Journal entries in green and flashback in blue
~Mukku's Journal~
"Mukku... here is your... What is this?"
She stopped at the door to see the room looking like it had just been visited by a tornado. Mukku came running.
"Anu... sorry sorry... I suddenly had the urge to rearrange my room and now it's a mess."
"It's ok my Mukku... here have your burger... let me help you..."
She moved swiftly inside the room putting everything in place and within minutes, in front of her amazed eyes Mukku saw the room returning to normalcy. It had been only a week since Anu had come home as Anuj's bride and it was as if she had been here forever. Impulsively she ran to her and engulfed her in a bone crushing hug. Anu smiled at her antics.
"Thank you.... thank you, Anu for coming into our lives... we are so lucky to have you..."
Pushing her slightly apart, she smiled caressing her face.
"I am the one lucky to have you... I never dreamed that one day I would be so lucky to have you all..."
"But I did..."
Moving away from her, Mukku went to her cupboard and opened a drawer with a small key she had in her locket. Shuffling through it, she took out a worn out journal. Taking in a deep breath, she walked towards Anu and placed it in her hands.
"What is this?"
"Open it..."
She opened and I the first page had 'Anupama Anuj Kapadia - my Bhabhi' in a child's handwriting. Anu looked at Mukku
"I wrote that when I was 8 years old..."
She guided Anu to her bed and made her sit. She sat beside her and opened the book.
"Some letters I wrote to you... here.... "
The first page had a stick figure of a spectacled boy giving rose to a girl. A little away from them stood a little stick figure with two bigger ones all with a smile on their faces.
"This is Bhai giving a rose to you and this is me with my Mummy and Papa..."
Wiping a small tear that had formed in her eye at the memory of her beloved parents she continued
"I still remember that day like it was yesterday. It was Valentine's day. I found Bhai playing with a rose and I asked him for it. He who had never said no to me said no that day. Anuj tried to explain but in a fit I grabbed the rose and threw it away. He was so angry as the rose was ruined and he pulled my hair. I threw a tantrum and Mummy... Mummy came running...."
"Was it for Anupama?"
"How did you..."
"Well... you have been going on and on about her for so many days... she is the prettiest, she is the best, the awesomest and so on... that it's quite obvious that you wanted to propose her on Valentine's"
"Yes... now my entire surprise is ruined... thanks to Mukku..."
"Mukku...?"
"Sorry Mummy, I didn't know it was for Anupama. Bhai, you should have told earlier na?"
Her mother simply nodded and went to her room. She came back with a pair of bangles in her hand.
"Here... bring home my bahu soon.... I am waiting to see her..."
"But...?"
"Son... I can clearly see you are head over heels in love with her and won't marry anyone else. I may not know her but I do know you and from what I know, my bahu is one in a million... bring her home son.... your Papa and I have been waiting for days to see her..."
Anuj bent down to take her blessings. She pulled him up in a hug and turning to Mukku, she said
"And Mukku... she is Bhabhi for you... not Anupama..."
Below the stick drawing were few words in Mukku's childish scrawl
'Bhai is bringing Anupama Bhabhi for me. I love you, Bhabhi. Come to me soon.'
Anu caressed the page gently feeling loved and turned to the next. The handwriting was neater and clearer though the page seemed to be stained with tears.
'When Bhai said you got married to someone else, I thought I wouldn't need this anymore but today it's different. Everything is different. Mummy and Papa are not there anymore and Bhai seems so far away. He does everything I need but I want him to come to me and talk to me. He thinks Mummy and Papa died because of him. Why does he think like that? Today I saw him sitting in Papa's chair and holding his little red book. He didn't know I was there under the table so he kept mumbling about how sorry he was to have caused them death. I wanted to get up and tell him to stop blaming himself when I heard your name. He said 'if only I had been able to propose to you that day, Anupama.... you would have taken care of everything now.... and Mukku... Mukku would have a Bhabhi who would be her mother...' Is it true? You will be my mother? Will you make burger like Mummy? Will you sing lullaby like Mummy? I don't know about that... but you can make my brother understand he is not wrong. Can't you come once and explain to him? I know you won't but can you try once?... please... Anupama... please...'
Anu turned to look at Mukku with tears that had formed in her eyes. She just hugged her tight and turned the page.
'Anupama.... why is Bhai like this? Why can't he understand I love Akshay? Why... why... Can you come and explain to him? Oh... you never come... Don't you care anything about us? Even today Bhai was saying that Anupama would definitely not agree to let me marry Akshay as he is after my money. Is it true? But I love him, Anupama. You know na? You would definitely make Bhai think clearly. Please, Anupama..... Akshay is my world and I can't live without him... Please...'
The next entry held her heartbreak
'He is gone... he didn't fight for me... he just left. I don't know what I am going to do. Mummy used to hug me tight and kiss me when I lost something. Now I feel like I have lost my entire life but I have no one to hug and kiss me. I don't want to talk to Bhai... he is the one who is the reason for this mess. Will you come and hug me? Please... I need you... Come to me, Bhabhi...'
Anu held her close as she turned to the next page.
'I have no idea who he is and I really don't feel like marrying but Bhai has fixed the alliance and it seems he is a good boy. Bhai is happy and he has never made any wrong judgements... after all he chose you... he couldn't be wrong could he? But.. but... I don't want to marry now... can you tell that to Bhai? He said that you would definitely like this boy... so I gave my consent to the wedding... still... I am not happy... I don't know why... Do you know, Anupama? I feel as if I want to scream but Bhai says you had a quiet and calm look even in the midst of big problems. Can you help me be calm...? Will you come to my wedding, Bhabhi?'
Her rage and helplessness at her dreams being shattered was clear in the next one.
'Why.... why... why? I said yes because Bhai said you would agree to this. This ? This is what you would give me? Really? I always thought you were the coolest, the best but would you really say ok to this monster? I don't know what to do... where are you? Bhai said you would never let any injustice happen to anyone.... where are you? Don't you think this is injustice? Where are you... come to me, Bhabhi... please come... I need you... come to Mukku, Bhabhi and save me from this monster.... It's paining... Bhabhi... please come... please... I won't trouble you ever... please take me away from this place... Bhabhi... Bhabhi... Mukku needs you... come...'
The pain in the entry made Anu burst into tears.
"I am sorry, sorry, sorry, my Mukku... I didn't know... I..."
Mukku just held her tight.
"You are here now... that's all that matters..."
Nodding, Anu turned the page.
'It's over... The monster is finally out of my life. Bhai saved me. I am going away now. I can't stay here and see Bhai breaking down with guilt. I don't want to leave him alone but staying here means he keeps seeing me and feels guilty. Can you come? Can you come and take care of him? Can't you see he is lonely? Oh yeah I forgot.... you never come.'
The next page had a picture of hers at the Vanika launch.
'You are just the way I imagined... so beautiful and so amazing and.... you came.... you actually came... You took care of Bhai when I wasn't there. You know I had lost all hope but looking into your eyes today I have a feeling that you are here to stay... My Bhai is the world's biggest fool for not being able to see that... Don't worry Bhabhi... I am there na? I will make him see... I am waiting for the day you will officially come to me as my Bhabhi... I am going to safely keep this inside... I think I needn't write to you anymore... You are finally here.'
Mukku smiled.
"I knew you would come... though my idiot brother refused to see it..."
Anu laughed and pulled Mukku into a hug and kissed her forehead
"I promise Mukku... I promise I will always be there..."
Unbeknownst to them, Anuj who had heard their entire conversation wiped away a tear that had rolled down. His heart was finally at peace now that she was here and he knew for certain his baby sister would always be safe and loved.
~la fin~
A/N: This is pretty long. Different from my other ones. Not really MaAn. But I wanted to write this. Hope you like itš¤Let me know how it is.
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