"Beta, you are now the wife of a Shah. There are other responisibilities that come with your wifely duties."
Badiya blushed on the mention of her wifely duties and wanted to smack her cheeks for turning red. She was sitting in Bi Jaan's room with other ladies after the nikkah was done and everyone had the dinner buffet arranged. It was a lavish event definitely but afterall it was the Shah of Haripur's coronation and wedding today.
"I hope you will live up to the expectations." Bi Jaan continued her pep talk.
"Jee." She said with her gaze bowed down. Her back had started to hurt now by carrying the heavy dress all day. Shehryar had definitely been a help in carrying the heavily embroided essemble as he held her hand whenever they had to walk and she leaned half of her weight on him.
Badiya didn't know how to feel. She was a married woman now. Are you supposed to instantly feel different after saying the do bol of acceptance? Maybe not. There should be a guide on how to feel while and after getting married.
On the other side, Shehryar had no problem dealing with his feelings. He was ecstatic on finally having Badiya all to himself as his wife. He had happily took all the teasings he had gotten when he was attending to Badiya during the whole function and dinner. It was his duty to take care of his wife after all. And now he was sitting here in the annoying company of his brother, brother-in-law and their cousins. All he wanted to do was spend time with his wife.
"Sherry Jaan, go to your room. Your wife is waiting for you. And ap sab bhi ab sonay jayain, bohot raat ho chuki hai." (And all of you also go to beds. It's very late now.)
Sharmeen came to the lounge area where the guys were all sitting to call Shehryar as she had just settled Badiya in the royal suite of the haveli.
"Hayye, konsa humari dulhan humara intezar kr rahi hai jo hum bhi sonay chale jayain, Mama. Hum badnaseebon ko apne gham hi bhulanay dain yaha beth kr."(Oh, it's not like our brides are waiting for us to come. Atleast let us unlucky people ponder over our misfortunes sitting here.) Wali leaned back on the sofa folding his arms behind his head and said in a dramatic way.
"Apko bhi kisi khuntain se bandhne ka sochte hain jaldi." (We'll start thinking of tying you to someone soon.) His mother replied as everyone including Shehryar laughed at his dramatics.
"Jee, nawazish ho gi." (Oh, I'll be very thankful.) Wali winked at his mother and recieved a slap to his chest in return.
"Besharam!" (You shameless guy!)
Sharmeen laughed at her younger son's antics and held her older son by his arm taking him towards the double staircase.
"The relationship of a man and his wife is a very sensitive but beautiful relation. You and Badiya are now together for life. You have to face the ups and downs together. Treat her the way you would want your daughter to be treated by her husband." She said caressing his bicep with her other hand and Shehryar nodded. She needed to guide her son as a mother though she trusted him and her upbringing.
She stopped at the base of the staircase and Shehryar kissed her forehead before turning around to climb the stairs.
"Aur Badr?" (And Badr?)
He turned back to look at his mother when she called him.
"Jee, Ammi." (Yes, mother?)
"Ab se meri bahu ko ankhain nikalna band." (Stop intimidating my daughter-in-law from now on.) Sharmeen said in a teasing tone.
"Jee." He said with a sheepish smile and climbed up the stairs two at a time with his long legs.
~
Badiya sat on the couch in the sitting area looking around the royal suite sipping on her KitKat milkshake that Wali had secretly brought her. The suite was definitely up to its name as the burgundy and gold colour scheme with the cherrywood furniture gave her strong royality vibes.
The oakwood door opened and Shehryar stepped in. His gaze went to the four posted bed behind the glass door-which was separating it from the rest of the suite- decorated with deep red and white roses first, expecting his bride to be sitting there but he found it empty. His eyebrows scrunched as he looked around for Badiya and was surprised yet relieved to find her sitting on the couch with all her jewellery off and scattered on the glass table and her dupatta resting on her shoulder. Her hair and makeup was still intact though and he shook his head at his not-so-traditional bride. Why did he even expect her to behave like one, he thought. Nonetheless, he walked towards her, taking off his sherwani on the way leaving him in his off-white shalwar kameez.
He sat on the two-seater sofa beside her taking her out of whatever imaginary land she was in. Badiya looked at him startled and the straw slipped from her open-mouth.
"Assalam-o-Alaikum."
"Ehm. Walaikum Asalam." Badiya cleared her throat and replied to his greeting.
"Kese mizaj hain?" (How are you doing?) He asked her trying to ease the atmosphere.
"I'm great actually." Badiya replied with a cheeky smile.
"Well, that's good. Any particular reason for sudden change in your mood because you were not so great the past few days." Shehryar casually grabbed her hand and played with her forefinger asking in a husky voice.
"Actually I was worried about how I will manage my studies from Lahore. Eventhough you offered to shift to Islamabad for the remaining time of my degree, but I know it'll be so freaking difficult to shift a whole firm and all. This morning Armeena called me to tell that her family is shifting to Sweden as they finally got the visa and she's dropping out. So I was like why don't I transfer to one of the universities in Lahore because the only reason I didn't want to transfer was I'll lose my only friend- I mean one of my only friends and since Hasifa studies in Lahore, I could always join her university."
Badiya was happily blaberring without taking notice of how Shehryar's hold on her hand was tightening and how his heated gaze was roaming her features.
"Haina?" Badiya shook his hand a little on getting no response and Shehryar cleared his throat.
"Umm yeah. It'll be easier for us. I'll have the transfer papers made when you decide on which university you want to attend." He said still stroking her hand with his thumb.
"Hmm." Badiya went into thought of which university she would like to enroll into.
"Coming to some more pressing matters right now." Shehryar said trying to get her attention back to their wedding night.
"Oh, yeah! I totally forgot." Badiya face-palmed and then got up walking by him towards the ensuite, her lehnga brushing his legs.
Shehryar caught her wrist and pulled her back making her fall into his lap with her legs dangling over the armrest. Badiya got startled by this sudden move and then got flustered on finding herself on her husband's lap.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked tracing the dori at the back which was keeping her deep neckline from plunging.
Badiya shivered on feeling his fingers on her skin.
"T-to change. We have to sleep, right? Aunty told me about the rasams." Badiya said in a meek tone as her hands stayed on her husband's strong shoulders.
"First, you took off all the jewellery before I came and now you're going to change. Damn, let me look at my bride for a while atleast." Shehryar said in a husky voice and roses bloomed on Badiya's cheeks.
"Wo mai-" (Actually, I-) Badiya said lifting her chin up and meeting his heated gaze but got cut off by him.
"Shh..." Shehryar placed his finger on her lips to stop her from talking.
"Usually you don't even say a word in my presence and now when we're supposed to do things other than talking tumhari batain hi khatam nahi rahi." Shehryar said tracing her lower lip with his thumb and Badiya shuddered.
'Yeh itne romantic kese ho gaye? Ab mera kya ho ga.' Badiya thought internally shivering.
Shehryar moved his hand from her lips to her hair as the other one rested on her waist. He untied her hair and watched her raven locks tumbled down till her mid-back. He moved her hair over one shoulder and grabbed the tassel hanging at her back tugging a little.
"Ijazat?"
Badiya couldn't reply with words but this weird sensation in the pit of her belly and the shivers running down her spine compelled her to nod her head shyly.
The night went by with him taking her to the heights of ecstacy and by the end of the night Badiya had let go of her hesitance completely much to Shehryar's amusement. The sun peeked over the horizon looking at the tangled limbs of two lovers peeking out from under the sheets.
Badiya woke up to a heavy feeling on her bossom and opened her eyes to find a mane of hair tingling her chin as her husband was resting his head on her bossom hugging her waist.
Badiya ran her mehndi chad fingers in his hair and giggled lightly looking at the innocent expression on his sleeping face. No one would think the strict and stoic Shehryar Badr Shah would sleep like a baby snuggling into her. She thought of taking a picture of him but decided against it as she would feel weird taking a picture of his face lying over her naked bossom.
She turned her gaze to the wall clock and shot up straight making Shehryar tumble off her waking him in the process. She herself winced when pain shot up through her lower region. They had gone at it like rabbits last night and now she was facing the consequences. Who would have thought that the all decent and shareef Badr will be a beast in bed.
"Ow, what the hell!" Shehryar yelled rubbing his neck and sat up straight after being woken up rudely by his wife.
"Badr, we'll be so late! Kitna bura laggega. It's all your fault." Badiya slowly moved out of the bed and stood up.
"You didn't let me sleep all night and now I'll get scoldings from Mama and Bi Jaan."
Shehryar chuckled at his wife's cute expressions and moved his legs to the floor sitting up.
"Meri Jaan, it takes two to tango." Shehryar said with a smirk looking at his naked wife limping towards the bathroom.
Badiya just mumbled something and rolled her eyes but Shehryar didn't miss the red hue rising from her neck to her cheeks.
"Need help?" Shehryar asked as he could see his wife facing difficulty in walking.
Without waiting for an answer, he picked her up in his arms and they both entered the bathroom together to get ready.
~
"Ma Sha'Allah! Kesa noor aya hai chehray par. Bhayi ke pyar ka jaadu hai." Wali said teasing Badiya who was sitting beside her husband and across him having breakfast with everyone clad in a deep maroon silk anarkali and gharara that her mother had instructed her to wear yesterday with the gold kundan set Shehryar had gifted her as mu dikhayi while she was trying to get ready. In the name of makeup, Badiya mixed up high coverage concealor in her moisturizer- a trick suggested by Armeen- and put it on the visible part of her upper body to hide the marks her dear husband had left and a ruby red lipstick. Her mother-in-law had made her wear some gold bangles and kangan because, as she said, nayi naveli dulhan ki kalaiyan khali nai rehni chahiye. (newly weded brides shouldn't have empty wrists.)
Badiya kicked Wali under the table making him wince and acted like nothing happened. Wali glared at her but received a smack on the head from his mother who was sitting beside him.
"Don't tease your Bhabhi."
Badiya stuck out her tongue at him discretely as she didn't want to get reprimided by Bi Jaan. They had come down so late as Shehryar kept teasing her and didn't let her get ready peacefully and Bi Jaan didn't hold back on expressing her distaste on the tardiness of the new Begum.
"Bahu, after completing breakfast you both have to personally distribute sweets and winter clothes among the villagers." Bi Jaan said adressing Badiya who muttered a meek 'jee' in return.
"How long are we going to stay here?" Badiya asked Shehryar as they were now in their room after coming back from the village tour. Everyone had retired to their rooms to take some rest before the dinner will be served. The couple had taken lunch from the local langar with other villagers. Badiya really enjoyed the day but now she was very tired and the dress had been bothering her greatly but she cannot change before dinner.
"I'm not sure. A few weeks atleast. Abhi se hi dill bhar gaya susral se?" Shehryar said with a teasing smirk.
"No, it's not that. I actually packed for a week at most and yahan aa kar sara plan change ho gaya." (and the whole plan changed after coming here.) Badiya said still laying on the bed with her eyes closed.
"I think Ma and Aunty ordered clothes and jewellery for you so you need not to be worried." Shehryar said non-chalantly typing something on his laptop. He was on a month's break but still alot of important matters needed his attention so he had office work to complete.
"No, I actually need other stuff." Badiya said getting up slightly and resting her back against the headboard.
"Other stuff as in?" He asked with a raised brow but didn't look up from the laptop screen.
"Women stuff." Badiya said rolling her eyes.
'Sab jan'na hai inko, Mr. Control Freak.' She thought.
"Wese apko bhi kuch cheezain nai chahiye?" (Don't you need some things as well?) Badiya asked with a little blush.
"Konsi cheezain?" Shehryar proped up his feet on the ottoman still going through some emails but stopped to give his wife a curious look.
"Wo umm...protection."
Shehryar looked at her confusedly at first then smirked understanding what she meant.
"Open the second drawer on your left." He told her and went back to reading and responding to the emails but the smirk didn't falter one bit.
Badiya hesitantly opened the said drawer and found two black coloured boxes with a note folded on top. She blushed on seeing what the boxes were and unfolded the note.
I don't want to be a Chachu so soon. Best of luck! ;)
P.s. The walls aren't soundproof so keep the voices at bay. xD
~Wali Bear
;) ;)
Badiya face-palmed and giggled at the suggestive winks at the end.
"This was Wali's wedding gift to us. That moron!" Shehryar also laughed remembering the expressions Wali had on his face when he came to drop the gift bag on his bed while Shehryar was getting ready and left immediately after.
The silence was disturbed by a knock on the door.
"Bi Jaan is calling everybody for dinner." One of the house helps informed and left.
Shehryar closed his laptop and put it aside walking towards his wife. The couple left the room with Shehryar's hand on the small of Badiya's back.
"Ask one of the head maids to bring you the women stuff that you need."
"Jee."
Author's Note
Pushing through to complete this story.
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~Author.❤