The Arranged Marriage

In the PAST: Decisions, Decisions

Sahil POV
What Damiana told me could not have killed me anymore. Raising a child is no easy feat. It requires skills. Skills that I don't have. Don't even bring up Aisha. Her forlorn face broke my heart. I didn't know how much I actually liked her until I didn't have the choice to anymore. I could see on her face that she was disappointed in me and she was disappointed in my actions. I could tell she wanted an explanation and I could tell she felt bad for me. Even then, she couldn't be my first thought. My first thought was Damiana and my baby that was growing inside of her. My second thought was what my parents would think of me. I was already such a disappoint to them that I could not bear anymore of that look in their eyes every time I looked at them. Yet I knew that I had to head home now and give them this new news. If Dami hadn't already called and said anything already. These thoughts were going through my head as I pulled up to Dami's house. I was going to pick her up and my family and I were probably going to sit down with her and make decisions about my unborn child's future. "Get in", I growled at her. "Oh this is no walk in the park for me either. No need to be such a grouch about it Sahil", Dami snapped at me. "Well it's not every freaking day that someone tells you you're going to become a dad", I sarcastically laugh. "It's not every day that someone tells you you'll have to be a pig for 9 months either", she tells me. "Don't you dare talk about my child in that way Damiana. If you do anything to hurt my child, I promise you that I will make you regret ever meeting me", I warn her. She just gives me a blank look.
A few minutes later, I pull into my driveway. I get out of the car and close the door. Dami got out and slammed the car door. "Throwing a tantrum will not get you anywhere with me or my family Damiana. Just a word of advice", I told her. "I don't need your advice", she spat at me. I turned away from her and walked to the front door. Before I could ring the doorbell, Dad swung the door open and yelled at me. "Tell me what that vile girl said was a lie", he said. Mom just looked at me with sad eyes. "I'm sorry. It's not like I meant to. You have to believe me when I say that", I pleaded with them. "Come in darling", my Mom said to me. I walked in and waited by the front door for Dami to walk in too. We followed my parents silently to the foyer and took a seat at the couch far away from each other. "Would you like anything to drink?", my Mom asked. "No Mom, I'm good, thank you", I said. "Nope", Dami refused. My parents took a seat opposite of us and looked at us to begin. "Well you guys already know I'm pregnant. There's nothing else to it. Is this the part where you guys pay me to be quiet about what your son did to me?", she smirks at my parents. "First of all, don't speak to us that way. Second of all, you are not getting any money from us. Third of all, being a father is something Sahil should be proud of. Thus, we don't need to pay you a penny to keep your mouth shut about what happened. It'll be equally shameful for you either way. All we need you to do is let us know once that child is born. We will then be the sole guardians of that kid and you won't have to worry about him or her ever again. We will make sure his child is taken care for", said Dad as he laid out his terms. Obviously Damiana had already called my parents before she told me about any of this because otherwise, my parents would not have been able to make any decisions so soon. "Sure. I don't care just as long as you get this child away from me once it's born. I don't need the headache of a child", said Dami as if she didn't care what happened to her unborn child at all. "Great. As long as we agree about that, you will do everything to make sure this child is taken care of properly while he or she is in your possession. You will stop sleeping around with anything that breathes. You will eat healthy so as to ensure that this child is born healthy", Dad lays out some more rules. "Yeah yeah got it. Not be me for the next 9 months. Done. Can I go no?", Dami says. "Yes, you may leave now", Dad points to the door. She gets up and grabs her bag and leaves. "Now you need to listen to what we have to say about your recent behavior and the remedy to it", Dad gestures to me. "You have done as you wished all your life. We rarely placed any rules or boundaries that you had to follow. We never commented about most of your choices in life. We never said anything about what you did with that girl or any other girl either. Now, she's carrying your child and I doubt you have any idea of what you'll do as a father. That alone will place restraints on you that we never did. Let's see how you enjoy that", my Father huffed at me. "Sahil, your Father and I have come to a decision. An agreement of sorts", Mom finally spoke up. "Whatever I can do to fix what I have done is fine with me", I immediately said. "Wait till you hear our condition", Mom warned. Bring it on. I didn't think anything could be worse than Damiana's news. "Your Father and I have decided that we will set up an arranged marriage for you at an age selected by us. The girl will obviously be of our choosing. You are to comply with anyone we pick. No matter what happens, you will marry that girl and not complain one bit about it", said Mom. "Are you serious?", I asked incredulously. "Dead serious", my Father answered. "Do you agree? If you don't, you can consider paying for your college yourself. You can consider finding a place to live by yourself. You can consider any of your riches and anything in your will to be taken away", he continued. I could not believe them! I did not ever imagine them to go that extent. "Give me two minutes to think about it", I asked of them. "Of course darling", my Mom said. What was worse? Not getting any of what I was promised since childhood or getting it all but having to work it out with some random stranger? I guess it could depend on who the random stranger was. A minute later, I made up my mind. "I agree", I told my parents.

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