"Being grateful is not just an act of saying Alhamdulillah. Being grateful is an attitude. It's lifestyle. It's a way of thinking. You are constantly grateful."
-Nouman Ali Khan
***
“Rida we need to talk to you.” Rida looked up when she saw her mom peeking through the door. She smiled at her mother and nodded her head.She closed her laptop and walked down to find her father seated on the couch engrossed in his own thoughts.
She looked around to find Faiza but she did not find her and that made things clear that whatever it was, it was serious. She felt her heart hammering in her chest. What was that they wanted to talk about?
“Mom? Dad? You wanted to talk to me?” Rida asked smiling at her parents who exchanged a glance and nodded at her.
“Come sit.” Abdul said and Rida took a seat in front of her parents while smiling at them who looked at each other and her mother nodded her head assuring him while keeping her hand on his shoulder. She looked at them trying to calm her heartbeat while playing with her fingers. She felt her legs trembling due to nervousness and she tried her best to stop them, a habit of hers whenever she would be tensed about something.
“Beta you will be getting married to Rehan tomorrow.” Her father said and Rida felt that everyone in the room could now hear the hammering of her heart. She lowered her face a blush creeping up her face. She started playing with her fingers while biting her lower lip.
From tomorrow she wouldn’t just be Rida Shaikh but Rida Rehan Shaikh and that mere thought gave her goosebumps and a warmth feeling in her chest.
“We have known Rehan for a long time now and we are sure that he will be the best for you but...” Rida glanced up when she saw her father looking at her mother with unsure eyes. She felt herself getting impatient. She felt something in the pit of her stomach. She was sure they wouldn’t cancel the marriage because if they were not willing to get her married to Rehan they wouldn’t have made him the watch and make things official, right?
“But you know we know nothing about his family, like we don’t know where his mother and father are. We wanted to talk to Rehan about this but since we did not wanted to upset him we thought of speaking to you. Do you know anything about his parents?” Her father asked and she gulped. She had known about his parents and she did not want to speak about it, because it wouldn’t be right on Rehan’s part if she speaks about his parents, a topic that was very sensitive to him.
“I have known about his parents Dad, but I don’t think it will be fair of me to speak about them to you. I know if you’ll ask Rehan he will clear all your doubts but I would be happy if you’ll keep the topic disclosed since it is a very sensitive topic to him. I know you both are just worried about me and nothing else, but I don’t think that his family has anything to do with him, right? His character, his behaviour, his hard work is all that matters to us, right?” Rida explained looking at her parents with worried eyes. She did not wanted to upset her parents nor she wanted to upset Rehan. She just wanted her parents to understand what she was trying to say and she heaved a sigh in relief when she saw them giving her a smile.
“We have nothing against him but we just wanted to be clear on our part and since you already know about his parents and if you are willing to get married to him we do not have any objection, because in the end all that matters to us is your happiness.” Her mother said and she smiled at her mother, glad that they had understood her point of view.
“Jazakillah Khairan Khair mom and dad for understanding me.” Rida said while her mom stood up and engulfed Rida in a hug.
“Masha Allah my daughter has grown up.” Her mom said, caressing her cheek while she lowered her head, biting her lip.
“Okay then I think I will go and do my work.” Rida said looking at her mother and she laughed and nodded her head while pushing Rida towards the door.
Rida smiled widely while walking towards her room but before she could enter she noticed Faiza walking towards her room, busy typing on her cell phone. She stood there looking at the expressions her sister would make each time while typing.
“I am going to kill him.” Faiza mumbled while typing furiously on her keypad while Rida looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Whom are you going to kill?” Rida asked taking Faiza by surprise. She looked up at her sister with her mouth ajar. She hurriedly shook her head and walked back in her room leaving Rida confused.
Shrugging her shoulder, she entered her room and plopped herself on the bed. She took her phone to see if there were any messages. She found few messages in her higher secondary’s group and she knew it would be all related to the event that would be taking place in the school. She sighed because she did not wanted to be there but Mira had personally called her and pleaded to be there since it had been a long time that both the friends had met. She had also informed her that Rohan would be present there making Rida to roll her eyes at her.
Opening the chat, she rolled down to see that everyone was deciding who would be going with whom. While the engaged girls and boys would be getting their fiancé, the rest were pairing up in the group.
Who wants to go with me? – Pooja
Not me.- Rohan
Neither me.- Aman
I’ll go with Aman. – Mira
Rida smiled looking at the message. She knew that Mira and Aman both had feelings for each other but they were not ready to open up and when Rida had asked Mira about it she had told that they both first wanted to concentrate on their career.
Ahem Ahem. - Rohan
What is wrong with you man? - Aman
Nothing is wrong with me ;) – Rohan
He is just jealous that he isn’t going with me. Ha. – Mira
As if I am! I got way better girls than you to go with. – Rohan
Like Rida? – Aman
Rida rolled her eyes when she noticed her name. She still did not understand why everyone wanted to pair Rohan with her? But who cares she was getting married to Rehan now and she wouldn’t go with anyone except him.
Although she did not ask him to come with her she was sure he wouldn’t just reject her invitation of being there with her. She hoped that he would accept her invite otherwise she would have to go alone.
Can’t we come without any partner?
Rida sent to be on the save side if Rehan rejects her invite and she wouldn’t want any embarrassment if there was no solo entry.
You can, but why would you come without a partner when you have a partner already! ;) – Mira
Rida shook her head and was about to throw her phone away to take a nap when she got a message from Faiz. She was confused as to why would he message her.
Assalamualaikum appi. – Faiz
Walaikumassalam Faiz. – Rida
How are you doing? – Faiz
Alhamdulillah all good. How are you doing? - Rida
Alhamdulillah I am good too! – Faiz
Rida read the message and looked up to see Faiz still typing. She waited to see what he had to tell because she clearly did not remember any time she had a chat with Faiz.
Well there is someone who is not keeping well! – Faiz
Rida read the message and bite her lower lip. Was he talking about Rehan? She felt her heart hammering but without thinking anything further she replied,
Who?
She waited to let Faiz see her message but her message did not get any blue ticks. Sighing, she locked her phone and closed her eyes, a small smile lingering on her face. She felt her phone vibrating and she was quick enough to open the message. The moment she read the message she felt her heart taking pace.
Nothing, he is just messing around.
Rida read the message and she knew it wasn’t Faiz who had replied but she wanted to confirm it.
Faiz?
She waited for the person to read the message and well that happened quickly too because the person was typing. Rida was now holding her breath, hoping her thought to be true.
Your would be husband.
And just as she read the message she breathed out a deep breath. She was sure her face would be now red as a tomato. She bite her lower lip while played with her fingers debating whether she should reply back and if yes, then what.
Just as she was debating with herself, she noticed that he was typing. She waited for his message and decided to reply to his next text but as soon as she read the message she couldn’t help but blush a deep scarlet colour.
I hope you are ready to be Mrs Rehan Shaikh.
She smiled a small smile thankful to be alone in her room and not in front of him because she knew she wouldn’t have been able to look into his eyes. Biting her lip she started typing. She smiled when she read her message debating whether to send it to him or no but gaining much confidence that she needed, she sent it to him.
Yes I am.
She smiled widely while trying to control her blush. She noticed that the message had been read and was happy that he hadn’t messaged back anything. She buried herself in the pillow trying to control her smile. She was happy with the way her life was turning out to be.
She hurriedly got up from the bed and walked inside the washroom to do the ablution. She prayed two raka'ah shukrana salah to thank Allah subhana watahaalah for everything that he had blessed her with.
"Ya Allah more than asking for something I have a lot of things for which I need to thank you. You have blessed me with a family while there are people who carve for it. Not just that you have given the warmth, the care, the love, the need one requires from a family, yeah there are times when we haave held arguments but I can never be not glad of having them as a family."
A tear escaped Rida's eyes so much of things going on in her mind. She had seen so many orphans not knowing what a family's love was and she was blessed with it.
"You have blessed me with a sister who is bore of a friend to me. We fight, we argue, we yell but in the end we are always there for each other and I will always be grateful of you for blessing me with such a family."
Rida smiled when her family's face flashed in front of her eyes.
"Ya Allah you have blessed me with such great friends. Friends who remind me of you, friends who care for me and guide me. Ya Allah thank you for blessing me with them."
"Ya Allah you have added one more blessing to my life. Rehan. He is my BestFriend and Insha Allah from tomorrow he will be my zawj, my life partner, my everything. Ya Allah make us righteous for each other. Ya Allah make us the coolness of each other's eyes. Ya Allah fill our heart full of love for yourself that we never fear of loving each other."
"Ya Allah tera shukhriya. Ya Allah thank you for all the blessings in my life. You have made my life so much full of happiness. Ya Allah forgive their sins. Ya Allah keep them happy always. Ya Allah keep us together always, in this life and in the hereafter. Ya Allah grant the best for everyone in this life and the hereafter. Ya Allah shukriya. Ya Allah thank you for everything. Thank you for everything."