We Said Yes! - A Collection of One-Shots - Page 2

It's a little over 8 p.m. when I reach home. I park my car beside Shravan's and take a deep, exhausted breath as I shut the car off and get down with my bag.

It's later than my usual time, way later, and I am tired and extremely exhausted and my bed is calling me but I know that I won't be allowed to go to my room unless and until I have eaten something. So I drag myself through the driveway and inside the house as a million things that need to be done on Monday run through my mind.

When I enter, I can hear the happy chatter alongside the clinking of spoons on plates and bowls and I can't help but smile.

My family.

They've been more my family than my own blood ever was and that is a sobering thought but I've learnt that it's best to count my blessings and the Malhotra's are the biggest one.

I've barely entered the room when Varun Bhaiya's excited voice calls out to me.

"SUMAN!" He calls out, smiling.

"Hi, Bhaiya," I replied tiredly. I put my bag down on one of the sofa's and move towards the dining area.

"Kitna thaka hua 'Hi' tha, yeh," He countered with fake indignation.

A small laugh leaves me as I round the table and take my seat beside Shravan. He brings one of his hand up to my neck and gently massages it. I turn to him, a grateful smile on my face when I am met with his concerned gaze.

"Are you okay?" He mouths.

I just nod my head and give him another smile and turn back to see what has been cooked. I'm just reaching for the rice plate when Vandy Bhabhi beats me to it and serves me some on my plate.

"Ye lo, Suman." She calls out sweetly.

"Thanks, Bhabhi," I replied back gratefully.

I reach to pick up the bowl of chicken curry and once again I'm beaten to it, now by my husband. He quickly serves the curry on my plate on one side of the rice, knowing that I won't have the tolerance for eating from the bowl.

I've just looked up when I find Kamini Chachi putting slices of cucumbers, onions and tomatoes. A hand comes up from behind, startling me, and I look up to see Preeti pouring me a glass of water.

"You don't need to stop eating in the middle to do all this, I can do it," I tell all of them.

"Chup kar," Chachi admonished.

"You are spoiling me," I whine a little.

"Haan toh kam se kam sahi insaan ko spoil kar rahe, kyu Lala ji?" Varun Bhaiya butted in. "Pushkar ko bigada toh dekh na kaisa nikla. Nalayak."

"Bilkul sahi bola," Lalaji retorted in a snap.

"Mumma!" Pushkar whined, resembling Vandy Bhabhi a lot at that moment, making everyone on the dining table laugh out loud.

Everyone resume eating and conversation flows around the table, as usual. The constant chatter, the laughter that floats in between and I just sit quietly and take it in.
It was never like this in Tiwari Villa where dinner time was synonymous with complaints and arguments sometimes ending in fights. As I grew up I never liked staying in the house unless and until it was absolutely necessary and even then I looked for ways to be out and dinner time was the most dreaded time of the entire day.

Dinner time with the Malhotra's? I try to finish my work as soon as possible, sometimes even bringing some of the urgent paperwork with me so that I am home for dinner and can work after on the sofa in either Papa or Shravan's office depending on whose working late.

I am brought out of my musings when Shravan speaks up from beside me. "Mein kya soch raha tha " and an unexpected snort leaves me.

Everybody on the table tries to hide their smiles, failing spectacularly and Shravan just rolls his eyes exasperatedly, the small upturn of his lips letting me know that he found it amusing as well and continued "Haan, I was thinking it has been quite a while since we've gone out, like just a night out that didn't involve parties or anything. So, let's go to India Gate? I know it is cliched but you know, the weather is nice and all."

"I'm in!"

"Me too!"

"Me three!"

"Yeh baat tune badiya boli, puttar ji!"

I start to speak but Lalaji cuts-off even before I've uttered a word. "Oh, chup kar!"

"Maine toh kuch bola bhi nahi!" I protest.

"Bola nahi par bolne toh jaa rahi thi." He rebukes and then in a terrible imitation of my voice continued. "Aap log jaaiye, mujhe bahut saara kaam hai aur mujhe yeh aaj khatam karna hai "

"I don't sound like that!"I said aghast in the midst of the laughter ringing around the table.

"Lala sahi bol raha hai, Suman. Itna kaam karti ho, you deserve a break, even as small as this one and the nice weather and fresh air will be really good for you." Papa said with a smile, his face imploring me to indulge a little.

"Sumo..." Shravan calls out softly, the same expression on his face as the rest of the family.

"Okay, I'll go." I heave a sigh as cheers erupt around the table. "Can I change my clothes, at least?"

One hour later, we all are at India Gate, in one of the fairly empty spots. After I told them that I wanted to change my clothes, everyone decided to do the same and now here we are, the men all in track pants and t-shirts, Chachi is dressed in a far more simple and demure saree, Vandy Bhabhi in her matching dark burgundy tracksuit, Preeti in one of her simple suits and me in a casual ankle-length pant and short kurta.

Thanks to Pushkar and his sometimes inability to grow up, we all end up playing a game of tag. After two rounds, the parents are now sitting at a little distance from us talking among themselves as we continue to play.

Since it is my turn to tag Pushkar continues to tease me, taunting me to catch him. In my peripheral I see Shravan move quietly towards Pushkar and stand behind him. Throwing a wink in my direction, I run after Pushkar and he turns only to fall to the ground and me smacking my hand on his back. Hard.

"TAG! You're it!" I said smugly. "And I'm tired. I'm just going to sit for a while."

Walking back towards our spot, Shravan looks at me, his eyes laughing. I put my head down to cover my face with my hair as a huge smile spreads on my face. Giving each other a high five sneakily, I reach the spot and drop down on the spot next to Papa, heaving a deep sigh.

"Here," Papa says passing me a chilled bottle of water from the cooler.

"Thank you," I say giving him a smile as I open the bottle and take small sips of water from the bottle.

I sit beside Papa quietly and let the cool gentle breeze blow away the tendrils of hair stuck to my face when Chachi, Lalaji's and Papa's chuckles make my eyes open.

I follow Papa's gaze to see Pushkar's hands flailing as Shravan takes him in a headlock and is dragging him away from where they were playing.

Looking at those two I'm reminded of when we were children. I've known Pushkar tad longer than I've known Shravan and he has always been his mischevious. I continue looking at those two bickering and I can't help but smile as I remember some similar scenarios.

"What are you thinking about?" Papa asks me, pulling me out of my reverie.

"Oh, nothing much, just about the childlike behaviour between Shravan and Pushkar and how nobody is safe from them when they get all mischevious, and when they team up together, God help us all. It is infectious, especially their laughter." I tell him, laughing at them when I see Shravan dragging him to the pool in the garden and Pushkar screaming at him to stop.

"Well, we all have a child inside us and Pushkar was always more childlike and he always managed to bring that side outside in Shravan."

"You know, he was always like this around me."

"What do you mean?" Papa asked, turning to look at me confused.

"After Mom and Dad passed away, I changed a lot. I became quiet and recluse and preferred to keep to myself for a long time but I quickly learnt that people tend to ask you more questions. So when I was in school, I had this cool girl persona and at the time the only thing kids cared about was their image so no one looked too close and since nobody bothered at home, I was quiet.

"As I grew up and became more aware of my surroundings and quickly learnt that even familial love came with terms and conditions. I grew up too quickly, became jaded way too soon. It was when I met Shravan that I realized that I could be myself with him. Bachpana karne ka mann karta tha aur voh mujhe karne deta tha. Sare nakhre utha ta tha mere. Ma aur Papa ke jaane ke baad he was the only one who indulged me in the most insignificant of things.

"Har choti se choti cheez ka dhyaan rakhta tha and I think ussi bachpane mein maine uska fayada uthaya. Aur jab usko meri sabse zayada zaroorat thi maine usle insult kari."

Papa shifts, facing me completely. "Aisa kya hua?"

"10 saal phele aapke bete ne mujhe naam diya tha "Sumo" because according to him aisi personality pe Suman naam suit nahi karta." I finished on a laugh. "Jis din aapne Shravan ko bataya tha ki Nirmala Aunty, I mean Ma, ghar chod kar chali gayi thi, voh rota hua school aaya tha. Break-time tha aur uss waqt mein apne so-called friends ke saath thi. Ussne mujhe bataya kya hua and I said I didn't care." I whisper.

"The moment those words were out of my mouth I knew I had messed up and when I went to look for him he was leaving. I had come after school and I found him in the driveway putting his bags inside. I called out to him again and again but he didn't stop. Honestly, I deserved it."

I turn my head to look at Papa and with a small smile on my face I tell him how that moment changed who I was. "Jis din voh Delhi chod kar gaya, uss din voh aapne saath Sumo ko bhi apne saath le gaya. Bas Suman reh gayi thi."

He brings his hand up and caresses my head. "You were children."

"We know that now and we've realized our mistakes and we've made amends and learnt our lesson, so to speak. We now know how important it is to not, you know, let things go unsaid and let them fester. It's better for the both of us to sit and discuss things. Well, after we've had our screaming match. Can't really stop fighting, now can we?"

Papa breaks out into a loud laugh at the last statement. "It wouldn't be you if you weren't fighting."

"It's weird but I like that about us because if we didn't care about each other we wouldn't be so worried when it came to things that affected us. We've both hit the lowest of lows and we've come back from them and these little things? They are nothing compared to that.
We're learning and growing together. We mess up more times than not but that is marriage, right? You try to figure out everything as you go? See what works out for you and compromise as you go. I get to do all of that with my best friend. A man who loves me with his everything.

"He has flaws, his shortcomings but who doesn't? And I really like that. He's not perfect but he's perfect for me. We work, you know?" I throw him a smirk.

"That you do." He says and gets quiet.

It's been a few minutes later when he holds my hand and starts talking. "I'm sorry."

"What?" I asked confused.

"I'm sorry for thinking you were like Nirmala "

"Papa," I interrupt him with a sigh. "We've been over this already."

"I know, but I think I can never be sorry enough for trying to separate the two of you.

"I know and while I didn't like the things you did or agree with how you went about it, I understand the need to protect the one you love from what we deem is not good enough. Your way to go about it was not right but it happened and we can't turn back time. What we can do is move forward and try to learn from our past mistakes."

"You know, you are wise beyond your years, Suman."

"I know," I say smugly. "And now this wise-beyond-her-years kid wants an ice-cream. Your treat?"

Another loud laugh from him and then we are both walking towards one of the many ice-cream stands. We walk, arm in arm, for a while and talk about things, from the Malhotra firm to PCT and everything in the middle.

We've just turned around for another lap when Shravan calls out to us, letting us know that we are leaving.

We are walking back to the car talking some more and laughing when we catch Shravan staring at us. His face confused but his eyes telling all that we needed to know

Back in our room, I'm standing in the walk-in closet, setting mine and Shravan's clothes back in their respective places while Shravan is already in bed, reading one of his newly bought books, completely engrossed in it.

Once done, I pick up my book and get inside the bed. Shravan opens his arm for me and I settle on his side comfortably as his fingers run up and down on my arm, making goose bumps appear.

Reading is something that I am trying to pick up as a hobby. Unlike Chachi and Vandy Bhabhi, kitty parties weren't my thing and T.V. was something that rarely interested me so when Shravan found me twiddling my thumbs and asked what's the matter I told him I was trying to figure out how to pass the time and that was all the encouragement he needed. Next thing I know, we are at one of the bookstores and Shravan told me to pick up anything that interested me.

After browsing for what felt like hours but had actually been a few minutes, I realized that the only thing that appealed to me was the Romance section. Once the genre was decided, I spent a lot of time reading the blurb of the books that appealed to me, which were a lot for a person who had never read a book in her free time.

Finally deciding on the one book that appealed to me most, here I am, two months later on book number that I don't know. I've been gobbling books left right and centre and Shravan has been loving it.

In my peripheral I see Shravan bookmark his place and keep the book on the nightstand without disturbing me from my spot. Settling back in his place, he moves a little down the bed so that he now reclining on the headboard and moves me so that my head rests on his chest.

His lips are on the top of my head and his fingers are running through my hair lightly making my eyes droop.

"What were you and Papa talking about?"

"Hmm?" I hummed.

"I saw you two talking and it seemed serious."

"Why Mr Malhotra, you want to know what a daughter converses with her father?" I questioned cheekily, moving my head back a little to look up at him.

"Only when it looks like the daughter, who happens to be my wife, looks like she was about to cry." He rebukes.

"I wasn't about to cry. We were just having a moment." I shrugged.

He narrows his eyes, trying to see if I was telling him the truth or downplaying something that was important. Honestly, it was both but more of the former than the latter.

"No keeping secrets, remember? If something happened you would be the first person I come to Shravan." I reminded him.

"Oh, I know that. But I also know your habit of downplaying anything that might be important to you, maybe making it seem insignificant."

"I don't do that!"

"Anymore." He argued.

"Whatever." I huffed moving from my place on his chest to my pillow.

"Every single time you lose an argument," Shravan states laughing out loud.

"Ha. Ha. Ha." I replied not amused.

I move to keep my book on the nightstand on my side of the bed. I've barely put the book down and switched off the lights when Shravan wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me back to him spooning me, my back to his front.

I hear him breathe and at that moment it hits me that if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have a lot of things in my life, including a family to call my own. Two people to call Papa and Ma, two words that I hadn't used in a very long time and had forgotten what it was like to have a parent's love.

"Shravan," I whispered.

"Hmm?" He hummed, mimicking my earlier action as his fingers make soothing circles on my stomach.

"Thank you."

His arm tightened around my waist as he kissed the back of my head and just like always he understood the magnitude of emotions and honesty behind those two words without my saying anything.

Pushing back into his arms, I drift off to sleep in my safe place.

His arms.

Hello! Long time no see? This one-shot just hit me out of the blue and after weeks of writing and re-writing here it is.

The bond between Ramnath and Suman was what one could consider very special, the initial stages anyway since she lacked a father figure in her life, so to speak and I wanted to highlight that.

I hope I did some sort of justice to it.

Also, keep in mind that this is a continuation of The Wedding so Nirmala will be far and in-between in these one-shots unless and until I put her in main focus.

Another fluff? Check! But now I am itching to write something angsty.

As always, please VOTE and COMMENT, even if it is a short line. I always love to hear your thoughts and theories!

Until the next chapter...