"Kya aapko yeh nikah kubool h?"

The Kaazi asked Mariam. Mariam's God mother repeated the same question in her ear,slowly to which Mariam nodded and whispered back

"Kubool hai".

The same question was asked two more times and Mariam gave the same answer each time.

The Kaazi then said a prayer for the married couple and everyone congratulated the bride,her parents and her Godparents.

Mariam was now officially Mrs. Zeyad Ali.

Zeyad had already signed the Nikah naama; the marriage certificate and now Mariam had too. Mariam's Paternal uncle and aunt, Salman and Sofia Waseem were her Godparents.
Mariam had always seen them as her own parents and they too, had always treated her as their daughter seeing as they had two sons.

It was 15th of  September and all the males had just come back from the Mosque where Zeyad had accepted the Nikaah, all the females were at Mariam's house.

There was going to be a big dinner for all the extended families of both Mariam and Zeyad.

Everyone looked happy,Shehnaz and Natasha along with the rest of Mariam's sisters and sisters-in-law,all were very excited for tomorrow. Tomorrow on the 16th of September was their reception.

"So,Mariam, are you excited? You are now married. How does it feel?" Natasha teased,wiggling her eyebrows making Mariam blush and all the others laugh.

Mariam was the only one in the family left yet to be Married as she was the youngest amongst all the cousins and now that was changed. Being the youngest in the family,she was everyone's favourite.

"Are you excited for tonight? I've heard it is painful the first time" said Nayla, Mariam's sister-in-law. Mariam looked appalled and her mouth was hanging open as she sat in the middle of her bed surrounded by the other women.

"Nayla!" Shehnaz exclaimed.
"What? It is true" Nayla defended.

"Still! We do not want to know about your sex life with our btother" Shehnaz retorted and they all laughed as Nayla looked offended.

"Stop teasing my little sister and my wife, you girls" said a deep voice from the door. It was Saad, Sofia's eldest son and Nayla's husband. He was tall and nicley built with jet balck hair and soft,brown eyes.

"Now,I am not one for discussing  my sex life with anyone,especially not my sisters. So, if you all could just leave our sex life at bay,I would appreciate it" Saad said looking first at his sisters and then at his wife.

"Oh my God,you people!" Mariam exclaimed and turned a brighter shade of red. This is so embarrassing she thought.

"You all really need to stop talking about sex and sex life of anyone" Natasha said,"there are single people in here".

"You mean single person, which so happens to be yourself".

"Yeah,yeah whatever,Mrs. Mariam Zeyad Ali. And for your kind information,you came in the same category just a few hours ago."'

Mariam was about say something when Tanzeem entered the room,smiling at everyone.
"Come on,children,dinner is ready and everyone is here."

"Oh,thank goodness. I am starving. The nikaah took too long if you ask me." Natasha mumbled.

"You are always starving,Natasha."

"You are right aunty." Natasha said blushing.

Everyone inside of Mariam's room slowly started departing. Mariam waited till everyone was out and so did Tanzeem.

"Let's go,Mummy."

"Wait a minute,sweetie," Tanzeem said,stopping Mariam from leaving the room.

"Yes?" She asked as she adjusted the dupatta on her head.
Tanzeem came closer and adjusted it properly before pulling her into a hug.

"Wh-what is it Mummy? Are you okay?" Mariam couldn't help but ask as she heard her mother sniffle.

"Nothing. I am fine. I just wanted to hug my sweet,sweet daughter. You know I love you very much right?"

"Of course. Why would you even ask that? Mummy,I know you and Papa love me and I love you both too."

"Okay,let's go then. Just wanted to make sure you knew it."

Mariam and Tanzeen then walked out of the room,down the stairs and out  into their back garden where the dinner was being held. There were at least seven round dinner tables,each holding 6 to 7 chairs. The food was being served by well dressed waiters and waitresses.

Mariam and Zeyad along with their parents,Shehnaaz and her husband were to be seated at one table and the others were spread around.

Mariam hadn't heard from Zeyad and neither had she seen him yet.
As soon as they reached the brightly lit and elegantly decorated garden, Mariam's eyes began searching for her husband. She kept looking around
and finally found him talking with some of the guests. He was dressed in simple off white kurta pajama with a royal blue coat.

To say the least he looked handsome and Mariam found herself staring at him. She was so engrossed in staring at her amazingly gorgeous husband that she did not even realise,that she had stopped walking and Tanzeem was no longer with her. Mariam shifted her gaze and looked for her mother only, to find her talking with her father and godparents.

She again looked at her husband, but this time found him staring right back,which had Mariam blushing. Mariam looked at the ground,her face growing warm from Zeyad's intense stare.

She slowly looked up, as if she felt Zeyad silently pleading with her to look back up. Zeyad gave her a warm smile that had her feeling things all over and inside her body.

Mariam gave him back an equally warm smile. The next thing that Zeyad did completely caught her off guard--he winked at her!

"Mm hmm...you guys need to wait until after the dinner,you know?" Natasha's voice startled her.

"Huh?" Was all Mariam  could manage as she looked at Zeyad one last time who,was still smiling at her but looked away when someone strated a conversation with him.

"Let's go,bride. We all need to eat so, that you and you dear husband,who let me tell you is drop dead gorgeous, can get laid" Mariam's best frind winked and teased her for the hundredth time that day.

"Stop it,you" Mariam groaned,"let's go. People are waiting."

As soon as Mariam reached her table,Natasha walked to her own and left the latter to stand there feeling shy all of a sudden.

"Mariam"

Someone called out to her and Mariam turned around to see the parents of her ex- fiance walking towrads her.

"Kamal Uncle, Aunty. How are you? I thought you weren't coming" Mariam scolded because she loved them both dearly and had great respect for them.

"Bacche,we wanted to come earlier but....something came up and got delayed" Aneesa explained,embracing Mariam warmly.

"That's okay, you are here now and that's all that matters." Mariam reassured them as she looked around for her other best friend. "Rehan is not here yet? Didn't he come with you?"

"He....Well Mariam I hope you understand but, this was all a little too much for him and he had some important business. He said he'll be there at the reception though."

Those words saddened Mariam. He was not here. He promised he would be there for the wedding. Weren't 4 months enough to come to terms with all this? He hadn't been here for any of the functions.

Mariam was too heartbroken too say more to it as she guided the elder couple to their table before walking back to her chair,right next to Zeyad.

The dinner was served quickly once everyone settled to thier seats and soon clatters of spoons against plates filled the air. Mariam and Zeyad had hardly spoken to each other. Not that they were purposely avoiding it,but the people around their table kept them busy to get a chance to talk to one another,except for sparing a few glances here and there and the occasional touching of their hands on the table.

The dinner took longer than anticipated as the crowd was more into talking and gossiping,than eating.

The guests from Canada were super sweet and nice. Some were Zeyad's relatives,while others were his colleagues and friends.
Zeyad's white friends really enjoyed the Indian style wedding. Although, the food was a little spicy for them,they really loved it.

Mariyam even met Zeyad's business partner and best friend, Ben Striker.
He was a pleasant and handsome man, around the same age as Zeyad.
All of the guests from outside were staying at the same hotel as Zeyad and his parents.

The dinner finally came to an  end and the guests headed back to either their homes or to the hotel.

Mariam was lead back to her room where she gatherd her over night bag. All of her stuff was packed and ready in three suitcases to be taken to Canada three days later.

Mariam and Zeyad would be spending their first night at the honeymoon sweet in the hotel,and then next morning,they would be coming back for breakfast and for Mariam to get ready for the reception.

"Did you pack everything?" Mariam had expected her mother to be there,but instead it was her sister.

"Yes,Aapa. Everything is ready."

"And the lingerie? The one that we especially bought for tonight?" Shehnaz asked with a straight face.

"Aapa! Not you too" Mariam said blushing crimson. "Enough with the teasings."

"Jokes apart,Mari. It is going to be a special experience for you. I know you might find it uncomfortable and awkward at first,but it's human nature. When you realize that, this is with your lawful partner,you husband,it all gets better."

"I am telling you this as one woman to another. Mummy wanted to give you 'the talk' but I figured it was better I did it." Shehnaz added.

"I understand, Aapa. Thank you" Mariam said hugging her sister,her very first best friend as best as she could with Shehnaz's growing stomach.

The sisters then finished the last minute packing and headed downstairs where only the immediate family was left. Luckily no tears were shed. Yet. It was kept for three days later,when they will actually see each other for the last time.

Once the newly wedded couple was seated in the expensive Volvo, Zeyad turned to Mariam,"Ready?"

"Yes."

___________________________________

Behold dear readers,it is I, the lazy creator of this amazing story.
I am so sorry for the delay.

First I couldn't find the inspiration to write and then I was binge watching Stranger things. Which is btw really cool.

Hope you enjoy the chapter let me know 🙂💙