*Rabir FF: True Love...Note, Chap 55 @ pg 143, 145 (2/1) - Page 95

Originally posted by: RaBir

Rabir wedding 😆

We no get to see on show end, want to read in your story.

Update soon dear. Waiting for it.

Originally posted by: hangok

SSLK has ended, 😔
and you havent updated😭

Originally posted by: nividances

I've been a bit busy since my college is starting back up on Monday. I will try to post an update today though.

SSLK's ending had me a bit depressed as well...too abrupt for my liking. 😒

But, I will try to keep the Rabir magic here in this FF. We can enjoy the wedding that the show didn't give us. 😊

Originally posted by: crtkelly

Gosh Nivi I thought it was just me...aside from being busy at work SSLK ending had the same affect on me. My heart has not been in updating either. Looking forward to the grand wedding we were denied in your FF !

Sorry for the delay. I lost my muse after the disappointing end of SSLK. Not proofread; please excuse any mistakes. Hope you enjoy the update.

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Chapter 51:

Rachna smiled shyly as she made her way down the stairs, wearing a vibrant magenta colored net sari and a contrasting green blouse, embellished with sparkling white rhinestones and simple golden embroidery along the neckline.

Her hair was swept into a half-up-half-down look, with soft, voluminous curls cascading midway down her back, a few stray locks purposely left out to frame her smiling face. A shimmering gold shadow with a smudged charcoal black liner accented her eyes, while a subtle pink blush on the apples of her cheeks and a rosy gloss lipstick finished the graceful look, enhancing the natural glow that already adorned her face. Magenta and green bangles, matching her saree, jingled on her wrists as she moved, while the dangling magenta chaandbaali earrings glinted brightly every time they caught the light.

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"Now I don't know whether or not that is enough for you to understand my actions regarding Mayank, but that's all I'm going to say about it. As for what happened in these past 13 years, I think it might do all three of you some good to hear a bit about that as well. Shall I continue?"

"Nahi papa, it's all in the past. We can't change or forget what happened, but we have to look beyond it and move forward."

Prakash nodded as he turned his gaze from his youngest son, who had just uttered the words, to his daughter-in-law, who was looking down at her own hands and playing with her fingers nervously.

"Rachna beta, I do have one thing to say to you though."

Rachna looked up when she was addressed and gave a nod. "Yes papa ji?"

"Beta, just know that your parents may have been angry with your decision to go away to Benaras, but they loved you more than you could ever imagine. Your parents knew of your marriage to Kabir. I told both your mother and father the entire truth, at least all that I myself knew. It was most unfortunate that their accident occurred later that same night, but they both wholeheartedly accepted your relationship Rachna beta. Just move forward knowing that their blessings are with you always...with both of you in fact."

Prakash stood up and placed his hands on Kabir and Rachna's heads, as tears dropped from Rachna's eyes, remembering the words that her mother had uttered in her last few moments, understanding them in their entirety just now.

I love you Rachna. Be happy with the choices you have made because your papa and I both approve. I wish you all the joy in the world beta. And remember that my blessings are always with you both, no matter what.

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Her eyes wandered through the crowd until they settled on the special one that they were searching for. Kabir wore a classic black fitted suit with a pressed white shirt and silk magenta tie to match Rachna's sari. He looked back at her with a quiet smile and moved towards the foot of the stairs, where he held out his hand for her. She took it gently and they made their way into the living room of the Garg house together, where all the normal furniture had been cleared away. In its place, an elegant space had been arranged for the intimate engagement ceremony, which marked the beginning of the two week-long wedding celebrations that would culminate with a grand reception on Christmas night.

The wedding planner had set up the engagement space with a white velvet bench seat, accented with some gold and burgundy throw pillows. A small archway framed with soft lights stood as the backdrop, filled with lines of hanging drop crystals interspersed with strings of white lights, which twinkled dramatically against the deep red and burnt orange hues of the evening sky that were visible from the window behind it. Additional couches, matching the bench seat, were placed on the other side of the room to provide seating for guests and family. Everyone took a seat and quieted down, as Kabir and Rachna stepped into the room and walked hand-in-hand to take their place at the front. The photographer snapped pictures of the event, his camera sending off flashes every few seconds.

An instrumental version of Tum Hi Ho played lightly in the background, as Sneha stepped forward to begin the engagement rituals with Kabir, while Rachna looked on thoughtfully.

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"Kabir beta, you can choose to go away from all us if you feel the need to do so, but just know that it would mean the world to me if you and Rachna would stay and allow me to witness your reunion with my very own eyes."

Prakash pulled out a cream and gold colored envelope from his pocket and held it in front of his son and daughter-in-law, who both looked on with a look of familiarity as they recognized their wedding invitation.

"But papa, how can we go through with these plans now? I mean...with the recent deat..."

Kabir pointed at the wedding card in Prakash's hands and trailed off, his voice choking on the last of his words. Rachna nodded solemnly.

"Yes papa ji. I also don't want to go through with all this. Half of my family is unwilling to participate and most of the other guests are just strangers to me anyways."

Rachna's eyes filled with tears as she recalled Seema's earlier outburst and sudden departure from Mumbai.

"You may not feel the circumstances to be ideal at the moment, but think of it as the last wish of your parents Rachna beta. They would have wanted to see all this with their own eyes if they were here right now. And Kabir, there's no lamenting the death of the wicked person who was responsible for all the chaos in your life. That woman deserves nothing but hatred for all that she did, saving her psychotic son from the law after he knowingly killed Dr. Dayal and Dr. Shail, while simultaneously plotting the divorce that would have separated the two of you if I hadn't intervened in time."

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A small red tilak was placed on Kabir's forehead and a few grains of rice showered over him. Sneha circled the aarti ki thaali (pooja plate) in front of Kabir a few times as she prayed for the happy union of the couple, after which she fed him a slice of almond barfi, playfully stuffing the entire piece into his mouth forcefully with a chuckle, causing the on-looking family to erupt with an amused laughter and claps of encouragement. A platter containing the sherwani that would be worn on the day of the wedding, a few fruits, a coconut with an auspicious red thread tied around it, and a silver coin was then handed off to Kabir as a shagun (gift). He accepted it with as best of a smile that he could manage while trying to swallow the large bite still in his mouth. Akash and Sneha placed their hands on Kabir's head to bless him, as he bent down to touch their feet out of respect. Prakash stepped forward next, as Sneha and Akash walked back to their seats.

Rachna covered her head with the pallu (drape) of her saree, as her father-in-law completed the same rituals with her. He finished by gifting Rachna a platter, which contained her bridal outfit, jewelry, some fruits, and a box of her favorite kaju katli (cashew barfi), after which she touched his feet and received his blessings.

Pihu and Karan then came up together to facilitate the ring exchange between the couple. Kabir took the ring from his younger brother and grasped Rachna's left hand in his with ease as she extended it towards him. The ring shimmered as the photographer snapped a close-up of Kabir sliding the band onto Rachna's finger. It was a circular diamond, centered amidst a border of metallic twists that were embellished with smaller stones, giving the look of a blooming flower. The band itself continued with three shiny metallic strips intertwining with each other and braiding together seamlessly, yielding a simple but intricate ring that looked completely at home on Rachna's left hand ring finger, glinting beautifully against the rich maroon color of the minimal henna pattern on her hand. Pihu handed Rachna the ring for Kabir, who extended his own hand out with a smile. The photographer snapped another picture, as Rachna slid the solid silver band with a lone centered princess cut diamond onto Kabir's finger. Everyone in the room clapped when Kabir and Rachna fed each other the customary small bites of coconut barfi to finish the ceremony.

The small evening dinner to close off the engagement ceremony had been arranged outside in the backyard. The sun was just beginning to descend, causing a soft darkness to permeate the air when the lanterns around the perimeter of the lawn were turned on, dispelling the blackness of the dusk. Multiple candles at the large table were lit to cast a warm glow on everyone's faces, as well as to drive away the few mosquitoes that wandered about. Akash, Sneha, and Prakash sat together at one end of the long rectangular table, while Pihu, Murli, Chaya, and Chirag sat at the opposite end. Rachna and Kabir sat next to each other in the middle, facing Gunjan, Rhea, and Karan. Small bits of the conversation and laughter drifted in from all sides.

"So Chaya? Chirag? How was the honeymoon? Where did you guys go? Murli, perhaps we can plan a quick babymoon for ourselves in the next few months?"

"I owe my life to Dr. Garg. It took 12 long years as well as countless hours of physio and speech therapy for me to completely recover from the paralytic effects of the poison that I was injected with and Dr. Dayal was there with me every step of the way. Even your sister, Dr. Shail, would visit me sometimes Sneha ji. Her smile was just like a ray of sunshine in the dark confines of that nursing home. It's easy to see where Rachna gets her bright smile from."

"Karan! What are you hinting at? I am NOT getting chubby! Gunjan? What do you think? I'm not gaining weight, am I?"

Meanwhile, the celebratory couple of the night sat silently next to each other, loosely holding hands under the table, toying with the small bits of food on their plates, each lost in their own thoughts, unknown to the other that they were both recalling the same thing.

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"Mayank? He did the accident that Rachna's parents passed away in?"

Prakash nodded reluctantly, as he took a seat next to his daughter-in-law and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Yes Kabir, but it wasn't an accident; it was a planned murder. Pathak told me a few months before the event took place that Gayatri had contacted him, looking to partner with KT Creations for some sort of advertising campaign. I believe that was right around the time of your miscarriage Rachna beta; hence, Pathak hid this matter from the two of you and only told me about it."

Rachna's face fell and she stiffened, trying to hide her tear-filled eyes by looking down at her hands; the word miscarriage was still unbelievably difficult for her to hear. Kabir squeezed her hand affectionately, as Prakash continued to speak.

"It concerned me that perhaps Gayatri had found out the truth that Kabir was indeed the mysterious designer KT. I told Pathak to keep a closer eye on both Gayatri and Mayank, so he hired a private detective to track their activities. The detective, after a few weeks of investigation, informed us that there was nothing unusual or out of the ordinary that we should be concerned with, but he agreed to give us periodic checks in the coming months as well. It was the day before the accident that the detective notified me of some connection between Mayank and Rachna, as he had heard both Mayank and Gayatri extensively arguing and discussing about how to get Rachna Garg to Mumbai. The next morning, I met with both Dr. Dayal and Dr. Shail to reveal the entire truth to them about your relationship. I also asked them about Mayank, but neither of them had any knowledge of his identity."

"They wouldn't have known anything. I didn't tell anybody about the matter until just recently when everything came out in the open with the molestation case that we filed against him."

Prakash nodded at Rachna's words. "You're right Rachna beta. They didn't know anything about him, which is why they both were so unsuspecting later on that night when their accident occurred. I myself didn't connect their accident to Mayank until the news of Karan Tripathi committing the accident reached me through the detective. It was at that point when I realized that there was a bigger game going on than even I could have seen or anticipated. I only began putting things together when Pathak informed me a few weeks later that Gayatri had bribed him to get Kabir's signature on the divorce papers secretly. Of course it was on my orders that Pathak switched the papers and submitted the false ones into court, convincing the judge to send out the false approval of divorce a few months later. It must have been destiny's own game for everything to have fallen into place as it did because the two of you received the court notice about your divorce and the paper that should have driven you apart actually brought you together again."

Rachna nodded, agreeing to her father-in-law's words. "Hmmm...in all this, I must have been the target that Mayank was aiming for. He and Gayatri must have planned out the whole accident with my parents, knowing that I would rush to Mumbai upon hearing about the news. The whole out of court settlement with that accident worked to their advantage because I pushed myself away from Kabir at the time anyways for a completely unrelated reason. Mayank must have gotten close to Gunjan thinking that he would be able to somehow work his way into my life, but that entire plan failed when I recognized him as the person who had tried to mo...molest...me in Delhi all those years ago. Everything that happened with Gunjan is all my fault. The only reason that their evil plan of separating me and Kabir worked is because I was foolish enough to fall into the trap and allow it to work. Mummy and papa would still be alive today if I hadn't hid the truth of our marriage from them. All of this wouldn't have happened if I had..."

Kabir placed his hand over Rachna's lips, cutting off her sentence. "Stop it Rachna. There won't be any end to these things if we all go about blaming ourselves. Destiny plays a bigger role in life than we ever want to admit; there are things that happen that are out of our control and we have to live with that bitter truth. Karan was right in what he said earlier. It's all in the past. We can't change or forget what happened, but we have to look beyond it and move forward."

Placing his arms around Rachna's body, Kabir enveloped her into a tight hug, wanting to squeeze out all the accusatory thoughts from her mind.

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Pathak arrived midway through the engagement dinner with his wife, Shweta, and two young children, Shivendu and Shivani, apologizing for coming late.

"I'm so sorry Kabir and Rachna. You know how bad Mumbai traffic can get, especially during rush hour. A hearty congratulations to you both. You've met Shweta and my son Shiv before, but this is the latest addition to our family, little Shivani."

Rachna and Kabir both stood up to greet the family, while everyone else at the table smiled and made room to add in three more chairs and place settings next to Karan, the table easily accommodating the additional guests. Rachna hugged Shweta and high-fived Shiv with a bright smile, but her face melted into an expression of pure delight when she set her eyes on the six-month old Shivani, who looked at back her with wide eyes and a chubby toothless grin.

Taking Shivani excitedly into her arms, Rachna sat in her seat next to Kabir, while the rest of the Pathak family took their places in the open chairs. Everyone at the table looked on with happiness, as Rachna and Kabir bent over the baby, cooing and making funny faces to entertain her, the unfinished dinner on their plates long forgotten. Hearing a few small whimpers from the child, Shweta handed a warm bottle to Rachna, who looked on with an indescribable joy as she fed the baby in her arms. Kabir rested his head comfortably on his wife's shoulder and smiled as he watched Rachna beam with ecstasy when Shivani grabbed Rachna's finger with her little hand. An overwhelming sadness tugged on Rachna's heart, as she imagined the picture perfect family of three that could have been if her miscarriage hadn't occurred; a lone tear dropped onto Kabir's hand. He discreetly looked towards Rachna's face and wiped the wetness from her eyes as he nuzzled closer into her shoulder and placed a hidden kiss onto her collarbone.

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❤️ Nivi