Book I: My Muslim Man | COMPLETED

Chapter 5: "Family Drama is Here!"

"Hellow everyone! Zareen's here!", she chimed as she came in.

"Asalamualaikum Aunty", Mariam hugged her.

"Where's the groom hiding?", she looked up searching for me and finally when her eyes landed on me an evil smile spread across her face.

"Congratulations dear!", she handed me the bouquet and kissed my forehead holding my face so very tightly in her huge hands.

"Look! I am not at all happy that you refused all the proposals I brought for you and chose to marry that girl but I am kind enough to forgive you. After all you're my favourite nephew", she pulled my cheeks so tightly. I took a moment of relaxation when she went away to the women's section.

I hated how she spoke about my marriage with Afaaf. And all the proposals brought in by her were exactly how Aunty Zareen herself was. Arrogant, fierce and proud. The first girl she suggested for me was her husband's friends' daughter, Nazish. She was too inappropriately dressed on the meeting day. She had no hijab on. It only draped across her neck not even covering her properly. Her dress was too tight and her face caked up with too much makeup. I wasn't against girls doing makeup but some girls take it to an extreme level. Afaaf on the other hand, preserved hijab. She had an elegance that charmed me on our first meeting and she kept her gaze low which I found adorable. Most importantly, she knew exactly what amount of makeup she needed to apply. It was never too much or too less. She was prefect for me.

As soon as Aunty Zareen went in, Afaaf's family came. I was so happy to see Ali. He was an adorable kid. I said salaam to them and called Mariam to attend to them. Afaaf would be so happy to have them here and to see them again.

I was afraid Aunty Zareen was going to say something to Afaaf and her family. She was so upset with me marrying against her will that she didn't even attended my nikaah. She was only there on the reception and even then she didn't agree to meet the bride. Afaaf didn't know anything about this. I knew I was going to lose my temper if she tries to get harsh with my wife. Afaaf was smart. I knew she'd not take anything to heart but I needed to be there for her if Aunty Zareen tried to be fierce.

Until now, everything was going smoothly. I even heard Afaaf and her family say salaam to her but I knew she won't reply. It was inappropriate for me to stand and listen to the ladies so I send a message to Mariam to come out.

"Mariam, if anything goes out of control please call me asap! Alright?", I said, feeling uneasy to have to leave Afaaf on her own with my rude aunt.

"Yes bhai, don't worry. Mom's here. She'll take care of it", Mariam assured me.

"But call me if you feel a slight hint of trouble. Where's your phone?", I looked at her empty hands.

"It's inside. Don't worry, it's switched on", she said and left.

I was turning around to go back myself when I saw Abbu coming my way.

"Imran why are you standing near the women's side?", he whisper yelled at me.

"Abbu, Aunty Zareen's here! And I have a bad feeling about this!", I opened up to him.

"She was invited?", he almost shouted. Abbu held a large grudge for her than any of us, "I've told your mother several times not to invite her home"

"Abbu, Abbu. Calm down. You know mom loves her. She's her only sibling. We need to understand that", I tried to calm him and just then Mariam texted me.

Bhai, is Afaaf api's mum divorced? Why would Aunty Zareen say that? I thought her father was out of city during the wedding.