Sameer gulped seeing the fierce demeanour of his soon-to-be wife-

"Aur kaun kaunsi buri aadatein hai tumhari? Abhi bata do taaki baad mein mujhe aise shocks na mile" she said, stepping aside

"Koi buri aadatein nahi hai mujhme..woh mere doston ne pila diya..aur main.."

"Pi gaye?"

Sameer nodded, seeing no way out

'Ab ise kya batana ki bottle toh main hi laaya tha-'  he thought

"Tum mein akal hai hi nahi? Chote bacche ho tum? Pila diya aur tumne pi bhi li.. Aur chehre ka naksha aisa kyun bana rakha hai? " Naina asked, pointing to his black eye, anger at her peak

"Please ab iss baat ko yahin khatam karte hai na" Sameer said, looping his arms around her neck

"Baat toh maine shuru bhi nahi ki hai" Naina removed his arms from her form, hands on her waist

"Ab itni si baat ke liye kha jaogi kya? Dekho tumhare ghar waale aaye huye hai. Please bahar chalo. Kya sochenge woh humare baare mein?" Sameer tried to escape

"Itni si baat? Toh tumhare liye yeh sab normal hai. Hey bhagwaan!" Naina hit her head

"Naina! Wahan kitchen mein khaana banane chali gayi kya?" Her father's yell made her compose herself, and Sameer smiled, seeing her fear

"Tumse toh main baad mein nipat-ti hun. Bohot hassi aa rahi hai na tumhe?" Naina said, kicking the bottles to the adjacent balcony

"Kya kar rahi ho? Unke saath football kyun khel rahi ho? Awaaz sunke tumhare gharwaale yahaan aa jayenge" Sameer immediately closed the balcony door

"Kyun? Kya hua? Darr gaye?" It was Naina's turn to smile now

"Kya yaar Naina!" Sameer complained, as he scratched his eyes and gave out a yell

"Wahan chot lagi hai na? Kyun haat laga rahe ho? Ruko" Naina blew on the end of her saree and pressed it to his eye. Sameer looked at her with the another eye, seeing how she got concerned at even a scratch on him

"Naina. Mera tumhare parivaar ke saamne aise aane ka iraada bilkul bhi nahi tha" he clarified

"Theek hai. Ab chale?" Naina shook her head, telling him that she'll go out first.
_____________________________________________

Chachaji looked around the house in the meanwhile and saw many incense sticks burning in different corners of the room

"Yahan pe koi pooja-paath chal rahi thi kya?" He asked the duo

"Agar iske chacha ko pata chala yahan kya chal raha tha toh pooja toh humari hogi" Munna whispered to Pandit

"Aur Sameer toh lagta hai kitchen mein hi apna honeymoon mana ke aayega" Pandit whispered back

"Woh kya hai na- bohot dharmik aur sanskari hai humara bhai. " Munna tried to paint a rosy picture of their soon to be son-in-law

"School se hi mazak karne ki aadat gayi nahi tum logon ki" Rakesh said, smirking

At that moment, Naina came out of the kitchen first, with Sameer following behind, when Rakesh noticed Sameer's black eye

"Acha. Toh ab pata chala woh kaala chashma kyun lagaya hua tha. Kahan se ladd ke aa rahe the? Koi gang-wang join kar liya hai na?"

Sameer stopped in his tracks as he felt all the eyes in the room on him-

"Woh uncle main-" he fumbled. He cursed himself internally for forgetting about the black eye

"Mujhe pata tha. Kaha tha na maine Anand ki yeh ladka kuch theek nahi hai. Ab dekh lo iske karnaame" he started his usual drama

Chachaji too got concerned seeing the injury and said to Naina directly-

"Dekh Naina. Tere hamesha saath diya hai maine. Par main aise kisi ke saath teri shaadi nahi karwa sakta. Poochne pe ulte-seedhe jawab de raha hai, na parivaar ka koi ata-pata hai, ab yeh chot-"

"Par Chachaji.." Naina tried to hold him back

"Nahin Naina. Ab main aur yahan nahi ruk sakta. Jitna dekhna tha dekh liya maine. Chaliye bhaisahab. Aur tum teeno- khush raho" he said to the trio, before escorting the family towards the door

"Par khush rahe toh kaise- aap itna rooth ke jo jaa rahe hai. Bohot accha hai Sameer-hum uski guarantee dete hai. Uske uss chot ke zimmedar hum hai.." Munna tried to be the mediator

"Hote kaun ho tum log guarantee dene wale? Iske maa-baap ho kya?" Rakesh said dismissively

"Unse kahin zyada hai" Sameer said, his anger rising

"Aur tum. Hero. Dur raho meri beti se. Kisi ache ghar mein rishta karwa dunga main iska. Jahan ladke ke saath-saath ladke ka parivaar ka bhi sahara ho. Chal Naina" Rakesh was not in a mood to hear anything

"Kyun? Jinke parivaar nahin hote unki kya shaadi nahi hoti? Zindagi bhar akele rehne ki sazaa sunai jaati hai unko?"

The brothers looked at each other and Anand was the first one to sit down again

"Theek hai beta. Bolo. Kya bolna chahte ho? Hum sunn rahe hai" he gave an assuring look to Naina, who seemed worried
_____________________________________________

Sameer drained all the water from a glass. It was a tough task baring himself in front of people who were practically strangers to him-

"Bohot saalon se akela raha hoon main. Yaad bhi nahi kabhi kisine kaha ho ki ghar kise kehte hai. Jhoot nahin bolunga aapse, par parivaar kya hota hai- mujhe kabhi uska ehsaas hi nahi hua. Log mere zindagi mein aaye toh sahi- par kabhi tik nahi paaye-. Upar se Jin rishtedaaron par bharosa kiya unhone hi mere haq cheen li"

"Duniya toh zaalim hai hi. Aur akela kon nahi hai aajkal? Aur ye kuch rishtedaar toh hote hi hai bekaar" Rakesh said, reminiscing how his son often left him alone now

"Dekho Sameer. Mujhe bas isse matlab hai ki tum Naina Ko khush rakh paoge?" Chachaji came straight to the point

"Haan. Maana ki main itni zyada koi badi naukri nahi karta par itna jaan lijiye ki maine jise dil se apna maana hai- unke liye main kuch bhi kar sakta hun"

"Heera hai apna bhai yaar" Pandit said to Munna, while Munna simply nodded, holding back tears

"Sameer tumhe yeh sab kehne ki zaroorat nahi-"

"Zaroorat hai Naina. Itna samajh lijiye ki main aapki beti ke saare sapne poore karne ki koshish karunga. Usse kabhi apne armaan dabane nahi padenge mere ghar mein. Uske sapne toh kab ke mere ho chuke hai. Bas society ki nazron mein uska mera hona baaki raha. Iske aage mujhe aur kuch nahi kehna"

"Pandit" Chachaji looked at the duo.
"Pandit tum hi ho na?" He said, pointing at the leaner curly-haired boy

"Haanji. Main hi hoon" Pandit said, flabbergasted as why he was pointing at him

"Woh fridge se mithai lekar aana" Chachaji said, all serious

'Kaise kanjoos log hai yaar. Rishta nahi karna toh mithai bhi wapas maang rahe hai'  Munna whispered to Sameer

Pandit brought out the box and to everyone's surprise, Chachaji broke off a piece and fed Sameer then Naina, with Rakesh looking on, though not making any move to do the same.

"Iska matlab-" Sameer asked, not believing it

"Meri taraf se haan hai. Aur mujhe nahi lagta Bela Ko bhi koi dikkat hogi."

The couple looked at each other, who had believed that they'd never get the blessings of her elders, which was almost a dream for them seeing the first light of reality

So I updated. Written in a hurry.☹️ Do vote if you like it😊

Do you want me to write any wedding rituals as it's inching nearer in this story.🤔 I may try doing that🙂