Fahad's POV:

I had flown back to Karachi to let my parents know about my marriage plan with Rubab. Rubab had told me she was going to talk about it with her family and update me too. Aik tou samajh nahi arahi woh mazak kar rahi hai ya serious hai kyunke uski shakal waisi ki waisi hi rehti hai. (It is really hard to figure out whether she is joking or not cause her expressions never change.) I don't know about her parents but I had a feeling my parents were going to react positively. Abbu just wants me to get married and settle down. Ammi wants to raise my kids and become an amazing grandmother.

Well, it was still going to come as a surprise no matter how I worded it out. I was practically dropping a bomb on them. Ammi and Abbu had given me a free reign to marry whoever I had wanted until I was thirty. As long as they approve of the girl, I was good to go. They trusted my choice which was a surprise. If I didn't find anyone myself by thirty, they would take over. That was the deal we had decided on. I never thought I would find someone this early. I wasn't planning to get married this soon but that ice queen, she was something else. 

I still remembered the moment she had said those words to me in the hospital, just thinking about it sent shivers down my spine. She was willing to get married to me if other people don't find out. I felt my body tremble in excitement and anticipation at just the thought of Rubab being my wife. I guess I had to thank Zohaib for this but that was a matter for another day. Damn, what a sight it would be. Rubab Fahad Abroo. It seemed so right. Her name with mine was meant to be.

I had lied to Kamran and Ibraheem that I was going back to close a business deal. I didn't tell them about the thing with Salman yet though I did explain that the bandages on my head were cause of a car accident. If they find out about Salman, they are not going to rest until they start a full-fledged war with the Iftikhar Chaudhary family. An eye for an eye, blood for blood.

Don't get me wrong, unlike Rubab who wasn't going to tell Zoya or Misha, I was planning to tell both of them about my nikkah with Rubab. I know that the second I am a married man, the first thing I am going to do is hug Rubab because she won't let me do more than that at the moment and then I am going to call Ibraheem and Kamran to tell the good news. We had a bro-code after all. Plus, they will kill me if they find out in some other way. Ibraheem tou meri chamri utaar de ga aur Kamran mujhe gaari se bahir phenk de. (Ibraheem would rip off my skin and Kamran would toss me off the car.)

The moment I landed back in Karachi, abbu and his guards were waiting to receive me at the exit gate. He looked graceful as ever. This man never ages. His grin disappeared the moment he looked at my forehead. Oh shit yeah, I still had to tell him about this too.

"Yahan par kya howa hai, Fahad? (What happened here, Fahad?)" He placed his arms on my shoulders and inspected my bandages closely. He gave me a warning look that assured me that I better not lie about this.

"Abbu woh gaari lag gayi thi. Itni gheri chot nahi hai. Bus bandages ki waja se ziada lag raha hai. (Abbu, I had a car accident. It's not that deep. It just appears like that cause of the bandages.)" He looked like he didn't agree with me at all. He narrowed his eyes and looked at me carefully.

"Nashay men chalay rahay thay? Kitni dafah samjhaya hai ke agar kuch piya ho tou driver ko sath le kar jaya karo. (Were you drunk when you were driving? How many times have I told you to keep a driver with you if you are going to get drunk?)" He sighed as he signaled one of the guards to grab my hand-carry. The guard nodded as he brought my luggage to the car while I walked with dad. "Shukar karo, tumhari ammi sath nahi ayi. Usne pareshan honay se pehle mere se lar parna tha ke apne yeh kaise honay diya. (Be grateful that your mother didn't accompany me. She would have scolded me for letting this happen before panicking about your injury.)

"Lekin dekhna tou unko parega hi. Phir abbu tab ap handle karlen unko. (She will have to see me eventually. Handle it when she does abbu.)" I smiled at him shamelessly while he gave me a glare before sitting beside me. 

"I can't even slap you in the back of the head because you are already injured. So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about that you flew to Karachi so urgently?" Abbu turned to look at me, curiosity evident in his words. There was a mysterious twinkle in his eyes. Something I had clearly inherited from him.

"I will tell you and ammi together. I want to see your reactions in one go."

"Ab kiska sar phar kar agaye ho? Zohaib abhi khud kuch daer pehle discharge howa hai. (Whose head did you break this time? Zohaib barely discharged from the hospital a while ago.)" Abbu grimaced as he shook his head. His phone vibrated and he lit up when he saw the caller id. It must be ammi. "Gee begum? Haan gee apke beetay ko pick karliya hai menay. Nahi howa men late. Haan gee karlen baat. Yeh lou, apni ammi se baat karo. (Yes wife? Yes, I have picked up your precious son from the airport. No, I was not late. Yes, you can talk to him. Here, talk to your mom.)" Abbu rolled his eyes as he handed me the phone.

"Asalam o Alaikum walida mohtram. Gee, men theek thaak. Ap bhi theek hain na? Bus das minute men pohanch rahay hen. Haan gee, I love you too. Acha men baat karata hun. (Asalam o Alaikum, dear mother. Yes, I am fine. You are fine too right? Yes, we will be reaching in 10 minutes. Yes, I love you too. Okay, I will give it back to him.)" Abbu rolled his eyes before taking the phone back from me.

"Sahi hogaya. I love you. Menay kaha hai I love you. Mera I love you too kahan hai? Acha theek hai ghar akar baat karte hen is par. (Alright fine. I love you. I said I love you. Where is my 'I love you too'? Okay fine, we will talk about this when we get home.)" Abbu sighed tiredly as he pinched the bridge of his nose. It was always funny watching the two of them converse. They were really adorable. And then it dawned on me, this could be me and Rubab in the near future. Just the thought of it made me ecstatic.

As expected we reached within ten minutes. Ammi was standing at the entrance of the villa with a big smile on her face. Her smile was contagious and I found myself smiling. She looked beautiful as always. She wrapped the shawl around her tightly as she waited patiently for me and abbu to get out.

"Allah madad karay meri. (God help me.)" Abbu said in defeat as he stepped out. I could already sense the upheaval that ammi was going to cause. The moment she saw me, her smile faded much like abbu's when he had seen me at the airport. Her expressions changed from shock to sadness to anger as she directed her glare at abbu. Oh boy.

"Yeh kya hua hai humare beetay ko? Yeh kaise howa hai? Ap kahan thay? (What has happened to our son? How did this happen? Where were you?)" Abbu gave me a 'I told you so' look before he started to calm my ammi down.

"Begum, meri baat suno. Itni gheri chot nahi hai. Chotha sa car accident howa tha. (Wife, listen to me. It's not that deep. There was a minor car accident.)" He brought his hands forward to calm her down. I tried my best to suppress my smile as I watched the drama unfold.

"Gheri nahi hai? Kya apko dikhayi nahi de raha ke uske sar par pattiyan lagi howi hen? (It's not deep? Can you not see that he is wearing bandages?)" Ammi tied her arms over her chest as she eyed abbu in dismay. Abbu sighed in defeat as he finally gave me a 'help me' look.

"Nahi woh mujhe nazar araha hai lekin pareshani ki baat nahi hai, jaan. (No, I can see that but there is nothing to worry about, love.)" Ammi narrowed her eyes as she finally turned away from him and rushed to my side.

"Ammi, abbu is right, there is nothing to worry about. The doctors just bandaged my forehead so I don't get any infection." I hugged her to calm her down and she hugged back as she looked at me with sadness in her eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Gee ammi." I nodded my head as I kissed her forehead. "Ajayen andar chalte hen, menay ap logon se aik zaroori baat karni hai. (Come on, let's go inside, there is something important I want to talk to you guys about." I had grown really impatient. I wanted to tell them about Rubab as soon as possible.

"What is it? You are not injured somewhere else too, are you?" Ammi snapped her head in abbu's direction causing him to flinch in surprise. He just shook his head rapidly.

"No, no. I am fine. I am actually better than fine. I am perfect." I wrapped an arm around ammi's shoulder and another around abbu's shoulder as I walked them into the house. Once we were all seated in the lounge with ammi sitting on a double sofa with abbu right beside her with his arm over her shoulder, they both looked at me expectantly. There was no beating around the bush. I had to tell them. I took in a large intake of breath as I finally broke the news to them.

"Ammi, abbu, there is someone I want to marry. We were hoping to get nikkah-fied in the coming week." I saw Abbu's eye bulge wide while ammi just clapped her hands happily.

"What? When? Who? Huh?" Abbu looked like he was processing the information in his head. The confusion was evident on his face.

"Who is she? This is such wonderful news!" Ammi didn't look surprised at all. She just seemed happy. Very happy. "Finally!"

"Her name is Rubab." I didn't get to say anymore as Abbu cut me off.

"Rubab? Zohaib's ex fiancé, Rubab?" I was about to reply back but Ammi beat me to it. She gave a dangerous look at abbu and then turned to look at me expectantly.

"Hush. Let him finish. I am so excited."

"Yes, abbu that one. I told you, I really liked her." I smiled genuinely as I told them this. Ammi just aww-ed while abbu was still shocked at my response.

"What does she do? How many siblings does she have? What do her parents do?" The questions were endless but fortunately, I had done my research.

"She is 22 and is becoming a doctor. She will graduate in one and a half year. She has two siblings. An older sister and a younger brother. Her parents are doctors too. Her father is a cardiologist and her mother is a gynecologist." I answered truthfully.

"A doctor? That's wonderful! Show me a picture of her." Ammi left the sofa and sat beside me. Abbu followed suit and sat on the other side. I complied as I opened a folder on my phone which only contained her pictures. I opened one of her most recent pictures and handed it to ammi.

"She is so pretty. She will make an amazing daughter in law. Look at those eyes and that nose. So defined." She handed the phone to abbu so he could look too. "When should we go ask for her hand in marriage?"

"Are you content with her and this news?" When ammi nodded excitedly, abbu smiled as he replied. "Well then, whenever you say, begum."

"Okay then let's leave tomorrow. This is so exciting. My one and only son is getting married! Imagine the beautiful kids you two will have! I can't wait to tell Mehwish and your aunts." Mehwish was Ibraheem's mother and ammi's bestfriend.

"Ammi, before you do all this, there is something you should know. Abbu you too. Please let me finish." Ammi wasn't aware of the whole Zohaib story and abbu wasn't updated with the latest news so I started to tell them the story from the start. They listened to me patiently as I narrated the entire story of how I had met her five years ago and how we had reunited on her engagement with Zohaib. How she was Ibraheem's wife, Misha's best friend. How I had beaten up Zohaib for her and how she had leaned on me for the first time. I then finally told them about Salman and the car accident and the decision Rubab and I had come to in the hospital yesterday. Ammi and abbu were silent as they listened to the entire story and took it all in.

"Are you willing to accept her after all this?" I was careful with my words as I waited for a reaction.

"Do you love her?" Ammi's question had taken me by surprise. I truly didn't know the answer but I knew one thing and I decided to tell them that.

"I know I can't afford to lose her. I like her way too much to hand her over to someone else. I want her name to be joined with mine. I want her to be accepted into our family. To become one of the Abroo's. I want her to raise my kids. I want to grow old with her. To experience every stage of life with her. I want to understand her and teach her that it is okay to rely on someone else. I miss her when I don't see her and I am always worried about her well being. I want her to know that I am true to my word and I will never let her down. For the rest of my life." I turned to look at them, overwhelmed with feelings.

"You are finally in love, my dear son." Abbu smiled genuinely as he looked at ammi. "That's what I feel for your mother too. Every single day." Ammi leaned into abbu and for a second, I felt like I saw my future. Rubab leaning into me with a soft smile on her face while I held her close to me.

"I had accepted her the moment you had told me you had liked her. You have really grown up, Fahad. I am so proud of you, my dear son. A broken engagement due to a toxic life partner does not decide anything. She should not be labeled for this. Your father accepted me and married me when I was at my lowest. For that, I will forever love him and be grateful to him. We will gladly welcome her to the Abroo family. She looks like she is made for it. It is okay if we don't tell people right now, I am sure, a time for that will come too. Let's go get your bride." Ammi ushered me to come towards her and abbu and I gladly joined them in their embrace.

I didn't know I was this nervous to break the news to them but I was grateful that I had been blessed with amazing parents. I didn't remember the last time tears had escaped my eyes but at this moment, I was content. I was at peace. I was grateful.

Author's Note:

Hello and Asalam o Alaikum Lovelies!

This is probably one of the longest chapters I had written but it was an important one. I know you guys are missing Zoran but this really needs to happen. Don't worry, I will write on them too. I am just really excited for Rubab and Fahad. How are we feeling after this chapter? Who expected Fahad to get emotional?

Secondly, I noticed that some of you were really impolite in the comments on the last chapter. I don't want to call anyone out in particular but I would just like to say some things. One of you accused me of not writing the previous chapter which really broke my heart. It is really sad when you work this hard and then hear or read such comments. I am sure it wasn't intentional but please be careful of what you say to others. The world is already a harsh place so please be kind. Moreover, many of you need to be more understanding. An author cannot write well under pressure. I know you guys can't wait for updates because as a fellow reader, I get anxious too but please don't ever force an author to update because not only does the quality of the chapters get ruined but the author also doesn't write in a good state of mind.

On a more positive side, thank you for such a wholesome and heartful reaction on the last chapter. It warmed my heart to see so many reactions. Have a wonderful day!