Part 54 Wedding Preparations

It was Arnav's housewarming function. Arnav invited very important people only... His school staff, a few education personalities, and very close friends. One of them was Mr. Roy. Arnav greeted him shaking his hands.

"Congratulations, Mr. Raizada"

"thank you, Mr. Roy," Arnav said.

At the same time, Khushi came with Suman. Arnav's face bloomed, seeing Khushi. In saree. Of course, she always used to wear sarees to school but today, she looked marvelous in a Banaras silk saree.

Baby Khushi rush to them and hugged Khushi's legs.

"Mummy, you are gorgeous today," She said which Arnav could not in open.

"thank you, baby"

"We are waiting for you," Baby Khushi said.

"For me? Why?"

"I'm going to give you a gift"

"What gift?"

"I don't know. Daddy wants me to give it to you" she said.

Khushi looked at Arnav questioningly.

"Let's go"

Arnav took them to the entrance. A small pink color satin screen was hanging on the wall.

"Mummy, open it," Baby Khushi said.

"What is this?" Khushi asked.

"Open it and get to know," Arnav said.

Khushi slid the curtain and became emotional seeing the black marble board with golden letters. Arnav named his new house, NEST OF KHUSHI...

"Wow... brilliant name with two meanings, Arnav. Khushi's house and also the house of happiness... right?" Suman asked delightedly.

"This is our wedding gift for you," baby Khushi said cheerfully.

Khushi looked at Arnav who was smiling at her.

"Wow... wedding gift?" Roy asked.

"Yes, Mummy is going to marry Daddy. So, Daddy wants to give a gift to mummy"

"Who told you, Beta?"

"Daddy himself told me"

"You are so clever ASR" Roy smiled.

"Why are you saying so, sir?" Suman asked.

"He named the house 'Nest of Khushi'. In the future, baby Khushi may think this house is hers. To avoid such confusion, he made baby Khushi gift it to Khushi madam for whom he bought this house" Roy quickly analyzed the issue lawfully.

Arnav spilled his trademark lop-sided smile.

"Oh... this is why you asked baby Khushi to do it?"

Arnav nodded yes pressing his lips. Khushi nodded her head from left to right.

"Let's go and have breakfast," Arnav said.

"Sumi uncle, I am hungry. Let's have breakfast" baby Khushi said, clutching Suman's finger.

"Yes, I am also hungry. Roy sir, please you also join us" Suman called Roy.

"Yeah, sure. I have to go to the court..."

They walked to the dining. Fatima and Rahim were serving the feast to the people.

"Do you like it?" Arnav asked Khushi.

"I like it so much but this is not necessary. I don't want your property" she sighed.

"Don't say like that Khushi. This is your right. Only you have the right. Mine is yours. Never get compromised in it"

"You are mine what else do I want more than that?" she questioned.

"You may not need anything but it's my responsibility to secure your future"

"Don't think much Arnav..."

"I had been not thinking about anything in my life because I had no life. But from here on, I could not be like that because I have a wife now. Your happiness is my concern"

"I know" she smiled.

"Come, eat something"

Khushi nodded ok and followed Arnav. The housewarming function was completed warmly.

...........

Arnav fixed the wedding date and started the preparation in full swing. Luckily, Arnav got a divorce from Sheetal before their marriage date. Mr. Roy got it through the judgment of Sheetal's case. He submitted Arnav and Khushi's marriage application in court. Suman was involved wholeheartedly in the wedding preparation with Arnav. There was only a week left before the marriage.

Suman called Arnav. Arnav attended the call,

"Hello, Mr. Groom..."

Arnav chuckled.

"Yeah, Sumi tell me..."

"Tomorrow, we are going to buy Khushi's wedding lehenga, get ready," Suman said.

"Yeah, sure... Khushi told me"

"Oh... did she tell you?"

"Yes..."

"And, your wedding attire also"

"Okay we will finish our wedding shopping tomorrow"

"That's what I want to say"

"I will pick you up from your house on time"

"We will be waiting for you"

"Yeah..."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing..."

"Ok, bye" Arnav disconnected the call.

Suman look that Khushi who looked nervous.

"What happened? Why are you looking tense?" Suman asked, inserting his mobile with a charger.

"I have sent a voice message to my mother," Khushi said biting her nail.

"Voice message??? About what?"

"About my marriage with Arnav"

"Did you tell them the whole story?" Suman asked.

Khushi nodded no slowly.

"Why didn't you? You should have..."

Khushi was silent.

"They will misunderstand you, Khushi..." Suman was tensed.

Khushi said nothing.

"What did you tell her in your voice message?"

"I said I met my ex-boyfriend who is none other than my school principal. We are patched up again and decided to get married"

"Have you gone mad Khushi? You should have told them about my condition. You should have told them that I'm transgender. Then they would have understood the necessity of the issue..."

"No, Sumi. It's not right... I am not marrying Arnav just because you are transgender. I am marrying him because I love him"

"But your parents need a strong reason for the biggest decision of your life. You can't marry your Ex-boyfriend just because you met him again. You can't console them with your love story. This society works like this only in Khushi. They will think you are..." he stopped without completing the stance.

"Characterless...???" Khushi completed it.

Suman sighed.

"What harm if you tell them the truth, Khushi?" he asked wearily.

"Don't know why I could not..." Khushi said looking somewhere.

"But, I know... It's because you don't want to degrade me..."

"I don't think this is degradation. This is an error of nature. I just don't want to do propaganda about it"

"I am not fine with your decision of hiding the truth about me from them Khushi. One day you will have to face them. I don't know whether the situation will be in your favor at that time. So please do it now and kill the issue"

"I will do it if it is necessary," Khushi said.

Suman sighed.

"Does Arnav know about it?"

Khushi nodded no.

"Discuss with him. Get to know what's there in his mind"

Khushi nodded ok.

"The much I know he won't allow your name to get spoilt"

Khushi gulped down hard because she too knew that.

The next day

Khushi and Suman were ready to go shopping. They were waiting for Arnav. That was when the calling bell rang. Khushi was about to run to the door, and Suman took the lead, smiling at her teasingly. He opened the door and got stuck, seeing Khushi's parents standing at the doorstep.

Suman's facial expression changed. So did Khushi's. They spared a glance. Suman plastered a smile and greeted them.

"Please come in Uncle... come in Aunty"

Shashi and Garima entered the house with a sharp gaze on Khushi. Khushi didn't know how to handle the situation as she was not ready for it. She was more nervous because Arnav would be there anytime. He would feel bad if he heard her parent's outburst. As she was scared, Arnav reached their house. Khushi and Suman looked at him restlessly.

Arnav saw Khushi's parents and smiled at them. What he told them stunned Khushi and Suman.

"Thank you for accepting my invitation" Arnav smiled at them.

To be continued...

Note: The next update will be the last update of Vivification.