7 Steps of Love

Step - 7.1: Proposal (Cont.)

Lilly and Yousef now decided to go to his parents' house in New Jersey, he didn't want Lilly to live in a hotel, so he took her directly to his parents. They reached his house and knocked the door, Yousef grabbed Lilly's hand while they were waiting for someone to answer the door. His mother opened the door.

"Yousef! I am so happy to see you! How did you suddenly decide to come here?!" his mother said as she hugged him she was very happy to see Yousef. She looked at Lilly and was equally as happy.

"Hello aunty" Lilly said. She hugged her as well and invited both of them in.

She showed Lilly the guest room, where she rested for a while, Yousef's mother then took Yousef with her to the living room.

"Mama, where's baba? I need to speak to both of you" Yousef said.

"What is it Yousef? Is everything OK? And what is Lilly doing with you?" his mother asked.

"Mama, let baba come and I'll explain it to you" he said.

His father arrived after an hour, and he sat them both down privately in the living room, Lilly on the other hand wondered what was going on there, she was nervous and a bit scared of what was about to go down.

"Baba, mama, I am in love with Lilly, and I wanna marry her" Yousef said.

"What? How?" his father asked.

"Oh that's a very good news Yousef!" his mother said as she got up from the couch to hug him, she hugged him tight.

"I am so happy for you! I always liked Lilly! I knew she was the right girl for you the moment I met her" his mother said.

"You did mama?" Yousef asked as he was very happy.

"Yes Yousef! I knew if there was any girl that could make you a better man than you are now, its Lilly" she said.

His father however wasn't looking much happy with the decision he had made, his mother went upstairs to the guest room and hugged Lilly.

"I am glad he chose you" her mother said.

Lilly hugged her back and smiled as she didn't know what to say or do, she was speechless and all she could do was smile as tears of joy dripped down her eyes.

"I am really really happy for you and him" her mother continued. She then talked to Lilly about her parents' approval and she told her that they had already approved of everything. She then asked Lilly of her parents' contact information to have further discussion about it. Yousef's father however, wasn't happy with all the situation.

"Aren't you happy with my decision baba?" Yousef asked.

"What do you expect me to say?" his father asked.

"I expect you to be happy baba and pray for me" he said.

"What if I tell you I wont? What if I tell you I don't approve of this relationship? Would you leave her if I asked you to leave her?" his father said.

"Baba, I don't understand" Yousef said.

"You have had several girlfriends in the past, and you have told us about all of them, convince me about Lilly not being like other girls" he said.

"Baba, Lilly isn't like other girls.. I didn't want to marry them, and I certainly didn't bring them here to get them to meet you" Yousef answered.

"How do I know you are serious about her Yousef" his father asked.

"Baba I am serious about this. I wanna marry her" he said.

"What if I say no?" his father asked.

"Then I won't marry her" Lilly heard Yousef saying this as she was coming downstairs to see what was going on... She was dazed to hear him say that, she gathered herself and stood there to listen to their conversation.

"I wont marry her... Isn't that you wanted me to say? But I won't do it, I will not give up until you pray for us and wish the best for us. But I won't leave her for you baba, I love you but I love her too, I can't lose any of you, you mama and Lilly, you are all I have in my life baba, I won't give up on the only people that make sense to me and I have decided to marry Lilly, I will be happy if you attend it and give us your blessings" Yousef said. Lilly upon hearing these words was very proud of the man Yousef had become, she was happy to know that the man she loved the most wasn't ready to give up on her relationship with him. She was happy that he stood up for what he wanted.

"That's what I wanted to hear from you, son! I am proud to say that my boy has turned into a man today" his father said as he hugged him.

"Baba?" "Yes I am happy for you, and how did you think I won't approve of such a beautiful girl? She is the right one for you, Yousef, look at what she has turned you into! She has turned you into a gentleman from a menace I am happy to see such transformation in you" his father said. He decided to talk to Lilly's parents, who had already approved of this marriage. Later that evening, Yousef was sitting in his backyard, when Lilly came to sit beside him.

"What are you thinking?" Lilly asked.

"What is my life? I.... I never expected to fall in love with you, but when I fell in love with you, I never expected to say it to you, and when I said it to you, I never expected for you to accept me, and when you did accept me, I never expected to think of you as my life partner, and when I started thinking of you as a partner, I never expected you to say yes to me, when you did say yes, I ever expected from your parents to say yes, and I really didn't expect my parents to say yes either... But here we are... We're getting married.... How? What did I do to deserve you?" Yousef said.

"You loved me...." Lilly answered.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"I want this wedding to be a small one.. I mean I don't want to invite any friends, I want our parents to be there" he said.

"Yes, I understand, I don't want this either.. I mean the media will go crazy, and that's the last thing I want" she said.

"Yeah...." Yousef said.

"So.... Have you prepared your vows?" Lilly asked.

"Are we supposed to read our vows?" Yousef said.

"Of course!" Lilly said.

"OK... I'll think of them" Yousef said as they both smiled.

They decided L.A to be the venue of their wedding and decided to tell their friends but not invite them to the wedding. They didn't want any fuss, Yousef only decided to invite Simmi and Lilly decided to invite Humble as bride's maid and as the best man. They flew to L.A the next day, and their parents decided to join them some days later.