Chapter 16
"This is a very nice home you have here, Mrs malik" she complimented coolly.
kirti forced a bright smile, her eyes narrowing slightly. She didn't like the look on ridz's mother's face. It was too calm, too collected.
"Thank you, Mrs gupta" she replied, equally icy
The women continued waging their cold war, glaring fiercely at each other. ridz inwardly groaned. Of all the times her mother had to be overprotective, it had to be during the most important nine months of her life. Great. shashank cleared his throat.
"Well, this has been sufficiently awkward, considering we're basically in-laws" he drawled sarcastically.
armaan spluttered on his drink. In-laws? It wasn't like he and riddihma were married! riddihma dutifully patted his back, rolling her eyes. An image of a white picket fence and cozy cottage flashed in armaan's mind.
He wouldn't mind having that with riddihma
riddihma watched anxiously as her parents stared down armaan's parents. shashank cracked his knuckles threateningly, while padma coldly glared at them. riddihma wanted to crawl under the table and die. The silence seemed like it was going to drag on forever.
"I'm home! And I brought Selena over again! I hope you guys don't mind..." Robbie's cheerful voice trailed off as he walked into the living room, his girlfriend trailing behind.
shubankar sighed in relief as his youngest son blinked quizzically at the visitors, consequently breaking the ice. padma raised an eyebrow.
"Did you get that one pregnant too?" she fired icily at armaan, referring to Selena.
Selena's eyes widened, horrified. robbie gaped. riddihma slapped her hand to her forehead.
"Hey! That's my girlfriend you're talking about!" robbie angrily retorted, wrapping an arm protectively around Selena's waist. kirti was flabbergasted.
""I beg your pardon! I refuse to hear you talk about my son like that! I know armaan can seem like a bit of a playboy, but I can assure you, he means well!" kirti defended her son.
padma scoffed, folding her arms over her chest.
"From what I heard from riddihma, armaan goes out with a different girl every night! And they all get thrown away the next day like last season's clothes! If that's not a playboy, I don't know what is!"
armaan glared at riddihma. She bitched about him to her mother? riddihma shrugged apologetically. It was before they had met, anyway. shubankar sniggered heartily, slapping his son on the back.
"That's my boy!"
armaan turned beet red. robbie snorted. His brother had the worst luck. First he knocked up riddihma, then got busted by his parents and now he was sitting through a conversation with riddihma's parents. robbie merely shook his head. shashank rolled his eyes.
"Enough. We've wasted enough time talking about your son's inability to keep his pants on. Let's get down to business" he rubbed his hands together.
kirti opened her mouth to retort, but shubankar cut her off.
"My son is taking full responsibility of riddihma and the baby. They're currently staying here with us and will continue too, hopefully"
padma clucked her tongue.
"That won't do! I want my daughter home, safe and sound and away from that life-ruiner!" padma nearly screeched.
"Mom!"riddihma whined exasperatedly.
armaan felt his stomach sink. Had he ruined riddihma's life? He never really thought about that. He had always relied on his parents' money, barely scraping though with mediocre grades. But ridz was different. She was top in the grade, and had a list of extra-curricular activities the length of his body. She had a bright future in front of her, destined to become something great for their society. And now this baby was going to halt it for at least a couple of years. A wave of guilt washed over him. It was all his fault. armaan was going to continue wallowing in self-pity when a nudge from riddihma woke him from his reverie.
"You okay?" she whispered, her eyes darting nervously to the arguing mothers.
armaan shrugged, a bittersweet smile playing on his lips.
"It's kinda awkward when you have two women screaming at each other about who's the better mother. Or worse. Depends on how you want to look at it" he quipped.
riddima laughed softly, her eyes sparkling. armaan swore his heart skipped a beat.
It had been doing that a lot lately.
ridz glanced back at their parents, who were now red-faced and hoarse. robbie lounged lazily, watching the scene unfold with Selena leaning comfortably against his chest. Her dark eyes flickered back to armaan. She was taken aback by the serious expression on his face. ridz felt her heart pound faster as she stared at his face. Was it normal for a guy to look so good at every angle? armaan hid a smirk as he felt ridz's eyes on him. It wasn't like she could help it, he thought smugly. He quickly sobered up as he remembered what he was going to talk to her about. armaan took a deep breath, and turned to face ridz.
"So what are you going to do?" he finally squeezed out.
ridz looked perplexed. armaan rolled his eyes.
"About the whole living in which house thing?" he prompted, gesturing to their arguing parents.
ridz's mouth formed a perfect 'O'. She bit her lip, deep in thought. She was glad that her parents had finally accepted her and her baby, but she had grown to love each member of the malik family in a such a short amount of time. She loved how kirti was fussed about her like she was her real daughter, and how shubankar would be there to calm his wife down, jokingly teasing her about armaan. She loved how robbie knew exactly what pushed armaan's buttons, and how the two brothers would fight it out. She even loved Selena, who was around frequently enough to be called part of the family, for her bubbly cheerfulness and for always making her laugh. ridz absolutely adored the malik family.
Especially a certain, dark-haired boy sitting next to her.
She loved the way he smiled at her, how it made her breath catch and her heart beat faster at the same time. She loved the way his hair would fall into his eyes, how he would brush it back and wink cheekily at her. She loved how he cared so much about their baby. armaan had already bought and built the crib, the rocking horse and cubby house. ridz had melted at that scene.
I guess I just love him, she mused, sneaking another glance at armaan. armaan waited as ridz thought it over. His heart was pounding erratically. He desperately wanted her to stay. ridz made him feel like no other girl had before. He was nervous, excited and deliriously happy when he was with her.
And he didn't want to lose that yet.
"Well, I guess I want to go back home-" ridz started.
armaan felt his heart plummet to his feet.
"-but'" she snuck a shy glance at armaan "I really like staying here with you. And I think it'd be good for the baby if he had both his dad and mom living in the same house together, don't you think?"
armaan grinned. ridz blushed heavily. It was the same as confessing her feelings for him! He turned to announce this to their parents when shashank spoke up, closely examining armaan. He looked like he had a smile on his face.
"armaan, do you have feelings for ridz?" he asked simply.
armaan was stunned. ridz's eyes widened, snapping immediately to said boy. kirti and padma stopped arguing, curious to find out the answer. shashank shook his head, already knowing his son's true feelings. robbie and Selena straightened up, their ears straining to listen. ridz felt herself lean forward, anticipating the answer. armaan looked around at the eager families, before his stormy blue eyes locked with ridzs own. Her chocolate orbs bored into his own, and armaan felt himself melt. It's now or never, he thought. He took in a deep breath, staring intently in ridz's eyes.
"I'I think I'm falling for her"
There was a thud, and riddhima fainted.
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