3. You may kiss the bride- wedding anniversary Oct21

5 days ago

manjiri

@m4manju

Winning entry for the OS competition on India-forums for ArShi's 9th wedding anniversary celebration. Oct'2021

Title - 'You may now kiss the bride'

Love can reduce anyone to anything! He had said that years ago, but he experienced it every day. Especially when he, the-mighty-business-tycoon-ASR, was taken to task by the one and only, Sanka devi. What a pedagogue she was!

Like today. He could not believe what he heard. His capabilities were being questioned; his love was being questioned. And over what? writing some sentimental lines? Even after all this time and all that he had done. How could she doubt his writing prowess?

"Why can't I? Give me one reason to prove otherwise."

Challenging him was her second-favorite pass time. First was still non-stop chattering about any silly thing in the world!

"Challenge accepted. I will prove it to you that it's not a big deal to write wedding vows."

And he loved accepting those challenges thrown by her. Winning or losing didn't matter, as "the actual prize" was always his to keep! His beautiful, amazing, crazy wife, his Khushi.

"Great to see you eager to lose Mr. Raizada. Just a small condition though, the vows must be exact 9, not one more, not one less. So, deal?"

Oh, how amazing it sounded whenever she addressed him Mr. Raizada, a huge turn on it was. And she had picked on his habits too, making deals out of everything.

"Sauda." He imitated her younger self, the way she would reply to his challenge, "Game on, Mrs. Raizada. I will see you on the battlefield, er I mean at the altar." Saying so, he leaned in and kissed her on her cheek, as if to seal the deal. Some things should never be changed, kissing to seal a deal was one of them!

"Oh God, these two started again" Akash who was passing by the poolside saw his brother corner his sister-in-law for the gazillion'th time in last 10 years, took his son Ishan, niece Harsha and nephew Hridan away from there.

It all started a month ago when Arnav and Khushi had gone to attend Arnav's friend's wedding in Goa, which was a Church wedding. The whole experience was new to Khushi, and she curiously observed each ritual. She saw how the bride was escorted by her father and how she followed two little girls (they were called flower girls, her husband told her), who threw rose petals in the path as the bride walked to the groom. The minister started officiating the wedding by reading a passage from the holy book followed by bride and groom reading their wedding vows for each other. Finally, they were asked if they were ready to accept each other as husband and wife to which they gladly agreed. However, Khushi was left scandalized as the bride and groom kissed each other lip-to-lip after ring exchange, in front of the whole audience.

Arnav who was still not a fan of any type of ceremonies, was just busy watching his wife and her reactions to each ritual. The awe with which she watched the whole ceremony, dreamy look on her face as the couple were announced man and wife and finally shock as they kissed. And Arnav could not stop himself from teasing her, as he whispered in her ear, "That is exactly what I wanted to do in our wedding you know?". The delicious combination of blush and horror on her beautiful face was worth watching.

But now, a month since they returned from that wedding, all she was talking was how lovely it was for the couple to write their vows and make those promises to each other.

So, they decided that their wedding anniversary this year would serve as a perfect event for this 'vow writing competition'. And irrespective of the 'results', Arnav had decided her gift, trip to Hawaii! A much-needed romantic getaway. He was eager to see her reaction to his 'surprise'.

On the anniversary eve, everyone was gathered in the hall which was decorated to celebrate 9 glorious years of togetherness for their beloved Chote and his gorgeous wife Khushi. And the theme was Church wedding!

NK had helped explaining the Raizada and Gupta families about Church weddings and what it comprises of. Payal volunteered to be bridesmaid and Akash, best man. Little Harsha was the flower girl, while Ishan and Hridan were ring bearers.

They were all seated in their makeshift benches and looked at the dais where a handsomely dressed Arnav, in a navy-blue Ralph Lauren suit, was waiting for Khushi, besides NK who took the role of the minister. Amongst the enchanting music, Akash and Payal walked down the aisle and reached the dais. Then came the cute flower girl-Harsha, showing her dimpled smile to her father as she threw the rose petals along the walkway for her mother.

And finally, the music changed to indicate arrival of the bride. The audience held their breath, as they saw an elegantly dressed Khushi, wearing a white gown-with-golden borders, being escorted by Shashi, slowly reaching the dais. She was glowing with happiness and Arnav felt butterflies in his stomach to see this gorgeous woman approach him, as they set to be tied in holy matrimony, once again!

The couple now stood in front of each other, and NK started speaking,

"Dearly beloved, we all are gathered here today to witness the union of this amazing, wonderful couple, who I proudly call my family. The angry-young-man-turned-loving-partner Nannav and beautifully charming Khushiji. We will now hear them recite their wedding vows to each other. Nannav?" NK gestured Arnav to start and he cleared his throat before speaking,

"Khushi, before I met you, I was a living machine. My life was meaningless, it lacked happiness. But then you walked in my life or rather fell in my arms and literally changed my perspective of looking at things. However, looking back, I realize there are a few things I would change from our story and since I can't go back in past, here are my promises for our future.

I promise to always trust you Khushi. First and foremost! I promise to never push you away, no matter what mood I am in. I promise to return home on time EVERYDAY and give you all my evenings. I promise to hear your stories and not make excuses and never shout at you. I promise to help you raise our kids and not spoil them, well at least not much. I promise to respect your wishes. I promise to always love and cherish you as we grow old together. I promise to stand by you in sickness and health and never leave you alone. And finally, I promise to love you till my last breath. I love you Khushi, for forever."

By the time he was done, Khushi was already crying. However, she composed herself and started reading, "Arnav ji, I cannot begin to explain what you mean to me. You are the beat of my heart, soul of my being. You make me feel so loved, so cherished, every day. And I realize I don't say this enough. So, I will start by saying thank you! Thank you for loving me so much, for giving me this wonderful family and for showing that side of you that world is unknown to.

Arnav ji, I promise to not keep any secrets between us and always tell you everything on my mind. I promise to always listen to you before arguing just to prove you wrong. I promise to always stand by you, no matter where life takes us. I promise to help you take care of our family and protect them from any troubles. I promise to give you more time. I promise to be your strength, your confidante, your friend. I promise to always be there for you and our 3 kids and never ever leave you alone. I promise to stand by you in sickness and health. And finally, I promise to love you in your every avatar, till my last breath. Hamesha".

By now everyone had tears in their eyes. As this way of getting married was new to them and the whole exchange made them feel giddy.

They watched as Arnav and Khushi exchanged the rings.

"I now announce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride", NK who took the role to officiate this wedding, announced with a wide grin. And everyone started clapping.

But Khushi started fiddling in her place. Their whole family was around, including their kids. How could they kiss in front of everyone? 'Hey Devi Maiyya, what should I do now?' She nervously closed her eyes as Arnav held her hand and slightly pulled her to him. He looked at her, her eyes tightly shut, lips quivering. She was so adorable, and so his! He leaned in as she braced herself in anticipation of the kiss. However, she felt his lips touch her on her forehead, kissing her there. She opened her eyes to look at his, with overwhelming love.

"By the way Khushi, I think you made a mistake in your vows. We have 2 kids, Harsha and Hridan, not 3" he said pointing to them in the crowd, and everyone started looking at Khushi curiously.

"Nahi Arnav ji. I did not make any mistake. I meant our 3kids, Harshu, Hridu and this little one" she lightly touched her tummy

"You mean, you are-" she wasn't, was she? Another bundle of joy on their way?

"Yes, we are going to have a baby." she said smiling through her tears of joy. And even if Arnav was hearing her say this for the third time in their lives now, he still felt the same amount of overwhelming joy.

"Screw Hawaii, this is THE best anniversary gift I could ever get" as he pulled her in a hug, everyone clapped and cheered for this much-in-love couple and showered their blessings on them. It was obvious who won the competition!

--*--

A/N - I am no expert in Church weddings so please forgive me if I mentioned anything wrong. My knowledge is based on TV shows and movies :P. And this was my vision of arshi getting married once again in a special way 😊😊🥰 I had to use different names for their kids than the ones I use in 'Choti si duniya' for the competition's sake (Like my friend Sumi says, Hridan's name is inspired by Hritik's kid 😍and Harsha means happiness i.e Khushi 💕)

There is a second OS too, I'll post that sometime next week. So you guys can read this one for the weekend (also, an update of 'choti si duniya' coming up, do check it as well) 🤗

I had started this book earlier this year as my first EVER ArShi writeup so it's special for me 😇