Protection.”

“Aren’t you on the…”

“No.”

 

I scooted back a little and hovered over her.

 

“You’re not?”

“No I… I came off the pill after I left home. I mean I went on it for a while after I had Arushi because the doctor said it’d help me regulate again. But I haven’t been on it for ages.”

“Oh… I don’t have any…”

“You don’t?”

“Why would I?”

 

She nodded, understanding what I was saying. I mean really? Why would I have had condoms? Well, technically I probably should have bought some, especially when things started brewing before me and Khushi again, but I hadn’t got any yet.

 

“Maybe we should just go au natural.”

 

Hitting my shoulder playfully, she gathered the blankets around her shoulders and started getting up.

 

“As much as I’d want to, I don’t want anything baby just now. So we’ll wait.”

 

I didn’t want another baby right now either, but I rolled my eyes and pouted for the sake of it any way. I pulled her back to myself and brushed my lips against her.

 

“Next time, we’re going to make it a home run.”

 

Hiding her face in my chest, I felt Khushi’s warm cheeks against my skin and wrapped my arms around her. For the first time in a long time, I was at peace. Finally, finally things were going my way. Finally.