Amals pov

"stop amal it's your fourth cigarette today" samad scolded me as he snatched the cigarette from my lips and threw it away,

I sighed in defeat and gave up,

"fine" i said rolling my eyes,

"the designer is here" jenny informed and I stood up taking out the cardboard shopping bag from my cupboard,

"so I want to wear this jewelry and ghunghat on my wedding, I want you to design a dress keeping this in mind" I stated as I handed her the bag,

(ghunghat is a veil)

she took out the gorgeous metallic golden ghunghat that belonged to my mother and red traditional guluban that was also hers,
(guluban is a type of choker)

"its kind of old fashioned" the designer said

"I dont care, Its what my mother wore in her wedding, if I wear this I'll feel like she is with me" I said as my eyes stinged with invisible tears,

"okay, you dont have to worry, I'll make this work" the designer assured and left,

"ahh I am exhausted" samad complained as soon as the designer left,

"I'll go check on taha" I stood up and samad nodded as he laid down on the couch already falling asleep,
I smiled looking at him sleeping peacefully and left without making any noise,

I knocked on taha's door,

"yeah" he said and I opened the door,

"hey" he smiled and I returned it back,

"so how are the wedding preparations going on?" he asked and I allowed myself to fall on the bean bag kept infront of his bed,

"agh dont ask" I said

he chuckled as he straightened his legs and rested his back on the headboard,

"so? jenny is leaving huh?" I asked and he nodded sadly,

"it's for her own good" I consoled him,

"yeah it's just, she is with me ever since she was 14, she is like my baby sister, hell she is like my daughter" he said and I smiled at him

"She'll keep visiting" I assured and he nodded,

"are you sure you dont want to do any functions?" he asked for the 10th time and I nodded in annoyance,

"have you finalised the decorations?" he asked

"yeah samads abbu showed my house to the wedding planner, he sketched out some ideas from which I chose a few, he will start the decorations tommorow" I said and he nodded

"you didnt had to pay for my wedding expenses" I said for the tenth time and he rolled his eyes

"you asked me to be your wali and gawah in your nikah amal, as your wali it's my duty to do all of this" he said and I nodded as I knew he wont listen to me,
(wali means guardian, in islam you require two witnesses during the nikah ceremony and a approval from the guardian which is usually father, and the wali is also one of the witness)

"abbu is not here, but getting married in the house that he loved so much and wearing mumma's veil and jewelry will make me feel like both of them are with me, i  just hope the designer will be able to make dress for me in four days" I sighed

it was my fault after all, I at the last moment decided that I wanted to wear my mothers veil and jewelry,

"she will and you'll look" he paused as he rubbed his eye

"I'll look what?" I asked waiting for him to finish his compliment,

"you'll look the most ugliest bride in the world" he said seriously wiping a fake tear,

I stared at him shocked
I was expecting him to say beautiful!!

he looked at my expression and burst into fits of laughter,

I grabbed a pillow and stared hitting him,

"ow ow" he winced and I paused as soon as i realised he still hasn't healed fully,

"what happened are you okay?" I asked concerned,

"yeah now that I have seen the ugliest face in the world, I feel a lot pretty" he said and started laughing

"FUCK YOU"  I screamed showing my middle finger and stormed out of his room,

...

It was a long flight to india,

we all were staying in a hotel,

not many people from my gang could come only 20 of my close friends,

"I have to go and take a look at the decorations I'll be back soon" taha texted me and left,

"already missing you my jaan" samads text made me grin like a teenage girl,

he dropped us at the hotel and left with his abbu, and now he says he is missing me, its literally been 15 mins since he left,

"I miss you too" I replied and changed out of my usual leather jacket and Jeans into a traditional salwar kameez as I was going to meet phuppo,

the meeting with her was an emotional one,

she was a mess,
I met erum too,
they both cried like crazy, after I told them everything

as much as they forced me to meet ambreen I refused to,

erum was screaming like a maniac when I told her I was getting married to samad,

I decided to stay at phuppo's house tonight,

erum ate my brain up pleading me, scolding me to do all the functions,

I refused stubbornly,

"come to your house" taha's text made erum shut up for a moment,

"why? what happened?" I asked

"theres a problem here, cant explain, come quick" taha texted back and I stormed out

farhad bhai insisted on taking me there, atlast I agreed,

I saw the house was dark, the moonlight doing nothing to illuminate it,

I ran inside as I was about to go inside,
the garden lit up and it was so beautifully decorated,

at all four corners of the lawn, there were day beds arranged which had powder pink bedsheets and colourful pillows,
an huge arch of pink Roses and the same kind of day bed placed under it,
all the trees were covered in fairy lights,
heart shaped fairy lights were dangling somewhere in between,

I looked at everything in awe,

taha walked towards me with a huge grin,

"no matter how much you say that you dont want any functions, I will not listen, you'll have every function and you'll enjoy it"  he said stubbornly

"but...how? its nikah a day after tommorow"

"today night, raatjagah,
tommorow at noon haldi and mehendi, tommorow night sachak and day after tommorow before you even wake up this place will be already fully decorated for nikah" he said proudly,

and I broke into tears,

"now go in, get ready" he said wiping my tears with his thumb,

"but I dont have.."

"go to your bedroom" he said pushing me in,

I walked upstairs to my bedroom, to see a beautifull pink dress laid out on the bed,

all kind of make up was placed on the dressing table,

wiping my tears I freshend up and wore the powder pink coloured salwar suit, and put on some make up, I finished the look by pinning the baby blue coloured dupatta on my head and wearing gajras in my hand,

before I could step out, erum walked in with her over enthusiasm,

I rolled my eyes and help her climb down the stairs as she was 8 months pregnant,

my friends from the gang, and of course sidra and jenny was also there,
jenny was going to take the photographs today since no men are allowed,

I was shocked to see avantika,
meeting with her was also a emotional one.

phuppo went on to the terrace with some other ladies that are my parents relatives and I sat on the daybed and all the singing and dancing begun,

I watched as erum was playing the dholki and singing folk songs and laughed as usual these songs just made fun of everyone from bride to her family to groom and his family,

I missed mumma and abbu,

I noticed how erum skipped the lines where brides fathers and mothers fun is made,

my eyes teared up

"hey, I know you miss them, trust me they are seeing you and and they are happy, they are in peace" samads text came at right time,

I couldn't reply him, as phuppo sat beside me with a plate of gulgulay,

she noticed my teary eyes and pulled me in a hug,

I sobbed in her embrace,
after some time erum dragged me to the centre to dance,

the function kept on going till 4 in the morning, everybody left and i fell asleep in the same clothes,

I was waken up by a very angry phuppo,

"ugh what" I asked covering my head with a pillow

"get up and get ready for the haldi" she shook me but I refused to budge,

she snatched my blanket away and dragged me to the bathroom and locked me in,

I whined stomping my feet and took a shower, which finally made my sleep vanish,

I got dressed into the simple yellow lenenga with a white sleeveless top, and wore the yellow flowers jewelry, my hairs into loose beachy waves,

i stepped into the lawn to see the decorations were changed,

same day beds as yesterday but now with yellow sheets and pink and blue pillows,

circular mirrors were hanging from the trees, instead of heart shaped fairy lights,

the arch of pink Roses was replaced by yellow tent made of yellow curtains, to give us shade from the sunlight,

the haldi ceremony passed quickly as I had to get changed and start the mehendi application,

the decorations for mehendi were the same, they weren't changed since there was no time,
but now I was wearing a green sleeveless salwar suit, nobody else changed since no one had the time to get changed,

the mehendi was also the same, singing dancing, being emotional.

few text messages from samad would make me excited but the wet henna on my hand restrained me from replying or even reading them,

it was night now,
samads family were on their way for sachak

(Sachak Is a function at night before nikah where grooms family brings all bari (clothes, gifts,dry fruits,sweets, jewelry) wedding and reception dress and few other dresses)

I changed into a blue full sleeves gown and pinned the blue dupatta as a ghunghat,

soon samads phuppo along with some other ladies arrived and they did all the rituals,

they didnt bring the wedding dress as the designer was supposed to bring it tommorow,

they left after having dinner, and I retired to my room,

erum was exhausted and she already fell asleep,

while I on the other hand was sleepless,

"you were looking so beautiful" samads text popped on my phone screen and I smiled

"so your cousins showed you the pics?" I texted him back

"yeah, but I had to pay a huge amount and lots of promises" he replied

"I love you amal, I can't believe it's our nikah today" he sent another text

and i sighed in contentment,

"i love you too sam" i replied calling him by his nickname after a long time,

"goodnight meri jaan"  he sent and I replied before keeping the phone aside,

I let the tears flow down from my eyes and roll down from my temple onto my scalp, as I recalled missing my parents terribly the whole day,

I was nervous and scared,
its not like I am getting married for the first time,
difference is I am happy and excited this time,
I know from now on I'll always be happy, every problem will seem small with samad by my side.

...

we decided to have a traditional style nikah,

mens in the masjid and ladies here at the house, then all the guests will come at night,

I showered and got dressed into the white anarkali,

"are your eyes closed?" phuppo asked from outside the bathroom door,

"uff phuppo it's a superstition" I whined

"SHUT UP AND CLOSE YOUR EYES!" phuppo ordered and I groaned in annoyance,

"FINE" I screamed and closed my eyes,

"okay, the firs..."

"I know, I know, my destiny and married life will be like the first person I see" I snapped

what a stupid ritual,
so superstitious,
and its not even written in quran or recommended by our prophet,
such a stupidity

"she'll see me, I am the luckiest of all" I heard erums over excited voice

"ugh come on" I whined again,

"okay okay open your eyes" phuppo said and I opened them to see a grinning erum

I rolled my eyes and sat on the bed

and as phuppo instructed I recited surah nisa and offered two rakah of nafl salah,

I greeted salam to everyone,

I was so hungry my stomach burned,

i was half hungry and half nervous which was making me eat like a cave woman,

I clipped my hair loosely and applied light make up, and waited for the men to come,

"Congratulations wifey" samad texted

"not yet, mera nikah bakhi hai" I replied and before I could reply my was phone was snatched,

"they are here" erum said in a hurry, tossing my phone at bed she covered my face with the pink dupatta,

soon taha and farhad bhai along with the maulvi walked in,

taha informed me that he couldnt sit as my wali since he wasnt related to me, so farhad bhai sat instead of him and he sat as a witness,

I nodded sadly,

"ap amal fiza shaik wald akram shaikh ko samad ali wald ali Mustafa k nikah me diya jata hai kya apko qubool hai?" he asked and my heart beat increased,
tears formed in my eyes and a huge smile that was refusing to leave my lips,

"qubool hai" my voice firm yet shaky,

he asked same thing thrice and I replied qubool hai each time with more and more surity and firmness,

I signed the god awful amount of papers soon the maulvi left,

I was dazed but the reality hit me when I was engulfed in hugs by everyone,

after everyone left my bedroom,

I clutched the photo frame, and bawled,

I miss them so much,

erum sat beside me and hugged me tightly,

she wiped my tears and handed me my phone,

"as salam alaikum begum" samad said stressing on the word 'begum' I chuckled wiping my tears,

"wa alaikum as salam miya jii" I replied in the same tone, and we both were silent,

i fidgeted with the hem of my dupatta a huge smile on my lips,

"cant wait to meet you" he said and my smile grew wider,

"me too" I whispered,

I dont know why I am feeling so shy, its not like I am talking to him for the first time.

one thing did put me off in all of this happiness,
one thing that always bothered me was the fact this is not my first marriage, but its samads first marriage,

he doesnt deserve a broken, tainted, woman who came with extra baggage,

but I always tried to brush it off, by consoling myself that I deserved to be happy,

I loved him and only him, even when I was married,

yes I have had my most of the firsts,
but I also havent had most of my firsts.

a faint knock on the door made me break our comfortable silence and say goodbye to samad and disconnect the call.

I turned around to see taha standing in the door frame with his hands behind his back, looking heavenly in a white pathani.

"come in" I smiled and he walked in,

"congratulations mrs samad" he said and I blushed hard,

"oh my god are you blushing, your face is red" he said dramatically and i rolled my eyes,

"here is your wedding gift" he handed me two white envelopes

I opened them,

"no no open them with samad" he gently placed his hand on mine stopping me from opening it,

i nodded placing it on the dressing table,

"so....from today onwards you will no longer be living with us at the base" he said exhaling loudly an 'o' forming out of his lips,
his breathing heavy and shaky,

that's when I realised he was suppressing his tears,

my eyes also welled up as it hit me that I no longer will be staying with them, but unlike taha I cried freely,

"hey shhhh, its okay" he made me sit on the bed,

"thank you for everything taha" I cried as he dabbed my cheeks with the tissue trying not to ruin my make up,

I chuckled at his innocent gesture,

"what?"

"nothing you look cute when you are caring"

he coughed awkwardly,

"you are one of most important people in my life taha, if I love anyone after samad its you, you and I have a bond that I can never give a name to, nor can I explain it in words" I said in a shaky voice,

he nodded

"I'll miss you a lot, but I am more happy for you" he smiled cupping my cheek and I hugged him

"i love you my nashedi"

"I love you too my midget, my little miss stabby pants"

we both chuckled and broke the hug,

"umm the beautician is here, and the designer has brought the dress too" erum informed and I nodded,

"see you downstairs" taha said giving a light squeeze to my hand, before letting it go.

it felt symbolic for some reason,
it felt like he was letting it go, so samad can hold it.

I smiled as erum walked in excited to see the dress,

I opened the bag and gasped in awe,

it was a blood red coloured khada dupatta, with golden zardozi work, just like the border of my mothers veil had, my mothers veil had the same work on its border but in red, and dress was red with same work in gold.

it matched with the jewelry too,

the jutis were golden with intricate red zardozi just like the veil,

I rushed towards the designer with teary eyes and pulled her in a hug,

"you have no idea, how happy I am, thank you so much" i sobbed and she hugged me back,

"i am glad i could do it for you" she smiled

"you'll be coming to the function In few hours right?" I asked and she nodded,

"see you soon, all the best for your married life" she said

"okay let's start" erum made me sit on the chair and beautician started her work,

as soon as I was ready photographer gave me no time to admire myself and started clicking pictures,

soon he left and erum waited for phuppo to come and take us downstairs,

I walked towards the dresser and looked at myself,

I never felt this beautifull in my life, even though it wasnt my first time seeing myself in a wedding dress, but this was different,

I admired how my mothers veil made me look like a less prettier version of her,

ruby lips, contrasting against my milky white skin,

the mere thought that I belong to samad now,
that samad and I are supposed to spend our whole life together,
that I was his now,
the sense of belonging to him made my stomach flip,

I purposely avoided the thought of my parents, as the tears might ruin the make up,

as I asked the seating arrangements were traditional and conservative,

the men and women section was separate,

erum, me, phuppo, sidra and Jenny walked downstairs, the walk from my room to the lawn was a long one since the photographer was making me stop at every 5 steps,

I was made to sit at the couch placed at a little stage created, under a tent made of my fathers favourite flower 'motia', intoxicating the air with its strong fragrance,
(motia means jasmin flower)

the lawn was also beautifully decorated with 'motia' and red Roses,

the men were supposed to sit at the terrace since I wanted a traditional and conservative wedding,

"they are here!!" sidra rushed to me,

I tried to get a glimpse of him, but all I could see was his golden 'pagri' since he was walking in between a huge crowd,

I leaned back on my seat

"cant wait to see you" samad texted

and I blushed hard,
I dont know why I am blushing since the wedding started!!

we had dinner and photos and usual hii hello,

soon everybody left except close family and relatives,

"okay its time for samad to come" phuppo said and farhad bhai Walked on the stage

since my abbu is not here, he will tie my sehra,
(veil made of flowers)

he tied my sehra made of motia, which completely covered my face,

I couldn't see anything from it,

I know samad was walking towards the stage, because I could see his legs from between the strings of flowers,

he sat beside me on the couch but we couldnt talk since all the elders were making us eat sweets and giving us gifts,

"chalein apni dulhan ki shakal dekni hai toh nikale 25 thousand" erum said and as usual elders scolded her for asking too much, while samads cousin sisters refused and finally he gave in and gave her the money,

soon the sehra was untied and he turned towards me,

our eyes met and he suppressed his smile since he knew the girls will tease him,

I blushed hard and lowered my eyes

oh my god stop with the blushing, you have seen each other thousand times!!!

my subconscious screamed,

it was time for ruqsati, phuppo placed my hand in samads hand which was a ritual to be done by either mother or grandmother, in my case phuppo is the one to do it,

"hamari beti apke hawale" she said looking at samad her eyes teary,

my eyes teared up too,

I missed my parents a lot,

soon everybody hugged me, I didnt cry when someone from my family hugged me since I was away from them, I was used to it, I wont miss them terribly, but I did broke into sobs when sid and Jenny hugged me, I am gonna leave them now, we no longer gonna go out at night and mess with the perverts, we are no longer gonna go on the missions, or party, or simply hang out when ever we want.

dominic smiled at me sadly,

taha stood there his eyes shining with a thin layer of gloss on his eyes,

"be happy" he squeezed my hand and I hugged him tightly, he patted my head and breaking the hug made me sit in the car.

we were silent the whole ride to home since samads abbu was at the passenger seat,

samad did sneakily hold my hand,

few more rituals were waiting for us at his home, like we had to feed each other some kheer,
(kheer, a sweet)

I was escorted to samads room which was simply decorated with motia and roses, and candles,

i knew it'll take samad some time to come since one more ritual was left, which was his cousins blocking his way asking him for money to let him in,

I tried to brush off the memory of my wedding night with arham,

my hands were cold as I knew it was our wedding night,

we are no longer just best freinds,

things are gonna change tonight,

my nervousness would subside occasionally when memories of my wedding night with arham would disturb me,

soon I heard the sound of the door opening and I looked towards the door to see samad walking towards me,

I noticed he was no longer wearing the 'pagri'

"hey" he smiled as he sat on the edge of the and looked towards me,

I wasnt sitting at the centre of the bed, I was sitting at the edge,
it's not a movie okay!

"I didnt get a chance to say, you look breath takingly, mind blowingly, beautiful"

i smiled and here we go with the blushing again,

he leaned closer and my breath got stuck in my throat,

before I could say anything he extended his hand towards the side table that was beside me and took out a little white gift box,

he took out a thin band of diamond and slipped it on my finger which already had the ring he proposed me with,

I examined it and they both fitted well together,

"please never take it out" he said and I nodded smiling,

"I love it" I said still looking at the ring,

"and I love you" he said as he placed his hand on my cheek,

"I love you too" i whispered blushing again,

my subconscious rolled her eyes,

"go change, this dress looks awfully heavy and uncomfortable" he said and I nodded in agreement,

i walked towards the dressing table awkwardly, as i was aware he was looking at me,

i took out atleast 10 pins and finally the veil was free from my hair,

I removed the jewelry still feeling extremely self conscious as samad was doing nothing but watching me,

I tried to unpin the dupatta but I couldnt,

in a moment he was standing behind me.

I stiffened as his knuckle grazed my shoulder,

the room was dead silent,
we could hear each others breathing,
the air in the room felt thick,

he took out the pin and placed it on my palm,

and proceeded towards my left shoulder,

"it's okay I can manage" I said breathlessly,

"relax I am just helping" he assured and unpinned the left side,

there was one more on my right and for some reason he circled his hand at my front and tried to unpin it, making it look like he was hugging me from back,

It was really awkward and being the genius I am I turned around only to squish my nose on his chest, there was no room to step back as my thighs were touching the dresser,

he unpinned my right shoulder and the dupatta fell from my shoulders,

"I'll do the rest" I said hurridly and turned to go but he held my wrist and pulled me closer to him,

my breath hitched,
I let out a shaky breath,

he looked at me with a expression I never saw anyone look at me with,

he leaned closer and placed a kiss on lips,

his lips were rough yet smooth,

he parted my lips with his and started sucking on them,

I started kissing him back,
I copied the actions of his lips since i didnt knew how to kiss,
I never kissed arham back,

REMOVE THE JEWELRY YOU STUPID WOMAN!!! arham screamed and I pushed him back,

"please please please dont do this" I begged

please

please

"AMAL ITS ME SAMAD!!!" samad shook me vigorously and I looked around to see that I wasnt in that hotel room I was in samads room,

I fell on my knees and broke down into hysterical sobs,

"I am sorry samad, I am crazy, I am ruining your wedding night" he hugged me,

"hey hey it's okay, I didnt marry you to just have sex with you, it's okay, calm down, I'll wait, we'll take it slow, all that matters is that you are mine and I am yours" he patted my head while hugging me

"bu.." he shushed me

"no buts, I'll wait for as long as you want, now go get changed" he wiped my tears with his thumbs and helped me stand up,

taking out a night dress from my suitcase I stepped inside the bathroom,

changing into the night dress I removed my make up,

as soon as I stepped out of the bathroom samad inhaled audibly,

"wh..what?" I asked nervously,

"I know you since childhood but I have never seen without hijab or in a nightdress, you look so sexy" he said and my eyes widened in embarrassment

he chuckled and pulled me in a hug

"what? you are my wife I can call you sexy" he said as he tightened his arms around me,

I rested my head on his chest enjoying the feeling of security, comfort and peace.

he sensed my sleepiness and picked me up bridal style,

I gasped at the unexpected gesture but remained silent,

he placed me on the bed and lied down beside me,

I stared at ceiling awkwardly,

he chuckled and pulled me closer to him and made me rest my head on his arm, and hugged me,

I sighed as I realised how peacefull I felt in his embrace and hugged him back,

he covered both of us with the blanket,

and last thing I remember before dozing of is him placing a kiss on my head.

huff a long chapter,

this was the second last chapter,
one more chapter left that'll be the Epilogue

I enjoyed writing this chapter,

it was fun,

I am happy for amal,

vote vote vote,

story is coming to an end, silent readers ab toh vote kardo yaar!!!

xoxo
neelam❤❤