A Loveless Arranged Marriage

Chapter 15. Time to welcome the baby

Previously, we saw that Deepa's father, mother, and brother came to Mumbai to celebrate Diwali with Rishi and Deepa. When they arrived in Mumbai, they were greeted by Rishi at CST station. That evening, Deepa prepared dinner for all of them. The next day, they did some shopping for Diwali, and over the weekend, they toured around Mumbai. They celebrated Diwali with joy and happiness, and after four days, Jayraj, Parvathi, and Ashwin returned to their hometown. Now, let's see what happened next.

It was 3:15 p.m. in Rishi's office. Arvind sat still, lost in thought and clearly tense about something. Rishi noticed and asked, "Hey Arvind, what's wrong?" Arvind replied, "Nothing." Rishi, unconvinced, said, "I can tell you're stressed. Just tell me what's bothering you." Arvind hesitated for a moment and then said, "I was thinking about whether I should cancel the baby shower or not." Surprised, Rishi asked, "Cancel the baby shower? Are you mad or what?" Hearing the exchange, Akshaya, Ibrahim, and Sunny joined in, asking in unison, "Hey Rishi, what happened?" Rishi replied, "Arvind is thinking about canceling the baby shower." Shocked, they all turned to Arvind, asking why he was considering such a thing.

Arvind sighed and began explaining, "Yesterday, I tried to inform my parents about the baby shower, and I also told Shahina's parents. I thought it would be great if our parents could attend the event. I knew they would be angry, but I was confident I could convince them somehow. When I told my parents about the baby shower, they simply said, 'Why are you telling us this?' That's when I realized they had disowned me. After that, I informed Shahina's parents, and they said, 'The girl who dishonored our family should not come to her own baby shower. We don't care whether she lives or dies.' I got so angry that I yelled at them. When I told Shahina, it led to a fight between us this morning. After all of this, I'm wondering why I should even hold the baby shower."

Akshaya responded, "Arvind, you're seriously going to cancel the function for this? You and Shahina had a registered marriage against both your families' wishes. Of course, they're still angry, but that doesn't mean you should cancel the baby shower entirely." Ibrahim added, "Arvind, think about why you're holding this function and for whom." Then Sunny chimed in, "I'm younger than you, Arvind, but I have to say, you're wrong here, bro." Rishi followed, saying, "Arvind, out of all of us, you're usually the one who makes the right decisions. But this time, you're making the wrong call. Don't cancel this function—it's an important moment in Shahina's life. When you go home after work, apologize to her."

After hearing his friends' words, Arvind realized his mistake. He admitted, "You're right. I was wrong to even think about canceling the function over something like this." Akshaya smiled and said, "Good. Now that you understand, focus on how you're going to organize this baby shower." With that, they all returned to their work.

After some time, Arvind's workday came to an end, and he returned home. When he arrived, Shahina was sitting on the sofa, watching television. She was in her 35th week of pregnancy. Upon seeing Arvind, she switched off the TV and went to the bedroom. Arvind, noticing this, understood that Shahina was still upset. He followed her to the bedroom to check on her.

When he entered the room, he saw Shahina sitting on the bed, scrolling through her social media on her phone. Although she saw Arvind come in, she ignored him. Arvind approached the bed and sat beside her.

He began, "Shahina, I'm really sorry for what happened this morning. I shouldn't have taken it so seriously. I got angry because your parents said they don't care whether you live or die. I was just trying to convince both our parents so we could have the baby shower with their blessings. But please forgive me. Say something, Shahina."

Shahina finally spoke, "What do you expect me to say? Arvind, it's been two years since we went against our parents. We know they're still angry with us. If we invite them to the baby shower, their answer will either be yes or no. We shouldn't let their harsh words affect us." Arvind responded, "But they said they don't care if we live or die. How do you expect me to just ignore that?" She replied, "You don't need to react at all. One day, our parents will realize their mistake. For now, we need to focus on our lives and the fact that we're about to have a child." Arvind sighed and said, "Hmm, let's have dinner. It's getting late." They left the bedroom to have dinner.