SS: Keeping Khushi Thread 2: Part 22 in Th 3 - Page 66

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Part 20

Baba looked at the Raizadas, the whole family eager for his permission to claim his daughter..

"When do you want to have the wedding?", he asked in his usual direct manner.

"Today?", asked Nani, smiling.

Baba smiled. "Will tomorrow do? That will give us time for shagun, sagai, sangeet, & mehendi today, and haldi and shaadi tomorrow."

"Yes!" The whole family was thrilled.

Arnav smiled at Khushi who was sitting silently behind Baba. Dressed in a pink sari, she looked delicious. He wished he could carry her home that instant.

"Nannav, chill, mere bhai. Wait till tomorrow. Khabar (sabr) ka phal hamesha meeta hota he.", NK advised him.

"Shall we hold it in Omkar, or do you want it elsewhere?", Baba asked.

"Omkar!", the Raizadas said in one voice.

Baba smiled.

The ladies made Khushi sit in their midst, at the feet of Devi Maiyya's big picture on the wall in Baba's room. Each one of them applied a tilak and filled her lap with lots of gifts. NK and Akash too joined in to welcome Khushi into their family. The shagun was done.

Arnav took a diamond ring from his pocket.

"Baba, this was our mother's. If Khushi does not mind that it is not new, can we have the sagai right now?", he asked in his husky voice, determined not to waste a single moment in claiming his Khushi.

All laughed. Baba nodded. Khushi blushed, her cheeks as pink as her sari.

Arnav slipped the ring onto Khushi's finger.

Baba opened his cabinet, and took out a box. In it was a simple ring that he had worn once upon a time when he had been healthy and happy.

He held it out to Khushi. She took it, and blushing, slipped it on to Arnavji's finger.

"So sagai is done. Two down. Three more to go.", murmured Arnav in Khushi's ear.

Nani laughed, "Sasiji, I don't think anyone will have had their shagun and sagai done like this."

All chuckled.

The mehendi and sangeet were slotted for that afternoon and evening. Anjali and Mami arranged for enough mehendi ladies to cater to all the women and the girls in the orphanage. The whole afternoon, they laughed and giggled as ladies drew various patterns on their hands, arms, & legs.

Khushi was the last person to get her mehendi done. As usual, she was busy serving cold drinks and sweets and seeing to the last minute arrangements for the sangeet that she forgot that she was the bride.

"Di!", Chotu scolded her. "Please go and sit down. This happens to be your mehendi!", he reminded her.

"Khushi Bitiyaa!", Nani called her, smiling. "Please come and have your mehendi done now."

"Haan, otherbise, we will make Nidhi the bridewaa.", teased Mami.

Akansha, Varun, & Chotu shooed Khushi away from helping them, and she came laughing to sit by Nani. Arnav moved closer to her.

She looked through the designs and patterns in the books. She wanted a beautiful one in which she could hide the 'A' of Arnavji's name. She found one, and showed the pattern and her left hand to the mehendi lady, who began making floral designs on her palm.

Khushi could feel Arnavji's eyes on her. Dressed in a black sherwani, he was sitting in a chair behind her, watching her. After the hand was filled, the lady said, "Now show me your arm."

Khushi stilled, the smile on her face fading.

Nani, Mami, & Anjali stepped into the breach, asking the mehendi lady to do the right hand.

Arnav sat down on the floor next to Khushi, his shoulder touching hers. Khushi turned around to look at him, startled. His eyes showered love and understanding on her.

He lifted her left hand, careful not to smudge the green paste. He gently undid the hooks of her blouse at her wrist and rolled her sleeve to her elbow.

"You can do it now.", he told the mehendi lady. The lady drew patterns over the faded scars.

Khushi stared at him.

He did the same service for her right hand, making sure that both arms were covered in mehendi.

"Why?", Khushi whispered.

(Aditi07, thanx!)

"I intend to kiss every loop and curve of the design tomorrow night.", he said softly, smiling at her shocked face. "The more the better."

Her eyes widened, and her cheeks became red in colour.

"Chotey!", Nani called, happily. "The bridegroom is supposed to apply a little bit of mehendi on his hands."

Arnav nodded, a small smile on his lips. He placed his right hand on Khushi's lap, and asked the lady to mark him with the green mixture. Khushi and Arnav watched the lady put a blob of the paste on his palm.

"Shall I ask her to write your name, Khushi?", he asked softly.

Khushi blushed.

"Don't be sad if Di does not let you write her name, Bhaiyya.", said Nidhi who had been watching and listening to them. "You can write my name on your hand.", she granted permission graciously.

All of them laughed.

The sangeet was loud, noisy, with children dancing in abandon to the latest Bollywood hits, the boys dragging Akash & NK into their midst. Not to be outdone, the girls dragged Nani & Mami into the centre of the crowd, and competed with the boys' team to dance longer & more energetically.

Baba went to his room to save his eardrums, and shut the door, smiling.

Arnav & Khushi sat in chairs set aside for them and enjoyed the performance of their family members, laughing at the antics of the children.

Arnav turned his head to look at her. Her pink and gold sari made her look like a princess. He looked at her animated face, and felt a hand close around his heart. He promised her parents silently that he would keep her happy, always. She looked at him, astonished at the strange look on his face.

She quirked an eyebrow as if to ask him what was wrong.

"Do you know how much I love you, Khushi?", he whispered in her ear.

She shook her head as though to say 'no'. A naughty smile played on her lips.

"I will show you tomorrow night.", he promised.

She looked at him with eyes wide open, the smile far away from her face.

(Shopau, thanx!)

"You are not scared, are you, my lioness?", he smirked, touching her cheek with his nose as he whispered in her ear.

She jerked back, gathered the tattered remains of her composure, and said, stammering only a little, "N.n.o.o.."

"Good." The wicked smile on his face and the slight touch of his arm on hers set a fire burning in the pit of her stomach.

Part 21: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/3248201/ss-keeping-khushi-thread-2-part-22-in-th-3

wow... thts amazing... 4 rituals in a go... loved Arnav khushi cute moments... u r an amazing writer...

wow i m late but this is amazing story