UNEDITED

Part - 55

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"My favorite thing to do is make memories with you"

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Veer had a restful sleep after a long time and he woke up refreshed but still his heart desired to lounge in bed for some more time cuddling his wife. Oh wait! "Where is my wife?" He sat up and looked around the room but he couldn't spot her there.

He heard noises coming from the vicinity of the kitchen so he figured his wife was there.

Sighing, he got off the bed, no more desiring to have a lazy time.

He wanted to be with his wife and help her if needed.

"Hey" he softly called her, leaning against the wall at the kitchen entrance.

Inayat was chopping vegetables and she momentarily paused the job in hand to look up at him and flash him a breathtaking smile.

Mashallah!

"Your hair is damp" he disapproved. "You need to blow dry it"

"I don't use blow dryers, Veer"

"Oh, well, you should have at least dried it properly with a towel. You will fall sick if you leave your hair wet so you better go..."

"It's almost dry." She said. She had no time to deal with her long hair now. She had to prepare breakfast for her husband. She wouldn't get to cook for him daily, right? "You tell me, why are you up so early?"

"Early? It's 7.30am and it's too late for me."

"Oh right" she hit her head for forgetting her husband's routine. "Breakfast will be ready in 20 minutes. Why don't you go freshen up by then?"

"I thought of doing a lot with you but having breakfast wasn't one among them."

"Oh? What did you think of doing with me?" She made a mistake by asking that.

"I thought of spending a long, long time in bed with you. I thought of us taking a shower together because I remember you agreeing to it. I thought of kissing you and..."

"Oh Veer!"

"You poured water in my dreamy dreams" he pouted.

"Good" She giggled.

"Can I help you with that?" He asked pointing to the chopping board.

"No, I will do it."

"I want to help you so please let me..." He took the knife from her hold and dragged the chopping board to his side, avoiding further protest from her. "I grew up seeing my mom and dad work together in kitchen and I found that lovely and romantic..."

"So you wanted to try that?"

"Exactly" he grinned and planted a quick kiss on cheek. She smiled.

"You didn't blush now" he pointed out.

"I am getting used to your kisses"

"Good"

"So what are we going to do for Naira for her wedding?"

"Honestly, I have no idea." He shook his head. "I feel everything is happening too quickly, Inayaa." This thought was nagging at the back of his head ever since he heard about his sister's wedding.

"You know why they have fixed Naira's wedding so soon, right? They want you to be a part of your twin sister's wedding, Veer" Once he had return to army after his short holiday, he wouldn't be back home until next year.

"I know but... I don't want my family to rush things for her on my account. I want Naira to have time to know this guy Yash, in and out. I want her to fall in love with him first and then have a beautiful wedding with him." He sighed as he stopped chopping. "She is dad and mom's princess and mine and Arjun's precious sister so she deserves nothing but the best of everything, Inayat."

"Aww, my baby is worrying too much." She walked around the kitchen island to reach him and give him a comforting hug.

Momentarily, Veer had to forget worrying about his sister and enjoy the hug his wife was willingly giving him. 

Oh, he also smiled at how sweetly his wife called him 'my baby' 

"Will you believe me if I say Naira is head over heels in love with Yash already? Will you believe me if I say she can't wait to get married to him and start a life with him? Will you believe me if I say she wished you had come home a couple of weeks earlier so that she could have gotten married by now?"

"You just say, Inayaa, I will believe you, blindly." He said, chuckling and feeling relieved knowing his sister was happy with this entire marriage thing.

"I have a vacant land in my name. I bought it a couple of years ago. I am thinking of gifting it to her for her wedding. What do you say?"

"Perfect. She can built her office there if she ever wants to set-up her own law firm."

"Yeah, she can do whatever she likes to do with that property. It's hers now." he said.

"We should also gift her a jewel set." She had planned to gift one so she wasn't going to change her idea.

"Oh, sure."

"I have chosen few antic designs which will look good on Naira. I have saved the pics in my phone. You check them and fix the one you like. We will get it custom-made for her."

"Cool" he agreed and they continued chopping and cooking in a comfortable silence.

"Are we expecting someone?" Veer asked Inayat, giving her a confused look when the door bell rang.

"No" Inayat looked equally confused.

"Okay. I will go see who it is" he said and walked out of the kitchen.

Few seconds later, he emerged into the kitchen carrying a bag in one hand and a bouquet in the other.

He gave the bouquet to her with a smile.

"You got this for me?" She asked beaming in joy.

His smiled slipped as he shook his head. "No" he said and bit his bottom lip feeling guilty for not being thoughtful and romantic.

"Oh" she didn't look upset. She gave him a smile silently telling him "It's okay." She only felt bad for asking whether the bouquet was from him and making him upset.

I should have known it's not my husband's thing to surprise me with bouquets and balloons and chocolates.

He is unromantic!

I am unromantic!

And that's what makes us a perfect couple!

"There is a note in it." She said as she opened the small card stuck on the wrapped and read it out "Come home soon, my babies. Mommy waiting. Love you <3 <3 "

"Aww... Ammi is so sweet." Her eyes welled up as she couldn't control her overwhelming happiness.

It took so many years for her to experince the same motherly love she had once experienced from her mother when she was a kid but she was glad she got it, eventually. 

Thanks to Allah!

"This is yet another gift from maa. Our driver dropped by to give these things to us on her behalf." he placed the bag on the counter.

"What's in it?" She asked as she checked through the bag.

"New clothes for us." Veer replied.

The bag contained a burgundy color slim fit shirt and a pair of black jeans for Veer and a burgundy color silk saree with black embroidery blouse for Inayat.

"Seems like we will be twinning" he muttered.

It wasn't something new to him. His mother often dressed him and Naira in same color clothes when they were young.

Now, it was his wife's turn to match with him.

"I love ammi's surprise gifts" She said hugging the bouquet closer to her chest and inhaling the sweet scent of the fresh flowers.

"Even I and this saree is the best gift of all." He said feeling the soft fabric.

"You love to see me in saree, don't you?"

"Absolutely."

After breakfast, Veer had a quick shower and wore the clothes his mother had sent him and he didn't bother to comb his crew cut hair. He stepped out of the room, leaving his wife to fully occupy it and take her own sweet time to get ready.

He dragged his feet to the room across the master bedroom. It was his and Naira's childhood bedroom.

He pushed the door open and stepped in. Instantly, he felt nostalgic and his heart ached to relive his childhood days. He had a wonderful, fun filled childhood with his twin sister and baby brother.

He looked around the room and was surprised to see the unaltered set-up.
The two single-cot beds on either side of the wall, the closet, the childhood photos, the study tables, the toy shelf, the trophies... Everything was in place. Only a new TV was installed in that room.

"How much I miss this home?"

"How much I miss my family?"

He stretched on his bed heaving a huge sigh and closed his eyes. 

A while later, Inayat came into that room to ask her husband whether they could go home.

"Veer" Inayat softly called him as she sat on the edge of the bed and cupped his cheek.

He took her hand off his cheek and placed it over his chest and smiled in contentment.

"What are you thinking?" She asked seeing him smile with his eyes closed.

"Just relishing some pleasant childhood moments"

"Tell me about it?" She twitched his lower lip making him open his eyes and his soft small smile broadened seeing his gorgeous wife decked up stunningly.

"What?" She asked smiling shyly.

"Why am I so lucky?"

"Haan?"

"I got the most beautiful woman in this world as my wife and that often makes me wonder why am I so lucky?"

She looked down at her lap, blushing and twisted her hair with her fingers.

That was when he noticed she wasn't wearing her hijab and she had French braided her super long and lush hair. 

"You are not going to cover your hair with hijab, today?"

"You have seen my hair so I thought..." She blushed.

For everything I say or ask, her blush is her beautiful reply. How cute?

"I see"

"I will still cover my hair with the loose end of the saree when we go home."

"Okay" he placed his hands on either side of her hip and pulled her closer to him and then placed his head on her lap.

"Veer, we have to go home." She reminded him.

"Give me ten minutes, please?"

"Hmm" she hummed and looked at the photos hung on the wall closer to the bed. She reached for a particular photo frame to take a close look at it.

It was Veer's photo from what seemed like a fancy dress competition.

Allah Allah! Even at that tender age he wanted to become a soldier? Aww, my darling man.

"Veer, you look so adorable in this Military costume..." she gushed "...but why do you look so grumpy?" 

Veer lifted his head off her lap and looked at that photo with a smile. "This pic has a story behind it"

"Oh?"

"You see that photo of Naira's?" He pointed to a photo hung on the opposide side wall.

"Which one?" There were so many photos and she couldn't figure which one he was pointing at.

"That center one. Naira with baby Arjun."

"Oh that one. It's so cute."

"Yes, it is. Well, Naira & I took part in our school fancy dress competition when we were 6 years old and at that time only these two photos were taken."

"Oh nice"

"My dad suggested me to dress up like a soldier and I did. He even wrote down a huge passage praising army folks and made me mug it up and speak it on the stage. I was so confident I would win the first prize but I lost it to my sister." He pouted.

"Ow"

"She was supposed to dress up like a barbie doll as mom suggested."

"Oh but why is she dressed up like..." Like who? She couldn't tell exactly.

"Naira's barbie outfit was so tight and she tore it while wearing it. She started crying and refused to wear the torn dress. Maa had no other go but to go and get her a new one. She left me, Naira and baby Arjun to our grandparents who came to attend our school function and went shopping but she couldn't come back with the Barbie dress before the event started."

"Oh then how did she win..."

"Maa didn't reach but dad reached our school on time, for the first time." He chuckled.

"First time?"

"Dad was always busy and he missed all our school events, this day was one exception."

Inayat smiled.

"The moment she saw dad, she ran to him and cried that she couldn't participate in the competition as she didn't have the costume."

"Aww, poor Naira"

"No, it's poor Veer" he pouted. "My dad trained me for three nights on how to walk, talk and salute like a soldier. He kept reassuring me that I would win for sure... but seeing his daughter cry he shifted sides." He said sadly. "That's the day I realized dad loves Naira more than me."

"Aww...no." She denied to agree. Veer shrugged as if it didn't matter to him anymore and continued the story.

"He quickly wiped off her stupid barbie makeup, undid her hairdo and left her face makeup free and her hair loose. He easily made her look like maa as you know Naira is maa's carbon copy."

Inayat nodded her head in agreement.

"He also knew Naira finely imitates maa so it wouldn't be difficult for her to speak like maa on the stage but what pissed me so much was my dad giving baby Arjun to Naira and telling her to take him along with her." That explained why baby Arjun was in the picture.

"She cutely talked about the struggles a mother goes through while raising a baby, all the while rocking baby Arjun in her arms and that impressed every single aunty presented there."

"She won because of her spontaneous speaking talent. No wonder she is a fine lawyer now."

"No! That cute little boy won her extra points and made her win over me. That's unfair, right?" He argued.

"You had a riffle in your hand and she had a baby..."

"He was not a prop!" He grumbled. "He was a baby, a cute and happy baby."

"He still is" Inayat commented, smiling.

"You know what Inayat? I hero-worship my dad. I always believe that whatever my dad does is for the best but only on that day I couldn't understand why he did what he did. I felt so betrayed and I started yelling at him that I lost because of him. He kept saying sorry to me. He said he only wanted my sister to participate in the competition and he didn't know she would win but I wasn't listening to any of it."

"It's okay. You were just a kid."

"Yeah but later when I calmed down, dad made me understand certain things."

"What?"

"He said it was a nice tribute to maa so I should appreciate Naira and celebrate her winning.

He said maa was worried about Naira being distant with baby Arjun so to create some bond between them he gave him to her and also he felt he would complete her 'mother' role perfectly.

And finally he said "Veer, you are angry on me for losing the competition, right? Alright, every time you wear the army uniform, I will salute you as a way of apology for what I did today. That thrilled me so much."

"Is that why every time abu sees you he greats you with a salute?" Inayat asked in shock.

"That and out of respect too. He immensely respects me for what I do now."

Inayat smiled proudly.

"Well, when I was young I often wear this army uniform just to make my dad salute me but later, I started loving this uniform. I wanted to wear it for real. I wanted to work for the nation rather than work for a small organization."

"You are an achiever, Veer"

He smiled. "When I turned 18, I made my career decision. I told dad I am doing mechanical engineering just for a piece of paper (Degree certification) and am not going to find a job in that field. I want to join Indian Army and he wasn't surprised at all. After all he only lit the fire nah? He just proudly announced to maa that her dream of giving one of her children to the Motherland is coming true."

"It was ammi's dream?"

"Apparently so" he nodded. "Well, that's the day I realized whatever my dad does is for maa and her happiness." He couldn't help but laugh.

"There is a quote, Veer - "Every love story is beautiful but ours is my favorite"

Before she could complete what she was about to say, he asked "And you are going to say my parents love story is your favorite, don't you?"

"Yeah. Their love story seems the best and my favorite."

"I couldn't agree more with you."

"Well, now, get up. I am taking you home."

"Taking me home?"

"Yep! I am going to drive abu's car back to home. Before you ask, Abu taught me car driving and I even own a license now."

"Wow. You never told me?"

"Surprise"

Seriously he was surprised seeing all the positive changes in his wife.

--0--

Arjun jogged down the stairs and headed to the living room to get the newspaper where he spotted his mother neatly placing fresh flowers in a copper metal vase placed besides the sofa. "Good morning, mom" he greeted her with a kiss on her cheek.

"Morning" she said gruffly. Arjun took the spray bottle kept on the table and sprayed water on the flowers she had just arranged. "Beautiful flowers nah, mom?"

"Hmm"

"Tulips are Veer bro's favorites, right?"

"Hmm"

"You specially ordered for him?"

"Hmm" she hummed again, not at all interested in having a chat with him. She was mad at him.

"When are they coming?"

Without answering him, she snatched the spray bottle from his hand and moved away to spray some on the Bonsai plants kept at the corners.

"Mom, what's wrong?" He asked in concern. "Having headache or something?"

"You are my headache, Arjun!" She snapped.

"Mom, why do you say like that?" He asked in a hurtful tone.

Sighing, Madhu placed the spray bottle down on the floor as she slumped on the couch. "I am sorry, baby" she whispered.

Arjun sat beside her and took her hand in his. "Look at me, mom?"

"What?" She looked at him.

"I am your doctor now and you are going to tell me what's bothering you?"

"I am so tensed since last night, doctor"

"Why exactly?"

"My daughter came home at around 1.30am and my son at 4.30am. What our neighbors will think about my kids if they had seen them coming home at untime?"

"Who cares about what they think?"

"That's exactly what my husband said but I care. My daughter is getting married in two weeks and I don't want any stupid rumours to spread around about her."

"What rumours?"

"That she was dropped home by a guy at late hours and she had a long chat with him on the street?"

"That guy was her soon to be fiance"

"But our neighbors don't know that, do they?"

"Rumours may spread as you worry but no one will believe, especially Yash jijz. If he believes anyone then it will be Naira di and if he believes anything then it will be what Naira di says. They trust and understand each other so well."

"You think?"

"Yes. Now let's move on to your son's matter. Tell me what exactly this rascal did?"

"Hey! Give respect. He is my son."

"Sorry"

"Hmm. He sneaked into his own house like a thief at 4.30 in the morning."

Like a thief? So much of giving me respect, mom!

Arjun grinned sheepishly. "From where did you spy me?"

"That's not important now! What's important is almost everyone in this street knows his girlfriend lives two blocks away from here."

"Okay"

"So what will the neighbors think if they see my son sneaking into his home after spending the night at his girlfriend's place?"

"They will think the kids were doing group study."

"Like fuck they will think like that!" Madhu shouted.

"No cursing, please."

"Arjun, baby, don't do this. It doesn't look good to see from the outside." Being a mother she couldn't openly tell him certain things. "There is no elder in her house to monitor you two." She tried to elaborate "So when you spend hours at her place, people will think so wrongly about you. Do you get what am I saying?"

He nodded his head.

"Good. Ask her to come here and spend some time with you instead of you going there." This way I can keep my eagle eye on you two.

"Mom, I came to talk to you about that only. Yesterday, Kathy and I..."

"You guys ironed out your issues and got back together. I know that already."

"How?"

"If that's not the case, you wouldn't have spent the night there. She would have kicked you out and you would have come home sulking like every other night."

"Right. Well, mom, Kathy and I have decided to give you what you wanted."

"What?"

"Peace of mind."

"How?"

"We are going to take our relationship little serious and stop fooling around."

"Really? For how long?"

"Yes. We are going to maintain a friendly relationship till we finish our studies."

"Finally! Finally, I am hearing something sensible from you, Arjun" she pulled her son and kissed his forehead. "Thank you. Thank you, my darling baby for putting an end to my endless worries."

"But mom, I have some conditions"

"What are they?"

"You have to accept Kathy as my girlfriend"

"I have already accepted her, Arjun"

"Right. I don't want you to object her coming to our home and doing combined studies with me."

"I have already invited her to our home."

"Alright. I want her to be a part of Naira di's wedding."

Madhu rolled her eyes, irritated. "She is already a part. Even two days ago, when we ladies went for Naira's engagement shopping, I took her with me, didn't I?"

"Point. So tonight I can bring her with me to the pre-engagement dinner we have with the Arora family?"

"Of course you can but make sure she wears something decent."

"Cool."

"That's all or you have any more stupid conditions?" she asked.

"That's all for now. Love you, mom."

"Love you too, baby. Now let me go see what your sister is doing in that kitchen."

"What business she has in the kitchen?" Arjun asked, puzzled.

"She is learning cooking from your dad" as he is the better cook than me!

"Great. No lunch today." That comment earned him a smack from his mother.

...to be continued!

Tooooo long update... I have been writing this update for nearly a month now in bits and pieces. Lol!

I wanted to show Naira and Rishab's kitchen scene too where they talk about Yash but I stopped the update here as it already went over 3900 words.

Next update... FamJam moments!

Hope you all liked this update. Please VOTE and COMMENT your views.

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I know this story is moving really slow but this is the only way I know to write this story. And this story is not going to end any day soon. It will take at least 100 parts in total before I draw the END line.

If you guys have patience and interest, please do comtinue reading this book otherwise it's fine. No one likes to read a boring book, right?

Thanks in advance!