FF:I love U, I trust U! Pt 42 (Pg 134) 02/10 - Page 26

Khushi leaned against the recliner by the poolside, looking up at the star-studded sky. Four stars twinkled; she smiled.

"He is fine. We are fine." She said softly.

The stars twinkled again. She smiled again.

It had been a long day. Arnav had left for office early in the morning, but he had come home for lunch and spent an hour with Khushi, before he had gone back to work. He had come home again for a few hours, before he had gone for dinner with some clients. He had asked her to go along with him, but she had chosen to stay back. Anjali had been upset, quiet and aloof since the night of Khushi's kidnapping. So Nani had suggested that they have Anjali's Godh Bharai function the next day. Maybe that would take her mind off Shyam and let her focus on her baby instead. So the ladies of the house, minus Anjali of course, had been busy planning the event. Manorama and Nani were in charge of inviting all their friends and family for the function and Khushi and Payal had been in charge of food and decorations. They had been running around all day long, busy preparing for the event.

Then during dinner, NK had announced that he would be leaving for Australia that night. It had been a sudden decision.

"Naniji, I want to tell my parents about Priya in person and I will bring them to India with me when I come back. Go ahead and pick a date for the wedding." NK had said, smiling, a faint blush appearing on his face.

After dinner, Khushi had been exhausted, so she had said bye to NK and gone straight to her room to take a nap. As soon as she entered her room, there was a knock on her door. It was NK.

"Khushiji, be careful".

"Nanheji..?" Khushi had started saying, looking confused.

"I know you think Di has changed. But I have a bad feeling. I am worried about you, Khushiji."

Khushi shook her head and started saying something, when NK continued. "No, Khushiji, this is not right. Nannav deserves to know the truth, to know what Di tried to do. Khushiji, you should tell him everything. And in the meantime, I want you to be careful around Di. Please, Khushiji."

Khushi had tried to convince him that he was wrong, that Di wouldn't try to hurt her. Anjali had realized that Shyam was guilty, and not Khushi. She didn't hate Khushi anymore. It had all been just a misunderstanding and now they were past that. But NK still insisted that Khushi should be careful and that she should tell Arnav the truth.

"I respect your decision, Khushiji. So I wont tell Nannav anything. But you can change your decision. Tell him the truth. Just promise me that you will be careful around Di until I get back."

Khushi had no option but to promise. "Ok, Nanheji. I will. I promise. Now I should go get some rest. I feel tired, Nanheji."

NK had walked away and Khushi had walked to the poolside.

The stars twinkled again. Khushi lay on the recliner sleeping, a smile on her face.

That is where Arnav found her, hours later, curled up on the recliner, fast asleep. He had scooped her up in his arms and placed her on the bed. He watched her sleep, smiling and placed a kiss on her forehead, his eyes filled with tears.

Water drops on his face woke Arnav up in the morning. His eyes fluttered open and slowly opened wide as he saw his beautiful wife standing by the side of the bed, drying her wet hair with a towel. He slowly sat up on the bed and watched her with a smile. She was wearing a dark pink gota-embroidered saree, her back facing him. Water droplets rolled down her back, that was barely covered by her blouse. Arnav quietly and slowly pulled his blanket off him and got up from the bed. He walked towards her and put an arm around her waist and pulled her towards him. Khushi froze as he ran a finger over her back, tracing the path of the water droplets. He took the towel from her hand, threw it on the bed and slowly turned her around to face him. Her chest was heaving with her quick breaths; she looked away blushing. He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face to meet his.

"Khushi, how could you..?" He whispered quietly, as he leaned in closer to her. She looked at him, confused.

"How could you take a shower without me today?" He said, pouting. She blushed and stammered. "I.. there is so much work .. the godh bharai is tonight.. so..I.."

Arnav took a few steps back and took off his tshirt. Khushi stared at his chest, her eyes twinkling.

"So?" He said, with a naughty smirk, as he saw Khushi eye's linger on his chest. She slowly looked into his eyes and blushed. He walked towards her.

"Let me go, Arnavji. Naniji might be looking for me." She said softly, her face turning a deep crimson.

"So?" He took another step towards her.

"What.. what will I tell her.. when I go down late.." Khushi stammered, as she saw the naughty smirk on Arnav's face.

"That we were busy preparing for your godh bharai." He said, as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

"That we were busy preparing for my godh bharai." Khushi repeated what Arnav said as she put her arms around him and closed her eyes, pressing her body against his.

Suddenly her eyes opened wide and she pulled away. "What? My godh bharai? You mean Di's godh bharai."

Arnav smiled and said softly, looking into her eyes. "No, I meant your godh bharai. Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada, the way you keep tempting me everyday, I am sure we will be celebrating your godh bharai soon".

Khushi blushed and looked away. Arnav leaned in and kissed her cheek. She turned around and looked into his eyes. He asked, smiling. "So when do you want to start preparing for your godh bharai, sweetheart?"

Khushi leaned in closer and pressed her lips against his. "How about right now!", she said softly, her eyes twinkling, before pushing him on the bed.

"Bitiya, are you alright?". Nani looked up, worried, as Khushi and Arnav walked down the stairs, hand-in-hand. Nani and Payal were sitting in the living room, making flower garlands for the puja at night. "You had said that you would wake up early and help us make the garlands. Why did you wake up late, bitiya?"

Arnav squeezed Khushi's hand. She looked at him; he winked. Her eyes opened wide and he smirked.

His smirk disappeared when Payal ran to Khushi and grabbed her shoulders. "Khushi, are you alright? You were tired last night also. Is everything fine?" Payal touched Khushi's forehead, worried. "Do you have a fever? Are you sick?"

"Jiji, I am.." Khushi smiled and started saying when she was interrupted by Arnav, who screamed.

"What? Khushi, you were not feeling well last night and you didn't tell me? Then why did you let me.. you could have told me that you weren't feeling well, dammit".

Payal raised her eyebrows and looked embarrassed as she released Khushi's arms. Khushi looked at Arnav and touched his face. "Arnavji, I was just running around all day yesterday and I was tired. That's all. I am fine then and I am fine now. Can you all stop worrying about me? We have a godh bharai to prepare for." Khushi looked at Payal and Arnav and shook her head, smiling. She started to walk away, but Arnav grabbed her wrist.

"No, you are not going to do anything today". He said, sternly."Payal, make sure Khushi takes rest. Don't let her do any work."

Payal nodded, giggled and looked at Khushi. She turned around and sat down next to Nani to help her with the garlands.

Khushi made an annoyed face. "Laad governor kahin ke." She muttered under her breath.

Arnav leaned in closer and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Your laad governor will miss you. I will be back home in a few hours. You take care of yourself, sweetheart."

Khushi pouted and folded her arms. He smiled at her and a faint smile appeared on her face. She nodded and watched him walk to the door. She sat down next to Payal and Nani.

Precap

The lights came on and Arnav's eyes opened wide. On the bed were toys, stuffed animals and dolls. "We will be celebrating my godh bharai soon." Khushi said, softly.

*****

Thank you for trusting me and asking me to continue with the upcoming major twist!