Chapter 20

Ridz took a deep breath as angie and muski smoothed out the pleats in her wedding gown. She blew a lock of gently curled hair out of her eyes.ridz could hear the murmurs and the excitement of the church-goers as they slid into their seats in the magnificent hall.

"Can't believe they invited half the college" angie muttered under her breath, placing a delicate flower in ridz's hairHebe;s . "After all they said about you!"

muksaan scoffed as she brushed imaginary lint off her strapless ivory dress.

"Never, under any circumstances, let your mother-in-law plan your wedding. She'll make an extravagant, hundred-thousand-dollar farce out of it"

angie snickered as ridz rolled her eyes at muskaan's exaggeration.

"I thought it was sweet when kirti offered to take care of everything. And she only did it in two weeks!" ridz  smiled fondly at the memories of kirti and padma arguing over what cake should be used at the reception.

"You're only saying that because you're going to plan your own wedding with rahul, aren't you?" angie taunted, poking her tongue out.

muskaan responded by throwing her Jimmy Choo bridesmaid shoe at her.

"Hey! Those cost $350 and I want to wear them again!" ridz glared.

muskaan held up her hands in surrender.

"Pregnant bride on the rampage!" angie sing-songed.

ridz glared, before throwing bouquets at her offending bridesmaids. muskaan and angie screeched and wailed as pale pink lilies and blood-red roses were pelted at them.

"Do you know how much kirti spent on these flowers?" angie pouted, brushing at her dress.

ridz merely threw another bouquet at her.

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armaan moaned on the luxurious couch as rahul and atul straightened their black tuxedo jackets, smirking widely and pretending to be James Bond.

"The name's joshi. atul joshi " atul suggestively raised his eyebrows at the mirror.

"You got to put more sex on the 'joshi ' or it just doesn't sound right!" rahul shook his head at his friend's pitiful attempt.

atul  made a face, before smacking rahul on the upside of his head.

"Like you know what sex sounds like"

rahul flushed a bright red. armaa moaned again, even more dramatically. atul rolled his eyes.

"Dude, you've been moaning for the past half-hour. What, has ridz been putting out on you or were you just born like that he  smirked.

armaan glared as rahul guffawed, slapping atulon the back.

"Good one!"

armaan crinkled his nose.

"Ha ha. She's pregnant, atul. What, did your mother drop you on your head when you were a baby or were you just born this sick and twisted?" he retorted.

atul chuckled he was now on the floor, his chest heaving with laughter. armaan rolled his eyes playfully.

"You're just bitter because I made rahul  best man" he poked out his tongue.

atul  pouted. rahul looked as smug and dignified as someone lying on the floor could.

"After fourteen years after being your friend since pre-school, you leave me at the altar for rahul. My heart is bleeding, armaan. I thought we were brothers! Brothers!" atul dramatically clasped his chest.

armaan and rahul chuckled. atul  punched him on the shoulder.

"Suck it up, groomsmen" he stuck out his tongue.

atul rolled his eyes, folding his arms across his broad chest.

"Just because angie  dumped fries on you because you called her fat" he retorted.

"I said she looked uncomfortable in her skinny jeans, not fat" atul grumbled.

armaan snickered, shaking his head.

--

A soft knock interrupted angie 's and muskaan's bickering. ridz's eyes widened as her mother poked her head through, nodding. ridz turned back to the mirror, breathing hard. This was it. She was getting married. padma sighed softly as she stroked ridz's hair.

"My baby's finally growing up" she whispered fondly, tucking a perfectly curled lock of hair behind ridz's ear.

ridz grinned, her mind flashing to armaan's smiling face and felt her heart racing at the thought of him. She smoothed the full skirt of her ivory dress and took a deep breath. muskaan and angie picked up their bouquets as the music began to swell from the main hall of the church. padma looked ridz in the eye as ridz lifted her skirt.

"Are you ready?"

--

armaan felt his hands begin to sweat as he stood at the front of the church. atul  and rahul stood beside him in all their James Bond glory. shubankar clapped a reassuring hand on armaan's shoulder.

"I'm proud of you, son. You finally got a good one"

armaan grinned. robbie punched him on the shoulder, jerking his head towards the entrance as he crowd stood up, gasping in awe. armaan felt his heart stop beating as ridz's dainty, Manolo Blahnik-clad feet shuffled onto the aisle.

"Are you ready?"

--

"Yes"

--

"Yes"

--

ridz and armaan faced each other, breathing hard. Their hearts were beating in unison, tuning out the priest. It didn't matter that the church was decked out with white lilies and beautiful music, courtesy of robbie and Selena, was playing in the background.

All that mattered was the person standing in front of them.

"And now for the vows" the priest prompted.

armaan looked startled, before taking a deep breath and pulling out his cards from his Armani breast pocket. Not once did he look away from ridz's eyes.

"I know I was probably the last guy on earth you ever thought about being with. I know I wasn't the nicest, the smartest or even the funniest! But if that's what'll take to be with you, then I'd do anything, just to see you smile. I would give you the world if you wanted it. You make me so happy it almost hurts, and all I want to do is just hold you everyday. You make me want to me a better man. You're everything to me"

ridz bit her lip to stop her tears from overflowing. armaan winked cheekily at her, before entwining his hand with hers.

"I love you, ridz. It might have taken me a while to figure it out, but I do. And I will for the rest of my life."

The church burst into applause as ridz felt her heart burst out of her ribcage. She felt like she was floating on air, because no one could possibly feel more in love with armaan than she was.

Well, maybe nikki, but she was obsessive compulsive bitch, so that didn't count.

riddz wiped surreptitiously at her tears, before taking a deep breath.

"I'm not perfect. I read too much, I eat too much, I just do too much. But when I'm with you, it's like those things don't matter. I can be anything I want, and I know you'd still be there for me. You make me feel like I'm the only one in the room, like I'm the only one that matters, like I'm the only one for you. You don't know what you do to me. I can't breathe, I can't see, I can't hear anything else because you're right there beside me."

armaan blushed faintly as ridz brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes.

"I love everything about you. The way you smile, the way you laugh, even the way you eat! Everything that you do just makes me fall in love with you that much more, and honestly, I don't think I'll ever stop"

Half the church was now in tears. kirti and padma sobbed into their handkerchiefs as shashank and shubakar shook their heads. Young love, they thought knowingly. The priest beamed benignly, clasping his hands together at the youthful, enamored couple in front of him.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride"

ridz blushed, embarrassed by the crowds' whoops and cheers. She was about to open her mouth to protest, before armaan captured her lips in a sweet kiss. She felt herself melt as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Their heated kiss was broken when atul and robbi and rahul jumped on the back of armaan, whooping raucously. muskaan, angie and Selena shook their heads, giggling. The church burst into applause

ridz and armaan laughed, their eyes sparkling. armaan rested his forehead against hers, their breaths mingling as the crowd around them cheered.

"I love you, Mrs. malik" armaan softly whispered.

ridz's angelic face broke into a wide grin, before pulling him into another kiss.

--

"Okay, I'm throwing the bouquet now!" ridz called out to the jostling crowd of  girls.

She could see muskaan and angie amidst the mob, calling out to her to throw it to them. Selena had retreated to the back of the church, pulling her curly-haired boyfriend along to one of the more private rooms. armaan shuddered to think about what they were doing. ridz took a deep breath, before closing her eyes and flinging her bouquet as high as she could.

Squeals erupted as girls pushed and shoved to grab the precious flowers. angie was knocked to the ground unceremoniously. muskan was elbowed in the face. After a few painful minutes of squabbling, the bouquet landed in the hands of nikki. She looked surprised, her wide eyes blinking slowly before stumbling over a forgotten Prada heel left amidst the struggle. ridz and armaan cringed as nikki wailed loudly, her arms flailing.

Luckily for her, angad has quick hands.

nikii steadied herself against his strong, broad chest. She blushed, clutching ridz's flowers.

"Are you okay?" angad softly asked.

His heartbeat raced as he watched the pretty girl in front of him nod shyly. She glanced at his handsome face and dark, sparkling eyes.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine" she stammered.

nikki inwardly cringed at her stuttering. angad chuckled, before sticking out a hand.

"Hi, I'm angad, catcher of falling girls" he quipped cheekily.

nikki giggled, before grasping her hand with his.

"Hi, I'm nikki, said falling girl" she replied.

Their handshake took longer than usual.

--

ridz blinked slowly as she watched nikki and angad smile sweetly at each other.

"I never saw that one coming" armaan remarked, scratching his head.

rahul shrugged at atul  chatted amicably to armaan's family friend, abhi . He eyed muskaan with a wary gaze, before taking a deep breath and marching towards her.ridz snorted as armaan wrapped a contented arm around her waist.

"Now this one, I totally called it from the beginning"

muskaan grumbled as she leant against a large oak tree, tired from the jostling. She was brushing herself off when she caught a determined rahul making his way towards her. muskaan opened her mouth to question the strikingly handsome expression on his face when he promptly pressed his lips up against her and proceeded to maul her in front of the church.

Not that she minded.

ridz made a face at them sucking face.

"I knew they were into each other, but man, that's just gross" atul  wrinkled his nose at his tactless friend.

angie snorted, crossing her arms.

"At least he had the guts to face up to his feelings" she shot back.

atul  blinked quizzically at her. angie let out an undignified huff, before smacking him on the head and storming off. Leaving atul groaning in pain.

"What did she do that for?" he whined to the newlyweds., who were snickering beside him.

ridz rolled her eyes.

"She wanted you to tell her you liked her, you idiot!" she smacked hard on the exact same spot angie had hit him.

atul winced, rubbing the sore spot, before realization dawned on him. He turned to race down the steps, a goofy grin spreading across his face.

"Hey! angie! Wait up!"

--------------------------------------------

ridz giggled as armaan swept her in his arms and kicked open the door to their honeymoon suite. They had spent the first two hours celebrating courteously with their parents and their friends, before partying it hard six hours later with their own friends. It was safe to say they were exhausted, yet deliriously happy.

"Oh, would you look at that large, cushy bed!" armaan  exclaimed, wiggling his eyebrows as he slipped ridz onto the ground.

ridz rolled her eyes, yawning loudly.

"One, I'm completely exhausted, and so are you. Two, I'm pregnant. I think we've been over that conversation already" ridz promptly grinned before plopping down on said cushy bed.

"Looks like all we're doing tonight is sleeping!" she grinned.

armaan groaned, falling onto the bed face first. ridz giggled, lying beside him. His hair had fallen in front of his eyes as he mumbled incoherent words into the pillow. She caught a lock of hair and pushed it back behind his ear. armaan groaned, before reaching out and pulling ridz flush against him. She giggled. He turned to face her, his dark cobalt eyes catching her own bright mahogany ones.

"I love you" he tenderly whispered.

ridz sighed against his mouth. She could be in love forever.

"I love you too. You're everything to me" she murmured.

"No I'm not" armaan quickly retorted.

ridz's eyes snapped open. What did he mean? What was going on? armaan chuckled as he watched ridz inwardly panic, before placing a hand on top of her stomach, gently caressing their baby. Their beautiful, beautiful baby.

"Everything and more" he whispered.

Oh yes, in love forever.

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armaan! Did you forget to change the diaper again? I can smell it! armaan! ARMAAN MALIK, ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?"

armaan inwardly groaned and rolled his eyes. Said eyes lit up when a brown-haired baby crawled past, drooling happily. He picked up his eight-month-old son, cooing gently.

"Mummy can be such as pain in the a-"

"What did I tell you about swearing in front of Aryan?" a firm, sweet voice floated from the kitchen.

armaan flashed a winning smile as his wife strode in and plucked his son out his arms. ridz lifted their gurgling baby up and sniffed precariously.

"God, armaan, I thought I told you to change him" she reproached.

armaan chuckled as ridz quickly changed their son, before blowing raspberries on his stomach. aryan burbled happily. ridz turned to glare at him.

"And what's this I hear about Mummy being a pain?"

armaan laughed nervously.

"I didn't mean it, honey"

"You only call me honey when you've done something wrong"

armaan winced. ridz rolled her eyes good-naturedly, laughing. armaan stuck out his tongue. aryan clapped his hands together cheerfully. ridz shook her head, before leaning against her husband's lean chest. aryan crawled off, entranced by the television. ridz sighed. armaan raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Just thinking"

"About?"

aryan giggled as the television flickered.

"How everything turned out"

ridz could feel armaan's smirk at the back of her head.

"And?" he asked.

ridz could hear the eagerness in his voice. She nearly laughed at his innocence as she watched her son burble. She sighed again in content. She had a beautiful baby boy and the most amazing man in world holding her in his arms.

"And it's everything I've ever wished for"

hope u like the lst part plz do review will be waitin to read the comments