“What?” Armaan’s smile diminished, curiosity and disbelief mingling.
“Will you do the honor of becoming my husband, and sharing the rest of your life with me and our little one?” She gave him a shy smile, hoping he’d say yes.
Armaan swallowed and laughed in disbelief. He pulled her up and hugged her before choking out a “Yes.” Kissing her against the evening breeze, he muttered numerous ‘yes’ before they came up for air.
Mia was shocked to see his eyes misted. “Honey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ve been dreaming about this for months. I wanted to make this real for our baby. I wanted to legitimize this relationship for my child. More than anything else, I wanted to share the rest of my life with you. I’m honored to accept your proposal.” He gently kissed her knuckles.
Mia smiled through her tears. “I’m sorry for making you wait so long. I wanted to be sure this time around. And…” She bit her lip before she continued. “I wanted to be worthy of you. I wanted to be the best version of me before I married you.”
“You’re always the best version of yourself; every single day. With every battle you’ve overcome.” He sighed. “Now, I have only one question.”
“And that is?”
“Do we have the time for a quickie?”
“Armaan Malik!” She laughed out loud. “You are impossible, and I love you just the way you are. Now, come along, the wedding festivities are about to begin.”
“Oh, wait. I think I have it with me.” He quickly went inside and picked up his wallet. Taking out a stunning ring that had a big emerald stone in the center and smaller diamonds around, he put it on her ring finger. “The green reminded me of your eyes.” He kissed her.
“You had this all along?” Mia gasped. “It’s so beautiful. Thank you.” She kissed him back gently, once again grateful fate had led them to meet again. “I can’t wait to show it to the girls.”
“Oh, god. Now I have to endure an evening full of wedding talk.” He groaned, wincing.
“Shut up! Do you want a wedding or not?” She mock-glared at him.
“Of course, I do. Preferably somewhere private where we can just go sign some papers and move to the honeymoon quickly.”
Mia laughed. “I’ll see what I can do. Now come along.”
∞∞∞
When they walked into the private banquet hall, the others were already there. Rahul and Natasha were the perfect hosts for their father’s second wedding, while Neil and Tanya were busy being new parents. Armaan and Mia walked to the older couple and congratulated the newlyweds. They then proceeded to take part in the celebrations and dancing.
Several hours later, after most of the guests had gone back, Mia held her hand out, proudly displaying her ring. As expected, Natasha and Tanya were more than thrilled. The two women wanted to know it all - how he proposed, and how she expected. When they came to know it was Mia who proposed, Tanya gave a hi-fi. “You go, girl!”
Natasha wasn’t far behind. “You’ve grown leaps and bounds as a person from when we met more than a year back. Who knew we three would end up as wives for those three?” She indicated the best friends who were huddled together with their drinks.
“I know right?” Tanya smiled.
“I’m just worried about Rahul though. He doesn’t even seem interested in a family and settling down. Even papa has finally married Mrs. Mehra.” Natasha mulled, worry etched over her features. She was interrupted by a small commotion. The ladies looked toward their right to see Rahul looking at a younger woman.
“Hey, isn’t that the famous fashion and beauty blogger?” Tanya exclaimed, just as the men joined the ladies.
“Yep. Zoya. She’s my childhood friend. My mum and hers were best friends. Wait, what is Rahul doing with her? Hey, look.” The girls walked a little closer, trying not to laugh at Rahul’s stupefied expression.
Rahul Rai, the darling of the media and a politician who had celebrity status, was at a wit’s end on how to deal with the girl in front of her. Looking perfectly groomed from head to toe, the beautiful, young woman handed him her iPhone.
“What?” He was unused to someone thrusting their phone in his hand.
“Can you please take a pic, Rahul? I need to upload this to my Insta by tonight.”
“Huh, what?” He frowned at her. Was he hearing things? None apart from family spoke so casually to him. Definitely not a young woman he didn’t know.
Arjun, Neil, and Armaan were looking with rapt attention, trying to contain their amusement at their friend’s plight.
“Huh, know what? Forget it. I’ll find someone else. I hate to say this, but Rahul, you’re still hopeless.” She declared, before walking away with a huff.
